Dinner with winemakers

a few of the evenings bottles

Preparing a dinner for winemakers is an interesting challenge. The meal must be well balanced and complimentary to the wines but the challenge lies in not knowing just what wines the the winemakers will bring! 
Certainly there will be a few standout California Pinots and Chardonnays but just as certainly someone is bound to bring an outlier. Some obscure Austrian Riesling or knockout French Beaune could throw off an entire menu!

gougeres, with various whites

To start the evening off right, we served gougeres, still warm from the oven, with crisp cold white wines and a lovely Roderere champagne.

Striped bass, grilled whole and stuffed with lemon, fennel and onions provided an impressive main dish.

pearl barley pilaf; fennel celery salad w/ pecorino shavings

A simple fennel and celery salad, finished with pecorino shavings alongwith a pearl barley pilaf with shitake mushrooms & hazelnuts pleasently complimented both the fish and the wines, without overstating their place. For dessert, the ever favorite winter citrus tart.

Among the dozen or wines opened, the breakaway gem of the night was undoubtedly the 1978 Morey-Saint-Denis. A 33 year old Burgundy that just happened to be the most elegant, exceptional wine I have ever tasted. Brownish plum in color and cloudy in texture, the physicality of the wine was unlike most any wines of today.
I don't know that specific flavors can be assigned to every wine every time. Sometimes, to me anyway, its more just a feeling than a flavor. This wine was a perfect example of that. While it might sound even more pretentious than just saying 'red plum' and 'curred meat', drinking this delicate, complex wined reminded me only of a rare, antique, handmade lace.

The only thing better than enjoying this wine was enjoying this wine with winemakers. One noted the high fill level of the wine before opening, establishing how well the wine must have been stored over the last 3 decades. The cork collapsed into the screw in three pieces, a clear sign of its age, but had not absorbed much of the wine, again touting its good storage conditions. The high acid profile of the wine meant it must have been barely drinkable at bottling, but a large part of what made it so incredible 30+ years later! A generous and exciting addition to many great wines of the night.

The Little Mermaid sing-along at the Castro Theater

Apologies for the long delay in posting, I know (all 12!) of you were at the edge of your screens awaiting an update from ButterDate.

 Well, wait no further...I bring you one of the most thrilling events experienced in the Bay Area so far...Sing-Along to 'The Little Mermaid' at the famous Castro Theater!!!

 DH and Aa were champs to attend the event with me and might have been the only 2 people in the theater that weren't female and/or under 29!

Goodie bag contents!

Attendees were given goodie bags filled with 'mermaid' related loot, including a King Triton-like gold crown, an Ursula-esque "pearl" necklace , a Sebastian-ish glow-stick/conducting baton, bubbles for the bathtub scene and a Dingle Hopper, better known as a fork on land but not in 'The Little Mermaid'!

Inside the Castro Theater

The Castro Theater could not have been a more perfect venue for this event. Built in 1922 in Spanish Colonial Baroque style, the building is now an historical monument and home to amazing screenings, special events and the best theater popcorn in town. Seriously. 

Organ player with crown!

 An organ player even emerged from below the stage to regal the audience with show tunes before the film.

evil, awesome Ursula

'The Little Mermaid' was the first and might have been the only movie I actively memorized the lyrics to at 7 years old, tape deck and sleeve in hand, in the backseat of the Puegeot wagon with Shann. Seeing the film and singing those songs again, 20 years later was a treat not soon forgotten! The only thing that might have the night more memorable is if Shann had been belting it out by my side!
For any skeptics that this night wasn't a total blast, go listen to 'Part of your World'. I dare you not to love it!

Meyer Lemon Marmalade & Homemade English Muffins

meyer lemon marmalade on homemade English muffins

Food trends are almost as fast and fleeting as fashion trends. Certain ingredients, cuisines and cooking styles reach a fever pitch of nowness, then fade away into culinary history. From sun-dried tomatoes to fusion dining to food trucks; these trends can be as evocative of an era as mini backpacks or shoulder pads.

meyer lemons

citrus seeds in cheesecloth

Meyer Lemons strike me as a very trendy ingredient. One sees it in every incarnation on just about every menu, anywhere you go. So its with some reservation I opted to make meyer lemon marmalade for another rendition of winter citrus tart.
Ordinarily I make a blood orange marmalade for the tart but meyer lemon marmalade is a bit more bitter and so better suited to the almond cream and puff pastry.

slivered lemons soaking overnight, but why?

