This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India. Très confus? Dorie admits this is neither French bistro fare nor authentically Indian. It’s a Greenspan concoction. While walking through a Parisian Indian neighborhood she spotted and bought several tiny sachets of mixed spices. Adding them to a rather conventional root vegetable and barley potage kicked its flavoring out of France and up a notch.
Author Brigit Binns, who has written 28 cookbooks, welcomes us to her first cooking class of the season.
The veggies are predictable: onions; carrots; and, parsnips. The spices are not: garlic; fresh ginger; turmeric; red pepper flakes; and, Garam Marsala (coriander, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, kalonji, caraway, cloves, ginger and nutmeg). Chicken broth and pearl barley complete it. The recipe for this heart-healthy dish is included in this recent ChicagoTribune article, Cook Along with French Fridays, giving we Doristas our 15 minutes of fame.
Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India
The Two Cheese Mavens: Lindsay Dodson-Brown of Justin Vineyards & Winery (L) and Alexis Negranti of Negranti Creamery (R) prepare for class.
Last weekend I attended author Brigit Binn’s first cooking class of the season at Refugio, her home in Paso Robles. Binns‘ twenty-eighth cookbook, The New Wine Country Cookbook, Recipes from California’s Central Coast, has been my tour guide and culinary bible since arriving here in January. I barely made the cut of the chosen twelve but for two whining e-mails to Brigit and a last minute cancellation. Who says begging isn’t helpful?
The most difficult thing about making ricotta cheese in an outdoor kitchen on a windy day is to keep the burner’s flame lit. Brigit and her husband, Casey, try to block the wind!
Everyone in the class got to play.
The class was entitled Two Cheese Mavens. Lindsay Dodson-Brown of Justin Vineyards & Winery and Alexis Negranti who owns Negranti Creamery helped us make mozzarella and ricotta cheeses. But this was a teaching lesson with sideshows. While we were making cheese, Binns and her husband, Casey, were creating delicious, homemade flatbreads dressed in tasty toppings, roasted baby artichokes and those olives, all made in their wood-burning outdoor oven. Butler poured her 2013 Rosé as well as a 2012 Viognier, and a 2010 Carignan. (More about Winemaker Butler next week.) Do you understand why I humbled myself and groveled?
This flatbread is the best I’ve ever tasted. Briget shared the dough recipe so I will share also if you contact me.
Casey made his scrumptious olives in their outdoor oven. Mine tasted almost as delicious with my conventional one. Just as tasty the next day, served cold. Quoting from page 274 of Binn’s cookbook: “Toss brine-cured or oil-cured olives with a little olive oil, scatter with some springs of fresh thyme and rosemary, and a little lemon or orange zest. Roast in a shallow pan for 10 to 15 minutes at 425 degrees until the olives are shriveled, aromatic and slightly crisp.” [Between this recipe and Dorie Greenspan’s Herbed Olives, avoid the high-priced olive bars and turn plain, inexpensive olives into Fancy Nancys – Mary]
Casey’s Olives, roasted in the outdoor oven
My olives (a different kind) with herbs, olive oil and seasoning, ready for my 425 degree oven
Just Right
The cauliflower in my farmer’s market is gorgeous so I couldn’t resist this purchase. I recently found a recipe by Chef Chad Colby for Sauteed Cauliflower Wedges with Bagna Cauda on this blog. Since I’d never made the Italian dipping sauce, Bagna Cauda, before, it was worth a try. Yummy. More about Bagna Cauda-Love in a later Post.
Sauteed Cauliflower Wedges with Bagna Cauda
About my dessert. First, you milk a ewe. Now I didn’t have to do that because Alexis Negranti and her husband, Wade, already had. Negranti, who taught us how to make mozzarella, also chit-chatted about her passion, creating different flavors of sheep milk ice cream – Chocolate, Black Coffee, Raw Honey, Salted Brown Sugar, Pumpkin, Fresh Mint – using fresh produce from local farmers. There’s much to tout about this dish of deliciousness but, for now, be satisfied that its fat content is less than 8%. As I mentioned, this was a feast…with leftovers.
