Roasted Winter Veggie Salad

As you can imagine, we belong to a food group!  We challenge ourselves to new recipes and foods (not too many foods we have not tried but...)  But as part of our December celebration we were asked to bring a winter vegetable salad.  Yippie!!!  I have root veggies in the garden still so all I had to do was find some beets.  After a bit of research, I came up with the following salad.  Sorry, no color this time we were a bit shy on taking pictures this meal, but boy did this get the reviews.  


Roasted Winter Veggie Salad
1 butternut squash
4 beets
4 to 6 carrots
Extra virgin olive oil
Aged balsamic
1 teaspoon Hometown Blend
Feta or Gorgonzola
For the Fancy plating (optional):
1/4 cup Mascaropone 
1 ½ teaspoons Horseradish


Preheat the oven to 350, scrub the beets and carrots leaving them whole. Peel the squash and cut into 3/4 inch pieces.  Line 2 or 3 pans with aluminum foil.  Separately toss the beets, Roasted Winter Veggie Salad
1 butternut squash
4 beets
4 to 6 carrots
Extra virgin olive oil
Aged balsamic
Hometown Blend
Feta or Gorgonzola
For the Fancy plating (optional):
1/4 cup Mascaropone 
1 ½ teaspoons Horseradish


Preheat the oven to 350, scrub the beets and carrots leaving them whole. Peel the squash and cut into 3/4 inch pieces.  Line 2 or 3 pans with aluminum foil.  Separately toss the beets, carrots and butternut squash in 2 tablespoons each of the olive oil.  The beets take the longest at the 60 minute mark, the carrots and squash 30, all until fork tender.  


Remove and let them cool.  Peal the skin off the beets and cut into 8 or 10 wedges for a pretty plate or into ½ in pieces for a large bowl presentation.  Cut the carrots into bit sizes.  For the plating, mix the Mascaropone and horseradish and place a tablespoon full on the plate and drag thru, lay 6 pieces of beet in a clockwise fashion then top with the squash and carrot pieces.  Top with a generous amount of Feta or Gorgonzola and drizzle with an aged balsamic.  For a large bowl skip the horseradish and Mascaropone and layer beets, squash and then carrots.  Top with the Feta cheese and drizzle with the aged balsamic to taste.  carrots and butternut squash in 2 tablespoons each of the olive oil.  The beets take the longest at the 60 minute mark, the carrots and squash 30, all until fork tender.  


Remove and let them cool.  Peal the skin off the beets and cut into 8 or 10 wedges for a pretty plate or into ½ in pieces for a large bowl presentation.  Cut the carrots into bit sizes.  For the plating, mix the Mascaropone and horseradish and place a tablespoon full on the plate and drag thru, lay 6 pieces of beet in a clockwise fashion then top with the squash and carrot pieces.  Top with a generous amount of Feta or Gorgonzola and drizzle with an aged balsamic.  For a large bowl skip the horseradish and Mascaropone and layer beets, squash and then carrots.  Top with the Feta cheese and drizzle with the aged balsamic to taste.  

Now that we have had our fill of Thanksgiving food we can proudly look forward to the wonders of Christmas (food) but as we all know, we have leftovers to deal with between now and then.  SO I started to look for recipes that help utilize some of those – wonderful – leftovers.  Included in this issue is a recipe for turkey ravioli, I also searched the web for the top 10 leftover recipes this is what I found (I wasn’t too excited):  Turkey Fingers with cranberry, Turkey cranberry puffed pastry bites, Turkey fried rice, Turkey Mornay, Turkey Pesto casserole, the usual Turkey cranberry sandwiches, - we make Paninis – Turkey and stuffing sandwiches, and tetrazzini.  All sound like great ideas, I’m still working on testing some of them but have a few other ideas of my own.  We figure that we could take our Tikka Massala and use the turkey instead for the chicken, the ravioli I mentioned is an absolute wonderful recipe and I am looking forward to having a few minutes to make them this year.

