Event: Noche Colombiana

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Looking for something interesting to do and eat this weekend? This Sunday (June 17th, starting at 530pm), Formoli's in East Sac will be hosting a Columbia Night.

Menu:

First Course: Patacones con Ahogado (Colombian-style Fried Plantains with Tomato-Onion Sauce)
Second Course: Ajiaco Bogotano (Chicken Stew Style Soup)
Third Course: Sobrebarriga con Salsa (Flank Steak with Sauce)
Fourth Course: Postre de Natas (Cream Dessert)

$30/pp. If you're interested you can contact the restaurant at (916) 448-5699 for further details or to make reservations.

Clark's Corner

5641 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819. (916) 457-5600
http://www.clarkscornerbar.com

Remember the Shakey's Pizza on J Street? It doesn't seem too long ago that I was there munching on a slice of pizza pie and gabbing with friends. The pizzeria may have closed but the nostalgia remains for a lot of Sacramentans. Since the closure of the original Shakey's that corner of 57th and J has changed identities several times. These days, it's called Clark's Corner, a family-friendly eatery and neighborhood bar. Mr.S. and I had stopped in there during the winter while we were out holiday shopping; we popped in during dinnertime and were immediately sat in a pretty empty looking dining room at a table not too far from the fireplace. The tables in the area where we sat were half-booths around the perimeter all located under lighting units that cast down a extremely strong, bright beam of light down on the person who was on the booth side. It felt like we were seated at one of those interrogation tables you see in old cop shows. It was extremely uncomfortable; however, there was nowhere to move to as there appeared to be only two small stations open that night (the rest of the dining room looked shut down). We looked over our menus and placed our orders, at which time we were told by our waitress that they were out of both dishes we wanted along with a few others. So, I ended up ordering the Kobe burger and Mr.S. went with their fish dish. When the waitress brought out my dinner, the burger looked tasty but it turned out to be extremely overcooked and the sweet potato fries were cold. Also I had asked for no cheese, but there was a nice big helping of melted cheese on my burger. On the other hand, Mr.S. liked his pan roasted fish dish. The fish and the accompanying greens were cooked well and came with a nice sized helping of mashed potatoes. During our meal, our waitress kept disappearing for long periods of time so we found ourselves having to flag down the other waiter on duty a few times (poor guy) - for silverware, more coffee and soda, ketchup and even the bill. I left unimpressed with the whole experience and never bothered to write a review. In fact, my notes and the photo I snapped of my burger just sat on my laptop for months- untouched collecting cyberdust.

Flash forward to last week. I was meeting my friend Stacey for a few adult beverages and a bite. It was her turn to pick a place to eat and she suggested Clark's Corner since it was close to her neighborhood. At first I was hesitant but then I thought, "Why not? Let's give it a second shot." When I showed up she was seated in the bar area instead of the dining room. Unlike the dim dining room illuminated by harsh spotlights in no man's land, the bar area had windows and was quite lively so I asked if we could stay in there. The bartender (I think his name was Balele?) was super friendly and engaging and seemed to know several of the regulars. He did a terrific job of recommending drinks and getting me to try a few new craft cocktails (both of which were delicious). For dinner, I decided to go with their Corner Bird (grilled chicken breast, fried onion, pepper jack cheese, crispy bacon and ranch on sourdough). Unfortunately, they were out of sweet potato fries so I settled for the potato fries. The sandwich was good and the fries hot this time.

My second visit at Clark's Corner was vastly better than the first. Seriously, like night and day. Better atmosphere, food and service. To be honest, I'm not sure if they worked out the kinks since my last visit, did a revamp or if we just hit it on a really off night back during the winter. I do plan to take Mr.S. back there sometime but I think we'll opt to sit in the front room where the bar is, it's just a better vibe than the dining room. I'm glad I went back though, I guess second time's a charm in this case!

Additionally:
* dog friendly patio
* serves brunch on weekends

Blackberry Yogurt Cake

As we get older doesn't life seem to get much more complicated? We tend to take a lot things for granted and forget the small joys in life. For example, the other day I was at the doctor's office and I had to go on the elevator. I stepped in and stood by the control panel and was shortly joined by a young boy and his father. I could see the little boy eyeing the elevator buttons and it was obviously taking every ounce of his self-control not to reach in front of me and push all the buttons. So I leaned over and asked, "Would you mind helping me? I'm headed to floor number 2." His eyes lit up with pure delight and he immediately pushed button #2 along with the floor that he and his dad were going to. It was such a small gesture, nothing really...but I could tell I had made his day. As I stepped off the elevator, I looked back to see him grinning from ear to ear. Seeing that mile wide smile on his face reminded me of the things we take for granted as adults. We tend to overlook the things in our day to day life that brought us so much joy as children- like playing in the sprinklers, staying up late or going to the park...and yes, pushing the buttons in an elevator. As kids, we would also look forward to the first fruits of a season- that initial bite of sweet summertime watermelon or sinking our teeth into a juicy ripe peach. Inspired by my interaction in the elevator, I decided to stop on the way home and buy some fresh blackberries. My first of the season. As I got out my ingredients to bake this cake, I popped a few berries in my mouth and savored the intense flavors of tart and sweet...and for a moment or two, life seemed simple.

