Alfajores

Ever since I saw Matt Armendariz on the Martha Stewart show making his fabulous alfajores cookies, I've been dreaming about making (and eating!) them myself. I love the idea of a tender cookie sandwich filled with dulce de leche, one of my all-time favorite flavors.

So the other day I decided to bake up a batch for the trio of sushi chefs at my favorite joint, Z's in Alhambra. Since I work from home, I don't have co-workers to bake treats for, and I couldn't possibly keep these around as I would, no doubt, eat them all myself. I followed this recipe but also added a teaspoon of orange zest to the dough, and then mixed a teaspoon of Cointreau into the dulce de leche for a little added orange-y flavor. They were everything I thought they would be: soft, buttery and delicious!

The Salt House, San Francisco

You know those perfect dinners out? The kind where the atmosphere is mellow enough to hear each others' conversation but bustling enough to feel alive; where every plate is just so delicious that everyone is scrambling to try everyone else's dish; where the service is so seamless that you barely notice the waitperson yet you don't find yourself needing anything because your glass is always full. I had one of those fantastic meals the other night with my friends Joe and Jill at the Salt House in San Francisco.

Jill and Joe - a power couple if ever there was one. She's an attorney, he's a deputy district attorney. Need I say more?

We shared two appetizers: The lovely dayboat scallops with white corn, chorizo, shittakes and an orange gremolata.

We also shared the poutin, Canada's answer to chili cheese fries. Salt House's poutin consists of fries topped with a short rib gravy and Bravo Farms cheddar. What's not to LOVE?

Jill had the prime New York steak with white corn, spelt, fava beans and a sweet corn puree. The sweet corn was divine, and a perfect compliment to the savory steak.

I went for the Peking duck, which was served with a white bean and summer vegetable salad, and short ribs (yes, that's short ribs at the end of the plate). Decadent and delicious!

Joe opted for the Alaskan halibut which was sitting atop a sweet and sour sauce and summer vegetables. It was light, flaky and perfectly crusted.

We were lucky enough to sit next to the large basket of bread - not a bad thing to look at all night! This is the crusty-chewy bread that everyone gets upon seating at the Salt House.

For dessert, the three of us split this strawberry shortcake with vanilla ice cream. Light, sweet and just about all we could handle after our very substantial dinner!

An Ode to the Pork Man

Watching the ships sail across the bay

I marvel at the beauty of my perfect treat.

Spicy arugula, rich olive oil and luscious Lonza parlay

a mere sandwich into a memorable gastronomic feat.

Chris Cosentino, I commend you

for mastering the culinary arts.

Instead of making boring burgers with animals that go "moo"

you create wonders with tasty salted pig parts.

Recipe Makeover

Though I generally eat healthy, almost everything I crave is technically "bad" for me: Chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting, hamburgers and various fried things. Thankfully I have figured out ways to make healthy versions of all the foods I long for.

Case in point: To satisfy my recent hot dog and onion rings craving, I made a turkey frank on a whole wheat bun with onions, relish, Dijon, pickled jalapenos and ketchup. For the rings, I simply sliced an onion into rings, tossed them in a large Ziplock bag with a couple of tablespoons of flour, dipped them in a mixture of low-fat buttermilk and hot sauce, then rolled them around in a mix of panko breadcrumbs, cayenne pepper and salt (put this mixture in a shallow dish and toss only 1-2 rings at a time; I tried the plastic bag method for this and it doesn't work as well). I then baked them in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

The result? Crunchy, hearty onion rings without the grease or guilt, and a hot dog that even a health nut could love (well, maybe not a health NUT). The best part is 10 of these rings have about 190 calories total (that's less than half of the fried stuff!).

Palm Springs Eats & Treats

My sister and I recently took a weekend trip to Palm Springs - for the first time. Ate at a few good places, stayed at a fabulous hotel (spent most of our time in the hotel pool, actually) and stopped by the outlets for some great bargains on the way home. Here are some quick snaps of the trip...

Breakfast at Cheeky's, a cute little cafe just down a ways from the hustle of Palm Canyon Drive. I had their housemade cheese and chive biscuit, sausage and custard-style eggs. Everything was delicious, especially the soft-scrambled eggs (that's the way they should be!), though the homemade sausages tasted more like hamburger patties.

Anne had the breakfast quesadilla, which came with a side of chipotle sauce. The sauce was somewhat bland, but the quesadilla was nice and light and not at all greasy.

A bit outside of Palm Springs, we hit Hadley's for their famous date shake. Many rave about the farm's thick and creamy concoction, so we stopped and gave it a try.

The shake was good, but very, very sweet, and I couldn't really taste the dates that much. I guess I expected to get a real hit of deep, rich date flavor, but what I got was something that tasted more like a honey vanilla milk shake with bits of tough skin mixed in. It was enjoyable, but did not live up to my expectations. Next time, I will go to Shields in Indio, which my dad says has the best date shakes in the desert.

What exceeded our expectations was the Riviera Hotel, where we camped out for the weekend. The service was excellent and our room was comfortable and nicely appointed, and the Andy Warhol/gothic cathedral decor was a cool contrast to the dry desert landscape.

One evening we sipped margaritas at the SideBar lounge, which has a view of the hotel's spectacular pool.

For dinner one evening, we tried Matchbox, a woodfire pizzeria that came very highly recommended on many food blogs and websites. The pizza was OK, but nothing worth recommending. The cheese was gummy and there wasn't much flavor in the sauce.

What Matchbox got right was their special spicy tuna tempura roll, which was nicely seasoned with a sweet soy sauce and had a nice punch of spice (I like spicy foods, so it was perfect for me). The tempura exterior was crispy and light, and the tuna inside was fresh.

The Matchbox salad was also very good, with a balsamic vinaigrette and lots of fresh veggies.

But the highlight of our trip was Tyler's, a burger joint that's famous for their fresh, handmade burgers and crispy, housemade cole slaw.

The cole slaw was perfect: light but creamy, with the tang of vinegar and the bite of celery seeds. This is how cole slaw should be!

And the burger - damn! Perfectly cooked (medium rare) with cold, crisp iceberg, onion slices, tomato, cheese and pickles on a bun that was light but could hold all the beautiful ingredients of this sandwich. One of the best, or perhaps THE best burger I have had at a casual take-out/cafe, ever.