Harvest Dinner at Leroy's Kitchen

Leroy's Kitchen hosted a Harvest Dinner last evening, featuring Suzie's Farm and Ancient Peaks Winery. Executive Chef JC Colón and his team created a delectable five-course dinner paired with excellent wines from the Paso Robles region vineyard. After photographing the dishes during the pre-dinner staff tasting, I was invited to join Shannon and Owen from Suzie's Farm and Kris from Ancient Peaks at their table for dinner. I slipped into the kitchen periodically to take a few photos of the chefs.

Citrus Cured Salmon | Beets | Arugula
2011 Sauvignon Blanc

Muscovy Duck Breast | Blue Hubbard Squash Ravioli
2011 Merlot

California Lamb Saddle | Herb Spinach Puree | Red Onion Aigre-Doux
2010 Oyster Ridge Red

Brandt Short Rib | Shell Bean Puree | Baby Broccoli
2010 Cabernet Sauvignon

Chocolate Ganache
2010 Renegade

Shannon (Suzie's Farm), Leroy's Executive Chef JC Colón
and Kris Jones (Ancient Peaks Winery)

Dear Starbucks: Please Hire My Mom

Dear Starbucks,

Mom told me she applied for a job in your Legal & Corporate Affairs division and has a phone interview in a few days. When she came home this afternoon, I wanted to express my support and let her know I would be very happy living in Seattle. I was trying to think of a way to give her a positive sign to express my good feeling about this job, and then I saw it...the leftover coffee cup from this morning's coffee. I ran through the door, snatched it right off the table, gave her the look, and flew back outside. She didn't come chase after me immediately - not until she had her camera. She was smiling at me, playing my game, and snapping photos. I think she recognized what I did was somehow a positive sign. It also gave her the material she needed for Day #5 of NaBloPoMo.

I think mom's ready for a change of scenery and we've been seriously considering a move to the Pacific Northwest. But we need a job first. I would love the weather in Seattle...rain...snow...bring it on!  When it rains here, I sit out in the middle of the grass and soak it all in. What's that quote?  “Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.” I'm all over it.

We would be an awesome addition to the Starbucks' corporate family. Mom truly enjoys trademark law. She is also a huge fan of your coffee and has frequented Starbucks in Coronado almost every morning for 10 years. She orders a grande dark roast in a venti cup (FYI, it's the same amount of coffee as a venti, with room, but doesn't cost as much). On weekends, she often treats herself to an Italian roast on the Clover®, or the more expensive roasts when she earns a free drink on her Gold Card.

I don't think I've missed a morning visit to Starbucks, ever...well, not since I came to Coronado when I was 10 weeks old. The regulars have watched me grow from 35 pounds to just over 160. Steve, who doesn't even like dogs, offers me a bite of his banana every now and then. When Jim heard how much I like whipped cream, he started ordering whipped cream on top of his coffee just so he could give it to me. The mayor of Coronado knows me and follows our blog.

We used to live closer and walked over every morning, but now we live near the bay. We tried Tartine for coffee, but it just wasn't the same.  I like to ride over in the car and then go for my walk down by the beach after mom gets her coffee. We'll probably need a bigger car if we move to Seattle.

We always hang out on the patio for a while. I've made lots of friends the past two years. I am gentle with the rat dogs and kids absolutely LOVE me.

I stretch out in front of the store and welcome all your customers. Don't you think I would make a great  mascot? Mom keeps telling me I need to start earning my keep. That Bank of America commercial has Benny, the Newf who eats couches. Starbucks could have me.

Thank you so much for considering my mom's application and she looks forward to talking with you later this week.

I'm sorry I chewed up one of your cups.

