Lamb & Dried Apricot Tagine is this week’s FFWD recipe choice and is made in this beautiful Le Creuset tagine (or, a Dutch oven).
This week’s French Fridays recipe choice is Lamb & Dried Apricot Tagine, an aromatic, historically Berber stew of spiced meat, vegetables and dried fruit. Its preparation, a braise, translates to being slowly cooked in a shallow earthenware dish topped by a tall, conical lid unique to its North African beginnings.
“Like many Moroccan tagines,” Doria explains, “this one is aigre-doux, or sour-sweet, and studded with fruit. After you’ve made it, you’ll be as grateful [to have this recipe] as I am.”
Lamb & Dried Apricot Tagine served with white rice (or, couscous)
That’s why this week’s post is not only about a scrumptiously delicious Moroccan classic but also about Gratefulness. In our family we’ve had a tradition since Emma’s been three years old, that before eating our Thanksgiving dinner, we each talk about those things during the past year for which we are most grateful. Despite the roller-coaster ride through Life that all families experience, it’s a good time to be reminded of our good fortunes. Many of our best Thanksgiving memories the past ten years are these conversations.
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. William Arthur Ward
My family, before Thanksgiving dinner and the gratitude remarks, at Death Valley National Park.
Our cups runneth over with a menagerie of I Am Grateful For…….. Clara, now 11, has often been grateful for Blazer, her fire-bellied toad who dines on crickets. One year she mentioned gratefulness for each of her named stuffed animals and her Dad. (Her mother, sister and I didn’t make the Cut.) Emma, 13, usually produces a beautifully written list and eloquently improvises off those prompts. Included always are teachers, relatives, friends, beloved pets and, of course, loved ones we’ve lost.
Stephen’s is always rather short but, score a gold star for him, he never fails mentioning his mother-in-law. Although my thoughts evolve, this year I was grateful for good health, fine friends and for the many things that make a mother and grandmother’s heart swell. None of us, however, have a handle on this gratitude business like Melissa who always speaks last. Missy’s “presentation” is lengthy and always involves tears.
The onions, garlic, tomatoes, seasonings and flavorings are slowly cooking and softening before the meat, apricots and almonds are added.
When the girls were little, those tears were of concern to them. As they grew older and in the eight years we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving in the lovely Furnace Creek Inn dining room at Death Valley, there was some mortification on their part. However, we’ve all grown quite appreciative of “Mom’s tears” and, admittedly, would be disappointed if she didn’t shed them. This year she didn’t disappoint. In fact, she was gooddddd.
Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy. Jacques Maritain
What has become special about this tradition is the thoughtfulness required of us prior to each kickoff of a frenetic holiday season. And, everyone is expected to do their homework before we sit down to a splendid dinner. Because three generations are sitting at the table – this year we dealt with an 11-year-old up to a 70-year old, it’s enlightening to realize each year what we all value. It’s a wonderful, ever-changing process.
The toasted sliced almonds are added at the very last minute.
During the past week, I am grateful for having made this delicious tagine and hope you will enjoy it also. I am also grateful that when forced to scale back on my kitchen items, I kept my Le Creuset tagine. (Don’t own a tagine? A Dutch oven works.) For my newly-sharpened knives that are just back from an overdue visit to the local man who has those sharpening skills, I’m also grateful.
The list goes on and on. As you know, French Fridays with Dorie is an international on-line group cooking its way through Dorie Greenspan’s, Around My French Table. I am most grateful for my FFWD colleagues and our friend and mentor, Dorie. To all of you who loyally read my blog, I also am exceedingly grateful, as you know.
Francis Coppola’s 2011 Black Label Claret (a Cabernet Sauvignon from his Diamond Collection) was a good pour for this meal.
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. Eric Hoffer
4 garlic cloves, split, germ removed, and finely chopped
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, or 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1–2 small dried chili peppers
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, cracked
2 pinches of saffron threads
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
About 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
Couscous or rice, for serving (optional)
Instructions
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
If you're using the bouillon cubes, drop them into a medium bowl and pour over the boiling water; stir to dissolve. If you're using chicken broth, bring it to a boil, then pour it into a bowl. Add the apricots to the bowl and let them soak and plump while you prepare the rest of the tagine.
