 |
| Roast Crown pumpkin stuffed with spinach, Fontina, and a poached farm egg. |
For ages now, the vegetarian entrée has been a category of project with which I have a special relationship. Back in my restaurant days, I found myself often the recipient of that challenge-- and there was often a palpable sense of relief on the part of my colleagues, as if they'd escaped it in delegating it to me. I am a seasonal produce fanatic... I've often said that I think that seasonal produce just may be the seat of my inspiration as a cook. I can't explain in, but a perfect little head of cabbage can make me batty, and the thought that this New Zealand jaunt means I'll miss out completely on such natural magic as FRESH FAVA BEANS, well... it's almost enough to make me regret coming. (Almost.) I honestly will spend whatever sum I bring in my pocket to the farmer's market. Self control? None. Then I will run a relay all week long to use up my spoils before they, well... spoil. It's like drugs, but, um, not.
 |
Cazuela of lentil and kumara stew (with red wine, rosemary, and cream. Mmmm...)
with shirred egg and flakey cheese pastry straws. |
Two back-to-back winters = so many root vegetables! So much winter squash! Those marvelous cabbages, beets, pears. I love winter crops too... but knowing that back home the first of the tender greenies are making their way out makes me pout, just a little.
 |
Stuffed cabbage with leek and mushroom risotto, picked up in sage-butter
and finished with a slab of Taleggio cheese. |
Living in the bay area might make me extra sensitive about vegetarians... the fact that numerous, beloved members of my family are vegetarians probably also has something to do with how warm and fuzzy I can get about creating something spectacular out of ingredients that are not braggarts, like RIBEYE or LOBSTER, or DUCK or something. The little vegetables, the humble lentil... I feel that the sensitivity required to transform these quiet morsels into something special calls to me with a unique resonance. Not that lobster isn't amazing, or isn't as much a gift from and opportunity to connect with the earth as the fresh shelling bean. But the way asparagus is one thing at the beginning of its season, and a week later has evolved from a scrawny yet juicy, tender and sensitive something into a sturdy teenager of its former self, requesting a peeling and a careful, impeccably-timed cooking... this daily shifting connects me to something magical in the earth. It shuts me up and asks me to listen, it banishes preconceived ideas about a vegetable or a fruit and forces me to start only with what's there, only with what IS, to humble myself in the interest of (the best part--) seeing what happens if I stop thinking I know.
 |
| Bitty tomato-custard tarts wth basil oil, a single, darling pine nut, and Parmesan cheese. |
Oh, and it turns out, it's not just entrées! Here is some more vegetarian fun. Here's to the vegetable!
 |
Påte brisée bites stuffed with spinach,
mushrooms and Parmesan |
 |
Whole wheat bread-box (what else to call it?) Brushed
with butter, toasted, then filled with steaming tomato soup and topped with cheddar cheese. A lil' minute in a hot oven? Tastes like your mother loves you. |
 |
Broccoli soup with farm egg yolk, Parmesan and black pepper
This one's for my brother, Anders! |
