A Broad Reference

First day back working the farm. The drive up took longer than I expected due to construction in two spots on 101N, so there was already a line of people waiting to buy when I showed up. Luckily they were all regulars, and just wanted cases of peaches and nectarines.

Today was the busiest day ever in the history of the farmstand. I worked solidly without even time to sit down the entire afternoon. It was so much fun. At the end of the day I get paid in peaches and produce which is so worth it. I didn't have time to take any pictures I was that slammed! Gail and Brian sent me home with a pile of extra goodies- like kitchen garden produce and a bottle of prosecco with Bellini mix to celebrate the highest grossing day.

We have 2 kinds of yellow peaches- Suncrest (all yellow) and Red Top (kissed with a rosy blush to the cheeks), both quintessential summer yellow peaches with good texture, high sugar content and a nice acid balance to round out the profile. The 2 white peaches- Arctic Gem (floral and sweet) and Sugar Lady (ethereal & perfumed) are fabulous. If you have a sweet tooth, you'll like the white ones.

In addition to the peaches, the Fantasia nectarines are back! So ugly to look at, yet amazing flavour with a dense flesh that holds it's shape. It's almost mango-like in its profile. Most people pass on these because of the mottled and crusty exterior, but they have a cult following, where people drive up to Healdsburg specifically to buy these flavour explosions. Today a lady bought some first thing and then came back to buy more before the end of the day because her family had already finished the first batch 8^)
When she said that she was back to buy more, everyone else who was present in the store also bought nectarines, since she was proof that they were that good. lol

The Howard Miracle plums are headed to Chez Panisse this week to be served as their fruit plate option. So I took a batch home, since what's good enough for Chez works for me too.

We do tastings of all the different stone fruit, it's like a wine flight and with each one I'll talk about what they're tasting, information about the varieties and options for serving each. Is it good plain? in a pie, fruit salad, grilled on the BBQ etc. As I serve the various types, there are bits that don't really make a good impression on a customer- maybe a blemish or brown spot but still fine to eat (anything that's mouldy or fermented goes directly into the trash). I keep a bag under the counter and sweep those pieces into it, so as to keep the tasting area clean and fresh. At the end of the day I generally have enough bits to make a BBQ sauce or chutney, which works out great. I like to keep it simple, so I've created a fairly minimal recipe that works out well with what I've got.

Ingredients:

4 lbs peaches & nectarines chunked
1 C Vinegar
2 tsp Salt
6-8 Scotch bonnet (whole)
6 bird chilli peppers
6 Thai peppers
2 Tbs spice chi
2 C white sugar
6 ginger medallions (thick)
1 large Walla Walla onion, sliced
1/2 cup cranberries

Method:
1. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and spices. Heat till boiling & stir till dissolved. Add peaches, ginger, onion, peppers and cranberries, drop temperature and simmer till it is thick and golden brown. Stir occasionally during cooking- reduced in volume by about 1/3 which takes about 45 min-1hr.

2. Pour into clean, hot jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace; close jars. Process in a water bath 15 minutes. (I don't generally bother with the canning step since I know I'm going to be cracking this open the first chance I get...) If you do the canning step correctly, this can be kept for a year unopened. Enjoy!

Posted by Misty at 11:07 PM | Permalink

I just got a new squash racket. I feel like Harry Potter when he found his wand. It chose me and hums happily when I play with it. Not that everyone likes it or even wants one, but I think it's going to take me to a new level of squash!...

Posted by Misty at 07:22 AM | Permalink

During a visit this May our Dad announced the jaw dropping news that he was going to be making the dessert for family dinner. Dad has taken to baking in the last few years and according to Mum he's getting really good. So we picked up a batch of berries from Costco (btw so much cheaper than what you can get in Oz that Dad says he's moving to the Bay Area... Don't tell him that everything else is ridiculously expensive) and Tuesday nite Family potluck, Dad produced the most amazing crumble! It was so delicious that I was determined to get the recipe. I had to use up the fabulous strawberries and olallieberries we picked at Gidzich Ranch this year that we picked with our good friends Dale, Doreen and Veronica. When the parents flew home, I threw the leftover blueberries into the freezer along with the lingering raspberries, so I pulled those out and added them to the mix. It was a berry medley crumble.