Blueberry and Cinnamon Swirl Sheep Milk Ice Cream. Killer. I’m a convert.
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie choice is Scallop and Onion Tartes Fines. Like its brethren we’ve already made, Tomato-Cheese Tartlets andFresh Tuna, Mozzarella, and Basil Pizza, here’s another recipe where our intentions are not honorable. What Dufour and Pepperidge Farm have devoted years to perfecting, we take five minutes to flatten.
Start with a thawed sheet of puff pastry. After flouring your work area and rolling the pastry to a 13-inch square, take a 6-inch wide plate and, using a sharp knife, cut out four circles. Lay these on a parchment-lined baking sheet and prick with a fork. Lay more parchment on top and then plop another baking sheet over them. Sorta has a crushing affect on the unsuspecting pastry.
For the next fifteen minutes, while the pastry is baking and not puffing at 400 degrees, you mix together the caramel onion-bacon layer (my favorite part of this recipe). Divide this mixture among the four crusts and arrange scallops, sliced into thirds, over it. Drizzle olive oil over the top before seasoning with salt and pepper.
Dorie recommends baking these tarts at 400 degrees for 3 to 4 minutes. Being cautious, I baked mine longer which resulted in my pastry base becoming a tad too brown. In hindsight, I would have seared my scallops first. Still, tasty and unique as an appetizer or lunch (with a salad).
You might note that I suggested no wine choice for this menu. Last weekend I attended Vintage Paso: Zinfandeland Other Wild Wines, a 3-day touring blitz of our wine area. Readers, you know I’m a trooper, but after devoting one full day to this festival, I was done. That’s why you’re on your own for this week’s beverage.
The festival was educational, tasty and hilarious. My friends, John and Susan Lester, who live in southern Cali and blog at Create Amazing Meals joined me for the weekend. We’d known each other virtually for two years and met inreality last year. John is especially knowledgeable about wines, they visit this wine country frequently and were perfect companions and guests.Pictures and just a few words, tell our story best.
We’ve had our coffee. Susan and I, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, are ready to roll. Last week we plotted our zinful itinerary and plan to visit five wineries today.
Our first stop was Peachy Canyon Winery. This was supposed to be our fifth stop but, unfortunately, John missed a turn. Which meant that Susan and I both grabbed maps, assisted with directions all day and drove John, well, to drink!
Memo to my Colorado brother who is casually concerned about my wine adventures this winter: a Lester purchase.
Winery #2, Tablas Creek. With our tastings we enjoyed small bites, shrimp on sweet corn polenta cake and a beef slider on a sourdough crostini.
Winery #3, Halter Ranch, my favorite, where we had our wine and paella in the ranch’s original barn. Susan and I are at the tasting-less-and-eating-more stage.
Winery #4, Adelaida Cellars. It’s 82 degrees, I’ve had it. Susan and I sit at a picnic table while John happily disappears.
Winery #5, Opolo Vineyards. Whoopee. We head to the barbecue tent for roasted lamb, carne asada tacos, beans and all the fixings. We girls rally. Friends forever.
We assemble the wine on the dining room table and take the pledge, “What happens in Cambria, stays in Cambria.”
After dinner at my neighborhood Sea Chest restaurant, we settled in for an evening of Gin Rummy and a Port tutorial. Since I had never tasted Port, John bought me a bottle at Adelaida Cellars. A very smooth evening.
Notice anything? Lights onBright went in for routine maintenance and emerged with a total makeover.
This week New York City’s Salome Chamber Ensemble performed at Guyomar Wine Cellars during their 2014 California Tour. Photo by Gail Gresham
#1 Happening
Here’s how it happened. Last Christmas Eve I joined our SilverKing Drive neighbors who annually gather at the O’Leary’s home for dinner. This marked my first December in Aspen in a decade. To join those who knew the Hirschs through happier times seemed comfortable to me.
