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| Santa Monica Bay, Ca |
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| Looking due South past the pier in Sta Monica towards Venice Beach |
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| Organic kale having been plunged in cold water for 30 mins, now air drying..treat like flowers and cut 2 inches off each stem, then plunge..they will become crispy and cook and taste better. |
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| Mushrooms air drying...by drying them at room temp for 24 hours they become firmer and don't lose their texture when cooked..never wash mushrooms, just wipe with a clean towel, just before using |
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| Butternut & mushroom soup finished with red wine and fresh rosemary |
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| Robust tomato soup simmering |
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| The completed Mushroom-Butternut Squash soup |
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| The completed Robust tomato soup finished with pecan-basil pesto |
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| Blanched kale stems |
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| Blanching the kale leaves..just plunge into boiling salted water with a tsp. baking soda added (this keeps the color vibrant)..leave for 30 secs. then remove,"refresh" in cold running water, then drain well..can be frozen or cooked in a sauce now |
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| Local grown ( Venice, CA) organic currants..I picked these last year from a client's home the same client I am making this cinnamon-currant sourdough breads for, last year and dried them in the sun in my back garden..very sweet and still have the seeds..high in omega 3 & 6 |
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| The bubbling own made "mother" sour dough starter..this has been fed and watered for the past 3 days to activate..it is now over 7yrs old |
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| The wholewheat, sourdough cinnamon-currant dough ..will now have an 8 hour prove at room temp (will be 'knocked back" every 2 hours or so) |
This Summer has been the coolest on record since 1919 when the first records were taken, with this in mind, I am hoping for a hotter Fall, we have been promised mid 80's by mid week..which will I hope encourage my late season vegetables.
I have peppers and tomatoes green right now, but am still picking my Asian thin purple eggplants.
The menu for Columbus Day, Tomorrow is:
A Robust tomato-vegetable soup with brown rice (this is Portuguese style although instead of cooking with the soup, I have added at the end of cooking so the soup has plenty of liquid).
I am also topping this soup with a Pecan-basil pesto ( no cheese)
Also making a very tasty mushroom &d butternut squash soup..very nice and Fall (ish)..cooler damp weather like we have been having lately is great for wild mushrooms
The entrees are:
Mushroom & yam Bolognaise with pasta and cheese..air drying the mushrooms gives great texture to the sauce
Vegan Pecan-pesto-potato filled Portobello mushrooms (to be baked at clients home) with a tomato sauce and pasta
Gratin of kale and cheese...this is a Gluten free type of mini lasagna..layers of steamed potatoes and cheese with tomato sauce and kale leaves.very nutritional dense, can easily become vegan by omitting the cheese, adding nutritional yeast and more types of vegetables and maybe some cooked white beans.
The 2 sides selected are
a white bean and sugar snap pea marinated salad
sauteed kale with onions and garlic
Desserts/breads
a blue corn polenta cake with pine nuts and orange zest
whole wheat sourdough currant-cinnamon breads
the above photos are my progress so far on this cool and cloudy LA day ..I will post more photos tomorrow before delivery.
John Nigel
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