• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Edible San Francisco

We tell the story of how the city eats, drinks and cooks.

  • RECIPES
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • Back Issues
    • 2018
      • Winter 2018 Patty Unterman Issue
      • Spring 2018 Low Dose Cannabis Revolution
      • Summer 2018 – Anthony Bourdain issue
      • Fall 2018 – Stamping Out Sexual Harassment
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
You are here: Home / Edible SF Magazine / Jessica Battilana: Surrender

Jessica Battilana: Surrender

April 23, 2018 by Jessica Battilana

Jessica Battilana Repetoire

A few weeks after our older son was born, I ran into my friend Sam Mogannam. I was light-headed from exhaustion, teary from lack of sleep. “You want some advice about kids?” asked Sam, who has two daughters. I figured he was going to tell me what I’d already heard—to sleep when the baby was sleeping or purchase a specific brand of pacifier.

Instead he grabbed my hand, looked straight into my eyes, and said, simply, “Surrender.”

It remains the best parenting advice I’ve heard, and it’s the only tip I share with new parents.

In addition to being a font of wisdom, Sam’s a great cook; he’s co-owner of Bi-Rite Market, a beloved San Francisco grocery store started by his grandfather, and before taking over the family business, he worked in restaurants. This is an approximation of a simple recipe he served me once. Though it’s simple, the devil is in the details. Thin-skinned Persian, Armenian, or Japanese cucumbers, which have few seeds, a snappy texture, and a distinct sweetness, are what make the salad special. In a pinch, European hothouse cucumbers can be substituted, but avoid the typical grocery-store cukes, which are too seedy and wet for this recipe.

Part of what makes this salad so great is the dynamic textures; the cracker-like baked lavash croutons and the crunchy cucumbers and radishes contrast with the creamy feta and soft herbs. I dress this with an especially tart vinaigrette made from equal parts lemon juice and olive oil and serve it right away, before it gets soggy. It would be a great side dish with all sorts of things, but I particularly like it alongside Grilled Tahini Chicken.

GO TO RECIPE >

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Filed Under: 2018, Book Reviews, Edible SF Magazine, Spring 2018 Low Dose Cannabis Revolution

Previous Post: « Cooking Your Life: Jessica Battilana’s Repertoire
Next Post: Sam’s Spring Fattoush Salad »

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Current Issue

edible sf cover for winter 2019

guss community market

straus organic sponsored

where to find ediblesf

ANTHONY BOURDAIN ISSUE

 

SF cooking school

nichole accettola

Footer

Instagram

  • First artichokes of spring. Or maybe they're just early because it sure feels like winter. ⛄️#artichokes #farmersmarket #mercury #sienna #babyanzio #sardegna
  • Understand, I’ll slip quietly
away from the noisy crowd
when I see the pale
stars rising, blooming, over the oaks. --
I’ll pursue solitary pathways
through the pale twilit meadows,
with only this one dream:
--
You come too.” --
RAINER MARIA RILKE, ‘Pathways’
--
2017 Sauvage Chenin Blanc | Vista Verde Vineyards. @methodesauvage 
Stunningly golden-hued with a slippery-smooth honeysuckle profile that drops off into a limoncello-like finish that lingers deliciously long on the palate. #cheninblanc #hellachenin #zalto glass #whitewine #dontcallitchablis
  • Check out the latest issue featuring @danbransfield @beckyduffett @nicholeate @kantinesf @ommmar @backpocketgrub @shanna_farrell @jodiliano Cover story by @sarahhenrywrites photo by @nicola_parisi
  • It's #nationalcheeseloversday and we're breaking out this Taste of Pt. Reyes spread from @pointreyescheese Which one do we dig into first? 😉 #sponsored #toma #agedgouda# #bayblue #originalblue #cheese #bluecheese #gouda
  • There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
--
There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Tisdale.

This poem was first published in the July 1918 issue of Harper's Magazine and speaks to the natural world reclaiming a battlefield. We thought it paired nicely with the 2017 Raft Syrah, Weed Farms, because this vineyard shares the land with Grape Creek, a tributary of Dry Creek, which feeds into the Russian River. In recent years, endangered coho salmon have returned (or maybe reclaimed is a better description?) to Grape Creek, using it as safe passage for spawning. #raftwines are produced by @duckdaughterjj 
#syrah #cohosalmon #grapecreek #drycreekvalley #sonoma #healdsburg #redwine #redwine #russianrivervalley #sonomacounty
  • Lovely radicchios 💜 from @dirtygirlproduce at the @cuesa farmers market. We tossed them with a simple green olive vinaigrette (castelveltranos + parmesan) inspired by a recipe from our pal @mollywatsonaf #radicchio #castelvetranoolives #parmesan #wintersalad #bittergreens #farmersmarket
  • Maiden voyage to the farmers market with our new @millielottietotes bag. Pretty much the best bag ever for loading up on fresh produce at the market. Comes with a cutting board that also flattens out the bottom of the bag, which really opens it up to let you fill in all your goods without them getting squished. 👌 And long leather handles loop over your shoulder for easy carrying. 💪 #farmersmarket #marketbag #fennel #satsumamandarin #watermelonradish #broccoli

23,000+ fans follow us on Instagram!

Edible San Francisco celebrates what feeds us in the SF Bay Area. We connect people to their food—where it comes from, how it’s produced, and who makes it. Our readers are enthusiastic home cooks, top chefs, farmers markets, farmers and other food producers, butchers and bakers, distillers and vintners—everyone who is leading the way in how we eat and drink today. We combine fresh, seasonal, modern recipes with compelling storytelling, all created by incredibly talented writers, photographers, and illustrators. Edible San Francisco believes what and how we eat matters to our health, to our lives, and to our communities.

Edible San Francisco
236 West Portal Avenue #191
SF CA 94116
415-322-3615

ADVERTISE

CONTACT US

ABOUT US

PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright © 2019 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework