This was intended as a salad, and a bit of a palate cleanser from the rich and salty morel course that preceded it. It's also an homage to some cliche San Francisco items: sourdough bread, and Fernet Branca, a supposed San Francisco bar mainstay.

It's a salad of fresh greens including sweet pea shoots, and last of the season chicories, dressed in a Fernet Branca vinaigrette (which comes across as primarily minty, in addition to having a complex bitter herb flavor) with sourdough bread crumbs, little rounds of extra-sour sourdough crostini (made by slicing bread as thinly as possible, cutting out rounds, brushing with olive oil, seasoning with a mixture of sea salt and citric acid, a.k.a. sour salt, and baking at 325F for around twenty minutes, turning them halfway through). Accompanying the greens are some glazed baby carrots from Heirloom Organic Gardens (Chantenay and some purple variety) and a carrot-Fernet puree.

The second night I played up the Fernet a bit more, since people seemed to want more of it on the first night. Still, this was most people's least-favorite course both nights, and I agree. It had some interesting components, but it lacked some ultra-delicious center to ground it. This entire composed salad would make a great accompaniment to something like poached chicken or lightly sauteed fish, but by itself it just didn't match the level of the other courses.

Check out a photo of us plating, by one of our guests.

Posted by Barzelay on 2010/04/07 @ 16:54 | Comments (0) | Drinks, Lazy Bear, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese