Beautiful Boletus Edulis

Sungold Tomato Jam

right now my kitchen is redolent with the most amazing smells. I am making this tomato jam from my sungolds and it will take an hour or so to simmer before I can process it. The ingredients are a yellow onion, a table spoon of finely minced garlic,two pasilla chilis,a generous pinch of spanish saffron, a huge chunk of finely chopped fresh ginger, a tablespoon of toasted cumin seed, a generous bit of aleppo pepper, red chili flake, thyme, lemon zest and the juice of two lemons, a shot of rice vinegar, sea salt and cracked peppercorns. About 1 cup of organic cane sugar. I sauteed the onions,ginger, chilis and garlic in about a quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil, and then added the saffron and dry ingredients. I let these simmer a bit to infuse the elements then added the tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients. After the jam has formed, i'll process for about 20 minutes. One can also skip the processing and refrigerate and they should keep well a couple of weeks. a perfect condiment for grilled meats, or even a fine cheese on artisan bread!

Apples!

today i began harvesting apples. the precious pink pearls and gravensteins. today i made a wild blackberry, pink pearl apple galette, tomorrow, apple sauce then cider, then....butter! chutney!

this evening's dinner

 Best Beloveds,  Esteemed Friends and Fans of HERE @ The Whale Bar

Life once again presents an alternate path for me and so now HERE will no longer be there, and the road ahead is uncertain. I want to thank all of you who came and supported my quirky venture, with special heartfelt thanks to Mary Alinder without whom I never would have been able to fill the room with out. John and Paula are moving in and this is going to be wonderful for them, our community and Steven to have an ongoing restaurant there. I wish them great success. My undying love and devotion to  Amanda, Aimee, Heather , Ren & Hoolis. To Mike, Kelle and James, Jen and George for their amazing food they raised and harvested with incredible care and love.

But especially I honor and tip my hat to

 Steven Suddith, n'er a man more graceful and generous

You are a jewel.

 With deep appreciation and gratitude I will move forward.

When Summer becomes Winter

We coast dwellers are having our winter now.

This is my favorite soup of the summer season but today, as I write this

I may want to serve this Roasted Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho

hot , instead of cold.... I filled my clay pot with a variety of heirloom tomatoes, red jalepeno

yellow onion and garlic, slathered in olive oil, sea salt and black pepper and roasted

until the tomatoes have carmelized.

I then blend it in the blender until smooth, chill, season to taste and garnish

with a fine mince of english cucumber, chive and red onion.

Dreamy.

I took a few months off from writing and HERE  to go inward, plant my garden

re-evaluate what I needed, what I value and how do I share my work and this devotion with my community.

It is now mid summer and we coastal natives are blessed with temperate weather, the summer fog cooling the ridge tops and river valleys, feeding the redwoods their beloved mist.

I wake each morning to the sea scattered with the salmon boats

the newly born ravens screaming for breakfast

that softness and reassurance that the morning fog brings to my mountain.

The honey bees have arrived en mass, perhaps changing my ideas of hive collapse.

The garden is now beginning to offer her harvest, the orchard abundant with fruit, the bees wrecklessly in love with my poppies and lavender, the nopales flower, the Burmese honeysuckle blossom.

When I am quiet I can hear buzzing and feeding, the pollination is audible.

These are my first harvest of leeks

and in the spirit of offering, abundance and deliciosity

I give you my

 Leek Fontina Tart

First you'll prepare a 12" tart shell, lining it with pastry dough and chilling well.

Clean and cut , ah, about three or four leeks (if they are smallish)

and saute' in extra virgin olive oil, a dash of red chili flake, sea salt and cracked black pepper

until very tender. I like to get the pan hot first and give them a bit of a sear first, a wee

bit if crisp, then slowly braise.

Take this leek yumminess and fill the tart pan and generously grate fontina cheese

on top. 

Bake at 375 degrees until the cheese has fallen in love with and married the leeks

&

the crust is nicely cooked.

June Schedule

Beloved and Esteemed HERE friends and fans

Due to unforseen circumstances I will not be re opening as planned so do hope to resume on June25th.

However i do intend to keep writing here and will be offering

new images and recipes.

With bells on.

Thanks all for your patience!

