Barcelona treat

Ferran Adría may not be a familiar name to you unless you are an international foodie but if you google “elbullí lab” you will see what Ferran Adría and his brother, Albert, are all about today.   Ferran is the originator of “foam” that now shows up on many haute cuisine tables.  Some of you may remember Ferran’s 3-Michelin star restaurant, El Bullí  restaurant.  After several years with 3 stars, he closed his place, saying that it’s too stressful to continually try to outdo himself creatively.   After two years of a sabbatical, he started his creative elbullí lab and Albert opened new restaurants in Barcelona.   Bodega 1900 is the only one we could get into when we were there.  It is a Catalan tapas restaurant and hasn’t been “discovered” yet so we were able to get a reservation.  Albert’s other restaurants need 1-2 months lead time for a reservation.   One is a Mexican restaurant, Hoja Santa, another with Peruvian-Japanese cuisine is his Michelin 1-star Pakta and then there is another Michelin 1-star Tickets Bar with 17 tables with a 41-course prix fix ($275pp) and 41º Experience ….soo many restaurants, so little time.  We were only in Barcelona  for 3 days….and now have to return!  There are 22 restaurants with one or two Michelin stars...let's see, that a 3-week food fest! 

One of the Adria’s signature dishes is a “liquid olive” that is like a magical transportational experience…it looks like a yellow green quail egg (see photo) and then you take your bite or I should say slide it into your mouth and it burst into a liquid olive.   This photo shows our liquid olives being served with house made potato chips and these wonderful fried seaweed and sesame curls.  If you want to see how the liquid olives are made, click HERE.   What they did at Bodega 1900, at least for us since we don’t read Catalan, is continuously bring out tapas that they select for you until you say stop.  The secret is to go there with 4 or more people (like dim sum) so you don’t fill up on the initial tapas.  Alas with just the two of us, we did our best but didn’t get too far.  

They serve a bread that is so crispy that it shatters but is soaked in tomato juice and Spanish olive oil, onto which you choose to place a paper thin slice of beef or Serrano ham.  Simply deeee-vine!   I’ve played around with replicating the bread and the tomato juice and am getting close but I am sure they make their own bread to their specifications that creates this simple yet divine dish.

They brought out a playful shrimp hotdog that I didn’t care for as much as his other dishes.

I really like the fried eggplant fries and could have eaten another plate of them..which they are happy to do, BTW, but we wanted to see what else was coming out of the kitchen so we moved on. 

One of Bill’s favorite dishes was a clam stew filled with beans and tomatoes….the photo says it all…homey, filling and so very fresh and savory.  

We asked for their uni dish and was brought the entire sea urchin.  The uni was dark purple, almost black, instead of the bright orange uni that we get at Japanese markets.   We were told that this is the male sea urchin and were given tiny spoons to scoop out the small veins of uni.  The flavors were stronger and had a harder consistency than the female uni.  They were truly small veins of uni and didn’t even fill our tiny spoons.  I think I like the female uni better!

They cure their own meats so to replicate their beef or ham slices would be impossible but you can get pretty close using commercially made cured meats..if you can find any.  The Serrano ham is easy but I have no clue where to find the cured beef.

We also had their version of shrimp cocktails and a cheese plate (Manchego and Vacherín) with little bread sticks.

Our desserts were very different.  I opted to try a typical Catalan dessert that uses sweet potato with an orange sorbet and Bill selected a lemon sorbet that was served in a frozen lemon rind.  His was definitely the better dessert and even looks prettier.  Mine was like a sweet potato creme brûlée but I didn’t like the sweet potato flavor as much as I thought I would.  I was imagining a sweet potato pie kind of pudding but it didn’t taste like that.  It was much earthier and had a strange consistency that wasn’t really a pudding nor was it a custard.  

The Lemon Sorbet was refreshing and we thought it combined Eureka and a Meyer lemons.  What intrigued us was their ice chips upon which the lemon sat.  They were like flakes of ice and when we inquired about that, our server said that it’s how ice is made in Spain....oh well.

We ate at another tapas restaurant (Serviseria Catalana) that was also a delightful treat but the attention to detail that the Adría brothers put into their food was missing.   I got to try their version of Papas Bravas and Catalan Shrimp, two of my favorite tapas dishes!

We also ate paella on another night but split an order because after 10 days of cruising, we were trying not to “roll” out of Spain.  It was good but not memorable…it was one of those “shot in the dark” restaurants that you choose because you’re tired and it was close by.   

We are now back home and I’m back in the kitchen, playing around with that crispy baguette thing.  If I get it figured out, I’ll bring it to our Holiday Buffet!

Cook on!

A Yeoman’s Effort!

We cooked from the Bar Tartine cookbook for this dinner.    Or I should say we “efforted” from this cookbook that made Everything from scratch…including the yogurt, the sour cream, the spices, the whatever!  It contained recipes where each ingredient refers you to another page so you can dehydrate it, ferment it, jam it, etc. yourselves.   TBH, not many of the recipes even appealed to me but there were some surprises in this dinner.

