Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

You know, TLC had it wrong when they sang that song. Ive found that chasing waterfalls in the most literal sense is one of the best things a person can do. Waterfalls are majestic in their space, whether it's 40 meters tall or just 1 meter. The way the earth can be carved out by something so simple as water pleasantly reminds me that there is little I can do to battle the force of nature. I had the most pleasure in talking a self-proclaimed waterfall hike along the Hatea River in Whangarei, a town about 3 hours north of Auckland by bus. With each bend in the river, I came across things I had never seen before. Foliage casually draping itself across the path, Kauri trees that seemed as tall as my Redwoods back home, and of course, the waterfalls, made for a surprising and peaceful walk.

The Whangerai Falls





A creek into the Hatea River



Canopy Walk



Kauri Tree, standing tall


Elegantly placed across the path


Pukenui Falls



Tree roots as stairs....



...And the canopy as an umbrella


Waikoromiko Stream


And back to the Hatea River



It was a beautiful walk, and as my mom would say, everything just looked like a picture. So this one is dedicated to my Momma, Happy Mother's Day <3

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Wonderful Wines of Waiheke

Well, I have to admit, this country is growing on me quickly. Though I have only been here a full day, it is something quite amazing. Yesterday was ok food (though my SOUP was good), rainy and umbrella-less. But today was a beautiful offshore island, with wine, beaches, and the most gorgeous sunset. We're off to a good start.

I spent today on Waiheke Island, about a 40 minute ferry ride from Auckland city. I took the 10 am ferry and managed to squeeze in a few photos and have a lovely chat with a family from Bangladesh.

The ferry building and ferry:


The boats at the entrance to the harbor:



After making my way down to Oneroa Bay, I had to wonder, how on Earth do they have wineries here?!!
Shells etc washed up on shore:









The island is tropical and lush, with aromatic flowers and palm frawns all around.



And in my walk, I hadn't seen any vineyards to this self-proclaimed "Island of Wine", so I assumed that they were just confused. Well, was assumption was happily wrong as I found my way to Goldwater Vineyards.



Goldwater was the first winery established on the island in 1978. And they are so popular that they have run out of their Bordeaux style blends from previous vintages and are anxiously waiting for their 2010 to be released. Luckily for me, the rest of their wines that they have available for tasting were exceptional. They had their Goldie Estate Chardonnay and an Island Rose that was off the charts. In addition, it was a very nice location and the pourer, Collene, was very nice, and had been to California. A great way to start.






I meandered my way ( and I mean trekked aroud a bay and then up a giant hill) to my second place Mudbrick.



I started with the Standard tasting menu, but upon evaluation from the tasting room employee, he graciously bumped me up to the premium wine tasting list. They had a fantastic Chardonnay that was grown on the island. When I reach for a white wine, I normally go for a Sauvingon Blanc or a Pinot Gris and try to stray away from the Oak-strong buttery Chardonnays. But this one was light and delcious and very easy to drink as it was 2/3 in oak barrels and 1/3 in stainless steel blend. Yum! Another delicious wine was their 2009 Reserve Syrah, grown on the island. well balanced with white pepper spice on the nose and big plum on the palate this was a delicious wine. Plus the vineyard had fantastic views and a quiant little greenhouse to boot, making it an ideal destination.









My last vineyard was the more commercial Cable Bay Vineyards, just down the hill from Mudbrick.



But being more commmercial did not mean their wines were any less superior then the others, it just meant they have a distributor in California! Again, I was pleasantly surprised with the Chardonnay, grown on the island. They had a yummy Pinot Gris as well, not too sweet, and just about right on in acidity. Also in their tasting lineup was a Pinot Noir from Central Otago, which makes me very excited to go down and visit there, and a delicious blend they called Five Hills. It had an interesting green pepper nose to me, and a yummy plum and cedar palate. Before I jetted down to catch the ferry, I tried to grab a photo of their fantastic view of the Auckland skyline.



And made it just in time for the ferry, coming in just as I made it down the hill.






As I said, we're off to a fantastic start.


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On the Road Again

This here is a picture my first meal crossing the international date line, crossing the equator, but most importantly, this here is a picture of my first meal in New Zealand.


Impressive right? Well looks may deceive you but this wasn't actually bad. In fact it was quite good. It was encouraging to me to see Japanese people outside of this japanese curry house, and since it was raining and my last minute traveling left me without an umbrella, I decided to stop in. Seasonal veggies, rice, and that bright red stuff was ginger

This hereeeee is a picture of my second meal in New Zealand, a new take on potato and leek soup.



