Dinner with Friends

We have friends who live in Houston but have a “toe,” as they refer to their studio, in San Francisco when it’s too hot to live in Texas. We try to spend as much time with them as we can when they are in the area so we hosted a dinner this past week. It was a simple BBQ dinner. I must confess I did not serve grass-fed locally grown New York Steaks for the main entré. They were prime NY steak cuts that I bought from Costco….sorry. This photo shows the filled plate: marinated BBQ'ed steaks, Mexican Street Corn, Tomato slices, carrots and sugar snap peas, green beans & cherry tomato salad, and garlic french bread.

We had the toasted baguettes topped with brie (both cow and goat) with the crispy garlic and onions that I spoke about a couple of blogs back. And, I am happy to report, the garlic and onions stayed crispy 2 months after I made them so the experiment was a total success!! AND continues to get rave reviews… Our Houston friends brought some lovely cheeses and Artisanal breads to nosh on while I was going nuts in the kitchen! Bill served some lovely bottles of champagnes out of his cellar to complement the cheeses and breads. He was so nice to offer more champagne to give me more time to get the meal (and myself) together! They were: Bollinger 1995 Champagne, Grand Annee Rosé Brut from Reims, France and Francois Diligent nv Champagne, Carte Blanche Rosé Brut,France. Don't you just love Rosé Brut champagnes with their slight blush of pink?!! It's a wine that reminds me of summer.


If you’ve seen the film Julie & Julia, you’ve witnessed meltdowns in the kitchen and I would have had if my friend, Nan, from Houston, hadn’t stepped into the kitchen to see what she could do to help. I was having one of those weekends when I had 4 events to do on Friday; a funeral 50 miles away and a dinner at our house on Saturday; and a family potluck reunion on Sunday to which I was bringing my BBQ Chili Beans and Garlic French Bread for 40 people. A-A-A-A-AUGH! I must have been insane to think I could do it all. Of course, many of friends (and Bill) will attest to my inability to say “no,” to my own sad detriment!

But let me get back to the dinner. So we started out with appetizers and then we served dinner, family style. BBQ NY steaks that were marinated in a simple marinade using ½ cup of Worcestershire Sauce, 3 Tblsp. each of Brown Sugar, Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). Another couple brought a delicious Green Beans and Cherry Tomato Salad that had a simple vinaigrette. There were several side dishes of baby carrots and sugar snap peas, slices of fresh Heirloom Tomatoes out of my garden, Garlic grilled baguettes and Mexican Street Corn (Corn is coated with EVOO mayonnaise, cayenne and salt and rolled in parmesan cheese). I add the photos here to show what a colorful, as well as delicious, dinner it was. And, to top it all off, Bill dug up some wonderful Rhones out of his cellar to share with the dinner: Hermitage 1990 Red Rhone La Chapelle Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage, France and Hermitage, 1998, Red Rhone, La Chapelle Paul Jaboulet Aine, Hermitage, France

Our dinner was topped off with a homemade Apple Pie a la Mode made by Bob who used to be a member of our Cookbook Club. He makes it from a secret family recipe and apples from the Gravenstein tree in his backyard. How's that for eating locally? Bill served a Chateau Climens 1999 Barsac, Sauternes, France. I was so busy enjoying the delicious pie, that I forgot to take a photo of it so you'll just have to let your imagination conjure up an image of a slice of apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We ended the evening with a taste of Venerable nv Sherry Very Rare Pedro Ximenez Sherry Jerez Spain Bottle #5179 Drawn from casks 19/7/85 . It is so old that it doesn't pour from the bottle, it sort of drips. You just need a touch of it on your tongue and the taste lasts for about 30 minutes! Well, maybe 15, but a pretty long time!

The dinner was 80% local and sustainable so I’m pretty proud of that!

HARVEST, Farm-to-Table event, Sept. 26-27th. A 2-day event celebrating agriculture, viticulture, cheese and good times will be held at the Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley. It is replacing the TomatoFest with a more varied venue. It’s also being sold for this year for a pretty reasonable price!! $85 for one day and $150 for a 2-day pass. Several local and California restaurateurs, chefs, wineries will be serving food, teaching seminars, etc. I was told that Cynthia Sandberg, from the Love Apple Farm, will be there with her tomatoes and teaching a seminar as well. For more information, go to www.harvestcarmel.com. Hope to see you there!