Slice high-quality bacon, cook in a non-stick skillet until cooked through but not crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
Meanwhile sauté finely chopped yellow onion with a small amount of bacon fat until soft and slightly browned. Set aside on paper towels to cool. Combine bacon and onion.
Spray a pie dish with baking spray (cooking spray with flour added). Form pie dough (homemade or store-bought) in the pie dish.
Add bacon onion mixture.
My ratio for quiche custard base is:
5 fresh whole large eggs
2 1/2 cups of warm light cream
1 T flour
salt and pepper
I beat these ingredients with an electric hand mixer.
Pour custard base over the bacon onion mixture. Bake at 350° for about an hour, maybe a little longer, until just cooked through.
Let quiche cool completely to room temperature.
Slice the quiche into wedges before topping with the salad. Top the bacon quiche with tomato wedges and mixed lettuces tossed with mayonnaise or ranch dressing, salt and pepper to taste. A pie server is perfect for serving. This is a great dish for a brunch buffet as it is served at room temperature, it’s colorful, whimsical and delicious!
To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars
The morning fog may chill the air, I don’t care
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me
Tony Bennett with Judy Garland
The 1st annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival was a huge success. Congratulations and thank you to the entire Foodbuzz team for hosting this wonderful weekend in San Francisco.
Day 1
Welcome Reception, Hotel Vitale
Taste of San Francisco Street Food Fare, Ferry Building
Day 2
Morning at the Market, Ferry Building
Olive Oil Tasting, Hotel Vitale
Taste Pavilion, at the Metreon
Merlot Tasting, at the Metreon
Foodbuzz Dinner and Awards Ceremony, at GreenLeaf Produce Warehouse by Outstanding in the Field
Day 3
Farewell Brunch, Restaurant LuLu
Day 1
Hotel Vitale Landmark Terrace
Welcome reception with a view of the Ferry Building
Street Food Fare
The Chicharrones Girl
“A one-way ticket to chicharrones heaven.”
Rotisserie Porchetta
Heritage’s free range pork loin rolled into the belly with Thomas’s original herb mix with lemon zest. Grilled on the rotisserie for four hours until crispy brown on the outside, succulent on the inside.
Crisscrossing North America, Outstanding in the Field’s long, linen-draped table beckons adventurous diners to celebrate food at the source. Bringing together local farmers and food artisans, chefs and winemakers, exploring the connection between the earth and the food on your plate. Their mission is to re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it. More about Outstanding in the Field here.
GreenLeaf Produce Display
Cooking a Gourmet Dinner in a Warehouse
Kudos to the team from Namu Restaurant!
Foodies in a Warehouse
GreenLeaf Produce Warehouse
a terrific venue for a unique and enchanted evening…
Soup Line
Preparing to serve 250 bowls of soup.
The Soup: Mushroom Dashi, Maitake, Shimeji, Enoki
Salad Course Udon, grilled Monterey calamari in a browned butter ponzu reduction, cucumber, kaiware, frisée & yellow pear tomato with chojang & sesame vinaigrette
The festival ended with a delicious brunch and build-your-own Bloody Mary bar sponsored by Nature’s Pride and Skyy Spirits at Restaurant LuLu. The Farewell Brunch was the perfect ending to an amazing weekend. Besides hanging out with my dear dear friend Father Adam, and getting to meet many awesome bloggers, my next favorite part of the event, being a table setting aficionado myself, was that Outstanding Table! I haven’t stopped talking about it! A heartfelt thank you to the folks at Foodbuzz for all your planning and creativity and graciousness. The weekend rocked!
To all my foodie friends, it was an absolute pleasure to get to know you! Best wishes for continued success with your fabulous blogs. I left my heart in San Francisco, how about you? See you next year!
“We blog, we eat, we cook, we drink. So when Foodbuzz sat down to cook up our first weekend blogger event, we decided to host a festival of networking and collaborating the way foodies do things: over good meals and in good company! You’ll be hands on tasting, eating, drinking, networking and learning all weekend. Meet amazing foodie friends, and return home with awesome experiences to blog about.”
To those of you who will be in San Francisco this weekend, I am definitely looking forward to meeting you! We are going to have a blast. I am very excited that my dear friend and great cook, Father Adam will be there too! And to everyone else, I look forward to sharing our experiences when we return. Have a great weekend!
