“Keep making noise.”

“What?”

“Keep making noise or I’ll think you stopped breathing.”

“Okay. What thould I thay?”

“Are you lisping?”

“Thort of.”

This mildly amusing conversation took place on a Saturday night in mid-November, also known as the most terrifying night of my life. I’ve read a lot about food allergies, have cooked for a few people with them and personally have an allergy to shiso that leaves me covered in hives with an itchy face and numb tongue. But, this is different. This is potentially life threatening. This is my husband.

I’ve read about chef’s who willfully ignore patrons with allergies, personally know people who have lied about an allergy and have read stories about people with a myriad of allergies not giving a kitchen staff fair warning before arriving with a laundry list of demands accompanied by the words in bold caps If YOU DO NOT DO THIS I WILL DIE.  I know I would be sick to be thrown into a high stress situation like that with no warning. All of those situations are just as disrespectful and dangerous as the other.

To chefs who intentionally harm their allergic patrons, the allergy-free who lie and the entitled who don’t give the staff fair warning to ensure their safety: YOU SUCK. You suck and only make life more difficult for the rest of us.

It is because of these people that I am afraid. I am afraid that we will now be mistreated or looked down upon when we dine out because the staff will never know if we are being truthful or not. I am afraid we won’t be taken seriously and someone will dismiss the seriousness of our situation. I am afraid that we will be treated as a burden. I am afraid that my husband will be hurt because of exasperation or thoughtlessness.

It is time to stop the lying and thoughtless behavior, because people are getting hurt.

Phil and I are taking steps, trying to be responsible for ourselves. Getting used to it has been about trial and error. Meeting friends for lunch on a whim, forgetting our situation ended in trading my spicy fried chicken for Phil’s pulled pork sandwich that ended up being topped with celeriac slaw. We didn’t send it back, it was our mistake for not asking when we ordered, so we found our own solution. I do not believe that the restaurant should not have to pay because we have been thoughtless.

I am now big on making reservations. This allows me to notify the restaurant, giving them ample time to prepare. Often this simply means making sure our server is informed so they can find out what he needs to stay away from on the menu. I am very grateful for this. We have even found kitchen staffs who have actually offered to make special stock and sauces for him with enough notice.

These encounters have warmed my heart and helped us see that the good people out number the jerks, but I don’t think the fear will ever subside. In all honesty, it is probably good that is doesn’t, because in a situation such as this vigilance is paramount.

Celeriac Salad (a.k.a. the offending salad I’ll never make again)

1 celeriac root, grated

3 TBS. olive oil

2 TBS. sherry vinegar

1 TBS. Dijon

sea salt, to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 TBS. mustard seed, lightly toasted

Make sure your guests are not allergic to celeriac or celery. Combine the oil, vinegar, Dijon, salt, pepper and mustard seed together in a bowl and whisk until it is emulsified. Mix in the celeriac, taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve.

Get your a** to the hospital immediately if you are itchy or swollen after eating this.

Hello! Is there anybody still there?

          I should probably start by explaining  my long absence from this space. You see, through working in food and beverage media, recipe writing and many, many injuries I seem to have put on a pound or two. Possibly more. Anyhoo, in early August I decided that it was time to take things in hand and began to change my eating and exercise habits. I didn’t want this to turn into a diet blog, because that isn’t what I want to talk about. I like food and I just needed to figure out a system that worked for me. And so, my posting became less and less and now I am crawling back and hoping you forgive my absence.

          Needless to say, I am pretty well whipped into shape. I’ve still got a little ways to go, but it is all second nature to me now. So, what in the world have I been up to these long months you may ask?

          Well, shortly after my last post I got all dressed up as Mattie Ross and went with Phil the Barkeep to the True Grit themed Halloween party at Jordan Winery. I even carried a (toy) gun in my pillowcase purse, played Blackjack and even pulled my (toy) gun on the dealer. Parties at Jordan are always spectacular.

           A couple of weeks later Team Mutineer descended on Napa for our annual Red Carpet Party. Miss Julie Hadjinian Mutineer Designer Extraordinaire came into town a bit early for a visit and it was wonderful having her here all to myself for a bit. We shopped, ate and talked non-stop for three days, but it still wasn’t enough.

