February 12 and February 14, 2011

We had not hosted an open dinner in months and had forgotten how much fun the open nights are.  Conversation was easy and lively on both evenings.  On Valentines Day we had prepared for couples to dine alone but instead they merged and made new friends.  Guests came bearing gifts– delicious beautifully crafted wine from their young winery Annefield Vineyards, another brought a couple magnums of wine to share with all and the daughter of another guest sent from California some extraordinary fig jam that we paired with the cheese course for her family.  We will be announcing some new open nights soon. As always thank you to the farmers, foragers, other suppliers and Tom for the excellent wine pairings.

What we served...

PASSING

Apple Cornmeal Dumpling with Hong Vit Sprouts

Cauliflower Soup with Black Oregon Truffle

Wild Hedgehog Mushroom on Red Lentil Cake

Seared Scallops on Sweet Potato with Avocado

Chicken Liver on Potato with Butternut Squash

Beef Sausage with Pickle and Celery Root

Bay Leaf Vodka Martini

Annefield Vineyards, Cabernet, Viognier and Chardonnay all 2009 (gift of guests from their vineyard)

Magnums of Pierre Michael Le Carriere 2003 and Beaux Freres Upper Terrace Pinot 2002 (gift from guest)

SEATED

Quail with Quail Egg, on a Bib Lettuce Black Walnut Salad

(Mas Mudigliza) VdP de Cotes Catalanes "Carmine"  2006

Roasted Salsify and Turnips with Noodles, Beet Sauce and Carrot Sauce

(Vincent Dampt) Chablis AOC 2009

Sablefish with Leeks, Black Rice, Watermelon Radish, Pickled Ginger and Pea Shoots

(Michel Noellat) Fixin Village 2007

Oma Cheese on Walnut Cracker

Chocolate Cake Frozen Chocolate Sandwich with Tonka Bean Sauce, Candied Popcorn and Cocoa Nibs

(Jacques Lassaigne) 'Les Vignes de Montgueux' Blanc de Blanc Brut NV

Bites: Spicy Cayenne Cinnamon Hearts, Rose Water Pistachio Cakes and Coconut Macaroons

February 3 and 4, 2011 Home Restaurants

Photos Kate Headley who documented Friday night,  I cannot wait to see the rest!

This weekend we hosted two birthday celebrations at 1508.  Friday night a group of 24 women joined to honor a dear friend of ours turning 60, Saturday night was a group of 19 who celebrated a 40th birthday and found 1508 via mutual friends who came to the party.  We had a great time hosting these events full of joy, lots of toasts and felt honored to be a part of both!

We are always appreciative of good eaters which was pretty much everyone in attendance both evenings.  Also enjoyed lengthy discussions of food, sources, eating practices and wines with many of the guests.

As always huge gratitude to the many farmers and suppliers and Tom for his stellar wine picks.

Passing

Dungeness Crab (Friday Night) Gallinella Fish (Saturday Night) on Corncake

Brussel Sprouts with Sweet and Spicy Girasol

Scrambled Eggs with Oregon Black Truffle

Beets with Winter Squash Ketchup

Beef Sausage with Cornichon and Celery Root

Blue Popcorn with Olive Oil, Cayenne and Bay Leaf

Bay Leaf Vodka Martini

Jacques Lasaigne, Blanc de Blanc Extra Brut 'Le Cotet' (Friday night)

Domaine de Mirail, Colombard Cotes de Gascogne 2009 (Saturday night)

Seated

Rockfish with Black Rice, Watermelon Radish, Ginger, Sesame Seeds and Micro Hong Vit– Sesame Foccacia

Michel Noellat, Fixin Village 2007 (Friday Night)

Domaine des Roy, Touraine Rouge "Les Linottes" 2008 (Saturday Night)

Butter Lettuce with Warm Fennel and Parsnip, Avocado, Orange and Banyuls Vinagrette– Blue Corn Meal Black Pepper Bread

Prudhon, Saint Aubin Blanc 1er "En Remilly", 2006 (Friday Night)

Vincent Dampt, Chablis AOC 2009 (Saturday Night)

Braised Chicken Thighs with Leeks, Tiny Potatoes, Chard and Wild Yellow Food Chanterelle Mushrooms– Whole Wheat Herb Bun

Roger Perrin, Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve VV 2007 (Friday Night)

Jean Royer, Chateaunuef-du-Pape "Tradition" 2008 (Saturday Night)

Rush Creek Reserve Cheese on Cracker

Carrot Cake with Frozen Coconut, Pineapple and Candied Walnuts

Jacques Lassaigne Blanc de Blanc La Colline Inspiree Magnums (Friday Night)

Pierre Paillard, Brut Champagne Bouzy Grand Cru (Saturday Night)

Bites- Mini Rosewater Pistachio Cakes, Chocolate Chip Early Grey Oatmeal Cookies, Fennel Seed Drops

Late Winter, Photos Jay Premack

Earlier this winter I had the pleasure of doing flowers for a lovely couple at the Hay Adams.  We constructed an organic looking chuppah in the beautifully traditional Hay Adams Hotel.  I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the rough elements of the structure inside the pristine hotel.  The bride adores purple roses which we combined with double purple tulips and textured bright greens such as hypericum berries, mini green hydrangea and seeded eucalyptus.  Jay Premack who I have been working with for years did a wonderful job as always, he captured the the genuine joy and sincerity of the event.  More photos from this wedding are posted on Jay's Blog, check them out.

