Fall/Winter Vegetable Gardening

Vegetables to plant in our

So. California gardens now

Beets

Be sure to thin plants to about 3″ apart and harvest when they are small for a sweet flavor. Leaves and stems are edible, steam lightly or add to a salad.
To cook, place in a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast in a 450° oven for about 10-15 min. or until tender. Rub skin off with a towel

Broccoli/Cauliflower

Buy transplants in the fall and bury the stem up above second row of leaves. Try roasting these vegetables in a 450° oven. Place cut up pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet, toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and any other seasoning you may like (red pepper flakes, garlic powder, lemon juice. Roast for 10 -15 minutes or until tender.

Cabbage

Cabbage is in the same family as broccoli and cauliflower. Homemade sauerkraut is the best! Cut out the fore of the cabbage and thinly slice the leaves into shreds. Place in a large bowl, add 1 1/2 Tb. kosher or canning salt and knead or massage the salt into the cabbage until it releases it’s liquid. Pack into a quart jar with a wide mouth and pour all liquid over the cabbage. Make a brine of 1 cup water and 1 Tb. kosher salt, stir to dissolve salt and then pour it all into a quart freezer bag, place this on top on the cabbage and place a piece of cheesecloth over the mouth of the jar, tie down with string or a rubber band and place in a cool, dark place on your counter. The second day, remove bag and press down on the cabbage to see if it will release more moisture. It should ideally cover the cabbage, if it doesn’t add more brine by either adding the ingredients in the freezer bag or make a new brine by stirring together 1 cup water and 1 tea. kosher salt. cover the cabbage and let stand for 3 -10 days. Begin tasting sauerkraut on the 3rd day, when it reaches the flavor you want, place a cap on the jar and store in your refrigerator.

Carrots

Make sure you have nice loose soil so the carrots can grow long and deep. Thin them when they sprout to give them room to grow, add the thinnings to your salad, soup or stew. Slow roast carrots as you would the broccoli or cauliflower. Drizzle with honey after roasting.

Leafy Greens

Lettuces, spinach, chard, mustard and kale all grow very well over the winter but plant at 2 -3 week intervals for a staggered supply of greens instead of harvesting all at once. Many greens can be lightly sautéed or eaten raw.

Onions & Garlic

Plant onions from ‘starts’ rather than from seeds. Pick short day varieties for best harvest. Scallions that are succession planted can be harvested over the winter/spring season.
Plant garlic from bulbs, plant pointed end up and cut off any green that is sprouting from the top.

Peas

Fall & Spring harvested peas are sweet and easy to grow. Plant a variety from English peas or shelling peas to sugar snap peas. Give them a trellis or cage to grown on and harvest daily for a continued harvest.
Peas and pea pods are lovely lightly steamed or even raw.

You can still plant sweet peas this month for spring flowering

Holiday Entertaining

9 / 21 / 199 / 21 / 19

Hands On Fun at Rancho los Alamitos

9 / 11 / 199 / 11 / 19

Food Crafting with Chef Debbi

& Debs Kitchen

Saturday, Oct 12^th

10:00 am– 12:30

Adults $75.00

Children* ages 10-14 $35.00

*Children must be accompanied by an adult.

By reservation only

Click below for reservations or call or email

Reserve my spot

562-431-3541 or info@rancholosalamitos.org

Reservations close Mon. Oct 7^th

Enjoy a fun-filled autumn morning with family at the beautiful

Rancho Los Alamitos Historic Ranch & Gardens.

Learn together to make (& take)

Gifts from the Garden.

For the adults to make and take:

Herbal Salt Tin

Cranberry Vinegar

Meyer Lemon Infused Olive Oil

Peppermint-Lavender Room Spray

Holiday Stovetop Potpourri

For the Kids to make and take:

Peppermint Biscotti in a Jar

Strawberry Mint Mojito Mocktail

A seasonal salad will be served with a

Cranberry-Lemon Vinaigrette prepared by Chef Debbi.

Special thanks to Melissa’s Produce for donating event supplies.

A Simple Meal

7 / 9 / 19

Grilled Prime Ribeye Steak

Last week we had friends over and grilled a Prime Ribeye steak that I had cut off a bone in prime rib roast, the steak was about 3 lbs. and 4″ thick. I had just attended a book signing/demo at Melissa’s Produce with Jamie Purviance and his new book, Weber’s Ultimate Grilling and was eager to try some of his fabulous recipes.

When I brought this book home my husband, Frank, promptly stole it and put it on his side of the table. After several readings he was excited to try some new ideas that he picked up from the book. He decided to set up our Weber with a ‘hot’ side and a ‘cool’ side and he also wanted to get a little smoke on the steak so to get the ‘smoke’ he placed a chunk of hardwood into a pan, filled it with water and let it soak for an hour or so. Then he placed it on the hot side of the bbq, closed the lid and let it heat up to a smoke point.

