The Sante Payback, Dog Park Dinner Part 2 ! Plus A New Kind of Cabbage!

 

I know this sounds like a cross between a sequel to the Bourne Identity and the Ostermann Weekend. Instead it was an all Indian weekend at our house.
 I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we were treated to a marvelous dinner at Sante,  Sonomas' only restaurant to hold a Michelin Star.
Kelley Cosgrove the general manager of the Sonoma Mission Inn and her husband Rick Rontiris were kind enough to invite us as their guests. They're fellow dog parents (Zeus) from the Sonoma Dog Park 
Play Film Below

The trade off was a full on Indian Dinner at our house.
We also invited other friends from the dog park, Chip and Terri Roberson (Tucker and Tulip)

 Tucker, Tulip, & Patsy

  Tulip & Patsy
and to round it off Paula Wolfert and her husband Bill Beyer. They have a cat, but since there were going to be no animals actually present at this event, we felt it would be safe to include admirers of the Feline Persuasion.
The reason I haven't had a post in a few days is I've been menu planning and cooking. I'd run out of my homemade chutneys of all varieties so I've also been canning. Between canning and cooking and writing (my real work) I haven't been able to post here. But now I'm back.
Kelley and Rick had shown us such a wonderful time, and every meal we've ever had at Paula and Bills' house has been amazing, and after all the times, Chip has bailed my ass out computer wise (the time I removed the frames from my website and accidentally locked myself out) and Terry who is the Cookie Queen of Sonoma, I owed them all...big time. And I was scared...big time. Chip and Terri are frequent guests at our house, but I knew we're not quite up to Michelin Star level, not with a Siberian Husky stealing food off the counter when my back is turned and dragging it under the bed. As for cooking for Paula Wolfert?? Enough said. I've cooked for a lot of people, including some of the Dalai Lamas' monks...this group scared  me.
  So last Saturday I repaid my culinary debt. It was time to drag out the biggest of my clay pots that I'd gotten at Brams' Potapalooza last month.  My  ginormous La Chamba Oval Roaster seemed made for  Saag Gosht for 8 people.

  I started cooking on Thursday, putting up the mangos for chutney. On Friday I started slow cooking the lamb in my big clay pot. It cooked for about 4 or 5 hours on Friday and then another 4 hours or so on Saturday. After a total of 8 hours, the result was tender melting off the bone lamb with the deep earthiness of spinach and spices wound around and through it.

  I also did a Hyderabadi Rice pilaf of Basmati rice and Dal in my big clay Bram,

cauliflower with cilantro and ginger,

prawns in a creamy curry sauce for the vegetarian in our midst,

flame roasted eggplant with tomato and spices,

raita with the ever present boondi, chapattis and a dish I'd never made before involving one of my favorite vegetables of all time,  King Cabbage.
  The week before at my birthday party Paula had given me several cookbooks. One of them was  The Vegetarian Table, India by  Yamuna Devi.
   When planning a big Indian dinner with a lot of courses I always like to have something that I can make a bit ahead of time and then serve at room temperature. This new cookbook had just what I was looking for, Gujarati Wilted Cabbage Salad.
  This is something that can be whipped up literally in 20 minutes. It can be served warm right out of the pan, or taken on a picnic and served at room temperature. It would make a great barbecue side and I'm already imagining it alongside a pulled pork sandwich. In short I just can't say enough about this recipe. Genius. Pure genius and fast and cheap. What's not to like?
   Start off with 1 lb of shredded cabbage. I used two little 8 oz bags that are sold at the market as coleslaw fixings. It saves time grating and I like to keep these on hand in the fridge for an emergency side dish when needed.
   The steps are easy:
1.) Cut a 1 inch piece of peeled ginger into thin strips.
2.) Cut  1 green serrano chili in half, seed it, then slice it into thin strips
3.) Heat 1 1/2 Tbs of vegetable oil in a heavy skillet or kadhai
4.) Toss in 2 tsp of brown mustard seeds
    When the seeds start to pop add in the ginger, chili strips and

5.) 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves

  Stir it all around for about 30 seconds or so then toss in:
6.) Three carrots peeled and thinly sliced in rounds
7.) 1/2 Tbs of sugar

  Stir it around until the cabbage starts to wilt. This should take about 5 minutes.
  Take the pan off the heat and put the salad in a salad bowl.
 Mix in:
8.)  1 cup of lightly toasted peanuts .

I shake them around in a cast iron pan with a bit of oil until they're a light brown color.

9.) the grated zest and juice of 1 lime.

 Sprinkle in
10.) 2 Tbs of chopped fresh cilantro
11.) salt and pepper to taste

Place in your most gorgeous bowl and serve with pride.
 All during the cooking process I was pretty antsy. How could I not be with Paula Wolfert coming to dinner? Alan was hovering around with the camera and he captured a small rainbow arched across the stove for one glimmering moment.

