Clean, bright and inviting. Anchorage 5 is just what you'd like a quick and casual lunch spot to be. I was greeted promptly and a friendly waitress took my order. The water had a slice of lemon, and everything looked so clean and bright inside. The menu consists of breakfast items, American lunch choices, and a page of Mexican favorites.

I tried Ciji's Steak Tostada. It was like a chopped salad tostada with a nice mix of bits of tender steak and fresh crisp lettuce on a corn tostada base topped with creamy beans. The sour cream and guacamole added smoothness and creamy flavor. I liked it! Anchorage 5 serves breakfast from 7 a.m. until close at 3 p.m. , on weekends, it opens at 8 a.m. I'll have to try their breakfast another time!

Variation on an old favorite. Once you start on a cooking tear, one thing leads to another. I'm remembering the benefits of cooking more things from scratch, not the least of which is adding more healthy fruits and vegetables into the diet. Also the more you cook the more confident you get in doing variations and making things with what's at hand without the precise measuring, and it usually turns out fine. In this case, I remembered an old favorite, but not which recipe book it was in, nor the precise ingredients. Nonetheless, I made something close, and I think just as good by memory and incorporating things in my house already.

But the first thing I did was find a right-sized organic kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) at the local market. If you make this yourself, just think about the number of people you want to serve, and choose the size of kabocha for that many, then proportion the ingredients that will fill it, to match approximately the cavity size and a bit for the outside. I washed it and took out the seeds, being careful to also take away the stringy part. The recipe as I remembered called for baking the kabocha, but the times can vary, so I went with a more foolproof method - steaming.

So I put it into my spaghetti pot, and filled the bottom with alkaline filtered water (preserves the color and is a healthier water) - you can use regular water of course, then set the hallow kabocha in it, putting the lid back on so that it kept its shape.

I steamed it for about 25 minutes, while assembling and creating the filling. I used about 8 oz of fresh shitake mushrooms, a couple handfuls of walnuts, and two garlic cloves. I cleaned, sliced and chopped. I also had 1/2 lb. of freshly ground turkey breast. (For my vegtarian friends, substituting firm tofu would work well with this recipe.) I sauteed the turkey breast and chopped garlic first, when the meat was no longer pink, I added the mushrooms, sauteed some more and finally added the walnuts halves, which I quartered.

I then took a shitake mushroom organic gravy mix I had in the pantry, and mixed it with a cup of water, and added it to the meat and vegetables in the sautee pan, cooking it down to a thick consistency. When it was the right consistency, and about the time the kabocha was done steaming, I took it off the heat, let it rest a minute and then added a small (5.2 oz) carton of Fage Greek 0% fat yogurt.

I then spooned the hot mixture into the kabocha and capped it for a photo session before Dad and I devoured a good portion of it for dinner. We topped the meal off with some fresh nashi and plumcots. Our blood antioxidant levels must have been off the scale afterwards.

This is also my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook. I'm highlighting the kabocha for this post as it is so completely healthy, and easy to use since the skin cooks up tender and you don't have to peel it to enjoy. Just eat peel and all!

If you like the texture and flavor of butternut squash, then you'll love the kabocha. It is chock full of beta carotene, with iron, vitamin C, and potassium. It has smaller amounts of calcium and folic acid as well. Grown in the U.S. as well as Japan, it is interesting that most of the California, Colorado and New Zealand kabocha crop is exported to Japan.

Hawaiian spirit at the Hukilau. My friend Sachiko knows all the interesting places. Last night we tried dinner at da Hukilau.

Cheerfully we were told that they were out of ahi, so instead of the Poke Salad would we be interested in the delicious tofu salad with avocado. We agreed this sounded good as well! And with its Maui Onion dressing on the side, it was fabulous and fresh.

We shared the salad and entree family style as it was a lot of food, just as we thought. We had the Sunday Laulau special. The Laulau is the ti-leaf wrapped packet on the right of the plate, filled with kalua pork and butterfish - it melted in our mouths! And the inner part had tender taro leaves which were edible with the fillings. The dish that looks like salsa, is actually Lomilomi, a kind of Hawaiin ceviche. Tomatoes, onions, and sea salted salmon, it was delightful. In the middle was Kalua Pig, a kind of tender pulled pork. You can see the rice, and requisite macaroni salad. The desert was Haupia, the white solid coconut pudding. It was cool, smooth and delicious. All-in-all a fun escape into the island breezes of flavor!