I went to the store and picked up this GIANT leek, and a kumara, a starch like veggie that looks similar to out potato.



I simmered the leek in oil, added some spices of ginger, Chinese five spice, curry powder, salt and pepper, and added just a bit of garlic. Add a veggie bouillon cube to the potatoes cooking in water, throw in the leek, some cream and Houston we got soup! Soup that my fellow hostelers were asking me about, since it looked more appetizing and smelled more appetizing then their can warmed up in the microwave.

So here I am, ready for my next adventure. This trip will take me to places that I have only dreamed of, places that are so different then my last travels in Europe that I can't even imagine the dishes that are coming my way. I can only hope that you'll once again follow my culinary travels, and be just excited as I am about them!

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St Patty's Fare

Lovely impromptu dinner at Casino Bar & Grill in Bodega tonight for some traditional and un-traditional Irish food. Great deal, great place, GREAT food.

Started with Green Lentil Soup with Red Wine Braised Bacon and a nice Truffle Oil float on top

Moved on to a Dungeness Crab Toast with Lemon Mayonaise & Butter Lettuces

With of course, Corned Beef Brisket, Cabbage, & Spring Vegetables. 

And a Strawberry Rhubard Fool that was so creamy and delcioius it was eaten up in a snap!

Thanks Chef Mark!!

Oh Hey its Pozole!

Dad got a little excited over the weekend to cook and broke out the La Caja China and some pork. What resulted was a 20 lb pork leg slow roasted for 12 hours with nowhere to go. So for the past week, we have been eating pork, and lots of it. A success that was turned into dinner then lunch and lunch again was Pozole, a yummy Mexican corn and pork soup. Traditionally, the soup is cooked with the pigs head and trotters, put in the pot in the morning and cooked on a slow simmer for the entire day. I didn't have that, but I still wanted to keep the soup as traditional (and yummy) as I could. My family thought it was successful, but the true test was to bring a bowl to my co-worker, born and raised in Mexico and claims to have a mean pozole himself. The result? ¡Que Delicioso!

Recipe:
For Soup 
2 Tablespoon cooking oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, sliced
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Teaspoon coriander
1/2 Teaspoon each salt and pepper {more to taste}
1 T ground chili (ancho chili powder if you have it)
1 Tablespoon oregano (Mexican oregano if you can get it)
Approx 2 pounds SLOW ROASTED pork leg (could be shoulder, or the aforementioned head and trotters)
1/2 Cup Tequila
29 oz can of hominy corn
32 oz chicken broth
32 oz water

For Salsa Roja
2 dried pasilla peppers
2 dried guajillo peppers
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 onion
4 clove garlic
1 Teaspoon oregano
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Juice of one lime


Okay, don't be concerned by the long list of ingredients. Its super easy to throw together and all you have to do is walk away and let it simmer for some time. And for me, it was way faster with having the pork cooked aka perfect for a bunch of leftover pork!


To start, grab a soup pot to cook in. Slice the dried peppers for the Salsa Roja in thin strips, remove the sees and place in a bowl of water for them to rehydrate.  Over medium heat, saute the onions in the oil until just translucent. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and celery cooking till celery is just soft. Careful not to burn the garlic! Add the spices, (all of em!) and cook until you start to smell them, about a minute. Add tequila, and cook down till its not such a sharp alcohol smell, approximately two minutes. Add the chicken broth and water and hominy corn. Now is where the recipe could change. If starting with RAW meat, add and cook for at least one and a half hour, or at least till the meat is falling off the bone, but please please consult another source to make sure!!  If starting with COOKED meat, cut into a bit smaller then bite size and cook for about twenty minutes, till the meat is soft and warmed through.


Either way, while the meat is cooking or re-heating, make the Salsa Roja! Grab the now soaked peppers from the bowl of water, careful to save about 1/2 cup of the 'soaking' water for reserve. Saute the onion and garlic on low till the onion is translucent. Add the spices and cook about a minute. Add the peppers, onion mix, lime juice and reserved water into a food processor and pulse till smooth. I didn't toss any of the reserve water till I was confident that salsa was smooth enough in the processor. 


When the meat is done (whichever way you choose) add the Salsa Roja to the mix and simmer for about ten minutes. Serve up in soup bowls with all the traditional fixings-cilantro, avocado, radishes, and my favorite crumbled cotija cheese. 

