Kochen für Komfort im Napa Valley: Napa-Koch Ken Morris verrät Rezepte zum Ausprobieren zu Hause

Ken Morris has been cooking for comfort for more than 30 years and learning in kitchens from Alaska to Thailand to Italy. He now cooks and writes from his kitchen in Napa. His column "Cooking For Comfort" runs on the Napa Valley Register Food page. Here is a collection of his most recent work.

Sure, I miss white peaches, summer squash and homegrown tomatoes, but the tradeoff is we get bushels of different apples right now.

There are two main divisions in the world of apples: those for eating and those for cooking. The main difference is sugar content, with cooking apples tending to be less sweet, a little more acidic and usually have a firm flesh that does not break down much when cooked.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Locally, the Gravenstein apple is considered by many to be the best apple for cooking pies and tarts; there even is a fair every August in Sebastopol to celebrate this local apple. Nationally, Granny Smith is probably the best known but other folks like Jonathan, Braeburn and Honeycrisp.

While the best eating-out-of-hand apple (I write this, realizing everyone has their favorites) are Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and Fuji apples. In fact, I like Fuji so much I planted one Fuji tree, and I’m still enjoying apples from it into November.

A recent article in The New York Times by Melissa Clark says there are 2,500 varieties of apples in the United States alone. You may only find a few in the supermarket, but you can often find some unheard of, but tasty, varieties at the farmer’s market.

Here are three ways to cook with apples:

Chile Noreste

(Poblano Chiles Stuffed with Shrimp, Apples, and Almonds)

From "The Mexican Gourmet" by María Dolares Torres Yzábal and Shelton Wiseman

Serves 6

I love the combination of apples and pork. A little too much, since that’s all I do with apples for a savory dish, so I rummaged around for something different, which I found in The Mexican Gourmet. Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo had mentioned the book in one of his Internet posts and, trusting his judgment in all thing’s Mexican food, immediately ordered it, and was rewarded with a book stuffed with traditional recipes that go beyond what I’ve seen in a lot of Mexican cookbooks. The author notes she got the recipe from Roberto Santibañez of La Circunstancia Restaurant in Mexico City.

For the chiles:

1 pound small shrimp, cooked and diced

2 golden delicious (or other cooking) apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch cubes

½ cup blanched almonds (this is to remove the skin from the nut) coarsely chopped and toasted in the oven until golden

½ cup mayonnaise

6 poblano chiles roasted on all sides over an open flame or under the broiler Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to cool. Remove as much of the blackened skin as possible (don’t place it under running water or you’ll lose a lot of the flavor) Make one slit running stem to tip and gently remove the seeds and veins.

For the vinaigrette:

1 cup mild olive oil (don’t use your best extra virgin olive oil)

1/3 cup raspberry vinegar

1 small piece of cooked red beet (it helps if you have leftover beets. You need just a ¼ of cooked beet)

6 fresh raspberries

Kosher salt and freshly ground black better to taste

For the filling: Mix the shrimp, apples, almonds and mayonnaise together in a bowl. Stuff the chiles with this filling and close the slit, overlapping slightly. Blend the vinaigrette ingredients in a blender until emulsified and smooth. You may need to add a little water.

To serve, cover the bottom of 6 salad plates with a pool of vinaigrette and lay one chile in the center of each plate, slit side down. Serve at room temperature.

Baked Apples with Ice Cream

Not every dish has to be complicated. I first started eating baked apples with ice cream when I was in the Boy Scouts, albeit roasted on a wood fire just with brown sugar. But we were smart enough to plan ahead (Be prepared is the motto of the Boy Scouts) and have vanilla ice cream packed in the cooler, ready for our first dinner, since it wouldn’t keep cool enough for the next day. This is a little more sophisticated with more and exotic spices, but you can use the spices you love more.

6 small, firm cooking apples (2 to 2½ pounds), halved lengthwise

¼cup unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing baking dish

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg

¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice

2½ tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

⅓ cup chopped pecans

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Preheat oven to 375°F. Rub 1 tablespoon butter on bottom and sides of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Scoop out and discard core and seeds from each apple half using a melon baller or teaspoon. Slice a very thin sliver from opposite side of apple so apple lays flat. Arrange the apples, cored sides up, snugly in prepared baking dish.

Melt remaining ¼ cup butter in small skillet over medium heat. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and Chinese five-spice, and heat until fragrant and just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Whisk in brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Spoon butter mixture evenly into hollows of apples. Use the back of spoon to spread a thin layer onto cut surfaces of apples.

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until apples start to soften, 30 to 40 minutes. Uncover dish, and scatter pecans over apples. Baste with juices from bottom of pan.

Increase oven temperature to 400°F and bake until apples are nicely browned and very tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Apple Crisp

Food52.com by Ella Quittner, Dec. 15, 2019

Chef Ella likes to use a mix of firm cooking apples for her crisp. The usual note for cooks is to peel the apples but she writes: “Leaving peels on the apples lends the fruit layer a beautifully rosy hue.” I’m always inclined to not peel apples unless it truly makes a difference in the dish and after baking the apples for 30 minutes or more, I’ve found I like having the skin on.

Crisp Topping:

⅔ cup whole raw almonds (leave the skins on)

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1¼ teaspoons kosher salt

2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cubed

1⅓ cups rolled oats

Apple Mixture:

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

4 to 5 large cooking apples (about 2½ pounds)—a mix of juicy, firm varieties—cored, and cut into half-inch slices

Heat oven to 400°F. In the bowl of a food processor, blend almonds until the biggest pieces are the size of coarse grains of salt, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the flour, sugar, and salt, and pulse until integrated. Add the butter and pulse several times until it’s incorporated— the mixture should look like wet sand and hold together when pinched, with some unblended butter streaks visible throughout. Add the oats and pulse just to mix in, without chopping them much. Set in refrigerator to chill while you prepare the apples.

Whisk the lemon juice with the cornstarch, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add the apple slices and toss gently until the slices are evenly coated. Transfer to a 8x8-inch baking dish (no need to grease it), set on a sheet pan for insurance against any drips reaching your oven floor. You want about 1 inch of space between the apple slices and top of pan, so if you have too many apple slices, reserve the extras and broil as a snack later.

Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the apples, breaking into olive-sized clumps where needed, and transfer to oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until topping is crisp all over and browning in spots, and the apple mixture is bubbling up at the sides. The apple pieces should be tender and easily pierced with a fork. (Note: If spots begin browning too deeply before the apples become tender, you can turn the temperature down to 375°F.) Let cool about 15 minutes before serving. (You could also serve at room temperature if you prefer.)

The first glimpse we had that our recent trip to Mexico was not just about tacos and salsa was our welcome dinner at chef Rodolfo Castellanos’ Origen, considered one of the top restaurants in the city of Oaxaca.

We were presented with an impressive menu but Iliana, our trip leader, politely didn’t let us order but selected everything, making sure we received the best of what the restaurant offered. We were soon treated to a wave after wave of dishes, including a fish ceviche in a black sauce (recaudo negro) that some of the group would still talk about days after the dinner.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Another pleasant memory was grilled beetroot salad topped with creamy ricotta and pickled mustard plant. Not what people in America think of when you say, “Let’s go out for Mexican.”

My wife and I, with 10 other Americans, were on a food tour called “Oaxaca: Tastes of Past & Present” presented by Atlas Obscura, an American-based online magazine and travel company. I had convinced Sharon that this would be the best way to revisit Oaxaca (I had taken some cooking classes there with a different chef in the 1990s) since we wouldn’t have to worry about making reservations for anything or driving.

Our leader was chef Iliana de la Vega, born and raised in Oaxaca, but with whom I wasn’t familiar when we committed to the trip almost a year ago. In June of this year, she won a James Beard award as Best Chef Texas with her restaurant in Austin called El Naranjo. Her daughter, Isabel Torrealba, assisted her.

To give us an idea of the creativity and wide use of local products, the next evening the itinerary called for appetizers at Restaurante Pitiona, led by chef José Manuel Baños. I thought we would sample a few different dishes and then we would find dinner on our own but, with Iliana ordering, we enjoyed an overload of tastes of sophisticated presentations that would have fit right in Manhattan.

One example is roasted pork belly in a pool of mole amarillo, accompanied by beans and sliced grilled nopal cactus. Oaxacans love their local chocolate and one dessert we sampled that night was served in what looked like a large cacao pod but turned out to be a ceramic bowl decorated with a brown finish, complete with a top that you removed to discover cocoa foam, ground chocolate with walnuts and chocolate sorbet.

One of the best known chefs in Mexico is Enrique Olvera, who runs Pujol in Mexico City, which was been named one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants for years. He was featured on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” (Season 2, Episode 4).

In Oaxaca, he is a partner with chef Luis Arellano, who had cooked for him at Pujol, in the elegant restaurant Criollo. Seated in the open courtyard we enjoyed what the duo called modern takes on traditional Oaxacan cuisine.

The set menu changes daily, so you need to let go of your need to control the destiny of your dinner, but you are in capable hands. You can ask for vegetarian, pescatarian or other substitutions for each course. We enjoy six or seven plates (sorry, I lost count and forgot to photograph most of the plates as we became swept up in the presentation) but they are using traditional Oaxacan dishes and deconstructing them into different ways that wouldn’t be recognized by their grandmothers.

While the most memorable dishes came from restaurants reconfiguring Oaxacan foods, Iliana also made sure we had tasted the past, its traditional dishes, eating at a food stall inside the largest market, Mercado Benito Juárez, which seems to sell everything you’d ever need: fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, clothes, souvenirs, food and drink. We also visited Mercado Merced, where we sampled a traditional breakfast of chilaquiles (fried tortilla strips topped with a spicy tomato sauce and cheese).

As part of the visit to the past, we enjoyed lunch in Teotitlán del Valle, a town best known for its traditional wool, hand-woven rugs that are made with natural dyes. After we visited a rug weaver (sure, this might be a food tour but we visited all of the local arts, too) we enjoyed a Zapotec lunch — Zapotecs are an indigenous pre-Columbian group still very much alive in the valley — prepared by Reyna Mendoza Ruiz, of mole negro with chicken and rice.

Reyna also teaches the flavors of Zapotec in her own cooking classes, and we admired several metate (pre-Hispanic grinding stones made from volcanic rock for grain and seeds) along one wall, waiting for her next class. As with all the meals we enjoyed, the food was spicy, but not the mouth-numbing hot usually associated with Mexican food.

Oaxaca is one of Mexico’s greatest centers of corn-based cuisine so at one breakfast we focused on maize (what most people call corn) by visiting Itanoní, a small tortilla factory and restaurant in Oaxaca’s Reforma neighborhood.

Most of us went for tetelas, triangular, folded tortillas stuffed with your choice of meat, cheese, and vegetables. Everything appeared to be cooked on the large comal (griddle) in the front of the restaurant. Metal silos of corn, each labeled with the grower’s name and the variety, lined one wall of the rustic dining area.

Oaxaca is respected in Mexico for its cooking but also the production of mezcal, which is made from up to 50 different varieties of agave — in contrast to Tequila, which can only be distilled from blue agave in specific regions of Mexico. We were led through the process by Andrea Hagan, a Chicago native who came to Oaxaca while in school and fell in love with the city (and a handsome local).

She now runs her own tours of traditional cooking and crafts but specializes in mezcal experiences (mezcouting.com) since she and her partner also make mezcal.

While all agave has some sort of tall, spiky green leaves, it’s only the piña, the rounded stem that resembles a pineapple, that’s used to make the spirit. Once the piña is harvested, they are roasted overnight in a large pit covered with hot coals and topped with dirt and rocks.

This produces a smoky, almost scotch, flavor in mezcal. The hearts are then crushed and placed in a tank with some water and rely on natural yeast to ferment before being distilled. The producer we were visiting, Real Minero, bottles several single agave mezcals, much like a pinot noir producer creating separate Dijon or Pommard clone wines. While the alcohol is high (around 55%), which is the first sensation on the tongue, the different flavors from each agave species are pronounced, when tasted side by side.

After five days of tasting the incredible wealth of products available in Oaxaca, the group spent our last lunch together cooking. As we worked, Iliana provided a treasure trove of tips such as cumin is not used in Oaxaca as much as Tex-Mex or even northern Mexico.

More tips:

— Corn is not just a much loved food; Oaxacans believe it originated in the Oaxaca Valley.

— Use a light touch when you are toasting dry chilies, pressing down with a spatula to ensure the whole chile touches the hot, dry pan. Remove the chiles before well they start to smoke.

— Let the market tell you what to cook that evening; don’t buy things that are out of season.

Iliana also showed us how she cooks; the recipe is only in her head from a lifetime of making these recipes, and she talked us through each step in making Manchamantel, one of the seven moles of Oaxaca.

Mole is a sauce, usually of dried, ground chiles, enriched with seeds or nuts, brightened with herbs and spices. Not all moles have chocolate. She assured us it was more about learning the techniques (the grinding of spices and toasting the spices, the toasting and then rehydrating the chiles) than following a recipe. The wonderful results proved her point.

Manchamantel

(Tablecloth Stainer)

Iliana promised to forward written recipes of the dishes we did as soon as she could but not only is she running a restaurant in Austin, Texas, she is leading a series of tours.

In fact, the day that our tour ended with breakfast, she was greeting another tour that started that evening with dinner. But I wanted to share the mole we made, which is simpler than the better-known Mole Poblano so I’m using Chef Zarela Martinez’s recipe from her book, “The Food and Life of Oaxaca, Mexico.”

You can also eliminate the chicken and pork and add sautéed vegetables at the end to make it vegetarian, which is what Iliana did to accommodate the vegetarians in our group.

4 large ancho chiles, tops and seeds removed

10 guajillo chiles, tops and seeds removed

2/3 cups vegetable oil

10 unpeeled garlic cloves

1 large or 2 medium white onions

4 large ripe tomatoes

5 large tomatillos, with husks

1/3 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, crumbled

6 sprigs fresh thyme

3 bay leaves

One 1-inch piece canela. (Also sold as Ceylon cinnamon. (this is true cinnamon. Easy to identify by its soft, splintery texture and loose layers. Don’t use cassisa, which is a completely different spice that is rolled up into a tight, hard scroll.)

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

10 black peppercorns

One 3 ½ pound chicken, cut into serving pieces

1 pound baby back pork ribs, cut into separate ribs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ to 2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into large (1 ½ inch) chucks. About 1/3 small pineapple (yes, a real pineapple tastes better than the canned chunks)

2 large, firm green apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges

Wash and thoroughly dry the chilies. In a heavy skillet, heat ¼ cup of the oil over medium heat until rippling (look for a slight wave movement on the surface). Fry the chiles, 3 or 4 at a time, turning several times with tongs, until they just start to puff, about 30 seconds. Quickly remove them to a bowl when done; do not let them burn. Cover the chilies with boiling water and let soak for at least 20 minutes while you prepare the vegetables.

Peel 2 of the garlic cloves and set aside. Using a griddle or a cast iron skillet, roast the 8 unpeeled garlic cloves. Set aside.

Roast the onion, tomatoes, and tomatillos individually in the same pans, setting it aside when done in a bowl. Drain the soaked chilies and place in a blender with a 1/ 2 cup of water.

Process to a smooth purée, about 3 minutes on high, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. It may be necessary to add a little more water to facilitate blending (adding one tablespoon at a time) but be careful not to make the mixture soupy — it should be quite thick. With a wooden spoon or pusher, force the paste through a medium-mesh sieve (to remove any bits of skin: this makes it a smoother sauce) into a large bowl and set aside.

When the roasted garlic, onion, and tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them over the bowl (to save the juice) and place in the blender (no need to clean from the chiles). Remove the husk from the tomatillos and add to the other vegetables. Process to a smooth purée, for about one minute. Add to the bowl with the chile purée, stirring well to combine.

Grind the dried oregano and thyme, bay leaves, canela, cumin and pepper corn together in an electric coffee, spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Set aside. Cut the reserved peeled garlic cloves into thick slices. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat until rippling. Drop the sliced garlic into the hot oil and cook just until fragrant and gold, one or two minutes. DO NOT allow to burn. Scoop out and discard the garlic, keeping the fragrant oil. Add the ground spices and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the puréed chile-tomato mixture and cook the sauce, covered, stirring occasionally, until the flavors blend, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, season the chicken pieces and pork ribs with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, heat the remaining oil (about 1/3 cup) over medium-high heat until ripping. Brown the chicken well on all sides (about 3 minutes per side); remove and set aside. Brown the ribs on all sides. Discard all but about 3 tablespoons of fat from the pan; add the sauce mixture, stirring constantly to guard against splatter.

Stir in the pineapple chunks and ribs. Reduce the heat to low and simmer. Covered for 15 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan. Add the apple wedges and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Visiting the Benito Juárez Market in Oaxaca.

Andrea Hagan discusses how agave hearts become mezcal.

Cooking tortillas on a wood fire.

Iliana de la Vega and her daughter Isabel Torrealba with the ingredients for lunch they prepared.

Reyna Mendoza Ruiz serves Zapotec food to guests in Oaxaca.

Chef Iliana de la Vega cooking for “Oaxaca: Tastes of Past & Present.”

Whale sharks are under threat from commercial fishing and tourism, and numbers are dropping.

Ken Morris

When I think of summer, my first thought is tomatoes. Sure, I may have said that about peaches, and maybe sweet corn, but tomatoes just picked from your own vines give you a taste of summer that you can’t get from another fruit.

While my wife and I still lived in Alaska, I was visiting the North Bay on business, and I made reservations at what I read had amazing food just off the Sonoma Square: Babette’s, a restaurant run by chef Daniel Patterson and then-wife Elizabeth Ramsey.

