Bulb Basics

9 / 22 / 1412 / 3 / 14

As we prepare for fall planting season, we’re going back to bulb school. Follow these
tips from the experts to ensure successful planting and bulb longevity!

Always plant bulbs pointed side up.
Do not use strong commercial fertilizer or fresh manure when planting.
Label bulbs as you plant them to prevent accidentally digging up bulbs out of
season. Use labels that are large enough so that 2-3″ of the label is below soil level.
Let the foliage die back on its own before trimming it back, and take as little foliage
as possible when harvesting cut flowers. The leaves and foliage are essential for storing
food for next year.
Never store bulbs in the sun or in an airtight container. A dry, shady, well-ventilated
area will prevent mold and mildew.
Do not grow bulbs year after year in the same place. This could invite fire blight, a fungal
disease that affects both the flowers and the foliage.

Thanks to K. Van Bourgondien & Sons, Inc. and Gardens Alive! for timely bulb help!

Wine Harvest Lunch

9 / 4 / 1412 / 3 / 14

The drought and the warmest temperatures in California’s recorded history have once again brought about an early wine grape harvest all over Ca. From Napa, Sonoma to Paso Robles, Los Olivos in between and even Temecula. Harvest seems to be about 2 weeks ahead of schedule and brix levels are promising another great vintage. Brix levels are measurements used on the grapes to determine the sugar content and helps vineyard management decide when to harvest in an effort the get the ideal balance of flavor and alcohol content in the wine.

The warm temperatures this winter caused an early bud break and great early growth of the vines. Veraison, “the onset of ripening”, is the process where the grapes begin the transition from growth to ripening. Some areas in California actually began harvesting in July, in Paso and parts of Napa for example. After a warm winter and spring, in July and August they have experienced some morning marine influence with warm, windy afternoons that has slowed the grape maturity allowing the gradual development of sugars and acidity for harvest. Many white varietals have been picked and light reds such as Pinots have begun with Merlot and Cabernet to follow. Vintners are looking for another good vintage out of this years harvest. We all look forward to experiencing the 2014 Ca. harvest in the future.

By the time we visit Rangeland Winery & Adelaida Ranch with our Fall Harvest Tour, most grapes will have been picked which is a good thing if it turns out to be true that California expects to experience a moderate El Nino, of course I that would be good for all of California. Expect a few grape clusters perhaps; fall leaves will prevail for our trip making for some excellent photographs. Rangeland is dotted with mighty oaks; laurel, live, blue and valley are growing all over the ranch. During our tour of the ranch Laird will share the history of the Adelaida Ranch, the Salinan Nation and Chumash natives as well as the miners and homesteaders. Lisa and Laird have an extensive collection of Native American tools and artifacts that have been found on the property as well. Late fall you might even glimpse the wild turkeys that can be found all over Paso Robles, hawks, deer, bobcats and even a pair of bald eagles may be spotted. Join us on our late fall tour, we have a few available accommodations left.

This has been our Fall Harvest Tour ‘Windrose Farm Heirloom Tomato Tart’ recipe for many of our farm lunches. Enjoy,

Windrose Farm Tomato Tart

1 recipe pate brisee

1 cup fontina cheese, grated (or more-to your taste)

1/4 cup boursin cheese

1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded

1/4 cup Jarlsberg cheese, shredded

3 medium heirloom tomatoes, sliced

1 tablespoon Parmigiano-Reggiano

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°. Pre-bake the shell according to directions in Pate Brisee recipe. Let cool to room temperature or cool overnight.

Sprinkle with the cooled crust with cheeses.

Arrange the tomatoes in an overlapping circle and season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with Parmigianno-Reggiano.

