Alanna Hale

Lizzie Binder

​In our Q&A with Bar Bambino executive chef Lizzie Binder, she mentioned some of her favorite items to cook at home.

At this time of year, thanks to an incredible peach tree in her own backyard, this recipe is in her regular rotation during the summer. But it works just as well with peaches from the farmers' market. If you can't gather the dandelion greens yourself (Golden Gate Park?), or find them in supermarkets, arugula makes a good substitute.

Serve this at your next dinner party or barbecue for a starter that's decidedly Italian, simple to prepare, and elegant in presentation.

(Recipe after the jump.)

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Alanna Hale

David Taylor puts the finishing touch on a dish

​Yesterday we interviewed David Taylor, chef at the wildly popular Marina restaurant A16.

Today Taylor shares with SFoodie the recipe for A16's handmade salsa verde. While it's served on pork belly at the restaurant, Taylor is quick to mention that it goes well with just about any rich meat and seafood. He particularly likes it on salmon and halibut. In his words, "It's just a really nice, general purpose protein condiment."

Salsa Verde

1/2 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 red onion
1 lemon
4 tablespoons capers
Olive oil

Crush the Italian flat leaf parsley in a mortar and pestle with the salt. Add olive oil to cover. Set aside.

Mince the red onion. Place the minced red onion in a separate container and macerate for 30 minutes in just enough lemon juice to cover. Salt to taste.

Rinse and chop the capers and place in a third container. Mix all three components together in a bowl just before serving.

Jared Zimmerman/Flickr

Available briefly in 2009, Mission Burger's vegan burger was epicly good.

​Earlier, SFoodie told you where to find the seven best veggie burgers in the Bay Area. But if you're the type whose DNA skews DIY, have a go at making one of the best we've ever tasted ― the dearly departed vegan burger from the deeply mourned Mission Burger. -Ed.

The vegan Mission Burger was a thing of beauty, available for one small window of time in 2009. Many of us look back on it with a fondness normally reserved for dead relatives. Well, no more! I got the recipe from Anthony Myint of Mission Chinese Food/Commonwealth and worked a little magic on it so it's suitable for a home chef's kitchen. Actually, I probably just made it crappier, but what can you do? Oh, you'll need two large saucepans, a medium bowl, and one deep fryer. If you don't have a deep fryer already, 1) I am embarrassed for you, and 2) they're like $30 at Costco or Amazon. Make it happen, cap'n!

Mission Burger Vegan Burgers

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch lacinato kale
1/2 cup edamame, steamed soft
1 sheet toasted nori, minced
4 cups shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and chopped
1/2 cup maitake mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
1/4 cup fennel, chopped
1 cup chickpea flour (Mission Burger used Azure Farms garbanzo flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon flax meal
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups water, divided

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Via funnyordie.com comes "Winning Recipes," featuring Charlie Sheen. "My plan is to make an appearance on every television network," Sheen says here, his pitch to land a slot on Food Network. Frankly, we're waiting to see his pitch to land on A&E, home of Intervention.

Sean Timberlake

Figs at the Knoll Farms stand at Ferry Plaza.

​In August I had the pleasure of being a pickle judge at the Eat Real Fest in Oakland. Seven of us tasted a wide array of pickles across a few categories. Of the ones that bubbled up to the top three, somewhat surprisingly, none were cucumber pickles. The top winner was a wonderfully peppery batch of nasturtium capers, second place was a piquant and tart Meyer lemon-pepper chutney, and third place went to a hauntingly sweet-tart pickled fig. I had just pickled some figs myself the day before; this was far superior to my inaugural effort.

I reached out to the fig pickler, and it turns out it was his first attempt, as well. Michael Dominic had tasted someone else's pickled figs at a party that week, and knew he could do it himself. He promptly scored a five-pound bag of figs from Ayear's Farm at the San Leandro farmers' market, researched some recipes online, and added his own flavor. The figs were pickled on Thursday, submitted on Friday, and he was named a winner on Sunday.

I love hearing stories about people so inspired by food that they are driven to attempt ― and conquer ― it themselves. Michael's victory was well deserved. He's graciously shared the recipe with us:

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eating/sf

Grilled padrón peppers, from the blog eating/sf.

