I'm referring to the illuminating article about Coi's Daniel Patterson and Rene Redzepi of Noma, considered by many to be one of the greatest restaurants in the world. They recently spent time at Patterson's house in Oakland collaborating on ways to come up with new flavors.

This is something for which Redzepi is particularly renowned. His rather mesmerizing book, "Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine" has scores of recipes using ingredients plucked right from the land, sometimes while strolling through the woods, traipsing across a meadow or walking along the seashore.

This scrambled egg dish is much more accessible. And it's a pretty cool trick.

Partially fill a pot with water. The pot should have high walls because you'll be stirring the water very briskly. My first go-round, the water tumbled over the top, so I switched to a taller pot.

Once the water is boiling, take a large spoon and stir vigorously (but carefully), creating a vortex. You will have already beaten your eggs. Stop stirring and immediately pour the beaten eggs into the vortex. Quickly cover the pot, turn down the heat and cook for about 40 seconds (for four eggs, slightly less for two eggs).

Carefully pour out the water into the sink, holding back the eggs with a slotted spoon. Then pour the eggs into a colander or strainer. The magazine suggests straining for 10 seconds. I found it needed longer than that; otherwise, you'll have watery eggs.

In no time, you're looking at plump, perfectly cooked eggs - something between scrambled and an omelet. They're good enough to eat just like that, with a pinch of salt, maybe. But the Redezepi/Patterson article has a nice goat cheese sauce to add to the eggs.

You'll do this ahead of time: Take 4 ounces of fresh goat cheese and whish with a ¼ cup of warm water. Then 2 ounces of shredded aged hard goat cheese (maybe gouda), 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan and stir into a pot with ¾ cup of simmering water. Stir until melted, then whisk in the fresh goat cheese mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the eggs into bowls (1 or 2 eggs per bowl), then spoon the egg mixture on top. Drizzle olive oil over that and adjust the seasonings to suit.

It's a great new dish. And an entertaining way to get there.

If you're looking for more advanced recipes from Redzepi, you'll certainly enjoy his book, which is loaded with beautiful photographs. On page 275, for instance, there's a poached egg recipe (but not scrambled and poached), that includes radishes and verbena sauce. The entire dish is then covered with heated sea lettuce, creating an opaque window over the eggs and radishes.

One change to earlier plans: Fresh & Easy will not open on Fair Oaks Blvd. in the former Ethan Allen furnishings store. Here's the list of stores and their grand opening dates:

MARCH 7

Mack Rd. & Franklin Blvd.
Watt & El Camino

MARCH 14

Lincoln & Sterling in Lincoln
Elk Grove Blvd. & Calvine Rd.
Natoma St & Blue Ravine in Folsom.

For more information: www.freshandeasy.com

We dropped in Tuesday night and found the place slammed and joyfully noisy, like a party with endless wine. The revelers were in attendance partly for the Selland Group's well-deserved reputation for serving really good food.

But let's add the joke: If you open an envelope in the El Dorado Hills-Folsom area - much less a restaurant - crowds will form. Remember that local foodies actually camped overnight in the parking lot at the Palladio center in Folsom so they could rush the new Whole Foods store on opening morning, Oct. 26.

Anyway, the new Selland's Market-Cafe occupies a 4,200-square-foot corner space in the New Orleans Building. It's spacious and well-designed. Is that a real stamped-tin ceiling? Various sizes of wood tables fill the dining hall, competing for space with shelves of packaged merchandise - jams, jellies, horseradish cream sauce, key lime curd, crackers, sauces, flavored olive oils, wine and the like.

The cooks in the open kitchen keep the display cases of hot and cold foods filled with top-quality dishes, including shredded beef brisket, pork carnitas, pork roast, meatloaf and many salads. The astute staff was particularly helpful.

We ordered chicken breast with light gravy and sauteed mushrooms ($7.95), panko-crusted salmon with soy-citrus glaze ($8.95), a side of Asian noodle salad with carrot, bell pepper, scallion, peanuts and spicy sesame dressing, and an apple croustade - pie crust hand-formed into a disc and filled with sauteed apple and cinnamon ($4.95). What's that saying? It's all good.

Selland's Market-Cafe is at 4370 Town Center Blvd., El Dorado Hills; (916) 932-5025. Also: 5340 H St., Sacramento; (916) 736-3333. More information: www.sellands.com and www.thesellandgroup.com.

According to Boggs, the Brewster's name will stay and D&S Development, which owns the building and also the developer behind numerous central city projects in Sacramento, will remain as a business partner in Brewster's. Boggs said sales weren't the main reason for backing out of Brewster's, which opened in May 2011.

