So . . . what do all of these dishes have in common?

• crab apple blossom drops with Meyer lemon sour mix
• warmed olives with fava beans and rosemary
• nasturtium pesto
• watercress, nasturtium, and miners’ lettuce salad with pine nuts and fresh flowers
• and braised dandelion and nettle with wild mushrooms

Yep – they are all made from ingredients foraged from the Bay Area! We cheated a bit, I’ll admit, buying a few things that couldn’t be conceivably foraged, and allowing for a few other foods that could have been foraged with a lot of difficulty – i.e. pine nuts and wild mushrooms. We also admitted the fava beans that conveniently came in our most recent Eatwell Farm box.

Another admission: I’m more likely to be found “foraging” for my house keys than clipping nasturtium leaves from the backyard. But oh, what abundance awaits those who go looking through local fields and paths (and even farmers markets) for edibles.

Now, please don’t go stealing the first tomatoes from someone’s community garden plot, and don’t go eating every wild plant you can get your fingers on! Foraging should be about about finding the fascinating and nourishing foods that surround us, overlooked, every day, but it’s important to use careful judgment, both about what to eat and what to pick. Don’t eat anything you can’t positively identify (as edible!), and always leave some behind for other people, for the birds, and to allow the plant to continue thriving.

We assembled all of the dishes for a small dinner party that some friends held, and the cocktail and the nasturtium pesto were the biggest hits. I can already see a completely foraged dinner party in our future!

Crab Apple Blossom Drops

We used the delicious Hanger One from St. George Spirits, and it was well worth it.

Ingredients

• 7 oz vodka
• 1 cup crab apple blossoms (reserve enough flowers to garnish each drink)
• Rind of 1 Meyer lemon (in wide strips, pith removed)
• 3 oz lemon juice
• 3 oz simple syrup
• 3 oz triple sec
• Sugar (for rims)

Method

Place the vodka in a glass jar and add the lemon zest and flowers. Gently bruise the flowers in the vodka, cover, and allow to infuse overnight. The next day pour through a fine strainer or cheesecloth to remove flowers and lemon rind.

To assemble the drinks, coat the rim of each glass with lemon juice and dip in granulated sugar. Place infused vodka, triple sec, simple syrup and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Adjust flavors if you like, adding more simple syrup, lemon juice or vodka as your tastes dictate. Strain drink into glasses and garnish each with an edible flower. Makes six small cocktails, or twice as many shots.

Nasturtium Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 lb nasturtium leaves (or use half nasturtium leaves and half Italian parsley leaves)
• 1/2 cup good quality olive oil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Method

Combine ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, adding a little more olive oil if necessary. You could use a mortar and pestle, but with the nasturtium leaves, the pesto tastes better very smooth, so be prepared to grind for quite a while! Adjust seasoning to taste and use as you would traditional basil pesto.

• crab apple blossom drops with meyer’s lemon sour mix
• warmed olives with fava beans and rosemary
• nasturtium pesto
• watercress, nasturtium, and miners’ lettuce salad with pine nuts and fresh flowers
• and braised dandelion and nettle with wild mushrooms

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.

Tonight we’ll make a shopping list, and tomorrow try to prep what we can in anticipation of Thursday. We’re hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year, which, in an odd way, feels more like a milestone than the 30th birthday I’ll be celebrating in a few weeks. Andy’s parents will be there, as well as my mom and my stepfather Ben, Andy’s cousin, our housemate Keith, and a few good friends. In lieu of a turkey, we’re preparing a whole, wild, line caught salmon, which we plan to parchment steam and serve with a Bearnaise sauce “gravy.” On the side, we’ll have a wild rice pilaf, potatoes mashed with garlic, wasabi, and savoy cabbage, cornbread, and a salad of citrus and bitter greens.

Will is also hosting a Thanksgiving celebration this year, and he is soon to add his more classic version of a menu. We’ll both be adding recipes as we find time today and tomorrow, but for now, I’ll leave you a starter . . .

Rose’s Thanksgiving Menu

To Start

Champagne Cocktails

• Dry champagne
• Brandy
• Angostura bitters (or homemade!)
• Sugar cubes
• Unsweetened dried cherries

Plump the dried cherries in brandy at least one hour beforehand. Thread the cherries onto toothpicks (about three to a toothpick is nice – two is bad luck according to old bartending lore) making enough for all of your cocktails. Place a sugar cube in each champagne flute and moisten the sugar with a few good shakes of bitters (be careful though, you can overdo it!) Fill glasses with champagne, and garnish with the brandy soaked cherries.

