October Newsletter

“fresh is best!”

October  2011 Issue #27

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am starting early with the newsletter this month due to the fact that we have a wedding to attend on the first and want to be sure to get my latest adventures out. In Septembers issue I talked about all the fun stuff I was “cooking “up from grapes.  This is from a conversation that I had with friends about how in days past our ancestors used everything, nothing went to waste.  And I have for some time (years) tried to use everything.  I learned from my dad how to butcher meat and to this day take advantage of chickens on sale and cut them up into the pieces I need and save the bits for chicken soups and stocks.  I have passed this talent on to my now 20 year old daughter.  And I feel in this economy AND environmentally, we need to get back to just that, nothing goes to waste.

Zinfandel grapes for Verjuice

Ok, I’ll get off my high horse now and move along.  Recently there has been an addition to the Contra Costa Winegreower’s Association, Wedl Vineyards, welcome.  They are just around the corner from us, literally;  part of the grape growing process requires the “dropping” of fruit.  This is fruit that is too young or too far mature, basically, fruit that will not be at the right stage when the brix are high enough for picking.  That is not to say that this fruit is not good, it is for table consumption.  This is the fruit that I use for the zinfandel pies and the vin cotta (next on the list to be made).  The gre

The finished product.
After a day in the frig the color is
a bright pink!

en grapes are turned into “Verjuice”.  Verjuice or Verjus comes from the French and means literally green juice.   It is made from the un-ripened grapes by removing the stems and dropping the rest in a blender, pulsing and then filtering the juice.  Why would one do this, because the enhancement from the juice is amazing! 

Error, I managed to do last month’s newsletter with a major migraine, one the likes I cannot remember having in a very long time.  During this wonderful time frame, I missed a few instructions on the Zinfandel pie.

3.  Bring meat or pulp to a boil over medium low heat and cook for 10 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400⁰F.

4.  Put meal thru food mill to remove the seeds, discarding any seeds.  Add in the skins and flour/sugar mixture and blend well.

5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the crust is brown.

I can always feel the changes in the seasons, and when it comes to fall, it makes me very happy.  Fall to me brings out pots of goodies, braised beef shanks or short ribs, big pots of soups and stews, wonderful things you put into the oven or on the stove top for long periods of time.

This Month’s Tip …don’t carve your pumpkin this year, wrap it in themed paper with simple glue.  These are both pretty and elegant and can be used well into November for Thanksgiving decorations.

DID YOU KNOW…There are seven key principles for the optimal health; eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables; reduce your exposure to pesticides; eat to regulate your blood sugar levels; do not over consume meat and other animal products; eat the right types of fats; keep your salt intake low; and your potassium intake high; and finally, drink sufficient amounts of water each day.

Monthly Recipe(s)

Braised Beef Shanks

 

2 beef shanks

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 or 3 bay leaves

2 carrots

2 ribs celery

1 large onion

4 Tbsp For the Red seasoning

1 ½ cups zinfandel wine

In a food processor add the carrots, celery, and onions, process until a fine dice.  In a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, add the olive oil, season the shanks on both sides with the For the Red, then add the shanks to the pan cook on both sides 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove the shanks and set aside.  Add the vegetables, bay leaves, and wine into the pot and cook for 7 minutes or until soft.  Return the shanks to the pot and cook for 4 to 5 hours on simmer.  Serve with wild rice and green beans.  Perfect with a nice, fruity, zinfandel, maybe even the one used in the recipe.

Spice of the Month – For the Red

We developed this seasoning for use with red meats hence For the Red meat.  During the months when recipes call for rosemary, thyme, sage and the like, we cannot always get them fresh out of our gardens.  It is about this time of the year when I cut back to the base for the new growth to come in.

Sausage Making at Home.

I have a difficult time eating food when they are grease or oily to taste.  So it was easy for me to take the plunge into making my own sausage.   Knowing what I do and don’t like has guided me to an easy starting point for creating or cooking up a storm! 

I have an old fashion meat grinder that I have just in case, but the best tool is my Kitchaid mixer and all the wonderful attachments it has.  The attachments for this chore are the meat grinder and the sausage stuffer, both items are readily available and at Amazon.com, usually at a discount.

Now there has been a bit of information gathering before I took the plunge and the aid of another set of hands to make the job go more smoothly.  In addition I purchased 2 books on making sausage and in the future will make a cold smoker to create the illusive summer sausage I grew up with.  But for now fresh sausage is the target.

