Restaurant Review: The Presidio Social Club

While recuperating from this never-healing knee injury has certainly put a damper on my social life, the hubby & I still managed to find a way to get out & try one of the new eateries in town: The Presidio Social Club. It definitely involved some strategic maneuvers: such as dropping me off in front while he parks the car so that I could try to hobble up to the restaurant without being subjected for too long to my undignified efforts.

The name, Presidio Social Club, conjures up in my mind the image of relaxed conviviality.
In many respects, the restaurant certainly lived up to that expectation.
It's park-like setting in the Presidio; it's handsome, stand-alone rustic structure still evocative of the military barracks that it once was, the more than ample parking spaces comfortably surrounding the restaurant which spares you the parking lot angst that comes in a city where parking is always at a premium, all give you a presentiment of good things to come.


Entrance to the Presidio Social Club from the parking lot

The clubby, country club vibe continues as you walk up the stairs onto the large porch where family & friends gather to greet each other before entering the restaurant; exchanging bits of news & gossip just as they would if they were at their own home or clubhouse.
As you enter, you see an old 40's style snare drum set in the front corner across from the hostess stand, a whimsical touch that alerts you to the classic American mid-twentieth century retro atmosphere & menu, though thankfully more Glenn Miller than Elvis; we've all had enough of those "American Graffiti" meets "Happy Days" Mel's Diner epicurean experiences, haven't we? Two very polite, smiling hostesses greet us & one of them seats us immediately for our 6:30pm reservation.

The room is cavernous and window-lined with presidio views, hardwood floors, exposed beams, and bare wooden picnic tables; yet, despite the fact that it was already crammed with a large cross-section of happy chattering San Franciscans, the noise level was remarkably tolerable unlike other popular Marina hot spots where you have to shout to hear your fellow table mates.
We were comfortably seated in a stand alone picnic table for two, set with dish towels for napkins & the kind of flatware & glassware you'd find in the bargain bin of Ace Hardware store, but I, somehow, find it more charming & practical than off putting; that's how successful the restaurant's management is in creating a casual, comfortable atmosphere. Kudos to them because I am usually a girl who likes her Cristofle settings & her Frette linens when she dines out on the town and is not happy when she doesn't get them.

Notice, I haven't yet mentioned the food.
The truth is the menu is a clever homage to classic, homespun American foods from the pleasantly mustardy gruyere toasts made from brioche with fondue tomato dip, a riff on the old tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwich to the classic macaroni & cheese and the not-your-old-grade-school-cafeteria's sloppy joe sandwich of kobe beef brisket. These items while somewhat grotesquely portioned (reminding me why 40% of Americans are now overweight or obese, moi included) are solidly executed according to other reviews but are not enough to keep you coming back unless you are a well-to-do gen-x'er who never cooks at home. Last Sunday, we ordered the fish plate special appetizer, the gruyere cheese toast, the Sunday night special which was roast suckling pig as well as the pork chop which our server told us she preferred to the flat iron steak. The hot prepared food section at Whole Foods serves almost comparable meals, but you'd still have to clean dishes at if you ate at home which may be why P.S.C. is such a sensation with the youngin's; it's hearty comfort food with no dishwashing required.

The fish plate appetizer was described to me as belly of tuna served over a carpaccio of cucumber with heirloom tomatoes & a baby arugula salad atop the fish. While calling the three thin slices of cucumber a carpaccio is stretching the definition of that technique, I had no quibble with it or the elegantly dressed arugula & the colorful sweet grape tomatoes that garnished the tuna. The tuna itself, however, gave me pause.
When I am told I am about to be served that most unctuous, delicately fatty, moist & flavorful flesh that is called tuna belly, I almost swoon imagining the sensuous silken texture of the fish gliding over my tastebuds sending shivers of delight through my body. I think of o-toro, chu-toro, hell any toro, naked, pristine and glistening; unsullied by excessive handling & heavy condiments. If you were about to have carnal knowledge of Brad Pitt, you wouldn't want him covered in a suit of armor!!!
Yet this is what the chef did to that beautiful tuna belly; he mashed it and masked it in a coating of mayonnaise so heavy, it looked and tasted like a Bumble Bee tuna salad made by a third grader who was left home alone for lunch.
Needless to say, after one bite, I left the rest of the tuna untouched but I did eat the veggies. When our server who was pleasant, competent & attentive asked if we were enjoying our starters, I was honest. I told her that I was a little puzzled by the preparation of the tuna belly; having mistakenly assumed that it would have been served as a carpaccio or possibly as a tartare not as a mayonnaise-based tuna salad. She looked concerned, but I told her it was my mistaken assumption, and I was enjoying the vegetables; so she moved on to her next table.
To her and the restaurant's management's credit, this item was very graciously removed from the check without our request. A fact that our server made us aware of when she brought us the check at the end of the night. She said that she noticed I had left the tuna untouched & felt I shouldn't pay for it. This is hospitality at its very best. It is also good business because, despite its culinary missteps, this restaurant has now won my trust which would make me far more likely to give it further chances to redeem itself in the future.

Unfortunately, gracious hospitality couldn't save the roast suckling pig. Huge hunks of it were strewn on an enormous plain white platter over a bed of nicely flavored braised red cabbage with an immense side of creamy, vanilla-scented mashed sweet potatoes. The potatoes were by far the hit of the night; a completely surprising combination ( I winced when I heard vanilla & potato in the same sentence) of restrained inspiration. Sweet without being overpowering or cloying, the vanilla accent complemented sweet potatoes that were creamy, fluffy clouds of heaven yet somehow still managed to retain a certain earthiness in their essence and density in their texture. The taste of those potatoes haunt me still. Truly masterfully done, it shows that someone in this kitchen has great attention to detail.

Too bad he wasn't at the protein station! That poor pig either suffered a hard life or a stressful death because that meat was dry, flavorless and without any merit. Perhaps, a drizzling of Cuban-style mojo sauce would have helped it; but, there was none to be found. Roasting large meats of this kind is almost always fraught with disaster. It is very difficult to control the moisture content, particularly since the meat must be evenly cooked to a medium doneness and somehow survive being served all through the night. Large roasts of beef which you can cook and offer rare hold up somewhat better; but, I think a restaurant would better serve itself as well as its customers if they stuck to smaller cuts of pork, served their large pork roasts carnitas-style, or served it as a braise which, through virtue of resting in its warm cooking liquid, stays moist as long as you need it to.
The pork cracking served on top of the meat, however, was spectacular. They are crisped morsels of fatty pig skin that Latin & Asian cultures truly prize but are not easily attained during the normal roasting process without other means like deep frying it after the initial roasting. Thankfully, the chef at P.S.C. didn't have to deep-fry his rind afterward because the initial roasting of the pork rind was well-executed and brought it to crackling perfection.