My dinner partners that night were two whiz-kids from Denver I did not know. Ten years. A neighborhood changes. The short version is: Zoe; Kenneth; Partners of Peak Solutions Marketing; Lightbulb Moment for Mary. Since I was already planning a blog redesign, I thought they might know some tech designers. “Why, Mary,” Zoe quickly interrupted as I was asking that question, “that’s what we do.”
Duringthe next few weeks Zoe and I talked. Well, to be truthful, Zoe talked, I listened. That young lady was relentless in promoting her company and sharing ideas. (I loved that.) We signed a contract. They went to work. I left to spend the winter on the central California coast, drinking great wine, eating fresh food and meeting the farmers who grow the goods.
Guyomar Wine Cellars in Templeton, California Photo by Guyomar
Ishka Stanislaus of Guyomar poured his 2010 blends at the 2014 Paso Robles Rhone Rangers Experience.
#2 Happening
Since arriving in Cambria, that’s been my focus. However, nothing prepared me for the celebratory evening I enjoyed this week that will arguably be the highlight of my winter’s work here.
Here’s how it happened. In mid-February I joined 600 others and 50 local Rhone wine producers for a day-long seminar at Broken Earth Winery. One of those pouring during the Grand Tasting was Ishka Stanislaus who owns Guyomar Wine Cellars. At my luncheon table that day was winemaker Matt Ortman of Villa San Juliette Winery. After lunch, Matt said to me, “My friend, Ishka, is making some very interesting wine. Would you like to meet him?”
Matt introduced us. I tasted Ishka’s 2010 Monsignor, a Petite Syrah-based blend and was impressed. Surprisingly, a few weeks later I received an invitation to an Evening Musical Soirée and Sri Lankan feast hosted by Ishka and his wife, Mareeni, a local Ob/Gyn. The affair was in their home at the Guyomar winery. I hesitated. From Cambria it was a 30-minute drive to TempletonGap to their vineyard. I knew no “and, guest” to accompany me. The other attendees, I suspected, would be locals, all acquainted.
Because Guyomar’s has no tasting room yet, this would be my only opportunity to visit the winery. I decided to go. Good decision, Mary. Words cannot effectively describe the evening. When I arrived, I was greeted by both Stanislaus at the entrance door (pictured above). I was about to reintroduce myself when Ishka said, “Mary, thank you for coming. I’m glad to see you again. Meet Mareeni.” (Readers, that guy had done his homework.)
Yes, the group, about 65-strong, was local but I didn’t lack for dinner partners. As I’ve said before, folks in this area are kind to strays. The Manhattan-based Salome String Chamber Ensemble presented a 45-minute concert. They are talented, accomplished and create a gorgeous sound. The Sri Lankan dinner, prepared by Ishka, reminded me what turmeric, ginger, cumin, saffron and garam masala, can bring to a dish.
#3 Happening
The Mise En Place for Sausage-stuffed Cornish Hens, our French Fridays with Dorie recipe this week.
As for French Fridays,here’s how it happened. This week’s recipe is Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens. When was the last time you roasted one of those tiny darlings? For me, it’s been twenty years. The two-pound hefties I bought at my local market are not the Cornish Hens of my memory.
The sausage stuffing is ready for the birds.
Look at those thighs. I’ve never before met a Cornish Hen who looked like that.
The first step was making the sausage stuffing which is easily mixed together after browning the sausage, shallot and garlic. I then buttered and brushed each hen with olive oil before stuffing them and tying their legs together. Using the side-side-back,15-15-10, roasting method, I gently placed them in my cast iron skillet and put into my 425 degrees oven. They baked for 40 minutes. The birds rested for 5 minutes while I drained the fat, replacing it with butter and wine to create pan jus. The result was tasty although in a blind test I might guess it was chicken. That’s why I probably will not return to this recipe again. I blame Mr. Tyson.
Almost ready to eat – I covered the wings with tinfoil and flipped the hens on their backs for 10 more minutes of roasting.
