Ad Hoc Inspired Salad - Beets, Avocados, Blood Oranges

Ad Hoc inspired salad.

This weekend AJ and I took a short trip up to Napa to see some East Coast friends of ours. When our friends invited us to dinner in Napa on a Friday night I was initially a little hesitant. Driving up to San Fran on a Friday from Mountain View is a nightmare, so Napa would only be worse. Plus, I had just taken a lot of time off for the holidays and wasn't sure about taking more time off from work. But then two very important things happened. First, our friends emailed to say they wanted to make reservations at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc. And second, AJ said, "Are you saying you DON'T want to go to Napa?" Thank you husband of mine for slapping some sense into me.

"Bears, beets, battle star galactica."

 AJ and I had been to Ad Hoc for brunch two years ago during a trip to Napa with Malia. For those of you who have never been, Ad Hoc does a four-course, family-style, California cuisine. You are given no choice about what to eat, but I have never heard anyone complain about their meal. For brunch, we had their epic chicken and waffles. This meal was perfect after a day spent wine-"tasting" the entire day prior. So I was excited to experience their dinner.

Close up. Ahhh yeeeeaaah.

We arrived at dinner after a impromptu tasting hosted by Somerston winery at our hotel. The cab sav we tried was nice, but the reason I would visit their winery is for the opportunity to ride ATVs through their vineyard and hang with their sheep. Needless to say after a few glasses of vino, I was ready to eat. Luckily, we didn't have to figure out what to eat! AJ and I decided to split the wine pairing. Our first course was the salad, which turned out to be my favorite part of the meal. I know that sounds crazy, but the salad featured perfectly ripe avocados, blood oranges, golden beets, toasted hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds, mixed greens, and quinoa. The dressing was a citrusy vinagrette and we were offered a creme fraiche to drizzle over top. This salad was creamy, crunchy, bright, tart - essentially exploding with flavor, but perfectly balanced. While the dishes that followed - the pork, cheese plate, and apple crisp - were all delicious, I knew I wanted to recreate that salad.

Flavors melding in the bowl.

The salad I recreated on Sunday was an inspiration, not to be confused with a replica. I used some ingredients I had on hand, supplemented by purchases at the farmer's market. The focus was on avocados, beets, and blood oranges (Side note: I can't think of beets without thinking of Jim's imitation of Dwight on the Office.) I added some mixed greens, thin slices of fennel, and toasted almonds to the mix. I dressed them with a meyer lemon and garlic vinagrette. I also made a "creme fraiche" dressing in addition. At Ad Hoc they served the salad with a side bowl of an herby creme fraiche. I didn't have creme fraiche, so I mixed pepper goat cheese with olive oil mayo and meyer lemon juice. It was delightful. I love when you can find inspiration at restaurants and recreate the dish in your own home. I served this salad with a nice slice of pain au levain and a Torrontes wine. NOMS!

Gourmet Eats - Yountville, CA

Domaine Carneros Estate

Have I told you about my love for Northern California? Well, let me say it is just a lovely area. There is so much to do! One day, you're sitting on the sand by the ocean the next day you're in the city, and the next you're hanging out in wine country. I have probably explored more of this area in one year than I had explored VA/DC in ten years. Such is the life of a newbie.

Living in California means that people are much more inclined to visit. I love having visitors because it always provides an excellent excuse to play tourist. With Malia in town, I knew I had to take her to Napa. Wine country is just amazing. Not only are there some great wineries and vineyards, but the countryside is absolutely gorgeous. We planned on hitting up one of my favorite sparkling wineries, Domaine Carneros. It is crucial to make sure you are properly fed before you go on a tasting tour. I had heard some great things about Bistro Jeanty - so we headed to Yountville for lunch.

French countryside? Even better, Yountville, CA.

Bistro Jeanty is just that - a classic french bistro. What is a bistro exactly you ask? Traditionally, a bistro is a small restaurant serving moderately priced food in a modest location. Bistro Jeanty serves up classics, such as coq au vin, cassoulet, and escargot. Because we were going to be sampling some wine in a couple hours, I didn't want to order anything too heavy.

