My 2016 Thank You Notes

It would be an understatement to state how tumultuous 2016 was for me. Losing a parent slowly and painfully--and finally, permanently--to dementia takes its toll. It'll be awhile before I'm truly back to my life. Even so there still were a lot of bright spots. There were big-hearted friends who made sure I was doing okay by bringing me food or yanking me out to the occasional movie. And there was my work. How could there be a totally bad day if I got to spend part of it in the kitchen with a chef?

So, I'd like to end the year by thanking all the chefs who over the past 12 months invited me into their most sacred space and taught me a recipe, a skill, a neat trick for me to share with readers.

Thanks to Quinn Wilson of Balanced and Bright, who invited me into her home to teach me about her bone broth and demonstrate how to make her Autumnal Pork Stew. It would be so lovely to have a bowl of that right now!

Thanks to Willy Eick, such a talented young chef who now has his own place in Oceanside, 608. But earlier this year while working at Real Bar & Bistro, he taught me how to make a lovely Seared Scottish Salmon with White Beans, Bacon, Chard, and Pesto Aioli.

Thanks to the energetic Teri McIllwain of Chandler's Restaurant at Cape Rey Carlsbad. She made me her Farro Stir Fry filled with plump shrimp.

From Junya Watanabe of Rakiraki Ramen & Tsukemen, I learned a terrific version of poke that's fresh and flavor popping. Thanks, Junya!

Moto Deli's chef Andrew Halvorsen taught me how to make their rich Moroccan Meatball Sandwich from their food truck. Congrats on completing the new deli! And thank you and Alex Carballo for the experience!

Thank you, Christine Rivera of Galaxy Taco, for teaching me how to make your fabulous Brussels Spouts in the Style of Elotes!

Chefs move around so much! This thank you goes to my friend Anthony Sinsay, who earlier this year was running the kitchen at Duke's and made me his stunning Mussels Adobo. Now he's ensconced at JSix and my story on how he forages in his kitchen will run in the San Diego Union-Tribune next week.

I love Bottega Americano, so it was a huge treat to have Chef Jeremy Oursland invite me to come in and learn how to make his Salmon with Vegetables, Gnocci, and Tomato Fonduta. Thanks, Jeremy!

Chocolatiers are a special breed. Michelle Lomelin of Sweet Petite Confections fits right in with her mix of precision and whimsy. Thank you, Michelle, for taking the time to teach me how to make your bonbon, The Earl and the Tarts.

Oh, my friend Maeve Rochford! I love Sugar and Scribe and loved our time together in your kitchen, learning about the Irish Halloween tradition of Tea Bramback! So good!

Finally, there's Lorne "The Hammer" Jones, whom I met through the training program Kitchens for Good. The Hammer has worked hard to reach the goal of becoming a certified baker and is now baking at Panera. The day we got together he taught me how to make a family favorite, Pineapple Upside Down Cake--only miniature versions. They were divine. Thanks, Hammer, and good luck to you!

I also want to thank Bob Harrington, Kelly Orange, and Specialty Produce for their always generous support--of this space, of my Close to the Source blog for Edible San Diego, and of the community projects I work on. They are smart and far-sighted people--and beyond kind. And, thanks as well to Tommy Gomes and Dave Rudie of Catalina Offshore Products for being my seafood gurus, community teachers, and just great pals. Thanks to the many farmers, farmers market managers, and artisan vendors who always take the time answer my many questions and share their knowledge and bounty with me so I can help our community better understand what they do. Thanks to the many restaurant owners and chefs who are working so hard to put San Diego's best on the table and do it responsibly--and clue me into their efforts. And, last but not least, I thank you for taking the time to read San Diego Foodstuff and sharing it with your friends. It means a lot.

Thank you all for pulling and tugging me through 2016 with your love and concern. It has meant more than you will know.

I'm looking forward to more kitchen fun with chefs in 2017, but in the meantime, I wish all these chefs, vendors, farmers,  and their loved ones, as well as you, a very happy, healthy, and joyous New Year!


Print Page

Anthony Sinsay's Mussels Adobo

Do you talk to your food? Anthony Sinsay does. The executive chef at Duke's La Jolla, which opened last November, says that this conversation helps you learn where your food is in the cooking process. Sinsay was showing me how he makes his signature dish, Mussels Adobo, which I had fallen in love with at dinner a few months back. He had sautéed a sliced jalapeño, garlic, and onion--one of the best fragrances ever, of course. Then he added the ebony Prince Edward Island mussels to the pan. He stopped talking to listen.

"You'll hear the mussels purge their water," he said. "Then you know you need to add a little liquid to keep them moist."

Sinsay has been cooking most of his life. He said with smile that his mom was no cook. But his dad was. Sinsay especially loved waking up to the scents of Thanksgiving dishes his father prepared from early in the morning to ready for hordes of cousins to eat at midday. Sinsay spent hours and hours with his dad, who suffered from congestive heart failure, watching cooking shows with him--Julia Child, Martin Yan, Jeff Smith--until he passed away when Sinsay was just 11 years old.

"I remember my dad through cooking," Sinsay says with emotion. "After he died, there was no one to cook. My siblings were much older so when I got home it was my job to make dinner."

Sinsay's culinary inspiration came from his dad. But after he died, his mom began exposing him to restaurant dining. "We dined out a lot with my Mom at places like Mr. A's," he said. "By the time I was 15 I knew I wanted to go into culinary."

Sinsay attended Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, learning the fundamentals of European cuisine. But over the years it's become important to him to infuse his dishes with his Filipino heritage. "These are flavors and techniques that come naturally to me."

It's become especially meaningful since he and his wife Elyse have had kids. "Food is a huge component of being Filipino. I want my kids to understand that there's more to life than Happy Meals. I want them to understand where they come from."

