The Night the Lights Went Out

In the early afternoon on Thursday I glanced down at the San Jose Mercury and San Francisco Chronicle Newspapers that normally spread across the granite lunch counter at work. Spied the words "Ad Hoc" and "Cruz" and immediately welled up, my favorite chef is leaving my favorite restaurant--it's official.

Sure, I've hear people say that it wouldn't last forever. My brain has know for nearly a year, but my heart didn't believe it until I saw those words in black and white. 

Slight panic set in, sadness and happiness (after all the butterfly must be released). Husband is out of town for the week, should I go up tonight? I wondered. When I calmed a little, and read the fine print (Friday, February 1, 2013 is his last night), called my husband and determined we'd go on Sunday the 27th of January and on Chef Dave Cruz' last night Friday.

How do you send off such a person? Congratulate him, thank him, say we'll miss you, we love you, bravo, etc.? He's been with the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group for more than 8 years, over 6 of those at Ad Hoc restaurant, from it's inception through today. He's been the man, the soul of Ad Hoc.

My current plan is this: an orange grand marnier cake inspired from a book club cake I had this past Thursday and a Rum Cake out of the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook.

Oranges are "good fortune" when given for Lunar New Year (coming up on February 10, Year of the Snake), and thought that would make an appropriate symbol.

Orange Cake for Dave

1 pound of unsalted butter

2 3/4 cups sugar

orange zest from 8 oranges

2 cups almond flour

2 cups +3 Tbsp corn flour (this makes it very dense)

1 cup + 1 Tbsp flour

1 tsp. salt

2 cups + 3 Tbsp eggs (~11)

1/3 cup + 3 Tbsp Grand Marnier liquor

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 passion fruit, very ripe

3 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Butter a 15-cup capacity bundt pan. Refrigerate the pan and then sprinkle with sugar to coat.

Place all the flours and salt in a medium size bowl, use a whisk to break up any large clumps and to combine.

Cream the butter well, add the sugar and orange zest and mix for about 7 minutes until fluffy.

On low speed, add about 1/3 the eggs 1/3 cup of Grand Marnier and the vanilla and mix for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and add 1/2 the remaining eggs and mix for 10 seconds. Repeat with the last of the eggs. It's okay if the mixture looks broken.

On low speed, add the flour mixture slowly until just combined.

With a spatula, pour the batter into the prepared pan. Tap the bottom of the pan to distribute evenly, use a spoon to make a well all the way around the center, so that the cake rises evenly. Bake for 65-75 minutes until done. Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then spoon over the following:

Mix the remaining 3 Tbsp Grand Marnier with honey and the strained juice of the passion fruit in a microwave safe cup. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute, until the honey has melted into a liquid consistency. Stir well.

To Glaze the Cake: Spoon the icing over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides. The cake is best made a day ahead.

Grand Marnier Icing:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp Grand Marnier

1 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

We Did it Again

Our friends in Angwin, CA (northeast Napa Valley) are wonderful farmers who grow grapes for wine. That's not all, though. They raise and produce much of their own food and beverage: chickens/eggs, pigs, vegetables, goat cheese, honey, beer, etc. Within the extended family, they have children who raise animals in a 4-H club. A very sweet little girl spent her first year in 4-H raising two amazing lamb.

It was my first time bidding on an animal at a livestock auction. When one receives a cute handwritten letter asking one to bid at the Napa Valley livestock auction in August, it's purposefully difficult to say no. At the auction I felt a little strange, sorry for the lamb who seemed scared, and one could see why. The noise is loud, fast and with many people staring at the animal on display.

After we made the winning bid, uniformed older children came and placed a photo in hand of the pretty animal with the child who raised it. That image erased the uneasy feeling of the auction. We found the lamb and girl, thanked them, and then said kind words to each.

We were lucky to have our friend, the girl, take her lamb home for a few weeks to eat and run to it's heart's content. At the beginning of September, a hired gun went out to the farm and calmly shot the lamb "Taco" dead. One single shot, a very minimum of pain.