Chef Patterson went on to become famous and develop the Daniel Patterson Group, which owns and operates Coi, Plum, Plum Bar, Haven and Alta CA, but at that time he was struggling to become known.

Wanting to see the whole range of what the chef could do, I selected the six- course menu (probably something I couldn’t finish nowadays but this was my younger self).

The first course was heirloom tomatoes with sel gris, green olive oil and watercress (yes, I do keep menus from memorable meals, don’t you?). Living in Alaska, I hadn’t had truly homegrown tomatoes in years and the first bite was a burst of flavor and the memory of eating the tomatoes I helped my dad grown in Indiana when they would be so ripe, they were just firm enough to slice at the table. You could never sell them in a grocery store; they’re too fragile for the bumping and handing. The slices were still warm from being just picked that day. That’s what a great tomato can do: form a pleasant food memory that’s stayed with me since Aug. 19, 1998.

Here are some ideas of what you can do with great tomatoes.

Pan con Tomate

Yes, before you write to complain, we did do this in 2000, but it’s such a great use of ripe tomatoes I wanted to remind folks. This is all about quality materials and almost no cooking, so always a good recipe to keep in mind. My wife and I saw (and ate) it everywhere during a trip to Barcelona, capital of the Catalonia region in the northeastern corner of Spain. You might also see it on the menu as pa amb tomàquet as it’s called in Catalan (a language distinct from Spanish). You need bread that has some strength and texture so you can rub the garlic and then the flesh of the tomato on the toasted side to form a quick topping.

Deli rolls or sourdough bread, halved the long way

Unpeeled whole garlic cloves, halved

2 large ripe tomatoes, halved

Extra-virgin olive oil

Flaky sea salt

Toast the bread slices; slightly charred bread from the grill is my favorite, but in Spain they are usually toasted in the oven until crispy and golden.

Rub the garlic clove cut-side-down all over the toasted interior of a slice of bread.

Take a tomato half and rub it flesh-side-down all over the toasted side of the bread until you get down to the skin. Toss the skin and enjoy the Pan con Tomate.

Drizzle the bread with olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and serve the slices while they’re still warm.

Gazpacho Sevillano

(Classis Gazpacho)

Serves 8

Adapted from "The New Spanish Table" by Anya von Bremzen

The Andalusia region, the southernmost area of Spain is home to what most Americans think of as Spain: flamenco, bullfighting and the Hispano-Moorish architectural style of buildings found in Cordoba, Granada and Seville. Andalusia is also famous as the hottest area of Europe with cities like Córdoba and Seville averaging above 97 °F in summer high temperatures. The late evening doesn’t provide any relief, staying at 95 °F until close to midnight. When my wife and I were in Seville we enjoyed its narrow walkways with white buildings that reflect the sun while high enough to keep the sidewalk always in the shade.

All this heat naturally leads to thinking of cold soups that you can drink for energy and to stay cool. This is the best known and a classic. There is no cooking, so it doesn’t heat up the kitchen, but needs great tomatoes, top quality extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar: three things that are in abundance in Andalusia.

2 cups cubed day-old country bread, crust removed

2 medium-size garlic cloves, minced

1 pinch of ground cumin

Kosher salt

3 pounds ripest, most flavorful tomatoes possible, seeded and chopped

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

3 tablespoons chopped red onion

1/3 cup fragrant extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup chilled bottled water, or more as needed

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar, or more to taste

Possible garnishes: finely diced cucumber, finely diced slightly-under ripe tomato, finely diced green bell pepper, croutons, slivered basil leaves.

Place the bread in a bowl, add cold tap water to cover and let soak for 5 to 10 minutes. Drain the bread and squeeze out the excess liquid.

Place the garlic, cumin and ½ teaspoon salt in a mortar, using the pestle to mash them to a paste. Place the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, onion, soaked bread and garlic paste in a large bowl to mix completely. Let stand for about 15 minutes.

Working in two batches, place the vegetable mixture in a food processor and process until smooth, adding half the olive oil to each batch. Once each batch is finished, puree it finely in a blender, then transfer it to a large mixing bowl.

When all the gazpacho has been pureed, whisk in the spring water and vinegar. It should the consistency of a smoothie. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and/or vinegar as necessary. Refrigerate the gazpacho, covered, until chilled, about 2 hours. Serve the soup in glass bowls or wineglasses with one or more garnishes.

Penne all’Arrabiata

(Penne, Angry Style)

Serves 4

My wife discovered this simply, yet tasty tomato sauce for penne pasta during our visit to Rome a few years ago. Once she tried it, she constantly looked for it on the menu and had it two or three more times during our trip. Of course, discover is not the right word when reference books say it was born in the 1940s as a result of Italy’s Libyan campaign and soldiers brought back hot, dried Arab peppers for a pasta sauce. The “Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink” says the recipe starts with pancetta browned in the pan but most recipes do not include it. Diane Seed, author of “The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces” cookbook, claims the Roman version does not use pancetta, calling the sauce tangier and healthier that way.

Half a pound of penne pasta

3 tablespoons or more of olive oil

6 large ripe tomatoes, stem ends removed and cut into quarters (sure, you could use canned tomatoes, but you should take advantage of the summer tomatoes now)

1 small chili pepper or 1 teaspoon dried crushed hot pepper flakes

1 garlic clove, minced

Handful Italian parsley, chopped

Set a food mill over a medium bowl and run the tomatoes through a coarse disk. (This eliminates the usual skin and seed the tomatoes direction found in most recipes.) Place a medium pan of water on high heat for the pasta. Heat the olive oil in a medium pan with high sides. Add the whole chili pepper and sauté for a moment then add the garlic. Add the pureed tomatoes after about 30 seconds. (Don’t let the garlic brown.) and cook for about 15 minutes. The sauce should become red-orange.

As the sauce cooks, cook the pasta in boiling salted water until there is no chalkiness to the pasta but don’t over cook it to become too soft. Drain the paste (reserving a cup of the starchy hot water) and place it in the skillet with the sauce.

Toss the past with the sauce and add a little of the starchy water and keep tossing until the sauce has thickened. Traditionally, this is not served with parmesan cheese on top but it’s your kitchen, you make the food rules, right?

Tomato Tart

Besides a tart, I also make a tomato galette, a more rustic pie where you simply fold over the edge of the dough and bake it pizza stone, but this is a bit more elegant for guests. I think a butter crust topped with roasted tomatoes is a good use of your best tomatoes.

Tart Dough:

1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour

4 ½ ounces (125g) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces

½ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2-3 tablespoons chilled water

9 inch tart pan with a removable ring, butter the inside of the ring

Tomato Filling:

3 medium sized tomatoes, sliced ½ inch thick

1 teaspoon kosher salt, separated

4 oz. goat cheese

¼ cup of fresh chopped basil (or oregano, thyme, or other herbs of your choice) Divided (you won’t use it all at the same time)

1 clove of garlic, minced

Freshly ground black pepper

Make the dough by mixing the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture has a crumbly, cornmeal-like texture. Wisk the egg with two tablespoons of the chilled water and pulse the food processor again while adding the egg mixture until the dough holds together. If not coming together easily, add the additional tablespoon of chilled water. Form the dough into a flat disk, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough completely hydrate and relax in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Roll the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, adding additional flour only to keep it from sticking to the counter. Once the dough is about 10 ½ inches in diameter, lightly roll the dough around the rolling pin, then unroll into the tart pan, gently pressing dough into the bottom and sides. Trim the dough even with the rim of the tart pan by rolling the pin over the top of the pan. Use the excess dough to patch any holes in the tart. Spread an even layer of mustard over the bottom of the tart with a pastry brush and place in the refrigerator to let it sit a few minutes to dry.

Tart filling

Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper and place on a paper towel. Let the tomatoes sit for 10 minutes dabbing frequently to remove excess moisture.

Lay the goat cheese evenly over the dough. Season with chopped herbs, and minced garlic. Add a layer of sliced tomatoes over the sliced goat cheese. It is okay if the tomatoes overlap as they will shrink as the tart bakes. Fold the edges of the dough over the tomatoes overlapping and pleating the dough as needed. Season the top with salt, pepper, remaining herbs.

Place the tart on a baking sheet to make it easier to handle and to catch any drips. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown. Remove the baking sheet and tart and place it on top of the stove to cool before serving warm or at room temperature.

Revellers throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

A reveller lies in a puddle of squashed tomatoes during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

Revellers lie in a puddle of squashed tomatoes during the annual "Tomatina", tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The tomato fight took place once again following a two-year suspension owing to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

Wonder why your produce goes bad before you can use it? Discover the optimal way to store 10 fruits and vegetables, with tips compiled by Pela.

Ken Morris

While appetizer, main course and dessert is the usual and expected pathway for a dinner party, I love making a few appetizers and adding a couple of cheeses (and somehow wine always appears), and suddenly you have a more interesting evening for your taste buds and your friends.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

The usual explanation for appetizers is to “excite the palate” and “stimulate your appetite,” but how many people show up for dinner and then have to be coaxed into eating by first eating something else? Sometimes it’s just a speed bump to keep guests busy, buying time so the host can pull together the rest of the meal.

I’m suggesting a few small items, all made in advance, so you can smoothly offer one or two dishes and then bring out a couple more that not only excite the palate but satisfy it, too.

Tapenade

(olive spread)

From Kathy Alex, "Cooking with Friends in France" cooking school

When my wife and I took a cooking class years ago at La Pitchoune, Julia Child's former retreat in the hills of Provence, this was one of the first and easiest items we learned to make. It combines items grown or gathered nearby and turns them into a spread. The key, besides having good ingredients, is anchovy fillets. This adds the bit of umami savoriness that pushes it beyond just being an olive dip.

Ken Morris

1 pound Niçoise olives, pitted

2 anchovy fillets

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons capers, drained

3 tablespoons olive oil

Black pepper to taste

Water crackers or crostini (slices of toasted French bread) for serving

Place olives, anchovies, garlic and capers in food processor and process until pureed. Slowly add the olive oil while the processor is running. You may need a little more oil but add slowly. Taste and add pepper and pinch of salt, if necessary. Serve in a crock, surrounded by crackers/crostini or make them individually ahead of time.

Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Cheese

8 servings

I love a lot of the foods of Spain but nothing tops piquillo peppers. If you have a jar of these in the cupboard, you have an instant Spanish tapa if unexpected guests stop by.

The peppers come from the village of Lodosa in the Navarra region of northern Spain. Named after its distinctive shape, piquillo means “little beak” in Spanish. These bright red peppers are handpicked in the fall, fire-roasted and peeled.

You can go fancy and make a quick sauce for the plate by running a couple of peppers in the food processor with a dash of sherry vinegar, but all you need is a thin slice of cheese that melts easily and piquillo peppers. Then bake them for a few minutes and you have a tasty hot tapa.

Once you try this you can replace the cheese with chopped tuna, precooked risotto, leftover cooked beef that’s been chopped up — just about anything tastes better warmed up in a piquillo pepper.

10 oz. Fontina cheese (yes, I know everyone else uses Manchego cheese to maintain the Spanish theme, but Fontina melts much quicker and easier. You can also shred the cheese and add Manchego to add a different flavor)

4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives (plus more for garnish)

4 tablespoons fresh finely chopped basil (plus more for garnish)

12 oz. roasted piquillo peppers from a jar (about 24 peppers), drained

3 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Equipment: One sheet pan covered with parchment paper

Preheat oven to 325°F. Shred the Fontina cheese into a small bowl and add chives and basil. Use a teaspoon to deliver a heap of the cheese mixture inside each pepper.

Slide into the oven for about 10 minutes but start checking at 5 minutes to see if the mixture has melted.

In the meantime, make a vinaigrette by slowly whisking the olive oil into the vinegar. When combined, add a good dash of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper.

When the peppers are hot and cheese mixture is oozing out, place on serving plate and drizzle the vinaigrette over the top. Finish with more finely chopped chives and basil spread over the red pepper. Serve warm with bread or crackers.

Baba Ghanoush

Serves 4 as a dip with other items

To make a good baba ghanoush, you must roast the eggplant over an open flame. I hold it is self-evident that that’s what outdoor gas grills are made for. If you have a gas burner on your stove, you can roast it there but, from personal experience, just know it will make a mess.

Lebanon claims the dish originated there but you see variations throughout the Middle East. It is a typical meze (starter) of the region, often served as a side to a main meal and as a dip for pita bread.

1 large eggplant

2 to 4 garlic cloves (depending on your love of garlic), chopped

5 tablespoons tahini (a smooth paste made from sesame seeds)

Juice of one lemon

Kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

Place the eggplant directly on the grill of a gas grill or on the coals of a barbecue. Turn the eggplant often to evenly char the skin. Continue until the eggplant looks black on the outside and deflated.

Place the eggplant in a bowl and cover. Let cool until you can easily work with it. The skin will be black and flake off. Remove it but keep the flesh, which will be smoky. Save the eggplant juices collected in the bowl.

Add the flesh to a food processor and run until smooth. Add the juice in the bottom of the bowl, garlic and tahini, running until smooth.

As the machine runs add the juice of the lemon. If the mixture remains too thick, add water a tablespoon at a time. Finish with a sprinkle of salt and the cumin.

Muhammara Dip in Endive Leaves

Serves 8 with other dishes

Pomegranate molasses, which is available at Hudson Green and Goods in the Oxbow Public Market and Juju's Mediterranean Kitchen, 3375 Old California Way in Napa, but is also easily found on the internet, adds a unique touch of sweetness and sourness.

Clearly from the Middle East, this dip goes a step beyond hummus by combining walnuts and red peppers. Some recipes have less red pepper and more walnut but I like this mix; trouble is, I have this recipe that I appear to have cut and pasted from the internet years ago (before I was more careful of marking the author), but no mention of who wrote it or what book. I searched for it online and found a hundred variations but nothing matched completely. So, I apologize if you are the author of this great dip.

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted and let cool

1 7-ounce jar roasted red peppers (not Piquillo peppers) in oil, drained and blotted dry

¼ cup panko bread crumbs

¼ teaspoon dried Aleppo chili (available at Whole Spice in the Oxbow Public Market)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium heads Belgian endive (you can omit it if you are serving it as a dip, but it does look striking this way)

½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced

Add the garlic to the walnuts in a food processor and run until ground. Add the red peppers, breadcrumbs, pepper flakes, lemon juice, molasses and cumin. Process until smooth. With the motor running, pour olive oil through the feed tube and process until smooth and creamy. If made ahead, cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before serving.

To serve: cut the bottom off each endive, separate the leaves, rinse and pat dry. Trim 16 leaves to make them 2 to 2 ½ inches long. Spoon some dip onto each leaf. There probably will be some dip left over. Garnish with the olives.

Gorgonzola Dolce Crostini with Grapes and Walnuts

Makes 30 crostini

Adapted from a recipe by Chef David Katz

This is a dessert crostini (thin slices of toasted bread, covered with a topping, a specialty of Tuscany). I learned this recipe years ago in a class at Napa Valle College’s Upper Valley Campus called “Antipasti for Wine Country Entertaining” taught by chef David Katz, who, last I heard, is at Panevino in St. Helena, making charcuterie. Gorgonzola Dolce Crostini is a soft, blue, buttery cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk. Flavors are not very assertive but sweet.

30 slices small sweet (not sourdough) baguette, about ¼ inch thick

Extra-virgin olive oil as needed

Kosher salt

¼ pound Gorgonzola Dolce cheese

¼ pound mascarpone cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups walnut halves, toasted

½ pound large red seedless grapes, cut in half (or use slices of pear or fresh fig when in season)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the rounds of bread on a sheet pan and brush the top of each round with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until golden on the edge.

Remove pan from oven and allow the crostini to cool. Place the Gorgonzola Dolce and mascarpone in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process the cheese to a smooth and even consistency.

Refrigerate the cheese in a covered container until use. To assemble, spread each of the crostini with cheese purée.

Sprinkle the cheese with coarsely ground black pepper. Nestle a half grape just off center, cut-side up. Shingle a half walnut against the grape, leaving some of the grape flesh exposed, and serve.

Diet. The Beatle has famously been a vegetarian since 1975, when he and his then-wife Linda converted to a meat-free diet. And after being away from home for a while, he likes to come back and make himself simple, healthy food. "If I go on tour and eat a lot of restaurant or hotel food, I come back, and it's like, yeah, broccoli! So, if I'm cooking, I'll be steaming vegetables, making some nice salad, that kind of stuff.” Exercise.His fitness regime is more unusual though...

Kids line up before moving on to their next adventure at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Sarita Dangol a camp educator, helps Emma Forner, 6, make a bracelet at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Camp educators Lauren McClaugherty and Jeff Freed talk to Frank Brol, 7, about chickens at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Tuesday.

Clyde Stephens, 6, eats a peach he pulled from a tree in the educational garden at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Kids swing on a tire swing as educators help other children at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

A child swings on a tree swing at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Frank Brol, 7, holds a chicken at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Kids sit and listen to different bird calls in the woods at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Elle Newberry, 10, maps the different bird calls she hears in the woods at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Outdoor education coordinator Jeff Freed helps kids identify different bird calls in the woods at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Isla Sakamoto, 8, holds a chicken while depositing a fresh egg into a carton at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Kids take a break from activities to enjoy snack time at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Sierra Lilla, 8, and Lilly Aaron, 7, check on the goats at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Two kids are seen in the educational garden at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Isla Sakamoto, 8, holds a chicken and an egg at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Clyde Stephens’s face is covered with dirt from working in the educational garden at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Sierra Lilla, 8, and Lilly Aaron, 7, check on a sheep at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Kids and camp educators are seen walking on the grounds of Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Kids play in a sand pit at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Two kids are seen exiting the educational garden at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

A child’s hands are stained red from eating berries from the educational garden at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

A scrub jay is seen sitting on a fence post at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Luke Hefner, 5, is seen playing on a structure at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

Camp educators and kids are seen walking on the grounds of Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa onThursday.