Best regards,

Trapper

Saturday Ramblings about Friday: Trapper, Beer, Local Celebrities, Wood-Fired Pizzas and S'mores Cheesecake

It's only Day 2 of NaBloPoMo and I woke up in a slight panic. What am I going to post today? I didn't cook yesterday. I had leftover Caramel Apple Custard Tart with my coffee for breakfast, some yogurt and fruit around lunchtime, and a media dinner at ENO Artisan Pizza & Wine Bar. I will be cooking something today - not sure what yet, but we're having a girls' night and I need to figure out what to bring. Hopefully, whatever I make today will be blog-worthy tomorrow ;-)

Yesterday was an enjoyable day. I took my handsome but dirty boy to coffee, home for his breakfast, and then back to the village for a bath at Wags'N Tails. They have two tubs, an assortment of shampoos, brushes and combs, big fluffy towels, a powerful blow dryer, and treats, all for $12. I always feel a tinge of guilt leaving the walls sprayed in water and the tub lined with black fur, but it's so much easier than pulling out all the bath paraphernalia at home. Trapper doesn't love baths, but he tolerates them and is so full of himself afterward. Even though I haven't decided whether to show him, I would still like to take him to one of the Newfoundland handlers who also specializes in show grooming/trimming to see how he looks all decked out. One of these days...

A clean and cuddly Trapper

Later in the day, I learned the November/December issue of Coronado Lifestyle magazine was hot off the press. My first article for the magazine is about Coronado Brewing Company, our local brewpub, and how it has gone from local to global in the exploding craft beer industry. The article includes several photos taking during my visit to the new off-island brewhouse and tasting room, and a few food photos from a past photo shoot I did for the web site. If you're interested in reading Coronado Lifestyle magazine online, you can do so here.

Brewer Pete checking the mash

Food Network Star, cookbook author, and Coronado mom, Melissa D'Arabian, is featured on the magazine cover and I was privileged to visit Melissa at her home during Samantha's interview and take some photos for Sam's article.

Melissa D'Arabian, at home in Coronado

Last evening's media dinner at ENO was for another article I'll be writing, scheduled to be published in the next issue, about ENO'S new wood fired pizza oven and expanded menu.

As a side note, I participated in the Coronado Walk for Scott Kelby's Annual Worldwide Photo Walk last month and just so happened to walk by ENO on my way to the beach for the end of walk sunset photos. The sunset wasn't looking too dramatic, so we lingered at The Del to take photos of the pizza oven and pizzas instead. I ended up submitting this photo and it was surprisingly chosen as the winner for Coronado! I just thought the winning photo would be something more representative of Coronado (I guess it is in a way, since it's the pizza oven at the historic Hotel Del). I'm not holding my breath to be chosen as one of the finalists, but the annual walk is something I will look forward to joining again, maybe even in a different city next year.

ENO's custom wood-fired pizza oven

Getting back to last night's dinner at ENO...

I won't elaborate too much, because I still need to sit down and write the article, but our evening was extraordinary. I started off with the Pizza Partners wine flight featuring an Italian red varietal from Santa Barbara and two reds from Tuscany. Ashley Luna, 1500 Ocean and ENO Sommelier, sent out marinated olives, toasted almonds and seasonal pickled vegetables to nibble on with our wine. He chatted about the artisan Neapolitan-style pizzas on the menu and the custom pizza oven built by Wood Stone. Ashley said ENO's oven is the only outdoor pizza oven in Southern California. Obtaining the permit was no easy feat, especially since it sits in such close proximity to the 125-year-old hotel.

We met Max, the 19-year-old pizza chef, who recently graduated from culinary school. He is passionate about his job and his face lit up when he talked about being able to rotate through and gain experience with the various kitchens at The Del. As each pizza came out of the blazing 600 degree oven, Max meticulously brushed the rim of the crust with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt.

Max preparing our pizzas of the evening

Max prepared two pizzas for our dining pleasure - the Margherita and Funghi. Both are fabulous, but I think I'm partial to the Salsiccia, with fennel sausage, charred broccolini and garlic oil, and the Housemade Veal, with San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella. Yes, I've been to ENO a few times!

Pizza Margherita with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella and basil

We were completely satisfied after wine, nibbles and pizza, but Ashley insisted we sample the desserts. In addition to a chocolate "flight", ENO now offers Butterscotch Pudding, with caramel, sea salt and a shortbread cookie, and Cheesecake S'more. The Cheesecake S'more, inspired by one of the hotel's summertime activities, Family S'mores Night, has quickly become ENO'S signature dessert. Picture a generous hunk of New York-style cheesecake, topped with a thick layer of Hershey's chocolate ganache and even thicker layer of house made marshmallow, slipped into the pizza oven just long enough to melt and toast the marshmallow layer so it drapes over the sides of the cheesecake. Something like this...