Dad sent his 2 starting recipes and gave gas marks and grams but he definitely has learned from them and made the recipe his own. I translated it into American measurements for ease of use. I also added almond meal for a richer taste. Enjoy with ice cream or if you want a more English version, pouring cream or custard makes a lovely complement.

Pre-heat to 350 degrees F

Dad's Crumble Topping
1 stick butter butter 125g or 4oz
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup rolled oats

Mix dry ingredients and add melted butter, stir together.

Filling
350 grams berries or 3-4 baskets
1/3 cup sugar

I had enough berries to fill a square baking dish and sprinkled on the sugar.
Put the topping over the berries and put in a oven 350 degrees for
30-45 minutes.

Posted by Misty at 08:31 AM | Permalink

This past weekend we were up in Sacramento visiting our dear Aunt Cathy and Uncle Bill (and their whole family including grand-kids) at their new place. Aunt Cathy made up a batch of play dough for the visiting cousins. I remembered how great it is to have fresh play dough, and since apparently not all recipes are created equal, decided to archive a copy for her here on the blog, just in case she misplaces the other copies that U Bill squirrelled away. The only thing more fun is her pizza dough (coz then you get to eat it...)

2 Cs flour
1 C salt
2 Tbs Cream of Tartar

1Tbs cooking oil
2 Cs water
food colouring

Thoroughly mix all dry ingredients.
Mix all wet ingredients.
Combine wet and dry ingredients, mixing till smooth.
Cook over medium heat until consistency of commercial play dough (I'll try to work on a better description but this is how it was described in the recipe)
Allow to cool then knead until smooth and elastic.
Store in an airtight container.

If young children are helping by making individual portions, let each child:
*pour some mixed dry ingredients into a bowl
*add in some mixed wet ingredients
*allow child to stir to his/her heart's content.

Adult:
*combine contents of all bowls into pot, mix some more and then cook.

Posted by Misty at 05:35 PM | Permalink

I've been craving 2 things lately: silken tofu and rice cakes. We normally go to this place called the Pyung Chang Tofu House but since I've started buying groceries at this really inexpensive place in Oakland's Little Korea called Koreana Plaza I'm inspired to make my own. I used 2 different recipes Tteokbokki and Soon Tofu Jigae for inspiration but in the end what I made was kind of a combo thing so I include my recipe below.

Ingredients:
1 onion or leek (white stalk) chopped
1lb ground chicken
3 Cups water
3 pieces kelp
3 shiitake mushrooms sliced
2 Tbs red pepper paste
2 Tbs honey or sugar
1 Tbs garlic black bean paste
1 pack rice cakes (~20 tubular) soaked
2 fish cake (flat rectangular kind) cut into squares
1 tub silken tofu
1 Tbs fish sauce
2 Tbs cilantro chopped

Instructions:
Sauté the onion till glassey, and the mushroom till tender.
Quickly sauté chicken and stir to break into small pieces.
Add water, kelp, red pepper paste, honey and garlic bean paste and bring to a boil.
Simmer rice cakes ~ 15 minutes till just soft but still chewy. The center should not be tough.
Add in the fish cakes and tofu (whole), try to keep the tofu chunks large, stirring will break tofu into smaller pieces.
Reduce to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes until tofu is heated through. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Posted by Misty at 06:02 PM | Permalink

There's a little Vietnamese place down the street from my Aunt's. We go there for lunch, and split everything we order. I love their grated apple salad. I guess it makes sense to use the local fruit rather than trying to ship in green papaya from far away. They serve it with thin slices of grilled beef. The dressing is very simple and oil free so I like it for a low calorie option. They use Fuji apples for sweet but I like to mix in Granny Smith as well for a tart contrast. Standard salady mix of shredded cabbage and carrots, with a sprinkle of bean sprouts. A little bit of cilantro, lime wedges and some toasted peanuts. It's so satisfying. They were happy to share the recipe, the waiter laughed and said everyone in Vietnam could make it. So now you can too.

Ingredients:
6oz flank steak grilled and sliced

2 Apples (Fuji & Granny Smith) grated
1/4 Cabbage shredded
1 carrot grated
1 Cup bean sprouts
6 sprigs of cilantro
1/4 Cup peanuts
lime wedges

1/2 Cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 Cup fish sauce
2-3 Tbs palm sugar
1-3 tsp hot chilli peppers sliced
up to 1/2 cup water

Preparation:

Mix together vinegar and fish sauce, add sugar and chillies dilute with water to taste.

