Wednesday at the Barn Menu..... Photo Coverage: Fashion for a Cure.... Passport Weekend meets Art Walk........

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"Couture for a Cure" Rocks Out

In the end, it wasn't just about the money we raised, though the sum of $25,000 is fantastic, especially in these trying times when worthy causes go begging. It wasn't entirely about the Diabetes Foundation either, though their efforts to make inroads into finding a cure for this insidious disease is so very important. Diabetes affects the young and the old, the overweight, pregnant women and, increasingly, growing numbers in the Hispanic and Africa American communities. A cure is within our reach.

But what really hit home for me and the Barndiva staff late Sunday night after the last glass was polished and put away was simply how wonderful it felt to have participated. Even a small town like ours can accomplish big things when members of the community come together to work for a common goal. Hats off to David and Nicole Barnett and all the good folks at Brush Salon who instigated Couture for a Cure and brought together the talents of Susan Graf Ltd, M Clothing, Outlander Men's Clothing and Clutch who joined forces to put on a really cool fashion show. Congratulations to the wonderful people who donated to the silent and live auctions, Vin Couture for pouring their wines, Fabian for DJ'ing, KZST's Debbie Abrams for MC'ing, the incomparable auctioneer Lucy Lewand, and last but not least, The Flower Guys, who filled the Studio with glorious spring blooms.

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We throw beautiful, memorable parties in the gallery almost every week ~  as anyone who has been here for a wedding, baby shower, special birthday or anniversary will tell you ~ but  rarely do we get that 'change is gonna come' feeling as strongly as we did after Sunday's event. As you can see from the slideshow below, shot by our own Dawid Jaworski, we live in an extraordinary community, one that knows how to work hard and then make it look easy. People come from around the world to eat our food, drink our wine, and look around in wonder at the magnificent countryside, but for those of us who make Sonoma County our home a great place to live always comes down to the people you live alongside.

It was good to see so many of them here on Sunday.

Passport Weekend + Art Walk

This is a first: combining the energies of a sold-out Passport Weekend with Healdsburg Galleries Art Walk. This Friday, April 27th, all 18 of our member galleries will be paired with wineries that normally don't have a presence downtown. I know what you're thinking, Passport Weekend is for tourists, why fight the crowds? Because it's a chance to support our wonderfully diverse collection of galleries, sipping as you go. Think of it as a scavenger hunt where you may just discover a work of art you can't live without. Or a wine you've been wanting to try. Book dinner here in town after the walk!

Mother's Day, Barndiva Style

We love your mum. We do.  And to prove it we're going to open the gardens just for her on Sunday May 13, give her a sparkling cocktail on the house, and while we're at it send out one of Octavio's best crumbles for the whole table to enjoy while you watch mum sip away and smile. Chef will be serving our full Brunch Menu with a few special entrées which we'll reveal next week, but consider this a heads up:  make your reservations now. Mother's Day at Barndiva always attracts a sell out crowd.

All text Jil Hales. All photos Jil Hales and Dawid Jaworski (unless otherwise noted).

Wednesday at the Barn Menu..... Return of the Rabbit.........Runway Fashion........

Dish of the Week:  Rabbit Redeux with Spring Vegetable Quiche

Fiddleheads, ramps, nettles, English peas and favas all started arriving in the kitchen a while back, a pretty good auger of Spring, but with all that rain and gray skies it was hard to feel it. Then the white Clematis went into glorious, full bloom over the arbor and Chef marched in to announce the return of the rabbit. This dish is Spring incarnate: bright green color from the favas, peas, chives, and baby greens, sharp pickled ramps, sweet tomato conserve, and just enough heft to the succulent meat and the richness of the quiche to warm the chilly evenings that are part of the beauty of this most precious season.

We are doing the quiche in terrines ~ flaky edges, big chunks of bacon, favas ~ it's almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Rabbit is great stewed whole, but chef’s signature presentation is to break it down and cook each cut separately. A bit more time and labor but you get a perfectly moist sirloin, juicy little rack, whole grilled kidney. Perhaps the most flavorful part of the dish is the rillette, which uses the dark meat from the legs and shoulder. We confit them in duck fat for about four hours, then pull the meat off while it's still warm and falling off the bone. Lots of dijon, sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, chives, and just a hit of minced sweet red onion. Before forming patties the mix is rolled in plastic wrap and chilled, which also gives the flavors time to meld. Taking the dark meat on any animal and making rillettes is worth learning how to do; it's a great way to use the least expensive cuts with the most flavor. In our case we are buying whole animals ~ using everything goes with the territory. Rabbit is only one dish on the new Spring Menu, but it is always a favorite. The flavor is subtle and light, with a hint of grassy sweetness in the finish. Our menus change often this time of year, as delicacies like ramps and fiddleheads have an especially short season. I can't promise how long the clematis will be blooming either. The best part of spring is the worst part of spring: blink and you miss it.

