Fresh Tart

Back from lovely California - hey, where'd the sun go?  John and I had a whirlwind birthday weekend, flying into L.A. and driving to Santa Barbara on Thursday.  After stopping in Malibu for a quick road-side, fish-shack lunch (fish tacos!), we drove on to Bacara, a lovely resort just north of the city of Santa Barbara.  Rushing to unpack and enjoy as much of the afternoon as possible, I realized that...I forgot my camera battery!  Noooooo!  I had taken it out to charge, didn't put it back, uuuuuugh.  I luckily had my point-n-shoot stashed in my purse, but it barely had any battery power.  I was only able to snap a couple of hurried pics the whole trip (you're looking at 'em).  Disaster.

I shook it off and we set out for downtown Santa Barbara, hoping to stumble again upon this cool little place we stumbled upon two years ago on a previous day-trip from L.A. (couldn't remember the name or exact location).  We didn't find it so stopped instead at a sweet little hotel, where we had...the worst meal I've had in a long time.  Nice wine, but a very un-fresh shrimp cocktail, followed by a salad of lovely greens drenched in a weird, thick, flavorless dressing.  And for a main course, a seriously smelly piece of salmon - with lovely sauteed baby artichokes alongside.  The manager comped the whole thing (very, very nice guy, felt terrible) and we walked out giggling at how bad it was.  To ward off a completely inauspicious start to our trip, we bopped over to the Four Seasons Biltmore, sat in the gorgeous bar, had a tasty snack and glass of wine, and called it a night.

Friday, much better food experiences!  First of all, we found the little spot we'd been looking for!  Turns out it's called Elements, and is still every bit as charming as we'd remembered.  It was a perfect sunny 75 degrees outside (love California!), so we sat on the patio and nibbled tasty salads and sipped a delicious, cool glass of local white wine.  We spent the afternoon driving around (checking out the waterfront, gorgeous neighborhoods, and impossible views - with ocean on one side, mountains on the other, definitely does not suck), hiking through the Botanic Garden (at left), and strolling through the beautiful Santa Barbara County Courthouse (pictured above).

We zipped home to freshen up, then back to meet our friends David & Dana Cremin, who drove up from L.A. to have dinner with us.  The four of us settled in on the patio at the magical Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch, just in time for the sun to set in the mountains.  Sigh.  Lovely spot, thank you David & Dana for setting it up.  We split glossy, salty, grilled artichokes to start, halved and pressed hard into the fire, crusty black at the edges and brushed with balsamic vinegar to finish.  Rustic deliciousness, they stole the show.  For my entree I had silky-crisp roasted halibut with baby vegetables.  David & Dana brought fabulous wine, we all sampled John's birthday dessert, and well after dark we went our separate ways, hoping to get together again at some point this summer.

Saturday morning we packed up and hit the road, north to Carmel, to visit my aunt Jean & uncle Del in their new home in the mountains just west of the village.  It was way too quick of a visit, but totally worth it to celebrate John's birthday dinner with them and spend even a brief time at their lovely hacienda/ranch.  Jean made a beautiful breakfast yesterday morning, then we set out for the San Jose airport.  Yes indeed, we packed a lot of California into four short days!

Happy Birthday John!!!

Over this past Date Weekend, great biking (a correctly tuned bike! I'm so into it!) with John and a couple of lovely meals out to boot. As I mentioned below, we kicked off a long weekend together last Thursday, in the uber-romantic bar at Cafe Lurcat (twinkly chandeliers everywhere, pic from their website). No frites this trip - moderation, natch - but when I head back next Thursday, with my minxes, we're all over the frites, oh yeah. Can't wait!

Then Sunday night, pre-Neil Diamond (we were invited by John's client Frank and his wife Christine, total blast, thank you), we had a fabulous dinner at Heartland - yes, the Heartland of our Bizarre Foods Minnesota adventure - in St. Paul. I love everything about Heartland, from Chef Lenny Russo to the Mission-style dining room to the genius wine list to the beautiful, fresh, locally-sourced food. I had two appetizers - the house-smoked bacon-pinto bean soup with tomato concassee and fresh summer herbs, followed by the fried zucchini blossoms with fava bean mousse filling, kohlrabi-dill slaw, and cucumber-walnut vinaigrette. I just...lurved them both, especially the squash blossoms, so crispy and salty, perfectly set off by the tangy slaw and vinaigrette. I kept saying, this is my kind of dish, oh yeah, I love this food, it's all about the contrast, this is so me...blah, blah, blah. John was too polite to not listen, but I realize (um, in retrospect) that I was perhaps a bit monotonous. What can I say? I completely enjoyed every bite, and yes, it was my kind of dish. (No pic, damn it, forgot my camera. Needless to say, pretty, pretty.)