Put the base of a tagine, a high-sided heavy skillet, or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and pour in 3 tablespoons of the oil. Pat the pieces of lamb dry between paper towels, then drop them into the hot oil (don't crowd the pan — work in batches if necessary) and brown on all sides, about 4 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, lift the meat out of the pan and onto a plate. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Pour out the fat in the pan, leaving whatever bits may have stuck.
Return the pan to the stove, reduce the heat to low, and add 2 more tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is warm, stir in the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, just to get them started on the road to softening.
Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes, adding a little more oil if needed.
Drain the apricots and add the chicken bouillon/broth to the pan, along with the chili(es), coriander, saffron — crush it between your fingers as you sprinkle it in — ginger, cumin, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro. Stir to mix and dissolve the spices, then season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the meat and any juices on the plate over the vegetables and top with the apricots. Seal the pan with aluminum foil, clap on the lid, and slide it into the oven.
Bake the tagine for 1 hour. Carefully lift the lid and foil and scatter the almonds over the meat. Re-cover the pan and bake the tagine for 15 minutes more.
If you cooked the braise in a tagine, sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro over the meat, bring the tagine to the table, and serve directly from the pan. If you used a skillet or Dutch oven, transfer the tagine to a warm large serving platter and dust with the cilantro.
In America we generally call my French Fridays recipe, Beef Stew. Plain and simple. In France, it’s a Daube, a stew cooked in wine in a deep casserole. Dorie suggests it could also be named Boeuf aux Carottes. That gets my vote and here’s why.
Dorie’s Go-To Beef Daube, also called Boeuf aux Carottes.
It’s already snowed twice in Aspen. Old Man Winter is knocking at my door. I’ve never found the perfect beef stew recipe, a go-to winter meal. By chance I discovered that my French Fridays colleagues made My Go-To Beef Daube, a recipe from Around My French Table, in May, 2010. Unfortunately, that was before I joined FFWD. It seemed that it was Opportunity knocking at my door this week.
What interests me most about the recipe is there are very few stars in this production. The economical beef chunk roast, which gets a lazy, three-hour braise, is the meat of choice. The only other major players are carrots and parsnips. Being from the same family, Apiaceae, they dance well together. That’s what I love about this stew. It’s simple goodness.
While beef, carrots and parsnips may be the main ingredients, it’s the flavoring and spices that pack the wallop. Oh, yes, there’s that bottle of red wine. Before the beef chunks and veggies ever hit the pot, the heady, aromatic sauce is already bubbling nicely. Bacon, onions, shallots and garlic provide rich flavor and a bouquet garni lends the spice. Did I mention the Cognac? This stew is a keeper. I posted the written recipe at the end of this post.
The star players: beef, carrots and parsnips. C’est tout.
I’ve polished off the stew these past few busy days, happy for the tasty leftovers. We leave this week for another presidential library tour, this time to Texas. You may remember that I consider the 13 presidential libraries managed by the National Archives to be the uncrowned jewels of our country’s historical tourist opportunities. Very little is written about these treasures. I hope to change that.
With the completion of this journey, I will have visited 9 of the 13 libraries. The ones I haven’t seen will be: G. Ford, Ann Arbor, Michigan; J. Carter, Atlanta, Georgia; F.D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, New York; and J.F.Kenndy, Boston, Massachusetts. Can you figure out where I have been?
Last fall my good friend and companion in all things presidential, Donna Grauer, accompanied me on the road trip to the midwestern libraries of Eisenhower, Truman and Clinton. This year she’s game for the fly/drive to Dallas, Austin and College Station. With Donna, our resident brainiac, it’s always an adventure. Stay tuned.
My colleagues made Osso Bucco à l’Arman this week. See their efforts here.
