That Smart & Final Extra

Like many neighborhoods around San Diego, my community, Tierrasanta, has been living for months with the discomfort brought on by the Haggen debacle. We started out with an Albertsons, which, by my reading of posts on the community website NextDoor, was generally beloved. Then it became Haggen--and was fairly quickly despised. And then, of course, Haggen went bankrupt. In the auction that followed Tierrasanta became slated for a Smart & Final Extra, which was also highly debated on NextDoor. While we waited for that store to open, we were left with a tiny Vons with its equally tiny parking lot and an even smaller local market called Primo Foods.

Now I've never been a huge supermarket fan, so the absence of Albertsons/Haggen didn't affect me too much. I tend to roam between Sprouts, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and farmers markets. But I carefully watched the very emotional discourse on NextDoor, as neighbors argued alternately that the presence of Smart & Final Extra would sink local property values, that with its bulk foods wasn't an appropriate store for a residential community, and that it was amazing, fabulous, wonderful as experienced by others who had shopped at them in other cities or read about their plans.

Smart & Final Extra opened in Tierrasanta on March 9 and I stopped by. I had no expectations. I'd been to the regular Smart & Final in Clairemont only a few times over the years. It would never have occurred to me to shop there for regular grocery items. I had read a promising piece about the Coronado Extra that opened recently, so perhaps it would be a good thing and Tierrasanta wasn't being dissed because we didn't get a Gelson's, something neighbors were a bit upset about.

Smart & Final describes the chain as a "warehouse-like supermarket chain for produce, meats & packaged foods, plus discounts on bulk items." What I found was your basic commodity-stocked  market.

Yes, there's a produce department and a small organic department within that.

The signs clearly read that they buy from local growers. I took that to heart when I picked up some cluster tomatoes. After all, they were sitting on a bin that shouted local. But when I looked at the labels, it showed that the tomatoes were from Mexico. Yeah, you could argue that Mexico is local, but c'mon.

On the other hand, one of the shockers in the produce department given its limited real estate, was that fresh garbanzo beans, usually found at Mexican markets, were for sale. Yeah, they're from Mexico, too.

My pendulum kept swinging back and forth like this as I went through Smart & Final Extra. No deli counter, butcher, or fresh bakery. I suddenly had an urge for Thomas' English Muffins so I cruised by the bread aisle (also hoping against hope that perhaps they would also carry Bread & Cie products like many local markets). The bread aisle was fully commoditized and had that distinctive bread-in-plastic-bags aroma. Yes, they had the muffins, but only the original variety, not the sourdough I wanted. But if you want Original Thomas' English Muffins, they have stacks and stacks of them--enough for the whole neighborhood!

I was happy and relieved to see they carry the organic milk I like and that they have organic, cage-free eggs.

And Bob's Red Mill products.

But how much shredded or cubed cheddar does a family need all at once?

Hurray! They sell Meyer's products!

And also 50-pound containers with a variety of lards and shortenings. I guess Tierrasantans can't have too much donut fry shortening.

Or too much red food coloring. Or iodized salt packets.

I did end up picking up some things--milk, eggs, the garbanzo beans, onions, some sad old garlic heads, the English muffins. When I went to check out I saw that each register aisle was named for a Tierrasanta street. Strange but I suppose it will make community shoppers smile. Unfortunately, it felt like the most local thing about the market.

My sense is that the store and its products will evolve as it settles in and locals make their needs and desires heard. However, I find it to be a chain confused about its identity and ours. I can certainly see that large families would need some products in bulk. But this is a residential community with few local businesses that require a gallon of food coloring or 50 pounds of beef shortening. So, the "warehouse without membership" tagline is overselling things quite a lot. It's no Costco. I think the residents here would be better served with produce that really is from local farmers, a butcher and deli counter with quality products, a bakery--or at least fresh baked goods from local bakeries, and less emphasis on commodity products in general.

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Seabreeze Organic Farm Soldiering On

Seabreeze Organic Farm is one of the oldest CSAs in San Diego. But with less than two acres to work on in a hilly spot in Carmel Valley with soaring views of Torrey Pines State Reserve and the Pacific Ocean beyond, farmer Stephenie Caughlin is toughing out a drought, encroaching development, and consumers who, she says, just don't get the value of what she provides.

