"Thomas Hill Organics" Market Bistro - Paso Robles

This week I had the chance to spend some time in the Redwoods National Park near Big Sur and enjoyed every second of this short vacation. On the way down, I took the scenic route from Cambria to Palos Robles to stop at a restaurant for my girlfriend's birthday. 

Paso Robles is like the mini "Napa Valley" of Southern California. It's somewhat of a small city but it's full of inviting wine tasting rooms and charming restaurants with local flavors. It was already late when we arrived there and most of the places were closed, but we ended up falling upon what ended up being one of the best culinary experiences I've ever had: "Thomas Hill Organics" Market Bistro.

When I went on their website to check the menu before walking in, I was delighted to learn that their menu changed every day depending on what the cook found at the local organic farms and markets. That was a good sign.

We walked in and I immediately apologized for wearing what I had been wearing at the campsite which consisted of black sweat pants, sandals and a "Smurf" T-shirt with firewood scent...but that's what I also loved about this restaurant: they didn't kick us out. We sat down in their outdoor patio that was simply but elegantly decorated and we started salivating at the menu that was full of creative dishes made with fresh local produce.

We started with some local white wine from the Paso Robles Bodegas Winery, and we ordered the appetizer that we were going to share: "Braised Beluga Lentil Tacos, Carrot Ginger Purée, Candied Jalapenos, Chews & coconut, Watermelon, Cilantro"

These Tacos were by far the most delicious and inventive tacos I had ever had. The mix of the flavorful organic vegetables and the sweet fruits was the best way to get a taste of this incomparable restaurant. 

We then shared two entrées (I love to share all the dishes on the table to get a taste of everything). The first one was: "Pan Roasted Alaskan Halibut Cheeks, Roasted Baby Beets, Macerated Strawberries Pickled Watermelon, Coconut Cream, Mint Leaves, Citrus Vinaigrette". Here's the thing, I'm usually not a fan of beets but this restaurant's chef changed my view on beets that night. Every bite out of this original dish was heavenly, the presentation was sophisticated and enticing, the fish was perfectly cooked, and the staff was incredibly friendly.

Our second Entrée was a thin crust pizza with THO apples, Bacon, Mon Brie Cheese, Roasted Red Onion and Cremini Mushrooms. We had ordered a glass of red wine from their fabulous wine list at this point and I had to take a picture of the wine list because this wine was one of the boldest and tastiest red wine I had drank in a long time. (Our incredible red wine was: "Thomas Hill Vineyards 10' Miscela Delle Colline"). Eating the pizza while munching on this crispy and savory pizza was a perfect way to finish the meal.....before dessert of course.

I tried to be sneaky and I pretended to go to the bathroom to ask our waiter to bring a dessert with thirty candles. That was the only time they manged to disappoint me because they had run out of candles, and I think our waiter was also a little shy so he didn't even try to sing "happy birthday", but the "Chocolate Fondant (flourless chocolate cake) with Dulce de Leche and Honey Frosting" made up for it. We cleaned off the plate and shared coffee brought to the table in a French press. They apparently create their coffee blend themselves by picking some of their favorite beans and mixing them together.

They had a few baskets full of fresh fruits from the farm by the front door and we bought a pound of a medley of fruits and headed back on the road to Los Angeles. At this point, you understand that I highly recommend this restaurant if you drive to San Francisco, from San francisco, or if you ever get remotely close to Paso Robles while you drive on the 101 freeway. Even if you're a little far from it, it is definitely worth the drive. 

A very special Frenchgiving

Yesterday we all celebrated thanksgiving by fattening ourselves up with some good food and by being thankful that our liver can still handle the copious amount of alcohol that is added to the mix. This year I didn't get the chance to spend this holiday with my family so we celebrated it with some friends in a beautiful apartment that overlooks the Santa Monica boardwalk with its Ferris wheel in the background. Since I enjoy cooking, I volunteered to cook and went grocery shopping the day before.

I usually enjoy cooking the giant turkey while coming up with an inventive way of making an original stuffing, but this year I wasn't really in the mood for turkey especially after eating the traditional thanksgiving meal a few days earlier at work. They even had a cooking contest at work which I didn't participate in because I was too tired after diving in the cold rain the day before, but it had me thinking of fun dishes that I would enjoy eating on Thanksgiving.

Here's the menu I came up with:
- Pizza with butternut squash roasted in Honey, Goat Cheese, Prosciutto, yellow peppers, Mushrooms
- Beef Bourguignon
- Moelleux au chocolat

It was quite a challenge for a stoner since the "beef bourguignon" usually needs to be prepared way in advance but I did the express version of the recipe.

Beef Bourguignon (6 people)
- 3 lbs of beef Stew
- Beef Broth
- Garlic
- onions
- Carrots
- Cilantro (It's usually Parsley but I like cilantro better)
- Fresh Thyme
- Bacon
- A bottle of wine
- A shot of brandy (It's usually cognac but since I didn't have any I used brandy)
- A tablespoon of flour
- Mustard

Cut the onions, garlic and carrots in a bowl, add the beef, cilantro and thyme and season is with salt and pepper. Add half of the bottle of wine and the shot of cognac and let it marinate for 24 hours, mixing the marinade every 6 hours.

At the beginning of thanksgiving day I sizzled the beef in a pan after draining the marinade in another bowl. Once the meat gets browns, add a few pieces of lard or bacon and let it fry with the mix until it's cooked.

Put the meat in a crock pot and add the marinade on top. Add the flour and the mustard. Let is stew on high for at least 6-7 hours.Add wine or beef broth if there isn't enough marinade for the meat to stew. I also added mushrooms in the stew. I served it with basil linguine.

Pizza: I have a small kitchen so I didn't make the dough but Trader Joe's has some pre-made pizza dough that is very convenient and quite good. I shredded the butternut squash in aluminium foil, added olive oil honey and pepper and threw the mix in the over on 375 for 40 minutes.When it was almost time to eat I rolled the crust into some shape that closely resembled a pizza and put it in the over for 10 minutes with nothing on it so it would get a little hard before adding the tomato paste and the veggies that were going to make the crust soggy. Once the crust got a little hard I took it out of the over and added all the toppings except the prosciutto. When the pizza was ready (and my pizza ended up being a little soggy so I guess I sohuld have left the crust in the oven even longer before adding the toppings) I added the strips of prosciutto on top before serving it.

Moelleux au chocolat: This wouldn't be "gourmet stoner" without a reference to our friend Mary-Jane, so here is my fancy version of an edible.
- 200g of weed butter
- 250g of 72% Dark chocolate
- 100g of flour
- 200g of powdered sugar
 - 6 eggs
- one teaspoon of vanilla extract
- one tablespoon of honey

Heat the chocolate and the butter in a bain-marie. in a bowl mix the egg whites with the flour. Add the powdered sugar and the yolks and add the melted chocolate. Add the vanilla extract and honey and mix well.
Put in the oven on 375 degrees for 20 minutes. This cake was deliciously dangerous.

At the end of the meal we played poker, shared a few more drinks, laughed a lot and stared at the man sleeping on his stool, always wondering if he was going to fall head first on the ground. It was a fantastic thanksgiving with great company.