Wednesday, September 24th, 2008
Ahhh, Austria! My stomach is smiling.
I loved everything about our dinner at Landhaus Bacher, the Michelin two-star restaurant in this pretty Austian village. Seated in the cozy library, we feasted on a goose-liver terrine with plums, salted pepper-caramel and brioche. Warm brioche, the perfect accompaniment to a silky terrine.
Next came a clear, strong consomme with beef struedel and then filet of veal, paired with a small, scumptious sausage of veal shoulder. The accompanying kohlrabi and semolina dumplings (filled with minced parsley) were so delicious that I forgave the chef for marring the plate with a cream of green p—. I didn’t eat said cream, you understand, but I forgave it.
Dessert was divine: a warm raspberry tart — its crust the perfect love-child of flaky tart shell and tender cookie crust — on a sour cream sauce with ice cream.
I loved the architecture in the Czech Republic, but on any return visits I’ll dash over the border for dinner.
Warm Raspberry Tart, originally uploaded by caseyell.
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Even in the rain Cesny Krumlov is beautiful, but in the cold rain, the sightseeing loses some of its appeal.
And for our only day in this Bohemian village the rain was cold and whipped by a near-freezing wind. But we persevered. Through the twisting streets to the art museum. Down the hill to the marionette museum. Up the hill to the palace gardens. And, finally, gratefully, through a small courtyard to the warmth and sweet aromas of a Chinese tea house, aptly named “Good T Room.”
Comfortable chairs surrounded glass-topped tables based on tea crates. Candles glowed throughout the room. And the tea descriptions were enchanting. “A tea to drink while reading a Russian novel.” “The perfect tea for interrupting contemplation. ” And the tea J. thought most appropriate: “Suitable to drink on the first snowy day.”
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Saturday, September 13th, 2008
In Prague restaurants of all price ranges I’m finding a rather retro holy trinity of ingredients: arugula, pesto and balsamic vinegar. Lots and lots of balsamic vinegar. The scattering of arugula leaves on this pizza was fine–and although ricotta, fresh pears and pine nuts sounds like a caricature of a pizza, it actually was quite good–and the view from the restaurant (right next to the Kafka Museum and alongside the river) was splendid.
Overall, views of river, hills and gorgeous architecture have outshone the food we’ve found. Perhaps my restaurant-finding radar is a bit out-of-whack–although the worst meal so far occurred when I broke one of my cardinal rules: NO MEALS AT RESTAURANTS ABOVE THE GROUND FLOOR. Bell tower location? Shoulda known better.
There is a nice little French restaurant near our hotel where we ate on our first evening and for which I’m campaigning for a return visit. Elsewhere, the dumpling and (so-called) wild game experiences have not been happy ones. We had some superb seafood last night — although, again, lots of balsamic and pesto were involved–but a small rip-off re: the wine prices marred the experience a bit.
Tomorrow we start biking towards Vienna and the food will be, well, tour food. Good tour food, undoubtedly, but unlikely to be particularly bloggable. My taste buds await Vienna.
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Monday, September 8th, 2008
In a few hours I leave for Prague, Vienna and bike routes in-between. Am I ready? Pretty much. Do I have time to post an account of my recent — and stunning –meal at Manresa? Not really. But I want at least to share the menu and some notes I scribbled on it in hopes of giving you an idea of how special an evening it was. Think of this as a daisy-chain of margin notes.
David Kinch in the kitchen. Michael Kane running the dining room. Randall Graham commenting on his Bonny Doon Vineyard wines.
The menu and a few of Graham’s comments:
Canapes on the patio:
tiny tartlets of air-dried beef and minced peaches
sorbet of watermelon with hibiscus essence
beignets of softshell crab and zucchini with a dab of miso cream
tiny radishes wrapped in a layer of sea bass tartare
2007 Vin ris de Cigare, California/2007 Pommeau
***
In the dining room:
Arpege farm egg
R.G: “I usually start talks like this with a quote from Alice Cooper, ‘ Welcome to my nightmare.’
Things are changing at Bonny Doon. I took my eye off the ball for a while, lost the thread of my original propositon that making interesting wine can make the the world a more interesting place than it was before. The business had become like a GREAT party to which we’d stayed a little too long. Now, I’ve sold off parts and we’re making half as much product as we were a few years ago. Our focus is back onto wines of real originality.
We’re encouraging our growers to rely on biodynamics –encouraging, not compelling. To try to compel them would be like trying to compel someone to be a Buddhist. It just doesn’t work.”
Marinated shellfish and golden raspberries in fragrant green curry oil
2007 Ca’del Solo Estate Vineyard Albarino, Monterey County
RG: “This is a funky vineyard; after the fog burns off there’s about three pico-seconds of photosynthesis but there’s a funny saline connection with the soil that lets us practice what I call acoustic winemaking … hands-off winemaking that results in a purer product.”
