7th Annual Holiday Buffet, 2012

We welcomed the holidays and two new members to our Cookbook Club at our 7^th Annual Holiday Buffet.  David and Michelle made friends quickly and easily adapted into the cookbook concept, making us an 11-member group again.

Our holiday buffet is usually held at Annie & George’s beautifully decorated home in Willow Glen and this year was no exception.   The dishes were all prepared from any of our 2012 cookbooks: Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook or one of Ina Garten’s cookbooks. (we also cooked from Mourad but no one chose a recipe for this evening's dinner) This is always an informal dinner and served buffet style that is both easier and more difficult to serve.  Easier in that we don't have to go through as many plates, silverware, wine glasses, etc. but more difficult to pair with wines or with each other.  We decided to serve our dishes in three "flights" this year.

And, before I get into the details, I must apologize for the poor quality of photographs.  I not only forgot to take photos until we were halfway into the dinner...and I am no Willie, a past member who is traversing the United Statesin his Air Stream with his wife and cat, but I also forgot my camera so these photos are from my iphone.   Please don't take my photos as an example of how one can take great photos with an iphone; they are not.

 

We started the buffet with Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs and Caramelized Bacon that Janis prepared for us.  If you haven’t tried combining smoked salmon with traditional deviled eggs, you have to try it!!  The salmon adds umami to the deviled eggs.  The Caramelized Bacon was crispy; a salty sweet treat with very forward flavors.   We also tasted Rosemary Cashews from an Ina Garten recipe from Sharon.  She said it was pretty easy to make and it certainly was delicious.   Bill poured a German sparkling Riesling,  a Gebruder Simon 2010 Sparkling Riesling Brut Sekt Mosel.  It was a very dry Riesling that went well with the deviled egg dish.  This year's vintage was prepared with a dosage of Auslese that adds a hint of fruit and sweetness to the palate.

Our savory dishes for the evening were very filling:   Ina Garten’s version of Croque Monsieur that Annie prepared for us had the traditional sliced ham, Gruyere cheese and Dijon mustard.  As delicious as it was, we didn’t eat a lot of it because we had several other course to try this evening.  David prepared Keller’s Pomegranate Glazed Quail.  The quails were very yummy and even more so, dripping with pomegranate sauce.   I must admit, thought,  I have to not think about how cute they were, running around under the brush and chaparral.   The sauce for the quail had a bit of heat to them to contrast with the sweet pomegranate syrup.  I prepared Keller’s Rubbed and Glazed Pork Ribs because it’s one of my favorite ways to grill ribs.  I used the smaller baby back ribs instead of St Louis cut ribs since this was a buffet and added two more spices to his recipe:  Ancho Chili and celery seeds.  It is so easy and comes out so juicy and tender.  As I've written previously, Kellar's Ad Hoc book is my "go to" book when I want to make a familiar dish more special and make it taste the best it can taste.  Sharon’s Spinach in Puff Pastry was too rich and decadent to be a vegetable dish but between she and Ina Garten, they presented a wonderful  concoction that pleased everyone.  Flakey, light, creamy and rich seem to be adjectives that don't go with each other but in this dish, they do!  Bill poured Merry Edwards 1999 Pinot Noir to complement these dishes.  It was hard to believe that this wine is 13 years old.  We drank it at the optimum time because it was a fabulous wine that had come into it’s own after 13 years.

Before our dessert flight, we took a break and started our conversation regarding cookbooks for next year and decided on the following books:  

Our first dinner in February will be from the The Science of Good Cooking by Guy Crosby, Ph.D. who’s fame is from his work at America’s Test Kitchen and with the magazine "Cook’s Illustrated."  Guy will be at Sandy’s home on Jan. 20 and our Cookbook Club members are all invited.  If you didn’t get the “Save the Date” email, let me know and I’ll forward it to you.  I've peeked at the book and it's one you may want to buy rather than check out from your local library (the Santa Clara County Libraries have it,  but it already has a wait list to get on it ASAP).  It explains why we have to use certain techniques or combine specific ingredients in a certain order.  The recipes aren't very complex so for us, this dinner should be pretty easy but the explanations are detailed and scientific in well-written non-scientific "English."

Charlie Phan's Vietnamese Home Cooking.   Charlie’s book will be our summer dinner book since many of his recipe’s call for summer vegetables and fruit.  If you've eaten at Charlie's famous Slanted Door restaurant in San Francisco, you will love cooking from his book!

The group unanimously decided to revisit Thomas Keller’s French Laundry Cookbook for our “retro” book so that will most likely be our late Fall dinner.  The only caveat to this dinner will be that we cannot prepare the same dish that we prepared for our first French Laundry dinner on April 21, 2007.   We didn't want the dinner to be repeat of the original but a new dinner.  We didn't have a blog back then but I have the menu from that memorable dinner:  "Oysters & Pearls," Gazpacho Soup, Parmigiano-Reggiano Custards, Citrus marinated Salmon, Fava Bean Agnolotti, Salad of Haricorts Verts, “Tongue & Cheek” and ended with his "Banana Split."   This year's dinner will be even better since we are all better cooks than we were 5 years ago, right?!

