Bees on Nob Hill & Honey at Macy's Union Square

What's the buzz on Nob Hill? It's probably honey bees! Restaurants and hotels with kitchen gardens are nothing new, but a hotel with beehives is something quite out of the ordinary, especially in the middle of a city like San Francisco. Executive Chef jW Foster at the San Francisco Fairmont arrived a year ago from Dallas, where he established a 3,000 square foot herb and vegetable garden. His desire to save the bee colonies and promote awareness about colony collapse and the importance of bees inspired him to collaborate with Marshall's Farm to bring bee hives to the rarefied air of Nob Hill, in particular the roof garden.

The rooftop beehives yield about 60 pounds of honey, harvested 2-3 times a year and is used in the hotel restaurant. He says the lavender honey has a particularly pungent flavor as does the eucalyptus batch. The health benefits are part of the appeal of using honey, and it fits in to the Fairmont's "Lifestyle cuisine. " Fairmont Lifestyle Cuisine is centered around health and wellness without sacrificing flavor, think of it as the next generation of spa cuisine. The hotel restaurant uses honey in ice creams, vinaigrettes, desserts, in the afternoon tea service, and in marinades.

Chef Foster also makes gravlax with pacific cod, using honey instead of sugar. He'll be demonstrating how to make this dish at Macy's during the Macy's Flower Show on April 9th at 1 pm (tickets to the cooking class with the chef and beekeeper Helene Marshall are $10). Gravlax is a raw, cured dish and the chef shared some tips with me about cooking with honey including not using too high heat which changes the flavor. He suggested "letting it shine" and using it as primary flavor, emphasizing it when cooking. Another tip? Use it as a finishing touch, the way you might use olive oil as a drizzle on fruit, ricotta or prosciutto. Supporting the bees is also a teaching tool at the hotel, where the chef offers tours of the roof garden and a view of the bees at work to culinary students and to guests. While Macy's may not invite bees into the store, flowers and honey are more than welcome.

Grapefruit Radicchio Salad Recipe

As part of my resolution to eat more salad, I am trying to buy ingredients that can be turned into a salad without too much fuss. You practically need to buy tender salad greens every day so I've been buying crunchy vegetables and hardier leafy greens instead. On my shopping lists these days are daikon radish, carrots, celery, fennel and red radishes. Shaved thin, they all are great salad fixings. I also buy avocados, and some citrus fruit to gussy up my salads.

I made this particular salad one night when I wasn't hungry enough for dinner and I had very little in the house to cook anyway. I loved it so much that I keep going back to the store to buy the same ingredients so I can make it again! It's based on my very faulty recollection of the Grapefruit Jicama Salad from the Slanted Door.

I particularly like the combination of Napa cabbage and radicchio. They are sturdy crunchy greens, (ok, technically not green at all!) but less hardy than red or green cabbage. I used O Clementine olive oil. It's just lovely, but any citrus infused olive oil would be fine if you have some on hand, otherwise use any extra virgin olive oil you like. The salad also includes candied pecans. I have made candied pecans hundreds of times and this is the easiest method of all.


Grapefruit Radicchio Salad Serves 2 as an entree or 4 as a starter

Ingredients

2 cups radicchio, shredded
1 cup Napa cabbage, shredded
1 grapefruit
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or citrus flavored olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Instructions

In a small frying pan combine the pecans with the sugar and a teaspoon of water, cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. When the sugar gets very brown take the pan off the heat and sprinkle the nuts with a pinch of salt and the smoked paprika, stir and let cool in the pan, making sure the nuts are separated from each other so they don't clump together.

Toss the radicchio and cabbage in a bowl. Peel the grapefruit using a knife to remove all the pith. Cut between the membranes to remove only the segments and drop them into the bowl with the salad. Using your hands, squeeze the remaining juice out of the grapefruit membranes and core, onto the salad. Add the olive oil and vinegar and toss. Top with the cooled candied pecans. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Citrus Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds Recipe

The most challenging thing about quinoa is learning how to pronounce it, "keen-wah." After that, it's smooth sailing. A super healthy Peruvian "grain," quinoa is as delicious as it is healthy. While quinoa tastes and cooks as if it were a grain, it's actually a seed and has a light, mild flavor and somewhat chewy and creamy texture. It does a wonderful job of absorbing the flavors in dressings or vinaigrettes. Think of it as a healthier version of couscous that you can serve hot, at room temperature or cold.