Note: This cake is based on a recipe for Blueberry-yogurt cake from Sunset Magazine. If you don't like seeds in your cake, you may want to strain them out before adding the blackberries into your cake mix. If you're like me and they don't bother you, you can toss the berries into the mix whole.

 

Blackberry Yogurt Cake (adapted from Sunset Magazine, July 2006, Blueberry Yogurt Cake)

Ingredients

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 cup fresh blackberries

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In Bowl #1, cream your butter and sugar until it's nice and fluffy. Then add your vanilla and eggs. Beat well.

3. In Bowl #2, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add it to the ingredients of Bowl #1. Then add your yogurt. Stir thoroughly.

4. Add in your blackberries and mix gently.

5. In Bowl #3, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts.

6. Place 1/2 of the cake batter in a butter and floured pan (the recipe says to use an 8-inch square pan but I used a 10-inch baking dish since that's what I had on hand), then top with 1/2 of Bowl #3's contents.

7. Add the rest of the cake batter to the pan.

8. Mix the remaining brown sugar mixture in Bowl #3 with 2 tablespoons of butter and sprinkle this over the top of the batter.

9. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a knife slid in the center comes out goop-free.

10. Serve warm- sliced out of the pan or in individual serving dishes (I used ramekins).

Golden Age Comic Book Stories: SUPERMAN. Sept 1, 1946

Grilled Asian Flat Iron Steak

Aack! Ever feel as through you're going through a period of having the yips? Yeah, yeah, I know...technically "the yips" is used when referring to a sport like golf or baseball, but cooking's sort of a sport, right? ;) Anyhow, I've been dropping stuff left and right in the kitchen lately, unable to concentrate during a recipe and just overall feeling like I'm off my game. It's times like this when I really need to remember to take a breathe and step back for a bit. So while I'm waiting for my case of the yips to subside, I've been letting Mr.S. do some of the cooking. I recently ran across a recipe that sounded pretty interesting. It involved flat iron steaks (aka top blade steaks) and since neither of us had ever cooked one before, we decided to purchase a few from Corti's and give it a go. I threw together a batch of Asian marinade and tossed the whole lot into a Ziploc bag, marinated the steaks for 6 hours and then let Mr.S. work his magic on the grill. Surprisingly, the flat iron steaks turned out to be nice and thick, juicy and tender. Just what I needed for my bad case of the yips. I'd definitely buy them again.

Grilled Asian Flat Iron Steak (recipe adapted from Savory Sweet Life)

Ingredients

2 Flat Iron Steaks

1/2 cup Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Extra Dry Sherry

1/4 cup Honey

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Ginger

2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Garlic

1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

2 Tablespoons Roasted Sesame Seeds

2 Green Onions, Thinly Sliced

Instructions

- Combine soy sauce, sherry, honey, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Whisk marinade until thoroughly mixed.

- Place the steaks in a large Ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over the steaks, seal the bag and massage it a bit to coat meat.

- Place the bag in the fridge to marinate for 5-6 hours.

- After 5-6 hours, drain the marinade and pat the meat dry.

- Grill on medium heat for about 8-10 minutes a side. Be careful to not overcook.

- When steaks reach desired doneness, remove from grill. Allow to rest on a cutting board for about 5 minutes before slicing.

- Slice across the grain, garnish with sesame seeds and green onions and serve.

Note: If you happen to have any leftovers, they're perfect for making a sandwich or topping a salad.

Brussels Sprouts & Shiitakes in Mascarpone

I have to admit some of my favorite recipes have come neither from a book or a world renown chef. Rather, I've stumbled across them by sheer happenstance while cleaning out my fridge, rooting through a cupboard late at night or just haphazardly throwing stuff in a pot. Like this Brussels sprouts recipe I made on Saturday night...it was ridiculously good and tasted oh so decadent, but it was made with just a few ingredients that I had laying about in my fridge. In fact, it was so good Mr. S. and I ate the entire bowl-- in one sitting. Yeah, we're not proud of that little fact...but damn, we couldn't help ourselves!

