Friday, September 25, 2009

One more night…

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, September 25, 2009—
YOU WILL THINK we're in a rut. Maybe so. But tonight's edition of aïoli will be treated differently here, for two reasons: one, a photo:
aioli.jpg

two, a little more thoughtfulness while strolling through this plate. Everything on it, except for the olives and the olive oil in the aïoli, are local, from the farm market in Healdsburg. You can just barely see the eggs at the top of the plate: Lindsey knows how to boil eggs, never a trace of green on the yolk, which is just set. It helps that they're fresh, from a neighbor. I noticed tonight the different textures of the different tomatoes — red, orange, green — and their different balances of acid and sugar. Similarly, two kinds of bean: Nancy Skall's musica broad beans, Love Farms' haricots verts. Each its own color, texture, flavor. Ditto the peppers: red and orange, two different flavors.
The aïoli itself is holding up beautifully, though there's hardly any left. Lindsey whisked a bit more oil into it yesterday, as it was firming up. But the color and the crisp flavor hasn't changed since Sunday.
Boiled potatoes: I save them for last, mashing them down with the fork to get every bit of the aïoli. It's a delicious dinner, and lacks only some tuna to be one of the Hundred Plates.
Cheap pinot grigio

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