A couple of things that helped organize the process; get a good recipe book for a base line, make sure you have all the tools, figure out how much the recipe will make/you want and put a good shopping list together.

I thought that this would be a disastrous undertaking and an extreme mess.  But here is the process for the day.   At noon we headed off to the market to acquire fresh meat to work with.  We got a picnic shoulder and 90% pre ground beef for our first round (now that we have a good time reference and what we need to create low fat sausage we will get a good cut of beef and grind it ourselves to know exactly what we want).  Once home we removed the skin, fat and silver skin from the pork.  Cut the pork into pieces small enough to fit into the feeder tube of the attachments.  Before we went too much further we got the spices and garlic ready for use, put all the equipment together and or ready to use, and put the casings in water.  This made it quick for us to move thru the rest of the process.  We used 32mm casings which are nice but just a tad bit big for regular sausage; the 21mm would have been a better choice.  We then moved on to cutting and weighing as we had decided to make two different sausages one a Greek orange and the other a traditional Cuban sausage.  The Greek was a beef and pork combination and as the name states it had a whole large orange in it.  We blended all the spices together with the wine and combined with both of the meats.  Once well mixed by hand we took a large spoonful and tossed it into a suite pan to test our concoction.  Voila!  It is an awesome sausage, at this point we have already decided to add more orange the next time and make it for our Thanksgiving dinner party. (We couldn’t find a large orange so we used two medium sized, needed one more)  So on to the next step – STUFFING.  Since neither of us had any experience at any of this we used books as a reference.  We soaked the casings in water before using; this is a very good thing just not too long as the casings get delicate the longer they are in the water.  We attempted our hands at long sausage, 6” sausages – long ones twisted every 6”, and one we could coil up.

Next we did a Traditional Cuban sausage with annatto seed and Mexican oregano; this is a 100% pork sausage ground to a large size grind.  As we did with the last, we blended everything together and then took a really big spoonful and tossed it into a pan for testing.  Once again – SUCCESS, the recipe gave us the option of using paprika or annatto and we choose the annatto as the spice was a Latin spice and we wanted to stay true to ethnicity.  Here we decided for next time is to do half and half the annatto and paprika.  This time when stuffing we made 4” links and a couple of long ones, this is when we found out  that we had left the casings in the water too long and as a result we had to make a few patties out of is.

At this point it is about 4 pm and we have opened a bottle of sparkling wine in honor of our success.  Our next venture will be before the holidays and Italian sausage will be on the list to accomplish.  Know it takes the two of us, have all the mis en plas done, and two bowls, one for ice water and the other to put the meat into as we do the grinding.   We are excited and looking forward to another day of sausage making and the enjoyment of the sausage for dinner that night. 

Verjuice

Recently there has been an addition to the Contra Costa Winegreower’s Association, Wedl Vineyards.  They are just around the corner from us and they currently bottle an EXCELLENT Zinfandel wine.   Fortunate for us we have been able to participate in the winemaking process at the ground level.

Part of the grape growing process requires the “dropping” of fruit.  This is fruit that is too young or too far mature, basically fruit that will not be at the right stage when the brix are high enough for picking.  This is also done to concentrate the flavors in the remaining bunches to boost the flavors for the end product.  That is not to say that this fruit is not good, it is and useable for table consumption.  This is the fruit that I use for the zinfandel pies and the vin cotta (next on the list to be made this year).  The green grapes can be turned into “Verjuice”.  Verjuice or Verjus comes from the French and translated means literally green juice.   It is made from the un-ripened grapes by removing the stems and dropping the rest in a blender, pulsing and then filtering the juice.  Why would one do this, because the enhancement from the juice is amazing! 

 

Verjuice is generally used as a substitute for lemon juice or vinegar, but it is really much much more than that.  Verjuice is a natural flavor enhancer, adding amazing flavor and richness. The grapes used here are generally high in acid and low in sugars.   It is zesty, delicate, and elegant used only as creative as the chef’s imagination.  Verjuice has the same acid base as wine, imagine that, since it comes from the same grapes, and in dishes with wine, it will not distort the essence of the wine as lemon juice or vinegar will.  It then becomes the perfect condiment to use when you are cooking with a good quality wine in a dish, which you should do anytime you cook with wine.

After blending

Verjuice is extremely versatile and can be used in any dish sweet or savory, meat, veggie, or fruit.  You can use it in dressings and vinaigrettes instead of vinegar, sauces, gravies, and reductions adding complexity were ever you use it.

