Category Archives: Blog

Apple Season

Apple Season

apple sauce

October is National Apple Month and a great time to experiment in the kitchen with apples. Apples are a good source of fiber and pectin, being a soluble fiber, actually helps prevent cholesterol buildup in your blood vessels. The pectin is found just beneath the skin of the apple, as well as a good amount of vitamin C, so it’s important to eat the peel as well as the flesh. That brings us to the more important issue, organic apples. Apples are heavily sprayed with pesticides and are the number one fruit on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. (http://www.ewg.org/). Buy and eat your apples organic or peel them, but remember you’ll loose a lot of the nutritional benefits if you peel it. However, you eat it, make sure to include apples in your diet for a healthier body.
Here are a couple of recipes for your pantry files!

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Bread, wtrmk

 

What’s better than fresh hot bread straight from the oven? (Well besides some delicious fresh butter on it!) What’s better is that this is a NO KNEAD recipe, couldn’t be easier. The dough will keep in your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks after mixing and there is nothing to do except pinch off a big piece, let it come to room temperature and bake it. The dough makes wonderful pizza, focaccia and flatbread as well. The authors, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, use Gold Medal Flour for their bread but I am a die hard King Arthur Flour fan. Read about flour and how to measure and then decide for yourself which to use. I use this dough for bread, flatbread, pizza and rolls, check the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for other recipes. This is a book you must have on your shelf. Buy it now from Amazon, click here.


I like baking my bread in a Le Crueset Dutch oven and I give directions for that procedure, the Artisan Bread website will guide you in other methods. If you like using a starter for your bread, the authors also give you instructions on how to incorporate that method into your bread making.

If you learn to weigh your flour you’ll have much better results in the end product. Actually weighing ingredients for recipes is really much easier and the recipe comes together much quicker and more efficient.

Watch the video made by King Arthur Flour on how to measure flour here, 
I’m posting my edited version of the bread but you can visit the authors website and read the original recipe with updates and tips. Go here for recipe

 

Harvesting Tomatoes

This was a great year for tomatoes! My early tomatoes are giving it one last push before they succumb and my late (heirloom) tomato bushes are full with big beautiful green tomatoes. What we haven’t been able to eat (and share) I’ve been freezing for later use. Remember I told you how to freeze them? Just plop the whole or cut up tomato on a baking sheet and put in the freezer until frozen solid, then put them into a freezer bag or other container and put back in the freezer. This allows you to pick out however many tomatoes you need at a time and no need to peel before freezing. As they defrost the skin will slip right off and if you want to remove the seeds just cut in half as usual and squeeze out the seeds.

Here are some beautiful photos that my friend Christina Peters shot of my tomatoes this year and a beautiful Tomato Sauce from Marcella Hazan.

 

Debs Garden-4591Heirloom Tomatoes Growing-5461Heirloom Tomatoes-5529Heirloom-Tomatoes-6086

Simple Cold Pasta Salad

On these dog days of summer, even here at the beach, this is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It’s quick and easy, you don’t have to turn on any heat, even to cook the pasta, and you can use bits and pieces of left overs from your refrigerator pantry.

Some of my typical summer refrigerator pantry items are, cheese, olives, tomatoes (home grown, of course), cucumbers, peppers and the like. Most often there will be some lemon chicken left over as well. All are perfect additions to this salad. First the pasta, no need to boil a big pot of water, we’ll use the microwave!

Summer Pasta Salad

Pour your dry pasta, something curly is best to hold all the wonderful dressing in it’s little nooks, into a microwave safe bowl. Cover with cool water by 1″, make sure the container is big enough that the water and pasta won’t boil over. You’ll want to cook your pasta for about 5 minutes longer than the directions guide you on the box. Test the pasta for doneness and cook a little longer if necessary. Drain well and rinse quickly with cool water. Do not add dressing to the warm pasta as it will just soak it all up and be mushy. Stir the pasta occasionally as it cools to keep it from sticking together. You could cook the pasta ahead of time and chill it before you  make the salad. If this is the case, toss the cooled pasta with a little olive oil before refrigerating. Now you’re ready to proceed with the salad.

