Breakfast blossoms

In "Rancho Cooking" (Sasquatch Books, 2001, 238 pages), Jacqueline Higuera McMahan, an eighth-generation Californian, mentions that her people loved squash blossoms more than they loved squash itself, and although I'm fond of squash almost any way one cooks it, I would have to agree.

You usually don't find squash blossoms in the grocery store; they are fragile and don't take to handling and transport well. But those big showy male flowers are wonderful in a number of recipes. I found them at the farmers market in Sacramento yesterday, along with a long stemmed spring garlic and some beautiful maitake mushrooms, also known as hen of the woods.

This morning, I made omelets with them. Unfortunately, we were so hungry, we ate them before I had a chance to take a photo. If I make them again tomorrow, I will photograph them before we eat.

Lori K's Squash Blossom Omelet 
with Maitake and Spring Garlic
Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Butter
⅛ pound maitake mushrooms
1 clove spring garlic, crushed and minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 squash blossoms
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat a 12-inch crepe or omelet pan over medium-low heat. Swish the butter stick over the bottom of the heated pan, then add the mushrooms and garlic. Sauté until softened, then remove from pan and set aside.

While the mushrooms are cooking, twist the stems off the blossoms and remove them and the pistil and throw that part in the compost. In a separate bowl, beat the three eggs until smooth.

After removing the mushrooms from the pan, add the oil, swish it around and place the flowers in it with the stem areas near the middle. When they have wilted, turn them over.

Add the beaten eggs, swirling the liquid gently around the blossoms as not to disturb them. When they have mostly set, sprinkle the mushrooms over and season to taste. When the edges start curling up a bit,  flip in half, then split the omelet and serve immediately.

An anniversary dinner to remember

Detail of wallpaper at
Chez Panisse.
Photograph ©2014,
Lori Korleski Richardson

We were due to be in Berkeley on the day of our 25th wedding anniversary, so there was one restaurant that immediately jumped to the top of our list: Chez Panisse.

And we were not disappointed. Although a printed menu comes to each table, there was more to each dish than what was described. Each course seemed somewhat small, but by the time we were done, we were quite full. We ordered a glass of Spanish sparkling rosé (a 2011 Cava Rosado) for each of us to start, then I had a glass of chardonnay (2010 Votes du Jura, Peggy et Jean-Pascal Buronfosse, France) with the fish course, and Jim had a pinot noir (2011 Ponzi Tavola, Willamette Valley) with the duck (we shared sips).

After we were seated in a room that had been redone after a fire closed the restaurant last year, and presented with menus and a wine list, a basket of rustic whole wheat and a pain d'epi came, with a small butter bell and some fleur de sal. A server then came by with a few green, unpitted olives that had been marinated in orange and lemon zest.

 Here are the menu items, followed by photos.

First:
Porcini mushroom and celery salad with fava beans, mint and new garlic vinaigrette. The favas were mashed and spread on a delightful crostini; the sprouts and radish were also nice additions. Much to my delight, the celery was absolutely fresh and not overpowering in quantity.

Photograph ©2014, Lori Korleski Richardson

Fish:
King salmon in saffron brodetto with agretti greens. The broth was made from halibut and the little yellow orbs were cooked and peeled yellow cherry tomatoes. The poached squid was amazingly tender and tasty. Agretti is a salt-tolerant plant that is native to the Mediterranean, but tonight's greens were locally sourced. They had the look of rosemary, the taste of spinach and the texture of a delicate seaweed.

Photograph ©2014, Lori Korleski Richardson

Main:

Grilled Salmon Creek Ranch duck breast and leg with sage and pine nut salsa, wild rocket and squash tian. As you can see from the photograph, a couple of spears of peeled asparagus slipped in, along with a generous grate of parmesan. The sage was muddled with the pine nuts, rendering it an amazing seasoning for the duck. The leg was exceedingly rich, having been cooked confit style then crisped, while the breast was grilled in the fireplace until just warm. It was so melting tender that practically dissolved on our tongues. The tian was like a light, crustless quiche. Side note: Wild rocket, indeed. Just try keep arugula in the garden.

Photograph ©2014, Lori Korleski Richardson

Dessert:
Star blueberry tart with candied Meyer lemon.

I stopped taking photographs before dessert arrived, so I'll try to describe it the best I can. The tart was a slender slice, with a light, whole wheat crust. The candied Meyer lemon was in tiny bits scattered on a side drizzle of honey and a goodly number of raspberries. On the other side was a dollop of vanilla-bean crème anglaise. It was pure heaven.

After dinner, our server stopped by with the restaurant's version of an Almond Joy: two tiny coconut macaroons and two almonds dusted in cocoa.

What could we say but yum! And we'll be back well before we celebrate our 50th.

Not carrot sticks - carrots ON a stick

Back in 2006, when Barry Beisner was ordained a bishop and consecrated as the head of the Diocese of Northern California, I was put in charge of food for a party for "somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 people." It was going to be lunch, and I wouldn't know the precise number until the Sacramento Convention Center was filled and heads counted, around 11 a.m.

I had a great helpmate in this, Nan Wyant, who spent countless hours on the phone making arrangements for water deliveries, party goods, and the myriad details so I could focus on the food. And what a great group of volunteers we had at Trinity Cathedral. We arranged everything so no utensils were needed, and set up seven lines of tables with identical food on each to move the crowd quickly through the hall and back outside, where the entertainment was set up.