Layer vegetables together top with beef and nuts. Pour over 3 Tbs of dressing.

Posted by Misty at 06:42 PM | Permalink

Dim sum would not be complete for me without Feng Jiao (romantic translation Phoenix talons) aka chicken feet. Another binary selection food, that people either love or hate. Sometimes it's the texture, maybe it's the idea of it, but everyone has an opinion which they are happy to share with you. In general people appreciate it if you refrain from calling their food disgusting, a sensitive quirk perhaps, but I've found that many folk feel no need to edit their feelings of disgust when it comes to chicken feet.

When I was a kid, I came across my Mum chowing down on a bucket of something strange, brown and wrinkly. I was definitely put off by the way it looked. When I asked her what she was eating, she replied "Nothing you'd like"... but she was so evidently enjoying herself. I thought I'd give it a try- Wow flavour explosion, super chewy yet succulent chicken with sweet, salty and spicy hot notes and an evocative hint of mysterious ginger, cinnamon and anise. When Gwynie wandered into the kitchen to find out what we were eating with such relish, I told her it was "Nothing you'd like"... Lol that didn't dissuade her one bit.

So it's safe to say, thanks to Mum, we're fans of the chicken feet. There are a bunch of different methods of cooking chicken feet. One involves deep frying followed by braising/steaming, and I have to point out that deep frying always improves an item- for example twinkies. Altho this method produces a very intact foot, which is considered more appealing, given that most of us can't indulge in those kind of calories very often, that's slightly limiting.

In Taipei I used to pass by a restaurant called Elastic. It served teas and soups made of connective tissue plus special herbs and spices that are supposed to help your joints. At fraction of the price, holistic and tasting infinitely better than that Glucosamine chondroitin, MSM, Sam-E, CoE Q10 etc. I'm definitely sold on the idea, and I try to make stocks from cheaper parts (pig feet/hocks, pork and beef neck bones). The stock has a richer, glossy, more proteiny feel to it and I get to count it as my cartilage supplement, so it works out all round. Hence chicken feet/carcass make a great start to a stock, and then you can dress up the feet and eat them too!

I recognise that the idea of chicken feet can be initially disconcerting. But I urge you to put aside these preconceived notions and give it a try. Maybe sample a tiny bit at dim sum, or use stock made with chicken feet. Well whatever your preference, I include my recipe below. If you don't want to see the process, read no further.

Continue reading "Glorious Phoenix talons aka Chicken Feet" »

Posted by Misty at 06:30 PM | Permalink

For some strange reason I've been tasked with making salad dressing over the holidays. My default vinaigrette is a meld of salty, sour, sweet and spicy. It should be light enough that you can taste the individual vegetables in the salad, but add a little sparkle that makes you want to keep munching away on your 5-9 serving... I put whatever is at hand in a small jar which I use to mix it all together by shaking. But despite my casual approach to the creation of what seems very simple everyone keeps asking for a recipe. Keep in mind this is all approximate and should be adjusted to your preference.

Ingredients:
1 lemon- juice & zest
OR
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar

3 Tbs Fish sauce
1 Tbs mustard
1 Tbs sugar/honey
1/3 Cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Optional: adjust to taste
white vinegar or rice vinegar for a neutral acid
ginger grated
shallots/green onion/pickled garlic chopped
cilantro finely chopped
Siracha/hot pepper
sesame oil

Posted by Misty at 07:13 AM | Permalink

Gwynie made this for Christmas. It was so good I thought I'd give it a write up. It's more like French toast than a quiche, with a great contrasting texture of succulent mushrooms and crispy bread. Most of the steps can be done in advance, so it would be a great dish for say a dinner party where you'd rather spend time with your guests. Gourmet magazine talks about using parchment lined ramekins, but I prefer to do it in one large dish. If I were going to serve it in smaller volumes, I'd just use large muffin tins with cupcake papers, and prolly bake for only 10-15 minutes. Alternatively prebake and then broil as discussed below.

Herbed Sausage & Wild Mushroom bread pudding
Ingredients
4 Cups (1/2-inch) fresh bread cubes (Acme herb foccacia- missing 4 slices...)
1 large onion coarsely chopped OR
1/2 Cup shallot finely chopped
1/2 lb sausage meat
2 Tbs butter unsalted
1 1/2 lbs mixed fresh mushrooms (crimini, chantrelle and shitake)
1/2 Cup flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
1/2 bunch sage coarsely chopped
2 Cups half-and-half
4 large eggs
1/2 Cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Gwynie started eating the herb slab before making the bread cubes... I think a whole herb slab would have been too much? Bake bread cubes in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan until golden-brown, about 10 minutes. This can be done ahead and stored in a air tight container.

Tear or cut mushrooms lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Sauté shallot or onion in butter until glassy ~3 minutes. Add mushrooms, sausage, salt & pepper and cook until dry ~15 minutes. Add parsley, sage and cook, stirring ~2 minutes. Remove from heat. Sometimes I feel that a cycle of heating and cooling helps to boost flavours, if you want that then this step can be done ahead and stored in the fridge.

Whisk together half-and-half, eggs, cheese, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in sausage, mushrooms and bread cubes until coated well and let stand 10 minutes for bread to absorb egg mixture. Mix again before placing in a shallow casserole dish, sprinkle top with more cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, remove and allow to rest for 20 minutes. The egg continues to cook while waiting, making for a very tender chew. Gwynie likes hers served hot, and if you want more crunch, heat under broiler ~5 minutes for the top to crisp up. You can also bake in a large dish and then when serving individual portions toast under broiler for more of an edge effect.

Posted by Misty at 10:20 AM | Permalink

As a child, my Gran in Nottingham made light and fluffy Yorkshire puds, with crisp shells and melting centers- served with gravy and roast beef. Yum! But she could never really articulate how she did it. Now my Mum is a great cook, and super adventurous experimenter when it comes to trying recipes. That said, back home, Mum attempted Yorkshire pudding on countless Sundays. Mum would peek anxiously in through a crack in the the oven door every couple of minutes and watch in horror as it deflated to a limply flat and soggy pud. We supported her attempts with typical scientific interest and critical eating, what factors could be changed? some day we were sure, it would all work out. At school in England, the muffin sized yorkies were tough, chewy (and to my horror- bounced). So for me the search for a reliable recipe was similar to the Grail.

In the USA, people refer to popovers and Dutch babies, where it's all about height with crisp shells and serve them sweet instead of savoury. The first time I experienced the impressive form of the Dutch baby was at a ski cabin in Tahoe where a professional chef whipped one up in about 15 minutes. She made it look so easy, producing crispy lofty peaks of golden pillowy meltingly soft goodness in a massive cast iron pan**. With a dusting of icing sugar and raspberry jam, it was a perfect winter wonderland breakfast. Inspired by her success, I made a note of her recipe which I've tweaked and been using ever since. I've experimented with proportions and have determined the golden secret ratios which will work every time. So you can adjust your proportions based on how many people you're cooking for. The ratios are essentially 1:1 for milk:flour*:egg ie For every 1/4 cup flour & milk you need 1 large egg or about 1/4 cup egg.

Ingredients:
3 Tbs Butter
2 Tbs Grapeseed oil (or lard)
4 eggs
1 C milk
1 C flour (3/4 Cup All-Purpose: 1/4 Cup Bread)
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425oF. Place butter & grapeseed oil in cast iron pan and heat in oven while you prepare the batter. In a blender or food processor whiz eggs until they are well mixed. With the motor running, add milk, flour and salt, whiz for another 30 secs - 1 minute.

Pour batter into preheated skillet (the butter/oil should sizzle) and return to oven. Bake for about 18-25 minutes until craggy peaks are browned but not burned. It's most impressive if everyone is ready and waiting since it deflates slightly when it comes out of the oven. (I've tried leaving it in for longer to keep the puffiness but then the outside gets tough...)

If serving sweet, dust with powdered sugar and top with fruit, preserves etc. Whipped cream is fun too.

For savoury garnish with chopped chives or parsley, and smother with gravy. I served it with sautéed wild mushrooms and shallots.

Continue reading "Popovers/Dutch Baby Pancake/Yorkshire pudding" »

Posted by Misty at 12:17 PM | Permalink