My husband's pork chop with a side of mashed potatoes & broccolini were overdone but edible, if uninspiring. His only real bone of contention (pardon the pun) was that no server in any restaurant ever seems to know the difference between a pork rib chop (long bone on the side) or a pork loin chop (small T-shaped bone in the middle).
My husband likes only the more flavorful rib chop when eating chops. He always asks the server what kind of chop it is, explains the difference, tells the server his preference letting the server know that his order is predicated on receipt of the correct cut of pork, is assured that the bone is on the side, orders said chop, and receives the wrong cut. Always. Every time. Last Sunday was no exception. You gotta love him though! He never utters a word to the servers about the mishap and he's always willing to try and order his rib chop again. He's such an optimist full of hope for a future filled with servers who can identify a cut of meat when they see it. Oh happy day...oh happy day...

We skipped desserts though the chocolate beignets caught my eye, but I couldn't stand another disappointment. So, we passed.

Drinks here are known to be very creative concoctions that are quite popular with younger set which is a good thing because the wine list is limited and leaves much to be desired. That being said, I ordered a nice little cremant, a sparkling wine from the Loire Valley for $8.00 a glass. Reasonable & serviceable like everything else in the restaurant. It was served in a very retro champagne glass, you know the kind your mother or grandmother used; said to be modeled after the pre-guillotine legendary breasts of Marie Antoinette in the good old days of the 18th century French Court. The hubby eschewed vino or any alcohol preferring instead to drink copious quantities of Panna spring water.

The bottom line is......the Presidio Social Club is an excellent place to take children or run to after work if you live in or happen to be in the neighborhood, like a good bar scene and can get a table on short notice. Otherwise, forget it. It's your friendly neighborhood joint or your slightly better than average golf clubhouse meal. Stick to basic grub, stay away from specials when ordering and you'll get mounds of decent, sometimes surprisingly tasty homey food with great service and a fun, casual ambiance. There are many casual places in the city that serve this level of food; they just don't happen to be in such a unique setting. It is not a destination restaurant, a special occasion place or a food temple to seek epicurean nirvana. It doesn't have to be, and more importantly, it doesn't try to be.

Appetizers are $3.25 to $11.95
Entrees are $14.95 to $ 27.95
Side Dishes are $4.95
Desserts are $5.00 to $10.00
Corkage is $15 per bottle

Presidio Social Club
Building 563 Ruger Street
The Presidio of San Francisco, Ca. 94129
(415) 885-1888
www.presidiosocialclub.com

Everything's Coming Up Peaches: Fresh Peach and Blueberry Mascarpone Crumble

My birthday falls on a Monday this year so my hubby in his ultimate wisdom decided we should begin celebrating Friday night & keep the festive atmosphere going until Monday night.
I had planned for us to patronize a few of my favorite restaurants for my birthday weekend extravaganza: Quince, La Folie, Hime culminating with Michael Mina on Monday, the big night, where I would wallow in luxurious food, artistically presented & cooked to perfection.
But nature will have it's little jokes, and I found myself still unable to walk without looking like some less than well-preserved octogenarian because of this damned knee injury that I suffered 6 weeks ago which absolutely refuses to get better. Since most of these places are swank eateries swarming with San Francisco's finest who while not always breathtakingly glamorous like the Manhattan & L.A. crowds tend to be, still do manage to emit a certain kind of je ne se quoi, the last thing I wanted to do was present myself to this society looking like a cross between Quasimodo and one of Jerry Lewis' less dignified movie characters. Believe me, nothing dulls the appetite more than a clumsy, bloated middle-aged female made more clumsy & more bloated with lots of rich food & wine.
So being the good philanthropist, I canceled all our plans and decided to rethink the weekend. I first decided that Monday night would still be filled with luxurious foods, after all it was still my birthday! The menu would consist of '85 Krug champagne, 8 oz. of ossetra caviar from the Caspian Sea, pate of duck foie gras locally made, Gioia burrata from L.A., heirloom tomatoes from the central valley and great bread from both the east bay & Sonoma, an Acme sweet baguette & a sourdough boule that a good friend of ours generously introduced us to. What more could I girl want?
I then decided we would start the weekend with a breakfast of the late summer's yummiest offerings along with the staples that I happened to have in the pantry which my loving hubby restocked them for me while I recuperate. I made it late Friday night after imbibing way too much 2000 Chevalier-Montrachet & 1997 Barbaresco (thank you, Domaine Leflaive & Gaja) and watching Woody Allen's Sleeper (looking at those Buick-sized frankenfruits in the scene where Woody goes foraging for food may have inspired this dish) which shows you just how fool-proof this recipe is: "So easy a drunken Latina can do it." Now there's a catchy tag-line...

Fresh Peach and Blueberry Mascarpone Crumble

Note:
You can substitute cream cheese for the mascarpone. If you do, combine 8 oz. of the cream cheese with 8 oz. of creme fraiche or with 8oz of Greek-style yogurt. Cream cheese alone would make this dish much too heavy in texture not as custardy as desirable.
I used delicious large white peaches which have a more delicately perfume-like aroma and flavor. You can easily use any kind of stone fruit (apricots, nectarines, etc.) just make sure you have about 6 cups worth. As for the berries, you can use blackberries or raspberries even strawberries though strawberries alone won't give you the lovely consistency that you get from the other berries; best to eat them au natural.

Ingredients:

For the fruit:
5 or 6 large peaches, each pitted & sliced into 12 sections
1-1/2 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed & dried
2 Tablespoons of cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup of superfine granulated sugar

For the custard:
2 8oz. containers of mascarpone, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

For the crumble:
1 cup of chopped walnuts or almonds, unsalted
1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) of unsalted, well-chilled butter, cut into 1/2 dice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray the bottom of a large 9"x12" baking dish coating liberally then line the bottom with parchment paper cut to fit the dish (unless you are using Le Creuset or Emile Henry enamel coated clay baking dishes as they are the best to use & let you skip the buttering prep ). Butter or spray top of parchment & set aside.

Using a large bowl combine the peaches & blueberries. Sprinkle with lemon juice, sugar & cornstarch. Stir to combine well until the dry ingredients have completely dissolved into the fruit. Pour the fruit & its juices into the prepared baking dish.

In the bowl of a large food processor ( or just a large bowl if beating by hand), add the softened mascarpone with the sugar & pulse or whisk until it appears a little lighter & fluffier in texture, then add the half & half slowly to the bowl and process as you slowly combine it. Stop when well combined and large lumps have dissolved. Add vanilla, incorporating well. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg with the salt and add it to the cheese mixture, processing until the custard looks smooth and homogeneous. Pour cheese custard over the fruit in the baking dish.