May Schedule Announcement for HERE

 Beloved and esteemed HERE friends and patrons,

I will be taking the month of May off, to have a personal retreat and to also re structure HERE.

We've been struggling with the concept and it is clearly not flowing or sustainable at this point.

Never to be the person to jump ship, I intend to spend a good deal of my retreat working on a new formula.

I welcome all suggestions!

Blessings and Gratitude Always

 we'll see you back at the Whale Bar on June 4th!

Menu for Monday, April 30th

A Salad of Grilled Asparagus with a Hot Avjar Aioli

Tagine of Patrick's Chickens, with Spring Onions, Preserved Lemons and Sundried olives

A Tabouleh of French Green Lentils and Wheat Bulgar

A Tangle of Spring Greens, Cultivated and Wild

Strawberry Rhubarb Tarts

Menu for Monday, April 23rd

As of this afternoon, I am still waiting to find out what local produce is available, so let's just say it will be a delicious menu that will accompany slow cooked lamb shanks.
how bout that?

Menu for Monday, April 9th

Kale and Red Beet Stem Fritters with Saffron Aioli

A Fish stew with Anise, Fennel, Potato, Fiddle head fern and Fresh Coriander Leaves

A pile of Wild Foraged Greens from Miner's Hole, the beautiful bounty of these March Rains

Almond Honey Toffee stacked on top of  A Vanilla  CupCake

Menu for Monday , March 26th

so, last week we were unable to open as i did not have enough bookings...

i love this menu, trust me, so will you.

Happy Spring.

A soup of red beans and beet greens with celeriac and rutabega 

Three small salads of chick peas, currants and wheat bulgar , roasted red beets with preserved lemon and red onion, arugula and watercress.

Potato Cakes filled with lamb, carmelized onions and pine nuts, A roasted yam and butternut squash compote with cilantro and green chilis, sundried olives and chive, a bowl of tangy yogurt mint sauce.

Rose Water Rice Pudding

Sold Out!
Hurrah!

Menu for Monday March 19th

Three small salads of chick peas, and wheat bulgar , roasted beets with preserved lemon and red onion, arugula.

Potato Cakes filled with lamb, carmelized onions and pine nuts, A roasted winter squash compote with cilantro and green chilis , a bowl of tangy yogurt mint sauce.

Meyer Lemon Curd Tart

Menu for Monday March 12th

A Lenten Dinner................prepared, as best I can, the way my grandmother Alexandria would have loved to eat it.
What I know from her.
 Here.
So this menu is Quirky, and there will be lentils and fried onions, lemon, cumin, tahini. the greens that arrive first, the ones that cleanse and nourish.
there will be irrevent references to fish and abstinence. there will be cures for all the things you gave up
for Lent, there will be offerings this last full moon left in the creek.

sweetness, always.

so, yes. there you have it.

                                                  SOLD OUT!!!

Bride's Cookies to Dip in Goat Milk Cajeta

Menu for Monday March 5th

My friend Cherille Cochran asked me if i would make duck tacos again. She joins her family in owning and running the lovely Rollerville Cafe, flanked between Point Arena and Manchester. The Rollerville Cafe is wonderful. Always delicious, fresh and friendly. So here you go Lady, your duck tacos!

Just for you!

Caldo Verde with Kale and Chorizo

Confit of Duck Tacos. Handmade corn tortillas, black beans, blood orange mojo de ajo and butternut squash salsa


Papas Fritas with Chili Lime Aioli

Goat Milk Cajeta with Bride's Cookies for dipping

Foraging Spring's Divinity

 divine sweetness here... the Garcia tricking. Miner's lettuce, wild watercress, the Hemlock stretching out, these twigs, the wild fennel, tenacious and ardent. The scents of mud and green. mingled.

Beautiful pumpernickle breads, just, from the brick oven....

New Winter Hours and Schedule

Hi Everyone!
Well due to the erratic and unpredictible bookings I've decided to open on Monday nights only. If more demand comes I will add on a Tuesday offering. But until we get past the winter doldrums, we will be serving Monday nights only, one seating between 5:30 and 6pm. Please do call me or email for reservations!
707 882 3286  or shanita@wildblue.net
Thanks!

