An Italian Chef Walks Into a Nacho Bar…

Chef Richard Hodge really loves nachos. Unfortunately, he works at an Italian restaurant, which makes putting them on his menu impossible. Or does it?

Hodge recently invented a way out of this horrific dilemma: pasta nachos, a new addition to his menu at Puccini & Pinetti in San Francisco.

Instead of nacho chips, Hodge takes wonton wrappers, cuts them into triangles, and fries until crispy. Then he tops them with housemade fennel sausage, a little salsa marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese and bakes until the cheese melts. Once cooked, it’s topped with diced Serrano chilies, tomatoes, shredded basil and red onion. Italian nachos — they really do exist! Hodge was kind enough to share his recipe.

Pasta Nachos

Makes 4 servings


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Burns My Bacon: 1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 3 Tequila, FAIL

The Irish bar next door to my office always has a sandwich board advertising the day’s food/drink specials. To my intense annoyance, said board often has misspellings and a ton of misplaced apostrophes (“$3 Bloody Mary’s!” etc). It has become a private, daily tradition of mine to check the board and make snarky mental comments about how dumb they are.

Today, though, this bar has taken it TOO. FAR. Time to get the venting out of my mind and into the world.

Come on, guys! As much as I hate bad grammar and spelling, I can usually let things slide. But tainting the hallowed name of tequila?! This offends me on a personal level. Please take note that this abomination occurs not once, but twice. Then they add insult to injury with the whole “qesadilla” situation. I mean, maybe Spanish isn’t their first language. It isn’t mine, either. But I at least know that Q is generally followed by a U. It’s like they are actively trying to spell everything wrong. You have a job in the bar industry! You are physically and metaphorically surrounded by food and drink words! How…?!

And don’t try to give them the benefit of the doubt by saying “But they’re an Irish bar, maybe they never learned basic Mexican food words because”… no. Not a legit excuse. (This also begs a whole different question — why aren’t they serving colcannon and Guinness as a special? I’ve almost never seen them touting any sort of Irish dish.) Plus it’s not just foreign languages that trip them up. Don’t think I didn’t notice that “provalone” travesty near the bottom of the sign. I got my eye on you, Sailor Jerry-themed specials board.

If you want to make your living hawking food and booze, at least attempt to respect your trade and your customers through attention to detail. If correctly spelling menu items is even considered a “detail” and not a glaringly obvious priority.

More rants: check out our Burns My Bacon archive. Better yet, feed us back and tell us what burns your bacon.

Friday Fuck Up: Dry Pasta Salad

I thought it was a genius move. Actually, I thought it was the second genius move in just one dish.

At first I panicked when I saw only a 1/4 of a box left of the whole wheat squiggle pasta. How could I complete a proper salad for a birthday party with only a 1/4 box of pasta?! But then I spied some orzo. Who said pasta salad must only carry one type of pasta?

I thought, like I just said, that it was a pretty smart move. I compared cooking times and knew exactly when to drop each pasta into the salty cooking water. Bravo, Gansie, I said to myself. Actually, it might have been out loud.

Anyway, that worked out.

I run a mostly no-mayo zone in the kitchen. It’s not a strict rule, just something we don’t buy. (For fear that Bennett will suddenly make 14 peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches in a row. That’s right. I said peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich.)

With the no mayo in my fridge, I reached for yogurt as the base. Oh, you darn nasty yorgurt. I think you fucked me.

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Cocktail O’Clock: The Beer Float

Problem: you love drinking dark beers, but they just don’t seem appropriate for 85-degree summer days.

Solution: Add ice cream.

This beer float, made from Barrier Lights Out Stout and Steve’s vanilla bourbon ice cream, was Spotted at 61 Local in Brooklyn. I’d tell you it comes highly recommended, but do I really even need to sell this one to you?

(Photo: Audrey Luk)

Endless Poptails: Cherry Apple Whiskey Sour

We ESers like our whiskey combinations and we’re betting you will too. Never mindful of the rules, this week we created a blasphemous bartending nightmare by skipping the shaker for some rotating blades. Yep, everything is headed for the blender including the whiskey. Um, please muffle all outraged screams until you have tried this. Along with the whiskey are some sweet cherries, tart apples and a lime to create a popsicle that will assist you with obtaining your daily fruit serving.

So while we may not be rule-minded we’re a thoughtful bunch and giving you two options for your whiskey. Sip it in a whiskey cocktail or get a lick of it in these Cherry Apple Whiskey Sour Poptails. Of course we recommend you try both.

Cherry Apple Whiskey Sour Poptails

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Sprouting to Life: Day Seven

The nasty adolescent phase.

A Sprout’s Life
Day One
Day Three

Day Five

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