Eating through The Castle. After a rainy and hectic day on Monday, I visited Samurai on Miller in Mill Valley and ordered their signature "Samurai Castle". Usually I share it with another friend, but I took home a doggie bag this time --- lots of food as you will see.

The first Castle course is miso soup, and Samurai's miso was hot and well made. Samurai also serves Tejava as its offering for iced tea lovers. It's nice to have a consistently good tea product.

Following on the heels of the miso is a simmered dish, a couple potato pieces, carrots and onion. It's very typical and quite tasty.

Next up - The Castle! It's really a fun theme. You break apart The Castle to find:

Cucumbers, sushi and sashimi! The maguro sashimi (tuna) was quite fresh and smooth on the tongue. Sorry, my photos this time are a little blurry in low light. I have ordered a new near-professional camera on the recommendation of a professional photographer friend. I'm looking forward to its arrival soon!

When you see this coming, you can't believe it's intended for one diner! Mixed tempura with several prawns, teriyaki salmon, garlic chicken with rice and vegetables.

And the last hurrah, Green Tea Ice Cream. Can you believe all this food comes 'standard' at $20.50??? It's very splitable by ordering and extra miso and rice, or do as I did, take a doggie bag home. They did an unbeliveable job of wrapping it to be secure, putting the boxes in plastic before putting in the bag. Samurai is not an upscale fussy restaurant, but is like a family style restaurant in Japan (although portions are much bigger here). There were several children in the restaurant who were made to feel welcome, and friendly and prompt service. It's a place I enjoy going just to relax and have 'comfort' Japanese fare.

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An interesting sustainable agriculture dilema right here in Marin County.

Kevin Lunny, owner of Drakes Bay Family Farms in Marin County, California, and an organic, sustainable farmer, discusses the magic of oyster farming. Lunny is currently fighting a battle to save the historic oyster farm, which is under threat of being turned into wilderness by the National Park Service. Read more about his plight here

Light, bright and delicious. Dad and I visited the Half Day Cafe in Kentfield for breakfast over the weekend, and although busy, our name came up on the list in good time. The space has large windows and high ceilings which can make it a bit noisy, but it is very bright and cheerful.

Dad enjoyed the basic two eggs over easy with hash browns and whole wheat toast.

I was a little more adventurous and went for the Tortilla Scramble with home fries and a bagel. The tortilla scramble had fresh tomatoes, green chilies, green onions and tortilla strips scrambled in it, topped with a dap of sour cream. It also had a scoop of cream cheese for the bagel and a nice slice of sweet orange and kiwi as a garish. It was hot, well executed and good. The menu had quite a few inventive offerings, plus there was a fresh sheet. The parking in the back is also very convenient. To sum it up, the Half Day Cafe is highly recommendable for breakfast.

Supper Club - Spanish Tapas. As those of you know who have been following my blog, I belong to a Supper Club in Marin which creates events on a theme and each chef chooses and executes a recipe. It's a foodie paradise, and there are several professional chefs among the members. This event was celebrating Spanish Tapas. As usual, the chefs were in rare form, and the food was delightful, as you can see in the slide show above. My dish for the evening was Red Onion and Orange Salad.

Red Onion & Orange Salad

6 sweet, ripe medium oranges, peeled
1 small red onion, sliced finely
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1.5 ounces organic raisins
20 black olives, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons almonds, blanched and sliced thinly

1. Boil some water and soak raisins in the hot water for 20 minutes, removing from heat. Drain and set aside.
2. Remove the white pith from the oranges and cut the fruit crosswise into 1/4 inch slices.
3. Arrange the oranges on a serving platter and scatter over the sliced red onion.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
5. Drizzle this dressing over the onions and oranges.
6. Sprinkle with the raisins, olives, sunflower seeds, and almonds.
7. Serve chilled.

Serves 6-8

Sesame Salsify. It's time for Weekend Herb Blogging again, and Pookah of What's Cooking in Carolina is hosting. This week I chose Black Salsify to create my dish around. The basis for flavor lies in getting fresh, seasonal, local ingredients, and I picked mine up at the San Rafael Farmers Market from Orchard Farms.