Menu for Monday February 27th

A Salad of Arugula and Roasted Lutz Beets with Silver Poodle Goat Cheese

Artisan Pumpernickle Bread from my Brick Oven

Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder with Braised Collard Greens and a Gratin of Yukon Gold potatoes and Sugar Pie Pumpkin

Bittersweet Chocolate Pot de Creme




!Sold Out!

Menu for Monday February 20th

                                                               Let's try this again!

A Warm Kale Salad with Crispy Fried Onion Rings , Bacon , Balsamic

Catalan Chicken with Black Trumpet Mushrooms on Creamy Polenta

Apple Tart Tatin with Creme Anglaise

Obsession: Vintage aprons

I have always had a problem with chef wear. Those starchy, hot, white jackets, ill fitting and constrictive. An air of military and confinement. The starchy tall white hats, totally impractical and ridiculous. This uniform, set standard by men chefs, likely in some cold European country, for me is an act of garment terror.

I did not learn to cook from men, nor in the confinement of a culinary school. I wore a uniform for 12 years attending private Parochial schools in my youth, and had enough of uniforms when I began to cook. Thankfully, none of the kitchens I worked in demanded that I wear a uniform and only for the so called ‘chef events’ was I asked to wear one. I did, reluctantly.

Over the years I have cultivated my own personal cook wear, consisting of a pretty eccentric collection of vintage kitchen aprons and matching Chuck Taylor’s.  For years I wore overalls and bandanas. Kitchens are hot, and the work is demanding and rigorous, and although one has to protect oneself against the elements, it’s crucial to be comfortable and need I say, stylish!

When I wear these aprons, it evokes for me all the amazing talented women who allowed me into their kitchens. Beginning with my maternal Lebanese Grandmother Alexandria,, who is my base note, my Welch father’s sisters who lived in Rodeo, California who taught me how to bake and preserve. The elaborate, embroidered aprons worn by the women I came to love and admire during my sojourn in southern Portugal, these women living on farms and in small villages, running tiny cafes and mastering the cuisine of the Levant.  The women at the farmer’s markets up in the hills, selling kale or chickens, or tomatoes, wearing checkered or floral or Mickey Mouse aprons over their black widows garb. All of these women wore these kinds of aprons, that they wiped their hands on, soothed the tears of a child with, wiped up a spill of olive oil on the counter, dusting off the nose of a messy dog, blowing their noses.

The marketplace in Oaxaca, a symphony of color and delight as every woman there , adorned by a beautiful handmade apron, the eye feasts and is transported by the dizzy combinations of pattern and color.

These aprons are made by hand; you can see the stitching, and the care that went into their design. The lively and curious fabrics, carefully chosen, whimsical, ironic, often sexy and provocative, a wee bit of metallic somewhere to insinuate a festive night.  A ruffle here, an applique there. Each carry within them a story, every one of them, with stubborn stains that will not come out, the cross stitch of someone's name on the hem.  A red wine stain, a spot of gravy, a hint of charcoal.

This legacy carries generations of cooking and nurturing and kitchen fashion and for me this is where my heart lies, in the holding of our style statement, as a woman, a chef, and obsessive collector of a beautiful, historical tradition.

Work Wear

X - Soul Kitchen

Menus for Monday February 13th and Tuesday Valentine's Day

Monday, February 13th

A Warm Kale Salad with Crispy Fried Onion Rings , Bacon , Balsamic

Catalan Chicken with Black Trumpet Mushrooms on Creamy Polenta

Apple Tart Tatin with Creme Anglaise

Tuesday, Valentine's Day

Dungeness Crab Tamale with Green Mole

Confit of Duck Tacos, handmade tortilla, black beans, confit of duck

Roasted Winter Squash Salsa and Blood Orange Mojo de Ajo

Papas Fritas with Chili Aioli

Flan

Tuesday February 7th

Roasted Carrot Salad with chick peas, red onion, jalepeno and mint

Rabbit Tagine with preserved lemons, saffron and sundried olives , Couscous and Arugula

Orange Blossom Scented  Blood Orange Curd on Semolina yogurt cake

Ginger Lime Cupcakes to finish tonight's Crab Cake Feasting!

Black Trumpets, today's forage!

