Strawberries Romanov Revisited

It's finally summer, or at least it is officially. However. here in Northern California, the seasons I loved most, Fall and Spring, and rushed. Just as they're about to unpack their back and grace with our presence they are given the bums rush like an unruly and unwelcome house guest. Then we Northern Californian's are swept into the frigid cold lower 40's (I don't want to hear any boo-hooing from you people in Michigan or whatnot, this is what I was raised with and to me it's cold), or as we are now, the sweltering heat in the 90's and 100's. Keep in mind now, that it's been that way since April.

Like a guest arriving to the party an hour too early, you don't know what to do with them. You smile and make nice, make them a drink and attempt to be friendly and formal all while still getting ready. Still, now that it's official, I'm not so much ready for summer as I am ready for it to be over.

Plus, you have to take into account that our summer so far has been marked by an adobe colored sun with a neon haze glazing through smoky skies. Lots of fires in California. Sparked by dry lightning, intense heat and winds, and tinder hills. If you move here, allow me to dispell a myth for you. We don't worry about earthquakes. We worry about fires. The air has a been thick with ash and smoke in what many would consider Biblical foreshadowing. Biking to work has no longer become an option as once I reach my destination my face is slightly greyed with two teary streaks running from my stinging eyes.

Hot and smoky, Nor Cal Summer feels like being stranded in a Mad Max film, but minus Tina Turner in a chain-link dress.

Still, I have my ways of escaping the heat. I rely on my ice cream maker a lot I admit. It's simple and requires so little work upon my part. However, I had left the bowl out overnight and I wasn't about to make it the old fashioned way without an ice cream maker since I'm lazy and all. I perused and found some strawberries on their last legs, how they made it that far is beyond me. Normally, they're all devoured within 24 hours. By all accounts they must have been hiding behind the milk.
An orange and some cream caught my eye and it dawned on me. Strawberries Romanov. A fancy but relatively simple dish that requires only the most basic cooking skills, it was one of the first for show dishes I ever learned. A dish that is rumored to have been developed by the pastry chef Marie Antoine Careme, who served it to Tsar Nicholas I of the royal house of Romanov. The dish was a supposed favorite of his children.

Not nearly served in such a regal manner, when I presented it it wowed people in the dorms and acted as a celebratory way to finish off a communal meal of curry and salad. But then again, who couldn't love a dessert such as this? Fancy liquors -which we loves-, berries glistening in their carbuncle hues, and billowy mounds of barely sweetened cream. It's a delicious treat, especially when served from nice crystal or wine glasses. A step up from when I used to serve it in a Lord of the Rings collectors cup from Carl's Jr.

In addition, just the name itself is pleasing. Strawberries Romanov. It sounds of regal history, of grande finishes to grander fêtes in Petrograd. However, in Northern California, for me, it's simply an indulgent way to stave off the sweltering heat.

Strawberries Romanov
Serves 4

What You'll Need...
1 1/2 lbs. strawberries, cleaned and quartered
2 tablespoons of Cointreau, Grand Mariner, or Triple Sec
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of orange zest
1/2 cup of cream
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

What You'll Do...
1) Combine the strawberries, liquor, sugar, and orange zest in a bowl and mix. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour to macerate.

2) Drain and reserve the juices. Purée about one-quarter of the strawberries with the reserved juices.

3) Divide the remaining berries into four glasses. Beat the cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form, then fold in the berry purée. Spoon the berry whipped cream on to the strawberries and serve. May be refrigerated before hand before serving for up to 3 hours, be sure to cover.

PDA -or- Getting to Second Base Behind the Black Angus at 5 PM

I'm not exactly the conservative type, for the most part I'm pretty laid back about things, people, and what people want to be or do. As long as you don't inconvenience me or piss me off in the process, I don't care. I will laugh at your emo poetry jams. I will mentally beg the powers that be to curse you if take forever to order your coffee. I will smack you with a stick if you take too long trying to find pennies at the drug store to buy a stick of gum. I will get pissy if you make a damn fool of yourself or have bad manners that even a hobo would cringe at.

Still, I'm human. I put my elbows on the table at times (except when my parents are armed with a fork at the dinner table, ow) and I can burp the lyrics to Mama Mia thank-you-boy-scouts-and-ABBA. I also do not mind public displays of affection, or PDA. Holding hands, quick kisses, butterfly eyes, and passionate kisses all are awesome and encouraged. I think it's sweet and innocent.