I would be interested to try a non-traditional Pozole now. Maybe with lamb and some Moroccan or Greek spices and vegetables??  Possibilities are endless.


Thanks to RadioGastronomy and Good Food, Good Wine, and a Bad Girl for recipe help!!!

Over the River & Through the Woods to the Sonoma Coast We Go

Sometimes it takes an outsider to introduce you to something that is right in your own backyard. In this case, two people, one from Washington and the other from Tennessee showed me a plentiful treasure known in my own Sonoma Coast this time of year, as mushrooms. We set out on a gorgeous Saturday morning, five people with muckboots, baskets, and field guides, in a search for our own gold-chanterelles.

Perfect place for finding treasures

Sadly, we weren't the only people who had treasures on our minds, and though the drive was effortlessly beautiful, it became quite important to find our own secret "X" on the map. Spot one turned out to be nothing but a false alarm, and the what seemed like endless row of cars parked on the side of the road, we finally found our mile marker.

Searching for mushrooms is a very interesting task. First of course, is the finding of a good spot, not trampled and picked over. Second, is not picking up mushrooms that could kill you. Third, is not picking up the mushrooms that are going to inhibit your driving skills (amongst others) for the next few hours. Our goal was that elusive chanterelle, a wildly sought after edible mushroom, first gaining popularity in French cuisine in the 1700s. Since, they have been harvested for use in personal and professional kitchens alitke. Our hope, since the season started a few months ago, and tapers off in a few weeks, was that we would be lucky enough to find some left, or some new growth after a perfect combination of weather in the last few days.

All these pictured here, not what we were looking for, but beautiful nonetheless

After about five hours of searching, one lunch, two spots, and ten muddy feet later, we ended our treasure hunt with less gold than we had hoped, but something equally as exciting, black trumpet mushrooms.

Trumpets sounding

The black trumpet is hard to spot, as it seems to perfectly blend in with the dirt, moss, and decaying wood around it. People can literally walk over patches of it. Once we found our first batch, our eyes became more peeled then before, looking for these little guys. Once we felt as we had our fill we headed back to town.

One of  the baskets of goods

Upon returning back to town, we decided to make a homemade pizza with our bounty. The dough was almost focaccia-like, fluffy and perfectly crisped. We topped the pizza with a scrounged together pesto (the best with just basil, garlic, olive oil and walnuts), shredded some cheese (Parmesan and mozzarella), topped with some various veggies, and proudly laid those trumpet mushrooms all across the dough.

Preparing the dough

Spreading the pesto

Almost gone

 

 

One of my slices, a whole perfect black trumpet in one bite.

The meal was fabulously homemade and went perfectly with the mushrooms. It was just quite the legendary day, filled with all the treasures a girl needs.

Ski Bum

Living in Northern California, I am very fortunate to live so close to one of the States most beautiful areas, Lake Tahoe. I have spent at least seven of the last ten days in Tahoe, skiing, snowboarding, sledding, basically being the biggest ski bum I could possibly be before heading into some semi-sorta real world life for a little while. The first weekend was spent in South Shore, for some New Years celebrating, and some fresh powder on New Years Morning.

Early Morning Snow

10 am blizzard

Frolicking

New Years Day was spent in the fresh snow, cooking for some friends (and friends cooking for me), and a fabulous rowdy game of Taboo.

I braced home for two days before heading back up to the snow with the family for four nights. With a house full of 18-24 year old boys and girls (the house held 15 and my parents were the only 'adults'), we planned feasts to feed the masses. Days were spent skiing our hearts out, and nights were pleasantly filled with good food, wine and great people. Night one had rib-eye steaks, night two was a duck chili that had been simmering on the stove for two days, night three had ribs slow roasting in the oven for five hours, and night four we had roast beef.

Cheers to a great day

Ribs, potatoes, broccoli

Slicing the roast

Whewwww! Then there was dessert, a Dutch Apple Pie from Ikeda's, which was eaten too quickly to get a photo of but for anyone who is heading to North Shore from the Bay Area, a stop at the cute country store is a must. We also brought up some Payard chocolates from New York, and Peanut Butter Cups from Bert's Desserts in Petaluma. Both very decadent and delicious.

Pretty patterns

Like a Reese's but WAY better

Of course, you can't forget breakfast, in which a pound of bacon was eaten in the morning. Hello food coma. Luckily, the skiing burns a calorie or two!