We all decided that our field trip in 2013 will be to Paso Robles.  The group thought that late Fall will be the best time to travel since it worked so well this year.  As I gather more information and details, I will keep you in the loop.  If there is a favorite restaurant or winery you’d like to visit just drop me a line and I'll try to include it into the itinerary.  It was also suggested that I delegate some of the venues...YIPPEE-E-E!  So if you want to manage one of the meals or winery tours or a visit to one of your favorite PR places, let me know.  If we stay at a VRBO home instead of a hotel, we may cook one or two of our meals and I'll set up set-up, meal and clean-up teams.

 Back to our dinner!  We ended the evening with several delicious Chocolatey desserts.  Sandy made Thomas Keller’s Brownies that were decadently rich with dark chocolate.  Michelle prepared two buttery cookie recipes from Keller too:  Chocolate Shortbread and Linzer Tart Cookies.  Since I am the all-time cookie monster, I loved her cookies!

And last, but certainly not least was George’s super  Chocolate Orange Mousse, another Keller recipe..   This evening turned into a chocoholic’s dream!   Bill found an Essencia, 2010  Orange Muscat to pair with the Chocolate Orange Mousse.  His theory is that there is no wine that goes with chocolate so eat your chocolate dessert and then drink your dessert wine. . .  and never the twain should meet!  Of course, I disagree and continue to hunt for that elusive "wine-to-drink-with-chocolate."

We ended the evening and had some great laughs over our annual gift exchange…clearly the winners being Sandy & Jerry who brought the Bill Clinton corkscrew and Hillary Clinton nutcracker.   If you are curious about these two gifts, google it!  LOL!!

So until 2013 and our first dinner in February (The Science of Good Cooking),  Cook on!

Sonoma Field Trip Report

Corralling 9 people to show up on time, move to the next place was too easy. This group was on time, moved to the next venue in step and had a great time! The first stop was at noon on November 1, Sbragia Family Vineyards and Winery. Ed Sbragia was the winemaker at the award winning Beringer Winery in Napa Valley. In 2003 he left Beringer to open his own winery in Sonoma. If you haven’t been there, make it a destination on your next trip. It is a beautiful winery and staffed by professional and friendly people.

Our group was greeted by a welcoming sign…always good to know we were expected! Our lecture was on “Pairing Food and Wine” (well done by Kirby, BTW). Bill and I have been to multiple sensory wine tastings but this was very unique. It was about how to make food bring out the best of different wines. We were able to see for ourselves how, for example, a slice of apple changes the taste of a Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon but if we sprinkle of bit of salt onto the apple slice, the wines tasted totally different.

The brightness of the Sauvignon Blanc shone just with the addition of the salt. On the other hand, we saw what lemons do to wine…as you can imagine, not good things. The wines became dull and listless. But adding a squeeze of lemon to the apple and salt, changed the wines again and brought out the flavors of the reds. After our lecture and tasting, we had lunch at the winery, dining on their covered deck, enjoying the great food, the beautiful weather and views of the colorful fall vineyards.

Tracy Bidia, their Hospitality Manager, started us off with a great plate of assorted appetizers and then prepared an absolutely delicious pasta with short ribs, served with Arugula Salad with Parmigiana and freshly baked La Brea breads.

We finished our lunch with assorted cookies and biscotti. We purchased a bottle of their delicious fruity, complex and well-balanced Zinfandel to enjoy with the lunch.

We checked into our hotels around 3:30, rested a bit and then seven of us piled into Sandy & Jerry’s van to head over to Quivira Vineyards and Winery, in the Dry Creek area. This was a tour of their Biodynamic Gardens, led by Jim, the master gardener & foreman.

Working the ground as nature intended without chemicals or materials foreign to this microclimate is a lot of work and requires attention. All the vegetables and herbs were healthy and fruitful. Jim said that when plants are healthy and strong, they can resist disease and bugs. He also mentioned that feral bees are withstanding the mite disease that is devastating the bee population raised in man-made hives. His garden has a feral bee colony that lives in an oak tree nearby.

Our dinner was in Quivera’s wine cellar, flanked on both sides by huge oak wine barrels as you can see from this photo. It turned out to be a lovely evening, weather-wise. The forecast had predicted rain on Thursday but when it finally arrived, we had sun and some beautiful fluffy clouds all day!

Because of the huge harvest, every spare space is being used for storing wine, grapes, fermenting tanks, etc. We were very lucky to be working with Jana Churich who coordinated our visit and Tim Vallery (Pelaton Catering) who catered our dinner. We had a 4-course dinner that, you will see from the photos, were not only delicious but beautifully presented. Tim used the vegetables and herbs from the biodynamic garden as much as he could. He also graciously came out at the beginning of each course to describe what we eating and to answer any questions we had about his preparation or choices.

