Lactic Solar Dust

Congratulations on an excellent debut, Chef. This is going to be fun to follow.

SV garlic with olive oil and salt at what temp. and how long? ← 60F for 6 hours; I also place a few sprigs of thyme in there as well.

"Fresh Ahi Tuna" Shouldn't we all expect whatever fish we order is fresh? "Excuse me waiter, I'll take the fresh tuna as opposed to the smelly tuna".

At the 1st restaurant I cooked in the chef instructed us to pass a container full of garlic cloves through a meat grinder into a bucket and cover the "crushed" garlic with olive oil. We cooked with this stuff and the service staff placed little ramekins of it on the tables for the customers to dip their bread in. Personally, I wasn't down with it, thought it was quite disrespectful to the product to ram it through a meat grinder (I didn't work very long at that restaurant). I choose to sous-vide my garlic with olive oil and salt. The final product is a perfectly infused oil with very sweet garlic.

um, no its not. pan roasting is finishing by throwing the "pan" in the oven to "roast" putting a piece of fish in a pan with a little hot oil is called "saute"...a lot more oil its called "pan fry" pan roast is finishing in the oven. period. ← I respectfully disagree. Saute translates into "jump". You might saute vegetables in a hot pan with very little oil while constantly tossing the vegetables until done. When a cook places a product, i.e. rack of lamb, in a hot a pan with a eighth inch of oil and does not touch it until a beautiful dark golden crust is achieved and, yes, places the pan in the oven with a dab of butter to baste, that is pan-roasting. Unless a cook is placing a piece of salmon in a saute pan and is constantly tossing it then it can be called "Sauteed Salmon".

Sautéed fish, steak, chicken, etc... when it is really pan-roasted. If you are placing your protein in a hot sauté pan with an eighth inch of oil and leaving it alone until browns it is pan-roasting not sautéing.

Occasionally I catch myself tasting my wife's soup with my finger.

Bottarga's saltiness pairs wonderfully with the sweetness of watermelon.

Add some red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, and a little fresh thyme. Toss with some baby greens and add whatever accroutments makes sense (grilled zucchini/yellow squash, roasted cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, etc...) for a nice summer salad.

I've been making fried egg sandwiches for several years and try different variations to avoid burnout and sustain my affection for eggs. My latest trend is to fry an egg in extra-virgin oil over medium heat with fresh marjoram, oregano, and chili flake sprinkled on top basting the egg with the oil as it cooks (yolk broken). Grill a few spears of asparagus. Toast 2 slices of nice crusty Italian bread and assemble with a slice of a nice melting cheese, e.g. fontina, fresh mozzarella, scamorza, etc...

We have never been to the area; staying at La Rose in Santa Rosa. We will be there 2 days and will make sure to head up to Healdsburg at some point. I am open to suggestions, but not sure which wineries we'll hit. Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll definitely place them on our list of candidates. LSD

My wife and I will be attending a wedding in San Francisco in a few weeks, and have decided to visit the Russian River Valley during our stay. I was hoping I could find recommendations for a few good restaurants in and around the area. Can anyone speak specifically about the Applewood Inn; we've heard some good things. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance! LSD

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll let everyone know how what I choose. LSD

Thanks for the recommendations. My friend does not fly-in until April 26th so there is still plenty of time for other people to offer suggestions. I am all ears! LSD