Simple and good. Just made a simple Black Forest Ham & cheese croissant sandwich, with very fresh croissants from Molly Stone's bakery. Put some sauteed mushrooms on top of the Black Forest Ham, top with cheese and put under the broiler briefly -- then out of the oven and top it! Saturday was a catch up with housework and accounting kind of day... relaxing and busy at the same time. I'm getting ready to take a business trip to Chicago and side trip to visit relatives in Louisville towards the end of the month. I may take a blogging break, depending on access and time. But for now, I'm here!

Ambiance and deliciousness over come rain. It was quite the rainy day yesterday, and a couple weeks before the bay area usually experiences rain. Those who are worried about a drought were certainly cheering thinking this may be a good sign of enough rain this winter. And the flower boxes loved it. I took the photo of Rooney's Cafe & Grill from the side since these were so vibrant here.

Dad and I went out to beat the rainy day gloom by having a nice dinner, and a movie next door at the Tiburon Playhouse. We had belly laughs at Death at a Funeral after a lovely dinner. I'm afraid the dim light didn't allow me to take photos that show the food to its fullest advantage, but I can assure you it was presented beautifully, and more importantly it tasted great. Dad enjoyed every last bite of his Poached Scottish Salmon over fingerling potatoes, fresh green beans and English cucumbers.

I was drawn to African Chicken. And I was delighted with how well it fit with phase two of the South Beach diet, a modest amount of brown rice, sweet potatoes, avocado, egg and of course chicken breast in a smooth peanut sauce. I have to admit that the chicken itself resembled nothing I'd ever tasted in Africa, meaning that it was boneless and tender, whilst in Africa it was always on the bone, and truly tough. But you were grateful it wasn't roasted goat! I love the continual inventiveness of this kitchen and it was fun to have tastes reminiscent of Africa, with high quality ingredients. I reviewed Rooney's last for lunch in December 2006, I can't believe so many months have passed since my last visit!

Choices, choices. A buffet fit for a Maharajah with plentiful choices in a clean and decorative setting and a reasonable price, it's hard not to come to the Bombay Garden frequently for lunch. I've mentioned the Bombay Garden before in August 2005, and I thought another time but can't locate the post. The furniture is ornate, yet tasteful and the mustard colored walls are quite cheerful. And if that wasn't enough, there are wide screen HiDef TV screens mounted on the wall with cheerful and beautiful Bollywood singing and dancing, and a quick fresh and hot basket of naan delivered to your table.

With all the fresh and delicious food, it's hard not to go overboard, but it's easy to find healthy choices as well. This food is all made fresh on site, even the cheese in the saag paneer, and the mango ice cream. I always keep my eye out for the 'yellow stickies', which indicate a special dish that day. I've often found some new delight that way as these are some of the more obscure or regional dishes.

Grilling in the waning light. I picked up something simple the other night, some boneless pork chops and knew I had some fresh greens and ripe avocado for a salad. I also hadn't made one of my favorite sauces for pork in awhile, a roasted red pepper sauce.

As I grilled the light slowly dimmed, and my flash went off as I snapped this and sat and watched the pot of basil bloom. Slow life in the fast lane. The basil has been an amazing bargain, not only has it provided continually fresh basil since July, it has had quite the entertainment value!

Ah, dinner comes closer for tasting at last. The roasted red pepper sauce is very simple. Just take a jar of roasted red peppers, drain most of the oil off, throw it in the blender, add as much dried red chili pepper as you like, blend and put in your sauce boat to serve table side.

Thai with Japanese sensibilities. I was in San Francisco the other day, and when deciding on where to go for dinner, thought that although I love Japanese food, I had better broaden my horizons that night. Knowing Clement Street to be full of culinary delights, I headed that direction, and frankly, the deciding factor was finding a non-Japanese restaurant in the vicinity of the first parking place I could find.