Mid-Winter Banana Chocolate Dessert

Banana and chocolate are a favorite combination here at 1508.  We had two Home Restaurants last weekend and for dessert I made a banana chocolate cake adapted from an old recipe of my mothers that I topped with frozen chocolate, candied cashews and cocoa nibs and served with a cup of warm hot cocoa made with cashew cream. Banana Chocolate Cake

8 oz non hydrogenated margarine

3 1/3 cups vegan sugar

inside of 2 vanilla beans

1 cup pureed silken tofu

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup non dairy sour cream

2 cups mashed banana

4 cups all purpose unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups dark chocolate roughly chopped

In a mixer cream together margarine, sugar and vanilla.  Add Tofu.  In a small bowl mix together baking powder, baking soda and sour cream.  Add to sugar mixture and mix until just combined.  Add bananas until just combined and then add flour and salt.  Mix in chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 degrees until cake tests clean on a knife.  I baked mine in small silicon molds.

Frozen Chocolate

Over a double boiler melt high quality dark chocolate.  Gradually wisk in warm water until smooth, the proportions should be about 3/4 chocolate to 1/4 water.  Pour chocolate mixture in individual silicon molds and freeze until solid.

Candied Cashews with Cocoa Nibs

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place raw cashews on a sheet tray and toss with agave nectar.  Place nuts in the oven and cook stirring often until they are a deep golden brown.  Remove from oven and toss with vegan sugar and a large pinch of salt.  Once cool chop and mix with cocoa nibs.

Hot Cocoa made with Cashew Cream

Pour hot water over cashews and allow to soak for at least 30 minutes.  Place cashews in a good blender, I use a Vita-Mix, and blend until very smooth.  Add water until the consistency is thick but sip-able.  Add cocoa powder and vegan sugar to taste.  Serve warm.

Truffle Salt

We have been cooking a lot this winter and that means that most weeks I have been speaking with my friends at Oregon Mushrooms, a small company run by a husband and wife team.  Much of  the year our ingredients come from close by but mid-winter the local pickings are slim.  We supplement  local root vegetables and cold hardy greens with fruit from warm climates and wild mushrooms and truffles from Oregon and Europe.  For the last couple of weeks we have been getting small fed ex packages containing delicious and laborious to clean wild black trumpet mushrooms.  We have also been shaving Oregon black truffles over mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs and chicken from Eco Friendly Foods. This week with my Oregon Mushroom order I got a present of a huge French Perigord truffle in addition to the mushrooms and truffles that I had ordered.  We served generous portions of truffles at the two Home Restaurants this weekend but still had left over truffles this morning.  To preserve the left over truffle which will go bad if not used quickly I put it in the food processor with some French Sea Salt.  Pureeing the truffles in the salt preserves them and makes a delicious condiment for nearly anything, think– popcorn, salad, roasted potatoes...

Warm Weather Wedding Photos on a Cold Weather Day

I just got photos back from a Mid October wedding that was all based around local colorful flowers.  The frozen mess in my garden at this moment makes that all seem like a distant memory.  Thanks Kristi Odom for the photos, the wedding took place at the Darlington House, the bride and groom were a joy to work with. Additional photos from the wedding can be found in two recent posts on the United with Love Website, post #1, post #2.

The colors for the flowers were inspired by textiles that the bride collected while traveling in Ghana on business.

The simple chuppah was made with curly willow and the poles were submerged in tin canisters the bride picked up on a business trip to Tanzania.

This photo captures the feeling of the day!

