Cooking Class

10 / 18 / 1510 / 18 / 15

Temecula Olive Oil Co., Seal Beach

November Class

Thur. Nov. 12th

6:30-8:30 (approximately)

Smoked Trout Canapés with Pickled Onions and Mascarpone

Pomegranate, Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Salad

Braciole

Italian Stuffed Beef Rolls

Mushroom Bolognese

Chocolate Raspberry Linzertorte

10 – 20% off on all purchases the night of the class

Class Sponsored by

NOW TAKING RESERVATIONS!

Seal Beach Tasting Room By Reservation only, call: 562-296-5421

Classes are $45; Pre Paid Reservations only

Feel free to BYOB

Apple Recipes

10 / 6 / 1510 / 6 / 15

Apple, Pomegranate & Gorgonzola Salad

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 apple, tart
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese
Pomegranate seeds
Salad greens

Whisk the vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Slice the apple into matchsticks.

Crumble the Gorgonzola cheese into small pieces.

Place your salad greens in a large bowl and toss with the seeds, pine nuts, cheese and apples, reserving a few of all the add-ins. Adjust the seasoning to your liking. Drizzle a little of the dressing onto the greens and toss gently. Drizzle just enough dressing onto the salad to lightly coat the leaves - not too much. Add additional salt and pepper if you like and scatter the reserved toppings over the salad.

Applesauce

3 pounds apples, Gala, Honeycrisp or Jonagold
2/3 cup apple juice, orange juice or water
8 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Core, peel and cut the apples into medium sized pieces. Place all ingredients into a saucepan with lid and simmer over low heat until apples are very tender, about 45 minutes. Put through a food mill to create a soft creamy applesauce or use a potato masher and serve chunky, best served warm.

Making an Herbal Wreath

9 / 25 / 15

Herb Wreath Directions

Supplies Needed:
Wreath frame
Floral wire
Rubber bands
Twist ties
Herb stems, leaves and flowers

Gather your supplies and choose an herb to become the base of your wreath. I chose rosemary. Using twist ties and/or floral wire begin covering your wreath base. Be patient with this process. It takes longer to do than one would think.

Here are a few different techniques. Select 2-3 different herbs and create small bunches using rubber bands. Then add each bunch to the wreath, using floral wire to secure it. Or, simply poke individual sprigs into the wreath and securing them again with floral wire.

Directions and photo’s edited from Garden Therapy

Simple Cold Pasta Salad

8 / 18 / 15

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!

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

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.

Pan-Seared Scallops with Champagne Grapes and Almonds

7 / 28 / 15

16 large sea scallops, side muscles removed
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1-1/2 Tablespoons minced shallots
2/3 cup Champagne grapes (4 ounces) or black grapes, halved
1-1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted
1-1/2 Tablespoons chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
Salt and pepper

Melt 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the butter until it is browned, about 2 minutes. Salt and pepper your scallops before adding them to the pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side and transfer to a dish, covering to keep warm.

Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and grapes; sauce until the shallots are golden brown, about one minute. Stir in fresh lemon juice and any accumulated scallop juice from the plate of cooked scallops. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Stir in almonds and parsley.

Place scallops on individual plates and spoon the sauce over them. Serve immediately

Champagne Grapes

7 / 28 / 15

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

Summer Salads

6 / 29 / 156 / 29 / 15

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.

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

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.

Hawaiian Luau Feast

6 / 4 / 156 / 4 / 15

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.

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.

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.

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!

For Reservations Call (562) 296-5421

Lemon & Lavender Butter Cookies

5 / 5 / 155 / 8 / 15

Lemon & Lavender Butter Cookies

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

4 / 25 / 154 / 29 / 15

Spring Herb Tart

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)

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

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

Easter Potatoes

3 / 31 / 154 / 1 / 15

Potato Gratin

This rich, creamy gratin gets a note of smokiness from the bacon between the layers of tender potatoes.
by Molly Stevens from Fine Cooking

2-1/2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled & sliced into 1/8-inch thick rounds
2-1/2 cups heavy or light cream
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
4 oz. bacon
3 medium leeks, white and light-green parts only, thinly sliced
6 oz. grated Gruyère
2 to 3 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Serves 8

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Butter or oil a 3-quart gratin dish; set aside.

Put the potatoes, cream , 1/2 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper in a 12-inch skillet. Simmer, partially covered, over medium to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally and gently with a rubber spatula until the potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a fork or skewer, 8 to 12 minutes.

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until browned and fully cooked. Set aside to cool, reserving 2 tablespoons of the fat in the skillet. Heat the reserved fat over medium-high heat and sauté leeks until tender, fragrant, and lightly browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper. When the bacon is cool, crumble it into small pieces.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer half the potatoes to the prepared gratin dish, spreading them evenly. Layer on the leeks, bacon, Gruyère, thyme, and nutmeg. Top with the remaining potatoes spreading them evenly, and pour over any liquid remaining in the pan.

In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and melted butter.

Evenly scatter the topping mixture over the potatoes. Bake the gratin until it’s bubbly, the top is brown, and the potatoes are completely tender when poked with a fork or a skewer, 25 to 30 minutes. Let the gratin sit for at least 10 and up to 30 minutes before serving so the liquid is fully absorbed and the layers are cohesive.