           Once the team was all assembled we gathered at Raymond Vineyards for a meeting in their eye popping Red Room. It was wonderful to be together again after six months and there were surprises to come. Some of you may remember, but we had been working with A Child’s Right to raise money to buy water filters for several schools in Nepal. At the meeting we all received letters of thanks and scarves. My scarf was one of two special scarves given to my Editor-in-Chief by the headmasters in welcome. Our Director of Operations and I received them in recognition of the work we put into the project. It was a really special moment and it meant a lot to me.

Photo courtesy of my awesome friend Ryan Clinton and his new iPhone.

           After the meeting we all descended on Chef Todd Humphries (he’s featured in my latest “Off Duty” column) new restaurant Kitchen Door at the Oxbow Market out in Napa. We dined on roasted chicken, various charcuterie, a porcini soup that may have made it onto my death row menu and candy cap mushroom bread pudding. We drank wines from all over the valley like Mumm and Delgadillo Cellars. But mostly, we relished in each others company. I know I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time (Miss LB, if you’re reading this you have a hilariously dirty mind) as I did that night.

           We came together for the Red Carpet Party and Mixology Competition shortly after and I am happy to report that it was a smashing success. Just below are six of the eight competitors. They came to compete from restaurants all around the valley from Morimoto and Bouchon to Solbar and Angel. It was a great night made better by the after-party at Morimoto where I must say, they make a mean Sidecar.

          After the excitement died down we had another house guest in the form of friend and Mutineer Chris D’Amico. We drank and ate way too much during his visit, but no more than the day we spent with Hellocello’s Fred and Amy Groth. The Groth family are more fun than a barrel of monkeys, but instead of monkeys their barrels contain bourbon. Lots and lots of bourbon. It was a great visit, but I definitely am not 21 anymore and drank nothing but water and ginger tea for many days after.

           A week or so later we had our eighth anniversary. We passed it quietly with a nice dinner and a bottle of St. Suprey cab at home. I still can’t believe that in all, we have been together a decade. It feels like only yesterday Phil nervously was trying to talk me out of taking his phone number and scuttling for the door. I am very lucky to have him.

Photo courtesy of Cory Weaver with permission from The San Francisco Opera.

          Two days later we went with Gloria Ferrer to dinner and to see “Carmen” at the San Francisco Opera House to celebrate their successful harvest. The production was spectacular and bubbles delightful. I hadn’t been to the opera since our first anniversary (Aida at Lincoln Center) and I’d forgotten how wonderful it is. Intermission was all about bubbles and chocolate dipped strawberries. It was a lovely evening. The folks at Gloria Ferrer really know how to show their guests a good time.

Photo above courtesy of Cory Weaver with permission from The San Francisco Opera.

          My annual Mutineer holiday extravaganza hit the shelves. It featured everything from a rum breakfast of crunchy french toast, candied bacon, pear parfaits and hot chocolate with rum, nocino and allspice to moonshine liqueur gifts,  cocktails and mocktails.

          More recently one of my favorite people in wine country had a celebration for her new book. Sondra Bernstein of Girl and the Fig fame just released her latest book Plats du Jour. I had been waiting for this one for a while and was really excited to find a lot of the food I have eaten (and loved) at events are featured in the book. There are two in particular that I can’t wait to get to, the wild boar ragu and the rosemary olive oil cake. They are both superb and I am beyond excited to be able to duplicate them at home. Also at the event were two of aforementioned spectacularly fun people in Sonoma County Amy and Fred Groth of Hellocello. They were serving up cocktails and as they are featured in Plats du Jour obliged me by signing my book.

          Beyond  that I turned 33 two weeks ago. I spent the day chatting with friends and getting some serious best friend time in with Leslie who lives much too far away. We had drinks with our friend Chef Sean Z. Paxton where he let us try one of the most delicious beers either of us have ever had, Sexi Mexi from Bend Brewing (They collaborated with Sean on the brew). Phil bought me a fabulous dress, a pair of peep toe heels, made me a cake and took me to an incredible dinner at ESTATE. It was a great way to spend my day.

          Christmas was quiet here as it always is. Work slows down and allow us time to regroup and enjoy the last days of December. We ate lovely meals, drank wonderful beverages and spent time together. Simple. Quiet.

