Chef Thomas Keller, brilliant, bemused at Pebble Beach Food and Wine

The Pebble Beach Food and Wine Experience
(a veritable Chef-a-Palooza!)

April showers bring…me to magnificent Pebble Beach just south of Monterey on the spectacular Pacific Coast of California for my yearly bout of elbow rubbing and dish scrubbing side by side with many of the world’s most revered chefs. We were right on the world famous Seventeen Mile Drive, a literally jaw dropping coastline of rocky beaches with jade and turquoise water crashing into whipped white foam splashing into pristine tide pools filled with purple and orange star fish. Add adorable puppy-dog looking seals bobbing in the surf and you can hardly look away. Quite the setting, eh? I can’t wait to share my behind the scenes stories about celebrity chefs Jacques Pepin, Ming Tsai and Michael Chiarello just to name a few! My weekend started off right with the arrival of my own personal culinary hero (next to Juila, of course) Chef Thomas Keller who comes each year to cook, golf and bask in the glow of, well, being Thomas Keller in a veritable sea of passionate food fans.

My role is to support the chefs during their live cooking events for 300 guests each in football field sized tents. Chef Keller was joined on the magnificent Jenn- Air Culinary Stage by his Chef de Cuisine Dave Cruz from the revered restaurant “Ad Hoc” promoting their new cook book, “Ad Hoc at Home” a fabulous book geared for the home cook, unlike his previous cook books such as “The French Laundry Cook Book” for very advanced cooks. Cooking from that book is a major undertaking but the book was such a game changer, all chefs that I know attempt it. It is much like copying a Rembrandt, your copy won’t be great, but you do it to get just a glimpse of genius…
Chefs Keller and Cruz discussed “Lifesavers” or excellent, do ahead staples they have at the restaurant to bring even simple dishes to new levels. These include Sweet Onion Tapenade, Cured Lemons and Mushroom Conserva.
Chef used his tapenade as a flavor boost for sandwiches, grilled fish and poultry and even as a condiment for meat dishes.

Sweet Onion Tapenade, Ad Hoc Restaurant, Yountville CA
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Canloa oil
2 cups chopped red onion
1 anchovy, salt cured preferred
1/4 cup milk
1 cup( 4 ounces) pitted Kalamata olives, rinsed
1 medium clove garlic, peeled
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Heat a film of canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, reduce the heat to medium low and cook slowly, adjusting the heat as necessary for about 30 minutes to soften the onions without caramelizing them.
Meanwhile soak the anchovy in the milk for 30 minutes. Rinse under cold water, removing any large visible bones.
Remove cooked onions from the pan and place them in a Vita Mix (a blender)
with the olives, anchovy, capers, garlic and the olive oil. Blend, scraping down the sides as necessary to puree. Refrigerate in a covered container.

During the demo, one lady asked “Can you leave out the anchovy” “Why”, asked Chef, are you allergic?” “No”, she replied “I just don’t like them.” Chef Keller just scratched his head, slightly bemused, slightly confused. It just did not compute in the exquisite food mind of Chef Keller…

from the front: Grilled Chicken with Tarragon, Chive and Cured Lemon Dressing
Roast Chicken with Baby Leeks, New Crop Potatoes and Mushroom Conserva
Salad of Little Gem Lettuces, Shaved Fennel, Mushroom Conserva and Sweet Onion Tapenade
Sautéed Fillet of Petrale Sole with Caramelized Cured Lemon and Butter Tapenade Sauce