Eating last week.

Eastside Road, March 21, 2015—

ANOTHER EDITION of My Weekly Feeder : maybe I should re-title this blog. The week began on the 14th with a group dinner — that's part of the crew in the photo: l-r, Lindsey (Cook; Companion) seeming to supervise; Kees sweating the artichokes; Mary Jo tossing the potatoes in oil; one of The Neighbors Down the Hill making a vinaigrette for the salad, and Patient Blogger bent over a couple of shallots. (The photo was taken by Other Neighbor Down the Hill.) And what did we have? Well, you already have a good idea: but the principle protein source was Franco's good sausages, which Curt is grilling, out of sight, over a wood fire, whose smoke is billowing past the left-hand window.

I thought Kees's handling of the little artichokes was brilliant: peeled down quite far, sliced very thin, then "cooked" in nothing but good Eastside Zinfandel vinegar.

Many delicious red wines

How I mince shallots: the old Chinese knife	I want to show you what I use to mince shallots: this magnificent Chinese knife, which we found on the workbench in the original, dilapidated, detached garage when we bought our Berkeley house, down in the flats, in Berkeley. It was wrapped in a piece of Chinese newspaper dated, I think, 1923, tied with jute cord. When I unwrapped the package I found the knife completely covered with rust. I soaked it a couple of days in used motor oil, then took kerosene to it, and it cleaned up completely, with only a little pitting here and there. The steel is hand-hammered, and takes and holds an edge beautifully. We have quite a few knives in our kitchen, but when I want solid control over a meticulous chore this is the one I reach for: the heel of my hand on its wooden handle, thumb and fingers gripping the sides of the blade, my palm pressing the smooth strong back of the blade, I need only pay careful attention the the fingers of that other hand…
	Sunday, March 15, we were too busy with one thing and another to make much of a dinner, and anyway it was my turn — so I did something that may surprise you: I bought one of those "tartes d'Alsace" in the frozen-food chest at Trader Joe's. Not only that: I bought a package of frozen chopped spinach, too. Organic, of course. The tarte is a flatbread, in fact, garnished with a bit of ham cut into strips and Gruyère cheese. Nothing wrong with ham and cheese, one of the few exceptions to my rule forbidding the combination of meat and cheese. And I have to confess once again my fondness for spinach in virtually any (cooked) form. This time I simply warmed it up with a little salt — not enough, as it turned out — and a a tiny hint of nutmeg. If I'd had a hard-boiled egg, I'd have sieved it on top for garnish. Cheap bianco
	March 16: Since we're eating out tomorrow, let's have our annual Corned beef and cabbage tonight! St. Patrick's Day has a sad component in our household; it's the day my father-in-law died, ninety-four years old, in 1999. Corned beef was a favorite dish of his, though he was a full-blooded Piemontese, and we always have it partly in his honor. This time Cook made a true colcannon, chopping the cabbage and cooking it with the mashed potatoes. The carrots are a traditional adjunct, bringing together the colors of North and South in an uneasy truce. Mustard on the side, of course, and no green salad tonight! Cheap Nero d'Avola
	March 17: Dinner in the Café tonight, with the same crew we'd made dinner with at the top of this page. I began with these delicious, soft, buttery, ricotta-filled ravioli, with beautiful new fava beans and chopped chervil, as I recall; and then went on to a duck leg en confit, with spring asparagus and celery root and potato purée, with just enough citrus in the duck-glaze to weld the whole plate into a marvelously integrated dish. For dessert, an apple galette — Pink Lady apples, as I believe, though it's been a few days now — with dried sour cherries pointing up the flavor; and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Arbois Pupillin, Ploussard "Point barre", 2011: lots of character, completely expressive of its terroir • Café Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley; 510-548-5525
The next day was fast day, and high time; and the day after that we finished what was left of our corned beef and colcannon, even better for having waited for us. This brings us up to yesterday, as I write this on Saturday afternoon. We had company again, and dined with them chez the neighbors down the hill, where chorizo was cooked over a wood fire, and a delicious potato salad was served, and Cook had carried down her blood orange-and-onion salad, and then we had this magnificent dessert: simply a perfect lemon curd, supple and pointed, fruity, smooth; served with softly whipped cream and garnished with orange gel candies. Things don't get much better than this. Zinfandel, Green and Red, Chiles Canyon Vineyards, 2011: smooth, deep, lingering finish Red blend (Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet), Ridge (Sonoma county), 2012: nicely blended and integrated	☛Restaurants visited in 2015 are listed at Eatingday's Restaurants