Bacon Cranberry Stuffing

Recipe by The Kitchen Cafe, Boulder
www.thekitchencafe.com

• 1 quart organic or natural chicken stock or broth
• 1 loaf of good sourdough bread, with a nice crust
• 1/2 cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 pound sliced bacon
• 2 cups dried organic cranberries
• 2 cups crimini mushrooms, quartered
• 2 stalks celery, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (removed from stems)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

Method:

Step 1: Bring stock or broth to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until needed. Preheat oven to 250º.

Step 2: Cut bread into 1-inch cubes. (Some pieces will have crust and some will not.) Drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Spread bread cubes on a baking sheet and put them in the warm oven to dry out.

Step 3: Cut bacon strips into 1x1/4-inch pieces. In a large pot, warm remaining 1/4 cup olive oil to medium heat and add bacon. Cook until fat is released and pieces are light brown and crispy. Stir in cranberries, thyme, Rosemary mushrooms, and celery. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 4: By now the bread cubes should have dried out nicely. Increase heat to 400º and toast until edges start to crisp and turn dark golden brown. Remove from oven and add to bacon-cranberry mixture. Roll the bread cubes through the mixture to coat evenly. Add simmering stock and stir until stock is absorbed. (The bread cubes should hold their shape but be moist all the way through.) Taste a bread cube and add salt or pepper to taste.

Step 5: Transfer to a serving bowl. Keep warm in the oven until you’re ready to serve.

Notes:
This stuffing is meant as a side dish. Stuffing the turkey cavity slows cooking and is not recommended for health reasons.

Steamed Shellfish with Bacon-Brandy-Cream, Tomatoes & Basil

Recipe and photos by
The Albion River Inn
Mendocino Coast, California

www.albionriverinn.com

Yield:  Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. olive oil
  
• 4 strips bacon, diced
• 20 black mussels
• 20 clams
• 1 oz. brandy
• 1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. shallots, minced
• 1 medium tomato, small dice
• 3 oz. heavy cream
• 4 large fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (cut into long thin strips)
• 4 oz. rock shrimp   

Method:

In a large sauté pan heat olive oil until hot. Add the diced bacon and cook until crisp.

Add cleaned mussels, clams, brandy, garlic, shallots, tomatoes & cream to the pan. Toss lightly & cover. Cook until shellfish open, approximately 3 – 5 minutes.  Don't overcook!!

Add rock shrimp and the basil, and cook for 2 more minutes. Ladle into bowls to serve, garnish with fresh basil or parsley.

This dish can be served as is, with fresh bread, or it can be served on top of cooked pasta.

Yield:  2 pounds of prawns should serve approximately 5 people 

Ingredients for Prawn Marinade:  

• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup lime juice
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 tbl. garlic, minced
• 1 tbl. horseradish
• 2 tbl. ginger, minced
• 2 tbl. cilantro, chopped
• fresh cracked pepper to taste

METHOD:

Ingredients for Cilantro-Garlic Butter: 

• ½ tbl. peanut oil
• 1 tbl. garlic, minced
• 1 tbl. shallots, minced
• 1 oz. white wine
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. heavy cream
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 2 tbl. butter
• 1 tbl cilantro, chopped

 METHOD:

Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup
Recipe and photos by

The Albion River Inn
Mendocino Coast, California

www.albionriverinn.com

That is the view from my favorite table at the Albion River Inn on the spectacular coast of Mendocino.  Need I say more?  I'll give you a moment to enjoy the view . . .

Whenever I return home to Mendocino, I have some rituals that I simply must do.  .  .

1. Must drink Navarro and Golden Eye wines. 
2. Must eat fresh sourdough bread. 
3. Must have seafood chowder in town. 

And, all of those items are just for lunch :-) 

And... Must have dinner at The Albion River Inn.  Those are some of my homecoming "must do's."

The Albion is located right on the ocean and is both a wonderful inn with seaside rooms as well as an outstanding restaurant.  I will say aside from the award-winning culinary delights, I have a sentimental attachment to the Inn as it's owned by a family of a very close friend of mine.  And most of my high school friends worked there at some point.  One of them, Chef Stephen Smith, is now the Executive Chef and has developed incredible menus for the Albion.

