Monterey Weekend

Jeff has been talking about a wood-burning pizza oven for quite awhile, so when he heard about a Pizza Expo in Monterey we decided that would be a great way to spend my birthday weekend.  On our drive up, John & I stopped at Pismo Beach for lunch:

Because this weekend is about pizza ovens I had to take this pic:

We assumed we would be eating  a lot of pizza this weekend, so John chose Linguine Vongole (Baby clams, garlic, lemon and herb sauce with white wine):

And I had the house specialty, Braciole (Slow braised flank steak, rolled and suffed with garlic and herbs, simmered in rich tomato ragu served with orriechette pasta):

Both were delicious!

We stayed at a really nice hotel - The Clement Monterey - right on the water, next door to the aquarium, restaurants and shops and very reasonable priced:

We had dinner on Friday night at The Sardine Factory.  John had been here last July when he helped bring Frankie's boat down to Ventura and said it was really good. Well tonight our meals were awful.  The waiter's description of the Sanddabs with Chive Risotto convinced me to try that for my dinner.  You should be thanking me for not taking a picture of the mushy, globby mess I was served. And to top it off, there was an obnoxious drunk at the table next to us.  Oh well, some nights are just like that.

Saturday morning we headed to the Pizza Expo so Jeff could get a close-up look at the wood-burning ovens. They came in all different shapes and sizes:

It was a fun day, Jeff learned a lot about the ovens and John won this great raffle prize (basket filled with ceramic platter, spoon rest, scraper, 00 flour, imported Italian tomatoes, imported Italian oregano):

John & I also snuck in a quick visit to the Monterey Aquarium:

Dinner Saturday night was incredible, more than made up for Friday night.  We went to Roy's at Pebble Beach located in The Inn at Spanish Bay - absolutely beautiful.

On the front page of my menu:

Cocktails: Sarah-White Wine, Jeff-Martini, John & Linda - Roy's Signature Drink (and perhaps Poseidon's new house drink) - Hawaiian Martini, made with fresh Hawaiian pineapple and real vanilla beans in a blend of premium vodka and coconut rum.

Appetizers: Rolled Sushi - Sunrise at Haleakala (tuna, hamachi, salmon & asparagus tempura roll with Dynamite butter) and Lakanilau Roll (seared Kobe beef wrapped around Dynamite crab, tempura asparagus and avocado):

Entrees: Sarah - Crispy Nori Seared Day Boat Scallops with Tempura Vegetables and Mandarin Orange Chile Sauce:

Jeff: Crab Crusted Sea Bass with Chili Sake Vinaigrette and Steamed Braising Greens:

John: Wok Seared Shrimp and Lobster Tail with Crispy Caper, Brown Butter and Balsamic Reduction:

And the best dish of the evening - My Fish Combo - Blackened Rare Ahi with Spicy Soy Mustard Sauce and Japanese Style Misoyaki Butterfish with Sizzling Vegetable Vinaigrette- the ahi was served on top of white rice and the butterfish on top of black rice:

Our wines - Ramey Chardonnay and Dumol Chardonnay - incredible choices John!

And for dessert-Tropical Sorbets:

And a Creme Brulee with Berries:

A beautiful meal and a beautiful weekend.  What a lucky girl I am!!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Lots of laughter and a visit from her two sons seemed to be just the medicine my mother needed.  She has been fighting a bad lung infection for about six weeks so both of my brothers came to visit her.  My brother Steve came from Oregon and my brother Tom and his wife Nita came from Mississippi. Ma was feeling so much better that we all got together on the boat for a barbecue.  Because our family is spread out across the country we don't get the opportunity to be together very often so, of course, we took lots of pics:

John took Steve, Nita & Tom for a wet & wild ride out to the buoy:

And barbecued tri-tip and ribs for our lunch - yummmm!

Super Bowls of Food

My brother, Tom, and his wife, Nita were visiting from Mississippi and did not want to miss the Super Bowl.  I invited them to watch the game on the boat and we could make some Mexican food.  Before we knew it we had a full-fledged Super Bowl Party with 18 people!

