San Francisco Treats
There was a time when those outside of California quickly associated San Francisco with a particular “San Francisco Treat” of television commercial fame. These days, you can still find tourists hanging on to cable cars, hair blowing in the wind, singing the old advertising jingle…
There was a time when those outside of California quickly associated San Francisco with a particular “San Francisco Treat” of television commercial fame. These days, you can still find tourists hanging on to cable cars, hair blowing in the wind, singing the old advertising jingle (sometimes aloud).
San Francisco has since become known for its other delectable foods. Instead of pre-packaged convenience, it is now known for a vibrant cuisine that embraces freshness and an artisanal approach. Visitors are now eager to savor San Francisco’s seafood, sourdough, chocolates, and wine, to name a few.
So for Challenge 6 of Project Food Blog, I thought it only fitting to use some of San Francisco’s truest treats. The 60 remaining contestants were tasked with creating a delicious meal that will travel well and still taste and look great. Living in this area has made me realize that San Francisco could very well be the road trip capital of the world. Within 3 hours or so, you can easily find yourself in the ski resorts of Lake Tahoe, the rugged majesty of Yosemite, the wineries of Sonoma and Napa, the beautiful Monterey Bay, or the gorgeous coastline in West Marin.
This road trip meal is one that can be made, from scratch, at home, or from ingredients conveniently purchased at establishments throughout San Francisco.
When it comes to seafood, residents of the Bay Area eagerly await Dungeness crab season, which runs from November to about January. This large crab yields a mildly sweet meat, and when the crabbing season reaches its peak, I love to enjoy it simply: steamed.
One of my first tastes of Dungeness Crab was in a Crab Louie Salad, a true San Francisco classic. The salad features Dungeness crab with a Thousand Island dressing, served atop a bed of lettuce, with hard boiled eggs. The dish became wildly popular in the early part of the 1900’s, and was even featured in a 1910 cookbook by Victor Hertzler, the head chef of the St. Francis Hotel. Though Crab Louie is generally viewed as passé these days, you can still find it at restaurants such as Tadich Grill and Sam’s Grill. I happen to think it works really well in a sandwich with fresh sourdough bread. This Crab Louie Roll will travel perfectly.
We had our first taste of the typical San Francisco wintery rain this weekend. So, something warm was in order: a steamy bowl of Cioppino. This seafood soup has its origins from the Italian fishermen who settled in San Francisco’s North Beach, and its tomato-based broth is extremely comforting on a cold day. This version features Ling Cod, another West Coast native, along with clams and mussels.
Chocolates and San Francisco have a sweet history as well, with the likes of Ghirardelli and Scharffen Berger, as well as the growing number of artisanal chocolate makers. For dessert, I made Chocolate Raspberry Brownies, extremely portable and fudgy-licious.
My San Francisco treats fit perfectly in the Project Food Blog cooler!
The Crab Louie Rolls traveled well wrapped in paper loaf pans, which doubled as plates, and the thermos of Cioppino guaranteed piping hot soup to ward off the rainy chill.
A bottle of wine and Voss sparkling water rounded out the meal. If you’re headed to a winery that has a picnic area, this is a lovely lunch to take while you enjoy a bottle of wine from winery. If you’re headed somewhere else, be sure to bring one along. We brought a 2008 Bohan-Dillon Pinot Noir from Hirsch Vineyards, a winery located along the Sonoma Coast. A sip of this smokey plum wine along with the luscious Chocolate Raspberry Brownie will be the perfect sweet ending for any road trip.
My sincerest thanks to everyone for helping me advance to the next challenge in Project Food Blog. Your comments, tweets, and votes mean so much! This post is my submission for Challenge 6: Road Trip! Contestants were asked to create a meal to go — one that carries well on the road, and still tastes and looks great. Voting for this challenge takes place from 6AM Pacific Time (9 AM Eastern) Monday, October 25th through 6PM Pacific Time (9 PM Eastern) Thursday, October 28st. Please consider voting by clicking here (and clicking the heart). Thank you so much!
