Getting the Creative Juices Flowing

My bar review class started today. I know - I can’t believe it either. Despite the fact that I am two weeks from finishing my school obligations, and almost a full month from graduation, I am somehow still expected to attend draining barbri classes and do barbri reading and summarize notes and oh so many other things. Though the next two weeks will be mighty painful, the rest of the summer is what I find truly terrifying right now. This is essentially going to be my life for the next eight weeks: class, summarize, read, study, repeat.

The bright spot within this is that my class is in the loop, with farmers markets within a couple of blocks twice a week. This means, at least, that I can take a few minutes after class each day to relax, roam leisurely between stands and take that time for myself. The stress will no doubt build as the weeks before the exam turn into days and the opportunity to see what looks good, to talk to people, to figure out what to do with these goodies I pick up, even if it is just once a week, will hopefully be able to get my creative juices flowing at least enough to keep me sane.

This week at the farmer’s market, it was morel mushrooms and purple asparagus. The wonders of morels espoused by nearly every internet source in existence. I have tried them a couple of times though I had never cooked with them before. My plan at first was to simply sauté them and toss them with cream, a la Orangette, But I felt that wouldn’t spread the joy enough, since I don’t really have the money to buy a ton of morels, at least not enough to satisfy should I have served them piled atop toast.

Instead a decided to team them up with the purple asparagus and let them mingle among strands of pasta in a light cream sauce. I threw in some chicken for good measure, sprinkled some chopped chives and grated parmesan and it was delicious. Hopefully all my after-class ventures will be this rewarding.

Fettuccine with Chicken, Morels and Asparagus
Serves 4

This dish was light in spite of its cream base and truly tasted of spring. The pasta could have used a more generous helping of morels, but my wallet could also use a more generous helping of money.

10 ounces fettuccine
12 ounces chicken tenderloins
Olive Oil
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb asparagus, purple or otherwise
5 medium sized morels, gently cleaned and sliced crosswise
1 ½ cups dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
Fresh chives, for garnish
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Boil a large pot of water. Place the asparagus in the boiling water and cook until bright green and crisp-tender. Don’t overcook them and allow them to become soft. Remove from the water and place in an ice bath or run under cold water to stop the cooking. I cook the asparagus still in the rubber band to make this process easier. After the asparagus are done, drop the fettuccine into the boiling water.

As the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and melt one tablespoon of butter in one tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle the chicken liberally with salt and pepper and brown in skillet, about 5 minutes per side, ensuring that chicken is cooked through (juices will run clear). Remove chicken from heat and set aside on a platter.

Lower the heat to medium. Heat three tablespoons of butter, add shallots and allow to cook for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic. When garlic becomes fragrant, add the morels; cook until soft. Pour the wine into the skillet and cook down a bit, about 2-3 minutes. Add the cream, bring to a boil and cook until mixture is reduced by half. As the sauce reduces, cut the chicken and asparagus into bite-sized pieces.

Once sauce is just about reduced, melt in another tablespoon of butter if you think the sauce needs thickening, then add the chicken and asparagus to the sauce and toss until warm. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the cooked pasta and toss in sauce to coat. Divide among plates and garnish with chives and parmesan cheese.

A Lazy Saturday

The plan all along was to go to the Ferry building for the farmers market, then take our haul to Golden Gate Park, since we never made it there on Thursday, and lounge in the sun all day long, slowly eating, reading and just being.

This was by far one of my most enjoyable days of our eight. We spent close to two hours at the Farmer’s market, before deciding that we couldn’t wait to get across town to the Park to tear into our goodies. So we parked ourselves down on the lawn across from the Ferry Building and laid out our spread.

But this was not before we got was my travel companion dubbed the best sandwich he’d ever had in his entire life. Or maybe it was at least in recent memory. I don’t recall the precise superlative used, but I know it was a hefty one. We arrived around 11:30, already rather hungry. Passing by one of the restaurant-tents, my boyfriend was stopped dead in his tracks by the sight of a stuffed leg of lamb being sliced and served on sandwiches from Roli Roti. The lamb was presumably being featured because it was Easter weekend. After standing on line for close to half an hour, we were served the most simple of sandwiches. A hefty slice of lamb was cut from the leg, which was stuffed with garlic, mint, and so much deliciousness, and marbled with so much gooey fat that it could hardly be contained by the slices between which it was eventually stuffed. Before placing the lamb on the bread, the crusty ciabatta, not in the slightest bit dense, was used to wipe up the drippings that had poured out of the lamb when it was sliced. Both halves of the roll were treated to this same luxurious coating. The flavors of the juices, the tenderness of the lamb itself and the crustiness of the bread proved that sometimes a simple sandwich is so, so much more than the sum of its parts.

Since we were temporarily sated, we were able to wander around the market with no distraction from the rumbling in our tummies and survey the scene with many pass-throughs. We were looking essentially for a meat, a cheese and a bread for our picnic. What we eventually ended up with was fantastic.



We tasted many, many cheeses from the few cheese stands set up before settling on the Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk. It was creamy, supple, mild, milky, amazing. We had to retreat inside to the permanent Cowgirl Creamery shop because the tent was already sold out of the Red Hawk, bur we managed to tear through the crowds and get our share, which we each greedily smeared in chunks on the sourdough.

Along with the cheese, we purchased a Duck Liver Mousse from the Fatted Calf. It was one of the few animal products available at the market that did not require cooking before it could be eaten, so we first felt as if we were settling. Once we opened up the package though, and spread some on the crusty bread, that sentiment quickly subsided. It was enticingly rich and exceedingly enjoyable.

We splurged on some Prosciutto de Parma from Mastrelli’s Delicatessen inside the Ferry Building. It was totally worth it. Each bite, lovingly draped over the levain was a bit of salty, cured-pork paradise.

We also picked up a smoked salmon spread from Cap’n Mike’s Holy Smoke, which largely went ignored in favor of the pate and cheese and prosciutto. It was quite good though, and I pitied it a bit, sitting there idly while its neighbors were quickly being dissipated.

A sourdough levain was snapped up from Acme Bread Co., and a wheat baguette from Noe Valley Bakery and Bread Company. The sourdough was great. I really liked the whole-wheat loaf as well, though something just felt so right about eating sourdough across from the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

And what a lazy, gluttonous Saturday it was.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
One Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94114

Acme Bread Co.
(415) 288-2978

Cap'n Mike's Holy Smoke
(707) 585-2000

Cowgirl Creamery
One Embarcadero
(415) 362-9354

Fatted Calf
(510) 653-4327

Mastrelli's Delicatessen
(415) 397-3354

Noe Valley Bakery & Bread Co.
(415) 550-1405

Roli Roti
(510) 780-0300