Cheesecake S'more

We couldn't stop going back and forth between bites of cheesecake and butterscotch pudding. Yes, please, I'll have s'more.

Okey dokey, that's what I'll leave you with for Day #2 of NaBloPoMo. I need to figure out a dish for tonight and get my butt to the store so I have something to share tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

Denise & Trapper

French Fridays with Dorie and Walking Away: Wine-Poached Peach, Burrata and Prosciutto Salad

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe is actually Spice-Poached Apples or Pears, described by Dorie as one of the "most comforting and simplest French family sweets." Dorie likes to serve the fruit and its syrup with rice pudding or French toast, but it is usually served with nothing more than crème fraîche, heavy cream or plain yogurt.

Although I would have welcomed a little sweetness and comfort in my life with open arms, someone's stubborness, pride, ego and/or fears continue to stand in the way of great make-up sex working through this together.  So, my life has been turned upside down, like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head. It's been hard to work, sleep, eat (great diet), and listen to country music.  Geez, those country music lyrics really pierce the heart and open the floodgates...

Since cooking dinner for myself hasn't been too appealing, I've been drowning my sorrows at the local bars making the rounds to a few local spots for light dinners. I do like dining at the bar rather than sitting at a table by myself, especially at the local restaurants where I know many of the chefs and people who work there. The tourists are gone, we have our island back, and the restaurants are quiet and relaxing. Last Friday I met Alex, Chez Loma's new chef, and enjoyed his Steak Frites. On Tuesday, I stopped in at Leroy's Kitchen, stuck my head in the kitchen window to say hello to Chef Gregory, and sat at the bar with a glass of wine and his poached peach, burrata and prosciutto salad. I probably wouldn't have participated in this week's FFwD recipe, but for Greg's inspiration to adapt Dorie's recipe into his wonderful salad.

Rather than poaching apples or pears in water, honey, sugar, orange and lemon juice and zest, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla, and making a dessert out of them, I poached peach halves in chardonnay, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla. Once the peaches cooled, I nestled slices of fresh mozzarella (use burrata if you can find it) up against the wine and spice poached peach slices, wrapped them in prosciutto, and placed two or three of those tasty bundles on a bed of baby arugula lightly tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. I also crisped up a little chopped prosciutto and scattered it about. 

Chez Loma Steak Frites

Take it away, Keith

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Door Prize: Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini

We've found another pasta 'keeper.'

This past month, Il Fornaio's Festa Regionale Menu showcased the cuisine of Puglia, the heel of the boot, including a pasta called spaghettoni. Spaghettoni was the foundation for one of the featured pastas, Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini, made with the artisan pasta, sausage, rapini (aka broccoli rabe), tomatoes, garlic, basil, peperoncino and pecorino cheese.  A package of the pasta was a gift (or "door prize" as we like to call it) to loyal guests who are Passaporto holders, and who order from the Festa Regionale menu.

We love attending the invitation only Tuesday Night Tastings when the menu is released at the beginning of the month. The lovely Jennifer hosted, and Edgar was our dedicated server.

Jennifer and Edgar at Il Fornaio's Tuesday Night Tasting

Burrata di Andria
 Burrata cheese with sliced vine-ripened tomatoes, oregano and baby arugula; drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil 

Edgar serving Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini

 Il Fornaio's Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini

With our spaghettoni door prize in hand, and the recipe printed on the card attached, I was easily able to  prepare this wonderful pasta at home.

Spaghettoni is slightly thicker and longer than spaghetti.  If you can't find it, substitute spaghetti or bucatini. Rapini, also known as broccoli rabé or broccoletti, is commonly used in the cuisines of southern Italy, northwestern Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and China, and is now grown throughout the world. It has many spiked leaves that surround clusters of green buds that resemble small heads of broccoli. Small, edible yellow flowers may be blooming among the buds. The flavor of rapini has been described as nutty, bitter, and pungent, but any bitterness is nicely mellowed by cooking.

In Il Fornaio's recipe, the stems of the rapini are cut off and used to flavor the pasta water, and then removed before the pasta is added.  The leaves and buds are briefly cooked with the pasta (added about a minute before it is al dente), and drained with the pasta. The pasta and rapini are then added to the pan with the prepared sauce, tossed gently until coated with sauce, and then plated.

