We have set up a modest but functional cooking area outside on our side deck. I've been cooking out there almost every night! A charcoal grill in one corner, and a fireplace that we set our cast iron dutch ovens on for long, slow cooking, or a saute pan for hot, quick dishes like the one we made last weekend: freshly harvested squid, sauteed with ample garlic, onions, tomatoes, and chilis, to make a Catalan style sauce that we mixed with a textured mixture of baby greens like chard, kale, and frisee. We drank a light, delicious pinot noir made by a friend. That dish is what followed after we shucked and slurped some fresh, briny, Kushi oysters while preparing the squid, happily sipping Prosecco.
Last night, a friend's birthday was celebrated by firing up her Texas style smoker, into which we put a wild turkey breast from our front yard, a shoulder of one of our own lambs, and a wild boar shoulder from the neighbor, a crazy Italian with a penchant for hunting that borders on addiction. We snacked on some of my aged garlick-y pork pate, studded with pistachios and prunes, served with my friend's homemade zesty mustard to begin, and sipped a Grand Cru, Le Mesnil Champagne to kick things off.
Lisa is the queen of all things for the larder, meticulously growing, drying, and storing the bounty of herbs, flowers, and fruits grown on their property in the Anderson Valley, our home away from home. Her tasty and medicinal concoctions have nursed many of us back to health, or very likely have kept it vibrant.
The green walnuts came from another dear friend's vineyard tree. She was generous to save me some as I was out of town on the traditional day they are to be harvested: June 24th.
The elderberries across the street near the creek are beginning to ripen. I am planning to harvest some this weekend to make an elderberry brandy; a great tonic for the cold/flu season. Perhaps I will combine them with another summer berry, like the wild blackberries in our driveway, into a preserve to enjoy this winter.
Daniel and I, sadly being without a lush garden of our own for the first time in many, many years, have discovered the farmer's market here on Fridays is a lovely way to start our day together, so we will go tomorrow and fill our baskets with all of the amazing things other people are growing. Yesterday I made a hearty, piquant caponata out of last Friday's bounty to eat as a bruschetta, perhaps, or served over a piece of grilled fish.
A wild boar roast, cooked in my crock pot for over16 hours yesterday, yielding a gorgeously succulent ragout to be served with my favorite Amish egg noodles that I always ship back from Indiana on visits to see family. The noodles remind me of my Mom's cooking growing up, served with a beef pot roast, or her amazing chicken soup-- and there are no substitutes for their hearty bite and rich flavor; they never get soggy and they taste like home.
Life isn't bad!