Abalone in a seaweed persilade with sliced foie gras
An un-named sparkling Riesling–just disgorged–to be
released to the public in September 2009 –perhaps will be called Riesling to Live.
Farm poularde, poached, then roasted, red wine sauce, wild mushrooms
2005 Le Pousseur Syrah Central Coast
RG: Le Pousseur translates as”The Pusher” -It has an opium den-like quality. Slammed to smithereens by Mr. Parker, but I think it captures the essence of old world Syrah …learning to live with the funk. Hope you enjoy it more that Mr. Parker did
Roast rack of lamb with Chinese mustad
Vegetables from the late summer garden
1993 Old Telegram California Mataro (Mouvedre)
2004 Le Cigare Volante, California
Hazelnut creme and mikados
Any’s pluot sorbet with figs
2007 Le Vol des Anges Beeswax Vineyard, Arroyo Seco
RG: “Kind of an accidental wine; late harvest, unexpected botrytis, aroma of quince/Asian pear
Chocolate Truffles
And, after seven courses of truly exquisite food (more to come on some of the dishes in another post):
RG: “That was pretty great.”
Pretty great, indeed. Damned near perfect. Somehow I doubt I’ll taste anything comparable in Prague. If all goes well, and the biking doesn’t leave me comatose at the end of each day, I’ll be posting about my culinary adventures. At the very least, I’ll be sending a few virtual postcards.
Oh, and it’s dead-flat between Prague and Vienna, right? Actually, mostly downhill, right. Right?
By Casey Ellis, tagged with: Bonny Doon, David Kinch, Manresa, Randall Graham. Filed under Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008
I was re-reading, for the umpteenth time, Calvin Trillin’s “Alice, Let’s Eat,” smiling at his account of approaching the home of a superb cook — “Alice claims that when we are walking there for dinner she is often forced to grab me by the jacket two or three times to keep me from breaking into a steady, uncharacteristic trot” — when I realized that I, too, quicken my step when approaching either of Chris Avila’s Santa Cruz restaurants.
Last Sunday I was striding down Walnut Street towards
Soif, spurred on by hunger and anticipation, telling myself that I was only minutes away from the lamb meatballs with almond sauce. And the bruschetta with chevre, pumpkin seeds and pomegranate molasses. And the farinata. I wasn’t trotting, of course. Striding is generally as fast as I ever ambulate, but if I’d known about the stuffed squash blossoms awaiting me, I’d have broken into a highly uncharacteristic gallop.
Two big, fresh squash blossoms had been stuffed with gorgeous Dungeness crab, battered, deep-fried and then set atop a salad of watercress and drizzled with an ever-so-slightly-creamy mustard vinaigrette. “This is the single best dish we’ve ever had here,” J. proclaimed after his first bite and the next day he repeated, “That was the best dish we ever had there.” By today he’d reduced his wistful commentary to “DAMN, that dish was good.”
And it was. I asked one of the cooks what was in the batter, and he told me he just dipped the stuffed blossoms in all-purpose flour, then into beaten whole eggs and then back into the flour. The success of the dish, of course, relied on impeccably fresh ingredients and an attentive server ready to rush the finished dish from fryer to table.
Most of the zucchini blossoms in our garden at the moment are puny but I’ll be monitoring their progress, and when they’re big enough to stuff, I’m going to try replicating this dish. If Calvin Trillin is in the neighborhood, I’ll tell him to trot on over.
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Monday, August 25th, 2008
Just as there are right-brain people and left-brain people, early-morning people and owl-like people, there are cake people and pie people. I was raised in the Church of Cake, but was converted to the Way of Pie after tasting my mother-in-law’s pie crust. Raised on that crust and incredibly delicious fillings, J. would choose pie over cake 364 days a year.
On his birthday, however, he gets cake. If asked, he’d probably prefer pie, but candles on a birthday pie just seem wrong. I bake the same recipe, year after year: a simple, single-layer cake, made rich and moist by butter and almond paste. No icing — just a dusting of powdered sugar — and a generous amount of fresh fruit alongside.
The recipe comes from my friend and baking idol, Flo Braker, and her indispensable “The Simple Art of Perfect Baking.” Although you don’t need a shallow, fluted tube pan to bake it successfully, this was what Flo used when she demonstrated the recipe and I’ve always felt the fluted edge gives an elegant appearance.
In addition to its delicious taste, the cake keeps beautifully. I tote it to potlucks, pack it for picnics and one year I shipped it to my daughter at college, whereupon she suddenly found she had numerous new friends along her dorm hallway.
