Survival of the Fittest - Wild Blackberry Pavlova with Meyer Lemon Cream

"Get out of my way" she barked at me. Something whizzed past my head. I turned quickly and ducked under the leaves, instinctively kicking a vine loose. It was full of skin tearing thorns. I manuevered to escape. Sweating under the foliage my arm was scraped and stung in pain. I looked down seeing streaks of red. My hands looked blood soaked.

This wasn't a scene from "Lord of the Flies". Or an episode of "Survivor". My daughter and I were madly jockeying to get the best position in a thicket of wild and thorny blackberry vines. We were racing to see who could pick the most of this stain inducing juicy wild fruit just steps away from San Francisco Bay.

What drove us to this condition was a recent awareness of being able to source and grow food locally. Organically and sustainably. Several years ago the word "organic" shot into the mainstream like "Nintendo". Certainly for all the right reasons (mostly) but the evolution of organic has become something of an embarassment. The term (and industry) has been substantially taken over by big agri-business. "Organic" used to mean food that was grown and sold locally by crunchy granola people. You know what I mean by this. Bay Area hippies and peaceniks that made food a social statement. That always left a bad taste in my mouth (literally and figuratively).

Organic is supposed to mean food that is grown without pesticides and with minimal impact to the land that produces it. This is a process that, until the last 60 years, occurred regularly and naturally since the beginning of mankind. No flying the food in "fresh" from different time zones across the globe. When a cucumber has to "clear customs" or a tomato needs to have its "passport stamped" that's not fresh. It's big business. Apples from New Zealand. Grapes from Chile. More often than not it just doesn't taste as good as food you can buy that is grown (or found) locally. Our ancestors knew this but somehow we seemed to have forgotten.

The business of food and where it comes from is rapidly becoming front and center as a major issue the United States is just starting to contend with. Unthinkable just a decade ago, where your food comes from and how you get it is now a mainstream topic of conversation. The growing worldwide movement of "Slow Food" led by such luminaries as Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame, as well as best selling treatises such as "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan, has pushed the sourcing and production of food into a major political issue. And First Lady Michelle Obama has moved awareness even further forward, growing an edible garden on the White House grounds. The awareness of where our food comes from is now a complex dance at the forefront of the American conversation. And I am glad to see it.

I'll admit that as much as I have always been involved with good food, cooking and eating, I never gave much thought to where it comes from and how we get it until recently. And I should point out that I am not against large scale production of food to some degree. I am fortunate that I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the top food producing regions in the world. In this part of the country local farmers and producers are honored and paid accordingly for the food they produce. It's expensive but worth it. Much of this local bounty is talked about in the fantastic publication edible Marin and Wine Country. It's also worth pointing out the other side of the issue. Not every place has the ability to produce a wide range of food providing variety and sustenance.

All that said, it is nice to see some middle ground on the issue. A little awareness of where your food comes from, how it got to your plate and what it means when you make specific choices

because we all "vote with our wallet" is never a bad thing. There seems to be a bit of hysteria in the ether when people have an issue with being criticized because they eat Twinkies and Big Macs and think that such talk is a left wing takeover of American rights. No need to act like a Neanderthal and waltz around the issue. Or to start strapping firearms onto your body as a public display of your 2nd Amendment rights. It's just not food. Understand the arguments for and against both sides and then make your culinary choices intelligently.

Earlier this year two women in the community I live in started a locally grown food exchange. The Marin Open Garden Project is a simple and clever idea that I hope catches on across the country. The idea is simple and serves several purposes. A lot of people grow food, some for pleasure, others out of necessity and still others unknowingly (got a fruit tree in your yard). All of that food is local. And generally sustainable and organic. The problem is that sometimes you have too much of a good thing. What do you do with all those plums and tomatoes if you can't eat them yourself? I never gave this much thought in the past. Anytime we had fruit growing on a tree 90% of it would fall to the ground to rot and never to be eaten. Simply wasted. The one exception being my Fuerte avocado tree at our home in San Diego. It has its own fan club and every single fruit is eaten, but I digress.

It's incredible how much food that is grown never gets eaten. The Marin Open Garden Project helps to solve this problem nicely. Every weekend locals get together for an hour and bring their own home grown food to trade for other edibles. Not only is the food not wasted but you get to meet and interact with people in your community on a very personal level that you would normally not connect with. Add to that the wonderful side benefit of taking home a variety of freshly grown food and it's one of the most fulfilling 60 minutes you'll spend all week. MOGP will even arrange to have your fruit trees professionally picked with the abundance donated to those in need. Nothing wasted and you don't have to do anything except call them to arrange it.

