Author Archives: Renate Valencia

I like to have cornmeal around

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cornbread sqares on a plate

Try to keep corn meal on hand.  If you have corn meal and a few other staples you’ll be able to make corn bread, which means you can fix up a quick meal.  For example, corn bread with an over-easy egg and sliced ripe tomato.  If you have nothing but canned tuna and mayo, just serve the corn bread with tuna salad.  Use the recipe on the side of the container of corn meal you buy, but remember that recipes for corn muffins are sugar-heavy, so use them only if you want sweet corn bread.  Albers is what I use, and there is a solid Southern-style cornbread recipe on the bag.  Whichever recipe you use, get yourself a seasoned cast iron skillet to bake the bread in.  Lodge Logic (the “Logic” line = preseasoned) is very good, and you’ll be buying one of the last decent American-made products.  After you grease the pan put it in the oven and let it get hot.  Then pour the batter in quickly and bake.  This maneuver makes a difference, trust me.

Genova Deli in Oakland

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Sandwich from Genova Deli in Oakland CA in 2007

Sandwich from Genova Deli in Oakland CA in 2007

Decent Italian deli in Oakland.  Why did we not know?  I’ll bet when we were told we dismissed the information because of how often we have been misled by people who have lame data points when it comes to certain kinds of food.  Anyway, we were driving on Telegraph in Temescal when we saw a sign for Genova Deli (5095 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland) and thought, “What the hell – let’s stop.”  We made our way around the nice-ish rectangular strip mall to find a jam-packed Italian deli that looked like it actually had something going on besides Columbus and Saag’s (now owned by Hormel, did you know this?) products.  Lots of counters with  prepared food and cold cuts and a serious sandwich operation.  The sandwiches are made on good, crusty rolls and have a respectable amount of protein.  You’ll find all the suspects here, like various prosciuttos and salamis.  They have many varieties of salami, not just Genoa and Sopressata, so this is a place to get a real salumi fix on.  There are packaged goods, like beans and pasta, alongside your truffle and olive oils.  One end of the store is dedicated to baked goods, and you can have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake there.  I am told they make excellent ravioli.  I’ll bet this place is out of control during the Christmas season.

Rice shortage

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Big bags of rice were going by in carts when I was at a warehouse store the other day.  There seems to be a rice mania around here that came about as a result of media coverage of the Australian/world rice situation and general food shortage projections.  I don’t blame restaurant owners for wanting to stock up a bit before prices go up further, but I don’t think every family of four needs to buy three 50-pound bags of rice at this point.  News people in this country need to stop creating these situations.  Then again, is there any real news nowadays?  Can you tell the difference between the evening news and Entertainment Tonight?

Polenta ala Ina Garten

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Ina Garten's rosemary polenta

Ina Garten’s rosemary polenta

I made a great polenta dish today from Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten.  I love all of Ina Garten’s cookbooks because the recipes really work.  This is an older book – from 2002 – but I go back to it again and again.  The rosemary polenta on page 130 is killer, even if you substitute whole milk for the half and half and use commercially-prepared chicken stock.  I have some leftovers which I plan on serving under chicken in pan gravy tomorrow.  Of all the cooked-formed-chilled-cut-fried polenta dishes in my world, this is by far the best; that little bit of rosemary she calls for really makes the dish.  Oh, did I mention that I served the polenta tonight with NY strip steaks?  I nabbed a whole USDA Choice striploin the other day for $5.99/lb.  This is by far the best way to go if you need to feed a group or if you don’t mind freezing what you don’t use right away.  A good striploin does not need much trimming and, indeed, you’ll want to leave that layer of fat on there to lubricate the meat as it cooks.  Simply cut steaks evenly with a sharp knife.  Once you’ve done this a time or two you’ll be a pro – just don’t fear those larger cuts of meat since they often represent a terrific bargain.  When my mother goes into my fridge to see what’s going on in there and she catches a glimpse of a massive vacuum packed slab of beef, she knows she’ll be firing up the Weber for steaks that weekend.

Smoked whitefish makes its way to Richmond Costco!

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HUGE smoked whitefish news today.  I again have a reason to live:  Costco in Richmond, CA, is carrying 2-pound tubs of Acme Fish Corporation’s smoked whitefish salad.  It was all about serendipity this afternoon as I sampled some kind of nonsense close to where they stock the smoked trout and Copper River salmon.  I eyed white square containers of something out of the corner of my eye, making out only the words “Blue Hill Bay.”  Oh my God! — in a flash I connected those words to the Costco in Long Island City, where my parents lived — where we bought tubs of whitefish salad from Acme sold under that name, enough to see Steve, Matt and myself through the next six months in San Francisco, a place far from the natural habitat of decent smoked fish products.  I made my way to the white containers in slow motion, with arms outstretched as if greeting a lover, thinking, “Oh, please let this be what I think it is.  I’ve waited since 1995 for this day, checking the fish area regularly, always to be disappointed.  This would redeem even the bitter disappointment of that salty, lame-ass, whole smoked whitefish that showed up for two weeks in 2007.”  I quickly grabbed one and did a scan akin to a doctor looking for ten fingers and ten toes, seeking out the words “smoked” “whitefish” “salad” and “Acme.”  Then I could breathe again.  I was on the horn to Steve in seconds flat, almost yelling into my mouthpiece that this costs $7.95.   Seven friggin’ ninety five for two pounds!  When you are even able find it in these parts it costs upwards of $12 per pound.  I took two home.  This is especially pleasing because my bagel monger, Berkeley Bagels (1281 Gilman Street), used to sell this for $8 a pound, but they got greedy and it now costs way more than that.  This is notice to everyone that you no longer have to be held hostage by Berkeley Bagels and Manhattan Bagels (1789 4th Street, Berkeley) in order to get a little smoked whitefish salad for your bagels.  Note that this salad is not chunky, rather very smooth, with no preservative aftertaste that almost all other commercially prepared smoked fish salads have.