Culinary Muse

ON THE ROAD TO MONTEREY, PART TWO: TusCA

TusCA - Tuscan California Cuisine- is the HYATT REGENCY MONTEREY new restaurant (as of February 2007). A great concept well executed. The menu’s inspiration is Tuscany using California’s amazing food resources. And is there any more bountiful location in the state of California than the Monterey area? Nearby Castroville is the Artichoke Capital of the World and the Salinas Valley is the ‘Salad Bowl of the World’ as my sixth grade California geography teacher told us. The Pacific Ocean is within walking distance. And fresh tomatoes are at the height of their season.

Before I continue with this story I should let you know that this has been a tough month for the Culinary Muse. I managed to get through cooking school without anyone learning my secret. I HATE fresh tomatoes. Cooked tomatoes in any form are fine. It’s the fresh ones I despise. Never let anyone in cooking school know your weakness or sooner than you can say ‘I’m a vegetarian’ they will have you butchering piglets. While my ordeal this month may not seem that bad to some, it is still difficult to be a gracious guest when presented with a food you abhor especially for someone like me whose middle name is ‘Gracious Guest’. So far this month I have let a tomato granita melt into a pool of liquid while I picked off the garnish of jalapeno slices. I have closed my eyes and swallowed baby tomatoes whole. How much longer could my luck hold out and when was this tomato season going to be over, anyway? Tonight’s charming waitress presented a beautiful salad, composed of many tomato slices, in front of me. It was a gift from the chef. There was going to be no swallowing these whole. I picked off the micro greens. I watched Mr. Muse devour his tomatoes hoping he would have mercy on me and eat mine. No luck. When the waitress returned I started apologizing as fast as I could. I begged her not to tell the chef. But before she could clear the plates, Chef de Cuisine Neil Dunn came over to our table to ask how we enjoyed the salad. Busted. Luckily he is an affable fellow. I confessed. He forgave and we moved on to the rest of our dinner.

ON THE ROAD TO MONTEREY, PART ONE

The plan for this trip started in July when I was first contacted by the PR agency for the Hyatt Regency, Monterey, to see if I would be interested in visiting their client’s property and trying out their new restaurant, TusCA. Well, why not? Mr. Muse and I often go down to Carmel for a quick mid-week get away, dog in tow, but we have never stayed in Monterey. Or, I should say, I have never stayed in Monterey. Mr. Muse stays here whenever there is a classic car event happening at nearby Laguna Seca or Pebble Beach. This was my first time.

We left the City today at 1:30. We were both starving but didn’t want to spend the time looking for a place to eat and a place to park. Besides that, once you have decided to get out of town, just get out of town. I knew we would find someplace to stop along the way. I just wanted enough food to stop the blood sugar from falling. We ended up stopping in Burlingame and had a great Middle Eastern lunch at MIJANA on Burlingame Avenue, just across from the train station. Chicken Shawarma, Fattoush (salad), Tabbouleh…delicious. With a quick stop at Peet’s for my wet cappuccino, we were ready to hit Highway 101. 90 minutes later we pulled into the driveway of the Hyatt Regency.

I love the Monterey/Carmel area. It always feels fresh and the air is always invigorating. It may be overcast in the mornings and afternoons but it never feels depressing. It must be something about the sweetness of the air that always says to me ‘relax, you are now on vacation’. Even when I travel here for work it feels like a brief vacation. No matter how long the work day can be, I leave relaxed and in a calmer state of mind.

The Hyatt property itself has been here for many years. They benefit from the wonderful landscaping (huge trees) and from being directly adjacent to the Del Monte Golf Course, the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi. Our suite is on the ground floor with the golf course right off our patio. Not being a golfer, I just turned to Mr. Muse and asked him if that cracking sound I just heard might be the sound of a golf ball being hit. We stared at each other and burst into laughter.

Once we got the computer up and running I toured the room. Calming shades of beige, well designed modern furniture, a walk- in shower to die for and two separate commodes. I’m sorry. Even if there are just two of you traveling together it is the little things at the end that can make or break a marriage and/or a vacation. Mr. Muse just found the ironing board and is ironing a shirt for dinner. I am sipping a glass of Pinot Noir and trying to resist the urge to consume the entire antipasta platter that just arrived. Prosciutto, salumi, cheese, pepper, olives….but wait, I have to save room for dinner. More tomorrow.

Warm Apple Crisp

In the September 26, 2001 New York Times, Stephen Jay Gould wrote a wonderful editorial entitled "A Time of Gifts". He talks about the rescue effort at the World Trade Center and the power of "Twelve, warm, apple brown bettys". Here is our recipe for a warm apple crisp:

3 pounds green apples (Granny Smith), peeled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 cup flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked
1 cube unsalted butter, cold, cut into slices

1) Place sliced apples in a buttered 9 x 13 baking dish. Set aside.

2) To make crisp topping: In a bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients, except butter.

3) Add butter and with your fingers, rub together with the dry ingredients until butter pieces are the size of peas

4) Cover apples with crisp topping. Bake 350, 45-50 minutes or until mixture is bubbling and browned on top. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or heavy cream poured on each serving.

Serves 6-8

This is a reprint of a posting from the October issue of Enokiworld on-line Magazine, October 2001. I have been unable to find a link to Mr. Gould's wonderful editorial.

UPDATE: Mr. Gould's widow kindly shares the link to his article in comment section below.

It reminded me, yet again, of the power of food. The power to comfort and the power to connect. I encourage you to have a meal with family and friends this week. And be sure to eat out at least once. Our colleagues in the food biz need your help right now. If you want your favorite restaurant to be around next month, you need to visit them tonight. And leave a big tip - they will love you for it.

San Francisco's Dog Days

5:00 a.m.: Warm and foggy. An eery yellow crescent moon hung in the eastern sky. My dog and I stood on Nob Hill gazing at this moon. I don’t know what he was thinking. Probably something like "I hope she doesn’t howl". I was thinking "hmmm, looks like an earthquake moon, feels like earthquake weather’. Don’t despair, reader. I am not a seer. Further research shows that this weirdness is due to a combination of things. Warm weather in the central valley sucking in the fog from the coast (as usual) and the third day of a fire in Morgan Hill in the south bay. Air quality is bad. If you can’t stay inside today, then move slowly. No rushing about allowed.

I think will wander over to TARTINE BAKERY for lunch and then to BOMBAY ICE CREAM for a scoop of saffron rose or coconut ice cream.

4:00 p.m. update:

Went to Tartine for lunch. Lovely open face Croque Monsieur with bechamel, yellow tomato slices and ham for Mr. Muse, I had the ham and cheese croissant.  Slice of chocolate layer cake and a lemon tart to finish off the meal.  Love the food.  Hated the music today.  Oh, well.

It is now cool and windy, very windy.  Too cool for ice cream. I feel like I might be going crazy with these weather changes happening so quickly.  Maybe a week in Las Vegas would convince me to stop complaining about our weather.  No, too drastic a measure....