Page 520 – Sonoma Magazine

Feast of the Seven Fishes

December 2012

By biteclub

Over seven nights (Dec. 18-24), Healdsburg’s Spoonbar will serve up an eclectic mix of fish and seafood dishes from the everday to the exotic in homage to the Italian tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. The celebration, which dates back hundreds of years, stems from the Catholic practice of abstaining from red meat in the days leading up to Christmas. Chef Louis Maldonado’s menu includes sea urchin with smoked potato puree, citrus-marinated Dungeness crab, Japanese kanpachi, octopus and mussels in coconut curry broth, brioche-crusted branzino and oyster panna cotta. Menus will range from $50-$55 per person, with each night featuring a different menu.

For full details go to the Spoonbar Feast of the Seven Fishes website.

Pear opens in Napa

December 2012

By biteclub

Pear opens Dec. 11, 2012 in Napa, a Southern-inspired restaurant that replaces Tyler Florence’s short-lived riverfront bistro at 720 Main Street.

Open daily for lunch and dinner, the restaurant will feature a single menu with classics like macaroni and cheese, shrimp and grits, rotisserie chicken, collard greens, chicken and dumplings and chicken and waffles with pear-bourbon maple syrup.

Chef-owner Rodney Worth owns several restaurants in the East Bay including The Peasant and the Pear, The Prickly Pear Cantina and Ferrari’s Cucina Italiana.

Heritage Public House moving to Mendocino Ave.

December 2012

By biteclub

The relocation of Video Droid — a popular JC campus hangout — to its new (smaller) nearby digs begged the question: What’s going into the high-profile 1901 Mendocino Avenue space? The answer, which has been brewing in beer circles for a while, is Heritage Public House.

Moving from its Cleveland Avenue location, partner Dino D’Argenzio says the expanded public house and gastropub is a better fit location-wise and demographically.

Expected to open in February, they’ll have a small menu, 20 craft beers on tap along with a beer garden and entertainment lineup. D’Argenzio’s son, Roman, will be general manager.

“We are really excited about it,” D’Argenzio said. Heritage joins a growing craft beer movement in the Northbay that includes several new brewpubs, microbreweries and specialty beer retailers.

Twilight Vampire Chocolate Cookie Recipe

December 2012

By biteclub

‘Twilight’ Vampire Sparkle Chip Cookies

The sparkly sugar on these dark and brooding chocolate cookies led Sarina's friend to call them "Twilight" cookies after the vampire movies. This sugar crust gives a nice crisp outside texture but leaves that hint of a soft cookie still so both cookie lovers are satisfied. — The sparkly sugar on these dark and brooding chocolate cookies led Sarina’s friend to call them “Twilight” cookies after the vampire movies. This sugar crust gives a nice crisp outside texture but leaves that hint of a soft cookie still so both cookie lovers are satisfied.

Submitted by Sarina F.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup butter (very soft)
4 tablespoon instant coffee grounds
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla
½ tsp butter flavoring
Pack of semi sweet chocolate chips (can be swapped with white chocolate chips if desired)
1 cup walnut pieces (can be omitted for allergies)

Sugar for rolling on the sparkle (regular white table sugar, not baking quality, you want coarser grains, can even use raw sugar)
Parchment

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 and pour about a cup of sugar into a pie dish.

2. Mix dry ingredients together first to one bowl (except coffee, chips and nuts). In a separate bowl mix butter and coffee, then add in sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, butter flavoring, & egg and cream it together. Now add the dry mix to the wet mix and mix till dough is even. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts last with a final mix.

3. When you are ready to bake the cookies you scoop the dough with a cookie scoop if you have one for less mess (about the size of a melon baller) then roll the cookie scooped ball into the pie pan of sugar so it sticks to the outside of the cookie ball. Place the “vampire-ised” cookie on a cookie sheet lined with parchment.

4. Bake at 350 for 11-13 min. Let them semi-cool on the parchment before transferring to a cooling rack.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

December 2012

By biteclub

Betty’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

"This is not “just another chocolate chip recipe”… this is a variation created by my step-mom that is the perfect chewy and crisp combination of textures. She just passed away and the family is honoring her by compiling her recipes. This is an absolute fav!" - Frances — “This is not “just another chocolate chip recipe”… this is a variation created by my step-mom that is the perfect chewy and crisp combination of textures. She just passed away and the family is honoring her by compiling her recipes. This is an absolute fav!” – Frances

Submitted by Frances Fuchs
Ingredients

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter (room temperature is best)
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
Up to 3 tbsp water
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375°

2. Cream sugar and butter really well, until totally smooth (an extra long time…this is crucial!) Add vanilla and egg, mix well Add sifted flour, salt, and baking soda (best to sift them all together, but you can get away without it). Slowly add flour (half a cup at a time) while mixing.

3. Carefully add water, starting with one tablespoon. You are adding water instead of the other egg that other recipes call for. This is the secret, along with extra sugar! You have to estimate how much water to add to achieve the right consistency. You want them relatively flat, and chewy, not cakey and not too flat.

4. Stir in yummy chocolate chips

5. Coat your cookie pan with butter, get your batter balls on the pan, leaving plenty of space between.
Smaller balls are generally better, but you’ll need to experiment. Don’t play with them too much! Seriously.

6. Cook anywhere from 8-12 minutes, and watch them carefully! Take them out when the middles of the cookies are almost cooked, but still just a tad raw. They will finish cooking on the pan after you take them out, and should be nice and chewy. I always freeze them pretty quickly, cause they last longer, and are delicious when frozen!