Learning about Certified Angus Beef

Julie Boggs of Westbrook Angus

Certified Angus Beef is not the same as Angus or Black Angus which you may see on everything from beef at restaurants and supermarkets to even fast food burgers. In order to be designated Certified Angus Beef, it must pass a strict set of requirements and USDA inspection and approval, and very little of it does. In fact only 1 in 4 inspected makes the grade. That's the main thing I learned when I met with ranchers, chefs and restaurateurs to learn about beef and the Certified Angus Beef brand in particular. The ranchers I met bred breeding stock and they told me they like the Angus breed for a number of reasons, it's temperament, size, and ability to produce.

Over the course of several meals I got a chance to try many cuts of Certified Angus Beef steak including rib eye, tenderloin, top sirloin and filet mignon. It was very well prepared by restaurant chefs from the steakhouse chain El Gaucho and also from Aqua by El Gaucho. It was truly enlightening to try so many cuts at once, and while they were all tender, juicy and delicious, there were subtle differences in flavor and texture. The consistency in quality I experienced is really the reason for the Certified Angus Beef brand. I admit I like the flavor of grass fed beef as well as grain finished beef. But I learned that the health claims made about grass fed beef are somewhat dubious. While grass fed beef is higher in omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin E, beef is not a great source of either. Also there is a misconception that grass fed beef is more sustainable, but the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions per pound of beef are increased three-fold in grass-fed cattle versus grain finished. Truth be told all beef is grass fed, it's just how long it spends on a feed lot fattening up on a diet of grain that makes the difference.

My usual favorite cut of steak is rib eye. But side by side tasting many different steaks, I was surprised to find the "baseball cut" top sirloin my favorite of all. It just had the best "beefiest" flavor. The Certified Angus Beef representatives say that fat is flavor. But I have to disagree. Top sirloin is actually a leaner cut of beef, and yet it was still good, even tastier than other fattier cuts, in my opinion. It's not just the fat, but the way the fat is marbled that makes a difference. While I enjoyed all the Certified Angus Beef I ate, I would love to see more availability of Natural Certified Angus Beef and an organic option as well.

When I returned home I purchased some Certified Angus Beef top sirloin chateaubriand to try cooking myself. Sure enough, it was juicy, rich and beefy, somewhat lean but very good. Because I don't eat beef often, I seek out the best I can find and rely on my local butcher to make recommendations. Recently I was buying some skirt steak and my butcher told me the Angus was better than the Kobe because it was the inside and not the outside section. Like wine and chocolate, when it comes to beef, there is always more to learn...

My thanks to Certified Angus Beef for hosting my trip and meals. Please note I paid for the beef I purchased myself.

Free lunch in San Francisco (for the next 48 hours)

Thanks to smartphone apps you can now get through security and into your seat on a plane, book a hotel room, deposit checks, find a parking spot and even buy lunch. And today if you live or work in San Francisco and have a smartphone, I am buying you lunch, courtesy of GoPago.

GoPago recently launched a free mobile app that lets you order and pay for food and drinks using your smartphone (iPhone or Android). Browse for restaurants in San Francisco, order your meal online, pay securely using a credit card, then skip the line and the hassle of handling cash. When you waltz into the restaurant, just flash the receipt on your phone, and you're good to go.

Download the free app (iPhone or Android), use the code AmazingAmy and get $10 credit good for lunch (or breakfast or dinner). And no, I didn't choose the code. GoPago did. But I am very happy to share it. The code is good for $10 in credit and is only available for 48 hours so check it out ASAP.

The roster of restaurants in San Francisco is growing and growing. I took a peek at the current list and there are several places that I particularly like--Sellers Markets, Helmand Palace, Tropisueno, Green Chile Kitchen, Henry's Hunan, Osha Thai and Mehfil--lots of spots that are perfect for lunch downtown and a few in outlying areas as well. Please feel free to share this code and enjoy your lunch!

