Second, I’d cut the remaining cilantro by half – and use dried cilantro. Fresh cilantro has a stronger flavor, but dried will work fine.

Third, I’d chop the vegetables and boil the lentils the night before. Turn on a radio in the kitchen and take care of these tasks in the evening so you can toss the meal together very easily when you arrive home from work the next day.

These changes modify the recipe a fair amount, making it cheaper and perhaps slightly faster. Here’s what the new recipe would be, as modified by me:

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Gilroy Garlic Festival

!”.  Ever since I learned that we live within an hour’s drive of Gilroy, I have been determined to go.  I actually submitted a recipe to their recipe contest (and obviously did not make it to the finals) and had planned to go on Saturday to watch the recipe contest cook-off, but when I found out that Fabio Viviani from season five of Top Chef was hosting the celebrity chef cook-off on Sunday, my mind was made up.  I wanted to see Fabio in person!

Arriving at the festival, it was a little overwhelming.  The festival was big, and it was HOT out that day.  It wasn’t moist-Florida-hot or dry-California-hot, but a disgusting mixture of the two that had us very uncomfortable the whole day.  Dave was hungry, so we headed straight for the food.

Most of the food signs looked a lot like this.  Garlic this, garlic that…you can imagine.  Dave opted for the crab garlic fries and said they were just okay.  I wasn’t very hungry, and did I mention it was HOT?  I waited on buying food.

The famous garlic ice cream!  Who knew they had different flavors?  Dave wanted to try this, but the line for free samples was hugely long and he wasn’t about to pay for something with that kind of grossness potential.

There wasn’t a whole lot of space in the bleachers around the cook-off stage, so we stopped by a few times just to see what was going on.  Fabio is just as hilarious off camera as he was on Top Chef.  He had a beer or two during the cooking time, and interacted a lot with the crowd, who was sitting close enough to talk to him without a microphone.

When there wasn’t a whole lot of action going on for him to talk about, he started giving out stage props to the audience, like watermelons and potted plants.  Hilarious, I tell you!

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California’s Central Coast

Former food, wine, and travel writer Richard Elfman once again picks up his knife, fork, cork-screw, and pen to begin a regular column featuring his favorite haunts, observations, and adventures.

A pleasant night.  A warm ocean breeze.  And all speech suddenly stops in the jacuzzi, as four nerds reflexively gaze upon the shapely blond in the red bikini as she rises gracefully from the bubbles, turns her provocative backside, and ascends the steps like a sexy goddess.  I quickly stand up to my full six feet (suck in my gut), spread my boxer’s shoulders with a menacing confidence…and follow my wife out of the jacuzzi, as the four accountants, whatever, now avert their eyes meekly.

As we head to our room, I tell Lauren she’s looking a bit dangerous now that she trimmed down a few sizes and was able to dress more playfully.  We were both feeling kind of playful and adventurous that evening — our second wedding anniversary.  We planned to spend it in a tent under the stars — had not wild and ill-mannered animals driven us away.

Lauren and I enjoy camping in Big Sur, the site of our marriage, where California’s towering mountains meet its most spectacular coast.  As Big Sur was recovering from devastating fires earlier in the year, we chose another great camping spot, Montaña de Oro — a magical set of bluffs adjacent a dramatic cove and terrific, secluded beach.

We had arrived the previous day with all the necessary camping gear: the tent, lantern, and all that, but, more important, prime-aged steaks and garlic rosemary lamb chops marinating in the ice chest, plenty of mesquite wood to provide a proper charcoal, fine Bordeauxs from the wine cellar, candles, romantic music, and fun videos to watch on the laptop later on, as we snuggle in conjoined sleeping bags with owls cooing gently in the night.  Ah, back to nature and roughing it.  Nothing better!

It was late afternoon when we pitched the tent and organized our campsite, so we had time to enjoy the setting sun and a glass of wine down by the cove.  As this was a special trip for us, I poured a 2001 Reserve de la Comtesse — a young but quite drinkable Pauillac with a deep ruby color, an expressive nose of blackcurrants, tastes of plum, spice, and cassis with moderate tannins and a wonderful finish.  Not a bank buster, La Comtesse is a “second wine” of the legendary Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Lauren and I held hands, sipped our wine, and watched an absolutely beautiful sunset.

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