THANK YOU FOODBUZZ

THANK YOU FOODBUZZ

It was a foodie frenzie! It was a culinary herbalist's heaven! It was the first Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco, and I am just back and filled to the brim with good food, great memories and contacts to fabulous new foodie friends.

So for the rest of the month of November, I would like to dedicate this blog to Foodbuzz and all of their sponsors, who provided an absolutely outstanding festival.

The pict on my banner above was taken with a long exposure and no tripod, but I really liked the dreamy lights and the clouds and the blaze of orange off the building--sort of a symbol for the experience. The shot is from the outdoor rooftop of Hotel Vitale, which was the first event in our whirlwind weekend. Cocktails by MIDI and drinks by SKYY, the mood was perfect.

Our stay at the Galleria Park Hotel was divine, a perfect boutique hotel for the perfect weekend.

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANK

Pat Does Claudia's Baked Eggs

What was that thing that comes just before THE FALL?

Right. The PRIDE thing.

So. How did I get from this...

...to this?

This may not have disaster written all over it, but in MY world, a plate looking like this spells DISASTER.

The Big Guy ALWAYS cleans his plate. Especially at noon on a Sunday when the Saturday paper still holds lots of interesting tidbits. And today, it was the paper not the plate that had the interesting tidbits.

I thought, 'easy'. This will be an easy Sunday Brunch. My friend Claudia has her incredible 'Baked Eggs with Spinach and Pancetta' on her blog now, and since she loves this dish, and I do have spinach in the refrigerator, I thought, "this will be a snap and The Big Guy will be hungry by now since we both have been working. Well. He has been working, I have been on the phone with Claudia talking about the FoodbuzzFestival next weekend. (Is anyone out there going?)

First, I heated 2 tbsp/25 mL oil and 1 tbsp/15 mL butter in my favourite cast iron skillet, which btw, I'm still cleaning as you read this- no matter WHEN you are reading this.

Claudia uses onion and garlic sauteed in oil and some balsamic. Thinking, or NOT as the case turned out, "TBG likes potato", I'll add one here, so I shredded 1 onion- not the sweet Mayan, I only had yellow- and 1 potato. Add to the pan, stir constantly...because once the starch in the uncooked potato hits the hot oil, it is going to glom up the bottom of the pan. YUP. Big time! No problem. I will just take my sharpened fish lifter (my fave tool, btw) and scrape the bottom. Key is to tell everyone to keep the pan on LOW. EGADS. I've got it on medium-high. Oh well. This is why we TEST recipes, eh?

I rubbed in some of my just-dried sage and rosemary, now all safely inside for the winter. Claudia didn't add any herbs. OOOOPS. just checked her blog. She added balsamic vinegar, oh well, it's in the oven now. That little slip won't make a difference.

Claudia doesn't actually tell us how much spinach to use, but hey, I write cookbooks. I KNOW these things. I added a 6 oz/227 g bag to the pan because I love spinach. I forgot that The Big Guy isn't all that keen on spinach.

When she say's "break 2 eggs into the 'nest' of spinach", I thought, aha, I'll clear out little spots right down to the pan so that the eggs nestle in the vegetables while they cook. I used 3 eggs: 2 for The Big Guy, he's working today. This could be where I began my descent...or was it way back when I decided to add the potato?

I was going to serve it with my Red Pepper Sauce- Tune in next blog for the recipe.

I added a bit of Turkish Paprika, but only to MY egg. The Last thing I wanted to hear was, "hm. What's that red stuff?". Oh, no. This dish was going to be my Sunday Brunch House Special, just like Claudia makes...

I Was SO PROUD! It looked GREAT.

What is YOUR little red flag when you know people are just telling you they like what you just cooked? Mine is "hm. What's that green stuff?"

Today I sort of snapped, "It's spinach. Just like that green stuff, pesto that you guzzle by the gallon."

So, right then I knew it had to be spectacular or TBG wasn't going to go back to the gallery raving.

It was OK. Perhaps not a FALL, but a stumble for sure.

The egg yolks were too hard (I like them runny) and I definitely added too much spinach. For success and raves, you will need to follow Claudia's recipe.

And if you have any questions about how to do this better than I did, ask her. I'm still trying to figure out how she gets the yolks to stay runny...

Herb Paste

Herb Paste

Similar to pesto, but with more body, herb pastes can be made from any flavour combination- hot/pungent spices, lemon herbs, Mediterranean herbs, and on and on. Hot chiles are often combined in a paste for rubbing on meats destined for the BBQ. I have made pastes with spikes of cinnamon and cardamom for Indian inspired dishes. The point is that having a concentrated hit of flavour at hand can be a time-saver in the kitchen.

By now, most of the North American garlic crop has been harvested, dried, braided, festival-ed and tucked away in cool, dry places for fall and winter meals to come. So with all this stinking rose at our disposal, I would like to share one of my favourite recipes for preserving and using the king of herbs.

For more fall garlic recipes and to read more of my article about garlic, visit Vitality magazine.

Questions about growing/using garlic?

ASK ME!

Mediterranean Herb Paste

Make and use this in several different dishes in a week. It can form the basis for a vinaigrette dressing, soup, dips, spreads and even be used as a flavoring for savoury muffins and scones.

10 garlic cloves

1/2 cup fresh sage leaves, chopped

1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves

1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, snipped

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp sea salt

1 Tbsp tarragon or white wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

Pulse garlic in food processor three or four times or until garlic is finely chopped, or pound in a mortar and pestle. Add sage, thyme and rosemary. Pulse three or four times (or pound until mixed in) until finely chopped. Add mustard and salt, pulse until blended.

Gradually add three tablespoons of oil, processing as blended. Add vinegar and remaining olive oil and process until well blended.

Hitting the Wall

Hitting the Wall

Just wondering if anybody has hit the wall with their blogs? I would love it if you would TELL ME ABOUT IT.

I started out in the spring this with great enthusiasm, hit my stride and found that even though I am writing now for long hours, I could still muster up the words to keep in touch on a weekly basis. Although I do have to admit it: my blog did become a bit boring and predictable. OK it got tedious and REALLY academic.

Then my computer crashed. Funny how the physical world gives us a gentle nudge. I took my 'forced vacation' while the techies replaced my hard drive and I slowly got my computer's data back up. I wanted to tell you about that and just jump right back into the blog routine, but I didn't.

Then I went to Hudson Valley to speak at the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival, stayed a week and I wanted to tell you about that, and still, I didn't.

I am totally re-thinking the nature and purpose of this blog and while I don't want to make any promises I can't keep, hang in there with me and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

I want to make this the best HERB weds FOOD blog in the ethernet.

You be the judge. Just give me some time and any SUGGESTIONS for what you would like to know would be very helpful.

Meantime: Check back here soon and I will tell you about the herb gardens and my lunch at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). That's me above in the American restaurant enjoying one of the finest meals I have had in a long time.