Market Night - Dinner at Bacaro

Every sunday morning is the farmers market. It's a quaint, little, but still bustling farmers market, and the produce is delicious. You start to see familiar faces and you start to see familiar pets, and the vendors and their familiar foods are so comforting. One of the chefs at a local restaurant, Bacaro is great and wonderful about supporting the local community, especially when it comes to local produce. Monday night is Market Night where they use produce from the farmers market and create a beautifully presented and amazingly flavored meal. You have the option of wine pairing for an extra 20 dollars where you can sample 4 wines to go with your dishes. I highly recommend the pairing if you do not have a favorite. otherwise, it's nice to just have a glass of something delicious to go with your meal even if it wasn't specially paired for the night.

The menu, as far as i can recall was something similar to this: (the names aren't exactly right but the description of the dish seems to be right. I should have asked for the pairing menu as well because some of the wines were just amazing... and it's unfortunate that i can't remember what they were!!!!! it's almost infuriating!!)

Just as a note, I have not eaten substantial amounts of meat in years... I have eaten small morsels of meats to explore new dishes, but i haven't actually consumed quantities larger than my pinky nail in almost 6 years. They didn't offer any substitutions for this meal because this was all that the kitchen had prepared (they have a more extensive menu the rest of the week which is equally delicious) so i told them it was ok and I decided to eat (try to eat) a portion or so of the duck which was the featured meat. Duck is incredibly tasty, and back when i did eat it, i enjoyed it a lot. It is also a very fatty animal. My fault entirely, but after eating a thumb or two sized portion of duck meat, my insides were in knots for an entire week trying to process this foreign protein... BUT.... all GI distress aside, the entire meal... was soooooooooooooooooo delicious!!! D got the wine pairing, and I opted for an Argentinian red... 2006 of some sort. very good... and the wine pairing definitely complimented the dishes very well.

but here was the breakdown of the meal:

Duck Confit Bread Pudding
-wow. this was amazing. it was savory and delicious and warm, with the flavors of the duck baked into the soft squishy bread. Luckily the pieces of duck were large so i managed to fish them out and give them to D... i felt kind of bad for him... he ate a lot of my meat that night... but it's ok... the meat was also delicious.

Truffle and Mushroom Soup with baked cheese
-the soup was so delicious. A little on the salty side, and the baked asiago cheese that was added didn't help cut the saltiness... but otherwise the flavor was great. the mushrooms and the truffle were so great to eat. i'm not sure i would have it again just because it was almost overwhelmingly salty... but if it were diluted a little and served with a slice of crusty bread, it would have been PERFECT.

Duck Breast over Swiss chard, Sweet potato and Chocolate Balsamic sauce (which was AMAZING)
-the duck... was soooooooo tender.... but i'll have to rant and rave about the combination of vegetables that were served with this dish. the swiss chard was piled high and i don't know how it was prepared but it was amazing. maybe it was sauteed to perfection in some amazing sauce that the duck meat provided, maybe it was steamed or blanched in something amazing... but it was perfect. it wasn't overcooked, it wasn't undercooked, the flavor wasn't overwhelming but it wasn't too bland. the subtle flavors kind of like well prepared spinach but 10000x better went so well with the morsels of sweet potato. if you grabbed a forkful of the swiss chard with some sweet potato, and a nugget of duck.... and swirl it around in the chocolate balsamic sauce, it was seriously a mouthful of heaven. the chocolate balsamic sauce, as strange as it may sound, was so delicious. if it were appropriate, i would have stuck my finger into the sauce and cleaned the plate. It was rich with chocolate flavor, not really sweet like a milk chocolate but rich and slightly bitter like a dark chocolate or cocoa powder and the balsamic vinegar definitely added a great depth to the chocolate. It wasn't tart or overwhelmingly flavored like an italian salad but rather incredibly subtle. Tasting the sauce was a great adventure of flavors because upon first taste, you'd smell the chocolate and taste the sweet aroma of the chocolate, and then it would dissolve into the rich and almost bitter flavor of good dark chocolate and as that flavor rolled off your tongue, the balsamic vinegar ended the taste with it's playful tartness. your mouth wasn't overwhelmed with sugar but rather the flavor rolled off your tongue and into your belly... and settled into a warmness with whatever foods you had already eaten. ok but enough of the chocolate, on to the next plate

Ewes milk cheese with red pepper jelly
-I can't say i'm a huge fan of ewe milk cheese.... it's hard to describe the flavor, but alone, i found it to be unpleasant. It had the consistency of soft butter and the rind was pretty terrible... (D's plate of cheese was almost entirely rind... oops... ) but the crusty bread and the red pepper jelly to go with the cheese were definitely the saving grace of the cheese. The red pepper jelly tasted like, red peppers with a little bit of a spicy kick made into a sweet red jelly. all together, it was tasty. cheese alone, yuck :-( luckily the wine that was paired with it definitely helped to temper the indescribable flavor of the cheese.

