I haven’t been using my grill very much this summer. I don’t  know why, since I love to barbecue. Yesterday, I got a wild hair and decided to grill up a rack of ribs.

Normally, I would do more traditional ribs with a green chile rub and barbecue sauce, but I didn’t have all the ingredients necessary and I couldn’t go out. We were actually trapped at home, since a group of scholars decided to pave the parking lot right up to our front door. Needless to say, I had to make do with what I had and what I had was dried apricots and Sri Racha.

I struggled over whether or not I should add a bit of sauteed onion, but in the end decided against it since the garlic and onion are so prominent in the Sri Racha. I think I made the right decision. The end result was a rack of ribs that were caramelized on the outside, spicy and tangy with ridiculously succulent insides.

Sadly, I didn’t get a shot of the ribs. It is possibly that I may have forgotten. Happily, I had a bit of the sauce left for your viewing pleasure.

On another related note, fabulous blogger and poetry chica Jeanne, from Cook Sister, who is also a proud South African, shared with the rest of us the tradition of a braai. A braai is pretty much what we think of as a barbecue, lots of friends, truckloads of food and cooking with fire. She has shared several braai recipes with her readers and asked us to share our favorite braai-style recipes with her for National Braai Day . . . which is today. I’ll be the first to admit it, I am lame about blogger events. They are great, but I always miss the deadlines. Yesterday, I got a reprieve. Jeanne extended the deadline, so I will finally make this one. Yippie!

In a few days the braai round-up will be posted on Cook Sister and I highly recommend you check it out. If last year was any indication there are some delicious braai recipes in our future. Actually, check out Cook Sister anyway, Jeanne is fabulous on several levels.

What are your favorite braai/barbecue recipes?

Spicy Apricot Pork Ribs

1 c. dried apricots

3 c. boiling water

2-3 TBS Sri Racha

1 rack pork ribs, sliced in half

sea salt, as needed

Place the apricots in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow the apricots to plump for a few hours before proceeding.

Combine the plumped apricots, soaking water and Sri Racha in a blender and pulse until smooth.

Season the pork ribs with sea salt and allow to come to room temperature.

Oil the barbecue grates, then start the coals and allow them to become white hot before placing the ribs on the grill. Grill the ribs slowly over indirect heat. Begin basting with the apricot sauce after 30 or so minutes, being sure to reserve a little of the uncontaminated sauce, to warm and serve with the ribs as desired. Grill  the ribs until the meat begins to pull away from the bone.

Note: I love it tangy and spicy, but may have to try a little sauteed onion to see how well it deepens the flavor. It would be a great idea for fall.

I eat yogurt every single day. I am a yogurt nerd and if I’m not making it at home, I am on the lookout for a new yummy flavor at the market. When I last visited my friend Leslie in England, she introduced me to the most delicious yogurt flavored with rhubarb. Every morning during my stay, I ate one of those luscious little pots and savored every bite of the tart lightly sweet yogurt.

Last spring I bought a yogurt machine and am still totally enamored with it. At first things did not go so well. I followed the method described in the manual with very disappointing results. According to the directions, my yogurt was supposed to be perfect and ready to enjoy after incubation. Instead it was grainy and unpleasant, so into the recycling bin the directions went and I turned to other resources. I got a lot of bad information. But my fabulous friend Debbie, came to the rescue with posts of her own yogurt adventures and after a months of my own trial and error, I have become quite the yogurt craftsman. It is simply a matter of boiling, sieving and draining.

One of the things that I love about making my own yogurt is being able to choose my own ingredients, and I go for the good stuff. I like to use organic cow’s milk from Strauss Family Creamery or Clover Organic and plain yogurt from Old Chatham Sheepherding Company or Clover Organic for the culture starter. I use the Euro Cuisine yogurt maker, it has been pretty good, but I do have one regret. I bought one that incubates in single serve jars instead of the two quart size. I hadn’t known that sieving would be necessary at the time of purchase, so the idea of making them in single serving jars has rendered them useless.

