Food Archives - Jane Heller

What I Read, Watched and Ate: Favorites of Summer 2015

September 9, 2015

I know, I know. I could have posted a pic of late summer tomatoes, which have been luscious here in CT. Or corn on the cob, fish on the grill, a lobster roll or an ice cream cone. Instead, I gave you a Cobb salad. Big deal, you think. But it’s not just any Cobb. The one above was a creation of one of my new favorite places, Kingsley Tavern in Kent. It’s made of really fresh romaine, avocado, blue cheese, tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, celery, chicken and – drum roll – the crispiest, most delicious bacon I’ve ever tasted, all dressed in a light, tangy vinaigrette. I craved a salad on a hot steamy night recently, and Kingsley’s Cobb delivered.

But there were many treats of summer of the edible variety: the grilled prawns at Purdy’s Farmer & the Fish in North Salem, the swordfish at Terra Sole in Ridgefield, the chocolate tasting dessert at Arethusa Al Tavolo, the blueberry pie from the Bridgewater Village Store. To say I ate well this summer would be an understatement.

I was a book glutton too. I devoured novel after novel over the past few months, and while I didn’t love every single one, I did love reading in a joyous, leisurely way. Among my favorite novels were: Days of Awe by Lauren Fox, Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet, Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont, Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum, Disclaimer by Renee Knight, Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, The Daylight Marriage by Heidi Pitlor and Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill. I’m looking forward to a whole crop of fall books.

In addition to sports on TV, classic movies on TCM and non-stop news on CNN (it was the summer of Trump, after all), I belatedly discovered Weeds and binge watched the Showtime series with abandon. What great writing, not to mention the performances by Mary-Louise Parker and Elizabeth Perkins. I also went back and re-watched The Affair, also on Showtime, in anticipation of the first episode of Season 2 on October 4th.

I only went to a handful of movies in the theaters this summer, and the few I saw didn’t come close to making a favorites list. “Love and Mercy,” the Beach Boys movie that garnered mostly good reviews, was long and meandering, and though Paul Dano was great and the inside-the-studio stuff was interesting, I was less than enthralled. “Trainwreck,” which I expected to adore because of the hilarious Amy Schumer, wasn’t funny. I don’t know how else to say it. I sat there waiting to laugh and didn’t. And “Ricki and the Flash” was fun in the way it’s always fun to watch Meryl Streep do her thing, but was otherwise forgettable. I can’t wait for the big Oscar-y movies to open. On my must-see list are “Grandma” with Lily Tomlin, Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs,” “Black Mass,” the Whitey Bulger story starring Johnny Depp and “Carol” with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, to name a few.

Bring on fall!

My Friend Died, and It Sucks

August 4, 2015

Michael and I were living in Florida, about to move to LA, when I got an email from a woman named Laurie Burrows Grad. She said she was chairing a Penn Women Author Event to commemorate 100 years of women at the University of Pennsylvania, where I attended the Annenberg School of Communications. She asked if I’d be willing to participate. I wrote back thanking her for thinking of me but explained that I was overwhelmed with my imminent move to Los Angeles. She wrote back that she lived in LA and that if I needed anything when I got there, I shouldn’t hesitate to call her. “And you’ll come for dinner and meet my husband Peter,” she added.

“How nice is that?” I said to Michael. “They don’t even know us.”

Laurie and I continued to email and we discovered we’d soon be neighbors, that the Beverly Hills duplex Michael and I had rented was only blocks away from her house. She offered yet again to have us over for dinner and we looked forward to it.

On our first night in our Beverly Hills rental, friendless and furniture-less, since our stuff was on a Mayflower van making its way across the country, Michael and I were surprised by a knock on the door. It was Laurie and Peter with shopping bags containing goodies to eat and drink and little battery-operated lights we could put on the floor by our air mattress until our lamps arrived.

“How nice is that?” I repeated to Michael.

Laurie was beautiful inside and out, I discovered, and Peter was hilarious with the ability to mock you in such an endearing way that you didn’t mind being mocked. (The first time he saw me, he nicknamed me “Bones.” Normally, when people joke that I’m skinny or scrawny or bony, it makes me mad, but Peter? I loved that he had a special name for me, just like he had special names for all his close pals, because he said it with such affection.) Both he and Laurie had huge hearts, and the word “generous” didn’t begin to describe them. (And I’m not just talking about the fact that they’d raised millions of dollars for the Alzheimer’s Association as a result of their “A Night at Sardi’s” benefits.) Oh and one more thing: they adored each other. You could see it in their eyes, in the way they treated each other, in the way they touched each other. When you were around Laurie and Peter, you were thrilled to be in their orbit.

And we were definitely in their orbit. Laurie and I would talk on the phone forever and then email right after. Michael, who doesn’t make friends easily or often, couldn’t get enough of Peter. While Laurie and I would be in her kitchen kibbitzing, he and Peter would be downstairs watching porn channels on TV and laughing like idiot boys waiting for their mothers to scold them. We’d go out for dinner. We’d go to the movies. We’d spend New Year’s Eves together and Oscar night and all the rest. And when they said, “We’re staying at a friend’s on the beach in Santa Barbara for the weekend. Want to come?” we not only said yes but became so enamored of Santa Barbara that we moved there.

I was emailing and texting with Laurie this past weekend while she and Peter were on their annual trip to Vail. She was telling me what a good time they were having and I was telling her the latest about CT, where Michael and I had bought a house in April to spend more time with my mother. I missed the Grads now that I was on the East Coast again, but we’d recently had lunch with them when they came to NYC and we pledged to spend more time together when we flew back to CA over the winter.

Then came a terrible phone call on Sunday morning: Peter had died.

