Golden Summer cocktail

I know I know, Summer is over. But who cares? We can still feel and taste Summer even if it's fall right? This drink lets you taste the freshness of the basil and lemon while honey gives its golden SF color! I think you can enjoy this drink all year round. As long as you have the ingredients plus the right mood you are set. 

Nice to meet you Jack

I based this recipe from a whiskey sour which is lemon juice, simple syrup plus your favorite whiskey. Since I have a Basil plant I decided to add it for freshness then I used honey instead of simple syrup since I was lazy to make one. I think the honey gives a great golden color. The only thing I recommend you to do is to stir the honey and lemon juice first so that the honey will thin out a bit then add the whiskey, ice and basil leaves. You also want to shake it about 20 seconds on your cocktail shaker just until your hands get cold. Since honey is sticky you want to really shake that thing like you mean it.




Liquid Gold



Slicing the lemon: I got this tip on a cooking demo at Jack London Square. If you don't have a lemon squeezer and you want to get less seeds, when you squeeze the lemon, don't cut the lemon in the middle. Most seeds are in the middle so if you cut it on the sides, you'll get less. Sometimes you'll still get some seeds but it will be easier to get rid off if you do it this way.

Another tip I got just by observing the bartenders is to slap your herbs before garnishing it. So before putting a basil leaf as a garnish, slap it just to release the aroma and drop it on your cocktail.

There you go! This is my first cocktail post! I know my blog is all about food and bites but sometimes you just need a good cocktail to enjoy your food and tickle those tastebuds. Try it out and tell me what you think. I almost got tempted to add a couple slices of jalapeno before shaking it to give it a good kick. Maybe you should try it?


   

La Cocina's First SF Night Market

First to have lines was the cocktail area

I am really excited about this event. It's the first ever night market in SF that aims to recreate the night scene from the streets of Asia. Coming from the Philippines, I'm familiar with these night markets. There were BBQ everywhere, fried stuff, booze and happy people. You can smell food everywhere, the smoke on the grills and bright lights invite people to gather and have a good time.

Cocktails courtesy of Rye on the Road

Lou Bustamante cutting up a block of ice.

It came close to what I expected. It was filled with street food influenced by different countries around the globe. There were music, cocktails, beer and tons and tons of happy bellies. I guess the only thing I missed were the usual street food seen in the Philippines. There were no grilled pig's blood, intestines or pig's ear that night but it's all good since I tasted my first fried veal's brain from Azalina's and the amazing oxtail from To Hyang. There were a lot of soup dishes that night which were perfect for that chill factor in SF. There were Chiefo's Nigerian fish soup, Pozole from Los Cilantros, Laksa from Azalina's and El Huarache's Birria. There were also massive buns from Bone and Gristle Boys and Jardiniere. It was definitely a taste of street food from around the world.

Stand outs for me that night were the Laksa, Vada Pav and the Boss Hog.

Fried veal's brain

Laksa from Azalina's

Laksa is a traditional Malaysian spicy soup. This dish was a collaboration from Azalina Eusope ans Suvir Saran.  It consists of hand made thin noodles with a peanut slaw, chili oil, fried veal's brain and a sous vide egg. It was amazing. The curry like sauce is sweet and spicy with some acidity from the lime. It was perfect for that breezy moments. The fried veal's brain is just crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Similar to a bone marrow. Lastly, the egg was a great addition since it was cooked very slowly, the yolk became like a custard. Really great flavors in that bowl.

Preeti Mistry from Juhu Beach Club

Vada Pav

It's my first time having this dish. Vada Pav is a common Indian street food snack which is basically a fried mashed potato on a bun. The mashed potato  is mixed with Indian spices then fried. It was topped with an heirloom tomato and pickled red onions. It was really good. I just wish I can snack on this everyday every 3pm at work!

Crazy

Definitely an insanely, heart hater, last meal kinda food

A bite from this Boss Hog will definitely wake up your heart. There were 3 kinds of pork on this one. The deep fried pork cutlet, pulled pork and the chicharrones. It was huge. It will spike your cholesterol like a
BOSS but then again you only live once. This was definitely very tasty. It was crunchy, spicy, smoky, cheesy, crunchy and spicy. If I'm going to choose my last meal on earth this will be part of it for sure.