Using another large bowl, mix together the flour & salt. Add the brown sugar, mixing well to break up any large clumps of sugar. Add the chopped nuts, combing with the other ingredients and distributing them evenly. Finally add the cold butter cubes, first coating them well with the mixture, then using your fingers or a pastry cutter to crumble them into the mixture, combining with the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like very coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the baking dish, gently patting any loose mixture into place. There may be some crumble mixture left over.

Place crumble in the preheated oven and bake 35 to 45 minutes, until fruit is bubbly & top is browned and fragrant. If crumble hasn't browned as much as you like turn on broiler and place dish under broiler for 3-5 minutes to finish. Be sure to keep the dish several inches away from the flame. Remove from oven & let cool on a wire rack (about an hour).
You can enjoy the crumble when warm but the cheese custard tastes best when refrigerated for a few hours.
This dish can be fully assembled & baked a day ahead as long as you refrigerate it until an hour before you'd like to serve it.

This dish serves 8 people with or without a hangover.

On American Politics: Three Cheers for the Red, White & Blueberry Crisp

I am weary of politics.

I despise propaganda which is what all the rhetoric being spewed by reactionaries in the media is on "both sides" ("both sides": as though we can really distill an entire nation's views down to only two distinct representative philosophies).

I think politics & religion are the two most polarizing subjects known to man (which is probably why Emily Post, if she ever really existed, prohibited their mention during polite conversation).
Rifts caused by differing views on these topics have always caused needless & irreparable damage to the relationships between individuals, families, communities and nations.

To what end? The destruction of the very harmony the tenets of each purport to create & preserve.

On a macro-level, I believe most reasonable people have the same basic goals: Life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness. The framers of our constitution have said it best.
We want safe streets, clean air & water.
We want equal treatment under the law.
We hold dear our personal freedoms of speech, of assembly, of owning property & of religion.
We care about our personal security & in so far as it affects our personal safety, we now care about our national security, a thing we've always taken for granted. Until, of course, Pearl Harbor & most recently 9/11/01 reminded us that we are not impregnable to those who wish to destroy or overpower this 230 year old experiment known as a democratic republic.
Representative democracy was a revolutionary idea at the time our nation was formed. It's peculiar form is uniquely American & one which the fathers of this country were unsure could survive but still tried to insure it's longevity by drafting a constitution they hoped would withstand the test of time.

On a micro-level, many perfectly nice caring people are apathetic as to the means of accomplishing these political ends (freedom, safety, equality etc.).
Their views on how the government should function and their personal political affiliations are largely influenced by demographics: age, geographic location, socio-economic background, education level, religious beliefs etc.
It is often nothing more than an accident of birth.
Most people have never explored the possibilities of the alternative views that exist outside their own social sphere. It makes life easier for them to go with the flow. Their "conservative" or "liberal" views are reflexive requiring no more cognitive function than breathing. It's a conditioned response rather than a well reasoned opinion.
Many have been predisposed to their beliefs by their nurturing; not because they have researched & studied varied socio-economic theories with an active interest in formulating a truly educated point of view.
In summary, the majority of people's viewpoints are no more than a reflection of their surroundings and their natural desire to remain comfortably within the accepted social mores of their particular enviroment. They just want to be liked by their friends & families.

Are they wrong for not taking their civic responsiblities more seriously?

Not if they are happy with their lives. Hey, it's a free country.

Complacency is often the result of a general feeling of contentedness.
Those who are mostly satisfied with their lot don't usually sit around pondering why.
If, however, they are discontent then before they start vociferously bellyaching about it, they have an obligation to themselves (and to the society they keep who are very likely to be subjected to the company of the malcontent) to step out of their comfort zones; and, with open minds, arm themselves with something more than the shallow knowledge base informed by their unique cultures which often can be so profoundly limited to the current trends and propaganda of their day.
They should look for resources with wider, more historical perspectives.

Politics has become very fashionable. It always has been in some sectors of society. It's likely that it always will be. As such, it is subject to the whims and vicissitudes of all things fashionable.
That's why sources of information pooled mostly from entertainment outlets are so incomplete & unreliable.
People who get their news and formulate their opinions from "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report"...beware... what you are watching is topical satire at its most trenchant not an accurate, objective accounting of today's history! That's not the shows' intent or, frankly, their responsibility.
All they want to do is make you laugh & keep you watching their shows which is a perfectly legitimate and highly necessary ambition for comedic programs on Comedy Central.
They know their demographic audience & play up to them. Having politicians on their shows doesn't make them a legitimate news source but it does show the circus that today's politics has become.
Even those outlets that label themselves as "news shows", whether "liberal" or "conservative", are often nothing more than editorials being passed off as unassailable facts and evidence against those viewpoints they oppose. "Crossfire", "Bill O'Reilly" and "The Chris Matthews Show" are some of the many that come to mind.
But it's not just limited to television or radio, the print media also passes off propaganda as facts in their news coverage and to cover their tracks they sometimes cleverly put in tiny print the words "news analysis" under the byline (you'd have to know the words are there to actually notice them) when the story is in the front page section and not in the editorial section where it clearly belongs.
It really is insidiously but brilliantly done and thoroughly reprehensible!!!
I won't even get started on how they word headlines to skew the story and give a false impression of what's been written because they know few people do more than skim through the headlines when they read the paper.
Blogs are no better as unbiased news resources. They are notorious for their rumor-mongering inaccuracies.They really are just electronic pulpits and soapboxes but it is easier to search for more varied content and viewpoints, and, like the shows on Comedy Central, they are certainly entertaining.
The enlightened person should keep in mind that all these sources run with balance sheets that track profit & loss margins.
They have sponsors or producers to please and bills to pay which is why their content is often so sensational & hysterical: in order to entertain their subscribers. These entertainment/news businesses must make every political discussion an epic battle between good & evil. Sometimes, one party plays Luke Skywalker to the other party's Darth Vader, and other times, the respective parties switch roles; depending on who is writing the script & casting the parts in these live passion plays.
Otherwise, who would watch or read them?
Not the average American who would rather watch Simon Cowell rip some poor schmo to shreds on American Idol than hear what our federal representatives are really saying and doing on C-Span.
Unfortunately, these entertainment conglomerates have become the favorite go-to resource for those precious few who are seeking to be better informed.
Once again, it's easier to do than watching hours of C-span or reading Locke, Rousseau, Weber and Tocqueville and their theories of democracy.
They have little or no interest in making themselves familiar with the works of todays philosophers like Paul Berman, Andre Glucksmann or Christopher Hitchens. The average American is much too comfortable in his little cocoon to step outside & spread his intellectual wings wide enough to broaden his thinking.
Few will ever read or listen to anyone whose views differ from their own. Instead they will label them as "leftist" or "neo-con" depending on their political views and dismiss those opinions sight unseen or sound unheard and still consider themselves well informed on the issues facing our nation.
It's a sad plight for our country. Too many people think they are informed when in fact they haven't even scratched the surface of the issues. What's worse, they are allowed to vote.

