New recipe for you!

It’s been a while since I’ve shared any of my gourmet gluttony with you because I’ve been just swamped with other things. I think what I am is a "dilettante" because I am interested in too many things! I just took a beginning quilting class but am not “hooked” on quilting just yet. Maybe I need a more interesting project than simple squares…just like gourmet cooking. I used to be a stained glass artist in Carmel in my youth so I view quilting as a similar form of expression and can now use fabric instead of glass. AND, speaking of stained glass and Carmel...

Do you remember a restaurant in the late 70’s (if you are that old) in Carmel called “Charlie O’s?” Charles Ober was a chef ahead of his time and was creating dishes that blended Asian, French and American flavors and the use of fresh produce. It was a destination restaurant before there were celebrity chefs. I first met Charles when he was the executive chef at a restaurant in New York City called The Ginger Man (which has sadly become a microbrewery). It was owned by Patrick O’Neal, a character actor, and his brother. Charles is now the Executive Chef at a private Country Club near Seattle, WA….and since none of us can eat there, I won’t bother you with the name. Anyway, it brings me to a recent e-mail from Charles. I sent him our Crowing Coq blog url and this is his response. English is not his first language so I am not sure of the recipe directions nor have I tried it yet but it sounds delicious. The photo is of Charles with his wife, Kimi.

I looked at your cookbook club blog and at first look it’s very professional and the format is very good.

What most folks miss is that for gourmet cooking, learning the basics is essential. In my case it took years to learn and help from other professional chefs, plus many trips and years in Asia helped a lot. I also spent 5 years in Australia. I went to Japan to learn what a wonderful culture it is and what wonderful foods they have.

I am happy that you still use my recipes but that was when I was in “kindergarten,” so to speak. My latest innovation is a Bing Cherry Dressing with Mixed Garden Greens. Lots of Arugula and raw chunks of pears and apples topped with Maytag Blue Cheese and Candied Pecans. Chicken strips can be added or roasted lamb filets. This dressing is based on reducing balsamic vinegar, puré of roasted garlic, add a little sugar then cool completely. Then, add some water, red wine vinegar, a bit of ground cloves and cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add a good vegetable oil and create an emulsion with a small electric handheld mixer, (the kind the one with a small blade on the bottom). Do not use a wire whip. It all gets mixed with Bing Cherry Marmalade but goes into a hot reduction first. Give it a try! To make the Bing Cherry Marmalade, reduce the Balsamic by one third first then add Bings, salt & pepper to taste, and red wine vinegar. Cool well and then add to the emulsion mixture. That's all, Sandi, now back to work at the Club. Charles.

Since it’s the last of the cherry season, try this recipe soon! If you do, enter "comments" about the amounts you tried since I didn’t get any measurements. Bill’s favorite fruit is cherries so I will give this one a try but only after I’ve tried the Tripe & Potato Terrine recipe from Richard Olney’s book, Simple French Food!

Bon Appétit!

FRESH, New Thinking on what we are eating.

As Sandi W. stated in her contribution to our blog, our field trip to see the film FRESH was highly illuminating!

Seven of us first dined at Andalu, a tapas restaurant on the corner of 16th Street and Guerrero in the City. We ordered the "Dine About Town" menu for $35 pp. The first part of the DAT menu was a glass of Prosecco, a sparkling white Italian wine that was fruity with a clean finish
FIRST COURSE
Ahi Taco
Baby Spinach Salad with warm Bacon Vinaigrette, Rocquefort and Candied Walnuts
Miso Glazed Sea Bass in Lettuce Cups with sweet Soy
Curly Polenta Fries with Spicy Tomato Vinaigrette
Cambazola Cheese Fondue with Fuji Apples and Asian Pears
Moroccan Lamb Cigars with Yogurt –mint Dipping Sauce
SECOND COURSE:
Roasted chicken Breast with Grilled Oyster Mushrooms, Asparagus, Fingerling Potatoes, Jus Natural
Coca-Cola Braised Spareribs with White Bean Salad
Grilled Eggplant Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach & pinenuts, served with Caponata
Braised Lamb Cheeks on Parmesan Mashed Potatoes with a Rosemary Jus
Fresh Corn with Smoked Pimenton and Lime Queza Fresca
Grilled Asparagus with Truffled Pecorino
DESSERT
2 Fresh Donut Holes with Castillian Hot Cocoa

We did not choose a dish from each of these courses but had a taste of ALL of the dishes. I think our favorite was the fondue but they were all yummy. Bill brought a delicious bottle of Turley Zinfandel that was filled with bright cherry flavors, good acid balance and a perfect complement to the forward flavors of the dishes we tasted.

We let our server know that we had to be at the Victoria Theater by 7 and we were done by 6:45, giving us 15 minutes to walk to the theater, only 3 short blocks away.