We started with a trip to a local Mexican market.  Here are some of the ingredients we came back with:

My brother Tom, roasting Anaheim Chiles for his Chile Rellenos:

Ready to peel, seed and stuff:

The chiles were stuffed with a piece of pepper jack cheese, dipped in an egg white and flour batter and fried until puffy and golden brown.  Then Tom put them in a casserole, topped them with a tomato sauce, a sprinkling of cheese and baked them for about 15 minutes.  Delicious - they were the hit of the party!

Here's Bobby showing off the finished product:

Tom also made Beef Taquitos.  We barbecued a marinated flap steak we had bought at the Mexican grocery, sliced it very thin, rolled slices of the beef into corn tortillas (that had been softened in oil) and fried them until crispy.

Bonnie lent us her super-duper, 3 pot, crockpot: 

She & Curtis filled one pot with their very yummy carne asada and I used the other two for chile verde and a pork & chorizo stew.  I also made fresh corn chips, guacamole, salsa and a flan for dessert.  Dave brought queso fundido, Buffalo chicken wing taquitos and avocadoes stuffed with crab and shrimp.  And just in case that wasn't enough our guests also brought more chips, dips, fruit and homemade chocolate chip cookie bars!!

Kim Cynthia, Judy, Claude, Shirley, Ralph, Bonnie, Dave, Bobby & John:

Laura, Curtis, Tom, Nita, Dad & Mom:

Grandmother Memories

I recently inherited, from my mom and sister, two items that had once belonged to my grandmothers.  My sister gave me a platter that had been a part of my Grandmother Parson's china set.  The minute I saw the dish I was flooded with memories of my grandmother's dining room.  She used these dishes for every dinner.  I mostly remember them piled with pot roast, gravy, mashed potatoes, frozen green beans and dinner rolls.  Grandma's meals were mostly laden with starches.  She assured us we didn't need to worry about the calories in the macaroni and cheese, potatoes or bread as long as we cut the starch by eating a slice of fresh tomato!

The second was a recipe box that had belonged to my mother's mother - Grandma McCoy.

There weren't too many recipe cards left in the box after all of these years, but there were some real treasures.

These two were my favorites - Grandma's hand drawings of cuts of pork & beef.

I have great food memories of both my grandmothers.  Grandma Parson taught me basic cooking skills - how to peel a potato and an apple with a paring knife, not wasting one bit of flesh; how to use a pressure cooker to cook cheap, tough cuts of meat until they were tender and delicious; and how to roll a perfect pie crust.  I treasure the time I shared with her in the kitchen - listening to Graham Kerr on the radio while she enjoyed a "wee-bit" of sherry.

Food memories of my Grandma Coy are quite different.  Besides holiday dinners, I don't have many memories of grandma's kitchen - except getting my very stinky Toni hair permanents so mom could style my hair in ringlets.  I was grandma's first born grand-daughter and she loved taking me out shopping and to lunch.  I had my first "restaurant" meal with grandma.  She took me to the five-and-dime Kress Department Store in Glendale for a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate malt.  I still remember sitting next to her on the high, round stools at the soda fountain and feeling very grown up before we walked across the street to the Alex Theatre to watch the movie Dondi.

I loved sharing these food experiences with my grandmothers and now so delighted to share my love of food with my nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

Veal Chops

We decided to treat ourselves to veal chops for dinner the other night.  The last time we planned to have veal chops we were anchored at Santa Cruz Island.  We were really looking forward to our luxurious barbecue.  I pulled the chops out of the freezer and set them out on the bow to defrost while John & I went for a dinghy ride.  When we were headed back to the boat I noticed a couple of seagulls on the boat.  Nooooooo, the blankety-blank flying rats had pecked through the ziploc and butcher paper and eaten our dinner.  One chop was completely gone and only the bare bone of the other was left.  We had hot dogs for dinner that night.

Not tonight.  I simply seasoned the chops with a little olive oil and salt & pepper and John put them on the grill.  Perfection!  I served them with sauted Oyster mushrooms and steamed artichokes.  We had just sat down to eat when Bobby knocked on our door, poked his head in and said, "I don't know what you're cooking tonight, but the smells coming from your boat are driving the whole marina crazy." Sometimes the simplest meals are the best. 

