Foodhoe's Foraging

July 4th is a big day for barbecue all across the land and this year Mr. K and I were lucky enough to be allowed to tag along to a BBQ at Phil’s in Berkeley.  My inlaws CDR and Mank used to live across the street from Phil, who cooked for many years at Chez Panisse and they stayed in touch through a shared interest in good food and wines.  The feasts they enjoyed sounded epic and legendary and so we looked forward to some good eats.

We arrived while prep work was going on in the kitchen.  These nuts were straight out of the oven.  It smelled unbelievable and tasted even better.

Alongside was a bowl of toasted pepitas that were equally delicious.  They were tossed with olive oil, fresh sage and salt.  Note to self: remember for future snacking – this is a delicious treat!

I made my famous crispy shallot dip which is very thick and best scooped up with ruffled potato chips, especially the salt and pepper ones.

We arrived early in the afternoon and stayed past the first kaboom sounds of fireworks, and there was always something exciting going on either on the grill, on the stove, or in the fryer…

The little segments of sweet corn browned within minutes after being lowered into the hot oil.  They were so good sprinkled with sea salt,  a little chili and a squeeze of fresh lime.

CDR enlisted the aid of these two very enthusiastic assistants with dunking the pieces of marinated chicken first in an egg wash and then in flour.

The finished product is called bon ton chicken that CDR’s friend Ann makes.  It tastes a lot like kara-age if you are familiar with that Japanese delicacy.  The meat is juicy and infused with garlic and a little spicy.

Even tho slightly burnt the pieces of white meat were supple and moist.

The well equipped kitchen sported a well aged leg on the counter and gorgeous gas stove with an equally impressive air vent overhead… just the kind of stuff you expect to see in a professional chef’s kitchen!

The yard out back is a bounteous garden, resplendant with fruit trees, berries and vegetables planted throughout.  The stack of boxes house a very active hive of bees.  Phil used the honey to flavor the ice cream.

He would show one of the kids a vegetable and ask them to find more out in the garden.  Here are some squash picked fresh from the garden.

Sliced lengthwise, they were grilled

and served with a simple Salsa Verde made with fresh herbs from the garden, garlic, capers and a little bit of anchovy that you really couldn’t taste, but which made the flavors really pop.

Haruna made a delicious Japanesey salad with cucumber, carrot, jicama and apples in a pungent miso dressing that was flavorful and crunchy.

Phil’s zesty pickled vegetables with big chunks of caulifower, carrot, green beans and squash.

A lovely red, white and blue potato salad with fresh garden herbs

Thin slices of octopus tossed with a spicy dressing with garlic and fresh herbs.

It was rustic and delicious.

For a time, we worked the grill.  Well, Mr. K did the work and I was very busy taking pictures…  We painted golden olive oil over slices of crusty bread and grilled a plateful of those first before the burgers.  And we did pay extra special attention so the burgers are well deserving of the delicious breads and spreads and salads and everything else.

I couldn’t get over how beautiful this looked, a zesty condiment made from peppers.  It was delicious and made anything instantly dramatic with its brilliant red color.

And you know you are dining well when there’s a bowl of goopy homemade aioli to spread on your freshy grilled artisan bread.

During the course of the afternoon, we attempted to make ice cream using an ancient rusty hand cranked contraption.   It was very exciting as we packed ice and rock salt into the small cavity surrounding the wooden pail.  Inside was a honey infused custard that we inadvertently ruined, by a combination of overly enthusiastic crankage and then the rock salt leaked in, rendering it sadly inedible.

Fortunately, Phil had the foresight to make some blackberry ice cream using the neighbors electric maker!  He claims the texture is inferior….  but it was a beautiful rich, creamy and tart ice cream to my tastebuds.

These lovely candied rosepetals would have been a pretty garnish had we remembered them.  So many details!  It became crowded with neighbors and kids running around.  Someone brought along a guitar that provided background music and the wine and beer flowed freely.  A fine time was had by all.