This weekend we took home some beautiful home raised chicken eggs raised by a local family. When we got home we sauteed up some zucchini growing in our backyard and some sweet 100 cherry tomatoes (we had traded some for the eggs) for the perfect omelet filling. Topped with some garden fresh basil, I am telling you right now that nothing tasted better than this. Fresh. Flavorful. There was no stench of big business "Twinkie" here.

Later in the afternoon we rode our bikes around Tiburon, an upscale bayside enclave of seven figure homes and beautiful scenery that looks across San Francisco Bay. Wild blackberry bushes grow everywhere and the fruit is there for the taking. We thought "why not pick these and do

something with this local, organic and beautiful fruit?". OK, this was a bit "Into The Wild" and I'll tell you right now I have no plans to drop out of society and forage for food as a statement against big agri-business. But there is something very satisfying and right about harvesting your own food, growing it, trading it, and cooking it without having to have gone to the market and potentially buying something that came from another continent. It's somewhat primal but in a measured, culinary way.

We needed something simple yet elegant to help display this fresh fruit grab at its best. A simple berry pavlova, an import from Australia and New Zealand (a national dish with a history of fierce debate between the two countries as to who invented this fabulous dessert) filled the bill. Named after the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, this is the perfect backdrop for summertime fruits that needs little attention to put their best foot forward. One of our neighbors grows Meyer lemons year round and lets anyone come into his yard to take what they need. Following the spirit of the fruit exchange we created this fantastic wild blackberry pavlova, complimented with a Meyer lemon whipped cream. Simple. Local. Organic...A Grand Jete of flavor that is so simple, even a caveman can do it.

Wild Blackberry Pavlova

with Meyer Lemon Cream

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 egg whites, room temperature

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 C sugar

4 T cornstarch

2 T Distilled White Vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 C heavy whipping cream

1-2 T Meyer lemon juice (can use regular lemon as a substitute)

2 tsp lemon zest

2 pints of blackberries, hulled

2-3 T sugar

Additional lemon juice

Method

To make the Pavlova Meringue

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar together in a bowl until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the meringue becomes glossy. Add the cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla, mixing to combine.

Butter a cakepan or springform mold, or simply use a baking sheet and spoon the meringue in free form shape, with more meringue around the sides to form a rim. Bake for 1 hour. Shut off oven and open the door slightly, letting the Pavlova cool for 30 minutes.

To make the Meyer Lemon Cream

Beat the whipping cream and 1 TBSP sugar using an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes until the whipped cream sets up and begins to firm. Add 1-2 TBSP lemon juice to taste. Stir in 2 tsp lemon zest.

To make the blackberries

In a bowl combine the blackberries, 2-3 TBSP sugar and 1 TBSP lemon juice. Stir to combine and let sit for 5 minutes.

To Assemble the Pavlova

Remove the meringue from the baking pan and place on a serving platter. Cover the center of the meringue with 1/2 cup of the meyer lemon whipped cream. Top with the blackberries. Cut into wedges and serve with additional whip cream and berries on the side.

A Celebrated Dessert - Olive Oil Cake with Meyer Lemon Marmalade

I've kind of had it with the cult of celebrity in this country. It appears that Armageddeon is about to occur as Brangelina has finally become oversaturated in the media and hopefully is on the wane. How about those sorry excuses for parents, Jon and Kate? I am pro-family, but seriously these people have no business raising kids and doing such a poor job of it in the public spotlight. I am going to start paying TLC to stop broadcasting these nitwits. Even our current President and his movie star wife have moved to a stratospheric level of celebrity. First, a "night out" to New York City for dinner at Blue Hill and a Broadway show. Followed up by the world's most publicized romantic "date night" the next week in Paris. Isn't it enough already? I am ready to put a dish towel over my head, roll up into a fetal position and eat a TV dinner.