We started with an absolutely lovely Yukon Gold Vichyssoise with Chive essence. It was served with fresh baked bread from the Costeaux Bakery and the winery poured a 2011 Viognier-Sauvignon Blanc that I really liked to complement the soup. As you see from this photo, Tim’s dishes not only taste great but are presented in an artistic manner.

Our next course was a Soda Rock Farms & Quivira Biodynamic Garden Heirloom Tomato Salad with roasted corn, marinated fresh mozzarella, basil vinaigrette and shaved almond. It look too pretty to eat but that didn’t stop a single person in our group from cleaning their plates! The Quivira 2009 Grenache, while a bright and light wine that I enjoyed, did not go as well as the Viognier-Sauvignon. Since we had a separate glass for each wine, I kept some of each wine so I could test what we had learned from our Sbragia lecture.

We then moved on to Pork Sugo Campanelle, served with Carmody Cheese and Basil essence. The basil for this dish as well as the Tomato Heirloom Salad came from Quivira’s biodynamic garden. The clear flavors of food grown in a natural soil and cared for with great attention and care is amazing. Campanelle is a pasta shape that Tim likes because it really grabs the sauce. The shredded pork in this dish was rich and flavorful. This dish was served with Quivira’s 2010 Flight Zinfandel and was a perfect match. The Zin was a full and well-balanced wine that was my favorite of the evening.

Our last savory course was a Spice Seared Sous-Vide Angus Sirloin with a Potato Fondant, Glazed rainbow carrot pearls, Brown clam-shell mushroom demi glace and red wine essence. Tim came out at the beginning of each course to describe how he prepared each dish. The sirloins were spiced and seared before being encased in the vacuum sealed bag for the sous-vide. This allowed for the flavors to come out and then return into the meat while still keeping the meat rare because he kept the water at 120º. The carrots were tiny balls/pearls created with a tiny scoop. The Quivira 2010 Goat Trek Blend was a good choice to go with the steak. For me, the wine will taste better after it gets some age on it but it shows great promise!

Dessert is not Tim’s forté (so says he) but this Tcho Chocolate Bread Pudding with macerated cranberry chutney and brown butter streusel, glowing in a puddle of farm egg crème anglaise did not disappoint. It was what a dessert should be (why else consume so many calories!), rich and decadent. He soaks the Costeaux Bakery bread in the Tcho chocolate for an hour to make sure each piece is saturated. By now, you know about my personal quest to find a wine that goes with chocolate and while the Quivira 2010 Late Harvest Zinfandel was delicious on it’s own, I am still on the search.

What a fabulous dinner! Thank you Tim and Jana. We left Quivera very contented and headed back to our hotel with a half case of Quivira wine to be used for future Cookbook Club dinners.

Friday morning was a poor breakfast at the hotel and then onto the David Coffaro Winery. As you can see from this photo of David’s tasting room, this is not a fancy winery. David is known for his blended wines. He grows very small acreage of different varieties so his production is also small for each. Many of his wines never reach is own tasting room because they are purchased by his wine club members or people who buy his futures.

We were treated to a barrel tasting of his 2011 harvest that is almost ready for bottling. The barrels we tasted will be ready to bottle in February or so (thanks, David!). We also tasted his bottled 2010’s. We tasted some very unusual varieties like Sauzao, Aglianico, Lagrein, Tannat, Alvarelhao, or Carignan. He blends most of them into some very wonderful wines and makes a few of them as a single variety wine. We were very impressed with his blended wines and enjoyed Catalina’s barrel tasting tour.

Dave was busy with his harvest and couldn’t join us but we watched his staff punch down the cap of grapes as the fruit flies rose in a flying carpet of bugs and enjoyed the winery’s aromas of fermenting grapes.

Bill and I headed home after our Coffaro tasting since we had another wine tasting event to attend that afternoon. …such gluttony! I hope the rest of the group was able to enjoy the lovely weather, other wineries and eateries in the area.

And, NO, I have no future plans to become a tour guide!

NEXT: Mark your calendars! Sunday, December 16th for our annual Holiday Buffet! Details to follow via email.

Viognier is not just a wine!

The wine tasting group that Jeffrey, Bill and I belong to (and you may remember Bob from our cookbook club in this photo!) has an annual dinner. Locating a restaurant that provides gourmet food, private dining room and a general manager and sommelier who will work with a demanding group is always hard to find. In the past, we’ve dined at Sent Sovi in Saratoga and worked successfully with Josiah Slone and his team. This year, I found an old favorite of ours, Viognier in San Mateo. If you are a foodie, you’ve been to Draeger’s Market there. . .the only gourmet grocery store with an escalator! Their gift shop upstairs is unparalleled.

Viognier has been around since Draeger’s San Mateo store opened their doors many, many years ago. They’ve had some wonderful chefs over the years, the most notable being Gary Danko who left them to open his own restaurant in the City. I love “discovering” new chefs whose cuisines appeal to me and who are fun to work with. Preston Dishman, the executive chef has been in a kitchen since he was 14, growing up in South Carolina. He and his wife, Nicole (who is the general manager and sommelier), sold their restaurant in Sonoma, The General’s Daughter, to work at Viognier since 2008. Lucky us!

Our first course was served with Bob’s 2002 Dom Perignon that lived up to its reputation as a rich, well-structured, champagne, creamy with a great depth. The appetizers of Roasted Summer Squash Flatbread; duck confit; broccolini; caramelized onion; Crescenza cheese; Smoked Salmon Flatbread with smoked cream and caviar; and Charcuterie Platter was over the top! I could have made a meal of the wonderful appetizers and loved the duck confit! Each item went well with the champagne. The Dom Perignon was clearly deserving of its reputation as a perfect champagne. Thank you Bob!

After 30 minutes of noshing, waiting for everyone to arrive, saying hi to spouses who joined us for this dinner, we started with our first course. Preston prepared a Seared California King Salmon with Roe, Braised Endive, Warm Bintje Potato Salad, Fin Herb Froth. As you can see from the photo, his portions are generous. Fresh California King Salmon just can’t be beat! My brother is a fisherman and brought some King Salmon to us a few weeks ago and it was divine. This dish was no exception, seared to medium rare, topped with a few jewels of roe that burst with flavor. I love the color of salmon roe, so bright and shiny! The Bintje Potatoe (Bintje, pronounced “ben-jee,” is a potato variety from the Dutch with great flavor) salad was more of a mashed potato salad that was the right complement to the salmon and the herb fin broth brought a touch of the ocean to the dish. We accompanied this dish with two wines: Jeffrey and Ellie’s 1996 Mount Eden Chardonnay and a 2007 Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Mouchere that David and Michelle shared. Jeffrey’s wine exemplified all that is perfect with California Chardonnays; fruit, elegance with depth and a wonderfully well-integrated balance with a lingering finish that went on and on. The white burgundy was, what can I say, a white burgundy! It was a dry, elegant burgundy, with the richness, complexity and structure that is so typical of one of my favorite wines. Each of these wines went well with the Salmon. It was fun (and delicious) to compare and contrast the two wines.

Our next course was a Fried Pork Trotter, served with Brussel Sprouts, Watercress and Aioli. I’m not sure how he did it but it was so creamy and soft inside with a crispy exterior and as you can see in the photo, perfectly square! I cleaned my plate and enjoyed every bite. As you know, pork trotters are pig’s feet and have become more popular in the US. I used to eat them when I was a child because it was a cheaper cut of meat, like the tongue, kidneys or liver but today it’s a gourmet entré. . . and Preston prepared it to perfection. The item sitting atop the fried trotter was fried pork skin, a Chicharrón, as a humorous touch to the dish. We were fortunate to pair this dish with John and Ann’s 1995 Mazis-Chambertin from Maume. A very refined burgundy that was soft, elegant with dark fruit and floral elements, nice acid balance. It was perfect choice that offset the rich trotters!

Our main entré was a dish to remember! It was a Grilled Boneless Short Rib, Summer Squash, Spinach and Natural Jus. None of us could believe how thick the short rib was. I was amazed with how tender it was with its caramelized crust. I asked Preston to come to our dining room so the group could meet him and thank him for the fabulous meal. One of the questions he was asked was "How did he create this masterpiece?"

His secret was the sous vide (a culinary technique in which vacuum-sealed food is immersed in a water bath and cooked at a very precise, consistent temperature) so the short rib was cooked in its own juices and then grilled to get the caramelized finish. And, of course, as a restauranteur, he has his own meat purveyors that as “mere plebeians” we have no access to. . .boo hoo. We accompanied this course with two wines. Martin shared his 2003 Brunello, La Velona and Einar and Cammy brought a 2006 Domaine de Chevalier. This Brunello was not tannic as many Brunellos can be, but very smooth, fruity and well-balanced and was the perfect wine to pair with the 2006 Bordeaux, with its black currant fruit intermixed with subtle notes of earthy spices. Bravo!

By the time we got to our dessert, I was pretty full but couldn’t pass up the Pain Perdu with Nutella Gelato, Blueberry Jam, Feuillitine Crunch and Peanut Butter smear. We had the pain perdu at our test dinner several months ago with John and Ann and loved the dessert so I requested it for this evening’s dinner. It was made with raspberries at our first dinner and I think I liked the tartness of the raspberries over the sweetness of the blueberries.

