Mendocino Cafe

Mendocino Cafe is located at 10451 Lansing Street in Mendocino.

Thai Burrito--$14. Chicken, Beef, Rock Shrimp or Tofu with Sauteed Organic Vegetables (carrots, celery, cabbage, peppers, onions) & Brown Rice in Peanut Sauce with Sweet Chili Sauce. This was okay. The chili sauce was nice and mildly spicy but I was expecting more flavor from the peanut sauce.

Stout Braised Pot Roast--$17. Cavelo Beef with Carrots, Mushroom, Fingerling Potatoes & Horseradish Cream. My husband thought the meat was too fatty and was disappointed in the dish.

2014 01 04

Gary Danko

Two months ago, I made reservations for dinner at Gary Danko's in San Francisco. It's located at 800 North Point, 1 block from Ghiaradelli Square. I had been looking forward to this dinner because our last experience was so wonderful. Unfortunately, our experience tonight wasn't quite the same.

Amuse Bouche--Curried Carrot Soup with Cumin. This was served to us even before we had ordered. Since it was a hot soup, I didn't want to wait to eat it so I ended up balancing my menu on my lap while eating the soup. It was way too salty and the cumin competed with the curry. Martha Stewart's Curry Carrot Soup is much better!

You could order any 3 courses for $73, 4 courses for $92 or 5 courses for $107. Or, you could get the 5-course tasting menu for $107. Tonight's tasting menu was a special one featuring truffles so it cost more. I didn't want the full truffle menu but you could add 1 gram of shaved truffles to any of the courses for $20 for black truffle and $25 for white truffle. I had learned from our trip to Alba, Italy 3 years ago that the white truffle is so much more fragrant so I went for it. I added it to my 1st course--risotto.

Risotto with Lobster, Gulf Shrimp, Shimeji Mushrooms and Butternut Squash. The truffle looked beautiful but unfortunately, there was no truffle smell or taste. It was disappointing. The risotto was well made and al dente though.

Seared Ahi Tuna with Avocado, Nori, Enoki Mushrooms and Lemon Soy Dressing. The dressing was too tart--too much lemon.

Branzini with Fennel Puree, Nicoise Olives and Saffron-Orange Emulsion. The Branzini was well made. The flesh was soft and the skin was crisp. The fennel puree had no fennel flavor--it was more like green mashed potato. The saffron-orange emulsion was very mild and not memorable.

Roast Maine Lobster with Potato Puree, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Edamame and Tarragon. The lobster was perfectly cooked but there was not much flavor.

Venison with Red Cabbage and Herb Spatzle. The venison was dry but the cabbage did have good flavor.

Veal with Veal Sweetbread. My husband ordered the dish because he loves sweetbread but the sweetbread was a very small piece. The most disappointing thing was the sauce tasted more like gravy rather than a good reduction.

A Selection of Farmhouse and Artisanal Cheeses Presented Tableside. This is still impressive. There were choices I had not seen before. We chose 4 cow cheeses: Brillat Savarin coated with Truffles (a soft white-crusted cheese from France), Brescianella Stagionata (uncooked soft cheese from Italy), Langres (French cheese milder than Epoisse) and Fourme d'Ambert (a blue cheese from France). My favorite was the Fourme--it had a peppery aftertaste.

Mignardise--9 bite-sized desserts. This was plenty for me and I'm glad we didn't order a dessert. If you're celebrating a special occasion, you get a bonus lemon cake.

Complimentary pumpkin muffin for the ladies.

2013 12 29

Wednesday Night Dinner

Last week's Wednesday Night Dinner looked great at Flavor Restaurant. I normally don't order pork chops because I'm afraid it'll be too dry but I love Flavor's pork chops--so tender and flavorful. Hard to believe you get all this for $18.95, including a white & a red wine. I guessed both varietals--Chardonnay & Grenache but unfortunately, my ticket wasn't drawn for the prize.

Apple Cider-Glazed Holiday Pork Chops. This had great flavor. The apple cider gave the pork chop just a little sweetness and the pork chop was moist.

Bread Stuffing with Sun-Dried Fruits.

Potato Gratin.

Creamy Spinach.

Buttered Carrots.

Farmhouse Soup--Lentil.

Organic Green Salad with fennel, endive and olives.

Pear Tart with Vanilla Cream.