After a truly last minute decision to open the shop we have finally done it!  We are located at 629 First Street, in downtown Brentwood.  There is still some unpacking going on, but some of that is we are still looking for the Holiday items and arranging things in a reasonable fashion.  Hope to see your smiling faces sometime thru the season.

Are you doing the cooking at Christmas this year?  We have a marinade for that beautiful beef roast, come check it out!

As most of you know the picking season for olives is November thru December.  Due to the torrential down pours we had all over the state in early June most of the pollen and blossoms of the trees were washed away.  As a result  is there expected to be a shortage of olives and oil moving forward thru to our next picking season.  We can only hope for rain around the bloom for next year and not during.

This Month’s Tip…Try to accumulate (or keep) a range of pans.  It is best to keep good matches for the type of cooking you do.  For boiling and steaming – keep a tall pot, for concentrating liquid you need a broad pot, straight sided skillets are best for braising (this can be the same pan you use for concentrating liquids if there are few in your house) and sloped sided pans for sautéing, and a wok for stir frying.

DID YOU KNOW…that Warring introduced the blender in 1936.

Monthly Recipe(s)

Cranberry Turkey Ravioli (with gravy)

½ pound Turkey leftovers dark and light meat

4 Tablespoons of cranberries

4 Tablespoons Romano Cheese, grated

2 Tablespoons breadcrumbs with 1 teaspoon Hometown or Tuscan blends

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley leaves

1 egg

½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground pepper (or 1 teaspoon Hometown)

1 package store bought wonton wrappers

GRAVY:  We double the following – we REALLY like the extra gravy.

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 shallots diced

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup low sodium/organic chicken broth

4 Tablespoons heavy cream

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

½ teaspoon flake sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (or 1 teaspoon Hometown) to taste

For Ravioli:  Stir together the turkey, cranberry, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley and salt and pepper.  Working in batches of 10, place the wontons on a work surface, fill each with 1 teaspoon of mixture.  Brush lightly with water around the edge then fold over diagonally to seal.  Press out any air bubbles and press edge to seal.  MAKE ONLY WHAT YOU WILL EAT at one sitting as the wontons stick together.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for ravioli.

For Gravy:  In a heavy skillet melt the butter over a medium heat, add the shallots a d cook until tender.  Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.  Gradually add the chicken stock constantly stirring to prevent clumping, add the cream, parsley, and salt and pepper (or Hometown) to taste and cook over low heat until warmed thru – DO NOT BOIL.

Drop the ravioli into the boiling water carefully and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until warmed thru and a bit al dente.  Remove the ravioli with a spider if you have one and add into the gravy, stir to coat.  Serve immediately and pour any remaining gravy over the dish. And Enjoy!!Now that we have had our fill of Thanksgiving food we can proudly look forward to the wonders of Christmas (food) but as we all know, we have leftovers to deal with between now and then.  SO I started to look for recipes that help utilize some of those – wonderful – leftovers.  Included in this issue is a recipe for turkey ravioli, I also searched the web for the top 10 leftover recipes this is what I found (I wasn’t too excited):  Turkey Fingers with cranberry, Turkey cranberry puffed pastry bites, Turkey fried rice, Turkey Mornay, Turkey Pesto casserole, the usual Turkey cranberry sandwiches, - we make Paninis – Turkey and stuffing sandwiches, and tetrazzini.  All sound like great ideas, I’m still working on testing some of them but have a few other ideas of my own.  We figure that we could take our Tikka Massala and use the turkey instead for the chicken, the ravioli I mentioned is an absolute wonderful recipe and I am looking forward to having a few minutes to make them this year.

After a truly last minute decision to open the shop we have finally done it!  We are located at 629 First Street, in downtown Brentwood.  There is still some unpacking going on, but some of that is we are still looking for the Holiday items and arranging things in a reasonable fashion.  Hope to see your smiling faces sometime thru the season.

Are you doing the cooking at Christmas this year?  We have a marinade for that beautiful beef roast, come check it out!

