Celery Root Instead of Potatoes

Celery Root (a.k.a celeriac) is a great substitute for potatoes. It can be cooked in many of the same ways as potatoes, but is a far healthier alternative. It is is a great source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, magnesium, potassium and manganese, and a very good source of vitamin C and phosphorus. You can read the nutritional profile here at Nutrition Data.

Don’t worry. This isn’t the root of the celery stalks that you’ve been grudgingly snacking on to lose weight. This is the earthy root is a cousin to those stalks, but is more akin to a turnip in both texture and taste.

Here’s a quick nutritional summary from Nutrition Data that compares celery root to a comparable amount of potato:

	Celery Root*	Potato*
Calories	42	118
Carbohydrates	9g	27g
Dietary Fiber	2g	2g
	*1 cup celery root (155g) boiled, drained with no salt	*1 potato (136g) boiled in skin with no salt

The following are a few recipes using celery root that I will be posting over the next few days. As I post them, I will update this list to contain the links to the recipes:

• Celery Root Mash
• Roasted Allspice Celery Root
• Veal and Portabella Stew with Celery Root

For Great Fish, Go Sun Fat

As much as we love Whole Foods Market–especially for gluten-free eating–we’re getting tired of the outrageous prices. This is particularly true for seafood. We’re often hard pressed to find fish for less than $12 per pound (the Ahi was $22.99 per pound the other day).

With a little research and a strong recommendation from my fellow food blogger Sean at Hedonia, we set out for the Sun Fat Seafood Company in the Mission District. What an amazing find.

For starters, we walked into a fish and seafood store that didn’t at all smell like fish. This is a great sign that the seafood is very fresh. The wide array of fish and shellfish was truly amazing from live lobsters and crab; multiple varieties of clams and mussels; several varieties of scallops; squid and frogs legs; fresh filets of tilapia, ahi, salmon, catfish, and more; and about a dozen types of whole fish.

The staff is very friendly and extremely helpful. They filet any whole fish you purchase (upon request), and they patiently answer any questions. Best of all, the prices are great! We’ve scored mussels for $2.29 per pound, Ahi for $7.99/pound, and tilapia for $4.29 (compare that to $7.99 per pound at Whole Foods on the same day).

Sun Fat Seafood company is the place for fish and seafood in San Francisco.

Sun Fat Seafood Company
2687 Mission Street (@ 23rd Street)
San Francisco, CA
415-282-9339

La Taqueria (Mission District)

La Taqueria, located on Mission Street near the corner of 25th, is the best place in San Francisco for tacos and burritos. Ok, being gluten-free, our friends say it is the best burrito. However, we can attest to the absolute best tacos and corn quesadillas. The ingredients are fresh. The corn tortillas taste home made. Our favorite is the beef taco, and we add sour cream and avocado (it comes with salsa already). They also have the standard chicken, pork, and veggie fillings as well as the more authentic beef tongue.

Oh, don’t forget to get a horchata (a traditional Mexican rice and cinnamon drink) or an aqua fresca (Mexican fruit drink) to go along with your food.

The best part, of course, is that La Taqueria is cheap. A taco will set you back only $3.50, and the amount of filling is generous.

Eat in or call in your order to go.

La Taqueria
2889 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
415-258-7117

Dungeness Crab Cakes (Gluten Free)

Crab cakes are one of my absolute favorite foods, but one that I can almost never order when we go out to eat or buy pre-made in the grocery store–they all use all-purpose flour or breadcrumbs as a binder. It’s quite unnecessary, and this yummy recipe demonstrates it by using egg as the binder and refrigerating the crab cakes for 15 minutes before frying.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 ounces sea scallops
• 1 egg
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 pound dungeness crab meat (1 large dungeness crab should produce plenty)
• 2 tablespoons seeded, diced tomato
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 tabelspoon fresh cilantro, minced
• 3 drops tabasco sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Place the scallops, egg, and salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and pulse until blended.
2. Add cream slowly in a stream until incorporated.
3. Place the blended scallops in a large non-reactive bowl and add crab, tomato, mustard, cilantro, and one tablespoon of the olive oil. Mix gently.
4. Shape the crab blend into paddies that are about 1/4″ thick and 2 1/2″ in diameter. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the crab cakes for 2 1/2 minutes per side.
6. Drain on paper towels and serve.