Caughlin, originally from southern Texas, grew up tending her grandmother's farm animals but left for an academic life that included teaching high school for San Diego Unified School District. She gave that up to become a gold broker and then a futures trader, operating her own company that included an office in Manhattan's World Trade Center.

But when she turned 40, Caughlin decided she wanted to do something more meaningful. For her that meant farming. She found the Carmel Valley property in 1978 and, she says, "I picked up a shovel and I started ordering seeds from catalogues."

At the time there were few houses and mostly chaparral and groves of old eucalyptus trees. Ten years later she started Seabreeze. While she follows organic practices, she is adamantly not certified. "The federal government can't regulate integrity," she insists.

The farm is in a pastoral setting dotted with little buildings she's put up over the years. There's the home she and her husband live in at the top of a steep driveway that's the farm's entrance. And there's the usual packing shed and storeroom full of CSA bags, produce, and eggs that her 40 chickens produce--well, that some produce. If they've outlasted egg production, they hang out in retirement.

There's also what Caughlin calls her "growing studio," a clear, greenhouse tarp-covered space filled with furniture and even a swamp cooler. The studio is used by artist Stan Goudey, who teaches watercolor classes. There's a little building with a room virtually wallpapered with Caughlin's beautiful watercolors that's often used as a changing room for brides. Yes, she holds events, including weddings, at the farm. The office is filled with even more watercolors.

And then there's the straw bale house, which she rents out to people looking for a bit of an escape. Yes, the house is made of straw bales, and includes the requisite "truth window" that proves the walls are made of straw.

It's a light and airy space that looks out onto the various stretches of producing fields.

When I was there, red leaf mustard was growing high, topped by vibrant clusters of yellow blossoms that tasted like horseradish without the dastardly kick.

Fences were lined with sweet peas about to explode in color. The hothouse was bursting with Batavian Crisp Head lettuce, a delightful variety in reds and greens that's part butter lettuce and part romaine. The lettuces were bordered by pots of thick green bok choy.

Down the path was her plot of vertical growing boxes. These were filled with mesclun, chives, baby celery, strawberries--basically fast-growing plants. The benefits to growing with this method, Caughlin explains, is that it requires less water, there are fewer weeds, and animals don't rampage the plants and produce. The downside, however, is that it's labor intensive and so more expensive.

Interspersed with the vegetable plots are flower beds and fruit trees--avocados, peaches, plums, figs, guava, oranges, grapefruit, lemon, and blood oranges are among her crops. The flowers are her passion, including edible flowers.

Actually, everything around the place is her passion, including her two goats, Elsa and Beatrice, her flock of ducks, and Samantha, the black corgi who followed us from one stop to the next.

Caughlin used to lease more acreage but development and lack of water put an end to that. At the bottom of the hill by the vertical growing boxes mulberry trees line a path that neighbors use to walk their dogs. On the other side of the path are homes. She's tried to interest her neighbors in using her CSA but, she sighs and shrugs, she's had no takers.

Currently, Caughlin has 93 subscribers to her weekly CSA and she's grateful for their support so she can keep the farm going. These are the people who she feels understand both the quality of the food she provides and the great labor and expense the undertaking involves, including delivery. Unlike other CSAs with drop- off spots, Seabreeze delivers CSA bags directly to homes and businesses.

Years ago, Caughlin sold at farmers markets but chucked that. Instead, she hosts events and cooking classes, concerts, and weddings to bring in needed income as well as introduce people to the farm and her crops. She's looking for other outlets for her products--perhaps a local market to sell her flower bouquets. She partners with other organic growers to provide produce she doesn't grow, like bananas. Her website includes information about the CSA and also has an online shop where visitors can purchase produce, eggs, herbs, books, beeswax candles, and soaps. She has a link for people to contribute to Save the Children and she's involved with San Diego Military Outreach Ministries, which provides services--including food--to enlisted families. That makes for a lot of balls to keep in the air, but really, she's just happy farming.

"I love what I do," she says. "I love feeding people. I think it strengthens them."

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Willy Eick's Seared Scottish Salmon

Hey, you! You know who you are. You're the self-proclaimed foodie who is intent on dining at only the most happening spots in the region. You probably just had dinner last night at Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub in Oceanside or Bracero in Little Italy or BIGA in downtown. Gastropubs are your thing. So are artisanal donuts.

But have you been to Real Bar & Bistro in Solana Beach?