"It's not like there were huge profits, but they were there," said Boggs. "What it comes down to is we wanted to focus on other projects. We were spreading ourselves too thin. Somebody was interested in (Brewster's) and we decided to take them up on it."

Chris Macias is the Bee's food and wine writer. Follow him on Twitter @chris_macias

Heavenly Dog launched its food truck in December, and debuted at the Sacto MoFo 3 food truck festival at Eighth and W streets. That's since been Heavenly Dog's only appearance on the local mobile food scene, but plans to be running full-time starting in early March.

Owner Nicky Smith said mobile food looks to be a better business plan for her line of fine hot dogs.

The catered menu for that affair - the Boz Ball - is documented as having included "40 hams, 50 rounds of beef, 50 jellied turkeys, 50 pairs of chickens and 25 of ducks, and 2,000 fried mutton chops."

It's appropriate, then, to raise a toast on V-Day (next Tuesday) to one of the greatest writers in the English language. With that in mind, we have a recipe for brandy punch from Dickens' book "A Christmas Dinner" (Red Rock, $24.95, 88 pages).

So, how about a taste of that Sierra Foothills syrah? Feb. 16 has been designated by wine marketers that be as "Syrah Day," and you can get free tastes from eight El Dorado County wineries that day. The event will be held at the El Dorado Hills California Welcome Center (2085 Vine St., El Dorado Hills) from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Participating wineries include: David Girard Vineyards, Sierra Vista Vineyards & Winery, Lava Cap Winery, Boeger Winery, Shadow Ranch Vineyard, Crystal Basin Cellars, Grace Patriot Wines and Mount Aukum Winery.

For more information: (916) 358-3700

It's composed of Carmoroli risotto (white rice from northern Italy), wild hedgehog mushrooms from the California coast, duck confit (house-cured duck poached in its own fat), grana padano (the hard, grainy cheese that dates to 12th century Milan), butter, saba (a sweetish reduction from the must of Trebbiano grapes, which make balsamic vinegar) and Italian parsley.

The dish is at Piatti Ristorante at the Pavilions center, but only for the next six to eight weeks, until the end of hedgehog mushroom season. The starter bowl is $12, the entree is $17.

Step-by-step videos hosted by culinary-arts professor Judy Parks show how to make three of the 10 dessert recipes (raspberry napoleon hearts, flourless chocolate cappuccino cake, chocolate mousse). The other seven are illustrated with step-by-step color photos and text. Included for all 10 are recipes, and lists of ingredients and directions.

Judy and Bruce Parks are former restaurateurs (Tarts & Truffles on Arden Way) who maintain an international gourmet cake-delivery business (www.chocolatebakery.com) and a local online bakery (www.tartsandtruffles.com). Judy Parks has taught baking classes at American River College for 20 years.

Look for "Valentine's Desserts" soon at the Barnes & Noble Nook store and Amazon's Kindle store (for the Kindle Fire).

"We'll be making a series of multimedia books that will cover a range of baked goods, and the how-to techniques and tips for making them at home," Judy Parks said.

For more information: www.chocolatebakery.com.

Each year, Heineken International distributes several special-edition, seasonable Newcastle beers for limited times. Rotating through the calendar year are Summer Ale, Werewolf ("Naturally blood-red in color") and, in December-January, Winter India Pale Ale.

Now on the U.S. market for the first time is Founders' Ale, honoring Newcastle's five founding breweries. We asked a few beer-drinking buddies to pop some tops at an informal tasting and offer their opinions. Among them:

"It starts out sort of sweet, then becomes interestingly bitter. The colder, the better."
"I can taste caramel, and I like the foam."
"Good mouth-feel, not too carbonated."
"Even though it's amber, the body is a lot lighter than you'd think. It gets better as you go along."

Founders' Ale will be around Sacramento into April, for $9 a six-pack. Visit www.newcastlebrown.com.

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The menu created by Andrew "Drewski" Blaskovich includes a range of burgers, hot dogs wrapped in bacon, egg roll-like "spark plugs" and a burger with a 5-pound patty aka the "18 Wheeler" that costs $40 - or free, if you can woof it down during a specified amount of time.

A second Drewski's food truck will also be running "very very soon," said Blaskovich.

"We'll be doing more menu options because we now have test kitchen," said Blaskovich. "We're able to store more stuff and have more fun with the menu. Food trucks are my baby and the brick-and-mortar is a platform to gain more of a client base."