A Tasty Tart

Goat Cheese Tart with Oven-dried Tomatoes and Olives

We were working on the website for Poseidon Cooks! with the marketing group (Greg & Don) and Peter & Lynne last month.  We met on the boat and I made a couple of these delicious tarts for lunch.  I forgot to take pictures so I made another one last weekend.  Great excuse to have this again, it realy is good.

Start by oven-drying the tomatoes. This can be done the day before.  Core and cut Roma tomatoes in half, crosswise.  Place them, cut side up, on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with slivered garlic and chopped fresh thyme.  Bake in a 300 degree oven for about 2 hours.

The crust is made from puff pastry.  You can buy the pastry in the frozen section of the grocery, but it really is a fun thing to make yourself.  Start by making a butter "brick" using 1 pound of butter and 1/2 cup flour.  I use the food processor to mix it together.  Wrap the butter in plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Mix together 3 cups of flour with 1 cup of water and form into a ball.  Make a crisscoss cut on top of the dough and roll it out into a four-leafed clover shape.  Place the butter brick on top of the dough and bring the edges of the dough back on top to enclose the butter tightly inside.  Roll the dough into a thick rectangle and place back in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 3/8 inch thick.  Fold the dough back on itself about two-thirds up the rectangle.  Fold the single layer back onot the dough to make a three-layered package.  This process is known as one "turn".  Cover the dough and place back in the fridge for another 20 minutes.  Repeat this process until you make six turns. The butter melts during cooking and develops steam which tries to escape, pushing the layers up into the "thousand-leaf" effect.

Roll out the pastry to a 13-inch square and transfer to a tart pan with a removable bottom.  Press the pastry firmly onto the bottom and sides of the pan and trim off the overhang.  Pierce the crust all over with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.  Line the pastry with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and weights and bake until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes.  Cool the crust and lower the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, make the filling by mashing mozzarella cheese, goat cheese and fresh chopped thyme together in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add eggs and cream and stir until the mixture is well blended.  Pour the cheese filling into the crust.  Arrange the oven-dried tomato halves in the filling, cut side up and place black olives in between the tomatoes.  Sprinkle with a little Parmesean cheese and bake until the filling is puffed and set, about 35 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes.  Remove the tart from the pan and serve warm.

I served the tart with an arugula salad.  Perfect weekend lunch: 

Pork, Pork and More Pork

John and I stopped by Bristol Farms in Westlake the other day.  There was a beautiful pork shoulder in the meat case and I asked if I could have about 3 or 4 pounds.  The butcher must have been new on the job.  He cut off a hunk, put it on the scale and it weighed in at 10 pounds.  The meat guy says "so you want about 1/2 of this?"  I decided to save him the trouble and took the whole piece. 

All that pork made me think sausage.  I made 2 pounds each of Mexican Chorizo, Chinese Sausage and Garlic Sausage. 

And enough left over for this beautiful garlic-studded pork roast for Sunday dinner:

Mexican Chorizo:  To the freshly ground pork, add paprika, chile powder, ground ancho chile, ground coriander, ground cumin, salt and red wine vinegar.  I plan to use this in a pork stew for our Super Bowl party next weekend.

Garlic Sausage:  To the freshly ground pork, add minced garlic, chopped fresh thyme, salt, pepper and white wine.  Jeff made this sausage for us when they were here over Thanksgiving.  I loved having it in the freezer for last minute pasta dinners, so decided to re-stock.

Chinese Pork & Shrimp Sausage: To freshly ground pork and shrimp, add soy sauce, sweet sherry, chopped green onions, freshly chopped ginger, minced garlic, Chinese chile paste and Sirracha sauce.  This sausage can be used as a dim-sum filling, meat balls or simple patties.  When making sausage I always cook a small piece to check for seasoning, and let me tell you this one is a real winner!

Happy 2nd Birthday Marco John!

We made a quick trip up to Oakland to celebrate Marco's second birthday. We started off the big day with a trip to the Farmer's Market.

Papa giving Marco a helping hand on his bike:

 

Next a stop at the playground where Marco takes his neighbor Avery on a little spin:

Back home for the big party, Marco poses with a few of his party guests:

Time to open gifts:

So that's it??