As you may have noticed, the weeks of OMPlate are not calendar weeks. They are, much like life, days that tumble one into the next. Hopefully with a smattering of structure.
We started on a Wednesday, therefore I have been looking at each week loosely as a midweek to midweek thing. However, each week builds on the other. So this week's emphasis is on farm fresh, local, clean preparation and cooking. Clean just means the simpler and more beneficial to your body, the better. Of course beneficial can be a matter of research, common sense and intuition. I like to think of whole grains, eye-popping, taste-bud blasting produce, with a balance of textures and flavors. Of course, I am a novice, so this is wholly based on my own experience, limited education and perspective.
Fresh On My Plate is going strong in our household. I have done so much preparing and cooking, I have new calluses on my hands, and have found most of the kitchen items that were lost in our move to Coronado last November.
OMPLate is about reviving relationships... with food, with friends, family, and even self. I have found that keeping things fresh and breathing new life into seemingly ordinary parts of our daily lives is such a great way to discover vitality in unexpected places. Childlike enthusiasm is is a gift to be nourished and treasured. As long as you cultivate enthusiasm, you can never truly be alone. Which brings me to my blog buddy:
Mittens is already a lap cat at three months. If she sat this still at 3 am, we would all be getting some sleep. She is definitely fresh, and likes to be on the table, so I figure she fits right in. She is naughty naughty naughty, and I just love that about her.
Concert in the Park
On Sunday, we gathered with friends at Spreckels Park for the weekly concert in the park, as we have been doing for the past couple of years. When we first started attending, a friend of ours invited us to join a group of foodies who were weekly firing up their own dishes set to a theme, or secret ingredient, much like Iron chef. The idea was: make a dish, bring it to the park, and share it with your friends.
When we began, our friend, Denise, was documenting the scene on her then infant blog, There's a Newf in My Soup! Today, Denise has thousands of followers, and has won much recognition in the culinary world for her page cataloguing great food, Newfies, and Coronado life. I am learning immensely from her blog and the recipes, as well as enjoying some breathtaking photography. Click here to connect with Denise's many talents... I am also hoping she has a Blogging for Dummies book I may borrow...
This year, friends have kept the "Concert Cooking" tradition going with a looser construct and spontaneous themes. In the spirit of OMPlate, they were kind enough to designate Sunday, June 5th Farm to Table. Many hit the local farmers' markets, or plucked items from their own gardens for this one.
We enjoyed a performance by Lamb's Players Theatre, featuring Mixtape, and rocked out to a whole lotta eighties tunes while we enjoyed the fare.
Colors and flavors abound with this heirloom tomato salad, and the many other salads that were offered. I admit, I am new to this documenting the concerts thing, and am adjusting to cradling a camera instead of a wine glass during the whole production. This time, my wine glass won out for most of the occasion! Thanks to everyone who contributed, I hope to do better next time...
Of course I got photos of my own dishes, Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Pressed Onions
And the Agretti, which I prepared with some shallots and crispy pancetta.
Although I didn't get a picture of Jack and Sandra's dish, I did get a photo of their Boston pride, which made this former New Hampshire girl smile. You can't see it, but that's a Bo-Sox hat under her sunglasses.
Carmen fashioned three different versions of what I consider the best bread known to man, Pompe a l'Huile, or "Oil Pump." she was kind enough to send me the link with the recipe, which you can find here.
This bread is not only a work of art visually, it boasts an airy yet dense, slightly sweet interior encased in a crispy, pliant crust. I made sure to abscond with the leftovers to go with my coffee the next morning. With which Mittens the kitten, too, was smitten.
Pam brought the first tomato harvest from her garden, which were simply seasoned with a little salt, and served chopped, a perfect way to enjoy the backyard delights - sweet and juicy!
For dessert we had 6-year-old Olivia's Panna Cotta, with real vanilla bean and garnished with raspberries. These babies were to die for, and I probably would have licked the plate if my 5-year-old hadn't beat me to it.
Not to be outdone by Pam's Peach Upside Down Cake
As the evening wound down and the sun sank lower, Sonoma commandeered my camera and snapped some photos of -well- a whole other perspective. Thanks everyone for -ahem- contributing. Here is a sample of her work:
Thanks everyone for a great concert, looking forward to what the rest of the season brings...let's move back to the top of the food chain for some prepping fun...
Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Pressed Onions
As I formed a beet and goat cheese salad in my head, I thought it needed a little hit of crisp, briny flavor, so I decided to add some pressed red onion. I learned this years ago from Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger Cookbook, though mine is an extremely simplified version.
Using a very sharp knife, I thinly sliced a half a red onion:
Then I put it in a shallow dish and added some Marukan Seasoned Rice Vinegar to just cover the onions. Then I placed another dish over it and added a weight, in this case a carton of Pomi tomatoes:
Then I placed the whole thing in the fridge to allow the onions to chill out while they absorbed the vinegar. Then it was on to the beets.
I was not to be intimidated by the beet's ugly mug:
Still, I knew I needed some backup, so I turned to the master, Thomas Keller, for roasting instruction. As he instructs in Ad Hoc At Home, I trimmed the stems to a half inch, cut off the nose, and scrubbed the snot out of them (okay he doesn't put it quite like that, but those little buggers are dirty). Then I halved the larger beets so they would all cook evenly.
Next I laid them out on large squares of foil, drizzled them with canola oil, and hit them with a little kosher salt. Canola oil has a mild flavor and high smoke point, and kosher salt is easy to control with its large granules, plus it's fun to throw on food with a chef-y flare.
I wrapped them airtight, and roasted them at 375 degrees for an hour and ten minutes, giving them a shake halfway through. Then I removed them from the oven and allowed them to cool before peeling the skins off. Keller recommends using a towel or paper towel and rubbing the beets in your hand to remove the skins, which I did, and it worked beautifully.
Gorgeous ruby medallions. Then I put them in the fridge to further chill for the salad. I also took out my baby arugula, rinsed it and spun it to dry, then placed it in the fridge to crisp.
While the beets and lettuce were chilling, I whisked up some of Keller's famous Honey Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup champagne vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
Keller combines the oils in a measuring cup, then puts the vinegar and honey in a Vita-Mix and blends them, then streams in the oils with the mixer on low speed. I admit I didn't read the directions at first, and simply whisked them all together by hand. Still tasted delicious, though probably not velvety like his blended version. This dressing can be chilled in a covered container for a month. I put my dressings in squeeze bottles for easy handling. Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Once they were chilled, I removed the beets from the fridge and sliced them up. Then I took one package of room temperature goat cheese (for easy spreading) and thickly smeared it with a spoon around the edge of a large platter. I do this so there is ample goat cheese to go around for such a big salad. I reserved the second package to sprinkle on the top of the salad.
I squeezed about a tablespoon of dressing into a large bowl, in a spiral pattern (so there are no pieces of lettuce drenched in a large glob of dressing), then added the arugula and tossed it together. I arranged the arugula in the center of a large platter. Then I took out the pressed onions, drained them, and scattered them on the salad. Next I scattered the remaining goat cheese over the whole thing.
Then I took the sliced beets and arranged them around the rim of the platter. Again, the result:
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