Napa Valley Food: Auberge Du Soleil

19 Jun

Surprise Breakfast – Auberge Du Soleil

After eating enough calories for the entire month the night before, we woke up on our third day for a lovely breakfast at Auberge Du Soleil. This romantic resort is tucked away on the mountainside in Rutherford, just up the Silverado Trail from our hotel in Napa.

The dining room and terrace over look the vineyards below and must have a stunning view of the sunset. While soaking up the sweeping views, I enjoyed the Provençal Omelet. Perfection. Definitely the best omelet I’ve had [sorry Sarabeth’s]. While we probably won’t be staying at this luxury spot next time we’re in Napa, we definitely plan on coming back for dinner!

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Napa Valley Food: La Toque

14 Jun

Surprise Dinner #1 – La Toque

Dan pretty much planned our entire trip and he kept all of our dinner locations a secret. Each night I was surprised with a fabulous dinner [and a not too shabby dinner date to go along. hehe]

We were staying at The Westin in Napa, which happened to have a Michelin Star restaurant attached to it, La Toque. Since we had spent the majority of the day traveling, it was nice to simply take the elevator one floor down and enjoy a full flavored dinner.

To start, Berries & Bubbles! [Dan loves girly drinks!]

First Course (Me and Dan) – Beef Carpaccio. I’m slightly obsessed with this thinly sliced raw Angus beef tenderloin. Who knew raw beef could taste so good!

Second Course (Me and Dan) – Foie Gras Seared with Medjool Dates. I’ll never pass up Foie Gras, never!

Third Course (Me)– Pan Roasted Quail and Poached Quail Eggs. I’m not going to lie, part of the reason for ordering this dish was because it made me think of Quail Man! Light, moist and bursting with flavor.

Third Course (Dan) – Slow Cooked Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin.

Fourth Course (Me) – Boneless Lamb Loin with Cumin Scented Carrot Puree and Chick Pea Fries. Lamb and Fries…sign me up!

Fourth Course (Dan) – Prime Angus Rib Eye Served Rare with Cheddared Pearl Tapioca. I can vouch for the cheddared pearl tapioca…creamy and cheesy. The Wisconsin girl in me was happy.

Dessert! (me) – Hazelnut cake with chocolate sauces and salted caramel ice cream. We were pretty tired by the end of our meal, so we asked to have our dessert to go. Chocolate in bed, true fantasy! Dan had a chocolate flourless cake, which we didn’t get to that night, but no worries, it didn’t go to waste…cake for breakfast!

One of my all time favorite desserts.

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Napa Valley Food: Bistro Jeanty

11 Jun

Surprise Dinner #2 – Bistro Jeanty

Dan and I had actually eaten at Bistro Jeanty nearly 5 years ago on our first visit to Napa. However, we were rookies in the foodie field and didn’t understand the level of awesomeness that was in front of us. I think I ordered tomato soup. Whomp whomp.

This time around, we were ready. Plus, we had our two friends along for the ride, Zach and Kendra. They just happen to overlap us in Napa, so it only made sense that we enjoy some phenomenal French food together.

Appetizers – Escargot, Pork Belly over Foie Gras with lentils and Lobster Dumplings. We should have stopped there. Such rich flavors.

But we didn’t.

Main courses pursued.

I stuffed my face with the lamb neck “osso buco” with black olives and creamy polenta. The lamb was so tender and simply flaked of the neck bone. It was a very heavy meal, and I couldn’t even finish it all, which made me so sad. It was so delicious, I didn’t want to waste any of it. I should have stopped there.

But I didn’t.

Dessert happened. Chocolate crème brulee and berry bread pudding.

This was a perfect example of the delectableness of French cooking. Within about 2 hours I was 9 months pregnant with the biggest food baby I’ve ever had. Totally worth it.