          Today is New Years Day. I am not hungover as I didn’t have a thing to drink last night, since the night before I hosted a small number of Mutineers for a Christmas party and enjoyed far too many cocktails. Last night we celebrated with fresh Dungeness crab and Manila clams with copious amounts of garlic butter and sourdough bread. I may have napped a bit before midnight, but I did manage to wake up at midnight and smooch Phil before heading to bed.

          And so on this first day of 2012 and instead of making new resolutions, I am renewing my commitment to the ones I made last year. I think I made some pretty good headway and am not at all ashamed to still be working on them. I have gotten in shape, given into my imagination to write fiction and I have significantly reduced my swearing. Of course, I watched a few Scorsese films which threw most of my progress out the window on that last one, but I am steadily finding my way back. I will add one thing to my list of things to-do in 2012 and that is getting back to blogging. I will start by posting a recipe for you on Friday. We are eating it for lunch today and I have to say that I am pretty excited to share it with you.

          Any moment Phil is going to remember that the tree is still up and then it will have to come down. For my part, I hope it takes a while, the saddest day of the year to me is the day when the tree comes down.

          Have a Happy New Year and I hope to see you around here in 2012.

                                                   Cheers!

Limoncello Icebox Cake

Limoncello Ice Cream Sandwiches

Bellocello Raspberry Pavlovas

I also wrote a feature called Teahouse Revolution about the fall of communism in Eastern Europe its effects on the rising in popularity of tea in the Czech Republic.

In anticipation of my upcoming Hungry Mutineer column, my recipe for these buttery Margarita Bars has been posted on the Mutineer blog. I hope you check it out.

From my first taste of Pocky as a child to my love of Japanese girl bands, ikebana and harimaki, Japanese culture (okay, mainly pop culture) has always had a special place in my heart. The Japanese were one of the larger groups to settle in Seattle and along with the Scandinavians have influenced the city I love in a profound way.

In New York they have dirty water dogs, pizza and Johnny Damon in Seattle we have sukiyaki, mochi and Ichiro Suzuki. Their influence is the reason there is sake vinegar fermenting in my pantry. My cupboard staples include tamari, miso, kombu and udon and in junior high my school things had to be Keroppi. In the summer I went to camp with large groups of children from Kyoto. I can still remember beginning games and contests with excited campers screaming “ichi, ni, san, shi!” and how speaking Japanese or English was less important to making friends than laughter or capturing a flag. It is of those friends and their countrymen that I am thinking of now.

This morning I clicked my way to the BBC homepage and saw a photo of a little Japanese boy about two years old, dressed to play and wearing a jaunty little cap on his head. Instead of playing or getting into mischief or whatever it is that little ones do, he was holding his arms up in the air being checked for radiation. Out of all of the photos of death and destruction this was the one that got me. I can’t help but wonder if he has lost his father, mother, grandmother or a sibling. Will he suffer the effects of radiation for the rest of his life like the people of Chernobyl?

Whatever his life is from now on, he like the people of Phuket, New Orleans and Haiti are enduring unspeakable tragedy and need our help. If you can give please consider the options below.

Red Cross

Or you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation

Doctors Without Borders

The photo above was taken by me last summer while visiting one of my favorite little corners of Seattle. In 1962 the city of Kobe gave the citizens of Seattle the bell housed here. It was payed for through the efforts of school children and given to bond our cities together. I used to walk my dog nearly every morning while living in the neighborhood. The last time it was rung was January of 2011, it was rung to honor and remember the citizens of our sister city who were lost in the tragic quake of 1995.

Hi everyone,

Sorry I’ve been MIA recently, my dad had a couple of minor strokes so Phil and I hopped a plane home. Thanks to a fast acting ambulance crew, the staff of one of the best hospitals in the nation and my dad’s iron will, he is doing spectacularly well. In fact the photo above is of him with a batch of cookies we took to the fire station to say thank you.

I will be back in a few days with a new recipe, so don’t forget to check back. Thanks for visiting.

Sincerely,

Erin

P.S. I took the photo with the hipstamatic app on my phone.