The Menus for Monday & Tuesday, the 6th & 7th of February

Monday I'll be offering

 A Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup

 Crab Cakes with a Sauce of Roasted Red Chili paste, coconut milk and Kaffir Lime , Jasmine Rice and Tempura Broccoli Florets

 Ginger Lime Cupcakes


Monday night is sold out!

Tuesday will be The Rabbit Tagine Menu from the previous week, which I did not do as we cancelled that night.

Please make sure to reserve in advance!
@
shanita@wildblue.net'
707. 882. 3286

Finally! the Crab!

The past few mornings, I wake to the sea illuminated by the lights of the crab boats finally able to go out and harvest their cages. The sky still dark, the sea punctuated by circles of light evoke a dreamy anticipation in me.I have been waiting for the Dungeness crab for weeks . Last night Eric came into HERE and brought me 12 beautiful sea spiders. They are exceptionally large this year (hoping not a nuclear mutation right?). My kitchen is redolent with the boiling crab, the bay leaf, chili flake and lemon.  I will flash freeze the meat to hold it til later. Crab cakes they'll become for Monday's dinner.

Sunday

I left the hill this afternoon to pick up my food for the dinners this week.

I had played phone tag with Mike all week about the bunnies, but we managed to finally connect and were to meet at the farm at 4.

I met Geo in town earlier and picked up the lamb for the Birria, and had a late afternoon time set to pick up the squashes from Kelle and James.

When I called them, I knew that they had to finally put down their beloved dog Betsy

yesterday and it felt awkward and trivial to ask them about squash but when I called James was gracious and welcoming and having been there myself, in fact Kelle and I shared siblings of two different litters over this past 20 something years, which I suppose binds us as even more than family. Her beautiful Betsy is the same age as my Rosie, and this hits close to home on many levels. I arrive there, and they are hanging with family and friends and the grief is palpable, but they are so loving and warm and James brings me these crazy beautiful squashes, again to say that these folks create beauty and love and music within all the rich bounty and challenge that life is.

I leave there to meet Mike to pick up the bunnies that his son Kyle introduced me to last week. When we met, the sky was beginning to shift, wind picking up and the creek was much cooler and shrouded in shade by the bare alders and willows along Shit creek and Mill Street was alive with guys hanging out by their trucks as the swoosh on chill of a winter squall formed.

Mike’s partner Karen Ann had just left this morning for Hawaii to sit at her mother’s bedside, where she was finally letting go after a long bout with cancer. Mike pulls out two large bags of perfectly dressed bunnies for me and we weigh them out in his office as the stories of Karen Ann’s mother, Betsy’s passing, the very present and stark awareness, was perhaps compelled by winter, the green pasture with the Muscovy ducks eating bugs, the goats silent in their pen, the trickle and swoosh of the creek nearby, the crick crack of Alders in a symphonic collision with the wind and the distant sea swell.

Today, my church, my Sunday, before my Monday, the constant beauty and tenderness of life, of sustenance, how fragile it all is, how precious we all are.

This life.

crazy beautiful spaghetti squash from kelle and james

Menus for Monday January30th & Tuesday the 31st

Boy, did this month fly by!


Here are my offerings for the coming week... Beautiful Greens and squashes from Kelle and James, Reverant Rabbits and Lamb from Windfall Farms and plenty of heat and spice to warm us on these cold winter nights...Enjoy!


Remember that our seating is very limited so reservations in advance are a must! email or call me for one! shanita@wildblue.net or 707.882.3286

Monday

Winter Greens Soup, collard, kale and chard, the best of dark leafy greens in a hearty soup scented with lemon

Lamb Birria (lamb marinated and slow cooked in a red mole) served with white beans and roasted spaghetti squash all dressed up with fresh cilantro

Guajillo Chili spiked Chocolate Almond Tart with a cactus pear puree

Tuesday

Roasted Carrot Salad with chick peas, red onion, jalepeno and mint

Rabbit Tagine with preserved lemons and sundried olives , Couscous and Arugula

Orange Blossom Scented Orange Curd on Semolina yogurt cake

Tonight's Cassoulet, ready for the brick oven!

News Flash!

We are not going to serving dinner on Monday the 23rd, as we did not collect enough reservations.

We will however be serving on Tuesday so come join us for Cassoulet!

