Quinoa with Garbanzo Beans

I was putting pictures of this dish on Twitter, but decided it was so good I needed to put a detailed recipe up.



Take one can garbanzo beans, rinse, and stir in two or three tablespoons lemon juice, a minced garlic clove, and some good olive oil. Set that aside and let it marinate for as long as you have time for.

Put 1 1/2 cups quinoa, 2 cups water, and some salt in a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the quinoa is tender.


Finely chop one medium leek and sauté it in a tablespoon of butter.



Once the leeks soften a bit add about 1/4 cup of stock. I used chicken, but vegetable stock would work just as well and keep this dish vegetarian. Simmer the leeks in the
stock until the stock is just about gone. Turn off the heat and add the garbanzo bean mixture, to chopped green onions, handful of chopped parsley, salt and pepper.



Stir in the cooked quinoa and season to taste.

I had two servings of the quinoa. I think it turned out great! It could've been its own meal, but I picked up sand dabs at the farmers market so I fried those up in butter and served those alongside the quinoa.

Sushi Groove South - San Francisco

Sushi Groove South
1516 Folsom St
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-503-1950


This is our new pre-Slim's-show dinner. You could easily miss it if you don't have the address and aren't really looking for it. Just keep an eye out, you'll find it. Slip past the thick curtain over the entry and excellent fish and sake awaits.

Hamachi sashimi, never a disappointment. Waloo nigiri I'd never tried and it was a buttery, yummy experience. Sake nigiri, a silken, and beautiful slice of salmon.

The sake, we ordered Ozeki Karatamba, is served in martini glasses so don't get confused like I did and not think it's your drink! I've yet to have anything here that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

It also makes me quite proud that the last time I went was with a friend of mine who hadn't had sushi and doesn't like fish but she was really open to trying new things. It turns out she likes raw fish, just not cooked or "fishy" fish. Yay! Sushi for all!

Sushi Tomi - Mountain View

Sushi Tomi Restaurant
635 W Dana St
Mountain View, CA 94041
650-968-3227


I discovered Sushitomi when I worked in Mountain View just a few blocks away. Unfortunately, I found it just a few weeks before our office moved to San Francisco. I had been on a search for good sushi in downtown Mountain View and had failed for a year. Then we went out for a department lunch at this little place that, from the outside, didn't look like much but once the food was served I knew I'd be coming back.

Well, I now have to go out of my way to get there but it's worth it. The latest Sushitomi visit was due to a friend visiting from New Mexico. We were arranging a place to get sushi, I suggested Sushitomi and she quickly got very excited because when she used to live in the area she was a regular there and missed it.


My friend ordered a bottle of Soju which I had never had before. It's basically a cross between Sake and vodka. To be honest, it's a little strong for me but it sure looks cool in a shot glass with a quail egg floating in it! They brought the quail egg perched beautifully atop a little mound of wasabi. If you want to try Soju, make sure you get the kind made from rice and not sweet potatoes...bleh!

It has become my habit to order the chef specials. This time I ordered the extra fancy nigiri plate. I've done that before and was not disappointed. And it exposes me to various imported fish that I wouldn't necessarily know to pick off of the menu. To be totally honest, I don't exactly know what I ate. There were some standards: hamachi, ebi, sake. Then there were the ones I thought I could identify as mackerel and scallop but it turns out the mackerel was something I didn't get the name of but it was great (I know that's no help is it?!) and the scallop was octopus!! It was so tender I never would've guessed.

I need to keep looking for excuses to go to Mountain View for sushi. I love this hidden gem.

Michael Mina - San Francisco

Michael Mina
Westin St. Francis
335 Powell St
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-397-9222



After the great meal we had at Michael Mina Vegas, knowing the San Francisco restaurant was rumored to be even better, I was very much looking forward to the meal. We decided before we even arrived that we would most likely do the seasonal tasting menu. Luckily it was perfectly laid out for us with the "or" choices on just the right dishes.

Course one was Grilled Japanese Kanburi (tatsoi, Asian pear, ginger vinaigrette). This was amazing. The fish was perfectly cooked. The savory and sweet had an absolute perfect balance. It was a wonderful start. The wine pairing did not start well though. There is this trend that we've been experiencing with the chef's tastings and pairings of sweet, fruity wines served with Asian flavored dishes. This one was a Spanish Moscatel Seco (2007 Jorge Ordonez Botani) that was full of pineapple and mango. It was dry but had a coy sweetness from the tropical fruit flavors. This would be a good hot day quaffing wine, but did not pair with the food.

The next dish was one I thought I would love but it ended up being my least favorite of the evening: Extra Virgin Olive Oil-poached Wild Sturgeon (pickled cabbage, pumpernickel panade, dijon emulsion). It was an interesting flavor combination but the mustard overwhelmed everything else and, combined with the pickled cabbage, reminded me of a hot dog! "I'll have the sturgeon with mustard and kraut please!"



I'm not usually a fan of squab. I mean, really, it's pigeon! Why the fancy name? Anyway, WOW! It was practically rare, but a tender, perfect texture, not at all squab-like. It wasn't stringy or gamey although it was intensely smoky. Luckily, the sommelier paired this one with a Pinot Noir (2006 Whetstone Pinot Noir, Jon Boat) that cut through the smoke.


Michael Mina isn't immune to the influence of the Kobe trend. They have added a great twist to it though: "Thai Beef Salad" (grilled little gems, serrano peppers, green curry). The beef was tender, the curry had some heat and, unpredictably, this was our favorite dish of the evening. The other surprise was that the 2007 Celebration Gamay Noir (Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon) worked so well. Red wine with beef, sure, of course! Red wine with spicy serrano, Thai curry... what? It was awesome.