Just like that. While I was sleeping. While I was completely in the dark.

I woke up assuming they were enjoying their last day in Vail and instead Laurie was dealing with the loss of her beloved Petey. How could this be true? How could someone who’d been so alive, so vital, be here one minute and gone the next? I couldn’t fathom it. With one big exception, I’d been remarkably lucky in the friend department when it came to good health. Yes, I had just turned Medicare age, but all my buddies were fine, a few aches, pains and prescription drugs aside.

Not Peter, apparently.

No one didn’t love Peter Grad. No one. He could walk into a room and charm even the crabbiest person. He could play a round a golf with Joe Schmo and the President of the United States and put them both at ease. He could elicit a laugh even on your gloomiest day and then order you a pizza or grill you a steak. (No one made eating as much fun as Peter. With him, food was entertainment.)

Laurie is bereft, naturally, and I feel helpless that I can’t take her pain away. I wish my mother didn’t have dementia so I could ask her what her friends did or said that most comforted her after my father died.

I only hope that the outpouring Laurie’s getting from people will ease her grief a little. She did have the good fortune to be married to the love of her life for a very long time. May the gift of that sustain her.

RIP, Petey.

Eating (and More Eating) in My New 'Hood

May 15, 2015

I didn’t actually order the above menu item at @ the corner (yes, that’s the name of the restaurant, since it’s right on the corner of the charming town of Litchfield). I ordered the “salmon fricassee,” which was an absolutely heavenly entree consisting of a bowl of perfectly cooked salmon surrounded by a simmered sauce of artichoke hearts, olives, white beans and super ripe cherry tomatoes. I loved this place – the food, the ambiance, the fact that they give you a healthy pour of wine – and am grateful to our friends for introducing us to it.

In between all the house stuff (yesterday we had another visit from the electrician and a delivery of our patio furniture – oh, and our lawn got mowed for the first time – and today will bring the guy who, hopefully, will fix our garage door openers that suddenly don’t work), we’ve been revisiting the area’s restaurants we’ve liked and trying new ones. My waistline is expanding accordingly as is my credit card bill. I must stop the madness or I’ll be forced to eat this.

Sunday night brings the finale of “Mad Men” and there’s no way I’ll be at a restaurant during that. I’ll be in my living room, glued to the TV, probably crying, probably second guessing the ending, probably expecting Matthew Weiner, the show’s creative genius, to tell us it’s all a joke and “Mad Men” is coming back for another season after all. Yeah, like that’s happening. Sigh.

And Look What Else Surprised Us

May 8, 2015

As I’ve said, I’m not a garden person so I don’t know what plants, trees and shrubs will turn out to be until they reveal themselves in the spring. This cherry tree at the front of our property was a happy surprise. It’s so pink and joyful that it makes me smile every time I look at it.

And the house itself is coming along. Yesterday the mason came to repair the brick patio. The day before that the plumber came to repair the outdoor shower. On and on it goes, but we took a break from all the headache-inducing stuff and had our first dinner guest last night. Michael broke in the new BBQ with a terrific chicken with pesto and I made a ton of roasted vegetables (Yukon gold potatoes, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and carrots – very colorful) and a salad with mixed greens, endive, tomatoes, cucumbers and walnuts in a mustard vinaigrette. Yum, if I do say so myself. Our guest brought us a wonderful house present: a large wooden bowl he’d made himself. He’s a very talented woodworker so I’m thrilled to have one of his signed creations and can’t wait to make a big salad in the bowl.

On the book front, my agent and I decided to change the title of my novel before the manuscript went to editors for submissions this week. Instead of going out as Farm Fatales, the spinoff to Princess Charming is now called Three Blonde Mice, which is also the name of the planned series the book will kick off. I just hope editors love it as much as I do. We shall see……….

Settling into My New House

April 22, 2015

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post for Mainly Jane. Just too much going on, including the move across the country into our house in New Preston, CT. But after a wild ten days during which the moving truck arrived and we were boxed in by a gazillion boxes and kept saying, “I can’t find the scissors” and “I think that lamp in the living room is missing” and assorted other cries and moans, we’re making progress. We still have boxes – too many – but I can see daylight now. And the rooms are coming together. I even had a manicure yesterday. The nail lady had to use glue on three of my nails because they were split down the middle from opening – you guessed it – boxes, but I felt semi-human.

We picked a good time to come. The snow is gone and though everyone has stories about “the worst winter ever,” we dodged it.

Here’s what we didn’t dodge. A bathroom toilet leaked. The washer and dryer wouldn’t wash or dry. Some of our furniture didn’t fit in their allotted spaces. We spent too much money at Home Depot buying unglamorous things like light bulbs, a medicine cabinet, a hose, a broom, a barbecue.

What I’m dreading the most is our trip to the CT DMV to get our licenses and register our cars. We’ve already been there once, but we didn’t have the right paperwork so we failed and were told to try again. I understand that there’s a lot of red tape with all this, but what I don’t get is why every single person who works at the DMV – the one in Danbury, CT anyway – has to be so grumpy? Not a smile anywhere. Not a “Welcome to Connecticut.” Not even a “Sorry we can’t help you today.” Just one surly person after another. Not a pleasant experience.

On the other hand, our contractor has been a joy to work with. Talk about doing it all. Frank Montelone and his crew at FJM Construction have made the move as painless as possible. No matter how big or small the job, they’ve been willing to take it on or know someone who will. Eric Popilowski is their office manager and we literally couldn’t have functioned without him. He waited at the house for the cable company while we were in California. He waited here for the TV installers from Best Buy. He measured. He answered questions. He reassured. He even said Frank would fix the antique chair that came off the moving truck broken. He’s the answer man.