Flo Braker’s Butter Almond Cake
For a 5 1/2 -cup shallow fluted tube pan OR a 9-inch square pan
Pan prep: Grease, then flour the tube pan generously and carefully; for the square pan, grease, flour and line with parchment paper
Preheat oven to 350-degrees and place rack in lower third of the oven.
Sift together 2/3 cup cake flour, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and dash of salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together 4 large eggs (at room temp.) just to combine yolks and whites.
Place 8 ounces almond paste in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. [Margin Note: There's a reason Flo calls for a heavy-duty mixer. I made this cake most recently at my beach house, with only a hand-held mixer available, and was not a merry little baker.] With the flat paddle, beat it on low for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup granulated sugar in a steady stream and beat until incorporated — about a minute.
Add 5 ounces (11 tablespoons) unsalted, room-temperature butter. tablespoon by tablespoon. Increase mixer speed to medium and cream until mixture is smooth, light in color and fluffy –about 3-4 minutes [M.N.: unless you made the mistake of using a hand-mixer, in which case you'll have time to listen to most of a CD before the damn butter fluffs.] No lumps of almond paste should be visible.
With the mixer still on medium speed, pour in the eggs, cautiously at first, tablespoon by tablespoon, as if you were adding oil when making mayonnaise, and then slightly faster. Once all the eggs are incorporated, continue beating until mixture again attains a light color and fluffy texture.
With a spatula, stir in the flour mixture and mix until smooth. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center is removed free of cake. Place the cake on a rack to cool for about 5 minutes and then turn it out onto the rack to cool completely. [M.N.: I always go around the edges of the pan with a thin, sharp knife to make sure the cake departs the pan with all its flutes intact.]
If serving it with 24 hours or so, store the cake at room temp. It freezes beautifully.
Flo often tops this cake with an icing-like layer of raspberry jam and toasted sliced almonds. When fresh small strawberries or raspberries are available, she substitutes them for the jam and nuts, arranging them in Flo-like perfection atop the cake as though it were a tart. I always take the simpler path: a dusting of confectioner’s sugar on top and a tumble of fresh fruit — berries or diced peaches or chunks of ultra-ripe pears — in the center. A bowl of slightly sweetened whipped cream makes a near-perfect accompaniment.
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
To celebrate a major marital milestone, we spent a night at the new
Cavallo Point resort, nestled on the bay at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. If there’s anything I like better than a long, leisurely dinner with superb food it’s a long, leisurely dinner with superb food followed by a short, leisurely walk back to a handsome hotel room. Oh, and the bottle of 1990 Dom Perignon we had in the room before dinner didn’t hurt.
I’d love to tell you about all the delicious dishes we enjoyed at Murray Circle (the main restaurant at Cavallo Point) but my impeccable filing system refuses to cough up the menu. Actually it’s a small miracle that I had room to taste anything else after I started in on the bread basket — a restaurant item I usually ignore. Two words: Seaweed-flecked rolls. One more word: Sensational.
Equally sensational was the butterscotch souffle–served with a piece of butterscotch blondie and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Executive chef Joseph Humphrey generously shared the recipe. It’s a winner.
Butterscotch Soufflé
Murray Circle at Cavallo Point
Serves 6
For the base:
1 cup milk
1 vanilla bean
1 ½ ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 Tablespoons sugar
¼ cup all- purpose flour
8 ounces butterscotch chips
2 Tablespoons Scotch whiskey
4 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
To finish:
¾ ounce egg whites [Margin Note: That's by weight. I asked Chef Humphrey to clarify and he responded: "I checked with the pastry chef about the egg whites. He says they start with 2 ounces of unwhipped egg whites, but once its whipped they only use about ¼ of it. And the ounce is by weight, not fluid ounces. "]
4 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of cream of tartar
Heat the milk and vanilla bean over medium heat just until the milk starts to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a bowl, mix the butter, sugar, flour and salt to make a paste.
Whisk this mixture into the hot milk and stir until smooth. Return pot to the heat and cook briefly, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and add butterscotch chips. Mix until chips are fully melted and smooth.
Whisk in the yolks 1 at a time until incorporated, followed by the whiskey.
Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat. [M. N.: Be VIGILANT at this point]
Strain through a fine mesh strainer and cool.
Mixture at this point can be made 1 day in advance and kept refrigerated. [M.N. I strongly recommend doing this]
To finish:
Whip the egg whites in a mixing bowl to soft peaks.
Add the sugar , cornstarch, and cream of tartar.
Whip the whites again to stiff peaks. [M.N. But do not overbeat. You want the whites to be stiff but not dry.]
Fold half of the egg whites into the soufflé base
Add this mixture to the bowl of remaining egg whites and gently fold until the whites are just barely incorporated.
Pour the batter into 6 small souffle cups that have been lightly buttered and dusted with sugar, filling each cup only ¾ of the way full.
