Here it finally is – a write up, complete with links, photos, and recipes from the dinner party, nearly two weeks ago.  I’m hoping this will mark the beginning of a marvelously dedicated regime of regular posts!

It occurred to me, after I began shopping for the menu, that the dishes I’d selected for our recent dinner party might have some metaphoric resonance. Here I was, about to celebrate my 30th birthday, and somehow I found myself running around town at the end of November looking for tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, grapes. Attempting, it seemed, to hold on to the last of summer’s bounty.

I was lucky to find almost everything I needed down at the Ferry Building. The tomatoes weren’t the best of the season, but they were firm and fragrant, as was the rest of the produce. Will went down again when he got into town and grabbed me a lovely Himalayan truffle, which we shaved over the risotto.

Part of the reason for the Mediterranean focus was because I wanted to make the meal almost completely vegetarian. It’s the way we mostly eat at home, and rather than worrying about various dietary restrictions, I decided to keep things simple, plant based, and as local as possible.  I dare say, the meat eating folks didn’t miss a thing.

Autumn Menu for 15

• White gazpacho soup shots garnished with tomatillo and smoked paprika

• Baked stuffed tomatos with goat cheese fondue and breadcrumbs

• Lemon risotto with grilled prawns and shaved truffle

• Citrus salad with pomegranate, shaved fennel bulb, and frisee

• Eggplant torte with cannelloni beans, ratatouille, and Romesco sauce from the Millennium Cookbook

• Michele’s Famous Chocolate Cheesecake with candied orange peel

This is obviously an ambitions menu, but much of it can be made ahead. Disorganized as I am, I ended up preparing almost everything the day of, but I had plenty of help in the kitchen – don’t try such a feat alone! A few items, namely the gazpacho and the cheesecake, actually benefit from a little extra time in the fridge.

Lemon Risotto with Prawns

Lemon risotto is simple and classic. I borrowed the idea of garnishing it with prawns from Alfred Portale’s Twelve Seasons Cookbook (now out of print, I think). Truffles, though not strictly necessary, contrast nicely with the creamy tang of the rice.

Ingredients

• 2 quarts vegetable stock (chicken is also fine)
• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 lb arborio rice
• 3 tsp minced lemon zest
• 3 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme or rosemary (optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs (chives and/or parsley)
• 15 large prawns or jumbo shrimp, in the shell
• Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
• One fresh truffle (we used the less expensive, Himilayan truffle)

Method

For the risotto: Heat broth in a large saucepan and put aside, keeping warm over low heat. In a large, heavy pot, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until just tender, about 3 minutes. Add rice and stir 5-10 minutes with a wooden spoon until it begins to look milky white and opaque. Add the white wine, lemon zest, and thyme or rosemary if using and stir until the wine is nearly absorbed. Add about 1 cup of the warm stock and simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add stock a cup at a time, making sure broth is nearly absorbed before adding more. Continue this process, stirring frequently, until rices is creamy and tender, but still firm, about 20-30 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and fresh herbs and season with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with two prawn halves and a sprinkling of fresh truffle.

For the prawns: Preheat the broiler. With a sharp chef’s knife, slice the prawns lengthwise through the shell and clean. Arrange them, cut side up, on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil for 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned.

Citrus Salad with Pomegranate, Shaved Fennel Bulb, and Frisee

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs seedless clementine or manderine oranges
• 1 ruby grapfruit
• 1 pomegranate, skin and white parts removed
• 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 heads frisee
• Olive oil
• Seasoned rice vinegar
• Soy sauce
• Orange juice
• Salt and pepper

Method

Combine ingredients in a large bowl and dress with 2 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar and 1 part orange juice. Season with salt and pepper and a dash of soy sauce.

So far, we’ve not done any restaurant reviews on this site. Certainly we like restaurants. We eat at all sorts of interesting places and enjoy them. But the truth is, we enjoy the challenge and adventure of kitchen projects even more than we like writing about things like service and sauces. And eating out is something we do more than we’d like, while cooking at home is something we wish we had more time for.

But the opening of Peter Lowell’s, in our home town of Sebastopol, is a special occasion. It’s part of the reason Will ventured north last weekend, and the entire reason we’re posting our first review for you. But rather than a review, maybe we should call it a write-up. We would never send you somewhere we didn’t think was great, but for full disclosure, we should say that Lowell Sheldon, who is one half of the team behind Peter Lowell’s, is a dear friend from our childhood so we might be a little biased.

There are plenty of wonderful restaurants featuring local produce, but what’s remarkable about Peter Lowell’s is their commitment 100% sustainable and organic agriculture, and their focus on vegetarian cuisine (they do offer seafood for the flexitarians among us). We ate a meal almost completely of local organic food, and tasted from a menu of all sustainable, organic, or biodynamic wines. In addition, the building and attached live/work development are LEED Certified green buildings.

We arrived around 1:30 pm and settled in at the PaperStone bar at the front of the cafe. Behind us were about 8 or 10 bamboo wood tables. The room felt bright and airy. Soon we were joined by our Mom and our step dad, Ben. Lowell was admittedly a little frazzled, but really, who could blame him. We put ourselves in his hands, and he expertly guided us through the menu, starting us off with a fabulous 2006 Medlock-Ames Bell Mountain Sauvignon Blanc, and wrapping up our meal with an impressive round of Espressos from Ecco Caffe.

We started off with the Braised Rapini, Broccoli Raab braised in local extra virgin olive oil with whole roasted garlic, chile, and anchovy. We’ve never started a meal with braised greens before, but served family style as a starter it was both comforting and bright.