Do I feel like an East Coaster yet? No. I’m still disoriented. I still operate on Pacific Standard Time, turning on the TV to watch shows that have already aired here. And the other day I walked over to our nearby sandwich shop, a terrific place in New Preston village called Nine Main Bakery & Deli. I was waiting at the counter for my sandwiches when a woman showed up to place her order. She started talking to me about her son, the doctor, and how proud she was of him. “I’m even more proud of him than I am of my screenwriter son-in-law.” Well, since I’m still in a California state of mind, I said, “Has the screenwriter son-in-law had any movies produced?” She laughed and said, “Of course! His name is Kevin Barnett and he writes for the Farrelly brothers. You know. ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ and ‘Hall Pass.'” She gave me his phone number and said, “Call him. Maybe he’ll turn one of your books into a movie.” The moral of the story is that I came all the way across the country, but Hollywood is never far away. It always beckons.

Meanwhile, Michael and I went out to one of our favorite haunts for dinner last night, the White Horse Tavern here in New Preston. It’s an English pub, so Michael indulged himself with Shepherd’s pie. He was in heaven.

Note all those mashed potatoes on top. They were a thing of beauty.

When Research Is a Pleasure, Part 7

August 2, 2014

In Part 2 of my farm-to-table food journey for research, I wrote about Arethusa Dairy Farm in Litchfield County and how ridiculously delicious the milk, cheese and butter that come from Arethusa’s prized cows are. It only made sense for Arethusa’s owners, the brains behind Manolo Blahnik stilettos, to launch a restaurant adjacent to the dairy and to recruit a chef who would best utilize their products. Arethusa al tavolo opened last summer and was an immediate hit – a fine dining eatery that offered the freshest, highest quality ingredients in innovate menu items but without the pretentiousness and stuffiness of “fancy” places. I became a fan from my first bite of the lobster and avocado appetizer.

Michael and I went back a few more times last summer, and al tavolo never disappointed. When we were in Connecticut this time around and I was determined to learn about chefs at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement, I had a perfectly good excuse to revisit the restaurant. The only catch was getting Chef Dan Magill, who makes magic in the kitchen, to sit down and talk to me. Luckily, Chef Dan was a prince among men, generous with information and recipes and philosophies of cooking. He was the opposite of the diva type you read about or see on television food competition shows but rather down-to-earth, funny and, most importantly, earnest about his craft. He doesn’t come out front to shake hands and take bows. He works the line with the other cooks, turning out perfection night after night, as does his pastry chef, April Massey. He started in the business at age 14 as a dishwasher and after putting himself through culinary school took jobs that allowed him to observe the best chefs in the food world. (He did a stint with Daniel Boulud, for example). Now, he’s come into his own at al tavolo and, despite the accolades, his head is still on straight.

Having grown up on the North Fork of Long Island and fished as a kid, he’s partial to cooking the freshest seafood around – “sea to table,” he calls what he does in the kitchen. But he’s also known for his duck and Michael raves about his lamb and beef. And he’s all about Arethusa’s dairy products, of course, and there’s not a single appetizer, entree or dessert on the menu that isn’t swoon-worthy because of those products. I mean who wouldn’t want to dive into this? We’re talking ice cream straight from the cows, people.

I’m back in Santa Barbara now and not exactly stuck in a culinary wasteland, but the challenge will be to put together all the info I gathered in Connecticut and create an entertaining story for my novel’s characters.

Oh, did I mention that the novel will be a spin-off of Princess Charming?

Yup, I’m bringing back Elaine, Jackie and Pat for another vacation together. They’re going to be “agri-tourists” in Connecticut, staying at a fictional resort on a fictional farm and getting into all sorts of trouble as they milk cows, take cooking classes, interact with the chefs and other guests and – you guessed it – solve another mystery. Who will be marked for murder in this one? Stay tuned.

When Research Is a Pleasure, Part 6

July 29, 2014

For this installment of my grand research adventure in Connecticut, I donned a green apron for a cooking class at the famed Silo Cooking School in New Milford. I was a volunteer during a corporate team building class of seven executives from an IT company in Manhattan. Our leader was chef Bill Cosgrove whose Upper Crust Cucina Italiana restaurant is practically a local landmark. (In the photo above, Bill is teaching me how to make balsamic syrup.)

The menu for the corporate group’s feast was an ambitious one, but Chef Bill made it all look easy and by the end of the day I not only believed I could cook the various courses at home but sampled dishes I’d never tried before.

Like for instance, our appetizer…

It was called a sformato, a savory custard made with pureed asparagus, eggs, Parmesan cheese and a bechamel sauce, poured into ramekins and baked, then unmolded and served on top of arugula with a bit of crispy bacon on top with a drizzle of my balsamic syrup. It was beyond delicious – light and fluffy and out of this world.

The pasta course – in Italian cooking there’s always a pasta course – the group made tortellini in beef brodo (brodo is Italian for a rich beef broth).

Chef Bill demonstrated how to make pasta and it was eye opening.

But it was the main course that was truly the show stopper: butterflied pork tenderloin stuffed with a pesto of basil, pistachios and Parmesan cheese, reconstituted figs and layers of proscuitto and arugula. Behold.

Bill showed everybody how to make it happen – from stuffing the pork…

to searing it on the stove…

to slicing it once it’s out of the oven.

It was past my usual lunch time at this point and I was dying to pop the entire tenderloin in my mouth, but I restrained myself. Actually, while the corporate group ate each course in the Silo’s dining area…

Michael and I, along with the Silo’s executive director Liba Fuhrman and assistant director Nancy Stuart, sampled everything back in the kitchen. Yummmmmm.

