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GUEST CHEF WEEKENDS - Chef Reviews & Menus
To Email Click Here: info@wilburhotsprings.com
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Guest Chef Review and Sample Menus
Award-winning cookbook author, food writer, food
teacher and cooking professional, Marie Simmons, reviews Wilbur's Guest
Chef Weekend with chefs, William Albrecht and Liam McDermott:
A Guest Chef Review as originally published in the Contra Costa
Times
Marie Simmons beats the dinner rush with a simple beet-potato salad
By Marie Simmons, Correspondent / 07/08/08
I've discovered that recuperating from a book tour can be fun. Suddenly
I have time to return telephone calls and write long e-mails, clean off
my desk and reorganize closets, go to lunch and take long hikes with
friends, and get back to my yoga practice.
This weekend I went one step further and treated myself to a yoga retreat
at Wilbur Hot Springs, a lovely old-fashioned resort located far, far
off the beaten track in Colusa County.
The setting was bucolic, the yoga healing, the mineral baths - they call
them flumes - soothing, and the food fabulous.
The guest chefs for the weekend shopped the many organic farms situated
along the road on the way to Wilbur. The produce was picture-perfect
and the flavors transcendent. Among the many excellent dishes served
was a heavenly beet salad.
I know that yoga is supposed to encourage "being in the moment," but
after one bite, I had beet salad - not downward facing dog (for the uninitiated,
that's a basic yoga pose) - on the brain.
Fueled by the taste of that luscious beet salad (it was made with crinkly
spinach leaves and crumbled goat cheese), first thing the morning after
my return I went to the market seeking fresh-pulled beets.
I scored. The beets I found were so round, plump and weighty that when
steamed, the skins slipped off like silk gloves. Cooked in a large steamer
insert that fits snugly into a matching 8-quart pot, they cooked in less
than 35 minutes. Steam large potatoes along with the beets or add smaller
potatoes later so both vegetables are done at the same time.
Because beets and potatoes both have a fairly soft texture, I decided
my beet salad needed a little crunch. Not excited by the thought of adding
good old reliable chopped celery, I reached for a crisp juicy Fuji apple.
Perfect. It added just the right texture I desired, plus a pleasant hit
of sweetness.
I topped this trio with diced sweet white onion (I like to crisp diced
onion by soaking it in cold water for about 30 minutes before using),
a small handful of parsley and mint leaves, finely chopped, then finished
the salad with a simple vinaigrette of good olive oil and fruit-flavored
vinegar.
Who knew that a yoga retreat would both restore my energy and inspire
me to bake beet salad? At the moment, I think life is good.
Reach Richmond resident and award-winning cookbook author Marie Simmons
at: marie.simmons@comcast.net
Guest Chef Weekend Sample Menu
FRIDAY DINNER
Local Organic Mixed Greens Salad, Ginger
Glazed Ahi Tuna or Ginger Glazed Tempeh,
Green Bamboo Rice, Local Organic
Broccoli, and Organic Apple Upside Down
Cake w/Maple Yogurt Cream
SATURDAY BREAKFAST
Organic “Squeeze-your-own-oranges" Juice,
Cage-free Scrambled Eggs w/ Fresh Herbs,
Organic Oatmeal and Granola, Organic
Yogurt, Fresh Fruit, Selection of Handcrafted
Breads, and Organic Coffee and Tea Bar
SATURDAY LUNCH
Local Organic Greens Salad w/ Heirloom
Tomatoes, Smoked Salmon Spanikopita,
Roasted Organic Butternut Squash Curry
Soup, Selection of Handcrafted Breads, and
SATURDAY DINNER
Local Organic Greens Salad, Roasted Local
Free-range Chicken in Porcini Mushroom &
Zinfandel Wine Sauce, Torino-style Creamy
Polenta, Local Organic Red Russian Kale,
German Chocolate Mousse, and Fresh
Organic Herbal Iced Tea
SUNDAY BRUNCH
Organic “Squeeze-your-own-oranges" Juice,
Eggs á la Wilbur: Poached Eggs on a
Francesi Roll w/ Avocado and Sun Dried
Tomato Pesto Sauce, Local and Imported
Fine Cheeses Platter, Local Organic
Heirloom Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella
Platter, Exotic Fresh Fruit Platter, Organic
Oatmeal and Granola / Organic Yogurt /
Fresh Fruit, Selection of Handcrafted
Breads, and Organic Coffee and Tea Bar