Some of you may have noticed from the pink box to the left of your screen that I, like many bloggers and writers am on Twitter. I’ve been on it for sometime now and have a lot of fun with it. For a little while now a fierce band of ladies Jeanne, Meeta and Dana( my poetry chicas) have been sharing poems. Recently Jeanne posted a poem that none of us could shake called “Canvas and Mirror” by Evie Shockley.

For a couple of weeks after the initial posting the four of us were constantly seeing ourselves as a reflection and filling Twitter with our observations and talked about posting our own poem on our respective blogs. Mine is a little late, but I did two for extra credit. While the portraits in the Shockley poem are taken from many different facets of her life I chose to write about the two dominant things in my life, writing and cooking.

Self portrait, with metal measuring cups and spoons, with flour dusted down my front, with curd thickened, with disappointment, with a failed recipe;

Self portrait, with a whisk, with spent citrus and egg shells, with a sore forearm, with a recipe that is almost there;

Self portrait, with a saucepan, with a new idea, with a microplane, with a wry smile of satisfaction, with a perfected recipe.

Self portrait, with a computer, with elbows on the counter, with glasses sliding down my nose, with loving and loathing my third mug of tea;

Self portrait, with Edith Piaf, with blank screen, with a half hearted wish for words to emerge into existence, with sipping cold water, with disappointment that it isn’t wine instead;

Self portrait, with cold feet, with fingerless gloves, with mug of Yorkshire Gold, with trying to force creativity, with workout clothes and thoughts of an abandoned computer;

Self portrait, with old notebooks, with an invigorated brain, with forgotten mug of tea, with flying fingers, with typos.

What would your self-portrait be?

2010 has been an amazing year and I can’t believe it is already coming to a close, it feels as if it has only just begun. My life has changed a great deal this year and I couldn’t be happier with the direction it is taking. Here are a few little lists to sum up the year and look ahead a bit, there’s also a yummy new recipe to end 2010 properly. I’d also love it if you shared some of your highlights and resolutions with me.

Happy New Year!

The Top 5 Things That Happened This Year:

1. Phil and I went to Spain for the first time. This was quite possibly one of the coolest weeks of my life, once again making me feel very lucky to be working for Mutineer.

2. I had the privilege of interviewing itinerant traveling philosopher Ted Simon.

3. I started my blog Pathway to Mongolia, although it has been slow going.

4. Planned the Mutineer Holiday Comedy Festival, or as my editor in chief put it I “willed in into being”.

5. Phil graduated the Chief Petty Officer Academy.

The Bottom 5 Things That Happened This Year:

2. Got pathetically out of shape from the resulting injury.

3. Deciding not to dignify the rest by acknowledging them. They know what they did.

4.

5.

The Top 5 Recipes I Posted This Year:

1. Smoked Salmon Salad with Sorrel Salad

2. Pinotxo Tortilla

3. Apricots in Olive Oil

4. Toasted Almond Cookies

5. Vietnamese Inspired Pork Bundles

Top 5 Culinary Experiences I’ve had this Year:

1. Trying Jamon Iberico for the first time in an old villa in the Penedes region of Spain.

2. Having the bottarga pasta at La Ciccia, an amazing Sardinian restaurant in San Francisco.

3. Floating away in a sea of succulent barnacles at dinner in Barcelona. If you have the chance to try them, don’t pass it up.

4. The Guts and Gore class I took at Fatted Calf in Napa. Despite almost losing it when the blood was poured in the boudin noir mixture, it was an amazing class.

5. I had my socks knocked off repeatedly by the amazing food at Jordan Winery this year. But, if I had to choose one dish that topped them all it would be Chef Knoll’s braised short ribs with chanterelles, chestnuts and a polenta cake. He really outdid himself on that one and that is saying something because the previous course was a lobster salad with crab, caviar, cucumber and cannelini beans.

Okay 6. Chicken and waffles from Oakland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen. Seriously, this place, their flavorful moist chicken and ethereal waffles are a revelation.

5 New Years Resolutions I am Determined to Keep

1. Get back in shape. My knee is still bothersome, but that shouldn’t stop me.

2. Stop swearing. I may not swear here, but I do and I really would like to stop. It just isn’t as easy as it seems.

3. Not to let my busy life keep me away from The Endive Chronicles. Life got a lot busier in 2010 and too often this blog and Pathway to Mongolia paid the price and I am determined to change that.

