Many ways to celebrate the 4th of July in Salinas, Monterey County, and the Monterey Peninsula in 2024!
July 4th Salinas, Monterey County, and Monterey Peninsula
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Sunday, June 30, 2024
4th of July Salinas, Monterey County, and Monterey Peninsula 2024
Raspberry Jam Gravy Recipe by Ruth Paget
Raspberry Jam Gravy Recipe by Ruth Paget
This is an American heritage recipe from my father Clarence Pennington (World War II Veteran) and Frederick McKinley Pennington (World War I Veteran). This recipe has been reprinted by Mark F. Sohn in his cookbook Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes published by the University Press of Kentucky (2005).
My father always made homemade biscuits to go with the jam, but I use ready-to-bake biscuits to speed up the cooking process.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
-1 can 12 ready-to-bake biscuits
-1 stick butter (equals ½ cup butter)
-1 (15-ounce) can raspberries with juice
-6 tablespoons sugar
-4 tablespoons flour
Steps:
1-Put biscuits in to bake according to package instructions. While they are baking, make the jam.
2-Melt the butter in a frying pan.
3-Add the raspberries with their juice to the butter.
4-Mix the sugar and flour together. They will not clump if they are mixed together before going in with the raspberries. Stir the flour-sugar mixture into the raspberries.
5-Simmer the jam until thickened.
6-Take the biscuits out of the oven when they are done, split the biscuits apart, and spoon the raspberry jam gravy over the biscuits.
Eat the biscuits and jam gravy while they are warm with a strong black coffee.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Apple Duck Confit at Chez Philippe in Los Gatos, California by Ruth Paget
Apple Duck Confit at Chez Philippe in Los Gatos, California by Ruth Paget
My family is not going to the Summer Olympics in Paris (2024), but wanted to honor this event and went out for a swanky French dinner at Chez Philippe in Los Gatos, California high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains by San Jose.
We began our meal with escargots (snails) that swam in delicious melted butter with pungent, freshly crushed garlic from nearby Gilroy and freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley. Snails are purged with white flour to clean their digestive tract, which makes them spongy, popcorn-like balls that easily soak up garlic-butter sauce. I like to soak up the leftover sauce with pieces of bread.
As my main dish, I ate apple duck confit. Duck has a lot of fat and sautéing it in this fat makes it juicy with melted fat. Bordeaux wine is said to go well with confit. I did not order a glass of it, because the confit came with an applesauce to cut the rich flavor of the duck confit. This is a good dish for a designated driver.
The apple duck confit also came with potato slices that had been fried in duck fat, making them dense and able to soak up sea salt. Crisp, steamed French green beans rounded out the meal for a refreshing finish.
In place of dessert, I shared a cheese platter with my husband Laurent. We both love cheese and liked the well-aged cheese chosen for this platter:
-roquefort from Averyron, France
-pont l’évêque from Normandy
-Brie de Meaux from outside Paris
Eating at Chez Philippe is pleasant, and the restaurant sometimes has live jazz playing at dinnertime. (Check the website for jazz evenings.)
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Tea Lunch at Dim Sum Inn in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
Tea Lunch at Dim Sum Inn in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
I first learned about tea lunch with bite-size dim sum dumplings made with seafood, pork, and vegetables in Hong Kong as a teenager before going on a 3-week study tour in the People’s Republic of China with the Detroit Youth Tour to China in 1979.
I loved it that the waiters in Hong Kong all spoke English and could tell me what the dim sum in the steam carts they rolled among the tables were. They also showed me how the billing worked by placing a red ink round mark on the bill with the number of dim sum taken of each kind. At the end of the meal, they would total up everything along with the tea and you would pay at the table. That was a first-class introduction to tea lunch with dim sum dumplings in Hong Kong.
Dim Sum Inn in Salinas, California continues this type of positive intercultural food experience. The menu has a photo of each dim sum, which is sold 4 to a basket along with a description of what the dim sum is in English. The dim sum arrive in a waiter robot powered by a waiter in so-close-to-Silicon-Valley Salinas.
My daughter Florence Paget and I shared the following dim sum and jasmine tea:
-shrimp dumplings steamed in rice flour pastry shells that looked like small, squinched, clutch coin purses. The gooey rice flour pastry makes the shrimp inside retain its salty, sweet flavor, but the texture of the steamed pastry shell might put off people trying dim sum for the first time.
-deep-fried shrimp balls
-pork dumplings coated in creamy and spicy hot peanut and red pepper sauce from Sichuan
-Chinese donuts that resemble long Mexican churro donuts. The donuts come with a super sweet dipping sauce.
The dumplings at Dim Sum Inn are not bite-size like the ones in Hong Kong. It takes about two bites to eat the dumplings in this great deal restaurant in Salinas, California that has:
-a large parking lot
-a large banquet room
-easy to understand menus with photos
-vegetarian dim sum and lunch items
-easy access from Highway 101 and Highway 68
Dim Sum Inn in Salinas, California merits a detour as the Michelin guidebooks say.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Cheddar Bread Recipe by Ruth Paget
Cheddar Bread Recipe by Ruth Paget
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients:
-1 (0.75-ounce) package instant dry yeast
-1/2 pound shredded, sharp cheddar cheese
-1 (10.75-ounce) can Campbell’s tomato soup
-1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimientos with juice
-1 cup scalded milk
-1/2 cup butter
-6 to 7 cups flour
Steps:
1-Dissolve yeast in water according to package instructions.
2-Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl to form a dough.
3-Place dough in a warm spot and let rise to double its size.
4-When the dough has risen, punch it down and knead by hand for 15 to 20 minutes.
5-Let dough rise again in a warm spot.
6-When the dough has risen again, punch it down and knead by hand for 15 to 20 minutes.
7-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
8-Form two loaves. Spray Pam in two bread baking pans and bake loaves for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Cheddar bread tastes great toasted with melted butter and a mug of strong black coffee with warmed milk to drink.
(A Rosevale Farm Recipe)
Source: Winifred Sawle – Arena, Wisconsin
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Thursday, June 27, 2024
Top 20 Antioxidant Foods posted by Ruth Paget
Top 20 Antioxidant Foods List
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Seafood Food Tourism in Salinas, California Posted by Ruth Paget
Nice round-up article about seafood food tourism in Salinas, California
Press article about best seafood in Salinas, California
Note: Most of these restaurants have parking.
Salinas is also about 2 miles away from Monterey County’s fishing port at Moss Landing.
Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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