Powers is one of 16 contestants tabbed for season three of Food Network's "Worst Cooks in America," which debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12.

Powers will be part of chef Anne Burrell's team of eight "recruits." They'll battle in kitchen boot camp with eight other admittedly awful cooks, mentored by superstar chef Bobby Flay.

All 16 contestants were nominated by family and friends for their atrocious cooking skills.

"Kelli's Nana -- her grandmother -- saw great cooking potential in her as a child, though Kelli was more interested in hitting the books than the pots and pans," according to the show's website. "Now a mother herself, Kelli wants to maintain her family's cooking traditions and is determined to no longer be the mom whose dish sits untouched at potlucks."

In the season premiere, Powers and cohorts attempt Orange Pumpkin Pancakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Cinnamon Maple Syrup. The contestant with the least successful dish each week goes home.

Upcoming episodes feature an international cuisine challenge, seafood preparation and cooking for a class of third graders. The series culminates April 8 when the two most-improved cooks are judged by culinary stars David Burke, Marcus Samuelsson and Susan Feniger. The winner gets $25,000 plus new confidence in the kitchen.

For more details, click on www.FoodNetwork.com/Worst-Cooks-In-America. Full episodes will be available for online streaming the day after original broadcast.

Many of the 50 Art Institutes campuses across the nation (including the one in Sacramento) are offering $4,000 tuition scholarships to their International Culinary Schools. The 12th annual Best Teen Chef Competition invites high school seniors to participate. A separate, first-time competition invites participation by high school graduates seeking culinary degrees (there is no age limit).

High school seniors must first download the Best Teen Chef Competition brochure and fill out the Entry and Release form, at www.artinstitutes.edu/culinary. All the details and rules for both competitions are there, plus an invitation to conduct a live chat with an Art Institute representative. Those who finish in second place at each Art Institute will receive $1,000 tuition scholarships.

The next deadline is Feb. 24 and involves submitting your best recipe, plus a 250-word essay.

Local cook-offs - including one at the Sacramento campus - will be held around April 21. The Sacramento campus is at 2850 Gateway Oaks Drive. For more information: (916) 830-6320.

Khoury's main business is supplying high-end, sustainable proteins to some of the best restaurants around. But he's also a superb chef who often educates as he cooks. Usually, it's professional chefs. This time, it's the listeners for Capital Public Radio in a segment with the station's food journalist and author Elaine Corn.

Click here to learn a little about cooking a duck breast and making a sauce.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twitter, @blabrob.

It is expected to open in early spring in an Emeryville shopping center called the Public Market. The center is in the midst of a major renovation by TMG Partners out of San Francisco and it will be anchored by Urban Outfitters, Guitar Center, an artist collective, Peet's Coffee, along with Hot Italian in a 3,000 square-foot space (pictured here) - which is about half the size of the Sacramento location.

"It's a longtime coming," said Andrea Lepore, who partnered with Fabrizio Cercatore to start the business about three years ago. The plan was always to have multiple locations.

The two restaurateurs will be doing plenty of back-and-forth travel in the weeks ahead as they oversee the many facets of opening a new restaurant.

They will host a job fair Saturday. Lepore says there are openings for shift leaders, servers, and various kitchen positions. A job fair last Tuesday in Sacramento attracted 300 applicants - a sign of the times, perhaps. People are looking for a job --- or a second or third job.

Asked how Hot Italian will stack up to the competition in the Bay Area, Lepore said, "We've tried all the pizza places down there and think they're all great. Fabrizio was born and raised in Italy and has been doing this his entire adult life. He is the maestro pizzaiolo. It will be fun. It's a great market and people there really appreciate good food."

Folks in Sacramento appreciate good food, too. Business has been excellent at Hot Italian, even in this dreary economy.

"Sacramento has been awesome. We have so many repeat customers. We couldn't have done this expansion without that. It's really a testament to the support that we've gotten here," Lepore added.

Expect the new restaurant to have the same style as the Sacramento place - black and white, with plenty of cool touches, from the Illy coffee can lights to the giant fan from Bigassfans.com. The bike racks out front are the best in town, practically pieces of functional sculpture.

Sacramento's talented Mike Whisten of 12M Metal & Woodworks, will be doing plenty of work on the inside of the new restaurant. Many of his creative touches are featured at the first location, including the round communal table made of reclaimed wood, and the wood storage units affixed to the walls. Whisten has also done work for restaurants like Press Bistro and coffee shops like Old Soul at the Weatherstone.

Blair Anthony Robertson is The Bee's restaurant critic. Follow him on Twittter, @blarob.