When it came to Saturday evening, I found myself having Daniel, Kit and my father as dinner guests, so I cooked a full meal of Sage Rubbed Organic Chicken, stuffed with celery and roasted with Yukon Gold Potatoes and Sweet Red Onions, Sesame Salsify, Baby Zucchini steamed in Organic Chicken Broth, and Castella with Organic Crisp-Sweet Asian Pears.

The other necessary factor after having great ingredients, is technique. Daniel mentioned that there is nothing like having a meal cooked by someone for you, infusing it with love which seems to come out in taste that you can't buy. Part of my technique is infusing food with love energy and gratitude as I prepare it. A scientist may say that this attitude causes a more careful handling and devotion to technique which shows in the flavor, a metaphysicist may say that a literal love frequency energy infuses the food and causes a physical change. Whichever you choose to believe, I think the attitude and emotional state that you approach your cooking with reflects in the final product.

First, I picked out a nice bunch of black salsify from the left of this basket. On the right is another variety, called white salsify. Salsify is also called the "Oyster Plant" as some think it has a flavor similar to oysters. I think it tastes like a cross between an artichoke heart and asparagus. Salsify, like the sunchokes I featured last week, has inulin which is thought to aid in blood sugar control. It's also been clinically proven to increase calcium absorbtion.

My WHB recipe can be either a side dish, or a vegetarian main dish.

Sesame Salsify

8 oz shredded carrots
Juice of one lemon
8 pieces salsify, peeled
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 oz. Pineapple-Teriyaki marinated firm tofu
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

1. Put shredded carrots and juice of one lemon in a bowl of cool water to soak.
2. Slice salsify in 2" lengths, quarter into matchsticks and add to bowl.
3. Slice tofu into horizontal thin slices.
4. Put sesame oil into frying pan and turn heat to medium high.
5. Drain carrots and salsify and put into pan.

6. Stir fry, turning frequently until nearly done.

7. Add tofu, and continue stirring and frying until tofu is warm and dish is cooked to the vegetable doneness you prefer.
8. Remove from heat, put in serving dish and sprinkle black sesame seeds over the top.

Serves 6-8

Oh la la! What a convivial and warm atmosphere at Christophe's in Sausalito! Chef Pierre and Sabine worked the room to give a full house a wonderful dining experience. The Early Bird Prix Fixe dinner is quite a bargain at $15.75 for four courses.

My menu for the evening was:

MOUSSE DE FOIE DE CANARD AU PORTO-Duck liver mousse with a port wine aspic

MIXED GREEN SALAD

FILET DE SOLE MEUNIERE-Sauteed sole filet in lemon butter sauce

PROFITEROLES AU CHOCOLAT-Puffed pastries filled with vanilla ice cream topped with hot chocolate sauce

accompanied by a glass of Lillet Blanc

When you enter a restaurant and soon notice that over half the room is conversing in French, you know you've come to the right place for French food. A large table of eight in the center was having a singing (literally) good time, while a cute couple in the corner were engaged in serious lip-lock. Immediately in front of me was a French father with a darling girl no older than three on his lap happily sharing some duck liver pate while engaged in baby talk French. The atmosphere embraced it all and it looked like everyone was having a great time, including me! Oh, and the food was excellent.

Soul in Mill Valley. I've been curious about a sign seen peeking out on a strip of small businesses near Tam Junction "Cafe del Soul", and decided to try it out Wednesday evening. Although the sign hanging over the door looks temporary, the cafe has been in business a couple years already. Unfortunately it was just too dark to take an outside shot, but the above shows its warm yet airy, and casual interior.

To begin with everything is organic, and although vegetarian there is an option for chicken in some dishes.

The nachos were fresh and tasty.

The "Cilantro Lime Lovely" rice dish was quite good as well, made with brown rice and tofu.. took 90% of this home for another meal. The smoothies looked magnificent, and the whole place had a fresh, clean, wholesome air. I'll be back with some friends.

Cruisin Santa Cruz. Wednesday was a lovely day for a drive over the mountains and through the woods to have a business meeting Santa Cruz. Before the meeting, we grabbed a quick bite at Benten, a small and friendly Japanese restaurant on the north end of Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz.

