Shoestring Gourmet: Spring Coolers in the South Valley

by Alan Gore

Our group for April’s Shoestring, at the Gore home on the theme of Spanish regional cuisine, was small but enthusiastic. We began with an impressive assortment of wines, ranging from Sangre de Toro to Sangria to Ilagaret Red – and the great champagne of Spain, Freixenet. These complemented an array of appetizers: host Ursula Gore’s salmon with salmon mousse; Jane Khatiblou’s garlic, onion and red pepper salad; Esther Shaw’s Andalusian tuna salad, with its multiple crisp vegetables. All was served with Nedra & Glenn Case’s San Francisco candida bread. This particular candida, I hasten to add, is the original lactobacillus sourdough starter to be associated with the city.

Nedra Case opened the entrees with a rice-based vegetarian paella. Linda and Gerry Brazelton served Mediterranean chicken, baked in olive oil with tarragon and garlic. Then we discovered what Ursula had been working on all afternoon: Catalan lamb,  roasted in ruby port wine with garlic and cinnamon. Our desserts were simple but evocative of the sunny corner of Europe that inspired them: lemon sorbet from  Esther and French vanilla ice cream from Ursula.

In May, we will go to a new location, Esther’s the late-model home in Sun Lakes, to prepare the cold dishes – from a variety of culinary traditions – that would be suited to the Spring season now burgeoning around us. We will be meeting Saturday, May 11, at 6 P.M. Please be sure to call our host, Esther Shaw, at 480-895-1114 by Thursday, May 9 to coordinate dishes and to get directions.