by Christina Waters | Aug 6, 2007 | Food, Home |
Get ready for some shameless self-endorsement. I created a sandwich so good I have to share it with you. And yes, you can try this at home.
Well, just like every year since the beginning of time, I got ready for the SSC Festival Glen production – in this case, the terrific Much Ado About Nothing – by pulling together choice goodies for an al fresco nosh under the redwoods. My assignment was to bring sandwiches. My companion Briony’s bit was to bring some tipple.
Nothing easier. And that’s because I had my new favorite jar of intensely berry-flavored preserves. Elizabethan (how appropriate, given the play don’t you think?) brand cranberry and strawberry preserves, so packed with flavor I could barely stand it, was just the ticket.
Okay. Here’s what I did. I got some slices of a very grainy, densely-textured wheat bread, and smeared one side with the preserves, and the other with a mixture of horseradish and mayo. I like one quarter horseradish, to three quarters mayo, but you can adjust to taste. Then I applied a few slices of natural turkey dusted with some of that ooh-la-la Italian sea salt with lavender.
Now – here’s the real secret to this tart, sweet, savory, salty picnic sandwich. Arugula! Brilliant, no? The peppery flavor of the arugula sort of pulled the whole thing together (like the rug in “The Big Liebowski.”)
Meanwhile, my Shakespeare companion had the good sense to purchase a bottle of ridiculously cheap ($6.99) Portuguese white wine, Aveleda “Vinho Verde” so low in alcohol that a baby could guzzle it down. 10.5% alcohol – amazing. The flavor was a bit like salty ginger ale, with a slight kick. We brought flea market stemware so we wouldn’t feel like total winos. It was altogether fab. You can actually do this at home. Ingredients available at Shoppers.
by Christina Waters | Aug 3, 2007 | Home |
Along with being the Playboy of the Western World, Cody Nickell can count himself the current ruler of the Central Coast. As the eye of J.M. Synge’s dramatic storm in Shakespeare Santa Cruz’ production of Playboy, Nickell is a hyper-kinetic bundle of intelligence, sex appeal, body language and sensitive character development. Kudos to director Robert Moss for launching Nickell’s electrifying performance as an underclass Irishman, whose tale of murdering his father becomes grist for village gossip, mischief and transformation. To Moss also goes credit for the brisk pacing and intricate stagecraft that illuminate Synge’s haunting text. Ah, but I’m thinking that it was a wee bit difficult to decipher all of the densely-accented dialogue. . . .
Dense or not, those lilting accents were flawless, thanks to dialect coach Christine Adaire.The earthy textures, lines and tones of B.Modern’s costumes placed the action squarely in another time and place. The setting was a small masterpiece of economy and authenticity, and save for a large central table, seemed perfect to allow for the free-flow of action. Kudos to Erik Flatmo. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Aug 2, 2007 | Home, Wine |
Of course we all know Ca’ del Solo, the amusing line of vins ordinaire created by the feverish mind of über-winemaker Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards. But forget about what you thought you knew. BD has gone bio-dynamic. That’s right. The Rudolph Steiner proto-ecology about planting naturally, meticulously, with special minerals, herbs, manures and using astrological help whenever it seems appropriate — that bio-dynamic.
Well the 2006 Ca’ del Solo, Albariño, is the first of BD’s bio-dynamic beauties, grown, nurtured and harvested in the Monterey County acres that have been cultivated very, very carefully. The results are striking, if restrained. We liked the ultra-light alcohol — at 12.5% you can sip this for breakfast — and the salty, citrusy body of this perfect-for-summer white wine. Think roughly $13. Another pioneering effort by an unapologetic pioneer.
by Christina Waters | Jul 29, 2007 | Food |
The pastry case at Kelly’s –
a delicious argument
in favor of
almost anything.
by Christina Waters | Jul 27, 2007 | Food, Home |
Sean Baker, wunderkind chef at Gabriella, has been joined by new pastry chef Jessica Yarr (former sous chef at Theo’s) for what can only be called a culinary summer of love. Baker, who you’ll recall is a Cordon Bleu grad, formerly of Zibibbo in Palo Alto and Millennium in SF, is busy rocking the menu at Santa Cruz’ jewelbox bistro. Only the fresh, and only the local show up on Baker’s restless menus.
Last week Matteo and I feasted on lunchtime halibut confit and freshly-shelled cannellini beans, ringed with Black Cherry tomatoes and inflected with basil and Dijon hazelnut dressing. Then came an amazing salad of greens so vibrant they practically talked back, bathed in a Syrah basil vinaigrette with slices of incredible ripe plums and tissue-thin slices of icicle radish (see above). Our main course was fresh pan-roasted rainbow trout, stuffed with lemons and thyme, served whole to preserve its
beautiful shape, with a side of infant arugula and toasted almonds. Everything was strewn with pungent capers and rich browned butter. . . A few days earlier, my mother and I had lunched at Gabriella and sampled the amazing paté sampler from charcuterie maestro Justin Severino — sensuous rillettes packed with Meyer lemon and capers, campagnola paté loaded with herbs and a rustic ciccioli. A preserved apricot played counterpoint with the organic pork creations. My mom — a Boulder Creek native, now living in San Diego — also had a great time with Baker’s latest pasta creation, a swirl of black hand-cut spaghetti, tossed with heirloom tomatoes, garlic, slices of tiny, tender squid and fat English peas from Half Moon Bay. I gotta say, Gabriella’s kitchen has laid on some serious firepower.
The food at Gabriella was always ultra-fresh, seasonal and local. Now it’s sophisticated as well. Not tricky. Not so conceptual that you have to sit back and have a Socratic dialogue every two seconds about the herbs, or the pedigree of the tomatoes. Let’s just say that chef Baker has eyes in the back of his head. If it’s just been picked, he’s on it. Impressive.
