Trying New Things - Pastitsio

Fall must be upon us because I got my first craving of the season for hearty food. Instead of wanting a refreshing salad with tomatoes I wanted some cozy comfort food. I had seen a recipe for pastitsio in Saveur that piqued my interest and decided to give it a go. I wanted to mix it up a little so I found a variation on that recipe in an old Gourmet that used eggplant and had a feta bechamel (because the lamb meat sauce just wouldn't be rich enough by itself). I LOVED this recipe - of course I tweaked it slightly (less salt, nutmeg instead of clove, less cinnamon) . . .suffice it to say, we both had thirds.

Along with ushering in fall foods I had the great pleasure of attending the beautiful wedding of some great friends  and wanted to follow up the rehearsal dinner photos with some quick snaps from the main event.

Adventures in Frying - A Poultry Tale

"The Shed" - Boonville, CA

Time to celebrate - many different things, the wedding of good friends, the start of "real" fall, and my first attempt at frying (I take every opportunity I can to celebrate). I have almost finished reading my Lucky Peach from cover to cover and along the way I began to drool heavily over Jonathan Waxman's fried chicken. Having never fried before I did not have the proper equipment so I bought myself a splatter screen and a tub of crisco (I tried to fry in peanut oil, but the store was out so I decided to take matters into my own hands and gleefully picked up the crisco). For an article expounding on the health benefits of lard please click here. 

Jonathan Waxman's wonderful butchering diagram

I do see the virtues of doing a double-dredge and getting a little more crust - I love the crust - but the chicken did come out crispy and golden and was even moist on the inside - all in all a success! I served it with cornbread, buttermilk mashed potatoes (because you can never have too much starch), and jalapeno-cilantro slaw. Oh, and beer - cheap beer.

Cocktail Hour - The Perfect Margarita

Hog Island Oyster Company

It hasn't exactly felt like summer in San Francisco, not that I'm ever one to complain about such things, but we are making the most of this foggy, 68-degree "summer." We spent a pretty glorious weekend in Pt. Reyes surrounded by some of my favorite people and good food. And what's a weekend spent with friends without a nice cocktail or three?

shaker

 I read a little blurb in Bon Appétit a few months back about a simple fresh margarita that made me salivate immediately. I have been buying weekly batches of limes ever since and whipping up a quick margarita whenever I feel like it. 

Sunning; The view from the house in Inverness

Tomales Bay

L'chaim

Note: this photo makes it look deceptively warm

A Party! Complemented By Some Bourbon-y BBQ

I will begin with a confession - I did not make this sauce, I observed its making and enjoyed being a taster but I was most definitely not the chef. My lovely mother took on the job of BBQ sauce-maker and it turned out to be absolutely perfect (and, as proof, it was completely inhaled by the party-goers). We decided not to marinate the chicken and instead our master griller brushed the chicken with sauce as it cooked giving it a delicious, caramelized glaze. It was cooked to perfection and was such a success that we even glazed our sausages with it and gobbled those up as well. 

The aftermath

For the original recipe from Bon Appétit please click here.