Yogurt

6 cups Whole Milk

1/2 cup Plain Yogurt, at room temperature

Bring your milk to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure it does not burn. Allow it to bubble up (but not over) a few times, lowering the heat and stirring if necessary. After it has bubbled up a few times, remove it from the heat and cool to 110 degrees fahrenheit, about 40 minutes. Whisk the yogurt into the milk and pour into your yogurt maker. Set it for 12 -15 hours and forget about it until then.

When the yogurt is done incubating, run it through a fine mesh sieve once or twice depending on how grainy the yogurt is. Next, line the sieve with cheesecloth, drain some of the excess whey from the yogurt until it reaches the desired consistency and refrigerate.

Rhubarb Sauce

6 large stalks Rhubarb, sliced

1/2 cup Agave

Pinch Sea Salt

Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the rhubarb is soft. Remove from the heat, cool and refrigerate before combining with the yogurt.

Note: During blueberry season leave out the agave and sweeten with fresh blueberries instead. They take out any astringency from the rhubarb and make for a yummy combination.

Last week I posted about the whirlwind tornado my life has been recently and now that the press release has gone out, I can finally tell you why. I am helping to plan The Mutineer Magazine Comedy Festival at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards to benefit the global water relief campaign A Child’s Right. The lineup will feature: NATASHA LEGGERO, BRYAN CALLEN, BEN MORRISON,BEN GLEIB, GREG WILSON, DARYL WRIGHT and featuring “The Most Interesting Man in The World” Jonathan Goldsmith. Our goal is to raise enough money to supply 25,000 children in Nepal with clean drinking water for the next decade. It is a pretty ambitious goal, but I think we will make it.

I urge any of you who will be in the Sonoma area on December 11th to come see the show, taste some fine beverage and above all else help us give kids clean drinking water. To learn more about A Child’s Right, or if you can’t come to the show and would like to support their efforts please visit:  http://www.achildsright.org/ . If you come to the show and see a woman racing around with an air of determination mixed with slight confusion, be sure to say hello.

WHEN: Saturday, December 11, from 7:00 PM – 11:30 PM

WHERE: Jacuzzi Family Vineyards Sonoma, California

TICKETS: $35.00

Issue 14 of Mutineer Magazine has hit the shelves and it is amazing if I do say so myself. Eric Stowe, the founder of A Child’s Right penned an amazing column on his Nepal clean water project. My Editor-in-Chief Alan Kropf interviewed Ken Grossman, the founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.. Ryan West wrote an incredibly real and moving piece on Coffee Strong, a coffee shop founded by vets with the goal of supporting and empowering veterans and soldiers. There are also two features by yours truly. One is an account of my adventures in Barcelona, discovering the cava producer Freixenet and eating an extraordinary amount of jamon Iberico. The other is the Holiday Food and Beverage Extravaganza where I share bartender and restaurant recipes for cocoa, mocktails, and even a vegetarian Christmas dinner, unconventional, maybe but the smoked apple empanadas will blow your mind. I also created six easy recipes for cocktail party food; ham and pear banderillas, apricot bites stuffed with chevre and pistachios, pate batons (like pate en croute, just easier to eat with a cocktail in hand), parmesan pine nut crisps, truffle grilled cheese and a frozen walnut syllabub with ameretti cookies.

Now, on to blog business.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to meet and interview the consummate traveling philosopher Ted Simon, author of Jupiter’s Travels, The Gypsy In Me, Dreaming Of Jupiter, The River Stops Here, Riding High and an unnamed memoir he is currently writing. I interviewed Mr. Simon for my other blog Road to Mongolia (it will be up soon) not only because of he has traveled the world twice on a motorcycle (once for four years in the 70′s and once in his early 70′s just a few years ago), but because of his outlook and willingness to let them shape him. He is thoughtful and introspective and the perfect person to speak with when you are trying to get used to the idea of the unknown.

I think I’m giving too much away here.