We started with Janis’ Pistachio Dip with Flax Crackers; my first surprise.  It was delicious and I’m not a big fan of the pistachio flavor so that’s Delicioius with a capital “D”!  If you click on the recipe name above, you’ll be able to find it on Google books.   Janis tried the Flax Cracker recipe several weeks ago and was very disappointed in the results.  The crackers crumbled and did NOT taste good.  For our dinner, she found some flaxseed crackers at Whole Foods and they did the trick.   The dip was very interesting and had ingredients that are not often combined together:  green onions, a lot of garlic, shelled raw pistachios, pumpkin seeds, chiles, lime juice, cilantro, nori (seaweed), radishes, cilantro all binded together with grapeseed oil.   She also brought some other types of crackers to see which one went better with the dip and the flaxseed crackers were the best.  The recipe also calls for the dip to be served on a plate or platter but she wisely opted for a small bowl for the dip and artfully arranged the radish slices around the edge.  Bill chose a Franck Bonville nv Champagne Brut Rose to complement the dip and the Brut Rose was the best choice.  It had enough body to hold up to the forward flavors of the dip.   YUM!

We then sat down and started with our first salad that Annie prepared.  Smoked Trout with Summer Bean Salad.  And, no, she did not smoke the trout herself.   As you can see from the photo, it’s more of a main course dinner salad.  It’s a very hearty salad with chunks of smoked trout, with scattered cannellini beans, green beans, sunflower seeds (and no, she did not toast these herself either!) marjoram, dill, oil cured black olives, cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice and curly parsley all softened with Greek yogurt.  There is no “salad dressing” per se, but it’s definitely a salad!    Bill chose a hearty 2011 Private Reserve Chardonnay from Beringer that was unctuous and worked well with the smoky flavors of the trout and herbs.

 

Sandi W prepared one of the more ambitious dishes of the evening.  Grilled Eggplant with Tomato Jam and Spiced Hazelnuts.  This dish required ingredients that take 6 weeks to make, such as the preserved limes and tomato jam.  It too had yogurt, used as a bed for the eggplant slice.   The tomato jam was more like dried tomato jam and had very concentrated tomato flavors that added a blast of flavor to the mild eggplant.  The other side to this dish that is not picked up in the title of it, was the preserved lime compote.  It was very spicy (i.e. not wine friendly) and did little to highlight the eggplant.   The Spiced Hazelnuts were scattered about the dish as accent notes to the paprika flavor.   We all (including Sandi) felt that the lime compote could be deleted from the dish in the future.  The grilled eggplant, tomato jam, yogurt and spiced nuts were very enjoyable.   Bill wisely selected a very hearty 1990 Topolo Zinfandel from their Rosso Ranch in Sonoma to go with this dish.  The zinfandel actually held up against the heat in the dish and because of its earthiness,  went well with the eggplant and tomato.

 

Michelle took us to Japan with her Tuna with Black Beer Ponzu and Radish.  She even purchased the tuna from a Japanese market!  She chose a non-hoppy stout to make the ponzu sauce and used daikon ( pronounced “die cone” BTW) instead of the watermelon radish called for (none were to be found anywhere!).  The tuna was seared perfectly and the whole dish was very Japanese-y, especially with the daikon substitution.  Bill served a Rochioli 2010 Chardonnay from the River Block vineyard in the Russian River Valley in Sonoma.  It was delicious, definitely.  What’s not to like about a Rochioli Chard?  But the tuna dish stomped all over it, and I was wishing we had some sake for this entré. 

 

For our main course, our host, Jeffrey, made Beef Gulyas with MarrowToast, that he said was basically a Hungarian goulash: meat, potatoes, onions, paprika, green bell peppers, lots of garlic, marjoram, Serrano chiles and some bacon.  The Gulya was pretty unremarkable but the marrow toasts were divine!   Totally not good for us but oh so rich, flavorful and decadent!  Jeffrey has a private purveyor who raises cattle from whom we was able to get very large marrow bones.  He toasted some slices of ciabatta bread from Acme Bakery and we all slathered all the marrow we could dig out of the bones on our slice.   Bill chose a Rhone wine to go with this hearty stew and marrow toast.  Chateau Cabrieres 1998 Chateauneuf-Du-Pape.   As Rhones tend to be earthy, this was the perfect choice to complement the goulash stew.