Here are some more of the delicious food that night:

Panuchos from Chaac Mool

Braised oxtail

Momo's

Nuff said

Pozole from Los Cilantros

Onigilly's offerings. Bacon, crab, chicken, eggplant and shrimp

Dishes from Ken Ken Ramen includes pork bun, tofu bun, jelly fish and octopus

Nopales and black mole

Salvadoran Turkey Sandwich from Estrellita's

Birria de Borrego and Lamb Taco

Locanda's short ribs in Chinotto Nero

Sabores Del Sur's grilled beef hearts

Nigerian Fish stew

Don Bugito's Mezcal marinated Rabbit

Bacon maple kettle corn from Endless Summer Sweets

Fancy Jello shots

This was the very first annual night market for La Cocina and I bet it will just get bigger and better. The scene was definitely similar to the Asian night markets only hipper and with much more style. It was quite an experience and I'm looking forward to more adventurous stuff in the future.

For more pics, visit my FB page at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.454734477899815.105804.209952209044711&type=1

Bits and Bites at SF Chefs 2012

SF Chefs is one of the biggest food events if not the biggest in the bay area. If you are a foodie, you were definitely in one of the SF Chef's tasting event. Everybody in the food industry was there during the week.  It was week full of tastings, classes, parties and after parties. Marcus Samuelson was even there which sucks because I missed him during the event!  I'm honored to be part of this event. I helped out on Friday night, went to the grand tasting on Saturday night and checked out the Eater Chef final battle on Sunday. It was definitely an amazing culinary experience.

SF Chefs is a celebration of food and bay area's top food talents mixed with panels, interviews, lectures, demos, booze and the most delicious bites SF has to offer. I have to say the food in this event is just extraordinary. There were some liquid nitrogen involved, sous vide preparations and unexpected flavor combinations. You would really expect something great especially if the Michael Mina group, Tyler Florence, Chris Consentino and many more are the ones preparing your food.

Here are the food shots from last Saturday's tasting event.

Artichoke custard with preserved lemon, apple and caviar

Beans and tomato salad with buttermilk dressing from American Box

Braised Lamb shoulder Agnolotti from Kuleto's

Eggplant Caponatina with Burrata from Delarosa

Korean mint white chocolate ganache cookie sandwich and a Gin,sake, melon Yuzu cocktail drink

Salmon Pops

Oyster Vichyssoise with smoked potatoes and creme fraiche from Farallon

Tout Patisserie

Chocolate cream and chocolate cake from Tout

Citrus-Vanilla Panna Cotta with Campari citrus gelee

Escalivada Terrine from Thirsty Bear

From Pacific Catch

Corn, Padron Pepper, Manchego from Contigo

Mark Dommen

Crab cakes with saffron aioli

Heirloom tomato tartar from Chez TJ

Tostada de Camaron from Tres

Wagyu Tartare

Truffled tuna tartare from Alexander's Steakhouse

Chive pancake with housemade sriracha

White Miso fudge with Black Sesame and Green Tea Marshmallow from Morimoto

From Claudine

Prosciutto and Fig from Locanda

Bay shrimp ceviche from Fifth floor

Betelnuts Tuna tartare

Heirloom tomato crostino confit from Chef Chris Consentino

Chris Consentino

There were a lot of seafood dishes that night. My favorites were the crab cake from One Market and the truffled Tuna from Alexander's. Pacific Catch's Salmon Poke was very tasty as well. Ecopia Farms' cookie and gin sake drink were amazing. I can eat a dozen of those! :) The Korean mint and white chocolate is just perfect with the cocktail. Best presentation was definitely from Alexander's Steakhouse. The truffled tuna tartare was inside a sphere, similar to those toys you get using your quarters.

Another reason why this event is a big deal is because of all the celebrity chefs present. Joanne Weir, Hubert Keller, Fabio from Top chef, Jeffrey Saad and many more were there. This time, I only got a pic from Chris Consentino and Hoss Zare.

Hossy Hugs

Top Chef Master contender Chris Consentino

Let's go to Sunday's Eater Chef challenge where Mark Dommen of One Market was paired with David Bazirgan against Brandon Jew of Bar Agricole and Staffan Terje of Perbacco. This was like watching an Iron Chef challenge with SF Chefs. The challenge was to use spices and Pork on their dishes. The outcome = Foie Gras powder, pancakes, some shabu shabu style dish and amazing spice combinations. Although, I just stared at those dishes since only the judges were the ones eating. It was truly a fun way to spend my Sunday morning. The winner for this challenge was team David and Mark with their inventive pork dishes and probably that Foie Gras creation.

The set up



Good times



Porky Porky

spices c/o Anjan Mitra of Dosa

Fresh chickpeas

food is served

Brandon Jew's dish

David Barzigan's ice cream dish

Stefan's dish

Mark Dommen's dish

I want their job

Final dishes

This year was definitely bigger and it will just get better and better. I love every single thing about it. From the Michael Bauer talk, Illy's coffee cook off, celebrity chefs to non stop food, wine and cocktails. Can't wait to taste what next year has to offer.