Sir and Star Restaurant

Sir and Star Restaurant

Poached Duck Egg on Savoy Cabbage with Thick Cut Bacon

Beef Marrow Bones with Onion Confit and Biscuits

Almost in the middle of nowhere is the West Marin County town of Olema, home to the restaurant Sir and Star. It is owned and operated by Chefs Margaret Grade and Daniel DeLong who had the popular Mankas Lodge nearby before it suddenly closed due to a fire that destroyed the building. The new restaurant Sir and Star follows the same menu philosophy of Mankas by using very local ingredients from the sea to the field. The building is a old farmhouse with a wrap around covered porch set in a grove of mature eucalyptus trees and they even painted it black! The food is served in smaller plates perfect for sharing and with a good list of California wines too.


Sir and Star Restaurant
10000 Sir Francis Drake
Olema, CA 94950
415 663 1034

You have to Eat your Veggies Too

The meat might be the star of the plate but the sides can be great too. This was a sauté baby carrots, Fingerling potatoes and onions all cooked to a caramelized sweetness with a touch of bacon added to give a little smokiness.

Weekend Dinner

Perfect Grilled Chicken for a Simple Dinner

Very Local Jacksmelt

Freshly Caught Smelt

Fresh Grilled Smelt 

This past weekend while sailing San Francisco Bay I noticed a school of bigger then normal fish swimming behind my boat, quick get the fishing pole and get a hook in the water with a chunk of squid on it. Minutes later I was reeling in a good size Jacksmelt, about 18 inches long. Smelt resemble a big sardine with a thin skin and small scales, oily but with lighter flesh. I cleaned it and marinated the filet's in extra virgin olive oil before going on a smoking hot grill, a few minutes on each side and it was done. It was delicious and not very fishy, Great with a squeeze of lemon, fresh chopped parsley and a sprinkle of capers. I am going to have to fish for more really soon.

Cobia, a Recent Find

Seared Cobia Fillet with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Its not that often that you will hear of a new fish that's available in the market place but I was recently told from my seafood guy at work about a less common fish called Cobia. Other common names are Black Kingfish, Black Salmon or Lemonfish. I did some research and found that it is a farmed fish raised in huge floating ocean pens. The biggest producers are from Mexico, Panama and Vietnam. I am normally against farmed fish but this one has the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch seal of approval as a best choice. I ordered a few sides to try and experiment with and I found them to be easy to work with a lot like Yellowtail Tuna, firm and meaty with beautiful edible skin. The cost was a little high, around $16 a pound wholesale, not cheap but worth the price if you want a great piece of fish.

Oven Dried Tomatoes

Sun Dried Tomatoes have been around as long as people preserved tomatoes by drying them in the sun, perfectly preserved because of low moisture and natural acidity. That's great in the summer if you have a lot of warm sun but oven dried tomatoes can be made all year, not so much to preserve them but to intensify the flavor and give them a more meaty texture. Roma tomatoes are perfect because of the thick meaty flesh they have, cherry tomatoes work great too.

Oven Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients:
Roma or Cherry Tomatoes
Kosher Salt
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Garlic Cloves
Fresh Herbs (Thyme, Rosemary, Sage)

Method
1. Wash and cut the tomatoes in Half, Lay out cut side up on a oiled sheet pan.
2. Sprinkle with salt, garlic and herbs (olive oil later)
3. Place in a low oven 150F-200F
4. Watch them after 2-3 hours for them to slightly shrink and dry out.
5. Remove and drizzle with the olive oil and they are ready to use.

Note: placing in a oven with just the heat of the pilot light overnight is almost fool proof and works well.

Hash and More Hash

Roast Pepper and Potato Hash with Poached Egg

I guess its becoming my signature breakfast now? A one pan meal of potatoes, vegetables and breakfast meats like bacon or sausage accompanied by a lone perfectly poached egg, Salsa Verde on this mornings plate. Perfect way for me to start my day with a big coffee.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños, My Boating Tradition

Peppers ready to assemble and a cold beer while cooking of course

Wrapped and ready to grill

Hot and Crispy off the Grill

It all started during one sunset at anchor in a quiet bay on the Island of Lanai, Hawaii. My cousin prepared grilled bacon-wrapped jalapenos with a melted cream cheese filling served up with a stiff dark rum and pineapple drink. Wow- I'm hooked now. Grilled peppers have become a tradition on my boat since that trip a few years back. Just this last weekend with good weather, I cooked dinner on my boat and naturally made grilled bacon peppers again. They are very easy to prep ahead of time, and keep cold in the fridge or cooler until ready to grill. Try them on your own home grill. One note on the hotness of the peppers is that they can be very hot when raw, but with precooking and removing the seed membrane, they will be much less hot.

