Italian Linguine with Clams at Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California by Ruth Paget

Italian Linguine with Clams at Lure Fish House in San Luis Obispo, California by Ruth Paget 

For a family mini trip, my husband Laurent, my daughter Florence Paget, and I went to San Luis Obispo, California which is about 2½ hours south of Salinas. 

The landscape changes dramatically along Highway 101 going south. We saw longhorn cattle grazing on the hillsides by the freeway and oil rigs in San Ardo. We passed San Miguel Mission with its whitewashed stucco architecture and compania bell tower that is typical of many Spanish churches with its open towers that allow bells to swing wide and freely and resound over the vineyards. 

The Salinas River is underground here, but you can trace its course by looking at trees that sinew along the countryside. Vineyards and olive trees rise up the hills that become browner the farther away they are from the Salinas River. 

The landscape looks like Spain with its patches of white sheep grazing along the way. English road signs remind you that you really are in the United States. (I did ask Laurent if Gibraltar is like this. His Navy ship passed by there when he did a Mediterranean deployment.) 

San Luis Obispo is also named for it mission church that honors San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (1274 – 1297). Tolosa refers to Toulouse, France. San Luis Obispo sits on a plain like Toulouse, France despite going through some mountains to get to it. San Luis Obispo is the home of California Polytechnique State University, which is highly respected for its engineering, business, and architecture schools. 

Our dinner destination in San Luis Obispo was the Lure Fish House. This family-owned California chain also has locations in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Camarillo, West Lake Village, Porter Ranch, and Scottsdale (Arizona). 

Menus at Lure vary by location to take advantage of seasonal and local produce and seafood. As an appetizer, 

I started with deep-fried, crispy calamari (squid) that came with two excellent dipping sauces. The first was a chipotle aioli (garlic mayonnaise with chipotle peppers blended in). The second sauce was a cioppino dipping sauce. This light sauce did taste like tomatoes and white wine cooked with seafood and garlic. Both sauces were delicious. 

I ate all the sauce and all the calamari. Fried calamari are served all around the Christian Mediterranean and have a happy, devoted following in California. 

For an Italian Mediterranean Diet dinner, I ate a specialty of Naples, linguine with clams, as my main dish. The clams were steamed with white wine, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley.  

The meat from about two clams was chopped into the sauce and poured over the linguine. Six large clams were arranged a mound of linguine for this dish. I enjoyed every bite of this dish, too! 

I drank a home-made agave vanilla cream soda with this Mediterranean meal. Agave is a natural sweetener that comes from agave plants that grow well in the soil and climate in San Luis Obispo. 

Back at the hotel (a Marriot Courtyard), I took a hot shower followed by bursts of cold water to cool off and luxuriated in the air-conditioned room as I looked outside the room window at three kinds of trees: a rubber tree, a California magnolia tree, and a palm tree. San Luis Obispo has a city-wide initiative to develop a tree canopy that is recognized by the Arbor Foundation.

For a great health, culture, and history recharge, San Luis Obispo, California might just be the vacation town for you. 

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

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(Note: View from hotel window.  To better see the trees, place two of your fingers on the photo and move them apart to enlarge the image.  The tree in front is a rubber plant that can be used to make tires.  The pollen from the magnolia tree can be used for honey.  The palm trees produce coconuts that can be used for food and coconut milk.)

San Miguel Arcangel Mission near San Luis Obispo, California Photo Mini Trip by Ruth Paget

San Miguel Arcangel Mission close to San Luis Obispo, California Photo Visit by Ruth Paget

Mission San Miguel Arcangel was founded in 1797.

Good Example of stucco architecture.  Plaster covers brick  in stucco work and is painted white.  The dark color of brick absorbs heat.  Stucco is applied for white paint, which reflects heat and keeps buildings cool.  The Spanish used this technique in southern Andalusia, Spain and brought it to their missions in California

 

The coil on top of the wall corner may refer to a beehive.  Monasteries still make honey to be self-sufficient in foodand sell the excess to earn money for monastery upkeep.

 

This gate leads into the cactus garden. In an emergency, cactus plants can be used for water and cactus leaves can be cut up and fried or put into omelets as food. The alcoves originally held statues of saints and Christ.

Agave plant outside the mission garden.  Tequila is made from agave plants.  Monasteries can cook with tequila, drink it, and sell it for profit and use the profits to maintain the monastery.

 

Olive tree n the mission garden.  The priests and nuns could press their own olive oil for use in religious rites and for cooking.  This area is surrounded by vineyards and olive trees.  San Miguel Arcangel is located on a valley floor between the inter-coastal mountain range about 12 miles outside San Luis Obispo.

Cactus garden at San Miguel Arcangel with baby agave plants.  Photo by Laurent Paget

For tours and visiting hours look up the mission’s website.

Text and photos by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Rustic Spanish Cookbook - 322 pages -on Kindle today by Ruth Paget

Rustic Spanish Cookbook by Richardson from the Willams-Sonoma collection is $1.99 on Kindle today.

It is 322 pages long, which I consider a great buy for the money.

If you do not have a Spanish restaurant in your neighborhood, making Spanish food at home is a way to learn about the country and make a family meal at the same time. 

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

Light Lunch Spain by Ruth Paget

Light Lunch Spain by Ruth Paget 

I have visited northern Spain 9 different times and grew to like Spanish food based on the great experiences I had in the following places: 

-Barcelona – 2 visits 

-Figueres – Dali’s hometown with his museum 

-Pamplona – without bull running 

-Roncevalles – Read the Horn of Roland before going 

-San Sebastian – home of the conch shell-shaped beach 

-Puigçerda – train station town 

-Saillagouse – for Catalan dances 

-Mont San Marsan – they do bull running, too 

I found some of the dishes I ate in Spain: From the Source published by Lonely Planet. The following 5 dishes are relatively easy to prepare and give a flavor of Spain: 

p.236 – Tortillitas de Camarones (Shrimp Fritters) 

-chopped shrimp 

-flour 

-scallions 

-parsley 

-olive oil 

p.202 – Vieras al Gallega (Galician-style Scallops) 

-chopped scallops 

-onions 

-olive oil 

-paprika 

-white wine 

This recipe uses more onion than scallop, which stretches expensive yet flavorful scallops. 

p.122 – Revuelto de Setas (Scrambled Eggs with Wild Mushrooms)  

-olive oil 

-leeks 

-mushrooms 

-eggs 

-ham 

-cheese 

-truffle oil 

p.46 – Pollo al Chilindrón (Chicken with Peppers and Tomatoes)  

-olive oil and garlic 

-chicken 

-onion 

-tomatoes 

-peppers 

-white wine 

-chopped, boiled ham 

p.16 Escalivada (Chargrilled Vegetable Salad) 

-red peppers 

-tomatoes 

-eggplants 

-onions 

-olive oil and salt  

If you are interested in an introduction to Spanish cuisine, Spain: From the Source published by Lonely Planet might interest you. 

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

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Spanish Cheese Trays and Cold Tapas by Ruth Paget

Spanish Cheese Trays and Cold Tapas by Ruth Paget 

A quickly put together Spanish cheese tray and made-ahead cold tapas, hors d’oeuvres, can be light lunches at the office or at home for home workers. 

My suggestions for a Spanish cheese tray include: 

-wedges of Manchego cheese 

-wedges of P’tit Basque cheese 

-green olives 

-almonds

-membrillo (quince paste that goes well with Manchego cheese) 

-onion confit (author Penelope Casas has a recipe for this in her excellent cookbook Tapas) -thin slices of French bread 

-rolled Serrano ham 

-pickled onions 

 -2 or 3 cold tapas from the following list (The recipes are in my go-to reference – Tapas by Penelope Casas.) 

 -sweet red pepper salad 

 -green pepper and tomato salad 

 -cumin-flavored mushroom salad 

 -cabbage, green pepper, and raisin salad (includes carrots) 

-marinated asparagus wrapped in ham 

Preparing all or some of your meal ingredients ahead of time allows you to have more time to enjoy your meal or check personal e-mail. 

Buen Provecho! 

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

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Mini Grenache Tasting by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Mini Grenache Tasting by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The Spanish wine grape Garnacha is called Grenache in France and the United States.  Grenache is widely grown in France for everything from rosé to a wine that tastes good with chocolate.

I first learned about wines made from Grenache grapes when driving past the Maury vineyards high up in the Pyrénées Mountains as my husband Laurent and I drove towards the Cathar fortress-castles of Quéribus and Peyrepertuse in the French Rousillon region (French Catalonia).

This tasting’s objective is to acquaint tasters with the range of wines that use Grenache in their making.

Suggested wines and regions:

-Monterey County California

Chalone Grenache

-Rousillon, France (French Catalonia)

Maury Wine

-Rousillon, France (French Catalonia)

Banyuls wine

(This wine is said to go well with chocolate.)

-Southern Rhône Valley, France

Châteauneuf-du-Pape - Grenaches is one of several grapes that go into this wine.

(The papal glass seal on the bottle is impressive to look at while dining.)

-Côtes-du-Rhône, France

Tavel Rosé

(Tavel is my favorite rosé.  It goes well with spicy food like couscous from Morocco.)

Happy Tasting!

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

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Cooking Spanish Food - Part 2 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Cooking Spanish Food – Part 2 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

I served Viña Esmerelda from the Torres winery outside Barcelona, Spain with the gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp).  The wine provided some “spin” stories, too.  Laurent and I relived our 1992 trip to Barcelona where we first tried this wine at the Los Caracoles restaurant.

I had just finished reading my first reference book in Spanish entitled Atlas de los Vinos de Espana (Atlas of Spanish wines) and could tell Laurent that Viña Esmerelda was made with muscat and gewürztraminer grapes.  Those grapes gave it a slightly sweet flavor that went well with the shrimp.