I interviewed Mr. Simon sitting near his orchard and naturally the conversation turned to food, it turns out he tried his hand at organic farming in the 80′s and still grown much of his own fruit and vegetables. I inquired about the type of pears in his orchard. He had no idea, but I was welcome to pick some for myself. It was a simple gesture, but to me it spoke volumes. I get nervous when I think of traveling the world on a motorcycle and wonder about the people we will encounter. Mr. Simon had many difficulties in his journeys, but more often than not found these giving people willing to help or share and his willingness to share reminded me of this. So in honor of Mr. Simon and his generous gift of those lovely pears, I have created this recipe for you. I hope you like it.

Ted Simon’s Pear Butter with Armagnac and Anise Seed

16 pears, peeled, core removed

Water

Sea Salt

1 cup Armagnac

2-4 tsp Anise Seeds

Place the pears in a large pot and fill about a third of the way up the pears with water. Season with a healthy pinch of sea salt, cover and allow the pears to breakdown.

Once the pears have broken down, use an immersion blender to puree the pears. You can use a blender, just be very careful not to burn yourself. Strain the pears through a sieve, return to a pot, stir in the armagnac and anise seed, then reduce until very, very thick and spreadable.

Note: breaking down the pears in water may seem a little odd, but I’ve found I get a silkier end product this way.

I have had the idea for this recipe on the brain ever since I posted my recipe for a Northwestern inspired salad a couple of weeks ago which contains a few similar ingredients. I finally made it last night and couldn’t wait a week to share it with you and so my original post will just have to wait. It all started when I was thinking about local ingredients and how in the Northwest we tend to stuff our salmons full of lemons and began to wonder if there was a local alternative. As it turns out there is a fabulous alternative in the form of the tart and flavorful raspberry.

For the salmon, I wanted to enhance the its naturally sweet qualities and so used a combination of soy sauce and brown sugar and an indirect grilling method. The result is a slightly lacquered piece of fish somewhat reminiscent of smoked salmon that still retains the tender sweetness of the fresh salmon. The interplay of the raspberry and grilled salmon is astonishing. The raspberry not only gives it a bit of acidity, but lends it a complexity beyond that of a lemon.

I chose sorrel for the salad for its green yet citrusy flavor. I wanted to add a bit of flavor and interest instead of simply plopping on a bunch of micro greens and calling it good.

Creating this recipe was a lot of fun. It is sort of funny how when you impose limitations such as diet and locality how it forces you to be creative in ways you hadn’t thought of before. I hope you enjoy this one, I certainly did. In fact I’m making it again tonight!

The Salmon

4 servings Good Quality Salmon (about 1 lb) skin on, pin bones out

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar

Stir the soy sauce and brown sugar together dissolving as much of it as possible. Marinate the salmon in it for 30-60 minutes.

Heat your grill over low heat and add the salmon skin side down, positioning it away from the direct heat source. Grill slowly for 30-35 minutes or until flaking. Use a little extra brown sugar and soy sauce for basting .

The Raspberry Sauce

2 cups Raspberries

2 TBS Honey

Pinch Sea Salt

Combine the ingredients in a small sauce pan and cook down to release the juices, stirring often. When the raspberries have broken down, transfer them to a blender and puree, all the while being very careful to avoid burning yourself of course. Run the sauce through a sieve to using a rubber spatula to eliminate the seeds and get all of the thick yummy juice. Keep warm over low heat until serving time and give it a stir to ensure cohesion between all of the juice and berry matter.

Note: The addition of freshly cracked pepper or a bit of thyme would be lovely additions, but not necessary.

The Salad

A large handful of Sorrel, well cleaned, dried and sliced

Another large handful Microgreens, well cleaned and dried

Yet another handful, but this time raspberries, rinsed and carefully pat dry

3 tsp Olive Oil

2 tsp Rice Vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon

Sea Salt, to taste

Freshly Cracked Pepper, to taste

Whisk your ingredients together to form an emulsion in a small to medium sized bowl. Add in the greens and raspberries then toss. Serve with the salmon and raspberry sauce

I have a few bits of information to pass on to you today. The first of which is in regards to the Mutineer Magazine annual party in L.A. on May 23rd benefitting water relief. Those of you who read Mutineer will know that we are committed to supporting the amazing clean water organization A Child’s Right. So, if you are in the Los Angeles area on Sunday, May 23 I hope that you will attend.