Every recipe for meyer lemon marmalade insisted on soaking the lemon peels overnight with their seeds, though not a single recipe bothered to explain why. I have a particular pet peeve with recipes that are arbitrarily complicated or time-consuming without logical explanation. 
If anyone can provide insight on this, I would be much obliged!
The water and fruit must cook down by a fifth its volume before adding the sugar. In other words, begin with 5 quarts of water to 1.5 pounds of chopped fruit and boil until the water + fruit = 1 quart. Then add sugar depending on your sweetness preference. I added 3 and 3/4 cups.

the canning set-up

The sugar/fruit/water combo is not marmalade until the temperature reaches 225 degrees. This takes longer than you'd expect, every time! 

elevated water bath rack

setting the marmalade

In order to properly set the marmalade, an elevated water bath is needed and the best rack for this is a combination of the ball jar tops.

cornmeal dusted English muffins

English muffins cooked on the skillet

a perfect breakfast, anytime!

The best application for the marmalade, besides the winter citrus tart of course, is homemade English muffins!

Tomales Bay Oyster Company

50mi North by Northwest of the San Francisco Bay is another Bay of note; Tomales Bay.
And if there's one thing Tomales Bay is famous for it's its Oyster Company.
Before dating DH, oysters were a foreign object to me but in the last few years, the Tomales Bay Oyster Company has become a treasured destination in the Bay area.

Brick Maiden Bread: rye and sesame

fresh cured salumi

mixed nuts

Point Reyes Station, just a few miles south is the place to pick up picnic supplies, like Cowgirl Creamery cheese, fresh baked bread loaves and a bottle (or three!) of bubbly.

view from the picnic tables

Picnic tables and camp grills line the place, just off Highway 1, making it a perfect day-long excursion. 

oyster tanks

On a holiday weekend or if the weather is nice, the oyster company packs in the picnic people so arrive early to stake out a good spot. Fresh, farmed oysters are available by the dozen or by the 50-piece bag for large groups and ambitious small groups. Clams and mussels are also available for purchase, along with knives, gloves, lemons and hot sauce.

50 piece oyster pack

oyster glove

Alice, dutifully shucking

Shucking knives, rubberized gloves and practiced skill are essential to the oyster shucking process. 

roasted oyster with lemon juice & tapatio

A splash of lemon and a dash of hot sauce are essential to the eating of the shucked oyster. 

Champagne in Ball jars!

And a glass of Champagne is essential to fully enjoying the oyster experience.

grilled

raw

These oysters are equally wonderful raw, grilled over coals or fried up in a pan with breadcrumbs and gremolata. There is a certain carnal satisfaction though, to shucking an oyster and eating right out of its shell.

mother shuckers

Waste Not, Want Not

pantry party!

Resourceful cooking can be the most rewarding kind. That is, re-working leftovers into a new, exciting dish or cooking with only what is in the fridge or pantry fuels creativity and reduces the guilt of food waste dramatically! 
DH often teases me for taking this too far, jokingly assuring me, "we aren't poor, you know...its not as though we have 12 children to feed".
Last night though, I re-worked 3 dishes from the night before with varied levels of success.

curried cauliflower

curried cauliflower soup

soup with a spoonful of homemade creme fraiche

From the curried cauliflower came curried cauliflower soup. It was delicious as a vegan puree but a spoonful of homemade creme fraiche was delicious too.

roast root veggies

rustic tart with root veggies

yum!

From roasted root veggies came a rustic root veggie tart. This was unquestionably the winner of the night and surely will become a repeat offender in our house.

egg white frittata with young garlic greens

 From the roasted young garlic greens and the egg whites divorced from their yolks for the creme brulee came an egg white frittata. This was the least successful dish and in retrospect the garlic greens would have been better as a scallion pancake. C'est la vie.

Valentine's Dinner

This Valentine's, we thought to keep it simple and eat at home. Ha! Little did we know practically everyone else in the East Bay was doing the same! Our local grocery store, Berkeley Bowl was amass of frantic loved ones, reading from lists and recipes in the aisles. Bare in mind, it was the middle of the day on a Monday and yet the waitlist for the fish and meat counter was 13 deep! Yikes. 
DH witnessed the madness in Rockridge when our favorite baguette source, La Farine was sold out of every type of bread and the neighboring meat and seafood shop had a line snaking out the door!
Once home though, I was at ease in the kitchen. I opted to make a simple meal of DH's favorite things: roasted root veggies, gougeres, curried cauliflower and halibut.

roasted roots: red&golden beets, gold potatoes, turnips, rutabaga & black radish

curried cauliflower

roast halibut on a bed of young garlic greens

To drink, DH popped a bottle of mighty fine bubbly. A tart green apple taste and a dry mouth feel, the Champagne sang beautifully with each dish, especially the fish.

For dessert, molasses creme brulee and a Valentine's classic, pink frosted butter cookies!

pink cookies

brulee done with our camping torch, compliments of Bruce!

molasses creme brulee

Hope everyone had a delightful day and evening, devoid of madness. Happy Valentine's Day, one day late.