Farm Fresh

Wow, been crazy busy lately and haven't had time for posting (busy is good, so I can't complain).  Couple things I want to share with you from the past couple weeks.

If you've been following this blog, you know that I started doing Farm to Table dinners with Lisa Marvier at Farm Girl Nursery last month.  You might also remember that we were brought together by food blogger extraordinaire, Karen Pavone.  Two weekends ago Karen put together a beautiful evening at Farm Girl Nursery that included nine women involved in the SLOW Food movement (think the opposite of fast food....local, seasonal, organic, real food).  She called it "The Farmanistas' Dinner," and I was fortunate enough to be among this group of wonderful women....

We each brought a dish that was grown in our own gardens, farms or from local purveyors that highlighted the season.  Not sure if the food was delicious because it was clearly made with love or because it was made with fresh, local and seasonal ingredients or because these women certainly know their way around the kitchen.....I think it was all of the above!  I ate more than I should have, and didn't regret it one minute!  We laughed, shared our stories and dreams for the future, drank wine, and made new connections and friendships...a magical evening....

How do I top that?  Well, with another magical evening..... September's Farm to Table dinner at Farm Girl Nursery. 

This dinner was extra special; 32 guests (word got out and we stepped it up big time from the 18 at our first dinner last month!) and a very special guest, Agnes Kwenda, the founder of Precious Lives Foundation in Zimbabwe. Agnes started Precious Lives at the tender age of 29 in response to the overwhelming problem of abandoned babies in the region in which she lives.  She soon realized that there was just as great a need, if not greater need, to help the poor young women (often victims of rape, and mercilessly ousted from their villages because of that) who gave birth to these babies, but had no means to provide for them.  Here is the beautiful Agnes and my wonderful team of chefs who helped me that night, Wesley, Tom and Britt:

We started with an amuse bouche of my mushroom pate while the guests mingled and enjoyed some wine and a walked around the farm.  Once seated they were met with a panzanella bread salad,

followed by a sweet corn bisque topped with crispy shiitakes (recipe below)

 then individual rounds of my summer vegetable gratin ( my spin on Ina Garten's VegetableTian) and roasted halibut served on a bed of baby greens, juicy cherry tomatoes and crisp cucumber.

I came out before each course to a joyful group of people to talk about where the food came from and how it was prepared and answer their questions...and share their wine...they were so generous and lovely!



And we topped off the meal with my wack-a-doo Orange-Infused Chocolate Chia Pudding topped with a berry compote and a bit of whipped cream...

I was so immersed in the evening (and always a little nervous), getting the food out on time, properly plating the dishes, helping clean up and set the next course, and talking to the guests about the meal that I hadn't even noticed that all the plates came back licked clean, until Tom pointed it out to me.  That's a good night!  It turned out to be another one of those magical nights that you wish would never end.....

Our next Farm to Table dinner is scheduled for October 20th and is almost sold out, so if you're interested, email me at suzanne@cookingbythebay.com.  In the meantime try this simple, yet delicious Sweet Corn Bisque....

Sweet Corn Bisque

Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 ears corn, kernels removed from cob

½ cup chopped onion

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons vegetable broth

¼ cup half & half

Salt & pepper to taste

·         Heat oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

·         Add onions and corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

·         When brown bits begin to appear in bottom of pan, deglaze with a little vegetable broth, scraping up the brown bits.  Continue to do so until corn and onions are lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes.

·         Add vegetable broth, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

·         Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.

·         Return to pot and stir in the half and half.

·         Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Butternut Chili....yes, really.

It's gotten a little cooler these days, and I think the first official day of autumn is this Saturday, so all of a sudden I can't help but think about my favorite fall foods.  One of those faves is chili.  I make a lot of different kinds of chili throughout the colder months.  That's the beauty of chili, it can be made with turkey, beef, pork or vegetarian.  You can use all kinds of beans or just one type.  You can switch up the seasonings, and herbs and take it into a certain ethnic direction.  I dig it!

But when I told one of my friends today that I was going to make a butternut squash chili, I could feel the eye roll in his voice.  Some people are so old school  (I think maybe some people just lack imagination!).  Since I don't follow a particular set of rules, just my heart, I don't see how you can't know that the sweetness of butternut would mix perfectly with the spicy tang of chili.  Sweet and spicy, just like me....that works, right????  Plus there's the textural element that the bite-sized cubes of butternut squash add to this chili.  All in all, it's warm bowl of goodness....both from a health standpoint and a "wow your taste buds" standpoint.

I started by whipping up a quick batch of vegetable stock....onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley and tomatoes.