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RAW 20: Homemade Energy Bars

26 May

Homemade Energy Bars

If you haven’t heard, I’m heading to Napa tomorrow for a long 5 day weekend. Meaning, I’m going to be devouring some amazing eats and savoring the fruits of the valley – not cooking any new recipes this weekend. In order to keep my RAW new year’s challenge, I decided I would make something before the weekend, something I can grab and take with me as breakfast/snack during the 6 hour plane ride to SFO. Hmm…Well, I am a big fan of bars…Larabars, Luna bars, Clif bars…pretty much any type of bar [wine bars included, hehe J]. Sooo, why not make my own to take on the trip!

There are about a million and five different recipes for granola/energy bars out there, but this one tickled my fancy.

Mashed banana, PB and honey. I could have stopped right here and eaten the whole bowl.

Topple on the dry ingredients [you can pretty much pick whatever you’d like to thrown in]

Mix and spread.

Freeze and cut.

Boom! Done and Delicious

Verdict: Amazing! They should probably be called homemade CANDY bars, because these babies are sweet!

Level: Super simple

Make Again: Absolutely! I would probably half the amount of honey this recipe calls for, because I feel guilty about how sweet they are. Maybe add a second banana instead to help stick the ingredients together. Add-in options are endless!


Ingredients:

1.5 cup McCain’s quick cooking oats

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped unsweetened cherries and a handful of raisin mix (any dried fruit will work)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup maple syrup (or agave, honey)

1/2 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter)

2 tbsp ground flax seed

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Mash banana in bowl.

Add sweetener of choice and nut butter. Mix well.

Add in remainder of “dry” ingredients. Mix well.

Spread in small backing pan and stick in freezer for a few hours.

Cut in rectangles or squares and Enjoy!

 


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Raw 19: Portobello Mushroom Pizza

22 May

Portobello Mushroom Pizza

Who doesn’t like pizza? It’s cheap [generally] and easy. However, I’m not a fan of the flour/wheat crust and I wasn’t feeling up to preparing my own gluten free dough, so I chose an easier route. The mushroom curst. A friend of mine actually posted a pic of her mushroom pizza one night, which got me stoked to try my own.

start with the ‘shrooms!

remove stem and scoop out gills [is that what they're called...gills?]

I dressed up the boring pasta sauce from last weeks meatless meatloaf muffins with some spices, onions and garlic, yum!

fill the caps!

and dress them up!

It’s like a pizza bagel – but better!

Verdict: Delicious!

Level: Super easy!

Make Again: Most definitely! You could even do a mini version and have them as appetizers at a party!  [note - chose a ticker sauce, the watery ones tend to leak]


Ingredients:

1 large portobello mushroom, stem removed

1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese [I used goat cheese]

1/2 tablespoon sliced black olives

4 slices pepperoni sausage [no pep for me]

1 clove garlic, chopped

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Place the mushroom on a baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven, and spread spaghetti sauce in the cup of the cap. Top with cheese, olives, pepperoni and garlic.

Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and golden.

 

 

 

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RAW 18: Meatless Meatloaf Muffins

14 May

Meatless Meatloaf Muffins 

I really never liked meatloaf as a kid. I think whenever Share-bear made it, I doused it in ketchup to hide any taste of the actual food it was made of. However, for some reason I was feeling an inkling to make some. But not just any meatloaf. Since I don’t like buying meat, I needed a meatless meatloaf. Peas and Thank You to the rescue!  The fact that these are in muffin form made them a million time more appealing. I’m really dig’n the use of muffin tins!

Flaxseed and marinara. Not going to lie, the marinara I bought wasn’t anything worth buying again – but it didn’t have any added sugars or other “gunk” so it kept things on the healthy side.

You will need some big muscles to mash these beans

The olives are a must – I love the flavor they add. And be sure to let them cool [unlike me] otherwise they fall apart a bit.

Verdict: I’m satisfied with them!

Level: Easy. The hardest part was mashing the beans. You gotta put some muscle into it!

