Finally blogging about the Buckeye Roadhouse

Yes, it's just around the corner from me, and maybe that was the problem. Or having gone so frequently during my pre-blogging days that it seemed to have already been done. However I did get to the Buckeye Roadhouse for lunch yesterday, and it was great!

First the very gracious and knowledgeable waiter tempted me into having the White Beet Soup as a starter. Have you ever had something SO good that time stood still and everything became hushed? The first taste of this was one of those moments. The soup had a andouille sausage and fresh tomato garnish.

The main course of Pan-roasted local sole with rosemary potatoes followed. Everything on the plate was perfect. The sole was perfectly cooked, moist and just done through. The roasted potatoes were served on rosemary skewers, with the addition of garlic cloves and small mushroom caps. The green beans were cooked to perfection, tender without going beyond the slightly crisp point. The food was superb, and I'm not going to let so much time pass without going back after experiencing the perfect blend of good service and fine food.

Over the mountain and through the redwoods to the sea

Sunday was just a stellar weather day for the beach -- at least the beach that I prefer, one that won't earn me a lecture from the dermatologist. It was warm and sunny without the baking rays at the Pacific coast in West Marin. And I did have sunblock on! Dad and I meandered over to Pt. Reyes Station for some lunch at the ever-popular Station House Cafe.

The Winter squash and Sage lasagne caught my eye. The waitress said 'That's GOOD', so I knew I had a winner before it even came out. The only problem was the size, but I boxed up half for another meal. It also included some spinach, and a ricotta cheese mixture. It's highly recommendable.

Dad went with a 'standard' Grilled Chicken sandwich that was enhanced by a basil aioli with the standard mozzarella, lettuce, onion and tomato. It was also generously portioned so Dad also took half his meal home, raving about how much he enjoyed it all the way. The Station House Cafe serves breakfast all day, and opens at 8 a.m. It also does some fabulous things with local oysters, such as a creamy oyster stew which I had the last time I visited.

Time for Paperwhites

I read a note in Sunset that it's time to 'force' paperwhites. It also promised to have fragrant flowers from these bulbs in 4-6 weeks. So last week I visited the Sloat Garden Center over the hill on E. Blythedale. Sloat has some with shoots already peeking out, so these had a head start. However, the tiny shoots have grown up amazingly in one short week! I had a lovely red container that Linda gave me one year for Christmas with some bulbs in it which I am delighted to reuse for this.

Space, transformed

I noticed that Napoli Pizza and Pasta has opened in a place that has been completely transformed from its former appearance. Donato, the owner, greeted Dad and I in a very friendly and helpful way, and we were on our way to a fabulous meal. Donato said that the restaurant has now been open for a couple months, and is holding its own in this down economy so far. Every guest that came in after us smiled and commented how the buzz is that this place is great!

The garlic and cheese bread was delivered bubbling not long after we ordered it. Yes, it was great!

Had we known what a basket of freshly baked bread would be served with the minestrone, we likely wouldn't have ordered the garlic cheese bread, good though it was.

And the minestrone was freshly made with lots of deliciously simmered vegetables tucked inside.

Surprisingly, Dad ate every last drop on his plate of Spinach Ravioli with Meat Sauce - even after all that bread. He asked when we could come back as we were leaving, so his feelings about the food are quite clear.

And I had a seafood pasta entitled "Capesante alle Provenciale". The dish was composed of sea scallops simmered in wine and garlic, topped with diced fresh tomatoes. The dish usually has a red sauce, but Donato was quite accomodating in making it a simple white sauce instead. This mixture was served over capellini. It was delicious, and the portion so generous (especially after the bread), that I could not finish it. And I would not hesitate to order it again. Donato told us of all the delightful desserts, but there was no way we could enjoy any further food and noted that we need to come and eat lightly some time so we can try the desserts. I would recommend this place for its warm and friendly atmosphere and the reasonably priced and delicious neighborhood Italian fare.

Food goes better with friends

I was lucky enough to have a wonderful dinner with two long time friends and colleagues, Zafar & Sachiko at Sushi Bistro on Balboa in San Francisco. Even the tastiest food tastes better with friends.

We shared everything, and enjoyed a leisurely dinner where beautiful dishes came out in succession. The complimentary cucumber salad came out first.

Edame was a great little snack to start while we poured over the intriguing and extensive menu. These were warm, salty and good.

"Mr. Brown" was a mix of smoothness with tofu, unagi and avacado flash fried in tempura batter and served with a slightly sweet brown sauce.

I haven't had the treat of soft shell crab in some time, and their appetizer of the same name was perfectly rendered as a tempura with a nice ponzu sauce for contrast.

Zafar expressed how much he enjoys a Japanese classic, Agedashi tofu, and of course we had to have some of Sushi Bistro's version which was great, although probably not as spicy as Zafar's current favorite.

The next dish we tried was a Tuna Poke Salad, which was updated from the classic by placing the seasoned tuna cubes on top of salad and fried vermicelli potatoes.