Brussels Sprouts and Shiitakes in Mascarpone

Ingredients

3 cups shredded fresh Brussels sprouts (be sure to remove the stems ends and any damaged/wilted leaves before shredding)

2 oz. fresh shiitakes, sliced

3 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced

4 oz. mascarpone

1.5 to 2 tablespoons garlic, minced (less if you're not a garlic slut like I am, I love the stuff)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

salt and freshly ground pepper


Instructions

1. In a large skillet or pan, heat your butter over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).

2. Add the Brussels sprouts, green onions and a pinch of salt. Saute for about 4-5 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

3. Mix in the sliced shiitakes and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Stir in the mascarpone. Cover, lower heat to medium-low. Braise for about 20-25 minutes until the shredded sprouts get to the point where they are nice and tender. Take care though to not overcook them because, "overcooked sprouts become, yellowish, mushy and develop the flavor of stale cabbage." (Julia Child) And no one likes a mushy sprout.

5. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir well and simmer for another minute or two, uncovered.

6. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Sometimes life's about the small celebrations just as much as it is about the big ones. It could be something simple as you hooking up your new TV all by yourself, that your kidlet learned how to do a wheelie on his bike without crashing or that your horrible boss was switched to a different department. This weekend, Mr.S. finally sold his car and whoo boy was he excited! That BMW has been a pain in his rear for the last few months and he's been wanting to 86 it for ages and get a more practical vehicle; in his case, a SUV since we haul the kidlets and their buddies around a lot. Also, it would come in pretty handy for when we go camping or on roadtrips. To celebrate, I baked him a batch of peanut butter cookies (his favorite kind of cookie). A batch all to himself. I even used "creepy peanut butter," a joke between us. It's the all natural peanut butter, you know the kind if you let it sit too long it separates and you have to stir it up? He loves the stuff. And it turned out he loved the cookies as well.

If you're interested in making up a batch, they're super easy to make and only require 4 ingredients. I found the recipe on a PBS site and it makes about a dozen soft, thick, very peanuty cookies that are gluten-free. And since there's only four ingredients, this would be a great recipe to use if you wanted to bake cookies together with your kidlet.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (adapted from PBS Parents: Kitchen Explorers Four Ingredient Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies)

Ingredients

1 cup natural peanut butter* (my current fav for this recipe is Trader Joe's Valencia Creamy Peanut Butter with Sea Salt)
1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* if you're using unsalted peanut butter, add a pinch of sea salt

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

- Using a hand or stand mixer, mix the ingredients on low speed until well combined.

- Place a Silpat on your baking tray.

- Take about a tablespoon and a half's worth of dough and roll it into a ball. Then lightly "smash" it down into a cookie shape.

- Place on the Silpat. Continue with the rest of the dough. Be sure to leave adequate room between the cookies.

- Once done, use the tines on a fork to push down and make a cross-hatch design on the tops of the cookie.

- Place the cookies in the oven and bake for about 12 minutes.

- Once they're done, take them out and let them cool on the tray for about 2-3 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack. (If you move them before that, they will fall apart).

Good Times

Did you survive the heat this weekend? When it gets super hot like this all I usually want to do is throw on some shorts, crank the AC and loll around indoors. However today, Mr. S. and I had plans to go check out the Good Street Food and Design Market in Del Paso Heights so lolling was out of the question. I had heard that the marketplace was trying to follow the format of Dose Market in Chicago and San Francisco's Ferry Building so I was excited to check it out.

We arrived early at the marketplace (located in a warehouse) to find a clean, bright venue with fun music pumping and various vendors set up. Considering this was their "grand opening." I thought they were very organized and things seemed to be running pretty smoothly. Although it was a relatively small market, there was a nice mixture of vendor types (clothing, art, music, food and drinks), there were plenty of places to sit and they carded guests at the door to ensure those who were of drinking age were braceleted. We ended up browsing through the merchandise for a bit, grabbing a cup of coffee from the guys at Broadacre and then taking a seat to soak in the scene. It was fun to watch the vendors interact with the public. Some might consider the goods a tad pricey but they were on par with what you'd come across if you shopped at a independently-owned boutique or a local bakery/cafe. As we were leaving, Mr.S. commented that it would be really cool if they added a few more food trucks in the future (we only saw two in the back lot when we were there) and I agree- this would be a great place for the food trucks to congregate and peddle their eats. It'll be interesting to see what the marketplace coordinators add to the mix if the concept catches on-- I would love to see some charcuterie offerings or perhaps a table selling hand crafted spirits (small batch bourbon?). Overall, we had a good time and it was a nice way to spend a Sunday morning.

When: First Sundays of the month, from 1-5 pm. June 3 through November
Where: 1409 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento
Info: www.facebook.com/GOODstreetfooddesignmarket
Cost: $3 for Adults, Kids 18 and under free
Parking: Bike parking available. Ample street parking for cars.