My Kitchen My Table

Please don't ask for my photo.

In San Francisco this week. One of the the bosses of the du Monde, Lynda Zuber Sassi, the owner of this blog, asked the du Monde to drinks and to meet the “must be met” Lou Lesko. She looking elegant and Parisian in a gorgeous dress and over the calf boots. He looking like a cliché Californian with a white t-shirt under a v-neck sweater. At least he had good shoes. Hardly a saving grace, but enough to keep the du Monde from feigning a headache and abandoning the whole affair.

We find ourselves at the Wine Merchant in the Ferry Building at the port of San Francisco. Ms Zuber, a citizen of the city, walked here. Mr. Lesko took the ferry in from Marin clearly afraid of the Gestapo-esque parking authority of the San Francisco.

The du Monde enjoyed the atmosphere of the Wine Merchant and moreover was incredibly appreciative of the vast knowledge and kind demeanor of the proprietors. Yes, the du Monde loves to drink, but when it comes to the flavors of the vine – well the choices in California can be overwhelming. The Wine Merchant is a comfortable place to learn more or to put yourself in the hands of the servers.

The evening went well. That is up until the point that Lou Lesko, the photographer, asked the du Monde for a date to shoot pictures. The du Monde sloshed his wine around a bit in the glass before taking the final swig. “The du Monde does not submit to the camera. There are too many international warrants displaying the name Louie du Monde.” I took my leave.

Picnic at Preston

For many years, Preston Vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley has been one of my favorite places to visit. A family operation, one truly feels like they are in another world after passing through the gate and driving down the dirt road lined with olive trees and vineyards. It’s like the feeling of security that Holly Golightly has upon entering Tiffany’s – nothing bad can happen to you here.

It is always a treat to spend the afternoon here, walking through the organic gardens, tasting wine, lounging lazily around one of the tables in the sun enjoying a picnic and connecting to being in that place for that time, not thinking about anything else.

Of course, there are the vineyard cats and kittens who provide limitless entertainment as they lurk around the property looking for a scratch and a nibble, passing by each table to see who has the best handouts.

On Sundays there is the Guadagni Jug. Available on a first come first serve basis, the Jug has become a local tradition since it first started in 2002 as a tribute to neighbor, Jim Guadagni. Today, people like me drive from a far to participate too. I envy the regulars who bring their jugs week after week so covered with labels (they give you a new one each time) that you can hardly see the glass anymore.

“Guadagni Red” comes in a 3 liter jug which is literally filled by the spigot straight from the barrel and when the barrel is dry, the ration for the day is complete. They say that it is a blend mostly of the grapes that Jim knew — Zinfandel, Mourvèdre, Carignane — and looks and tastes like the wines that he enjoyed as a young man. From the line up of people who stream in on Sundays, it is safe to say that those tastes of yesterday are equally enjoyed today.

National Salami Day

This morning I read that we should all eat a salami sandwich today to celebrate National Salami Day. Who know that Salami had a national day named after it?!

Salami is part of the salumi family. Salumi is a general term used to describe Italian-style cured or preserved meats. It is similar to the French term charcuterie which seems to be more broadly recognized. Most types of salumi are made from pork, in fact, Boccalone, a shop and food cart in the Ferry Building whose motto “tasty salted pig parts” sums it up nicely.

In the Bay Area, there are several restaurants whose chefs specialize in making salumi and offer salumi platters as a house specialty. Usually it is served with complimentary cheeses, toasted bread and sometimes nuts or olives to round out the offering.

I am sad to say that one of the salumi pioneers in SF, Chris Lee recently shuttered the doors of his restaurant, Eccolo in Emeryville. We can only hope that Chef Lee opens a salumi shop in the near future.

But fear not, there are several Bay Area restaurants that feature salumi including Bar Bambino in the Mission, Incanto in Noe Valley, Adesso in Oakland and there’s Diavola Pizzaria and Salumeria in Geyserville (where this picture was taken) – definitely worth taking a trip for both the pizza and salumi.

If you’re curious to learn more, check out these books that do a good job of shedding light on the process as well as providing practical recipes utilizing salumi. Salumi, cookbook by Joyce Goldstein that features recipes utilizing various types of salumi, and Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing by Michael Ruhlman.

Mark your calendar for next year’s Salami Day – on September 7, 2010 it will be here again!

Julie/Julia

by Louie DuMonde

Since the du Monde is always in a state of “must be seen at night” in bars of the world, you’ll think it odd that I attended a movie last night. But Julie/Julia is worth an evening of sobriety in a dark theater for a fabulously well done movie about one of my heroes, Julia Child.

Writer-director Nora Ephron adapted two memoirs for the screenplay – Julie Powell’s “Julie & Julia” and Julia Child’s “My Life in France.” Meryl Streep does a fantastic job of portraying Julia Child. As I watched the movie I couldn’t distinguish the Streep character from my memory of The French Chef television show that I used to watch on public television with my mother.

As the movie probably has a limited audience because of the niche subject matter, get out to the theater soon before this gem goes away. Then I highly recommend having a look at the original Julie Powell blog, the other half of the story. It’s a fun read especially after seeing it in the context of the movie.

Fired Up for Football Season

Classic Uncle Pete gets the Trojans fired up while punkin’ the team with an appearence and compelling message from a real class act.

