hi standards's Profile
Where to buy acorn meal?
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/recipes/squirrel.html
try this and I'll look for another one I found also.
Eat Nopal & Kare Raisu take on a Block in Napa
Thank you all for posting on these places. I haven't tried either restaurants yet, but I love Lucy's!
What am I missing at the French Laundry?
If you read The Gospel of Food, by Barry Glasner, he does reference the FL and he notes that the common schlub off the street does not usually get the same food or treatment that a professional reviewer or celebrity receives at very high profile restaurants. I've eaten there twice, the first experience was utterly sublime and worth every penny. The second experience was remarkable for being so surprisingly forgettable and disappointing. Despite the fact that the food was well-prepared and lovely to look at, the mix of flavors and textures didn't rate more than a shrug. Maybe it's Like Water for Chocolate - someone in the kitchen was having a bad night and it translated to the food. Sounds like your experience was similar to my second visit. If my first visit had been like that, I wouldn't have returned.
Where to buy acorn meal?
A long, long time ago, the Old Bale Grist Mill near Calistoga had some - but believe me, it was a LONG time ago! I think you might need to make your own. It's an involved process, but this is such a great year for acorns that you could collect more than enough pretty quickly. I recently googled the preparation process because I was thinking of trying to make my own and it seemed do-able.
lasagne with spinach?
Remember that if you use spinach, it's better to use frozen, chopped spinach and then defrost and squeeze all the water out or you will have really watery lasagna. I do a spinach - basil combo and simply layer with ricotta mixed with a couple eggs and salt and pepper, and then top with mozzarella. Use a bechamel sauce as mentioned by another poster.
Stalk of brussels sprouts
IMO nah. Just cut off the sprouts and eat them. I throw them into my compost pile.
I Am Vegetable, Hear Me Roar! Ubuntu Redux (long)
Sorry, really spaced out last night - we had four hot plates, not three and the chef said everything can be made vegan if that is your preference. I meant to mention that. Also, the single diners at the wine bar and the large open-seating table seemed to be having a great time. That's it!
I Am Vegetable, Hear Me Roar! Ubuntu Redux (long)
Just came from Ubuntu. The food was crazy good!!! My husband, my daughter and I stuffed ourselves. We were hard pressed not to order every dang thing on the menu! It was all so insanely delicious!
We started with a generous serving of enormous sevillano olives marinated with pink peppercorns and horseradish - fresh, delightfully squeaky and perfectly salted.
We were thinking of a couple choices from the cool plates menu but we'd been outdoors all day and were more in the mood for hot plates, but we picked one: salsify with salsa verde, olive-caper parmesan pesto and butter lettuce. It was fantastic. We mopped up the plate with the warm, chewy bread provided.
We chose three hot plates, the first was stuffed bok choy in a french pumpkin soup with lemongrass and basil. This dish was amazing. Lightly spiced, delicate, truly outstanding in every way.
Of course we tried the four cauliflowers in a cast iron pot based upon everyone else's review and we were not disappointed. The steam was wonderfully fragrant when the server lifted the lid. My husband practically licked out the little black pot, and we could barely get him to share.
We also order the rustic stew of black radish, sunchoke and turnip, served with faro, swiss chard and tea-soaked prunes - yum! It was an old fashioned dish that actually tasted like something my Romanian great grandmother used to make. I loved the tea-soaked prunes!
Our last hot plate was the unbelievably good anson mills speckled grits, hickory smoked, with barbecued brussel sprouts, and celery root salad. It was so good we scooped up every single bite. The grits were wonderfully creamy and smokey and the brussel sprouts were absolutely perfect.
In addition, we ordered the wild nettle and garden kale pizza with an egg on top. OMG! We inhaled it! That was THE BEST pizza I've ever eaten in a restaurant and certainly the first time I've eaten an egg on a pizza. Even the egg was great. We used the crust to scoop up everything else left on the table, and I don't normally like pizza crust but this crust was really tasty.
Despite the fact that we were totally full, all the desserts looked so incredible that we tried two - the out of this world medjool date cake and the cheesecake in a jar. Plus my daughter and I both had the hot chocolate with Bluebottle Coffee - heavenly! Yummo! I haven't tasted anything like it outside of Europe. My husband was sorry he didn't order the chocolate because I was only willing to share a tiny sip of mine. We all agreed that we could eat the date cake every day for the rest of our lives. The cheesecake was excellent, but nothing special except for the sour cherries and the presentation. But all the cookies that accompanied the desserts were to die for.