The opening of HERE

The few days leading up to our opening of HERE were some of the most remarkable days in recent memory. We were in this long stretch of mild weather, the temps low, with that hard frost in the morning  but then later on the sky clear and crisp, the sea calm.

Sunday morning I went to visit Mike at Windfall Farm, his young son Kyle greets me at the gate with a wild flurry of ducks flying about his head and scattering at the arrival of my car . Kyle laughs amid the flapping of wings and squacking of duck and geese and exclaims that he just let them all out at the very moment I drove up! His eyes bright  with delight and humor. I am there picking up the beets and the onions, and Mike invites me to help pick the red brussel sprouts . I am deeply moved as he patiently and tenderly shows Kyle, who is 6, (with small hands and agile fingers), how to reach into the plant and snap off the sprouts. Mike is kind and Kyle is eager and we walk down the rows of plants talking about the coming menus and what I can make with what he is growing this winter and do we think it will ever rain again.

Kyle takes me over to the Rabbit House and introduces me to the breeding rabbits by name, and explains why some of them remain and some of them don’t and he shows this impressive confidence about his knowledge of them and their attributes.

He even shares with me his favorite way to to prepare them.

This last September I inaugurated my wood oven and celebrated my birthday with a huge pizza and dance party at my home, and we set up our friend Justin in the doorway, where she nearly killed us all, DJ’ing unstoppable dance tunes, all the while Kyle, danced with every one of us and also mostly did his tremendous moves in front of Justin’s set up.

Kyle, master farmer, rabbit breeding expert and break out dancer.

The next day I went to Kelle and James’ farm and picked up the most beautiful greens, They where honestly poetic, as Kelle and James are in all that they do, breathe and their farm on the ridge, just a few miles from me, is a work of great love, devotion and a deep and true understanding of gardening on every level. I was overwhelmed by the aesthetic of it , every inch a visual feast.

The bags of purple mizuna, baby arugula, romanesco broccoli florets, rainbow chard, dino kale and baby collard greens, vibrant with life and love, beautifully bagged and boxed, waiting for me.

Kelle and James’ old dog Betsy, who is the same age as my Rosie, is very ill and their

grieving and worry was palpable that morning, and we all stood around in their parking area-loving Betsy up, talking about why she can no longer eat, chard, and wondering about the rain, that promised to come but has not.

Opening day, I cooked…and tried to anticipate what was ahead, we were not full which was actually a relief and as I left home to go to the bar, I got in my car and it

was dead…..so I had to run over to Mark’s house,(thank god he was home), with my swanky coat on, clean Chuck Taylors, and red lipstick… me, now ,running behind. Classic.

We prevailed.

Heather’s childcare fell through and so her beautiful daughter Estelle

Joined us, she tucked away in the wait station with her ipad and her Rubik’s cube, but she mostly spent the evening with Ren and I in the kitchen. She was lovely and mindful and when I would forget something she noticed.

Ren is the son of my dear friend Aimee, who is also serving there, and I was at Ren's birth…His Blessing Way was here at my home, and his mother and I have been friends and co-workers for 25 years.

Ren was instantly perfect in the kitchen and he made my experience more beautiful than I could have ever hoped for. I am as mad for him now as I was the day he was born, when Aimee fed on  the wild blackberry crisp, I brought to her right after birthing him.

The women serving for me have been with me since 1994, Amanda, Aimee and Heather, and we are more than family. We are old friends, confidants, we know nearly everything about one another,we have been through thick and thin together, their children grew up in my restaurants, they and their mothers are part of me and I am part of them. Here we all are again, 18 years later, back at it.

Tonight as I write this it is raining.

The Menus for Monday & Tuesday, the 23rd & 24th of January

Our first week open went really well and we are all so delighted to be doing this and welcome you to HERE


To aquaint any new viewers , We are doing 1 seating between 5:30 and 6pm  and I am offering a prix fixe 3 course menu for 35.00 per person, a 20% gratuity will also be added to the check, corkage is 15.00, but Steven is offering a lovely Mendocino county wine selection, small but great and Hoolis is concocting amazing mixed cocktails from incredible top flight alcohols and exotic ingredients. It is mandatory to make a reservation, as seating is limited and i cannot open if we don't have enough bookings. . Hope to see y'all soon! For reservations, please email me at shanita@wildblue.net.