A child’s bird journal is seen on a table at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa on Thursday.

I grew up growing and eating lots of fresh sweet corn in the summer. Turns out, the rich soil of northern Indiana, where I spent my early years, combined with its hot, humid summers, is the perfect spot.

Most garden plants stop growing when temperatures rise above 85°F, but corn will continue to grow in very hot weather, which the Midwest is blessed with in the summer. So, when the temperature rises into the 90s, it seems like you can actually see the corn grow.

Sweet corn is called maize in most countries outside the U.S. It’s another one of those tasty plants that originated in Central and South America, was discovered by European explorers who transported it back to Europe, and then travelers brought it back to North America when Europeans settled there, where they were greeted with corn by the Native Americans.

Nowadays you can find seeds for sweet varieties such as Silver Queen, Ambrosia, and Peaches & Cream, but all that we could buy when I was growing up in the 1970s were packets simply labeled Sweet Corn. The seeds were a pale pink, proudly sprayed with a fungicide by Monsanto, but in those days that seemed like a good way to cut down on disease.

I do a lot of my corn cooking on the grill. When I was a Boy Scout — and I casually let it slip to my guests that I did earn a Cooking Merit Badge — we were taught to pull down the leaves covering the corn, remove the silk, then pull up the leaves, then soak the ear in water for a half hour before you put the ear on the grill and basically steam them.

Nowadays, I strip everything off the ear, rub it with a little sunflower oil or other high smoke temperature oil and put it directly on the grill. As long as you watch the ear and rotate it often, it will only pick up some nice grill marks and the kernels of corn will cook through. I have a plate ready with some room-temperature butter for its landing pad, rolling the cobs in the butter as I salt it. It’s simple and delicious.

We talked about this last year, but in case you misplaced your Summer Corn article from last June in the Napa Register, here are some tips for buying and preparing corn:

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

My plan this week is to make my corn dish a bit more sophisticated than simply grilled corn by serving it as part of a tartine. Tartines are the hip thing in lots of restaurants, notably the Tartine Bakery with locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seoul, South Korea.

A tartine is defined by Merriam-Webster.com as “a French term used to refer to a bread appetizer that has been buttered and covered with jam, honey, melted cheese or other similar ingredients.”

Of course, Americans have expanded that to layer just about anything on top of a nice piece of toast on which you add more ingredients so it becomes your main course.

Grilled Corn and Peach Tartine

Serves 2, but easy to scale up

This takes advantage of two of the ingredients I’ve seen recently at the farmer’s market that I love, white peaches and corn, and I usually have goat cheese in the refrigerator. You could add more items on top, but like pizza making, you only want to showcase a few items so you can actually taste what you made, instead of creating a potpourri where the flavors get lost.

1 tablespoon butter at room temperature

2 broad slices of sourdough bread

1 ear of sweet corn, shucked and silk removed

1 white peach, cut in half and pitted

Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

1 ounce of goat cheese (yes, I probably use more because I love its tart taste)

Handful of basil leaves, rolled together and thinly sliced (chiffonade)

Heat your grill pan on high until very hot, then turn to medium (or bring your charcoal grill to white ash stage). Spread the butter on the sourdough pieces, then brown the bread and grill the corn and peach halves until the peaches start to caramelize and the corn has a nice char on each side, 5 minutes, depending on your grill.

Remove from heat and cut the corn off the cob and place in a large bowl. Slice the grilled peaches as thin as possible and mix with the corn. Add a tablespoon or more of the olive oil and season with salt and gently mix to combine.

Pile the corn and peach mixture onto the toasted sourdough bread. Top with knob of goat cheese and sprinkling of basil.

Corn, Avocado, and Radish Tartine

Serves 4

Adapted from “Serious Entertaining: Four Easy Summer Tartines” by J. Kenji López-Alt on the Serious Eats website, Aug. 30, 2018

Kenji (as everyone online seems to call him) is the author of The New York Times bestseller “The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science” (based on his Serious Eats column of the same name) and in March 2022 published “The Wok: Recipes and Techniques.” I love reading his columns and books because he uses the scientific method to improve recipes and to explain the science of cooking to people who have not attended a culinary college. He picked up his systematic technique while attending MIT, where he graduated with a degree in architecture.

4 slices of hearty bread, such as French pain au levain or sourdough

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 medium clove garlic split in half, and 1 medium clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups shucked corn kernels from about 2 ears corn

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons juice from 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1 avocado

4 radishes, thinly sliced

Preheat broiler to high and adjust rack to 6 inches below element. Brush bread slices on all sides with 2 tablespoons olive oil and rub with split garlic clove on all surfaces. Season with salt and pepper. Place on a rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan and broil until golden brown and toasted on first side, about 3 minutes. Flip and broil until second side is toasted, about 2 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium cast iron or non-stick skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add corn and cook without moving until well charred on first side, about 4 minutes. Flip and toss and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until well toasted on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a medium bowl.

Add minced garlic, mayonnaise, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and lime juice. Add cilantro and scallions, reserving some for garnish. Toss corn to combine and season with more salt and pepper as desired.

Mash avocado with the back of a fork in a medium bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread bread with mashed avocado, top with corn and radishes, sprinkle with remaining cilantro and scallions, and serve.

Savory Roasted Corn & Mushroom Tartine

Serves 2

Adapted from Susan Cooks Vegan website, Feb. 26, 2020

You can take your bag to the farmers' market today and pick up just about everything for this tartine: fresh bread, onions, mushrooms, red peppers, and corn. Even the olive oil. I haven’t cooked from this website before, but she seems to offer some nice vegan dishes, if you’re looking for that sort of thing.

2 slices of ½ thick country-style whole grain bread

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

¼ cup of diced onion (red or white)

½ cup of mixed mushrooms, such as chanterelles, cremini, button or trumpet, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup of corn kernels

¼ cup of red pepper, diced

Salt and pepper to season

Fresh basil to garnish

Heat a grill pan or a large skillet over medium heat. Drizzle bread with olive oil and place on one half of the grill or skillet to toast. Check toast after 3-4 minutes. When it's browned, flip over to cook the other side.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the clear side of the grill or skillet. If you don’t have enough room, use a second skillet on a new element over medium heat. Add mushrooms cut side down to the hot pan. Do not touch or stir for 2-3 minutes. Add onions, stir and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Add corn and red pepper, stir, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until corn is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Taste the mixture and season more if necessary. Remove the toast from the heat, placing the olive-oiled side up. Divide mushroom evenly onto toast slices. Garnish with fresh basil.

According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a whopping 70 percent of non-organic fruits and vegetables can be riddled with the residue of nearly 230 different pesticides.

Dr. Linda Shiue had been practicing as a primary care physician in San Francisco for a decade or more when she hit a wall: No matter what she did, her patients continued to be overweight, their cholesterol and blood pressure stayed high and they felt low. The prescriptions she wrote based on the best advice in medical journals didn’t solve the problems, leaving both her patients and her frustrated.

While Shiue has been practicing medicine in the Bay Area for more than 20 years, she grew up on Long Island, New York and graduated from Brown University. She ended up on the West Coast when she moved to San Francisco for her internal medicine residency at UCSF.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Several years ago, she was introduced to Napa when her teenage daughter found a semester program for studio artmaking at the Oxbow School. They had never spent time in Napa until they visited the school, and Linda quickly made the decision to take the money she had saved for a home in San Francisco and purchase a home in the city of Napa. Today, she spends three days a week in San Francisco and the rest in Napa.

But back to her existential crisis: She had always loved to cook, so she was looking forward to a medical conference called Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives, co-sponsored by Harvard School of Public Health and the Culinary Institute of America. However, this went far beyond learning a new sauce for the salmon. The presenters dug down into the latest in nutrition science and translated it into how to help their patients.

You would naturally think doctors are at the head of the class in nutrition information, but nutritionfacts.org writes: “Medical students are still getting less than 20 hours of nutrition education over four years, and even most of that has limited clinical relevance. Thirty years ago, only 37% of medical schools had a single course in nutrition. According to the most recent national survey, that number has since dropped to 27%.”

Shiue walked away from the conference a changed doctor. Just a week later she taught her first cooking course, which she called “Cook Your Way to Better Health” at a Whole Foods in Los Altos and discovered she enjoyed teaching.

When Shiue met with patients, after discussing the results of lab tests and their blood pressure, she’d sometimes write them a prescription for kale chips: a humorous but clear message that their eating habits played a critical part in their health.

By stepping into the chef-teacher role and out of the doctor/patient hierarchy, the interaction became more casual, allowing her to have a much bigger impact on the patient’s lifestyle. To continue this journey, the next step was to become better at teaching cooking classes, and that meant professional culinary training.

She found a six-month program for professional culinary arts at San Francisco Cooking School, but she would need to go full time. When her employer didn’t buy into her taking off for that long, she switched to Kaiser Permanente, letting them know it would be a while before she arrived; well, actually, a year, allowing her to travel and then attend school for half a year.

While San Francisco Cooking School teaches classic French culinary techniques and recipes, the professional skills she picked up and how to teach them were what she needed.

Her combination of medical knowledge and professional cooking skills allowed her to become Kaiser’s first director of culinary medicine and in 2017 launch Thrive Kitchen, a hands-on cooking class for physicians and their patients to change their lives by cooking healthy meals at home.

The brochure listed the classes as Global Cuisine, which brought in the world of spices and herbs but was plant-forward. Shiue never mentioned the dishes were vegetarian and the results were so satisfying that most patients never noticed it.

In the meantime, she had become friends with Francis Lam, food journalist, cookbook editor, and now host of the radio show "The Splendid Table."

In those days he was food editor of Salon.com and hosted its weekly Kitchen Challenge, which was described as “your challenge is to create an eye-opening dish within our capricious themes and parameters.”

Shiue was one of only two participants who submitted a dish each week for an entire year. She thought the best way to get her message out about healthy eating was a book, so she asked his help in getting it published.

His answer: no. He later relented, asking, “How bad do you want to do it?” Meaning: “Do you want to do the extensive work of writing new recipes and organizing the photography and styling, all while still working full time as a physician?”

Her answer was she had to do it, some way, somehow. He led her to a book agent who handled health books, but who had never done a cookbook. But she knew how to catch the eye of an editor with a professional-looking book proposal, which Linda didn’t know how to do.

The book proposal did its job, leading to Linda signing a book deal, but she, not the book publisher, had to use her small advance to pay for the photographer and stylist.

With little money to spend and no history of writing books, she had to find a stylist and photographer willing to take a chance on her. Luckily, she had met a fellow culinary student at San Francisco Cooking School, Haley Hazell, who wanted to be a food stylist, but she needed experience.

Haley introduced her to a photographer, Michelle K. Min, who had never shot for a book before but was eager to break into the food publishing world. Linda started the project in 2018 and wrote the book in 2019. Their collaboration paid off when "Spicebox Kitchen" was published in March 2021, but they had the bad luck to have to promote it during the pandemic, which required Shiue to attend almost all virtual events.

With the name “Spicebox Kitchen” as the book’s title and “Vegetable-Forward” in the subtitle, it’s clear how the doctor will make your meals tasty and healthy.

In fact, after the introduction, in which she tells a little of her story of embracing plant-forward cooking (she does use seafood, eggs and dairy when needed in a recipe) she lays the ingredients for what you need as a full spicebox in the first chapter, alphabetically from allspice to za’atar, plus a selection of herbs.

She also covers the building blocks for a healthy meal, discussing greens, whole grains and legumes. And Shiue touches on the other ingredients you can add to your cooking for flavor and nutrition, from acorn squash to walnuts. There are even tips on how to shop.

Many of her patients haven’t cooked much, so there is the necessary discussion of cooking equipment and knife skills (I’ve seen up close that most folks don’t know how to use a knife), and Shiue even drills down to details about food topics such as the difference between “use by” and “best before” on packaged goods.

After being outfitted with knowledge and gear, you’re finally ready for recipes. She writes, “The best way I have found to make transitioning to eating more healthfully a joy is to bring in flavors from around the world.” Her own influences including growing up with parents from Taiwan, living in Singapore for a year, marrying a man from Trinidad and, of course, California cuisine after living here for two decades.

Recently, the book was awarded a Gold Nautilus Book Award in the category of Food, Cooking and Healthy Eating. The Nautilus Book Awards represent “Better Books for a Better World,” and its mission is “to celebrate and honor books that support conscious living & green values, high-level wellness, positive social change & social justice, and spiritual growth.”

Here is a taste of this delicious book.

Excerpted from "Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes" by Linda Shiue, MD, Hachette Go, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Endive Leaves with Harissa Carrot Yogurt

Makes about 36 leaves

Yogurt Dip

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

12 ounces carrots (3 to 5 carrots), peeled and grated coarsely

1/3 cup unsalted pistachios, chopped, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon fine kosher salt

4 medium-size garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 cups plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon harissa (if unavailable, use paprika and Aleppo pepper or cayenne pepper to taste)

6 heads endive, carefully separated into leaves; choose the largest/crispest

Garnishes:

Pomegranate arils (The shiny red seeds inside the fruit are called arils)

Minced carrot greens, fresh parsley, or fresh mint

Flaky salt

Prepare the dip. Heat olive oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat until shimmering.

Add carrots and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they start to soften.

Add pistachios and salt, then cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until carrots start to brown.

Add garlic and cook for another minute, or until fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

Put yogurt in a medium-size bowl, then add the cooled carrot mixture and harissa. Stir together and adjust seasoning to taste.

To fill endive leaves: Hold each leaf in one hand, facing upward like a boat. Add a teaspoon-size dollop to bottom/root end (only) of each endive leaf. Arrange prettily on a platter, then garnish each filled leaf with a few pomegranate arils, minced herbs, a few chopped pistachios, and a pinch of salt.

Miso-Glazed Maitake Mushroom Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 pound maitake mushrooms, cleaned and divided into 4 clusters, or oyster mushrooms

6 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon miso thinned with 2 tablespoons water

4 soft burger buns, ideally potato or brioche

1 cup grated Swiss cheese

½ cup thinly sliced red onion

2 cups arugula

Melt butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat, then add mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden and slightly crisped. Press down with a spatula to maximize browning.

Add scallions to pan and cook for a minute, until wilted and slightly charred.

Add salt and some black pepper to taste. Pour miso mixture over mushrooms and turn over until evenly coated and absorbed.

Toast buns, then assemble burger:

Place bottom half of each bun on a plate.

Sprinkle each with ¼ cup of grated Swiss cheese.

Place hot mushrooms and scallions on top of cheese layer.

Top with sliced red onion and arugula.

Cherry, Plum and Nectarine Clafoutis

Serves 6

Butter, for pan

8 ounces cherries, stemmed and pitted (if using frozen—but why would you? It’s cherry season right now--defrost and towel-dry before using)

1 firm-fleshed ripe plum

1 firm-fleshed ripe white nectarine

3 large eggs

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 ¼ cups whole milk

Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish (optional)

Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and preheat oven to 350° F.

Slice and arrange fruit in an even layer in prepared pie plate.

Whisk or blend together eggs and granulated sugar in a medium bowl; add ginger, salt, and vanilla; then flour; and last, milk, mixing until you have a smooth and airy batter.

Pour batter over prepared fruit. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned and a knife inserted into center comes out clean.

Remove from oven, let cook on a wire rack, and serve just slightly warm or refrigerate and serve cool (it will be easier to slice when it cools).

Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired.

German researchers say that switching from red meat to a fungi-based alternative once a week can help reduce deforestation.

There are roughly 9.7 million vegans in the United States today, up a staggering 3,000% from 2004, according to a 2020 study from Ipsos Retail Performance. These dietary changes have caught the attention of businesses and created a booming vegan market where even traditional meat industry giants have gotten into the faux meat game.

Sales of plant-based food in 2020 grew by 27%—twice as fast as food sales in general, according to data from SPINS for The Good Food Institute and Plant Based Foods Association. A full 57% of Americans say they buy plant-based alternatives to animal products.

People’s reasons for adopting a plant-based diet range from personal health to animal rights to environmental concerns related to factory farming. Thistle analyzed numerous academic studies published in peer-reviewed journals such as Frontiers in Nutrition and Nutrients to curate a list of 10 benefits of a plant-based diet.

Plant-based diets inherently focus on whole grains, beans, fresh produce, seeds, and nuts, but not everyone who eats plant-based diets eschews animal products entirely. As with all diets, it’s important to consider a person’s genetics, activity level, preexisting medical conditions, and any nutritional deficiencies or food allergies. In particular, those adopting plant-based diets are wise to make sure they’re getting sufficient levels of vitamins and minerals, from B12 to omega-3 fatty acids.

Keep reading to discover 10 benefits of plant-based diets.

Inflammation is caused by white blood cells fighting off invaders—whether foreign objects, such as a splinter; irritations, such as allergies; or pathogens, such as bacterial or viral infections. In the case of autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks healthy, normal tissue in the body. Overactive inflammatory response is widely considered by experts to contribute to chronic disorders including Type 2 diabetes or heart problems.

Acute, or short-term inflammation, comes on as localized pain, redness, loss of mobility, or swelling. The area may be hot to the touch, as in the case of a bee sting, and can last from a few hours to several days. Chronic inflammation can last months or years, and can come on as a hyper reaction to an external trigger, such as is the case with allergies; a mistaken reaction in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue, as with cancer or eczema; or long-term exposure to an irritant.

Diet and exercise have major effects on inflammation: Whereas obesity, smoking, lack of consistent sleep, and a diet heavy in added sugars and unhealthy fats can all increase inflammation in the body, nutrients found in fruits and vegetables have been shown to reduce inflammation.

