Where’s Chef Debbi?
Join us for a long weekend of farm tours, wine tasting, vinegar tasting, a guided tour of olive oils and more.
Fri, Oct 27 – Sun, Oct 29
Stay at the beautiful Cambria Pines Lodge
Friday Night Dinner Party with Chef Debbi & The Debettes
The Wine Wrangler to Hambley Farms Lavender Fields,
Owner led farm tour, lavender picking (if lavender is still in bloom)
Picnic lunch.
Next we’ll visit a bio-dynamic farm and winery,
AmByth Winery
Owner led vineyard, winery tour & tasting
We’ll visit the lovely ladies at
for an olive oil immersion from education to tasting, with a walk in the groves
Picnic Lunch
Sponsored by
Limited Reservations (12 people)
Full Price $949.00
Deposit $400
Final Payment due Aug 1 $549.00
Tour |
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Why fight the crowds in a restaurant? Here are a few fool-proof recipes to create on your own!
I created this recipe to mimic the fabulous salad served at The Sea Chest restaurant in Cambria, Ca.
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Wrap each beet in a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle generously with olive oil and pinches of salt and pepper.
Place the beets on a baking sheet and roast for 40 to 90 minutes, or until soft and fork-tender, the size of the beet will determine the cooking time.
While the beets are cooking, make the vinaigrette.
Mix together the minced shallot, balsamic vinegar, and Dijon mustard, shake or whisk to mix well. While still whisking slowly pour in the oil until the mixture slightly emulsifies. Set aside while you finish the beets and create the salad, shake again just before serving.
Remove the beets from the oven, loosen the foil, and set aside to cool. When they are cool to the touch, peel the skins using a paper towel and just rubbing the skin off.
Let the beets cool and chill them in the fridge until ready to use.
Slice the beets into ¼-inch-thick rounds or if they’re small, use whole or half. Assemble the salad with the greens, beets, snow peas, carrot, cucumber, walnuts, cheese, and cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. Season with flaky sea salt and pepper and serve.
Baby beets may be hard to find. Trader Joe’s usually have some in a box in the produce section, they have already been cleaned & steamed so they’re easy to use. If you can’t find them, check out melissas.com, they carry them as well.
The Best Beef Stroganoff
Heat a large sauté pan and add oil and butter. Sauté onions until
translucent but not brown. Set aside. Add more oil and butter if needed;
sauté mushrooms until lightly browned and set aside with onions.
Dredge the meat in the flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Shake off
excess flour and brown the meat in small batches. Don't overcrowd the pan
or the meat will steam and not brown. Set meat aside with onions and
season with salt and pepper.
Deglaze the pan by adding the wine and scraping the bits from the bottom
of the pan, called fond. Reduce slightly and add the mustard,
Worcestershire sauce and stock. Return onions, mushrooms and steak to the
pan and simmer until slightly thickened.
Reduce heat to low and stir in the creme fraiche, re-season with salt and
pepper, heat until warmed through and serve over egg noodles.
Here’s a recipe that some recipe tasters were able to enjoy recently. Make some for this Valentine’s Day!
Tortes:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter four 3/4-cup custard cups or soufflé dishes. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Line bottom of cups with parchment paper rounds. Place on rimmed baking sheet.
Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Using on/off turns, blend almonds, amaretti, cinnamon, and salt in processor until finely ground. Transfer to medium bowl.
Add butter, sugar, and eggs to processor; mix until blended and smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 3 minutes. Add cookie mixture and melted chocolate. Using on/off turns, process just until blended.
Divide batter among custard cups. Bake until tops of tortes are dry and puffed and tester inserted into centers comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Transfer cups to rack; cool 15 minutes. Run small knife around edges of cups to release tortes. Turn tortes out onto rack and turn right side up; cool. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap in plastic and store at room temperature.)
Topping:
Beat together cream, sugar, and almond extract in medium bowl until cream holds peaks. (Can be made 4 hours ahead; refrigerate.)
Serve
Place 1 torte on each of 4 plates. Top with dollop of whipped cream, sprinkle with crumbled amaretti, and serve.
Amaretti cookies are available in most Italian deli’s and come in two sizes. The larger ones (used in this recipe) are bundled in pairs in colorful wrappers, while slightly smaller ones are packaged and unwrapped in sealed plastic bags. If using the smaller cookies, measure by weight (2.6 ounces total), not count.
Here are some recipes to help you through the day!
Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or a silpat.
Defrost puff pastry as directed on box. Sprinkle a cutting board with a dusting of flour, place one puff pastry sheet at a time on the cutting board and lightly roll out.
Cut puff pastry into equally sized rectangles for the number of sausages you have. Cut the pastry as wide as you like, leave a little bit of the sausage uncovered or cover the entire sausage.
Roll the sausage in the puff pastry. Place seam side down onto the baking sheet at least once inch apart.
Brush beaten egg/water mixture over the top of each pig in the blanket. Then sprinkle each pig in a blanket with a bit of the everything bagel seasoning blend.
Bake the pigs in a blanket in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.
Preheat oven to 450ºF. Spread grapes onto a sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Lay thyme leaves over top. Toss all together gently with your hands. Place pan in the oven for 7 to 9 minutes or until grapes just begin to burst.