Yeah, I didn't think so. It's not in a hipster locale and the chef, Jeffrey "Willy" Eick isn't rubbing shoulders with the cool kids. Not yet, at any rate. But I'm thinking he will be soon.

Eick, who moved to San Diego's North County from San Jose at the age of 15, is running a surprisingly creative, farm-to-table kitchen at Colin and Mark Urquhart's Real Bar & Bistro and once you learn his background it all begins to make sense.

"I was always into cooking and tried to go to culinary school after high school, but it was too expensive," he says. Instead he studied automotive technology at MiraCosta College. He also took a job at Tomiko Japanese restaurant in Encinitas as a line cook--just working with the owner--where he learned how to prepare sauces, dashi, and, he says, the real fundamentals. After a year he was hired at Bistro West in Carlsbad--first as a line cook, then as sous chef. Yeah, that restaurant that has its own farm up the road--and when he wasn't on the job there he also worked at the Holiday Inn at the Oceanside Marina, where, he says, because it was a slow kitchen there was a lot of room for creativity. "So, I would play around a lot with ingredients."

That experience contrasted nicely with Bistro West, which he said at the time was a very fast, high-volume kitchen--500 covers a night. "So I really learned how to operate a restaurant."

With staff turnovers at Bistro West, Eick went to work at California Modern with Trey Foshee, who taught him the whole fine dining world. "I learned about plating and how to truly bring out flavors and balance flavors," he says.

When Chef Jason Connolly, for whom he'd worked at Bistro West, went to Real Bar, he hired Eick. And when Connolly--now sous chef at Pamplemousse Grille--left Real Bar last May, Eick officially took over the kitchen as executive chef.

In that time, Eick has built a close relationship with Cyclops Farm in Oceanside and its founder Luke Girling (who had been the farm manager at the Bistro West/West Steakhouse farm), getting most of his produce from them. Eick also likes to forage.

In fact, at his March 2 five-course pairing dinner with Pt. Loma's Modern Times Beer (yeah, tomorrow--still time to get tickets) many of the ingredients on the menu will have been foraged, including sorrel, mint, sunflower petals, purslane, nasturtiums, pine needs, and natal plums. The rest will come from Cyclops Farm.

I've been to one of these pairing dinners and they're great fun; in January I was at the one with Stone Brewing, at which CEO and co-founder Greg Koch spoke between courses. There was a stunning Poached Prawn with sunflower "sand", beach herbs, and citrus. A lick-your-plate clean Bay Scallops with apple, whey butter, and radish. He comes up with concepts like sprouted lentils, pine nut milk, barley congee, and smoked chocolate mousse--yes, he makes all the desserts, too.

So, this upcoming dinner should be very special. Here's the menu:

In the meantime, Eick showed me how to make his richly flavored Seared Scottish Salmon with White Beans, Bacon, Chard, Mushrooms, and Pesto Aioli. Salmon is one of those fish customers insist on, so he uses a high-quality farmed Scottish salmon. Unlike many of his more complex dishes, this is perfect for a home cook to prepare, even after a day at work.

Seared Scottish Salmon with White Beans, Bacon, Chard, Mushrooms, and Pesto Aioli

From Willy Eick of Real Bar and Bistro

(printable recipe) 

Serves 2

Ingredients

2, 6-ounce fillets of Scottish salmon

Salt

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup bacon, diced

¾ cup crimini or white button mushrooms, sliced

1 loose cup of greens, chopped

1 cup cannellini or kidney beans

1 teaspoon minced garlic

¼ cup sweet white wine like a Chablis or sherry

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons pesto aioli (1 tablespoon pesto mixed with ½ cup mayonnaise)

Directions

Lightly sprinkle salt on the salmon. In a sauté pan, add and heat olive oil. If the skin is on the fish, lay it down skin side first. Cook 1 to 2 minutes for medium rare, then turn the fish, reduce the heat and cook another 4 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking on the second side, add the bacon. While the bacon is still a little soft, add mushrooms. By then the salmon will be fully cooked. Remove and spread the mushrooms out to a single layer as much as possible. Turn the heat to high and let the mushrooms caramelize. When they are nicely browned on one side, turn them to brown on the other (but don’t stir).

Add the greens, the beans, and the garlic. Then add the wine. Stir and let the wine cook down. Add a pinch of salt (unless the bacon is very salty). Cook enough to heat the beans. Stir in the butter and turn off the heat. Mix until the butter emulsifies with the wine and you have a nice glaze.