A popularly cited 2018 analysis of the international food industry suggests that switching to a plant-based diet represents the largest single action a person can take to reduce their environmental impact. While those stats—such as the fact that the ecological footprint of livestock represents 18% of calories and 83% of farmland—are striking, they don’t take into consideration all the complexities of sustainable eating habits.

It is true that pound for pound, animal protein requires 100 times as much water as grain protein—and that the production of oat milk emits 80% fewer greenhouse gases and requires 60% less energy than cow’s milk. Still, switching to a plant-based diet doesn’t guarantee more eco-friendly food choices: Growing practices, treatment of workers, the distance food travels, packaging, and ingredient sourcing all contribute to how sustainable the food on your plate is—or isn’t.

Consumption of red meat and poultry has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, in part because of the high volume of heme iron in those meats, according to findings in the Singapore Chinese Health Study published in 2017.

That research involved recruiting more than 63,000 adults between 45 and 74 from 1993 to 1998, and following their health progress for 11 years, in addition to studying the correlation between various kinds of meats and the volume of heme iron in each. Participants who consumed the highest levels of red meat and poultry showed a 23% and 15% increase in diabetes risk, respectively. Consuming fish and shellfish showed no perceptible association with diabetes risk.

Meanwhile, plant-based diets have been shown to not only protect Type 2 diabetics from developing kidney disease, but to help reverse Type 2 diabetes itself. Plant-based diets may also reduce mortality rates in individuals with chronic kidney disease.

Whole plant-based foods contain plenty of fiber, zero dietary cholesterol, and low amounts of saturated fats—a winning combination for heart health. Meanwhile, meat, cheese, and eggs come with cholesterol and saturated fats that, in excess, may create plaque buildup in a person’s arteries.

But it’s not enough to just avoid meat: For heart health on a plant-based diet, it’s important to steer away from processed foods, including white rice and white bread, which lack nutritional value and contain a high glycemic index. This increases your odds for spiking blood-sugar levels and increased appetite. Similarly, whole fruits are healthier than fruit juice, even 100% juice, which often loses nutrients and vitamins while being processed and contains high levels of sugar.

Numerous studies have shown the positive effects of plant-based diets—particularly a vegetarian or vegan diet combined with nuts, soy, and fiber—on cholesterol levels. Five observational studies, cited in a study published in 2009 in the American Journal of Cardiology, found lower blood concentrations of TC and LDL cholesterol in populations consuming plant-based diets.

A direct correlation was found between high intakes of fruit and vegetables and a significantly reduced risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, according to a report published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience in 2017. The key is likely in nutrients abundant in plant-based diets, including antioxidants, vitamins, and folate, that have been shown to have significant cognitive benefits.

Vegetarian and vegan diets have been shown to promote a healthy mix of beneficial bacteria promoting gut and overall health. A healthy gut biome promotes a high-functioning metabolism, strong immune system, healthy bowel movements, and appropriate levels of hormones that contribute to adequate appetite regulation.

Just 16 weeks of a healthy vegan diet focused on whole fruits and vegetables has been shown to cause a documented improvement in gut health, according to research led by Hana Kahleova, M.D., Ph.D., of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and presented in 2019 at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Barcelona.

Plants create an abundance of phytochemicals that help to protect cellular damage as well as being anti-inflammatory. A variety of long-term studies suggest that benefits like these from eating whole plant foods, as opposed to processed foods, may actually be able to prevent up to a third of all cancer cases. Most-studied have been plant-based diets’ capacity to help protect against breast, colorectal, gastrointestinal, and prostate cancers.

A growing number of professional athletes have turned to a whole-foods, plant-based diet to reach optimal performance. Colin Kaepernick, Venus Williams, United States soccer star Alex Morgan, professional surfer Tia Blanco, WNBA player and four-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi, and dozens more pros are all vegan.

Like the rest of us, dietary choices of athletes come with, at times, complex reasoning behind them. But there’s a lot of science backing up whole plants as a great choice for athleticism: Heart-healthy foods, such as whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts, are also largely plant-based. The anti-inflammatory principles and immune support of plants also benefit athletes in major ways. Tennis pro Venus Williams transitioned to a plant-based diet after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome and said a vegan diet allowed her to manage the disease without prescription medications.

Low-fat, high-fiber diets are proven to reduce inflammation, which is great news for those following a whole-foods, plant-based diet. Because of how effective plants are at reducing inflammation, plant-based diets have been shown to work wonders for those living with inflammatory types of arthritis.

In a 2015 study, published in Arthritis, researchers investigated the effect of a plant-based diet on osteoarthritis. Those adhering to a whole-foods, plant-based diet experienced significant drops in pain levels and jumps in motor function in just two weeks.

This story was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

A simple stucco cottage sits high among oak trees and dry grass overlooking the Valley of the Moon in Sonoma. The small house is surrounded by a 535 acre preserve, with a long, winding, one-lane drive leading down to Highway 12.

The thousands of wine country visitors driving through the valley on Highway 12 each year on their way to a lavish wine tasting or luxurious meal don’t realize they are passing by the final home of one of the country’s best food writers, who had also lived in Napa Valley for several years.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

The New York Times Book Review says “In a properly run culture, Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher would be recognized as one of the great writers this country has produced this century…”

The problem was, she wrote books about hunger and food before there was a Food Network, but the good news is you can now sign up to tour her Last House (as she candidly called it) and learn about her life.

In the forward of "The Gastronomical Me," published in 1943, she sums up the aim of the book, and of most of her writing: "People ask me: Why do you write about food, and eating and drinking? Why don't you write about the struggle for power and security, and about love, the way others do? They ask it accusingly, as if I were somehow gross, unfaithful to the honor of my craft."

"The easiest answer is to say that, like most humans, I am hungry. But there is more than that. It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it."

Almost 50 years later, that struggle to be taken seriously had not ended. Mary Francis said in an interview in 1990 that writing about food and hunger "caused serious writers and critics to dismiss me for many, many years. It was woman's stuff, a trifle."

Everyone knew her as Mary Frances; MFK Fisher was used so editors and readers wouldn’t reject a woman’s writings. Over a period of 60 years, starting with her first book “Serve It Forth” (“a book about eating, and about what to eat and about people who eat”) published in 1937, she wrote a steady stream of pieces for The New Yorker and other magazines, as well as 35 books of collected essays, including what many call the best English translation of Brillat-Savarin's book "The Physiology of Taste."

She also wrote a novel and a screenplay. For two years she worked in Hollywood for Paramount Studios, writing gags for Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour.

She also wrote a book for children and a series of travelogues that always seemed focused on food. W.H. Auden described her as “the best prose writer in America.”

Chef John Ash says, “If it hadn’t been for James Beard and Julia Child and M.F.K. Fisher and Jacques Pepin, I don’t know where American cuisine would be today.”

For people not familiar with her writings, perhaps the closest writer nowadays to her style and sensitivity may be Stanley Tucci as he searches for Italy on TV and or ponders his life through food in a book. It’s about food, yes, but it's about feeling passionate about food and eating and the people.

Almost 20 years ago I had signed up for the email list of the Audubon Canyon Ranch, an environmental conservation and education organization. It owns four properties including the Bouverie Preserve, which includes the Last House, so I joined their email list just in case they ever offered public tours of Mary Frances’ house.

After hundreds of emails offering conservation tours, my patience and optimism were finally rewarded with an email saying they had begun offering tours once a month of the Last House. By the time I opened the email the first month was filled but my wife and I made it the second tour, held in May.

Born in Michigan but raised in Whittier, California, where her father ran the local newspaper, Mary Frances first gained her knowledge of food from the family cook.

She tried several colleges before marrying Alfred Fisher, in 1929 and they moved to Dijon, France, so he could complete his doctorate in literature. Her marriage to Mr. Fisher ended in divorce in 1937, allowing her to marry that same year the writer and painter Dilwyn Parrish, a cousin to the famous painter Maxfield Parrish.

Dilwyn suffered from Buerger's disease, a circulatory disease that causes blood clots, which resulted in the amputation of a leg and agonizing pain. He committed suicide in 1941. In 1993 "Stay Me, Oh Comfort Me: Journals and Stories 1933–1941" recounting her time with Parrish was posthumously published. She married and divorced twice after that and had two children. Her writing was not just a creative outlet but her source of income as a single mother.

Throughout most of her life she traveled often to France and lived in Switzerland with Dilwyn, collecting the stories she would weave into articles and books. She also came to love Northern California. She first moved to the Napa Valley in 1952 when she and her sister, Norah, rented houses on neighboring vineyards southwest of St. Helena, and later she purchased a three story Victorian with nine beds at 1467 Oak Ave. in St. Helena.

While a resident of St. Helena, she helped launch the Napa Wine Library and served on the board for a time. In 1961, she, along with James Beard and a group of vintners, began a drive for a home where the public could access the vast collection of wine materials. In 1963, they created the Napa Valley Wine Library Association. The Association continues today, and materials are housed in the St. Helena Public Library.

There was an overwhelming flow of visitors to her home in the Napa Valley (she wrote her friend Julie Child that part of the attraction was “this is the best restaurant and pub north of San Francisco”). When her daughters grew up and left to start their own lives, she told a friend “I think I must get the hell out of here or I’ll turn into a doomed slavey to my own image of hospitality…. “

She had become friends with David Pleydell-Bouverie, grandson of the fifth Earl of Radnor and now a transplanted London architect owning a large ranch in Sonoma’s Valley of the Moon. In 1971 he had built for her a cottage of her design, with just two main rooms, a spacious kitchen and a large room for writing that was also her bed room, with space for her 6,000 books and maybe one overnight guest at the ranch.

She slept and wrote in one room and cooked in the other room; she could spend hours in the generous bathroom, outfitted with both a shower stall and a relaxing tub.

Her house became a magnet for visitors from the culinary world, including Julia Child, Chuck Williams, James Beard, Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl and Jacques Pepin, and the literary world such as Maya Angelou, Herb Caen, Bill Moyers and Anne Lamott. Recently Pepin returned to the house for a lunch when he visited Sonoma to be honored at the Sonoma International Film Festival in March.

With the almost hidden road and locked gate protecting her from fans stopping by to meet her. Mary Frances was especially productive in the quiet cottage. She wrote 13 books during her 21 years at Last House

. Eventually, her vision dimmed, arthritis set in, and her voice dwindled to a whisper due to Parkinson's disease. She became bedridden in her last years but continued to dictate books to her secretary. Mary Frances was 83 years old when she passed away on June 22, 1992.

After her death, her personal items were dispersed to family and close friends. When David Bouverie died in 1994, ownership of the preserve was transferred to Audubon Canyon Ranch as a part of his estate.

A few years later the organization decided what a great idea it would be to offer tours of this historic literary home and they went back to those same people and asked for those items to be donated back. Many of those personal items were returned home.

When we took the tour, led by Susie Allen, M.F.K. Fisher Last House Program coordinator and events manager, we hovered over the Coronamatic typewriter she used, still holding a typed letter, photographed the distinctive rattan peacock chair that she had been photographed in and touched the kitchen’s original round dining table. The kitchen was simple with no blenders, food processors or toasters on the counter. Most the books on the shelves were not ones that Mary Frances had used when she lived there.

Restoration of Last House was under way in 2017 when the Nuns Fire destroyed several nearby ranch structures, but an oak tree seemed to protect the house. The project was paused again the next year after more wildfires and then the pandemic stopped the refurbishment completely in 2020. But finally, the one-bedroom house is open for tours by appointment.

The 90-minute tour gives visitors a glimpse into Mary Frances’ personal life, workspace, and provides the panoramic views she enjoyed. Each tour is open to 12 visitors. The cost of the tour is a suggested $25 donation per person or $20 donation for Audubon Canyon Ranch members, but no one is turned away. The money benefits the nonprofit organization’s programs and the continuing restoration and maintenance of Last House. For reservations visit https://www.egret.org/mfk-fishers-last-house.

Last House is not just a museum but as a space intended to host events in Mary Frances’ gracious style. The first major public event to be held there is a fundraiser for Last House featuring chef Alice Waters, which is planned for July 30 with a Mediterranean lunch.

And fans of Mary Frances should visit https://mfkfisher.com/, which includes more information about her and a handy list of her books in chorological order. You can also donate to the documentary in the works called “The Art of Eating: The Life and Appetites of M.F.K. Fisher.”

It’s one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.

In the midst of the noise of Russian shelling in the neighboring city of Severodonetsk, on the east Ukrainian front, believers of Orthodox Chu…

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, but luckily super mom was there to save the day. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.

In the Peruvian city of San Miguel, near the capital Lima, locals celebrated a unique environment friendly car race on Sunday. Buzz60's Trinit…

Authorities in the Moscow-controlled Ukrainian region of Kherson announced on May 23 the introduction of the rouble as an official currency al…

Go behind this centuries old noodle making technique that is turning making noodles into a show.

Jerry Huang's aquatic pets rarely feel like two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl because they get to go for regular strolls. In Taiwan's Taic…

An arcade game classic comes home, with a 21st-century twist. Skillshot FX digital pinball offers the all-ages fun of a retro favorite, reimag…

The impact of the Ukraine war extends far beyond the country’s borders as Russian forces have destroyed crops and blockaded ports along the Black Sea, affecting the food supply in Africa and the Middle East.

Cherries are the last fruit trees to bloom and the first to harvest, which is why we are seeing sweet cherries in the farmers market now. They belong to the genus Prunus, which includes plums, peaches, apricots and almonds.

All cultivated cherries come from two wild species: Prunus avium for sweet cherries, P. cerasus for sour. Sweet cherries have been mentioned in ancient Greek writings as early as 300 B.C and were probably cultivated in the Mediterranean before then.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

But, we’re here to talk about cooking so what’s the difference between sweet and sour cherries? In general, sweet cherries are eaten raw, usually as dessert or a snack. Sour cherries are also for dessert but need to be cooked and sweetened with sugar to make pies, cobblers, and jams.

Cherries contain plant compounds called anthocyanins and cyanidin which some studies have suggested have anti-inflammatory effects. They are also thought to reduce blood pressure due to their high polyphenol content but, all the studies I read online emphasize the word “may,” which I translate as “don’t bet your life on it.”

But the main thing is they are fresh, they are here, and they taste good, so let’s cook with them.

Grilled Pork Loin Chops With Balsamic Cherries

Serves 4

This is an easy recipe, and you can make the sauce more complicated, adding fresh minced ginger or other spices, but the goal is to let the cherries shine, so don’t go crazy, okay?

4 large center loin pork chops

Spanish Pimentón dulce (These are mild peppers that have been smoked, dried and ground up. I love the taste and use it a lot.)

½ cup balsamic vinegar

2 cups fresh pitted cherries, quartered

1 garlic clove, very finely minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons honey to sweeten the cherries (optional but a good idea)

Simmer the balsamic vinegar with cherries, garlic, thyme and a dash of salt and pepper until it is reduced to a syrupy consistency. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. Keep warm as you grill pork chops.

Season the pork chops with salt and rub them with the pimenton. Grill the chops until just slight pink in the center. An instant read thermometer (you did buy one, didn’t you?) should read around 140° F when inserted in the center, not touching the bone. Taste balsamic sauce for sweetness and salt. Add as necessary and serve sauce draped over the chops.

Pizza With Cherries, Prosciutto and Feta

Serves 4

Adapted from Country Living magazine article by Marian Cooper Cairns, June 21, 2016

I don’t live the “Country Living” lifestyle, but the magazine has a ton of recipes so when I searched for a pizza recipe with cherries, it came up quickly on my web search. Turns out lots of folks place cherries on pizza and I thought it was something new.

1 pound store-bought pizza dough, at room temperature (I do use my own pizza dough but it’s a two-day process with a lot of steps that would take the whole article to explain so, use store-bought or your own pizza dough recipe.)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for working dough and grill

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 scallions, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

6 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 1/3 cups sweet cherries, pitted and halved

4 slices prosciutto, torn into strips

2 cups arugula

1/4 cup torn fresh basil

2 teaspoons Champagne vinegar (Yes, Champagne vinegar tastes much better than white vinegar, which I’m not even sure where it’s from. It’s always better to know the source of your food, even vinegar.)

Heat grill to medium-high set up for indirect grilling. With oiled hands, stretch dough into four (6 by 8-inch) ovals. Place on a baking sheet. Brush both sides of dough with 2 tablespoons oil, dividing evenly. Season with salt and pepper.

Clean and oil grill grates. Place as many pieces of dough as will fit onto grates, over indirect heat. Grill, covered, until grill marks appear, 1 to 2 minutes.

Turn dough and top with scallions, cheese, cherries, and prosciutto, dividing evenly. Grill, covered, until cheese melts and dough is cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and toppings, if necessary. Toss together arugula, basil, vinegar, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Top pizza with arugula mixture. Serve immediately.

Apricot and Cherry Clafoutis

Serves 10

Adapted from "Six California Kitchens" by Sally Schmitt

I first thought I’d do the whole article for savory dishes and not have cherries for dessert. But there is this great cherry dish in "Six California Kitchens" by Sally Schmitt, which I wrote about earlier, and I’m still cooking my way through the cookbook.

A clafoutis is originally from the Limousin region of France, a country dessert made by pouring batter over fresh fruit (traditionally cherries) and baking. Sour cherries are typically used but Sally only grew sweet ones, so she added apricots to add “some extra zing.”

If you want to use all sweet cherries, replacing the amount of apricots with cherries, it’s your clafoutis.

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs

1 cup half-and-half or milk

¼ cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons butter

3 cups halved and pitted cherries

2 cups pitted and quartered apricots, preferably Blenheims

Brandy

Preheat the oven to 375°F. In the oven, warm a 10 inch deep-dish pie plate or a cast-iron skillet.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon. In a large bowl, whisk together until smooth (or use blender) the egg, half-and-half, melted butter vanilla extract and salt. Add gradually, while whisking, the flour.

