Salade Niçoise with Salmon at Chez Philippe in Los Gatos, California by Ruth Paget

Salade Niçoise with Salmon at Chez Philippe in Los Gatos, California by Ruth Paget 

Rainy and foggy weather in Los Gatos, California located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains whets the appetite for three-course lunches at Chez Philippe. 

On a recent visit for my husband Laurent’s birthday with our daughter Florence Paget, we all started our meal with escargots, snails baked with butter, parsley, and breadcrumbs. The sauce was excellent for dipping baguette slices in. 

For our main dishes, Laurent ate mussels steamed with white wine and crème fraîche with chopped parsley added at the end with fries on the side while Florence ate steak with fries. Both were reliably great and delicious just like in UNESCO world heritage bistros in Paris. 

It was not my birthday, but I think I got the best main dish – the salade Niçoise with seared wild salmon. Every French chef who lives near Alaska or the Alaska Current in the Pacific would probably choose to use “local” salmon in their American renditions of this classic French dish. 

At Chez Philippe, this spectacular salad comes with:  

-6 seasoned and seared chunks of wild salmon 

-slender French green beans cut into one-inch segments 

-slices of white onion soaked previously in water so they taste sweet 

-meaty anchovies 

-sliced boiled eggs with canary yellow yolks 

-tomato slices

-black olive slices 

-sweet red pepper slices

-boiled potato wedges

 -fresh baby greens 

This wonderful combination was tossed with a vinaigrette made with the addition of Dijon mustard.   (Champagne would probably go well with this dish or a Bloody Mary cocktail.)

Laurent ate a birthday mousse while Florence and I shared a crème caramel. 

We all had fun and ate very well at Chez Philippe in Los Gatos, California for Laurent’s birthday. 

For French food in a relaxed atmosphere, Chez Philippe is the place for lunch Los Gatos. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Shrimp Cocktail and Chile Verde from Super Pollo in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Gulf Coast Fare from Super Pollo in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Super Pollo Taquería in Salinas, California offers delicious Gulf Coast Texan and Mexican fare for everyday dinners and special events. 

For my December birthday, I ordered a tonic winter meal made up of shrimp cocktail, chile verde con puerco, and Spanish rice. 

Super Pollo stuffs a large beverage container with briny shrimp that swim in a sea of pico de gallo salsa topped off with slices of avocado for its shrimp cocktail. 

Pico de gallo salsa is made with chopped red pepper, onions, tomates, and cilantro with the addition of spicy peppers and Tapatío hot sauce for Super Pollo’s shrimp cocktail. I wanted to eat the shrimp cocktail on a blustery day on a sailboat, but was happy at home with a Monterey Beer from Alvarado Street Brewery. 

Chile verde con puerco is made by browning onions and pork and making a spicy green sauce, the chile verde, to go with the browned pork. 

To make childe verde sauce, you roast Mexican tomatillo green peppers (minus the papery skin), jalapeño peppers and Anaheim or Poblano peppers. Once roasted, you place these items in a blender with a bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped yellow onions, and chicken stock and purée the sauce. 

You warm the sauce and browned pork cubes together and then serve the chile verde with Spanish rice. Spanish rice is made with chicken stock and tomato juice and is so delicious you can practically make a meal of it alone. 

This is a large and delicious meal. I add leftover chile verde to chicken noodle soup for a boost of Vitamin C. (I also add leftover salsa to chicken noodle soup for another meal for a Vitamin C and flavor boost as well.) 

If you want a tonic Tex-Mex meal in winter, the shrimp cocktail and chile verde meal I ordered à la carte at Super Pollo is pretty hard to beat. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Cabbage Recipes for Winter by Ruth Paget

Cabbage Recipes for Winter by Ruth Paget 

One of the best buys for .99 cents on Kindle is Ms. Fruit’s Hello! 365 Cabbage Recipes. This book has recipes from Ethiopia to Thailand with many from Europe and the US in between. Its multicultural offerings and price to fit all budgets make it a terrific buy. 

Five of the European recipes I like follow: 

*Dijon Pork with Apples and Cabbage 

-This recipe is made with green cabbage, apple wedges, olive oil, pork tenderloins, a Dijon-style mustard like Maille, white wine vinegar, and honey. 

-On a sheet pan, toss together the apple and cabbage wedges, salt and pepper, and olive oil. 

-Spread a mixture of oil, thyme, honey, white wine vinegar, and mustard all over the pork. 

-Place the apple and cabbage wedges on top of the pork. Roast the pork till the meat registers 130 degrees Fahrenheit. 

-Place the pork under the broiler till the apples and cabbage have a light char and the pork has a golden crust. 

-Cut the pork into slices and serve the apples and cabbage topped with chopped parsley. 

This recipe for Dijon Pork with Apples and Cabbage is worth the price of the book alone. 

*Balsamic Cabbage 

-This recipe is made with shredded green cabbage, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar. 

-Start by cooking the carrots, green cabbage, and red cabbage till soft. 

-Mix in the balsamic vinegar and serve warm. 

*Blaukraut 

-This recipe is made with onions, diced apples, red cabbage, vegetable broth, vinegar, and optional lingonberry jam. 

-Cook the apples and onions till they begin to soften. Add the cabbage and cook till heated through. 

-Stir in the apple cider vinegar and broth. Cook for 30 minutes. 

-Flavor with salt and pepper and lingonberry jam, if using. 

*Cabbage and Apple Slaw 

-This recipe is made with yogurt, sour cream, honey, shredded red cabbage, chopped Granny Smith apples, minced onion, and chopped parsley. 

-Make a sauce of honey, sour cream, and yogurt. 

-Mix parsley, cabbage, onions, and apples together. 

-Mix in salt and pepper. Mix the salad with the sauce and refrigerate till using. 

*Chopped Vegetable Salad with Beans 

-This recipe is made with canned cannellini beans, green peppers, chopped red cabbage, chopped radishes, lemon and oil dressing, and diced feta cheese. 

-Mix everything together and refrigerate. 

For more elaborate cabbage recipes, check out Gabriel Kreuther: The Spirit of Alsace – A Cookbook by Gabriel Kreuther and Michael Ruhlman. 

Happy Cooking! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Fish Po'Boy Sandwiches at Bag O'Crab in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Fish Po’Boy Sandwiches at Bag O’Crab in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

A Louisiana option for fish on Fridays in Salinas, California is a deep-fried fish po’boy sandwich from Bag O’Crab. 

A spicy, deep-fried fish filet comes dressed with shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced pickles, and mayonnaise on half a French baguette loaf in a po'boy sandwich.  

This pretty unbeatable sandwich for flavor tastes great with equally tasty Cajun fries with spicy and salty seasoning. When it is hot outside, and you have lost a lot of salt in perspiration from working, the Cajun fries are a great replenisher of energy and make you relax. 

Bag O’Crab also has po’boy sandwiches made with deep-fried spicy shrimp that I often order, too, for a change. 

Either sandwich adds variety and a little exoticism to one’s diet. 

Bag O’Crab’s big seller is boiler bags with shrimp, spicy Louisiana sausage, potatoes, and corn on the cobb with garlic-butter sauce that are a nice treat for Saturday nights with cold beer. 

All these fun dining options are located off West Davis in the Westridge Shopping Mall in Salinas, California. Bag O’Crab has all major delivery apps for customer convenience.

Bon appétit! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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