With a name like "be my guest", I shoulda guessed. But seeing a bright and happy looking "Thai Bistro" near my parking space, I thought I'd give it a try. Be my guest's website consists of its menu. As soon as I sat, freshly made shrimp chips appeared.

I ordered a Fresh Ginger Lemonade to sip while looking over the menu. It was fresh and zippy! And did I have a start when reading down the menu -- okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), edamame? Japanese curry? Kiiro (yellow in Japanese) curry??? Whaaaat? I had inadvertently stumbled upon a Thai restaurant whose owner is half Japanese and half Thai. So much for avoiding Japanese that night!

I tried the enticing Fresh Spring Rolls to start. These spring rolls were stuffed with tofu, shrimp, crabmeat, egg, cucumber, bean sprouts, mint wrapped with romaine and rice wrapper served with tamarind sauce. Notice the beautiful food design, so very Japanese influenced.

The waiter recommended a special - a Steamed Fish Curry Cupcake (Haw Mok). This was something that a foodie DREAMS of happening upon! So beautifully presented, and described on the menu as "saba filet fish seasoned with red curry paste, coconut milk, thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves, topped on sliced cabbage, served up in banana leaf cup and coconut infused rice." This was a taste sensation, and highly recommendable! The verdict: I'd certainly like to be a guest here again!

Concluding post on the dinner. I posted previously about the starter for this meal, Black Bean Soup, and then following about the Minted Fruit Salad, but I was saving the centerpiece as my entry into this week's special Weekend Herb Blogging Two Year Anniversary post to celebrate this weekly Weekend Herb Blogging event started by Kalyn, and also hosted by her this week at Kalyn's Kitchen.


It was also fun to rise to the challenge of making a meal that was South Beach Diet friendly and met all my guests' requirements for good taste and special diets. My friend Daniel has a slightly different version o fa no/low-carb diet as well. My other guests, Dad & Paul were only interested of course in a tasty meal. Could I make something that would be so vibrant and full of flavor that my bread-loving Dad and lover of good food Paul would enjoy so much that they wouldn't notice the lack of starches?

I'm happy to report that I was successful. A variation of a memory of a salad recipe discovered in Sunset magazine years ago, the Poached Gingered Chicken Make Your Own Salad dish was a great hit.

My herbs, mint and ginger were in the poaching water. My vegetables, well you decide, but the plate included red leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, sunflower sprouts, sauteed mushrooms, arugula, orange bell pepper, English cucumber, and edamame. I was going to add an avocado too, but ran out of room! I'll write about mint (which was from a pot on my deck), and the arugula for your interest however.

Mint: Wikipedia has a lot to say about what is more properly known as mentha. Mentha is a genus with about 25 species and hundreds of varieties, not including hybrids, which are popular with this plant. Mint is quite hardy and tolerates a wide variety of conditions, although it likes cool, moist climates best (no wonder it grew so prolifically where I grew up in Western Washington). The health benefits of mint have long been reputed to be soothing to the digestive system.

Arugula: Grown in the Mediterranean since Roman times, arugula is also popularly known as rocket. It has a peppery taste and is full of iron and vitamin C. Most often used in salads, this leafy green has also been used as a substitute for basil in pestos. According to Food & Wine magazine, arugula is in the same family as cauliflower and broccoli and has similar powerful antioxidant benefits.

So how did I make this salad? It was quite easy really. Besides the chicken, most ingredients were a matter of washing, slicing if necessary, and artfully arranging on the platter. The edamame were pre-cooked and shelled, and I took a pound of white sliced mushrooms and sauteed them in sesame oil until they were reduced and the flavor intensified. I made my own dressing to keep to the no carbs theme, mixing about 3/4 cup rice vinegar with 1/3 cup toasted sesame oil and about a tablespoon of Birch Sugar (xylitol), sea salt & pepper.

To poach the chicken take a large piece of ginger (half the size of my hand), peel and make into match sticks. Put most of the ginger in the bottom of a covered baking pan filled 3/4 or slightly more with filtered water. I placed fresh organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts on top, then put the remaining ginger matchsticks on top, and floated some leaves of fresh mint. I put this in a 350F oven for about 40 minutes and it came out perfectly. I then removed the breasts from the water and sliced diagonally across to make the center of the salad arrangement. Don't cook the breasts too long or they will become tough. When just right they are moist and infused with the ginger/mint flavors. These are wonderful for salad topping.