Bake until the cheese is melted and tomatoes are slightly wilted, 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

Adapted from ‘What’s In Your Pantry’ by Debbi Dubbs

Windrose Farm

8 / 28 / 1411 / 5 / 14

I met Barbara and Bill Spencer sometime around 2004 when I was scouting heirloom tomatoes from Paso Robles farmers market. Barbara invited me out to the farm and so my husband and I trekked out there one morning. We didn’t want to disrupt their farm work but yet they stopped working when we arrived and gave us a thorough tour of their lovely little farm. It is such a peaceful unique farm you just want to lie down in the grass and daydream watching the clouds pass by. But a farmers work is never done and we wanted to get out of their way so they could return to their chores. Absolutely not! They insisted we stay for lunch and Bill pulled a beautiful roasted mutton out of the refrigerator and a loaf of freshly baked bread, yes Bill makes his own bread! Barbara foraged for greens and veggies for a salad and whipped up a delicious little dressing. We ate and chatted about life and the farm for what seemed like all afternoon and with sadness had to depart and leave this magical place.

I host several tours to Cambria and Paso Robles and I always finish the tour on Sunday with a day at Windrose Farm with Bill and Barbara. No-one ever wants to leave! I wish all of you could join us for a weekend discovering food and wine and a central coast lifestyle but if you can’t, I’d like to share a piece of Windrose Farm with you. Following is an excerpt from their website and a glimpse inside the magic of Windrose Farm. Join us Oct 24th – Oct 26th for a trip that includes a visit to Windrose.
Windrose is a small family farm located east of Paso Robles and tucked into a unique valley of 50 acres, 12 are in vegetable rotations, 6 are in apples and stone fruit and 5 are sheep pasture. The rest is habitat – full of animal, bird and insect life.

Owners Bill and Barbara Spencer have been certified organic from August 1999 to 2009, but are currently transitioning to biodynamic! The farm has been “clean” for twenty years; since its purchase in 1990.

In 1993 Windrose began going to the Farmer’s Markets with produce from their first small market garden. Having already discovered the enjoyment of growing many “specialty” varieties of vegetables – most particularly heirloom tomatoes and potatoes, they also found they loved selling to wonderful restaurants as well as to their friends at Farmer’s Markets.
In addition to tomatoes and potatoes, Windrose grows onions, garlic, green and dry beans, peppers, eggplant, winter squash, carrots, turnips, beets, cucumbers, melons and many varieties of greens. They also have apples and stone fruit. Their little valley is a unique micro-climate that is good for the diverse crops of lilacs, apples, super-sweet onions and melons.
Bill & Barbara state that “The longer we farm, the more enthralled we are with the old traditional seeds and plants. We strive as much as possible to use open-pollinated or heirloom varieties and have begun our own seed-saving program. Every day brings us more knowledge and a stronger belief in the principals and practices of sustainable organic farming. It is complex and labor-intensive – but the burst of life in the soil and the habitat of our little valley is astonishing.”

Our Philosophy

Barbara and Bill have often sought to better explain their philosophy about the environment that is Windrose Farm.

In this years Biodynamic calendar we found the following by Patrick Holden, a soils expert, long time organic farmer and advocate of the ‘biodynamic‘ philosophy:

“We subscribe to Rudolph Steiner’s* philosophy that the farm should be seen as an ecosystem in its own right, and that our striving should be to move towards building and maintaining plant and animal communities, which are ecologically suited to its unique combination of soil, climate and place.”

Barbara and Bill cherish their time at the ecosystem that is Windrose and sharing the bounty that it produces.
* Rudolph Steiner founder and creator of the “Biodynamic philosophy and principles.

Visit Windrose Farm at www.windrosefarm.org

Join Chef Debbi and The Debettes for our

Fall Farm, Food and Wine Tour

of California’s Central Coast

for more info click here

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

8 / 19 / 1412 / 3 / 14

Store these tomatoes in a jar covered with olive oil, use a lemon olive oil if desired. For a quick appetizer see below.

1 pound Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon basil, chiffonade

1 teaspoon thyme

1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat the oven to 350∫F. Arrange the tomato halves cut side up and close together on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, and herb. Drizzle over tomatoes and bake until the tomatoes are soft and shriveled but still retain some moisture, about one hour.

Let cool completely. Tomatoes can be stored in a glass jar, cover tomatoes with olive oil, seal and refrigerate.

For sauce: Process in a food processor and warm in a large saute pan.

For a quick appetizer, stuff roasted tomato halves with the following.

