GOOD TASTE.COOKBOOK: ``The All-American Cheese and Wine Book'' (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; $37.50) by Laura Werlin, a Berkeley-based food writer, is a sequel to her ``The New American Cheese,'' published three years ago. The new volume features a collection of wine and cheese pairings along with profiles of cheesemakers and winemakers and 10 basic guidelines. Also included are 50 recipes with tempting names like Monterey Jack and Roasted Asparagus Pizza, Apricot Coins, Brie and Nectarine nectarine (nĕk'tərēn`), name for a tree (Prunus persica var. nectarina) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a smooth-skinned variety of the peach. Turnovers, Chocolate Mascarpone mas·car·po·ne n. A fresh soft Italian cheese with a high butterfat content, made from cow's milk enriched with cream. [Italian, augmentative of dialectal mascarpa, whey cheese. Tart and more. Particularly useful are glossaries of both cheese and wine terms. - Natalie Haughton TAKE NOTE: If your travels take you to the City by the Bay, pick up a copy of ``Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Guide'' (Ten Speed Press; $18.95). In this third updated and revised edition, you'll find profiles of more than 600 restaurants, bakeries, bars, butchers, delis, markets, cafes, confectioners, food stands, cheese shops, cookware stores, cookbook sellers and wine shops across the city's 14 districts, as well as throughout Berkeley, Marin and the wine country. It also includes 50 recipes from area chefs and a listing of can't-miss events. Unterman, a resident of San Francisco and the chef/owner of the Hayes Street Grill and Vicolo Pizzeria, has been a food critic for three decades, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young.[2] The paper grew along with San Francisco to become the largest circulation newspaper on the West Coast of the and the San Francisco Examiner The San Francisco Examiner is a U.S. daily newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since the late 19th Century. History 19th century The beginning of the Examiner is a topic of some controversy. . - N.H. FREE RECIPE CARDS: Want to know the details of grilling great steaks and burgers? The National Cattleman's Beef Association and Cattleman's Beef Board is offering two recipe cards - Burger on the Grill and Steak on the Grill. They feature recipes, grilling tips, serving suggestions and timetables designed so you can ``grill at a glance'' all year long. For free copies, send a self-addressed, stamped No. 10 business-size envelope to: National Cattleman's Beef Association, Dept. FC-OTGT-NP, P.O. Box 670, Bloomingdale, IL 60108-0670. -N.H. A BIT OF HEAVEN: Godiva was quick to realize that its rich chocolates could easily be incorporated into ice cream by the pint, but the 150-year-old Belgian chocolatier Neuhaus has one-upped the competition with its new ``snobinettes,'' ice cream-filled bonbons in a variety of flavors in a dark Belgian chocolate shell. We taste-tested a few of these upscale little desserts for the grind-your-beans coffee crowd and found the coffee ice cream to be the favorite, although some testers thought the little chocolate shells were too brittle. All agreed that one bite was not enough. Look for them at Neuhaus Boutique at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center or order from www.neuhauschocolate.com. They're available in vanilla, chocolate and coffee ice cream flavors packed in gold foil boxes, priced at $6 (for four), $8 (for six), $10 (for eight) and up. - Barbara De Witt CELEBRATE: Little Debbie Snack Cakes has introduced Little Debbie Stars & Stripes Marshmallow marshmallow /marsh·mal·low/ (mahrsh´mel?o) (-mal?o) a perennial Eurasian herb, Althaea officinalis, Puffs - the third addition to the Stars and Stripes Stars and Stripes nickname for the U.S. flag. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 8567] See : America collection of snacks, which already includes brownie squares and snack cakes. The puffs feature a chocolate cookie topped with marshmallow and covered with sweet white icing, red stripes and blue, star-shaped sprinkles. Individually wrapped, suggested retail for a box of eight is $1.19. To enhance your holiday theme, consider them for Fourth of July Fourth of July, Independence Day, or July Fourth, U.S. holiday, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Celebration of it began during the American Revolution. festivities fes·tiv·i·ty n. pl. fes·tiv·i·ties 1. A joyous feast, holiday, or celebration; a festival. 2. The pleasure, joy, and gaiety of a festival or celebration. 3. . Look for them at Target and other stores. - N.H. DINING OUT Tapas tapas Ascetic practice carried out to achieve spiritual power or purification. In Hinduism, it is associated with Yoga as a way of purifying the body in preparation for the more exacting spiritual exercises leading to liberation. and wine, or is it wine and tapas? Whatever way it is, there's definitely a restaurant trend going on locally with small- or medium-sized plates of food loosely described as tapas being served with wines by the glass, carafe or bottle. Biggest hit so far in this direction is A.O.C. on Third Street. Now comes Oasis on La Brea Avenue La Brea Avenue is a prominent north/south thoroughfare in Los Angeles. After Hawthorne Boulevard intersects with Century Boulevard in Inglewood, La Brea Avenue is formed. La Brea passes north through Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, and Ladera Heights. with a tapas-type menu of 24 plates priced from $7 to $18 that includes a backup of nine side dishes at $5 each. Consequently, you could order Moorish pork kebabs with a quince quince, shrub or small tree of the Asian genera Chaenomeles and Cydonia of the family Rosaceae (rose family). The common quince (Cydonia oblonga sauce here for $11, pair it with a side dish of preserved lemon and mint couscous cous·cous n. 1. A pasta of North African origin made of crushed and steamed semolina. 2. A North African dish consisting of pasta steamed with a meat and vegetable stew. for $5 and try a glass ($7) of Luis Canis Crianza 1999 from Spain with them, and you've spent $23 on a small but definitely not-everyday meal. Of course, if you're sharing, you'd probably prefer a carafe ($19) or a bottle ($26) of the same wine and add other dishes like clams and ham in a chili broth ($7) and/or a Spanish charcuterie plate of beef, tuna and cured pork ($12). Or you could start with a white wine and try the mussels with herb pesto and manchego cheese ($7). There are lots of food and wine pairing possibilities here, extending into the dessert arena with half a dozen sweet creations ($8 each) and a full bar for the single malt scotch Single Malt Scotch is a type of single malt whisky, distilled by a single distillery in a pot still, using malted barley as the only grain ingredient in Scotland. As with any Scotch whisky, a Single Malt Scotch must be distilled in Scotland and matured in oak casks in Scotland for , martini and cognac crowd. Oasis, 611 N. La Brea Ave., is open evenings only from 6 p.m. to midnight nightly except Sunday. Reservations: (323) 939-8900. - Larry Lipson CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1) no caption (book: ``The All-American Cheese and Wine Book'') (2) no caption (book: ``Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Guide'') (3) no caption (recipe cards - Burger and Steak on the Grill) (4) no caption (Godiva snobinettes) |
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