$150.00 for three people with two glasses of good wine and an Anchor Steam. Worth every single penny. The environment is delightful, our server was helpful and attentive without being invasive, the chef is extremely friendly, and everyone in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely and I'm quite certain very few of them were vegetarians.
There are so many wonderful restaurants in the Bay Area, but this was something special - of course the fact that I don't eat red meat has a lot to do with it's appeal for me, but even my husband (who hates to spend money at restaurants) came home happy, satisfied and voiced not a single complaint. As a matter of fact, he said he'd love to go back for lunch.
I will go back for the chocolate - Bluebottle Coffee alone!
Homemade Jerky
Ha! Ha! My husband barely allows me around knives! I've been around and in the food business all my life and I still cut myself constantly! I've had a couple finger tips put back on. So do what I do, slice real slow and actually pay attention. I am too easily distracted.
NAPA Recommendations (Late December/New Years Eve)
I agree. For a whole lot of us who live here, New Years is pretty quiet. We stay home on NYE with a bottle or two of Schramsberg! Usually get take out from a favorite place and watch movies. Often hotels and restaurants will mention their NYE specials in the SF Chronicle Pink Section so you might want to check that out on line. I am most definitely wary of driving these roads on New Years.
Homemade Jerky
Salmon jerky, my kids call it salmon candy - I make a maple salmon jerky. I can give an approximate recipe. I use wild salmon - I buy a half a salmon or a whole cleaned and de-boned salmon depending upon prices. Then with my sharpest knife, I slice the meat kind of diagonally, removing any pieces of skin, into about 1/4 inch slices - if you slice it too thin, it will fall apart when you pull it off the dryer. For the marinade, I use up to 2 cups maple syrup, 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce, one half cup white or dark balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon black pepper and 1 tablespoon salt. Whisk everything together and then dump in the sliced salmon and let marinate overnight. Put on the dryer the next day and it dehydrates really fast - I usually can start removing pieces within 4-6 hours. Then I store in a zip lock bag in the fridge. We eat it all within a day or two. If you want a not-sweet recipe, let me know.
Homemade Jerky
Don't cook the meat before jerking or you will negate the entire process. A slow dehydrator should work really well. I don't know anything about the Mr. Coffee, but I use my fruit and vegetable dehydrator for beef, turkey and salmon jerky. Just make sure your meat is sliced as thin as the butcher can get it, then as a poster below said, soak it in your marinade for a day in the fridge. It takes 6-12 hours to dry depending upon the heat of your dryer. Remove the meat when it's still slightly pliant because as it cools down, it will stiffen up. I know I don't have to, but I let it cool completely, then store in a ziplock bag in the fridge just to be on the safe side. Do you have a good recipe?
Are maple syrup all the same? [moved from Home Cooking board]
You are so right. I love Grade B - I know it's cheaper, but to me, the taste is so much deeper, stronger and richer that I prefer it for everything. I use it for salmon jerky, to marinate chicken, as a dip for grilled cheese sandwiches (weird, I know). I love it!
Solo Dining Recs in Napa?
Downtown: Pilar, Ubuntu, Kelly's No Bad Days Cafe, Pearl
Sushi: Fujiya at the bar (Napa Outlet Center)
Between Napa and Yountville: Bistro Don Giovanni
Yountville: Bouchon at the bar
Rutherford: Rutherford Grill (just fun)
Ghee?
That is a great explanation/description of ghee/clarified butter. Really excellent!
Ubuntu for lunch
Going this week. Cannot wait!!! Thanks for adding another glowing report.
Olive Oil Tasting in the Napa Valley
Round Pond does offer a free tasting during certain months on certain days - it's on their website. I went some months ago and it was fantastic. I ended up buying the blood orange olive oil and the lemon olive oil for myself and as gifts. Really great stuff provided by friendly, informative people.
Olive Oil Brand - Good or Not [Moved from SF Bay Area Board]
I recently read an article which indicated that some importers are substituting cheap vegetable oil for olive oil and using an artificial flavoring agent, then labeling the product Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I'm not saying that's what you have, but I keep it in mind whenever I'm looking at a brand of olive oil I'm not familiar with.
Fantastic vegetarian baked beans?
