Pulling Up A Bar Stool At Harvest Table in St. Helena

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Smoked trout at the Harvest Table.

Smoked trout at the Harvest Table.

 

That’s exactly where I planted myself.

On Super Bowl Sunday.

While the rest of the Bay Area congregated in San Francisco for all the hoopla or Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara for the actual game, I headed to St. Helena.

Not to escape the hubbub, necessarily. But since I had to be in Wine Country bright and early the next day, I decided to stay the night before. It gave me the perfect excuse to check out Chef Charlie Palmer’s new Harvest Table at the venerable Harvest Inn.

Palmer took over the property a year and a half ago. He added a restaurant last spring, taking what was once just a reception area and building it out, though, keeping the ornate staircase and massive fireplace already there to add interest to the modern, clean-lined space.

The grounds have a Mediterranean-country feel with towering trees and a stone courtyard.

The grounds have a Mediterranean-country feel with towering trees and a stone courtyard.

The neatly appinted bar.

The neatly appointed bar.

He installed Executive Chef Levi Mezick, formerly of Restaurant 1833 in Monterey, and he hired Culinary Horticulturalist Laura McNiff to tend the fruit trees and herbs growing on the property.

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Amanda Freitag’s Pop’s Beer-Braised Bold Beef Stew and Smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes

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Freitag's favorite dishes growing up -- her father's beef stew.

One of Amanda Freitag’s favorite dishes growing up — her father’s beef stew.

 

In the winter, there are few things as comforting as tucking into a big bowl of beef stew and creamy mashed potatoes.

It’s a stick-to-your-ribs — and everywhere else — kind of dish that fortifies on a long, dark night like nothing else.

So when I spied “Pop’s Beer-Braised Bold Beef Stew,” I was game to give it a go, not only because of the two bottles of dark beer in it, but also the half bottle of red wine. How good does that sound, right?

The recipe is from “The Chef Next Door: A Pro Chef’s Recipes For Fun, Fearless Home Cooking” (William Morrow) by Amanda Freitag with writer Carrie King.

ChefNextDoor

You probably know celebrated New York Chef Freitag from her many TV appearances as a judge on the Food Network’s “Chopped” and a competitor on “Iron Chef America.”

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Wake Up and Smell The Coffee (And Chocolate) On Valentine’s Day

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Coffee and chocolate -- a perfect match.

Coffee and chocolate — a perfect match.

 

Not quite tall, but definitely dark and handsome, this cake is the perfect companion for Valentine’s Day.

“Double Chocolate Espresso Wake-Up Bread” is from the new “The Everyday Baker” (Taunton Press), of which I received a review copy.

It’s by Abigail Johnson Dodge, a baking expert and contributing editor to Fine Cooking magazine. It’s filled with 176 recipes for sweet and savory treats, as well as plenty of technique tips, including how to judge the best ripe banana for making banana bread, assembling and filling pastry bags, shaping baguettes like a pro, and fastest way to pick leaves off thyme stems.

EverydayBaker

The recipes are perfect for the home-cook who wants to make something pleasing but doesn’t want to spend three days doing so. Enjoy everything from “Make-Ahead Chocolate French Toast” and “Salted Caramel-Toffee Icebox Cake” to “Goat Cheese Olive Spirals” and “Black Pepper Cream Crackers.” Each recipe also includes “Twists” — recommendations for changing-out the flavor of each or re-sizing it.

This particular recipe may be called a bread, but it’s really full-on cake.

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Afternoon Tea Is A Breeze With The East India Company

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Cheese crackers you''re sure to fall for.

Cheese crackers you”re sure to fall for.

 

What do you need for a proper afternoon tea at home?

Great quality tea, for starters. Along with a few dainty sweets and savories to serve alongside.

The East India Company has got you covered.

Originally established in 1600 by Queen Elizabeth I to explore the unknown East, it mapped trade routes, brought back exotic flavors, planted the first teas in Darjeeling, and saw its tea thrown overboard into the Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party.

Today, the company continues to develop and market fine teas and foods. In fact, it recently just started being carried in select Neiman Marcus stores, including the ones in San Francisco and Palo Alto.

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