To the warmed pie plate add butter. Swirl the dish to melt the butter and scatter over the bottom of the dish the cherries and apricots. Drizzle with a splash of brandy.

Return the pie plate to the oven. When the fruit is hot, after about 15 minutes, pour the batter over it and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake until puffy and set, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or dollop of whipped cream.

Locals in Tokyo, Japan, enjoyed a sunny day outside on March 26, as cherry blossoms trees bloomed.

Why is one dish deemed breakfast food while another is served only at lunch or dinner? We’re missing a lot of good flavors if we shove food into narrow categories of only served at breakfast or lunch or dinner. If I’m hungry, it doesn’t matter when a dish is traditionally served, I’ll scarf it down and ask for seconds.

Who dictated that eggs are only for breakfast? What about an omelet, Spain’s tortilla de patata (potato omelet), the North African shakshuka, the Israeli sabich, a savory soufflé, egg salad sandwich, quiche…? The list goes on and on of egg dishes that for generations have been served for dinner.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

In fact, there are so many dinner egg dishes that I’m going to limit myself to just one in this example of serving breakfast for dinner and offer a couple of other breakfast dishes that have pushed their way onto lunch and dinner menus.

Serves 2 as main course or 4 when accompanied by other dishes

Adapted from "Authentic Mexican" by Rick Bayless

I’ve seen this sold as breakfast in tiny kitchens in markets throughout Mexico but I like this version from Chef Rick Bayless’ first book, which he says he learned in Mexico City.

While chilaquiles is a simple recipe, I’m not awake enough to pull it off in the morning but by evening my motor functions are ready for a little spice. You can switch the tomato-chile sauce out for tomatillo sauce to make it chilaquiles verdes. Both sauces are great additions to other dishes.

Tomato-Chile Sauce

1 28-ounce can of good quality tomatoes, drained, cut in half, seeded, then roughly chopped

2 to 3 jalapeños, stemmed and roughly chopped ( If you want a mild sauce, cut in half and remove the seeds.)

½ small white onion, roughly chopped

1 large clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon lard or vegetable oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Add chopped tomatoes, jalapeños, onion and garlic to a blender. Process the mixture until pureed. Heat the lard/oil in a medium-large skillet. When it is hot enough for a drop of the mixture really sizzle, add it all at once and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, as the puree sears and cooks into a thicker, more orange-colored sauce. Season with salt and taste to see if more is needed. This can be made well in advance.

6 medium-thick, store-bought corn tortillas, left uncovered overnight or dried out in the oven at 350°F

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 ½ cups tomato-chile sauce from above

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup boneless, cooked chicken (use rotisserie chicken or I use leftovers from grilling chicken the night before)

¼ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste

1/3 cup sour cream thinned with a little milk or cream to make it smooth

2 tablespoons crumbled Mexican queso fresco or queso añejo or feta (but you really should go the Mexican route for the full effect)

1 thin slice of white onion, broken into rings

Cut the tortillas into eights. If they feel moist, dry the pieces for a few minutes in a 350°F until feel leathery.

Pour the oil into a medium-size skillet set over medium-high heat. When hot enough to make a tortilla piece sizzle, add half the tortilla pieces. Turn them frequently until they are lightly browned and nearly crisp, then remove and drain on paper towels. Fry and drain the remaining tortilla pieces.

Reduce heat to medium-low and discard any oil that remains. Return the tortilla pieces to the skillet and add the sauce, broth, and optional chicken. Stir well to coat the tortillas, cover the skillet and simmer until the tortillas are soft but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Scoop the mixture onto a warm serving platter.

Drizzle with the cream, sprinkle the cheese and decorate with onion rings. Serve immediately.

Serves 2 but easy to upsize

Sure, everybody makes avocado toast these days but take your taste buds to the next level with a tartine. This French term is used to describe any open-faced sandwich, but it makes your piece of avocado toast piled high with peppers and salmon sound more sophisticated.

2 ripe Hass avocados

1/2 tsp. sherry vinegar

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

4 slices sourdough bread, toasted

1/2 cup finely chopped roasted red peppers from a jar of roasted peppers

1 lime, cut in half

4 thin pieces of smoked salmon (sure you can add more)

Flaky sea salt optional

In a medium bowl, mash the avocados with the vinegar juice and a generous pinch of salt, leaving some chunky pieces. Divide the avocado among the bread slices, and top with peppers, drape the smoked salmon, squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of flaky sea salt. You could add a salad to make it a whole dinner. Or, make another tartine.

Serves 4

Adapted from Alison Roman in The New York Times

To my taste, there is no way someone could or should pull this off in the morning; even brunch would be pushing it. But if you plan ahead, this is a rewarding dinner. It’s also endlessly adaptable: Add sliced avocado, or swap in some smoked salmon to make Eggs Hemingway, or wilted spinach for the Canadian bacon to transform your dish into Eggs Florentine.

For the Hollandaise:

¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

3 large egg yolks

1 ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste

¼ teaspoon cayenne or hot paprika, plus more to taste

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the poached eggs:

1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar

Kosher salt

8 large eggs

For the Benedict and assembly:

4 English muffins, split

8 slices Canadian bacon or thick-cut ham (or 8 slices regular, thick-cut bacon)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup chopped chives

2 tablespoons chopped dill, tarragon or parsley

Flaky sea salt

Coarsely ground black pepper

Make the Hollandaise: Melt butter in a small pot over medium heat until it’s foamy but not yet beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.

Place egg yolks and 2 teaspoons of water in a blender. Start blending, and, working very slowly, add the hot, melted butter until it’s all incorporated. (If it starts to get too thick to blend, add 1/2 teaspoon of water.) Add lemon juice and cayenne, though feel free to adjust the amounts to taste, and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the Hollandaise to a small bowl, and place plastic wrap directly on the surface so it doesn’t form a skin. Set aside. (It will keep at room temperature while you work.)

Poach the eggs: Fill a medium pot with 3 inches of water. Add vinegar, season with salt and bring to a simmer. (Look for just a few bubbles; it should never boil.) Using the handle of a spoon or spatula, stir the water with a clockwise motion. Gently crack an egg into the center of the pot, letting the water swirl around it and allowing the white to envelop the yolk. Repeat with remaining eggs — you could probably do up to four at a time.

Check the eggs after 4 minutes: Use a slotted spoon to lift an egg out of the water, and feel the white for firmness. If it's not quite done, slide it back in for another minute or so. Let cook until the whites are just set, but the yolks are still completely runny for 4 to 5 minutes. Once eggs are perfectly poached, remove from the water, and let drain on a plate lined with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Set eggs aside.

Using a toaster, toaster oven, or regular oven, toast the English muffins until crisp and golden brown. Don’t be afraid to toast them thoroughly: They'll be covered in hollandaise and poached eggs and will need to be sturdy.

Cook Canadian bacon or ham (or bacon) in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown and just crisp at the edges, about 6 minutes.

Assemble the Benedict: Place eight halves of English muffin on a plate and butter them generously. Top each with a slice of Canadian bacon, ham or bacon, then a poached egg. Spoon Hollandaise sauce over and sprinkle with chives, dill, flaky sea salt and black pepper.

Join Feast for Sweet and Savory: Breakfast Focaccia

Don’t know what to cook tonight? Let the market tell you.

I love going to local markets when I travel. Since in most countries people shop from their street markets several times a week, they are buying the freshest vegetables to cook that night. Of course, another reason is most apartments don’t have room for a lot of food storage.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

When my wife and I stayed in Rome we were just around the corner from the Campo de Fiori, which has hosted a market for flowers and fruit and vegetable since 1869. After sunset, the area magically transforms into a spot perfect to meet friends, with plenty of restaurants and bars to fuel the crowd.

In Paris, we had an apartment in the third arrondissement on the Rue de Turbago, just a few blocks from the Marché des Enfants Rouges. This has been a covered market since1615 with produce, cheese and flower stalls. Yes, it was clear we were tourists as we slowly walked past each stall, looking like we had never seen a fresh artichoke before, but they figure tourists have to eat, too, so we might buy something.

The point is, not having a plan for dinner but looking to see what’s in season right now; it is the usual mode of shopping in Europe but we in America have come to rely on having just about every fruit and vegetable, every day of the year, on the shelf.

Here are three suggestions that call for vegetables that are now appearing in local markets but if the vendors have something else, go with that.

(Spring Vegetable Stew)

Serves 4 to 6

Adapted from "French Home Cooking" by the California Culinary Academy, written by Janet Fletcher and Hallie Donnelly Harron

A walk through any farmers market in France shows exactly what’s in season today: no avocados from Mexico or tomatoes from Chile. This recipe comes from the fertile region surrounding Paris but home cooks throughout the country practice la cuisine du marché (cooking from the market).

That also means this recipe is just a suggestion since what looks great in the farmers market when you go might be different. It’s better to select great ingredients and making it work instead of buying out-of-season vegetables, just to satisfy a recipe.

If you’re wondering about the producer of this one-of-a-series of informative cookbooks, the California Culinary Academy was a for-profit school, and an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu; it moved around to a few locations in San Francisco. I remember eating a wonderful formal lunch in its restaurant when it was on Polk Street. Sadly, CCA sank under allegations that the school inflated job placement rates and a lawsuit.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 shallots, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 boiling onions (small red, yellow or white onions, usually measuring about an inch or less in diameter, to be used whole) peeled.

4 ½ cups water (if you have vegetable stock, use that, but homemade chicken stock may overwhelm the flavors of the delicate vegetables)

6 ounces of small red potatoes, cut into ½-inch dice

12 finger-sized young carrots (They should have their green tops still attached to show they were freshly harvested.) Remove tops, leave whole

8 ounces baby yellow summer squash or zucchini, quartered lengthwise

8 ounces pencil-thin asparagus

5 ounces mushroom, quartered

¼ cups minced green onion

¼ cup minced parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large, deep pan that will hold all the ingredients, over moderately low heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add shallots and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Add boiling onions and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer for 10 minutes.

Add potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add carrots and 1 cup of water and cook for 5 minutes. Add squash and 1 cup of water and cook for 5 minutes. Add asparagus and mushrooms, and cook until asparagus is tender-crisp, 5 to 8 minutes.

Raise heat to high. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and ½ cup of water. Bring to boil and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in green onion and parsley.

ey. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture among 4 warm soup bowls.

(Fresh Fava Bean Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette)

Adapted from "Mediterranean Fresh" by Joyce Goldstein

Chef Goldstein is famous for her now-closed restaurant Square One, which was credited with popularizing Mediterranean food in the US. This book was born from the work she did for the Culinary Institute of America to develop a course “to show students that there is more to salads than the salad bar,” she says. She introduces this salad as a classic Mediterranean springtime salad from Spain. No doubt, the two-step shelling of fava beans takes some time, but you do get faster the more you do it.

3 cups shelled fresh fava beans (start with about 3 pounds in the pod)

½ cup sherry vinaigrette (see below)

1 large head of romaine lettuce, shredded

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 spring onions, chopped (both white and green parts)

½ cups slivered Serrano ham

Prepare the vinaigrette

Cook the shelled fava beans in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water. Using the nail of the thumb, carefully cut then remove the outer peel from each bean. It may take a little time but you’ll get faster the more you do it. Place the peeled favas in a salad bowl. Dress them with half the vinaigrette and let them marinate for about 30 minutes. When ready to serve, toss the lettuce, mint and spring onions with the rest of the dressing and place on serving platter. Top with the favas and slivered ham.

Sherry vinaigrette:

¼ cup sherry vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste

Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl. (Thrashing the oil in a food processor changes the taste of the oil, making it bitter.)

Adapted from "Six Seasons: A New Way With Vegetables" by Joshua McFadden with Martha Holmberg

Serves 2 but is easy to upscale

Pasta is amazingly adaptable to whatever is in season. Traditionally, this is a simple blend of eggs, pancetta and cheese for the sauce but Chef McFadden pushes this dish into the almost healthy category by adding English peas. This is a handy cookbook that matches the growing seasons more accurately by dividing them up into Spring, Early Summer, Midsummer, Late Summer, Fall, and Winter. He mentions in the headnote that you can swap out the peas with asparagus or thinly sliced sugar snap peas or add all of them.

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 ounces pancetta, cut into small dice (you can buy a 4-ounce package of already neatly diced pancetta at Trader Joe's. Just about any dish will welcome the extra ounce.)

Extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces dried fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti

1 pound of English peas in their pods, then shelled, producing about 1 cup of fresh peas (Sure, you could buy the frozen peas at the supermarket but the goal here is to celebrate the first produce of spring, so please stay with me on this.)

3 scallions, trimmed (including cutting ½ inch off the green tops) thinly slice on an angle

1 small handful pea tendrils (optional but amps up the pea flavors.)

1 egg, whipped well with a fork in a little bowl (again, it helps to buy a farm-fresh egg)

½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (I’m sure I don’t have to tell someone with your good taste not to use the already grated cheese in a can, yes?)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt until it tastes like the sea. (I know, I’m not sure what that tastes like, either, and I spent 5 years at sea in the Navy.)

Put the pancetta and a small glub of olive oil in a skill or Dutch oven that’s large enough to hold all the pasta. Cook until the pancetta is lightly browned but still slightly chewy, 9 to 12 minutes (or less if you’re using thinly sliced pancetta.) Season the pancetta very generously with pepper. Take the skillet off the heat, but don’t drain anything—you’ll use that fat!

When the water is at a boil, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, until almost al dente (this is Italian for “to the tooth” meaning the proper degree of doneness for pasta or risotto; basically, somewhat chewy but not hard or mushy.)

When the pasta is almost ready, add the shelled peas to the pasta pot. Put the skillet back over medium heat and reheat the pancetta gently. With a ladle or a measuring cup, scoop out about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Drain the pasta and peas. Whisk a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water into the fat and pancetta in the skillet, to make the bacon fat lighter and creamier by emulsifying it with water.

Pull the pan off the heat. Whisk some of that warm fat into the beaten egg to temper it (meaning to gently warm up the egg so that it doesn’t scramble when you add it to the hot skillet) then whisk the egg into the skillet.

Dump the pasta, peas, scallions, and pea tendrils (if using) into the skillet. Add both the cheeses and toss everything quickly and thoroughly to blend. Add a few more small splashes of the pasta water and keep tossing until the noodles are cloaked in a creamy sauce.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt or black pepper as needed. Serve right away. This dish does not wait.

The Napa Farmers Market had 27 farmers selling products on Saturday -- that's more farmers than the market has seen in at least a decade.

Jim Dawley of Houston, Texas husks corn at the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday. Dawley was visiting family in Napa.

Vendor Princess Aisha Sibri gives Bailey Spears a sample of shea butter during the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday.

Gene Imprie enjoys some conversation with Agustin Lopez of R. Schletewitz Family Farm at the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday.

Sisters Jaime, 3, and Jazzy Ballines, 7, sit together while enjoying some popcorn at the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday.

Quinn Boyles, 3, shares her cookie with her grandmother, Cheryl Woods, at the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday.

"Last Day for cut lavender" at the Napa Farmers Market, Sat. June 24, 2017.

Fresh cut sunflowers available for purchase at the Napa Farmers Market.

A stuffed dog greets customers at the Napa Valley Leathercraft booth during the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday.

Cameron Lovie poses with a succulent purchased at the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday.

Vendor Princess Aisha Sibri poses with her shea butter.

The Burrata Toast available for $12 at Addictive Toast at the Napa Farmers Market.

Chicken and Waffle Cupcake available for $10 at Cacao Milk Bar at the Napa Farmers Market.

Carlos Islas with J&J Ramos Farms, Inc. attracts people to cherries and strawberries by calling out "Come get that yummy for your tummy" and "Don't be shy, come and try free samples."

Jesus Mendez purchases some produce from Yolanda Aguilar of Hamlow Ranches at the Napa Farmers Market on Saturday. Mendez said that he tries to come to the farmers market with his family as much as he can.

"It's always an adventure," he said. "Sometimes you find a nice corn -- nothing like a sweet, white corn for this kind of weather."

High demand for groceries combined with soaring freight costs and Omicron-related labor shortages are creating a new round of backlogs at processed food and fresh produce companies, leading to empty supermarket shelves at major retailers across the United States. Lisa Bernhard produced this report.

It’s always seemed odd to me that the brightest fruit appears in the dead of winter: Yes, I mean citrus in general and particularly Meyer lemons. They are at their peak of productivity now, just when we need something bright and cheerful in our meals. While walking my dog this past week I’ve come across more than one pile of Meyer or Eureka lemons in a box with a "FREE" sign stuck on the front.

As told by author Helena Attlee in “The Land Where Lemons Grow,” lemons first grew under taller trees in forests on the foothills of the Himalayas and were brought to the U.S. from Italy in the 1800s.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Meyer lemons were introduced to the United States by agriculturist Frank Meyer, who was a special agent for the USDA sent to search China and acquire hardy crops. He discovered a small tree with bright yellow fruit in 1907, in a small village near Beijing that had a remarkable blend of flavor and less tart than the typical lemon.

What is now called Meyer lemon is a cross between mandarin orange and lemon, making them more fragrant and a touch sweeter than the Eurekas, the lemon usually sold in the supermarket. Read “The Food Explorer” by Daniel Stone to learn the story about Frank Meyer and the program’s founder, botanist David Fairchild.

I’ve turned into a die-hard Meyer lemon fan, planting what is now a prolific Meyer lemon tree in the backyard, and even when I run out, I buy Meyers at the store until they run out, too.

You may have encountered this classic topping, even if you didn’t know it had a formal name. This is a mixture of chopped garlic, lemon zest (the skin of the lemon without the white, bitter pith underneath) and Italian parsley.