The main dishes weren't too hard. We had spicy meatballs on a stick with a yogurt sauce; curried chicken tenders on a stick with peanut sauce; fried tofu squares with sweet Thai chili sauce. We had cheese plates with crackers and snacks outside. We had lots of cold vegetable platters with blanched green beans, pepper strips, radishes, zucchini rounds, snow peas, celery sticks and dip.

But cooked vegetables on a stick? I settled on Moroccan Carrots. As long as you don't overcook them, they stay on a toothpick well, and we put them in little 2-ounce cups. They were a hit.

Moroccan Carrots
adapted from Joyce Goldstein, author of "The Mediterranean Kitchen"
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
⅓ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Dash cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 ½ cups (about ½ pound), cut into coins (slices)
⅓ cup orange juice
3 tablespoons dried currents, soaked in hot water
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
Chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Reduce the heat to low, add the sugar spices and carrots and stir for a few minutes. Add the orange juice and the currents with some of their soaking liquid. Bring to a boil. Quickly reduce heat an simmer, covered, until the carrots are just tender. Add salt and pepper and adjust seasoning to taste. Sprinkle with parsley.

Mom's mystery torte still a winner

Several years ago, I shared my mother's Mystery Torte in The Sacramento Bee, but a search on SacBee.com turns up nothing with my byline anymore. (After five years away, it's like my 21 years at that newspaper never happened.) 

For a good long time, the 3x5 card that had the recipe on it was nowhere to be found, and I wasn't the only one who missed it. While cleaning out my email, I came across a friend's lament that he had not saved The Bee with the recipe, and would dearly love to have it if it ever turned up.

Here you go, Fred! And if Nancy doesn't want to share her sticky toffee pudding recipe, that's OK; I'd love to have her make it for us the next time we're in Sacramento.

Mystery Torte

Serves 8

From the recipe box of Attie Ardoin Korleski. Source unknown (it's a mystery!). If you don't have an 8-inch pie tin, use a 9-inch; it won't be as thick, but still very tasty. 

Ingredients
-Torte
16 Ritz crackers
2/3 cup walnuts 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla 

-Topping
1 cup (1/2 pint) whipping cream
Sugar to taste

Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll crackers, grind nuts and mix together (or put both in a food processor and mix until you can't tell them apart). Set aside. 

Mix baking powder and sugar. Set aside. 

Beat egg whites until stiff; add sugar mixture slowly. When done, fold in the cracker-nut mixture and add vanilla. Pour into lightly greased 8-inch pie tin. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely (but do not refrigerate yet).

Use the last two ingredients to make whipped cream. Push down the thin top layer of the torte, then spread the whipped cream on top, taking care not to lift any of the crumbs from the top while you are spreading the cream. Put in the refrigerator and chill for at least three hours before serving.

When is balsamic just a cheap imitation of the real thing?

Good to know, from Good Stuff NW:

Bottles of balsamic vinegar on store shelves labeled "Balsamic Vinegar of Modena" are a commercial grade product made of wine vinegar with the addition of coloring, caramel and sometimes thickeners like guar gum or cornflour.

Authentic balsamic vinegar, labeled "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena," is produced from the juice of just-harvested white grapes (typically, Trebbiano grapes) boiled down to approximately 30% of the original volume to create a concentrate or must, which is then fermented in a slow aging process which concentrates the flavors.

Real spaghetti carbonara

In Virginia, you can find pork jowl bacon in the stores, and this is a great use for it. This has been one of my favorite dishes for years, because I usually have most of the ingredients on hand (although sometimes I cheat and use cooked bacon crumbles, which I keep in the freezer after opening).

If anyone can point me to a source for pork jowl in Sacramento, I'd be most appreciative.

In full cauliflower

Cauliflower is perhaps the mildest of the cole family vegetables, and that makes it a good entry vegetable if you can't seem to bring yourself to eat broccoli or despise the smell of cooked cabbage. And this soup, which my friend Bambi Nicklin featured on a Facebook posting recently, makes the nutritious vegetable even more inviting. I served it with fried calamari (recipe below the soup) for a good, gluten-free meal. If you want to stretch this out to serve four people, add some appetizers and a salad.


Bambi's Cauliflower Soup
Serves 2

Cook a cored cauliflower in broth until it's very soft. Remove from broth with a slotted spoon and blend with a little broth until smooth. Return to pot. Add 3/4 cup finely grated cheese and dried thyme and whisk to blend the melted cheese. Meanwhile, cook 1 cup peas for 2 minutes in the microwave. Whisk in about 1/3 cup sour cream and add the peas.

Lori's note: I didn't have any sour cream on hand, so I used Mexican table cream instead. It was delicious.

Crispy Calamari
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 pound small calamari
½ cup rice flour
2 teaspoons Mas Guapo or other spicy salt

Instructions
Clean calamari and cut into rings. Drain well. Mix the flour and seasoned salt together. Dredge the calamari in the flour and shake off excess. You can do this in advance.

When ready to cook, bring the calamari to room temperature. Over medium heat in a cast-iron skillet, heat about ½-inch of canola oil. When hot, add rings in small batches so they aren't crowded. Cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes, then drain on paper towels. Let the oil come back up to temperature before adding more. Serve with lemon wedges or your favorite sauce.