As most of you know the picking season for olives is November thru December.  Due to the torrential down pours we had all over the state in early June most of the pollen and blossoms of the trees were washed away.  As a result  is there expected to be a shortage of olives and oil moving forward thru to our next picking season.  We can only hope for rain around the bloom for next year and not during.

This Month’s Tip…Try to accumulate (or keep) a range of pans.  It is best to keep good matches for the type of cooking you do.  For boiling and steaming – keep a tall pot, for concentrating liquid you need a broad pot, straight sided skillets are best for braising (this can be the same pan you use for concentrating liquids if there are few in your house) and sloped sided pans for sautéing, and a wok for stir frying.

DID YOU KNOW…that Warring introduced the blender in 1936.

Monthly Recipe(s)

Cranberry Turkey Ravioli (with gravy)

½ pound Turkey leftovers dark and light meat

4 Tablespoons of cranberry relish

4 Tablespoons Romano Cheese, grated

2 Tablespoons breadcrumbs with 1 teaspoon Hometown or Tuscan blends

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley leaves

1 egg

½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground pepper (or 1 teaspoon Hometown)

1 package store bought wonton wrappers

GRAVY:  We double the following – we REALLY like the extra gravy.

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 shallots diced

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup low sodium/organic chicken broth

4 Tablespoons heavy cream

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

½ teaspoon flake sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (or 1 teaspoon Hometown) to taste

For Ravioli:  Stir together the turkey, cranberry, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley and salt and pepper.  Working in batches of 10, place the wontons on a work surface, fill each with 1 teaspoon of mixture.  Brush lightly with water around the edge then fold over diagonally to seal.  Press out any air bubbles and press edge to seal.  MAKE ONLY WHAT YOU WILL EAT at one sitting as the wontons stick together.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for ravioli.

For Gravy:  In a heavy skillet melt the butter over a medium heat, add the shallots a d cook until tender.  Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.  Gradually add the chicken stock constantly stirring to prevent clumping, add the cream, parsley, and salt and pepper (or Hometown) to taste and cook over low heat until warmed thru – DO NOT BOIL.

Drop the ravioli into the boiling water carefully and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until warmed thru and a bit al dente.  Remove the ravioli with a spider if you have one and add into the gravy, stir to coat.  Serve immediately and pour any remaining gravy over the dish. And Enjoy!!

November Newsletter

Cooking without borders!

“fresh is best!”

November  2011 Issue #28

F

all is most definitely here.  The winds are picking up, the the evening temps are REALLY cool, and as usual we have been more inclined to turn on the oven, braise some more meat, and create a few soups and stew, and we are only beginning!!!  This year I am challenging myself to find a few cream based soups that are not too fattening and not to where they taste like cooked flour.  I love, love, love lobster bisque, but I have shared that recipe previously, and I’m feeling like making a New England clam chowder or seafood chowder.  As you can imagine I get tons of email s regarding recipes, try this and try that or have you ….  And I look, but not always do I find, so that is when I have to create my own version OR this is good, but I like this would make it better.

Thanksgiving is the celebration of the harvest, giving thanks for the harvest and to giving thanks in general.  The word “celebrate” means Observance of a holidayor Participation in a dinner party.  Some Religious beliefs don’t observe holidays, but we all celebrate our friends and family, enjoying dinners and our company’s presence in our own ways.  At this time of the year, we are reminded of these relationships and appreciate them by setting time aside to spend with these special people.  So during this time of thankfulness, remember those you love, past and present, and enjoy!

I often get the questions of what drives you to cook, when did you first start cooking, etcetera.  Well, and I’m sure I have made this statement before, I don’t know where I learned to cook or when.  My love for GOOD flavor has driven me to perfect recipes to our tastes (and everyone’s tastes are different so I don’t expect to please everyone) and I always cook with love or from my heart and am always willing to share.