To plate, divide the bean mixture onto two plates. Place the salmon fillets on each mound of the mixture and then top the salmon with the pesto aioli. Serve.

Real Bar & Bistro is located in the Solana Beach Town Center Shopping Center at 124 Solana Hills Dr. off Lomas Santa Fe and the 5 freeway. To make reservations for the March 2 pairing dinner, call  858-793-7325.

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Bliss & Baker's Elevated Rice Crispie Treats

Popcorn balls, Dubble Bubble, Sidewalk Sundae ice cream bars, and Helm's glazed doughnuts fresh from the truck were the treats of my childhood.

And Rice Krispies treats. Everyone made them. Sticky, gooey, with a little bit of crunch. Easy to make. What's not to love about them?

So when I heard that about a year ago a San Marcos mother and daughter had launched a business to make them, I thought, yeah, really? I mean why not make them myself? Or buy them at Starbucks or some other coffee house or even at the market?

It wasn't until I saw what they were up to--or more precisely tasted what they were up to--that I got it. These small batch treats are good. They turn up the volume on a cherished childhood memory.

Laura and Natalie Potter are the team behind what they've named Bliss & Baker. Just one year ago they started making their treats, which you can eat as snacks, but also chop into ice cream--or even use to make extravagant s'mores.

"Mom always made them when we were growing up," recalls daughter Natalie. "It was something we thought we could play around with."

Mom Laura says that she used to dip the squares in chocolate and bring them to parties. She's always been a big baker and, in fact, used to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off, even competing one year. She also wanted to start her own business after years of being a stay-at-home mom to Natalie and son Stephen. And how perfect to be in business with her daughter, who also loves to bake and, at 21, is in her last semester of college at Cal State San Marcos studying sociology?

The two started testing flavors and eventually came up with six: Salty Caramel, El Churro, Peppymint, Peanut Butter, Coconut Caramel, Sugar Cookie, and gluten-free Brown Rice Salty Caramel. They also create seasonal, holiday, and specialty flavors throughout the year.

Yes, they use Rice Krispies cereal and marshmallows. They tried some organic versions but the flavors and textures just didn't work out. And they tried making their own marshmallows but, according to Laura, they didn't work out texturally and they needed to keep costs down to make the treats affordable.

But, Laura notes, they use some local purveyors, like La Jolla Sea Salts and San Marcos' Hollandia Dairy Cream. Yeah, the dairy itself is no longer there but she has fond childhood memories of visiting it and is trying to stay local. And, because she knows some of our local dairies are part of the Challenge cooperative, Bliss & Baker also uses their butter.

I tried four of the flavors. My favorite was the Salty Caramel. Laura and Natalie make their own caramel and that mashup of sweet and savory really appealed to me. The El Churro, with its sweet cinnamon flavor was also terrific. And while I'm not a huge peanut butter person, I was surprisingly taken by that variety. They use a generous amount of peanut butter so you really get that gooey, salty, nuttiness combined with the Rice Krispies. To be honest I was less wowed by the Sugar Cookie. That would really appeal to a child, but for me it was just a bit too sweet.

No chocolate? Yeah, I'm disappointed, too, but, said the women, they found it was just too difficult to control the quality of the chocolate when packaging and shipping it--especially since they don't add any preservatives.

With the name Bliss & Baker, they've given themselves room to grow beyond the Crispies. Like a really great brownie. "And I've got bread pudding on my mind," says Laura. They're also working on new varieties of Crispies, including a Whiskey Crispie, adding Maker's Mark to their caramel. And a yet-to-be-determined flavor with an Italian spin.

Their ultimate goal is to open a storefront, perhaps in downtown San Diego. But today, you can find their Crispies at El Pescador Fish Market and Green Acre at Campus Pointe, as well as online. They'll also be at the Williams-Sonoma Artisans' Market in Fashion Valley on March 19 and on March 24th, will be participating in a pop up at Solace & the Moonlight Lounge to benefit the North Coast Unit--Rady Children's Hospital Auxiliary.




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Help Send Fishermen to Slow Fish 2016

How many of you know about Slow Fish 2016? This Slow Food event is an international gathering of fishers, scientists, chefs, students and food artisans. Together they'll address the many environmental, ecological, economic and political challenges that impact fisheries, habitats, oceans, sustainable fishers, and cultural seafood systems. Slow Fish has been held every two years in Genoa, Italy. Slow Fish 2016 in New Orleans, which takes place March 10-13, will be the first time the event will be held in the western hemisphere.

