Archive for the ‘Appetizer’ Category

I created this recipe as part of the menu for an industry-night at Paul Mathew winery’s new tasting room. I love it because it has cheesy deliciousness and is fragrant with herbs and lemon zest. It works well with sparkling wines and wines higher in acidity, like Muscadet or Sancerre. This dip makes crudité much [...]

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I’m not going to start with apologies for the long lag between posts, but allow me to say that it was a hell of a summer. We are now moved into our new house, and the market isslowing down for the fall season. One of the best harvests in recent memory has just finished and [...]

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I love seafood any time of year, but there is something about summer that makes me crave really fresh and briny shellfish. We recently took a stunningly gorgeous drive to Hog Island Oysters, about 45 minutes from Monte Rio. The twisted road took us through bucolic roads flanked with pastures, to the sunny coastline, and [...]

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The inspiration for this recipe came from a five year old July Gourmet magazine that I stumbled upon recently. God, I miss that magazine, with its gorgeous, mouthwatering photography and the imaginative recipes. The recipe was so beautifully simple, designed to highlight perfect summer produce at their peak. Besides summer corn, the other magic ingredient [...]

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This Japanese-inspired dish features my new favorite seafood marinade with great summer seafood. Its easy to prepare and so flavorful. I separated the scallops and shrimp onto different skewers because they cook different lengths of time. I skewered the lemon slices in between every couple pieces of seafood to enhance the lemon flavor. I also [...]

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Sultry summer days call for cooling foods. We are getting some toasty ones here in Northern California, so I wanted to publish this recipe for those customers who have requested it. Its a delicious soup, simple and so refreshing with its blend of herbs, good-quality yogurt, and cucumbers. I add white pepper and cayenne in [...]

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I got home from work today and my love greeted me with a request to cook her up a new and tasty cocktail. This is what I whipped up to make her a happy girl. The Monte Rio Tango 2 parts fresh OJ 2 parts gin 2 parts pomegranate juice 1 part Aperol Mix well [...]

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This pie can be served either as an appetizer, with a green salad, or as a beautiful meatless entree. If you want to play up the mediterranean flavors more, replace half the Monterey Jack with feta, but half the amount of salt that you add. I used store-bought crusts because eliminating that step makes this [...]

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