I have a few favorite dishes that are also on that "Must do" list.  This soup is one of them.  In fact, any soup they make is wonderful.  If you ever are fortunate enough to visit the Mendocino Coast - please add the Albion River Inn to your "must do's" and I promise you'll thank me for the recommendation!

Roasted Garlic Bulbs: Cut tops off garlic bulbs so cloves are exposed, place in oven proof dish and drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 400 ° for 20-25 minutes or until light brown & tender.  Set aside until cool enough to handle then remove cloves from skins by squeezing or peeling.

METHOD: 

Step 1:  Squeeze most the liquid out of the Porcini Mushrooms. Set aside and strain the liquid and reserve.

Step 2:  In a thick-bottomed soup pot heat olive oil until hot. Add the onion, leek, fennel, carrot, and Shiitake & Porcini mushrooms. Stir, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and “sweat” for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 3:  Uncover and add sherry wine and peeled roasted garlic cloves. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook uncovered until almost dry, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add stock or water, reserved Porcini mushroom liquid, white truffle oil, and half & half, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Step 4:  When all ingredients are tender, add the basil. Purée with a hand-held blender until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. If using a food processor, or blender, add small amounts of soup, cover food processor or blender top with a thick towel, and pulse several times before turning on high so hot soup won’t splash out. 

Serve this savory and full flavored soup garnished with croutons & chopped parsley or basil, soup hot crusty bread and a fresh green salad.    

Duarte's Crab Cioppino

www.duartestavern.com

source:  NPR.org

• 2 1/2 pounds fresh cracked Dungeness crab (your fishmonger/butcher will crack the crab for you)
• 12 cherrystone clams
• 12 jumbo white prawns
• 8 oz. cod
• 1 cup clam juice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Cioppino sauce (recipe follows)

To assemble: Place half the sauce in a 5 quart roaster or Dutch oven. Place crab in next, then clams and prawns, clam juice, and wine. Pour rest of sauce over crab. Place the cod on top last. Place lid on pan and turn heat to medium-high until it starts to boil. After it reaches a boil, turn heat down to medium. When the fish is cooked and the clams are open, the cioppino is ready. Serve immediately with a good crusty sourdough bread.

Sauce

• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped fine
• 6 stalks celery, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 2-14.5 oz. cans diced tomato
• 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp. fresh garlic, chopped fine
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Saute onion, celery and parsley in olive oil until translucent. Add spices, saute for one minute. Add diced tomato and tomato sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Duarte's Famous Artichoke Soup

"It mighta' choked Arti but it ain't gonna choke me" -Buckwheat

When I was a child, my parents decided to venture into the business of growing and selling Christmas trees.  They opened the San Gregorio Christmas Tree Farm in the early 1970's.  For many years, hundreds of people would come from the San Francisco Bay Area to visit our farm.  It was a nice way to grow up... watching kids and their parents wander through nearly 60 acres of Monterey Pine and Douglas Fir seeking the perfect tree to cut down and take home with them.  San Gregorio is a very small hamlet just south of Half Moon Bay.  The coastline is dotted with small communities that seem to be stuck in a time warp.  Many of the hard working cattle ranching families have lived in this area for generations and helped to shape the history rich coast.

Just down the highway from San Gregorio is the town of Pescadero.  In addition to its beautiful scenery, Pescadero is known for a small restaurant called Duarte's Tavern.  The Duartes were Portuguese immigrants and in 1894 they settled in Pescadero and paid $12.00 in gold for what is now Duarte's Tavern.  The family has been running it using the same recipes and fresh coastal ingredients ever since.

www.duartestavern.com

When I was a child, I had the pleasure of going to Duarte's many times for their very famous artichoke soup, crab Cioppino followed by olallieberry pie.   Emma Duarte or "Grandma" as everyone called her, would always make me feel so special when she fussed over me during our regular visits.  She was such an institution to this wonderfully interesting part of California, I feel very priviledged that I was able to know her.