We are an international cooking group working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours.
A bouquet garni—2 thyme sprigs, 2 parsley sprigs, 1 rosemary sprig, and the leaves from 1 celery stalk, tied together in a piece of cheesecloth
Instructions
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Put a Dutch oven over medium heat and toss in the bacon. Cook, stirring, just until the bacon browns, then transfer to a bowl.
3. Dry the beef between sheets of paper towels. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the bacon fat in the pot and warm it over medium-high heat, then brown the beef, in batches, on all sides. Don’t crowd the pot—if you try to cook too many pieces at once, you’ll steam the meat rather than brown it—and make sure that each piece gets good color. Transfer the browned meat to the bowl with the bacon and season lightly with salt and pepper.
4. Pour off the oil in the pot (don’t remove any browned bits stuck to the bottom), add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and warm it over medium heat. Add the onions and shallots, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the onions soften, about 8 minutes. Toss in the garlic, carrots, and parsnips, if you’re using them, and give everything a few good turns to cover all the ingredients with a little oil. Pour in the brandy, turn up the heat, and stir well so that the brandy loosens whatever may be clinging to the bottom of the pot. Let the brandy boil for a minute, then return the beef and bacon to the pot, pour in the wine, and toss in the bouquet garni. Once again, give everything a good stir.
5. When the wine comes to a boil, cover the pot tightly with a piece of aluminum foil and the lid. Slide the daube into the oven and allow it to braise undisturbed for 1 hour.
6. Pull the pot out of the oven, remove the lid and foil, and stir everything up once. If it looks as if the liquid is reducing by a great deal (unlikely), add just enough water to cover the ingredients. Recover the pot with the foil and lid, slip it back into the oven, and cook for another 1 1/2 hours (total time is 2 1/2 hours). At this point the meat should be fork-tender—if it’s not, give it another 30 minutes or so in the oven.
7. Taste the sauce. If you’d like it a little more concentrated, pour the sauce into a saucepan, put it over high heat, and boil it down until it’s just the way you like it. When the sauce meets your approval, taste it for salt and pepper. (If you’re going to reduce the sauce, make certain not to salt it until it’s reduced.) Fish out the bouquet garni and using a large serving spoon, skim off the surface fat.
8. Serve the beef, carrots and parsnips moistened with sauce.
9. Storing: Like all stews, this can be kept in the refrigerator for about 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you are preparing the daube ahead, don’t reduce the sauce, just cool the daube and chill it. Then, at serving time, lift off the fat (an easy job when the daube’s been chilled), reduce the sauce, and season it one last time.
Next-Day Beef Salad, my French Fridays recipe this week and my last lunch on my balcony. Can you tell by the shadows that Old Man Winter is lurking nearby?
This week presented another opportunity to choose a recipe my colleagues made before I joined them. My family’s been here for their autumn vacation and my friend, Judy Boyd, brought us some fantastic meals. Judy deals very patiently with Low-fat, Gluten-free, No Dairy, Bring It On (my son-in-law) and I’ll Eat Anything (me). She had our bases covered all week while Melissa and I relished the breather.
After the kids left, I dealt with leftovers. When I spotted the remains of a skirt steak, Dorie’s Next-Day Beef Salad came to mind. It wasn’t hard to pull together this voluptuous salad by revisiting my fridge. What’s distinctive is its simple dressing – mayo and two French mustards, Dijon and grainy. A diced, tart apple alerts us to this salad’s sweet side. Add onions, olives, cornichons, tomatoes, capers, red bell and chile peppers to the mix and it’s a meal. Serve it over greens, with crusty bread, and your leftovers become super stars.
A big bowl of ingredients for my beef salad: diced beef, onions, olives, cornichons, tomatoes, capers, red bell and chile peppers.
Last Tuesday’s Post, Pumpkin & Raisin Tea Loaf, tackled the 6 steps involved in putting together a post: Choose; Make; Photograph; Eat; Write; and Go Live. For me, it’s a week-long process. As promised, here’s Part II, “Why the effort?”“Why bother?”
