Song of the Day: Jesus on the Mainline

I got up this morning and headed to the Grand Lake farmers market where I picked up peaches, peaches, and more peaches.  I’ll be experimenting with cobbler in the kitchen this morning, listening to “Jesus on the Mainline,” and calling Him up–praying for Mrs. Brown (happy 94th), and no rain in NYC for Rimpletide tomorrow.  Happy Saturday.

What you’re listening to:

From “Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let’s Have A Ball”, a film by Les Blank taped at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA on March 25th 1987.

Band:
Ry Cooder: guitar, vox
Jim Keltner: drums
Van Dyke Parks: keys
Jorge Calderon: bass
Flaco Jimenez: accordion
Miguel Cruiz: percussion
Steve Douglas: sax
George Bohannon: trombone

Singers:
Bobby King: tenor
Terry Evans: baritone
Arnold McCuller: tenor
Willie Green Jr: bass

Sylvan Mishima Brackett of Peko Peko at Mission Street Food

Post updated 10:55pm PST 6/18/09: This Saturday at MSF from the MSF blog

I first heard of Mission Street Food (a pop-up restaurant in the Mission District of San Francisco) through Chris Ying of the McSweeney’s clan.  Rimpletide had bought me a ticket to see Michael Pollan, Bonnie Azab Powell, and Harold McGee on a panel at 826 Valencia moderated by Ying back in February of this year.  The whole thing was lovely, and perhaps loveliest was Ying and his vintage volume of Beard.  I’m not totally clear on the connection (perhaps Ying knows the two who started this whole madness?) but my understanding is that Ying cooks at MSF on a regular basis.

I never really followed up on MSF, since I, as a devoted resident of Rockridge, rarely venture across the Bay (and dine almost exclusively at Oliveto, but you all know that), but when I got word of a new collaboration, my curiosity was piqued.

The word: Sylvan Mishima Brackett of Peko Peko will be a special guest chef at MSF this coming Saturday and I’m just too excited not to shout it from the rooftops (and by doing so making it harder for myself to get a table, but, well, all in the name community service).

And the best part is, I even got my hands on the menu! Dishes are no more than $12 each and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Mercy Corps and St. Vincent de Paul. Apparently, Brackett got his hands on the last of the season’s freshly dug bamboo shoots harvested localled in Livermore.  And in addition to the notable shoots, the menu consists of:

Buta no kakuni
Braised pork belly and daikon with sake and ginger; with hot mustard and mustard greens

Kare karaage
Whole fried local petrale sole with mori tsuyu

Asari sakamushi
Tomales Bay clams steamed with fresh dashi, sake and mitsuba

Hirame kombu-jime
Local halibut cured with kombu; with little lettuces and radishes

Korokke
Panko-fried potato and cream-corn croquettes

Ochazuke
A bowl of rice with green tea and dashi, salt-cured steelhead salmon, scallions and nori

Oshinko
Cucumber with shiso, napa cabbage with kombu and red chili and green pepper and katsuobushi pickles

Aisukuriimu!
Apricot and boysenberry ice cream with apricot sauce and noyeaux whipped cream

My mouth is watering just thinking about the amazing flavor combinations.  One of my favorite things about Brackett’s cooking is his ability to balance fresh delicate moments with crunchy deep-fried indulgence.  Consider the Oshinko and the Kare Karage, or the Korokke (I must try that–there are few people I trust when the work “croquette” is involved, they are too often too mediocre, but I have a feeling these will be the dark horse hit of the evening).  I’ll be lining up early.

But if for some reason you don’t make it, the line is too long, the fog is too thick, you live too far away, or heaven forbid the inevitable happens–MSF runs out of food–you can experience something close with Peko Peko’s most recent bento featuring a Tonkatsu Sanwhich for just $12.50.  A truly authentic Japanese experience, the Katsu-Sando bento is a recreation of the humble but extremely popular lunch of students, salary men, and OL’s alike.  I am loving the new boxes…

A Big Thanks…

to Rimpletide, for posting the perfect A.R.T. to end a long school year with, by an old favorite, Snow (kind of perfect irony for celebrating the coming on of summer).

I am fairly certain that I am as excited to be done with the school year as my students although I love them so.  But Rimpletide’s post reminded me of another time I was very excited to be done with a particularly long year-seventh grade.  Thank god it ended, and thank god for Snow.

Click here to enjoy.

The man also known as Snow.  I am pretty sure this look is saying “I don’t want to go to school today and I’m not taking off this hood in class.”

Happy Summer everyone!