The original Oysters Rockefeller recipe created by Jules Alciatore in 1899 at Antoine’s Restaurant in New Orleans remains a secret to this day. Since no one outside of Antoine’s knows the exact recipe, there are hundreds of variations. Fresh oysters, assorted greens, toasty breadcrumbs…it’s hard to go wrong with any combination!
Komo Gway
Komo Gway Oysters are cultured in the clean, clear waters of Baynes Sound, British Columbia, Canada, using sustainable methods. Pentlatch Seafoods Ltd., a company wholly owned by the K’ómoks First Nation, produces Komo Gway Oysters within their traditional territory.
Komo Gway, “Ruler of the Undersea”
Pentlatch Seafoods Ltd. honors the Legend of Komo Gway by ensuring, above all, the sustainability of the sea and its creatures by seeding, annually, millions of Manila Clams and Pacific Oysters on their beaches. To further ensure the sustainability of the marine resources, they have also implemented an Environmental Stewardship Program that supports the continuation of clean marine waters within their traditional territory. The mission statement is “CLEAN WATER Our Responsibility, Our Legacy” which ensures sustainability of resources and their legacy to future generations.
I just recently discovered these oysters at the Ports O’ Call fish market. They are heavenly! Plump, with a clean, crisp, slight cucumber flavor. And not too difficult to shuck either!
Taste With The Eyes’
Oysters Rockefeller
Blend baby spinach, fresh tarragon leaves, rough chopped scallions, and a small amount of panko bread crumbs in the small bowl of a food processor. (Other recipes include ingredients such as parsley, celery, celery leaves, chervil, watercress, and some omit the spinach).
Sauté the spinach mixture in butter for just a few minutes. Add a splash of Pastis, Paprika Piquant (hot paprika), and salt to taste. Set aside to cool.
Mix equal parts Parmesan and panko breadcrumbs together, add Paprika Piquant to taste. (Some recipes include cheese, others do not).
Fill the bottom of an ovenproof pan with Kosher or rock salt. Nestle fresh shucked oysters into the salt. Top each with the spinach mixture. (Some recipes add crumbled bacon atop the spinach mixture).
Then top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 450° for about 12-14 minutes until the breadcrumb mixture is golden brown.
The Rich Theme
For a little extra Rockefeller richness, I top each oyster with a small dollop of creme fraiche.
“We trust that you will be pleased with the riches from our lands.”
K’ómoks First Nation
According to legend, it is said that an Antoine’s customer exclaimed with delight after eating this dish, “Why, this is as rich as Rockefeller!”
John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American industrialist. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and aggressively ran it until he officially retired in 1897. As kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, Rockefeller’s wealth soared, and he became the world’s richest man and first American billionaire. (from wikipedia)
Opah, also called moonfish, weighing up to 200 lbs., is harvested incidentally by long-line boats fishing for tuna and billfish in the Pacific. This fish does not swim in schools, so it is caught by accident. Historically, catching an opah was regarded as good luck and was given away rather than sold. The fishmonger at Bristol Farms poetically told me that the skin of a moonfish resembles moonlight dancing on the ocean. (photo from hawaii-seafood.org)
Opah has a rich, creamy flavor and firm, fatty texture, resulting from a diet of mostly squid. To make this dish: Combine pistachio nutmeat and panko breadcrumbs with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in a food processor. Dust the filet with flour, lightly coat with mayonnaise, then crust the filet with the pistachio mixture. Sauté in olive oil in a non-stick ovenproof pan until both sides are browned. Finish cooking the fish for just a few minutes in a 400° oven.
The folks at POM Wonderful sent me a few samples of their pomegranate products, one of which is this awesome POM Nectarine juice. 100% juice. I simply poured it into a pan and reduced it over medium-high heat to a syrup consistency. It needed nothing else, and paired beautifully with the fish! I am looking forward to trying this juice reduction with other dishes. And thank you POM Wonderful.
One of my favorite parts of hosting a dinner party is setting the table in the morning. Sometimes our dinner parties have themes, as in the Jackie Kennedy Dinner, or the Gourmet Retro Dinner Party, the Wolfgang Puck Austrian Dinner, or the All-Salmon Dinner Party. But this night was just about some good food and good friends. The inspiration for the table setting came from my garden, I just picked what was blooming!
A jaunty table setting with colors of the roses: red, purple, and white.
