Powers of Two

One thousand and twenty-four (1,024) is a power of two - 2^10.  

October 24th (10/24) also happens to be my friend Jeff's birthday.  On Tuesday, I went to dinner with him at Comstock Saloon with his boyfriend Sam (the inspiration for my blog) and my roommate Mitra Lohrasbpour (whose full name I am using so that when she's googled, "Powers of Two" will pop up).  Mitra and Sam (not relevant, but both are MIT alums) were the ones that pointed out the power of two correlation to Jeff's birthday, and for that, this blog post is dedicated to them. 

In a group of 23 people, at least two will have the same birthday with a probability greater than 1/2.

When you walk into Comstock Saloon, on Columbus and Pacific, the restored 1907 building musters up feelings of being transformed to Prohibition-era times, complete with dim lighting, dark-wood decor and a leather booklet detailing the fanciful cocktails. Our waiter, a kind, whimsical man from Virginia with tortoise-shell glasses and a jovial laugh, was incredibly friendly, overly attentive and bounced to and from our table quite often, checking up on us and taking new orders.  

12+3-4+5+67+8+9=100

The restaurant, opened by the same guys who opened Absinthe in Hayes Valley, was the only San Francisco bar to make it to Esquire's "Best Bars in America 2011" list, and so of course, we had to order some cocktails.  From Jeff's Sazerac, with rye, sugar and Absinthe, to Mitra's "Blood and Sand" with scotch, vermouth and cherry liquor, the Powers of Two conversation became exponentially more interesting. 

Among all shapes with the same perimeter, a circle has the largest area.

For small plates, we shared the Hangtown Toast with pickled eggs, bacon and oyster dressing a 7x7 Big Eat 2011 Pick, and the jalapeno corn fritters, which we devoured quickly.  The toast was one of the most unusual things I've eaten: the toast was crisp, the pickled eggs had a subtle tartness to them and the dressing gave the toast some moistness.  The toast was surprisingly light, considering the ingredients on it, and the compact pieces were perfect as small bites. 

   111,111,111

x 111,111,111

12,345,678,987,654,321 (it's a palindrome)

(1 + 2 + 3 + ... n)^2 = 1^3 + 2^3 + ... +n^3.

As entrees, Jeff and I shared the beef shank and bone marrow pot-pie and the fried oyster and ham po' boy with cole slaw and potato chips.  The pot-pie was my favorite - when we smashed into the crispy, crumbly crust with our forks, the aromas of beef steamed up and the shank pieces were tender and juicy.  

The sum of the squares of the first 7 primes is 666:

2^2 + 3^2 + 5^2 + 7^2 + 11^2 + 13^2 + 17 ^2 = 666.

The po- boy was well done as well - the fried oyster and ham pieces were substantial and fried foods always make my heart flutter.  The potato chips that came on the side were amazing as well: spicy, oily and crisp, like an upgraded Kettle's barbeque chip. 

The sum of the first 144 digits of pi is 666.

Overall, we had some great American fare, punctuated by cocktails worthy of the 7x7 list.  The highlight, however, and definitely a reason to make a visit, was our kind waiter, who appeared frequently with a twinkle in his eyes, hunched down eagerly when listening to our questions and humored us when we asked him personal questions.  

For the finale:

6x7=42

66x67=4422

666x667=444222

6666x6667=44442222

66666x66667=4444422222

666666x666667=444444222222

6666666x6666667=44444442222222

Enjoy your meal!

Restaurant:	Comstock Saloon
Location:	155 Columbus Ave, SF, CA
Items ordered:	Hangtown Toast with Pickled Eggs; Jalapeno Corn Fritters, Beef Shank and Bone Marrow Pot-Piel Fried Oyster and Ham Po' Boy
Pricing:	$10-$30
Grades:	Taste: B+; Cleanliness: A-; Service: A+

A Sushi Burrito Experience

When I first heard about Sushirrito, a sushi burrito shop in Soma, I fantasized about huge Chipotle-sized flour tortillas stuffed with tangy guacamole, spicy salsas, melted cheese, and.......sashimi?  I wasn't sure what to expect, but the combo of Mexican and Japanese sounded acutely amazing. 


So, this past Monday, I ventured down to this hole in the wall off New Montgomery Street, and discovered that a sushi burrito is really a giant sushi roll, stuffed with baby arugula to balloon it to the size of a burrito. 

I ordered the "Casanova" which came with salmon sashimi, arugula, daikon radish, tomatillo salsa, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, green onions and a "White Soy Ponzu" sauce.  Look at all that arugula!:

It turned out much better than I expected - all of the fresh veggies went well in the burrito, the pumpkin seeds provided a nice crunch and the sauce gave it a little kick. It was sweet and tangy and complemented the fresh sashimi well. Also, the burrito had a good balance of rice, which didn't override the other ingredients. The shop had a pretty efficient assembly line going, so although the line was long, it moved quickly.


