what chefs eat

i have to admit that i always get a little bit bummed out when i come across those articles where they ask chefs about the dive-y places they like to eat on their night off.

chefs eat chinese food on their night off. i think people know that by now.

but i realized the real reason is that i'm bummed is because nobody has asked me to be interviewed for any of those articles!

while i don't work nights anymore i do like to go out for lunch on my day off especially to new places.

but this isn't about new places.

this is about my tried and true most favorite spirit foods that i order at my go-to places, sometimes at night but usually during the day.

in no particular order of preference these are the cheap(er) eats that i can't get enough of, and so, order and eat them regularly.

1. curried chicken salad-style at elmwood cafe
2. top dog. usually i order bockwurst but sometimes i get a top and a bock and occasionally a smoked chicken apple
3. vics indian. the lamb wrap on weekends and/or rice and lentil dumplings with yogurt, tamarind sauce and cilantro chutney
4. wally's behind the bank club in emeryville: chicken shawarma sando with garlic sauce
5. gordo tacqueria. regular chili verde burrito with black beans and extra hot sauce and sometimes sour cream
6. sweet adeline bakery for pie slices and gougeres
7. the reuben at stag's lunchette
8. cheesy trueburger
9. arinell slice plain cheese or with olives

if you wanted to take me out to dinner i really only want to go to: miss ollies, mission chinese or bull valley roadhouse. especially if you are picking up the check.

dutch babies

dutch babies are my new favorite thing to make for breakfast. they are the perfect combination of easy and impressive and so, good to make for others, not to eat by yourself.

i was introduced to them as a kid when my mom discovered a recipe maybe in sunset magazine. the recipe was a xeroxed copy that listed ratios based on the size of the pan and number of guests. i would call for the recipe a few times a year but at some point i figured out that the formula was 1 egg to 1/4 c. of milk to 1/4 c. of flour and that butter is generous but basically between 2 and 4 ounces. dutch babies also have the advantage of being made entirely with pantry staples that you are likely to already have, or could pick up easily at your corner market.

in my family we ate them drizzled with lemon juice and little spoonfuls of unsifted powdered sugar which is super good but now i would be more likely to do a small pour of maple syrup.

while i would tend to make them for a day off breakfast dutch babies are actually quite versatile for entertaining. for a dramatic spring brunch one could fill the center with a saute of leeks, asparagus, mushrooms and peas, or in summer, sliced strawberries with lemon and vanilla sugar.

dutch babies
makes: enough for two adults and two children
equipment: 10" cast iron pan

4 eggs

1 c. whole milk

1 c. flour

sea salt

2 oz. butter

1. heat the oven to 400. 

2. put the cast iron skillet into the oven while you prepare the batter.

3. whisk together eggs and salt for one minute. use 1/2 teaspoon salt if using salted butter and 3/4 teaspoon if your butter is unsalted.

4. add butter into the hot pan in the oven.

5. add milk and whisk maybe 30 seconds. add flour and whisk until smooth. 

6.    Remove pan from the oven and pour batter directly into the hot melted butter.

7.    Bake until puffy and amber colored about 15 to 20 minutes.