The Pillsbury Bake-Off represents the American Dream--it doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from, create a great recipe and you could win a million dollars. It's a celebration of creativity and excellence, or at least it should be.

If you were to look at past winning entries from the early years of the Pillsbury Bake-Off, you'd find they were baked from scratch using homegrown ingredients. Now with an emphasis on ease of use, and a proliferation of processed food, the finalists and "winning" recipes almost always use a premade mix or refrigerated dough such as biscuit dough, French bread dough, pizza dough, or pie crust. In some cases, because those processed foods have been discontinued, you can't even duplicate the winning recipes from years past.

Does creativity come out of a can or a box? I suppose it's possible. But my experience tasting some of the dishes at the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off was disappointing. The savory dishes were too salty, the sweet dishes too sweet. Great taste was too often stifled by artificial tasting products and a lack of balance in flavors and textures. Even classic recipes like galettes and pizzas were hampered by the the processed products they included.

According to the rules, contestants must use one primary and one secondary ingredient. In the primary category nine products were refrigerated doughs, there was one brownie mix and last but not least, good old Pillsbury flour. Very few bakers made it to the finals, baking the old fashioned way, from scratch, with flour as their primary ingredients (I counted only five out of the 100 finalists). I'd like to salute three of them that did:

Denise Hopper

Deluxe Triple Chocolate Cookies
Denise told me she uses Pillsbury products, but that "nothing tastes as good as homemade." She bakes 16-18 types of cookies at Christmas for her friends and neighbors and has been making this cookie for 10 years. It was inspired by her son who ate peanut butter and nutella sandwiches for lunch and had hot cocoa before bed. It combines all his favorites--peanut butter, hot cocoa mix, hazelnut spread with cocoa (nutella) and chocolate chips. A bit of oatmeal adds texture. This was her first time entering the contest.

Cara Sapida

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes
Cara said, in her family they only use real butter and cream, nothing lowfat. She was trying to make a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter filling but failed. But the peanut butter reminded her of a family recipe for peanut butter fudge so she tweaked the recipe, layering the peanut butter filling and chocolate dough and studding it with peanut butter and chocolate chips. This was also her first time entering the contest. She told me she Google'd "Pittsburgh baking competition" and the Pillsbury Bake-Off came up so she entered it.

Michelle Gauer

Double Chocolate Orange Scones
Back in November, Michelle, a cooking contest enthusiast, started her blog, Best of the Best Recipes, where she shares her own recipes and tests out others. She was inspired by coffee shops where she is often dismayed in finding scones too dry. First she tried making a white chocolate strawberry scone and while it was good, her love of chocolate and orange led to a rich scone that made the cut. She used whipping cream and orange marmalade to create a rich and moist texture.

I'm sorry to say none of these contestants won the contest. I really liked Denise's cookies a lot. I would definitely make them. Cara's cupcakes were good, but perhaps too rich and decadent. Just a nibble was enough for me. Michelle's scones were really more like brownies than scones, but they were pretty tasty. I hope in the future the Pillsbury Bake-Off will encourage more contestants to bake from scratch. Maybe they could consider adding a "baking form scratch" category? After all, it's the Pillsbury heritage, and what their contest used to be all about.

I hope you are all checking out my Bay Area Food Events calendar (the Google calendar in the right hand column) from time to time. I focus on fun and affordable events. That said, sometimes there are some fantastic events supporting worthy causes that I do believe you should consider attending. These three range in price from $40 t0 $169 and are coming up soon. Hope to see you there!

April 18, 2010
Noon - 4:30 PM
Fort Mason Center
A Taste of Tamales By The BayFeaturing tamales and premium tequilas. Also tastes of heirloom beans, specialty nuts, coffee and more. Tickets are $40 online. Vendors include Cocina Poblana, my favorite tamal seller, La Espiga de Oro, Rancho Gordo, The Tamal Factory and more! Tickets raise funds for Benchmark Institute, a training and performance development organization dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of legal services to low-income communities.

April 22, 2010
5:00 - 7:00 PM VIP Tasting $169
7:00 - 10:00 PM Grand Tasting (Included with VIP purchase) $89
Taste of the TownWar Memorial Opera House
This event will feature over 500 wines and spirits plus dishes from 30 top San Francisco restaurants, a stellar opportunity to sample superlative wines and foods while benefiting the S.F. Food Bank. Participating restaurants include �toile at Domaine Chandon, Farallon Restaurant, Chez Papa Resto, Cindy Pawlcyn�s Backstreet Kitchen and Le Mar Cebicheria Peruana.
Tickets can be purchased online.

April 29th, 2010
VIP Admission 5:30 to 9:30 PM $140
General Admission 6:30 to 9:30 PM $85
Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation AT&T Ball Park Club Level?
This event features top chefs and mixologists and a gourmet extravaganza. Sample tastes from 40+ of the finest chefs in San Francisco including Steffan Terje of barbacco, Jennifer Biesty of Scala�s Bistro, Mark Sullivan of Spruce, Matthew Accarrino of SPQR, Hoss Zar� of Zar� at Fly Trap and many more. Indulge in signature cocktails from local mixologists and taste wines from around California. 100% of ticket sales go to Share our Strength.