Get ready for USC football. Game on! Fight On!

A Platter of Figs

The next MKMT Cookbook is A Platter of Figs and other recipes by David Tanis, long time leading chef at Chez Panisse.

A truly gorgeous book; it is impossible not to page through and be hungry to get into the kitchen and cook up one of his seasonal menus then invite your favorite people over to gather around the table to nurture with food, wine and conversation.

The photography jumps off the pages and the styling is simple and rustic. The book is printed on matte paper – a trend I’ve found in the last few cookbooks I’ve bought.

Since it just arrived I haven’t had a chance to cook from it yet, but I’ve read through and love how each season is organized by menus. David Tanis is thorough in the forward explaining his methodology about food and cooking and each recipe is full of thoughtful instruction and how to wisdom. Throughout the book there is enlightenment about techniques (How to cook a rabbit) and ingredients (Parsnip Epiphany) making it both a pleasure to read and a volume to learn from for cooks of all levels.

And, as expected from the chef at Chez Panisse, all menus are driven by fresh and seasonal food and created to maximize the flavors of the ingredients.

I plan to try menu nine tonight. Shaved Summer Squash with Squash Blossoms, Grilled Halibut with Indian Spices and Yellow Tomatoes and Peaches in Wine. How’s that for a seasonal summer menu?!

Dinner Tonight

I am so enjoying my dinner tonight. It is the perfect blend of fresh, seasonal, and easy. I took the rosemary focaccia that I bought at the Alemany farmers market yesterday and topped it with fresh mozarella, sweet 100 tomatoes and basil from my garden and drizzled some McEvoy Ranch olive oil over the top. Popped it in the oven @425 degrees and while it cooked for 12 minutes tossed together arugula and the last of the lettuce from the garden with olive oil and balsamic sprinkled with s&p. When the focaccia came out of the oven I put the salad on top and poured a glass of chilled Sauvignon blanc and was good to go. Here is what it looked like half way through. The iPhone photo won’t do it justice so you’ll just have to believe and try for yourself. Buon gusto.

Veggie Trader

What do you get when Craig’s List crosses an abundant fruit and vegetable harvest? Veggie Trader! What a brilliant idea – created to connect people who have more veggies than they can manage themselves with people who will trade for or buy the surplus.

While there isn’t a lot of trading going on in my zip code or 10 mile radius, this is a great idea and I have high hopes that the Veggie Trader will catch on.

Shake Shack

Who would believe that New Yorkers would stand in line for 1+ hours for a burger, fries and shake? This I had to see for myself so I plugged the address into my iPhone, got the walking directions from my Times Square hotel and started out to Madison Square Park, home of the original Shake Shack. I entered the park and at first, the line didn’t strike me… and then…. I saw it…. In fact, on the website, there is a Shack Cam that helps diners “plan accordingly”.
the line wrapped around one side of the park and there was a steady flow of people queuing up.

I took my place and pulled out Vanity Fair to read about Jessica Simpson and the tell-all interview with Bernie Madoff’s secretary and prepared to wait. There was a party of 6 friends behind me who had been before and this time they had come with beer. I had been told that it could take anywhere between 20-60 minutes to reach the front of the line and with the warm night of perfect weather it was looking like the longer side of 60.

With a limited number of items on the menu, ordering is easy. I went with the cheeseburger, fries and a beer. 10 minutes later, my order was up and I had found a bistro table under a tree to enjoy the fare.

Apparently people like to feed fries to squirrels because there were several running patterns around the tables looking for the most likely offering. The burger was good and so were the fries. I typically prefer thinly cut frites for fries and was slightly concerned when I saw the crinkle cuts sitting alongside the burger but they were tasty and nice and salty. Were they worth the >60 minute wait? Probably not again but for the experience, sure, why not.

When I got up to leave I checked out the line figuring it would have dissipated by then but to my surprise, it had doubled… did this mean the people at the end were in for a 2 hour wait? Only in New York….

Boccalone Friday Food Cart

The food cart phenomena is sweeping the nation… well at least the last two cities I’ve traveled to, NY and Portland, OR and where I live, San Francisco.

Appropriately so, the Boccalone cart arrived in front of my office, – how adorable is the delivery dude in his red hat and Boccalone bike shirt?!

Several of us queued up in anticipation a good 15 minutes before the scheduled arrival time knowing that supply is limited and the previous week, the goods were gone within 5 minutes. My image of what I was waiting for was quickly squelched when the retro red bicycle rode up the sidewalk with a metal cooler attached like a basket. (I was either expecting the roach coach to putter up the street and park curbside or the push cart with grill and bell that I knew from living in LA years ago.)

Packed in the cooler were 30 mortadella sandwiches with spicy mustard on fresh Italian Bread accompanied with a few sliced pickles. The first 10 people got lard chips. Sadly, I was the 14th person in line but I heard that the lard was good. Is that the same as everything tastes good with bacon? Not sure, I’ll have to try the chips at the Ferry Building and get back about that. The crunchy pickles and sandwich were scrumptious and the excitement of the food cart was a welcome break to the monotony of the average lunch hour.

To find out where the Boccalone cart will show up next follow their Twitter feed @boccalone