It only takes a half hour for this to come together, so while it was simmering I prepped the rest of my chili ingredients: chopped some onion and shallots, minced some garlic, peeled and chopped a butternut squash, seeded and chopped a jalapeno pepper, opened a couple cans of black beans, a can of pinto beans, and a can of fire roasted tomatoes.  i measured out some chili powder, cumin and coriander and we're ready to roll.   Again bucking the rules, I usually wait until the end of cooking to taste and then adjust my seasonings; in this case I added salt and pepper, of course, along with a little balsamic vinegar (learned this tip from my college sweetheart's mom) and some grade B maple syrup to balance out the acid from the tomatoes.

I made this for a client tonight, but managed to save a little bowl for myself.  Welcome autumn....bring it!



Butternut Squash Chili

Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped shallot

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

2 cups peeled, diced butternut squash

2 ½ cup vegetable stock

2 15-oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 14-oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes, with juice

2 T chili powder

1teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Salt & pepper to taste

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add onion and shallot and saute  minutes until softened.
• Add jalapeno pepper and garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add butternut and saute for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the veg broth, beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and coriander.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes uncovered.
• Add vinegar and maple syrup and continue cooking  minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Season to taste with salt & pepper.

Yum it up!!!

Soup's On!

I'm working on my ideas for fall classes, and soup comes to mind first.  It's one of my most popular classes.  Tonight I used two of my favorite birthday gifts, my new ceramic knives and my Vitamix, to create a delicious smoky corn bisque.  If you're not familiar, a Vitamix is essentially a blender on steroids.  It can cut through anything, make frozen desserts and drinks, hot soup, even pizza dough (trying that soon!).  As for ceramic knives....all I have to say is go out an get one!!  They are so sharp and so lovely that I'm looking for any excuse to cut stuff since I received these on Monday.

I start most soups with a mirepoix, a classic French combination of two parts onion to one part carrot and one part celery.  This is a classic base for many sauces, soups and stocks.

As soon as those flavors start blending and heating up, I am immediately taken back to my grandmere's kitchen.  This was the foundation for so much of her cooking.  It's the smell of home and it warms my heart instantly.  I cooked the onion, celery and carrot for about 8 minutes until softened.  Then I added a tablespoon of chopped garlic and one chopped and seeded jalapeno pepper.  If you're going to puree your soup, don't worry too much about your knife skills, but try to keep the pieces about the same size so that they will cook evenly.

Next I added fresh corn from four ears.  Cut the kernels off the cob and then use the back of your knife to scrape the cob and get all that sweet milk into the pot.  Next add vegetable stock, six cups in this case.  Six cups of stock turns into eight cups of soup once cooked and blended.  I also added a cup of chopped cauliflower, which is a brilliant way to make a soup creamy without adding any cream.  I added a couple pinches of salt, brought it up to a boil and then reduced the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, I added a teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme from my garden and a teaspoon of smoked paprika. I let that hang out for another 5 minutes to infuse the soup with that smoky herb flavor.

Then into my new best friend, my Vitamix.  Whether you have one or a blender or food processor, doesn't matter.... just puree the soup in batches until smooth.  Put it back in your pot and add 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.  This one is going on the books for October's classes....so creamy, smoky and smooth.

Smoky Corn Bisque
Serves 8

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups fresh corn kernels (use frozen when corn isn't in season)
6 cups vegetable broth
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

• Heat olive oil in a stock pot over medium high heat.
• Add onion, celery and carrot and saute, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes until softened slightly.
• Add jalapeno, garlic and salt and saute an additional 2 minutes.
• Add corn and stir to combine.
• Add broth and cauliflower.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes.
• Add smoked paprika and thyme and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
• Working in batches, puree soup until smooth in a blender or food processor.
• Return to pot and add white wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
• Garnish with thyme sprigs.

What's your favorite soup????

Simplicity....and the help of some friends

Yesterday was my birthday.  Since that was a Monday, in my circle of friends and family that means a weekend of dining out, drinks and celebrating in all ways possible. 

This was Sunday at one of my favorite places on the planet, Domaine Carneros, with some of my favorite ladies on the planet.

On my birthday night my friend Tom took me to NOPA in San Francisco for one of the best meals I've had in a long time (but anytime someone else cooks for me and does the dishes, I'm a happy girl!)....I wish I had taken pictures of our food, but it was so dang good that I forgot!  But here's a look from our birds-eye view... best table in the place because it overlooked the kitchen, so we got to watch all the action.

We started with a grilled flatbread with bacon, mission figs, bell peppers, crescenza (an Italian cheese), and arugula.  Sooo good.  Tom got the rabbit over the creamiest polenta I've ever tasted  and haricots vert. I was torn between the rotisserie chicken with grilled bread, avocado, blue cheese, walnuts & sherry onions (come on!) or the Moroccan Vegetable Tagine with toasted almonds and lemon yogurt.  Tom said, "You know what the chicken's gonna taste like, right?" Well yeah, chicken.  "But do you know what the tagine will taste like?"  To some people that might make them order the chicken, because it's kind of a sure thing, but I realize an adventure when I see one.  And a culinary adventure is my favorite kind.  Good chioce (good advice, Thomas)....spicy, creamy, perfectly blended flavors and textures.  I was full.  But then came the "birthday dessert," house made peach ice cream with a cinnamon-sugar shortbread cookie.  Now, I'm really done!

