California Part Two

Have you ever put your arms over your head and kind of pushed your ears forward with your upper arms so that they are almost nestled in your armpits.  While listening to music on your laptop which is right in front of you?  It's easier to do if you have a chair back to hold on to.  Don't try it.  My ears hurt.

Anyway here's some more food from the California trip.

Second Night:

This might not look that appetizing, but it was delicious.  Raw kibbeh.

And cooked lamb too.

A Cheese Board sour dough foccaccia recipe.

Roasted eggplant with a pomegranate and walnut vinaigrette kind of thing.

And another pie.

Third Night (Gualala):

In the morning we made a stock from the lobster carcasses we had for dinner the first night.  Red bell pepper, leek tops from the garden, lots of lobster, some other stuff.

Beautiful coast, beautiful abalone, beautiful man.

You need a permit to take abalone.  They also need to be 7" long and you can only take three at a time.  Our host has a permit, but at this private beach people only take two at a time.  That may be why it only took him a few minutes to pick them out of the tidal pools.  People dive for abalone, but on this beach, MG and I spotted one sitting up on a rock, high and dry.

Here they are, safe at home, but that's just the beginning of the fun.

After prying them out with that tool, you need to remove their iridescent blue gut sack penis thing.

Yum.

Trim the tough outer parts.

Abalone cutlets, if you will.

Lightly pan fried in butter with parsley and garlic.  Some lemon over the top.  The mild flavor, buttery tenderness, appearance and preparation almost reminded me of really good veal scallopine.  No really powerful flavors, but very tasty and extremely decadent.

But not quite as decadent as the lobster and wild mushroom risotto we made from that stock.

Mushroom varieties were: chanterelle, matsutake, slippery jacks I picked on the property (my first slippery jack), lobster, and a couple mushrooms I'm not too sure about that I think were from the farmer's market.  Maybe some kind of beech mushroom or something.

And finally, some fresh california artichokes, simply prepared.

And the feast: