Steak and beans

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, July 31, 2009—

IT'S A CLASSIC, though I'm not sure it qualifies for the Hundred Plates: steak and beans. Cowboy food.

I began by chopping up myrtle — Myrtus communis compacta, a small-leafed myrtle growing as a short hedge in the garden — with a clove of garlic, the grated zest of a lemon, and a little black pepper. I'd salted the hanger steak (I prefer that spelling to "hangar," who knows which is right) as soon as I brought it home and put it in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Steak, rubbed both sides with the myrtle mixture, was grilled over charcoal and grapevine cuttings until done. Meanwhile, Lindsey had shelled beans, some from a nearby farm, some from the garden, and cooked them simply in water. Pythagorus would not like this.

A drizzle of olive oil on the sliced steak and the beans. Sliced tomatoes on the side. Green salad, of course.

Var, La Ferme Julien red, 2007

Pizzavino 707, Sebastopol

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, July 30, 2009—

I GRADUATED FROM high school in Sebastopol, California, a small town, agricultural in those days (the early 1950s), of uncertain economy and mixed demographic profile today. It's still odd, to me, to think of the town as having anything of interest going for it: but there are two quite good restaurants, at least one ambitious one, and one quite new one.
We ate tonight at the new one, Pizzavino 707. (The number refers to the area code, which is ironic, since as of this writing the phone's not yet connected.)

Pizzavino 707 is in the building that formerly housed the West County Grill, opened a couple of years ago by Stephen Singer and Jonathan Waxman to considerable fanfare. For whatever reason, WCG did not prevail. Pizzavino seems to be a more modest concept, suiting the present economy: a full bar, a few salads, a few pizzas, a special entree — tonight, sea bass with three kinds of green bean and cherry tomatoes.
That's what I had, and it was pretty damn good.

Pecorino, Marche, 2007

Another aïoli

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, July 29, 2009—

THERE WAS A LITTLE aïoli left in the refrigerator, and delicious vegetables are definitely in season. Hooray for the Healdsburg Farmers Market! Lindsey blanched some first-rate green beans and boiled some prime potatoes; the tomatoes were delicious; and there were French breakfast radishes, one of my most favorite things. And afterward, though I haven't actually tasted it yet as of this writing, home-made ice cream. What a fine day.
Green salad, of course.

Var, La Ferme Julien red, 2007

Kale with cannellini

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, July 28, 2009--

IT'S A CLASSIC: white beans with onions and strong greens. A little olive oil helps a lot, of course; ditto rosemary. Deborah Madison, in her fine book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, adds red pepper flakes to the mix, and a little white wine, and some garlic.
The kale's still going strong in the garden, the rosemary's out of control; so Lindsey only had to step into the pantry to have everything she needed. One-dish meal, garnished with grated Parmesan and drizzled olive oil.

Cheap Pinot grigio

Faloush

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, July 27, 2009—

SINCE 1952, WHEN I left home for college, a Greek salad has always been a favorite fallback of mine for a one-course, inexpensive, completely satisfying emergency meal in an unfamiliar setting. You get everything you really need: vitamins, carbohydrates, and protein; greens, oil, and cheese. Olives too.
Today we were at Cornerstone Gardens

outside the town of Sonoma, en route home from a fascinating visit to a bee farm in the Napa Valley. At the bee visit I'd had honey and honey ice cream and honey with blue cheese and honey on crackers, and something savory was really needed to cut all that sweet, delicious and indisputably healthful though it was.
Greek salad wasn't on the menu, but Faloush was. Damned if I see the difference.

Iced tea

Sage, 23555 Arnold Drive, Sonoma; tel. 707 935.1681

Then, for dinner, since we were watching (on television) the hated Cardinals destroy the Dodgers, a couple of hot dogs.

Zinfandel, "Bear & Lion" old vines, Napa Valley, 2006

Pasta with clams and mussels

Berkeley, July 26—

DINNER PARTY at an old friend's here, with two other couples, one known, the other new; everyone delightful. We warmed up with prosciutto and Crenshaw melon; went on to sliced heirloom tomatoes with oil and Balsamico. Then came pasta with clams and mussels: hard to go wrong there! Dessert: sliced peaches with sherbet. I love summertime.

Gavi, 2006; Sauvignon blanc; Chardonnay (California)

Aïoli

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, July 25—

WELL, AS YOU can see, the aïoli separated. I have an explanation: I was following a recipe in a book, and not the one I generally use. This one said "Rule of thumb: one egg yolk, one cup oil." I generally follow Judy Rodgers's recipe, in The Zuni Cookbook, when I follow one at all. You begin by smashing garlic and salt in a mortar, then add two egg yolks, then dribble in the olive oil slowly slowly, at first by drops, then by a teeny stream, whisking all the while. The result will be thick and oily.
Lindsey prepared the classic accompaniments: boiled potatoes, steamed green beans, sliced tomatoes; and she grilled a couple of chicken breasts that had been dusted with fennel-salt-pepper rub leftover from yesterday. Green salad, of course.
Aïoli: surely one of the classic Hundred Plates.

Cheap Pinot grigio