Wine Road, Sonoma County

The view from Everett Ridge Winery

Recently I was invited up to Sonoma to visit the Wine Road. The Wine Road isn't an actual road, but a winery association with a wide variety of members and their mission is to increase awareness of Northern Sonoma County. Think of it as your own personal concierge, available to craft the perfect experiences in the Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River Valleys. The Wine Road covers six different AVA's, represents about 150 wineries, or around half of the wineries in the region, over 50 different lodgings and produces a fantastic map of the area.

I go up to Sonoma frequently, but this latest trip hosted by the Wine Road introduced me to a number of wineries I hadn't visited before. Here are the highlights of my trip:

Kendall Jackson Wine Center
I know what you're thinking. Really? Kendall Jackson? The brand I find in the supermarket? Well, yes. Kendall Jackson has a series of stunning Wine Center Gardens and an outstanding wine tasting program.

There are red and white wine sensory gardens that include the plants that have affinities for wines, and descriptors, which are the flavors that you find in the wines. For example in the Pinot Noir section you'll find descriptor plants like plum, violets and strawberry (all flavors you will find in the Pinot) and affinities such as figs, pumpkin and leek (all of which pair well with Pinot). There's also an international cuisine garden, a vegetable trial garden and a culinary herb and edible flower garden. Meandering through the gardens provides a good starting point for wine country exploration.

Kendall Jackson has a chef on staff and a food and wine tasting available for $30. You'll get a chance to try seven of their wines (that are not available in the supermarket) primarily their Grand Reserve and Highland Estate wines, each paired with a delicious morsel of food.

Think Chardonnay paired with house cured king salmon with Chardonnay grapeseed oil, preserved Meyer lemon and estate peas followed by Syrah with sweet tea brined Niman Ranch pork belly slider with Syrah BBQ sauce. My favorite pairing was the 2007 Highlands Estate Seco Highlands Pinot Noir with mushroom arancini with sottocenere truffle cheese and Pinot Noir aioli. Each bite of food made me want to take another sip of wine, and each sip of wine, another bite of food. There are also wine and cheese tastings if you prefer.

Paradise Ridge Winery
I tend to like wineries with that extra something special. At Paradise Ridge I not only enjoyed their refreshing Sauvignon Blanc with lots of grapefruit and a hint of gooseberry, but feasted my eyes on their sprawling 156 acre estate and outdoor sculpture collection all tucked away behind a residential neighborhood in Santa Rosa.

Worth a visit for the views alone. It's a small winery, you may find some of their wines in wine shops, but mostly they sell through their wine club. The outdoor sculpture "galleries" are open to the public without charge as is a self guided vineyard tour. Driving up to the property you see all different sculptures set into the landscape. The tasting fee is $10 and refundable with purchase.

Truett Hurst
Truett Hurst its located in the midst of Dry Creek Valley and there are acres of garden and a particularly idyllic setting on the creek that is perfection for a picnic or a nap. Yet another winery set on amazing piece of property...but even if it wasn't I'd still suggest you seek it out.

Paul Dolan a pioneer of sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines is one of the partners, and Virginia Lambrix is the wine maker and I really like her elegant approach. I can't say which of the Pinot Noirs I preferred, the Black Sheep Pinot Noir with classic strawberry notes, good acid and big bouquet or the Burgundian style White Sheep Pinot Noir with good structure and firm tannins and while Zinfandel is not my favorite varietal, her wines won me over. They ranged from the Luci Zinfandel which was intense and bold with lots of spice (and a frightening 16% alcohol) to the Red Rooster Zin which was balanced and juicy. I also like that none of their wines are priced over $40.

I also enjoyed Virginia's VML Chardonnay which was bright, clean, zingy and fresh and the rosé which was also bright and fresh with lots of fruit.

Farmhouse Inn
If I could afford it, I'd love to stay again in Forestville in the Russian River Valley at the deluxe Farmhouse Inn. It's the most luxurious, private and quiet spot with more attention to detail than I've experienced in a long time.