The longer cooking beans don't necessarily have a richer taste, just different. And it's funny that when I don't make them from scratch, I use Bush's vegetarian beans as the base! Guess we all think alike. I'll try to explain - it's not exactly a recipe because everyone in my family learned by watching my grandmother:
start with dry white beans or dry pink beans, rinse and pick out any rocks. Put them in a large pot of cold water, cover, and bring to a boil. Turn off and let sit for an hour, then drain, cover with fresh water and a lid, and simmer until tender, about another hour or so. Meanwhile, saute minced garlic, minced onions and finely chopped shallots in 2-4 tbs. butter or whatever oil you like (butter tastes better), until really carmelized. I usually use 2 onions, about 6 cloves garlic and 2 large shallots. Then I spray a large dutch oven or baking pan with nonstick cooking spray, add the beans, the carmelized onions, etc., and pepper to taste. I mix up enough liquid to cover the beans by about an inch - like two cups ketchup, 1 cup water (I use the bean water), 3/4 cup brown sugar or molasses or maple syrup - whichever I have on hand, maybe 2 tablespoons each balsamic vinegar, low-sodium soy sauce, and yellow mustard. I don't add salt until I taste the beans because the sauce will concentrate as it cooks and there's a lot of sodium in the ketchup. Stir it all together, make sure the beans are completely covered, cover the baking pan, and then bake at 350' for about an hour, until the sauce is nice and bubbly. My daughter likes me to use barbecue sauce instead of ketchup and sometimes I change it up with red enchilada sauce. Just depends upon what I'm serving the beans with. What everyone really likes is when I buy pre-made polenta, cut it into chunks and stir it carefully into the beans when they are almost done cooking. If I use the Bush's beans, all I do is mix the beans with the other ingredients and bake till bubbly. I tried adding tofu once, but we all agreed it was disgusting. Maybe if I would have used the already baked tofu it would have tasted better. Hope this works for you.
help my challah!
Challah and pulled pork is kinda funny! Sorry! Just humorous, a contradiction in Jewish food terms. Challah makes great stuffing. I would not use a bread machine, the bread turns out too dense and you want it light. Like pescatarian said, you need more eggs - 4-6 - and I use 1/2 cup honey instead of sugar and 1/2 cup melted butter. It works best if you make a sponge with the yeast first - yeast, warm milk, 1 cup of the flour, and a couple tablespoons of sugar. Just mix everything together and sprinkle the yeast on top, then let it sit (covered) for 30 minutes or so in a warm place before you stir in the remaining ingredients. If you increase the wet ingredients, you'll need to increase the dry also. I use 1 1/2 packs of dry yeast and 6+ cups of flour. I also do an initial rise till doubled, then a 15 minute rest on a floured board (again covered), then form my challah and do another rise until doubled in size. And you know about kneading before the first rise, right? Knead (on a floured board) in more flour - small amts. at a time until the dough is soft as a baby's behind - at least 10 minutes. Hope this helps......
Fantastic vegetarian baked beans?
Olive123 - do you want a quick and easy version or an all-day homemade version? I can give you either. My family has a three-generation tradition of vegetarian baked beans using both versions depending upon who's cooking. Let me know and I'll be happy to post either or both if you're interested.
Does 'quality' beef jerky exist?
Wow! Old post but goody, I just found it. Yes, quality beef jerky exists. I make it for my carnivore daughter, (she eats 2 lbs in one sitting!) along with turkey jerky and wild salmon jerky. I'll be happy to share a recipe - I have a few - if anyone wants them. You need a food dehydrator though. You can use the Alton Brown method - check the Food Network site, but that takes too long for my family.
The French Laundry-Yountville
Actually, I misspoke, one of the younger grandchildren - Perry.
Afternoon Tea in/near Sonoma/Napa
As far as I know, there's no place in Napa or the Napa Valley that serves a formal afternoon tea. Sorry. For delicious pastries, along with coffee, espresso, or tea, you might try Sweetie Pies at 520 Main Street in Napa, or Bouchon Bakery at 6528 Washington, Yountville. Both places have indoor and outdoor seating.
The French Laundry-Yountville
Wow! I just read this thread and I thought I was the only one who was aware of the Schmitt family and their earlier version of the FL. My kids grew up with those kids and I hear the youngest - won't mention names - is a culinary wizard!!! It is so cool that the family is getting some props!
Costco Mexican Coca Cola - - No!
Yes, thanks, the coke for Passover. I've never been able to find it. If anyone ever sees it, I'd love to know where. My son actually likes the Mexican coke from Costco. I've only tasted Mexican coke when I've been in Mexico and I thought it was ok. Maybe Waterboy got a really bad batch or maybe they've watered it down to save costs.
Costco Mexican Coca Cola - - No!
If anyone knows how to get Kosher coca-cola, I'd love to find out. Apparently Kosher coke is made with sugar, not corn syrup.
Sonoma County... best eating experience < $30 per person?
Maybe not the top Sonoma County dining experience, but my husband and I are partial to Rin's Thai Restaurant, http://www.rinsthai.com/. We've never been disappointed and we've stopped there after wine-tasting, shopping, and we've biked there from Napa.