However (and there is a however) there is such a thing as going to far. Trying to swallow each other's faces over dinner? Too much. Trying to get your date off under the table with your foot while you daintily cut your steak? Just wait for the check and take it home. Doing it in the restaurant bathroom? Don't, I have to pee.

I mean, given, we've all had our risque moments out in public. There is a certain thrill and fun about them. I know I did it in the UC Davis Library. And the arboretum. Twice. But still, they were places of discretion. Not broad daylight for an audience.

Take yesterday for example, Rob and I were taking the back exit from a shopping plaza here in Sacramento, near Arden and Watt. The back way out isn't nearly as busy, but it's hardly what I would call desolate. As we moved towards the exit to the street I looked to my side...

"Hey, look there! Are they...?" I questioned with a smile of surprise and a bit of shock.

"Wow. Look at them go. In broad daylight no less." Rob actually slowed the car down. What else would you do? It's California, people slow down their cars for a lone boot in the road.

"Honk the horn at them!!! It'll be funny!" Because I'm a nice person.

"No! But wow, second base. Still next to a busy street, it's not like it's a good hiding place or anything. Everyone who takes a second to look around will see them," noted Rob.

"Still, behind the Black Angus against the dumpster? Ew."

Rob agreed, "Yeah, a bit too trashy." (Very punny.)

Rob pulled the car our of the parking lot and onto the road. "Still," I said, "I hope I can be that kinky when I turn seventy."

"Seriously. Go them." Rob concurred.

Cool Dessert Class

For those of you in the Sacramento area, I'll be teaching my first class. Well cooking class, at least. While I'm adept at teaching seventh graders about The Great Gatsby and comma usage, or ESL students about sentence composition, this is going to be my first cooking instruction to a group. I'll be working with two experienced and awesome chefs, Ann Rolke who has worked with great chefs and authors in restaurants across the country, and Shankari Easwaran a renowned chef. Both are also local food bloggers.

Thursday, August 7^th

Cool Desserts for Summer Hot Days

With Sacramento Chefs and Food Bloggers Shankari Easwaran, Ann Martin-Rolke and Garrett McCord

6:30 p.m. $35

Demonstration Class; Open to all ages.

Summertime in Sacramento is HOT, and you certainly don’t want to use the oven. And as good as ice cream and fresh fruit are, sometimes you want something a little more unusual. Join three local food bloggers and cooks as they show you how to make a variety of delicious desserts without breaking a sweat. This unique format will give you the chance to see the different styles of three cooks as they work individually and together in the kitchen. Menu items:

Almond Sherbet- Ground almonds blended with chilled milk, cardamom and saffron

Indian Fruit Salad- Fresh season fruits in simple syrup infused with cinnamon and cloves, a sprinkle of rose water and garnished with toasted coconut.

Poached Pear Sorbet- A delicious dessert that takes a fine winter classic and gives it a twist. Pears poached in a syrup of vanilla and lemon and pureed, then churned into a silky sorbet. .

Coffee Granita- A low-maintenance dessert, with coffee, espresso, and a bit of sugar mixed and chilled, then raked into a snow cone–like consistency. Served with a bit of fresh whipped cream.

Berry-Mint Panzanella- A bread salad made with blueberries, mint, and an orange–brown sugar sauce; toasted bread cubes and almonds add crunch.

Kir Royello- Jell-o for grown-ups, using champagne and raspberry gelatin to copy the flavors of the classic summer cocktail Kir Royale.

To sign up call the Sacramento Whole Foods and register for the class. (916) 488-2800

Do I Really Sound Like That? -&- CLICK for Bri Update

The video from my first live cooking demo is up. It's a bit nerve wracking for me to put it up here, mainly because I kinda enjoy for the most part what is my anonymity, but what the hell, right?

Now keep in mind that Shankari doesn't say anything because we only had two microphones. Also, I am nervous as hell during this whole deal. Shankari had to grab my hands (off camera) to keep them from shaking. I don't recall any of this, it's just a blur to me, though I recall yelling in my head to myself at the end of it, "STOP LOOKING AT THE GROUND! LOOK UP AT THE CAMERA OR AT TINA. WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? STOP LOOKING AT THE DAMN GROUND!"

On a personal note, I am shocked and upset at the fact that I apparently have the gayest sounding voice ever, and some limp fucking wrists. Goddammit. But maybe it's just me being self critical...

