Anchor and Hope

Cute drawing

The restaurant is located in the SoMa district so parking was a little sketchy.  Jake had to drop me off since we were already 15 minutes late for our reservation.  Story of our lives!  When I arrived, the hostess was kind enough to let me sit already.  This was beneficial since I was able to look at all the food that people around me were ordering.  The place was really busy and looked like the place to be. 

Marin Miyagi oysters on the half shell [turtle power :)]

There were about 8 different types of raw oysters to choose from and after learning that the ones from the East Coast were briny, I went with the local ones.  The oysters were slightly sweet, almost buttery so that was great since Jake is not a huge fan of the raw variety.  I honestly could have eaten a dozen by myself, but I still had my entree to look forward to. 

"Angels on Horseback"

Smoked Bacon Wrapped Oysters w/ Remoulade sauce

This was one of the dishes from the 7x7 magazine, so had to try it.  I think they barbequed the oysters because it tasted soo soo good.   Anything that is bacon wrapped, I am immediately game for.  This was the highlight of the night. The remoulade was ehh ok, nothing to write home about so I just put a bit on the oysters. 

Anchor and Hope Lobster Roll

Brioche Bun, Old Bay Kettle Chips

I was very surprised at how little lobster meat was in the actual roll.  Not happy! I had twice as much at Olema Inn and it was alot cheaper.  The taste was pretty good, but I thought for $24 dollars, they would pile on the lobster.  Not the case.  I also didn't like the fact that they gave me so many chips.  It's like they tried to distract me from how small the sando was.  Eww, huge turnoff.  I should have gotten the prosciutto-wrapped trout.  Now I regret it, bigtime.

Smithwick's Battered Cod

Rosemary and Thyme Potato Wedges

I am not a fan of battered fish so I alreade wrote off this dish before I even tasted it.  I had a tiny sampling from Jake's plate and the fish was really tender.  Almost too tender, which was scary since rock cod is supposed to be a dense fish.  Maybe they used something else.  When Jake offered me seconds, I politely declined since he was pretty hungry. 

Bailey's Malted Milkshake

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookie

Since I didn't feel like a chocolate cake, we settled on this.   The milkshake was tasty, but nothing I probably couldn't make at home.  Since we split dessert, they gave us separate plates so that's why I only got one baby cookie and a small glass.  It was just enough to satisfy my sweet fix for the night.

Toffee Crunch Chocolate Cake with Gooey Caramel

Top layer

Side profile

I was excited to make a turtle cake, but when I asked Jake if he liked pecans, he said he didn't like it so change of plans.  I thought oooh maybe this will be the magical day that I learn to make toffee.  It was actually alot easier than I thought and it definitely helps to build my culinary repertoire.  The only difficult part was the clean-up since the toffee stuck to the saucepan.  I had to soak it in hot water for half an hour to get most of it off, then followed it up with ALOT of elbow grease.  The other dilemma that I had was the springform pan I wanted to use was still stuck en route so I had to use a regular cake pan.  Not as pretty, but oh well.  I had to improvise.  All in all, when I finally surprised Jake with the cake, he said it was the best cake he ever had.  Sweet!  I brought the leftovers to work and they liked it so much for the next potluck, I am in charge of the desserts. Yay for me.

Ingredients

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Caramel Layer
1/4 cup butter
14 ounces bag of individually wrapped caramels
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup milk

Frosting
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup of homemade toffee*
1/2 cup chopped almonds

*For a recipe for homemade toffee, go to http://candy.about.com/od/toffeerecipes/ss/sbs_toffee.htm

 I stopped after step 6 and just used a pestle to pound the toffee into tiny pieces.  You can use a grinder if that is easier. 


Directions
Cake
1) Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2) In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
3) Beat chocolate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Set the rest aside.
4) Bake in a 350° oven about 20 minutes in a 9 x 13-inch pan, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Caramel Layer
1) In a heavy saucepan, stir the unwrapped caramels, butter, condensed milk, and regular milk together on medium heat until all the caramel has melted.
2) Remove from heat and pour over baked cake. 
3) Pour remaining cake batter on top and bake for additional 25 minutes at 350°.