Todays politicians know all this.

They prey on the excitability of a good sound bite especially when peppered with a healthy dose of moral indignation.
Politicians use pollsters to formulate their policies & then they run successful, lucrative, multimedia-blitzed campaigns based on those results; filling their coffers by stirring up the worst fears about the opposing side in their constituencies; and manipulatively playing to our baser natures as opposed to raising our loftier ideals.

Those running for the highest level of office are often the worst.
They have no ideals, no belief in the strength of their convictions because they have no convictions.
They can't afford to, if they want to win elections outside of their local governments. The heads of their parties won't fund them.

Sadly, this is not a new phenomenon. It has become a long-standing political tradition handed down for generations to both sides of the aisle.

Which is why after all is said & done, it never really matters what party is in so-called power.

Despite all the heightened hysteria, all of the aspersions cast, all of the vitriolic rhetoric (especially as national elections draw nearer), once elected, both parties after consolidating their bases, do nothing more than maintain the status quo.
Oh, policy may seem to shift a little "right" or "left" but never meaningfully in any one direction.
Even the definitions shift of what is a so-called Democratic or Republican policy as the line between the parties become more blurred & indistinct; and the race to collect money from the wealthiest lobbyists & special interest groups grows ever tighter.
Nothing short of a massive uprising on the scale of the American Revolution, the Civil War or the fight for Civil Rights will stir these politicians from their cushy places in the middle of the road.
They all hang out together in Washington, go to the same parties, laugh at the same jokes & thank their lucky stars that most of us are so disengaged we swallow their party lines without question.

The changing of the guard next year will bring no dramatic differences in important policies.

It is only the way those policies are perceived and characterized by the opposing factions that will change.

Politics is a tale told by an idiot, all sound & fury signifying nothing.

In the immortal words of the rap group, Public Enemy: "Don't believe the hype..."
I never have and I never will.
I refuse to let these plutocrats insult my intelligence.

When I was discussing these issues with a friend of mine via email, she wondered how someone who advocated education could have such a nihilistic viewpoint. Why I had no faith in the political system's ability to take small progressive steps forward & why I thought that we were destined to maintain the status quo unless a revolution was staged. She also expressed her outrage at what she perceived as conservative politicians willfully manipulating legislation and intentionally harming the public. She said, being a wealthy woman, she has trouble reconciling the choices she makes with regard to her lifestyle vs, the suffering of those in need but at least, according to her email, she feels compassion for the unfortunate, remorse in her situation and does struggle to evolve from her moral dilemma unlike the conservative politicians she abhors who are pitiless monsters disingenuously concealing their intent to harm with sanctimonious rhetoric that was ultimately crippling social evolution. She was also shocked and appalled to hear the word democracy is never mentioned in the constitution but felt that advocating democracy was nothing more than a ruse by those few in power to remain so to the detriment of the people.
The following is my response:

I'm not advocating nihilism, although if I were advocating it, being both educated and nihilistic are not mutually exclusive. Many intellectuals have been nihilists.

Nor was I suggesting that revolution is the only way a government would be motivated to satisfy the needs of its people.

We as a nation have taken many baby steps in our history that when combined have amounted to significant strides in the social justice & equality for all citizens in our society despite what all the latest crop of cognoscenti like to believe. It's oh so chic for them to bash everything American right now.

I am saying that many politicians are self-serving & complacent by the servile nature of their vocation. This year's lack of real productivity (as is usually the case in too many sessions of Congress) illustrates my point, only during the most extraordinary circumstances and national disasters has Congress rallied together for meaningful solutions.

The fact is no one wants to rock the boat. They couldn't stay in national office if they did.
Politics is big business. Not a lot people would pay $1000 a plate to show up to a party fundraiser for someone who's going to piss them off.
Don't kid yourself, no nationally elected politicians raise money to finance public debate for the sake of presenting an oppositional point of view. They raise money to win elections. How much money do you think the Democratic National Committee gave the Green Party?
Hypocrisy & yes even duplicity are tools of the trade in politics. You think these guys , any of them, are really going to tell you what they think or why? They just tell you what they think you want to hear if you are one of their constituency, especially in an election year. They need your vote.

Ideologues are few and far between. The last guy to tell the people what he honestly felt was Newt Gingrich. ( I can see your skin crawling at the mere mention of his name.) He's now a political pariah in his own party because, whether you agree with him or not, he had the temerity and the moral courage to adhere to his convictions . Who became the Speaker of the House after his demise? Dennis Hastert: quiet, speak no evil, hear no evil, kind of non-committal guy. Perfect politician. He's still in office. What a surprise!!! (Of course, he's no longer the Speaker since the last election)

The middle of the road governance taken by elected leaders is not necessarily a bad thing.
In fact, the system of checks & balances between the branches of government created by our constitution was created to ensure that no one radical personage, idea or movement (radical being defined as some concept not embraced by the majority of the citizenry) supplant the will of the governed who express their collective desires every two years in the ballot boxes.
People are, quite properly, opposed to sweeping changes in their lives. Small incremental changes in policy on the other hand allow them to adjust & also gain perspective.

The problem is our elected officials are not much more than political marionettes, incapable of thoughts or actions without some committee to pull their strings. There are no real leaders anymore just good party members.

That's why I say it doesn't really matter what party governs.
The vast silent majority of the American people have votes that appear to mandate their elected officials to govern down the middle of the great left- right divide.
No politician is going to seriously buck that tide if he or she wants to be re-elected (unless she's the representative from Berkeley or San Francisco then they better go straight left or else; ask Nancy Pelosi who had protesters camped out in front of her Pacific Heights mansion because she's not "liberal" enough to suit their tastes). This centralist mentality also extends to the Judiciary whose Supreme Court Justices are indeed nominated by the standing President but, ultimately, are approved by Congress after undergoing a rigorous & often contentious process. Congress has a long history of dismissing presidential nominees they consider too partisan.