This week I'm mining the riches of my LaFinca veggie share - salad greens, broccoli (to be stir-fried with sugar snap peas tomorrow night), kohlrabi (great sliced thin for dipping in yummy things like olive tapenade), strawberries (which I finished, en pint, after a long bike ride last Friday, OMG good), and kale, which I'll saute for lunch tomorrow for myself and my sis, Stacey. I'm pretty much obsessed with kale sauteed with garlic and finished with lots of salt and lemon or balsamic. Crave-worthy, even in the summer.

This Thursday night, a beefy din at Morton's with the Mack's and Zimmern's, coming right up (pedal, pedal, pedal). Friday, dinner here with the Lynch's (more pedaling or walking or something, Lord help my butt). Not sure how we're fitting in a little post-season baseball tourney as well, but you know, somehow it all works. Nathan's playing tennis, golf, basketball, and now baseball again for a few days, but it's summer in Minnesota, baby, we'll take whatever comes our way. How pretty has this weather been? Ah, these are the days to remember in the depths of winter, as rockin' as those fried squash blossoms filled with fava puree... Just beautiful (the pic is of lovely Maud arranging flowers in Sag Harbor, summer in a pic, as it were). Splash!

Moderate it: it's worth filling out restaurant meals with vegetables. Certainly no guarantee for low calories - restaurants use fat liberally to make veggies tasty, even the steamed, roasted, and grilled versions - but better than starch dishes (like, oh, frites, mashed potatoes, risotto, pasta, bread stuffings), which were practically invented to absorb an insane amount of oil and cream.

Baseball, steaks, naan, and um, Volkswagen? Not quite as catchy (or kitschy) as the old Chevrolet jingle but the sentiment, while not pure Americana, is the same - man, there is nothing like a sunny summer's day, ahhh. We caught some actual heat today, which meant real pool time for Nathan and John, a long, sweaty walk for me, and some grilled goodies for us all. And then, to cap off the day, an evening baseball game. What a perfect night for a game! And Nathan's team came from behind to win! Just a lovely, fun end to the weekend. I hear it's going to rain again this week so I'm extra thrilled to steal one of these beautiful days.

So, as for the steaks - I grilled a top sirloin, one of my favorite cuts. On the leaner side, but juicy and full of flavor, particularly good on the grill. Although in my mind it needs nothing more than a generous sprinkle of Kosher salt before hitting the heat, top sirloin takes nicely to a marinade or generous rub of crushed garlic and spices - steak tacos, anyone? Oh yeah!

And because grilled bread in any form is one of the most delicious things on the planet, I grabbed some naan at Whole Foods, rubbed it with a bit of olive oil, gave it a light sprinkle ofsalt, and grilled until smokin' hot and soft. Soooo good. Works great with pita as well. And of course thick slices of baguette or other crusty bread is The Kill. With soup, or salad, or alongside grilled steaks, chicken, or fish - makes the meal, and that's not an exaggeration.

Now...I'm beat, guess I'm not much used to the heat. The plan is to sleep like a rock and move on into Monday... Happy June! And oh, Happy 50th Anniversary to my in-laws Dot & John - 50 years, my friends, incredibly impressive. Can't wait to celebrate in just a few short weeks!

OK, it's a couple of days early, but I won't be able to blog on the actual big day so... Consider this post a free pass to eat a disgusting amount of chocolate, and oh! Perhaps some prepared foods if we can put our hands on something worthy (that's his thing, prepared foods; as he describes it, it comes from growing up "with a deli tradition." I...don't have a response.) And def some kill frites with a glass of red wine (we share a love for that combo, ha). Good Things! For a Good Man. He deserves every single one of them and more.