Recipes
Crab Louie Roll
- 16 oz fresh Dungeness Crab meat*
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup relish
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 avocado, sliced
- salad greens
- fresh sourdough rolls
* While it’s always fun to steam and crack your own Dungeness crabs, crab meat can often be purchased by the pound for your convenience.
Check Dungeness crab meat for any remaining shells.
Combine mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, salt and pepper in a small bowl to make the dressing. Add Dungeness crab and stir.
Build sandwich on fresh sourdough rolls, salad greens and sliced avocado.
Cioppino
Recipe from Martha Stewart can be found here. It is simple, quick, and delicious.
Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
Recipe Coming Soon
Comments
COOKBOOK
Ooooh, Liren! Why did you not leave room in your cooler for me? I’m really small and I promise I would have shared a crab claw before devouring the whole thing! Amazing and I love, love Dungeness crabs from SF! This post is such a big fat tease…thank you!
Aw, we’ll have to have a crab fest of our own! Wouldn’t that be fun? Maybe that should be the next Bay Area foodie gathering :)
OMG..you read my mind! Let’s make it happen. We can strategize at the Foodbuzz Festival..so flippin excited!
Wonderful! Love the pics and inspiration!
Hi Liren
what a wonderful post for this segment of the challenge!! You know you have my vote, good luck in the challenge!
Dennis
I would love one of those crab louie sandwiches…Gorgeous menu!
Another beautiful post, Liren. The cioppino is perfect at this time of year, and your sandwich and brownies look incredible as well. (and ps those brown plates are adorable!) I lived in the bay area for many years during and after my undergrad (at Cal). I always looked forward to crab season, and loved spending time down by the water. Your picnic certainly does SF proud. Nicely done. You always have my vote!
Best of luck! Hope to see us both in round 7!!! =)
Go Bears!!! Yay, another Cal alum!
Thank you, Jacob! I had no idea you lived down here for so long! I would think that up in Portland you are able to enjoy Dungeness a little earlier than we do down here?
Oh, absolutely. =) Here we rent a house right on the beach and spend the weekend crabbing on the bay, and boil them up ourselves in these big outdoor cauldrons. It is one of those great foodie experiences that is equal parts gross, delicious, and charming. =)
Lovely post, I can say as a native born San Franciscan you’ve done our City proud. You’ve got a vote from me.
Truly a San Francisco meal! Whenever I’m in the city, I like to plan my first lunch at Tadich’s for Crab Louie and a nice cold Chardonnay.
Ah, great tradition, and a fantastic way to kick off any SF visit!
I think this proves what I have suspected for weeks. You should change your name to Kitchen CONFIDANT!
Seafood is one of my weaknesses…Would have LOVED to have been at your posh picnic! Amazing as always Liren! Can’t wait to see your video next week ; ) xoxo
OK, now I will have to track down a crab roll when I’m in town for FoodBuzz Fest next week! This is a great theme for a picnic and I would have loved to have been there :) Good luck!
I have been on a total soup kick this week with the weather cold and rainy in the Bay Area! I will have to try this! Good luck in this round!
Lovely Liren! Your photos are beautiful and your food looks delicious! I am so looking forward to the recipe for those brownies. Yum! You have my vote lady! :)
Thanks Lindsey! I’ll be posting the brownie recipe this week, along with a yummy twist :)
How yummy! The hot dish is the winner for me during this season. A beautiful and healthy picnic. Because we don’t have seafood in the prairies, it is such a prize and therefore your basket is particularly appealing to me!
:)
Valerie
Hi Valerie! I understand – I spent two years in the midwest, so for me, seafood was always the special splurge. The weather here has really turned, and I was sick when I cooked up this challenge, so the soup was not only in keeping with the theme, but rather a necessity! It was perfect for a rainy/sick day.
wow: what incredible resources!!! I would love to move out there. A very gourmet picnic.