We are now moving towards the sixth course of the evening and needed something lighter to cleanse our palate and get us ready for dessert.   Sharon brought a refreshing Chicory Salad with Anchovy Dressing.    It was just what we needed at this point in the dinner.  She couldn’t find any chicory lettuce so she substituted frisee, and other salad greens (radicchio, escarole, etc.).  It was also very herby with dill, green onions and parsley and again, earthy by using daikon, radishes, fresh horseradish and fennel.   The cookbook authors and chefs of Bar Tartine, seem to move towards these ingredients:  lots of garlic, dill, & marjoram.   It all came together with the Anchovy dressing that used fish sauce, as well as oil packed anchovy filets.  What surprised me was that the anchovy flavor was not very pronounced.  I detected the 1 tsp of fish sauce more than the anchovy taste in the dressing.   This dressing, as well as many of their recipes, had heat in it.  This one in the form of hatch chile powder or spicy red paprika powder.  Most of their recipes called for some kind of chile.   Some of the heat was pronounced and some of it was just a note of heat but it was present even in their desserts.  Bill brought a 2013 Pine Ridge, Chenin Blanc Viognier blend from Napa.  It was a bright , clean wine that was, once again, the perfect pairing for this salad.  Thanks Bill for contributing all the wines for our dinner and thanks to Jeffrey for pulling a chardonnay from his cellar as a backup to Bill’s wines.  I also contributed a baguette from Manresa Bread shop as well as some European Butter to have with the salad.  It's hard to resist spending some money in this shop, everything is so good!  And, now they are open 7 days a week! Bad news for the calorie conscious.

We all commented that the Bar Tartine book was not a “go to” cookbook that we will neither buy nor use much, if already bought.  The amount of work put into each dish was not evidenced in the outcome.  BUT, as Willie stated, we are all such good gourmet cooks that we had a wonderful meal in spite of the book. . .a yeoman's effort on everyone's part.

Michelle also made the Strawberry Hazelnut cookies.  And remember when I mentioned heat in all of their recipes.  These cookies had black pepper in them AND no flour.  It was very difficult of make the hazelnut butter.  After toasting the hazelnuts, which makes them drier, it took a lot of effort and two food processors to make enough of the hazelnut butter to create the cookies.  Michellle stated that the dough was very sticky and hard to manage.   The strawberry filling was made from dehydrated strawberries (and yes, she dehydrated them for days!) and very dense.  The cookies were very big and could be meal unto themselves.  Because they are very rich, most of us opted to eat a third of our cookie last night and eat the remainder the next day.  They were pretty good though.  I enjoyed my cookie even more today than I did last night.  Thanks Michelle for bringing two dishes for the evening! 

Bill chose a 2001 Chateau Lafleurie-Peraguey Sauternes for the desserts this evening.   I’m not sure it went well with either dessert but it sure was delicious on its own!

I opted to make a Strawberry Tart with Flakey Pastry.  The flakey pastry takes 3 hours to make: rolling, folding, refrigerating repeatedly and then baking with a weight over the dough so that it doesn’t rise in the center.   This is a recipe out of the Tartine Bakery cookbook so I confess, I cheated!   I just felt we needed a lighter dessert to end the evening on and really liked this recipe.  The great thing about this recipe is that once the dough was put together, I only needed half of it so I have the other half sitting in my freezer, waiting to be baked.   The whipping cream had Grand Marnier in it but it wasn’t very evident.  I think I’ll increase the amount next time.   The strawberries were from Kika’s Farms in Watsonville who sells their strawberries at the Saratoga Farmer's Market on Saturdays and the Mountain View Farmer's Market on Sundays.   They are picked very ripe and are sweeter than other varieties.  Eat them quickly because they are so ripe they spoil within a day.  The BEST strawberry jam strawberries, bar none!

And, so we end another evening enjoying the company and the great view from the top of the Saratoga hills.  The evening was so pleasant that we dined outside, no wind, no bugs and no night chill.  Perfect!

Our Annual Holiday Buffet will be on Saturday Dec. 12.  You may bring any dish from any of our cookbooks to date.   We tend to do appetizers and desserts but if you want to make a main course, just remember that we have small plates so make them bite-sized!   Bring suggestions for our next cookbooks.  Benu has already been suggested by Jeffrey and a retro to Greens by Sharon.  Bring ideas too (like a coffee tasting event by Reid)!   AND, of course, your kitchen-oriented White Elephant or $15 or less kitchen gift.  Don’t forget our crowing coq mascot!

Time of buffet TBA so stay tuned!

Cook on!

My Paris Kitchen

Cooking from David Lebovitz’s  delightful cookbook, My Paris Kitchen, was only one of the joys;  it was well-written and the stories of his Parisian culinary adventures were nostalgic for several of our members who lived in Paris.  Lebovitz recalled experiences and adventures in the kitchen that we’ve all had, albeit, not always in Paris!

We opted for a brunch this time for our Parisian meal because of the drive to Brentwood.  It was actually closer that we had anticipated and for most of us a 1 hour, 15 minute drive.   Brentwood is home to many farms, most notably corn.  Brentwood corn is one of the best, often available in grocery stores as well as Farmer’s Markets.   It is easy to see why because of the sun and high heat that this part of our state enjoys.

We entered Sandi & Willie’s home on the notes of a beautiful grand piano, created by a re-engineered, computerized piano that will play music as if performed by a specific artist…all controlled by their computer!  Listen to Gershwin playing Gershwin.  How cool is that!

We started with two appetizers that David S. prepared that he said was extremely simple to make (I’m going to test that theory!).   The first was a Sardine Paté that was created using canned sardines, cream cheese, butter and some heat (maybe cayenne?).  Annie thought the canned sardines brought a more intense flavor that fresh sardines would but David’s going to try it with fresh sardines, which is what Lebovitz recommends.   I’m glad he prepared it for us because it was one of the recipes I had flagged to try.  It was delicious and not at all “fishy” like one would have thought.   The cream cheese softened the flavors.   

