Recipe for the sauce comes from Paula Wolfert’s, “The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean”. Keep the sauce for at least a day to allow the flavors to meld. This dish is best served cold, or rather, at a cool room temperature.

Halibut with Creamy Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce

a large piece of filleted halibut, folded to form a neat rectangle or a large two-inch-thick piece of white fish

1 3/4 cups shelled walnuts (6 oz)
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or a pinch cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
pinch saffron powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
pinch salt
1 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses, diluted in 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon crushed fresh coriander/cilantro

For the sauce:
Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor, adding the cilantro at the end and giving it several brief pulses until all you see are specks of green.

For the fish:
Season the fillet with salt. Place in a small baking pan and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

The sauce will be thick like peanut butter, add a little water to get the right consistency of a thick sauce and pour over the fish.

Cheryl of Cupcake Blog has recently organized a group that gets together to share, what else, cupcakes! Each person that attends brings a dozen cupcakes to the meet, either baked yourself or bought at a favorite store. BYOB. Today was the first meet and I was an hour late. There were a few cupcake enthusiasts, including Cheryl, still lingering beneath a tree in the gardens of the Justin Herman Plaza. I can’t believe I’ve met someone whose blog I’ve been reading for the past three years and actually got to participate in a cupcake extravaganza. Getting there was another whole new experience in itself. Ladies, I have news for you. Men will flock to you if you are carrying a transparent container full of cupcakes. This I discovered as I waited for the bus holding my container of a dozen (minus one) strawberry cupcakes. “Those are good lookin cupcakes!”, they would exclaim with a disarming smile. On the bus, tall men would linger behind me to look over my shoulder and stare at my cupcakes. Some would strike up a conversation. Who knew?

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cocoa Nibs & Strawberry Frosting
Makes about 12 cupcakes

¾ cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour, not self-rising
½ cup + 2.5 tablespoons unbleached flour
1 cup sugar
½ tablespoon baking powder
heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large eggs
½ cup whole milk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa nibs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Mix in cocoa nibs.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Strawberry Frosting
Makes enough for 1 dozen cupcakes

1/2 cup strawberries, cleaned and hulled
1 cup unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions
Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

Had a wonderful dim sum lunch at Ton Kiang yesterday. We started eating the moment we sat down! Servers came by our table with stacks of steamed, fried and stir-fried dimsum. An a la carte menu is available as well, but we didn’t get that far with all the dim sum we ordered. The eggplant stuffed with shrimp and the deep-fried prawns are my favorites.

I have been strolling the Ferry Building more often since classes started a week ago. This semester I was able to take my last class at UC Berkeley before I graduate from SFSU this December. Because I take BART to get there, I often stop by the Ferry Building on my way back home. Since class starts at 10am and ends at 2pm I have a late lunch before heading home. The Mandarin Pork Tea House Spicy Noodles at the Imperial Tea Court was perfect for my mid-afternoon lunch. Maybe the best Chinese noodle soup I’ve had in SF. Not surprising since they use Neiman Ranch meats and the noodles are freshly made. The combination of seasonings and perfectly flavored broth made a perfect soup for lunch. My only complaint is the tea ignorant waitstaff. With the numerous teas available on the menu I was expecting knowledgeable staff to recommend the right tea for dessert. Very unfortunate.

We laughed, we cried, we gossiped, we ate our way through the Ferry Building. Seeing J and S once again was an experience in time travel. High school, for me, was another time, another person. Although I have to say J and S are still the same. J has a great sense of humor and always made us laugh. S is still the rebel without a cause. I’m still the brutally honest one. I guess I am still the same after all. We lacked three more friends to complete our group. J tells me there is a high school reunion in 2010. Wow. It makes me wonder how everyone I knew then is doing now. What have they become? Has much changed? Should I join Facebook to find out?

I arrived at the appointed time, 11am. I searched for S and found her having a glass of wine at the wine bar. My kind of girl. A bit early for me though, nowadays. Seems like my alcohol tolerance has reached its limit. Two glasses and I’m done for the week, sometimes for the month. S looked great, slimmer than usual because of her mommy duties. J arrived and that’s when the gossip started. I love to hear what people I use to know are up to nowadays. Nice catching up, although I doubt we covered the entire spectrum of high school ‘86. S has a two-year-old girl, J has two sons. Both have wonderful husbands.

We then proceeded to Mistral for lunch. So good. I had the pork roast, J the lamb stew, S had a sandwich from ? We ate our lunch in the outdoor seats and tables overlooking the ocean and anchored cruise ships. After lunch we took a walk. We planned to take a long walk but then were distracted and stopped at the next restaurant for some champagne. Chatted in the patio, sipping bubbly and getting some sun. Before we knew it J had two hours left before she had to take the ferry back. So we walked back to the wine bar at Ferry Building, but not before we stopped to get some pastries from Miette. Pistachio and chocolate macarons for J; pistachio, hazelnut and a floral herb macaron for me; chocolate cream cake for us to share. At the wine bar S ordered the Italian meat plate and a bottle of Shirah for all of us. In all the commotion of friendly chatter, J missed her ferry. I think it was then that we fluctuated from laughing to crying and laughing to hugs and good-byes. S and I had dinner at Ryoko’s Japanese Restaurant & Bar before I dropped her off at the BART station. Was I full? Definitely I had my fill of food and drink that day, but not of old friends. Till next time, à bientôt!