WHY I BLOG
1. Realistically, a food blogger must be multi-talented, blessed with kitchen skills, camera-ready, technically astute, creatively imaginative, and more. Think Barnum & Bailey’s Big Top and you’re the only performer. Truthfully, I didn’t qualify. I began blogging because I needed Structure, a framework in which to rebuild my Life. For the last two years of my husband’s life, while in a Memory Care Unit and under Hospice care, and for the next two years that it took to plant myself where I could nurture, the one constant activity in my Life was that damn blog. Whatever else was happening with me, I plodded through those six necessary steps to post a “product” every week. It often wasn’t pretty but, for me, a great accomplishment, week in, week out.
2. “I don’t know where the Summer went,” a friend lamented to me recently. “I can’t even remember what I did.” That’s not a problem for me. My blog is a Diary and Journal. I associate weekly Posts with lifestyle events and activities. At a time when pen-and-ink has become passé, my Blog lives safely on my portable hard drive.
To complete this lunch (or, dinner) cut up crusty bread and pour a glass of apple cider.
3. Using business jargon, food blogging requires a Low Start-up Fee. This project was something I could begin at a nominal cost. I found inexpensive tech assistance via Craig’s List. We all need to eat. Food bloggers wisely feed their families and friends with menus incorporated into their Posts. In our French Fridays group, there are many fine bloggers who are thrifty and cost-conscious.
4. I Am The Boss. My blog is all ME. A dream come true! For the first time in my adult memory, I am responsible for and to no one. When I returned to Aspen, I could either wilt or blossom. Throw a pity party or do and be everything that wasn’t possible in prior decades. I felt I owed my friends and family who offered us unconditional caring, support and love for ten years, to at least try. My blog has evolved from that effort.
I poured a two- mustard/mayo dressing onto the mixture and tossed lightly to saturate it.
5. Friendships. Number 5 is an unanticipated bonus. Without a doubt and throughout my life, I’ve collected the best group of “reality” friends ever. To me, they are priceless. But, virtual friends? Who knew about that? Being a lover of all things Greenspan, in February 2011, I joined French Fridays, an internet food group cooking through Dorie’s Around My French Table. Somewhere between the Cauliflower-Bacon Gratin (12/30/11) and Cocoa Sablés (3/23/12), I realized these were not just colleagues, they were friends. Through virtual networking I’ve met other foodie pals. Blogging in not a lonely sport and I’ll keep doing it if only to maintain these relationships.
6. Through blogging or because of it, my little world has grown richer and been enhanced by the experience. Examples — Because my kitchen is a constant companion, I’m a better cook. I’m on a first-name basis with all the butchers, bakers and candlestick makers up and down Colorado State Highway 82. Food blogging is a daily on-line education. What I’ve realized is how much I don’t know especially when interacting with international colleagues. There’s no time-out for boredom when your investment is in yourself. I thrive on praise (who doesn’t?). Alex, a young bellmen here at The Gant, is still talking about the meatballs I made last Christmas. My blog comments are encouraging, uplifting and sometimes hilarious. “Wear Your Lipstick.” is the heads-up to my friends whenever a social occasion is to become a blog. Good Sports, always. Every day has become an adventure.
Just too much salad – it’s filling. My eyes were bigger than my appetite.
7. By dumb luck, I slide into a perfect niche. As I’ve written, I believe anyone can flourish in the landscape where they’re planted just by dovetailing their passions into the Life they’ve been dealt. We’re all blindsided by challenges and bumps. How we deal with those is key. My blog tells my story, showing how I muddle through my days. My greatest wish is that it provides Inspiration, Hope & Humor to my readers.
To see how my colleagues muddled through their week, visit our French Fridayslink. The recipe for today’s salad is here. As I mention weekly, we are an international cooking group having a blast working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
Let’s just call a leek, a leek and put a name to it. LOVE. This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice, Leeks Vinaigrette with Mimosa, made my heart flutter. Oui, oui, il était délicieux.
