Those of you who live in town probably remember when the River City Food Bank caught fire last October just before the holidays. The food bank which feeds over 40,000 people a year was destroyed and all that was left were charred bits and rubble. But much like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the RCFB with the help of area businesses and the Sacramento community was able to regroup and reopen at a new location.
RCFB is the only Sacramento-area food bank open every weekday to those in need and has been in operation for over forty years. They rely on the generosity of grants and private donations from the community to help them feed the less fortunate. They also put together fundraisers during the year to help with costs, like the annual Empty Bowls event. The 8th Annual Empty Bowls which took place this week consists of 2 events: An evening social gathering that includes wine, hors d’oeuvres and your pick from a half dozen gourmet soups. Or you can attend one of the daytime events (there are two seatings), where you get to indulge in your choice of a gourmet soup and also choose one of 1500 beautifully hand-crafted bowls made by area students and professional potters. I was invited to attend by my gracious friend, Gretchen and was taken aback at how large of an event Empty Bowls was. The event was held in the historic Sacramento Masonic Temple on J Street and despite having a huge turnout, everything was well executed and well organized.
Even if you missed the Empty Bowls event, it's not too late to make a donation. With the current economic climate being what it is, the need for programs like RCFB is greater than ever. You can donate money, food or your time by contacting the RCFB at mailto:email@RiverCityFoodBank.org.
( I went with a delicious bowl of crab bisque)
(One of the tables displaying the various handcrafted bowls)
(I took home this simple but elegant bowl. It's hard to tell in the photo but it's a soft shade of pinkish tan)
I love scallops, in fact I often judge restaurants by their scallop dishes. If the chef can get that nice crunchy sear on the scallop, they're aces in my book. Scallops though are pretty expensive when you eat out and you usually only get three of them...four if you're lucky. So every once in awhile, I'll cook myself and Mr. S. a batch. I may have to start buying more scallops though because it seems Kidlet #1 has taken a shine to the meaty little mollusks. Now if you remember I've tried my hand at Pan-Seared Scallops with Champagne Grapes & Toasted Almonds and also Caramelized Scallops with a Balsalmic Reduction Sauce; both were delicious. Well, on Monday night I decided to give Scallops Piccata a whirl. I couldn't find a recipe that met my needs exactly, so I used one I found on Cooking in Alaska as a guideline and built on that. The end result was quite awesome.
By the way in case you need to brush up on your Jeopardy trivia, here's a couple of fun facts regarding scallops:
- Bay scallops have several pairs of eyes set in the mantle along the margin of the shell. The eyes can detect shadows and movement, which brings about an escape response. They will either take off or close their shell.
- Most scallops are free-living and are capable swimmers for short distances. They move by jetting water through their valves / opening and closing their shell.
Scallops Piccata
Ingredients
1 lb. scallops (try and get "Day Boat", "Dry Pack" or "Diver" scallops if you can)
3 T capers (preferable preserved in salt)
4-5 T butter
1/3 c fresh lemon juice (I also added in 1 quartered piece of preserved lemon rind from the batch I made at X-mas time. * Just remove the pulp and rinse the rind with water before using.)
1/2 c dry white wine (I ended up adding a few extra splashes)
1-2 T olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 12 oz. bag frozen artichoke hearts (Trader Joe's has them cheap)
1/4 c flour for dredging the scallops
Fresh ground pepper
Salt
Instructions
- Turn your oven to the warm setting and place an oven safe dish in there.
- If using salt-preserved capers, rinse off the salt and let them soak in cold water for 10 – 15 minutes, and rinse them again. If using brined capers, rinse off the brine. Dry the capers and roughly chop them if they are large. Set aside.
- Place a paper towel on a clean plate. Rinse your scallops and place them on the paper towel. Cover with another paper towel. Take a second plate and place it on top of the paper towel and press down, squeezing out any liquid in the scallops. Repeat if they still have a lot of liquid in them.
- Season both sides of the scallops with fresh ground pepper and salt. Then dredge them lightly through the flour.
- Place your skillet on your burner on high for a few minutes. Once it's super hot, add the olive oil. When the olive oil reaches a smoking point, using tongs place the scallops on the skillet one by one. Space them out so they aren't touching.
- Now here's the important part. Don't touch the scallops! To get that nice sear on them, you need to keep your tongs to yourself and not futz with them. Cook for about 2 minutes then flip each scallop over. Cook the other side for 2 minutes.
- Remove the scallops and place them on the oven safe dish and place them in the oven to stay warm.
- Add the lemon juice, garlic and white wine to the pan, scraping up any browned bits or caramelization on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the liquid has reduced to 1/3 cup.
- Lower the heat to medium and whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the capers.
- Add artichokes (and throw in the slice of preserved lemon rind, if you have it).