Verjuice is available online if you are not as fortunate as I am to have a vineyard around the corner, and it will keep refrigerated up to 3 months once opened.

Verjuice has been around for ages some stating 4000BC.  But in 1980 it made a dynamic comeback.  This unique ingredient has been the target of revival by Australian restaurateurs and wine farmers and is currently produced in Australia, as the largest producer, followed by South Africa.  This unique product is ever still the elusive one being found only in high-end supermarkets and specialty food stores in South Africa. 

Historians set out on a quest on 1999 to reinstate the tradition of the making of the juice and are doing so in small quantities commercially.  A visit to Burgundy in ’01 revealed that there was no presence of the product in either food stores or vinoteques or despite the copious amounts used in Dijon in the making of the mustard of the same name.

Although verjuice can be made from almost any green fruit, current day processing equipment makes grapes the obvious choice.  And in my book the flavor spike that it provides is wonderful and truly does compliment the good wines used in the makings of a great dish.  So cleans your palette and prepare your mouth for the deliciousness that Verjuice adds to you food and meal!  Live, Love, and Eat!

“fresh is best!”

September  2011 Issue #26

I hope everyone is having a great summer; we have only until the 20^th of this month before we ring in fall and the harvest.  This season has been very weird, cold, rainy, and slow.  I’m not complaining…the nights have been great and the days, although some warm have been reasonable.

I want everyone to understand that we are not going out of business.  We are re-grouping in hopes of finding the right fit.  Please feel free to call or go online to get your orders to me; we will gladly bring them to the Saturday Farmer’s Market.  We are having difficulty getting glass once again; currently there is none of our type of bottles in the United States.

I

never thought that I would be packing up the shop, far from it, but it is what it is and we just have to make the best.  IF you have been following my blog or Facebook, you will know that I have been taking advantage of the fruits of the season.  As of this writing I am working on a zinfandel grape pie recipe, verjuice (green grape juice that is somewhere between citrus and vinegar), and vin cotta (cooked wine but with 2 distinct variations).  The grape pie has a base from concord grape pie the verjuice is not readily found and the vin cotta – not at all.  I will post the results on our Facebook page.

Upcoming Events…Join us for Oktoberfest, October 15^th, at Shadowlike.  A beer paring dinner Featuring Sierra Nevada beer.  This will be a 4 course sit down meal  for more information  contact Shadowlakes at  516-2837 extension 216 for reservations  seating is limited to call soon to reserve you space.

Top Hometown Salmon,
Bottom  Super Quesadilla

Press Release…We are proud to announce 6 Quick Meal packets.  For $1.50, each packet contains the recipe with a shopping list, and seasonings to make a great meal in short order. (MOSTLY 30 MINUTES) The current packets are:  Ginger Salmon, Grilled Steak Caribbean Steak, Tikka Masala Chicken, Super Quesadilla, Cacciatore, and Lime Steak Fajitas. We are working on several more to add to this list so keep your eyes peeled for the next release coming soon.   We also have our Hometown Lemon Salmon and Mushroom risotto available.  These include Bags and rice to complete the meal.  Compared to the big name brands, ours are bursting with flavor!

This Month’s Tip ….since we are in some of the harvests, you don’t have to have all the tools for canning.  FREEZE IT.  Canning requires large pieces of equipment and is only worth it if you can do large batches.  If there are only two to four of you , put it in a freezer bag, or food storage system.  Most everything will keep 6months or more in the freezer and if doubled up will not get freezer burn.

DID YOU KNOW…  There are 3 types of couscous.  Couscous is traditionally a steamed semolina grains.  There is Moroccan, Israeli, and Lebanese, and they range in size from small grains to the size of peas respectively.  They are an 8 to 12 minute cook and are fun to use instead of rice or other pastas.

 Monthly Recipe(s)

 Zinfandel Pie

1or 2 pie crusts (you choose fresh is best but there is lots to do in this recipe).

You can also use a grahm cracker crust.

5 cups zin grapes washed and drained

½ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

¾ teaspoon lemon or lime juice

Pinch of salt

1. Make crust if not using store bought.

2. Separate skins from meat saving both.

3. In a large pan over medium low heat bring meat to boil.  In a separate bowl combine salt, sugar, and flour.

4. Just before serving add whipping cream.

Spice of the Month – Couscous blend

We brought this in to help you with an Eastern style of cooking.  The mix is used to flavor the couscous discussed above.  And if you don’t care for that style of cooking or flavor, cook it without additional seasoning, and have fun.