Look, no one savvy in American politics intentionally wants anyone to suffer. It's not in our modern collective conscience (& yes there is a collective American zeitgeist of the 21st century).
That's just a type of argument advanced by those intellectually bankrupt, hired character assassins seeking to disparage political opponents.
Demonizing the opposition has become stock in trade to those who lack real ideas. It's easier to resort to that than engage in meaningful discourse

Also, I'm pretty sure there are politicians that do believe they are trying to do what's right for the people of this country. Delusional though some may be.

Maybe some of them do realize that they fail & feel the remorse of falling short of their ideals. Unless you can see into someone's heart you don't know how they feel.
One cannot assume an individual is lacking in compassion for others just because one disagrees with their philosophy.
Just as one should not necessarily believe someone has real compassion for others just because they claim they do.

No one person, party or ideology can claim complete moral superiority. Those that do are often the dangerous and disingenuous ones.
There are very few absolutes in this world and there are always at least two sides to every story.
It would be more useful for us to try to consider issues from someone else's vantage point rather than just dismiss them unheard outright.

We might actually learn something in the exchange.

This country needs more dialogue. People have become too reactionary.

Did you know that the words marriage, family values & natural family were banned by the city of Oakland? A group of African American christian mothers were engaging in a city government forum that allows a variety of groups to exchange ideas & information in the form of bulletins on the city's website. Their bulletins were not only removed from the website for describing their group as "a forum for people of Faith to express their views on the contemporary issues of the day. With respect for the Natural Family, Marriage and Family Values." but it was accused of being "hate" speech and the city government has banned the use of these phrases.
You want to talk about denying people their rights!
Freedom of speech and religion are guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The wacky 9th District Court of Appeals ratified Oakland's bill and now they are headed to the Supreme Court where I'm sure it will be repealed.
It is frightening the extent to which those in power will go under the guise of the greater good to squelch that with which they do not agree.

By the way, the people in power who are trying to cripple social evolution are ruling in many Muslim & Asian nations. Have you read the book Infidel yet?

As to the question of Democracy being just a present day promotional ruse by those trying to usurp or sustain political power, I say....huh? While there are some totalitarian regimes like North Korea who wrongfully label themselves democracies, since the time of the ancient Athenians, a government ruled by the people for the people has been the rarest example of liberty, rights, social justice & equality known to mankind.
The failings of today's American system of democracy are nothing when compared to the atrocities and iniquities suffered by masses of humanity under other systems of government such as anarchies, monarchies, oligarchies, theocracies, feudalism, fascism, communism & other dictatorships.
You think those systems have better served their citizens? We have freedoms and opportunities that those from truly oppressed nations don't even dare to think let alone speak of.
My husband Garrett & I both have traveled to a few of these places. The conditions were heartbreaking.
I know "liberals" hate the Bush administration & the president often speaks of the desirability of spreading true democracy & freedom to oppressed people around the world but his espousal of it doesn't automatically negate the concept or make democracy an evil goal.
American Democracy isn't perfect but it's a hell of a lot better than other present day alternatives. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. Let's towel him off, put a little talcum powder on his body & dress him up.
Let's read the American constitution. After reading it, please tell me why anyone thinks it necessary that this document, which so clearly frames the structure for a government which defined the democratic republic, needs to actually use the word democracy to further describe itself.
Will it somehow legitimize the use of the word in defining our system of government to them? It was coined in the 16th century France, democracie, from the Greek demokratia: "demos" meaning "the people", and "kratos" meaning "rule". These two words were joined together to form the word democracy in English; literally meaning "the people rule". A fair though not complete description of our type of government, I think.
Some prefer to call our government a representational democracy since (unlike the ancient Greeks whose small population in their city-states allowed them to practice a more direct form of democracy) we elect representatives to govern for us but as the Bard says "...a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...."

In thinking of a recipe that conveys the state of American politics and the need to bring opposing factions together not necessarily with the purpose of forming one political philosophy, after all it is embracing our differences that keep us from totalitarianism, but instead with the idea of promoting civility, balance & tolerance in our national discourse, I almost found myself stumped.

Then like a flash it came to me...a berry crisp with a layer of cream cheese & mascarpone between the tangy strawberry, blueberry fruit & the sweet crusty topping!!! Do you see what I mean? The red strawberries, white cream cheese and blue blueberries representing our American flag. The crusty topping representing the state of national politics. All of it (the disparate individual components) coming together, yet still keeping each ingredients individual integrity, to form a delicious dessert.

Ah, if running the union were only so easy!!!


Note:

The addition of the cream cheese really makes this dessert feel like something halfway between a tart and a crisp.
You can easily turn this recipe into a classic tart by using 2 cups of shortbread or graham cracker crumbs (made by tossing whole cookies in the food processor & whirring until crummy) then adding 1/2 stick of melted butter to the crumbs & processing until clumps form.
Turn the crumbs into a generously greased 9" tart and firmly press evenly down the bottom and up the sides of the pan making sure the finished crust is looks thick enough to hold up to the filling.
Add to a preheated 375 degree oven and bake blind for 7-10 min until lightly brown & sturdy looking. Remove from oven & place on a wire rack until cool to the touch (about 15 min.)
Then lower oven temperature to 350 degrees, add the filling (without the crisp topping, no sense in exacerbating those other modern American traits-- tooth decay & diabetes) & bake 40 minutes...presto.

Those who don't like cream cheese or mascarpone can, of course, omit them & add some cool vanilla ice cream to the cooked warm berry crisp instead; thereby keeping the red white & blue American theme alive in the dessert and adding a much needed cooling off of the hotbed that has become American politics.

This recipe serves 8-10 fellow Americans.

Three Cheers for the Red, White & Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:

For the berry filling:

• 5 cups of fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
  
• 5 cups of fresh strawberries, hulled & sliced thickly
• 2 Tablespoons of flour or cornstarch
• 1 vanilla bean scraped or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• The juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons of granulated white sugar

For the cheese filling:

• 4 ounces of mascarpone cheese, at room temperature until soft (not refrigerator cold)
• 4 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature until soft (do not use whipped cream cheese but feel free to use the reduced fat version)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1/4 cup of granulated white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1-1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps, amaretti or plain oatmeal cookies (without raisins)
• 1-1/2 cups unsalted, chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecan or almonds
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cubed & chilled

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease & line the bottom of a 9"x 13" baking dish with parchment paper cut to fit.

For the berries:
Place the strawberries & blueberries in a large mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice together with vanilla & pour over fruit; toss fruit gently to combine evenly.
Combine sugar, flour & cinnamon into another small bowl & sprinkle mixture over fruit, tossing to combine well then set aside while you prepare the cheese mixture.

For the cheese mixture:
Place cheeses in a food processor or large mixing bowl. Use pulse or mix to combine until smooth. Add the egg, incorporate well. Then add the sugar mixing it in before finally adding the vanilla extract. Continue to process until filling is completely combined. Set aside while you make the topping.