If you ever have a chance to move out here, I highly recommend it. It is definitely an amazing place to live :) But it’s also great to just visit, so hope it’s in your travel plans :)
Liren, beautiful post as usual! I’m interested to try the Crab Louie. I grew up in the Pac NW on Dungeness Crab and have always preferred it simply steamed…but your sandwich looks delicious!! Good luck in the next round!
Oh, I agree! Steamed is my favorite, and when the crab is good, it doesn’t need anything else…no butter…just pure, sweet crab! I do like this for it’s portability, though :)
Yum! I love crab! You are getting me we excited to visit San Fransisco!!
Just a couple more weeks! I hope you are able to get a taste of crab while you’re here. The crabbing season will officially open closer to Nov 15, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find crab here (it will just likely be fished from farther north…and a little pricier).
Another winner. This will vbe my first trip to San Fran and I hope to meet you at the Festival. Good Luck and as always my vote is yours.
Great photos- made me hungry. I had my very first soft shell crab a few weeks ago- it was interesting. My mom lives in MD, but I’ve yet to go to a crab dinner. Now I might!
Lisa
Your picnic looks so inviting and delicious. I’ve only been to San Francisco once, but I had Dungeness crab, sourdough bread, Ghiradelli chocolate, and wine of course. You are very lucky to live in such a a great food region.
I’ll be voting for you.
After reading your post, now I dream of going to San Francisco (city I still don’t know) AND eat all these specialties that you have showed with mastery and grace here !!
Liren, all the things I love in a picnic format ! This looks mouthwatering and love that you showed how you got everything to fit into the cooler. Can’t wait to see what you do for the video
You just hit a bunch of my SF favorites in one go, Liren and reminded me that crab season is near – yay! :) This picnic sounds fabulous, especially that thermos of cioppino for this weekend’s chilly weather. Maybe I can stowaway in your cooler bag?
this looks unbelievable!! Count on my vote!
Way to go, representing San Francisco eats, Liren. We have so many great things to offer as represented by your picnic basket. I would love to enjoy all those picnic goodies any day. :-)
So glad you approve, Jean! There are so many good eats out here, it was hard to narrow down what could fit in the basket!
Yum! I love crab. In Brazil our crabs are tiny, so when I came to the US I was so amazed with the crab here!
I know what you mean. Growing up on the East Coast, I was raised on Blue Crab, so you can imagine how I was shocked by the size of these Dungeness crabs!
Crab on a road trip!! what a fabulous treat!! I’d love to have one of those crab louie sandwiches now!!!
Yes, crab! A wee more luxe than a tuna salad sandwich…though I LOVE a good tuna salad :)
This post exemplifies what I adore about San Francisco. A perfect picnic menu Liren. Oh how I wish I was having this picnic with you!
Pretty soon, Caroline, we can enjoy this picnic together. When oh when are you moving up here?
That first picture made me laugh so hard! We aren’t crab people here in Mass. but when I do have them I love it!
Great post… you know you have my vote!
Every time I look at that crab photo, I think he’s saying, “Are you lookin’ at me?” With total attitude.
He was a tasty crab :)
Fabulous post Liren – so jealous of where you live and how you have access to all those wonderful ingredients :-) Good luck in Challenge 6.
Oh Mardi! Every city/region has its treasures and Toronto is no different. You have a vibrant food culture there! And I can’t wait to see how your Niagara Falls trip turned out – that used to be a favorite road trip of ours when I was young and growing up in NY.
Liren – lovely post! I agree with you that living in the Bay Area is fabulous! We have so much around us and/or can get to within an hour or two! Your entire meal looks stunning and delicious!! Great job!!!
Thank you Lisa! I am always grateful for the time I have here in the Bay Area – there’s always much to explore and to taste! If only the rain would cooperate ;)