I used to visit a shop on Grant Avenue in North Beach that had lots of vintage ephemera. The postcard that said "California, land of fruits and nuts" always cracked me up. Fruits and nuts. You have no idea. California is such a magnet for weirdos, and I mean that in a good way. As an agricultural state, we also happen to have lots of actual fruits and nuts. We are the top agriculture state, and the nation’s sole producer (99 percent or more) of a large number of specialty crops, including almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, grapes, raisins, pistachios, clingstone peaches, dried plums, sweet rice, pomegranates and walnuts, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

I used the sunny California combination of almonds and tangerines in this salad, but you could use segments of navel orange, clementines or any other sweet citrus fruit. This salad is good at room temperature. It would make a perfect accompaniment to grilled fish or roast chicken, but it would also be a good potluck dish. You could go even more "California" and serve it piled high in an avocado half. It will keep for a day or so, but it best eaten soon after you make it.

Note:This recipe calls for the juice and zest of half a lemon. Zest the lemon while it's still whole, then cut it in half and juice it.

Citrus Quinoa Salad with Toasted AlmondsServes 4

Ingredients

1 tangerine, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks (remove as much of the membranes as you can)
1 cup white quinoa, rinsed well
1/2 lemon, preferably organic
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium scallions, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon flat leaf parsley, minced
1/4 teaspoon sriracha, or more to taste
2 Tablespoons thinly sliced toasted almonds

Instructions

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly, then toast it in a dry pan over medium heat for a few minutes until it is fragrant.

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 3/4 cups water, the quinoa, and 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Spread out the quinoa on a baking sheet to cool to room temperature.



Finely grate the zest from the lemon and then squeeze the juice into a mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, scallions, parsley and sriracha. Fold in the quinoa and tangerine pieces, season to taste with salt and top with almonds just before serving.

Enjoy!

More fruity quinoa salads

Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach & Chickpeas and Maple Vinaigrette from Gluten Free Goddess

Quinoa Salad with Grapes from the Kitchn

Pineapple Quinoa Salad with With Sweet Curry Vinaigrette from Poor Girl Eats Well

Quinoa Salad with Mango & Herb Marinated Shrimp from Well Fed

Mango Cucumber Salad Recipes

Ok here's a crazy idea, one basic salad that can be either sweet or savory. I was trying to think of what to do with some mangoes coming my way from the National Mango Board this week and then I saw a tweet from @SimpleGourmetLA with the idea for a "mojito cucumber, mango and strawberry salad." It occurred to me that both cucumber and mango could go either way--sweet or savory.

I'm always looking for ways to use common ingredients in slightly unexpected ways. Here the twist is using cucumber in a sweet fruit salad and using sweet mango in a savory salad. English cucumber is available year round and does not need to be peeled. It has a very mild flavor and a fine texture without big slippery seeds. Best of all, it has a terrific crunch! I used the most commonly available mango, the Tommy Atkins variety in both salads. It's not a very tropical, luscious or creamy mango, but more of a workhorse, with citrus-like flavor, able and willing to stand up to whatever you demand of it. It's a bit on the firm side so it's particularly good in salads.

For the sweet salad I combined cucumber, mango and strawberries and for the savory version, cucumber, mango and radishes. You might recognize the ingredients from the savory salad as being similar to what you find Mexican street vendors selling. Each salad is flavored with lime, but the sweet salad gets a touch of honey and mint, the savory salad, a pinch of salt and green onion. Both are bursting with juiciness, crunch and Summery flavors and would be great at a picnic. I'd serve the savory salad with grilled fish or chicken. I'd serve the sweet salad with a scoop of sorbet or just a couple of cookies.


Mango, Cucumber, Strawberry Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tommy Atkins mango, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 large English cucumber, cut into chunks
1 pint strawberries, trimmed and cut in chunks
Juice of a fresh lime, squeezed
2 teaspoons honey
2 sprigs chopped fresh mint leaves, about 12 leves

Instructions

In a mixing bowl combine the lime and honey and stir until smooth. Add the mango, cucumber, strawberries and mix. Sprinkle with mint and taste for seasoning before serving.


Mango, Cucumber, Radish Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tommy Atkins mango, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 large English cucumber, cut into chunks
1 bunch radishes, trimmed and cut into chunks
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Juice of a fresh lime, squeezed
Pinch kosher salt

Instructions

In a mixing bowl combine the lime and salt and stir until dissolved. Add the mango, cucumber, radishes and mix. Sprinkle with green onions and taste for seasoning before serving.

Enjoy!