Tuesday January 24th


Roasted Pumpkin Soup


Cassoulet prepared with flageolet beans, garlic sausage, confit of duck and pork shoulder
Braised winter greens grown by Kelle and James, with a wee bit of garlic and lemon


Creme Caramel

Dinners at the Whale Bar

                           Looks like I will also be doing dinner on Tuesday nights as well.

                    Here is the Menu for Tuesday, January 17th. Email me for a reservation!

                                                            Roasted Parsnip Soup

               Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder with prunes, shallots , thyme and Balsamic    

                                  Mashed Yukon Golds & Braised Red Brussel Sprouts and White Cabbage

                                                        Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding

Obsession: Duck Fat

All of you that know me and my cooking well, know one of my secret ingredients is duck fat.
I will most often use it as my source of fat to cook with, unless of course it is a vegetarian dish i am making. I render my own duck fat, as I prepare confit of duck regularly and it's very easy to do. The flash point is pretty high and it won't combust or smoke as readily as olive oil, it's twin, will do. I prefer to mix fats, as they do in Moroccan cooking, to build a baseline of flavor for the searing of meats or vegetables. If one were making perfume, you would consider it the base note, to which all other ingredients gather their flavor and integrity. Is there anything better than potatoes roasted in duck fat? The potato galette pictured below was prepared by brushing the cast iron skillet with duckfat and then arranging the thinly sliced potatoes in a spiral pattern around the pan. I sliced these on a mandolin. I did three layers and each layer was brushed with liquid duck fat and then salted and peppered. The final touch, a drizzle of heavy cream, a scattering of kalamata olives, chili flake and flat leaf parsley...salt and pepper. Roasted in a 400 degree oven til golden brown.

There are many health benefits to duck fat. Duck fat contains 35.7% saturates, 50.5% monounsaturates (high in linoleic acid) and 13.7% polyunsaturated fats.(Which contains Omega-6 and Omega-3 essential oils). This compares to olive oil which is: 75% monounsaturated fat (mostly oleic acid) 13% saturated fat and 10% Omega-6 linoleic acid and 2% Omega-3 linoleic acid. The main difference between chicken, turkey and duck is that duck contains more linoleic acid, which chicken and turkey contain a higher amount of polyunsaturated fats. It seems as if duck fat is more like olive oil than it is like butter.


The complexity and richness of flavor is an added bonus to the health benefits.

The New Year's Day Pizzas

Woke early on the new year's first day. Lit the wood oven, and made offerings and intentions

as the fire began to take hold and burn. Offerings of Copal and 

Sage, Sandalwood and handfuls of forest moss and lichen.

Amid

the southern skies blazing crimson, fragrant with the incense smoke, the sea swell pounding and the faint barking of seals,

I prayed, for peace, for rain, for equality and prosperity for all, for our collective hearts to be filled with love, connectedness and community.

I slathered the bottom of the pizzas with Hot Ajvar, a yummy Turkish red pepper condiment , that is a beautiful backdrop for the other ingredients. Fresh goat cheese, arugula, paper thin sliced white onion and preserved meyer lemons, marinated lamb, oodles fresh mint and flat leaf parsley, Ras el Hanour....a drizzle of cilantro infused olive oil.

Our New Year began with the gathering of friends and family, all we usual suspects, feteing, sated, and  blessed with more pizza than we could eat.

Dinners At the Whale Bar

Beginning Monday, January 16th, I'll be offering a prix fixe 3 course dinner served family style

for 35.00 per person at Steven's bar in Point Arena.

A 20% gratuity is also required.

I will be posting the menus here and hope to serve Monday and Tuesday nights,

one seating beginning at 5:30pm.

The seating is very limited and so reservations will be necessary.

Please email me at shanita@wildblue.net or call me if you want to make reservations.

Here is the first menu

Mike's beets, roasted in the wood oven with crispy fried leeks and a Meyer Lemon Vinagrette

Confit of Duck, with thyme and Fried Sage Leaves

on a Potatoe Gallette, Mixed Winter Squash Gratin, with carmelized onions, toasted hazelnuts and Bellwether Farms Carmody cheese

A warm Apple cake with Mendocino Sea Salted Caramel Sauce and Soft Sweet Cream

We are so excited and do hope to see y'all there!

Happy New Year!