April 28, 2010
Last Saturday my friend Brynna and I cooked a wonderful dinner for fourteen people at the Sonoma Ashram. It was a very special experience that will probably remain forever in our hearts as neither of us can imagine cooking again for a more appreciative crowd.
Sonoma Ashram boasts a spectacular garden that is maintained by a handful of hardworking volunteers. We picked salad greens, herbs and edible flowers which Brynna dressed with California olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I used rainbow Swiss chard from the garden for a stuffing for fresh hand made torteloni. We also picked from the garden beets and carrots, which were slowly roasted and topped with local goat cheese. In the end many of the Ashram guests enjoyed assisting us in the cooking process.
Brynna, who is a pastry student at the Culinary Institute of America, baked fresh olive oil and rosemary focaccia, raw honey and walnut baklava, local strawberry and rhubarb tarts, and cookies made with thyme and Mayer lemon, picked from her front yard. The only ingredient that wasn’t local was imported from Italy sheep’s milk ricotta cheese, that was used as a stuffing in the torteloni and strawberry tarts. Also, there was a bit of prosciutto that I furtively added into the torteloni filling, after Babaji’s approval of course.
The drink of choice for our guests was a mint infusion made with freshly picked leaves from the garden. For the chefs, the day started early with a tasting of California sparkling wines at Domaine Carneros, where we picked up few bottles for the road. There is nothing like making fresh bread and pasta in a beautiful garden while sipping on refreshing bubbly wine and snacking on sweet strawberries. We are looking forward to going back to the ashram this summer. Brynna is very excited to make dessert with the cherries and peaches that are growing in the garden. I understand that we were added onto the garden update newsletter and are looking forward to an abundant crop season.