For the topping:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour & sugars with a large wire whisk. Add the chopped nuts, stir to combine. Add the cookie crumbs, combining well. Then add the butter cubes, cutting them into the dry mixture with two small forks, a pastry cutter or cold, dry fingers until wet clumps form. Now assemble the dish.

Assembling the dish:
Add the cheese mixture to the well-greased, 9" x 13" baking dish whose bottom has been lined with parchment paper that has been buttered on top. Smooth out the mixture with a spatula to evenly distribute.

Gently pour off any accumulated juices from the fruit mixture using a colander, if necessary. Ladle fruit carefully & evenly onto the cheese mixture.

Sprinkle topping evenly over the fruit. (There may be some leftover topping which can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for future use.)

Place baking dish on a large cookie sheet (for easier clean up in case filling overflows) in center rack. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until topping is browned & fragrant.

Let dish sit on wire rack for 30-35 minutes until cooled but still slightly warm.

An Easy Recipe for the Summertime Blues

Well, it's been a while since I've been interested in blogging. Been busy working on my mad, capricious golf game: got my second "career" hole in one (hit a soaring, perfect 7 iron into a stiff wind to a back pin placement on #3 at Lake Merced) but am somehow managing to play so miserably that I'm ready to fling my cute, black & green Callaway golf bag, clubs & all, off of the Golden Gate Bridge and gleefully watch it sink deep into the San Francisco Bay.

Compounding matters is the fact that it is summer in the city which means long gloomy days chilled by relentlessly brutal fog & wind. While it's certainly not the coldest winter I've ever spent (sorry, Mark Twain, but I'm from NYC try to spend a January day there & then talk to me about summer in San Francisco), it is definitely a mood deflating experience. When you add to this cheerful Wuthering Heights kind of atmosphere the blowing out of your right knee for no good reason other than the slow insidious decrepitude of middle age, you then have spectacular ingredients for the summertime blues.

Let's have a dash at the recipe, shall we?

Ingredients:

• Badly injure some part of your knee joint by doing nothing more than being middle-aged & reaching the culmination of many years of physical stress. Add insult to injury by being unable to accept the limitations of age.
  

• Hobble around like an unusually large, geriatric rabbit with a touch of polio

• Be forced to spend most of the day in an ungainly, semi-reclined position with leg iced & elevated on poorly supported, unevenly balanced, improvised traction devices (chairs, books, ugly pillows that you have relegated to the basement closet after purchasing them online from Horchows )
  

• Be desperately bored to the point of watching Paula Deen reruns on Food Network for perverse entertainment value

• Have knee continue swollen like a clown-faced water balloon at some hokey county fair shooting gallery for the better part of two weeks despite 2 weeks of ingredient #2
  

• Gain at least 5 lbs. on a curvy figure because you are unable to exercise with anything more strenuous than the t.v. remote

• Gain the above 5 lbs. by eating nothing more decadent than plain nonfat yogurt with less then farm fresh produce & a bit of leftover frozen veggie ravioli
  

• Make sure husband decides he has to spend the better part of two weeks at the Mandarin Oriental in NY and the Bellagio in Las Vegas (without you & your gimpy leg, of course)

• Have the notoriously frigid, gloomy San Francisco summer suddenly morph into the warmest, sunniest, most glorious stretch of weather in the city's recorded history

• Make sure you live in a home amply supplied with enormous bay windows that can beautifully showcase all that you are missing in ingredient #8

• Make sure the above home is also filled with many long winding staircases & liberally studded with other obstacles (rugs that slip, small easily upset occasional tables,large leafy plants,enormous immovable chairs & other potential booby traps) that you must deftly navigate around while delicately poised on one leg.

Instructions:
Now gently combine all the above ingredients with one moody temperamental latina. Allow it to marinate at room temperature for 2 or 3 weeks & voila...you have the perfect recipe for a miserable summer!!!

Serves 1 moderately neurotic individual.

A Puerto Rican Primer for the San Francisco Comical, I mean, Chronicle: Arroz con Pollo y Gandules

Just read a column in the S.F. Chronicle that reaffirms my view of the new-wave liberalism sweeping the coasts of this nation.

Essentially what we have is a group of reactionary people (i.e. people who react before they think) who cloak themselves in the self-congratulatory rhetoric of politically correct jargon and think that by doing so it makes them de facto warm, sensitive, superior human beings.

The arbiters of truth & morality of all they survey. Nevermind the factual correctness or relevance of their statements; you can't let the facts get in the way of the afterglow of a little mental masturbation. It feels too good to stop!

A case in point is John Carroll's column today, April 19, 2007.

John is a man who prides himself (& makes a living) on his broad, unabashedly liberal, humorous point of view. He supports all the right (or I should say, left) issues, is anti-all things Bush, has a gay daughter, is a doting grandfather, cat-lover and all around good guy.

This gives him carte blanche in a city like San Francisco where your credibility rises as your tolerance for so-called "conservative" issues falls. You don't have to prove or qualify anything you say as long as you end every statement with a perceived anti-republican slur.

You are then brilliant, one of the fold; showing your solidarity and obvious intelligence by your mutual disgust & penchant for anti-g.o.p. slogans & bumber stickers (Republicans: The Other White Meat; ha, ha, ha hilarious). It's always so negative but oh so effective.

Take Carroll's column today.

He starts off by discussing the tragedy that occurred Monday at the Virginia Tech campus. He very properly, in my opinion, took the news media to task for exploiting a tragedy for their own mercenary ends. But instead of continuing his commentary on the very real & disturbing trend of news reporting based on a need to fill airtime & endorse ( & probably extort on a hot news day) their sponsors to support their ever growing bottom line, he digresses & starts a rant on the neo-cons of this country taking the opportunity afforded them by an immigrant mass murderer to promote their anti-immigration agenda. He then ends with what he considers an homage to immigrants in the USA & probably felt, he made an excellent contribution to the national dialogue on race relations.

In doing this, he also made the ridiculous gaffe of including a young Puerto Rican male among some of the immigrant victims of that tragedy.

Make no mistake, Juan Ramon Ortiz was from Puerto Rico & he, also, was tragically murdered on campus.

What he was not was an immigrant.
As a native born Puerto Rican, he is also an American citizen.

Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States (just like Washington, D.C.) & has had this status for a century. This makes all Puerto Ricans citizens of this country as soon as they move to the U.S. mainland with the same rights and obligations of all good citizens.

They need not apply for citizenship for this status; it is afforded to them as soon as they step foot in the country. If they choose to remain in Puerto Rico their entire lives, however, there are some important distinctions such as the inability to vote in the national presidential election & relief from paying federal taxes.