​Our favorite morsels from the blogs ― which we scan in order to find tasty-sounding seasonal recipes to rip off.

• At eating/sf, the food blog with a soundtrack, Kasey Fleisher Hickey waxes all I remember about grilled padrón peppers:

I can't recall the first time I tasted them, but if it wasn't in Europe, it was at a restaurant in San Francisco. When they came to the table, I'd be surprised if I didn't eat them all. Because they are that good. Not too spicy (though once in a while, you can get an angry one in the mix), smoky, salty, slightly-greasy.

Of course, what gives eating/sf a twist beyond mere nostalgia are the musical recommendation by Hickey's husband, Matthew (he blogs at Musical Pairings). And what goes with grilled padrón peppers? Why, the Miniature Tigers' Fortress album, of course ("like distilling the music and feeling from a Wes Anderson film").

• Meanwhile, Marc R. aka Mental Masala works without a net.

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Aimee Shapiro/Bay Area Bites

​Our favorite morsel from the blogs.

At Bay Area Bites, Andrew Simmons offers up a recipe. No, not a list of shit things, dead on the page as a nutritional label, but a recollection, a reckoning of how he made a soup, green chickpea and cauliflower. Simmons:

From green garlic shoots, to slender asparagus, to sweet early-season cherry tomatoes, I have, with regard to the realm of edible vegetation, a tendency to prize fresh young things. When I saw the green garbanzos nestled like weird little grubs in a big basket in the Bi-Rite produce case, I was consumed by the desire to harness their youth, pea-like flavor, and agreeably grassy pallor, and express them fully and vigorously in a simple yet well-calibrated dish.

Read it slow, pen and paper at the ready. And if you miss anything, you can get the flavor of the thing in the writing alone.

Liza Gershman 2010

Carlo Espinas.

​In Parts 1 and 2 of our Q & A, Comstock Saloon chef Carlo Espinas described how he wanted to become a journalist before discovering the kitchen. And he talked about researching the city's hundred-year-old tastes in food. Here, Espinas ― he refers to himself as a saloon cook and grub slinger ― shares Comstock's recipe for pickled eggs, a formula he developed with sous chef Chris Kiyuna.

"Here at the Saloon, we slice the eggs thin and serve them atop toasted rye from Firebrand Artisan Breads, garnished with chervil, sea salt, and nice extra-virgin olive oil," Espinas says. "It's just another attempt to take a humble ingredient and dress it up slightly, like putting a bowtie on it." He notes that the seasonings can easily be changed at the whims of the cook.

For the brine:
2 quarts white wine vinegar
2 quarts water
1/2 cup salt
4 whole dried chile pods (chile de arbol pods, for instance) or 1 tablespoon red chile flakes
1 tablespoon paprika
1 head of garlic, split in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon whole mustard seed
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 sprig of thyme

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Zaré at Fly Trap

Hoss Zaré , in his semi-eponymous restaurant.

​In parts 1 and 2 of our Q & A with Zaré at Fly Trap's Hoss Zaré, the chef talked about his inspirations and hinted at future plans. Today, Zaré shares his recipe for fresh herb kuku, the omelet traditionally served during Persian New Year (noruz) in early spring. Every region prepares it differently, Zaré says, but the basics are the same. The green herbs symbolize rebirth and the eggs represent fertility and happiness in the year to come.

Kuku by Hoss Zaré

Zare Advieh (Spice Mixture):
1 tablespoon dried rose petals
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground angelica
1/2 teaspoon Spanish sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

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Tim Luym

One part Surf, one part Turf.

​Tim Luym's Summer "BBQ" Kinilaw Ceviche
Serves 4 as an appetizer

"This recipe was inspired by a Cebuano street cook. The Cebuano style of of kinilaw (also known as kilawin depending on province) often incorporates coconut milk to add a little weight and sweetness. The addition of the grilled pork belly adds a touch of char that compliments the mackerel and makes it the perfect summer BBQ dish." ―former Poleng Lounge chef Tim Luym, currently consulting on Attic, a restaurant due later this month in San Mateo

The Surf:
1 pound fresh mackerel fillets, skinned, cut into medium dice
½ cup fresh calamansi juice (substitute lime)
¼ cup coconut vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh ginger juice
1 bird's eye chile (siling labuyo)
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
½ cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

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