But perhaps my biggest beef with the whole celebration of the famous is occuring around the cooking world and "celebrity" chefs. Mind you, I am not resentful of anyone's success but these days you can't swing a prosciutto around without hitting a well known culinary master. I thought I would have escaped all of this attention moving to the quaint little town of Mill Valley outside of San Francisco several months ago. Nice. Quiet. People mind their own business here. That is until Tyler Florence of Food Network fame moved to the neighborhood and set up shop in town. Tyler Florence Mill Valley graces the downtown, a pleasant ode to good cooking. Sort of a cross between a Sur La Table and a Pottery Barn. I met Tyler in his store and ran into him at jury duty (seriously) a few months back. A nice man with a lovely family. Until his fork was stolen. You see, he has two 6 foot forks above his store entrance as part of the signage. The local press was aghast. "Dude, Where's My Fork" screamed the headline of the Mill Valley Herald (see the photo and story here). Worse than that, Mr. Florence realized the minor press goldmine this likely end of year senior prank has provided. He started twittering about it with posts like "All right guys, someone stole one of the forks off the front of my shop. WTF?" I am just not going to escape this, am I?

I really like things that are understated. And tasteful. Food. Design. Art. Architecture. People. No need to scream all the attention in the world towards whatever you are doing/hawking/feeling every chance you get. Ina Garten, subtely promotes herself this way. Although certainly a celebrity by any measure, with several successful cooking shows, cookbooks and a cooking product line to point to. She walks a fine line in regards to overexposure, seemingly doling herself out in reserved bits and pieces. More my speed.

And there is definitely no need to publicly position yourself as the world's leading authority on any given food topic either. I was watching superstar chef, restauranteur and author Michael Chiarello of NapaStyle and Food Network fame gumming about how to properly salt a dish on one of his shows. The overly confident Mr. Chiarello has a near religious devotion to using gray salt (sel gris) on virtually everything. He talks about it incessantly. Walking into his flagship store NapaStyle, a cross between a Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn, one can't help being taken aback by the sheer number of different types of salt he has for sale. Black Salt. Hawaiian Lava Salt. Himalayan Pink Salt. A Jihad of salt. And this man suffers from overexposure. His other cooking shows including Easy Entertaining, and the new Top Chef Masters series on Bravo TV, all while launching his latest restaurant, Bottega, gives him ample opportunity to throw salt on everything (one). Don't get me wrong. I respect the man as a chef, he is very talented. But the constant din of selling the brand is getting to be too much.

My birthday came and went a few weeks ago and my parents thoughtfully sent me a cookbook for a gift as I am a big collector. I chuckled when I opened the package - "At Home with Michael Chiarello". I thought to myself "There is no getting away from this now, is there?" Thumbing through the book a week later I decided to cook something out of it as my parents would be visiting for the weekend. A nice gesture I thought, put the star chef's cookbook into action. My mom called. "Honey, you'll never guess who we just met?" she screamed joyfully through the phone. "We just had lunch at Bottega in Napa Valley and Michael sat down with us for 15 minutes". "Oh", I said sounding half excited and half reaching for a TV dinner. "And we're bringing you his pink Himalayan salt!"

All that said, I really like Mr. Chiarello's approach to desserts. Simple. Understated. Not overly pushy or fanciful. I am not a big dessert maker, and definitely not a proficient baker as I have written about previously here. I decided to make his olive oil cake with marmalade to balance Ina Garten's Provencal Style Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart for dinner. This was a true success. Flavorful. Moist. Slightly different but delivering satisfaction in every bite. A real celebration. Making and eating it made me feel like a star all while watching TV while having dinner.

Olive Oil Cake* with Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Serves 6

Ingredients for Olive Oil Cake
3/4 C Olive Oil plus extra for pan
1/8 C orange juice
1/2 tsp grey salt or fleur de sel
1 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs at room temperature (recipe uses 1 1/2 eggs)
1 C granulated sugar

1/2 C + 2 Tbsp milk
1/8 C french brandy

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped

Ingredients for Meyer Lemon Marmalade

6 Meyer Lemons

1 C granulated sugar

Other Ingredients

Vanilla Ice Cream for serving (optional)

To Make the Olive Oil Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 10 inch cake pan and set aside. In a non reactive sauce pan reduce orange juice over medium heat by half, about 6-7 minutes. Season with salt and set aside to cool completely.