Frosting
1) In a saucepan, mix the butter, cocoa powder, condensed milk, and buttermilk on low heat.  It will get very thick.
2) Remove from heat and frost the cake.
3) Sprinkle the toffee and almonds on top. 
4) Refrigerate overnight or at least for 5 hours.

Miso-glazed Butterfish

This is really similar to the Miso-glazed black cod recipe so I will just spare you the details of the prep work.  The main reason I did not use black cod this time around is because they only had about two pounds at the Japanese grocery store I frequent.  This was not enough for the party so I went to a bigger grocery store.  They only had butterfish there so I decided to try it and see which I preferred more.  I found that the butterfish was alot flakier and more tender.  I do, however, like the fact that the black cod still has the skin attached because when it broils it gets so crispy. Lovely! On that note, the cod trumps the butterfish. 

Bacon, Cheese, and Green Onion Polenta Cakes

Polenta Cake Mixture

I have seen polenta as side dishes at restaurants.  It is usually in mush form.  Yikes!  I don't want to feel like I'm eating baby food.   Polenta fries would have been a HUGE undertaking so I am going to save that for when I have more time.  I contemplated for a split second just baking these in the oven to try to be healthy, but nah! Time to indulge since it's my boyfriend's birthday!  I have to mention that when frying these bad boys, make sure that you do not crowd them on the pan.  They tend to bleed together and that makes it waayyy harder to flip.  Also, it helps to have a sister to do all the work...Haha. Thanks Steph :P

Ingredients

(yields 8-10 servings)

3 cups of water

1 cup of corn meal

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1 cup of corn niblets
1 cup of Fontina cheese (cut into 1/4 inch cubes)
1 cup of Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
6 slices of bacon (fried and cut into 1/3 inch pieces)
3 large green onions (chopped into 1/4 inch pieces)
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)


Directions
1) Bring 3 cups of salted water to a boil. Add the cornmeal very slowly to the boiling water while stirring.
2) Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 15 minutes or until it's quite thick. If it thickens too quickly at first, you can add a bit more water as you stir.
3) When it's ready, add the salt and sugar  Set aside to cool.
4) Stir in the corn niblets, fontina cheese, parmesan cheese, bacon, green onions, and cayenne pepper. 
5) Once evenly mixed, use an ice cream scoop to transfer the mixture onto parchment paper.  Form a ball shape. 
6) Pat it down with your hands until it's smooth and about ½ inch thick.
7) Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom, and a pat of butter. Flick water drops into the pan to test the heat – when they sizzle, add the polenta cakes. 
8) Fry until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, then gently flip them over and fry the other sides. 
9) Serve immediately.

Coconut Shrimp with Soba Noodles

Coconut Shrimp w/ Soba Noodles

There was leftover shrimp that needed to be used so here's what I came up with.  I had originally wanted to use udon noodles, but the store was out of it, so I settled for soba.  Also, I was thinking more of a curry dish, but that didn't really pan out since I only had Indian curry powder at home and wanted a Thai curry.  Since this was a last minute decision, I didn't even have fresh veggies at home so I used frozen stuff (green beans, yellow beans, and carrots) from Trader Joe's.  I liked that it added alot of color.  Oh I also sprinkled some toasted shredded organic coconut, yeah I'm pretty fancy, for chewiness.  Everything was obviously delicious and I even brought some to work for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

(yields 4 servings)

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 teaspoon of dried basil 

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes
4 ounce can of tomato paste

1 cup of coconut milk (organic if available)

1 lb of medium shrimp (peeled)

1 lb of Trader Joe's spring medley (frozen green beans, yellow beans, and carrots)
1 lb of soba noodles

3 green onions (cut into 1/8 inch pieces)

1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions  

1) Boil four cups of water with salt.  When it comes to a rolling boil, put the soba noodles in and make sure to stir so it does not stick together.   I

2) Adjust the heat to medium and cook for five minutes or until al dente.

3) Strain the noodles and set aside.

4) In a large wok, cook the olive oil and garlic at low heat for 3 minutes.

5) Bring the heat up to medium and add the coconut milk, tomato paste, dried oregano, dried basil, cayenne pepper, and chili flakes.

6) Finally, add the shrimp and vegetables.  Cover with a lid and let it cook for ten minutes.

7) Sprinkle green onions on top and serve. 

8) To toast the coconut flakes, just place a flat layer on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for about five minutes at 300 degrees.