The Crew
Dennis and Lynn Merrenbach, Frank and Barbara Lomonoco, Christine Dahl
Christine and I are becoming the most welcomed dinner guests in Santa Barbara. We love to team up and cook dinner with friends. With my kitchen talents and Christine's magic with eggs, butter, flour and sugar, we are a First Kitchen Couple of Santa Barbara.
Armed with a menu in mind, we headed to the Santa Barbara Farmers Market to shop for dinner. Our local market is a chef's paradise with its variety and quality of products where artisan farmers sell their wares.
Beets and Haricot Vert
Russian Purple Potatoes
Farmers Market Bounty
Last-of-the-Season Ridgeback Shrimp
Menu for Dinner
Selection of Seasonal Cheeses
"Amuse Bouche" of Ridgeback Shrimp Peel and Eat
Red and Yellow Beet "Carpaccio"
with warm hazelnut crusted goat cheese
Veal Pojarski "Royale"
black chanterelle demi glace
medley of market vegetables
Crustless Clafoutis of Cherries
The beet salad idea came about from a recent diner that some of the guests had attended. The beets were still crunchy-raw and somewhat inedible. To often the simple details of proper cooking are not followed with poor results. This is a colorful salad that plays off the sweetness of the beets, the richness of the goat cheese and the pungent arugula.
The Veal Pojarski is an recipe for the classic repetoire with my personal variation. I place a quick seared slice of foie gras in the middle of the veal "chop" and served it with a demi glace laced with black chanterelles. See my earlier blog for Chicken Pojarski for the basic recipe.
Christine prepared a crustless Cherry Clafoutis for dessert. This can also be covered with sugar and done as a brulee. That is, sprinkle sugar on top and melt the sugar with a kitchen blow torch until it is caramelized.
The coupe de gras for the dinner was a bottle of 1989 Chateaux de Pez that Dennis pried out of his cellar. This was a very elegant wine at it peak and married well with the rich Veal Pojarski Royale.
Chateau de Pez, Saint-Estèphe
From the Chateau de Pez web page:
"Chateau de Pez is one of the oldest houses in Saint-Estèphe dating back to the 15th century. In 1452, squire Jean de Briscos ruled the estate followed by the “noble man” Ducos in 1526. Later in 1585 Jean de Pontac took over the estate.
The Pontac family, who also created Haut-Brion, gave Chateau de Pez its vineyards. The property remained in the hands of descendants, the Marquis d’Aulède and Count de Fumel, Commander of the Provence of Guyenne until the French Revolution when the estate was sold as a property of the state. The Domaine then fell into the successive ownership of several families; Tarteiron, Balguerie, Lawton, du Vivier, Bernard, and Dousson. However, with the constant change of management the estate was not properly managed and was in need of repair.
In 1995, the property was purchased by Jean-Claude Rouzaud who immediately recognized the potential of this great estate. He employed Winemaker Philippe Moureau in 1996 who spent his childhood and career working in Bordeaux. Mr. Rouzaud spent many years restoring the property and its vineyards to its original splendour. Today, the Chateau has once again reached its glory and has recently been reclassified as a Crus Bourgeois Exceptionnel which will commence with the 2003 vintage. "
I had the distinct pleasure of assisting Chefs Albert and Michel Roux prepare a dinner at the Chateau de Pez in 1984. It was a dinner for the French Press honoring the Roux brothers for their accomplishments in the culinary world. The ingredients were all from England and our first task as assistants was to smuggle the food items past French customs. As luck would have it, Albert Roux was the only one "nicked." He managed to get the custom agents to let him pass through with the lamb legs. The custom agent's real concern was that it was an insult to French lamb that Albert saw fit to bring in British lamb for the dinner.
The meal was a great success and I recall looking out of the turret like room I was in and seeing the Gironde on one side and the perfect rows of vineyards stretching far over the rolling hills.
Barbara has in her china closet the now discontinued basket patter from Villeroy and Bosch. This pattern was made famous at the landmark restaurant L'Ermitage, founded by Chef Jean Bertranou. Chef Jean was the catalyst for the culinary revolution that swept the west coast in the late 1970s. I own much to this generous man who made the suggestion that I look to the Roux brothers in London to expand my culinary horizons.
Thank you to my wife and friends for a great evening and reminding me of the people and places that helped shape my culinary sensibilities.
Tastefully yours®
Chef Michael