 We have a contingency from San Diego that will be attending the event, including Slow Food Urban San Diego board member, vice chair, and seafood liaison Sarah Shoffler; Pete Halmay, sea urchin fisherman and president of the San Diego Fishermen's Working Group; Chef and activist Andrew Spurgin; Baja Chef Drew Deckman, Chef Michael Poompan of the Coronado Marriott; three UCSD SIO students focused on sustainable fisheries; and several members of the local Slow Food community.

Andrew Spurgin

"Slow Fish aims to create community and connections between fishermen, the public, chefs, etc. and thus reconnect the public with its food producers and our food producers with the public -- like Slow Food does for all food producers, but Slow Fish focuses on seafood," explains Shoffler. "San Diegans are not very connected to our local fishermen, and vice versa, much like other food producers in general. I hope those of us going from San Diego will learn some tools to better do this with the overall goals of a San Diego citizenry that understands the many facets of sustainable seafood and supports a thriving local seafood industry." Her goal is access for all San Diegans to local seafood and for San Diego to be recognized as a sustainable seafood destination.

"We are lucky in San Diego to have an abundance of good, clean and fair seafood," Shoffler says, explaining the issues. "U.S. seafood is some of the most sustainable in the world. U.S. fishermen are some of the most stringently regulated in the world. Because our laws require that if there's a problem with a fishery -- either the fish being caught are overfished or the fishery is negatively affecting other animals like endangered sea turtles -- we must do something about it. Whether it's close the fishery, change fishing gear, or shorten the fishing season, for example. Plus, our fishermen need to get fair wages; they are not slaves. And by buying locally-harvested seafood, we reduce our carbon footprint compared to eating imported shrimp or tilapia, for example. So, by consuming locally-harvested US-caught seafood, we ensure good (fresh and tasty), clean (environmentally sound) and fair (workers get living wages) seafood."

For Halmay, Slow Fish 2016 is important to San Diego because he feels Slow Food had given a lot of attention to farmers and very little to fishermen. "I am committed to changing this to put equal emphasis on all producers of food." He expects that what will come out of the event is a recognition that fishing and fishermen are important to the culture and history of San Diego. To do that, "I am going to introduce the attendees to the idea of fishermen's markets and their role in a working fishing harbor," Halmay adds. "I hope to get support of working fishermen from all over the world."

But Halmay will need help getting out his message. What's needed are more fishermen--from San Diego and elsewhere--to attend the event and share their experiences and issues. The problem is that many fishermen are struggling financially and don't have the resources to travel to New Orleans for the event.

Recognizing that, the Slow Fish program committee and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance established a crowdfunding program to raise money to send fishermen to Slow Fish. Leaders, including Shoffler, are encouraging the donation of funds and frequent flyer miles via the Generosity website. Donation requests start at $10 and they have a goal of reaching $10,000.

In San Diego, Slow Food Urban San Diego is supporting the travel of two local fishermen, including Halmay. "We'd like to send another fisherman and we've reached out to quite a few," says Shoffler. She explains that if there are any San Diego fishermen who would like to attend and need financial assistance, they can apply for travel scholarships from Slow Fish 2016 here or let SFUSD know (reach out to Shoffler at sarah_at_slowfoodurbansandiego_dot_org) since they still have funds available to send a local fisherman.

Want to make a contribution? Just head over to the Generosity website and help a fishermen attend this significant event. Then share the campaign socially using the hashtag #slowfish.


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Sweeten Your Valentine's Day with Le Parfait Paris Strawberry Macarons

I am admittedly a Valentine's Day grinch. I get this from my dad, who used to dismiss it as just a Hallmark holiday. However, I do love the edible Vday bling--chocolates, those little NECCO sweethearts, cinnamon imperials... You name it.

But, honestly, as a grown up, what could be a better sweet gift than a box of French macarons. They're sweet, but not too sweet, and crunchy and gooey. They make you feel très elegant even as the bite you take utterly ravages them.