I made sure the meat was nice and dry, seasoned it with Himalayan Pink Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper. We grilled it on the hot side of the bbq for about 3 minutes, turning it a quarter turn before flipping it over to the other side and repeating the process. Frank then moved the steak to the cool side and covered the Weber with the lid; we let it smoke until the steak was about 125°, removed it and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing it. This ensures the meat will be rare to medium rare when we do cut it; the steak will continue to cook after it’s removed from the heat and it needs the off heat time to let the juices settle back into the meat.

We added some grilled corn and a garden fresh salad with just picked tomatoes, cucumbers & mixed greens. The prime rib was tender, juicy with just a little hint of smoke, a success all around. We’ll definitely be using this method in the future for all cuts of meat and poultry. Thanks for the informative and thoughtful book Jamie!

Memorial Day 2019

5 / 23 / 19

Summer is almost here! Not that you would know that by the weather we’re having. The rain is nice and it makes the garden grow but my other half is craving those warm summer days. Even though here in Southern California we grill all year long, Memorial Day is the official start of grilling season. Whether you grill on gas, charcoal or wood these recipes are easy do ahead recipes for cooking outdoors and picnics. So clean up that grill and set the table because dinner is served! Check out this simple cheese platter, get A Little Book of Cheese to learn all about cheese and how to make a platter!

Summer Pasta Salad

Make this light summer pasta salad recipe a day ahead of time so that it can soak up all the bright, tangy dressing.

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, cooked and chilled*

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.

*Boil the pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water. When pasta has cooled down a bit, shake off excess water (dry with a towel, if necessary) and toss lightly with olive oil to keep from it sticking together. Refrigerate until ready to toss with dressing. Be sure to cool your pasta before adding the dressing otherwise the pasta will soak it all up.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

This is quick and easy do ahead baby back ribs. By using your Instant Pot or pressure cooker your ribs will come out nice and tender. Finish off on the grill with your favorite BBQ sauce.

1 slab Baby Back Pork Ribs
Sea salt and pepper
1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, large diced, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 cup beer (or water)
1 cup BBQ sauce or more

Cut the racks of ribs in to sections that will fit in the pressure cooker and rub with salt and pepper.

Place onion, celery, carrot and beer in the pressure cooking pot. If you’re going to make sauce from the juices in the pressure cooker you can place the ribs directly in the liquid or put the ribs on the rack if you’re going to finish the ribs on the grill or under the broiler with another sauce.

Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. Select High Pressure and set the timer for 12 minutes. Press start.

When beep sounds, turn off pressure cooker and use a natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release to release any remaining pressure. When valve drops carefully remove lid.

Remove the ribs and cool to room temperature. Once cool, refrigerate until ready to serve.

To finish the ribs:

Preheat the BBQ grill to a medium high heat. Coat one side of the ribs with BBQ sauce and grill 3 minutes. Coat the other side with BBQ sauce flip and grill an additional 3 minutes. Slather on additional BBQ sauce and grill each side for an additional 3 minutes.

You could do the same as above by broiling them until just how you like them.

Serve immediately.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

The perfect BBQ side dish as they can be made in advance, wrapped in foil and heated on the grill before serving.

2 medium to large russet potatoes, rinsed, dried
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup butter, (1/2 stick) room temperature
2 green onions or chives, chopped
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons cooked bacon, crumbled, optional

Preheat oven to 450°. Pierce potatoes with fork. Lightly oil potatoes and

place on oven rack. Bake until cooked through, about 1 hour. If potatoes

starts to crisp and brown up, turn the oven down to 400. Transfer to baking

sheet; cool 5 minutes. Cut potato in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop meat

from the shell and mix with remaining ingredients, mashing lightly as you go. Season and taste before scooping mixture into potato shell.

Can be prepared 1 day ahead, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before the final cooking stage.

Preheat oven to 400°. Bake potatoes on baking sheet until heated through

and beginning to brown, about 25 minutes. For the grill, wrap each ½ in heavy duty foil, heat on the indirect side of the grill for about 20 minutes or until hot. Garnish with finely minced green onions, chives or crumbled bacon.

Strawberry Season

4 / 8 / 19

There’s almost nothing better in spring than fresh strawberries (except for maybe asparagus, artichokes and morel mushrooms!

Look for strawberries that are red all the way to the top, those will be tasty, ripe strawberries. Pick organic if possible as strawberries are the number one fruit on the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list to retain pesticides. Pesticides do not wash off, ever. Besides the pesticide residue left on the fruit, the ground is prepared by pumping fumigants into it to sterilize the soil, killing every living creature that lives in the soil. You can read more on EWG’s website.

To prepare your strawberries, do not wash until you are ready to use or eat them. Water is their enemy. I like to slice them up and add a little sugar, macerate or squash them down a little and let them sit for awhile while the flavor develops. I sometimes will add a little Grand Marnier to the mix for an added dose of flavor. Spread them on a biscuit, slice of angel food cake, over ice cream or just eat them out of a bowl. Enjoy your strawberries while the sun is shining. Here’s a little individual cheesecake recipe for you to enjoy.

Mini Strawberry Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners or oil the inside of small jam jars.

Make the graham cracker crust:

Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press about 2-2 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin liner and press to compact.