Who wouldn't love a place with not just gorgeous gardens but a fire pit for making your own s'mores (all the ingredients provided, natch)? Not just cookies before bed, but cookies and milk the mini fridge and a couple of mini cupcakes too! Heated marble floors in the bathrooms and cozy bedding spoiled me.

But best of all might have been the food. Breakfast at the restaurant was included and I was crazy for the corn waffles with bananas, caramel sauce, candied pecans and whipped cream one day and huevos ranchers with black beans and chorizo the next. I'm dying for the recipe for their banana walnut muffins, the best ever.

Of course you can plan a trip on your own, or just head up to Sonoma and wing it, but if you want something specific, I do recommend contacting the Wine Road folks who know the area intimately.  They can make suggestions or arrangements for you. For example they can steer you in the right direction if you want to visit wineries that also offer food or have great art collections, or garagiste winemakers that are not always open to the public or that offer tours by appointment only, if you want to find a winery with with picnic facilities.

There are also a ton of events up in wine country, so be sure to check out Wine Road event listings before you go for things like BBQ's, concerts, parties and more.

And oh yes, this is a Wine Road iPhone app!

My thanks to the Wine Road for hosting me on this trip.

Del Popolo Pizzeria

Del Popolo might look like a pizza truck, but according to the proprietors, it's a mobile pizzeria. At a reported $180,000 to build the thing, I think they can call it whatever they like. It's a refurbished shipping container with an actual pizza oven inside plus minimal prep space for a couple of cooks. 

The menu is short and sweet, just two pizzas in one size. There's the classic Margherita, the pizza by which all pizzas should be judged, and when I was there a white pizza with mozzarella, ricotta, basil and garlic.

Will people stand in line to buy a pizza? On the streets of San Francisco? Oh yes, they will!

This is the set up. A mini kitchen and pizza oven and a window where orders are taken and pizza "delivered." 

They offer some wacky sodas including Cheerwine, Manhattan Special and Empire. But being parked across the street from a supermarket, there was no shortage of choices. 

So how was the pizza? Excellent. There was a nice char on the crust, but not too much. I'd call it a Neapolitan style crust, airy and chewy. The sauce and cheese were flavorful and in good balance. The sauce was very fresh  tasting and they didn't skimp on the basil. I'd order this pizza again.

The white pizza was a little more substantial with generous dollops of fresh sweet ricotta and plenty of garlic. Not in the least greasy, it was rich from the cheese and yet somehow light at the same time. Recommended.

Where to find it? It's not on the namesake square in Rome, so you'll have to check Twitter to find out...

DIY Canning & Preserving 101

When I was growing up my mom grew her own vegetables and fruit, raised chickens, canned tomatoes and made everything from bread to soap. I have not quite followed in her footsteps, but now and again I take on a project or two. I've made orange marmalade and lately I've been making batches of tamales. I've dabbled in window box herb gardening and last year I bought a kit to make cheese.

I'm not alone. Activities like preserving, canning, DIY, gardening and even raising chickens are all surging in popularity. Whether it's a desire to get back to nature, or to just feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with making something to your own taste, these experiences can be deeply satisfying. If you're not sure where to start, or if you are looking to take the next step, there are plenty of good resources out there to get you going. Here are some of my current favorites:

Williams Sonoma recently launched Agrarian, which is designed to get you up to speed in various foodie DIY activities, preserving, gardening and more. The carefully curated line of products includes everything from guides and kits to make cheese, kombucha and sprouts to garden tools, planters and even deluxe chicken coops and beekeeping supplies. As you'd expect, Williams Sonoma has sought out the best quality and often most stylish products.

And there are plenty of exclusive products that you won't find anywhere else such as Beekman heirloom seeds and seed "bombs" and gorgeous Sophie Conran designed garden tools. Online you'll find how to guides and videos. This is a particularly great place to find a gift for someone who is at any level when it comes to gardening or DIY.

Hedonia blogger Sean Timberlake is the mastermind behind Punk Domestics, the go-to aggregator site for preserving, canning, cheese making and more. Instead of searching individual blogs, you can visit Punk Domestics and find posts on a wide variety of topics having to do with jams, jellies and preserves, pickling, salumi and charcuterie and even foraging. Head over to see the latest or dig in when you're ready to try something new. Let the links on the right hand for things like Drying and Dehydrating or Home Brewing do the research for you.


Here are some books on preserving and DIY I have used and recommend:

If it wasn't for Vanessa Barrington's book DIY Delicious, I never would have tried and succeeded in making corn tortillas. In addition to recipes for ingredients, Barrington also shares recipes for how to use your new creations such as spicy kimchi (hello!) and spicy soft tofu soup with kimchi. This is not a preserving book per se, but more about culinary DIY.

Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it and Can it, Bottle it, Smoke it are two books that cover a wide variety of projects you can take on at home. From easy ones like making chocolate hazelnut spread to more complicated ones such as smoking your own pastrami or making masa from scratch and everything in between (think vanilla extract, beef jerky, ginger beer, graham crackers, etc.) A number of the recipes in these books are also in a long out of print favorite of mine, Better than Store-Bought, which you can occasionally find online, but Karen Solomon's book are much more contemporary and hip.

In The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook Rachel Saunders creates jams with enticing fruit and floral combinations like rhubarb rose conserve with cherries, blueberry jam with mint, Italian prune and cardamon conserve, pear jam with rosemary and pine and boysenberry jam with lemon verbena. Need I say more?

Chef and restaurateur Paul Virant's handsome book The Preservation Kitchen includes recipes for pickles and relishes, jams and marmalades as well as bittersweet preserves specifically mostarda and aigre-doux (a kind of sweet sour vinegary preserve of fruit or vegetables) and fermented and cured foods in addition to pressure canned preserves. The second part of the book consists of seasonal recipes using the preserves. 

Home Made is a hard book to describe; it's got a little bit of everything, like preserving vegetables, making broth, herbal teas, cheese, ice cream, chocolate and mustard. The layout is amazing with lots of photographs, technique shots and even hand drawn illustrations. There are also tons of recipes that just use fresh ingredients.  The seasoned labneh balls in olive oil are particularly good. 

Put 'em Up and Well-Preserved are two great books on preserving, and include drying, freezing and dehydrating. Both have compelling recipes and easy-to-follow clear instructions. It's hard for me to say which of the two I like best, the major difference is that Put'em Up is all about preserving, whereas Well-Preserved focuses on small batch preserving and also includes recipes for using the preserves such as preserved zucchini in a shrimp and preserved zucchini salad.

More links:

National Center for Home Food Preservation
Canning Across America note the monthly canning Twitter chats
Canning: Recipes & Instructions from Epicurious
Preserving and Canning Food from Better Homes & Gardens
Karen Solomon Author and Preserving Expert
Food in Jars blog

Some of the books were provided as review copies

Bison Tacos with Avocado & Radish

American bison are an important part of the prairie ecosystem and after a decline almost to extinction around the end of the 19th century, today there are many ranchers working hard to bring them back. I enjoy cooking and eating bison (sometimes referred to as buffalo). The brands I've tried thus far have all been grass fed, lean, raised in a more sustainable manner and well, delicious. You may be able to find ground bison at your supermarket and it's pretty easy to use in recipes that call for ground beef. Bison steaks however are another story.

Because most bison is grass fed, it's leaner, like grass fed beef. Considered a highly nutrient dense food, it's lower in calories, fat and cholesterol than even chicken, it has 40% more protein than beef and is high in iron, omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin E. Without rich marbling, it needs more tender loving care. Wild Idea Buffalo recently sent me some samples of their products. Their ranch is located in South Dakota between the Black Hills and the Badlands National Park and their herd is raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones. I knew immediately what I wanted to try with the New York strip loin steak. An extremely lean piece of meat, I knew I would cook it quickly, searing to get some nice color and flavor, and serving it very rare. Because it is so lean, it's particularly good paired with something rich, like avocado.