Mix together 1 log of goat cheese, 2 Tb. fresh chopped herbs and 1 -2 Tb. of heavy cream.

Mix until goat cheese is soft but not runny.

Spoon or pipe herbed goat cheese onto dried tomato, serve with a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar.

What do you do with all those Tomatoes?

8 / 19 / 1412 / 3 / 14

There are many ways to save your harvest and if you have more tomatoes than you know what to do with here are some ideas.

First and foremost is water bath canning, I love this because it means that I can store tomatoes on the shelf in my pantry for the year. Fairly easy to do but when it’s hot and humid out like it has been this summer FORGET IT!

As many of you already know, I like to freeze my tomatoes also so later when it’s cool I can make sauce or unfreeze and can them to make more room in the freezer for up and coming dinners. Freezing tomatoes is the fastest way to get things done, wash, and dry then freeze on a baking sheet until frozen solid, pop into a freezer bag and you are done for the day! You can remove one or four at a time, whatever you need and as they begin to defrost, which is almost right away, the skin will slip off easily.

My second favorite is to make Oven Roasted Tomatoes, although it does require having the oven on for some length of time. I love to dry my cherry tomatoes and then float them in a good olive oil and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. Chopped in a salad, in a bruschetta or top on a pizza, they pack a flavorful punch. Fill up your baking sheet and get started right away!

Oven Roasted Tomato Recipe

Great Pepper Cookbook

8 / 4 / 1412 / 4 / 14

Do you know how to cook with peppers? Would you like to learn more about peppers? When you think about peppers do you automatically think peppers are hot? Depending on where a person grew up you’ve either had experience with peppers or you didn’t, I didn’t. I just found the right book to learn about how to incorporate peppers into my dishes. “The Great Pepper Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing and Cooking with Peppers,” from the team at Melissa’s Produce and it is filled with all kinds of great information.

Seasonally inspiring and timed just right for the upcoming summer pepper season the book offers insight into how and when to use fresh or dried peppers or how to exchange the two. What the heck is The Scoville Scale (it determines the heat unit of a pepper) and is loaded with tasty recipes for any palate. From breakfast to dessert and drinks, you can learn to appreciate peppers in a new light.

One of my favorite dishes from the book are the Crab Cake Sandwiches using the flavorful Shishito pepper which is kind of new on the food scene. A sweet and mild small pepper that’s perfect to throw on the grill as a side with steak or chicken also. The book is filled with pictures and information on a large variety of peppers and if you’d like to get your hands on a copy or learn more from the Melissa Team they will be doing a demonstration and book signing this summer at Rancho los Alamitos in Long Beach. Sign up for this event before it sells out and come by to try some of the Melissa Teams tasty recipes. If you miss out on tickets to this event, you can always pick up a book on Melissa’s website, www.melissas.com
For information on the Rancho Los Alamitos event follow this link, http://rancholosalamitos.com/events/2014_pepper_workshop/index.html

What To Do with all those Luscious Summer Peaches!

7 / 30 / 1412 / 4 / 14

Oh all those beautiful rosy peaches from the farmers market! They smell like summer and I don’t know about you but I wait all year for them to show up!
I have a peach tree but that in no way yields enough peaches to satisfy my sweet tooth. Seasonal peaches are available in California from June to Sept.. Peaches from other parts of the world are usually picked hard and mostly premature and will never develop that sweet summer flavor.

The following is part of the prologue to David Mas Masumoto’s book ‘Epitaph for a Peach’, he is talking about the Sun Crest peach but I think it reflects all good peaches. “Sun Crest is one of the last remaining truly juicy peaches. When you wash that treasure under a stream of cooling water, your fingertips instinctively search for the gushy side of the fruit. Your mouth waters in anticipation. You lean over the sink to make sure you don’t drip on yourself. Then you sink your teeth into the flesh and the juices trickle down your cheeks and dangle on your chin. This is a real bite, a primal act, a magical sensory celebration announcing that summer has arrived. “ That sounds like a juicy summer peach to me, what about you?

