Lemon souffle omelet with huckleberry jam

Separate four eggs. Beat the whites, with a little cream of tartar, to stiff peaks. Into the yolks, whisk a little lemon juice and a little lemon extract, and then fold in the whites.

Preheat the broiler. Melt some butter over medium-low heat in a cast iron pan, and pour in the egg mixture. Cook on the stove-top until the bottoms just start to set, and then move the souffle into the oven under the broiler. Bake until the top is browned and the omelet has started to separate from the sides of the pan.

After separating the souffle omelet onto two plates, top each with some homemade huckleberry preserves. Serve with cappuccino.

Breakfast: sweet omelet with a trio of homemade jams

We have had such a success at preserves this summer. Yes, the strawberries were a failure, but the cherries, olallieberries, and huckleberries were (and continue to be) all fantastic. So most mornings our breakfast consists of poached eggs, toast, and jam. But occasionally we have no bread in the house, and want to try something different.

Over low heat, melt a tab of butter in a wide non-stick pan. Whisk together thoroughly two eggs and just a little flour. When the butter is melted but not yet bubbly, pour the eggs. Let the eggs cook over very low heat, slowly thickening from the bottom. In your mind, divide the circle of eggs horizontally into four strips of even thickness. When there is a full layer of cooked egg on the bottom, place small mounds of homemade preserve (one to two teaspoons each, depending on how much, and how many, jam(s) you have) in the second strip from the end. When the eggs are done (I like them still just slightly runny on top) run a soft, plastic spatula along the edge of the pan to release the now-mostly-cooked eggs, and fold the eggs over the jam: begin with the first strip (the one between the jam and the edge) and then fold the remaining half-circle over everything. Place a plate over the pan and flip the omelet onto it, and finally fold the remaining strip over the omelet.

If you are feeling particularly fancy, transfer to a cast-iron pan, or do everything in well-seasoned cast-iron, and, after cooking and wrapping the omelet, sprinkle it with some sugar and stick it under a very hot broiler. (We weren't feeling that fancy.)

Serve with cappuccino.

Huckleberry Weekend

Friday

JB is a good friend of mine from college. She's in the area, and she joined us for a wonderful afternoon stroll through Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, one of the East Bay Regional Parks (we're working our way south). The park is not large, but includes a beautiful two-mile nature trail, with wonderful plants. In particular, we were amazed to see the eponymous bushes filled with berries. B and I decided to make sure to go picking the following day. Here's the slide show of the park from our two days of hiking:



Saturday

We brought a picnic with us for our second trip to Huckleberry Preserve, eating at the bench by #6. The dinner consisted of kumamoto oysters from Hog Island, Fromager d'Affinois with homemade baguette, and salad.








Sunday

We filled two yogurt containers with berries — close to eight cups. We processed all the berries into preserve: huckleberry preserve from the Huckleberry Preserve. This morning (Monday) we had some of the jam at breakfast. It is, perhaps, the best jam we've made.

Snack: berries and gouda

Breakfasts and lunches at Indian Lake

We don't have a lot of variety in our breakfasts: we poach eggs very well. Each morning at Indian Lake we began by sleeping in, and then having a late breakfast of poached eggs on english muffins, strawberries and blueberries, and a full pot of strong coffee. Over breakfast, we would appreciate the view of the lake and plan that day's hike.

With only two full days at the lake, there were many hikes we did not do, but the two we did were great. Our neighbors immediately to the south are also our cousins: my grandmother met my grandfather because they had neighboring summer homes, and the (now-extended) families have kept the properties. They encouraged us to borrow two of their kayaks, and sent us across the lake (about one mile) to a cove directly on the opposite side. "Go across, look back to see if there's any weather coming, and if it's clear, just beach the kayak, and follow signs for the trail" we were instructed. Sure enough, the weather was clear, and the hike to the top of Baldy was a blast.

For our second day, we baked bread (letting the dough rise overnight and doing the baking in the morning) and made sandwiches with brie, apples, and basil. We climbed Snowy, which ends with a fantastic scramble up what is essentially a dry-ish waterfall rock pile. On our last day, we took leftovers down to the dock before driving to the airport, and wished we could stay at Indian Lake longer.

Pie time

With the last of the berries (and supplementing the olallieberries with blackberries from behind our house) we made pies. The two olallie/blackberry pies we shared with friends — they were delicious. The strawberry rhubarb is still in the freezer, waiting for a yummy winter evening. In the background in the picture you can also see a bowl of fava beans from our garden.

Breakfast: poached eggs on lettuce, with croutons, strawberries, and olallieberry vinnaigrette

Beach, berries, and jam

On July 14 we drove to Swanton Berry Farm to pick strawberries and olallieberries for jamming. We stopped along the way for a picnic lunch at the beach in Pacifica. We made jam over the next few days. The strawberry preserves failed horribly: the berries did not break up in cooking, nor did the pectin set. On the other hand, the olallieberries made a fantastic preserves, and we've been enjoying them all summer. Both recipes are from the usually-excellent Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J Amendt.

Cherries!

S, B, and I went cherry picking at Enos Family Farm, the one organic u-pick in Brentwood. After about twenty minutes of picking (and fifty minutes or driving) we had picked more than twenty pounds of cherries. They turned into ice cream, preserves, jam, and we canned some halved in syrup. The recipes were all very successful, from Blue Ribbon Preserves, by Linda J Amendt. We mixed some of the extra cherry syrup with club soda, making the best cherry soda ever.

Pizza with sauteed onion and asparagus

For the pizza, saute onions in salt and olive oil until very tender, and use as the sauce. Then top with cubed fresh mozzarella, asparagus that you have broiled with some oil and balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle over everything some grated romano.

For the salad, add some mashed blackberries to your balsamic vinaigrette.

Breakfast: poached eggs on toast, berries, and cappuccino

Our standard breakfast consists of two poached eggs each, served on either toasted whole-wheat bread or toasted english muffins, and cappuccino. It's not the fastest breakfast, because we have to wait for the water to boil — it takes B about 15 minutes total to get breakfast on the table, most of which is spent while I'm in the shower. (On rushing days, we scramble the eggs: B says it takes him four to six minutes to scramble six eggs and make two cappuccinos.) But occasionally we go slightly fancier. Pictured above: one poached egg, served over toast with parsley-and-garlic butter, and cappuccino and strawberries and blackberries from the farmers' market.

Strawberry mousse

The strawberry preserves are from last year, made from u-picked berries from Swanton. The fresh berries are from the market, and the mint is form our garden. The mousse — made by B, who makes most of our desserts — was excellent.

Picnic at Point Lobos

B and I love picnics. Before the closing-night performance of the San Francisco ballet (a wonderful production of Romeo and Juliet), we went to Point Lobos (as opposed to the other Point Lobos) and had a fantastic picnic of shucked extra-small oysters, homemade baguette, brie, home-grown peas, strawberries from our CSA, and red wine. Then we walked the mile-long trail, and then drove to the ballet, sneaking in chocolate-covered almonds for dessert.

Rather than post many pictures here, I will encourage you to click through the google-generated slide show (as always, click any picture for a larger version):

Strawberry rhubarb tartlets

Pies for us:



Pies for B's meeting with his professors:

Jamming

It's the middle of the night. Do you know where your blogger is?

This is my extra-hard week, since my adviser is out of town and I am teaching his morning class in addition to my afternoon class. So I should have slept hours ago. But we went u-picking for strawberries this weekend and returned with about 20lb ($50). I had meant to jam them that day, but I didn't get to until today, by which time we had to throw some out.

On the menu: strawberry jam is in the canner; whole strawberries in rum syrup just came out; we did get two batches frozen right away; there are some fresh strawberries in the fridge.

By the way, I highly recommend the farm we went to. It's a bit of a drive from Berkeley, but worth it — the drive is beautiful. Oh, what farm? Swanton Berry Farm has five or so sites around Santa Cruz area. To avoid the traffic returning from Half Moon Bay, if you're coming from the north, like we are, take the 1 the whole way. From the strawberry fields (which were mercifully foggy when we were picking) you can hear the sounds of the elephant seals.

Two salads

Shell two pounds garbanzo beans, boil two minutes, and drain. Toss with one bunch arugula, half a tub crumbled feta, and a tub of oil-cured black olives and almonds. Dress with olive oil, salt, and red wine that's turning to vinegar.

Sauté hazelnuts in walnut or olive oil until pungent. Top and quarter one pint strawberries, and toss with half a pound of spinach and four oz sweet chevre. Dress with oil and a white zinfandel.