I arrived back to San Francisco late last night, weary from traveling, and my very busy week in NYC, and despite planning to sleep in, I woke up very early, excited to finish this amazing cream of cauliflower with blue cheese fritters video recipe.
I was pretty sure blue cheese would be a nice addition to cauliflower soup, but the challenge was what would be the best delivery system for the sharp, funky cheese. I looked at many fritter recipes, but nothing was inspiring me. Then, for whatever reason, I thought about Pâte à choux.
 |
| Pardon the poor quality photo, but I just had to show this Foccacia di Recco, featuring Galbani’s Bel Paese. It’s sort of like a stuffed pizza, which uses a very basic, unleavened bread dough that’s rolled, spun, and stretched very thin, before being stuffed with the creamy cheese. It’s baked in a very hot oven, where it puffs up, and gets crispy on the outside, while the inside stays soft and cheesy. It was awesome, and something I must figure out how to make! |
 |
| Chef at Farina spinning the dough for the Foccacia di Recco. By the way, the videographer seen here is my friend Vincent McConeghy, a fellow western New Yorker, and author of the novel, Gastro Detective. |
 |
| This was my favorite course of the night. A golden and red beet timbale with Istara Petit Basque and shaved black truffles. What glorious combination of flavors! |
Actually, on second thought, don't call me puff daddy. These beautiful cheese puffs, called gougères in French cooking, are as easy as they are delicious. The buttery, eggy dough (called Pâte à Choux) is the same one we used for the blue cheese fritters, so if the first minute of the video looks like a repeat, it's not!
Since gougères really don’t take much time to prep, and only 15 minutes or so to bake, they are great appetizers for a party. They're okay after they sit for a while, but if you really want to treat your guests, make them in small batches a few times during the party so people can taste them warm.
I'm back in significantly cooler San Francisco, after three great days of food and wine (and beer and tequila) at the San Antonio New World Wine & Food Festival.
To be able to walk along the banks of the San Antonio river, past so many interesting shops, bars, and restaurants, was unique to anything I've experienced before (and if you're not into the walking thing, you can jump into a river taxi). Like most of these trips, there's just too much to cover, but here are a few of the highlights.
We drove deep into Hill Country for a winemaker's lunch at Becker Vineyards, where we enjoyed a very nice multi-course menu paired with Dr. Richard Becker's award-winning European-style wines. Having had zero experience with wines from Texas, I have to say I was pretty impressed.
One of the afternoon's highlights was this pork belly with parsnip puree and braised sweet and sour Swiss chard. I have to admit, I'm getting a bit bored with pork belly these days, but this was outstanding.
I found it fascinating to see how the chefs combined influences from around the food world with local Tex-Mex classics. The offerings ran the gamut from simple and delicious, like a spicy fig and apricot-glazed chicken legs, to this very sophisticated Hawaiian striped marlin served with togarashi, yuzu, radish, and coconut, from Pesca. 
One of my favorite bites of the weekend was this unique take on the Cuban sandwich from Achiote River Cafe & Bar. Ham, cheese, pork belly, and pickles were placed into split gougères (cheese puffs). It was a great idea, and to me represented the best that these events have to offer.
The next day we had the chance to tour the historic Pearl building. This former brewery is being converted into a culinary center, and cultural gathering place. We had a chance to taste some locally produced olive oils from Texas' growing olive industry, which I enjoyed a great deal. I had no idea there were 300 different varieties of olives grown in Texas.
o new apartments, restaurants, artisan shops, and a farmers market, the complex is home to a new Culinary Institute of America campus. This is only the renowned school's second location outside of Hyde Park, NY. For a city with such a vibrant culinary scene, having a world class culinary school will only accelerate San Antonio's standing as a foodie destination.
After a tour of the school, we enjoyed an amazing lunch at Chef Johnny Hernandez’s brand new restaurant La Gloria. The menu is a sort of Mexican street foods "greatest hits," and we enjoyed a huge selection of tacos, quesadillas, panuchos, ceviches, and something called a tlayudas from Oaxaca, which is a sort of ultra-thin, crispy (and very addictive) pizza.
Speaking of Mexican-inspired food, later that day we headed out to The Best of Mexico celebration at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.
The last big highlight was a trip to Totally Texas at Rio Cibolo Ranch. You could smell the barbecuing beef as we drove up the long road to the event.
In addition to all the usual wine and food pairings we enjoyed all weekend, there were a half dozen of the area's top barbecue teams getting their smoke on.
Sitting under a huge shade tree, eating brisket and sipping on a Lonestar beer, I couldn't help but look down and picture what I might look like in a pair of cowboy boots. After a couple moments I decided I'd leave the pointy footwear to those more suited, like Anthony Bourdain.
I’d like to thank the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau and Geiger & Associates for making this trip possible. I had a wonderful time, and I will be back for sure.