Secondly, The May/June issue of Mutineer has hit the stands and it is great. My column this issue is on Cooking with Bourbon and I am really proud of it. It contains recipes for a gorgeous Mint Julep and Orange Salad, smoky and mildly piquant Bourbon Maple Collard Greens, sticky Bourbon Barbecue Ribs and my piece de resistance the gooey, salty, smoky and rich Bourbon, Bacon Brownies. I had a great time writing this one, sniffing, tasting and matching the flavor profile of each recipe to a different small batch bourbon. It’s a difficult job, but someone must do it. Here’s a peek at the cover.

Last but not least, I have finally started a Facebook page for The Endive Chronicles. If you are registered with Facebook, I would love it if you checked out the page.

Now, on to the main event.

Three weeks ago Phil and I enjoyed a lovely weekend at Healdsburg’s Jordan Winery. After a fantastic day of bento box lunches, chatting with Chef Knoll and other Mutineer business we went to the guest house where a few of the Mutineers were staying to have a bite to eat. The Chef Knoll had supplied us with a lovely spread of cured meats, local cheese, chevre stuffed peppers and foie gras. Everything was wonderful, but there was one thing so unexpected and gorgeous that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it ever since; that is dried apricots with lemon thyme and drenched in young olive oil. Wow.

I have never hear of anyone doing this before. I’ve seen apricots in honey, but that makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it. But this, this contained three things I really love; the sweetness and intensity of dried fruit, herbaceous notes and the fresh green flavors of some really delicious olive oil.

Now I am pretty sure they simply sliced up some dried Turkish apricots and tossed them with lemon thyme and olive oil which is sort of what I did. The one big different in our recipes is that I used my  favorite Blenhiem apricots. I love them both, but I generally prefer the tangier, chewier Blenhiem. I also did not slice my apricots, instead I packed them in a jar as I would sundried tomatoes, added lemon thyme and a pinch of sea salt and covered them with some of the great olive oil that I received on our visit to Jordan. I let them stand a few days to soften in the oil before eating, it was worth the wait. They can be eaten on their own or on top crostini spread with mascarpone, served with a wedge of a creamy floral blue cheese like Ewe’s Blue from Old Chatham Cheese Company or even served with crispy seared chicken for dinner. I am pretty sure this is the new sundried tomato. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Well done Jordan Kitchen, well done.

Jordan Inspired Apricots in Olive Oil

1-2 cups Dried Apricots (as many as you can pack into the jar

A few sprigs Lemon Thyme (or regular thyme and a strip of lemon zest)

Pinch Sea Salt

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to cover (choose a young and fruity one)

In a smallish jar, pack in the apricots and lemon thyme. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and cover with the olive oil. Cover and allow to soften for a few days before use.

It is time to come clean with you; I love meatloaf. I don’t really get why many people tend to think of eating it as a chore or something to be gotten though, when it is really something to be cherished and savored. But, that being said I have also hidden my love from you, a little embarrassed by my love of something so seemingly boring.

Every time I make my slightly unique style of meatloaf, Phil encourages me to share it with you, and I finally decided he was right. In recent years books such as “Terrine” by Stephane Reynaud have shone a light on the rustic art of pate’s and terrines in many forms.  I don’t like to dress my loaf up in bacon clothing and while pork tends to be the hot ingredient these days, I have chosen to make my meatloaf terrine out of beef. I grew up eating beef from my grandfather’s cattle farm, so pork was a rare guest on our table.  To me, meatloaf isn’t a meatloaf unless it is made with beef. But, something I learned growing up on the finest beef is that it is vitally important to pay attention to the quality.

Now, I know not everyone has the time to grind your own meat. If that is the case, buy ground beef from a reputable butcher or have them grind your choice of cut for you. When it comes to choosing a cut, a lesser one is fine as long as it has plenty of fat. I used to use the leanest beef I could find for this, but it didn’t wow me until I decided to throw caution to the wind.