But a meal like we were lucky enough to enjoy had to be finished off with a superb sweet treat, and ours was a cherry and almond clafoutis, a rustic tart-like dessert made by baking cherries in a custard-type batter.

It was topped with homemade vanilla gelato.

Want to see how homemade that gelato was? I watched Chef Bill pouring the ingredients into the machine.

I’m full just thinking about all of this, but I had a good time and learned a lot. Best of all, I took lots of notes and got great material for my novel.

When Research Is a Pleasure, Part 5

July 22, 2014

Next up on my east coast research itinerary (see blog posts Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4) was the mother of all farm-to-table experiences: a day and night at the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, NY. What was once the estate and dairy farm of the Rockefellers is now a breathtaking 80-acre compound of pastures, animals, greenhouses, fields of crops and Dan Barber’s famed Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant, along with a busy farm market, cafe, gift shop, classroom and visitor’s center, set in meticulously restored buildings from the original Rockefeller farm. Some view Stone Barns as the “Disneyland” of the all things local and sustainable, but I totally drank the Kool-Aid and found the place satisfying on every level, if a bit over the top. The mission of the non-profit Stone Barns is to “increase public awareness of healthy, seasonal and sustainable food, train farmers in resilient, restorative farming techniques and educate children about the sources of their food and prepare them to steward the land that provides it.” It does accomplish all those things from what I could see.

The photo above is of me sampling a tasty morsel (I think it was purslane or maybe an amaranth leaf?) we happened upon during our first activity of the day, which was called “Foraged: A Wild Edibles Walk and Taste.” It was a tour through the often dense woods (I was glad I wore long pants, socks and covered shoes fearing poison ivy, not to mention deer ticks) given by Laura Perkins, the gardener at Stone Barns. The point of all this foraging was to learn about the plants we often dismiss as weeds or exotics, how to spot them where we’d least expect them and how to use them in the kitchen for delicious foods. I feared we’d be eating poison mushrooms (along with the poison ivy), but instead we discovered all sorts of treasures.

Here, for example, are wild blueberries.

We foraged for almost two hours, discovering a long list of wild edibles. (Lamb’s shoulders anyone? Or milkweed? Or perhaps elderberries?) At the end of the tour, Laura took us into the classroom where we were served a delicious soup made from amaranth leaves.

Ok, so it doesn’t look all that great from the photo, but trust me. It was like the best spinach or kale soup, flavored by chicken broth, eggs and sauteed onions.

But there were no second helpings for us because we were on to the second tour of the day: the “Insiders Tour,” during which our knowledgeable tour guide, Barbara, provided us with an up-close-and-personal, two-hour hike through the pastures, fields, barns and everything else that makes the place work.

For example, we learned about the history of the 1930s-era buildings.

Here’s another look.

We met up with a group of very lively (they were pecking at us) laying hens.

We hung out with the meat chickens.

The baby chicks were so cute I didn’t even want to think about having them for dinner when they were older. *shudder*

The turkeys had no idea how many Thanksgivings they’d be attending.

And there were the snoozing pigs. Pork tenderloin? Bacon?

No farm would be complete without sheep and these were happily grazing.

As the skies darkened with rain threatening, we all headed inside where it was time for Michael and me to change into our fancy clothes to dine at Blue Hill. I’d been reading all the raves about Chef Dan Barber’s restaurant both at Stone Barns and at his original Greenwich Village location, along with the reviews of his new book.

So I was primed for a unique experience at dinner. What I didn’t expect was just how unique it was. (No pics coming of the meal, because they frown on it and with good reason.)

We were seated and given little booklets by our waiter, who explained that the booklets contained a month by month journal of the seasonal foods that were being harvested and that our meal, which was to be served in multiple courses, some to be eaten without utensils, would arrive together and separately – a “tasting menu called Grazing, Rooting and Pecking,” he said and added, “It will give you a full look at the season showing you everything the chefs are working on. We’re going to bring multiple dishes together at the same time and sometimes we’ll ask you to use your hands to eat them. It’s a little unconventional in some ways but it’s fun and interesting. So use your hands to start and we’ll bring silverware in a bit.”

All righty then. We strapped ourselves in and prepared for the ride.

What came next was a parade of treats for the eyes and the palate. First was what I think of as salad ingredients on vertical skewers – single items (a cherry tomato, a white radish, a bibb lettuce leaf, etc.) each dressed with some light, citrus-y vinaigrette and served on a piece of hollowed out tree bark. Gimmicky, you say? Maybe so, but every bite was an explosion of flavor from veggies that didn’t taste like anything you’d buy in a store.

I can’t remember every course, but there was a cucumber gazpacho in a martini glass, a milkweed “soda” amuse-bouche in a shot glass, tiny pea burgers, quinoa coated Vichyssoise (our favorite by far, as unlikely as it sounds), elderberries in a tempora batter, egg “carbonara,” sous-vide prepared chicken, sliced goat tenderloin and lots of sweets for dessert. Oh, and I forgot the beyond-delicious bread that came with the beyond-delicious farmer’s cheese and butter. We were stuffed, obviously.

The best part of the meal for me was when the waiter said, mid-way through, “Would you both come with me for a few minutes.” Michael and I had no idea what was going on, but we put our napkins on the table, got up and followed him – into the kitchen, it turned out. We were guided to a small butcher block table for two in the corner of the busy hub where we sat, were served another course, and got to watch the 30+ chefs doing their thing. Fascinating! It was like being on the set of an episode of “Iron Chef” only without the competition. I don’t know if every guest of the restaurant is granted a peek inside the kitchen or if it was because I went through the PR director to make my reservation, citing research for my novel, but I was grateful for it.

The point of the dinner was to experience the creative ways to incorporate what we saw on the farm into food that can soar if in the right hands. Dan Farber’s hands are the right hands. Wow. Just wow.