I woke up this morning still full.  My friend Dana made me a fantastic minestrone soup for lunch that was the perfect little amount of food.  Then came dinner time, still not really hungry.  I was supposed to be testing my sweet corn bisque and panzanella salad, so I can scale them for my Farm to Table dinner on the 22nd.  I bought all the ingredients, but when I came home and discovered that the lovely Chris had left a basket of fresh tomatoes (among other veggies fresh from the garden) on my front porch, I decided on a decidedly simpler evening bite.

Tom surprised me with the gift of two ceramic knives last night, and there'so better way to check out the sharpness (is that a word?) of your knife than seeing how it cuts through a tomato.  These cut through them like a hot knife through butter!  (I highly recommend these Kyocera knives).  I took a bit of my baguette (reserved for my panzanella salad test.....ooops) drizzled it with a little olive oil, topped it with chopped tomatoes (red and yellow sprinkled with sea salt),  freshly picked basil leaves from my garden, and smoked mozzarella.  Bake it at 350 for about 10 minutes until bread is crispy and mozz melts, then drizzle with balsamic.  I thought after days of not cooking that I would go bigger than this, but this was perfect.  Sometimes simple is all you need.  Sometimes simple is perfect.... especially when you're using fresh, in-season ingredients.  Don't stress; think simple.

Yum it up!

Just Trust Yourself

."

It's birthday weekend...

My fifth birthday... love the cake!

Well it's the first of two birthday weekends - that's what happens when your birthday falls on a Monday; people tend to drag it out.  Sounds fun (and it is!!), but really it can be fattening.....lots of drinks and dining out!

Today was a big, fat brunch at Il Fornaio with the family, then drinks with friends.  Tomorrow is my first stand up paddleboard experience (at least I'm trying to work in something to offset the eating frenzy!) and then off to Napa with the girls for an afternoon of champagne tasting at Domaine Carneros.  Monday is more food, food, food.... lunch in Saulsalito and then dinner in The City.  Hopefully I can work a hike in there somewhere!

Tonight, I came home after having drinks with friends to my only chance of cooking for a couple days.  I'm reading this great book The Improvisational Cook, and it inpires me to just trust myself with what I have available. So here's another one of my no recipe-recipes....you can do it!  Trust yourself.

I just received some tomatoes from my friend Chris's garden (and knew that had to be the star).  I also had onions, red bell peppers, baby spinach, garlic and kalamata olives.  I was thinking pasta (when aren't I?).  I had some orzo, so I boiled some salted water and threw in the orzo.  Orzo only takes 9 minutes, the pefect amount of time to saute up some fresh veggies.  I started with onion, red bell pepper and garlic.

Then I tossed in the olives and tomatoes with a little red wine vinegar.  When you think of tomatoes, what else comes to mind....basil, oregano and parmesan.  Of course!  I clipped the herbs from my garden and shredded a wee bit of parm into the skillet.  Before draining the orzo, I saved a little of the starchy water to add to the skillet to create a "sauce" along with a squeeze of lemon. Add the orzo and the baby spinach, stirring to wilt the spinach, then season with salt and pepper, and maybe a little more vinegar.  And viola!  Yummy and healthy dinner in a flash.  It's that easy...

I always like to add some chopped nuts to my pasta, for texture, healthy fat, and protein.  Pecans and walnuts are my faves.  This was so good that it was hard to not go back for seconds....but tomorrow morning is me in a bathing suit on a paddle board, so I thought better of it.  For now, I'll be patient.  There's always tomorrow.....

Yum it up!!

What a Weekend!

Three day weekends are made for fun, friends and food.  This Labor Day weekend has been no exception.  It also included another favorite of mine....road trips with the top down!

Did someone say "road trip?!"

Saturday was a trip out to Bodega Bay to get together for a party at my friend Jing's house.  Jing doesn't do anything halfway....this is the spread that we walked into:

And then there was this....



And this....

Apparently my friend Wesley doesn't do anything halfway either, bringing a coconut cream pie, a mixed berry pie and an apple galette! I didn't even get a picture of the table in the kitchen full of cookies and other sweets, or Chris from Gerard's cooking up batches of paella on the back deck.  I'm getting full all over again just thinking about it!  No, I didn't eat all of it....but I came too close.

The only safe place for me was sitting next to this...

