Food is also an integral part of the life in the Point Reyes Peninsula and West Marin: ranches, vineyards, vegetable and fruit farms, cheese makers, oyster beds, and even flower growers – they can all be found here on the edge of the world. KT's Kitchen has developed a Summer Seasonal West Marin Green Cuisine menu that reflects the “terroir” of West Marin...and which engages the senses in tastes that reflect local both nature and the changing seasons. This menu is now available at Seadrift rentals in Stinson Beach, private parties and select lodging establishments in Inverness and throughout Marin County.

First Courses

One first course possibility is Heirloom consommé that features vine ripened tomatoes from Wild Blue Farm of Tomales, tucked away in the northwestern corner of Marin County and located on the other side of the Tomales Bay. This refined consommé also includes local basil as well as croutons from the infamous Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes Station.

Another option is a leek salad that is derived from a recipe of Warren Webber, founder of Star Route Farm (www.starroutefarms.com) in Bolinas, the oldest certified organic farm in California. Along with fresh herbs, leeks, orange juice and Italian balsamic vinegar, I sneak in some organic olive oil from McEvoy Ranch (www.mcevoyranch.com), home of 18,000 organic olive trees scattered on 550 acres of oak speckled hills near Petaluma (and the largest wind turbine in Marin County.)

When it comes to oysters, the Lunny’s -- Kenny and his wife Nancy -- offer up the best on the entire West Coast, farming the pristine waters of nearby Drake’s Estero (www.drakesbayfamilyfarms.com). This dish stuffs fresh shelled oysters and organic spinach into a puff pastry shell that is also filled with cream sauce made with milk from Straus Dairy in nearby Marshall (www.strausfamilycreamery.com). Yum yum!

About every "brasserie” or "cafe" in Paris has a “La Frisee aux Lardons” salad on its menu, this one is also based on a recipe from Warren Weber of Star Route farm. It features his crispy slightly bittersweet tasting curly lettuce, to which I have added eggs from Blackberry Farms, where Aggie and Walter Murch’s rustic place borders the Bolinas Lagoon. Don’t forget the savory bacon bits from Clark Summit Farm (where the pigs are raised humanly by Liz and Dan Daniels) on the very same farm where Liz was raised and her father before her (www.clarksummitfarm.com). The dressing -- a vinaigrette -- features McEvoy olive oil and fresh garlic croutons.

And then there is my Clark Summit Chicken Liver Pate. I dare not share my family secrets, but I can guarantee this pate is the best in all of West Marin.

Second Courses

The second courses feature my classic French favorite: Beef Bourguignon. With this dish, I celebrate my grand mother's recipe: tender chunks of grass fed beef from Lunny’s Drakes Bay Family Farm, Star Route Farm carrots, (so delicious!), celery and local herbs, are all slowly cooked with local Pinot Noir, Marin County’s top wine varietal, and among the most sought after wines among local connoisseurs.

Aggie and Walter Murch also run Gospel Flat Farms, where one can find very fat and happy pastured pigs chomping away near small pastures of row crops. (By the way, Walter is an Academy-award winning film editor and sound mixer.) A small orchard of English and American heritage apple trees offer perfect fruit for me to create one of my all-time favorite French dishes: Pork Tenderloin “sauce Normande.” The flavor of the sweet/tart apples blends wonderfully with the pork bathing in a Cow Girl Creamery “crème fraiche” sauce (www.cowgirlcreamery.com).

Then there is lamb stew. Most tender and juicy lamb from Mark Pasternak's Devil's Gulch Ranch (www.devilsgulchranch.com) in Nicasio is braised and served with choice white beans and mustard greens harvested at La Tercerra , where from Annabelle's always welcomes you with a bright smile on her tiny four acre organic farm in Bolinas. (By the way, Mark Pasternak is one of the leading vintners in Marin County, too.)

A menu would not be complete without poultry, and luckily, tasty organic chickens can be found nearby at Clark Summit Farm in Tomales, where Liz and Dale raise large flocks of chickens near the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean near the mouth of Tomales Bay.

Third Courses

In France, there is often a third course: either cheese or a salad. Peter Martinelli runs Fresh Run Farm, located in magical Paradise Valley in Bolinas. It is here that one can appreciate an incredible idyllic view of his crops growing along side flowers and strawberries on a two bowl-shaped field ringed by wild blackberry bushes. His fruit and lettuce serve as the foundation of my third course offerings – along with local artisan cheese, one of my personal weaknesses.

Side Dishes

The Cow Track Trail recipe, which I stole (with permission) from Liz Daniels of Nicasio, (www.cowtrack.net) is made from kale, chili oil and sesame seeds. Simple and delicious! I toast the beans, broccoli or fennel bulbs and squash (that choice is up to you) with McEvoy’s organic olive oil and a hint of French truffle oil (from my stash of French treats from my home.)

The cream of spinach is far from ordinary. Magic happens when you mix leafy greens from Star Route Farms with thick organic cream from Straus Dairy and the ripe intensity of Red Hawk Cheese from Cow Girl Creamery. By the way, the Straus Dairy is a model of sustainability. Albert Straus drives his all-electric car and fuels virtually his entire operations with methane captured from cow manure – a green energy source.

Then there is my grandmother’s recipe for “Ratatouille Provencale.” This dish has nothing but the best tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, herbs and garlic all delightfully grown at All Star Organics (www.allstarorganic.com) in Woodacre, where one can find 18 types of heirloom tomatoes that have been grown in the San Geronimo Valley for over 15 years.

The Paradise Valley spinach or kale risotto also features organic rice from the Sacramento Valley.

Dessert

What is a good meal without dessert?

The unsurpassable quality of apples, blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries and strawberries from Bolinas (from Blackberry Farms and Susan Martinelli's Creek Side Garden) blends well with the baked rich golden crust, topped off with whipped cream, Chantilly style, from none other than Straus Dairy.

I also recommend my homemade Chocolate Mousse, which features local chocolate from Ghirardelli’s of San Francisco, the freshest eggs on the planet from the Tacherra Farm in Bolinas, and Straus Dairy milk.

Lavender Short Bread --a favorite of Liz Cunningham of Cow Track Trail – is served up with local strawberries and cream.

Last, but certainly not least, is a Meyers Lemon Mousse, is traditional dessert from whatever organic lemons I can find at Toby’s Feed Barn (www.tobysfeedbarn.com) with cream from – you guessed it – Straus Dairy.