Tickets yet?

They are going fast! Don't miss out on a chance to spend a great 'guilt free' afternoon of drinking, eating, and talking clothes as Studio Barndiva joins forces with the talented folks at Brush Salon to support the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. Joining us with a wonderful runway fashion show will be four of Healdsburg's finest clothing shops ~ Susan Graf Limited, M Clothing, Outlander Men's Gear and Clutch. Barndiva will be doing the cocktails and food, Vin Couture will be pouring the wine.

The evening also includes an exciting live auction with auctioneer Lucy Lewand, KZST's Debbie Abrams as MC and DJ Fabian.

Come out and have some spring fashion fun while we raise money to help find a cure for diabetes.

•••

All text Jil Hales. All photos Jil Hales and Dawid Jaworski (unless otherwise noted).

Wednesday at the Barn Menu..... Sweetbread Microgreen Salad..... Fashion for a Cure

Dish of the Week: Sweetbread Microgreen Salad

No one really knows why they are called Sweetbreads, though a good guess might be that “pass the thymus gland” is not the sexiest come on in culinary history. Then again, when food is in short supply you probably don't care what an affordable ingredient is called. Intrepid and talented chefs have always found a way to cook the less salubrious parts of the animals we eat ~ brain, heart, intestine, feet, tails... glands. Our greatest techniques (and from them, our classic dishes) have not sprung from boredom, so much as necessity. Still, to paraphrase the bard, a thymus gland by any other name… is bound to sound more appealing.

The thymus gland has two parts, one in the throat and a larger lobe near the heart which is considered more desirable because of its size (though in truth they basically taste the same). Pastured veal is the animal of choice for most chefs. The traditional method to prepare them for cooking is to soak them in milk for 24 hours to soften, then blanch, shock in cold water, press, drain, and chill. At this stage you can easily peel the outer membrane and portion before cooking. Ryan braises his sweetbreads first, slowly heating them through, after which he dredges them in flour and secret spices (secret to me, at any rate) before a quick sauté in foamy butter and fresh thyme. This results in sweetbreads which have a beautiful crunch, yet are still bursting with meat juice.

As it turns out, when properly prepared, they actually are kind of sweet. It’s not a sugary sweet to be sure, but a soft, mild, loamy sweet, enhanced by the consistency of custard crossed with tofu. Serving them with a bright salad of microgreens, cress, shaved carrot, pickled onion, and mache makes for an inspired pairing, not least because it brings forward the mellow nuance of the sweetbreads, taking the dish in an unexpectedly light direction.

Talking to Daniel about our new microgreen program ~ which both he and Mix Garden supply ~ I’ve learned a lot about these funny little guys. They have a range of flavors ~ alliumous, herbaceous, floral, spicy ~ that is quite remarkable. The biggest surprise was to find that microgreens are not really true leaves at all, but something called cotyledons. Formed in the seed, if left to grow after breaching the soil they would swiftly fall off the plant and die.  The word cotyledon comes from the Greek word for 'seed leaf'.

The microgreens Chef used for this dish were cotyledons from seedlings which, planted with the proper spacing would eventually have grown into Russian Kale, Early Wonder Beets, Dwarf Grey Sugar Peas and Large Leaf Mustard Greens.

I love this dish. It’s another delicious reason I’m thankful we live in an age when the ethical sense of eating every part of an animal we take such great care to raise has placed cuts like sweetbreads front and center. Happily, on thoughtful menus, in hands like Ryan’s, they produce the most revelatory share of wows every night.

Tickets yet?

They are going fast! Don't miss out on a chance to spend a great 'guilt free' afternoon of drinking, eating, and talking clothes as Studio Barndiva joins forces with the talented folks at Brush Salon to support the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. Joining us with a wonderful runway fashion show will be four of Healdsburg's finest clothing shops ~ Susan Graf Limited, M Clothing, Outlander Men's Gear and Clutch.  Barndiva will be doing the cocktails and food, Vin Couture will be pouring the wine.

The evening also includes an exciting live auction with auctioneer Lucy Lewand, KZST's Debbie Abrams as MC and DJ Fabian.

Come out and have some spring fashion fun while we raise money to help find a cure for diabetes.

•••

All text Jil Hales. All photos Jil Hales(unless otherwise noted).