California Foodie Adventure: Part 2 and The Montini Nature Preserve

It’s a while since I have posted a blog- it’s been a busy spring including planning for my group Hevreh Ensemble’s upcoming tour to Iceland. The itinerary is all set for an early July departure and I am finished with a busy semester of teaching- time to revisit my spring trip to California!

In early March, under a professional development grant from Hofstra University, I collaborated with the renowned jazz oboist Paul McCandless.

What a gift it was to have two days of incredible sessions together and then it was time for a foodie road tour; jam packed with lunch and dinner reservations, accompanied by my dear friend Carol.

Here is Part Two of our delicious foodie adventure:

After a few days of delicious, innovative and very rich food, a morning walk was in order. We stayed at the Seven Branches Inn, a lovely small boutique hotel in Sonoma, less than a mile away from the Montini Nature Preserve.

We enjoyed a light but filling breakfast Sunflower Cafe in Sonoma and then headed out to the trails.

Our delicious breakfast included chia pudding that was topped with fresh mango puree, slivered almonds, hazelnuts, raspberries and granola along with crusty slices of whole grain toast and chai lattes.

It was early spring in March and because of the extra rainfall California experienced, the landscape was lush and green and the hills were covered with brilliant yellow wildflowers.

At every turn on the Sonoma Overlook Trail the scenery was beautiful.

This being a trip for relaxation and stress reduction, we decided to treat ourselves to spa treatments at the nearby Spa at MacArthur that included both foot reflexology and lovely hot stone massages. Carol remarked that the massage therapist had hands like an octopus, she was everywhere at once; intuitively placing the hot stones in all of the places of tightness and tension- simply heavenly!

Feeling that for the moment that all was well with the world, we completed the day with dinner at Oenotri; a contemporary Italian restaurant in nearby Napa. We shared everything and enjoyed a delicious salad of roasted beets and creamy burrata cheese accompanied by crusty focaccia and grassy pungent California olive oil.

We savored crispy brussel sprouts with a balsamic glaze and pomengranite seeds along with homemade pasta with arugula pesto.

For dessert we shared a bittersweet chocolate pot de creme- a perfect ending to a memorable meal!

A few more restaurants will appear in the next installment where we ended our foodie adventure with a coveted reservation at Alice Water’s venerable restaurant Chez Panisse!

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If possible, I try to cook with fresh local organic produce; our trip to California reinforced my love of simple well prepared food with the best possible ingredients.

In the summer, in our neck of the woods, we are blessed with farm markets and excellent organic farms. Inspired by the local bounty surrounding me, I decided to make a summer salad along with spicy crispy shrimp for our dinner. With a base of organic mesclun, I added boiled new baby potatoes and fresh asparagus with cherry tomatoes, toasted pecans and feta cheese and chives from my herb garden. I drizzled this with a dressing that I made with live oil, red wine vinegar, lemon, garlic and shallots.

Summer Salad

I marinated shrimp with lemon juice, olive oil, plenty of chopped shallots and garlic, dried thyme, ground cumin, smoked paprika, salt and freshly ground pepper and red pepper flakes.

I heated a cast iron pan with a glug of olive oil in the broiler until the pan was very hot and smoking and then placed the shrimp with all of the marinade into the pan. It made a loud and satisfying sizzling sound! I cooked the mixture until the shrimp was crispy and the bits of shallots and garlic were dark brown- almost on the side of being overdone- all delicious with crusty French bread!

ENJOY!!

Summer Salad

Ingredients:

Organic Mesclun Mix (I used about 1/2 of a package)

6 red baby potatoes

6-8 stalks asparagus

handful toasted pecans

2 or 3 chives finely minced

6 cherry tomatoes cut in half

small piece feta crumbled

Place mesclun in salad spinner, wash and spin dry.

Boil potatoes until soft, let cool and then slice thinly.

Wash asparagus and cut on the diagonal into medium sized pieces. Place in a small pot of cold water, bring to a boil and cook briefly. Rinse under cold water.

Place mesclun in a large bowl, add other ingredients and pour on dressing- mix lightly and serve immediately.

Dressing:

Lemon juice from about 1/2 lemon (I did not measure the ingredients for the dressing, so feel free to adjust according to taste)

dijon mustard

extra virgin oilve oil

one garlic clove finely chopped

1 small shallot finely chopped

Mix together ingredients and let sit for about one hour to let marinate.

Spicy Crispy Shrimp

Ingredients:

8 medium wild caught shrimp, peeled and deveined- keep tails on

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Marinade:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

fresh lemon juice- about 1/4 cup or more is also fine

3 shallots finely chopped

3 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt and freshly ground pepper

To Make Shrimp:

Mix all marinade ingredients in a medium size bowl.

Peel and devein shrimp leaving tails on.

Place shrimp in marinade and refrigerate about one hour.

Turn broiler to high.

Place a cast iron pan in oven with about 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Heat pan until almost smoking (put on exhaust fan!)

Add shrimp and marinade to pan. Cook until shrimp are browned and garlic and shallots are well done.

Enjoy!

AND: Here’s the “Tree of the Week”

HAPPY SUMMER!