Next we had a couple of lettuce wraps. The Winter which is a spicy and crunchy mix of spicy tuna, avocado, aioli and shrimp tempura, and the Equinox, a flavorful combination of shrimp tempura, unagi, avocado, sushi rice, spicy and eel sauce.

The Big Island was a fresh and crunchy surprise that was an instant hit with it's cucumber wrapper and fresh seafood stuffing. The interior contained an amazingly diverse filling of salmon, tuna, yellowtail & tobiko, Snow crab meat, avocado and sprouts inside that thinly sliced cucumber.

Then there was the unforgettable Omega-3 roll. Fried spicy salmon, avocado and asparagus topped with salmon, albacore, spicy soy sauce and tobiko provided intensely compact bites.

We ended with First Crush, fruity and fishy combination of spicy albacore, avocado and fuji apple topped with salmon and ginger cilantro ponzu sauce which exploded with flavor in your mouth. Service was knowledgeable and well-paced in this very busy sushi haven. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you enjoy inventive sushi and a fun atmosphere.

Sushi Magic

Sushi Gourmet is very much like the kind of sushi restaurant you would find in Japan -- it's all about sushi, not cooked items.

It's located in Mill Valley's Strawberry Village, not far from Starbuck's. It's always sparkling clean and everything is lined up with zen precision.

I started with some Nameko Miso Soup. Nameko Mushrooms are small and gelatinous, and considered great brain food with anti-tumor properties. The broth had depth and there were plenty of nameko and tofu cubes in it, making a nice balance.

I had a Crunch Dragon Roll for my entree, which consisted of tempura shrimp in the middle, and the rice wrap topped with eel and avocado. There were crunchy tobiko on top as a generous garnish. It was fresh, delicious and satisfying. The service was prompt and friendly as well.

Previously reviewed:
September 25, 2007

Picnic at Agate Beach

Jonathon, Toran and I struck out for Duxbury Reef at Agate Beach near Bolinas today, while Jo-Ann took Aurelia to a birthday party, and my Dad relaxed then had his exercise appointment. We packed a very impromtu picnic, and found some seating at the beach where we spread out the food and enjoyed an expansive view of the ocean.

Just sitting and listening to the waves and watching the surfers was quite relaxing. There must have been some Halloween revelry nearby as there were quite a few smashed pumpkin remains.

There were also a lot of dogs on the beach, so Bobby the dog fit right in. Duxbury Reef had a lot of tidal pools, and Toran had some amusement leaning over to see clams and being squirted in the eye! It was a lovely day

Enough cooks make a delicious stew

Jonathon invited my Dad & I over for dinner on Sunday. He had played the role of Executive Chef, and had his kids enjoy being sous-chefs. Three cooks, a chicken carcass and a vegetable drawer brimming with fresh farmer's market veggies a good stew makes! This shot of Jonathon and Toran was taken during the pause between when things were complete, and when we sat down for the feast.

Small hands carefully sliced cucumbers to top these fresh, crisp greens.

Sous chefs Toran and Aurelia did a lot of chopping to put the veggies in with the lentils in the crockpot. Some commented there was a 'weird' herb in the mix, but Jonathon & I with our Scandinavian heritage enjoyed the touch of dill. Jo-Ann did note that if it were a real Scandinavian dish, it wouldn't be just a hint, but it would likely overpower the other ingredients. We agreed.


Jo-Ann gave me a real challenge - of course I didn't need to bring anything, but if I did, it had to be something I already had at home. I knew of the stew, and I had time and felt a little adventurous, so I made an old family favorite, Quick Buttermilk Rolls. I let them finish rising in the car as we were going to Jo-Ann & Jonathon's, and they had the oven ready for them as soon as we arrived. You can see from the wear and tear on the recipe card, I've made this quite a bit. My mother's recipes were often a bit abbreviated as well.

Ten minutes later, this is what we had. These disappeared quickly. The whole meal was perfect. There's nothing like food with family love tucked inside.

The real reason my father lives with me

It's my mother's biscuits. Those of you who have been following my blog know that my 88 year old father, although he has Alzheimer's, is just too adventurous and lively to go to an assisted living center.  However, I think it must actually be because he wants to still enjoy the taste of my mother's biscuits on occasion. (Probably more often that I gather myself together to make them).  These biscuits have quite a history.  My mother told me this recipe was handed down for many generations, and as far back as she could trace, it came from our maternal line from a Pennsylvania Dutch great -something - grandma.

My mother never minded giving this recipe out, because the secret is in the feel, and the proportions are approximated.  None of her friends could replicate it even with the 'recipe'.  The first important thing is that you get the right flour. The original recipe calls for a soft wheat flour, one that is suitable for quick breads.  Now, mom (and later I) have experimented with various other flours, mostly as adds to the flour in some proportion, with varying results.  My mother even used hard winter wheat sometimes, with much crunchier results, but she liked the higher protein levels.  She also often added a little soy flour for the same reason.  The flour isn't actually measured, she just kept a big bowl of flour and made only biscuits in it.  So the first step is to sift the flour in your big, high-sided bowl.