(He's laughing with his brother Tom, above, while snarfing Blue Sky Creameryice cream - not an unusual sight when these two get together. Hey, Happy Birthday Tom - April 20th - as well! And Happy Birthday to my aunt Marge, sandwiched between the Levy brothers on April 19th - hope you loved Jersey Boys!)

Thank you. One of my New Year's resolutions was to write more thank you notes, and since this is where I most often write, here's a quick thank you note for reading my blog and passing it along to others. I owe John and Stu the Wine Genius promoter's fees, truly. Stu's forwarded my blog to half the serious Bordeaux wine drinkers in the Twin Cities and beyond - way better than I deserve! He also sent it to Philip Dorwart, which garnered the surprise mention on Cities 97 last Thursday, too cool for school. And you may have noticed comments from "Whatsername" in a few of my posts, which if you follow her linked name, you'll discover she's the anonymous author of a Twin Cities Business magazine blog called Company Time. Why anonymous? Because she writes the nitty gritty - and sometimes girlie! - details about life in corporate Minneapolis. It's a riot, insightful and gossipy and smart. And she loves to eat and cook! Wish I knew who the heck she is, I'd like her in a flash, I can tell! But for now, we'll just know each other online, and that's pretty sweet too. Who knew the internet would be this fun? Crazow.

And for everyone else, thanks for reading, man. Keep cooking, and eating, and telling me about it, and I'll do the same. Cheers!

If it appears I'm cooking more than usual, it's because...I am. Don't know why exactly... Overly house-bound in truly deep-freeze weather? Trying to cheer up a Blue Johnny? Whatever the reason, I'm going with it while the inspiration moves me. Bonus One, children + husband = very pleased, ha, since I even made dessert last night, which I usually only do for dinner parties or holidays. (Scrooge Mommy? Perhaps a bit, but in the name of moderation, we have to trim somewhere... And since sweets aren't "my thing," the effort goes into dinner, which is. My thing. Bah humburger.) No fancy tortes, just my stepmom Susanna's Apple Crapple (Apple Crisp), easy to assemble while Nathan and John grooved at the U2 3D movie (they loved it). Bonus Two, makes the house smell like heaven (Apple Crapple, not the U2 3D movie) and best of all - with its extra-generous crust - it's pretty insanely delicious. And Bonus Three, uber-fab the next day. Nathan had a big ol' scoop for brekkie, oh yeah, happiness.

I also baked bread (yesterday) and turned it into French Dip sandwiches for dinner - the last hurrah, and third tasty iteration, of the beef pot roast I braised on Saturday afternoon. I feel like such a Depression-Era Leftover Queen (Waste Not, Want Not!) with my hashand roast beef sandwiches. Not fancy, just rib-stickin' cheap eats which happen to taste damn gooood. Happy, happy. Happy.

Tonight, I had a bag of frozen shrimps to turn into...something. Different. Grill 'em, stir fry 'em, toss 'em with pasta, toss 'em into a salad, meh, I wanted a new groove. Something Frenchy, perhaps. Under puff pastry? Just did meat pies last week. Soup? Just did the clam version the week before. Think think think. Ooh, I know, crepes! I forget about crepes! I'll Pimp my Shrimps with crepes! Easy peasy, totally scrumptious, I whipped up a batch, and a quick, creamy sauce (not terribly rich, actually), folded the shrimps into the sauce, spooned the sauce into (and onto) the crepes, ran 'em under the broiler, et voila.Browned, crusty, shrimpyFondue de Crustaces en Crepes (a la Julia Child, by the way; once again, thank you Julia...recipe posted in comments, below). Serve with a simple, crisp salad and you've got dinner (or a pretty, special luncheon).

Tomorrow - no balmy walk like I scored this morning. Back into the deep freeze we go, sigh. Man, it felt nothing short of amazing to be strolling bare-headed, without windpants, without huge mittens, and best of all, without a wet, soggy scarf over my face (ugh). Well, perhaps more inspired eats to cheer my about-to-be-chilly-again soul. Hey, lunch with my stepmom Susanna at Luci Ancora will be a great start! (Props for the ongoing celebration of my 41st year, yes!) Stay tuned...

Sweet, sweet Saturday. As much as I love being with my kids, every other Saturday (due to our second-marriage, share-custody status), John and I have the day to ourselves. We try to take full advantage of our limited - yet usefully predictable - alone time and have ourselves a fine Saturday (lemons to lemonade as they say, not that I'd suggest divorce and remarriage as a "fun" way to find alone time as a couple, Lord no; but hey, we all have to find and polish life's duller benefits wherever they exist).

We usually scrape out a tasty brunch or lunch of some sort (if not a movie as well), either here at the hacienda or at, you know, La La Lucia's. Today, it was here, with leftovers from my high-input-yet-solo dinner last night. John had a work thang, but I was in the mood to cook, so I made myself (as I had mentioned) Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast as well as grilling up a few lamb rib chops. Oh Good Lord, I had such a good meal by myself it was almost obscene as I talked, sang, danced, and laughed through the preparation.

Best of all - plenty of leftovers for today's lunch, which we just happily, heartily consumed. With sips of the holiest of wines, our beloved Turley Zinfandel, this time a 2003 Lodi Zinfandel, Dogtown Vineyard. Sigh. We only pull out the Turley if I've worked really hard on a meal, and it's turned out particularly deliciously, and this meal qualified. Charred, salty lamb chops, followed by creamy, spicy watercress soup, bathing a crispy, chewy, herb-buttered crouton... Ridic, really, and best consumed in a lavender-scented garden somewhere in Provence (the window in the pic makes me want to leap right through, sniffing deeply as I crash-land, ahhh...), but we made due with our own - because, you know, we had to - winter-in-Minnesota kitchen. Cold, gray skies warmed by Larry Turley and Suzanne Goin, as it were. And perhaps (!) a bit of my own enthusiasm for eating and sipping heartily and well with my Johnny on a Saturday's afternoon...

No complaints here, my friends, none at all. (Well, perhaps one tiny complaint - as in, it's over! Lunch is gone, wine is put away, sniff. Always the moderateepicurean's dilemma - knowing when to call it quits. Shucks. Time for a cup of really strong coffee - nothing signals "the end" of a meal like a great cup of coffee.)

Party Crasher, that's me! John's law firm hosted a meet-n-greet with an accounting firm last night and with permission (I wasn't a total crasher), I happily horned in on the delicious appetizers (catered by the Modern Cafe), vino, and chat. Organized by John's partner Jennie Clark, who is on the board of the Minnesota Center for Photography, the event was held at...the Minnesota Center for Photography! Terrific space, with a stunning current exhibit (Three Gorges), I had a great time and stayed (crashed!) just long enough for John and me to snag Stu The Wine Genius and drag him out for dinner with us. The MCP is in NE Minneapolis, and Stu remembered the fun dinner at The Sample Room we'd had with his wife Debbie, Rudy Maxa, and Ana Scofield (our pre-Napa planning dinner), so we bopped over there for casual eats. Setting = lovely, food = not so much, but we had a great time anyhow and dished on Tuesday night's Commanderie dinner, so it was all good, all good.

Today, Friday Morning Coffee with Suz, of course. More upbeat than a couple of weeks ago (we didn't cover the Holocaust or talk politics today), we were back to our usual shrieking and howling primly (bah ha ha!) about bodily fluids, oh yeah! Not so great for anyone near us trying to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee, but fabulous for my frozen winter spirits! All hail Suz the Metal Mommy!

Since I've eaten out no less than four times this week - FOUR - I'm mos def making din tonight. It's my turn for a go at the Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast recipe I posted a few weeks back. I'm grilling the lamb chops too, oh yeah, we'll be ushering in the weekend in fine (watercressy, lamby) style.

Enjoy yours!

La Belle Vie! Joyeux Anniversaire a moi! Well, almost. As usual, the celebration - of, in this case, the end of my 41st year - involves more than one day. Which I love! Yeah, it rather sucks to have a birthday so close to Christmas...the combo Christmas/birthday gift totally bites - and yet, it does somehow stretch out the celebration into something long, slow, and mellow, and I can't one bit complain about that.

So tonight, two days early, the celebration began in earnest, in the stunningly elegant bar at La Belle Vie, just John and me, YES! Bling (including a beautiful new bracelet from Suz), frites (it's no birthday sans frites), langoustines (fried shrimps), vino (Cote de Rhone), and chocolat (in several forms, with a lovely birthday message!) made for a fabulous beginning to this all-about-my-birthday (wink) weekend.

Stay tuned... I plan to celebrate quietly, yet nicely...