west coast conference

I understand this song a little more now. 

I left my heart in San Francisco 

Julie London

I've sat on this long enough - so it's even though it's not the most thorough, I'll post.

California, baby! no kids, no boys, no real life responsibilities, except to eat, rest, and laugh.

Mission Accomplished.

Day one: coastline.

  

duarte's tavern:

pescadero farmer's market:

harley goat farm: (ideas abound for cornman)

preparing farmers' market spoils for our hosts

Day two: wine and extra virgins
olive oil, you pervs.

Pasolivo:

Linne Calodo:

Kenneth Volk:

Very lovely tours arranged by Alex and Barbara.

On the way back from Paso Robles 
we drove through miles and miles of fields of Dole owned property,
with wind ripping through our hair in the 100 degree sun. 

 I'm assuming those beautiful greens are 

what they dip in chlorine and bag up for your "Easy" salad bags. gag. 

(an aside: buy lettuce heads and wash them. 

You'll realize that you've forgotten what greens taste like.  

I guarantee you're so used to the faint odor and taste of chlorine,

 you don't even realize it any more.)

Day three: San fran!

house of nanking:

la taqueria

TARTINE!!
the line was ridiculous but it was worth it. 

 

and finally...

This was the best croissant that I've ever eaten.  

Ever. 

It was otherworldly: crunchy crackly buttery yet almost custard-y in the middle. 

Uncountable layers.

Unreal. 

Glorious Cornman

A picture tour:
Know where your food comes from?

Tomatoes

Lend an ear to Seth Ford-Young 

Mood music if there ever was some

If you've ever read The Last Bite in August or September, it won't come as a surprise to you that I'm swimming in the glory of tomatoes right now. Largely due to the stash that I've gleaned from Cornman, I've cooked and preserved about 100 lbs by myself: frozen cherry tomatoes, roasted, sauced, jarred, dried, gazpacho-ed.  Most were  just eaten sliced on sesame semolina with copious amounts of mayonnaise, salt and pepper. And occasionally I've been known to eat a tomato like an apple.

This meal from a few nights ago was one I've had bouncing around in my head for a while. When I helped Chef Alex cook at the Roadhouse Cornman Farms dinner last month (i drop this like it wasn't one of the most fantastic days of my life), we started with the idea of a heirloom tomato stuffed with pesto rice. But after the brainstorming phase, I lost control of the dish. There were so many moving parts that day, it dropped off my radar. It ended up as a tomato stuffed with arugula pesto rice, then roasted. it was fabulous, but...

In my home kitchen I went back to my original concept, a cooler fresher version.

Whole heirloom tomatoes stuffed with Pesto rice salad:

Jasmine rice, cooked then cooled.
Tossed with fresh arugula pesto (garden works arugula), a full handful of chopped flat Italian parsley, chopped roasted chicken.