On Friday, the pain perdu proved to be the right dessert to go with Bill’s 2001 Chateau Clos Haut-Peraguey. Everyone enjoyed the caramelized flavors with hints of dried of apricots, good acid, lingering fruit on the palate and a lovely nose that is one of the reasons we love sauternes. What a wonderful way to end a wonderful evening filled with wonderful food, wines and friends. And before I end my post, I want to complement our server, Julio, who was the quintessential server and Michael Tupac the Asst. Manager who made sure everyone was happy. We shall return every year!!

If you have a chance to dine out some evening, take the short drive to San Mateo and return to Viognier to taste Preston’s creations and then do some grocery shopping or visit Draeger’s fabulous gift shop. I could spend some serious money there!

Ad Hoc Retro Dinner, July 2012

We did it again…another fabulous dinner! Although Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Cookbook was not as detailed as his French Laundry book, it yielded some memorable entrés that I will certainly try again.

We began our gathering over a glass of Aspasie Brut Carte Blanche NV French Champagne as Sharon began assembling the two soups she brought and the rest of us waited for everyone to arrive, say hi, and reconnect. After driving 3 hours to get here, Sharon always arrives in high spirits and with yummy dishes. She couldn’t decide which soup to bring so she brought two of them. She made the Mushroom Soup last week and didn’t find it that outstanding after all the work she put into preparing them and selected two other soups to try. The Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup was amazing and I will now make it myself soon! When tasted in the pot, we all thought it tasted a bit bland BUT, showing us the importance of garnishes, when served with the chopped cilantro and crumbled smoked bacon, the soup came together to give us a spectacular dish.

She also prepared the Heirloom Bean and Escarole Soup for us last night. Escarole is a variety of endive whose leaves are broader, paler and less bitter than other members of the endive family. The head of an escarole resembles a head of lettuce. The stems and leaves are thick enough to stand up to being blanched and added to a hearty soup that has ham hock pieces, carrots and other vegetables. The garnish for this soup was chopped Italian parsley. Another tasty and healthy soup from Sharon, enhanced by a glass of Pine Ridge 2011 Chenin Blanc/Viognier from Bill’s cellar. This wine had both floral and grassy notes that complimented both soups. With the first soup, it provided a nice contrast to the heavy lentils and sweet potatoes and for the second soup, blended well with the bright flavors of the escarole, carrots, and white canelli beans.

Along with two soups, we also had two salads this evening. Jeffrey prepared our first salad, Chickpea & Curried Cauliflower Salad, a 2-hour effort. The curry is part of the vinaigrette, very light, adding just a note of smoky flavors. Again, to pay tribute to the value of garnishes, the salad was garnished with fried parsley leaves. Jeffrey made this salad before without the fried parsley and noted how much better the salad is with the garnish. The added touch of crunchy parsley leaves finished the dish. While not a big fan of chickpeas or garbanzos, I really enjoyed this salad because of the different textures and flavors. Bill chose a Joh Jos Prum 2004 Riesling Auslese to compliment this dish thinking that the curry would be more pronounced. Even though it wasn't as curry-ish as we thought, it was a delicious wine that everyone loved and drank every drop! What's not to like with a Riesling? I love the low alcohol of rieslings as well as the lovely fruit and clean finishes.

Our next salad was prepared by Janis and, although she listed several dishes she thought about bringing, I am glad she chose this one: Green Bean & Potato Salad with Mission Figs & Iberico Ham. She used fingerling potatoes and as you can see from the photo, the small coins of potatoes were the perfect size to go with the green beans. She spent hours driving around, searching for mission figs at gourmet groceries and finally found them at a chain grocery store by just asking for them. . .go figure! This salad was a tribute to the natural flavors of each item, having each one compliment or contrast beautifully with the other. We always count one Janis to bring wonderful vegetable based dishes and she never disappoints. We served this dish family style and passed the platter around and served ourselves. Bill served a Murrieta's Well 2005 Sauvignon Blanc Los Tesoros De Joaquin,from the Livermore Valley region. It was amazingly clean, well-balanced and a perfect companion to this salad. It's always difficult to pair wines with salads because of the vinegars but Bill always does a yeoman's job successfully.

As may have noticed, the photographs are not as professional as they’ve been in the past. Willie and Sandi have sold their home here and have literally “hit the road” and are driving their Ford truck, towing an Airstream, as I type. What an adventure!! They are taking a hiatus from our group and will be maintaining their own blog, writing about their travels, travails and adventures, complete with photos! We look forward to reading their blog posts and to, hopefully, their eventual return to our area.

