"The Greatest Meeting Of Land And Sea"

Even under steel gray clouds, Highway 1 between Monterey and Cambria is still one of the most stunningly beautiful drives in the world. Big Sur is pristine with just the narrow ribbon of highway tracing its circuitous route to intrude on nature. I craned my neck to peer at the few glass houses perched impossibly at the top of rocky precipices, windows opening to the awesome expanse of blue sea. The sense of vast time is palpable in a place where the landscape has molded by time so long in duration that human history is just a recent blip and the human footprint so faint. I craned my neck to look at the homes with their panoramic views and imagined that being in one would be what Kate Winslet experienced at the prow of the Titanic--heading into the power and immensity of the ocean, face to the salty wind, with every cell vibrantly alive from the experience!

We stopped at Nepenthe to browse their gift shop of books, organic lotions, shiny Indian sari throws, pottery and jewel-tone, drapy, Northern-California-style clothes--and to have lunch. Their roasted beet salad was served on a crunchy breadcrumb/nut base and the crostinis with baked goat cheese were fabulous dipped in their tomato/smoked cheddar soup.
We'd been to Santa Cruz, had a nice Italian meal at Cafe Mare and made our usual visit to Shadowbrook where the meat eaters had prime rib and I had the scallops with sherry mushroom sauce and spinach.

I appreciate that all their seafood is sustainably harvested! If you haven't been to Shadowbrook, make a point to go in the evening when strands of twinkly lights illuminate the hillside garden. It's a romantic spot, but kid and teen friendly. The prices are high--$20-$30 per entree, but one can eat in the convivial "Rock Room" with a reasonably priced menu of sandwiches and salads. We shared a great half bottle of the Seghesio Vineyard Zinfandel with our dinner. I wish more restaurants served half bottles--one glass of wine with dinner for each of us is perfect. When eating out, we usually order by the glass which is ok in restaurants with a decent wine list, but in many, the wines by the glass are noticeably inferior to the ones by the bottle. We stopped at Moonstone Beach in Cambria on the way down to have our Easter egg hunt in the chilly wind. It was a happy Easter--hope yours was too!

Here are two recipes from the Shadowbrook website:
Sauté of Chicken Breast with pancetta, artichoke, sun-dried tomato and sherry vinegar.
8 Half Chicken Breasts
Flour
Olive Oil
6 Oz. Pancetta, diced & cooked
1/4 Cup Sun-Dried Tomato, julienned
6 Baby Artichokes, cooked, trimmed and halved
1/2 Bunch Mustard Greens, stems removed, leaves torn in bite-sized pieces
6 Oz. Chicken Stock
1 Oz. Sherry Vinegar
2 Oz. Butter
Directions: Dredge chicken breasts in flour. Shake off excess. Heat oil in pan. Sauté chicken until brown at edges. Turn, sauté one minute more. Pour off excess oil, add pancetta, sun-dried tomato, artichokes and greens. Add stock and vinegar and reduce by half. Remove chicken, add butter and swirl until incorporated into sauce. Divide sauce among plates and place breasts on top. Serves 4.


Coffee Mousse A delightful dessert from Shadowbrook
2 Whole Egg Whites
1 Tbsp. Instant Coffee
1/8 Tsp. Salt
9 Tbsp. White Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1/8 Tsp. Cinnamon
2 3/4 Tbsp. Toasted Almonds
Directions: Chill mixing bowl and whip in freezer for least 1/2 hour. When chilled, mix egg whites on high until well blended and slightly stiff or peaked. Add sugar, instant coffee, vanilla and salt. Blend thoroughly, then add whipping cream slowly until soft peaks form. Be careful not to overmix or the mousse will become grainy. Pip mousse into champagne glasses and top with toasted almonds and cinnamon. Freeze until 1/2 hour before serving.

My last post described stuffed acorn squash from the Dushanbe Tea House. I created a recipe based on their stuffed acorn squash, using dried fruit instead of raisins and leaving out the eggplant and walnuts. It looks and tastes like an elaborate recipe, but is easy to make. It makes a tasty accompaniment to lamb or pork chops, or can be made with vegetable broth and served as a vegetarian entree.

Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed With Couscous And Dried Fruit:

1 large acorn squash, halved and seeded

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. butter


2 Tbsp.  olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup celery, chopped fine
1/4 cup carrots, chopped fine

1/4 cup sliced button mushrooms

1/2 cup chickpeas, drained

1/4 cup dried fruit, chopped fine or 1/4 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt 

1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3/4 cup uncooked couscous

1/8 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put squash halves cut side down on a piece of tin foil on a baking sheet and bake 30 minutes, or until tender. (I used my solar oven and baked the squash for about 3 hours). Put brown sugar and butter in a small glass dish and microwave briefly to melt the butter, or put into a small saucepan and heat briefly until butter melts. Stir the mixture with a brush and brush it over the meat of the squash. Wrap the squash halves in tin foil and set back in the still warm oven to keep the squash warm. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan (with a tight fitting lid for steaming the couscous later). Stir in the garlic, celery, mushrooms and carrots, and cook 5 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Mix in the cumin, chickpeas and dried fruit; cook another 2 minutes. Add the broth and mix well. Add the couscous and stir; then cover the saucepan tightly and turn off the heat. Let sit for ten minutes, then stir the couscous. Stuff squash halves with the couscous mixture and top with slivered almonds. Serve with lamb or pork chops if you like, and the 2003 Glass Mountain Syrah.
Serves 4.