Napa Valley food fest
The American Harvest Workshop at Cakebread Cellars I attended last week was all about the best foods and wines in the country and those who know me understand that I would rather take photos of my meals than my surroundings. So this is the "What I Ate In Napa Valley" post. I hope it looks even a smidge as good as it tasted, because this was world-class. I have been drooling over these for days, editing and remembering.
Part of the excellence was the quality of the products. Vendors supplied organic and unusual products from all over the valley, which, as I understand it, has a Jack-and-the-Beanstalk quality for growers. They drop in a seed, out comes something magnificent.
I've included food writing on my resume for more than two years now and the meals at the workshop, whether a simple group lunch or a four-hour, seven-course dinner extravaganza, will go down in my gastronomic diary as some of the finest I've ever had the pleasure of eating.
I could not stop clicking pictures of the wonderful artistry around me. So now I share with you four days of nonstop indulgence and true food porn.
Large sea scallops on roasted corn with chili oil and microcilantro.
Seared venison with blue oyster mushrooms and a merlot reduction.
Wee ducky dumplings in a tomato and vegetable broth with heirloom beans and herbed goat cheese.
Heirloom tomato salad with fresh basil and olive oil. These are, hands down, the most fantastic tomatoes I have ever had the pleasure of tasting IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! Orange! Yellow! Red! Striped! I ate them every chance I had because bowl of them decorated several of the rooms. Have you ever eaten a vine-ripened tomato like an apple? It is one of life's great pleasures.
The tomatoes as part of the meal with cedar-planked salmon with wild mushrooms, and a celeraic-apple salad. Paired with a glass of sauvignon blanc, it was midday perfection.
From the fig files: This plate and two bottles of wine made another lunch for a group of us. Raisin-walnut bread, fresh figs and soft cheese drizzled with honey. So simple and completely lovely.
Rice pudding with a roasted, syrupy fig nestled in its creamy goodness. This was the most stellar dessert of the entire trip.
An appetizer of fresh fig, garam masala-coated goat cheese and edible flowers on sourdough.
Warm mushroom salad with oven-roasted heirloom tomatoes and warm bacon vinaigrette. I helped prep this one and write down the recipe. Very exciting!
Herbed salmon on roasted veggies.
Feeling as I do about cheese, I have decided that this will be my final meal on earth, should I get to choose. Cowgirl Creamery made the goat cheese and my superfandom continues. What a wonderful business.
Gnocci with garlic flowers in a tomato-garlic broth.
Seared duck breast with wild mushrooms on herbed potatoes.
The last dessert of the last night, chocolate souffle with vanilla creme brulée. The most impressive thing wasn't even the dessert, which was quite scrumptious, but the fact that the chef got 72 out in ten minutes time using two regular-sized ovens. It was magic. That tall, squiggly thing was a sugar garnish.
After all this eating and eating, my diet efforts were slightly derailed. The handy thing is that I now just roll myself down the streets for exercise. Nice.
x-posted to trixie_skips
Part of the excellence was the quality of the products. Vendors supplied organic and unusual products from all over the valley, which, as I understand it, has a Jack-and-the-Beanstalk quality for growers. They drop in a seed, out comes something magnificent.
I've included food writing on my resume for more than two years now and the meals at the workshop, whether a simple group lunch or a four-hour, seven-course dinner extravaganza, will go down in my gastronomic diary as some of the finest I've ever had the pleasure of eating.
I could not stop clicking pictures of the wonderful artistry around me. So now I share with you four days of nonstop indulgence and true food porn.
Large sea scallops on roasted corn with chili oil and microcilantro.
Seared venison with blue oyster mushrooms and a merlot reduction.
Wee ducky dumplings in a tomato and vegetable broth with heirloom beans and herbed goat cheese.
Heirloom tomato salad with fresh basil and olive oil. These are, hands down, the most fantastic tomatoes I have ever had the pleasure of tasting IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! Orange! Yellow! Red! Striped! I ate them every chance I had because bowl of them decorated several of the rooms. Have you ever eaten a vine-ripened tomato like an apple? It is one of life's great pleasures.
The tomatoes as part of the meal with cedar-planked salmon with wild mushrooms, and a celeraic-apple salad. Paired with a glass of sauvignon blanc, it was midday perfection.
From the fig files: This plate and two bottles of wine made another lunch for a group of us. Raisin-walnut bread, fresh figs and soft cheese drizzled with honey. So simple and completely lovely.
Rice pudding with a roasted, syrupy fig nestled in its creamy goodness. This was the most stellar dessert of the entire trip.
An appetizer of fresh fig, garam masala-coated goat cheese and edible flowers on sourdough.
Warm mushroom salad with oven-roasted heirloom tomatoes and warm bacon vinaigrette. I helped prep this one and write down the recipe. Very exciting!
Herbed salmon on roasted veggies.
Feeling as I do about cheese, I have decided that this will be my final meal on earth, should I get to choose. Cowgirl Creamery made the goat cheese and my superfandom continues. What a wonderful business.
Gnocci with garlic flowers in a tomato-garlic broth.
Seared duck breast with wild mushrooms on herbed potatoes.
The last dessert of the last night, chocolate souffle with vanilla creme brulée. The most impressive thing wasn't even the dessert, which was quite scrumptious, but the fact that the chef got 72 out in ten minutes time using two regular-sized ovens. It was magic. That tall, squiggly thing was a sugar garnish.
After all this eating and eating, my diet efforts were slightly derailed. The handy thing is that I now just roll myself down the streets for exercise. Nice.
x-posted to trixie_skips