I enjoyed the Oyako Don (a chicken and egg dish), which was prequeled by a nice bowl of miso soup. Although nothing to write home about, it was good solid fare at a reasonable price with friendly service.

It was with trepidation that I chose a dish with chicken in it, having heard the news that Consumers Union testing showed that 83% of chicken that they tested harbored bacteria which can make you ill. The spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Steve Cohen stated "There is virtually nothing or any conclusion that anyone could draw from 500 samples. They're passing along junk science and calling it an investigation." hmmm. That seems a bit strong. Wouldn't you think it worth note if you picked up 525 chickens from various stores, organic, free-range and traditional, and found an 83% rate of bad bacteria??? Time to rethink my stance on buying a SensorfreshQ, or even better, eating ever-more vegetarian.

Light lunch in Paradise. I finally made it to Paradise Bay in Sausalito. Prior to this make-over, this gorgeous place housed a rather mediocre Mexican restaurant. I had read rather mixed reviews of the new place, so it took me awhile to try it. But it was a beautiful day, and I thought the views would be as satsifying as any food. The service was very prompt and friendly from seating to serving.

The views were just as I thought on this bright and crisp Marin day.

I started with the Sweet Maui Onion Soup with thyme smoked scallops. It was flavorful, and the waiter complimented me on identifying both sherry and brandy in the broth after checking with the chef.

I then enjoyed a Fresh Maine Lobster Maki Roll with avocado, mango and spicy mayonnaise. Forget concepts of traditional Japanese sushi, think fusion, and you'll be pleased with these fresh and inventive bites!

Sunny day shopping in Tiburon. Surprised that I hadn't blogged about it yet, my friend and neighbor Jerrie suggested I try Rooney's Cafe & Grill in Tiburon, especially either the Curried Chicken Salad, or Stacked Crab Salad. Jerrie and I occasionally enjoy dinners out together, and I knew I could trust her judgement. I had been to Rooney's once before, a couple years ago when Paul convinced me to take a bicycle ride from my place to Tiburon. It was a glorious day, and I recalled Rooney's as being quite pleasant, althought I think I ordered something rather boring (like a clubhouse sandwich). It helps to have the inside track on the menu!

I started with a cup of their Split-pea Soup. It was great! Sometimes spilt-pea soup can be rather sludgy, but this one was light, fresh and there were distinguishable bits of carrot and celery in the soup as well. The fresh warm bread served with it is also worth comment. They were serving bread baskets with a soft whole wheat bread, and a firmer crusted white.

Since I'd had crab on Sunday, I decided to order the Curried Chicken Salad. Fantastic choice! Not only was the chicken curry layer delightful with walnut pieces, grapes and fresh apples mixed in, it was topped with a cornicopia of fresh fruits. I recall persimmon, kiwi, pomegranate seeds, raspberries, blueberries, mango, strawberries, banana slices, watermelon, an orange slice, covered with a bit of cutney and sprinkled with coconut. Jerrie was also right that it is such a generous portion that I had to take some home. I overheard my waitress informing the next table over that they will be closed for the holidays after next week, reopening December 29th.

Since it was such a lovely day, and the streets of Tiburon were all decked out in holiday finery, I decided to take a little stroll and pick up a replacement candle at Baobab's on the historic Ark Row. A portion of Baobab's proceeds go to ArtPeace, a charitable organization which benefits young artists in Zimbabwe. (If you are interested in making your gift dollars help others, for even more direct assistance for Africans, you might check out Global Partners for Development's Gift Catalog - with some 'wilder' choices!) While strolling, I also noted that there is a box on the side of one of the stores with a map and information about a "Walking Guide to Historic Tiburon", a 5o-minute stroll. It looks like fun! If you have relatives coming for the holidays who have done the rounds of San Francisco, this would be a pleasant morning or afternoon place to dally and shop. It's easily accessible from San Francisco by ferry using the Blue and Gold Fleet as well.