I got my inspiration from a Martha Stewart recipe, Beef Tacos with Avocado and Radish Salsa. My adaptation is very close to the original. Here's what I did differently. I used bison instead of beef and I used a lot less of it! I rubbed the steak with oil and just sprinkled it with both cumin and chile powder. I used fresh jalapenos instead of picked ones and I added scallions. Most importantly I made my own tortillas. Please, do yourself a favor. Buy a tortilla press
and a big bag of masa harina (Maseca is a good and easy to work with brand) and never settle for store bought tortillas ever again.



Bison Tacos with Avocado and Radish (adapted from Everyday Food, Martha Stewart)

Makes 6 tacos

Ingredients

10 ounces bison strip loin steak
vegetable oil
chile powder
ground cumin
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
4 radishes, diced
2 green onions, sliced
2-3 tablespoons cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, diced, more or less as desired
2 limes
pinch salt
6 small corn tortillas, preferably homemade

Instructions

Allow the steak to come to room temperature. Pat it dry with paper towels then rub it with a just enough vegetable oil so it is glossy, but not slick. Sprinkle all sides with chile powder and ground cumin. Heat a cast iron skillet. Sear the meat 3 minutes on the top and bottom and then another 2-3 minutes on the other two sides (loin is almost square shaped). Allow to cool 10 minutes then slice thinly.

Make salsa by combining the diced avocado, radishes, green onions, cilantro and jalapeno. Slice the limes in half and squeeze them over the salsa, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, gently mix then taste. Adjust seasoning as you see fit. Heat the tortillas, top with slices of steak and salsa.

Enjoy!

If you are interested in trying bison, you can receive a 20% discount by using the code Amy-Buffalo20 at Wild Idea Buffalo Store  through July 1st, 2012.


My thanks to Wild Idea Buffalo for sending me samples of their products to try.

Favorite Bites - Burgers, BBQ & Beer

The final event of Culinaria was possibly the most popular or at least the best expression of of San Antonio--an outdoor barbecue with a casual, fun and friendly vibe. The theme was burgers and there were several that broke the mold. I picked up some tips and ideas for places to visit on my next trip, as I did at the Grand Tasting (which you will find bolded), best of all it gave me another excuse to visit the Pearl.

The Pearl is the name of what was once a landmark brewery in San Antonio. The grounds which are set on the river, are now home to the latest campus of the Culinary Institute of America, shops, restaurants, bars and a thriving farmers market and small but lively amphitheater. A visit to San Antonio is not complete until you've been to the Pearl.


First up, the venison burger with onions, cucumber and a pickled pepper. It was so rare and juicy. I'd want to check out The Esquire Tavern based on this burger alone.


Another top pick came from chef Johnny Hernandez who runs La Gloria, a Mexican street food restaurant at The Pearl. It was a pork belly and short rib burger, topped with house made kimchi and also featured cucumbers. Note to self, when tomatoes are out of season, try a cucumber slice instead. It was served on a steamed bun, a nod to it's Asian influence.



My last favorite burger was a very innovative one, and it came from Arcade, a restaurant that has not yet opened at the Pearl. It was a thin chorizo "burger" on a bun with spicy arugula and crumbled feta. A thin sausage patty is a great compromise when you can decide between a sausage or a burger!


A black currant macaron with chocolate filling might have resembled a burger, but it was in fact the quintessential French Parisian style macaron. It was so light and with just the right amount of filling. This was no ordinary macaron but a truly outstanding one, the best I've had in a long time. Look for Bakery Lorraine goodies at the Quarry farmer's market.

My thanks to the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau for inviting me and hosting my trip.