The lamb was transported by the hired gun to the butcher's in Santa Rosa, CA. We picked up our lamb at the end of September from Willowside Meats (the fantastic butcher shop).

Called our cook friend, and asked if we dropped off some lamb breast, would he cook it and have us over for dinner? Enthusiastically, he agreed and the delicious dinner above was the result. Happily, we decided that supporting our 4-H friend was a good, wholesome and tasty way to go.

Purchasing a whole animal at the Napa Valley fair auction was on the expensive side, ~$6.50 per pound total. However, the fact it was NV made it expensive, and most 4-H clubs in other areas have extremely reasonable prices. Luckily, we had help paying as a relative wanted to go in with us on the purchase.

Counting the number of packages of lamb, we determined that we could eat one package every-other-week and have the lamb last all year. I decided to save the boned leg-of-lamb roast for Christmas.

My nearly 95 year old great aunt, her niece, and friends--7 people total, really enjoyed our leg-of-lamb holiday dinner. We thank the well respected, tasty lamb for giving it's life for us every time we cook a piece of it.

America the Beautiful

It's been a while since I've written. Part of the reason I'm considering writing again from time to time, is that I'm now paying Google for extra space to accommodate more photos.

In light of the tragic school shooting Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School, thought I would write a little about America. The better America is, the worst it is, too. There is too much to say, so I'll just hit upon a few points.

I am extremely fortunate. We have jobs, an education and everything we could need, and then some. I feel lucky and very happy to be an American. Wasn't always an American, however. My parents adopted me when I was 2 years old. A week ago, I celebrated 36 years in America, with tremendous food, wonderful friends and scenic views. Good things that are made possible via this country.

Through a book club I'm involved, I've read about different countries' views, politics and policies. It's eye-opening learning about world wars, mental illness, and the human spirit under extreme conditions.

Speaking with a man from Viet Nam, opened my eyes partly to why America is able to enjoy so much. He took the point that, America has a history of dropping/selling guns all over the world, perhaps to divide nations, to promote civil wars. He argued that by doing so, America had countries fighting among themselves (dividing their power), purchasing newly "needed" weaponry--both of which are potentially advantageous to this country.

So, it's relatively ironic that our fundamental "right to bear arms" has lead us to allow guns produced solely for killing humans, into any American's hands. The Sandy Hook tragedy is the new poster child for our extremism.

What is right with America, is also what is wrong with America. I only hope that we may put these freedoms into the hands of educated, chemically/hormonally balanced individuals. I love America and hope that it finds ways to be wholesome, honest and good.

Anniversary Dinner at Meadowood

We used to dine every few months at The Restaurant at Meadowood in the early 2000s when we wanted good, casual, reasonably-priced Napa Valley food and ambiance. This entire concept went on it's head when Chef Christopher Kostow was hired away from the 2-Michelin Starred Chez TJ in Mountain View, CA.

Our friend, with a little help from us, obtained a position growing vegetables at the Montesori Garden for The Restaurant at Meadowood, 900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena, CA. Meadowood and it's chef Christopher Kostow earned the second 3-Michelin Star restaurant rating for the Napa Valley (Thomas Keller's The French Laundry being the first). Naturally, we wanted to experience some of what was grown (from time-to-time we'd volunteer a little hand in the garden) and determined that our upcoming wedding anniversary would be a great time to go.

We were so pleased Ad Hoc Restaurant's chef Cruz and Meadowood's gardener agreed to join us. The dinner was most memorable because of the company of these hardworking, soft-spoken and determined people.

The restaurant treated us to Billecart-Salmon Brute Rose Champagne to start. We were seated on the patio over looking an expanse of grass in the mild evening.

