Although this dish originally was made to stuff chicken, it is quite good on it’s own as a side dish. The goat cheese is a nice option, but the dish is fine without it. Pine nuts work well in lieu of pistachios. This stuffing works great in whole chickens, chicken breasts, pork chops, fish, or even big pasta shells.
Continue reading »
This dish is great as a combination of two recipes, but the chicken is quite good without the stuffing, and the stuffing makes a nice side dish on its own, as well. Lemon infused olive oil is available at gourmet shops, better grocery stores, and you can find some locally made at various farmer’s markets. Agrumato is an excellent commercial brand and Colline di Santa Cruz is produced in the Santa Cruz area by Valencia Creek Farms. You can even make something that approaches it on your own by infusing oil with just the peel, but it is worth the money to have a bottle of this on hand.
Continue reading »
This is the classic Ligurian version of pasta with pesto from the area where pesto as we know it today was “invented”. Some recipes will tell you to cook the potatoes and beans in the water with the pasta, but that could over cook them, so here they are cooked until almost done and then the pasta is cooked separately. If you use fresh pasta, cook them together by all means.
Continue reading »
After a brief hot spell several weeks back, the weather here has settled into the fairly predictable routine of morning fog, afternoon sunshine and fog again in the evening. For the crops that we grow, it has been just about perfect. Lettuces, bunched greens, broccoli and its relatives, and strawberries all find the moderate temperatures here along the coast to their liking—and I have to say that I do too. I always find it a big relief to come back home after doing a hot weekend market over the hill
Continue reading »
Although the notion of the apricots may seem odd, they are a nice contrast to the slightly bitter lettuce and earthy beets, and the acid is nice against the cheese. Sort of like using dried cranberries or raisins in a salad, but brighter. Whatever you use, the cheese should be a lightly crumbly and not too salty. Think in terms of little logs of chevre, a less briny feta, or even ricotta salata grated.
Continue reading »
This is a dish inspired by the flavors of Morocco. The nice thing about it is that most of the components are things that last a long time, and you might have them in the back of the refrigerator or the pantry. If you have fresh tomatoes use them, but there is no shame in using good quality canned for this. Using fresh tomatoes will make the dish brighter tasting, and they might take longer to cook down to a sauce consistency.
Continue reading »
This is a quick and simple dish that is all about the balance between the spiciness, the basil flavor, and the background of sweetness and umami notes. You can make it more or less spicy by changing the number of chilis, but there should always be a balance of flavor. There are many versions of this dish; this one is a distillation of time spent working in a Thai restaurant and many recipes. With or without the optional ingredients, the dish is still good. The optional kecap manis add depth of flavor and authenticity.
Continue reading »
This is for the Romaine, Roasted Beets, and Apricot salad, but would be a nice sauce for grilled chicken with grilled apricots, or pork chops. It would also be nice with a salad of butter leaf lettuces with apricots and a small round of fresh goat cheese rolled in bread crumbs and baked until golden served with toasts.
Continue reading »
It was nice to meet a number of you at our blueberry u-picks this year. We thought you might be interested in some history of this part of our farm. This is mostly a reprint of an article we wrote last year, but with some updated text and pictures.
Our home farm on Harkins Slough was a dairy until the mid 1980s. When we arrived here in 2000 there were still quite a few remnants of the old dairy here.
Continue reading »
Made to go on a potato salad, this will work with slaws and green salads as well.
Continue reading »
Think German Potato salad with a South West bent. The Purplette Quickles stand in for regular pickles, and the cilantro dressing takes the recipe South West.
Continue reading »
INGREDIENTS:
4-6 medium potatoes such as Desiree, Romanze, Sangre, or other firm starchy potato, cut into ½ to ¾ inch cubes (size should be similar to the cauliflower pieces) 1 head cauliflower, florets only, trimmed to around 1 inch (halve in needed) Olive oil as needed Salt and pepper to tasteContinue reading »
Steve and I took a couple days off this weekend to go up to San Francisco. We rented bikes and toured around some of our old haunts. One of the places we wanted to go was to the Argonne Community Garden. This is the sweet little garden plot in the Richmond district where Steve and I had our first garden together. We didn’t know what to expect, since it’s been 20 years since we were there, but we found that very little had changed in the community garden.
Continue reading »
Makes about 4 to 5 (8 oz) half pints
Continue reading »
This can be eaten on its own as a bowl of “chili”, but it came about as a vegetarian filling for tacos or enchiladas. The inspiration for this came when Hatch and pasilla chilis were spotted at the local farmer’s market. The Green Sauce is not usually spicy, but you can adjust your chilis to make it so.
Continue reading »
If you use purple cauliflower the look will match the aroma and taste for an interesting brain teaser, although this is good with any color cauliflower you have. Just be sure to not overcook the cauliflower when you blanch it. The Kimes Apiary grade C honey was excellent for this as the high moisture content allows it to coat really well, but any quality honey will do, although you might need to add a little water to help it spread out to coat the vegetable. Be sure to use a honey that is complementary to the lavender though, or at least will not conflict with it.
Continue reading »
This gets the “Provençal” from the use of fennel and “pastis”, which is an anise flavored liqueur from France. As it is most often consumed in Provence and the surrounding areas, it is associated with the cuisine of the area as well. You can make the dish without the pastis, but it does taste better with it. Fennel is also used a lot in the cuisine of the area, both as a main ingredient and as a flavoring agent.
Continue reading »
The unusually late rain storm passing through yesterday and today has brought little more than sprinkles and mist down here in Watsonville. Strawberry growers always get nervous when rain threatens during harvest season. Ripe fruit breaks down quickly when it gets wet, and Botrytis or “grey mold” can set in. Yesterday’s “storm”, however, didn’t bring enough moisture to cause problems, and in fact, may have helped more than it hurt.
Continue reading »
Keith Kimes keeps his bees on our farm, which helps to keep our crops pollinated and growing well, and provides his bees with a healthy organic field to live in. He has some hives at our Lewis Road site and some at our home fields. The honey we have available now is from the Lewis Rd. hives and is largely from the spring blossoming of the eucalyptus trees and wildflowers at the top of our farm fields. (You can see some of the hives in the background in the picture to the left from our 2012 spring farm tour.) I asked Keith to write a little bit about his bees and the ups and downs of the honey flow. — Jeanne]
Continue reading »
This salad is dressed with a variant of Basil Vinaigrette, hence the v.2 appellation. It has no garlic since the scallions provide enough allium “funk”, and uses white wine vinegar rather than white balsamic for a little more snap. Lastly, it uses olive oil in addition or instead of a neutral oil to round out the flavors.
Continue reading »
This is a riff on the Double Cooked Potatoes already on the site. A classic preparation of Pesto calls for tiny potatoes and filet beans to be added to the pasta, and it tastes great. This recipe is inspired by that traditional preparation.
Continue reading »