So, for instance, for their birthdays, he makes them pancit, a traditional noodle dish filled with vegetables. Like the Chinese, who introduced noodles to the Philippines, Filipinos believe in the symbolism of noodles representing long life and good health.

Now the Mussels Adobo, which Sinsay also used to make at Burlap when he ran that kitchen, is inspired by his mom. "She grew up in the southern part of the Luzon Island in the Philippines. She made this dish with chicken that would simmer in the adobo sauce. I like making it with mussels, but I had to add sugar to the adobo sauce recipe to compensate for the shortened cooking time. When you cook vinegar a long time it becomes sweet. This dish with mussels cooks so quickly I needed to add a sweetener."

This dish is based on a traditional adobo sauce--soy sauce, vinegar, and water. Sinsay quickly whips up the sauce and sets it aside while he first sautés the vegetables, then adds the mussels. He mixes in the adobo sauce and covers the pan, cooking the mussels until they open. Then, in what takes the dish to a seductive level, Sinsay adds coconut cream and butter. That's it. Oh, except for one more critical addition: grilled pan de sal, the addictive sweet white Filipino yeast bread. Just brush slices with olive oil and toast on a grill until crispy--then try not dunking them in the luscious mussels sauce. I dare you!

Mussels Adobo
From Anthony Sinsay of Duke's La Jolla
(printable recipe)
Serves 4

Adobe is the national dish of the Philippines and varies from region to region. This version is closest to the adobo I grew up with made by my mother from southern Luzon. The sauce is an acidic broth comprised of white distilled vinegar, soy sauce, and water. Cooked with onion, garlic, and jalapeño balancing sweet, umami, spicy, and salty. It's finished with coconut cream and butter to enrich the flavor and texture. The Pan de Sal is a Filipino yeast-risen dough with a slight sweet flavor, contrary to what the name suggests. Garnish the mussels with chive spears and crispy garlic chips (slice the garlic thin, blanch, then fry).

Ingredients
3 ounces adobo sauce (see below for recipe)
1/2 ounce of olive and canola oil blend
1 jalapeño, sliced in rings (include seeds if you want more heat)
1 1/2 ounces yellow onion, sliced in rings
1 whole peeled garlic clove, minced
9 1/2 ounces mussels, cleaned
1 1/2 ounces coconut milk
1/2 ounces butter
.1 ounce fresh chives, sliced into 2-inch pieces
1 loaf pan de sal, sliced
Olive oil

For adobo sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup distilled vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup water

Directions
1. Make adobo sauce: Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly until all sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
2.  Sauté the jalapeño, onion, and garlic clove in oil. Brush pan de sal slices with olive oil and grill.
3. Add the mussels and stir together.
4. Add the adobo sauce, stir together, and cover, cooking until the mussels open.
5. Remove lid and remove mussels from the heat. Stir in coconut cream and butter. Taste the sauce and add salt if necessary to balance the flavor.
6. Garnish with chives and garlic chips (optional). Serve with grilled pan de sal.

Duke's La Jolla is located at 1216 Prospect St. in La Jolla Village.


Print Page

Must-Attend May Events in S.D.

Something's in the air in San Diego--there are so many local events going on this month alone that sound terrific that I want to share just a few.

This is short notice, but the annual Gator by the Bay Zydeco, Blues & Crawfish Festival is coming this weekend (May 10-12) at Spanish Landing Park (across from the airport). It's a chance to take in some Louisiana culture and eat some terrific Cajun and Creole specialties, like boudin sausage, catfish, crawfish etouffé, po' boy sandwiches, seafood gumbo, jambalaya, fresh oysters (from Carlsbad Aquafarms), beignets, boiled peanuts, sweet potato pie, and homemade ice cream. And, of course, boiled crawfish with potatoes and corn from Mitch Olivier of Crawfish Corner in Opelousas, Louisiana.

There will also be cooking demos, live bands, and dancing. And crawfish. You can buy tickets here.

Next up is Restaurant 404k, the May 21 pop-up restaurant event Burlap chef Anthony Sinsay is holding to raise funds for Southwest High School, his alma mater (class of 2001). In honor of his late home-ec and nutrition teacher Sharon Kleinschmidt, who taught for almost 48 years, Sinsay has created The Sharon Kleinschmidt Culinary Scholarship. He's taken a total of nine students as interns to stage in his kitchen over three weeks. At the end of the three weeks, he'll work with them to prepare a four-course menu for the pop-up at Southwest High School.

Tickets are $40 per person and the proceeds will go directly to providing scholarships to students at the Regional Occupational Program in Culinary Arts at Southwest High School under the auspices of his new scholarship fund.

You can reserve and buy tickets by calling the school at 619-628-3023 or send an email to soh404k@gmail.com.

Finally, here's an event that is a crowd pleaser every year that benefits The San Diego Council on Literacy.

Eat. Drink. Read. will be held this year on May 22 at the NTC Promenade McMillin Center in Pt. Loma from 5:30 to 8 p.m. As always, there's a terrific lineup of restaurants with book-inspired gourmet dishes. The list includes Amaya at the Grand Del Mar and La Jolla, Casa Guadalajara, Chaplos Restaurant & Bar, Craft & Commerce, Jsix, Leroy's Kitchen & Lounge, Rancho La Puerta, Sycuan Casino, The Lion's Share, The Red Door, Urban Solace, and Whisknladle--plus a number of fab vendors, like Eclipse Chocolate, Sadie Rose Baking Company, Stone Brewing, Banks Rum, Callaway Vineyard & Winery, Ryan Bros. Coffee, Solar Rain, and Honest Tea.

Tickets are $65 and can be purchased at www.eatdrinkread.com.

Print Page