Amuse bouche starter

Garden vegetables with dipping "soil"

Beet and carrot amuse bouche

*** Wonderful taste: whipped yogurt, pickled plum with black sesame and shiso leaves

Cherry tomato clam lovage

Spot prawn, lily and caviar with individual sourdough bread roll

Garden cucumber, sesame seed, borage

Peter Michael "Ma Belle Fille" Chardonnay

Abalone, lobster, mushroom, succulents with individual bread

Trout, forgotten herbs, beet and peaches

*** Bouillon of roasted meats (palate cleanser)

Roast leg-of-goat

*** Goat, cumin, buttermilk eggplant with pumpernickel rolls

When asked, I gathered some (non-poisoned) garden snails at 6:00am a month earlier, 35 of them. My friend the gardener at 4:30am picked up over 400 snails, which eventually helped to create the following dish:

Cote de boeuf, snails and chanterelles. It is interesting to note the restaurant/chef's relationship

to the potter who creates many of the dishes upon which the food arrives.

*** Pretzel mimolette with summer peppers

Lime palate cleanser

Lemon cream with currants

Chef Cruz's gift of 2000 Dom Perignon Champagne

German chocolate cake (white chocolate coming out of the coconut shell)

Stages of the grape

The meal is obviously not something one wants to do every day. Surprisingly, the food wasn't the star of the show; the company was . . . the food was an amazing compliment to the fun company.

Would I do it again? Yes, especially for their treat known as "The Twelve Days of Christmas," when they feature a different chef and winery for 12 nights in December.

Truly, I believe Chef Kostow, purposefully or not, is showing us the future of fine dining (at the point if & when the modern world looses it's infrastructure, and we've poisoned the land and water). This is how we will eat well: using sustainably harvested fruits, vegetables and animal products; served on hand-crafted dishes.

Date Night

Friends are back from their six-month honeymoon. The husband landed a job at Bonny Doon Vineyard in north Santa Cruz, CA. He began right around the same time as new Chef du Cuisine Ryan Shelton. Ryan comes from several years as an innovative pastry chef under chef Bruno Chemel, first at Chez TJ in Mountain View, CA, then from Baume in Palo Alto, CA.


Decided to eat a sampling from Chef Ryan's second night at the head of Cellar Door (soon changing names to Le Cigare Volant):

Boquerones (Spanish Sardines)

Popelouchum Asparagus Soup

Glaum Ranch Circulated Egg (low and slow, like sous vide)

Spring and Baby Vegetable Salad

Crispy Brown Rice with Miso Glazed Root Vegetables (Arugula Tempura)

38 degrees North Lacquer Duck Leg with Orange Anise

Assorted Cheeses

Strawberry "Thaw" Custard (with liquid Nitrogen). This was one of the top five most fun desserts I've had. It was a great way to end our "date."

The aim is that Chef Ryan Shelton will earn Cellar Door at Bonny Doon Vineyard it's first Michelin Star. Given the sources for wonderful, fresh ingredients are within 50 miles, he's at an amazing location to produce a Michelin Star for the area. He just needs to keep working, challenging himself, surrounding himself with good people; and as Thomas Keller says, (paraphrasing) 'You're not just cooking for today, you're cooking for your legacy.'

St. Joseph's Table Baking--Day 5

Decided to go to work and bake there. This had definite advantages and disadvantages. One advantage was the quantity I was able to finish. At home I usually make 2 batches of bread in a day, at work (with the commercial oven, pans, etc.) was able to bake 7 batches of bread in 9 hours straight.

Didn't bring the Kitchen Aid mixer from home, and mixed everything by hand. [This left me desiring a Camco hand bread mixer like my friend owns.] Wasn't able to incorporate all the flour for which the recipes called, and my arms were tired. Caused the decorative loaves to be not as sturdy, so they broke where they wouldn't have had I taken time at home. The advantage was that 16 loaves (some huge) were baked in a day (where ~6 smaller loaves would be normal at home). The out-sized loaves I wished to bake would only fit in the commercial-sized oven.

