My 2016 Thank You Notes

It would be an understatement to state how tumultuous 2016 was for me. Losing a parent slowly and painfully--and finally, permanently--to dementia takes its toll. It'll be awhile before I'm truly back to my life. Even so there still were a lot of bright spots. There were big-hearted friends who made sure I was doing okay by bringing me food or yanking me out to the occasional movie. And there was my work. How could there be a totally bad day if I got to spend part of it in the kitchen with a chef?

So, I'd like to end the year by thanking all the chefs who over the past 12 months invited me into their most sacred space and taught me a recipe, a skill, a neat trick for me to share with readers.

Thanks to Quinn Wilson of Balanced and Bright, who invited me into her home to teach me about her bone broth and demonstrate how to make her Autumnal Pork Stew. It would be so lovely to have a bowl of that right now!

Thanks to Willy Eick, such a talented young chef who now has his own place in Oceanside, 608. But earlier this year while working at Real Bar & Bistro, he taught me how to make a lovely Seared Scottish Salmon with White Beans, Bacon, Chard, and Pesto Aioli.

Thanks to the energetic Teri McIllwain of Chandler's Restaurant at Cape Rey Carlsbad. She made me her Farro Stir Fry filled with plump shrimp.

From Junya Watanabe of Rakiraki Ramen & Tsukemen, I learned a terrific version of poke that's fresh and flavor popping. Thanks, Junya!

Moto Deli's chef Andrew Halvorsen taught me how to make their rich Moroccan Meatball Sandwich from their food truck. Congrats on completing the new deli! And thank you and Alex Carballo for the experience!

Thank you, Christine Rivera of Galaxy Taco, for teaching me how to make your fabulous Brussels Spouts in the Style of Elotes!

Chefs move around so much! This thank you goes to my friend Anthony Sinsay, who earlier this year was running the kitchen at Duke's and made me his stunning Mussels Adobo. Now he's ensconced at JSix and my story on how he forages in his kitchen will run in the San Diego Union-Tribune next week.

I love Bottega Americano, so it was a huge treat to have Chef Jeremy Oursland invite me to come in and learn how to make his Salmon with Vegetables, Gnocci, and Tomato Fonduta. Thanks, Jeremy!

Chocolatiers are a special breed. Michelle Lomelin of Sweet Petite Confections fits right in with her mix of precision and whimsy. Thank you, Michelle, for taking the time to teach me how to make your bonbon, The Earl and the Tarts.

Oh, my friend Maeve Rochford! I love Sugar and Scribe and loved our time together in your kitchen, learning about the Irish Halloween tradition of Tea Bramback! So good!

Finally, there's Lorne "The Hammer" Jones, whom I met through the training program Kitchens for Good. The Hammer has worked hard to reach the goal of becoming a certified baker and is now baking at Panera. The day we got together he taught me how to make a family favorite, Pineapple Upside Down Cake--only miniature versions. They were divine. Thanks, Hammer, and good luck to you!

I also want to thank Bob Harrington, Kelly Orange, and Specialty Produce for their always generous support--of this space, of my Close to the Source blog for Edible San Diego, and of the community projects I work on. They are smart and far-sighted people--and beyond kind. And, thanks as well to Tommy Gomes and Dave Rudie of Catalina Offshore Products for being my seafood gurus, community teachers, and just great pals. Thanks to the many farmers, farmers market managers, and artisan vendors who always take the time answer my many questions and share their knowledge and bounty with me so I can help our community better understand what they do. Thanks to the many restaurant owners and chefs who are working so hard to put San Diego's best on the table and do it responsibly--and clue me into their efforts. And, last but not least, I thank you for taking the time to read San Diego Foodstuff and sharing it with your friends. It means a lot.

Thank you all for pulling and tugging me through 2016 with your love and concern. It has meant more than you will know.

I'm looking forward to more kitchen fun with chefs in 2017, but in the meantime, I wish all these chefs, vendors, farmers,  and their loved ones, as well as you, a very happy, healthy, and joyous New Year!


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Teri McIllwain's Farro Stir Fry

We tend to have different expectations of hotel chain restaurants compared with stand-alone eateries. We believe the chefs are mandated to think only in terms of massive numbers of customers, especially if they're also in charge of room service and catering. That the ingredients are limited to whatever can be ordered from contracted vendors. And that there's just no such thing as seasonal, nothing unique to the region, nothing particularly inspired.

I should know better. In San Diego alone there are many exquisite exceptions to this approach--Tidal at Paradise Point, A.R. Valentien at the Lodge at Torrey Pines, JSix at Hotel Solamar, Nine-Ten at the Grande Colonial, Cafe La Rue at La Valencia. The list goes on and on.

The first time I visited Chandler's Restaurant at Cape Rey Carlsbad, a Hilton Resort, it leaned toward the former set of expectations. The menu could have been found in almost any hotel restaurant anywhere in the U.S. The flavors were fairly pedestrian.

