Minestrone with Runquist Wine
Crazy Northern California weather this past year confused many plants but the strength of Bacchus in the Amador and El Dorado county wine areas prevailed. New wineries surfaced while many established operations flourished, making stand out wines. In Amador County, I’ve particularly enjoyed wines from a small producer with an unwavering focus on reds, Jeff [...]
Italian Bread for the Holidays
Try this on for size: an easy yeasted bread, Italian in nature with nuts, figs and more that is wonderful toasted with butter for breakfast or eaten as an anytime snack. This is Bisciola. When I first discovered bisciola, pronounced bih-SHOAL-ah, it was presented as yeasted fruit and nut bread. I’ve come to find it’s [...]
Blueberry Goat Cheese Galette
Figs and goat cheese are two of my favorites. Add a glass of Sancerre and you’re in for a treat. I recently put my favorite fig aside and tried blueberries with creamy goat cheese layered in a pastry crust. This is my new choice for an anytime galette. Blueberries and goat cheese weren’t [...]
Padrón, The Frying Pepper
I first experienced Padrón peppers on a trip to Spain two years ago. Glancing at a just delivered plate that sizzled and glistened, our waiter asked what was next. “We’ll have that.” I said in my broken Spanish. I fell in love with the Padrón all over again on my recent trip. Named after Padrón, [...]
Cherry Tomato Jam with a Sicilian Twist
We got back from our month in Spain and low and behold, my cherry tomato plant was loaded! We ate lots of tomato items on this trip. A more savory style tomato jam popped up frequently on tapas, pinxtos, and the Spanish version of tostada, basically a toasted piece of bread or baguette with items [...]
Impromtu Prickly Pear Spotting
Chumberas, or higos chumbos are everywhere in the lower areas of Spain´s Sierra Nevada mountains. A chumbera is a prickly pear, the fruit of the cactus. People are picking and selling them in arid areas of Andalusia where they grow well. We ran into a man who made his own tool for picking. He kindly [...]
Peach Salsa That Rocks
Last Sunday I went to the Marin farmers’ market at the Civic Center. It was my last Bay Area stop after two days of glorious hiking on Mt. Tamalpais and staying at the West Point Inn. The first market booth was a presentation of the most beautiful assortment of peaches, nectarines and plums I’ve ever [...]
Harvesting the Artichoke
I pass by artichokes at the market, gazing at them, deciding if I want to take them on. They’re really not that much work but I can get lazy when it comes to artichokes. This past weekend I was at a friend’s dinner where Sicilian Chef Joe from Reno made fried artichoke hearts. They were [...]
Zucchini Parmesan Bread
Here we are in July, and it feels like spring outside–low 80s, a light breeze, and tomato plants just starting to flower. Despite the lack of tomatoes, there are some plants in the garden that love this weird summer weather and none more so than the zucchini. I’m only allowed to have one plant each [...]