Sift flour, baking soda and baking powder into a medium bowl and set aside. In another medium bowl beat one egg using a mixer with a paddle or hand mixer until combined. Discard half the egg mixture. Add the second edd to the beaten egg mixture and combine until blended well, about one minute. Add the olive oil, milk, sugar, brandy, orange juice, lemon zest, and rosemary. Combine with the mixer, about one minute. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan. Tap the pan on the counter 2-3 times and then bake in the oven until set and a toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove cake from oven and allow to completely cool on a rack. Run knife around the edge of the pan and turn out onto a plate.

To make the Meyer Lemon Marmalade

While the cake is baking, wash and dry the lemons. Cut them in half and juice them, reserving the liquid. Using a melon baller or a spoon, remove the remaining pulp and white pith from the inside of the lemons. Cut the lemons into 1/8 inch strips. Place lemons in a non-reactive sauce pot and cover with 4 C of cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute. Drain the peels into a mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Return the peels to the pan and repeat the same process two more times. On the last boil, drain the peels but do not rinse them. Return them to the sauce pan and add the reserved lemon juice and 1 C of sugar. Cook over a medium low heat for 30 minutes, skimming off the white foam as it cooks.

To Finish the Olive Oil Cake

Spoon the 4-6 T of the warm marmalade over the cake, spreading it all over the top. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.

* Olive Oil Cake recipe adopted from "At Home With Michael Chiarello

Lazy Sunday, Lazy Blog

I haven't wanted to do an entry like this on Chefectomy. The blog is supposed to be clever and witty with some sort of unique travel angle thrown in for good measure. All centered around a food topic I want to write about with an accompanying recipe. A bit of a racy overtone between the sexes seems to get added in as well. Usually more often than not. But March flew by and Spring is here. I felt like I needed to at least put up one posting for the month. I'm a lazy slug.

It's not like I haven't had lots to blog about. I've done more good eating and cooking with blogging inspiration to follow in the last 30 days then I can remember. NOPA. Beretta. Lark Creek Inn. The Slanted Door. All excellent restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area with unique cooking leveraging the best locally grown food you can find anywhere.

I was going to do a whole blog thing on bacon. Who doesn't like bacon. "I am sure I can come up with something clever around bacon" I said to my wife after having some Hobbs Bacon on a sandwich recently. Hobbs has reached near cult status in Marin. Anytime bacon reaches cult status that's got to be worth writing about. And there is an excellent chance that the global financial system is also coming off the rails when such status is reached. I googled "bacon blogs" for a bit of inspiration. Man was I over my head when I saw the results. I Heart Bacon. Bacon Unwrapped. One person even does a recipe devoted TO BACON everyday on The Bacon Show claiming "one bacon recipe per day, every day, forever." How do you compete with that on the cleverness factor? You probably need to become a big executive at AIG. Everyone loves bacon, even highly overpaid insurance executives. But alas - no blog bacon love.

I had delectable burrata cheese on a pizza at Beretta's in the Mission a few weeks ago. If you don't know what this product is, you really need to track it down and try it. It's conceptually like fresh bufalo mozzarella, but really nothing like it when you taste it. It has a flavor that is uniquely creamy and sweet but works against a savory backdrop of virtually any good ingredient. Although delicious, no real blogging inspiration from buratta at Beretta's.

I got over to Bi-Rite Creamery last night after dinner at The Slanted Door in the San Francisco Ferry Building. If you plan on visiting the Golden Gate Bridge (which I am obsessed with), or go to Ghiradelli Square, or take a cable car ride down Powell street to the Embacadero you need to skip all that. Simply head over to the Mission District and order the salted caramel ice cream. It is an ode to deliciousness. Your trip will be complete and considered a success. You need do nothing further other than write and thank me for helping you realize what ice cream is (and isn't). I read some article a month or so ago about how salted caramel had entered the mainstream and this was recognized in the fact that Barack Obama loves the stuff from a specific purveyor up in Seattle. As much of a fan as I am of the President, he needs to duck out of Washington and head over to Bi-Rite for a double scoop. I guarantee you the AIG bonus mess will be a distant memory after this. I suppose I could write a political blog.

So all of this leads me to the posting I am putting up. Not very creative I realize, but it was a beautiful, lazy Sunday in Marin County and we went out to San Rafael Farmer's Market and then for a walk throw our neighborhood in Mill Valley. A few photos to share and hopefully some blogging inspiration will follow...

A neighbor's tulip garden in Mill Valley

Meyer Lemons down the street

California Poppies in our front yard

Organic Strawberries from the San Rafael Farmer's Market