I recently read an article in Sunset Magazine, one of the few I actually get to read, that reminded me of some things I forgot that drove me to perfecting recipes.  In my youth, I spent my summers traveling around the nation officiating events.  I spent a minimum of 14 weeks a summer on the road lending to many meals out. And learning different tastes and developing my culinary prowess.  As most of you know I am A Wisconsin girl that has found her way to the wonderful west coast and with good reason.  There are areas of this nation that are known for one thing or another, but this great state of ours is a true melting pot and the city of San Francisco has become known as a “food town”.  “Never in the history of the world have so many people elevated cooking to an extra-curricular passion” says Anna Nordberg, and I couldn’t agree more!  We have a myriad of fresh markets to choose from, some which are even year round, a season of growing twice that of any other area.  Our group of friends consists of gardeners, makers of handcrafted aperitifs and cordials, bakers, and home chefs creating dishes far beyond that of restaurateurs in other parts of the nation (from my personal experience).

And not ony do we have the love of food but we have the discovery of amazing vegetables in all colors of the rainbow, organic or not, commercially and best of all homegrown!  We have become a nation that has been forced to “watch our money” to the point, in some cases, the way our grandparents had to during the great depression, I know, a very debatable subject .  We have grown our gardens to help put monies into other parts of our lives and perfected more of the recipes to enjoy foods out of our own kitchens.  We have gone back in times to bartering for goods and trading our goods with others.  What has this created?  In my eyes we are becoming better cooks and bakers and we are enjoying foods that even 5 years ago we didn’t know existed.

All this to bring your attention to the fact that you too are improving your cooking skills!  Unbenounced to you, you are becoming a wonderful cook, becoming more comfortable and cooking with love!  Live, Love and Eat!

This Month’s Tip …carve out the center of white mini-pumpkins and place orange tea lights in the center for simple table decorations and remember to use odd numbers to enhance your tablescape.

DID YOU KNOW…-there is a greater number of reports showing that the inclusion of different spices and herbs in our daily diets decrease cancers and diseases.  So what is bothering you? Arthritis, a nasty cold…check for healing remedies online and keep an eye on our monthly finds.  This month we are featuring cloves.  Clove contains a significant amount of “eugenol” which has been reported to show benefits for the prevention of toxicity from the environment, prevention of digestive tract cancers and treatment of joint inflammation.  It is also used in dentistry associated with root canals and other gum pains.

 Monthly Recipe(s)

Spaghetti and Meatballs

The Sauce, I fill a 5 quart pot half or better with tomatoes and start the cooking process.  As it is cooking I add 1 medium onion and a few cloves of garlic diced.  We like garlic so I add a few and taste and add a few more and taste until I get where I want it to be.  But this is just a base, I do add more when I need it in the recipes so although we like the garlic, I don’t overdo it here either.  I put in a few bay leaves and all my spices, Hometown and if I am planning this on the Italian side, squished garlic or our Tuscany blend.

The pasta is something I will leave up to you, but there is nothing like fresh pasta.  2 ¼ cup flour, 3 eggs, and 1 yolk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon each oil and water for a dry lasagna pasta and 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 each oil and water and 4 eggs for spaghetti or any other  - not too different.  Make a well and mix by hand, 1 egg at a time, or in the food processor.  Roll out very thin and use a pizza cutter and a straight edge to make all widths of pasta.  Bring to boil a large pot of water and cook 3 to 5 minutes until just short of al dente, drain and add to the sauce to finish cooking, why add to the sauce, to gather some of the goodness there.

The meatballs are usually a combination of low fat beef and turkey, chicken or sometimes pork.  I mix in a medium onion, Hometown, bread crumbs and an egg.  Unless I have a few hours and sauce on the stove I usually bake my meatballs, 30 minutes at 350⁰ F, and I make them about an inch in diameter.  After the 30 minutes they are slightly browned and moist, ready to eat.  If I make them larger, about 2” in diameter, I cook them in the simmering sauce for a few hours and add a little more bread crumb to hold them together.  These I sever 1 per person perched atop the pasta and lots of cheese grated over.  Our pasta meals always include garlic bread.  We make it from any bread we have in the house, usually a sour dough bun, butter and Squished Garlic seasoning.  I keep parmesan and Parmesano Reggiano in the freezer.