Make Again: Yes –   easy to make ahead and have for a few lunches throughout the week on top of a kale or broccoli slaw salad. Plus you can dress them up how ever you’d like. Slice up some avocados and a little salsa and they are now Mexican meatless meatloaf muffins :)


Ingredients:

1/2 cup marinara sauce, jarred or homemade, divided [1 added an extra 3/4c cup]

1/4 c. flax seed, ground

Two 14 oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 of a large onion, chopped

3/4 c. oats

1 t. minced garlic

1T. Worcestershire sauce

2 t. olive oil

2 T. nutritional yeast

1/2 t. dried oregano

1 t. dried parsley

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. cracked black pepper

One 5 oz. can of sliced olives (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 c. of the marinara sauce and the ground flax. Stir to combine and set aside to thicken.

In a large bowl, mash pinto beans with a fork or potato masher.

Do not over mash, we aren’t looking for refried beans, but a nice chunky texture.

Add onion, oats, garlic, Worcestershire, olive oil, nutritional yeast, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper.

Stir to combine.

Add in marinara flax mixture and stir until fully incorporated. –I added about 3/4c more marinara at this point

Scoop bean mixture into a muffin tin that has been lightly greased or sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, until edges are starting to brown. Top each muffin with a spoonful of marinara and a few sliced olives.

Return to oven for another 10-12 minutes, until muffins are firm and set.

Allow muffins to cool for several minutes, as they will firm up even more, before serving.

 

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RAW 17: Coconut Flour Banana Muffins

8 May

Coconut Flour Banana Muffins

I’m still trying to stay away from chocolate, candy and sweets; however, I wanted try something new that I could use as a grab and go breakfast or snack. Muffins popped into my mind, as long as they weren’t loaded with sugar. So I set out to find a gluten free low sugar muffin. Luckily I already had coconut flour in my cabinet [not sure why…] so this recipe seemed perfect! [bonus that it already was gluten free!]

I went all out coconut and finally bought coconut oil! This stuff is raved about all over the blogosphere. It feels like butter, and tastes like coconut. It’s in a more solid state, so melting it down was key when it came to combining it with the other wet ingredients.

This is me sifting the dry ingredients…no sifter, no problem!

The recipe said the batter would be thick, which I didn’t believe could happens since the wet ingredients were super runny, but it did thicken up once the wisking was complete.

I decided to sprinkle a little shredded coconut on top for a some extra flair

Verdict: Pretty good! They have the texture of banana bread with the flavor of a dense and moist coconut pancake.

Level: Easy. The hardest part was making sure the coconut oil was properly incorporated into everything.

Make Again: Yes! I may even try them with different fruits. Blueberry would probably be awesome!

Also great with a smear of almond butter!


Ingredients:

1 cup organic coconut flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder

1/8 teaspoon Himalayan salt

6 eggs

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil

3/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas (mashed)

 

Directions

Preheat oven at 350 F degrees.

Sift the coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together into a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl beat eggs together. And add butter, coconut oil, milk, honey, sugar and vanilla. Whisk together to blend.

Whisk in coconut flour mixture and bananas until well blended. Batter will be thick. Divide batter among the muffin tins lined with paper liners.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

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RAW 16: Pumpkin Shrimp Curry

6 May

Pumpkin Shrimp Curry

I realize this is not a very spring sounding meal. I wanted to do something with shrimp, and this caught my eye taste buds, so I went for it. I made a few adjustments along the way, as noted below.

This part always makes me cry

I would recommend using a stock pot of some sort, at this point things were getting pretty full in my sauce pan.

confession: I didn’t fry my scallions, just sprinkled them over the top.

Verdict: Not bad- I actually liked it better the next few days as leftovers for lunch.

Level: Medium, remembering when to add which ingredients threw me for a loop a bit.

Make Again: Possibly. Maybe without pumpkin next time – it was good flavor, but overpowered the sweet coconut taste that I like in curry. I might try it with potatoes instead of the squash.


Ingredients:

 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sliced onion

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

[1 jalapeño, seeded and grated – I wanted a little more heat in the flavor]

1 chopped plum tomato

1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée

2 cups vegetable broth [I followed the reviews and only used 1 cup]

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder [I added more for flavor]

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper [ I added more for spice!]