Clockwise from left: tomato soup, sardines, mussels, haricot verts salad, fresh baguette with butter.

We had high expectations for Bistro Jeanty after reading rave reviews of their creme de tomato en croute (cream of tomato in puff pastry) and moules au vin rouge (mussels in red wine). We ordered everything to share - the tomato soup, mussels, the haricot verts salad, and sardines. Our waiter was probably disappointed at the amount of food we ordered, but hey we had to save room for Bouchon Bakery!

The cream of tomato soup was extremely rich. While I enjoyed it, I was expecting a little more. The amount of cream overpowered the tomato, in my humble opinion. The moules au vin rouge were probably my favorite part of the meal. The mussels were fresh and creamy. The fresh baguette provided an excellent instrument for sopping up the salty, winy broth. The sardines were quite good as well. I have now eaten sardines twice in the past month and I must say I enjoy them much more than I did ten years ago. It certainly helps when when they are fresh and prepared well.

Disappointed Face.

Now to be honest the food was good, not amazing. AJ was a little more disappointed. He isn't the biggest fan of traditional French food. Although, I still think he hasn't tried the right things. After paying our bill, we headed next door to Bouchon Bakery for some treats.

Cappuccino, pistachio, and raspberry macaron and a "nutter butter".

I love Bouchon's macarons - so we each ordered one - cappuccino for me, pistachio for AJ, and raspberry for Malia. And because I can't resist baked goods I also got a "nutter butter". The macarons were crisp and chewy. AJ's pistachio macaron tasted a bit stale. Poor AJ wasn't having the best luck thus far. The "nutter butter" was delightful full of peanut buttery goodness. The cookie was crisp with a nice creamy filling. However, Malia and I missed the peanut shape. And if I had to choose I think I would take the original (gasp).

So what are your favorite places to eat in Napa or Yountville?

Domaine Carneros - Napa Valley

Napa Valley - ain't it grand.

California seems to have it all - beaches, mountains, great food, and oh yes great wine. I have been dying to check out the Napa Valley wineries since I got here. Luckily, our visitors from Boston gave us an excuse to visit a couple of weeks ago.

Nick graciously planned our entire day in Napa. We were going to start off with some sparkling wines and then move on to wineries that specialized in sauvignon blancs and cabernets.

Sippin' on some bubbly.

Our first stop - Domaine Carneros - vines covered the rolling green hills and valleys. We picked an absolutely perfect day - sunny, warm, and breezy. Domaine Carneros was opened in 1987 by Taittinger. Taittinger winery is one of the top producers of Champagne in France. Partnering with Kobrand Corporation, Taittinger declared that its future lay in American wine and established these vineyards.

Chardonnay.

The wine vats.

Nick arranged for us to tour the vineyard and chateau, sampling five wines along the way. For $25, this was a great bargain. Our tour guide, the charming Jean Claude, led us through the beautiful vines ripe with chardonnay and pinot noir grapes and poured us full glasses of their 2005 vintage Brut. The refreshing effervescent sip tasted of apple and melon, the perfect way to start our day.

Brut Rose.

Domaine Carneros makes three sparkling wines - Brut, Brute Rose, and Blanc de Blancs. The Blanc de Blancs is french for white wine made from white grapes. This luxurious wine made from 100% Chardonnay certainly had a more acidic, citrus flavor than the Brut. I preferred the Brut for its smoother flavor, but the Blanc de Blancs is consistently rated one of the top wines in the country.

Pinot Noir.

After sampling three of the sparkling wines (although I am not sure if drinking three full glasses can be called ) we moved on to the Pinot Noirs. Domaine Carneros makes three Pinot Noirs. You may remember the Pinot Noir, made insanely popular by the film Sideways. While, no one in our party ended up drinking straight from the spit barrel, we were feeling a bit lightheaded by the time we finished our fourth glass. I was a fan of the medium priced Pinot Noir, the 2006 Domaine-Carneros Estate. Tasting of cherries, with spicy notes of pepper, this wine was smooth to the finish.

While I enjoyed the other vineyards we visited that day, Domaine Carneros is level above all the rest. I would certainly recommend the wine tour for your next trip to Napa.