Our main course was Buttermilk Fried Chicken, garnished with Fried Onions and Fried Herbs; thyme, rosemary and sage. I have made this chicken twice before and reduced the number of lemons from 5 to 3 in the brine this time. I thought the lemon flavor was too pronounced in the previous times and even with just 3 lemons, the lemon was still pretty evident. I also made a error and changed how I fried the chicken. I “pre-prepared” the chicken and floured and dipped the pieces in buttermilk and then re-floured them about 15-20 minutes before I actually fried them. I wanted to sit down and eat Janis’ salad and didn’t want a big break between courses. BIG mistake! The crust was tough and not flaky as a result. It tasted fine but the texture was very disappointing. Dusting and dipping just before putting the pieces into the hot oil will produce flaky, crispy fried chicken and onion rings. Next time, I'll know better. Bill poured a delicious Penfolds 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 that everyone simply raved about and we easily finished this bottle too. This was a hearty Cab that was a great representative of the Australian style of wine-making.

We served George’s preparation of Creamed Corn with the chicken. Believe me, this was NOT anything like the canned creamed corn that we all remember from our childhoods. This recipe produces a rich, creamy and flavorful bowl of kernels that has a touch of cayenne to give it a tiny kick. I had two spoonfuls of the corn; I liked it so much. Bill chose a Sbragia Family Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Rosso Vineyard, Sonoma to go with the corn. The Sbragia red was much softer than the Penfolds and a better wine for the corn. I enjoyed this wine very much and am hopeful that we’ll be able to visit this winery in October when we do our Sonoma field trip.

Our first dessert was Panna Cotta with Strawberries that Annie wanted to try. She had always wanted to make a panna cotta and thought this was her opportunity. This panna cotta is made with sour cream that gave it a tang that I usually don't find in panna cottas. I very much liked it in this dish and really loved the soft, silky texture. Many panna cottas are too stiff, perhaps because the recipe calls for more gelatin but this one was sublime! She did mention that the recipe omits to mention that one should warm all the ingredients because if one adds the gelatin mixture to refrigerator-cold ingredients, the gelatin will form a ball in the center and not disperse throughout the cream. She chose to serve her panna cotta with lightly sweetened strawberries. Bill graced us with a lovely bottle of Chateau Clos Haut-Peyraguey 2001 Sauterne that added a wonderful note of sweetness to the panna cotta. More raves! Ahhhh Sauterne!

Our last dessert was a fun dessert that Tina made for an earlier event for her daughter and then brought to our dinner. Carrot Cupcakes are time-aged, proven favorites for children, of ALL ages. She made them half-sized so they were small “muffin tops,” that were, after all we’ve already eaten, the perfect size, about 3-4 bites! They were light, flavorful and the frosting of creamed cheese, sugar and butter was so decadently rich. . .what a perfect marriage of tastes, textures. . .not too sweet either, like bakery versions. Bill had us taste a Kirkland 10 Year Old Tawny Port with the cupcakes and because of the walnut garnish (See?! The value of garnishes works in desserts too!). Umm, Kirkland?? Isn’t that the Costco brand? YES, it is! While certainly not the quality of a Dow’s Tawny, for the price (less than $20), a wonderful port to serve with this dessert. It was the perfect choice again, Bill!

I and other members of this group have prepared multiple recipes out of this cookbook and find it to be one our favorites. We may even cook a dinner from it again because there are still so many recipes that each of us have intended to make but haven’t gotten around to it -- yet!

We also chatted over dinner about the field trip to Sonoma. I am investigating a biodynamic garden and vineyard tour and tasting/dinner event at Quivera Winery as well as an educational lecture on pairing wines with foods with the Sbragia Family Winery. I’ll keep you posted on the final dates and costs, etc. and then we’ll see who can make the trip.

In the meantime, cook on!

Barefoot'n

Ina Garten has become an icon in most home cooks’ kitchens. She has so many cookbooks that most of her recipes can be found on line now. I checked out two of her cookbooks from the county library and read Barefoot Contessa in Paris and How Easy is That? She makes cooking easy and does a pretty good job of explaining what to do. Barefoot’n with Ina was fun for me. I tried several recipes: Goat Cheese Tarts, Vegetable Tian, Panko Crusted Salmon, Roasted Vegetable Tort, Roasted Broccoli, Cauliflower Gratin AND intend to try her Grilled Clams, Onion and Fennel Soup, Plum Cake Tatin, Cous Cous with Toasted Pine Nuts, French Mussel Bisque and Potato Chips (if you are a potato chip addict too, haven’t you wondered about making it yourself?)

We started our Barefoot Contessa Dinner with the Goat Cheese Tarts (Back to Basics) that I made and really liked. Her recipe called for 6-inch puff pastry circles but I made small 3-inch circles that seemed more appealing as an appetizer and especially since we were having 6 courses this evening. I did not make my own puff pastry but used Pepperidge Farm. I’ve tried other brands from Whole Foods but couldn’t taste the difference. I’m sure it’s better if you make it yourself but on warm days, it’s a tough one to execute well without turning the air conditioner down to freezing. It has herbed goat cheese, caramelized garlic & onions, fresh tomato slices, thyme and basil, bound together with parmesan cheese. Very tasty and enhanced with Bill's Gloria Ferrer Brut from the Sonoma Carneros region.

