california: December 2006 Archives

I'm afraid that what with all the Christmas duties that come with being a culinary student (even more cooking, eating and drinking than usual) I have been slack and not typed up this week's recipe properly, so there is no pdf version this time.  Feeling guilty about a) all the butter and cream in past recipes, and b) the lack of Christmas recipes, this week's offering is a Christmassy salad that might work well as your starter on Monday.  It looks really pretty and has a fresh, zingy taste.  We made it at school last week and everyone liked it.

We're off to Tahoe now for a snowy Christmas.  (Everyone's waiting for me in the car so I'd better go...) Hope you have a good one.

This one sounds a bit fancy, and it is.  I think it makes a very elegant starter and will make your dinner guests think they're in a posh restaurant.  However, we had it in a flimsy bungalow that looked more like a rough pub from the 70s than the 'redwood cabin' it was marketed as, and it still tasted great.  And it only takes around 40 mins from start to finish.  [Matt adds - but then the main course took more like 5 hours and we didn't eat it til after midnight, by which time we'd drunk more Manhattans than is strictly sensible.]

This recipe is an adaptation of one from the Girl and the Fig cookbook.  The Girl and the Fig is a really sweet restaurant in Sonoma where we have eaten a couple of times after spending the day wine tasting in Sonoma Valley.  However, I’d drink a white Burgundy (chardonnay) with this dish.

Beurre blanc can seem a little tricky to make the first time, but it’s worth learning as it goes really well with a range of fish, vegetable and egg dishes.  You can experiment with different flavours in the reduction by using different herbs and fruit juices.  The reduction should also contain vinegar and/or wine.