Theresa & Johnny's Comfort Food. Olivia and I tried to go to the Seafood Peddler to try their brunch on Sunday morning, but they don't open until 11:30 (sounds more like lunch than brunch to me). Hungry, we decided to try another place, and lucky for us Theresa & Johnny's Comfort Food in San Rafael was open and had just a short wait for the table.

Olivia patiently waited our turn, sitting in the trunk of a Jaguar that has been fitted as a seat in the front of the restaurant.

While we waited, I enjoyed looking at the wacky memorabilia on the walls. It is an atmosphere much like Mama's Royal Cafe in Mill Valley, but less artsy and more masculine. It is really kid friendly too.

The wait staff were friendly, but they were working through a full house, so we had to wait a bit before being served. Olivia, the budding omnivore, wanted variety, so they made her one pancake (size of a dinner plate!), one piece of French toast (was deep fried, so not on my list, but Olivia liked it, although she noted that she likes her mother's better!) and scrambled eggs. While she was waiting, she played with the alphabet magnets on the metal door behind her.

I enjoyed the Crab Cakes Benedict with cheesy grits. This was a muffin-less Benedict dish, and I'm glad I chose to try their cheesy grits with this rather than the home fries or hash browns that were offered as other choices because the spiciness and flavor punch of the crab cakes was off set nicely by the bland grits. The crab cakes were the star of this dish, having just the right amount of spiciness and although they had small bits of spinach and sun-dried tomato in them, were not stuffed with filler, so the flavor of the crab came through in the combination. Though not apparent from the outside (and they do not have a website) Theresa and Johnny's definitely has a Cajun-southern twist to it. From what we experienced, and what I observed at the other dining tables, this is definitely not a haute cuisine kind of place, but has a unique funkiness and down-home feel that is refreshingly original in a very northern California city.

I still have not been able to access my normal means of posting and communicating back to the comments on this blog. Now my controls read in German! I'm looking forward to it all working again. Usually the photos I post can be enlarged by clicking the photo, but this feature doesn't work when I'm posting from Google Docs.

Native to North America, the sunchoke (or Jerusalem artichoke) was one of the two most available vegetables in the U.S. during World War II (the other was the rutabaga). And this is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. The name confusion came about by early settlers to the U.S. who confused the Italian word for the plant 'girasola' with Jerusalem.

The root of a type of sunflower, this knobbly beauty is quite healthy, and a great substitute for potatoes. The sunchoke stores its sugar in as a starch not digestible by the body; the starch is called inulin (not to be confused with insulin). There are indications that it helps with blood sugar control.

The sunchoke has a light, sweet, delicate flavor, and can be cooked or sliced and eaten raw (adding to a green salad). When eaten raw it has a crispness reminiscent of jicima or water chestnuts. Because the starch is indigestible, it can cause some people side effects similar to eating beans. To lessen this effect, you can boil these a bit first and pour off the water before completing your chosen recipe (unless you are using them raw of course). They also discolor very quickly, so you'll want to use a bit of lemon juice to preserve their delicate white color under the skin.

When choosing sunchokes at the market, be sure to choose those which are not discolored or shriveled. Despite their former reputation for being plentiful, sunchokes can be hard to find these days. I had to go to three stores before finding any, and sunchokes are in season now! When you get them home, you can simply scrub and bake as you would with potatoes, or peel and use in other recipes. The knobs make it a bit hard to peel well. Be sure not to overcook these as they turn to mush if you forget them.

I made my sunchokes up in a gratin to share with you.

Sunchokes Gratin

1 lb. sunchokes
1 small lemon
Water to boil
Pam (or other non-stick spray coating)
about 3 tablespoons butter
3 oz. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Salt & Pepper

1. Wash in water and peel sunchokes, placing sunchokes as they are peeled in a pan of cold water with juice of 1 lemon squeezed in. The lemon/water mixture should just cover the sunchokes.
2. Boil the sunchokes in the lemon/water mixture for 5-8 minutes until almost done.
3. Drain the sunchokes and rinse quickly with water, then slice in even thickness and arrange them in one layer in square baking pan which has been sprayed with Pam.
4. Dot with butter.
5. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the sunchokes.
6. Bake in a 375F oven for about 20 minutes, or until done and covering bubbly as you like.
7. Remove from oven and salt and pepper to taste

Serves about 4.