His second appetizer was a Green Olive, Basil and Almond Tapenade.  I would not have chosen to try this recipe thinking that green olives are so salty but after tasting it, this dish is one that I will have to try. Gebruder Simon 2010 Riesling Brut Sekt, Mosel, Germany.   I don’t think we’ve had a German sparkling wine before.  I liked it and thought it brought nice fruit to the two savory appetizers.  It was a bright, light and rich tapenade that had a crunch from the almonds but a lovely combination of tastes from the green olives, basil, capers with a hint of garlic and lemon.  I kept going back to it each time I passed by the bowl.   Bill selected an interesting sparkling wine to go with the two appetizers;

Our next appetizer was plated after we sat down for our Sunday feast.  Sandi W. made the Merguez Meatballs with Sriracha Mayonnaise.   These lamb meatballs used harissa for the heat and, obviously, sriracha for the heat in the mayo.  Sandi mentioned that she ground fresh spices herself for the meatballs and there were a lot of them:  fennel, coriander, cumin, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, and sumac.  She was worried that they had been overcooked but we all thought it was wonderful.  She also served a yogurt sauce with it to cool the heat from the meatballs and mayo.  It was perfectly paired with a wine from our own cookbook club cellar that Bill selected for us to enjoy.  We had a field trip several years ago and visited Quivera who boasts a biodynamic garden and several vineyards.  We had dinner in their wine cellar surrounded by huge barrels, emiting that wonderful aroma of aging wine.  As part of our agreement with the winery, we purchased a case of wine, some of which we had with our dinner there but the rest, has been carefully aging in our cellar.  This afternoon we enjoyed a 2000 Quivera Zinfandel, from the Anderson Valley, Dry Creek Valley area in Sonoma.  The zinfandel was fruity and perfectly balanced after aging for 15 years.  It also stood up to the spiciness of the meatballs and sriracha mayonnaise.  Well done, Bill!

I prepared the next dish that I chose because it seemed so very “French” to me.  The Leeks with Mustard-Bacon Vinaigrette was a very simple recipe that combines steamed and cooled leeks with a vinaigrette that was punctuated with Dijon mustard, bacon and parsley while softened with chopped hardboiled eggs.  The hardest part of this recipe was finding small leeks and getting them to cook to right “doneness.”   I noticed that some of the larger leeks were soft and sweet while the smaller ones were tougher.  I now think that larger leeks might be the better choice.  We all noted that Lebovitz’s recipes were simple, easy and produce results that successful.  This afternoon meal confirmed it!   Simple and delicious…what more can a cook ask for?!   While not many wines work well with vinaigrettes or mustard, I think that Bill’s choice for this dish worked.  The Sutter Home, nv, Gewürtztraminer was recommended by a friend of ours who is a wine judge for several events who told us it won a gold medal.  The fruitiness of the wine actually turned out to be a palate cleanser and did not clash with the mustard or the vinegar.  As a Gewürtraminer, however, it fell short of a gold medal, IMHO; no flaws but lacked depth.   Bill brought a back up wine for this dish and it was a better pairing:  Prinz, 2012, Riesling Troken Praditatswein, from the Rhiengau, Germany.

On to our main course and sides prepared by Annie and George.  Chicken with Mustard is the dish pictured on the cover of Lebovitz's cookbook: chicken thighs sauteed in onions and bacon fat, then treated to a creamy mustard sauce. It's all but irresistible to the carnivores among us.   I had made his Chicken Lady’s Chicken and loved that one but now here’s yet another recipe for me to try.  I love chicken thighs, finding them so much more flavorful than chicken breasts!  Annie prepared them at the house, using those so very French ingredients:  bacon, Dijon mustard, thyme, parsley, white wine and heavy cream.  This was totally divine and the perfectly simple and delicious way to prepare chicken….sigh, so many recipes, so little time!   

George complemented the chicken with Pureed Celery Root and Sugar Pea Pods.  The puree had potatoes in it to give it texture and creaminess and was a silken transportation to that elusively light flavor of celery that gives one pause to think, “What is this?”  Because it is not celery root season (Late Fall), it was difficult to find large tender celery roots so George had to puree them in a food processor and then push it through a sieve to get the creamy consistency.  Well worth the effort, George!  The pea pods added a bright green color to the plate and a sweet foil to the savory chicken.   This was complemented by the addition of a wine from Jeffrey’s vineyards,  2014 Mount Eden Vineyard, Grenache Rosé, Santa Cruz Mountains.  The rosé is a great summer quaffing wine and we recommend it for the months ahead  however, it wasn’t a great a pairing as we had expected so Bill produced yet another bottle from our cellar for us to try.  A 2005 Merry Edwards Pinot Noir, Tobias Glen Vineyard, Russian River, Sonoma.   Ahh, a much better choice! 