- Allow to simmer for a few minutes. Remove the preserved rind at this time.
- Plate your scallops and spoon the artichoke and sauce mixture on top. Pair with your favorite side (we went with jasmine rice that night).
Oranges, lemons and limes you find them year round, but I love it when blood oranges come into season. There's something luxurious and decadent looking about their crimson, blood colored flesh. I always look forward to having a blood orange infused cocktail, indulging in some blood orange sorbet or spotting a few blood orange segments in my arugula salad. It's a refreshing change. The one thing I've never done though is bake with blood oranges...until this week. I had picked up a few at the farmers' market and decided to use them in a recipe I had for an orange-almond cake. The original recipe, in Claudia Roden's A New Book of Middle Eastern Food calls for 2 large oranges which I swapped out with 4 smaller-sized blood oranges. The nice thing about this recipe is that it utilizes ground almonds instead of flour, thus making it GF (gluten-free). You can either grind the almonds yourself or you can pick up a bag of almond meal at Trader Joe's relatively cheap. I asked my friend Cate, who's my GF-go-to-person, if she'd taste test the end result. Now, Cate said she liked the cake but for me, it probably won't be one I'd make again...at least not with blood oranges, maybe with regular oranges. Granted the cake was wonderfully fragrant (the cottage smelled delicious while it was baking), zesty and moist; however, the blood oranges were just a tad too bitter for me (you use the oranges, peel and all in this recipe). This definitely is a "grown-ups" dessert though...it would pair well with some afternoon tea or coffee.
Claudia Roden’s Middle Eastern Orange Cake
Ingredients
2 large oranges, washed (or 4 small blood oranges)
6 eggs, beaten
250g ground almonds
250g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Boil whole, unpeeled oranges in a little water in a covered saucepan for 2 hours.
- Remove from water. Allow to cool, then cut open, remove pips (the seeds) and chop roughly (including the rind).
- Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 F) and butter and flour (or line with baking paper) a springform tin.
- Blend oranges and remaining ingredients thoroughly in a food processor.
- Pour the batter into prepared tin.
- Bake for 1 hour. If the cake is still very wet, cook a little longer.
- Cool in tin before gently turning out.
- Optional: dust with powdered sugar or top with a dollop of clotted cream.
Readers, I know May seems a bit far off but this event just sounds too good not to share!
On May 14th, the Tour de Cluck will be taking place in Davis. Yep, that's right...I said, Tour de Cluck...as in chickens!
The Tour de Cluck includes: a self-guided bicycle crawl of neighborhood clusters (coop loops), backyard poultry experts providing information and assistance on breed selection/feeding options/coop design and construction, an art exhibit and silent action (with all kinds of cool chicken art), a clucking exhibition and a Fowl Food Fair. Best of all, the Tour de Cluck benefits the Davis Farm to School program.
Sounds like a cluckin' good time. Put it down on your calendar!
Living Library at Time Tested Books presents Shawn Harrison, executive director of Soil Born Farms, and restaurateur and chef Patrick Mulvaney discussing local agriculture and its place in Sacramento dining. Event is free and open to the public.
March 20 @ 7pm Location: Time Tested Books (1114 21st, Sacramento)
Things get lost in my fridge, it's like the Bermuda Triangle in there. I'm always surprised at the bottles and jars I find when I'm digging through the clutter in search of an ingredient. Case in point last week, I was pulling out bottles left and right trying to find a jar of umeboshi (pickled japanese plums) that I knew was lost somewhere in the depths of my fridge; when I came across an unopened jar of rosemary-plum jam that my friend Katy had made this summer and was kind enough to share with me. When she had given it to me this past summer, I remember trying to open it and the lid was wedged so tight that I had placed it back in the fridge and had figured Mr. S. could open it for me the next time he was over. Then I plumb forgot! Anyhow, the little jar of jam must have gotten shoved to the wayside at some point. In a way though it's great news....as now we're here in chilly March with nary a plum in sight and I have some delicious rosemary-plum jam to use! At first, I thought of pairing it with a roasted pork tenderloin but then I decided I'd rather make some jam thumbprint cookies. Remember the Alice Water's recipe for sweet tart dough I used it my Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies? You can use that dough (which is easy to make) and pair it with your favorite jam.
Here's a pic of my finished treats. They were wonderful...the rosemary in the jam gave the cookies a nice savory taste.
Also, on the subject of fridges...if you've never checked out Mark Manjivar's works you should...it's quite interesting. As part of his series, "You Are What You Eat," he spent three years photographing the contents of people's fridges- everyone from vegetarians, competitive food eaters, former soldiers in Hitler’s SS to a drummer in a death metal band. A few samples are shown on his website and each photo caption includes the person's occupation, city/state, how many people in the household and an interesting tidbit regarding the fridge owner.