Can you see what I mean? Here is John Carroll, humorist & S.F. columnist, acting as an expert on the immigration problem with 7 large paragraphs on the alarming anti-immigrant trend in a 10 paragraph column purportedly about news media abuses & exploitations of tragic stories; showing us his best super-sensitive, hyper-aware, friend of the downtrodden, I'm-such-a- nice-person nature.

Then Mr. Politically-Correct, Morally-Superior shows us he doesn't even know that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. What's worse is that he & his ilk will say it doesn't matter, it's the context of the article that matters: those ignorant, xenophobic, bad guy neo-cons must be stopped (whose alleged views, by the way, were not mentioned in any of the myriad of news stories I was subjected to about the Virginia Tech massacre; everyone was more focused on the call to disarm gunowners & increase gun-control which I don't disagree with) .

Ten million Puerto Rican citizens don't matter???

because he's a liberal nice guy it's okay for him to be so ignorant & racist????

Details don't matter, they just get in the way of a good fabricated story!!!
He didn't mean any harm, he's not racist, he just got carried away with his rhetoric.

Isn't that what happened to Don Imus??? No, I forgot Don Imus leans slightly to the right when he walks his lines. So being a republican, Imus must be a racist, right? Right, says all the self righteous arbiters of truth & morality. What a double standard! What a joke!

John Carroll & his readers would have been better served if he had stuck to the subject he is more qualified to pontificate on (he being a person in the news business subject to its vicissitudes): the disturbing trend of the news media to exploit and aggrandize these tragedies, ad nauseum. Saturating the airwaves & printing presses with their "up to the second" "24 hour a day" unconscionable excesses in the name of news coverage. Creating stories where none existed.

He missed a prime opportunity to shed light on a trend that grows increasingly hysterical & ever more powerful and in the process, marring the credibility &, ultimately, the viability of the third estate.

After all, if all the news networks are going to degrade into nothing more than a series of rants & raves, why would people continue to tune in when they can get even more colorful, unedited varieties of information from bloggers & YouTube without the stupid ads or commercial interruptions?

Well for the uninformed like John Carroll who think Puerto Rico is some alien nation, I submit this tasty & simple dish from Borinquen, La Isla del Incanto: Arroz con Pollo y Gandules aka Rice with Chicken & Peas to expand their horizons. This dish is for you, Juan.

Note:
Traditionally, pigeon peas (gandules) & sweet (not spicy) scotch bonnet peppers are used in the dish; however, they are not always readily available especially here in San Francisco where seemingly every other latino country's staples are available except amazingly those from the only U.S. latino nation, the land of my grandmother: Puerto Rico. No wonder Johnny boy had no clue! Do I sound bitter?

Arroz con Pollo y Gandules

Ingredients

For the chicken:
2 cloves of garlic
2 black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1-1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
2-1/2 lbs. of chicken pieces (with skin & bone for additional moisture & flavor)

For the rice:
1 ounce pancetta or salt pork, cut into small dice
2 ounces prosciutto or other lean cured ham, cut into small dice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, seeded & finely chopped
3 sweet (not spicy) chili peppers or one red pepper, seeded & finely chopped
1 tomato, seeded & chopped
half a handful of cilantro leaves, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
10 spanish olives, stuffed with pimientos, cut in half
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1/4 cup of tomato puree or tomato sauce
2 tablespoons of achiote (annato) oil or 2 tablespoons canola oil mixed with 1 teaspoon of paprika
3 cups of long grain rice
3-1/2 cups of water or low-sodium chicken stock, heated & reserved
1 can of gandules ( pigeon peas), drained or 1 cup of frozen green peas, thawed
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained for garnish

Directions:

For the chicken:
Place first 7 ingredients in a mortar or food processor & mix into a paste. Cut chicken into equal sized pieces & rub all over with the garlic paste (known as adobo) marinating the chicken in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

In a dutch oven or large braising pan heated over med-high heat, add olive oil & rapidly brown the pork fat & ham. Reduce heat to medium, add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, searing all sides of the chicken.

Reduce heat to low, & add the onion, green pepper, sweet or red pepper, tomato & cilantro (known collectively as the sofrito). Saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Increase heat to medium, then add the salt, olives, capers, tomato sauce, achiote or paprika oil and rice. Mix well & cook for two or three minutes, stirring rice mixture occasionally.

Add the reserved heated water or stock to the mixture, mixing well then cook uncovered over medium heat until liquid evaporates and rice is dry.

When rice is dry, turn it over once from top to bottom using a fork.

Lower heat to lowest setting, cover rice with tightly fitting lid or use aluminum foil to create a seal & cook for 20 minutes, turn rice over again with a fork & cook for an additional 20 minutes. (40 minutes in total)

Add peas, folding them into the rice carefully with a fork, and cook for 15 minutes. Then remove pot from heat, allowing rice to stand with lid firmly in place for 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat large platter or plates for 1 minute in microwave or 5 minutes in oven. Serve rice on warm platter and garnish with roasted red peppers & sprigs of cilantro. A simple little salad of sliced avocado, tomato, cooked green beans & lettuce with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil & fresh lemon juice makes a nice accompaniment to the dish. Serves 6-8 hungry people. Buen Provecho!

A Taste of Hawaii: Ahi Pizza

Well, the sun is out, the husband is back and all is right with the world. The weather gods may be wreaking havoc with the rest of the country ( 8" of rainfall in NYC, state of emergency in NJ, gale- force winds up & down the eastern seaboard, tornadoes in the mid-west) but they seem to be feeling benevolently toward the old city by the bay; at least for the moment. Yes, while other cities are battling the elements on this April morning, San Francisco is sitting pretty: blue skies, warm air & low humidity.

It's as though we are being kissed by the gentle breezes of those magnificent islands in the South Pacific that we, in the USA, lucked into... you guessed it---Hawaii.

There are few places in the world like it.

The spirit of Aloha permeates everything & everyone in it. You can just feel the tension drain out of your body as soon as your foot hits the tarmac & that first waft of warm fragrant air greets you.

Hawaii seems to be suspended in some time/space warp: you co-exist with the rest of the known universe but nothing in it can affect you. Senate hearings, stock plunges, e-coli scares.

None of it matters.
Not here. It is heaven. Everything is beautiful, everyone is happy.

A favorite expression among the locals, the rare time you may experience a mes-en-temps, is "It's all good!" Always said not as a rebuke but just as a gentle reminder of your good fortune to be experiencing such an earthly paradise... and how right they are!!!!

How I wish I was on the Big Island today!!!

