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Q). I am Vice
President / Publicist for the Monterey Poetry Review Magazine. We
publish many poems and / or prose throughout the Monterey County and are
interested in knowing if you write poetry as well. We would be
interested in publishing any of your talents. Please advise.
Lori Howell
Via e-mail
A). Poetry - poetry - hmm...I've never really thought about it.
Let me think a bit as I gaze out of my office window over Cannery Row to
the shining bay, where seagulls play on Lake Balesteri. How's that?
An open letter to the pumpkin bandit, that' right, you're the guy
that took all of the pumpkins that
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were growing outside my house. I've got good
news and bad news. The good news is that I have been nursing that patch
for several months - watering, fertilizing and protecting so the quality
should be first class. On the down side however, I saw every local dog,
cat, deer, raccoon and bird using it for a toilet. Bon appetite!
Q). More
and more lately, I have been seeing the term "tapas bar." What does this
mean and what would a person likely find there?
Via e-mail
A). Not to be confused with a topless
bar, the tapas bar concept originated in the southern wine region of
Spain. The word "tapas" means "cover" and refers to the
custom of placing a saucer over a
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glass of
wine to keep out the fruit flies. At one time it was by law that wine
bars must serve food with alcoholic beverages, so small offerings of
food would be placed on the saucers to entice customers. These bars
began to specialize in different menus, encouraging diners to go from
place to place during lunchtime or before dinner. In Spain this is a way
of life. Tapas can be made with anything - fish, vegetables, meats,
shellfish, sausages and pies. Regional favorites can range from simple sliced breads with ripe tomatoes to
potato omelets, grilled shrimp, olives, Serrano ham, artichokes and
mushrooms. A tapas bar might serve five or six items or as even as many
as eighty.
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Q). Last week you wrote about a
product called "Smart Chicken". Are there any local markets that are
selling it?
Via e-mail
A). I checked around and the following places are selling it:
Nielsen's Market in Carmel, Star Market in Salinas and Deluxe in Santa
Cruz. It's worth a try, so give it a shot. If you want to find more
information about this interesting product, check out their web site
www.smartchicken.com.
Q). Where are your Cabo San Lucas recipes? Is your show available
on Cox Cable in Southern California? Thanks!
Joe
Via email
A). Joey, I'm not sure about Cox
Cable, check to see if they carry |
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AmericanLife TV. It seems like every
month Monterey's Cookin' is viewed in new areas, now including Hawaii.
If you call up your provider and break his "you know whats" they'll
probably put it on. That's how we got on I Alaska. As for the Cabo
recipes here's one of my favorites:
Fish Tacos
First the fish: 1 pound of firm white fish - swordfish, talapia - or
tuna works too. Cut the fish into small chunks, about 1/2" square. Have
ready 1 medium onion diced the same size, 2 diced jalapenos, 4 chopped
garlic cloves, 1 bunch chopped cilantro. Salt and pepper.
For a salsa:
Firm tomatoes (Roma's work best) about 2 cups (6 to 7) chopped fine
1 medium red onion chopped fine
2 jalapenos chopped fine
2 fresh cloves garlic chopped fine
1 small bell pepper chopped fine
1 bunch cilantro chopped fine |
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Combine everything and add a little lemon
juice, salt, pepper and 1 tsp.ground cumin - ready to go!
To make the fish filling: Sauté the onion and garlic in corn oil
for about 2 minutes. Now add the fish and season with salt & pepper.
Start shaking the pan so it doesn't stick and cook for 2 to 4 minutes.
Check to see if it is almost cooked. Carefully flare off a bit of
tequila and your ready to go. Corn tortillas: Before you use these guys
you must heat them on a flat skillet. Have the flame medium to high
working back and forth until the tortilla is soft and pliable. Add a bit
of butter to the tortilla, then the fish mixture and finish it off with
the salsa. Be sure to have a Wabo-Rita ready (a cold Mexican beer or
some sangria also goes good with this). |
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Local Terice Clark and friends from Lake
Tahoe, asked me for an auction item for a very good cause. After
thinking about it for a bit, we came up with a weekend in Monterey for
six people. Two nights at Bernardus Lodge, rounds of golf at Tehama and
Pebble Beach and dinner at my house with all stops pulled, including
about $5,000 worth of wines. Oh, and a private jet from Tahoe to
Monterey round trip. It went for, get this, $45,000! Now that's an
auction item. Congratulations to everyone on that one. Performance
anxiety anyone? |
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Hello Mr. Pisto,
Right now there's a ripe, bumper crop of huckleberries ready for the
picking right in our back yards. I've been picking huckleberries here
since I was a kid (40+ years ago!) and I've never seen such a good
season. Four pies worth of berries from ONE bush!! I won't tell you
exactly where that bush is, but it's somewhere in Pebble Beach. The
trick to making a good huckleberry pie, I think, is to avoid cooking it
too long. If it's cooked more than about 30 minutes, all the berries
burst and you've got huckleberry soup.
Heidi Haussermann
Pacific Grove |
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Heidi's Huckleberry Pie
4 cups huckleberries
1 cup blueberry juice (Trader Joe's)
6 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
double pie crust
Whisk the flour into the blueberry juice in a pan on the stove, then stir
in the sugar. Turn on the heat and bring to a very low boil, whisking
constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and gently stir in
huckleberries. Mixture will be quite thick. Turn huckleberries into pie
crust. Cover and seal with top crust and cut slits. Bake at 425 for 10
minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 20 minutes. Check pie
often. When juice JUST starts to bubble up out of the pie crust slits,
take that pie out of the oven! Happy eating.
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