I met my first gremolata in a class where we were making ossobuco, which are braised veal shanks, a specialty of the Lombardy region of Italy. And, we were taught, that of course ossobuco is always topped with gremolata and served with risotto alla Milanese. That’s what I love about food: You think you’re learning something simple, like gremolata, and next thing you know you’re making braised shanks.

1 medium bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (about ¾ cup chopped)

Zest from 1 medium lemon (about 1 tablespoon. Used a zester to make this easy)

1 medium clove garlic, minced

Extra-virgin olive oil

Finely chop the parsley (thin stems are fine to include). On the cutting board, mix the parsley with the lemon zest and minced garlic, add a teaspoon or more olive oil and continue to chop everything until it is roughly mixed together. Scape into a small bowl to make it easier to serve.

This is a combination of several recipes I’ve seen but I credit John Mariani, author of “The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink” with the addition of anchovies. He doesn’t include it in the recipe for Ossobuco in his dictionary, but I found it online in an Ossobuco recipe he wrote later.

4 veal shanks, tightly tied (beef or lamb shanks also work)

Flour for dredging

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 anchovies, chopped

2 sprigs of fresh oregano

2 garlic cloves

1 piece fresh lemon peel, about 1 inch long

Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 14 ounce can chopped Italian-style tomatoes with juices

1 ½ cups chicken broth

In a bowl, dredge the shanks in flour and shake off excess. In a large casserole dish, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and, when hot, add the shanks. Brown on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Add onions to casserole dish and cook until golden, about 10 minutes. Add carrots, celery and anchovies, cook for 3 minutes. Add oregano, garlic, lemon peel, a dash of salt and pepper, white wine, tomatoes, chicken broth and shanks. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, and cook until tender, about 1 hour or more.

Transfer the shanks to a bowl. Turn heat up to medium-high and boil sauce till reduced by about one-fourth and thickened about 15 minutes.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the sauce to a blender or food processor and puree. Return puree to casserole dish along with shanks and collected dripping. Adjust salt and pepper, heat for 5 to 10 minutes, and serve with risotto and gremolata on top.

Adapted from “The Lemon Book” by Ellen Jackson

Serves 4

Preserved lemons are a great way to be able to use the kiss of lemony acid year-round and I make a jar at least once a year. I had come down to just one last preserved lemon in the refrigerator, so I started hunting for a recipe that would be a good use of it. Where else to look but "The Lemon Cookbook."

I love these cookbooks that tightly focus on just one ingredient so when you want (or need) to use it you can see the whole kitchen table of possibilities, and not have to skim through several books or hours on the Internet. I served this spicy dish to warm up during the recent cold spell we suffered, afraid that my little collection of citrus trees might not survive it. They seem okay so far but we’ll see if more freezing temperatures come our way this year.

2 pounds chuck roast, cut into 1 inch by 1 inch dice, removing as much fat as possible

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sunflower oil or other high smoke oil

1 medium yellow onion, large dice

1 preserved lemon, skin only, rinsed, de-seeded, and chopped. Recipe to make them is below

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons Ras el Hanout (translates as "head of the shop" and implies a mixture of the best spices the seller has to offer. It is a North African spice blend available at Whole Spice in the Oxbow Market.)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon harissa, you can add more if you really like it hot ( I love the Tunisina Traditional Harissa from Les Moulins Mahjoub, available at Hudson Greens & Goods in the Oxbow Public Market at or online)

3 cups chicken stock (as always, it helps to have real chicken stock and not the stuff from a box)

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 325°F. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel (so it will brown, not stew in its own juice), and season well with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven with a lid, warm the oil over medium-high heat. Browning the beef in two batches, add the beef, and sear it for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Be careful not to crowd the pan. Remove the browned meat to a large bowl (to catch the accumulating juice) and sauté onions in the same pot, stirring frequently to scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. When the onion has softened, add lemon, garlic, Ras el Hanout, cumin, coriander, and harissa and stir often until aromatic. Return browned beef to pot along with juices in the bowl. Add stock, thyme, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste.

Cover pot and braise in the oven for about 2 hours, until meat is tender. Serve over warm rice or couscous and topped with chopped Italian parsley and cilantro leaves, if you like.

Preserved Lemons

Not only does this add a sophisticated splash of flavors and acid with just about anything you’re cooking, it’s a great use of lemons when you have a happy lemon tree loaded with fruit. I’ve seen recipes that add cinnamon sticks and coriander, black pepper, and other spices but I keep mine simple. Please note: It will take at least a month for the lemons to start being transformed by the lemon juice and salt, so you do have to plan ahead. Once converted, the lemons seem to keep forever, so I always have a jar of preserved lemons in my refrigerator, ready for adventure.

8 or more organic, unwaxed lemons. Wash thoroughly and dry.

Box of Kosher salt

1 quart glass jar with a lid that you can seal

Wash 4 to 5 lemons, then quarter each one lengthwise, but don’t cut all the way through. Take each one and pour salt into it and then slide it into the jar, jamming them together as close as possible. Pour more salt over the lemons, then juice the remaining four lemons, adding the juice to the jar. You may need more lemons to juice with the goal to cover the cut lemons completely with juice. Seal the jar and place it in the refrigerator, shaking occasional to distribute the salt over the lemons. In a month or two, the acid and salt will have transformed the skin of the lemons. I grow my lemons without pesticides but this seems to work for any type of lemon.

Servings 4

There are endless recipes for lemon-based desserts on the Internet, so if this doesn’t pull you in, try another lemon dessert, but this is an easy, tasty mix of lemon and ricotta.

9 ounces all-purpose flour

4 ounces sugar

4.5 ounces unsalted butter (yep, if you bake you gotta get an electronic scale)

1 whole medium egg at room temperature

1 medium egg yolk at room temperature

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 pinch salt

For filling:

12 ounces ricotta

5 ounces sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

2 eggs

Place the flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix to combine. Add the butter cut into cubes. Mix the butter into the flour mixture with your hands (or using the paddle of a stand mixer). Once the mixture resembles bread crumbs, make a well in the center and add the yolk and the whole egg. Only mix with fingertips, otherwise too much kneading could alter the taste of the pastry. Mix to form a soft smooth ball. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough into ¼ inch thickness with the help of a rolling pin. Place in a greased 9-inch cake pan also attach the edges of the pastry to the cake pan. Remove the hanging pastry edges with the help of a sharp knife. You can cut them into thin strips and use them to decorate the crostata giving it a classy look. Prick the base of the pastry with the help of a fork.

For the filling, blend the eggs with the sugar. Add the lemon zest and the ricotta. Beat till fully combined. Leave to refrigerate for half an hour. In the meantime, preheat the oven at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes Pour the filling into the pastry shell, place it on a sheet pan for easy handling and bake in the oven until light golden brown and firm.

If you are resolved to cook from home, these tips from experts should help. Buzz60’s Keri Lumm reports.

These shrimp and pesto bowls are delicious, healthy, pretty and take less than 30 minutes to prep. In other words, they’re basically the ultimate easy weeknight dinner.

After a long day of work sometimes you just need a comforting recipe that can feed the whole family in less than an hour. This meatloaf sheet pan dinner does just that.

Juicy chicken thighs are cooked in the same pan as baby potatoes and kale for a satisfying meal with the added bonus of minimal cleanup.

This works as a main course with warm crusty chunks of country bread. To drink? How about a merlot or a chilled beer? Enjoy.

Special occasions call for special meals, like those you might enjoy at some of the best steakhouses in America. Whether you’re looking to celebrate an anniversary, birthday or holiday, it’s actually pretty easy to cook a steakhouse-worthy meal at home.

Life has been less than sweet this past year. So, what could be better than a chocolate caramel dessert to cheer us up on this holiday of love?

Chocolate cream pie isn’t just a diner special; it’s the perfect dessert for any celebration. We love the added flair of chocolate curls on top, but a pretty dollop of whipped cream on each piece would look just as elegant.

Why would you ever eat at thistle? Because with a little work you’re rewarded with a great taste.

The most famous, or at least best tasting, flowering plant in the genus of thistle-like perennial plants is the artichoke. They are native to the Mediterranean region, so you can see why they grow well in Napa, plus the Middle East, northwestern Africa, and the Canary Islands. The ancient Greeks and Romans dined on artichokes, or at least on cardoons, which lands between the modern artichoke and the common thistle in both size and appearance.

I’ve grown Globe artichokes here in Napa (hang on, this is not turning into the Master Gardeners’ column) but with just a small back yard I had room for only one artichoke plant, so I treated it like an ornamental plant, not picking the blubs but allowing them to produce beautiful purple flowers. But when the buds are allowed to mature, they become fibrous and inedible.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

When you’re buying artichokes, and now is a good time to start buying them at the farmers market, there are a few things to look for: Artichokes should feel heavy when you pick them up. If they feel light, they're probably dried out from being stored too long.

Pick up the artichoke to make sure the leaves squeak. Again, if it’s been stored too long, they go dry. The leaves should be tightly closed with just a little separation, not loose, which happens as it ages. Their peak season is spring and fall so if a vendor has a notice this fall that says “frost kissed” that is considered a good sign by artichoke lovers.

So, now that you’ve bought it, the next questions, how do you cook and eat it? If this is your first time face-to-face with an artichoke, it’s not obvious what is edible and what to toss away. I’ve tried to make it clear by choosing these three recipes how to remove the excess and what to keep. If your learning style is more visual, there are plenty of YouTube videos that show you how to do it.

I know, I know, lots of people simply like to steam them, and then pull each leaf off, which has just a tiny amount of the heart attached, and dip that end into melted butter.

The first time I ate in a fine-dining restaurant was in college, when a friend of mine and I saved up and went as a treat. For some reason, we thought eating artichokes sounded sophisticated but when they were served, we saw others in the room pulling off the leaves, dipping them in a ramekin and scraping the ends with their teeth so we followed suite.

It seemed to be a waste of time and butter. Well, the only thing I really could taste was butter and I had a mess of leaves on the plate, making it hard finding the heart, which is edible and really what most people want out of this exercise. So, here are three ways to really enjoy an artichoke.

Serves 4

Adapted from The Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2006 article by Russ Parsons

1 lemon

4 medium artichokes

1 tablespoon salt

¼ pound wood chips (preferably oak or hickory)

Olive oil

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into a large saucepan with 6 cups of water. Add the lemon halves to the water.

Trim the artichokes to hearts, leaving the stems intact. Begin by holding the artichoke in your left hand with the stem facing toward you and the tip facing away. Slowly turn the artichoke against the sharp edge of the knife while making an abbreviated sawing motion. (It’s easier to control if you use the base of the knife rather than the tip.) You will begin to cut through the tough outer leaves; when you can discern the natural cone shape of the artichoke, adjust the knife to follow it.

Keep trimming just like this until you’ve cut away enough of the tough leaves so that you see only light green at the base. Cut away the top half-inch or so of the tip of the artichoke and dip the artichoke into the lemon water to keep the cut surfaces from discoloring.

With a paring knife, trim away the very tip of the stem, then peel the stem and base of the artichoke, going from the tip to where the base meets the leaves. You’ll have to do this at least five or six times to make it all the way around the artichoke. When you’re done, there should be no dark green tough spots left, only pale green and ivory.

Dip each artichoke in lemon water to prevent browning, then cut in half lengthwise. If there is a hairy choke in the center of the heart, remove it (a serrated grapefruit spoon is easiest; a teaspoon will work too). Put the cleaned halves in the lemon water and repeat for the remaining artichokes.

Add the salt to the soaking water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook just until the artichokes are tender at the heart, about 15 minutes. Remove the artichokes to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool and dry.

Place the wood chips in a bowl, cover with water and soak at least 30 minutes. Light a fire and when it is medium-hot (when you can hold your hand at grill level to a count of three), add the wood chips. Let them flame up and die down.

Brush the artichokes lightly with oil and place around the outside of the grill. Cover and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the artichokes and cook another 3 or 4 minutes, just until lightly bronzed on both sides. Watch carefully as they will go from golden to charred very quickly. Remove to a serving platter.

Mr. Parsons serves this with aioli, which, as he writes “is nothing more than raw garlic pounded with a little salt and a couple egg yolks into a sticky paste, with just enough olive oil beaten in to make it creamy.” I like the Judy Rodgers’ old fashion, hand-whisked version from her Zuni Café Cookbook, which she calls Lemon Mayonnaise.

Lemon Mayonnaise

Produces between ½ cup to ¾ cup.

Adapted from "The Zuni Café Cookbook" by Judy Rodgers

1 egg yolk

A few pinches of salt

½ to ¾ cup mild-tasting olive oil (don’t use the expensive, single varietal extra-virgin olive oil. Those flavors will get lost)

½ fresh lemon

Whisk the yolk with a pinch of salt. Whisk in a trickle of oil, then another, gradually increasing the flow to a stream, whisking constantly to maintain any emulsion. The sauce will begin to turn opaque and tacky.

Keep adding oil until the mayonnaise is a little firmer than you like, then add a long squeeze of lemon juice. Drop another pinch of salt on the lemon juice, then whisk again. Taste and whisk in more lemon, salt, or oil to taste.

(Fonds d’Arichauts Farcis)

Serves 6

Adapted from "Simple French Food" by Richard Olney

I’ve always loved Mr. Olney’s writing style of giving strongly opinionated directions as if he’s speaking to you but keeping them brief enough to fit on a single page. A self-taught cook, writer and painter, he was a contemporary of Julia Child and James Beard and friends with chef Alice Waters and writer James Baldwin. He also seemed to know every winemaker and famous restaurant in France, where he lived in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. He wrote several cookbooks before he passed away but maybe is best known for editing the massive 27-volume series, “The Good Cook” for Time-Life.

Court bouillon

1 quart water

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

10 to 15 coriander seeds

1 teaspoon mixed herbs (thyme, savoy, oregano, marjoram)

1 bay leaf

Ingredients

8 large artichokes

Lemon halves (for rubbing the cut sides)

12 unpeeled garlic cloves

¼ cups rice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt, pepper

Lemon juice

Chopped parsley

Combine the elements of the court bouillon, bring to boil, and leave to simmer, covered, while turning (see directions in the first recipe for peeling and trimming) the artichoke bottoms, rubbing each with lemon the moment it is turned.

Add the bottoms and the garlic cloves to the court bouillon and simmer, covered, until the flesh is just tender, but still slightly firm (usually about 15 minutes but the time may, depending on the age and initial tenderness, varying from 10 to 30 to 40 minutes).

Remove the six most handsome specimens, put them aside on a plate to cool and leave the two others to cook another 10 minutes or so until very tender. Pour the contents of the saucepan into a sieve, collecting the court bouillon in another saucepan, bring back to boil, add the rice, and rook, covered at a simmer for about 40 minutes or until very soft. Drain well in a sieve.

Remove all the chokes, gently prying them loose with a teaspoon, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins, and purée the two well-cooked bottoms, the rice, and the garlic together through a stainless steels sieve (they may, first, be put rapidly through the coarse blade of a food mill—once cooked and not permitted to remain in contact with the metal, the artichokes will not be altered).

Work the purée, using a wooden spoon, to a fine, firm, cream consistency, adding the olive oil, salt freshly ground paper, and a little at a time, the lemon juice until seasoned to your taste. Stuff the bottoms with this mixture, mounding it nearly with an inverter tablespoon; serve cold, but not chilled (fragments of pimento, stewed tomato, chopped parsley or black olive may lend a decorative note.)

(Carciofi alla Giudea)

Serves 6

Adapted from "The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink" by John Mariani

In Italy, artichokes are usually served boiled with a dipping sauce oil and lemon or stuffed with seasoned breadcrumbs. Mr. Mariani writes that this recipe “is a Roman specialty associated with the former Jewish ghetto there.”

6 artichokes, trimmed as in other recipes above

1 lemon

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon pepper

2 cups olive oil

Lemon slice, for garnish

Clean the artichokes by removing the outer leaves and fibrous choke from the centers, leaving the tender leaves intact.

Slice off about one-third of the top of each artichoke. Rub the artichokes with lemon or place in lemon water to prevent discoloration.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the salt and pepper, then sprinkle the mixture on the artichokes, making sure the mixture goes between the leaves.

Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan and cook the artichokes, standing up, for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a few drops of cold water so that steam will cook the insides. (It is traditional to do this by placing one’s fist in cold water, then releasing the moisture over the artichokes.)

Remove the artichokes from the pan and set on a plate. Using tongs, carefully pick up the artichokes by their bottoms and place them, top down, into the hot oil until they are golden brown. Serve with slices of lemon.

Guests to the Oxbow Market this summer will be able to discover an oasis of Moroccan food across from the Ritual Coffee stand. Michelin-starred chef Mourad Lahlou, proprietor of acclaimed restaurants Aziza and Mourad in San Francisco says his new restaurant in the Oxbow, Moro Napa, will offer the food and spices reminiscent of food stalls at Jemaa el-Fnaa, a popular night market he frequented growing up in Marrakesh.

Jorge Velazquez, a native of Napa, former butcher at Charter Oak, and a personal friend of Chef Mourad, will run the kitchen with his guidance. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle (yes, I did submit some thought-provoking questions to his representatives but chefs are busy trying to keep their restaurants afloat during a pandemic so no response by press time), he said he hasn’t finalized the menu, but it will focus on grilled meats served alongside flatbreads, fresh salads, wraps, and spreads, like those served at his casual restaurant Aziza.

“It’s food that people can enjoy multiple times a week,” he said. “I don’t want people to come just once a month.”

There have been lots of changes in Napa’s restaurant mix since the pandemic began. Paul Franson, who writes the informative NapaLife weekly newsletter, listed at least 20 restaurants that he knows have closed, but reports that plenty more are planning on opening.