I’d wager my winnings from California Chrome’s victory in the Derby that few of you cook with leeks. If I’d open your veggie bin, I probably would not discover this nutritional, high-in-protein allium. Called the poor man’s asparagus, although it’s now pricier, and first cultivated over 5,000 years ago, it’s time for us to take a leap into leek country.
After simmering until tender, about twenty minutes, drain, dry, cover tightly and put in the refrigerator.
Last Saturday evening my friend, Ann O’Brien, and I made dinner to welcome home our neighbors, Fred Venrick and Cathy O’Connell, who had just returned from two months in Europe. (Yeah, Readers, I know. I know. Me, too.) Bernie Grauer, a weekend bachelor, also joined us. Spur of the moment. Not much planning. The menu All-Stars would be Mint Juleps and Leeks Vinaigrette with Mimosa. Everything else was fair game.
I just had to make a bed of walnuts and the leeks dish would be ready for the table.
Liz Weber Berg’s Glazed Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary
I even turned to Susan and John Lester at Create Amazing Meals for my wine choices. When the Lesters visited me in Cambria in February, John suggested I try local winery Peachy Canyon’s 2012 Vognier “Concrete Blanc”. A good recommendation. With the lamb, I opened an Italian wine, 2006 Conte Ottavio Piccolomini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane, a gift to me from the Lesters. (Memo from Bernie: Hey, John, send more.)
Asparagus, Lamb, Leeks, Potatoes – Buffet Ready
As the pictures hopefully show, the meal was wonderful, thanks, in part, to the many talented chefs and food bloggers who inspire me every day. I urge you to try this week’s FFWD recipe which, as usual, is written very carefully and clearly by our Dorie. Since I could not find young, smaller leeks, I bought large and cut them closer to the white part called the shank. Unlike other vegetables, you want leeks to be tender, not crunchy. For this recipe, in a normal altitude, try simmering them for twenty minutes. Because I live in the mountains, mine took thirty minutes.
Joy the Baker’s Pistachio-crusted Asparagus with Feta. I also mixed Dukkah, a nut & spice blend, in with the pistachios.
When the leeks were tender, I drained and dried them, untying each packet of three before plating. Next I covered them tightly to put in the refrigerator. Before serving I brought the vegetable to room temperature, poured on the vinaigrette and garnished with a chopped egg. Mimosa refers to the hard-boiled egg garnish which is thought to resemble the edible yellow mimosa flower. I used walnut oil in the recipe so also garnished the platter with walnuts. (Although I do think some refrigeration to “set” the tender shanks is necessary, you may choose to warm the leeks just before saucing and serving.)
Cathy and Bernie are dishing up their food.
Ann and I were both pleased with our efforts. We certainly fed those efforts to an appreciative crowd. Everything about the evening was happy, joyful and even quietly raucous. You will not be seeing photos of Ann’s and my Welcome Home dance/skit which, like the dinner, was spur-of-the-moment. We used the fireplace hearth as our stage. Although our dance moves were, in our opinions, Usher-extraordinary, those photos were deleted.
We even had room for Martha Stewart’s Chocolate, Peanut Butter Icebox Cake. Photo by marthastewart.com
French Fridays with Dorie is an international cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table. Although all the recipes in this post are already linked, you can again grab the recipe for leeks here. If you wish to see the efforts of my colleagues, go to our FFWD site.
This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Green-as-Spring Lamb Stew, is the perfect entrée for the winter weary. “The dish is really meant for spring,” Dorie says. “The stew’s vibrant color and deep vegetal flavor will match the landscape.”
What an understatement, to call the sauce green. Composed of arugula, spinach, parsley, dill, and tarragon, this is a brazen, in-your-face, do-I-really-want-to-taste-this dish? Green eggs and ham, okay. A shamrock shake? Yum. Green stew? That’s a stretch. It’s tasty. An ugly duckling, perhaps, but unique in its greenish sort of way.