Our next entré was prepared by Sandi W and was very rich and soothing as only a Shrimp Bisque Soup (Barefoot Contessa at Home) can. Sandi and Willie were celebrating a special event with lobster earlier in the week so she was able to use the shells to flavor the bisque stock, along with the shrimps and shells. Sandi’s dish was creamy, thick and very flavorful. You can see by the photo that it also has whole shrimps in it as well as the puréed meat. Bill found a Ridge Winery Chenin Blanc + Viognier blend that was a perfect choice to offset the richness of the soup.

We served the next two dishes at the same time, although on two separate plates. Mary re-joined us for this dinner since Annie & George couldn’t make it due to becoming grandparents at the last minute. Mary made a delicious Vegetable Tian (Barefoot in Paris). I had tried it in a mini-version but her’s was wa-ay better than the one I made. What’s amazing is that even though tomatoes are in season now, once you cook them the sugars caramelizes and sweetens them. The layers of squash, tomatoes, and onions, accented by Gruyer cheese and Thyme, are tough to beat in terms of complimentary flavors.

The main event of the evening was Sharon’s Boeuf Bourguignon (Barefoot in Paris). She said that the hardest part was trimming the beef chuck of all the silver membranes and fat. Ina directed her to cook the vegetables (onions and carrots) separately and then combine them at the end and to serve the bourguignon over a toasted slice of country bread that’s been seasoned with cut garlic. The country bread was too tough to slice easily and Sharon recommended using sour dough or Sweet Batard French bread next time instead. They soak up the liquids and are easier to slice through. As you can guess, it was delicious and very rich with a whole bottle of burgundy and ½ cup of cognac in it! Bill brought a 2001 Robert Young wine called “Scion” that is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, out of his cellar. This wine was absolutely delicious! Rich, fruity, well-balanced with great acid and low tannins after 11 years in our cellar. I wish we had more bottles of this wine. . .☹ He also served a 1990 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Estate with this course. A lesson in opposites but both great. The Mondavi was 22 years old and much more elegant and soft. It still had great fruit but more subdued than the Robert Young. We all enjoyed both wines with our main course.

We waited for a bit before eating Janis’ Salad with Warm Goat Cheese (Barefoot Contessa in Paris). It was a wonderful break between our rich bourguinon and dessert. The greens and dressing was bright and fresh and truly cleansed our palates. The goat cheese medallions were crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. Sigh…how much better than this meal get? Much better! We topped this wonderful meal with a decadent dessert!

Willie prepared a Deeply Chocolate Gelato served with a huge Shortbread Cookie dusted with Turbinado Sugar crystals (Barefoot Contessa Parties!). If you love chocolate, this is the ice cream to make at home. I think Willie said it had 6 egg yolks in it and lots bittersweet chocolate. It was chocolate-y enough for Bill who usually complains that most chocolate ice creams are not. You can see from the photo that it is a very dark chocolate. I loved the shortbread cookie since I am not a chocoholic and would choose butter over chocolate any day. Buttery and prepared to perfection to the tastes of this cookie monster. I have to confess that I bought a wine for this dish that was a big mistake but I was curious enough to buy it to give it a try. We served a NV Deco Port made with the essences of natural chocolate from Santa Rosa. . . I think I was suckered into a marketing ploy. It was bad port to start with and the chocolate essences did nothing to cover the flaws in this wine. Sorry folks…a punt and miss.

We all drove away from Janis and Bill’s home full and contented, as we do every two months.

Our next dinner will be in July and I’ve sent out an email to select the exact date. It’s our “Retro Dinner” and we’ll be returning to Thomas Kellar’s Ad Hoc Cookbook. This book is my “go to” book for basic dishes. . .not that any of his dishes are basic but they are much easier to prepare than his French Laundry cookbook recipes. BTW, our Retro Dinner in 2013 will be from his French Laundry book.

Our annual field trip will be to Sonoma will be in early November, a 1-night, 2-day trip. I’ll be setting dates for that event soon and start working in an itinerary for your approval. We’ll set up a couple of winery visits with winemakers and a dinner in Healdsburg. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Stay tuned!

Hope you all enjoyed Barefoot’n as much as I did!

Celebratory Dinner at Manresa

Before I get into this post about Manresa, it may seem like Bill & I go out a lot but to be honest, we rarely go out now that I’m retired. I cook at home and try out a lot of recipes from either our next cookbook or from the current food magazine. During his radiation, his diet was very restricted. He couldn’t eat fresh vegetables, fruit or anything with fibre. Everything was overcooked and I bought a loaf of white bread for the first time in over 20 years! After eating this way for 2+ months, gourmet food was on our “To Do”list.

We dined at Manresa with the Simonis and Pattersons to celebrate the end of his radiation treatments. We waited for over a month to make sure he was able to eat “anything” and to get on everyone’s calendar. It’s been many months since we have dined here and as always, it’s good to return and see familiar faces.

