The Lost Week

Eastside Road, November 14, 2014—

A WEEK! YOU'D THINK we'd starved! No: I've just been unusually distracted. Herewith, then, a brief report:

#selectionz

Sunday, Nov. 8: Canapés — is the word still used? — at a memorial for a recently departed friend; later a ham and cheese sandwich, with an improbably colorful package of crudités and pickles, at Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley, whose food is better than you might think, and handy after a long drive and before an evening of Italian drama played in French…
	Monday, Nov. 9: Penne at home. Of course I no longer recall just what this involved, only that it was a Mario Batali recipe Cook found online somewhere, and that it involved red pepper flakes so was vaguely Calabrese, and that it was, in fact, delicious.
Nov 10: MarMar, and sausage, beans, and potatoes. "MarMar" is the annual marmalade and martini party, unusually early this year as the Yuzus were ready to go. We processed 22 of them, Cook and I, and the results will be prized. The sausages were Franco's, smaller than usual, grilled, served with Nancy Skall's beans and some nicely stewed potatoes — don't know how else to describe this method of cooking, which involves dicing, then simultaneously steaming and sautéeing in olive oil.
	Nov 11: Dinner at Chez Panisse: Petite friture of vegetables, persimmon mostaerda, watercress salad Sylvaner riesling, Albert Boxler (Alsace), 2012 Venetian style Monterey Bay squid, green garlic and soft polenta Cassis, Domaine Bagnol, 2012 Spit-roasted pork loin, hazelnut-thyme cream, squash pancakes, wilted greens Cerasuolo, Cos (Sicily), 2010 Pomegranate, pear, Barhi dates Huckleberry ice creeam with buckwheat crespelle   (pictured at top of this post) •Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley; 510-548-5525
Nov 12: fast. Nov 13 and today: Minestrone, from the freezer

Pinot noir, BearBoat (Russian River Valley), 2010: very nice