Arrived at 10:20am and began mixing yeast with warm water. 
Bowl 1 = 1 batch Bread of SJ = 1 large 20"w round 4-rope-braid-loaf (normally creates 3 med-lg loaves)
Bowl 2 = 2 batches Bread of SJ = 2 large round loaves (1 balls round, 1 plain round with comb-incised decoration)
Bowl 3 = 2 batches bread of SJ = a loaf each of: ladder, monstrance, loaves/fish, chalice, hammer, carpenter's square, and a nail
Bowl 4 = 1 batch of Festive Easter Bread = 2 doves with eggs, "S"/"G" with eggs, and a host
Bowl 5 = 1 batch of Festive Easter Bread = 1 round braid with 3 colored eggs
The Festive Easter Bread still needs icing and colored sprinkles.
(see March 2011 archive for recipes)

After mixing, kneading the rest of the ingredients by hand, shaped the loaves (experimented with shapes) and baked the bread 3-4 large sheet pans at a time.

Finished baking just after 5:00pm, then it was an hour of dish washing and another hour of wrapping the bread for the freezer. Finally left, exhausted at 7:20pm. That was my penance for all the fun I've had lately. Hopefully the bread shows well on the Table.


Lessons for next time: bring the mixer, recruit dishwashing help, as well as bread-shaping help. Not the best idea to do it all alone; and the ball round doesn't hold together, the plain round with comb-incised design held together the best.

Re-Opening Ad Hoc Part 2

Think we're the luckiest people, because Ad Hoc Restaurant agreed to host us both nights of their friends and family pre-opening. It was the best leap day I remember.

The public was made what we had on Leap Day, February 29th the very next day March 1st--their official public re-opening after the renovation. What we had on Tuesday, Ad Hoc recreated for the public on their second opened day Friday, March 2nd.

Salad

Fried Chicken, Cole Slaw, Butter Beans (Supplement: Biscuits & Gravy)

Landaff

Banana Split

Saturday March 3rd they served prime rib and were very busy. We ate the caramel panna cotta dessert with friends, and I took home the scallop supplement. The atmosphere was a-buzz many people happy to be back home.

Sunday March 4th Ad Hoc had hash for brunch and pork rack for dinner. Monday Thomas Keller himself was in house for the fried chicken dinner. Can't think of a better way to cap a whole week of Ad Hoc.

St. Joseph's Table Preparation--Day 2

As promised, the second portion of the Fig Cake recipe. The filling portion's recipe is in the previous day's blog post.

Fig Cakes (adapted from "Viva San Guuseppe: a guide for Saint Joseph Altars")

Dough:

6 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 sticks butter

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups cold milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Place all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Dough should be very stiff (if not cover and refrigerate). Roll out pastry dough into sheets 1/8" thick. Cut dough into long strips 2" wide. Place fig filling evenly along the center of the strip (as described here is easier than the shorter strip version pictured above). Roll one side of the dough over the top of the filling. Continue to roll dough to complete a long tube of dough and filling. Roll tube to smooth and thin out. 

Here I cut the tubes about 3" long and shaped into a horseshoe, then made incisions 1/3-1/2 way through at 1 cm intervals.

Place cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on rack or waxed paper. Allow to cool. Frost with a simple powdered sugar and milk icing. Yields 60-100 cookies depending on size.

Iced and decorated Fig Cakes

Decorative (non-edible) Wheat Sheath with Mouse loaf [before]

Grape Cluster and Wheat (decorative only)

Made the decorative only loaves using the same recipe as last year, but reduced the yeast to 1/2 teaspoon only (low yeast for a crisp design). http://csagirlfriend.blogspot.com/2011/03/bread-of-st-joseph-vuccidrato-pane-di.html Loaves will be baked further in a low warm oven for several hours to dry out fully, then shellacked for multi-year use.

Fish loaf before

2012 Fish loaf after baking

St. Joseph's Staff, Cross, Artichoke and Fish decorative bread loaves