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Indian Summer Panzanella

Tomatoes for Panzanella

Summer’s Bounty

“Tom got up and went outside. He looked at the summer stars, at blue Venus and red Mars.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Often when we eat at a restaurant I am inspired to recreate a special dish from our dining experience. My recipe may only resemble the fantastic food we enjoyed at the restaurant but that doesn’t quell my food memories or the drive to be inspired by professionals. Or the final outcome of creating a great new recipe from the inspiration. This panzanella recipe is one such inspiration from Chef Brendan Jones of Lokal in Carmel Valley. Voluptuous with the over abundance of late summer in California this panzanella shouts with vivid color and sumptuous flavor. It’s just the the right mix of acid, sweet and crunch. This panzanella salad is Indian Summer on a plate. The salad ingredients of watermelon, heirloom tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, basil and toasted bread are similar to the Panzanella served at Lokal. I only wish I had the recipes for the Chef’s dressing and foam that graced my spectacular salad. If you visit the Carmel area Lokal would be a phenomenal dining experience. All offerings are fresh, seasonal and locally sourced. READ MORE . . .

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Tomatoes with Bread Pudding and Roasted Carrot Salad

Tomato Bread Pudding

Looking for John Steinbeck

“You can see how this book has reached a great boundary that was called 1900. Another hundred years were ground up and churned, and what had happened was all muddied by the way folks wanted it to be–more rich and meaningful the further back it was.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

East of Eden is a work of fiction that also includes real Steinbeck family history. Which makes for a very fascinating story. While John’s family history in the Salinas Valley unfolds the biblical parable of Cain and Abel is told with (mostly) fictional characters. John Steinbeck includes his mother’s, Olive Hamilton, family members as main characters in the novel. Olive’s parents, Samuel and Liza Hamilton are featured prominently in the novel. He wrote very little about his father’s family, the Steinbeck’s. I visited the San Benito County Historical Society to learn more of John Steinbeck’s paternal family history. READ MORE . . .

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Savory Summer Hand Pies

Savory Hand Pies

Summer Longing

“I don’t know whether you notice it, but it seems like every other word you say is California. Do you really want to go?”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Living along the central coast of California is nothing less than divine. Except, except we really don’t have a summer. We have fog. By August there are rumblings of fall. I become anxious. Summer is like a fad sweeping the northern hemisphere and I’ve missed out on the latest trend. I long to complain about endless sunshine and a kitchen too hot for baking. Dinner on the patio without wearing a sweatshirt is just a fantasy. Actually leaving the house to go anywhere without a light jacket is just plain foolish. If by chance it is sunny, the fog can return at any time. Our summer vocabulary is studded with “when will the fog burn off” and “when will the fog roll back in”. I live in a place where a day above seventy-five is considered hot. We tend to melt at anything above eighty-five. It may be August, but I’m still longing for summer. Any day now our Indian Summer will arrive and wrap us in late season sunshine. We’re ready. READ MORE . . .

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Purple Bell Peppers

Stuffed purple bell peppers

Summer Sunshine

“Late in the summer Lee came in off the street, carrying his big market basket.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

The best summer cooking revolves around as much glorious fresh sweet corn as possible. Piled high with summer vegetables our dinner salads have been graced with the addition of corn barely cooked in butter. A scoop of fragrant corn melts into the salad greens and no dressing is needed to compete with the blast of summer sunshine that adorns our dinner plates. There have been no complaints regarding my interpretation of salad for dinner. But if you must add dressing to your salad, a vinaigrette with a very light touch of vinegar leaves the sweet corn plenty of room to shine. READ MORE . . .

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Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffed zucchini with oregano

Summer Dreams

“Adam brooded around the house all morning, and at noon he went to find Lee, who was spading the dark composted earth of his vegetable garden and planting his spring vegetables, carrots and beets, turnips, peas, and string beans, rutabaga and kale.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Each spring I get excited about gardening and have dreams of growing vegetables. Nothing exotic, tomatoes and zucchini would make me happy. I would love to be complaining about too much zucchini and hundreds of cherry tomatoes! My enthusiasm is always dampened by the coastal fog and the stealth army of snails that that greedily devour our little seedlings. I am hopeful. This year the month of May has been filled with sunshine. Even when the day begins covered with a gray blanket of damp fog the sun has arrived mid-day. With almost daily sunshine the tomato plants are growing. The snails are being snobs and ignoring the Romano beans I planted on a whim. After I transplanted them I wistfully wondered if they would last. The second planting of zucchini is surrounded by a copper rings and the snails have mostly found other tender delicacies for their insatiable appetites. I am hopeful. READ MORE . . .