MY WEEK IN POWAY WITH THE GRANDKIDS

Last week I was in Poway (San Diego) to babysit my granddaughters. They were so good and I had so much fun being with them. Here is my week in picture.

My son-in-law came home from deployment so that was an added bonus. The girls were thrilled to have their dad back home.

Saturdays is the Farmer's Market. It couldn't be more convenient, right behind the house. These are some of the more interesting vendors that are there. Most of the food vendors are there weekly but there are also different food vendors periodically. Of course they have great produce and flowers, olive oils etc.

Unfortunately the week came to an end. Everyone is home now and I have to go back home, but before the flight we had dinner at C level/Island Prime. It is conveniently located right across the street from the airport at the marina. C level is the more casual of the two restaurants and has a beautiful view of the bay with the sailboats and pleasure boats sailing past.

At least I will be seeing them again next weekend at Erin's wedding so I'm excited. I miss being so far away from them and not getting to see them more often.

It was a good week.

Following the Chef- Chef Michael Touhy of The Grange

Finally, I was able to do the Follow the Chef tour of the Farmer's Market at Caesar Chavez Park with Chef Michael Tuohy of the Grange Restaurant. Of course it also had to be the hottest day of the year.

The tour group met at the restaurant where Chef Tuohy gave us a little talk about what to expect, what produce we would see and a little about himself. Chef Tuohy was originally from San Francisco but made his way down south and landed in Atlanta. There in Atlanta he had a couple of restaurants and was instrumental in getting the restaurant industry to move toward the fresh, seasonal local and organic produce. Since he has moved back to Northern California and we are lucky for it.

Chef Tuohy led our little group across the street to the farmers market where he instructed us in the importance of being able to taste the produce and if the farmer won't let you have a taste, move on. Produce may look nice but does it taste as good as it looks?



He knows all the farmers at the market and which has the best of certain produce. As we went along with him,he explaining about the different produce and we went from stall to stall trying various samples. There are beautiful produce out there and it's hard not to stop at the first stall and buy..go take a look at all the stalls first some might have something slightly better.





From farm fresh produce to honeys to jams to olive oil, there was a little bit of everything at the market. Chef Tuohy bought some okra, he said we in California don't appreciate it enough and he was bound and determined to have us try it. He also bought several other items then we headed back to the restaurant to cool off and relax while lunch was being prepared.
With lunch we had a choice of wine or the spritzer of the day. The Spritzer was, I think made with melon. The wines were a Chardonnay and a Rose. I chose the rose which was a Seaflower Rose. It was very nice, a little more on the dry side rather than sweet which was perfect. They said we got a complimentary glass of wine, but the glass kept getting filled..which was nice since I was thinking one glass of wine. The first course was a spritzer (maybe this is what they were serving) watermelon, sparkling water with a basil garnish

The second course was a salad of Casaba melon ( which I think he got at the market),beets with Pt. Reyes Blue cheese and heirloom cherry tomatoes

Next cane the fried Okra that Chef Tuohy was determined we should try. Personally I love Okra and his fried version was delicious with a light crunchy batter.

the main course was the Seared Scallops atop a very nice Ratatouille that had a decided acid bite that paired nicely with the scallops.
At this point I had to leave to pick up my mother so I don't know what desert turned out to be, but I'm sure it was great if it was anything like the rest of the meal.

It was a fun day, Chef Tuohy was both informative and very easy to talk to and a lot of fun. Of course his lunch was outstanding. I'm looking forward to do this again.

The Follow the Chef tour goes until October so make reservations and go it is fun.

'

The Grange

926 J Street

916 492-4450

BANOFFI PIE

Marlena Spieler had Tweeted a few time about making Banoffi Pie..what is that? I'd never heard of it before so I did a little research.
It is a pie that is said to be invented by Ian Dowding and Nigel McKenzie at the Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex. It is made with an English biscuit crust, dulce de leche, bananas, whipped cream. What is there not to love?
I decided I had to try this, it sounded so good.
Guess what, it is and easy to make.
The recipe I found is made with a pate sucree crust or a short bread,cookie like crust. But I asked Marlena about hers and she used ginger snaps to make a crust so that is what I did.

11/2 C Ginger snaps
6 Tbsp melted butter
2 tins sweetened condensed milk
4-5 bananas
1 C whipping cream
1-3Tbsp sugar
instant coffee

Ginger snap crust:
11/2 C crushed ginger snaps
6Tbs butter melted
Combine the butter and the ginger snap crumbs well, press into the bottom of a 10 inch spring form pan or tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely.

