Fillet

Backwoods
Eatin'

Adam Powell

Illustration: Luke Knowland

This fourth of July weekend the Webmonkeys went on a retreat to Southern Humboldt county, home of Kristin W., to splash around in a beautifully pristine swimming hole, watch fireworks up close, soak up the sun, work on hits.org with the local community, drink lots of cold ice-cold sauvignon blanc and, of course, eat.

Not planning on gourmet-quality noshing in Blocksburg (population 46), the Monkeys were pleasantly surprised twice by great meals in California's backwoods.

With no electricity in our cabin, Webmonkey Luke was forced to get creative with his limited means and he came through in a big way with an amazing eggplant curry. As his handle is the cook we shouldn't have been surprised, but nonetheless the delicate flavors contained within the heaping portions of his mouth-watering creation amazed us all. Here's Luke's recipe, in his own words:

Luke's kick-ass Curry in a Percolator

1 1/2 inch + long piece ginger root
1 cerrano pepper
5 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion
1 + T sesame oil
3 T olive oil
5 dashes soy sauce

2 t chili powder
3 t cumin
3 t ginger powder
6 t curry powder
dash of black pepper
1 t salt

1 eggplant
1/2 pound fresh green beans
1 zuccini
1 red pepper
1/4 pound of pine nuts water
1/2 (12 oz) can of coconut milk

1 1/2 cups rice

Serves six.

Finely chop up the ginger, cerrano pepper, and garlic, and put in a pot with the olive oil, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Loosely chop the 1/2 onion, and set the pot on a low to medium flame, for about ten minutes, to let the onions, etc., become translucent.

Peel and chop the eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Add this to the pot. Add all the spices, and bring the heat up to a medium flame. Cut the ends off the zuccini, cut it in half, and julienne it. Add to the pot. Julienne the red pepper, and add to the pot. Add about a half a cup of water, to prevent the ingredients from sticking to the pot. Allow this to come to a boil, and then turn down so it can simmer.

In a coffee pot (percolator, without the coffee grounds part (make sure it doesn't smell TOO much like coffee), pour 4 cups of water, and a dash of salt. Bring to a boil, and add your rice. Turn the flame down to low, stir the rice (to make sure it doesn't stick), and put a piece of tinfoil over the top of the pot (not over where you'd pour out coffee, though - this way the rice doesn't cook too quickly). Stir frequently (but don't get steam- burned).

Back to the curry. Shake up your can of coconut milk, and pour half of it into the pot. Stir, and allow it to simmer. Taste. Might need more curry. If so, for however much curry you add, add half as much cumin and chili powder to cut it. Sprinkle in some pine nuts (not all of them - you want some for garnish).

The rice should be done after about ten minutes or so (the water will be gone). Kill the heat, and cover the top of the percolator entirely (to allow the rice to settle and absorb all the excess water).

Then serve - rice on the plate, some of the curry, and pour some of the sauce over it. sprinkle some of the extra pine nuts over the top.

Voila.

After that backwoods treat, we all went to bed happy. The 2-12 drinks around the fire pit probably helped, but I really can't remember....

The next morning we drove to Garberville to lay in for some supplies, and, being famished and a little hung over, decided to breakfast at the Woodrose Cafe. Here we were surprised by our second great meal of the week-end.

The Woodrose Cafe, established 1977, is a homey little family operation at the top of Main Street in Garberville. There I was served the tastiest green chili omelette I have ever gulped down.

Being an amateur omelette aficionado, I'm usually nonplussed by restaurant offerings, which suffer from lack of individual care more often than not. This omelette was an exception. The texture was perfect: there was just enough butter for the egg, the blackened green chilis were tender but not mushy, and the homemade salsa provided the perfect complement. The taste combination was zesty, flavorful and not too rich. Perfect.

It's possible to go gourmet in the backwoods - just ask the cook. And if you're ever in Garberville, stop by the Woodrose Cafe and try the green chili omelette, or spend the rest of your life having missed perfection. The choice is yours.