The wine’s name was the same as the heroine in Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Nôtre Dame.   All this great spin came from one of the best kept secrets of the 1990s – inexpensive and very good Spanish wines.

The next dish I served was a roast leg of lamb that was really mutton.  I studded the roast with garlic and drizzled olive oil on it with thyme sprinkled on it to roast.

When the roast was medium rare, I carved it as Florence sprinkled chopped, fresh Italian parsley on white cannellini beans that would go with it.

I served the lamb-mutton on warm plates to keep the food hot so we could talk a long time.

I chose a French wine with not a Spanish one to go with the meal from the Bordeaux region – Lalande-de-Pomerol.  We bought that bottle as a souvenir from a Bordeaux area road trip.

Everyone liked the cognac-laced brownies.  Brownies may not be Spanish, but the Spaniards are the ones who brought Mexican chocolate to Europe along with other New World products such as corn (maiz), tomatoes, and potatoes.

The Spanish meal theme was a hit, but it can easily become all French, if you serve all French wines.

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

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Cooking Spanish Food - Part 1 - with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Cooking Spanish Food – Part 1 - with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

I volunteered to cook a Spanish anniversary meal for Laurent with little Florence as a guest one year when we lived in Wisconsin.  Spanish food is similar to what is made in Languedoc and the Pays Basque, which share the Pyrenées mountain region between them.

I took out my copy of Penelope Casas’ cookbook The Food and Wine of Spain to look up recipes.  This cookbook always makes me think of love as Casas described how she and her Spanish boyfriend sampled tapas (appetizers) in the “tasca” bars of Madrid.

That sweet story made me think of eating in Chicago’s many ethnic restaurants with Laurent when we first dated.

I read through Casas’ recipes and came up with my basic menu:

-Ensalada San Isidro

-Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp)

-Roast lamb with white beans

-Brownies (These are not Spanish, but Laurent and Florence both like them.)

I looked through our wines and wrote out our menu on a piece of bordered stationery with a rose on it.

This menu replaced the one that I had in a frame by the dining room table from our last meal.  I pasted the old menu in our menu journal of festive family meals.

Now all I had to do was deliver on my gourmet promises as I taught Florence how to do some things in the kitchen like mixing brownie batter.

The Ensalada San Isidro required marinating canned tuna (packed in oil) with red wine vinegar, minced onion, chopped parsley, and pepper overnight.  Casas’ recipe called for sour capers, but I did not use them, because Laurent does not like sour food.  Even without the capers, this marinated tuna salad was delicious and can also be used for sandwiches.

I liked rolling around the sound of “atún escabechado” for marinated tuna on my tongue.  I added this savory concoction to hand torn romaine lettuce that Florence helped tear after I washed it.   She added sliced tomatoes, chopped cooked white asparagus (from France), and sliced onion that we had soaked in warm water to mellow the taste.  Green olives with red pimiento peppers made the salad colorful.

Ensalada San Isidro is basically a tuna salad, but it has flair.  The flair, of course, came from telling Florence that San Isidro is the patron saint of farmers and shepherds in Spain and that God sent him to help with plowing.

It may be tuna salad, but it has a college education as we say in the United States.  The hagiography required a little research, but it let me add some “spin” to my food offerings in addition to nice bread to soak up the dressing, which we only do at home not in restaurants.

The gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) needed no spin; everyone who lives in the Midwest starves for fresh seafood.  Most shrimp in Wisconsin is frozen, which is fine if it is frozen raw shrimp that you can thaw and cook like fresh seafood.

End of Part 1.

To be continued…

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

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Spanish: Cookbook Photography Review by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Spanish: Cookbook Photography Review by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The cookbook Cookbook: Over 150 Mouthwatering Step-by-Step Recipes by Pepita Arias uses 1 to 3 photos per page of most important steps in recipes to help ensure tasty results with the Spanish dishes she describes.

This book is 255 pages long and packs a ton of information into its pages.  Arias divides the recipes into 8 handy chapters and gives historical information on Spanish cuisine as well as a product education guide.

The 8 recipe chapters are divided this way:

1-tapas

2-eggs and soups

3-salad and vegetables

4-rice and pasta

5-fish and shellfish

6-pultry and game birds

7-meat and furred animals

8-desserts and baking

Arias provides product information on 20 broad categories ranging from barnyard animal products to cheese and sausage to wild game.

There is also a large section on kitchen equipment and dinnerware.

18 pages of the large-size cookbook are devoted to various influences on Spanish cuisine:

1-Moorish-North African Muslim

2-Catholicism-foods for fasts and feasts

3-Sephardim-Spanish Jewish

4-American notably in the form of produce such as peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes

5-Ancient Rome as Spain was one of the largest regions of the Roman Empire

The 4-page spread on Catholic Feast Days and Fiestas can help travelers plan their trips.

Spanish by Arias is a fun introduction to Spanish cuisine whether you plan to cook the food and/or sample it in a restaurant.

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

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