When Research Is a Pleasure, Part 4

July 21, 2014

Yup, I’m the one in the middle and I’m wearing a chef’s hat and apron, as is Michael along with Kimberly Thorn, the co-owner with her husband Clint of Thorncrest Farm in Goshen, CT.

Thorncrest was the next stop on my research adventure (see blog posts Parts 1, 2 and 3) to put myself into the farm-to-table “agri-tourism” world my characters will encounter. Our agenda for the bright and sunny morning was to begin in the barn with Clint and learn about his dairy cows.

Unlike Arethusa Dairy with its state-of-the-art facility, Thorncrest is a two-person operation (plus Clint and Kim’s two sons) and no less engaging in its own way. Clint and Kim are all about the milk, of which they’re justifiably proud, but also about the cheese and chocolates Kim makes like a true artisan. Everything tasted pure and fresh and like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It all comes from the cows and, Clint was emphatic in noting, the fact that they’re cared for in a stress-free environment because stress affects the quality of the milk. Check out these Jerseys cows. Don’t they look relaxed?

After Clint gave us all a little history of the farm, we got down to business: I milked my first cow! It was fun! And I was thrilled when milk actually came out!

After we all had our chance to milk, Clint took over and pumped out the necessary quota for the day. The milk was then transferred into the dairy area where Kim met us and gave us the hats and aprons to put on. Then into her kitchen we went and it was time to learn how to make cheese. She gave us step-by-step instructions in making both ricotta and mozzarella. Here she is taking the temperature of the hot milk I was stirring.

It was exciting when it reached the proper temperature and the curds were very much in evidence.

My ricotta came out great and we took home several containers. Yum.

Next came the mozzarella, which involved stretching it to get the lumps out.

Once it’s shiny and smooth, it goes back into a ball and is ready to sample. Yum again. We took home several containers of it too, along with the samples of the chocolates Kim had just made.

Seriously, maybe I’ll forget about writing novels and just research them. Could there be anything more fun?

When Research Is a Pleasure, Part 3

July 18, 2014

Continuing in my series of blog posts about my research (see Part 1 and Part 2), the above photo is of me mixing homemade pesto with just grilled zucchini that came right off the farm for what turned out to be a fun and informative cooking class at Jones Family Farm in Shelton, CT.

Jones Farm was on my “agritourism” itinerary this month because this picturesque farm, which has been in the Jones family for generations, not only provides the community with bountiful crops in the summer, pumpkins in the fall and Christmas trees in the winter but also offers weekly cooking classes and wine tastings. Check it out here.

We showed up on what promised to be a stormy Wednesday night for our cooking class but the skies stayed lightning and rain free until it was time to leave. Whew. Our first task was to get out into the pasture and see what looked dinner worthy.

(Yes, I’m the one who’s dressed all in black on a hot summer’s night. Crazy, but I’m always cold, what can I say.)

We came back inside the kitchen and, lead by Jean Jones, a member of the farm family and registered dietician, and Sherry Swanson, a chef in and around CT, we were split off into groups, each assigned a different preparation of the meal, which consisted of roasted herbed chicken for the main course and a blueberry and strawberry cobbler for dessert, plus a glass of Jones’ own wine. For the side dishes, we made…

…a bulgur wheat cabbage salad with blueberries

…a kale salad with goat cheese, tomatoes and a strawberry vinaigrette.

… and grilled zucchini with the pesto I mixed.

When it was all done, the 12 of us sat down and enjoyed the fruits of our labors. It was fun getting to know the other guests who’d signed up for the class as well as the instructors and learning more about life on a working farm. Just as we were tasting our last bites of food, the thunder came and we took that as our cue to run for our car. The drive back to our rental house was precarious in the heavy rain (we got lost a couple of times), but it was worth it. A good time was had by us and I took copious notes for my novel, which was, after all, the point.

When Research Is a Pleasure, Part 2

July 9, 2014

In a previous post, I wrote about how my research for a new novel took me to the wonderful markets of Santa Barbara and into the kitchen of a talented chef to learn how to cook the foods we purchased. On Monday, during what was the first in a series of visits I’ll be making to local farms and chef’s kitchens here in Connecticut where I’m spending the month of July, I got the grand tour of Arethusa Dairy Farm, the premier maker in the area of milk, yogurt, cheese and, most scrumptious of all, ice cream.

The “dairy built on stiletto heels,” as the New York Times dubbed Arethusa, it’s the brainchild of George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis, who gave the world Manolo Blahnik shoes. Set in the Litchfield hills, it’s as picture perfect as its dairy products are the best you’ll ever taste.

My tour guide was Matt Senecal, the farm manager. Matt escorted me into the building’s reception area where there’s a bar, a conference table and a bazillion trophies and banners won at prestigious shows by Arethusa’s cows.

Next we went into the main barn where the cows were feeding between milkings. There are Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss breeds, with the black-and-white Holsteins being the predominant breed. I tried to strike up a conversation with a few, but they were more interested in eating lunch and who could blame them?

Get a look at this Holstein’s udder and teats.

What’s striking about these cows as well as the facility itself was how spotless it is. The cows are not only shampooed daily but conditioned with Pantene (seriously), and their tails are hosed down frequently to prevent manure from coming anywhere near the udder. Hence, the purity of the milk products. There’s even a guy who comes to give the cows a pedicure. Well, he cuts their toenails.

The show cows get their very own barn so they’re kept separately from the others; apparently, their special barn is closer to the exercise area where they’re encouraged to stay fit. (No, they don’t do Pilates.) And the pregnant ladies have their own space so they can spread out in comfort until they deliver.