Pay no attention to the mess on the counter, and the stove. I am usually much more controlled. Focus on the rainbow!
 Either way, I flew over the rainbow and managed to get everything on the table more or less on time.

Note to "Santa" I really really really want a 6 burner stove with a warming drawer thankyouverymuch!

     A good time was had by all the dog people (cat people too). Paula brought some chocolate ice cream for dessert, I'd made some vanilla and I went into the larder and broke out a bottle of  brandied cherries that I'd made as topping along with some simple biscuits and tea.
   The dinner party that I'd been terrified to give, went off without a hitch.
  

Twinkle Twinkle Little Michelin Star! Dinner at Sante.

When peoples' kids go to school they very often find themselves socializing with new "school friends", other parents from their childs' class. The dog park world is pretty similar. Dog people find themselves getting acquainted with other "dog parents".  As long as nobody bites anybody and everyone has had their shots..it's all good.
  Our Siberian Husky  Patsy aka Champion Alpines Absolutely Fabulous is a former "showgirl". She came to live with us after giving up the show ring as a result she's very "friendly".

One of her "crushes" from the dog park is the dashing and athletic Zeus.
Play film below

   Showgirls and Jocks are a natural fit. As a result  Zeus' people, Kelley Cosgrove and Rick Rontiris have become friends of ours.
Kelley happens to be the general manager of the The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. She and Rick invited us to be their guests for dinner at its' Michelin starred restaurant  Sante with its' amazing chef de cuisine Andrew Cain. The trade off was an Indian Feast at our house. We jumped at the chance.
  Growing up in San Francisco then living for many years in Los Angeles and being a major major food/chef groupie, I have eaten in places graced by a Michelin star before. I haven't however found one of these restaurants in my little town of Sonoma before. All the big foodie news seems to go on in The City  (SF) or the "Other Valley" as Napa is sometimes referred to around these parts.
  Well, shove over Napa because Sonoma has a star and it's Sante.
   The dining room at Sante is an unfussily romantic and tranquil spot. A perfect place for a special dinner or celebration.
   As someone who's used to dining with the chin of a begging Siberian Husky on my knee, I was bowled over by the crystal, roses and the lack of a canine under my chair.

That is me in the background through the forest of glassware. Some of the pictures are a bit on the dark side as we didn't want to be too intrusive taking pictures of the food on our plates "Hey Ma! Look! Lobster!"
    Sante offers a regular a la carte menu, a prix fixe menu and a special tasting menu. We decided to go with the a la carte.
   We ordered and then before our meal was served, were presented with a lovely amuse-bouche of a cream of celery soup with a bit of basil cream dotting the top and a salmon mousse bruschetta. I loved the charming little glassware. Just a sip is all one needs to set the stage for the meal. I also love surprises at the table. They had me at the amuse.

  Alan ordered a lobster bisque as an appetizer

I , on the other hand in the interest of fresh greens on my plate chose an endive salad with beets and citrus or more exactly:
                                                    BELGIAN ENDIVE SALAD
                                                    MACHE LETTUCE
                                                    MARINATED HEIRLOOM BEETS
                                                     CITRUS VINAIGRETTE
  which looked like this

 Just as an example of how serious these appetizers are, I present the following example which by the way I was really controlling myself not to order.
                                         GROWN UP MACARONI AND CHEESE
                                          MAINE LOBSTER, BLACK TRUFFLES
                                          FONTINA VAL D’AOSTA
Chef Andrew Cain of Sante is  a bad bad boy and definitely, most definitely not fooling around.

I know we should have ordered separate entrees and swapped but we are both suckers for duck, that's just the way we roll. Duck it was:
                                               ROASTED SONOMA DUCK BREAST
                                              BRAISED SWISS CHARD
                                              DUCK CONFIT AND SUNCHOKE STUFFED ONION
                                               PORT WINE DUCK JUS

 
Of course there was wine, a a Failla Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Hirsch Vineyards

And finally, the dessert. Unfortunately there is not a picture of my dessert, as I ate it before one could be taken, so just imagine Alans' dessert, only in chocolate.

   What you are seeing here is a lemon souffle with a lemon creme anglaise. On the other hand Rick ordered this:
                                                  MANJARI CHOCOLATE DARIOLE
                                                  PEANUT BUTTER GANACHE
                                                  BANANNA ICE CREAM
                                                  CARAMEL SAUCE

Which came as part of the prix fixe dinner. I loved the very art deco individual coffee service. It made me feel as though I was on the Italian liner The Rex tooling around the Mediterranean circa 1935.
After this amazing feast, I am going to have to work extra hard to plan an Indian Feast as our part of the swap.
  So what reward do Patsy and Zeus get for bringing us all together? For Patsy it's logging extra Dog Park minutes, for Zeus it's a charming and not too aggressive 2010  Spaulding tennis ball with a hint of crabgrass, undertones of mud and a soupcon of dog park water and just the slightest notes of Siberian Husky.