...that would be MY choice of winners! Attending the Pillsbury Bake-Off and watching the competitors was a lot of fun, though I'm sorry I didn't get to try more of their dishes. But just talking to them made me want each and every one to win. All 100 finalists made it past thousands of others so their accomplishment is really something special.

Here are four contestants that didn't make it to the final four, so I'm going ahead and awarding them in categories of my own design:

Most Resembles their Dish

Bridget Uhrich of Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Jumbo Burger Cups
Only two weeks away from giving birth, ready to pop Bridget bears more than a slight resemblance to her hamburger stuffed biscuit dough buns. Her inspiration was the hamburger pie recipe in a children's cookbook that she used to make for her brothers. She made it once for dinner and submitted the recipe the next day. Prohibited by her doctor from flying, she drove all the way from Pennsylvania to compete.

Most Sophisticated use of Ingredients
Nadine Clark of Quakertown, Pennsylvania
Fig & Blue Cheese Appetizer Tarts
Nadine says she is inspired at the supermarket by what is fresh. She loves Maytag blue cheese and when she saw a display with fresh figs she knew she had a hit. She used Crescent rolls as a base and when the first version with a honey drizzle was too sweet, she used orange marmalade and balsamic vinegar instead. I though the pastry base was a bit too soft but I loved her flavor combination.

Most Exotic Ingredients used
Patrick Monahan of Washington, DC
Persian Date-Filled Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Patrick lives in Washington, DC near lots of Middle Eastern and Persian restaurants. The Persian flavors inspired him to make a cinnamon roll muffin with dates, honey, cardamom, walnuts, and lemon. He told me he spent just about every Saturday last Winter working on the recipe. Some batches were served to his neighbors "guinea pigs" but he admitted some batches of muffins never made it out of the kitchen.

Most Likely to Be Invited back to a Party

Catherine Heers of Simpsonville, South Carolina
Mediterranean Three-Tomato Tart Catherine told me that health and nutrition inspired her, especially the power of lycopene. When I asked her why she included three tomatoes she said, if one tomato is good, three are better! An easy recipe using premade pie crust, she combines sun-dried tomatoes, plum tomatoes and grape tomatoes. She wanted to avoid using tomato sauce, and said that this is a great recipe when tomatoes are in season, but even when they're not, because they are baked it tastes fabulous. A classic combination of tomatoes, fresh basil, thyme and oregano, kalamata olives, feta and slices of soppressata, it was elegant and beautiful. This is the recipe I am mostly like to try myself.

Today the official winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off will be announced on the Oprah show. I tried all four of the finalist dishes and none of them really knocked my socks off. Here are my thoughts:


The Zesty Lime-Fish Tacos had so much lime and chipotle that I couldn't taste the bland and mushy fish, which is just as well since I can't stand Tilapia! Also biscuit mix and cornmeal does not a taco make.


The Salmon Pecan-Crusted Tartlets were ok, considering they were made with canned salmon, but not worth the calories in my opinion. I don't think they have much consumer appeal. They look like something out of Good Housekeeping circa 1954.


The Tomato-Basil Eggs Alfredo in Bread Baskets were too salty for my taste. They were a bit cold by the time I got to try them.


The hand's down winner as far as I'm concerned was the Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups. It tasted great and was awfully cute.

I had a ball with all the bloggers at the Bake-Off! See what they thought and their opinions on the contest and finalists:

No Recipes (blog)

NYCityMama

Chef Druck

Food Mayhem

Kitchen Scoop

Carrots and Cake

Steamy Kitchen

Official Pillsbury Bake Off blog

Food Gal (one of the judges)

New Haven Register

I'm participating in something of a mango taste test. First I indulged in Kent mangoes, which are plump, sweet and buttery with lovely tropical notes. This week it's all about the ataulfo. You have probably seen these smallish mangoes with their s-curve and pale orange skin. They have the smallest thinnest pit and virtually no fibrous threads. While their small size makes them perfect for snacking--no half a mango to store in the fridge--the flavor is a bit citrusy I'd say and has a nice bit of acid that makes me think of savory rather than strictly sweet possibilities.

Pairing mango with citrus is one of the tricks I learned from my travels in Mexico where street vendors sell chunks of jicama and mango dipped in lime and and showered in chili powder. To recreate that taste sensation I made a salsa with ataulfo mangoes, a splash of lime juice and pasilla chile powder as well as a crunchy bit of jalapeno and cilantro. The flavor brings me right back to Chapultepec Park in Mexico City!

This super easy salsa is good with chips, but I used it on duck tacos. I marinated a duck breast in balsamic vinegar then scored the skin and seared it in a hot pan and finished if off in a hot oven for 10 minutes. Initially slices of duck were used in a salad, but I had some leftover and thought mango salsa would take the duck in a completely different direction. And it did.