• Endive boats with Roquefort and caramelized walnut – I stole the idea for these from Le Zinc, a charming little French place in Noe Valley. They make a light and tasty accompaniment to the cocktails. Simply separate the endive leaves and place a small cube of Roquefort cheese and a caramelized walnut at the white end of each.

• Curried almonds

• Fruit and cheese plate

The Feast

• Whole parchment steamed salmon stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and edameme beans
• Eggless Bearnaise sauce “gravy” – The cooking juices made such a nice sauce that we did away with the additional “gravy.”
• Potatoes mashed with garlic, wasabi, and savoy cabbage – Cube and steam 3-4 lbs russet potatoes, leaving the skins on. While potatoes are steaming, thinly slice a small savoy cabbage and place in a large bowl with 3 cloves crushed or diced garlic and 3 tsp powdered wasabi (or to taste). When potatoes are very tender but still firm, toss them with the cabbage until it begins to wilt. Add about 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup milk or cream, and plenty of salt and pepper to taste. Mash until potatoes are soft, but not entirely uniform.
• Citrus salad with bitter greens
• Wild rice pilaf - Combine 8 cups water, 1 1/2 cups wild rice, 1 1/2 cups long grain brown or white rice, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 tsp salt in a rice cooker, or add ingredients to the boiling water in a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Return the pilaf to a boil, lower heat, and cook covered for about 1 hour, or until the wild rice is firm but tender to the bite. Fluff and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

• Wine pairings

Dessert

• Pumpkin pie
• Orange whipped cream
• Quady Essensia Orange Muscat dessert wine

***

Will’s Thanksgiving Menu

I’m not sure how classic this really is, but here goes:

To Start

The Gin Buck

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. gin (I use Junipero Gin for its robust flavor and ability to stand up to a strong ginger beer)
• Ginger Beer ( I’m a huge ginger beer fan, and my favorite brand other than my homemade stuff, is Fentimans out of the UK, now available at Cost Plus World Markets)
• The juice of 1/2 lemon
• Lemon wedge to garnish

Method:

1. Pour the gin and lemon juice into an ice filled highball glass
2. Top off with ginger beer
3. Add the lemon wedge as a garnish
4. Enjoy one of the best highballs known to man

Fresh sourdough bread with butter
Cheese plate
Olives

The Feast

• Fresh (never frozen) pasture raised Heritage Turkey roasted to perfection with stuffing, leeks, carrots, and quince
• Gravy
• Mashed potatoes made the old fashioned way without any “new fangled” fixins
• Hashed Brussels Sprouts With Lemon Zest
• Fuyu persimmon salad with cumin-lime vinaigrette
• My original home cooked cranberry sauce (see recipe below)
• Wine pairings

Will’s Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 bag fresh cranberries (rinse thoroughly and discard the rotten ones)
• 1 organic orange, zested and then squeezed
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger (heaping)
• 1 pinch black pepper (my grannies trick)
• 1 pinch grated nutmeg
• 2 dashes orange bitters (optional)
• 4 Tbs. real maple syrup
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Method:

1. Combine orange juice (about 1/4 cup), water, sugar, maple syrup, orange zest, ginger, bitters, black pepper, and nutmeg in a sauce pan over medium heat
2. Stir to dissolve all the sugar
3. Add the cranberries
4. Stir often, and wait until all the berries have popped
5. Continue stirring as the mixture foams up
6. When the mixture calms down and turns a deep red it’s time to turn off the heat (the whole process should take less than ten minutes)
7. Let cool
8. This recipe keeps very well and can be made well in advance of Thanksgiving

Dessert

• Mary’s Cranberry yam apple crisp
• Butternut squash pie
• Cointreau flavored whipped cream (I’ll let you know how it turns out)
• Bonny Doon Muscat “Vin de Glaciere” (ice wine)

With any luck things will turn out as delicious as they sound and i will be posting more recipes in time for the next round of holiday festivities.

Tea For Twenty
Orange Anise Biscotti
Lavender Shortbread
Cucumber and Garlic Butter Tea Sandwiches
Humus and Watercress Tea Sandwiches
Deviled Eggs
Crumpets (purchased – though if anyone has a good recipe, I’d love to try making them sometime)
Fresh Cultured Butter
Strawberry-Balsamic Jam
Fresh Fruit Skewers with Cheese and Honeycomb
Chocolate Truffles

Black Tea (my home blend of Darjeeling and Earl Grey)
Marrakesh Mint Tea with fresh Spearmint from Samovar Tea Lounge
Organic Orange Ginger Tea from Samovar Tea Lounge