After asking all my questions about the cows and the milking process – questions I should have asked our science teacher in junior high – Matt sent us on to the Arethusa creamery where the milk, yogurt, cheese and ice cream are processed with state-of-the-art machines that nonetheless produce old fashioned flavor.

I interviewed Chris Casiello, the manager, about how the milk gets processed and distributed and how he accomplishes the feat of making such intensely satisfying products. The cheese and ice cream are so rich and creamy they defy description. And yes, I sampled some products. Their “crybaby” cheese, for example, was a Swiss variety with a touch of sweetness – heaven.

I loved spending part of the day at Arethusa and conjuring up ways to use what I learned in the plot of my novel. But what I’ll love the best is dining at their restaurant Al Tavolo, which is adjacent to the creamery and serves up truly great dinners.

We have a reservation for next week and I’m already fantasizing about their salmon.

Photo: Julie Bidwell/Connecticut Magazine

Behind the Scenes at Blue Tavern, My Favorite Restaurant in Santa Barbara

June 19, 2014

I’m always excited when a new restaurant opens in our little town, particularly if it comes with a pedigree, and Blue Tavern had a pedigree. It’s chef/owner, three-time James Beard Award nominee Ricardo Zarate, is the brains and talent behind such LA success stories as Mo-Chica, Picca and Paiche – red hot restaurants reflecting Zarate’s Peruvian roots combined with a California fresh-ingredients-are-everything sensibility (“Cali-Peruvian cuisine,” he calls it). So it was with great anticipation that I went to the 88-seat Blue Tavern on Lower State Street in the Indigo Hotel for the first time. I was blown away, not only by the flavors of each dish but by the quality of each one. There wasn’t a dud in the bunch and we ordered a lot of dishes, since many are designed for sharing.

Now Michael and I find ourselves going back to BT, as we refer to it, again and again. Every time we have the conversation with each other or with friends and ask the eternal question, “Where should we go to eat?” we end up back there. Not only does the staff treat everybody like family, but the food is just so damn good.

So it was only natural that as I continued to research cooking classes for a novel in progress (see my recent post), I’d want to see how BT’s current executive chef, Alex Carrasco, prepared the dishes Michael and I drool over. I approached Eric Terry, BT’s general manager, who is never without his big smile and gracious demeanor even when the restaurant is packed. Originally from France, Eric came to the US as a young man and worked in many of LA’s best known establishments before hooking up with Zarate and managing his Marina Del Rey outpost, Paiche.

“Do you think I could come in and observe Chef Alex making my favorite dishes?” I asked and explained about my book.

“Of course,” he said without hesitation. “He’ll show you how to cook them so you can make them at home.”

Talk about an offer I couldn’t refuse. I was afraid they wouldn’t want some nosy customer hanging around, not to mention share their secret recipes, but that wasn’t the case.

Michael and I went there this afternoon when the place wasn’t slammed and spent well over an hour with Chef Alex in the kitchen, which he keeps absolutely spotless. You could eat off the floor, as my mother would say.

Chef Alex, who hails from Mexico and is only 28, oversees his staff but also does the cooking – i.e. he doesn’t just stand around giving orders or waiting for his own TV show on the Food Network, although he could certainly host one; he’s that chatty and personable.

And he was serious about showing us how to cook our favorite dishes at home. “Don’t you want to take off that white jacket?” he asked me, nodding at the blazer I was wearing over my black top. “You might get splattered.” Yup, he meant business.

I took off the jacket, washed my hands as he instructed me, and saddled up next to him over the stove. First up was the entree I dream about: pan fried branzino with roasted vegetables and huacatay jalapeno sauce (I have no idea what huacatay is but it’s good, trust me). Also on the To-Do list was Michael’s favorite dish: home made papardelle, beef filet, tomato onion stew and Reggiano cheese, which is like a Peruvian version of beef bourguignon only way better.

Chef Alex took two nice-size branzino filets and sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper.

Into a couple of hot cast iron pans the fish went, skin sides down. They sizzled in the hot oil, a mix of canola and olive. When they were 75% cooked – Chef Alex showed me how to press on them to feel for doneness as well as to watch for the change in their color – we removed the pans from the heat and sauteed the roasted vegetables until they browned nicely. Then came the plating, where presentation matters. Chef Alex drizzled his special green sauce on the side, placed the veggies – cauliflower, zucchini, baby carrots and tomato wedges – in the middle and then rested the fish on top with a bit of salt topped with greens. The result? Behold.

What’s so delicious about the dish is that the fish is moist, tender and sweet inside while the skin is so crispy good you could eat a whole meal of it. Simple preparation using fresh ingredients equals powerful flavors.

The papardelle began with a quick browning of sirloin cubes in a very hot pan and their removal from the stove, then a saute of red onions and tomatoes.

There’s nothing more fun than watching professional chefs shake their pans and flip the food around. I’ve tried that at home and the food inevitably ends up on the floor. LOL.

Into the hot pan went chicken stock, soy sauce, another of Chef Alex’s special sauces and Parmesan cheese until the whole thing got rich and creamy.

Back into the pan went the sirloin just to heat, then the papardelle pasta, which was hand made and only took a few minutes to cook in nearby boiling water. Into a bowl it all went along with a dusting of cheese. Michael couldn’t wait to dig in. The melding of flavors and textures is to die for.

Did I mention that BT also has a pizza oven and turns out incredible pizzas?

We sat down with Chef Alex and General Manager Eric and talked for awhile until customers started piling into the restaurant. And yes, we ate every morsel of “our” creations. What a perfect afternoon. I’d do this kind of book research any day. If only writing the actual book were so pleasurable. Sigh.