But, I was told, hang on. The resort and the restaurant were going to undergo a big change.

That was about a year ago. Last week I made another trip up there to meet the new culinary director, 35-year-old Teri McIllwain. The words being thrown around about the restaurant's "reimagining" included "local, coastal, and unexpected." I was dubious, figuring overselling was in play.

And I was wrong. While Chandler's decor hadn't been changed, clearly the menu and overall direction of the restaurant had. McIllwain, who came to Cape Rey from Omni La Costa Resort and Spa, where she had been chef de cuisine and nutritional chef for their Premier Fitness Camp and Chopra Center, clearly has taken a different approach to Cape Rey's dining program. McIllwain, who attended the San Diego Culinary Institute in La Mesa, had been a personal chef in San Diego and spent time as a Bon Appetit culinary instructor at local Sur La Table stores. She comes to her current job with a perspective on health and nutrition as well as food education that is being channeled into what shows up on Chandler's menu and how she works with her cooks.

Chandler's now benefits from dishes made with ingredients from local farms that McIllwain partners with as well as produce from the Specialty Produce farmers market truck, where she and her cooks can select items grown in Southern California.

Healthy meals are deeply important to her both at the restaurant and at home. She told me she regularly cooks up batches of whole grains and ancient grains at home to heat up for breakfast so she has energy for the day. McIllwain told me about a dish she loves to make--a variation of which will be on the menu, she added--that involves sauteing pancetta in a pan, then adding shredded yams that crispen up in a pancake. To that she adds green onions, feta, and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Her awareness of seasonal changes dictates when she changes the menu, she said. If she sees pea tendrils at a farm or in the Specialty Produce truck, she also knows that halibut will be coming back soon. Fish is just as seasonal as produce and she keeps that in mind while updating menus. The menu I saw last week featured Burrata and Vine-Ripened Tomatoes with grilled asparagus, arugula, pesto, and red apple balsamic reduction; Capeside Poke with ahi, rainbow quinoa, thai chili aioli, cucumber marinated seaweed, lime, and ponzu; Jidori Fried Chicken with yellow corn polenta, farmers succotash, and garden herbs; and Spinach Pizza wit lemon ricotta, spinach, mozzarella, parmesan, and garlic. There are vegetarian dishes, gluten-free dishes, and still plenty of comfort food.

For my visit with McIllwain, she showed me how to make her Farro Stir Fry--another dish that will be on the menu soon, she said. What I enjoyed about this dish was not just the flavors, but the fact that it's something a home cook can easily make and that it's so versatile. This is a dish whose ingredients can change to keep up with the seasons. McIllwain calls for butternut squash in the recipe but used delicata squash with me, and will be shifting in the next couple of months to summer squashes. For local greens, we used lacinato kale, but you could use spinach or Swiss chard or any other type of greens. Are you vegetarian? Switch out the chicken broth with vegetable broth and use tofu instead of shrimp as your protein. And, here's a tip for you from the long-time cooking teacher: Always add acid before you add salt because it pulls out the sodium from the ingredient, meaning you then don't need to use as much salt. And, on the flip side, if you wind up with a dish that's too salty, add acid to tame it.

Be sure to have everything prepped before you start cooking because--other than cooking the winter squash--it goes pretty quickly.

Farro Stir Fry

From Teri McIllwain of Chandler's Restaurant at Cape Rey Carlsbad

(printable recipe)

Serves 4

16 16/20 Baja prawns, peeled and deveined

1 lemon, zest and juice

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil 

In a large mixing bowl add combine shrimp, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Toss and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick sauté pan over medium heat add the olive oil, allow for oil to heat through and cover entire pan. Once hot add the shrimp to the pan, and evenly place shrimp to cover the pan. Cook shrimp without moving until shrimp begin to turn slightly pink and begin to tighten. Flip shrimp and continue to cook until pink and fragrant. Remove from the pan and hold to the side.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, small diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup butternut squash, small diced

2 cups beech mushrooms

3 cups cooked pearled farro

½ - 1 cup chicken broth

1 green onion chopped

2 cups local green, chopped

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce

1 Meyer lemon, zest and juice

Sea salt and black pepper to taste 

1 lemon, quartered, for garnish

Over medium heat using the same pan, add olive oil and heat through. Once hot, add the onion, garlic, and the squash until cooked through. Add the mushrooms, sauté until slightly cooked, 30 seconds, then add the farro. Stir-fry the farro until golden brown, then add the chicken stock until the farro is slightly covered. Simmer until most of the stock is absorbed, then fold in the greens and green onions. Remove from heat and add olive oil, soy sauce, lemon zest, and juice from half the lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate stir fry and add shrimp, squeeze more lemon on top, season and serve with quartered lemon slices.

Chandler's at Cape Rey Carlsbad is located at 1 Ponto Road in Carlsbad.

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