Category — Recipes

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Using the leftover from last night we went big with huevos rancheros and a cold beer! I stuffed the blossom with goat cheese.

Deep fried squash blossoms with herbed Laura Chanel goat cheese. (I used extra virgin olive oil to fry)

Maggies Farm Micro Arugula with Roasted Beets

Baugette

For dinner tonight:

Roasted Three Beet Salad with Adantte Goat Cheese

Pan Seared Wild Cod with Mustard Breadcrumbs, Warm Fingerling Herb Potatos and Micro Salad

Bills Bees Honeycomb and Rouge River Blue Cheese with Fresh Fig

note: all salads and herbs are from our garden

The weekend fresh food continued on Saturday with two ingredients chanterellemushrooms and basil. Finally, chanterelles are are showing up. at $44 a pound I only bought a few. Our garden is also cranking out basil now. So that I could use both of these ingredients, I made a pan of risotto bianco that will serve as a base for two different toppings. The first topping was a chanterelles, corn and brown butter compote and Basil Pesto. While the chanterelless topping was ok, the Pesto topping said summertime all the way.

I’m sure there are a million basil pesto recipes out there so I wont bother to post that but what I do want to point our is what I think is the key to great pesto. Freshness! I did two thing one I picked the basil just before dinner and made sure the leaves were not to large or the plants were not flowering. Once the leaves get too big they get bitter. The other thing I did was , wait just until serving before blending the pesto. the difference is night and day. This keeps the basil from oxidizing and maintains great sweetness. Risotto Bianco and Ultra-Fresh Pesto…..Try it

Had several friends over for dinner Friday Night prior to seeing Up the new Pixar movie. I would have prefered Transformers or Terminator but that another story. The menu:

-Stone Fruit Salad with Arugula,  Burrata and Prosciutto
-Haricot Verts with Mustard Breadcrumbs and Grilled Pork Tenderloin

I based it on the Stone Fruit Salad on the Summer Fruit Salad from Goin’s Sunday Suppers. A dish that is all about the ingrediants. Ripe peaches, nectaines, figs and blackberries. The dressing is a nectarine sherry vinegar emulsion. The wild arugula was from Kenter Farms and stone fruit from Rancho Padre. Where I deviated was the addition of Burrata and Prosciutto.

Summer Fruit Salad with Burrata
Ingredients for the Salad
1 cup Marcona Almonds (5 1/2 ounces)
Sea salt
4 large nectarines or peaches (2 pounds), 3 sliced 1/4 inch thick and 1 coarsely chopped
4-5 Figs Quartered
1 pint blackberries or Persian mulberries

Ingredients for the Dressing
1 small shallot, minced
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
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4 bunches of arugula (1 1/4 pounds), large stems discarded
1 Burrata Cheese
1/2 pound Prosciutto
Very good Balsamic Vinegar
Sea Salt

 

Directions:
 In a mini processor or mortar/pestle, puree the chopped nectarine. Transfer the puree to a small bowl and add the shallot, vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk in the olive oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon of almond oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Put the sliced nectarines, figs and the blackberries in a medium bowl. Drizzle on one-third of the vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. In a large shallow bowl, season the arugula with salt and pepper and toss gently with the remaining vinaigrette. Gently toss in the dressed fruit. Spoon a large dollop of Burrata on each plate and drizzle with sea salt and balsamic, then place some of the fruit mixture on top along with 1 or 2 slices of prosciutto. Garnish with the almonds and serve immediately.

The one thing I missed when I moved to LA was the occasional trip to SF and the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. One stand stood out as a go to and that was the Frog Hollow Farm peaches. You would expect a $4 peach to taste great and these did. Well Rancho Padre out of Exeter has some really great stone fruit. If you can make over to them on Sundays you won’t be dissapointed. Right across from them the fish guy has wild salmon for $14 a pound.

Enjoy

We seemed to always have apricot trees in our yards for some reason. After a few weeks when we had our fill cobblers and ice cream, what the birds didn’t get fell to the ground. We then spent the next month or so stepping in rotten apricots or mowing right over them. If you’ve ever had a fruit tree, vine or bush in your yard you know the pleasure of picking and eating perfectly ripe friut from the tree and eating it on the spot. My mom made two things I really liked, meatloaf and apricot cobbler. Even though she used Bisquick, Apricot cobbler and vanilla ice cream are one of my favorites. Here is the recipe I used, adapeted from Cooks Illustrated. The idea is basically heat the apricot filling up then put the biscuit topping on.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.2. For the filling: Cut each apricot in half. Put the apricots, sugar and salt in a sauce pan with a little water and bring to boil.
2. 3. For the topping: While apricots are stewing, in food processor, pulse flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine. Scatter butter over and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to medium bowl; add yogurt and toss with rubber spatula until cohesive dough is formed. (Don’t overmix dough or biscuits will be tough.) Break dough into 6 evenly sized but roughly shaped mounds and set aside.
3. 4. To assemble and bake: pour the apricots into a baking dish and place dough mounds on top, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart (they should not touch). Sprinkle each mound with portion of remaining 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling, 16 to 18 minutes. Cool cobbler on wire rack until warm, about 20 minutes; serve.

 

We made these for a party recently and were a big hit. The batter is a simple beer batter.

 

1 . Cut and trim 1 to 2 pounds of spring onions. You’ll want to trim the tops off where it gets really green.

 

2. Cut each onion in half and soak in buttermilk over night, then drain.

 

3. Take two large bowls. In bowl one add one cup of flour plus 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon paprika. in the second bowl one cup of flour plus 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon paprika again plus 1 bottle of Stone Pale Ale and mix.

 

4. You’ll need a large pan with peanut oil heated to 375 degrees.

 

5. Dredge each onion half in the dry flour then the beer batter.

 

6. Fry until crispy brown then remove and salt immediately with fine sea salt.

 

Braised Leeks with Brown Butter Vinaigrette

This recipe will be the first based on theme, the brown butter vinaigrette. I’ve used it with asparagus, brussels sprouts and now leeks. In fact I usually triple this recipe and keep the rest in a jar for next time. It seems to hold well.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 teaspoons capers (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil (optional)
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley leaves, rinsed and squeezed dry

Several leeks (1 per person)
Olive Oil

 

Fairview Farms - Santa Monica Farmers Market

Method: To make the vinaigrette, combine the shallots, garlic, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, and set it aside. In a wide-bottomed saute pan, cook the butter over high heat, stir¬ring constantly, until it turns a nutty caramel-brown. Mix in the lemon juice and remove from the heat. Slowly whisk the butter into the shallot mixture, then whisk in the extra virgin olive oil. Continue whisking until well emulsified. Keep the vinaigrette at room temperature, and warm it up before serving.If you opt for the garnish of crispy capers, rinse the capers, then heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium-high heat and fry the capers until they are crisp and have opened up. Scoop the capers out with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

To Make the leeks, trim off the dark green stalks and the roots. Next, slice the leeks in half lengthwise. Place the leeks in a large bowl of cold water, cut side down, and allow them to sit there about 10 minutes. Most of the grit will fall to the bottom of the bowl. Rinse the leeks again, checking between the folds to make sure all the grit is gone. Heat a saute pan then add some olive oil. place the leeks cut side down with a few tablespoons of water to sear them. After a few minutescover them. after a few more minutes when the leeks have browned and carmelized, turn them over and cook until tender. If the pan drys out add a little more olive oil. When cooked, place the leeks ona platter then spoon on some of the vinaigrette.