I used to make this dish by doctoring ketchup, but decided that if I really wanted to do meatloaf justice that I had to make my own.  As for the seasonings anise and ginger, bring out everything that is good in any ketchup. I used anise seed instead of star anise because the flavor of the seed really compliments the ketchup and acts as a bridge for the ginger. It is as if they were made for one another and they compliment the beef beautifully. I opted not to use sugar like most recipes, in favor on using dried currants as a sweetener instead and I believe the dish benefits from that choice. I really hate using sugar when there is an alternative. In the loaf itself I used old fashioned rolled oats, which I think is very important. The oats plump beautifully in the juices while the loaf is cooking, making it not only delicious, but visually pleasing.

I hope you enjoy my meatloaf. Hopefully this recipe will help meatloaf earn the respect it deserves.

Ginger Anise Seed Ketchup

Olive Oil

2 Yellow Onions, sliced thin

4 Garlic Cloves, sliced

2 cups Water, warm

1 cup Black Currants

6 oz. Tomato paste + a little extra if you like

3-4 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar

2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

1/2- 1 tsp Freshly Ground Pepper

Sea Salt, to taste

1 1/2 tsp Anise Seed, ground in your mortar and pestle

1 inch Fresh Ginger, skin scraped off and grated

Soak the currants in the water for several hours.

Caramelize the onions and garlic in a medium sized pot with a little olive oil over medium to medium low heat. Add in the soaked currants as well as the soaking water and tomato paste. Simmer until the currants and onions have broken down quite a bit and puree. Strain through a sieve and return to the stove. Add in the  pepper, salt, clove, anise and ginger and simmer over low heat, checking for seasoning. Set aside while you prepare the meatloaf.

The Meat Loaf

2 lbs Fatty Beef, ground to manufacturer’s instructions or pre-ground from your butcher

2 cups Rolled Oats

1 Onion, sliced thin and caramelized

2 Eggs*

2-3 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 tsp, Anise Seed, Ground in a mortar and pestle

1-2 tsps Freshly Ground Pepper

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 1/2 cups Ginger Anise Seed Ketchup + more for on the top

Preheat your oven to 350F

In a large bowl combine your ingredients and mix together very well using your hands. Remove to your chosen baking dish, patting down to smooth and smother the top with the Ginger Anise Seed Ketchup. Bake for 45 to an hour minutes or so, you’ll be able to tell the doneness from the way it pulls away from the sides of the pan and has a light crispness at the edges.

* I bought the eggs  from a local organic farm, and I have to tell you that the difference is amazing! The yolks and huge and a bold yellow. I made gougeres with them the other evening and they turned out bright yellow as if I’d used food coloring.

My week has been spent testing recipes for the holiday issue of Mutineer Magazine, which incidentally is also the debut of my new food column. Yay! Anyway, I have been making gougeres like they are going out of style and one batch happened to include gouda cheese. The flavor  was really wonderful, and I knew I wanted to do something with them.

I love the combination of gouda cheese and pears, so I decided to make a little compote. I recently found a locally made pear cider, that is quite delicious on it’s own,  but as I sipped it, I thought it had a lot of potential for culinary usage. So I decided to reduce it and use it as a base for my compote. The cider adds enough acidity, so no lemon juice or anything else is necessary. The pears are lovely and sweet, but mild so I added in a little sea salt to wake them up. The rosemary is just the icing on the cake to make it all a bit more interesting. As for the gougeres, I’m saving that recipe for the magazine. But you can use any gougeres recipe you like simply replacing the cheese with gouda. Enjoy!

Pear Compote

2 cups Pear Cider, flat and at room temp

4 Bartlett Pears, diced

2 TBS Pure Cane Sugar

1/8 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 tsp Fresh Rosemary, minced

In a saucepan reduce the cider by 3/4. Add in the pears, sugar, and salt then reduce almost completely, the pears will be quite sticky. Stir in the rosemary, check for seasoning, cool slightly and serve.