In actuality, from this point on you could chop and dice almost anything you find in you refrigerator but here’s my stand by recipe.

Summer Pasta Salad

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  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup olive oil, approximately
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoon fresh basil, torn
  • 1/2 cup diced cucumber
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
  • 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 1/4 cup sliced black olives
  • 1/2 cup crumbled or diced cheese, mozzarella, chedderella, goat cheese or any you prefer
  • 1 ½ cup cooked pasta

For dressing, mix together vinegar, Dijon, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and whisk until it comes together. While continually whisking slowly add olive oil to taste. Set aside.

Mix together remaining ingredients and toss with dressing. Serve cold.

Champagne Grapes


GRAPES_Melissas

 

Champagne grapes are not the grapes that vintners make champagne with but are called such because they look like the little bubbles that float in a lovely glass of champagne.

Champagne grapes are rather a grape variety called ‘Corinth’, small, seedless little pops of pure grape juice are also used dried. As a dried grape they can be known as Zante currants or simply currants but are not true currants.

Look for dark grapes which indicates a state of ripeness and sweetness when shopping for Champagne grapes. Grapes that look wrinkled have passed their prime and won’t be as sweet. Store in the refrigerator and wash before use. Champagne grapes look elegant as a garnish to any dish and will sit perfectly well on a fruit and cheese platter but are easily versatile in cooking. Here is a wonderful recipe from our friends at Noble Pig Winery, originally adapted from Bon Appetit magazine.

Can’t find Champagne Grapes? Call click to find our friends at Melissa’s Produce and they will send some out to you right away!

Pan-Seared Scallops with Champagne Grapes and Almonds

Brioche-Hurry Up & Wait

IMG_2507Homemade brioche is really pretty easy with most of the work being done by the dough. Plan ahead as it needs an overnight rise in the refrigerator. This recipe is from King Arthur Flour and they say (correctly I might add) that this recipe should be done only in a stand mixer. The dough is quite wet and sticky and it took 20 minutes to come together using my stand mixer. That was the hard part, well not really, the hard part was waiting overnight before I could bake it but the resulting French Toast was well worth the wait.

French Toast-BriocheAfter the overnight rise, I cut the dough in half and made 1 small loaf and 3 good sized buns (for burgers). Then you have to play the waiting game again for a few hours before you can bake them. The long overnight rise and the room temperature rise before baking results in a beautiful crumb and delicate taste. The aroma while baking, of course, will drive you wild. The bread turns a rich golden color (don’t be afraid to cover them while baking if they start to brown too quickly) and is a very soft, light bread when it’s finally ready for you to eat.

Brioche Baked

I’m going to freeze the buns for a future use and perhaps part of the bread for toast and French toast in the near future. I did make a test batch of French Toast with a little butter and real maple syrup and woofed it down. It would have been delightful with some summer fruit but the last of the farmers market fruit was eaten yesterday in a peach-blackberry cobbler.

This is great recipe to try over the weekend. Mangia!

Brioche

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From King Arthur Flour:
The inspiration for this recipe comes from our bakery, where brioche buns are among the wide variety of rolls and buns King Arthur Flour bakers produce daily. These particular buns are rich, tender, and pillow-like, similar to our bakery’s, and are the perfect vessel for a big, juicy burger.

  • 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • ¼ cup Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon instant yeast
  • 3 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, white reserved for wash (below)
  • 1/4 cup lukewarm water
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Egg Wash
  • 1 large egg white, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
  • seeds of your choice, optional

Mix and knead the dough ingredients — in a mixer or bread machine — to make a smooth, shiny dough. It starts out sticky, and takes 15 to 20 minutes of kneading in a stand mixer to develop, so we don't recommend kneading this by hand.

Form the dough into a ball, place it in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for 1 hour.

Refrigerate the covered dough overnight, to slow its rise and make it easier to shape.

The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator, and divide it into six pieces.

Shape each piece into a flattened ball, and place into the lightly greased cups of an individual pie and burger bun pan. Or place the buns on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 2" to 3" between them.