Dulce de Leche or Banoffi toffee:
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
Place the cans in a deep pot with lid, fill the pot so that the water covers the cans at least 1 inch over the top. Cover and boil for 3 hours. Be sure that the water stays above the top of the cans.
DO NOT LET THE WATER BOIL AWAY or you will have a huge explosion of molten caramel.
Let the cans of dulce de leche cool completely.
Spread one and a half cans of the dulce de leche over the bottom of the prepared crust.
Slice the bananas in half lengthwise and fit the around on top of the caramel


Whip the cream with 1tsp instant coffee and 2-3 Tbsp sugar depending on how sweet you like it.
Whip until stiff peaks form. The instant coffee will dissolve as you whip the cream.
Cover the whole pie with the whipped cream. Sprinkle a little more instant coffee over the top.

When you make the dulce de leche or toffee, make extra cans since they will keep in the cupboard almost forever. They may form sugar crystals but give a little crunch to the caramel or I'm thinking if you reheat the dulce de leche it will dissolve the sugar. It will come in handy as a topping for ice cream, cake, eating right out of the can.
Also, to make it easier and quicker just buy a pre-made pie shell. Graham cracker crust works well and now I think they may have a "Nilla" wafer crust also. Chocolate would also be a good addition to this, maybe a thin layer on the crust then the dulce de leche? Use your imagination, it's all good.
Thank you Marlena!! This is a super pie.

DANCING COYOTE WINE AND FOOD PAIRING`

The Sacramento Natural Food Co-op was having another one of
their wonderful wine and food pairing dinners. This night it
was Dancing Coyote wines paired with the dinner created by chef Dionisoio (Dio) Esparas. The wine maker for Dancing Coyote is Chad, who explained about each wine as they were presented with each course.
Dancing Coyote is a family run business that has it's vineyards in the delta's Clarksburg area. I love this legend of the coyote that I found on their website, "Legend has it that each year at the beginning of the growing season,a band of coyotes from the nearby foothills,sneak into our vineyards,and for no apparent reason other than treachery,chew on our irrigation lines with wild abandon. Following these scandalous acts,they have been known on occasion to join paws, and dance around howling at the moon in celebration."
This pretty much sums up their wines..fun, delicious, making you want to dance around in celebration. Particularly for me, we had a lot of white wines this evening. I'm not a particular fan of white wine, but I have to say their whites are the type I like. They are clean, crisp, bright, not too heavy. I will definitely be buying their wines, which the co-op carries.


Now for the food/wine pairing. The first course was Marinated Shrimp and Feta with Oregano and Olive oil on Cucumber. Paired with a 2009 Albarino,Clarksburg. This is a clean crisp white wine with the aromas of passion fruit,citrus,honey and peaches.
Second course was the Cherry Tomato,Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Skewers with Pesto Dipping Sauce paired with the 2009 Gruner Veltliner,Clarksburg. The Gruner Veltliner is an Austrian grape that produces a medium bodied wine with citrus and peach flavors. For me this had the somewhat buttery mouth feel of a Chardonay.

The third course was the Artisan Cheese Station, a trio of cheeses served with fig jam and a cookie paired with a 2009 Gewurztraminer, Clarksburg.
The cheeses served were a 6 month aged Machego, Irish Cheddar,and Camembert with fig jam and a ferro olive oil cookie. The Gewurztraminer is a medium bodied wine with a touch of sweetness. The wine has an aroma of roses and honeysuckle.

Fourth course was Grilled Thai Chicken Satay with Sweet and Spicy Peanut Sauce with a side of Black Rice paired with 2009 Vedelho, Clarksburg. The Vedelho is a grape native to Portugal. It is the grape used to make Madeira. The Vedelho has the hint of pear, citrus, pineapple.
Fifth Course was Pulled Ancho Chile BBQ Pork Sliders with Cilantro Cole Slaw paired with a 2008 Petite Sirah, Clarksburg. This was the one and only red wine served this evening. It is big and bold with hints of blackberries and some spice.
And what is dinner without desert? Dio made a fabulous Orange Tea Cake with Orange Oil Drizzle and Simple Syrup paired with an Orange Muscat. The cake was moist with a really nice texture. The orange muscat was luscious. It could have been desert on it's own. Sweet, smooth and rich. A perfect end to a delicious dinner.

We had a great time as usual and as usual the food was outstanding. Chef Dio and the other chef's who present these wine and food pairings always do an excellent job. As you can see there is never a shortage of food either. I loved the wines, I loved the food, I think this was one of my favorite food and wine classes that I've been to. The Co-op is adding more of these lately to their schedule of classes since they have proven to be so successful so next time they are having one go sign up, you won't be disappointed.

Dancing Coyote Wines

Sacramento food coop