This week I am bringing to you another delicious and quick party recipe. My silky anchovy spread takes minutes to whip up and has a smooth texture that is somewhere between a mousse and a ganache, it simply melts in your mouth. Let’s see the average party dip do that. Serve this to your guests with some imaginative crudites, toasted baguette slices or even some nice crisp grissini.

Anchovy, its a name that strikes fear into the hearts of pizza lovers everywhere. My husband and I not included. All too often these pungent little fish are mistreated, whether it be the manner of preservation or  on an already overly salty pizza, (yes, unnamed Hampton’s pizzeria, I’m looking at you). When an anchovy is properly preserved in sea salt or packed in olive oil they are worth shelling out a little extra to cook with. A good anchovy lends a gorgeous flavor foundation to many sauces, soups, and dishes such as the pissaladiere. Using this much maligned fish, I have made a deliciously pungent, silky smooth spread that I am certain will find it’s way into your repertoire.

I started with chevre, something tart enough to hold its own against the anchovies. Use your favorite, but think tangy. As much as I love hoja santo chevre is just doesn’t work here because of its prominent sarsaparilla notes. I’d use Catapano chevre because of the bold tang and decadent cream. I decided to keep this dish very minimalist, and after adding the chevre and anchovies I only accented it with a few simple ingredients; garlic, parsley and pepper. The result was something wonderful.

This recipe is also incredibly versatile and can be used not only as a spread, but as a base for a potato salad, as a sauce for penne, on pizza with artichokes, as an accompaniment to roasted veggies or even as a filling for pastry, tiny lemon cucumbers or even tomatoes. The possibilities are almost endless. You can also play around with the mixture a bit, I have added capers, and lemon zest in turn with great success. Though, you may need to make some minor adjustments depending on what you choose to add. I had to scale back the anchovies by half when I used capers, in order to keep the salt under control.

Silken Anchovy Spread

8 ounces Chevre, at room temperature

2 ounces Oil Packed Anchovies

1 tsp or so of the Anchovy Oil

1 small Garlic Clove. minced very fine or grated

2 TBS Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped

Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

Place the chevre in the food processor and pulse a few times to break apart. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend until very smooth and silky. Place in your chosen container and refrigerate until 1 hour before serving.

Optional ingredients:

1 tsp Lemon Zest

2 TBS Salt Preserved Capers, well soaked and roughly chopped

The zest can be added with no adjustments. The capers on the other hand should only be added after omitting half of the anchovy, unless you want to experience a sodium explosion that may send you and your bp over the edge.

Note: I should note that your result will be much smother than the result in the photo. I was a little impatient with my food styling. oops.

If there is one thing I wish to accomplish with this site it would be to inspire creativity in each and every one of you. It warms my heart to hear of anyone who has prepared one of my dishes, but it makes me proud when I hear when one of my recipes has been modified or improved upon, as is the case with my red pepper semolina gnocchi and boxty. In those cases, my friend and reader Knifethrower took the inspiration those recipes provided her and ran with them, creating something wholly new and wonderful. Last summer I posted three recipes using pears and zucchini prepared in various ways and with this post I intend to go down that route again.

This year I have chosen three new ingredients and think I’ve done an admirable job placing them into service.  My first ingredient choice is speck. Speck is a German dry cured ham that some mistake for prosciutto, but it is lightly smoked and occasionally seasoned with juniper berries. I seem to go through phases with dry cured ham, for so long prosciutto was the only way to go, last year nothing but jamon serrano would do (aside from the occasional jamon Iberico), and now I can’t seem to get enough speck.