If you want the recipe for the cupcake featured it's right next to the video or you can go to it's original posting HERE.

Anywhose, the CLICK for Bri fund raiser is going great! We're more than three quarter of the way to our goal!!! If you haven't donated, I hope you'll take a moment to check it out. There are some awesome prizes up for grabs in our raffle from camera equipment to cookbooks to personal cooking lessons!

Honestly, I'm a better teacher in person... which you can soon see if you so choose. But that's the topic of the next post, so be sure to return dear reader.

New Meals in Old Sac (The Firehouse - Sacramento, CA)

I did an interview with the new chef of the Firehouse, Deneb Williams, for an E.S. article about a year ago. It was a whirligig of an interview to be sure. The chef whizzed ahead of me giving me a crash course tour and history of the building, bobbing and weaving through ancient wine cellars and bulletproof vaults of old tyme 400 year old brandies, and into the kitchen where I had to nimbly dodge cooks and trays of salad courses all while trying to listen and retain every word he said.

By the time we reached the second dining room I had abandoned the notepad as it had become futile. Still, the article was completed and resoundingly so. I was quite proud. I brought a copy of it over to the chef as thanks. As we sat down he questioned me about when I would visit for a meal.

"Yeeeeah, probably not soon..." I was fearing this question. In fact at this moment I was mortified. The Firehouse is a high end place. My bank would probably hunt me down if I tried to use my debit card here. I had to admit to the chef that my chances of dining there were slim to none, as one course can run around $45 dollars, not including wine. A full on meal can run about $100 per person easily on the low side of things.

However, thanks to OpenTable.com, a recent Wine & Dine event was held in which The Firehouse was taking part. A three course meal with a separate glass of wine pairing for each course. $45 per person.

I made the reservations that day.

I attended with Rob and friend Kaiti and Dan, two good friends who were more versed in wine than me. We were all sat in the posh and formal dining room, large Victorian paintings, velvet, dark lighting, very "classic up-there restaurant." You know the type.

The main goal of this venture was to one: be voyeuristic into Hyper-High class dining (except for Kaiti, her work holds luncheons there regularly, lucky punk); and two: to see if the place lived up to the hype. Plus I wanted to see the chef in action after a year.

We started with an asparagus bisque paired with a 2003 Ironstone Chardonnay. The bisque was pure, the asparagus slowly circling around your mouth and then flowing away leaving a faint memory of fresh springtime tastes. A slight nibble on the sides of your tongue brought on by some spring leeks helped give the whole soup a piquant flavor. The wine was light and airy, and enhanced the flavors of the bisque and vice versa, like a little dance. A prosciutto-Parmesan palmier danced in the soup with a an asparagus tip. Enough to keep it interesting and give a bit of play. A win.

A Wagyu beef sirloin with a mushroom sauce was to-die-for. Perfectly cooked, perfectly balanced. The meat melted in your mouth and mushrooms meaty flavors backed up creating layers of flavor. Served with some squash and garlic mashed potatoes which were like potato-y air or silk. It made me wonder why I had stopped making mashed potatoes in the past few years when they can be this good.

The 2003 Shanandoah zin that was served was... heavy. A bit bitter due to the sweetness of the meat. While Dan appreciated it, I did not, and Kaiti seemed to fall in the middle (Rob doesn't really drink much wine).

The final course was a chocolate torte, a heavy cake base followed by a chocolate bourbon mousse, and a fine ganache. Topped with cocoa swirls, cocoa powder, and a bit of raspberry coulis. I was hesitant about bourbon, chocolate and raspberry, but it all played well. The bourbon's natural dark tones paired enhanced the chocolate. The raspberry coulis gave enough tartness to cut through all the overpowering sweet. The chocolate covered coffee bean on top was unnecessary, but that's my only fault to point out.

At first I wasn't enjoying the dessert wine, a Renwood port, but once sipped after a bit of chocolate it perked the senses and came a alive with flavors of berry and cocoa.

We were full and happy. Portions were fair, the meal well done.

The Firehouse lives up to it's reputation as one of Sacramento's cornerstone restaurants. With the Sac Food scene booming like never before, it's easy to lose sight of these classics. They remain because of their tenure, skill, and ability to preform perfectly time and again. I know the lure of each hip, new locale can be tempting, but try to find a chance to get away and dine in Old Sac. You won't regret it.

The Firehouse
1112 Second Street
Old Sacramento, CA 95814
916.442.4772