8 Meals for 6 People
Everything I Made in Sea Ranch
Everything I Made in Sea Ranch
I quite literally just walked in the door from a 6-day road trip that took me from LA to the East Bay to Marin County to Sea Ranch to Cambria to SLO to Los Olivos, then back to LA. I’ll write about the full trip in the Travel section of the site soon because Sea Ranch might’ve just become my favorite place in America ?! Lots to say about that, but I’ll start with the menu here. I’ve been learning so much about best practices for packing, grocery shopping while traveling, and portion sizes for groups— last weekend we went to Big Bear with some other good friends, and I’ll share a separate post with that menu (soon) since we were working with a grill, had four people instead of six, and it consisted of entirely different recipes : ) My goal with this style of post is to give you some general ideas for your own road trip cooking and serving suggestions for groups. Okay! Now for the Sea Ranch menu.
DINNER — SUMMER TART WITH HERBY FARMER'S CHEESE, CAPERS, BUTTERY RED ONION & LEMON SLICES, LEEKS, AND TINY POTATOES
This puff pastry tart is so simple and is perfectly adaptable for all seasonal produce 🍋
dinner — Served with Little Gems with Garlicky Lemon and Pistachio
I make this salad multiple times a month, and my main recommendation is to go to Step 3 and add the lemon zest, chopped lemon, garlic, and olive oil to the pistachios, season with salt and pepper, and whisk in 1/4 cup of olive oil and the juice of a lemon. Add more oil if needed. I whisk that all together and toss it with the little gems the very moment I’m serving it, and prefer this to the drizzling method of the oil that’s mentioned because it never covers all of the leaves!
Breakfast — Soft Scrambled Eggs w/ Chives & Pecorino, Poppy Seed Toast + bacon
My favorite bacon that money can buy is called Tender Belly and you can find it at Whole Foods. This changes the game on so many levels; it’s a thick cut and gets perfectly caramelized; it’s smoky, peppery, and sweet all at once. And my friend Jenna just introduced me to the poppy seed loaf from Bub & Grandma’s… it’s truly incredible. If you’re in LA, they sell it at Cookbook 🧺
For this meal:
I got a nonstick pan going over med-low heat with 4-5 Tbsp. of butter and whisked together 12 eggs with a splash of whole milk.
Next, I heated the oven to 375ºF, lined two sheet pans with foil, doused the slices of bread in olive oil, turned to coat, then placed them on the first sheet tray. I added the bacon slices to the second sheet pan, then added both to the oven for 5 minutes.
Next, I added the whisked eggs to the nonstick pan and let them sit for a minute before slowly stirring around the pan with a spatula.
For the next five minutes or so, I slowly turn the eggs around the pan, lowering the heat if necessary to keep them super soft and fluffy. Once they reach the consistency pictured above, I fold in some pecorino, freshly ground black pepper, flaky salt, and chives.
Flip the bacon and toast on the sheet pans and remove from the oven once the toast appears golden and the bacon appears carmelized.
Add the eggs to the top of the toast, sprinkle with more flaky salt, chives and pecorino, and top with bacon if that feels like your calling :)
Lunch / Snack
Castelvetrano olives, pitted
Cherries, pitted
Blackberries
Burrata with nectarines, apricots, mint, olive oil, hot honey, flaky salt, and chopped pistachios
Cured meats, 3-4 thin packages
3-4 cheeses, roughly sliced
Creamy dijon mustard, for serving
Whole grain mustard, for serving
Crackers x2, I like Mary’s: herb and rosemary sea salt
Salted kettle chips
Sour cream and onion dip, I use the leftover onion oil in this recipe to warm the olives in a pot before serving
Dinner — seared ribeye with toasted sesame seed scallion butter
I went with two 1.5” thick ribeyes that were about 5”x6” each. This paired with the heaping bowl of cucumbers ~ below ~ was sufficient for the 6 of us.
Dinner — Cucumbers with Roasted Peanuts, Cilantro, and Gochujang
I added 2 tsp or so of gochujang into the whisked mixture from this recipe, and I’d say it’s a must. This is my all-time fav cucumber recipe, and I doubled it to serve 6!
Breakfast — Cornmeal-Blueberry Pancakes
I doubled this recipe as well, and it made two heaping stacks of pancakes. This is a perfect recipe— super easy, no notes! I would, however, recommend that you get 3-4 cast iron pans going on the stove if you’ve got them. I’ve made this recipe on numerous trips and it takes an eternity to cook them all if you’re going one at a time, which you should, so you don’t crowd the pan and can get them nice and golden.
Lunch/Snack
More of the same from the previous day 🍒
Dinner — Little Gems With Crispy Pancetta and Green Caesar Dressing
I love this salad so much and make it for every dinner party/event/gathering that I possibly can. I used the salad dressing recipe as written and two clamshells of little gems and it covered all of the leaves very sufficiently
Dinner — Bacon & Castelvetrano Tagliatelle
I didn’t get a proper photo of this at the Airbnb, but can promise you that this is what it looked like. I doubled my recipe and it was perfect 🤌🏼
Dessert — Strawberry Spoon Cake
We ended the trip with a strawberry spoon cake served with vanilla bean ice cream. So simple and would have been wonderful with fresh whipped cream, too. 🍰
Final Breakfast — Optional
My main takeaway from the last two road trips I’ve taken this month is that on the final morning, even the most well-intentioned breakfast plan doesn’t end up working out. With everyone packing up and attempting to leave before a 10 am checkout or trying to get on the road early, a simple breakfast goes a long way! Thinking I’ll aim for toast with jam, butter, and flaky salt from here on out 🫡 If you’re feeling more ambitious or have some time on your hands, here’s a solid breakfast dish to get everyone feeling refreshed before a day of driving.
More soon! xx