I enjoyed mine with some chicken/artichoke/sun dried tomato sausages for dinner!

Also, I'm sorry about not replying back to comments this weekend, something has gone amok with my Blog publishing - all the login and editing buttons and instructions are in JAPANESE. Also there is something funny with the editor since it's definitely not WYSIWYG at the moment, looks like code mish-mash. Sooo, I'm trying to publish this post by editing in Google Docs (formerly Writely), and publishing from there. If it's not quite right, I'll correct the look later, when Blogger has been able to respond to my SOS. And I'll also get to responding to some of the comments.

Crepes and schools. I couldn't resist trying out the Crepevine in San Rafael when I found a coupon in one of those mailers with lots of paper saying that Crepevine would donate 10% of your meal cost to support Marin schools.



Oh yum! They had fresh squeezed orange and carrot juice mixed! I first tried this combo at the Crepevine I first visited in Oakland. This was sooo fresh and the flavors blended well.




I had the Santa Fe crepe which was stuffed with grilled chicken apple sausage, scrambled eggs, green onions, provolone, and topped with salsa fresca. It was accompanied by home fries and a fresh green salad, lightly dressed in vinaigrette. This was hearty and the flavors blended well. The service was attentive and the setting was airy, bright and cheerful, with outside seating available as well. Definitely will return here!

In praise of farmers. The air was crisp and cold on Thursday as I made an overdue trip to the Farmers Market at the San Rafael Civic Center. The temperature was not surprising since we had an unusual freeze/frost warning the night prior. However, it still made one feel like picking up the pace a bit to keep warm, between that and my black fleece hoodie, I kept warm enough. Feeling the cold metal of my Sony Cybershot in my hand was a good reminder to take photos of the harvest bounty spilling over in the booths. The colors and textures and the scent of freshly baked breads were heady. Coming off the Thanksgiving holiday, remnants of appreciation for the abundance we have was still with me.



I first stopped and had a nice chat with the gentleman selling artisan bread at the Upper Crust Bakery booth. I asked him about his day and the history of the baked goods he brought. Upper Crust Bakery only distributes through farmers markets, and he gets up at 4:30 a.m. to bring this freshly baked bread to us. He said he couldn't get up as early as those who bake it! He drives all the way from Davis to get here by 7:30 a.m. to set up. He told me that a couple, Mo and Trudy founded the bakery some years ago, but now are semi-retired. Mo used to be a scientist at UC Davis, and he was careful to use his science background to adjust the recipes for good pH levels and great taste. I must agree after sampling some of the wheat bread I brought home!



Meet the farmer who provides me with many of the fresh organic herbs and leafy greens that I use in my recipes. In fact, most of the green ingredients I used for the Ash e-jow (Barley Soup) I prepared last spring were purchased from him. Without his laborious work and care for the soil and plants, the soup would never have tasted so fresh nor received so many compliments from the chefs I served it. You can't make great food without great ingredients - fresh, picked at optimum, and well handled to the market.



This is what I'd like to see more of - even though I want to be there before that 'sold out' sign goes up! Our farmers work hard, and sometimes are not able to find buyers for all the beautiful produce which they bring to market. This is a shame, yet I can understand since many people have work schedules such that it is very difficult to make purchases outside a grocery store with expanded hours. I feel very lucky to be in an area with a farmers market accessible in a nearby community nearly every day of the week.



This is my favorite apple booth. Chincholo Farms brings several varieties of apples to market each week, and this week I noticed that they have started making apple juice and apple sauce from their Pink Ladies, a very good eating apple.

If you love food, be sure to frequent your nearby farmers market. The only way we'll get more variety and preserve heirloom types of fruits and vegetables is if we make a habit of purchasing these things.

I just have to note here that I came home yesterday to find unusually high traffic coming to my blog. I was very curious... saw some comments from Europe and thought that onions must be very popular (the last blogging event I participated in was international Onion Day in honor of the Berne farmers market festival). Later in the evening, I found that Blogger had listed my blog in its "Blogs of Note". I'm very honored, and hope all my new friends and visitors enjoy what they see.