Cover the buns, and let them rise until they're quite puffy. This may take as little as 1 hour; or up to 2 to 3 hours, depending on how warm your rising environment, and how cold the dough. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F.

Brush the buns with egg wash, and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 14 to 18 minutes, tenting with foil after 10 minutes if they appear to be browning too quickly. The finished buns will register at least 190°F on a digital thermometer inserted into the center.

Remove the buns from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Yield: 6 buns or 2 small loaves

King Arthur Flour

Summer Salads

 

Summer Nicoise

My summer pantry is usually a little lighter than my winter pantry as I use far more fresh ingredients, mostly from my kitchen garden. The French Nicoise Salad is one of my favorites and I like using whatever fresh veggies I find at the local farmers market or in my garden. As in most cases, the quality of ingredients that you use are directly reflected in the finished dish, therefore buy the best that you can afford. I use Italian tuna in olive oil; I love the Genova brand from Italy. Please don’t use all white tuna packed in water, as it has no flavor, better to leave it out. I drain most of the oil from the canned tuna, reserving it for use in making the salad dressing.

italiantuna_kalynskitchen

Another way to dress up the dish for a hot summer evening entree is to grill some fresh tuna or shrimp from your fishmonger. This recipe makes a beautifully plated salad for a buffet table but can be individually plated as well. Be creative and use what you have on hand.

Summer Nicoise Salad

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This salad is great for adapting to whatever you find in your pantry and/or refrigerator. Left over vegetables from last night’s dinner work great; keep your pantry stocked with jars of olives, tuna, hearts of palm, baby corn or a myriad of other staples. Change the tuna; use bay shrimp, scallops, last nights chicken or steak. A great salad to stretch your creative talents!

  • Vinaigrette:
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 small shallot -- minced
  • 1 tablespoon Italian parsley -- chopped
  • Salt and pepper -- to taste
  • 3/4 cup olive oil, use drained oil from tuna and add more olive oil as needed
  • Salad:
  • 2 cans Italian tuna -- packed in olive oil, drained and flaked with a fork
  • Salt and pepper -- to taste
  • 1/4 pound haricot vert -- blanched, cooled and dried well
  • 4 new potatoes -- boiled
  • 2 medium plum tomatoes -- cut into quarters
  • 3 eggs, cooked~see recipe
  • 1/2 cup nicoise olives
  • 3 cups mixed baby greens

Make the vinaigrette:

In a large bowl make the vinaigrette by whisking together the vinegar and

Dijon mustard. Add shallot, parsley and salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil, while whisking into vinegar mixture. Re-season if necessary.

Blanch the beans in boiling salted water, drain, and chill.

Cook the potatoes in salted water just until they are tender through, about 15 minutes. Drain. Peel them, if desired, as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Hard boil eggs by covering eggs with cold water, bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and time for 15 minutes, plunge into ice water and chill.

Drain tuna, leaving a small amount of oil clinging to fish, and reserving drained oil, flake tuna into a medium mixing bowl.

Toss mixed greens with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Plate salad by putting a mound of tuna in the center of the mixed greens and surround with remaining ingredients, drizzle a little dressing over vegetables and serve extra dressing on the side.

Save any remaining vinaigrette and store in glass jar, refrigerated for up to 4 weeks.

Santa Cruz Road Trip

Back to Your Roots Weekend Tour

Chef Debbi & The Debettes on the Coast

Medlock Ames sign, sm-w

The Debettes & I packed our bags and headed north for some exploratory fun. Since we have one Debette who luckily gets to live in Cambria, the southern ones and I took off for Cambria on a Fri, spent a tasty evening at Sea Chest Restaurant chatting it up with the cooks and left Sat. morning for Santa Cruz and points north.

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We inadvertently picked the wrong weekend as all up and down the coast there were graduations and traffic galore but we always have fun no matter what happens! We drove up 101 to just past Monterey and came over to the coast at Moss Landing. Hot and dry inland, Moss Landing was shrouded with fog (we liked that better anyway). Up hwy 1 through very crowded Santa Cruz and up to meet our friends in Pescadero at Harley Goat Farm. Since we were just about an hour behind schedule we all pulled our lunch goodies out and set up one of the picnic tables in the field next to the farm.