The lamb simmers for 90 minutes in its vegetable broth.
Although Dorie’s meat choice is veal, I opted for lamb. Otherwise, Mary Had a Little Veal would not have worked as a title. Before tossing the lamb into a broth to simmer for 90 minutes, Dorie had us boil the meat in water for one minute to rid it of impurities that might cloud the sauce. After draining and rinsing the meat, I put it into the chicken broth along with carrots, celery, onions, garlic, thyme and bay.
Once the meat is cooked and set aside, the remaining ingredients are discarded, leaving just the broth. Reduced by half, it becomes a rich base for the sauce. Now here’s where we go green. That fresh arugula, spinach, parsley, dill and tarragon (six packed cups) are added to the boiling broth and cooked for one minute. The entire mixture is then blitzed to a thick liquid. Whisk in creme fraîche and lemon juice. Pull it all together and you’ve got stew. Green stew.
Green stew tastes better than it looks. Served with boiled new potatoes and curried beets with orange zest, it was a good and nutritious dinner last night.
This recipe, which included eleven different herbs and vegetables, and last week’s Baby Bok Choy & Company En Papillote were the perfect recipes to assist me in another project this month. Last year when I returned to Aspen, I was invited to join a nature study group of five other women, all volunteer USForest Rangers. To be truthful, I was never really invited to join. I heard they were having a meeting at the local library. By coincidence, I needed to return some books. I lingered at the library meeting room’s glass window with my nose pressed against it until they, guess what, let me in.
The two Donnas, cooking with Food Families: radishes (Brassicaceae Family); asparagus (Asparagaceae Family) and Lettuce ( Asteraceae Family)
We all share a passion for the great outdoors. During the past year we’ve studied, in depth, Rocky Mountain geology and it’s flora and fauna. We are learning more about western expansion, beginning with Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark expedition. This month we explored twelve of the families from the edible plant kingdom by coupling the common and recognizable foods we eat everyday with their wild flowering relatives who thrive in their natural setting in the Rockies.
Cooking from our food families, Donna G made Grilled Eggplant Rounds with ricotta cheese, basil and Dorie’s Slow-Roasted Tomatoes.
Using Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy cookbook and Janis Huggins Wild at Heart natural history guide, we cooked, we foraged, we read and we analyzed. Last Thursday, at our monthly meeting, we presented papers on our chosen families. One of my families, Brassicaceae (mustard family), includes arugula, bok choy, broccoli rabe, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, napa cabbage, cauliflower and turnips, all vegetables I used in my FFWD recipes this winter.
Our group sometimes needs taste testers. Donna C’s husband, Steve, is always a volunteer and good sport.
Twelve members of this mustard family grow wild in the Rockies. All of them, Cardamine cordifolia (bittercress) or Noccaca montana (mountain candytuft), for example, can be used as herbs. Yes, I am becoming a forager. (Note to future dinner guests: I will not poison you.)
At our meeting Thursday we tried to identify the plants that are just peeking their noses out to see if winter is really over.
Food for thought: In this week’s recipe isn’t it amazing to realize the many ingredients we used, all representing many different families or sources, each with its individual characteristics and edible parts: Carrots, Celery, Dill and Parsley – Umbelliferae or Apiaceae Family; Onion and Garlic – Amaryllidaceae Family; Thyme – Labiatae Family; Bay Leaf – Lauraceae Family; Arugula – Brassicaceae Family; Spinach – Chenopodiaceae Family; Salt – Maldon, Blackwater Estuary, U.K.; Meat, Broth and Cream Fraîche – Cow, Lamb or Chicken.
Just think about it.
The two Donnas are trying to decide what can be served safely at dinner parties and what cannot!
Bringing the outside inside and putting it under the microscope. (The microscope was an anniversary present for Donna C (standing) from her husband, Steve, who is pictured above. Group gift. We were all thrilled.
French Fridays with Dorie is an international cooking group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table. You can grab the recipe and go green here. To see what my Dorista family cooked up this week, check out our FFWD site.
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.