But hey, Hawaii is not just a pretty place on the map; it's also a state of mind. So--- because it is such a remarkably beautiful Hawaii-like day in S.F. and because my brilliant & inspired husband requested it when I called him this morning to see if he had a hankering for anything special for dinner.... I offer you my adaptation of a wonderful appetizer served at the world's best bar, the Lava Lounge located in the beautiful Four Seasons Hualalai Resort on the Kona Coast of the Big Island. So that you, too, could share a taste of paradise. Just close your eyes...can you hear the ocean?

Note:
This recipe is a lot more laborious to read ( and write) than it is to make. It's really just an asian-influenced ahi tostada.
Don't be intimidated by the number & variety of ingredients. Most can be found in any large supermarket chain who do a great job of stocking asian pantry items these days. I like to cook foods with asian accents so I always have them on hand. The assembly of the dish is really quick and easy, once you have everything in front of you, pre-measured, chopped & ready to go. It takes about 30 minutes, start to finish.
This dish can easily serve two people as a very satisfying light meal or six people as part of a pupus or tapas platter. A light steely chardonnay or sauvignon blanc would complement the sweet, salty richness of the dish without hurting the wine.. A lighter style beer like Asahi Super Dry or Corona wouldn't be a bad choice, either. Of course, you could go all the way & have a Mai Tai while playing some soothing steel guitar music in the background. It's all good!

AHI "PIZZA" w/ ASIAN SLAW & MISO VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients:

For the Pizza:
6 tomato- flavored flour tortillas ( I recommend "La Tortilla Factory" brand ) or 3 large sized lavash, the baked flat breads of the Middle East (every grocery store carries some version of it), cut into 18 small rounds with a 3-1/2" cookie cutter or empty tuna can
1/3 cup olive oil, regular or light not extra virgin.
1 tablespoon canola oil
16 ounces of sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna (ahi), at least 1" thick fillets
cajun or other cayenne pepper-based seasoning, to taste
1 teaspoon of toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 large or 2 small Haas avocados, thinly sliced just before assembly of pizza
3-4 ounces good quality feta cheese, crumbled
2 teaspoons of Chinese plum sauce
chili aioli, recipe below

For the slaw:
2 cups Napa cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded
1/2 large red bell pepper, finely sliced into thin julienned strips
1 carrot, finely grated
1/2 large maui or sweet onion, finely sliced
1/3 bunch of cilantro, leaves only, roughly chopped
1/4 cup green onions, white & light green portions only, minced
1/2 cup, or so, poi vinaigrette, recipe follows

For the miso vinaigrette:
2 ounces white miso paste ( red miso paste can be substituted)
1/4 cup passionfruit juice (guava or mango juice mixed with equal parts fresh orange juice can be substituted)
1 lime, juice & zest
1 ounce rice vinegar (a mild-flavored white vinegar )
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon shallot, finely minced
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon of mirin (sweet japanese rice wine; you could substitute sherry or just honey)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup high quality, fruity extra virgin olive oil

For the Chili Aioli:
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon Sriracha hot chili sauce or to taste( I recommend Huy Fong Foods brand, buy it at Safeway or www.huyfong.com)
1 small clove garlic, smashed & finely minced
1/3 cup mayonnaise

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven & heat blind for 15 minutes. If you don't have one, then line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil & place that in the oven.

While oven is heating, prepare the vinaigrette by whisking each item in a bowl one at a time, starting with the poi (or miso) then adding mirin ,shallots, mustard, vinegar, black pepper, soy sauce, mayonnaise, lime juice, passionfruit juice, & plum sauce until well combined. When mixture appears smooth & uniform, slowly begin whisking in olive oil & finally sesame oil until the emulsion reaches a consistency you like. The vinaigrette should be very light & fresh tasting. Taste & adjust seasonings. Is it too sweet, add more acid. Is it too acidic, add more oil. When you're done, set it aside.

Next is the seasoning for the ahi: using a mortar & pestle (or a small sturdy mixing bowl) grind the sesame seeds & the cajun seasoning together adding the tablespoon of canola oil & teaspoon of soy sauce & combine well. Rub mixture on all sides of the ahi & set aside to marinate for 5 minutes. While the ahi marinates, heat a grill or heavy-duty saute pan until very hot. When ready, place ahi on cooking surface, searing for 2 minutes on one side without moving the fish. Then turn ahi over & sear for 1 minute more. Remove from grill & let rest on cutting board.
Note:
Do not overcook the ahi. It should be blackened on the outside but still rare in the center. The best way to tell is by looking at the side of the filet while you cook it. The middle of the fish should still appear red & translucent from the side while the top & bottom 1/8" may appear opaque or brown.

Now, prepare the chili aioli: Using the flat side of a chef's knife (or a mortar & pestle) make a paste out of the garlic by adding a pinch of salt to it while alternately smashing the garlic with the blade & chopping it, working the salt into a garlic paste. Then place the garlic paste into small bowl adding pepper, sriracha sauce, & mayonnaise whisking with a fork until well combined. Add lime juice until aioli has the consistency of a thick salad dressing. Taste for seasoning. Then set aside. (Could be made 1 day in advance).

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Brush tortillas with regular olive oil, coating very well on both sides then place on hot pizza stone or hot baking sheet for 5-7 minutes until crisp & toasty. (You could deep-fry them instead but I find it too dangerous & messy to do at home). When crisp, turn off oven & keep tortillas warm.

While tortillas are toasting, toss all of the slaw ingredients together, giving the vinaigrette a quick whisk to re-emulsify it before adding to the vegetables. Toss well.
Next slice the ahi against the grain & on the bias into very thin slices using a well-sharpened knife. If your ahi has strong tendonous intersections, don't fight it, cut along those lines. Then thinly slice your avocados. Try to keep the size of both the ahi & the avocado about 2-1/2" in length or no longer than the diameter of your "pizza" rounds.

Now assemble pizzas:
On heated plates or platters, plate your tortillas, brush lightly with plum sauce, add asian slaw to cover entire surface, place a single layer of the avocado slices (about 2 pcs.) on top fanning them over the slaw, now place a single layer of the ahi (about 2 pcs.) in similar fashion, drizzle the chili aioli over the ahi, sprinkle small amount of feta over center of "pizza" add another drizzle of aioli , if desired, then top with a sprig of cilantro.

* Poi is just a tuberous vegetable indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. It has no discernible flavor to the untutored palate but it has a very distinct texture which adds viscosity and a certain Hawaiian panache to the vinaigrette. While most islanders would disagree with me, you'll never miss it, if you can't find it, especially in this dish where it is a really minor element in a small part of the dish. However, you can order on it line if you really want to try it.