Foods to save the weekend

Have you ever had one of those days where no matter where you ate, what you ate, it just wasn’t very good?  That each meal became more disappointing than the last?  Maybe it is just me, and possibly I am a bit too dramatic when it comes to food, but when it comes to dining out, but these are the days, the meals, that make me want to cry.

I hate to waste a meal, to eat anything that isn’t completely delicious.  This is particularly painful when dining out, when you so look forward to a meal, to each course being delicious… but the experience turns out merely mediocre. And then, the awful moment when the check comes. Talk about a sour stomach.

It doesn’t happen often, thank goodness, living in this Mecca of good food and drink. And yet it did for me on a recent weekend – two meals in one day that were so utterly disappointing they just left me wanting to dine and dash.

That was Saturday. Sunday, we needed to make up for it. We yearned to fill our bellies with fresh, healthy, beautiful food in hopes of undoing any memory of the decidedly un-yummy day before.  Luckily, this is simple enough to do in a town where merely walking down the street can yield a bounty of beautiful nibbles, from the heirloom apples hanging from the tree over that wooden fence to the hand-crafted cheeses produced at Vella, both able to be procured right along my morning walk.

A quick jaunt to Sonoma Market will satisfy the most aggressive of beautiful food cravings and when I am in the need for a happy food fix, that is where I head and always load my cart with items from the following, my favorite local artisans.

I truly cannot eat enough of Della Fattoria’s gorgeous breads.  The hearty loaves, made with obvious love each morning in Petaluma, are each works of art.  I need no more for a meal than a section or two of their sweet epi baguette, warmed ever so slightly, smeared with a thick slice of cold butter, and torn into while still standing at the stove.  A thick slice of their polenta loaf is a recent obsession, the crust dense and charred from the wood-burning brick oven, the inside white and fluffy. The perfect chew.  I have been practically living on this bread, fried in a bit of olive oil in a cast iron skillet that lives on the stovetop this time of year.

Lunch is often hefty slices of a Patch beefsteak, torn basil leaves and crunchy salt scattered on top.  Nothing, I swear, is more outrageous than a perfect peach sliced on this still-warm, butter toasted bread, a final drizzle of maple syrup for breakfast.  Have you tried their Meyer lemon-rosemary loaf?  I hesitate to get you hooked as well.  This round of bread is a spectacular, hefty loaf that is twice as big as your head.  The outside is greasy in the most gorgeous sense of the word, heavy with olive oil and herbs.  The thick, rustic crust encases an inside that is unexpectedly airy, as fluffy as a summer cloud.  If you want to experience pure, unabashed happiness, grill a chunk of it and top with chopped tomatoes softened in olive oil and a splash of vinegar.  Happy food at its finest.

Sonoma County cranks out some pretty unbelievable cheeses, but if you want your mind blown, seek out the lovely handmade cheeses from Bellwether Farms.  These cheeses are absolutely beautiful foods.  The fresh Basket Ricotta tastes of pure, thickened cream.  Cream, solidified.  It smells of grass and rain.  It is the ideal summer cheese.  One could find heaven by simply digging in with a spoon.  A platter of sliced tomatoes becomes unforgettable with a few delicate spoonfuls of this soft cheese plopped on top.  A dish of figs and the ricotta, drizzled with honey and a few chopped, toasted walnuts is easily the world’s most dazzling dessert.

Their Farmer’s Cheese is a rich, thick, spreadable cheese that I find myself adding to, well, everything.  Spread on thin slices of dark toast and topped with paper thin slices of cucumber and salmon it is an instant fancy hors d’oeuvres or blended with a handful of chopped herbs and garlic, it becomes the world’s best dip for veggies, spread for sandwiches, or stuffing for that otherwise plain chicken breast.

If you think you know créme frâiche and you’ve never tasted Bellwether Farm’s version, you better think again.  Their version is incredibly silky and lush.  It is impossible to stop sticking your finger in it.  Perfectly sour, but still velvety and rich, it is a luxurious alternative to sour cream.  My go-to dinner party dessert is nothing more than a dish of sliced Watmaugh strawberries, only sweetened ever so slightly, topped with Bellwether Farms’ créme frâiche and a few gratings of orange zest.

This is what Sonoma tastes like.

Many a mediocre day was made more enjoyable with a pint of Straus Family Creamery’s decadent ice cream.  When they talk about “happy cows,” this is where they live.  How can I even begin to share with you my complete and utter love for the products this little local dairy produces with such absolute respect and passion for the animals, the environment, and their craft?  I am not at all embarrassed to admit that I have indulged in every flavor ice cream they have created.  It is in the name of research, after all.

The Dutch chocolate is dark and dramatic, loaded with the yummiest cocoa powder mouthfeel.  Salty, crunchy bits of toffee are addictive in the Caramel Toffee Crunch, the flavor that seriously screams for a warmed brownie.  With nothing more than a big spoon and a pint of the Coffee, my favorite I do believe, heartbreaks seem less heartbreaking and difficult life decisions become, somehow, less difficult.  Such is the power of damn good ice cream.

So, it was after an entire Sunday spent lazing in bed, reading the Times and napping, nibbling on these Sonoma foods and sipping on some very cold Sonoma wines, that all seemed right — and delicious — with the world again.

Strawberries and crème

This is truly a beautiful, summery dessert and could not be more
simple to prepare.  Just be sure to use the ripest, most flavorful
strawberries you can find. Serves 4

• 2 pints fresh strawberries, husked and sliced
• 2 T. white sugar
• 1 7 oz. container of Bellwether Farms crème frâiche
• 1 T. orange zest, preferably zested with a microplane zester
• Fresh mint for garnish

Toss strawberries with sugar and divide between four small bowls or pretty glasses.  Top each with a large dollop of the crème frâiche. Scatter orange zest over each and garnish with a sprig of mint.  Serve immediately.

Kristin Jorgensen is one of Sonoma’s most passionate, food obsessed residents. In this weekly column, she covers all the delicious happenings, foodie events and restaurants in Sonoma, the rest of Wine Country and beyond.  Email comments, questions, or your food related events at [email protected].