Photo of Emma Duarte's Olallieberry Pie

When I started looking for their soup recipes, I found numerous versions on the internet.  So, I called Duarte's with what I felt were the closest recipes and they walked me through the process.  Since they have been making this for generations, the recipe isn't a scientific formula but requires an instinct and "a little of this and a little of that"  In fact, Emma never wrote down any of her recipes but rather passed them down to each generation through lots of practice in the kitchen.  I can't promise this is exact.. but it will be good and very close.

Tips:

Using only fresh artichokes (never canned) clean them well and remove all fuzz. Trim the green off around the bottom. As soon as you finish cleaning each one, drop it in water with lemon in it.  When you have enough, cook them in hot olive oil al dente. Add a little salt and pepper when you begin cooking. Drain.

It's very important to sautee the artichokes in olive oil to preserve it's color and flavor.  Don't completely cook, just until they are Al Dente.  Over cooking can make the artichokes gray and mushy in your soup.

Place the artichokes in a blender or food processor with Organic (or homemade stock) chicken broth.  Add garlic and saute' in olive oil for just a minute or two.  Thicken with cream  and corn starch (mix those two first than add to thicken).  Add a some butter...at least 1/4 stick.  .

Don't let the soup get too light or white in color.  Try to keep it green.  The result is a bright beautiful light jade green soup with darker green flecks in it.

Approximate proportions and steps:

1. About one cup of chunks of fresh artichoke hearts (maybe four large/jumbo sized bottoms)
2. Lemon in water (used in preparation to keep them from turning brown)
3. Three tablespoons good quality, fresh extra virgin olive oil
4. Cook al dente, maybe ten to fifteen minutes, add a smashed garlic for the last two minutes
5. Save out one quarter to one half of an artichoke bottom to use as garnish
6. Add one cup chicken broth to artichokes and garlic
7. Blend
8. Mix one tablespoon of cornstarch with one cup of milk or half and half; add more cornstarch if you like thicker soup or cream if you like richer soup
9. Put the contents of the blender and the milk/cornstarch mixture in a large saucepan
10. Stir over low heat, constantly scraping the bottom, until it boils
11. Boil one minute, remove from heat
12. Swirl in one or more tablespoons of butter
13. Adjust salt, do not add more chicken broth as it will cover the lovely vegetable flavor
14. Grind some pepper over it, garnish with reserved diced fried artichoke

Moules Fromage Bleu

Growing up on the Mendocino Coast, we would pick mussels off of the rocks and steam them in wine on the beach.  Our recipes were not very inventive, but the mussels were always delicious.  Last night, I was watching Bobby Flay's TV show Throwdown on the Food Network and was inspired to make the featured dish - Moules Fromage Blue (Mussels with Bleu Cheese).  It looked amazing and it was no surprise that local chef, Teddy Folkman beat Bobby Flay's own mussel recipe.  I found this recipe online and wanted to upload it to my blog for future reference.  Next time I am in Washington DC, I intend to visit Teddy Folkman's restaurant Dr. Granville Moore's http://www.granvillemoores.com/

Teddy Folkman's Moules Fromage Bleu

Serves one as a meal; two to four as an appetizer

1 1/4 pound rope-grown P.E.I. mussels

4 tablespoons blended oil (40 percent extra-virgin olive oil, 60 percent canola oil)

1/3 cup diced applewood-smoked bacon

1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots

1/4 cup Hook's Blue Cheese, or a similar mild, creamy blue

1/3 cup white wine, preferably a dry Chardonnay

Juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup baby spinach, cleaned and destemmed

Sea salt, as needed

Black pepper, as needed

Heat the oil in a pan over high heat. Cook the bacon until the fat is rendered and it is slightly browned.  Do not overcook or brown the bacon!  Add the shallots and mussels and toss together. Add the white wine and lemon juice and toss together.

When the mussels start to open, add half of blue cheese, melting it into the broth. As soon as all mussels are open, toss in the spinach. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Plate the mussels and top them with the remainder of the blue cheese. Serve with a French baguette and frites.