Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/476944
ByNancyLindahl Like many of us that grew up around Chico and the great north valley, my family made frequent trips to San Francisco. As children, we went to the Fleishhaker Zoo, the Ice Follies, Golden Gate Park, the Steinhardt Aquarium, the de Young Museum, the Planetarium. We dressed up for the ballet, and toured the Christmas windows around Union Square. We ate fresh crab cocktails at Fisherman's Wharf, ba- gels and lox at David's Del- icatessen and watched for- tune cookies being made on a large round black grill in a one-room operation be- hind a door, up a side street in Chinatown. We learned we could call it "the City," but never "Frisco," and as we got older, we read the San Francisco Chronicle and kept up on City gos- sip through legendary col- umnist, Herb Caen. We ex- plored galleries, museums, boutiques and trendy res- taurants on numerous busi- ness trips and felt comfort- able in the City; we knew our way around and what was there. As every good tour- ist knows, there is always more to learn! As a perc for wives of AG Council con- ference attendees, some of us went on a walking/culi- nary tour of San Francisco's North Beach, guided by for- mer San Francisco Chron- icle Inside Scoop food col- umnist, GraceAnn Walden. Our group was picked up by an Uber car and whisked back in time to a neighbor- hood that hasn't changed much in the last 50 years — the 5-block area of North Beach surrounding Wash- ington Square Park. The area is grounded architec- turally and spiritually by the twin spires of Saints Pe- ter and Paul Church, visible in varying degrees of pho- togenic splendor from each side of the park. The inte- rior is dim and cool with a 14-foot rose window, worthy of the title, "The Italian Ca- thedral of the West." It also feels intimate in a way most cathedrals are not. There are candles to be lit, a row of four wooden confession- als, and several large Ma- donnas including Madonna del Lume, the Mother of Light and patroness of fishermen in whose honor there is a Mass and parade from the church to bless the fishing fleet at Fisherman's Wharf every October. As visitors, we've sam- pled some North Beach res- taurants and nightclubs, but on this tour we strolled the neighborhood like Ital- ian matrons on the prowl for the makings of tonight's dinner. Tiny Liguria Bakery on Stockton Street makes one thing — the same thing it's made since its opening in 1911 — Focaccia. The full-size baking sheets of dimpled flat- bread are cooked in a brick oven, and are cut and sold in 8-by-10-inch sheets, laid face-to-face and wrapped in plain white paper tied with string. Carl Nolte in an ar- ticle for Native Son, SFGate, writes of Liguria Bakery, "They use no preservatives, take no credit cards, don't believe in websites or adver- tising, and when they run out of the stuff to sell, they close down for the day. See ya, come back tomorrow." It's all family — the morn- ing we were there, Mary Sorracco was showing us the oven and baking room while her mother took care of customers at the coun- ter. Her father and brother arrive at the bakery at 5:30 a.m. to start the dough and have it ready by the time the bakery opens at 8. Cus- tomers come from all over the neighborhood — and on weekends all over the Bay Area — for Liguria's iconic focaccia which usually sells out by early afternoon. Why not make more? "Focac- cia is simple, but it's not easy," says George Soracco in an interview with Janet Fletcher. Liguria Bakery's focaccia has been made with the same secret rec- ipe brought over from Ge- noa by Ambrogio Soracco, the founding father since 1911, but if you'd like to make your own, try this rec- ipe from Carol Field's book, "Focaccia: Simple Breads from the Italian Oven," Chronicle Books. BasicFocaccia INGREDIENTS: Sponge: 1teaspoonactivedryyeast 1/2 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115degrees) 3/4 cup unbleached all- purpose flour Dough: 1teaspoon active dry yeast 1cup warm water (105 degrees to 115degrees) 3Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Sponge (above): 31/4 cups unbleached all- purpose flour 2teaspoons sea salt Topping: 2Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1to 11/4 teaspoons coarse sea salt INSTRUCTIONS: The sponge: Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a large mixing bowl, whisk it in, and let stand until creamy, about 10minutes. Stir in the flour. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until very bubbly and doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes. The dough: Sprinkle the yeast over the water in a small bowl, whisk it in, and let stand until creamy, about 5to 10minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir the yeast mixture and olive oil into the sponge and mix well. Whisk in 1cup of the flour; stir in the salt and remaining flour, 2cups at a time, and mix until the dough is well blended. Knead on a lightly floured surface until so and vel- vety, about 8to 10minutes. First rise: Place the dough in a lightly oiled container, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 11/4 hours. Shaping and second rise: The dough will be so , deli- cate and full of air bubbles. Flatten it on an oiled 11-by- 17-inch baking pan and press it out with oiled or wet hands. Because the dough will be sticky and may not cover the bottom of the pan, cover it with a towel and let it relax for 10minutes, then stretch it again until it reaches the edges. Cover with a towel and let rise for 45minutes to 1hour, or until the dough is full of air bubbles. Just before baking, dimple the dough vigorously with your knuckles or your fingertips, leaving visible indentations. Drizzle olive oil over the dough, being sure some of the oil pools in the little holes you have made. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Baking: If you have one, place a baking stone in the oven. At least 30minutes before you plan to bake, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the focaccia pan directly on the stone and spray the oven walls and floor with cold water from a spritzer bottle 3times during the first 10minutes of baking. Bake until the crust is crisp and the top is golden, about 20to 25 minutes. You may remove the focaccia from the pan and bake it directly on the baking stone for the last 10 minutes. Remove from the pan im- mediately and place on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 10to 12. Although Italians pre- fer their focaccia toppings simple, a sprinkle of sea salt and maybe some fresh rose- mary, Americans like more complex toppings. Experi- ment with Taleggio cheese and olives, peppers, mush- rooms, tomatoes and olives, goat cheese and tomato. Li- guria makes a raisin focac- cia with fruit kneaded into the dough and sugar on top. Focaccia also makes great sandwiches — grilled cheese, a tuna melt, grilled eggplant, mozzarella and tomatoes, for example. After Liguria, our group moved down Stockton Street to Mike and Ron Spi- nali's Little City Market, a 30 year-old butcher shop with old-time white butch- er's cases that stretched the entire width of the store, made on-site Italian sau- sage, and beautiful trays of meat. Oh, to be an Ital- ian! Oh, to be cooking in the City! Our tour ended with a great lunch at Piazza Pel- ligrini — a restaurant de- void of trendy lights and logos but with all the gritty authenticity of an Anthony Bourdain discovery. We sat around a big table in the middle of the restaurant, in the middle of the after- noon and enjoyed wine, fo- caccia, thin crust pizza as crisp as a Lavosh cracker with Italian sausage and mushrooms, pasta, and salad. The owner, Dario welcomed us, his grandfa- ther's picture was on the wall, and our waiters were handsome Italian boys — I could have stayed forever. SWEET BASIL AND THE BEE A slice of Italy PHOTO BY NANCY LINDAHL Focaccia bread topped with pizza sauce, ready to be wrapped at Liguria Bakery in San Francisco. By Julie Cross SpecialtoTheWoodlandDaily Democrat I was delighted to dis- cover that Gabriella Ham- ilton's new cookbook Prune has a chapter, tucked in amongst those on brunch, desserts and cocktails, ti- tled "Garbage." From both a fiscal and an environmen- tal perspective, restaurants can't afford to throw away useful food, so it makes per- fect sense for a restaurant based cookbook to address uses for fish skeletons and chard stems. This is, of course, also true for the home kitchen. Composting is great, but us- ing things up is even bet- ter. In winter (even Cali- fornia winter) my favor- ite use for not-quite-edible bits is soup. In fact, we're so entranced with our cur- rent soup rotation that our menu the rest of the week is aimed at producing the bits and bobs needed for the soup. Start with chicken, whatever parts you like, re- ally, but we prefer thighs. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, etc. and roast until done. (Since we also make the best use of energy, don't for- get to roast squash or bake potatoes in the same oven – you can always use them later, for dinner or a creamy soup.) When the chicken is done, carefully pour all the fat and drippings into a container and chill. Eat the chicken. The fat from bacon is also a nice thing to save for soup, as is the oil from marinated vegetables (but not from marinated raw meats, of course.) Another night, braise the tender white parts of some baby leeks for your supper and save the green tops for your soup. Cook some nice chard and set aside the stems. Or caramelize some onions (maybe for a nice grilled cheese?) or sauté some mushrooms (lovely in pasta) and deglaze the pan (get it hothothot, pour in the liquid, scrape) with a little shot of vermouth or brandy if you have it, followed by a good cup of water. Pour into a jar la- belled "for soup" and chill. You can add nice vegetable juices (nothing stinky, like cabbage water) as you go along. The soaking water from dried mushrooms is particularly nice, provided you strain out the grit. Save also leftover bits of cooked veg or meat, scraps of bread, herb stems and parmesan rinds. The cooked things can be dropped right into the soup near the end of cooking, the bread can be toasted into lovely crou- tons, and the herb stems and parmesan rinds can be dropped into almost any soup to enrich the broth, provided you take them back out before you serve. Scrap Soup In order of addition: Fat of some sort Uncooked Meat Mushrooms Onions of some sort Garlic Herbs & spices Broth Raw vegetables, chopped Cooked vegetables, chopped Cooked meat Raw fish Start with a pot large enough to hold your soup. (For small batches, I use my largest straight-sided stain- less steel skillet, which has a tight fitting lid.) If you have raw meat, like a lit- tle chicken stir-fry mix or cubed beef, sear it quickly in a bit of the fat until nicely browned, then remove from pan and set aside. If you have raw mushrooms, cook them in over medium hot heat with a little fat and salt until nicely browned and fragrant, then remove from pan and set aside. Cook your onion gently in the same pan in more of the fat with a pinch of salt, until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, chopped or crushed as you like, and any herbs or spices you fancy. Cook un- til it all smells great, then add the broth (if you haven't accumulated enough bits as described above, we like chicken or vegetable Bet- ter than Bouillon.) If you've saved chicken drippings, now is the time to add the jellied chicken juices. If you have parmesan rinds, herb stems, bay leaves or other things you'd like to take out later, tie them with kitchen twine or wrap them in cheesecloth and drop in. Season gently here – broth and other ingredients are often salty, and it's easier to add salt later than to cor- rect over-salting. Let things simmer (a gently bubbling around the edges of the pan) to develop flavor. If you're using raw vegetables, add them in, putting in the ones with the longest cooking time (tur- nips, for example) first and the softer ones (like cauli- flower) towards the end. If you browned meat at the outset, add tougher cuts (stew meat) early and ten- der cuts (chicken breast) to- wards the end. When all the uncooked things are cooked, stir in any cooked meat or veg. Let everything sit for 10 min- utes or so, then taste and adjust seasonings. If you have fish that you'd like in your soup, it's best to cook it just before serving. Bring your soup to a nice simmer and slip in the fil- lets. Cook until just done – 2-3 minutes for thin fillets, up to 10 for very thick ones. To serve, remove any tied ingredients. FROM THE CO-OP 'Prune' gets into garbage: Using scraps is critical in the kitchen 2Bud'sBBQ 592 Antelope Blvd. Red Bluff (In the old Pronto Market) M-F 11am-6pm • Sat. 11am-3pm • Closed Sun. 528-0799 BBQ PORK ★ BEEF ★ CHICKEN Thetransitionfromone end of Antelope Blvd. to the other has been great Thank you Red Bluff! Now come in for some GREAT BBQ!! FOOD » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, March 11, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B4