Gatherings 4/14/22

Gatherings WELCOME TO

THE INDEPENDENT'S GUIDE TO ENTERTAINING

FRONT-PORCH PIZZA PARTY ON THE MESA

BY WENDY READ

•

PHOTOS BY NIK WHEELER

STYLIST SALLY TERRELL

Santa Barbara Independent | April 14, 2022 | Gatherings | 1

Gatherings

I

have often thought that if you want to get to know someone better, have them cook you a meal. From the food they choose to how they set the table, you will get insight into who they are and where they come from.

You may already know the Seigel-Boettners.

Maybe your child was lucky enough to have Lynn as a teacher at Cold Spring or Vieja Valley, or John at Santa Barbara Middle School. Or perhaps you read about them here in the Independent. Lynn was a Local Hero in 2009 for her work on Food Not Lawns, and John was profiled two years ago for starting a local chapter of Cycling Without Age. However, if you live on the Mesa, I bet you know their house. It is nearly impossible not to notice the purple, turquoise, and yellow home, accented with Dave Shelton’s whimsical ironwork, nestled in among fruit trees and herb gardens. And then, if you look a little closer, you will see the porch, where the brightly mosaicked pizza oven seems to sparkle and beckon even on a foggy day.

John and Lynn have lived here for 24 years.

When I visited their home, I was astonished to see how many food-producing trees and plants are growing abundantly on their standard Mesa-sized lot. Lynn told me, “By visiting neighbors’ gardens, we learned what would grow well in our unique Mesa microclimate. We have a few varieties of figs, lemons, oranges, tangerines, apples, bananas, guavas, pears, mulberries, and grapes. We grow avocados, sapote, pomegranates, passion fruits, and persimmons, and lots of herbs, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and other seasonal vegetables.”

When the wood-fired pizza oven came along 13 years ago, they enlisted their friend, tile artist Tami Macala (allcrackedupmosaics.com), to transform the utilitarian hive into a work of art. John, a Santa Barbara native, loves to cook and has an inquisitive nature, so it wasn’t long before he was making THE INDEPENDENT 2022Barbara INDEPENDENT.COM 22 | Gatherings | April 14, APRIL 2022 |14, Santa Independent

pizza dough and experimenting with toppings.

The pizza porch soon became home to what the Seigel-Boettners like to call the Italian Laundromat (a humorous reference to The French Laundry).

John and Lynn are not the only food growers in the neighborhood. “We have always traded fruits and vegetables,” John said. “Then that grew into sharing breads and baked goods. Often when we cross paths on a walk or a bike ride, instead of “How are you?” we ask, “How are your tomatoes?” As one of those neighbors Gregore Morin put it, “Sharing is what gardens and gardeners do.”

On a recent evening at the SeigelBoettners’, neighbors brought their own homegrown dishes to complement John’s pizzas. Sisters Ellen Stoddard and Andi Varon, as well as Gregore and his wife, Jennifer RabeMorin, walked over and were greeted by the rainbow picnic table lit with votives, and a centerpiece of crimson pomegranates and peppers from the garden. Straw flowers from the farmers’ market were casually tossed in a large, red, enameled mug. Everyone was handed a La Luz Spritz— a tasty aperitif made with Amaro Angeleno (amaro.la/angeleno).

Ellen Stoddard brought a brimming salad bowl that looked like a work of art. It was full of freshly picked vegetables, including a variety of lettuces, lunchbox sweet peppers, Oregon snow peas, Nantes carrots, Aladdin’s Lamp tomatoes, Big Beef tomatoes, Haas avocados, and green onions. She dressed it all with her favorite Il Fustino (ilfustino .com) vinaigrette— blackberry and basil.

When I asked Ellen what she shares with neighbors, she replied, “We share seeds, seedlings, garden produce, food we’ve prepared, garden successes and failures, garden advice (wanted or not), meals, camaraderie, and friendship.”