The Oxbow Market has experienced its own upheavals, which will provide space for the new venture. Moro Napa will be located in the current home of C Casa, a taqueria that will be able to expand its offerings to include full plates by moving across the market into the larger space previously occupied by Todd Humphries’ Kitchen Door. The new Kitchen Door will reopen downtown in the First Street Napa complex across from Compline restaurant in early 2022.

Other chess moves at Oxbow Market include Fieldwork Brewery taking lock, stock, and (beer) barrels to the former Cru space at the northwest corner of the complex. This opened a space for another Michelin star chef, Christopher Kostow of The Restaurant at Meadowood (currently being rebuilt after burning down in the 2020 Glass Fire), and the casual Charter Oak, will soon open Loveski, with his wife, Martina Kostow. The restaurant is described as a Jew-ish deli. Nope, I don’t know what the fine line between Jewish and Jew-ish deli is, either, but I want to try it anyway.

But the big news to me is Napa Valley attracting an acclaimed chef from outside the valley bringing a cuisine we haven’t seen a lot. Chef Mourad immigrated to the United States when he was 17 years old, joining his brother, Khalid, eventually earning a BA and master’s degree in economics from San Francisco State University.

To earn money during school he got a job waiting tables at a Moroccan restaurant, Mamounia. He felt the restaurant didn’t deliver the flavors of his childhood so he eventually began cooking at home, relying on memories of his mother’s cooking and lessons from his grandfather at the market.

This led to him hosting Moroccan dinner parties at home and that success prompted his brother to suggest they should start a restaurant. Unlike most good cooks who are told by their friends that they should open a restaurant, they actually opened a successful restaurant, Kasbah, in San Rafael and when the lease ran out in five years, moved back to San Francisco, launching their new restaurant in the Outer Richmond as Aziza, named after their mother. In 2010, it became the first Moroccan restaurant in the U.S. to be awarded a Michelin Star. Mourad received a Michelin Star in 2015, its opening year.

What is Moroccan food? Gripping the western coast of North Africa, Morocco is a mysterious location for many. The only connection many have in the U.S. is they may have seen the 1942 movie "Casablanca" (shot completely in a California movie studio) or read the books by Paul Bowles.

If you’re an adventurous cook, you probably have a cookbook or two by Paula Wolfert, who travel extensively in Morocco, focusing her first cookbook there with “Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco” and wrapped up her writing career eight books later with “The Food of Morocco.”

Like many nations, Morocco is a rich blend of several cultures, starting with its indigenous population, the Berbers, which was invaded by a series of neighbors, including the ancient Romans and later, the Arabs. France and Spain fought over territory eventually Morocco a protectorate of France and it wasn’t until 1956 that it became the Kingdom of Morocco.

Beyond Mediterranean fruits and vegetables, spices are used extensively in Moroccan food, ranging from anise to caraway, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, nutmeg, turmeric, and sesame seeds. The goal is complexity, not heat. Morocco spreads between the Mediterranean and the Atlanta, so plenty of fish dishes along the coast but much of the area is mountainous and borders Algeria to the east, and Western Sahara to the south. The dish people are most familiar with is couscous, which are tiny steamed granules of semolina flour, traditionally served with a stew spooned on top.

While self-taught, Chef Mourad has attracted a lot of star power to his cooking. His cookbook, "Mourad: New Moroccan," published in 2011, is not a collection of classic Moroccan dishes but provides education on spices and techniques before laying out Moroccan recipes that he has adapted to U.S. ingredients and rethought to modernize it. The back of the book features glowing blurbs from famous chefs such as Thomas Keller, Jacques Pépin, José Andrés, Eric Riper, and the late Anthony Bourdain. There is so much praise, the publishers ran out of room on the back cover so they had to tuck Daniel Patterson, David Kinch, and Charles Phan reviews on the inside cover.

In a press release, Steve Carlin, founder, and managing partner of Oxbow Public Market added, “Oxbow Public Market continues to evolve and add exciting new options to our market mix. Moro Napa is an example of that evolution, and our diversification. We couldn’t be happier for the Napa community that Chef Mourad has decided to join the market.” I just hope the Napa community will try a cuisine that they may not be familiar with and, at least for lunch or dinner, take that trip to the night market in Marrakesh.

Can’t wait to try his food? Here is a simple recipe from Chef Mourad’s book to get you started.

From "Mourad: New Moroccan" by Mourad Lahlou

Serves 6

Marinade

3 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

3 tablespoons coarsely chopped thyme

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro

1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Chicken:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup finely diced preserved lemon rind

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Marinade: Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Trim the chicken breasts of excess fat. Remove the tenders and reserve them for another use. Cut the meat into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Add the chicken to the marinade and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or as long as overnight.

Vinaigrette: Whisk all the ingredients together. Set aside.

Chicken: Soak 6 long wooden skewers in cold water for 30 minutes.

Lift several pieces of the chicken at a time from the marinade and squeeze them over the bowl to drain the extra marinade. Skewer the chicken, leaving 1/4 inch between the pieces to allow all sides of the chicken to cook evenly.

Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place the skewers on the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes without moving them, to mark the chicken. Turn the skewers 90 degrees to mark with a crosshatch pattern and grill for another 1 minute. The marks should be well browned but not burnt. Turn the skewers over and cook for about 2 minutes to finish cooking the chicken.

Carefully remove the chicken from the skewers and place it in a bowl. Toss with a light coating of the vinaigrette, and serve the extra vinaigrette on the side.

Sure, I should have had this ready on February 1 to kick off the Chinese Lunar New Year but, at least I turned it in the first month of the Year of the Tiger, so that’s good luck, right?

I have several Chinese cookbooks and I’ve taken some introductory cooking classes, but I feel uncomfortable trying to teach someone else Chinese cooking when I don’t really have a grasp of it myself. But, throwing together a quick weeknight dinner using my wok is something I’ve done enough that I can pass along a few easy recipes that anyone can make.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

It all begins with a good wok. Yes, you can use a large nonstick pan or lots of people use their old cast iron skillet, but a wok is not a huge investment and with care, it will last forever. My current one I’ve had more than 20 years and you can see the nice patina that has built up as a naturally nonstick surface.

A brochure I picked up at The Wok Shop in San Francisco shares the aphorism: “Woks, like friendship, improve with age and care.” If you don’t have a wok, you can buy it online but there is an array of iron, carbon steel and even nonstick electric (but please, leave that one on the shelf.)

If you’re in the market for a wok or other wok-related cooking gear, it’s worth a trip to Chinatown and have someone talk you through what kind of stove you have (gas/electric/induction) and the type of cooking you want to do. Again, I’d recommend The Wok Shop, 718 Grant Ave. San Francisco.

Food writer Grace Young interviewed the owner, Tane Chan, for tips in her work “The Breath of a Wok.” Visit their wokshop.com for store hours, a map to the store and ideas on what to buy. If nothing else, visit the website for video directions on how to season your wok, depending on the type of stove you have, and how to maintain it.

Why not just use a large, nonstick pan? The wok is an amazing instrument that originally sat in a hole on a small stove, concentrating the heat to the round bottom and leaving the sloping sides cooler, so the cook can move the food to the hot section or push it up into the cooler sides.

The design also allows the cook to burn a small amount of wood to heat the stove with only a tiny amount of oil to cook dinner, important features in ancient China. To use a traditional wok on a modern stove, usually you’ll need a wok ring to support the sloping sides or buy a flat bottom wok that allows it rest on the cooking grate without support.

The first mistake many cooks make is they heat the wok and start adding the first ingredients, then try to measure something or cut up the protein or vegetables while the garlic and ginger are starting to burn. Stir-frying is about using high heat and ingredients cut in small portions so the cooking process is very quick: You must have everything measured and cut up, next to the wok and ready to add.

If you want to learn more, read Grace Young’s comprehensive book on the history, selection and using a wok, “The Breath of a Wok.” And, look for a new book that is scheduled to release this March, “The Wok: Recipes and Techniques” by J. Kenji López-Alt of Serious Eats food and drink website (a great source of information on equipment and a wonderful guide to recipes, ingredients…well, just about anything food related.)

Scallion and Ginger Lo Mein

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

Adapted from "The Breath of a Wok" by Grace Young

I know, I’ve endorsed this book already, but I’ve found it a great introduction and inspiration to using my wok. This is a classic Hong Kong-style dish but Ms. Young says, even though it clearly says lo mein and you’d assume you’d use lo mein noodles (often available in an Asian market or you may find dried or frozen ones in a supermarket) she says to use won ton noodles, which are thin like vermicelli, or use dried angel hair pasta.

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 ½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

12 ounces fresh won ton noodles (see note about alternatives)

1 ½ quarter boiling water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 scallions, finely shredded

3 tablespoons finely shredded ginger

In a shallow serving bowl combine the oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, ½ teaspoon of salt and the white pepper. In a large pot bring 3 quarts water to a boil over high heat.

When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and the noodles. Return to a rolling boil and boil according to the package instructions or 15 sections, just to al dente. Carefully pour out the hot water and add several changes of cold water, swishing the noodles to remove surface starch. Drain thoroughly in a colander. Pour the 1 ½ quarts of boiling water over the noodles and again drain thoroughly. Transfer to the serving bowl containing the oyster sauce mixture and combine.

Heat a 14-inch wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the vegetable oil (this means swirling the container as you add the oil so it covers the sides of the wok.)

Add the scallions and ginger and stir-fry 30 to 40 seconds or until the scallions are just wilted but still bright green. Spoon wok mixture over the noodles and pour in any remaining oil from the wok. Toss thoroughly to combine, then serve immediately.

Adapted from J. Kenji López-Alt, Serious Eats

Serves 4 with other dishes

This classic dish originated in the Sichuan Province of south-western China and includes Sichuan peppercorns. The neighboring province of Guizhou, has a variant of Kung Pao chicken using ciba fermented chili paste instead of Sichuan peppercorns for its heat.

Lots of books and Internet sites offer a King Pao Chicken but leave out the Sichuan peppercorns, thinking their audience would never use them. If you have a wok, it’s worth buying Sichuan peppercorns at an Asian grocery or on line. I admit I often replace the roasted unsalted peanuts with cashews because I like cashews more (that’s the beauty of cooking for yourself.)

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat, and cut into 1/2 to 3/4-inch pieces

2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided

2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine, divided (or dry sherry, if unavailable)

1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided

1/3 cup peanut oil

1 to 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns toasted in a hot skillet for 30 seconds until fragrant, divided (see note)

3 scallions, whites finely minced, and greens finely sliced, reserved separately

1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (or distilled white vinegar if unavailable)

1 tablespoon Sichuan fermented chili-bean paste (or generic Asian chili-garlic sauce if unavailable)

2 teaspoons sugar

12 hot Chinese dry chili peppers, seeded (you may want to reduce if you’re not a fan of really spicy food)

2 small leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 1/2 cup total)

Combine chicken, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine and 1 teaspoon cornstarch in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly. Allow to marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes, and up to two hours.

Grind half of Sichuan peppercorns in mortar and pestle. Combine with scallion greens and reserve. Combine scallion whites, garlic, and ginger in small bowl.

Combine remaining soy sauce, remaining Shaoxing wine, remaining corn starch, black vinegar, chili-bean paste, and sugar in small bowl and mix until cornstarch is fully dissolved.

Set fine-meshed strainer over a small heat-proof bowl. Heat peanut oil in a wok over high heat until shimmering. Add remaining Sichuan peppercorns and dried chiles and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Drain in strainer. Pick out chiles and reserve the oil to use in the next steps. Discard peppercorns.

Return wok to high heat until smoking. Add 1/4 of the oil and immediately add half of the marinated chicken. Spread in even layer with spatula. Cook without moving for 1 minute, then cook, stirring and tossing constantly until barely cooked through, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a medium metal bowl.

Wipe out wok with paper towel, add another 1/4 of the oil, and repeat with remaining chicken.

Wipe out wok with paper towel, add another 1/4 cup of the oil, and cook leeks until charred in spots but still slightly crisp, about 1 minute. Add peanuts, reserved chiles, reserved chicken, and remaining oil to wok and push to side to make space in the center of the wok.

Add garlic/ginger mixture and cook, stirring mixture constantly until aromatic, about 15 seconds. Toss entire contents of wok together and add sauce. Cook, stirring and tossing constantly until chicken is coated in glossy layer of sauce. Stir in scallion greens and ground Sichuan pepper. Transfer to serving plate and serve immediately with steamed white rice.

Adapted from “Xi’an Famous Foods” cookbook by Jason Wang with Jessica K. Chou

Serves 2 but easy to scale up

This is from the cookbook from a small chain of Chinese restaurants in New York City. Xi’an is the capital of Shaanxi Province in northwest China and famous as the starting point for the Silk Road, or really routes, between China and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and Europe.

And, it was the hometown of David Shi, who moved his family to America (first Michigan and then New York City) for more opportunities. He eventually started a tiny restaurant selling the food of his hometown, which became celebrated locally enough that Anthony Bourdain and his film crew visited and made them nationally famous. The owners served him this dish and guests began to ask for the dish that Bourdain loved. I was introduced to the book when it was chosen to be our next Cooks & Books cookbook (thanks, Betty Teller!) where each member of our group picks a recipe and makes it for the group. Yes, a book club that tastes as good as it sounds.

10 ounces boneless lamb leg (partially frozen to make it easy to slice thin)

1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 green onion, trimmed and chopped

1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced

1 ½ tablespoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder (This is a homemade blend of 1 pound of dried Tianjin red chile peppers, cleaned and roasted in the oven in vegetable oil, then ground. Not up to that? Try red chili powder which is not authentic, but you may get your dinner on the table before midnight.)

½ medium red onion, sliced

1 longhorn pepper diagonally sliced (These are 6- to 9- inch fresh green chilies that are much larger than comparable varieties and have an unusual "curl" at the tip-so, the name "longhorn." I’ve read that they are similar to red Italian long hots.)

Carefully slice the lamb into 1/8-inch thick pieces (easier to cut if partially frozen). Place the sliced lamb into a large bowl along with the cornstarch and 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil. Mix together with your hands. In a wok heat the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over high heat for 1 minute. Add the green onions, ginger, and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the lamb and stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

When the meat turns an even brown color, turn the heat down to low, add the cumin, salt, and chili powder and stir to combine. Add the onions and longhorn pepper, stir to combine and serve.

At the restaurant, this is served mixed with Biang-Biang Noodles, which are handmade, and hand-ripped fresh wheat noodles, wide, thick, and chewy, which you can learn to make from the cookbook also. However, I did read on a food blog: “I have lived in China since 1996. I don't know anyone who makes their own noodles, either fresh or dried. So much easier (and cheaper) to buy them.” I did find some wide, flat Asian noodles online or try Pappardelle: the large, broad, flat noodles used in Italian cooking

Five years after the Napa City Council voted to end red-light camera traffic enforcement in Napa, the council unanimously supported a plan to …

Plastic seems to be everywhere nowadays, and based on existing research on the greater San Francisco Bay, it is highly likely that the Napa Ri…

The Napa Valley Register offers an in-depth look at the big races on the June 2022 ballot.

Napa Valley winery Heitz Cellar has filed a lawsuit against one of its cask suppliers, claiming the company sold them barrels that were faulty.

Jack Cakebread, one of the pioneers who who lead the transformation of the Napa Valley in the 1970s, died on April 26.

Napa County Landmarks has released its annual list of "10 threatened treasures" in Napa County — structures with historic value that are in ne…

The first-grade class Rebecca Lacau first met last August was unlike any she had taught in more than a decade at Willow Elementary School.

A revised Napa County list of possible rural sites for apartments, condominiums or townhouses includes a small corner of Skyline Wilderness Pa…

A Morimoto Asia, serving pan-Asian foods, will open in the former Basalt space at the corner of Third and Main streets in Napa. No opening dat…

What is Napa County doing as another wildfire season approaches?

Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee

The Most Popular Super Bowl Snacks, , According to Instacart. The Most Popular Super Bowl Snacks, , According to Instacart. Just in time for Super Bowl LVI, Instacart has released its second annual Snacktime Report. . The report uses Instacart's purchase history and Harris Poll survey data from over 2,000 American adults. . Fox News reports that besides revealing the most popular chips, dips and drinks in the U.S., the report also reveals some other interesting data. . 99% of Americans plan on eating chips while tuning in for the big game. . 99% of Americans plan on eating chips while tuning in for the big game. . Tortilla chips came out with a slight edge over potato chips, 76% to 70%, respectively. . Tortilla chips came out with a slight edge over potato chips, 76% to 70%, respectively. . When it comes to ordering wings, Maryland led the top 5 ahead of Mississippi, Connecticut, Georgia and New Jersey. 65% of those surveyed somewhat or strongly agreed that boneless wings are little more than glorified chicken nuggets. . According to the data, the great dip debate continues to divide the U.S. Guacamole was the number one dip in 17 states, while 19 other states were divided between cheese dips (9 states) and salsa (10 states). . Guacamole was the number one dip in 17 states, while 19 other states were divided between cheese dips (9 states) and salsa (10 states). . Guacamole was the number one dip in 17 states, while 19 other states were divided between cheese dips (9 states) and salsa (10 states). . As for beverages, the report only looked at the alcoholic variety, though according to Fox, the non- alcoholic category has exploded in recent years. . As for beverages, the report only looked at the alcoholic variety, though according to Fox, the non- alcoholic category has exploded in recent years. . According to the report, beer showed its superiority by taking eight out of the top 10 spots. . Fox reports that a number of hard seltzers and canned cocktails rounded out the list.

Comparing a can of ventresca tuna to a can of Charlie the Tuna is like comparing an Italian luxury car Maserati to a humble German Volkswagen. The first is impossibly silky smooth and refined, the second is pleasant enough but no excitement. Can they really be the same thing? Well, not really.