When Research Is a Pleasure

May 26, 2014

See that dessert? It’s a Peach Galette, a “galette” being similar to a French fruit tart in that it’s made with puff pastry and, in this case, filled with sliced peaches that have carmelized in the oven, but it’s less structured than a tart, more homey and rustic in a simple country way – and it’s probably one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten, especially because it was served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The galette was the crowning menu item of my full day of researching cooking classes for a new novel I’m writing – not a bad job, right? Over the years I’ve had a lot of fun doing research for my novels. I’ve taken a Caribbean cruise (Princess Charming), had my aura cleansed in Sedona, AZ (Crystal Clear) and observed preschoolers in a classroom (Name Dropping), among other immersions, but learning about food and how to buy and cook it might be the most pleasurable yet, judging by this weekend’s outing.

I spent Saturday with a professional French cook named Laurence Hauben, whose brainchild is Market Forays, which she defines as “cooking classes and culinary adventures.” She takes groups on a full-day tour, not only of the bounty that can be found in Santa Barbara but of the food that can be prepared simply and elegantly in her home kitchen.

We began at 8am at the Santa Barbara harbor where local fishermen just off their boats sell their wares.

Those are copper rockfish and we bought a whole one as well as two huge rock crabs.

Then it was on to the Farmer’s Market, an institution here in town that I only infrequently avail myself of (lazy! lazy!). Talk about a gorgeous array of straight-from-the-farm produce! Here’s a tiny sample of what we saw, smelled, touched and purchased for our meal.

Lettuces for our Salade de Mesclun aux Fraises Strawberry Merlot Vinaigrette…

Fresh strawberries for the aforementioned salad….

Cling peaches for the galette….

Next up was a short walk to C’est Cheese, another local institution, where the finest cheeses are sampled and sold – just a gorgeous store that now has a cafe next door.

We selected three cheeses for our Artisan Cheese Course with homemade preserves, a course that would come after the entree and before the galette. (I’m still full as I write this.)

And finally our group drove to Laurence’s charming home in the San Roque neighborhood of Santa Barbara – a 1940s cottage-style house decorated with antiques and family treasures (like her late husband’s Academy Award statuette for Best Screenplay for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”). The first thing we did upon arrival was put on the white aprons she gave us. Then we spread out our purchases and drew up a “mis-en-place,” as in putting everything in its place to prioritize what needed to be cooked when.

The crab was alive – and kicking! – so it had to go into the pot first. Laurence showed us how to hold it by the legs so as not to lose a finger.:)

Once the crab was steamed, the galette needed to get into the oven, so Laurence showed us how to roll out the pastry dough, slice the peaches, line them up on the sheet pan and sprinkle them with sugar.

The dough was trimmed, its sides crimped, and the pan was popped into the oven and baked. After that, another sheet pan was used to roast the vegetables we bought (asparagus, green beans, cherry tomatoes).

The big project was the fish. It was whole, as I said, so Laurence showed us how to make slits in it, stuff it with herb butter, shallots and other goodies and roast it on another sheet pan.

It came out of the oven looking like this, and the aroma was to die for.

While the fish and veggies were roasting, we sat at Laurence’s table and enjoyed the crab first course with a chilled rose wine and a crusty baguette with herb butter.

The crab was snowy white and so fresh and sweet it needed no accompaniment.

Next came the salad with the beautiful greens and strawberries we’d bought, tossed in Laurence’s superb strawberry vinaigrette. The roasted fish was extraordinary; there’s such a difference between eating it in a restaurant and cooking it just off the boat. Did we need a cheese course after all that? Of course not, but it was sheer bliss with Laurence’s homemade pear and fig preserves. Did I mention that there was more wine with these courses? A white and a red?

The galette was so good I’m going to try to make one of my own – and I don’t even like peaches! It was that good.

By 4:30 we were more than satiated and said goodbye and thank you to our host.

She was a delight – so warm and welcoming. Not only did she give everybody a first-class course in cooking and prepping (lots of hands on instruction in knife work, mincing herbs and such, making pastry dough, de-boning a fish, hacking hard crab shells), but she explained that cooking should be about hospitality above all, not ego or competition. If you’re ever in Santa Barbara, I encourage you to sign up for one of her Market Forays. It’s an experience to savor, research or not.

Oscar Food Should Be Rich….

February 24, 2014

I hardly ever eat red meat anymore, but when it comes to special occasions and the tastes of my guests – and it’s watch-the-Oscars night at my house – I serve beef. This year the menu will feature beef short ribs. I’ll be using Ina Garten’s recipe, which is as bullet-proof as it gets and not only can be made the day before but is more flavorful when cooked ahead. I don’t use the whole bottle of wine as she does in the video, nor do I pour in as much broth, and I add more carrots plus my secret ingredient: cremini mushrooms. The result is delicious with the meat falling off the bone and the sauce perfectly suited to the mashed potatoes accompaniment. There will also be a Caesar salad without the eggs and anchovies (sounds sacrilegious, I know, but that’s how I roll when it comes to Caesar dressing), garlic bread and a chocolate something for dessert (one of our friends is bringing it). To start I’ll pull together some appetizers: hummus, guacamole, olives, cheeses or a combo of all. I always make sure to have enough for everybody and often overdo it. But hey, that way there are leftovers. :)

Summer In Connecticut Means This

July 7, 2013

Spending the month of July in Washington, CT in beautiful, bucolic Litchfield County, has become a tradition and there’s nothing I don’t love about it except the mosquitoes, which love me as much as I despise them (and I’ve got the bites to prove it).

California is home now, no question, but there will always be a pull toward the east coast where I was born and raised and still have family and friends. Besides, while others complain about the heat and humidity, they’re just fine with me. I’m always cold in California and in Connecticut I can go sweater-less and enjoy it.

One of the best reasons for coming east is to head over to the Bridgewater Village Market for pie. And I don’t just mean any old pie. I mean pie as in the best crust, the best fruit, the best everything I’ve ever tasted. We had their blueberry pie on July 4th and it was as heavenly as ever. I don’t know how they get it right every single time, but they do.

I’ve already had my share of corn on the cob too, plus swordfish straight from Maine. (The best fish purveyor around these parts is a guy with a fish truck that he parks on Route 7 in New Milford; he drives down from Maine all night so he can sell fresh fish and seafood from the truck – he’s known as “the fish guy.”)

Swimming is another pleasure that’s exclusive to my visit here. I never swim in California. Too cold. But here I plunge right in and it feels great.

The only bad thing about my month here is that it’s just that: a month. Much too short.

My Decadent New Year's Eve Tart

January 1, 2013

Michael and I went to a dinner party on New Year’s and our hosts really know how to cook. The pressure was on to come up with a good dessert to bring, knowing they’d be serving prime rib, popovers, string beans with garlic and a Caesar’s salad. I was driving around the other day, listening to NPR’s “Here and Now,” and the subject was what to serve for New Year’s. I turned up the volume. When Robin Young and her guests started talking about a rich chocolate tart, I knew I had to go on their web site as soon as I got home and find the recipe.

The Crust:
1 cup ground Amaretti cookies*
5 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar**

The Chocolate and Sea Salt Filling:
1 ½ cups heavy cream
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (65% cocoa), well chopped, or 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon good sea salt, see head note, plus some for sprinkling on top
2 tablespoons toasted coconut flakes, optional***

*You’ll need about 20 cookies, depending on the brand and the size. Place the cookies in a food processor or blender and blend until finely ground. You can also place them in a tightly sealed plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin until finely ground. You could also substitute with ginger snaps graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or chocolate graham crackers; 20 gingersnaps= 1/1 2 cups ground cookies. And you can 1 to 2 tablespoons toasted coconut flakes (unsweetened) instead of, or in addition to, the sugar.
**I don’t like the pie too sweet. If you like a sweeter crust you can add another tablespoon or two of sugar, but the cookies are awfully sweet.
***Toasted coconut flakes are found in specialty food shops. But you can easily make them: place unsweetened coconut flakes on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until the flakes just begin to turn a golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove and cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make the crust: in a bowl mix the crushed cookies, the melted butter, and the sugar. Press the crust into a 9-inch round fluted tart pan. You can also make this in a regular pie plate but it’s never quite as good! Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Place the tart pan on cookie sheet and bake on the middle shelf for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.

Make the chocolate filling: place the cream in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.

Place the chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot cream on top and stir steadily, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt until frothy. Add the whisked egg mixture to the chocolate mixture. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake on the middle shelf for about 25 to 28 minutes. To test for doneness: gently shake the tart and if the middle wobbles a little (and still appears undercooked) but the sides seems solid it is perfect. The tart will continue to cook when it’s removed from the oven and will firm up while cooling.

Remove from the oven and, while the tart is still warm, sprinkle with about ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the coconut flakes, if using, very gently pressing into the chocolate if it doesn’t seem adhere. Let the tart cool for 1 hour. Some claim the tart is best served after an hour of cooling, but I like it best after it’s been covered and placed in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight. Serves 6.

The recipe is very easy to make. Michael’s not a fan of Amaretto cookies so I substituted ginger snaps. The tart was done in no time and I served it on a beautiful Tiffany plate (thanks to my sister Susan for giving it to me many years ago), along with a sweetened vanilla creme fraiche and vanilla ice cream. (I abandoned my plan to make whipped cream when I realized it would flop if we didn’t eat for several hours.)

The good news is that everybody seemed to enjoy it. The bad news is that I didn’t. I guess I’m just not into bittersweet chocolate because the tart was way too bitter for me. Next time I’ll use semi-sweet chocolate or add sugar to the filling.

Birthdays Are To Be Celebrated, Period

October 24, 2012

That’s my pal, Melodie Johnson Howe, mystery writer extraordinaire and the proud celebrant at last night’s birthday dinner for her at Montecito’s Tre Lune. (She’s holding a piece of their yummy tiramisu.) I have friends who say, whenever a birthday approaches, “Oh, I’ve stopped counting,” or “I’m not doing anything for it,” or even “Don’t you dare tell anyone I’m another year older.”

I get that none of us wants to grow old(er). I get that once we reach a certain age, the giddy excitement we experienced as kids at birthday time is no longer giddy. And I get that age can signal an end rather than a beginning.

But hold on a sec. Melodie’s a great example of why all of the above is only part of the story. The other part is that there’s plenty to celebrate no matter how many candles are on the cake. She just published a book of short stories called Shooting Hollywood. She just sold a new novel to a major New York publisher. She just got all these fabulous blurbs for the novel from other critically acclaimed mystery writers. And she just made a deal to publish her earlier novels, The Mother Shadow and Beauty Dies, in their first ebook editions. An end rather than a beginning? I don’t think so.

A former actress in feature films and television, Melodie has a cameo in YOU’D BETTER NOT DIE OR I’LL KILL YOU. She appears in Chapter 7: How to Wait Out Waiting Rooms. During one of Michael’s surgeries in 2010, she sat with me in the waiting room at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara and kept me sane. She even managed to make me laugh – something she does often. And when the surgeon came out of the O.R. to discuss how the surgery went, she was right there to ask questions, listen, support me. Why wouldn’t I want to celebrate her birthday? We caregivers should treasure those friends who stick by us in sickness and in health and make sure they have their tiramisu and more.