1 cup roasted butternut squash, roasted and diced

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Steamed rice

Cilantro

Lime zest

Fried shallots

 

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ginger; sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 1 minute. Stir in plum tomato and pumpkin purée; cook, stirring frequently, until pumpkin is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, curry powder, and cayenne pepper; simmer for 20 minutes. Add butternut squash, shrimp, and lime juice. Simmer until shrimp are cooked and squash is warm. Serve with steamed rice. Top with cilantro, lime zest, and fried shallots.


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RAW 15: Roasted Artichoke

6 May

Roasted Artichoke

Yes, I realize this is more than 2 weeks late…but like they say, better late than never!

This silly “job” I have has gotten in the way of my posts recently…as well as my weekend laziness.

Anyway- I’ve wanted to roast an artichoke for sometime now. It looked easy and tasty. So, on a rainy day, I grabbed the ‘choke and went for it.

Per usual, I added extra garlic

Verdict: meh. I was very underwhelmed by the flavor. I enjoy artichoke dip and artichokes in my salad, but this was sort of bland. I also was a bit confused as to which parts I could eat…

Level: Super easy

Make Again: Probably not – it just wasn’t tasty enough. Maybe I am doing something wrong?


Ingredients:

Artichoke

Lemon

EVOO

Garlic

Salt

 

 

Directions

 

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RAW 14: Spicy Black Bean Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries

18 Apr

Spicy Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

The weather has been so summer like the past few days and it got me in the mood for a typical summer night dinner…burgers! But not just any burgers [because those are boring], spicy black bean burgers. Added bonus – I had sweet potatoes in the fridge so I could give my first batch of sweet potato fires a try.

For the burger – I pretty much followed Jenna’s recipe, except I subbed quinoa for Panko. [these are protein packed gluten free burgers!] I also added a little red onion.

Luckily my food processor showed up!

There were quite a lot of beans, so I had to mix them in the processor in batches – My little chopper friend was getting a workout, that’s for sure!

I put the mix in the fridge for a few minutes to “harden” up a bit – it seemed a little to wet to form into patties at first.

I also had a hard time cooking them in a pan [I am handicapped when it comes to flipping anything], so instead, I baked them in the oven

For the fries – I just sliced up the sweet potatoes drizzled with EVOO + salt and popped them in the over for 13 mins at 450 – then flipped. I think they are better when they are a little charred. [I’m not just saying that because some most of mine turned out that way]

Verdict: Delicious! A little crumbly, but I didn’t mind that because I didn’t have mine on a bun. Maybe the Panko would help them stick together better.

Level: Easy, as long as you have a processor or blender, otherwise mashing the beans by hand would totally blow.

Make Again: Oh, For Sure! The fries were great [and healthier] and the burgers make great salad toppers for lunch the rest of the week, I love repurposing leftovers!


Ingredients:

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 T ground flax + 3 T water

1 jalapeno

2 cloves garlic

2 T tomato sauce

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

2 tsp cumin

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen and defrosted)

avocado for topping

olive oil (or canola oil)  for frying burgers


Directions

Seed and roughly chop jalapeno. Add it and the garlic cloves to a food processor (or high speed blender) and mince finely. (Alternatively, you could chop them yourselves very finely but it’s just easier at this point to throw them in a food processor.)

Add one can of beans to the jalapeno/garlic mixture and pulse to combine. Add cumin and salt and pulse until mixture resembles chunky black bean dip.

In a small bowl, mix together the ground flax and water. Let sit for five minutes.

Transfer the mixture in the food processor to a large bowl and stir in the bread crumbs, tomato sauce, flax and corn. Stir well until everything is combined. Add remaining black beans.

 Heat a little olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Form black bean mixture into patties and fry for about 4 minutes per side, until golden and crusty brown.

Serve burgers with avocado slices, sriracha and ketchup.

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