4. To spend more of my spare time writing non-food or beverage related things. I am enamored by authors who can create entire worlds and make them so real to their readers. I have so many ideas, but am either too inhibited or nervous to really explore them. Time to change that.

5. To get back on my motorcycle. I’ll never ride around the world if I don’t get back on my bike. It has been 9 months since the accident, I think its time.

Wellie Burgers with Chestnut Sauce

Each Christmas I make a Beef Wellington for dinner, it is one of my favorite dishes ever. I always have a bit of pate and duxelles leftover, so I decided to dress them down for something a bit less formal and came up with these tasty burgers.

At first I thought I’d put the pate in the center, but there really is no point to that since an emulsified pate made of liver will simply melt into the beef. Instead I mixed it in, which not only saves you a step, but works as a binding agent. The burger is earthy, juicy and perfect with a drizzle of the savory Chestnut Sauce.

Do you have a favorite way to dress up your burger?

Wellie Burgers

1/2 cup Mushroom Duxelles*, at room temp

3 oz. Emulsified Pate (preferably one with truffles), at room temp

3 TBS Butter, at room temp

1.5 lbs Ground Beef, at room temp

Sea Salt, to taste, but be relatively liberal

Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

Brioche Buns, split and toasted

1 Recipe Chestnut Sauce, warm (recipe below)

Combine the duxelles, pate and butter in a medium bowl, mixing well. Add in the ground beef, salt and pepper and mix well, but don’t demolish. Form into 4 to 5 patties and sear in a hot pan, about 7 or 8 minutes a side. Place on a toasted bun with a drizzle of Chestnut Sauce and a bit of meaty lettuce such as butter or Boston. Serve with a small cup of Chestnut Sauce for dipping.

Chestnut Sauce

2 TBS. Butter

1 TBS. Onion, minced

Splash Dry Red Wine (I was drinking cooking with a lovely Aglianico)

6 Fully Cooked Chestnuts, peeled, chopped

1 1/2 cups demi-glace*, warm

Sea Salt, to taste

Freshly ground Pepper

Melt the butter in a smallish saucepan, add in the onion and saute for a minute or so before adding in the chestnuts. Cook for a few minutes before adding in a healthy splash of wine and demi-glace. Check the seasonings and add in the salt and pepper. Puree the sauce in the blender, being careful not to burn yourself, then strain through a sieve. Simmer until you are ready to serve.

Tip: This sauce is a wonderful alternative to ketchup for fries and would be lovely served with a roast or sauteed mushrooms.

* Demi-glace is a highly reduced stock. You can buy it, but its expensive and you’d have to buy quite a bit for this recipe so I really recommend making it yourself from the bits and bones you’ve hopefully been saving from previous meals. You need about 6 quarts of stock to make enough demi-glace for this recipe. So, get out your largest stock pot and make a bit extra to add depth to soups, risottos and other sauces.

* Duxelles is simply a saute of butter, chopped mushrooms, minced, shallots salt and pepper deglazed with wine. I had some leftover from the Beef Wellington I made for Christmas, but you can easily make a small batch for this.

Small Batch of Duxelles

1 TBS Butter

1-2 Shallots, minced

12-14 Mushrooms, chopped relatively fine

Sea Salt, to taste

Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

Dry Red Wine, to deglaze

Saute the mushrooms in butter until soft then add in the mushrooms and cook down. When the juice from the mushrooms is almost evaporated deglaze with a healthy splash to red wine, cook down and cool for later use.

My life is exploding. My life is exploding in the best possible way and sadly this blog and my readers are a little neglected because of it. I can’t really go into much of it, but as you may have guessed, life at the magazine is the source of this explosion. Rest assured it is all very exciting and I am loving every minute of it. I would love to go into detail, but that would just ruin the surprise later.

I do miss this space though, and thankfully I am prepared for the coming weeks with a few Thanksgiving recipes to share with you. For now, have a look through some gorgeous photos Phil shot a few weeks ago at a harvest lunch at Jordan Winery up in the Alexander Valley.

During the harvest, Jordan Winery prepares gorgeous lunches for their employees and their families. The idea is taken from the French harvest tradition and helps give families time together even during the busy harvest weeks. Phil and I were lucky enough to score an invite.