The Spanish are masters at picking — or catching — a product at its peak and immediately preserving it in a can. On a trip a few years ago, my wife and I saw high-end taverns in Madrid that only serve foods from cans, and we’re not talking SPAM.

The best example is bonito, (genus Sarda), a tuna-like schooling fish of the tuna and mackerel family, which migrates north off the coast of Spain. During the summer they fatten up for their return journey south. At the peak of their feeding, the tuna is line-caught, filleted by hand, boiled in seawater and canned in olive oil (which is good enough to use as a sauce).

This allows the fishermen to select only the best fish at the time they’re hauled on board, ensures other fish are not a by-catch, and doesn’t rely on nets that can damage the sea bottom.

Look for bonito del Norte (Northern Beauty) on the side of the can. This signals it is the rich white albacore tuna. A step up in quality and price is ventresca, the belly of the tuna. You’ll find this cut listed on the menu of Japanese restaurants as toro. The standard U.S. supermarket canned tuna in water is skipjack, recognizable by its pink/grey color.

Great canned tuna is the perfect product to stock your cupboard: It keeps forever, and you can pull it and the can opener out and plate an appetizer or simple meal in a moment.

The first question I get, after doing my sales pitch of how good this tuna is: where can I find it? Whole Foods and Oxbow Public Market both carry Ortiz Spanish Bonito del North and I have bought ventresca at Oxbow. Scroll through tienda.com for tuna, Piquillo peppers, and all things in Spanish food that can be captured in a can.

Or check the Italian online food market in New York City, gustiamo.com, for bluefin tuna caught in Sicily plus some other great, but expensive, foods.

One of the best ways to enjoy this tuna is to simply chop it up and stuff it into piquillo peppers (which is another example of great preserved food: usually in glass bottles). These are warm red, beak-shaped peppers with a roasted, sweet flavor from Spain. Heat them on a griddle or warm in an oven and serve as a tasty appetizer that all you had to do was open two containers.

If you want to get more sophisticated, this silky tuna tastes great when dressed up. Here are three ideas.

Serves 8 to 10 as a tapa, 4 to 6 as a side dish

Adapted from "The New Spanish Table" by Anya von Bremzen

How did the Russian Salad — which originated in that country but was first known as “Olivier Salad,” since it was invented in the 18th century by Lucien Olivier — become widely popular in Spain? No one is sure. Since its creation, different regions of Europe have developed their own variations but a few core ingredients remain: potatoes, eggs, carrots, pickles, onions, peas, and a mayonnaise-based dressing. Ms. Von Bremzen writes that it is very popular throughout Spain but found her favorite recipe at a tapas bar in Barcelona called Estrella de Plata.

3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut in half

1 large carrot, cut in half crosswise

1 small turnip, cut in halt

3 ounces green beans, trimmed

1 cup peas, cooked

6 ounces Spanish tuna packed in oil, drained, and flaked with a fork

2 roasted piquillo peppers, diced (Piquillo peppers are worth a whole article themselves)

3 hard-boiled eggs (2 finely chopped, 1 grated)

20 pimiento-stuffed green olives

7 best-quality oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and chopped

1/3 cup mayonnaise (or more to taste)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Make the salad: Place the potatoes, carrot, and turnip in a medium-size saucepan. Add water to cover by 2 inches, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until all the vegetables feel tender when pierced with a skewer, about 15 minutes for the carrot and turnip, a bit longer for the potatoes.

As the vegetables become soft, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a bowl. Take care not to overcook. Bring the water back to a boil, add the green beans, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes (they should be neither al dente nor overcooked). Drain the beans, blot them dry with paper towels and set them aside. Let the vegetables cool to room temperature.

Peel the potatoes, carrot, and turnip, then cut them into small dice and transfer to a mixing bowl. Cut the green beans into 3/4-inch lengths and add them to the bowl with the diced vegetables. Then add the peas, tuna, roasted peppers, and the 2 chopped eggs. Using a sturdy fork, mash the salad until it has a chunky-creamy consistency.

Make the dressing: Place the olives, anchovies, 2 tablespoons of the mayonnaise, and 3 tablespoons water in a blender and process until a medium-fine paste forms.

Stir the olive mixture into the salad. Place the remaining mayonnaise and the lemon juice into a small bowl and whisk to mix, then stir into the salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you'd like the salad to be moister, add more mayo. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the salad stand for about 2 hours. (You can make the salad up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate it and let it come to room temperature before serving).

To serve, spoon the salad on a shallow serving dish and garnish with the grated egg.

Makes 8

Adapted from "Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition" by Gerald Hirigoyen with Lisa Weiss

This comes from the San Francisco restaurateur Gerald Hirigoyen, chef-owner of Piperade and the sadly closed Bocadillos. Pintxos (pronounced PEEN-chos) are tapas from Spain’s Basque country. As Chef Hirigoyen, who was born in that northern region next to France, writes in the headnotes to this recipe, “The beauty of many pintxos is that they can be prepared in an instant if you have a can opener and a well-stocked pantry.”

1 piquillo pepper

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained

¼ cup pitted brined-cured black olives, such as Saracena, Amfissa or Niçoise

¼ cup Aioli (recipe below) or you could use prepared mayonnaise if you’re really in a hurry

8 diagonally cut baguette slices, about 5/8 inch thick

1 4 ½-ounce can tuna belly (ventresca packed in olive oil), drained and broken into 8 equal pieces

3 tablespoons rind from preserved lemons, sliced in very thin (1/8 inch or less) strips. You can buy these at specialty stores, online or make yourself

Aioli:

Makes about 1 cup

2 or 3 garlic cloves, skin removed and left whole

Kosher salt

1 whole egg

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (or more, to your taste)

1 cup olive oil or sunflower oil (I’ve found that the violence of the food processor makes the extra virgin oil taste bitter)

Chopped preserved lemon for garnish

With the side of a chef’s knife, crush the garlic cloves on a cutting board, and then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of salt over them. Then mince the garlic to a paste, scraping and spreading it a few times with the knife.

Transfer the garlic paste to a food processor and add the egg and lemon juice. Add about 2 tablespoons of the oil and process for 1 minute.

With the motor running, add the remaining oil in droplets until the mixture begins to emulsify. Then add the oil in a fine, steady stream until all of it has been incorporated and the mixture is the consistency of mayonnaise.

Taste and add more salt or lemon juice as needed. Transfer to a bowl to use. What you don’t use is great on sandwiches or salads, so it never goes to waste.

On a cutting board, finely chop together the piquillo pepper, capers, and olives. Transfer to a small bowl, add the aioli, and mix well.

To serve, mound the pepper mixture on the baguette slices, dividing it evenly. Top each mound with a piece of tuna and a little chopped preserved lemon.

It’s not just Spaniards who love bonito del Norte tuna, although I don’t know if this is recipe can be found in Italy. At least it combines Italian ingredients with the oily tuna and only takes a few minutes to throw together.

Penne pasta about ½ cup per person

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil or more as needed

1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced

Cherry tomatoes – 8 to 10 per person, cut in half (Yes, you could use canned tomatoes, but the cherry size just works better)

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano

1 4-ounce can of Bonito del Norte tuna

Handful pitted black olives, cut in half

Cook the pasta following the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the pasta is boiled, drain, reserving a little of the cooking water to pour it into the pan.

Drizzle olive oil in a pan, and when it is hot, add the minced garlic. Just as the garlic begins to brown, add the tomatoes. Crush them a little with the spoon to release the juice. Add a dash of salt and oregano. Add a little of the pasta cooking water. (This is why you should never toss it out until you know if you need it or not.)

When the tomatoes have softened and juice is sizzling, add the tuna, a little of the oil from the can, and the sliced black olives. Mix well to integrate the flavors. Mix all the ingredients well and serve immediately.

Rhonda Zuniga of 489 Canyon Creek Drive in American Canyon opened a free food pantry when COVID-19 hit. Her neighbor, Tony Martinez, built the pantry for Zuniga.

Rhonda Zuniga of 489 Canyon Creek Drive in American Canyon opened a free food pantry when COVID-19 hit. After her HOA objected to the structure, she's faced with moving or closing the pantry.

Rhonda Zuniga of 489 Canyon Creek Drive in American Canyon opened a free food pantry when COVID-19 hit. Pictured here are neighbors Frances and Tony Martinez, with Rhonda and Jose Zuniga.

Rhonda Zuniga of 489 Canyon Creek Drive in American Canyon opened a free food pantry when COVID-19 hit.

Rhonda Zuniga of 489 Canyon Creek Drive in American Canyon opened a free food pantry when COVID-19 hit. After her HOA objected to the structure, she's faced with moving or closing the pantry.

Former NFL teammates Michael Griffin and Brian Orakpo transitioned from the football field into teammates in business as Cupcake Guys. Sports Illustrated's Madelyn Burke spoke with Michael Griffin about how he set himself up for the next chapter of his life.

I have a dwarf Meyer lemon tree in my backyard, its limbs loaded down with lemons that should turn ripe in a few months but I’m in no hurry.

I have a jar of preserved lemons from last year’s harvest that captures the fruit’s sunny acid and lemony scent and I’ve been using them in 2021 to jazz up lots of Middle Eastern dishes.

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

I use the Meyer lemons picked from my tree, which are more fragrant and a touch sweeter than Eureka lemons, but Eurekas are the typical lemons you’ll find in the supermarket, and they will work great for this transformative process.

1 clear glass quart jar with a lid

8 lemons (since you’ll eventual eat the rind, it pays to buy organic lemons)

Kosher salt

Wash the inside of the jar and lid with hot, soapy water, then dry. Juice 4 of the lemons. Cut an "x" through the stem end of the remaining 4 lemons most of the way through the lemon but it needs to remain connected.

Place a big pinch of salt in each lemon as you slide it into the jar, open end of the lemon up. They should fit tightly in the jar.

Slowly pour salt around the lemons most of the way up the lemons, add the lemon juice, and then a bit more salt. The lemons should be covered in juice and salt; if not, juice another lemon and add more salt.

Seal with the lid. Yes, I know this doesn’t sound scientific, but the goal is to completely cover the fresh lemons with salt and lemon juice and let them do their work. Lots of recipes add red chilies, rosemary, cloves and so on but they are not necessary and can cloud the pure flavors of preserved lemon that you want.

Some folks leave the jar on the kitchen counter to speed up the transformation, but I tuck them away in the back of the refrigerator and don’t even look at them for at least a month. The lemons will soften, become intensely flavored and, of course, a bit salty.

Moroccan Fish Tagine with Tomatoes, Olives, and Preserved Lemons

Serves 6

Adapted from "Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking" by Paula Wolfert

Emily Kaiser in "Unforgettable, The Bold Flavors of Paula Wolfert's Renegade Life" states that Ms. Wolfert introduced Americans to Moroccan preserved lemons with her first book, "Couscous," in 1973. They became one of her signatures, appearing in the pantry sections of several of her later books.

Paula Wolfert has been a dominant voice on Mediterranean food since her first book, and added to that knowledge with her two books on Morocco, plus another about dishes from the eastern Mediterranean, and an excellent book on the food of Southwest France.

One of her books focused on Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking, and years ago I happened to run into her at the now-closed Bram Cookware on the Sonoma Square, which featured clay cookware from the Mediterranean and Middle East.

This recipe creates a chermoula, a bright, garlicky herb sauce from North Africa. Often used as a marinade or an accompaniment for grilled seafood, it’s great to boost the flavors of just about any mild dish. Ms. Wolfert uses a 12-inch Moroccan tagine to cook this dish, but also suggests a Spanish cazuela, a 3-quart flameware dish or even a La Chamba shallow baking dish.

Chermoula

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

3 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons crushed hot red pepper

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

4 wedges preserved lemons, rinsed, pulp and peel separated

3 tablespoons fruity extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound monkfish fillet or thick slabs of halibut

1 large carrot, very thinly sliced

2 ribs celery, peeled and very thinly sliced

1 pound of red ripe tomatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 small green bell pepper, sliced into very thin rounds

2 dozen Moroccan red or picholine olives, rinsed and pitted

2 dried bay leaves, preferably Turkish

Sprigs fresh cilantro, for garnish

Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and cook until toasted and fragrant, grind to a fine powder. Transfer cumin to a mortar or jar of a blender and add garlic, salt, paprika, hot pepper, parsley, cilantro, pulp of preserved lemon, and olive oil. Puree to make a charmoula, using a pestle or by blending to a smooth sauce.

Rinse fish and pat dry. If using monkfish, cut away grey membrane and divide the fish into 4 equal pieces. Rub half of the charmoula all over the fish; let stand for 1 hour at room temperature or up to 24 hours, refrigerated. Add 1/2 cup water to remaining charmoula, cover, and keep refrigerated.

About 1 ½ hours before serving, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread 2 tablespoons reserved charmoula over the bottom of a tagine: sprinkle with carrots and celery. Add half of the tomatoes and bell peppers; top with fish and drizzle with some of the charmoula. Add remaining tomatoes and bell peppers and spread remaining charmoula over top.

Chop preserved lemon peel and sprinkle around fish along with olives and bay leaves. Cover tagine tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

Remove tagine from oven and pour liquid from dish into a small nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup; pour back over fish.

Increase oven temperature to 500° F. Baste fish with pan juices and bake, uncovered, in top third of oven until a crust has formed over the vegetables, about 10 minutes. Transfer tagine to a wooden surface or a folded kitchen towel to prevent cracking. Garnish with cilantro sprigs; serve warm or hot.

Spatchcocked Chicken with Preserved Lemon Marinade

Serves 4

Adapted from "Flavors of the Sun," by Christine Sahadi Whelan

I’ve been using preserved lemons for years, but I had to buy "Flavors of the Sun" cookbook to push me to go beyond chopping up a section of preserved lemon to making a preserved lemon puree that you could slip into just about any recipe to turn it up to 11. Sahadi is a famous spice store in New York City, and Christine is the fourth generation to work in the family business. Her goal is help nonprofessional cooks to enjoy using their wide range of Middle Eastern spices in simple, family-friendly recipes. Yes, of course, the goal is for us cooks to use more of their spices and foods so we’ll buy more, but, I’m happy to do that if it helps produce a great dish.

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Aleppo pepper, plus more for garnish

1 tablespoon Preserved Lemon Puree (recipe below)

4 or 5 sprigs fresh lemon thyme or Greek oregano, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

Fine sea salt

One 3 to 3 ½ pound chicken, backbone removed and flattened or 4 whole leg quarters

1 fresh lemon, cut in wedges, for serving

Combine the oil, Aleppo pepper, lemon puree, herbs, garlic and black pepper in a mixing bowl or sealable plastic bag. Adjust the salt, depending on your preserved lemons you may not need to add more.

Add the chicken and turn to coat with the marinade. Cover or seal and in bag and refrigerate overnight or let stand at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.

When ready to cook, heat a barbecue grill or ridged grill pan until very hot. Place the chicken on the grill, skin side down and place a heavy skillet on top. Weight the skillet with a few cans or a brick (I have a couple that I have washed and wrapped in aluminum foil in the garage, ready for duty) to ensure the chicken is well-pressed and will make contact with the grill grates. Grill for about 15 minutes or until the skin is crisp and nicely marked.

Turn the chicken, move it slightly away from the hottest part o the grill (or reduce the heat to medium if using a pan) and cover. Cook until done, another 15-20 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160° F. in the thickest part of the thigh. Transfer to your cutting board, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into serving pieces and arranging on a platter. Garnish with herb sprigs, and Aleppo pepper and serve with lemon wedges.

Preserved lemon puree

If you don’t have your own preserved lemons on hand, they are easy to find in Middle Eastern stores, some supermarkets and plenty on the Internet.

Quarter 1 or 2 preserved lemons and pick out any seeds. Puree the pieces in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a tightly covered jar and use by the spoonful to season soups, stews, dressings, and potato salads. Ms. Whelan uses it in everything from vinaigrettes to risottos, dips for seafood and more. She says it will keep for 1 month, but I’ve always used up my supply by then.

Strozzapreti with Spinach and Preserved Lemon

Adapted from Philip Krajek in the September 2013 Bon Appétit

Given the love of lemons in Italy, you’d think preserved lemons would be a popular condiment there, but in a quick search of my Italian cookbooks, I didn’t see a mention. Strozzapreti, however, is famous in Italy. It translates as "priest-choker" or "priest-strangler" and is an elongated form of hand-rolled pasta found in the northern Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche and Umbria. Stories abound about its origin, but all suggest an anticlerical sentiment.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided

1 garlic clove, crushed

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, divided

¾ cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs but easy to find in the supermarket)

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

12oz. fresh strozzapreti (I replace it with Bucatini, a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center that we found everywhere we ate in Sicily. In Napa I buy it at Whole Foods and the Oxbow Market.)

2 bunches flat-leaf spinach, trimmed, large leaves torn in half (about 8 cups), divided

1 tablespoon (or more) fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon (or more) thinly sliced preserved lemon peel

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat until butter is foaming. Add garlic and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add panko and cook, stirring often, until panko is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Mix in lemon zest and transfer panko to a paper towel–lined plate. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool; set aside. Wipe out skillet.

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente (about 5 minutes for fresh pasta). Drain. Meanwhile, heat remaining 6 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium heat. Cook, swirling skillet occasionally, until butter is brown, about 3 minutes. Add 1 bunch spinach; cook, tossing, until wilted, about 1 minute.

Add pasta to skillet and toss to coat. Add lemon juice, preserved lemon peel, and remaining ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes and toss to combine, season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice and preserved lemon peel, if desired. Add remaining spinach and toss until slightly wilted, about 1 minute.

Serve pasta topped with reserved panko.