Spice of the Month – Squished Garlic

This seasoning came about because one of our wonderful clients brought us a bottle with just a few pieces in the bottom and asked if we could recreate it as they could no longer find it.  The bottle contents were older and a bit stale and we have found that most store bought items are old by the time they hit the shelf so we had to try to adjust for that but what we have come up with is really a nice Italian style spice you can use in everything from a bread dipper to meatballs and garlic bread.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

The pasta is something I will leave up to you but there is nothing like fresh pasta.  2 ¼ cup flour, 3 eggs, and 1 yolk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon each oil and water for a dry lasagna pasta and 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 each oil and water and 4 eggs for spaghetti or any other  - not too different.  Make a well and mix by hand or in the food processor.

The meatballs are usually a combination of beef and turkey, chicken or sometimes pork.  I mix in a medium onion, Hometown, bread crumbs and an egg.  Unless I have a few hours and sauce on the stove I usually bake my meatballs, 30 minutes at 350⁰ F, and I make them about an inch in diameter.  After the 30 minutes they are slightly browned and moist, ready to eat.  If I make them larger, about 2” in diameter, I cook them in the simmering sauce for a few hours and add a little more bread crumb to hold them together.  These I sever 1 per person perched atop the pasta and lots of cheese grated over.  And you can always fry up the meat and add it to the sauce.  Our pasta meals always include garlic bread.  We make it from any bread we have in the house, usually a sour dough bun, butter and Squished Garlic seasoning.

Using up the garden

The one thing I REALLY miss from Wisconsin is having a basement!  Once things were harvested they could easily be stored there.  Here I have to try to use my harvest quickly in order not to lose them.  I have been able to braid the shallots, onions, and garlic and hang them in the back garage that has shade from morning to night, so I will get some additional time to use them.

This process has me thinking about exactly how not to lose to many of my fruits of the harvest.  I know that the weather has been a bit warm so the thought of soups, stews and braised meals doesn't go over very well but once the smells are in the air - oh la la.

I have taken the time in the past week or so to make braised beef shanks, spaghetti and meatballs, tortilla soup, and paella using ONLY the fruits and veggies from the garden.  All of these are EASY but a couple of them take a little bit of time.

So what have I been working with?  Onions, garlic, tomatoes, shallots, carrots, leeks, Fresno, and jalapeno chilies.  The purchased items were chicken and beef stock, the meats (with the exception of the sausage, but I'll get to that in a minute) and some spices and custom blends and of course those were all from our store.

So I'll dissect them one by one and provide the recipes as well.  I make a sauce first and then over a few days use it in several dishes but when I make this I find that we have a few more mouths to feed because it is so good.  When you make the sauce before all of these you can use the sauce in with the shanks, spaghetti, the tortilla soup and the paella! 

I fill a 5 quart pot half or better with tomatoes and start the cooking process.  As it is cooking I add 1 medium onion and a few cloves of garlic diced.  We like garlic so I add a few and taste and add a few more and taste until I get where I want it to be.  But this is just a base, I add more when I need it in the recipes so although we like the garlic, I don’t over do it here either.

So first was the braised beef shanks, this one was very easy, but takes a few hours on the stove top OR once put together you can let it go in the oven at 350⁰F for the same length of time.   

2 beef shanks

1 medium onion

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped leeks

1 cup tomatoes seeded

1 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons "For the Red" seasoning

1 cup good red wine

in food processor chop all the veggies.  Season the meat with half the seasoning.  In a pan large enough for the meat to sit in nicely, over medium high heat add 2 tablespoons oil and all the veggies and sauté to 2 to 3 minutes, set aside.  Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil and add in the meat, seasoned side down, cook for 2 minutes until nicely brown season the uncooked side and then flip and cook for 2 minutes more.  Once that time is up, add in the veggies and the wine (carefully), cover and cook over low or simmer for 2 or 3 more hours until the meat falls apart.

Over the next few days I will post the other recipes, just to keep the suspense up.  Happy eating

October Newsletter

“fresh is best!”

October  2011 Issue #27

I

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.