If you haven’t tried Manresa lately you must go. They have remodeled the restaurant, added a cocktail lounge and an elegant look to the restaurant. The menu continues to reflect a Japanese influence. We did not get to see David since he was in Japan for 2 weeks. Next week’s menu should be fascinating since he will be infusing it with the latest ideas from his trip.

In the past you would chose whether to have 3, 4 or 5+ courses at different prices. Now there are two prix fixe menus. The Prix Fixe is $125 pp and the Tasting menu is $175 pp. This is without wine pairings. We, of course, brought wines from Bill’s and Bob's cellar.

We chose the $125 menu.

Smoked Avocado ceviche

Selection of Manresa baked breads and hand-churned butter

Toasted buckwheat and duck foie gras, Etrog citron

Into the Vegetable Garden, their juices. . . Roots, raw, leaves, flowers

Poached egg Manresa: quail egg yolk, Vermont maple syrup, chives, whipped cream, sherry vinegar, sea salt.

A Winter Tidal Pool, shellfish, mushroom, seaweed

Black Cod, a crab and squid risotto without rice, root vegetables

Lemon grass and lemon balm tea

Duck, slowly roasted in hay and salt crust, homemade walnut wine

Roasted parsnip custard and demeara crumble, lime and yogurt sorbet
Chocolate cremeux with argan oil, a light jam of sanguinello and Campari, rhubarb

Before I go on, I looked up several items on the menu.
Etrog is a lemony type citrus fruit, grown primarily in Israel.
Demeara is a natural brown sugar from sugar cane, sometimes called demerara sugar.
Cremeux is a French word that means “Creamy”…it’s not a pudding, mousse or a sauce but has a silky texture in between them. I found a website that describes how to make it: http://baking104tw.blogspot.com/2010/09/chocolate-cremeux-what.html
Argan Oil – oil produced from the kernels of an argan tree…what else? It is found in Morocco and is one of the rarest oils in the world.

Our dinner reservations were for 6 p.m. and we ended the dinner at 11. It was well spaced out and Jeff Bareilles took Bill’s & Bob's wines and made choices in terms of what to pair them with. We started off with a bottle 2002 Roederer’s Crystal, my favorite champagne, that had bubbles so fine that you could fit several on the head of pin! We drank that before dinner and with the first entré. Jeff selected a Loire wine, a 2004 Philippe Delesvaux Chenin Blanc, gran nobles, to go with the foie gras dish. We then had 1997 Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne with our Vegetable Garden, one of David’s signature dishes. Bob brought a 1997 Gaja Borolo that was the perfect match to the Black Cod because it was a very rich dish. A 2006 Rochioli West Bank Pinot Noir was served with the duck and 2004 Chateau D Y’quem was served with the desserts. It went well with the parsnip custard but better sipped alone than with the Chocolate cremeux.

For me, this menu was too much food but everyone else thought it was perfect and ate every last bite. I had to bring my duck home. I was full by then.

My favorite dishes were the Smoked Avocado ceviche and A Winter Tidal Pool. The flavors were so clean and just burst in your mouth. The smoked avocado was formed into a oval egg shape and was immersed in a shallow pool of water that had a ocean taste to it. What is was, I couldn’t tell you but I loved every small bite of it! The Winter Tidal Pool was a beautiful dish that did look like a tidal pool, complete with uni and seaweed! Hidden in the tidal pool was a dollop of foie gras that added a richness to this dish that was amazing. The mushrooms were teeny, tiny enoki’s.

The Poached Egg was an added amuse bouche because it is one of Bill’s favorite dishes. Jeff, our sommelier and Wine & Beverage Director, overheard us all raving about it and asked the sous chef to add it to our menu. Ahhh, the crowning touch to an already perfect evening.

The duck was perfectly prepared and delicious. The walnut wine, Nocino, is a liqueur made with green walnuts that has been steeped in vodka, sugar and spices. Although it starts off with green walnuts, the liqueur turns out a dark brown. The Nocino adds a depth of flavor to the duck breast slices that were sitting on top of a “riceless risotto” made out of barley and creamed potatoes.

The Roasted Parsnip Custard is the prime example of creating something new out of the basic principles of the Flavor Bible. The Demeara crumble added the crunch and sweetness to the dessert in contrast to the creamy parsnip custard and the tart lime and yogurt sorbet. It was garnished with a little sprig of fennel frond.

The last dessert, the Chocolate Cremeux was a complex jumble of flavors. I’m not sure that I could separate the argan oil flavor but the blood orange, Campari and rhubarb granita was wonderful and it was chocolate-y enough for Bill.

Before we walked out of the restaurant, we were treated to Coconut Meringues with coffee cream filling and a take-home bag of 6 pistachio butter cookies AND those to-die-for caramels (I am such a glutton, I took 3 out of the candy jar).

Bill is definitely off the bland food wagon now!