Lunch Group, Harley Farms, sm w

Bright and sunny with some little puffy patchy clouds the weather was perfect for an ‘out in the field’ lunch. Fresh baked bread that came with our friend George Menzelos from San Francisco, the olive oil king, and our blogger friend, Robin Ove, from Santa Cruz; George also brought some tasty bakery cookies for dessert. Salami, cheeses, smoked olives (that Robin smoked), farm fresh fruit, avocado, tomato confit and I can’t remember what else. Wine, of course, silly people! It was a lovely lunch in the middle of nowhere.

Momma Goat

We really came to see the goats and so we toured the little goat pens, the lovely patio garden and their cute gift shop filled with all things made from goat milk. I believe Harley Farms is the first to use edible flowers on top of their creamy goat cheeses.They make all sorts of products out of goat milk from ‘Baby Bum Balm’, Body Scrub, Facial Tonic to Goat Milk Liquid Soap.

 

The day is quickly getting away from us and we wanted to make one more stop at Love Apple Farm, which was about an hour away so we packed up and headed out.

More farm touring in the next issue.

 

Want to join us on a Farm, Food and Wine Tour? Our next adventure is Oct 23-25, 2015, look here for more info……Oct. Farm, Food and Wine Tour

Tomato Confit Recipe here

tomatoconfit-chez pim 2006

Hawaiian Luau Feast

luau 002

Summer is almost here and if you can’t visit the Islands we can certainly take some of the traditional Hawaiian foods and tweak them to our recipes and summer picnics. Our next cooking class uses many of these ingredients and we show you ways to incorporate them into your backyard parties.

luau 001

While we can’t host a traditional luau in the tasting room we can enjoy a luau type picnic with foods of the Islands. In ancient Hawaii men and women ate their meals separately but in 1819 King Kamehameha removed all religious laws and taboos and men and women began eating together, creating the first luau feast.

luau_party_0

The name luau refers to a dish made with chicken wrapped in taro leaves (luau), and baked in coconut milk; it’s served with slightly salty, smoky Kalua pig (pork). Kalua means ‘the hole’ and refers to the pit (an imu oven) the pig is cooked in. Simply put, the pig is steamed over a long period of time and is similar to a smoky pulled pork dish.

Hawaiian-Luau Fun

We’ll be doing our Kalua pork in a pressure cooker but the flavors will be able to develop while we talk and prepare other side dishes that use traditional Hawaiian ingredients. We might even be able to talk Tammy into a little hula (we know she can)!

Join us in the Temecula Olive Oil Tasting Room, Seal Beach for our fun little Hawaiian party. Learn a little about Hawaiian tradition and a conversation about cooking with pressure cookers!

Click here to see full menu

Our class goes off next week! Thursday, June 11th 6:30 p.m.Make your reservation today!

Luau Sign

For Reservations Call (562) 296-5421

 

 

The Chef, The Photographer and The Adventure

tastyfstops-April-watermarked

 

Meet my friend, Christina Peters, photographer, and experience adventure through her eyes and lens. Christina’s new website, tastyfstops.com, chronicles her adventures through food, farms, travel and more. She began her new adventure in my spring garden and through her lens and my recipes we’ll bring you through one (or more) harvests of my potager (vegetable) garden. Sign up for Christina’s newsletter and follow us through spring and summer into fall and winter. Enjoy.

 

Christina-blackberries-watermarkedIt’s berry season in the garden and my blackberries and boysenberries are off to an early start. This is one of Christina’s beautiful, succulent shots and here’s a tasty little recipe to get your summer started right! Blackberry Crumb Bars

And speaking of summer, check out the new cooking classes for June, we still have a few seats for this Thursday also. Two summery classes in June, A Summer Picnic Party and an Adult 4th of July menu. We’ll be hosting one more class in July (on the 9th) then I am off for another knee surgery and won’t see you back until the end of summer! So grab a spot while you can.

Mangia!