The Apple Tarte Tatin (Burnt cinnamon ice cream, cider foam, toffee) for dessert was spiced and sweet and tart cinnamony. The 2003 Tokaji brought out a brown sugar in the dish which made it a very good pairing. There was an extra little bite that came out, a sort of s'more gelée. I don't tend to like the textures gelées and foams but this little bite was so intensely S'MORE! Great finish to the meal.

We had a lovely time -- oh, and this was my birthday dinner so they wrote "Happy Birthday" on my Tarte Tatin plate in chocolate... cute!

I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to return to Michael Mina. It's an extravagant meal but there's nothing wrong with that if the dishes deliver and these sure did.

La Posta

La Posta
538 Seabright Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
831-457-2782


We had an excellent dinner tonight at La Posta. I've been meaning go there for ages and we finally made it down. My husband and son devoured the mixed salumi plate (everything on the plate was house-cured except for the imported prosciutto). I had the Baby mixed lettuces with anchovy vinaigrette and was very much looking forward to the anchovy vinaigrette. I was not disappointed, it was overwhelmingly anchovied and amazing.


My main course was the Roasted Striped Bass with clams,artichokes, fingerling potatoes, and leeks. The fish was perfectly cooked, the leeks still had a bit of a good crunch to them, the clams were flavorful, everything meshed very well together. I accompanied the meal with a glass of 2005 La Spinetta "Ca di Pian" Barbera d'Asti, careful not to drink it with the artichokes! It was a beautiful wine.

I finished the meal with two incredible scoops of Strawberry Gelato. It's made in-house and is the essence of strawberry. It's served atop strawberry puree and with a large, yummy in-season, local strawberry. A perfect dessert, that is if you're a strawberry freak! It was awesome.

I'm glad we finally made it down there, it was worth the wait. We'll be back soon.

Aubergine - L'Auberge Carmel

Aubergine Restaurant
Monte Verde at Seventh
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, 93921
831-624-8578


This meal began brilliantly. We got the chef's tasting menu with the wine pairing. We were brought an Amuse Bouche that was made with cauliflower and coriander seeds. I hate cauliflower and I ate every bit of this dish. The highlight of the evening for me was the first course, Avocado and Scallop (haas avocado purée, watermelon radish, cucumber gelée, Nantucket Bay scallop ceviche). This was excellent, not at all fishy, the raw scallop was served atop a quite gourmet guacamole. I'm usually not big on gelées but the cucumber had wonderful flavor. The dish was a good balance of creamy-scallop-crunch.

Course two would be hard to mess up. The menu said: Asparagus & Morel (first local green asparagus, chicken oyster, sorrel sabayon, morel "etuvée"). This was all just fancy talk for a very good plate of perfectly cooked asparagus alongside local, blonde morels. A classic combination for a reason, it's all the flavors of spring to me. The sommelier chose to serve a Grüner Veltliner with it which I thought clashed horribly. I didn't drink it with the dish so as not to ruin the wonderful flavors I was enjoying.

When the halibut dish came we were told it was topped with porcini, this caused a moment of panic when I noticed the porcini had gills. We had already had a discussion with the waiter about the presence of "Big Sur porcini" on the menu given it was the end of March and porcini season is in November-December. His response was "well it did just rain"... that is not how it works. They never did fess up to the porcinis being (probably) frozen. After we questioned the "gilled porcini" they told us it was a chantrelle. Mushroom mistake aside,the halibut was overcooked and dry and I couldn't finish it.

Speaking of the porcini dish, that was the veal. We had asked for the meat to be rare. This could have been farther from rare. It was so well done I had trouble cutting it. Poor little baby cow gave up its life for that? Admittedly, I've never had veal in my life, maybe it's supposed to be cooked to the point of greyness?

I hate giving less than stellar reviews. The waitstaff was wonderful, helpful and attentive without being hovering. Given the wad of cash we dropped on this meal I want to have nothing but praise for it. I asked for a copy of the menu, I got one and it was signed by the chef: "Taste is built from memories"...he's right. Memories are also built from taste and I'll remember this as a place I may only need to go to for an appetizer (I'd go back for the scallops). I think this dinner was very Carmel: pretty on the outside, presented well, pricey, but lacking depth and flavor.

Tower of Crab and Potato

Surprisingly, this large, layered tower remained upright long enough to take a picture and carry it to the table before it slowly got leany and eventually toppled. It's a recipe loosely based on one from On the Line, Inside the World of Le Bernadin. I felt that I wouldn't like certain aspects of the recipe (I'm sure I'd love it if Eric Ripert prepared it for me!). I, however, didn't want to mix mayonnaise into my fresh, local crab.

So what the tower consists of is:
- One layer fresh crabmeat
- One layer sliced avocado
- A drizzle of jalapeno emulsion
- One thinly pressed, chilled, cut out piece of mashed potato ( mixed with lime juice, jalapeno emulsion, olive oil, salt, and pepper)
- One more layer fresh crabmeat
- One more layer sliced avocado
- Another drizzle of jalapeno emulsion

- Atop all that I took some of the mashed potato and put it into a frying pan with some olive oil. I thought I would get some sort of potato chip like thing but that's not exactly what happened. The potatoes dissolved into the oil but I just left them there until they were brown and got a very thin chip-like topping.

At the very top was an onion relish that was pretty close to what was in the book:
2 tablespoons red onion
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
--let that sit in the fridge for two hours

I drained off the vinegar and added:
A teaspoon or two jalapeno emulsion
A minced shallot
The juice of two limes
A drizzle olive oil
Salt and pepper

Voila! A crab potato tower!!