Pumpkin Pie with Rum caramel glaze and some sort of Pecan crust
-you can't go wrong with pumpkin pie. Nor can you go wrong with a pecan crust. and you top that with a rum caramel glaze... you have a winner. win win win! at this point in the meal, i was on the verge of exploding with amazing food, but never fear, my DESSERT STOMACH came to the rescue! amazing consistency, amazing texture! i had to scrape off some of the caramel syrup because i found the rum flavor to be a little overwhelming... but all in all, it was a solid dessert. great way to end the meal.

i would highly recommend going to market night. support the local growers support the community, eat great food because life is too short to be eating crap all the time.


I WISH I HAD TAKEN PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

next time, i'll have my camera handy :-)

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

It is fall! and it's time for the pumpkin madness to begin! I had "stocked up" on canned pumpkin puree because i saw signs everywhere lamenting the pumpkin shortage this year.... !!! again!!! to wander from store to store and see that the shelves are missing such an important integral ingredient of these autumnal foods was such a tragedy. luckily, one of the grocery stores nearby had some canned pumpkin puree in stock. we were limited to 4 cans per customer. i only got two... i think i might need to venture back and get 4 this time....

but anyway, with these beautiful cans of pumpkin puree, i sat there dreaming of all the amazing and delicious fall foods that i could make! but i only had two cans... so i had to choose my recipes wisely.

my first attempt at something amazingly delicoius was kind of a flop. i made vegan pumpkin muffins..... with whole wheat flour, not enough sugar, too much spice, not enough nuts, not enough love.... yuck. D love them for some reason so he ate them. sadly the batch also only produced 10/12 muffins. but it's ok. all i tasted was dirt anyway. my second attempt at something amazingly delicious turned out to be.... AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!!!!!! i saw the recipe here and instantly fell in love. not because i love butterscotch (i really don't like butterscotch that much to be honest), not because i love cookies... but because it's fall! and i could use my pumpkin in a can!!! slight modifications but wow they were DEEEEELICIOUSSSSSSS!!!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients
2 c all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 F
• Combine dry ingredients in a bowl -- flour, baking soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger
• in the mixer, combine the eggs and sugar and beat until smooth and light. slowly blend in the oil, pumpkin puree, and the vanille extract until everything is combined.
  
• Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated and gently add in the butter scotch chips
• drop table spoon sized balls of dough on the baking sheets and bake in the oven for about 14-16 min.
  
• cool on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack.
  
• best if eaten just after baking, or if you can stand the wait, even better the next day after refrigeration.
  

no pictures of food today :-( but there will be pictures of fall

Butternut Squash penne and Sweet Potato Chickpea soup

SF was an awesome weekend. coming back to the real world... or this twisted reality i call the real world was incredibly depressing. the weather was beautiful, the topography and geography was amazing, the food was delectable, the people were so nice and everything!! it was just so perfect. Napa valley was beautiful and while we were only able to go to taste at two vineyards, it was such an amazing day well spent. we did our homework and watched bottle shock the night before Napa. of course we also sat there in wikipedia to find out what REALLY happened! of course this was followed by Glee. lots of Glee.

one thing that would have made san francisco absolutely perfect would have been trees turning. the road down to monterey was beautiful as we drove up and down the mountainside. we were surrounded by huge tall trees and in monterey, we were surrounded by gorgeous cypress trees... but everything was green. somewhere deep in my heart, i longed for the deep oranges and reds and the yellows and purples and the orange tipped green leaves, the trees that would quietly soak up the evening sun and change to match the color of the sky.

of course, missing the fall colors did not stop me from bursting into tears at the first sight of the ocean through a break in the cypress woods. it wasn't even a full view. just a glimpse. the waves caught the sun and you could see the cliffs and rocky beaches... and my heart stopped to do a back flip and then tug at the corner of my eyes.

i cry for beauty. J cries for humanity. together, we are an emotional pair :-)

Back in the midwest, to tackle the depression, D and i made a festive, fall flavored dinner!
Butternut Squash Penne and Sweet Potato Chickpea soup

Pasta sauce
1 lb butternut squash
1/2 medium white onion
4 strips of bacon
1 clove garlic
1/2 T brown sugar
1/3 c cream
1/2 c chicken broth
sage

penne rigate as al dente as you like it

Soup
1 large sweet potato cut into smallish cubes
1/2 med white onion
2 stalks celery chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 c chicken broth
1 c water
1/2 c cream
1/2 c chick peas
1/2 c diced tomatoes
butter

salt and pepper to taste
Directions for the pasta:

• chop the butternut squash into 1/2 in cubes
  
• fry the bacon. when the bacon is crispy, put the strips aside and reserve some of the bacon drippings. add chopped garlic to the bacon fat and let fry for a minute
• add the chopped butternut squash and brown in the bacon fat
• sprinkle brown sugar over the squash and continue cooking, adding some chicken stock if it dries too much
• while the squash is cooking, start preparing the noodles.
  