Rapini

Mise en place - Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini

Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini

To watch a video of Executive Chef Maurizio Mazzon preparing Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini, click here. For a downloadable PDF of the recipe for Spaghettoni con Salsiccia e Rapini, click here.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this pasta.

Falling for You: Irish Cheddar and Chive Souffle

It seems I've neglected the blog, and my kitchen, this past week. French Fridays with Dorie is already here again, and I haven't published a post since last week's French Fridays. I happily blame it in part on this attention-sponge, who eats three times a day and is already up to 43 pounds at just 12 weeks. We can't walk into the kitchen without him bouncing up, perking his ears, cocking his head, and then flying into the kitchen to see if he's getting another meal.

Trapper, drifting into puppy nap time

Not to say we haven't eaten quite well this past week - that's definitely not the case after making the rounds to three Coronado restaurants.

Last Friday, we sat out on the patio for a sunset Happy Hour at Saiko Sushi, sipped $5 glasses of wine, and shared a few of the happy hour and house specialities: Saiko Edamame (seasoned with celery salt and garlic), Saiko Roll (salmon, yellowtail, crab, wasabi, aioli, eel sauce, tempura fried), and the Rey Roll (seared albacore, tempura shrimp, crab, apple and mustard vinaigrette).

Saiko Edamame

Saiko Roll

Rey Roll

On Monday, Leroy's Kitchen + Lounge invited us to photograph a Wine Dinner featuring Fritz Underground Winery (Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, CA). The five course menu offered Asparagus Soup, Steamed Mediterranean Black Mussels, Mar i Muntanya, Spice Rubbed Tri Tip, and Zinfandel Poached Strawberries, paired with Fritz wines. Emily's Mexican Chocolate Cake Martini sealed the deal.

Our top pick of the evening was the Mar i Muntanya, a multi-layered paella-esque creation, paired with Fritz Pinot Noir.

Mar i Muntanya

Leroy's Kitchen + Lounge added a few new dishes to the regular dinner menu, including Diver Scallops with Asparagus Risotto, California White Seabass, and Duroc Bone-in Pork Chop. You can see our photos of the Fritz Wine Dinner, and new additions to the menu, on Leroy's Facebook Page.

Seared Diver Scallops with Asparagus Risotto

On Tuesday night, we photographed Il Fornaio's Passaporto Dinner celebrating some of the Festa Regionale crowd-pleasers. We photographed, and promptly devoured, Pasta alla Castellana from the Trentino-Alto Adige region. Rigatoni pasta tossed with pork tenderloin, bacon, shiitake mushrooms, Parmigiano, brandy, cream and fresh thyme...need I say more?

Chef Giorgio

Pasta alla Castellano

Last night, I was finally able to get to this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Cheese Souffle. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I substituted Irish Reserve Cheddar Cheese and chives, in place of Dorie's Gruyere and nutmeg.

Souffle Mise En Place

Rather than making one large souffle, I played around with a few different sizes...

Petite Souffle

Individual serving in a small ramekin

While attempting to get one last photo of two souffles together, I rushed to get them from the oven to the table and dropped the second on the table. Souffles fall quickly once removed from the oven, but they really fall fast when dropped! Despite doing what souffles do best, falling rapidly before your eyes, the flavor and texture was grand.

To accompany our souffles, I made these Sweet and Sour Glazed Pork Chops from Saveur. During grilling, they are brushed with a reduction of balsamic vinegar, honey and rosemary. I cooked ours stovetop, in a dutch oven, and they were tender, flavorful and pretty alongside the souffles.

Within minutes of posting a photo of my fallen souffle on Facebook last night, I received the most heartwarming e-mail from Ann, who gave me permission to share her words and photo:

"Despite your French Friday's with Dorie disaster, you are an inspiration to all of us. I love your blog and of course, Dooley and Trapper! My Sister Sal and I made this dinner last week, with Trapper supervising! See attached photo! Have a great weekend!"

Ann's Chicken Picatta, inspired from this post

Thank you, Ann. You truly made my evening with your e-mail and photo!

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!