The film, “FRESH, New Thinking on what we are eating” was the object of our field trip. While the theater seats weren’t very comfortable the film was worth the discomfort. FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy. (info from the website)
The film clarifies, at least for me, how the animals are not being fed nutritious food, how diseases are spread in their close-quartered feed lots and the 50+ chemicals they are being fed to ward off infections, bacteria and viral diseases…that, of course, end up in the meat or fowl that we eat.

I bought a copy of the film to share it with you. We won’t have the panel discussion afterwards that was so enlightening about what is being done in the Bay Area but I think the film speaks for itself. I will set a date to see who can come over. Maybe we can so a simple pot luck and then watch the film on our 52" plasma TV. Buttered popcorn will be provided!

If you are conscientious foodie, I encourage you to know what goes into the foods that you buy & prepare. To support the sustainable food movement, shop at farmer’s markets, markets that sell local produce, and ask restaurants where they get their food. I’ve noticed that some markets are labeling the sources of their fruits and vegetables as well as their meats, fish and fowl, so some people are paying attention.

Grow Local, Eat Local!

More on J & P Farms

Willie and I took a drive down to J & P Farms this morning to check out the fruit. It was very cool! Currently there were peaches, kumquats, lemons and free rosemary. We got a basket of large peaches to eat and a basket of small peaches to make into a crisp. However, when we got home and tasted them, Sandi U was right. The smaller ones are not nearly as sweet as the big ones. For those, you need a towel cause they are soooooo sweet and juicy! The best part was walking through the orchard. Check out these beautiful peaches.

One of the loveliest trees we saw was a pomegranate. I had never seen one growing before. The leaves are glossy green and the flowers are bright red. You can also see the fruit forming in the picture on the right. I was already planning on adding one to my "orchard" until Willie reminded me we have zero space for another tree! We saw tons of peaches, almonds in their velvety coats, figs, bee hives, citrus and apricots.

Willie took these pictures with his iPhone, plus a LOT more which you can see on his Mobile Me site. For those of you who are into technology and want the exact location of a particular picture, they also contain GPS info. Click the i on the pic and scroll down. Also included in this group of pictures is one of the panel from last night's showing of Fresh!, including Michael Pollan, which I'm sure Sandi U will write more about soon.

Finally, for those of you looking forward to pears, check out these beauties!

Webb Ranch U-Pick Berries Season 2009

Webb Ranch will be offering U-Pick berries beginning next weekend! They have a short season this year, due to lack of production from old vines - however, they have re-planted with 6000 organic vines for next year!

Here's the info:

• June 19-21 8:30AM – 2:30PM
• June 26-28 8:30AM – 2:30PM
• July 3-5 8:30AM – 2:30PM

See you there!

BEST KEPT SECRET FOR LOCALS ONLY!

Remember when you were young and would eat a peach and it was so juicy, sweet and ripe that the juice would run down your chin? My grandmother (and Mary’s) had a Cling Peach tree in her front yard that had peaches with that thick fuzzy skin that we would wash off and then eat, skin and all. It was juicy and crunchy…not like a freestone style peach but more like an apple. You can’t buy fresh Cling peaches in the grocery stores but I have found a resource for one of my favorite peaches….as well as 8 other peach varieties and plums, apricots, nectarines, pluots, stone fruits. AND, they are better than any stone fruit you can buy at any Farmer’s Market.

We just drove over to pick up some fruit this past weekend. He had two varieties of peaches, kumquats, raspberries and loganberries. The yellow peaches were very good but the small ones were pretty tasteless (so I made a pie with them). I should have asked him, since he was there. He said that the cherry crop this year is really bad because there wasn’t a good freeze this past winter. I’ve noticed that to be the case even at the cherry fruit stands in Gilroy! The Ruby Cherries are better than the Bings this year.

If you are familiar with Cosentino Market on Bascom then you’ll recognize the name on the mailbox next to this little known orchard. One of the Cosentino brothers is retired and has a home with about acre+ next to his house. This little acre is crammed with stone fruit trees and every morning, Phillip drives his quad around and harvests his trees for you. He only picks the ripe fruit and will pick twice a day in the high season. Don’t buy a lot because the fruit is so ripe that it will rot in a few days. Just buy what you think you can eat in 2 days, preserve or make into a yummy pie.

A woman who grew up in San Jose told us about this place. This fruit stand is in the middle of suburbia. You will think my directions are a mistake because you are not in the country but in the ‘Hood. He sells his fruit on the honor system so if no one is at the stand, you just pick out what you want and put the money in slot by the side of the stand. Can you believe this kind of stand exists in Silicon Valley? Especially after CJ Olsen’s little stand disappeared in Sunnyvale…their replacement store just isn’t the same. We used to go up to the Olsen house and knock on the door to buy boxes of dried slab apricots that are so juicy that it was hard to believe the ‘cots were dried. Mrs. Olsen would get a box out of the refrigerator on the porch….mmmm, the memories of those ‘cots…

Am I driving you crazy with suspense about this mysterious fruit stand? J&P Farm, known to locals since 1945! 4977 Carter Avenue, San Jose. They sell fruit from May – October but May was pretty slim pickings this year. In addition to stone fruits, he sells pears, bush berries, apples, persimmons, grapes, kumquats and more.