Happy 2nd birthday Weekend Herb Blogging! Thanks Kalyn for creating this fun event!

Anna Bakes. Some years ago, I used to bake bread from scratch often. I was in one of my "let's clear the cupboards" moods when I noticed a Bob's Red Mill bag of flour and yeast ready to be turned into Potato Bread. There is nothing like the smell of fresh bread baking to fill a home with nostalgic smells. So I planned the rest of the meal around baking this bread.

Looking in the cupboard I spied a can of albacore tuna (from Costco) and a jar of capers - yes, makings for a Tuna Salad! I already had red leaf lettuce, arugula and Kewpie mayonnaise in the refrigerator, so I was set! This and fresh baked bread would go wonderfully. The salad was the quickest part of the meal.

Making the bread, even though the ingredients were pretty much gathered, took some time. First I put the flour and yeast packet in the bowl, and combined it with the warm water and oil. Then I kneaded the bread for about 10 minutes, using my special karate chop approach when I got tired of the roll and push motion. Then I put it in a big ceramic bowl (bought a long time ago at my mother's advice just for bread raising), and waited for it to double in size.

What fun to PUNCH it down when it has doubled (about 40 minutes after leaving to rest)!

Then you wait another 4o minutes or so, and punch it down and shape it into a loaf, and finally put it in the loaf pan, oiling the top. Then you cover it and wait about 45 minutes before taking off the towel, or plastic, and seeing the risen bread ready for the oven. Then about a half hour in a 375F oven, and it comes out looking like the photo heading this blog post. Yum! And the smells!!

Of course you have to let it rest a little, then cut it up, slater it with butter and munch it with the tuna salad. Dad and I had a second piece, still warm, topped with organic strawberry jam for dessert. This loaf won't last long!

Supper Club - Sicily. It was time again to join the chefs in a theme, tell tall tales and enjoy food infused with thought and flavor. Here are the results....

White Bean Bruscetta: My dish was an appetizer, and part of it was VERY local, freshly picked basil from my deck with its flowering ends as decorations. My tale was that I recalled hearing that the Sicilians were intuitive to the point of being psychic, and that this was confirmed when I reviewed my recipe to buy the ingredients not on hand -- other than the beans and garlic, the larger list of ingredients had no hints as to the amounts or proportion! Tom H had a more logical explanation, that one of the features of Sicilian cooking is lack of firm recipe since the people like to cook spontaneously using the freshest ingredients at hand.

Sicilian Caponata (as bruscetta): Isadora brought this tender and delicious Sicilian version of the ever-popular caponata and some fresh crisp bread rounds to hold it.

Pasta con le Sarde (Pasta with Fennel and Herring): ... and saffron and fresh Tokyo Market sardines with bucatini pasta. Spending more than four hours preparing this dish, not including shopping, Emil came up with a winner in this ancient recipe which had tastes of sweet, salty and sour in balance which elicited ooohs and aaahs from everyone.

We come prepared for slow cooking and eating as every cook has thought their dish through thoroughly and preps it only to the point of where it can be brought to a spectacular and fresh finish. Stephanie is assisted by Alma to clean and debeard the mussels in Stephanie's upcoming dish.

Zuppa di Cozzi (Mussel Soup): First Stephanie simmered a rustic sauce of heirloom tomatoes, garlic and other very authentic Sicilian ingredients in this typical mussel soup. After the base was ready, she added the über-fresh mussels and served them up quickly with a garnish of citron peel.

Sicilian Style Cod: Our host, Tom M used both black and red cod in his dish, which also featured fresh rosemary and basil brought straight in from his backyard garden. The fish was so tender it melted in your mouth.

Sicilian Meatloaf: With the natural advantage of having Sicilian grandparents, Janis made Noni's Meatloaf of course! It was made like a jellyroll with luscious and flavorful ingredients including pine nuts and provolone cheese. We were competing for parts of the leftovers to bring home!

Carciofi ai Quattro Succhi (Artichokes Braised in Citrus Juices): The vegetable dishes were served at the same time we served the main courses. This one could serve either as an appetizer or a vegetable dish. A first time participant, Connie showed herself to be a chef extraordinaire with this layering of flavors and four citrus flavors. The Meyer lemons were home grown.

Pomodori Ripieni ai Mostarde di Frutta (Stuffed Tomatoes): The English translation just doesn't do justice to Tom H's amazing and authentic dish, with ingredients directly from Sicily. The stuffing included fresh herbs, and topping the cheese topping was "Mostarda", the mustard infused glaceed fruit. (Food & Wine has a recipe for making a mostarda.) The hmmms immediately turned to mmms! as these stuffed Eary Girls reached the lips.

Zucchini con Cannella e Aglio (Zucchini with Cinnamon and Garlic): Tom H further amazed us with this twist on flavors with zucchini. This dish was also awesome.

Insalata d'Arance (Orange and Anise Salad): Caren tapped the traditions of an English friend whose heritage is Sicilian for this salad of flavor and texture contrasts. Slivers of fennel, shaved coconut and crisp sliced almonds were among the ingredients nested with the sweet orange.

Insalata del Rinforza (Cauliflower salad): Bob had us in rollicking laughter with his tale of Romulus and Remus and their travels to Sicily. Apparently they were too rambunctious and their mother slapped them across the ears, resulting in Cauliflower ear, hence this dish made in remembrance. The rule is that each chef talks about their dish and tells us something about the region, and whether true or not, it must be entertaining. You can guess which category this came under. Not a fan of cauliflower myself, I was utterly enchanted with the flavors of this salad that may be served either hot or room temperature, with its adds of olive oil, capers, and other nicely blended dressing ingredients.

Sicilian Cassata: Bill offered up this dish that Janis made which was incredibly light and heavy at the same time. It had a chocolate/expresso ganache frosting and the interior was a pound cake with surprise infused cream layered inside. Utter yum.

Biscotti d'Annodare (Knot cookies): Karen, our hostess, put these little hard cookie bites together which were best eaten with the delicious expresso she served.

Karen put thought into every aspect of this recipe, working to adjust the recipe a little around the edges to make it healthier. It also made them a bit harder, but with such lovely expresso, who cared?

Ricotta Pie: Another new face at the table was Arthur, with a celebratory pie authentic enough for the Scorsese family table. We hoped none were scheduled soon for a blood lipid panel as this pie sports 12 eggs, Belwether Farms Sheep Cheese Ricotta, lemon zest and pine nuts in a very flaky crust (and you know what that means). While we savored this simply delicious pie, Arthur explained that he had experimented with various ricottas before choosing the sheep milk made one due to its creaminess and the smooth texture it added to the pie.

Bill listed attentively as the devoted foodies around the table answered his intriguing question - "If you were about to be executed, what would your request for last meal be?" My answer of course was a Japanese kaiseki meal, with that lovely scroll describing the dishes in abstract, artful terms. Other answers included crab with drawn butter and fried chicken before Tom H put a twist on the suggestions by adding 'fugu', and the flow of the conversation went to some more colorful last meal ideas and laughter.

What would you request as your last meal? Leave me a note in the comments section as I'd love to hear!

If you enjoyed this post of chefs producing an authentic meal around a theme, you might enjoy some of the archives of the Supper Club - Marin. The links are below, and if you are interested in recipes, you might check the surrounding dates to the events as sometimes the chefs have shared, and I've posted some pre- or post event.

Supper Club - Cuba
Supper Club - Greece
Supper Club - Vietnam (sorry I missed this event!)
Supper Club - Chocolate!
Supper Club - Regions of Italy
Supper Club - Spanish Tapas
Supper Club - States of Germany
Supper Club - States of Mexico
Supper Club - Cuisine of Japan
Supper Club - Persian Style
Supper Club - Does Southern
Supper Club - French Regions

Next up in January is States of India. There's no way we'll be able to cover them all since there are 28 states and seven union territories! But what we do is sure to be good!