Wedding, December 2010

Just got photos back from my last wedding of 2010 from the fabulous Kate Headley and wanted to share.  The reception was at the Carnegie Institution for Science, a fun building to work in because of all the dramatic architectural details.  Maria and Kate of Ritzy Bee planned and styled, as always their creativity and leadership made the day!

grooms boutineer– double freesia with a drop of seeded eucalyptus and pepper berry

detail from brides dress– Vera Wang

cocktail tables–  mid winter peonies with seeded eucalyptus and brunia

escort/magnolia,hydrangea, pomegranate,bannister/ cedar, seeded eucalyptus, princess pine with upright and hanging pepper berries

bridesmaid bouquets– Cherry O roses, double freesia, seeded eucalyptus, pepper berries and brunia

paper goods– Hello! Lucky

bride bouquet– polo roses, double freesia, seeded eucalyptus, pepper berries and brunia

Happy New Year, Vegetable Bao

After having a restaurant for years it always feels like I am cheating when I don't work on New Years eve. Last night we embraced our work-free celebration and made vegetable bao which we ate in pj's to ring in 2011.  The recipe below is loose re filling and sauces, adjust those to your own personal taste.  The recipe calls for lots of time in between the various steps but your patience will be rewarded.

Happy New Year to all!!

Vegetable Bao

1.In a large bowl mix together using a wooden spoon 2 tablespoons of fresh yeast, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1/3 cup of all purpose unbleached flour and 1/3 cup lukewarm water. Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes.

2.Add 1 1/2 cup all purpose unbleached flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil.  Mix and slowly add enough lukewarm water just to get dough to make a ball, about 1/4 cup.  Knead until the dough is very smooth.  Place dough in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 3 hours.

3.While dough is rising make filling.  We made ours with finely chopped garlic, ginger, eggplant, mushrooms, onions, carrots, spinach, cilantro, tofu, edamame and rice noodles.  Set aside until dough has risen.  This is also a good time to make dipping sauces.  We made one with hot peppers, honey, salt and sesame oil and another with soy sauce, white vinegar and grated fresh ginger.

4.Once the dough has risen, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of baking powder over the surface of the dough and lightly knead it in. Roll the dough into a log, if the dough is too sticky, add flour on your work surface as needed. Cut the dough log into 12 even pieces.  With your hand roll each piece of dough into a thin disk, place filling in the middle of the disk and fold in the edges to secure the filling inside.  Place each finished bun on a small square piece of patty paper.  Cover the buns with a towel and let them rise an additional 30 minutes.

5.Steam buns in a steamer over medium heat for about 12 minutes or until they look plump and cooked.  Serve with dipping sauces.

Spiced Popcorn

We eat a lot of popcorn at 1508– our usual method of preparation is air popping and then dressing with really good olive oil and sea salt.  Sometimes for variety we add black pepper, nutritional yeast or other condiments. Martin-Lane recently made a new spiced version that uses one of the few herbs that is good in our garden throughout the winter– bay leaf.

To prepare:

With a mortar and pesal crush fennel seeds, anise seeds and whole cloves, add cayenne and tumeric to taste.  Heat a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat and add a drop of grapeseed oil, sautee fresh bay leaves until they just start to blister, add a large pinch of sugar and a large pinch of sea salt, remove from the heat.  Air pop good quality popcorn, we used a red kernel variety from Path Valley Cooperative.  Lightly dress popcorn with olive oil and add spice mixture to taste.  Crush bay leaves and add to popcorn.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.

vegan nutcracker cookies, plenty of sugar and a celebration

We have had a great winter of cooking and flowers and weaved throughout that was Martin-Lane performing in 12 performances of the Washington Ballet's Nutcracker.  She had a fabulous experience and it was awesome to watch her!  Her final performance was last night and after the theater we invited another dancer and some friends back to the house to celebrate.

We made a big bowl of curry with lots of condiments, served champagne and for dessert–cookies.

Martin-Lane took the lead on design and chose many shapes that were Nutcracker related, we had fun assisting!  We used vegetable dyes as coloring for the icing...these are vegan but that does not mean that they are not full of sugar and delicious– consume with care.

Sugar Cookies– Chocolate and Vanilla

1 cup non hydrogenated margarine (earth balance)

1 cup vegan sugar

1/4 cup pureed soft or silken tofu

seeds from the inside of 3 vanilla beans (vanilla flavored cookies only)

3 3/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour (for chocolate substitute 3/4 cups of flour for cocoa powder)

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons tofu sour cream

In a mixer cream together the margarine and the sugar.  Mix in tofu and vanilla (if using vanilla). Gradually add the flour (cocoa powder if using), baking powder and tofu sour cream.  Wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll cookies and out to about 1/4 inch, cut with cookie cutters or with knife and bake until bottoms just turn golden brown (or are dry to the touch with the chocolate flavor).  Cool before frosting.

Vegan Cookie Frosting

3 tablespoons non hydrogenated margarine (earth balance)

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

approximately 2 teaspoons non dairy milk

In a mixer cream together margarine, salt and sugar.  Add non dairy milk slowly until you get a spreadable but not too loose consistency.  To make different colors separate frosting into separate bowls and color with vegetable based food coloring.  You can use plastic baggies as pastry bags by filling them with the frosting and poking a small whole in one corner.