Then you create a well in the bowl of flour, making the sides relatively thick.  You'll be adding the wet and dry ingredients into the well, and then gradually incorporating flour from the sides and bottom into the mix.  

When I was about six, we moved into a house with an old wood burning stove in the kitchen.  I think my mother chose the house for that stove!  She said that nothing, especially biscuits, tasted as good as out of one of these very old fashioned stoves.  I think she was right, but it took a lot of experience to get the stove at the right temperature and maintain it througout the cooking cycle. Another critical thing for making these biscuits taste their best is using REAL old-fashioned buttermilk. You can really taste a huge difference based on the quality of the buttermilk that goes in.  For this batch I used Berkeley Farms Bulgarian Cultured Buttermilk.  You pour one cup carefully into the well as the starting point.

Then you add the dry and wet ingredients into the well, soda, salt, baking powder, sugar and oil.  I use my mother's old beaten up aluminum measuring spoon set for luck.  My mother swore by Clabber Girl baking soda, and wouldn't have any other in the house.  I used extra virgin olive oil in this batch, simply because it was the one I had open and fresh.  It doesn't seem to affect the taste.  My mother usually used corn, saffola or canola oil, which have less obvious flavor.

From here you mix the ingredients gently in the buttermilk, and start slowly incorporating the flour from around the edges. It is important to do this gently, beating will make for tough biscuits.  To continue with the biscuit history, when I was a senior in high school, my mother's first husband Jim became ill and eventually died of cancer.  He lived in Seattle, and wanted to see my mother again, and since my mother didn't drive, I drove her to see him a week or so before his passing.  When he saw her, I witnessed his last request of her - to bake him a batch of those biscuits!

Now this is where the 'feel' comes in.  You have to continue stirring in the flour until it 'feels right'.  Now another secret is that the amount of flour that eventually ends up in the biscuits has a lot to do with the kind of flour, the age of the flour and the weather conditions!  So all you need to do is include enough of the flour to get the right feel at the finishing point.  I have to admit, I'm still a bit of a chicken and tend to stop on the soft side which makes more of a drop biscuit. But they still taste good!  The photo above is still too soft.  My mother used to incorporate just enough so she could almost 'spin' these into little biscuit rounds and place on the baking sheet. 

I dropped mine rather haphazardly on the baking sheet sprayed with Pam.  These go into a preheated 'hot' over for 11-15 minutes.  My mother's definition of hot was 500F, no kidding.  She put them into a normal large sized oven at this temperature.  This temperature doesn't work well with the smaller one in my range.  (I have a small one on top, and a normal one beneath).  I bake mine at 400F in the smaller oven.  Now for some more story, my mother's last words to my father before she collapsed of a stroke were, "I'm sorry Charles, I don't think I will be able to cook for you any more".  According to my father, she'd just taken out a batch of biscuits from the oven.  With this long history of biscuits in my family, I have to wonder what events these have been associated with in years past!

And here are the ones I took out of the oven.  And what prompted the biscuit baking this time? I heard from my niece Erika, that my 11 year old great-niece, Collette asked her yesterday if she would make "Auntie Anna's" biscuits and strawberry jam for breakfast when she returned home from her Dad's.  I showed Erika and the twins how to bake them this summer, and so we have a new generation of biscuit makers in the family.

This is my mother's 'standard' recipe that I transcribed when I was in college.  "Hot oven" did mean 500F to my mother, but I find success with 400F.

And this is one in my mother's hand, a variation that she particularly liked. She had some spelling issues, but the results are good just the same.

Sonoma in the fall

Yesterday I drove through the beautiful fall colors of Sonoma, the vines were turning yellow, and trees had color too. I was on my way to meet Linda for lunch at Rins Thai, a favorite meeting spot of ours, and have my hair cut. And I had my new Cybershot tucked away in my purse.

Sonoma was very busy, belying the grim economic news. Perhaps everyone just feels like shopping again with all the positivity surrounding the election results. I had to park some distance from Rins Thai, and it was close to a little creek with a border of still happily blooming flowers.

My phone was playing tricks, so while I shopped in the bookstore waiting for Linda's return call, she had called twice, and my phone neither rang nor registered her voicemail! Bookstores are still dangerous places for me -- I picked up another cookbook while there, "660 Curries". I connected with Linda and she was enjoying some warming soup when I arrived. We enjoyed some pot sticker appetizers, and the hostess kindly made three pork (outer ones) and three vegetarian ones (inner ones).

We also had some Fresh Vegetarian Salad Rolls, so fresh and crunchy inside wrapped in soft rice wrappers.

Then the Shrimp Pad Thai arrived, which was well seasoned and the shrimp tasted fresh and tender. Rins Thai is a cozy place that has consistently served good Thai food over time.