In The Market Basket

Cornish game hen
2 loin lamb chops
Mahi Mahi steak
3 sea scallops
Package filo dough
Round loaf sourdough bread
Pound barley
Pound Irish unsweetened butter
Bunch spring carrots
Bunch spinach
Bunch scallions
Bunch chives
Pint vanilla frozen yogurt
Pint strawberries
Beaverton Maui Onion mustard
2 lemons
2 limes
Yam
Anaheim chili
1/4 pound French beans
1/4 pound ginger root
1/8 pound Sonoma oyster mushrooms
Glove garlic
Five spice powder
Fresh pepper
Salt

For years there have been two names that first come to mind when dining in Sonoma: Lisa Hemenway and John Ash. Both have stood the test of time and, not coincidentally, they once worked together. While Ash has gone onto writing and consulting, Hemenway still has her restaurant, a thriving catering business, and if that were not enough also works in kitchen design. Even when she spent some years away from the Sonoma Valley it was to work in restaurants in Hanoi and Singapore. Talking to her you get the feeling that her idea of a vacation would be cooking five course meals in an exotic locale.

With a finely tuned sense of not just what the customer might want, but also what they deserve, she runs both the front and the back of her charming restaurant in Santa Rosa with a sense that, if not Zen-like, certainly acknowledges the dignity of both her employees and her legion of zealously loyal customers.

While she calls her place Lisa Hemenway’s Bistro, it is a bistro in a very global sense. Besides the classic French and Mediterranean bistro dishes, she also has a number of superbly crafted Far Eastern dishes on the menu, learned in her years in the kitchens on the other side of the Pacific. She follows the dictum that you treat food with respect, and use it to the best of your ability. As is the tradition at Destination, when we gave her the Market Basket she had an hour or so, could use tools that a normal home cook would find in their own kitchen, and access to some of the basics, like salt, pepper and olive oil. From then on she was on her own - no assistants, no fancy molds or machinery. Here is what she came up with.

Stuffed Game Hen

Stuffed Game Hen

Cornish Game Hen
Cup Barley
1/2 cup Sourdough bread
1/2 cup Butter
1 Onion
2 Tbls. Chopped chives
2 Tbls. Maui Onion Mustard
Salt and fresh pepper

Make a seasoned butter from chives, mustard, salt and pepper.

Cook barley according to directions on package.

Toast sourdough bread and whirl in food processor to make crumbs.
Sauté onion in butter. Add barley, sourdough crumbs, chopped chives, mustard, salt & pepper.

Stuff hen under the skin with seasoned butter. Stuff cavity with stuffing, tie the legs with kitchen twine and put the hen on top of chopped vegetables.

Roast at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until brown. Let

Ingredients for Sauce:
Package filo dough
Cup Sliced strawberries
1/4 cup Sugar
1 Tbls. Grated lemon peel
2 Tbls. Lemon juice
2 Tbls. Melted butter

Take one sheet filo and brush with butter and layered with 1 Tbls. sugar and 1 tsp. lemon zest. Fold like an accordion. Wrap a coffee mug with the ring of filo dough and bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sauté sliced strawberries in butter, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.
Fill ring with vanilla ice cream, garnish with lemon strawberries and fresh lemon zest, dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

4 large scallops
10 Oyster mushrooms
1/2 Cup White wine
1/2 Yellow onion
1/4 pound Green beans
4 Tbls. Butter
2 Tbls. Lemon juice
Salt and fresh pepper

Blanch green beans and cut into
even batons.

Sauté onions in butter to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add oyster mushrooms with caramelized onion, salt & pepper. Deglaze with white wine.

Dredge scallops in flour, salt and pepper. Sear scallops on both sides in butter and deglaze with white wine (pour wine over scallops and let pan juices reduce).

Sauté green beans in butter, salt and pepper.

Place oyster mushrooms in middle with scallops arranged around plate. Place green beans around the plate.

Reduce wine and butter, add lemon juice, glaze scallops and serve. Serves two as an appetizer or one as an entree.

Mahi Mahi (about 6 oz. per serving)
1 Bunch spinach
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
Fresh ginger (2-3 inch piece)
1 Black radish
1 Green onion
1 Carrot, cut into flowers
2 Tbls. Lemon juice
Butter
Salt and fresh pepper

Marinate Mahi Mahi for 30 minutes in lemon juice, ginger, oil, salt & pepper. Dredge in flour, salt & pepper, shake off excess and sear fish in clarified butter or vegetable oil.

Peel, julienne and blanch black radish for 30 seconds in salted water. Set aside and chill.

Before plating fish, place radish in lemon juice, with oil, ginger, green onions and carrot flowers to make a black radish salad.

Sauté spinach in butter, salt and pepper, remove from pan and chop. Place spinach under Mahi Mahi. Garnish with black radish salad.
Reduce lemon juice and ginger. Add whole butter to make sauce and drizzle over fish and serve.

2 Loin lamb chops
1 Anaheim chili
1 Sweet potato
2 Tbls. Lime juice
2 Tbls. Butter
Salt and fresh pepper

Marinate lamb chops in garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes.

Roast chili over gas flame, skin and cut into julienne strips and set aside.

Peel and dice sweet potato. Toss with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Grill chops until they reach the desired temperature.

Warm sweet potato with lime juice and butter. Sauté Anaheim chilies in lime juice, butter, salt & pepper. Place sweet potato on plate, top with grilled lamb chops. Place chilies on top of grilled chops and serve.