Choose peaches that yield slightly to pressure, hard fruit isn’t ripe and though it will get softer, it won’t get tastier. Peaches need to develop flavor and sweetness while still hanging on the tree, color will vary with peach varieties but avoid peaches that show any sign of green. Smell the peach for sweetness and you’ll be fine.

Peaches should be kept at room temperature until soft and then refrigerated but don’t wait too long to eat them or they’ll over ripen.

I find it pretty easy to peel a ripe peach with a sharp paring knife or you can blanch in boiling water for a few seconds, don’t over do or you’ll start to cook the fruit flesh.

Here’s my favorite cobbler recipe that I pieced together from two different recipes that I love. One from my favorite boysenberry pie and the cobbler batter from Marcy Masumoto’s ‘French Peach Cobbler’ recipe in the Masumoto Families new book, The Perfect Peach: Recipes and Stories from The Masumoto Family Farm.

Peach Cobbler

Filling

4          cups peeled, chopped fresh peaches
1 cup sugar, approximately
¼ cup cornstarch
pinch sea salt
1          teaspoon cinnamon
1/3      cup Grand Marnier
1          tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Batter

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3      cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2          tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1          egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a 9” square baking pan and set aside.

Filling:

Add peaches to a medium sized bowl and toss gently with sugar. Depending on how sweet the peaches are, add more or less sugar.

In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, sea salt, cinnamon and Grand Marnier. Toss the peaches with the cornstarch mixture and lemon juice.

Add the filling to the prepared pan.

Batter:

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt, mix well. Add the butter and egg, stir together until the batter is smooth.

Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto the fruit mixture and bake 40 – 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Remove from oven and cool before serving.

Fall Harvest Tour

7 / 2 / 1412 / 3 / 14

Fall Harvest Tour

Central Coast Fall Harvest Adventure

October 24th – 26th, 2014

Join Chef Debbi on another Farm, Food and Wine Adventure

Stay at the lovely Cambria Pines Lodge
Join Chef Debbi & her Debettes for a dinner party/wine tasting Friday evening

Saturday
Be escorted by The Wine Wrangler experts around Paso Robles to visit:
Pasolivo Olive Ranch for a tasting of local olive oils & more
Rangeland Ranch and Winery
Take a hay ride around the sustainable ranch and vineyards with owner Laird Foshay
Wine Tasting and Vineyard lunch with Lisa & Laird on the patio with a panaromic view of the hills

Wine tasting on Vineyard Dr. as we make our way back to Jack Creek Pumpkin Farm where you can pick up holiday pumpkins, gourds and more

Sat. evening explore local cuisine on your own and rest up for Sun!

Sunday we’ll caravan to Windrose Farm for a biodynamic tour of Bill & Barbara Spencers mystical farm
Chef Debbi, Barbara & Debettes will create a farm feast for you with what we’ve found on the farm that day
In season usually we can find luscious heirloom tomatoes, shishito peppers, potatoes, all kinds of greens and it’s apple season!

Don’t miss this limited seating tour. Drive yourself up the coast and meet Chef Debbi & her crew for a Farm, Food and Wine Adventure!

Oct 24-26th
$675.00, per person, double occupancy
I also have a special suite for a party of 5-6 ppl, call for a special rate
All rooms have fireplaces, hot buffet breakfast is included

SAVE!!!
$650.00 total fee if paid in full by Sept 1. Payment plan available, contact Chef Debbi @ info@debskitchen for billing

There will be a 2.9% fee added (listed as a ‘tax’) but it is a credit card fee that goes to Paypal

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

6 / 29 / 1412 / 3 / 14

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Photo from Central Coast Lavender

Makes about 50 cookies

1 tablespoon dried lavender blossoms

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons heavy cream (or 1 egg whisked with a little water)

extra lavender sugar for sprinkling on top

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Set aside.