Because we all had a drive ahead, we did not bring a dessert wine and Bill is of the opinion that no wine goes well with chocolate and there was definitely chocolate in one of our desserts!!  Janice made the Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tart with bittersweet chocolate and canned dulce de leche.  It had a wonderful chocolate crust with the dulce de leche covered with a layer of bittersweet chocolate.  Several people had seconds, it was so yummy!

We all lamented that David K. wasn’t here to join us since he’s the King of Duck Fat!  Sandi W. baked Duck Fat Cookies for us.  The recipe calls for butter as well duck fat and was accented with tiny currants.  This time she used Muscovy duck fat in the recipe. The first time she made it with Peking duck fat and the duck flavor was more pronounced and the cookies flatter and crispier.   I ate two, as did many others!  Shortbread cookie extraordinaire!

And, this ended our brunch in Brentwood!  (I found recipes for most of the dishes online so if you want to replicate this dinner, just click on the recipe titles)

Our next dinner will be on Saturday, September 5^th.   Jeffrey has graciously offered his home on top of the Santa Cruz mountains for that dinner.  The good news is that over half of the road up to his home is now paved!!  Jeffrey has yet to select a cookbook for this dinner so when he does, I will let everyone know what feast to cook next!  In the meantime, please mark your calendars to save this date.

Cook on!

HONORING CHARLIE TROTTER

It’s almost (note “almost”) getting passé for this group of gourmet home cooks to rise to the challenge of a world chef’s cookbook.   This dinner was no exception.  Charlie Trotter was a pioneer of gourmet creativity, blending cultural flavors way before it became a popular way of cooking, using exotic spices and organic ingredients.  Although it was rumored that he was a tyrant in the kitchen, yelling at his chefs and staff, there is no denying that he was a genius.

His cookbooks were lacking in specific directions and his recipes don’t turn out as intended, as do Thomas Keller’s books, for example.   Some outcomes were quite disappointing as some of us tried different recipes.   What I found weird was that in the dish I prepared, I ended up making 10 times the amount that is needed in the final assembly. . . What a waste!

BUT, did we have a fabulous dinner?  Absolutely!

We started with a non-Trotter appetizer that I threw together at the last minute to nosh on while we were waiting for everyone to arrive.   The Avocado Toasts with Oaxacan Sesame Sauce is a simple recipe to make and went really well with the Franck Bonville nv  Champagne Prestige Brut, Blanc de Blanc out of Bill’s cellar.  The slices of toasted baguette are topped with diced avocado that’s been marinated in lime juice and then sauced with a sesame seed, almond and peanut blend.  I sprinkled some chives and parsley because that’s what I had on hand but the recipe calls for cilantro.  It’s pretty yummy and can be addictive!

By now, everyone had arrived and met our newest member, another David!   Sandi W. prepared our next dish that was plated and served at the table.   Smoked Salmon Tartare with Horseradish Cream.  (note: if you click on the recipe title, if it exists on the internet, you can view it) She used a smoked salmon that was locally made and also made her own horseradish cream.  It was very delicious, combining shallots, capers, salmon, horseradish heaped onto a toasted slice of sourdough baguette bread.   I helped with the finally assembly and sparingly sprinkled some additional grated horseradish and upon sitting and eating them, realized that I should have sprinkled more.  We all discussed how we were expecting fresh horseradish to practically singe our eyebrows and it did while Sandi was grating it but after it’s added to the cream or sprinkled on, it’s surprisingly mild.  We concluded that repared horseradish has more of a kick than fresh.  Bottom line, regardless, really great appetizer!   Bill selected a 2010 J. Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc, Old Vines, Russian River, Sonoma.  It was bright, refreshing and complemented the salmon flavors perfectly.

Next was a great surprise!  Michelle made an Eggplant and Potato Cannelloni and I had images of a cannelloni pasta stuffed with eggplants and potatoes and couldn’t figure out how that was going to turn out but AHA!  the cannelloni is made from mandolin thin slices of potatoes wrapped around eggplants and caramelized onions.   She roasted them until the potatoes were crisped on the edges and served it over a bed of wilted spinach and laced with a sauce of cardamon-carrot juice.  It is designed to be a main entré and we each got two cannellonis and enjoyed every bite and drop.  I loved it and tried to find the recipe online but no such luck.  I’ll have to borrow the book and copy the recipe from her.  She and David couldn’t decide which wine would go best with her dish so they brought both!   A white burgundy, 2012 Albert Grivault Meursault Clos du Murger and a 2010 Domaine Barmes-Buecher Gewurztraminer from Pfersigberg.  We pretty much had consensus that the Gewurtz was the winner!

I couldn’t find the recipe online for the next dish either. . . darn!  David K made the Truffled Exotic Mushrooms Tart.  He made the rich buttery crust in individual tart pans and filled them with a variety of mushrooms AND THEN generously shaved fresh Himalayan Truffles over it all.  We started with half a tart, knowing we had several courses to go yet but I could have eaten a whole one (and regretted it 5 lbs later…).  It was an “over the top” entré that everyone devoured.  You can tell from the photo that the crust was perfectly made and the black trumpet and chanterelle mushrooms with carrots, onions and kernels of corn was a panopoly of flavors.  He selected a luscious 2009 Réyane et Pascal Bouley Volnay 1er Cru  Clos des Chênes to complement his dish and it did indeed!