For my second ingredient I have chosen some gorgeous nectarines I picked up at a farmstand over on Stony Point Road. The scent of perfectly ripe nectarine richy perfumed my kitchen, I could hardly wait to put them into action. The tangy sweet flavor is the perfect match with the light smoke and salty characteristics of the speck as well as my third featured ingredient; quark. I guess I am on a kind of German kick lately, as quark is a creamy, fresh cheese from Germany, although I got mine down the road at the Petaluma Creamery. Quark is often described as a sort of German cream cheese, but I have to disagree. The consistency is buttery and light giving you a feeling very different than that of cream cheese and rather similar to mascarpone . . . which is another some liken to cream cheese for some strange reason. The quark acts as sort of a peace treaty between the nectarine and speck, taming the competing flavors into obedience. The result is really quite wonderful.

These ingredients can be used in a whole host of different ways, the French Toast and Specky Bundles I have for you today are only two ideas in a sea of recipes. My next plan is to smear a baked tart shell with quark that has a kiss of basil added to it, nectarine slices  and top it all off with crispy speck and lightly dressed microgreens hugging the side. These same ingredients can be toppings for a grilled pizza, a fresh fruit soup, a simple salad, a canape or even just companions on a cutting board filled for snacking. The possibilities are endless and, sorry if I sound a bit Disney here, but with food your imagination is everything.

Specky Bundles

12-16 strips Speck, either sliced in half down the width

6 ounces Quark, at room temp

Freshly Cracked Pepper, to taste (optional)

1 package Micro Greens, rinsed and pat dry

1 Recipe Nectarine Sauce

Lay each strip of speck out on your work surface and spread about 3/4 of each piece with quark. Sprinkle with cracked pepper if you so desire. Place a bunch of micro greens slightly haphazardly on every piece and roll. Be careful not to roll too tightly, they should look a bit on the rustic side. If you are concerned with them unrolling, just give each one a small pinch and the quark will hold it, or secure with a cocktail pick. Refrigerate until serving time.

Serve with nectarine sauce for dipping.

Variation: Instead of the sauce, just slice up a few nectarines and wrap them up in the bundle with everything else.

Makes 24-32

French Toast

1 Brioche loaf, sliced into 8 rather thick pieces

6 Large Eggs

1/4 cup Milk

8 strips Speck

A few hands full  Microgreens, rinsed and pat dry

4 ounces Quark, whipped lightly with a fork

1 Recipe Nectarine Sauce, warmed

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Place the bread in a shallow pan and coat with the egg mixture, turning to ensure proper coating. Allow to set a minute to absorb the mixture while heating up your pan over medium to medium-high heat. Brown lightly on each side.

To serve; place two slices on each plate and artfully as you can arrange the speck, greens and quark. Drizzle with the Nectarine sauce and serve.

For those of you who are not forgetful like me, garnish with a few grilled nectarine halves.  Slice them in half, remove the stone and lightly grill. Do not remove the skin, or the delicate nectarine will fall apart.

Serves:4

Nectarine Sauce

3 Nectarines, peeled and cut up (peaches or apricots would be wonderful subs, although I’d skip the Riesling with the apricots and probably add one or two)

1/4 cup Water or Reisling

1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

1 tsp Agave Nectar

Sea Salt, to taste

Place the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer until the nectarines begin to fall apart, it won’t take long. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to combine the sauce and then reduce the sauce  by about a quarter over medium heat.

In Federal Way, Washington there is a restaurant called Gino’s where you should always, without exception* order the special. Don’t get me wrong, the regular menu is great, but the specials are the canvas upon which chefs Gino and Dan unleash their creativity on their eager clientele. Five and a half years ago when Phil and I were married, we held our rehearsal dinner at Gino’s Bistro and the star of the evening wasn’t the bride, but grilled lamb in a date Shiraz sauce with chevre. It was heaven.

About a year ago, Catapano Dairy in Peconic, NY released it’s first chevre of the spring and as usual I was waiting at the gate like a bride at a Kleinfeld’s sample sale to snap it up for this dish. Although I could have used any chevre in this dish, Catapano chevre seems as though it was made for it. While some prefer Laura Chenel and Montrachet, I believe deep in my soul that Catapano chevre, with it’s heartbreaking creaminess and understated tang  is the most decadent, luscious chevre in existence. That being said, you can rest assured that your favorite chevre will do even if it isn’t Catapano and having said that, I was unable to use it this go around, because I can’t find Catapano in Seattle.