• when the squash cubes are tender, add the remaining chicken stock and cream and let simmer for a bit.

• the squash sauce should be both chunky and creamy

• pour/scoop sauce over the penne and shave parmesean/aged manchego over the sauce

Directions for the soup

• chop celery, sweet potato, onion and garlic and sautee in a pat of butter in a saucepan until the sweet potatoes are mostly tender
• add chicken broth and let simmer until the potatoes are tender
• puree the broth containing the vegetables until smooth, adding water until the desired consistency is reached
  
• add the diced tomatoes and canned chick peas and let simmer until the peas are tender
• add the cream and some cracked pepper
  

the soup and pasta were amazing. david garnished his pasta with the bacon pieces. i added a sprinkle of black truffle salt to mine and it was perfect. the flavor of the pasta was slightly sweet and the soup was somehow rich and savory. i think if the pasta or the soup had been a little spicy, it would have been absolutely perfect. i would put up photos but they turned out terribly. so instead, i'll leave you with pictures of the ocean.

The beach

Near the Lone Cypress

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Let me tell you about this amazing shop that i recently discovered.

enter: Cheese & Crackers

This shop was so cute with a lovely spread of cheese and chocolate. The staff are incredibly happy and fun and great to talk to, providing awesome suggestions and pairings for meals you might be making. not to mention their extensive shelf of intelligentsia coffee, baked breads from pekara, and organic and different kinds of pastas.

I went home with aged manchego, parmasean, and gjetost (pronounce yost? i asked them several times but i can't seem to get it down). the gjetost is this amazing caramely norwegian cheese that people eat with toast for breakfast. it's so smooth and delicious. apparently they make it with milk and heat it til it acquires a golden caramel brown color and develops its rich sweet and slightly nutty flavor. it is literally... caramel cheese... one of the guys there showed me how to shave cheese and gave me a short lesson on maximizing the flavor of hard cheese without needing any fancy cheese slicing equipment :-) He brought his cutting board and knife out and demonstrate the shaving technique which was awesomely simple and packed with flavor.

the store also carries an amazing assortment of fine artisan chocolates, each piece hand painted by some lady in new york. a little skeptical at first, i bought two pieces: 1. apricot chili and 2. white peach champaign. and i must say, they were indeed delicious. i have to go back and try their other chocolates.

Um, and lastly... they carry a basket of flavored and seasoned salts from a local distributor in danville. hellooooo pink hawiian sea salt, volcano salt, hicory smoked salt, black truffle sea salt... and a ton more. and yes... i fell for the delicious suggestion of sprinkling black truffle sea salt on my soup!!!!!!!!!!!! so i bought it. and it was one of the best purchases of my weekend. I asked the girl whether they had the black salt, smoked to a charcoaly perfection, that they carried at Carmon's. And instead of saying no... she turned to me and said, you know what.. you are the fourth person today to ask that question. I'm going to place an order today.

This, my friends... is a great great store. Please support them. they are a gem in this community.


And with the treasures that i acquired, both fromthe farmers market and the cheese and crackers store, i made....

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

4 med sized red pepper
3 cloves garlic
3 med sized tomatoes
1/2 onion
1 acorn squash
1/2 c cream
1 c water
couple T of olive oil
dashes of salt and pepper to taste

shaves of aged manchego and parmesean cheese

a dash of black truffle sea salt (or regular sea salt)

• Roast the red peppers over a flame til the outsides are nicely charred and store in a covered container until the skin starts to blister

Just Partially Charred

• Cut acorn squash in half and roast at 400, face down in a little bit of water
• Cut tomatoes into small wedges and sprinkle with kosher salt. roast in oven until the tomatoes are slightly wrinkly and losing water (if they get nice and crispy along the edges, even better)
• Chop onions into large pieces and sautee with olive oil and garlic until the onion is soft and semi translucent
• Scoop out the guts of the acorn squash, cut and peel the roasted peppers, add tomatoes and sautee briefly with the onions and garlic. Add half cup of water and simmer briefly
  
• Using a food processor or blender, puree the peppers, tomatoes, squash, onion and garlic mix until you reach a desired consistency. (i wanted it to be really creamy but my processor has its limits. chunky soups are delicious too)
• Put back into sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Add the remaining water and cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. for thicker soup, add less water. for more delicious soup, use a stock or broth of some sort... i had nothing so i just used water.
• Shave parmesean and aged manchego cheese and sprinkle over the hot soup and add a sprinkle of black truffle sea salt and enjoy with crusty bread.

Shaved Parm

Yum.....

I couldn't get enough of the soup so I used it as a base for my pasta sauce. Simmered it down a little with some regular store bought pasta sauce (i ran out of tomatoes :-( sadddd!!!) and added more shreeded cheese!!! and a pinch of black truffle sea salt!!!!!! yum. This was my delicious pre-bike ride dinner :-)

Pastaaaaa

Til next time-- eat well, drink well, live well!!!