Peace

My towels are clean, the sheets on my bed are clean and the shower curtain is soaking in the washer with 2 cups of Clorox. After an hour I'll start its soak in OxyClean. The cats' litter box is clean, the plants are watered and the dishwasher emptied. The outstanding bills have been paid - with sincere apologies. I can once again see the floor of my office. And am pretty much finished scouring the floors of my kitchen.

The cats are back to eating on schedule but I'm not sure they like it 'cause it means no more midnight meals. The plants are also being watered on schedule and I'm quite sure they like it. I only lost two this year to neglect. The oregano died and the old leggy geranium is no longer with me, but at least I didn't lose the expensive Crown of Thorns.

I'm eating on schedule as well. So odd to prepare dinners in the evening. Well, dinners for me. And last night I roasted a chunk of grouper in my pristine oven. Pristine because it hadn't been used since ... I think it was Mother's Day when I baked my mom Crème Brulée.

I have a mountain of menus proposals to produce in the next few days and rental RFPs to send out. Still so much work to do but it's time to pack. Because it's November and November means a trip across country for a visit with my sister and brother-in-law. We have Thanksgiving together every year but the bird isn't the highlight of the trip; it's the time spent with my sister on a remote Pacific Northwest island, indulging ourselves in that year's gastronomic curiosities. And not much else because there's no agenda, no calendar, no clocks, no obligations. 'Cept to eat all that we've brought with us before it spoils.

The view.












The oysters: Kumomoto, Quilcene, Belon and Penn Cove. And my sister's skilled hands.



Himachi and Tuna on Himalayan Salt Block.


The Dungeness Crab.


White Asparagus with Chanterelles and Shitakes in garlicky, thyme-y butter.


One of a couple of clear sunsets: this one the night before we left.


Remains of Thanksgiving Apple Tart

Colors

I remember every wedding I cater but each has a specific hook that keeps it in my memory: sometimes it's the bride, sometimes the venue. It could be the weather, my terrific crew, a new dish I'm serving for the first time.

This October 4th, it was the colors.

Clams

I knew what Mom would have said: Keep smiling and the client won't panic. She would have also said that it's easier to calm the client when the smile isn't obscured by smoke. I shook my mother's voice out of my head and took a swig from my bottle of Evian. "Wait 'til you taste these."

George coughed discreetly. "Good, eh?"

"I think you'll like them." I gave the skillet a good chef's shake for emphasis. The shells inside clinked against the stainless steel.

"Does it always make this much smoke?" he asked.

"It's called cooking a la plancha and the pan has to be white hot." I shook the skillet again, slamming it against the cast iron burner. "It's very quick though," I added, my caterer's smile radiating reassurance.

George smiled back tentatively over watering eyes.

Peeking under the lid I found the shells open, tossed in a palm full of garlic and parsley, gave pan another quick shake and doused it all with thickly green olive oil. I slid the contents into a shallow serving platter and placed it in front of George and the five guests waiting on the smoke free side of the kitchen island.

The five hesitated. George reached out and took one of the small clams in his fingers. He closed his eyes, tilted back his head and nibbled the tender bivalve into his mouth. His eyes bulged open and his grin was full of delight. "Wow."

I felt vindicated but decided to keep the smoke incident from Mom anyway.

Catalan Clams a la plancha

1 or 2 dozen small clams (don't crowd these - cook in batches if you have more)
1 T minced garlic
2 T minced flat leaf parsley
3 T very good quality extra virgin olive oil

1. Soak the clams in cool water for fifteen minutes. Remove them from the water by lifting them by hand into a colander (do not pour the water through the colander or you'll send the sand with it). Pour away water, refill the bowl with clean, cool water and return the clams to it. Repeat until there is no sand left in the bowl. Drain the clams and dry quickly in a kitchen cloth. Refrigerate uncovered until time of service.
2. Heat a stainless skillet with a tight fitting lid to a very hot temperature. Have the other ingredients ready in small bowls.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and dump in the clams. Quickly cover and, holding the lid firmly in place, shake the pan from time to time to distribute the clams. Check after three minutes then check each minute after that until the shells have all opened.
4. Throw on the garlic, parsley and pour over the olive oil, replace the lid, and shake the pan a few times to distribute the herbs and oil.
5. Discard any clams that do not open.
6. Pour the contents of the pan into a shallow bowl and serve with plenty of crusty bread for dipping up the olive oil and clam juices.


Spaghetti alle Vongole

1/2 lb spaghetti, linguini or angel hair pasta
1 to 2 dozen clams - cleaned per the above instructions
1/4 to 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio
2 cloves of garlic, in very thin slivers
3-4 tablespoons of minced flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until "al dente"
2. In the meantime, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large sauté pan with a lid and add the garlic
3. When the garlic is barely golden, add in the wine and butter and cover. As soon as the butter has melted, toss in the clams, cover and allow to steam without opening the pan for three minutes. After three minutes, check the clams and continue checking once a minute until all clams have opened.
4. Discard those that don't open.
5. Drain the pasta and add to the pan of clams; stir to combine. Toss in the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper and a drizzle of the remaining olive oil.

Charcoal

It wasn't triumph but my storyteller's instinct that had me dialing Mom at 8:30 the following morning.

"I don't understand why was he giving you such a hard time." she said.

"I guess he figured he knew more about grilling than some woman."

"Who was he?"

"Unfortunately he was the client, the drunken client."

"Where were you?"

"Rosemary Beach, I told you."

"No, I mean on a deck or what?"

"If we'd been on a deck I'd be toast by now. And sued penniless. No, we were in the patio, downstairs."

"You should have paid more attention to the bag." she said.

"It was pitch black out, Mom, and he'd been hovering around almost an hour, shoving the bag at me. I couldn't take it any longer so I grabbed it and poured. That's when I realized it was that charcoal with the lighter fluid in it, you know? It works really well. So I threw it. The whole flaming bag, like a meteor, and you won't believe this but it landed flat dab in the middle of the driveway."

"Did he say oops or something?"

"Neither of us said a word at first, we just stared at it sort of fascinated for a minute then he nodded and said, 'Good throw.' So I put my ribs on."

"What about the bag?"

I shrugged over the phone line. "It was kinda smoldering in the driveway when I left."

Bulgogi - Korean Ribs

5 pounds flanken beef ribs

Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup mirin
1 cup pear juice
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons roughly chopped garlic
1 cup roughly chopped green onions
1/2 cup roughly chopped shallots
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons Srirachi or other hot sauce
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Put the ribs into a large, non-reactive, oven-proof container and cover with the marinade. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

2. In the morning, pour off the marinade into a saucepan, cover the ribs tightly with foil and bake at 325 for three hours. Remove the ribs from the oven and, if not finishing immediately, pour off the fat and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Remove the ribs from the refrigerator a half hour before you want to cook them.

3. Reduce the marinade over medium-low heat until thickened to a syrupy consistency.

4. When ready to serve, baste ribs with the reduced marinade and grill for 5 to 10 minutes until heated through. They can also be baked at 400 for 15 minutes or until heated through.


Asian Pear Slaw

1/2 head Napa cabbage shredded finely
8 (or so) green onions chopped finely
2 Asian pears (or regular pears) cut into strips (julienned)

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon or so grated ginger
1 medium clove garlic minced
1-2 T sugar, to taste
1/4 c light oil
1-2 teaspoons Srirachi to taste
salt to taste

Whisk the dressing ingredients until the sugar disolves and toss over salad.
The salad is best if it's allowed to sit in the dressing for at least an hour before serving.