I will probably come back, but only when I'm in the mood to spend some money ($9.50 for a burrito! - to be fair though, a roll at any Japanese restaurant would be priced similarly).  Now we just need a brown rice sushi burrito spot....
  

Hiyaaa Roll!

These days, food seems to taste better if it is served from the inner throes of a mobile truck. So the other day, I headed over to TruckStop, a gathering of food trucks in an alley off of Mission Street between Fremont and 1st, for lunch. The private alley, owned by the owner of the adjacent 450 Fremont building, houses three trucks on a rotating basis: two main course trucks and one dessert truck. The schedule can be viewed on their website through their online calendar.

Aside from it being a tight squeeze in the alleyway, the location is great - it's close to where I work and right next to the 50 Fremont outdoor courtyard that has plenty of seats. The selection of trucks is handpicked and includes CurryUpNow, KungFu Tacos, Chairman Bao, The Rib Whip and Kara's Cupcakes.

I chose to go to Hiyaaa Roll, a truck serving Vietnamese-style "Banh Mi" sandwiches. For $7, you get a sandwich with your choice of meat (bulgogi, pork, lemongrass or curry chicken, tofu) and fresh veggies on a toasted roll and for $2 more, you can have your sandwich "stuffed" with double the meat. I ordered the spicy pork sandwich: while it's hard to justify spending so much on Vietnamese food when cheaper and tastier food exists in Little Saigon, it was definitely one of the better SF Vietnamese sandwiches I've had, minus the 'loin crowd.

It also beat out Spice Kit, the Vietnamese version of Chipotle down the street, in taste, in price, in the fact that it came from a truck, and pretty much everything else. The bread was crunchy, the pork was well-spiced with "secret sauce" and the veggies were plentiful and fresh. I overheard another patron in line highly recommending the "stuffed" version so I may try that next time.

Restaurant:	Hiyaaa Roll
Location:	Varies; Truckstop, on Mission Street between 1st Street & Fremont Street
Items ordered:	Spicy Pork Roll
Pricing:	under $10
Grades:	Taste: A; Cleanliness: A-; Service: B

Homemade Green Tea Gelato and Blackberry Sorbet

When I was unemployed, I purchased an ice cream maker, because when you're unemployed, you have all the time in the world to buy things you don't need with money you don't have.  I made a batch of pumpkin pie ice cream, but as homemade ice cream doesn't last for longer than 4 days (with no preservatives, it gets freezer burn quickly), I hadn't made any ice cream since the first batch.

So when my friend Fran got married this past weekend, I decided to try my hand at it again for her rehearsal dinner.  Her wedding colors were purple and green so I went for a blackberry sorbet and green tea gelato (Cuisinart recipes that came with the ice cream maker).  

The green tea gelato was by far tastier and was the overall favorite.  The blackberry sorbet mixture wasn't cold enough when I put it in the ice cream maker.  It didn't set well and then was frozen the following day in the freezer, so came out a lot icier than I wanted it too.  

Here are the recipes:

Green Tea Gelato:

The green tea gelato was more labor-intensive and I began the night before making the ice cream to let it sit overnight.

Ingredients:

3-1/4 cups whole milk
8 green tea bags
1/4 cup powdered fat-free milk
8 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream

1) Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat to a simmer.

2) Pour half over the tea bags in a medium bowl and let steep for 30 minutes; strain, pressing all the liquid from the tea bags.

3) Stir powdered milk into remaining milk and keep warm over low heat.

4) Place egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer or whisk, beat until thick and pale yellow (the consistency of mayonnaise). While mixing, slowly add the hot milk and whisk until blended.

Mine didn't quite come out to be the consistency of mayonnaise, but was more of a thick syrup.  I still turned out okay.

5) Stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan and add the tea-infused milk; increase heat to medium. Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thickened like a custard sauce and registers 180 °F when checked with an instant-read thermometer.

I didn't have a thermometer, but just kept stirring until it started turning into the consistency of oatmeal.

6) Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Stir in cream, cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours before continuing.

The mixture turned out grey-ish, so I added a bunch of green food coloring to give it some color.

7) Turn the machine on; pour mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. The gelato will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the gelato to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Tada!!

Blackberry Sorbet

The Cuisinart recipe booklet didn't have a blackberry sorbet, so I adapted this recipe from other sorbet recipes:

1 1/4 cups of sugar

1 cup water

24 oz. fresh blackberries

Juice of one lemon

1) Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat over high heat until the water comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved.  Store in the fridge for 1 hour (but really longer, if you want it to set well).

2) In a blender, puree the blackberries and chilled syrup until completely liquified (about 20 seconds).  Working with half of the mixtures at a time help speed the process along.  Strain into a separate bowl.

It will be very thick so use a spoon or spatula to push as much liquid through as possible.  The remaining pulp will look like this:

3) Stir in the lemon juice.

4) Pour into the ice cream maker and process for about 25 minutes.  It should thicken as it is processing and should be thicker than this:

Pour into a separate container and freeze until it's ready to serve.

Tada!!