Cycling Foodie

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Somebody made me homemade pizza last night …

Italian Sausage, Crimini Mushroom, & Fresh Basil

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To follow-up on a previous post …

The inspiration for this was a habanero honey, from Pure All Natural Honey, which is available locally at the Davis Farmers’ Market. Here’s a little info about them:   (see  http://www.theaggie.org/2012/05/02/farmers-market-vendor-of-the-week-pure-all-natural-honey/).

The scallops were pretty simple to make. We had bought some beautiful, fresh scallops at Nugget Market in Davis. I lightly rinsed them with a little cold water, gently patted them dry with paper towels, then placed the scallops in a large zipper bag.  I whisked together some extra virgin olive oil, habenero honey, and lime juice. Just do this to taste – you want a nice, delicate balance of hot and sweet. Really fresh scallops have a lovely, delicate flavor and texture, so you don’t want to overpower them with too much.  Set these in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the meal. You don’t want to marinate these for long – maybe an hour or so.

While the scallops are marinating, slice and salt the eggplant, then lay out on paper towels. This extracts some water from the eggplant, and if there is some bitterness from seeds, this can help to draw the bitterness out. Lay some paper towels on top of the salted eggplant. If you’re using Asian eggplant, you don’t need to peel them, but for some of the larger Italian eggplant, you may want to peel them.

Light and preheat the grill. Start on the bread and salad.

Got a stale baguette? Grill it!

For the grilled bread, day old bread works best. Simply slice it (3/8 to 1/2-inch thick), brush it with a good quality extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with a little coarse salt. Lightly grill the bread and set aside. Assemble your salad – make it as simple or as elaborate as you want.

Basic Green Salad - heirloom greens, tomatoes, avocado, fresh basil, homemade croutons, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Rinse the excess salt from the eggplant and blot dry with towels. Brush lightly with extra virgin olive oil, skewer, and grill over medium-low heat. Cook until they are nicely colored and softened, but not overdone.

Skewer the scallops and grill over medium-low heat. You want to get good coloring on the surface and to cook them through, but be cautious because they go from not yet to overdone in a moment. You can see in the picture below that one scallop did get a little dark on the outside, but it was perfect inside. When you’re using a honey-based marinade, it’s especially important to watch for charring.

I usually start out with the grill on high, but when I began to cook, I turned it down to low. I openly admit that I am not an expert griller, but I’ve had pretty good success doing it this way.

Both the eggplant and scallops came out perfect tonight. That was especially important because I was cooking for a fellow foodie, who might even be more of a foodie than I am.

Grilled Asian Eggplant

Grilled Honey, Habanero, & Lime Scallops

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Pork Tenderloin with a Dried Cherry Port Wine Sauce

Pork tenderloin marinated with fresh thyme & rosemary, grilled to perfection and served with a dried cherry & port wine sauce, grilled zucchini & crimini mushrooms, and Forbidden Rice.

After that dinner, I think I’m ready for a century ride in the Napa Valley today!

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Honey, Habanero, & Lime Scallops

Methinks that even Chef Gordon Ramsay would approve.

Perhaps I should audition for Hell’s Kitchen …

Hahaha!

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Last night I was treated to some very special homemade pizzas. They were amazing. Here’s a sneak preview … I better check for permission first to post recipes and/or method!

Portabello Mushroom, Proscuitto, Goat Cheese

Pizza Margherita

By the way, the pizza chef knows not only pizza, but Kleins!

Klein Road

Klein Mountain

Klein Quantum Race, with a fixie

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Farmers’ Market … Ride … Dinner in anticipation of a good ride tomorrow

Details soon!

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The proud gardener showing off her garden.

I had a lovely visit with Mom yesterday. We had a nice chat.  She proudly showed me her garden.  We visited with my brother-in-law to snip some fresh herbs and lettuce from his garden. We went for a walk around the park. We had a nice dinner and Mom even let me use her grill. This is a big deal, and a big honor, you see, because Mom is of the school of thought that women do not grill. She firmly believes that grilling is a man’s duty. Well, it was a girl’s only night, so be default I got to grill.

Our walk … 

Neighbor's Ice Plant

Neighbor's sculpture

We couldn't quite shake that feeling that we were being watched ...

Sometimes it's important to stop and smell the flowers.

Not sure what this was, but I liked the light reflections.

Cactus flowers

Marigolds

Neighbor's pomegranate tree

Hmm ... still feeling like we're being watched ...

