On a Sunday evening, Ingo had the opportunity to go over to the Slow Food tasting pavilions at Fort Mason center. It was quite an experience. What a contrast to the Robogames, held a few months earlier in the same location. There was plenty of interesting food on hand. Below is just a sampling of what Ingo had the chance to taste.

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I really like the chocolate sorbet by Double Rainbow ice cream (a San Francisco company, by the way), but as I was hovering over the freezer case at Trader Joe’s, I thought to myself–I can make this at home. I had a chocolate sorbet recipe that came with my ice cream machine that I liked, but it was only good, not great, so I went hunting for a new one. Ans then I cam across this one in David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. It uses both chopped chocolate and cocoa …

This recipe was discovered after a search for something to cook in a brand-new Staub cast-iron pan I picked up at a steal from Amazon. The little recipe booklet that comes with the pan has a great many photos of whole chickens being roasted inside, but the recipes all in the end called for chicken parts. Staged photos indeed! Fortunately, I ran across this fantastic recipe from the site Meathenge for “Wet Roast Chicken” perfect for my cast iron pot. Here is the recipe with minor modifications, and many thanks …

It’s been a while since I made sodas at home, and the first one I tried was inspired by some fresh ripe organic fruit picked up at the Alemany Farmer’s market. It’s a cross between a regular cream soda and a pear soda. We drank four liters of it in less than a week. The directions here are somewhat terse. For more complete information on equipment used, try the book Homemade Root Beer, Soda & Pop by Stephen Cresswell.

As part of our bi-weekly box of farm-fresh produce from Mariquita Farms, we ended up getting a significant amount of red peppers. Unsure exactly what to do with this bounty, I did a little research ad came up with this recipe. It’s incredibly quick, and the results are very delicious.

I had never paid much attention to this recipe in Richard Sax’s Classic Home Desserts until one day, I run across it while reading through a Nigella Lawson cookbook. She reprints it, exclaiming how wonderful it is. Figuring it must be a good recipe for one chef to reprint it in their own cookbook, I had to try it. And Nigella is right. It’s a great, flourless chocolate cake that’s not too heavy. Don’t skip on the whipped cream topping–that definitely adds a necessary piece to the overall mixture.

There is no better sandwich than a French Dip. Making one requires a well-cooked roast beef, with a dark flavorful “jus” in which to dip the sandwich. Growing up, Ingo would often ask his dad to make the roast beef, slice it thinly, and then pile it high on two slices of San Luis Sourdough bread for a special French Dip treat. This recipe for roast beef comes by way of the Culinary Institute of America’s The New Professional Chef. The method is fairly foolproof, and yields a good roast with a large …

This is a very old and incredibly easy method of preserving fruit. We couldn’t resist the amazing organic peaches, nectarines and plums at the awesome Alemany’s Farmers Market, but soon had to face the realization that there’s only so many fruit tarts and chutneys we could eat. If you love preserves with fresh fruit flavor, but are not ready to commit to canning at home–try this, there’s no cooking involved. The resulting spread can keep for several months in the fridge.