2014 01 01

Pot de Creme

The piece de resistance for our Christmas dinner was my husband's pot de creme. This was amazingly delicious--creamy, sweet, salty & spicy. We had tasted this at Truett Hurst winery on the Wine & Food event in November and he modified it by adding Espelette peppers. The peppers were from our trip last year to the Basque region and gave it the right amount of spice.

Pot de Creme

1 cup zinfandel wine

pinch nutmeg

1/8 tsp clove

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 ½ cups cream

1 Tbs brown sugar

8 oz semisweet chocolate chips

4 egg yolks

2 tsp Espelette pepper

2 tsp smoked Maldon sea salt

Place the zinfandel and spices in a small saucepan and reduce by half. Whisk in the cream and bring to a simmer. Cover and turn off the heat.

In a small double boiler, melt the chocolate with the brown sugar, stirring to combine, Whisk in the warm cream mixture.

Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and add 4 Tbs of the chocolate mixture, 1 Tbs at a time, whisking throughout each addition. Whisk the tempered yolks into the chocolate on the double boiler and continue to cook, whisking for 5 more minutes over low heat. Add the Espelette pepper.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a small pitcher. Pour into 8 ½-cup ramekins. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle ½ tsp of smoked salt on each and allow to cool for 4-6 hours until set.

2013 12 25

Ridiculously Easy Roast Duck

My husband has wanted to make duck for Christmas dinner for years. I've never made duck and always thought it would be hard to do so I've always convinced him that we should do something else instead. This year, he really wanted the duck and I found a recipe by Ina Garten that was ridiculously simple. We decided to try it.

It wasn't the prettiest but it was delicious--moist with crispy skin and so easy to make! I love Ina.

Roast Duck

Duck, with innards removed (Ina also removes the wings but we left ours own)
Chicken broth to cover

Unwrap the duck and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. With a fork, prick the skin without piercing the meat. This will allow the fat to drain off while the duck cooks.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. (Be sure your oven is very clean or it will smoke!) Meanwhile, in a very large stock pot which can hold the duck, heat the chicken broth until it boils. Add the duck very carefully and bring the stock back to a boil. If there isn't enough stock to cover the duck, add the hottest tap water to cover. If the duck floats to the top, place a plate on top to keep it immersed. When the stock comes back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer the duck in the stock for 45 minutes.

Skim off enough duck fat from the top of the stock to pour a film on the bottom of a roasting pan. This will keep the duck from sticking. Carefully take the duck out of the stock, holding it over the pot to drain. Place it in the roasting pan, pat the skin dry with paper towels, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and the pepper. Allow the duck to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the skin to dry.

Roast the duck for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to rest, covered with aluminum foil, for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

2013 12 25

Roasted Mussels

I bought a 10-lb bag of mussels from Costco for the cioppino so I had to come up with other things to do with it. I blogged about Martha Stewart's Roasted Mussels in the past. I found another recipe for it: http://www.food.com/recipe/oven-roasted-mussels-176930 but modified it. Here's my version. The mussels were more steamed than roasted. Next time, I'll try cooking it at 500 degrees and without the lid.

Place dollops of the garlic butter over the cleaned mussels.

The final product. The juice is delicious!

Roasted Mussels

2 lbs mussels, cleaned and debearded
2 Tbs softened butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
Sliced hearty Italian bread, brushed with olive oil and toasted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Clean mussels, dry and layer in shallow Le Creuset. Mix butter with garlic and spoon onto mussels. Top with parsley. Cover and place in bottom of oven. Heat until mussels have opened, about 20-25 minutes.



2013 12 25

Ceviche

It's a tradition for my husband to make ceviche for Christmas. He came up with the recipe and has been doing it for as long as he can remember.

You'll need chili sauce, not cocktail sauce

Ceviche

1/2 lb fresh white fish, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 lb freash scallops, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
lemon juice
1/2 lb cooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
8 oz cherry tomatoes
1 avocado, diced
1 can black olives, drained
1 jar marinated artichokes, drained
1 jar marinated olives, drained
1/2 cup chili sauce
1 Tbs tomato paste
Cilantro, chopped

Marinate the fish and scallops in lemon juice. After an hour, drain the fish & scallops and add to bowl with rest of ingredients. Stir until mixed. Spoon into bowls and top with cilantro.



2013 12 25