We now moved on to the main event, David S.’s Cumin Coriander Lamb.  Medium rare slices of lamb tenderloin interwoven with pieces of mandarin oranges, served with mint marinated English peas, slivers of green olives nestled in a yogurt cream sauce with dots of parsley oil.  All of this, over a bed of pickled cucumbers.  What a lot of parts and separate recipes for a delicious combination that gave us savory, sour, sweet with crunchy, meaty, citrus accents.  Thank you, David, for going through all the pieces of this final gustatory delight!   When we read the ingredients, we couldn’t figure out what wine to serve that would enhance the various flavors and since I didn’t have the cookbook, we didn’t have the advantage of seeing what Charlie Trotter recommended which was a Viognier.   Who would have guessed?   Bill and I thought maybe a Rhone would do the trick and selected a very nice 1990 Crozes Hermitage La Guiraude   Alain Graillot    Rhone, France.   I thought it had the fruit, structure and balance that worked with the lamb.  

David K also made a very interesting Floriani Red Flint Polenta to go with the lamb.  He used  Floriani Red Flint corn meal and accented it with Rosemary and garlic.   It was a very different polenta, while creamy it still had bits of corn meal and had red bits (as you can see in the photo).   We all really liked it and several of us are going to go hunting for this special corn meal.  David said it was a heritage corn.

By now, we had quite a few dishes that were rich and filling so I asked Annie to bring a salad which she readily did.   It was the perfect salad to cleanse and brighten our palates.  Fennel and Apple Salad.   I’ve learned to love fennel in all of its preparations because of this group.    We’ve had it braised and raw and it’s now a regular part of my menu.   While a simple salad, the combination of the savory and sweet with a lemony vinaigrette was just amazing!  We did not serve a wine with this dish after learning from our Sbragia Family Winery tasting lesson that lemon and wines do not enhance each other.

My dish was so very disappointing.  I made the ChocolateBanana Tart with Caramel and Chocolate Sauce.    It was one of those 7-recipes-in-one kind of recipe.  I had to make Cashew Milk, Date Paste, Chocolate Almond Fudge, Mexican Chocolate sauce, Tart Shells, Honeyed Walnuts and a Cashew Caramel Sauce.  It took a week to do them since several of them could be made ahead of time and took anywhere from 8-36 hours to make.  It required a dehydrator that I don’t have so I used my warming drawer to the temperature of 105º or so.   It wasn’t very sweet which was a good thing but it was really dry so I added a quenelle of Homemade Banana & Walnut Ice Cream (another non-Trotter recipe) I had made already--that turned out to be the best part of the dessert, IMHO.   The chocolate was very thick, the caramel wasn’t very tasty or sweet.  The honeyed walnuts were good, though.  Sigh!  I tossed the recipe since I’m positive I won’t be making it again!   Bill chose a

2003 Chateau Coutet Sauternes to counter the heavy flavors of my dessert.  I didn’t think it went well with the dessert but it was a wonderful sauternes;  a well-balanced, rich and fruity, rounded with good acidity and clean, lingering finish.  AND, the best way to end an evening of great food, conversation and comraderie.

What’s up next?   David Lebovitz’ cookbook, My Paris Kitchen, a book that has become the latest “go to” cookbook for several cooks in our group.

Our next dinner is a 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon dinner on June 6 and will be at Sandi & Willie’s home in Brentwood.  Mark your calendars and stay tuned for details.

Cook on!

Manresa Is Back!

Manresa has reopened after the tragic fire that destroyed the restaurant’s roof and a small part of the kitchen.  David’s fabulous stove was untouched though!  The dinner we enjoyed with Michelle and David showed that a 6 months hiatus did not damage David Kinch’s kitchen creativity or Esteban Garibay’s excellent service staff’s attention to detail.  All but 3 of their original employees have returned.  We met their new sommelier, Jim Watson (was the som at Cyrus in Healdsburg), who did a fabulous job of sorting through the 14 bottles of wine that Bill and David brought to the restaurant.  We asked him to choose from the bottles to which wine went best with each dish and he rose to the occasion with perfection!  Welcome to Manresa Jim!

FYI:  there is no longer a menu to choose from at Manresa.  You walk in, sit down and prepare to be amazed.  The daily chef’s tasting menu truly changes daily and the theme for Saturday’s menu was “The Winter Garden.”   They provide a menu for you to take home so you don’t have to remember each scrumptious dish.  BTW be prepared to spend money.  Dinner, before corkage ($75 corkage), tax and tip is $200 per person!  I suspect the restaurant limits how many bottles you can bring in but Chef Kinch and Esteban are very kind and generous with us and allowed us to bring in as many bottles as we wanted.   It will definitely remain our “special occasion” dinner destination.