My Grilled Jalapenos 
Ingredients:
Jalapeño peppers, large size
Bacon strips, smoked is best
Cream cheese, regular or light
Toothpicks to secure

Method:
1. Make a slit down the side of the raw pepper and careful remove all the seeds and whitish membrane.
2. At this point they can be boiled or fire charred to remove skin and precook.
3. When cool and cleaned, stuff slit with cream cheese.
4. Lay a strip of bacon on a cutting board and tightly roll up around stuffed pepper.
5. Secure with toothpick, they are ready to grill.
6. Grill on medium heat and turn son they brown evenly.
7. Remove toothpick and serve.

Note: Wearing plastic gloves will keep your fingers and anything you might touch, from burning when cleaning seeds.

Simple Chicken Salad

The best is often simple with only a few ingredients and tonight it's a chicken salad. A chicken breast is marinated in soy and ginger then grilled till cooked through, allowed to cool, then sliced. I tossed with shaved carrots, arugula, cilantro in a basic soy vinaigrette with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds over the top.

Green Eggs and Ham

The name comes from the classic Dr. Seuss children's book, the green comes from the Salsa Verde sauce I used in my breakfast hash. Lots of sauteed vegetables with bacon becomes a good bed for the soft poached egg, a spoonful of green sauce and it's ready to go with my coffee.

The Hash with Celery, Garlic, Bacon, Potatoes and Asparagus

Breakfast Hash with Poached Egg and Parsley Salsa Verde

More Stove Top Grilling

Another day. another meal and today it's grilled beef flank steak and potatoes. I served the steak with with one of my favorite sauces, Salsa Verde. It's a blended sauce of Italian parsley, garlic, capers, lemon juice and plenty of extra virgin olive oil. Tangy and flavorful, and great with meats or fish.

Grilled and ready to Slice

Pan Roasted Red Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic

Steak and Potatoes with Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
1 bunch Fresh Italian parsley
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup capers, drained
Juice from 1 lemon
Fresh Cracked Pepper
1 cup extra vireo olive oil

Method:
1. Blend all ingredients till smooth.

Note: Salt is not necessary because of the salty brined capers.

Stove Top Grilling

Nothing compares to cooking over a open fire, the intense heat and smoke that imparts flavor while giving food beautiful color. Sometimes its just not going to happen so a good alternative is using a cast iron grill pan on top of the stove. Tonight I cooked big meaty pork chops in my grill pan and they turned out really nice for indoor grilling. The secret is to preheat the pan till its almost smoking then cook the meat with a good exhaust fan on. The thick iron pan does a good job of holding the heat and giving a good sear. I can't wait to cook more.

First of Spring Asparagus

Nothing says Spring like the first arrival of asparagus in markets and in your garden if you are lucky to grow them. My small crop was planted a few years ago and now produce enough nice large stalks to eat every few days. My idea for todays harvest is a very simple omelet using some local rainbow eggs given to me. The asparagus were cleaned and sliced then lightly sautéed in a dash of good butter, the eggs were beaten and cooked in a non stick sauté pan to which the asparagus were added, folded over and its done. Perfect and next time maybe a slice of cheese but today its just fine.

Two days out of the Ground

Fresh Harvested Stalks

Sautéed
 in Butter and Herbs

Simple and Perfect

Braised Pork Tamales

With the weather getting warmer I am spending more and more time on my boat. Today I decided on Mexican pork Tamales served with a cold beer, a perfect plan. The Tamales are Made by slow braising pork butt and dried chili peppers till it is fall apart tender, the cooked and shredded pork is added to a spoonful of corn masa dough which are then enclosed in fresh banana leafs. The little bundles are then steamed for about an hour and then they ready to eat. I served them with a tomatillo-green chili salsa and avocado. They were perfect eaten on the boat while watching the warm sun set. Note: tamales are a perfect food that can be made far in advance and reheated when ready to eat and available now in well stocked markets.

Tamales Steaming

Banana Leaf Wrapped Pork Tamales

Sailing back to Port while the Tamales Steam

Latin Inspired Weekend Breakfast

My standard go-to breakfast on weekends is a pan of assorted meats and vegetables cooked and topped with a perfectly poached egg. Today I used some Latin ingredients in my breakfast hash, roasted Pasilla Peppers, Cojita Cheese, red beans, cilantro and avocado along with Fingerling Potatoes and Niman Ranch bacon. A good breakfast finished with a splash of my homemade Habanero Hot Sauce and I am ready to start the day.

Ingredients Cooking in the Pan

Latin "Hash" Waiting for the Hot Sauce