With all of the recent press celebrating Alice Waters and her recipes from the past 40 years, I was inspired – in “Julie & Julia” fashion – to create some of her signature dishes. Pulling from the San Francisco Chronicle Decade 2 recipes, a delicious Baked Goat Cheese With Garden Lettuces served as a combination salad and cheese course. Goat cheese disks soaked up extra virgin olive along with fresh thyme and rosemary from the garden, then rolled in bread crumbs made from a whole wheat walnut sourdough baguette. These were baked and placed on a bed of arugula, dressed with sherry and red wine vinegars and oil. A “Thyme In” feature from the Wall Street Journal captured my attention with a Chicken with Garlic Purée and Zucchini Salad recipe. Raw summer squash from the Fillmore Farmers Market came alive in a marinade of Meyer lemon juice, basil and parsley. The savory roasted garlic purée electrified succulent grilled chicken breasts accented with sage, oregano and thyme. A perfect wine pairing was found with Husch Vineyards Mendocino Chardonnay made from sustainably grown grapes. A toast to Alice and her legacy of fresh, simple food!
Tag: Alice Waters
Summer Fun
Stone fruit, berries, grilling and company all add up to summer fun. My sister and niece were leaving and my mom arrived later that day. With bounty from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco and the Fruit Basket in Sonoma, we feasted on grilled chicken sandwiches with red onions and a whole grain mustard and creme fraiche dressing, tomatoes in garlic oil and grilled fingerling potatoes in vinegar and salt, all recipes from Martha Stewart Living’s June issue. A word of caution about those potatoes, the vinegar was somewhat overwhelming. Now for the dessert – a delectable Almond cake with berries from Jacque Pepin’s “fast food my way.” Along with almond paste, the ingredients called for a syrup made of either whiskey, rum or cognac. Given that my 15 year old niece was going to be eating this, I had to make a substitution. Happily, my concoction of pomegranate syrup and vanilla was a success! During the dinner with my mother we enjoyed a luscious chardonnay from Pine Ridge Winery as we watched “In Wine Country” and “60 Minutes” featuring a segment on Alice Waters. We felt like we were in the wine country and that Alice Waters would have enjoyed our meal!
