Seafood Tower

A trip to San Francisco calls for seafood and views of the bay. This time McCormick & Kuletos did a fantastic job with elegance and it was "Crab Month". Yummm. My choice was the Crab Tower with avocado, corn and sprouts.






The Cottage Place in Flagstaff has a different version with shrimp and scallops found on page 18 of Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Seafood Tower
1 cup water
¼ cup Cilantro Lime vinaigrette (page 21)
1 teaspoon salt
4 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 scallops, cleaned
¼ cup Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (page 21)
Tomato Caper Relish (page 20)
Horseradish Cream Sauce (page 20)
Bottled cocktail sauce
Avocado fans
Cilantro Lime vinaigrette (page 21)

Bring the water, ¼ cup vinaigrette and the salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the shrimp and scallops and reduce the heat to 170 degrees. Poach the shrimp and scallops for 5 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Remove from the heat. Add ice to the mixture to stop the cooking process and let stand for 4 minutes. Drain the shrimp and scallops and place in a large bowl. Add ¼ cup vinaigrette and toss to coat. Chill in the refrigerator.

Cut each scallop into three thin circles. Place two plastic tubes 2 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall on a place. Fill each tube half full with the relish and compact with a spoon handle. Arrange three scallop slices on the relish in each tube. Slide the tip of a metal spatula under each tube and place each on a chilled serving plate. Make a pool of the horseradish cream sauce around the tube. Drag a wooden pick through cocktail sauce and make a design in the horseradish cream sauce. Arrange the poached shrimp and avocado fans in the sauce. Drizzle some of the remaining vinaigrette around the edge of each plate. Remove the plastic tube by pressing down on the scallops with a spoon handle, while lifting each tube.
Serves 2

Sears Fine Food Restaurant in San Francisco

You could dine your way through San Francisco with all that it has to offer. The historical restaurants are my first choice and Sears Fine Food Restaurant is near Union Square. Established in 1938 it offers great food and very reasonable prices with antiques everywhere. We were seated in the basement with it's tiny white and black hexagonal tile so reminiscent of the 1930's. The place was filled with antiques and wonderful old photos.



History of Sears Fine Food from their website.
Hilbur and Ben Sears founded Sears in 1938 on the Block of Powell Street. Ben was a retired circus clown who used his wife's family recipe for Swedish Pancakes as the "star attraction" for his new venture. The word soon spread and people lined up to try these wonderful 18 little Swedish pancakes. Thus the legend began...

In the early 1950's the restaurant was sold to Mrs. Quita Brenner who kept the menu and the name. Originally it seated about 70 people and featured two pink Cadillac's that they outfitted with heaters to keep their customers warm while they waited to dine at the restaurant. In 1964 the restaurant moved to its present location at 439 Powell Street and Mrs Brenner, her son in law, Al Boyajian and later his son Lee ran the business. In December 2003 restaurant closed due in part to declining revenues after 09/11. They sought a buyer who might continue the business, loved by generations of San Franciscans and tourists from all over the world. They found that buyer in Man J. Kim, an experienced restaurateur and owner of the Lori's Diner restaurant.

Winners in Museum Photo Fair

Congratulations to League members who received a ribbon:
Dee Steen for her "Mom In Saguaro", First Place in PEOPLE category;

Norma Hinton, Third Place for "Birthday Party" in EVENTS category and Third Place for "Noftsger Hill Soccer Team" in LIFESTYLES category.

Zona Lorig took First Place for "Picnic on the San Pedro River" in LIFESTYLES category as well as Second Place for "Family and Friends at the Montezoma Hotel" in LIFESTYLES category and one more, First Place for "Fairbank Train Depot" in TRANSPORTATION category.


posted by Jeannine Moyle

White Chocolate Mousse

Celebrating a 22nd birthday should be special. Nothing like San Francisco, lunch at McCormick & Kuletos and White Chocolate Mousse for my niece, Jamie. (She had help eating it).





My sister, Judy, and Jamie came for a non-stop 3 day visit. Our tour guide, my daughter Candice, arranged a bicycle ride, Bogle Vineyard picnic, visits to the Cable Car Museum, an Irish Pub, Chinatown, Little Italy, Alcatraz at night, Haight Ashbury and lots of shopping.

The Historical League served Historymaker Polly Rosenbaum chocolate cake for her 100th birthday. Recipe on page 136 of Tastes & Treasures. I think she would have approved of White Chocolate Mousse for another birthday.

White Chocolate Mousse
It's such a simple dish to make, and it's melt-in-your-mouth light. You could use regular chocolate if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

Heat water in saucepan, with sugar, until sugar is dissolved. Add chocolate chips and melt until smooth. Set saucepan in cold water to cool mixture. Place in the fridge until thoroughly chilled. Whisk smooth. Beat cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Fold into cold chocolate mixture. Pour into pre-made dark chocolate serving cups or individual serving dishes and enjoy.
Note: Add fresh fruit and a drizzle of juice for added presentation.

Cable Car Museum, San Francisco

No trip is complete for me without a museum visit and this one is great. Free admission, full of information and it is a working facility. These cables and sheaves still power the cable cars that run in the city and you can hop on, ride to Fisherman's Wharf and enjoy fabulous views. Lombard street was busy. Love the Bay Bridge scene. A great way to celebrate Jamie's 22nd birthday.

Limoncello

Friends in Sacramento are serious about their cooking. Rae made the best chocolates I have ever tastes but I think he is guarding his recipes.

He also gave us this bottle of Limoncello. It is beautifully packaged and made a lovely hostess gift. The recipe can be found in Tastes & Treasures.

Lemoncello (Liquore al Limone) page 178.

15 thick-skin lemons
2 (750 milliliter) bottles 100 proof vodka
4 cups sugar
5 cups water

Scrub the lemons with a vegetable brush and hot water to remove any wax or pesticides. Pat dry with paper towels. Remove the zest in strips with a vegetable peeler, removing any white pith. Combine the lemon zest and 1 bottle off the vodka in a large jar with a tight fitting lid. Let stand at room temperature in a cool dark environment for 40 days.
After 40 days, mix the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Let stand until cool. Add the syrup and remaining bottle of vodka to the jar containing the vodka and lemon zest.
Let stand, covered, at roo temperature in a cool dark environment for 40 more days. Strain the vodka mixture into bottles, discarding the solids. Store in the freezer. Serve ice cold from the freezer in small glasses.
Makes about 2 (750 milliliter) bottles

Photo Fair at AHS Museum

Over 200 historical photographs of Arizona were submitted to the Annual Photo Fair. Historical League member Jeannine Moyle did a fantastic job of organizing and promoting this event. It is wonderful to watch the fair grow from historic photographs to include book signings, science experiments and more. Carolyn Mendoza set up a table with sales of Tastes & Treasures and Historical League aprons. George Hartz autographed his book for the Images of America series. Museum Director Dr. Peter Welsh participated in research being conducted on a weather station.