Some of the 15 courses were signature dishes that we’ve grown to expect from Manresa and ones we enjoyed at our Manresa cookbook dinner.  We started with the savory Petit fours = black olive Madeleines and red pepper jellies (one each per person), and a new recipe called a Granola Crisp.  Very crisp, thin nut crusted wafer that will break in your hand if you don’t handle it gently, as David quickly discovered. 

Another new concept was the “Green panisse, Meyer lemon curd.”  It’s a fried chickpea rectangular log that was topped with dots of lemon and curry curds.  I must admit, I’ve not had a panisse before but this one was a complex mix of  savory, tart and spice.  Served with the panisse was a savory, stuffed nasturtum beignet served atop a nasturtium leaf.  Very beautifully presented.  Jim selected David’s 2004 Roland Champion Brut Blanc de Blancs  that had hints of apple, was dry and a perfect choice for the rich amuse bouches.  

The next dish, one of my many favs, was “Seafood with fermented

plum, caviar.”  It was a bowl with a bit of uncious uni (sea urchin), a mousse of monkfish, spiked with the fermented plum (a Japanese condiment called umboshi), and topped with caviar.   David and I are uni fans and could have just had a bowl of it but the mousse added a meatier foundation for it and was reminiscent of the fresh tastes and smells of the ocean.  

Moving on to another one of my fav’s, was “Sweet turnip consommé, crab and Matsutake,” a small bowl that had a layer of turnips fanned out over a sweet turnip consummé, that contained bits of crab and Matsutake mushrooms with a tiny, tiny piece of lemon that provided the finishing touch to a mouthful of true foodie heaven.  I LOVED this dish, as you can tell.  (My apologies for forgetting to take a photo...I was so bummed when I realized that I had forgotten since this was such an outstanding dish.)  Jim selected another of David’s bottles  (do you see a pattern here?) for this course.  Jim selected a rich bottle of Chablis 2008 Chablis Grand Cru "Bougros" Domaine William Fèvre from the King’s cellar to drink with this course.   The Chablis just kept getting better and better as the evening wore on.  I came back to it in future courses and was just amazed.   Jim also treated us a to taste of Ichinokura Sake from Japan to see which one we liked more with this dish.   It was rich with tones of cedar that stood up to the earthiness of this course.  We all had a hard time choosing which one went better .

“Scallop and carrot with flowering coriander” was 3 small scallops combined with a pickled carrot, foam that I couldn’t identify (Michelle, David?) and a couple of sprigs of a coriander that I have never tasted before nor does it look like any kind of coriander I’ve seen.  It looked more like a fern but had a mild coriander taste.  It was topped with an edible bright orange flower that I think was a miniature pomegranate flower . . . but maybe not.   See if you can identify the flower in this photo (if you click on the photo you’ll see an enlarged photo).   The pickled carrot required a wine with good acid and this one filled that bill.  And, guess whose cellar this one came from?  A wonderful, perfume-y, dry  2001 Maximin Grunhauser, Riesling Herrenberg Kabinett.   I kept coming back to this glass too as I sampled more of Chef Kinch’s creations. 

Another of Chef Kinch’s signature dish, “Into the vegetable garden” served in an amusing plate that shows a photo of two hands in a position of offering the salad that is piled onto the palms.  My apologies for forgetting to take a photo of this spectacular way of serving this eponymous dish that IS David Kinch. As was throughout the dinner, Brussel sprouts and other brassica vegetables were featured in this dish with the signature “dirt” made of chicory.  Chateau Haut-Bergey 2005 Sauvignon Blanc Pessac Leognan Grand Vin was the bottle selected for his course.  Our cellar, however, was batting zero at this point!

We ate black cod next, served with black truffles shaved over them…what’s not to like?  Black cod swim very, very deep in the ocean and are difficult to catch.   The fact that they swim so deep demonstrates why the fish is more “fatty” than other white-fleshed fish.  This dish was called “Black cod “noirande” and winter truffle.”   As you can see from the various photos, each dish is served in unique bowls and containers, and artfully arranged.   The Japanese in me loves this part of cooking and also why I like making desserts.    All of the wooden trays, containers are created and made by Loy Martin, a local artisan, who is a true master of his craft and a big fan of Manresa’s.  Bill & I have known Loy for many years and his furniture is worthy of castles and palaces!  He made the various serving pieces for Manresa and if you eat there, take a moment to look at them as they arrive at your table. We moved into a white burgundy at this point.  Again, another wine from David’s cellar, Puligny-Montrachet 2007 Domaine Henri Boillot  Cote de Mouchere.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, white burgundy, is one of my favorite wines and this one did not disappoint.  Rich, creamy, and complex. 

BTW, our reservations were for 5:30 and we are now moving into 9 p.m. and are only two thirds the way through the menu!   We finally leave at midnight and to give a tribute to the timing of the service staff, we are not “stuffed” and very contented by then.