Next came the Peter Lowell’s Escarole Caesar, one of the best Caesar salad’s we’ve had. They decided to feature escarole because organic local romaine is difficult to come by, and it turned out to be a stroke of genius. The young escarole added just enough flavor and bitterness.

Two thin crust Italian style pizzas followed, the Pepperoni Norma, with heirloom tomato, eggplant, gypsy peppers, and ricotta salata cheese, and the Cipolla, a simple heirloom tomato marinara with slivered red onion and Parmegiano cheese, topped with an oven baked egg. Both were excellent, but we particularly loved the Pepperoni Norma.

We ended with the Macro Bowl, brown rice, heirloom beans, and cooked greens, topped with crispy seitan and a tangy ginger sauce, baked in the pizza oven in a soapstone dish. The Macro Bowl would have made a casual, healthy lunch, but was less of a standout after the other dishes. Rose would have liked to see them serve it with a stickier rice.

On a subsequent visit, Rose also tried a version of the White Pizza, with cannellinni beans, rapini, and fontina cheese, and their Fish of the Day, halibut cooked to perfection in the pizza oven and topped with a spicy heirloom tomato, chile, and gypsy pepper relish. Both were excellent, as were the 2003 Porter-Bass Russian River Zinfandel, and the 2005 Paul Mathews Ruxton Vineyard Pino Noir that she tried.

We suggest you stop in after an afternoon wine tasting in the Russian River Valley (but please keep the wineries there a secret!) Then plan to settle in at the wine bar for a leisurely lunch or dinner. And tell Lowell that Rose and Will sent you!

Peter Lowell’s
7 am – 9 pm daily

7385 Healdsburg Avenue
Sebastopol, CA 95472
(707) 829-1077
www.peterlowells.com

For Rose’s recipe for easy braised greens:

Rose’s Easy Braised Greens

Any kind of cooking greens can be used, including kale, chard, nettle or the baby braising greens often available at farmer’s markets. They make a nice accompaniment to grilled or roasted meat or fish, or they can be served with rice or polenta as a casual main dish.

Ingredients
1 – 2 lbs greens
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 tsp red pepper flakes
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Method

Wash the greens and chop them roughly, removing any tough stems. Heat two tbs olive oil in a large pan, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sautee the greens in the olive oil until just beginning to wilt, then add 1/2 cup water, stir, and cook covered over medium heat until soft, 5-10 minutes depending on the greens. Remove the lid from the pan, turn heat to high, and quickly cook off the remaining liquid. Season with good salt and freshly ground pepper.

Many people may not realize it, but the word pesto literally means: to pound or to crush, in Italian. It seems obvious when you think of similar sounding words like mortar and PESTLE, but for some reason, until recently, I never made the connection.

Homemade pesto sauce was almost a weekly tradition for me and my sister growing up. Both my stepfather and my stepmother each had their own unique and delicious methods for preparing the sauce, but unfortunately both methods involved the use of a food processor. Neither of them realized how much better their sauce could have been had they made it the traditional way: with a mortar and pestle. I should give them the benefit of the doubt though, as they were both hard working people with more to think about than gourmet food preparation, and the ones largely responsible for developing my lust for good food. Perhaps they did realize it would have tasted better the old fashioned way, but gave in to the allure of modern convenience and efficiency in a world of conflicting priorities. I won’t judge them negatively for their choice, but I will insist that something was lost in their process(ing). I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is, but having tried both now, I’ve concluded that pestled pesto just tastes better. It’s sweeter, more aromatic, colorful, and flavorful.

Many of the finest distilleries in the United States made a comparable mistake while re-outfitting their whisky stills shortly after the repeal of Prohibition. With new capital, new technology, and the desire to make things bigger, better, and longer lasting, they started using stainless steel to build their stills instead of the traditional copper. A copper still typically has a life expectancy of only around ten years, depending on production levels, whereas a stainless steel still lasts indefinitely. A description of the result, is best made by Jim Murray, author of Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible. When asked what whisky would taste like without copper used in the distillation process.

“That’s an easy one,” he said. “As often as not, diabolical. The less copper you get, the less sweetness and honey tends to be around. Often you pick up a cabbage water aroma—at its worst, it takes me back to the old days when my mum used to boil hankies. Copper adds a sparkle to the nose; stainless steel stills offer something often flat and lifeless.”

It took years of research and large sums of money to discover why copper was so necessary in the distilling process. Turns out that one of the major reasons is that it acts as a catalyst, extracting sulfur and other nasties from the passing vapors. Much is still unknown about copper’s benefits, and perhaps will be left a mystery for many more years to come.

The moral of this whisky tangent, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, is that in most areas of life, it’s best to adhere to the time honored methods our ancestors developed over thousands of years. They work!

Here we go again… you’re probably thinking, another article by Will or Rose on how to spend an entire day in the kitchen making something that could be bought pre-made, or should only take a few minutes using modern technology. Let me assure you, that the following method only takes about 5 minutes more than the food processor method. I personally find the grinding process to be a labor of love, and I think my wife Mary can taste the difference.

Traditional Ligurian Pesto

Ingredients:

• Leaves from 2 bunches fresh basil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted, plus crushed pine nuts for garni sh
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, grated, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Method:

1. Combine basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, and salt in your mort ar.
2. Grind with pestle in a pounding and/or rotating motion until a paste is formed, about 5 minutes.
3. Add cheese; grind until combined.
4. Briskly stir pesto with a wooden spoon while drizzling in the olive oil.
5. Drizzle pesto with more oil until desired consistency is reached.
6. Let rest while cooking your pasta.
7. Stir pesto into drained pasta while still hot.
8. Garnish with extra cheese and crushed pine nuts.
9. Try throwing a handful of chopped tomatoes on top (my mom ‘s touch)
10. Enjoy!