Mango Salsa


Ingredients

2 Ataulfo mangoes
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
Juice of one lime
1 Tablespoon pasilla chile powder
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Slice the mangoes and dice, (how to cut a mango). Combine the mango, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, pasilla chile powder and salt in a small bowl and stir gently to combine. Allow salsa to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Gastronomica is where food meets culture and the arts. It is not a cooking magazine and it might not even make you hungry, but it will certainly feed your brain and your senses. It's deep and provocative, not something mindless to skim through in a waiting room. It's an expensive journal at $13 an issue, but the production values are high and each edition is something you'll most likely keep.


Last week there was a program celebrating the 10th anniversary of Gastronomica, featuring introductory remarks from founder and editor-in-chief Darra Goldstein and a conversation between Harold McGee, celebrated author and contributing editor at Gastronomica and University of California Press' Senior Sponsoring Editor, Blake Edgar. Here are some highlights:

� In the past people who worked in food science weren't necessarily food lovers. That seems to be changing. As a result, food science today is looking more at taste as opposed to just issues of safety.

� He shared details of the International Workshops on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy that took place in in Italy in the 1990's. He was disappointed more chefs, especially non-French chefs were not invited to attend and participate.

� As someone revered by the molecular gastronomy community, it was interesting to hear him say that he "experienced some of the worst dishes of my life in those (molecular gastronomy) restaurants."

� The reason why he doesn't take a public stand on political issues like GMO's is that he doesn't feel comfortable in that role and that the issues are very complicated or as he put it, "there's a lot more to the story."

� He also shared details about visiting Nathan Myrhvold's world class lab/kitchen and his role as a reviewer in an upcoming series of books that Myrhvold is working on.

� His next book comes out in October, The Keys to Good Cooking, and it will help answer the questions home cooks have about the practical side of kitchen science.


Everyone who attended the event got a copy of the Winter 2010 edition of Gastronomica. It has a fascinating piece on how cherries were marketed using teen idols and music videos in Taiwan, a discussion on food porn, a look at the phenomenon of "no great women chefs" an investigation of chocolate and terroir, historical essays on food in art and art in food, a moving personal memoir about the food proclivities of one man's mother, a poem, photographs of Portuguese pastries, and so much more. In fact it even comes bundled with a little booklet of photography artfully arranged.


If you are more of a book sort of person, then you should really check out The Gastronomica Reader a compendium of over 40 essays, poems, art, memoirs and everything that makes the journal so compelling. It's the only resource on food that I can think of that is at times sexy, shocking, smart, disturbing and beautiful. It's a handsome coffee table book and timeless in a way that food magazines rarely ever are. Buy it and savor it for years to come.

I've been cooking more vegetarian and even vegan recipes lately. One reason is the Meatless Monday effort sponsored by the John Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Health. The idea is to help reduce meat consumption by 15% in order to improve both the health of individuals and the health of the planet. But it also has a lot to do with challenging myself to try new things.

When it comes to cooking, I love a good challenge. Cooking with less meat or none at all inspires me. I do better with fewer ingredients than more ingredients. In a way, it forces you to be creative and think outside the box. Or in this case, the refrigerator. You know the saying, necessity is the mother of invention? It always reminds me of my experiences as a babysitter back when I was a teenager. At some point while babysitting either I, or the kids I was watching would get hungry. It was sometimes a challenge for me to come up with something tasty to eat based on whatever I could find in an unfamiliar kitchen.

Stuffed peppers are an acquired taste. I like them, but my dad doesn't. I know this because when I was growing up we only ate them when he was out of town. If you like the earthy flavor of roasted peppers and quinoa, you will like this dish. It combines a number of vegetables with quinoa and nuts to give you lots of flavors and textures in each bite. The filling is basically a quinoa pilaf, so feel free to swap out the chard for another leafy green or change up the nuts. I used Roland red quinoa but I didn't think that it tasted much different from white quinoa. Originally I thought I would top it with cheese but upon tasting it, I didn't feel like it needed it. I also think you could make this without the sauce if you prefer. You know the drill, make this recipe yours.


Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Makes 4 servings as a side dish, or 2 entree serving

Ingredients

2 poblano peppers, cut in half, seeds removed
1 cup water
1/2 cup white or red quinoa
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 cups swiss chard leaves, shredded
1/4 cup roasted pistachios, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, crushed and liquid

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine water and quinoa in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cover; cook for 15 to 18 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat.

Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Saute mushrooms, onion and garlic, stirring frequently for 8 minutes or onion is tender. Stir in chard and let it wilt. Add cooked quinoa, pistachios and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into peppers. Add the tomatoes and their liquid to a baking pan large enough to hold the peppers. Tuck the stuffed peppers into the sauce and bake for about 30 minutes or until the peppers are tender.

Enjoy!