Another favorite dish, (so many dishes, so hard to choose an absolute favorite!) was the “Abalone porridge, morels, black vinegar” dish.  This is sort of a risotto but made with premium Japanese short grain rice (have you seen the documentary Jiro Loves Sushi?  Rent it from Netflix if you haven’t!) that was flecked with pieces of abalone, crispy sesame seeds, that were more like miniature pretzels, and enriched with morels.  The piece de resistance was the fried rice, like tiny bits of puffed rice crispies but white.   The flavors, mouth-feel, umami, and complete experience was encompassed in this single dish for me.    Ingenious!   Again, another bottle from David and Michelle’s cellar, a red burgundy, Clos de Vougeot 2005 Musigni Grand Cru Domaine Gros Frere et Soeur, had the nice acid and dry fruit that complemented the smoky flavors of the abalone and sesame crisps.   Jim was batting .300 so far in wine pairings!

We moved on to meat dishes at this point and had slices of “Roast duck with hoshigaki mostarda and sweet potato.”  The duck was dry aged, with dried whole persimmons that had a kick from mustard and the Japanese sweet potatoes were fried (they weren’t French fries but small wedges).    The aged duck was so tender and, as expected, perfectly prepared to rare slices.  It was an unexpected but delicious combination of flavors and textures.   We finally had a wine from our cellar, a lovely Rhone wine,  1989  Hermitage, Rhone la Chapelle, Paul Jaboulet aine, France.  

Our last dish was a detour from the menu and a special treat from the chef.   It was a simple dish of a slice of “Wagyu beef with Porcini mushroom,” a slice of beef with a half of a locally foraged Porcini mushroom.  I don’t know if it was Japanese wagyu or American but it was unbelievable!  We’ve had wagyu beef before in California as well as Japan and this one was beyond the pale!    It was well marbled so it was tender and rare.  But what was amazing was the paper-thin crispy exterior.  It wasn’t crispy like I think of a seared steak but “crispy.”  I asked David Kinch about the preparation and he said it takes a lot of attention to cook it because it’s 10 seconds on a very hot surface, take it off the heat for a while and repeat the process over and over.  OMG!   It was served with a half of a porcini mushroom that was so soft and tender, even the stem!  It was partially caramelized and the porcine jus/sauce was so simple but really “made” the dish complete.  Isn’t it a perfect picture too?  We drank another wine from our cellar, a 1990 Mayacamas Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley.  I expected it to be tannic and young but because it was a tenth, this evening was the perfect time to drink it.  It was the perfect pairing with the beef and we all thought it was the classical California cabernet sauvignon.

Finally, we are onto desserts!   These desserts are photo ops, so artfully arranged.  Michelle and I were served the “Quince with yogurt and hibiscus.” The yogurt was more of a panna cotta made with yogurt that had a top layer that was red and tart because of the hibiscus.  The quince are the four little flower buds arranged on the top of the yogurt.   It was creative, delicious with the juxtaposed tart, creamy and sweet.  Along side the bowl of yogurt and hibiscus was a beignet that rivals Du Mondes that was dusted with a tart sugar.  Some of you may remember my search for the perfect doughnut recipe and this one comes pretty close. 

David and Bill had the “Apple and celery with green tea.”  Although in the photo it looks like lettuce leaves, I think it was actually delicately fried green tea (think of shrimp chips) crisps or maybe celery?  It had little green ice balls that were sweetened apple sorbet.    Bill brought a St. Urbans-Hof 1998 Riesling Eiswein Ockener Bockstein from the Mosel region of Germany that Jim paired with the first desserts.  This was an amazing ice wine that harkens the flavors of sauternes and even was dark golden in color and only 6.5% alcohol.

Our next dessert was “Winter squash, chocolate and sherry vinegar” which may not sound like a dessert to you but it was aningenious combination of a Kabocha squash caramel, alongside a small rectangle of buttery dark chocolate and a dollop of ice cream.  It looked very architectural and tasted absolutely yummy.  And, this from a person who doesn’t especially like chocolate!   We drank a wine from Australia that David believes is the only wine that goes well with chocolate, a NV Campbells Isabella Muscadelle Rare Rutherglen Topaque, Australia.  This wine is reminscient of a good port and does, indeed, pair well with chocolate…or at least THIS chocolate!

And, if you think this was the end of the meal, it was NOT.   They ended the feast with the same beginning, switching from the savory red pepper jellies and black olive madeleines to sweet strawberry jellies and chocolate madeleines.  And a charming Loy Martin box alongside filled with almond clusters and chocolate mints.   And the ever-present French Macaroons, this time Meyer Lemon, sesame seed and pistachio…Ahh, what a fine ending to a fine evening. 

We left Manresa with out traditional take-out bag of a Chocolate Brioche to eat the following morning and a handful of sea salted caramels:  all to help us savor the evening for days to come.

Hope you will save your pennies, well, maybe dollar bills, to dine at Manresa.  You’ll enjoy your evening, your dinner and a wonderfully restored restaurant ambiance.  And, if you don’t have a wine cellar, the restaurant will pair each course with a glass of wine from their fine cellar for an additional fee.

Welcome back into our lives, Manresa!  

p.s. David made some corrections via email and I've made those changes.