Debbi

 

Lemon & Lavender Butter Cookies

Lemon & Lavender Butter Cookies

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3 dozen cookies

  • 1 teaspoon dried lavender buds
  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or baking liners.

Grind lavender buds in a clean coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, ground lavender buds, lemon zest, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar. Beat until combined. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour mixture.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-inch-long log. Wrap log in plastic wrap or waxed paper. Chill for 2 to 24 hours or until firm.

On a lightly floured surface, cut roll into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices 2 inches apart on prepared sheet pan.

Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

So. Coast Plaza Garden Show Recipes

Windrose Farms Oct 2014-Herb & Cheese Tart w.

 

Spring Herb Tart

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  • 1 recipe pate Brisée recipe, with
  • 1 Tb. chopped fresh thyme, add thyme to flour and stir well
  • ½ pound fontina cheese, grated (or more-to your taste)
  • 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into ¼” pieces
  • 1 tablespoon Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°. Pre-bake the shell according to directions in Pate Brisée recipe. Let cool to room temperature or cool overnight. Sprinkle with the cooled crust with fontina cheese. Arrange the asparagus pieces around the bottom of the shell, season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh herb sprigs. Serve room temperature or slightly warmed. Can be served along with a light salad tossed with vinaigrette dressing.

Serves 6

If you wanted to turn this into a quiche mix together 4 eggs & one cup of cream, half and half or milk. Pour it over the cheese and asparagus and bake approximately 40 minutes. You may have to cover the edge of the crust with foil to prevent it from burning.

Adapted from 'What's In Your Pantry' by Debbi Dubbs

Pate Brisée (Pie Crust)

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From ‘What’s In Your Pantry’

www.debskitchen.com
info@debskitchen.com

  • Pâte Brisée (Pie Dough)
  • 2 ½ cups flour, (10 ¾ oz.)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks butter, cut into pieces
  • 3-5 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (for Pâte Sucrée, sweet pie dough)

Add flour and salt (sugar also if making Pâte Sucrée) into the bowl of a food processor; pulse a few times to incorporate all the ingredients.

Add the butter and process until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is pea size.

Place the mixture into a wide bowl and add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together. Don’t overwork the dough or it will be tough, not flaky. Once the dough comes together in a ball, divide it into two pieces, flatten into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Dough can be wrapped well at this point and frozen for up to three months. Let the dough defrost overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Roll one chilled disk out on a floured counter or rolling mat, lifting and moving the dough every few rolls to help prevent sticking. Add only enough flour to the counter to keep the dough from sticking.

Place your pan on top of the dough to make sure it is the correct size, it should be slightly larger than the pan, then roll the dough onto your rolling pin and unroll over your pan. Gently lift and lay the dough to fit the pan, never pull the dough to stretch it. Lightly press the dough into the pan, roll your rolling pin over the top edge of the tart or pie pan and remove excess pastry.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400°.

To blind bake:

Blind baking is baking the dough without filling.

Prick the bottom and sides of the dough; cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the dough, butter the dull side and lay the buttered side on the bottom of the dough and press into the sides. Line with pie weights or dried beans and bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the weights and foil and let cool before filling

Makes 2 - 10” crusts

Berry Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

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  • ½ shallot, minced
  • 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup Pomegranate vinegar, another light vinegar could be used as well
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, approximately
  • 6 cups baby greens, washed and dried well
  • 2 small Persian cucumbers, sliced
  • 2 cups croutons
  • 1 container each of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (strawberries sliced)
  • 2 avocados, diced, optional

In a small bowl mix together the shallot, Dijon mustard and vinegar. Add a pinch of sea salt and a little grind of pepper. While whisking slowly pour the oil in until the dressing starts to thicken a little and emulsify. Stop and taste the dressing before adding the remaining oil. You may not need all of the oil depending on the flavor of the vinegar. Add more as necessary.

In a large salad bowl toss together the lettuce, cucumbers and croutons with a little of the dressing. Just until the greens have a shimmer of dressing on them. Season with sea salt and pepper, toss again, taste and adjust dressing and seasonings. Add berries and avocados and drizzle with a little of the dressing.

Serves 6

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