Mezza Luna

Saturday May 21, 2005

Half Moon Bay Farmers Market

We arrive in town at 9am to catch the start of the market located in the parking lot of the Cetrella Restaurant on Main Street. Parking is a breeze, just a few dedicated market shoppers. This is not true as the day wears on and parking is much more difficult.

We stop first at Alba Organics whose display of multi colored carrots and chiogga beets draws our eye.

Purchase in hand we sample Amazing Gracie V's Muffaletta Olive Relish and Curiously Crisp Dipping Crackers. Wake up taste buds!!! This is what I want for breakfast everyday. A combination of olives, roasted red peppers, garlic, and olive oil has my tummy wishing for more.

We talk with owner Carol and son Sean who are manning the stand. She explains that she developed the recipe from a New Orleans classic. The company is named in honor of her Italian Mother, Grace Vivian. Later in the day I have to pry the container out of my families' hand just to save enough relish to make a muffaletta sandwich to photograph for this article.

Last stop Guisti Farms stand. Artichokes and particularly good looking fresh peas are on display. While my wife shovels a couple pounds of peas into the bag, I try to photograph the intended purchase. Denied! A couple of sturdy women repel my attempt. They are either restaurant chefs or feed a mighty big family.

The dishes we created with our purchases.

Roasted carrots

Rissotto with fresh peas

Muffaletta Sandwich with Italian Meats and Gracie V's relish

Life's a picnic!

The Farmers Market Challenge

It’s May and farmers markets are opening all over California. The current mantra of the restaurant industry is “fresh, local and seasonal”. It really was the way past generations ate. They had to. No refrigeration and difficulties in transporting fresh produce localized what was available. While I’ll never turn down a ripe hothouse tomato in December, I agree that produce just picked is about as good as it gets. My wife and I love to visit farmers markets as a practical way to purchase food, and as a quick get away from suburban life. Meet the farmers, and taste the food. We love the challenge of making up dishes from what we purchased that day. This summer we will try to visit as many as we can and blog our results. No it’s not Iron Chef but my wife and I tend to be a little (read a lot!) competitive when working in the kitchen. She is a great with pastry and sweets and is a highly experienced poverty chef (making something from nothing). I prefer savory items and like to incorporate high quality prepared foods into my dishes. Let’s see what we come up with.

Healdsburg Farmers Market, Saturday May 14, 2005.

This market manages to hang on to its country charm. Healdsburg has gone upscale lately with the opening of number of very expensive hotels and restaurants. Some of the visitors would fit right in to the Beverley Hills crowd rather than the farming community Healdsburg once was.

Lou Preston of Preston Vineyards is selling his olive oil along with some of his wonderful wood fired breads. We choose the dark multigrain loaf. I’m sure that these would go good with some of his wines. A visit to his winery with its great picnic grounds is always a treat.



Tierra Farms offers tastes of their pepper jams. The Rojo is our favorite. A combination of red jalapenos and sweet peppers.

Springhill Jersey Cheese. Dry Jack and a Pecorino Romano added to our bag

Love Farms has a long line for their Squash.



Neufeld Farms Peaches smell divine!






whole grain bread with dry jack and Rojo


Grilled squash, olive oil and pecorino Romano cheese



Peach Crisp



enjoy!!

Fee Fi Pho

Comfort food is a very personal thing. Culture and tradition play a part in the selection. Macaroni and cheese, a bowl of creamy polenta, chicken and dumplings are all good choices. A newly developed comfort taste for me is Vietnamese Pho, a hardy, seasoned beef broth with rice noodles. I’ve tried this soup at a number of restaurants in different towns. The taste of the broth changes a little from shop to shop but it is always hot, filling, and comforting. I had a chance to sample pho at Saigon Village restaurant, 720 B Street, San Rafael, Ca. I chose the #16 Tai (Thin slices of raw beef are added and cook in the hot broth). It comes with a plate of garnish items (sprouts, peppers, purple basil, and lime wedges) that may be added to taste. Red rooster hot sauce, hoisin, fish sauce and soy are tableside to add fire to the soup. Careful or you end up with numb lips!

The restaurant was spotless. It appeared much more upscale than the price of the meal ($5.95 for large bowl). There are lots of other choices on the menu with prices well below $10. The spring rolls looked mighty fine as they went by. Service was fast and personable. Very comforting.

They're Baaa...k!

Back by popular demand! Matsuyama, 939 Front Street, Novato Ca. is the reincarnation of a restaurant that was housed in the San Marin Plaza. The space was taken over by Tuesday Morning and I have been in mourning since then. I celebrated the return by ordering the same combo I always ate before, beef teriyaki and shrimp tempura. $10.95 dinner $6.50 lunch. Dinner comes with soup, salad, and rice. Lunch has salad and rice. I hate to admit to being so boring. The menu has all kinds choices. Sushi, sashimi, udon and ramen to name a few. I just like what I like. Prices top out at $12.95. The new location is a little more cramped for seating but the food is good, cheap, and plentiful. We went on a Friday night and the place was jamming. The servers were a little overwhelmed but the food came out quickly and hot. It was like seeing an old friend. Welcome back.

Salute to Weber Nation

While partaking in one of my addictions (watching food shows), I saw what appeared to be a home video of someone using their barbeque. Turns out two guys decided to tour the country with a couple of hand held video cams and interview Weber Grill owners. They are traveling first class in a bling bling Airstream Trailer pulled by a big old SUV. The romantic in me hopes that they thought this idea up by themselves. Although the skeptic in me thinks some marketing department financed the expensive equipment and made it appear like a couple of good old boys decided to go on a road trip. If this same marketing department would like to sponsor me traveling around the U.S. preparing barbecue picnics, please contact me at my gmail address.

I gotta give Weber credit. I'm a long time happy owner. My workhorse 22 inch kettle makes some mighty fine ribs, tri-tips, and beer can chicken. Would love a new one, but the frugal in me says if it ain't broke don't fix it. Go check out the website. I really like that portable WeberQ would fit nicely in the picnic mobile.