Bake at 400-degrees for about 9 to 12 minutes, or until fully risen.
Serve immediately.
This is a rich, sweet souffle. I prefer to serve it with unsweetened whipped cream rather than ice cream. The other half of this marital team does not join me in this preference.
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Sunday, August 10th, 2008
[Photo by Chris Ayers]
Here’s what San Francisco Chronicle Restaurant Critic Michael Bauer says about David Kinch:
Who would have thought that when he opened
Manresa in Los Gatos six years ago that an American chef would have cooks from all over the world asking to learn in his state-of-the-art kitchen? Kinch, the protege of Barry Wine at the Quilted Giraffe in New York, uses heavy Spanish and European influences in his innovative menu that still has a California point of view. … the products are pristine; in fact he’s a partner in a biodynamic garden that produces much of the produce used in the restaurant.
Here’s what The Michelin Guide says: Two Stars.
And here’s what I say: David Kinch is a genius. And a helluva nice guy. I adore eating at his restaurant and value his friendship. I could have asked him 40 questions but limited myself to these four:
1. I suspect that when you do cooking demonstrations and guest chef stints you take your own knives. What other equipment/supplies do you usually tote along?
When I do events I try to leave nothing to chance and be as much in control as I can. If I can bring my own ingredients and if I feel it will make the difference, then I will do so. Our dishes tend to be simple, relying on quality of exceptional ingredients, with no place to hide, so it is imperative that they are in place. Traveling/working overseas is a whole other ballgame because you can’t bring any products with you. If I can, I will have someone I trust on location to scout out quality of ingredients and do the necessary leg work to insure that everything is correct.
But there is always room in a suitcase amongst the folds of clothes for keiffer lime leaves from our tree, a special olive oil or the white soy sauce that can make or break a dish. We can also adjust to a locale. Sometimes there is a special product at the location where we are going so we will adjust and try to take advantage of something so unique.
***
2. Suppose a grateful diner gets up from the table at Manresa and offers to fly you anywhere in the world to dine? Where would you choose–and why?
Right now, Tokyo, without question. It might be the finest food city in the world right now, and it is so big and diverse and in a constant state of evolution that with each visit there is always something new. It can be breathtaking with the amount of new discoveries of tastes, techniques and ingredients. I find it so exciting there. Japan has amazing ingredients and products, a large talent pool of chefs, a very codified tradition of dishes and regional differences, and a well informed, educated and well traveled population with the means to support said restaurants — a combination that allows that vibrancy to happen.
***
3. You’ve always been passionate about great ingredients but how has your relationship with Love Apple Farm affected your menu planning and cooking?
Love Apple Farm continues to grow in size and to fine tune itself to the daily needs of the restaurant. As this has happened it has become the dominant factor in not only constructing the individual dishes, but the menu itself. We now allow what the garden gives us to design the menu. This has been very satisfying but also the single most challenging moment for us in the kitchen at the restaurant. I would think that some would find this daunting and perhaps a bit restrictive but personally it has opened up a new world on the possibilities of nature and how it can translate to a dish. Inspiration is now not a pad of paper and an order sheet from a produce company but a series of walks through the garden with Cynthia: tasting, picking, merely holding items in your hand and smelling them. What more could I want!
***
4.Chefs often are asked about their favorite restaurant meals but I’m curious about some of your most disappointing dining experiences.
Expectations are the key to any dining experience and managing one’s own expectations is the key to pleasure in dining out.
If you buy into hype and expectations are too high, then you will be disappointed. I try to enjoy myself in all scenarios; I mean it is a combination of food, wine, service, ambiance, and, of course, the company one keeps.
For me, though, it is disappointing to see great product not be respected, by negligence or lack of care, by laziness. Great product is nurtured and cared for by hard work by thoughtful and passionate individuals; perhaps an animal made a noble, and the ultimate, sacrifice. The greatest tragedy is to waste such product and ruin it through poor skills or lack of focus.
By Casey Ellis, tagged with: David Kinch, Love Apple Farm, Manresa. Filed under 4 Questions 4 | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
I’ve been spending thrilling hours at my desk learning to navigate this new blog address, uttering occasional “Kill me now” moans and hurling expletives at the computer screen, my spouse and Georges, the cat. Things may be a bit weird around here for a while, but bear with me, as I have some nifty stuff in the pipeline:
* the recipe for the much-lauded butterscotch souffle from Murray Circle at Cavallo Point
* a recipe for a marvelous corn soup with a surprising garnish
* 4 Questions 4 David Kinch, the genius 2-star Michelin chef of Manresa
Eventually I’ll figure most of it out and Georges can return to snoozing safely in the study.
CIMG2970, originally uploaded by caseyell.
By Casey Ellis, . Filed under Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
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