Jennifer and Gregore are jewelers, and the attention to detail that is required of their profession is clearly evident in the spectacular antipasto platter they brought to share. They make their own goat cheese and made two for the evening: one

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After these impressive starters, the pizza oven was ready to go. John began with a farinata, which is basically a large chickpea pancake topped with olive oil and herbs. (The chickpea flour was milled at home, of course.) Then he made four pizzas— marinara, mushroom, sausage, and fig.

I love a good dessert, and this one was not only delicious but was also presented beautifully. John took passion fruit from their yard and made a panna cotta, then used the hollowed-out fruit for serving.

As with each preceding course, John paired a wine from a local winery. The last glass of the evening was filled with Limoncello di la Luz, a digestive made from lemons grown— you guessed it — right there in the front yard. It was an idyllic end to an incredible gathering.

John Seigel-Boettner said it best. “With a fire lit, candles on the table, and food in the front yard, it is not hard to get to know our neighbors.” And homemade wood-fired pizza doesn’t hurt.

Menu

APERTIVI La Luz Spritz: prosecco, Amaro Angeleno, acqua frizzante, orange slice ANTIPASTO Jennifer & Gregore’s Platter • Vino Broken Earth 2020 fiano (Paso Robles) VERDURE Ellen’s Garden Salad • Vino Buttonwood Farms 2020 sauvignon blanc (Santa Ynez Valley) PIZZE Farinata: Wood-Fired Chickpea Crepe with Sage, Onions & Grana Vino: Buttonwood Farms 2020 sauvignon blanc (Santa Ynez Valley) Marinara: Tomato, Garlic, Oregano, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, Burrata Vino: Bella Luna 2017 Nebbiolo (Templeton) Funghi: Fontina, Taleggio, Wood-Roasted Mushrooms, Gremolata Vino: Ryan Cochrane 2018 pinot noir (Sta. Rita Hills) Salsiccia di Anatra e Fichi: Smoked Mozzarella, Duck Sausage, Spring Onions, Fennel Pollen Vino: Montemar 2016 syrah (Santa Barbara County) Fichi e Formaggi di Capra: Goat Cheese, Figs, Arugula, Fig Balsamic Vino: Holus Bolus 2018 syrah (Lompoc)

choose from plant-based, local seafood, handmade pizza, comfort food, and many more

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DOLCI Passion Fruit Panna Cotta DIGESTIVO Limoncello di la Luz: Arancella Rosa di la Luz INDEPENDENT.COM APRIL 14, 202214, THE INDEPENDENT Santa Barbara Independent | April 2022 | Gatherings

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Recipes NATURALLY LEAVENED PIZZA DOUGH Leaven In medium bowl, combine: 50 grams mature starter add 100 grams water and stir add 100 grams pizza flour and stir cover and let rise on counter for 12-14 hours

Dough In mixer bowl, combine: all your leaven 300 grams water stir add 500 grams pizza flour to mixing bowl of leaven and water mix for 1 minute, using paddle (not hook) on “stir” let rest for 5 minutes add 12 grams salt mix for 1 more minute on “stir” turn dough onto lightly oiled surface fold into smooth ball let rest 5 min. stretch and fold into tight ball repeat two more times (3 total) at 5-min. intervals place dough in lightly oiled container with room to rise, cover, and place in refrigerator dough can be used from 6 hours to 4 days later Making balls 3 hours prior to baking, pull dough from fridge make 4-250 gram balls and put in lightly oiled containers with lids let rise on counter before baking

GREG & JENNIFER’S

CRUSHED GARDEN TOMATOES INGREDIENTS Garden tomatoes

Directions Score bottom of each tomato with an X and boil in water until skin pulls away, about one minute. Transfer to a bowl of ice water and let cool.

Peel and quarter tomatoes, then pulse in a food processor until crushed. Tomatoes can be frozen up to 6 months.

If you don’t have fresh and vibrant local tomatoes, I use Bianco DiNapoli organic whole tomatoes (biancodinapoli.com), crush them by hand, add a dash of salt, and am ready to go. In taste tests with local pizzaiolos, Bianco DiNapolis are unanimously the best.

PASSIONFRUIT PANNA COTTA

Prep 15 mins. Cook 5 mins. Inactive 3 hours, 15 mins. Total 3 hours, 35 mins.