Flower of the Day: Poppies

I have been meaning to capture the bearded irises of Rockridge, but by the time I got around to it most were brown and shriveled.  Perhaps there will be one more bloom cycle before the season is over.  In the mean time, in my search for irises I came across a ton of poppies.  Here they are:

Romneya coulteri (matilla poppy)

That last picture is my favorite.  [Rimpletide mentions that I might want to mention Amitav Ghosh’s new book Sea of Poppies (re: opium wars) here.  This post should be titled See of Poppies (re: Rockridge life).]

Monday Links

Eater SF is soothed/not-soothed by Alice Waters.  Aren’t we all?

Ian McEwan is such an easy target!  And Quilty hits a bullseye.

On fulfillment by Rimpletide.

Nicolette Camille does really beautiful floral design.  And she takes great picures too.

Bouquet by Nicolette Camille

Calas, geranium leaves, garden roses, tuberose and jasmine.  Brilliant.

Song of the Day

“Leave_Her_Alone,” Rimpletide

This image reminds me of the opening sequence of Volver

Wednesday Links

Eddie Ross continues to be prolific and backs us up on our love of carnations, Eddie Ross

Quilty reminds us that we are sad we don’t live in NYC, although we’ll take the Oakland sunshine over the NYC slush I hear is there today, GoodJobbb

and Rimpletide does the important work of exploring our collective sexuality for us vis a vis wooden dolls, Rimpletide

while the Pipeline reports on what’s hot from the hottest (pretty fucking hot) currently cold climate, Stockholm, The Pipeline

Morning Links

Is Saddleshoos channeling Sontag? Rimpletide

Mark Bittman is out-food-journaling me and I like it. Bitten

The author of Pink Wallpaper is soothing my inauguration fatigue with an update on David Collins work and boy do I love those ikat panels in the bar!  Why am I so ikat-obsessed?  Is ikat over? Pink Wallpaper

Jenny Davidson is teaching 18th century English satire this semester, may I join in? Light Reading

Huffington, Stewart, Obama, Chili

Last Monday on my Virgin America flight JFK->SFO I watched Arianna Huffington embarrass the entire blogosphere on John Stewart:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Friday night rolled around and I’d invited some people over for drinks. Never one to open the door without something scrumptious to offer, and knowing I. and I needed dinner ourselves, I set about the habitual and lengthy debate about what to cook. I was desperate for some cassoulet, but it was absolutely out of the question. Duck confit and a 3 to 48 hour cooking process was just not going down that night.

So I thought soup, bean soup? Chili? Lentil? Rimpletide tried to get me to make Turkey Chipotle Chili, which I was totally into until I got to Market Hall and realized I needed 2 lbs (!) of tomatillos. Do you understand how many tomatillos that is? All of a sudden I started reading the recipe more carefully–what kind of chili was this? GREEN? No, I was feeling like a red-blooded American on Friday and wasn’t about to get down with some soupy-green-tomatillo based fusion fare. Disaster! The guests would arrive in less than 2 hours!

Standing at the Produce Market at Market Hall I started to panic and wildly Googled chili recipes from my iPhone. My search terms were “chili recipe.” I didn’t trust what I saw on page one of the results, so I went to page two. There, at the top of the second page of search results was Obama’s Chili Recipe, courtesy of none other than the Huffington Post. The rich bitch saved the day after all!

I went for ground Turkey instead of beef for reasons of health and got a deal at Enzo’s because the guy recognized me from my days at Bloomies. I didn’t need many ingredients, so I grabbed two bottles at Paul Marcus (a brilliant $14 Barbera among them from the Bargain Red section), grabbed two sweet Acme baguettes, a wedge of D’Affinois (available by mail from Murray’s if your and outside of the Bay reader), and a creme-based French goat from Pasta Shop and I was on my way home.

I made Obama’s recipe but had to make a few adjustments. If I’d stuck to the recipe I think the chili would have been quite dry, with hardly any broth element. My results were still thick and viscous but I added 3/4 cup dry red wine and 1 cup chicken stock.  To slightly modify Obama’s selection of flavors I doubled the basil and oregano, added 3 bay leaves, and used 2 tablespoons minced Anaheim chile (long and thin, can be found in green or red).

The results were a hit. I would say that the wine and additional basil and oregano gave it a slightly more Euro twist, while the Anaheim chile gave it an unexpected kick.

It was quick and easy for a hearty crowd-pleasing dinner after a long week. Highly recommended.

Favorite new Rimple-tude-ian Posts

An effing MUST!  SFW!  Greatest hilarity since Sarah Palin got on the presidential ticket!

Click here to listen to…a surprise!

Onion-esque fun, me likey:

Click here.

NSFW:

Davide Lee Roth rocks out with the lower-lip bite.