Fresh Nectarine Galettes

By Allison Kociuruba

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have quite a few houseguests. And by quite a few, I actually mean a LOT. It’s the blessing (and curse) of living in a popular travel destination.

Truthfully, I love it. We live far away from family and most friends so I relish in entertaining familiar faces and sharing the hidden gems of the Northern California coast.

Because we often eat out with guests, I don’t get to cook as much as I’d like, so I try to surprise everyone with baked treats when they wake up. I’ve done the yeast-risen cinnamon bun thing but setting the alarm to wake up over an hour before everyone else was not much fun, so my latest trick is these fresh fruit galettes.

Click to read more ...

Late Summer Gazpacho

By Andrew Hunter

One of the greatest gifts a chef can receive is when their guests come back, time and again, for the same dish. When I worked for Wolfgang Puck, there was an architect from Spain who lived down the street from one of the restaurants where I spent a lot of time. She would always order the summer gazpacho and tell me it was better than she got back home. A few kisses on both cheeks and she would be back the next day for another bowl.

Spaniards have debated gazpacho style for decades – maybe centuries. Smooth or chunky, white or red, simple or complex. Everyone agrees though, that it needs to be made with fresh summer tomatoes, and that it hits the spot on a hot summer day. Our boys turned up their noses at first, but learned to like gazpacho by dipping their bread into it like salsa; now they drink it like a veggie smoothie.

Click to read more ...

Last Chance: Watermelon Salad

By Lori Powell

The last dog days of summer…humid, hot and in this case, very wet with rain. I start thinking of fall but then again I decided that we should wait just a bit more and savor the last of summer produce.

I’m not sure about you but in my neck of the woods it has been hotter than…. Standing in a sauna, but fully clothed and cooking. Makes me want to consume things that are laden with juice, such as the lovely watermelon, and that doesn’t require fire to eat. So many great things can be made with any of the varieties that you might find at your local farmers’ market, from yellow to red, from large to small, from salsas to cooling drinks.

Click to read more ...

Squashapalooza

By Katie Barreira

It’s late summer and the squash just keeps on coming. Well, bring it on!

Of the thin-skinned beauties, speckled green zucchini are my favorite. Raw or cooked, savory or sweet, the versatile zucchini makes it easy and delicious to get your veg on. Try all three of these recipes and get a taste of the range that zucchini has to offer.

Click to read more ...

A Look at Special Fork’s New Office

By Sandy Hu

We’ve been laboring hard, getting Special Fork off the ground. And this summer, we renovated our old kitchen to make a real office for Special Fork.

Until then, we had two kitchens: our remodeled one where you see us doing food demos for Special Fork’s Video Fridays and our old kitchen, which was still functional. We removed the appliances, chipped out the wall tile and refinished the floor. It was an exciting process.

Click to read more ...