Well, just one bolete and barely a handful of chanterelles. But it looks promising. Many more Amenitas. Rain almost every night. Warm days. I’m hoping we’re still a little early. Back up to forest next week.

Even if we don’t find any edibles, Tavo has such a blast. Normally he’s pretty mellow, but up there, he flies high over fallen trees like Super Dog. This morning he followed me into the garage and sat next to the car looking up at the tailgate expectantly.

Anyway, I brushed the sliced bolete with olive oil and herbs and grilled it with a Wagyu rib-eye.

We saw some Amenitas which often portend the arrival of porcini. Even though conditions have been wet and warm, we were still a little too early. We found one large Aspen bolete, but I don’t like to eat them. So even though we came back with an empty basket, we had a great time. Tavo is crashed-out as I write this, his head on my foot and snoring like a train.

We’ll head up again next week. Stay tuned.

I’ve been on a Asian dumpling and dim sum tear. Expect many more photos of these.

My wife was shocked – “You’re not going to boil that beautiful steak?” Well this 2 1/2″ thick 40-day aged prime porterhouse wasn’t exactly boiled. It was cooked sous vide in a pouch at 130F for a few hours. Then it was brushed with butter and flashed for a minute in a 1025F wood-burning oven to get a nice crust. Brushed with an emulsion of rosemary, salt, anchovies, and olive oil. After the first bite, my wife understood. She said it was the best steak she had ever had. Boiled steak, indeed!

- Seasoned pieces of pork shoulder, deep fried in fresh lard
- Cooked sous vide in pouch with tequila/beer/chile sauce for 24 hours @ 155F
- Served on fresh corn tortillas with cooked-down sauce

Ultra-tender, juicy meat with a mellow, yet spicy sauce. Keeper!

Smoked for about 14 hours @ 225-250F with smoked from a live oak/pecan fire. Freshly made bread from leftover pizza dough. Tamarind/Chipotle sauce.

The challenge was to build a breakfast pizza that I had never made before. Yes, I’ve done the obvious – pizza with an egg on top, pizza benedict, pizza frittata, etc. Never done this one before, a riff on French toast. Really delicious.

- Eggs beaten with vanilla extract and orange oil spread on 48-hour room-temp dough
- Sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with melted butter

Beef back ribs cooked @ 135F for 2 days. Then cold-smoked with pecan/oak smoke for 2 hours. Then fired for a few minutes with a tamarind/chipotle glaze. Served with smashed honey/thyme yams.