Happy Mid-December

Kate Headley just sent this image which was from a few rolls of film that she had rush developed and processed from last weekends wedding (yes she shoots in film).  We called it the undercover holiday wedding– old fashion holiday vibe, no red and green combinations, no Christmas trees... Will post more photos from this wedding when Kate gets the rest of the images.

New to me ingredient– Tonka Beans

Last weekend a close friend who we have worked with for years asked if I was using Tonka Beans, I answered that I had never even heard of them.  As soon as the dinner we were working together ended I looked them up and was instantly intrigued.

I read the beans are indigenous to South America and have a fragrance reminiscent of vanilla, almonds, cinnamon and cloves– Sounds like the perfect complement to endless cold weather desserts!  I learned the beans are a common ingredient in France but were outlawed in the US in 1954 because they are a source of coumarin which was found to cause liver problems if ingested in impossibly large quantities.  Since then it has been found that in addition to Tonka Beans coumarin occurs naturally in cinnamon, lavender, and licorice as well as in many other common ingredients.  Upon concluding that they were safe I needed to get my hands on some.  I expected this would be difficult but my first call to the wholesale company that I get a variety of specialty products from said they could deliver them the following morning.

The Tonka Beans I got were grown in Venezuela and packaged by a French Company.  The aroma is intense– almond, vanilla, fruity and  kind of caramel like.  I immediately grated and tasted them, the aroma/flavor (hard to say where one starts and the other ends) is compelling– lots of ideas about how to use them!  I will share the specifics about the first dessert I serve them with this weekend.

Flower-centric Photos 10/30 Wedding

I have blogged about this wedding– a pre-wedding post and then another with a Super 8 film by Kate Headley.  Last night I got back Kate's fabulous stills and decided to do one more post of the details.  Thanks to the vision and coordination by Maria and Kelly of Ritzy Bee this all came together.

Dutch super parrot tulips, ranunculus and hyacinth fill the vases.  Jarrahhdale (the green things on the ground) pumpkins and zinc planters dripping with euyonomus welcomed guests as they entered Longview Gallery.

Boutineers were flowerless– green hypericum berries and seeded eucalyptus.  Each of the bridesmaids bouquets were different, everyone had seeded eucalyptus paired with a different variety of white flower or flora– this one cotton balls.

The brides bouquet contained all the elements from the individual bridesmaids bouquets– seeded eucalyptus, cotton balls, ranunculus, hydrangea, anemone, dahlia and freesia.

Black Rice Vanilla Pudding with Perssimons

Black rice, vanilla and persimmon is a combination that I stumbled upon years ago at our restaurant Rupperts and is one that I often return to in early winter when persimmons are available. We are huge persimmon fans at 1508 and eat them around here like apples this time of year. We planted a couple persimmon trees a couple of years ago, this year we grew one delicious persimmon...we are looking forward to a large crop one of these years in the near future.  This year the best persimmons we have found for sale have been the Fuji variety from Hana Market, a small Japanese grocery within walking distance from our house.  Recently I contributed recipes to an anti-aging book and learned that black rice is considered an anti-aging super food because of its high concentration of antioxidants, who knew?

Last night we hosted a Home Restaurant for a small creative businesses holiday celebration.  For dessert we served–

Black Rice Vanilla Pudding with Persimmons over Vanilla Cake Garnished with Cashew Cream and Crispy Brown Rice

Black Rice Pudding– Cover black rice with rice milk, add a few vanilla beans split in half, a little vegan sugar and a pinch of salt, slowly cook over a low heat until the rice is tender.  No need to worry about getting the sweetness correct because this can be adjusted after the pudding finishes cooking.  Continue to add milk during cooking as needed.  Keep the pudding somewhat runny because even after cooking the rice will continue to absorb the milk.  Re-taste and add a bit of agave nectar if necessary to get to your desired sweetness.

Vanilla Cake- In a large bowl mix until just combined: 1 cup rice milk, 1 teaspoon unfiltered apple cider vinegar, 1 cup all purpose unbleached flour, 1/4 cup spelt flour, 2 tablespoons organic corn starch, 3/4 cup baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup grapeseed oil, 3/4 cup vegan sugar, the seeds from the inside of 3 vanilla beans.  Cook batter in individual silicone or cupcake molds at 350 degrees until springy to the touch, about 12 minutes (time varies depending on the size of individual cakes you are cooking).

Cashew Cream– Soak raw cashews in filtered water for at least an hour.  Puree in a high speed blender slowly adding soaking water until the mixture is the consistency of runny whip cream.  Sweeten with agave nectar.

Crispy Brown Rice– Place cooked brown rice on a sheet tray and toss with a little honey and a pinch of Himalayan salt.  Cook in a 325 degree oven, stirring often until crispy, take care not to burn.