With the best chevre available, a lovely Shiraz and a glorious rack of lamb I set out to make something that resembles Gino’s most fabulous dish. In the recipe, I state that this dish should be grilled and I stand by that, it adds an extra layer of flavor that is so necessary. Sadly, I do not have a grill at the moment and instead jumped it in a pan then gave it a quick roast. It was delicious, but this dish was destined for the grill. As for the sauce, I really wrestled with this one. The first time I made it, I blended the dates in with the sauce, but it was a bit too sweet. I’ve also made it using all Shiraz and no stock, it was very intense and delicious, but I decided to dial it back just a bit. The polenta was not served with this dish at Gino’s and now that I think about it, I can’t remember what was and I think this is a great fit. My resulting dish is actually quite different from Gino’s, but then as we all know food is like a signature and all are distinct.  Enjoy!

The Sauce

3 Slices of Bacon, chopped

2 Shallots, chopped

6 Medjool Dates, pit removed and chopped

3/4 Bottle Shiraz

2 cups Stock, lamb or even chicken will do

2 TBS All Purpose Flour

Freshly Ground Pepper

1 TBS Fresh Rosemary, chopped

Saute the bacon in a medium sauce pan, when it begins to brown add the shallots. When the shallots begin to turn translucent add the dates and cook for a minute before adding the Shiraz and stock. Reduce the mixture by half,  strain through a sieve (being careful not to burn yourself!) and return to the sauce pan and simmer.

In a small bowl place the two TBS of flour and slowly add the sauce a TBS at a time to it whisking it well with a fork until you have a good slurry. Add the slurry to the rest of your sauce and bring to a boil to thicken and cook out the raw flour flavor, stirring often. When thick turn the heat down to low and few minutes before serving stir in the pepper and rosemary.

Note: You do not have to add the flour if you would prefer a thin sauce. I like it both ways.

 The Lamb

1 Frenched Rack of lamb, (about 8-10 ribs)

3TBS Fresh Rosemary, chopped finely

1 tsp Sea Salt

2 tsp Freshly Ground Pepper

2 TBS Olive Oil

1 recipe Sauce

Chevre, to top

A few Dates to garnish

In a small bowl, mix together the rosemary, sea salt, pepper and olive oil.

For the chops: Slice the rack into individual chops. Fire up the grill and when the coals are white hot add the chops. Grill the chops for about 2-3 minutes a side depending on how you want them done. I like 2 minutes for medium rare.

For a rack: Pat down the rack with the rosemary mixture and allow to sit for an hour or so. Fire up the grill and when the coals are white hot add or rack. Grill it until the internal temperature reaches 135F for medium rare. Be sure to rest it five minutes or so before slicing.

Serve with polenta, sauce, chevre and a few dates on the side.

The Herbed Polenta

3-4 cups chicken stock, (depending on how thick or thin you want the finished product to be)

1 cup Polenta

1 TBS Butter

2 TBS Rosemary, chopped

3/4 cup Parmesan, grated

Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

Sea Salt, to taste

In a medium pan, bring the stock to a boil. Very slowly add the polenta to the stock, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Lower the heat. When the polenta pulls away from the pan, stir in the remaining ingredients and serve immediately.

Leftover Note: The chances that you only bought six dates is pretty slim, so I have a great way to make an elegant appetizer with the leftovers. Remove the pits and stuff with a mixture of rosemary and chevre or any leftover herbed polenta. Wrap the stuffed dates just with a small amount of bacon and brown in a saute pan. Serve with any leftover Shiraz sauce, warmed.

*Okay, I lied there is one exception; the pear ravioli. Oh, and always get the soup, Gino is a master of the soupy arts.

On the off chance you find yourself in Federal Way avoid the strip malls and check out Gino’s, which oddly enough is in a strip mall, but when you’re inside it is easy to forget. Stay at Palisades Bed and Breakfast out at Dumas Bay, the owners are friends of my family and the lodging is exquisite.