I'm allergic to shrimp.  I'll sit here for a while!  I'm wearing my new skinny jeans and I'd like to keep being able to wear them.  Such a fun day visiting with friends, drinking wine, eating our heads off, telling stories and laughing...a lot.

After overindulging a little bit on Saturday, I was really looking forward to visiting my friend Janice in Inverness on Sunday to go kayaking on Tomales Bay.  A little fun exercise was definitely in order! 

And now one more day of indulgence.... Labor Day is a big barbeque day.  Burgers, burgers everywhere. I'll be making a healthy, delicious (and oh so easy) alternative to the basic burger; my salmon burger.  I was saving this for a post on Budget-Friendly Meals, but I'm busting it out now.  I serve this over baby spinach tossed with sauteed shiitakes and a little Sirracha/Greek yogurt spicy sauce, but of course it's yummy on a bun with all your favorite condiments. 

Salmon Burgers

Serves 3

1 6-oz can wild Alaskan salmon

3/4 cups panko

1 egg, beaten

1 stalk celery, diced

2 tablespoons diced red onion

2 tablespoons diced red bell pepper

1 tablespoon Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons capers, with a little juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• Mix all ingredients except the oil in a bowl until well combined.
• Form into 3 patties.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat, and cook 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through.

Fish Tacos

I looooove Mexican food.  I could eat it every single, dingle day.  Many, many years ago I first heard about fish tacos.  Sounded disgusting.  "Tacos are either chicken or beef", I thought.  This was long before they became popular, by the way.  I was listening to my morning radio show, Sarah and Vinnie (in the first round of Sarah & Vinnie, pre Sarah and  No Name days), and Vinnie was talking about Rubio's and their awesome fish tacos.  Sarah mirrored my reaction of "Gross!"  But then she tried them and quickly changed her mind.  About this time, Rubio's opened near my office, so I thought if Sarah could be convinced, maybe I could, too.  And I was, at first bite!  Since then, I've rarely had a taco that wasn't a fish taco.

 My friend Matthew, a pretty accomplished chef, fixed me a fabulous salmon dinner about a week ago, and I promised to return the favor and cook for him.  Having read the blog post about his dinner and seeing that I felt a little intimidated cooking for someone like him, he told me that he wanted to be sure that I cooked for him only if I had fun.  So after thinking of fancy, creative or "wack-a-doo" creations that would impress, I realized he was right; cooking for someone should be fun.  I believe that the energy and mood you cook with goes into your food.  So I wondered.... what food was "fun" for me......and fish tacos, it was!

Of course, I have to try something new (that's really the fun part!)  I made two sauces, one for the rice and one for the slaw.  I wanted a version of my cilantro lime rice, but with a little bit of a kick....so I added chopped jalapeno pepper to it.  For the slaw, a fish taco necessity, I made an avocado cream: avocado, Greek yogurt, lime juice, garlic, white wine vinegar and olive oil.  Soooooo good!  Just toss the shredded cabbage in this avocado cream, and you might not wait for the fish to cook!

On the side, you have to have black beans....mine had diced green chiles, cumin and coriander.  And along with the creamy slaw, I added sliced olives and chopped grape tomatoes (didn't even miss the cheese!) to top the tacos.

As for the fish, I really wanted halibut, but my local market was sorely lacking in its seafood selection (Matthew and I figured it was because of the long holiday weekend....Labor Day is more of a barbeque holiday; the beef selection was faaaaar better).  I ended up with tilapia, but that's not by far my first, second or third choice.  The good thing about tilapia is that it takes on whatever flavor you add to it (in this case, cumin, coriander, chipotle chile powder, salt & pepper), the bad thing is that it's almost impossible to find it from somewhere other than Ecuador or Asia (avoid the Asian; it's usually farmed with no regulations or quality standards).  Salmon would be another great choice, but I'd had a lot of salmon in the past week, so I didn't want to have it again, but you should try that, cuz salmon tacos are fantastic, especially if you can barbeque it.

So I had fun. And I didn't feel intimidated at all (surprisingly), because I felt the whole time that the person I was cooking for was just happy to hang out, enjoy a little wine and was grateful for food that was prepared for him with a good mood and a happy heart.  So think about your mood when you cook for your family and friends.... try to be happy and have fun; it may just come through in your food!

Green Rice

Serves 4

1 cup brown basmati rice

1 bunch cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded

2 large cloves garlic

Juice of one lime

1 teaspoon grade B maple syrup

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 --1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• Cook rice according to package instructions.
• Meanwhile place cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, lime juice, maple syrup, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.
• With motor running drizzle in the oil until you reach the consistency you like.
• When rice is cooked, remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes and then stir in sauce.

Avocado Cream

Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups

1 avocado, peeled and pitted

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Juice of one lime

1 large clove garlic

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Yum it up!