Beat room temperature cream cheese with a hand mixer until fluffy. Beat in room temperature sour cream. Beat in egg, sugar, and vanilla extract. (Room temperature ingredients are a must to avoid lumps!)

Evenly divide (about 2-2 1/2 tablespoons each) cheesecake among crusts. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until they just begin to brown. Cool completely and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Serve plain or topped with whipped cream and berries.

March Demo Cooking Class

3 / 8 / 193 / 8 / 19

We’ve Moved!

Join us in our new home at Chef Tech in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach with owner Chef Teri.

We now have a full kitchen with tables & chairs and lots of room. We look forward to seeing you there soon! See new address at the bottom of the class menu, (you do not need to have a pay-pal account). You can sign up with Chef Debbi (call me, 562-243-3926) or click on the pay-pal button below. There is a small service charge for using pay-pal but you can always mail me a check. Classes are pre-paid reservations and cancellations are 100% refundable up to 3 days prior to class.

March Menu

Wed. March 20th

6:30 – 8:30PM

Spanish Tomato Toast

Romaine Heart Salad with Marinated Olives, Hearts of Palm, Tangerines &

Shaved Manchego

Spring Asparagus, Shrimp & Scallop Paella

Individual Strawberry Cheesecakes

NEW LOCATION!

Chef Tech Cooking School

3842 Atlantic Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90807

See April class date & menu by clicking on the month.

By Reservation Only, Sign up below

$55.00

(562) 243-3926

Debskitchen.com

info@debskitchen.com

Enjoy larger portions, Tables & More

A Little Book of Cheese

2 / 17 / 19

The first book in my ‘little’ series is available for pre-sale. Books will be shipped out March 11th! Please use the pre-sale link below to reserve your copy!

Feb Demo Cooking Class

2 / 3 / 192 / 10 / 19

We’ve Moved!

Join us in our new home at Chef Tech in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach with owner Chef Teri.

We now have a full kitchen with tables & chairs and lots of room. We look forward to seeing you there soon! See new address at the bottom of the class menu. You can sign up with Chef Debbi (call me, 562-243-3926) or click on the pay-pal button below, (you do not need to have a pay-pal account). There is a small service charge for using pay-pal but you can always mail me a check. Classes are pre-paid reservations and cancellations are 100% refundable up to 3 days prior to class.

Here are a couple of photo’s of Chef Tech’s Kitchen.

NOTE DATE CHANGE ON FEB CLASS

Wed., Feb. 27th

6:30 – 8:30, approximately

Caesar Dip with Crudités

Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

Glazed Steak Tips with Mushrooms & Blue Cheese

Dijon Roasted Potatoes with Parmesan & Chives

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes

NEW LOCATION!

Chef Tech Cooking School

3842 Atlantic Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90807

By Reservation Only, Sign up below

$55.00

(562) 243-3926

Debskitchen.com

info@debskitchen.com

Enjoy larger portions, Tables & More

See March & April class dates & menu’s by clicking on the month.

Quick and Easy Charcuterie Board

12 / 29 / 1812 / 29 / 18

1 cup mixed olives
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs, ground
1 wedge triple cream brie
1 small jar of fig jam or fruit spread
8 ounces aged Gouda
8 ounces aged sharp cheddar, thinly sliced
1 baguette, sliced 1-inch thick
1 round of boursin, any flavor
2 packages of interesting looking crackers
1 wedge blue cheese, partially crumbled
1 small jar of honey
1 package mixed Italian meats
1 small bunch red seedless grapes
4 ounces nuts, mixed or single
1 package, 4 oz. of dried apricots
2 apples, cored and sliced tossed with lemon juice to prevent browning

Mix together olives, olive oil and ground Italian herbs, let rest for at least an hour or longer.

Don’t crowd the cheese on the platter, make the board big enough to accommodate all ingredients.

Put the mixed olives in a small bowl and place on the platter.

Place the triple cream brie on the platter and arrange the fig or fruit spread next to the brie.

Place the sharp cheddar and gouda on the board next with the baguette slices nearby.

Then arrange the boursin near the baguette slices with the crackers next.

Add the blue cheese and honey on the board filling out the outer edges of the board. Tuck in the Italian meats all around the board, add the grapes in clumps and spread the nuts throughout the board with little pockets of dried fruit. Place the apples near the cheddar cheese.

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

11 / 30 / 18

1 # ground chicken
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Italian flat leafed parsley, chopped
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh ground Italian spices
Sea salt and pepper
Olive oil
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine ground chicken, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, egg and season with ground Italian spices and salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan, add enough oil to coast the bottom of the pan and brown meatballs on all sides. Remove meatballs and whip out the pan with a towel. Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan and bring to a simmer. Add the meatballs and mozzarella cheese and cook until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Cover with a lid if you like to melt the cheese faster, the meatballs are already cooked.

Serve immediately over pasta.

Meatballs and sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Adapted from Delish

Nov. Cooking Demo

10 / 21 / 18

Join us in Seal Beach

Thursday,

Nov. 8th & 15th