Our menu … 

We started with freshly cut artichokes from Mom's garden.

Then a nice, light salad with some garden fresh lettuce.

Farm fresh lightly steamed corn on the cob.

Grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast marinated in olive oil, Meyer lemon, and lemon balm.

We marinated the chicken breasts for about an hour with a Meyer lemon, some olive oil, and fresh lemon balm. I started grilling it on high, turned it once to get the grill marks, then turned the temperature down to medium-low. I cooked it to 170 (a little high for me, but this is what Mom likes).

Dessert

Mom had promised her special apple cake for my visit, but didn’t have time to make it, so for dessert we had Spumoni and a homemade mincemeat cookie.

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I had the pleasure of seeing a very dear old friend today. We had a very nice visit, lunch, and a walk. I got to hear some stories from one of the best storytellers I have ever known in my life.

We had lunch in Rocklin at Primo Pizza (http://www.primopizzarocklin.com/). We shared some soup and pizza.

Tomato Basil Soup

Pesto Pizza with Chicken, Red Onions, and lots of cheese!

Everything was served hot and fresh. The pizza had clearly come straight from the oven to our table. The portions were generous – we did not even come close to finishing any of it. I was quite happy to leave with leftovers.

Later we took a walk, then stopped to watch a few moments of a Memorial Day celebration downtown.

Lovely day for a walk ...

My friend had to work today, so I headed home mid-afternoon. On my way home, I encountered a homeless veteran at a traffic light in Woodland. His sign simply said, “Hungry Veteran.” I offered him my leftover pizza. I think he was as grateful for that pizza as I was with the time spent with a very dear friend today. He beamed a partially toothed smile and said, “God Bless You, Baby Girl!”

Happy Memorial Day!

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After a day of feeling sorry for myself for the unfortunate bike mishap this morning, I needed a little TLC tonight. I caught up with an old friend for dinner. Her favorite Davis restaurant is Little Prague (http://www.littleprague.com/). I’ve only been to Little Prague once before, and it wasn’t the best experience. That had nothing at all to do with the restaurant, and everything to do with a blind date that I got talked into a while back. It was one of those epically bad blind dates where right after you leave you grab your cell phone and the instant you shut your car door you call your friend to say, “What were you thinking?!” But that’s a story for a different blog.

Being such a beautiful evening, we wanted to sit outside.

We started out with a cold cucumber dill soup. I’m not usually big fan of any cream soups or sauces, but my friend had raved about how fabulous this was, so I had to try it. I was rather pleasantly surprised.

Chilled Cucumber Dill Soup - surprisingly light & refreshing!

My friend had the Chicken Schnitzel with Czech Potato Salad (Kuřecí řízek), and I had the Grilled Basil Salmon.

Chicken Schnitzel with Czech Potato Salad (Kuřecí řízek)

Grilled Basil Salmon (Losos na bazalce)

Salmon is a dish I am always hesitant to order at any restaurant, because it is too often overcooked. Again, I was pleasantly surprised that my salmon was perfect – moist, flaky, and delicious. I requested the sauce on the side, because I don’t typically care for any kind of sauce on fish. It was a rich, creamy sauce that I did enjoy dipping a potato or two in. Everything was nicely seasoned, nothing was overly salted.

I enjoyed a glass of an Alexander Valley Syrah. We chatted and savored the food, the service, the atmosphere. The service was very attentive, gracious, and friendly. Our server, Jason, listened very patiently and kindly to the story of my bike crash today. My friend insisted that I show him my bruised shoulder. I did.

I played with the new camera, experimenting further with the various settings. I caught some nice shots.

Iced Tea

Just playing ...

A moment of reflection ...

I particularly like these; they just sort of captures the homey, comfortable atmosphere.

Charming string lighting ...

Black Forest Cake

And then there was dessert … such decadence! Normally I don’t eat dessert like this unless I have done a significant ride, but tonight was an exception. I needed a little TLC and pampering. And that is exactly what I got at Little Prague in Davis tonight. My friend has been a regular at the restaurant for many years, so we also enjoyed the pleasure of a visit from the head chef, Karel.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

The only disappointment for the evening was when I realized on the way home that I had left my take home box with the other half of my cake in it on the table.

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Recipe for a Great Pre-Ride Dinner

Grilled Rocky Chicken Breast
Sticky Brown Rice
Fresh Steamed Vegetables
Good Company