These beets are part of a salad, but are great on their own as a side. The vinegar used for marinating the beets is also used as the base for the salad dressing. If making the dressing to go with the beets, double the amount of cilantro and vinegar and save half for the salad dressing.
Continue reading »
This is a fairly quick dish to assemble, especially if you have soffritto on hand. Since much of the flavor for this dish comes from the tomato and basil, be sure to use flavorful tomatoes and fresh basil. Having a spritzer/atomizer for oil makes this dish easier still to make, and I recommend one as it makes it so simple to get just the right amount of oil onto vegetables instead of soaking them. If you do not have one, use a small bowl or plate with some oil and use a brush. Although the instructions seem long, once you have done this it will be a snap the next time. I like basil for this recipe, but if you do not have any to hand, try it with something else such as a tablespoon of marjoram or oregano, or some sage, or whatever strikes your fancy.
Continue reading »
Please join us for our 4th annual Harvest Fair and Pumpkin Patch this Saturday! This is the one day a year that we go all out to make a fun and educational farm experience for kids and adults alike. This hot weather is supposed to clear out, bringing us some cool fall weather just right for picking pumpkins. This event is open to everybody so tell your friends to come out too! Entrance fee is $10/adult, $5/child, 3 and under free. All proceeds go to Linscott Charter School in Watsonville.
Continue reading »
Béchamel is a classic and is known by many names. It is a sauce of butter and flour cooked together-this is known as a “roux”- that has milk added to it. There is a set ratio that works every time-1 tablespoon butter to 1¼ tablespoon flour, to 1 cup milk. I will add that this is very hard to do with less than 2 tablespoons of butter.
Continue reading »
This is a form of gratin that uses a béchamel sauce and includes bread cubes as part of the base. It is a hearty side dish good on cooler nights.
Continue reading »
The longest part of the prep for this dish is cooking the onions for the base. Other than that, this dish comes together quickly. If you have soffritto in the freezer, it is a snap to put together, and it looks as if you fussed for quite a while. If you have different colored tomatoes and/or squashes the dish looks quite festive.
Continue reading »
With summer here, the time is perfect for gratins. Sure, everyone is firing up the grill, but let’s face it-grilled vegetables only hold their appeal for a while, and then you want something with a little more depth of character. All those vegetables that are great on the grill are also great in a gratin. Easy to make, gratins can be made in advance and will keep overnight, and are good hot from the oven, or at room temperature. What’s not to like?
Continue reading »
This recipe is from a friend, adapted from a recipe in David Chang’s Lucky Peach.
Continue reading »
I took a walk through the pumpkin patch yesterday (the leaves are starting to die back so we can actually get through now and see what’s there). The pumpkins have sized up and are turning from green to orange, which is always a relief a few weeks before our Harvest Fair and Pumpkin Patch.
Continue reading »
This dressing goes on the Savoy Cabbage and Apple Slaw, but is also good on things like an apple arugula salad or a fennel apple salad. You could even dress cauliflower sautéed with apples with this.
Continue reading »
Cabbage and apples are frequently seen in each others company in recipes for a reason, and that is because they taste really good together. The crunch and sweetness of the apple plays up those same qualities of the cabbage, and the earthiness of cabbage plays up the floral aromas of apples. This slaw is quick, simple, and tastes great. This is a recipe where having a mandolin or Ben-Riner really helps. Apples such as the Hudson’s Golden Gems and Rubinettes are perfect for this dish as they are crisp, sweet, and have some acid to balance out the dressing and cabbage.
Continue reading »
This is along the lines of the thicker style blue cheese dressing, also known as Roquefort. Perfect for chunky vegetable salads, for dipping things in, or as the perfect dressing for the infamous “wedge” salad. It’s also great on baked potatoes. I like to use red wine vinegar, even though it tinges the dressing faintly pink. If you want pristine whiteness, just use white wine vinegar in lieu of red wine vinegar. Make this dressing whenever you have buttermilk on hand, because let’s face it, nothing uses a full quart of buttermilk (and it seems you can only get it in quarts nowadays). There is no salt added in this recipe as mayo and blue cheese both tend to be salty.
Continue reading »
Here is an updated take on the “Wedge” salad. The Moped of salads-you would never want your friends to see you on one, but they’re fun to drive. Moist and crunchy, rich, creamy and tangy, sweet and smoky, the wedge salad hits on so many of the components that make a great dish. Here, I sub in Little Gem lettuce for the iceberg, and it works well as long as the leaves are firm and crisp.
Continue reading »
The fresh rich flavor of the cooked down tomatoes is a nice counterpoint to the smokey, earthy flavor of the broccoli, and the sweetness of the tomato plays well with the sweetness the broccoli develops in the oven. This makes a nice side dish, but also can be used as a pasta sauce, pizza topping, or mixed with grains.
Continue reading »
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
¼ C onion, minced-or-1 medium shallot, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 roasted red peppers, peeled and seeded, diced
1 Tbsp vinegar such as red wine, rice, sherry, or even balsamic
2 Tbsp white wine such as sauvignon blanc, or chardonnay
Salt and fresh ground white pepper to taste
Continue reading »
Sometimes you just have to peel and seed your tomatoes. There are times the dish just calls for them this way, or sometimes the peels are just plain tough and you don’t feel like eating them. Peeling tomatoes is great for when you are making a sauce where you want to cook the tomatoes all the way down to a puree and do not want to strain the sauce for skins, or you want a softer texture.
Continue reading »
This frosting is used for the Apple Cake Muffins, or if you decide to turn the muffins back into a cake. The muffins/cake is not that sweet. The frosting definitely is!
Continue reading »
These are a nice treat for breakfast or lunchboxes, and are not very sweet. This was originally a cake recipe that was frosted with a caramel icing, and can be used as a cake. Remove the cinnamon and vanilla and bake in small loaf pans as an unusual accompaniment for a cheese plate. Works well with sharp cheddars and brie.
Continue reading »
This is a favorite around here. If it seems to use a lot of oil, well, it does. But that is part of the appeal to this dish, so use a nice Extra Virgin olive oil here. The broccoli gets sweet and parts are a little crisp, parts are a little chewy (in a good way) and all of it is tender. The trick is taking you time with this.
Continue reading »
This is called a salad in the Moroccan sense of the word. In Moroccan cuisine, salads are dishes of vegetables that are prepared, cooked or raw, and eaten at the beginning and throughout a meal. You are not likely to be served a leafy green salad there. So, that is why this is a “salad”. It could be a side-dish, condiment, or even a topping for something like grilled fish or chicken.
Continue reading »
As we approach renewal time for the final quarter of the 2012 regular season, we’ve been working on some fine tuning of our on-line sign-up system. The changes should give you more flexibility, while making our lives easier as well.
Continue reading »