El Nopal

El Nopal: it's my old neighborhood Mexican restaurant, serving mostly enchiladas, tamales, flautas and the like. The first time I went there I had a pork tamale that was quite good.

The place has a homey feel, very chill. The service is professional yet relaxed; and the food is dependably good. I asked for the best dish in the house and here's what I got:

I could have just gotten a Chili Relleno plate, but I wanted a little more, so I got the Chili Relleno with Beef Enchilada. El Nopal uses an Anaheim Pepper, not a Poblano! Which makes this a very distinctive stuffed chili, or relleno.

The beef enchilada was quite outstanding too--the little beef cubes reminded me of Carne Guisada. Note the red sauce swimming around the plate in the final photo of the sequence. The flavor was a savory almost fruity mix of beef juice and chili. The beans and rice were spot-on as well, pintos refried in manteca (pork fat), and the spanish rice with a subtle hint of mild chili.

And you can't beat the price. $4.75 lunch specials.

El Nopal: 406 Virginia St, Vallejo · (707) 557-0456.

Vallejo

City Park. Said to be the oldest municipal park west of the Mississippi. The fact the sky turned fuchsia on this shot is purely accidental.

Three shots from the pier within minutes of each other. First a view of the marina, and the two bridges crossing the Napa River in the distance. Next a shot of the cathedral-like building on Mare Island where submarines were built during World War II. Finally, abandoned cranes silhouetted in the sunset.

 Virginia Street.

Temple Art Lofts.

 Heritage District.

Famed architect Julia Morgan designed this house.

Pink.

 Lincoln Elementary.

Farmer's Market at UN Plaza, SF Civic Center

Had some time to kill Wednesday before work and really needed some veggies, so I thought I'd check out this Farmer's Market not too far away. It was misty and foggy as I approached the city, and as soon as I arrived it had turned into light rain. Note the umbrellas.

Just like any Farmer's Market around, there's a mix of seasonal produce and prepared foods. But this FM has a lot more selection than most. Only the one at the Embarcadero is has more variety--but the prices at the UN Plaza FM are the best I've seen anywhere in the Bay Area.

Here's a few things I don't see around much. Dates still on the stem.

Blood limes and other uncommon citrus. The folks at this stall hail from Fresno.

Best of all was the fishmonger. Last in setting up, there was a small crowd waiting for them to unload.

Those were the first fish they laid out. Here's what it looked like a few minutes later once all the tables seafood was displayed.

For more info: http://www.hocfarmersmarket.org/

Cakes And Ale: Water To Wine In The Redwood Empire

Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale? 

I spent Christmas last week with some of my closest friends who live in Western Sonoma County, California, in the southernmost reaches of what locals call the Redwood Empire. When I lived there eight years ago, the rainy season, which runs from November through April, was particularly wet. Certainly stands to reason you'd get a lot of rain in a temperate rain forest less than ten miles east of the Pacific Ocean. This time eight years ago, it had been raining very hard almost every minute of the day for a week. There were intermittent power outages and reports of flooding near Guerneville. Satellite signals were impossible to connect to, and there's still not that much cell phone coverage out in those remote hills.

But this year? A bright and sunny Christmas Day. We've had a couple of days of rain since I moved back to Northern California in mid-October. Friends tell me that San Francisco had 2 inches of rain before my return, so maybe that's around 3" for all of 2013?

One of my friends in the Redwood Empire told me his cisterns were only 1/4 full. Another one relies on well water from a particular corner of his land, a well that's been there decades, in a spot that is close to a neighbor's land. Or, rather, a former neighbor's land, who had just up and sold his acreage to some folks who are looking to use the land for vineyards. Quite a natural spot it is, with a large south-facing field ("perfect for Pinot Noir") already cleared, and mostly used in recent times for grazing a small herd of sheep. Among other things, one of my friend's main concerns is whether the new tenant might affect his water supply. Sometimes the most critical person in the food chain can be the plumber fixing one's cistern or well, as this piece details here.

*****

Vallejo Farmer's Market, November 2013; photo by Jeffrey Jackson

Welcome to my new culinary blog where I'll be posting photos of delicious food, restaurant reviews, shots from Farmer's Markets and grocery stores,  articles about cooking, gardening, deep sustainability and quite a bit more.