Funny, though, I'd never actually tried to make them. So when the folks at Le Parfait Paris offered to teach me, I was all in. Guillaume Ryon, who with his wife Ludivine Mas owns the bakery, met with me last week at their massive kitchen in Mission Valley. The Gaslamp bakery prepares their products offsite so that they can devote their downtown space to table service and point of sale and make their wholesale deliveries more efficient.

Ryon and macaron specialist Hayder Jasim spent a couple of hours showing me the ins and outs of macaron production.

It begins with a blend of almond flour and powdered sugar that Jasim weighs and then sifts together. He then whips egg whites in a stand mixture and prepares a simple syrup that he slowly incorporates into the egg whites as he continues to whip them.

Next Jasim adds natural food coloring to the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. Then, using a scraper, he gently incorporates the egg white mixture into the flour mixture. Jasim explained and demonstrated that the texture should be soft and thick so that it flows like a ribbon. He warned against over mixing.

Now you're ready for piping. Here, technique is again important. As you can see below in the video, you don't swirl as you pipe. You gently press it out and with a flick of the wrist twist it off. Here Jasim made small macaron shells of about an inch and a half. You can also make them larger and there are sheet templates you can use to be accurate and consistent.

Then Jasim slams the cookie sheet on the counter a couple of times to remove that tail at the top and create a smooth top. He sprinkled these cookies with coarse sanding sugar that he had mixed with food coloring.

What happens next is the key to getting a crisp macaron. You let the cookies sit and dry. Depending on the weather and humidity, it takes between 20 to 30 minutes for the macarons to go from glossy to matte. Feel free to use a fan if you're impatient.

Then you'll bake the cookies in a 300˚ F oven. While the cookies bake, make the filling. This is pretty easy. Just dice the berries and mix them in a pot with water and agar agar--a vegetarian gelatin substitute--to cook for about 10 minutes. Then puree.

Finally, you're going assemble your macarons. Ryon showed me how they make a small indentation on one cookie with a thumb to be able to add a bit more filling. Pipe the filling into that cookie, then cover with another, gently twisting to secure it.

If you want to elevate them even more, you can dip them in chocolate.

That's it. To make them tastier, Ryon suggests putting them in the freezer for two days so that the flavor from the filling is infused into the shell.

Le Parfait Paris Strawberry Macarons
(Printable recipe)

Yield: 20 to 30 macarons, depending on how large you make them

Ingredients

210 grams powdered sugar
125 grams almond flour
3 eggs, separated (save the yolks for another use)
30 grams sugar
Water--enough to just wet the sugar
1 teaspoon natural red food coloring
10 grams coarse finishing sugar
1 drop of red food coloring
225 grams fresh strawberries
3 teaspoons water
1 gram agar agar
50 grams Valrhonna Dark chocolate or other high-quality chocolate

Pre-heat the oven to 300˚ F.

Mix and sift the powdered sugar and almond flour.

In a stand mixer, begin whipping the egg whites. While the whites are being beaten, combine the sugar and water in a pan and place over heat to make a simple syrup. When the syrup starts boiling, remove from heat and slowly incorporate it into the beating egg whites. When the mixture is fully incorporated, stop the mixer and set the egg white mixture aside.

Add the food coloring to the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. Now gently mix in the egg white mixture, a little at a time, using a bench scraper. Don't over-mix. The texture should be soft and thick and pour like a ribbon. Combine the coarse finishing sugar with the food coloring and set aside.

Gently place the cookie mixture into a piping bag with a #2 tip. Pipe into small round discs on a sheet pan covered with either silpat or parchment paper. Sprinkle with the coarse finishing sugar. Let the cookie shells rest for 20 to 30 minutes until the surface goes from shiny and glossy to matte.

Put them in the oven and bake for 16 minutes if small, 20 minutes if large.

While the shells bake, make the filling. Dice the strawberries and place them in a pot with the water and agar agar. Cook for 10 minutes on high. Use an immersion blender to puree. Let cool.

Remove the shells from the oven and let cool.

When ready to assemble, use a thumb to gently press into the flat side of half the shells to create an indentation. Fill a piping bag, using a #2 tip, with the strawberry filling. Pipe about a teaspoon of the filling onto the indented shells. Then cover with the flat side of a non-indented shell.

At this point you can melt chocolate in a double boiler. Then dip half the cookie into the chocolate and place on a sheet topped with wax paper. Let rest until the chocolate has cooled and set.

Freeze cookies for two days before serving.

Le Parfait Paris is located at 555 G. Street in the Gaslamp.


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Radish Greens Pesto

On a gorgeous January Sunday two weeks ago I spent the morning trailing Chef Norbert Moniz around the Hillcrest Farmers Market. Moniz runs the kitchens at Blind Lady Alehouse and Tiger! Tiger!.

I met him just before 8 a.m. at Tiger! Tiger! and we headed out in his fire engine red Ford Ranger pick up. On our drive over to the market Moniz told me that he's been in San Diego for about a year after spending six years working in Chicago. Originally from Santa Clarita, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, Moniz attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and then ran a little restaurant in Santa Barbara. Concerned that he wasn't learning enough, he gave his notice and packed two bags--one with his clothes and other personal stuff, the other with hockey gear, and took off for Chicago. It was there he seems to have truly learned his trade, after working for what he calls "a lot of great chefs."

After six years, the SoCal native had had enough of Chicago winters and learned from a friend working at Blind Lady Ale House that there was an opening for a chef at Tiger! Tiger!. He got the job. That was a year ago. Now he oversees Tiger! Tiger! and Blind Lady.

Clearly, Moniz loves what he does--to the extent that on Sundays, his day off, he's up early to pick up orders and shop at the Hillcrest Farmers Market and then deliver his groceries to the chefs at the three restaurants.

"I do it because it gets me up and out of bed, I get to hang out with friends at the market, and I can see what's coming in," he says. "And I can geek out with my chefs over the produce when I deliver it."

While we were picking up orders from farmers at the market I came across the most gorgeous Easter Egg radishes at the Maciel Family Farm stand, where Moniz bought beets, mixed greens, butternut squash, fennel, kale, turnips, and other vegetables. Over the years I've bought from them, too, and was delighted to meet owner Paul and his daughter Sara, who is very involved in 4H. The family farm is up in Bonsall, where they also grow flowers.

Moniz was singing the praises of the Maciel's mixed greens so I bought a bag, but I couldn't take my eyes off the plump and colorful radishes so I bought a bunch of them, too. When I got them home I cut the stems off and, unlike your typical sad, wilted supermarket bunches, they were so fresh I couldn't bear to toss them. I'd sautéed radish greens with garlic before so I knew how wonderfully peppery they are. But what to do with them now?

I had to decide quickly. What you learn about radish greens is that they have a pretty short shelf life. I could make soup with them, make a stir fry, roast them, add them to pasta or an omelet, or make a salad with them.

Or, hmmm, make pesto. I had all the ingredients I needed, including a fresh bottle of herbaceous young olive oil from California Olive Ranch that would match the spicy radish leaves.

The first thing you need to do with radish leaves is wash them. Thoroughly. As root vegetables, the greens are close to the ground and seem to attract dirt like spinach. I did several rounds in a salad spinner before I got the grit off to my satisfaction. Once washed and dried I gave them a rough chopping for the blender.

With that, it's just a matter of grating your favorite hard cheese (I used Parmesan), toasting walnuts to bring out their flavor, and trimming some garlic cloves. You'll want to add a touch of butter to round out the flavor, and some salt--but not much because of the saltiness of the cheese.

After that you'll put everything but the oil in the bowl of a blender or food processor and gradually add in the oil until it reaches a smooth and creamy pourable consistency. Then you have the perfect sauce for pasta, salmon, roasted vegetables and all sorts of other dishes.

You can find the Maciel Family Farm at the Hillcrest, Coronado, Oceanside, Old Town Temecula, and Old Town Poway farmers markets. 

Radish Greens Pesto
(printable recipe)
Yield: 2 cups

6 ounces radish leaves, with tough stems removed (save and snack on them or add to a stir fry)
1 cup walnuts, toasted
5 cloves garlic, peeled and trimmed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
Pinch of salt
3/4 to 1 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil

After removing the tough stems, wash and dry the leaves thoroughly and roughly chop.

In the bowl of a blender or food processor, add the leaves, walnuts, garlic, cheese, butter, and salt. Put the lid on but leave the opening available to add the oil. Turn on the machine and slowly add the oil. Puree the contents until the mixture reaches a loose, creamy consistency. Periodically, stop and scrape down the sides to incorporate all the ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings.

You can keep the pesto refrigerated for up to a week, although it's best used right away. Be sure to pour some oil over the surface to keep it from oxidizing and turning brown. Or you can freeze it.

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