How Not to Screw It Up

1. It is possible that you, like me, own a blender or food processor that splashes when opened to add cream. It’s ok to stop the blender, add some of the cream, blend, then repeat. This ensures that it is evenly incorporated.
2. Be patient at let those crab cakes refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Longer is better. You need time for the egg to set and bind. Otherwise, your cakes will crumble.
3. Medium-high heat is the perfect setting. Lower than that, and you will never crisp the outside of the crab cake. Higher than that, and you will have crispy outside with cold inside. Neither way is desirable for eating. If you err on the wrong side, I think higher is better. Just keep those cakes moving around the pan.
4. Be patient with the oil. Let the pan get hot, than add the oil, and let the oil get hot before you start cooking. Otherwise, your crab cakes will soak up the olive oil instead of cooking in it, and they come out too oily.

Gluten-free Down Under

It was surprising to us how much more sophisticated than the United States that Australia and New Zealand were about gluten-free eating. When I say gluten-free in America in any place other than Whole Foods Market, I get puzzled looks as if were speaking in tongues. The most irritating response is the person who almost knows what I’m talking about, “No, there is no gluten in that dish. Only some flour.”

Flour, for all intents and purposes to me, means GLUTEN.

Things were quite different on our trip Down Under–especially in Australia. Specifically, Adelaide and Melbourne are outstanding for gluten-free eating. Aside from both cities having a reputation for great food, every coffeehouse or dessert shop we walked by had “gluten-free” desserts called out. Many were desserts that substituted some kind of rice flour or other gluten-free ingredient to make the dish gluten-free. In other words, they put in effort to be gluten-free.

Here’s an example from the Adelaide Central Market that I posted earlier. Notice in the photo below (if you can read it) that many of the dessert selections are gluten-free…

Another example I posted about earlier was our experience in Melbourne in the Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder. When we ordered a cheese plate, I asked if they could provide a gluten-free alternative to the bread. I was definitely expecting the usual offer of sliced apples or pears. Instead, they offered a gluten-free bread!

Every wait-person we asked knew what gluten-free was. If they were unsure if a dish was gluten-free, they asked the kitchen. Most importantly, they knew what to ask about. No response like we get in the United States.

Sydney we found to be less saavy about gluten-free eating.  There was certainly no prolific availability of gluten-free baked goods as we found in Adelaide and Melbourne. However, wait-staff did know what gluten-free was and could advise on the menu accordingly.

New Zealand, though more aware than the United States, appears to be no better than the United States in the general availability of gluten-free products. It is notable that at least they knew what it was (probably because of the Aussies requesting it), even if they didn’t offer the products. Of course, the awful state of eating out in New Zealand is a subject of another upcoming post.

New Zealand’s Greenshell Mussels

“…the real way to eat mussels is with your fingers straight from the shell…”

We would add that they should be harvested fresh from the water by your boat. That’s the Greenshell™ Mussel Cruise. Departing from Havelock in the Marlborough Sounds at the northern tip of New Zealand’s south island, we cruised the sounds to the greenshell mussel farms.

Greenshell mussels are native to New Zealand, and New Zealand is the only place on earth where they grow. Approximately 2,153 hectares of marine farms in the Marlborough area produce 50,000 greenweight tonnes of mussles (source: New Zealand Mussel Industry Council).

Part of what makes the Greenshell mussels a sought after seafood delicacy is their exceptional size and meatiness. The mussels are typically harvested when they are around 90 millimeter in length. A typical mussel is 55% meat by weight (compared to 25% for a typical blue mussel). In other words, they’re big and they’re meaty.

On the Greenshell Mussel Cruise, you take a cruise to the mussel beds. Whilst your Skipper explains how mussels are farmed and harvested, you enjoy a large bowl of fresh mussels and a glass of Awatere Terrace Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

For more information on New Zealand Greenshell mussels, including recipes, you can visit the New Zealand Greenshell™ Mussel marketing web site.

Quay (Sydney, New South Wales)

Quay (pronounced “key”) has been voted Sydney’s best restaurant for several years. It’s easy to see why. In addition to an unbeatable view–just across Circular Quay from the famous Sydney Opera House. Quay lives up to its view…and then some.