Yields 6 servings.

INGREDIENTS For the panna cotta: ½ cup of fresh passion fruit juice 2.5 tsp. Knox plain gelatin (1 packet) 2 cups cream 1 cup whole milk 1 vanilla bean zest from 1 lemon, preferably Meyer lemon ½ cup sugar 1 cup sheep’s-milk yogurt small bunch of fresh mint leaves For the passion fruit juice and topping: 12 passion fruit DIRECTIONS For the passion fruit: Cut tops off of passion fruit and scoop passion fruit into bowl. To get the most panna cotta per fruit, I try to make my top opening just large enough for a demitasse spoon.

Place wire mesh sieve over another bowl. Scoop half the passion fruit into sieve and push with large spoon to squeeze juice. You want to get ½ cup of juice.

Discard pressed seeds and pulp.

Save rest of passion fruit for garnish.

For the panna cotta: Put half a cup of passion fruit juice in a small bowl and sprinkle with Knox plain gelatin. Allow to soften for 15 minutes.

Put cream, milk, vanilla (split bean, scrape seeds into mixture along with bean), lemon zest, and sugar in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Heat until mixture just starts to bubble at the edges of the pan. Do not allow to come to a full boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.

After steeping, remove bean skin.

Whisk passion fruit and gelatin mixture together, and then into the warm milk and cream mixture to dissolve. If your cream mixture has become too cool, you may need to warm it briefly to dissolve the gelatin mixture; just take care not to let it boil, as that breaks down the gelatin’s ability to firm up. Whisk in the yogurt and divide into cleaned passion fruit shells. Leave room at top for passion fruit topping. Pour extra panna cotta in ramekins.

Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover each passion fruit and ramekin with a sheet of plastic wrap. (I place fruits in empty egg carton to keep them upright.) Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

For the garnish: Top each panna cotta with fruit, including the seeds.

Add leaves of mint and serve.

CHRIS BIANCO’S FARINATA

DIRECTIONS One hour before making the farinata, set a pizza stone on a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat it to its highest setting.

Meanwhile, whisk together the chickpea flour and cold water in a large bowl until smooth. Let batter rest for 1 hour. (makes two 10-inch farinata) Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, the Parmigiano, salt, and 4 good turns of pepper, and whisk to combine.

When the oven is hot, place a 10-inch ovenproof crepe pan, round griddle pan, or cast-iron frying pan on the pizza INGREDIENTS stone and heat for 10 minutes.

200 g chickpea flour Remove the pan from the oven and add enough olive oil to coat bottom and sides of pan, then add ½ of the onion and 12 sage leaves and return the pan to the oven for about 15 seconds. Working quickly, stir the batter and add half 560 ml cold water of it to the pan. The batter will sizzle and start to set almost immediately. Carefully return the pan to the pizza stone. If 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil using an oven with a built-in broiler, bake the farinata for 10-15 minutes (until it begins to brown on top), then turn the 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano oven setting to broil and cook for 1-3 minutes. If using an oven with a separate broiler, bake for 15 minutes, then transfer 2 teaspoons fine sea salt the pan to the broiler compartment, turn on the broiler, and cook for 1-2 minutes. The edges should be golden-brown freshly ground black pepper and crisp and the top flecked with golden spots. Slide the farinata onto a cutting board. ½ large red onion, thinly sliced; or 4 spring onions, thinly sliced Make second farinata in the same manner with the remaining batter and other ingredients, reheating the pan for 5 minutes and using a scant tablespoon of the remaining oil for each one.

24 fresh sage leaves Serve the farinata cut into wedges or strips, or torn apart however you want and finished with a drizzle of good olive oil and a grinding of black pepper. You can also top with pesto, tapenade, or mixture of crushed tomatoes, arugula, basil, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil.

Notes: I do this in the pizza oven outside and in my old O’Keefe & Merritt inside. It’s something gluten-free that everyone loves.

THE INDEPENDENT APRIL 14, 2022 INDEPENDENT.COM 44 | Gatherings | April 14, 2022 | Santa Barbara Independent