Last week, I suggested that Mission Street Food’s experiment was bound to have some valleys, especially involving guest chefs, in order to equal out the highs.  Tonight, MSF got right back in the saddle (again) with the guest chef program by hosting Paul Fromberg & Sara Miles, who knocked out a soulful menu that was gleaned from our own backyards. A perfect example of this is the pork:

Pudding Pork – Pork slow-cooked in milk with nutmeg, brown sugar, and bay leaves from Golden Gate Park. Served on polenta with herbs from Mission backyards

The rest of the meal:

 

Spiced Red Walnuts from Ferrara Farms, with sirocco & piloncillo and Fennel & Celery Slaw with foraged, home-cured olives from the Mission, and dressing made with backyard Meyer lemons from Potrero Hill and honey from Shotwell Street hives.

A great start.  The nuts were nicely seasoned with a great toast character, and the slaw was crisp and bright.

 

East Texas Style Rice & Beans with Homemade Wild Boar Sausage a Food Pantry staple, with Anaheim chiles and sausage from the Santa Cruz mountains and Weed Tart with Farro -tart of wild radish, chives, dandelion greens and fennel picked on Bernal Hill, with farro and mushrooms. Served with chowchow made with preserved backyard lemons from the Richmond and mint from the Mission

The beans were simple and perfectly executed.  The boar sausage added a nice richness, that kept everyone at the table reaching for just one more bite.  The tart I was less fond of, however the chowchow along side it was like a tart meyer lemon sauerkraut, and was one of the favorite components of the night.

 

Mustard Greens with fish sauce, red pepper threads and garlic

I love dark, leafy greens, done just right.  Cook them too little and they’re bitter and tough.  Too much, and they fall apart, and loose all of their character. These were just right, and even more amazingly so without any pork in there.  In back, Paul was firing them off to order in the big chinese wok. I love to see the unique tools of the chinese kitchen put to good use.

The other standouts of the evening included the Thai Beef Salad, which had an aggressive kaffir lime flavor, and took me right back to eating of street carts in Chaing Mai.

Finally, the Mission Melt, made with roasted Pasilla peppers, caramelized onions, avocado, and melted cheese on our homemade flatbread… and Bacon. Yes!

 

Good stuff.  In the back, Sarah was a pleasure to meet, and an enthusiastic host.  She runs the kitchen at The Food Pantry in St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church at 500 De Haro in Potrero Hill, and is supported entirely by donations.  (I have been assured by sources deep inside the local nonprofit community that this is a organization really worth donating your time to if you’re so inclined – volunteers are welcome anytime from 9AM on; the pantry is open on Fridays from 12:30-3PM. For donations and information email sara@thefoodpantry.org.)

 

 

Oh, and dessert!

Stand by Your Man Cake: A queer take on Texas sheet cake, with California walnuts and Humphry Slocombe Old Potrero ice cream, made with 18th-century style whiskey from Anchor Distilling in Potrero Hill.

Oh the cake was good, and that ice cream – that’s really something. Tonight, I had been making sure I didn’t eat to much, specifically because I had been told to be sure to try this ice cream when I had stopped by Humphry Slocombe last night to say hi to Jake and Sean. While I was there, I really wanted and try a Foie Ice Cream Sandwich (Verdict), and ask them if hey might be interested in making a beer ice cream.  They’re game – more on this in a minute.

Mission Street Food was really back in the saddle again this week, and really, I had only one complaint.  The beer kind of sucks. I know, I know, people out there really like Tecate and PBR, and that’s fine, but when I bring in a big bottle of the good stuff for a reasonable $5 corkage charge, I think it really elevates the meal.  This topic would inevitably come up when I poke my head into the kitchen with my camera, and Anthony would politely ask how my meal was.

 

 

After my weeks of complaining (and peer pressure to try some of my beers), Anthony and Karen are going to give me a chance to put up or shut up.

So mark your calendars for Saturday, March 21st, and get some cash at the ATM: Mission Street Food and Beer & Nosh are throwing down, and getting our beer and food pairings on.  With a little craft brewing help from our friends at Shamltz Brewing – founded blocks from Mission Street Food’s current location – we’re going to have good time.

More details, including beer and food menus coming soon.

In the meantime, let’s suppose that you couldn’t decide which of these fine looking beers to make into an ice cream – which would you choose?

 

 

 

Tags: mission street food

This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 6:20 am and is filed under Reviews, Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.