Our dinner started with a surprise from the kitch of ocean trout tartar served in a tall shot glass with creme fraiche and a trout gelatin. The trout gelatin is a consomme made from the ocean trout with geletin added to give it the texture. The presentation was beautiful.

We shared an entrees (i.e. starter in Australia) of sea pearls with tuna sashimi, pearl meat, caviar, and smoked eel. This was followed by our two mains. One was crisp skinned murray cod with shaved baby squid, abalone, congee rice, shitake, fresh water chestnuts, and black moss (pictured at left). The second was crisp confit of cinnoman pressed duck, white asparagus, and white asparagus cream. Both were outstanding.

We ordered two sides: creamed potatoes and green beans. We can not say enough about the cream potatoes, in particular. The texture is so creamy and the taste so rich that we both could have ordered a bowl each and had nothing else. That were that great.

In all, with the sides, we ordered too much food. The portion are small. Our starter in particular was quite small and two bite sized. However, small sizes pack flavorful punches.

We shared a cheese plate for dessert. To accomodate my gluten-free request, they brought an extra plate of white peaches, white necterines, and raisins.

The service was outstanding. Attentive, but not overly so. Very friendly. And, best of all, extremely knowledgeable about the food.

Quay is a bit expensive–our dinner was close to A$300, but the food, the view, and the experience are worth every Australian dollar you will spend.

Quay
Overseas Passenger Terminal
The Rocks
Sydney, New South Wales
9251 5600

Photo Highlights From The Sydney Fish Market

Today we took a brief tour of the Sydney Fish Market. Sydney’s Fish Market is the second largest in the world in terms of variety (Tokyo’s is first). It is the largest market of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Here is just a sample of the wonderful, fresh seafood we saw on our tour.

SFM is the wholesale spot where restaurants and hotels and such get their seafood, but it also offers a variety of retail outlets, eateries, and shops. In fact, it even has a seafood cooking school…something we may be partaking of on a future visit.

This is the local favorite oyster, the Sydney Rock Oyster. Very mild in flavor (as, of course, we had to sample a few)…

And finally, prawns the size of my head!

A set of Austrlian-inspired recipes for seafood will be forthcoming as soon as we return to the States next month.

Cicciolina (Melbourne, Victoria)

Cicciolina (prounced chee-chee-o-lina), was a great find for us in Melbourne. Located in the beach suburb of St Kilda, this casual and laid back eatery has a very loyal following among the locals. They do not take reservations, and the wait can be long. Enjoy a drink at the back bar while you wait for your table. Soak in the atmosphere. It is energized.

The food focus is fresh produce and ingredients done in an Italian-inspired preperation. We started with the beef carpaccio. It was extremely tender, served topped with fig and red onion. Superb.

For our mains, Jan ordered the fresh fish of the day: kingfish served in a tangerine buerre blanc with cucumber ribbons (pictured at right). A beautiful presentation, and the tangerine subbing for lemon in the buerre blanc sauce was inspired and clean. I ordered the porterhouse. It was topped with sauteed mushrooms and served in a red wine sauce. It was terrific.

When you find yourself in Melbourne, you must stop at Cicciolina.

Cicciolina
130 Acland Street
St Kilda, Victoria
9525 3333

Oyster (Melbourne, Victoria)

After spending the day at the Australian Open, we headed to Oyster on Little Bourke in the Melbourne Central Business District (CBD) for dinner. We started with a half dozen of local oysters and moved on to a rocket and parmesan salad. Jan ordered the special fish of the day, and I had the eye fillet.

Overall, our food was good. The service, however, was not so good. After our waiter nearly spilled my wine (an accident that could happen anywhere, and I’m very forgiving), he whisked the glass away to replace it. After at least one polite reminder, it was nearly 15 minutes before a replacement glass was delivered to our table. A shame, as my wine would have paired nicely with the rest of the oysters and the salad we had consumed in the meantime.

The food was slow to be delivered, and we had to ask for the bill at the end after waiting too long.

Considering that Oyster has an impressive pedigree in its owners and chef and that it is consistently rated a top Melbourne restaurant, we personally found the experience a little disappointing. For the same price, we definitely recommend Ezard over Oyster.

Oyster
35 Little Bourke
Melbourne, Victoria
9650 0988