Go to: www.localharvest.org/farms/M3690 to get a list of what fruits are available when at his stand.

How to get there? Drive south on Highway 85. Take the Camden Avenue exit. At the signal light, turn left on Camden. Drive to the first signal light, Merrill Drive, and make a u-turn. At Petri Street, turn right. Drive to the “T” and turn left on Carter Avenue. Drive to the end of Carter and you’ll see a tiny fruit stand on the left side of the street. Just remember, don’t buy a lot! Just come back every few days if you want more. You’ll be hooked, as I am, and won’t be able to eat fruit from any other source.

This is as close to “Grow and Buy Local” you can get!

And, now that Trader Joe’s makes fabulous, frozen, pre-formed round pie crusts (made with butter!), there is no excuse for not making fresh fruit pies! I’ve already made an apricot pie and, as I just mentioned earlier, a peach pie! I make mini-pies so Bill and I don't turn into butter balls.

Start drooling!

SIMPLE FRENCH FOOD

The next cookbook for our perusal is a very old book, initially published in 1974 but is a staple in many gourmet kitchens, Simple French Food by Richard Olney, a modern renaissance man who was an American painter, cook, food writer, editor, and memoirist, best known for his books of French country cooking. Olney passed away in 1999 but his cookbooks and wine books live on, sharing his immense knowledge of French cooking and wines. Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, and Kermit Lynch, the well-known Berkeley wine writer and retailer, were both disciples (from Wikipedia). According to Jeffrey, it’s a book that begs to be read. I looked into the table of contents and found articles such as “Thoughts upon Improvisation” and “Miscellaneous Thoughts” [about] oven temperatures, butter, Moulí- juliennes, and more. It’s Jeffrey’s “go to” book and is a dog eared staple in his kitchen. It's so used up that he has just purchased the paperback edition for our dinner. He hopes it will become your "go to" book as well.

The book is now out in paperback and only $12 plus shipping from Amazon.com and can be found in your local libraries for free. I’ve ordered my book and can hardly wait to start reading! Jeffrey stated that it's a good read, not just a book of recipes. Hope you enjoy this cookbook...I know that some of you already have the book and your favorite recipes already.

Our next dinner will be July 19th, a Sunday, at Jeffrey’s second winery, Domaine Eden, in Saratoga. We will be start at 3 p.m. and have a tour of the winery and then Bill and Jeffrey will put together a wine tasting event for you. This cookbook, winery tour & tasting and dinner will be our “field trip” this year. After much research of various restaurants, the group decided that our cooking rivals many (certainly not ALL, David Kinch, but many) restaurants. Because we’ve had a “field trip” before eating at a restaurant, we will have a tour of Jeffrey’s winery and have a varietal wine tasting event for our enlightenment from his and Bill’s cellar before we have dinner. I will be sending directions via email to the Crowing Coq Club members. Carpooling would be wise...but then carpooling is ALWAYS wise, right?

Sandi W. and I had lunch today at Gochi in Cupertino...another slant (no pun intended) on tapas. Japanese tapas are culinary adventures. I had a rice dish that had flaked cooked salmon, sashimi salmon, salmon roe, nori (dried seaweed), pickled ginger and wasabi. She ordered another rice dish with BBQ pork, an egg, preserved seaweed as well as nori. She didn't like this dish as well as the salmon one. We also shared a dish of beef tongue made with miso (a salty Japanese seasoning) that was encrusted with a panko batter and deep fried. We both thought this dish was fabulous...and if I hadn't told you, you would not have guessed you were eating tongue. The meat was rich and had the texture of braised short ribs...yum.

And if you are looking for the quintessential Chinese restaurant, since I'm on a restaurant roll here, try Pai Tao Restaurant on Wolf Road and Homestead. We went there with Mary and Glenn to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Their Seafood Chow Fun with Black Bean sauce is the best I've ever tried, anywhere! Every dish was delicious...I don't think I've ever ordered anything there that I haven't liked.

On a separate note, 7 of us are taking a trip to the City to eat at one of the "Dine About Town" restaurants, Andalu (Spanish Tapas) and then see the filming of “Fresh, New Thinking About What We Are Eating” at the nearby Victoria Theater. It will change how we view the foods we eat, I am sure. More on that later after we’ve seen the film on June 12th. Stay tuned!

Bon appétit!