In a small spice grinder (I use my cleaned out coffee grinder) to grind up 1 tablespoon lavender and 1 tablespoon sugar. Grind it up! You could also use a mortar and pestle to grind the sugar and lavender together.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment add butter, ground lavender mixture, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Cream on medium speed until slightly more pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the flour, mix on low speed until dough comes together. The dough will be crumbly, then begin to form when it continues to mix. Dump dough mixture out onto a clean surface and form into a ball with your hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Divide refrigerated dough into quarters. On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut cookies, or use a pizza cutter to slice cookies into squares. Use a fork to prick cookies. Brush very lightly with cream or egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Refrigerate cookies while oven preheats.

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350° .

When oven is preheated, bake cookies for 8 to 11 minutes, until just browned around the edges. Remove from oven. Allow cooling on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes then removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies last, in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to 4 days.

adapted slightly from Party Like a Culinista

Holtz Avocado Ranch

6 / 25 / 1412 / 3 / 14

California Avocados

I have a love affair with California avocados, ever since I was a little girl, I could never get enough. My grandmother used to feed us mashed avocado on toast with a little salt and pepper every day during the season and it is still my favorite for breakfast! Or even a little snack.

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit an avocado farm, but not just any farm, Holtz Family Avocado Farm in Escondido. Their forest of avocado trees is just so beautiful; it’s so inspiring just to walk the grove. Growing these avocados is a three-year process from budding the growth to blooming and then a year for the fruit to ripen. You can see the baby avocados, which will be ready for next years harvest, hanging on a tree right next to the avocados that are being picked for this years harvest. Avocados like to grow up in the light and when the trees get too tall it can be dangerous picking but the farm hands are experienced and work with the family year round.

The Holtz family grow mostly Hass avocados but some Reeds as well and they have a unique way of getting great avocados directly to you, they pick them at the perfect time and then ship them to you in their specially designed boxes. All avocados are hand picked and shipped the same day; the ripening comes on your end with easy step by step instructions that are enclosed in your ‘Hand Grown in California’ avocado box. Simple, easy and delicious California avocados can be ordered from their website, California Avocados Direct.
And for inspiration on recipes, stories and life on an avocado ranch visit Mimi’s blog at Mimi Avocado; tell her Chef Debbi sent you!

Use California avocados in Chef Debbi’s Gazpacho recipe! Gazpacho recipe here.

How To Peppers

6 / 11 / 1412 / 3 / 14

Do you know how to cook with peppers? Would you like to learn more about peppers? When you think about peppers do you automatically think peppers are hot? Depending on where a person grew up you’ve either had experience with peppers or you didn’t, I didn’t. I just found the right book to learn about how to incorporate peppers into my dishes. “The Great Pepper Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing and Cooking with Peppers,” from the team at Melissa’s Produce and it is filled with all kinds of great information.

The book is filled with pictures and information on a large variety of peppers and if you’d like to get your hands on a copy or learn more from the Melissa Team they will be doing a demonstration and book signing this summer at Rancho los Alamitos in Long Beach. Sign up for this event before it sells out and come by to try some of the Melissa Teams tasty recipes. If you miss out on tickets to this event, you can always pick up a book on Melissa’s website, www.melissas.com

For information on the Rancho Los Alamitos event follow this link, Rancho Pepper Workshop

Boysenberry Tart

5 / 30 / 1412 / 3 / 14

Pastry:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 pinch salt
6 Tablespoon Unsalted butter, cold
1 Egg yolk, slightly whisked
1 Tablespoon Lemon juice
Filling:
3 Tablespoon Cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Grand Marnier, or more if needed
3/4 cup Sugar
1 cup boysenberries or more as needed

Pastry:
In large bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt. With pastry blender or food processor, cut in butter until it resembles tiny peas. Mix together egg yolk, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water; sprinkle over flour mixture. Stirring with fork, add a little more water if necessary to hold dough together. Using hands, gently shape pastry into ball. Press dough 1/8″ thick into flan pan. Refrigerate while making filling.

Filling:
Preheat oven to 425°.
In small saucepan, stir together Grand Marnier & cornstarch till smooth. Stir in sugar. Add boysenberries and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes or till thickened.

Let cool; spoon into shell, filling no more than 2/3 full. Bake in 425° oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake 15 minutes longer or till pastry is golden brown. Let cool 15 minutes before removing to rack.