Mix the Boursin cheese with enough cream to make it slightly soft and runny, set aside.
Meanwhile, heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Brush the bread with olive oil. Grill until nice and toasty.
Assemble the open-faced sandwiches: Spread Boursin mix over bread. Top with roasted grapes. Discard thyme sprigs.
Place first 3 ingredients in bowl. Mix in enough mayonnaise to form thick
spread.
Preheat broiler. Slice bread in half lengthwise and rub garlic onto bread,
cut into slices. Toast lightly, spread artichoke mixture on bread and
broil until mixture is heated through and begins to brown, about 2
minutes.
Dry the ribs with a paper towel, then remove the thin membrane from the back of the ribs.
Cut ribs cut into 3 bone pieces. Add rough chopped vegetables to the pot and place rack in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add broth or water and set ribs upright on the rack.
Close lid and select manual pressure and set the timer for 23 minutes. Let the Instant Pot vent for 5 minutes and release the rest of the pressure. Take care of the steam, don’t burn yourself.
Brush with barbecue sauce and broil or grill until slightly charred.
I like to have the butcher cut the ribs down the center to create ‘riblets’.
Preheat the oven to 400°. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and set aside.
Brush the outside of the mushrooms with a little olive oil and arrange on baking sheet.
In a large bowl combine crab meat, 1/3 cup Panko crumbs, parmesan, mayonnaise, cream cheese, green onions, celery, herbs, salt and pepper.
Stuff each mushroom cap generously with the crab mixture.
Combine oil and remaining Panko crumbs until evenly coated. Sprinkle the panko mixture over the tops of the mushrooms.
Bake until the mushrooms begin to brown, approximately 15 minutes then broil for 2 minutes until golden all over with crispy tops.
Serve immediately.
Choose mushrooms about the size of a half dollar.
Preheat oven to 450°.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil and set a heat-proof wire rack on top.
Dry the chicken wings well and transfer them to a large bowl. Toss with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on rack and bake for 30 minutes, turn the wings over and bake until crisp, 20 -30 minutes.
Bake for 30 minutes; flip and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, (about 20-30 minutes longer), until golden browned and crispy.
Serve wings immediately.
*Note:
You could toss the wings with a little BBQ sauce instead of the oil if you want them with more flavor or spiciness.
The bright star of the season, Meyer Lemons are the sweetest lemons to use in cooking. Thin-skinned, juicy and brightly colored you can use every part of the lemon, well, except maybe the seeds! In season now you can find them in all markets and at your local farmers market. If you have your own tree about now you might be wondering what to do with all those lemons. If you have trouble finding them you can call our friends at Melissa’s Produce and they can fill up your pantry!
Below you’ll find a few of my favorite recipes.
Meyer Lemon Season (Commercial) Nov-May
Home Tree will fruit late Summer-April/May
Choose, Store and Use Meyer Lemons:
Pick lemons that have a smooth, yellow skin with no signs of bruises or cuts. Lemons that are heavy will have more juice in
them; unfortunately, Meyer lemons also contain many seeds. Easily seeded if cut in half, most of the seeds are centered in the middle of the fruit.
Store lemons in a bowl on the counter in a cool place with no direct contact with the sun. If the lemons begin to become soft, refrigerate and use within a few days. If using refrigerated lemons, let them come to room temperature if possible. Roll all lemons around on the counter to help free up the juice.
Extra lemon juice can be poured into ice cube trays, frozen and then placed into a freezer bag and used within 6 months.
Meyer lemon trees grow well in pots in So. California, use a fast draining soil. They are hungry fellows so feed with an organic citrus fertilizer according to directions. They love the So. California sunshine but not so much our sometimes-windy weather. Meyer lemons like to be moist but not wet, deep infrequent watering and don’t let water sit in the liner or pot. If the weather threatens to freeze, water well and cover with a blanket or row cover at night, be very careful not to know off the fruit or flowers on the tree. Feed with an organic citrus food as directed and keep a close watch for citrus pests. Fruit will hold a long time on the tree, make sure they are nice and yellow before picking and after fruiting a little light pruning, if necessary will keep them compact and tidy.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Wash and dry chicken inside and out then dry well. Fit chicken into a roasting pan (you want no more than 1" of space on any side of the chicken otherwise the juices will burn).
Mix together onion, carrot, celery, lemon zest, and 1/2 of the minced herbs. Loosely stuff cavity with some of the ingredients, place the remainder on the bottom of the roasting pan and place chicken on top of the aromatic vegetables.
Mix remaining minced herbs with butter. Gently separate the chicken skin from the breast meat and carefully rub herb butter on breast under the skin.
Rub the chicken with lemon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon over chicken and place rind into cavity. Insert probe thermometer into thigh and set for 165 degrees. Pour half of the wine and chicken stock in the bottom of the pan and place, uncovered in hot oven.
Baste after 1/2 hour, if you don't have enough juice in pan use some chicken stock. Do not cover bird until browned and then loosely place foil over breast. If wings start to brown to early wrap with foil.
Remove chicken to a warm plate and loosely cover with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.
Remove some of the fat in the pan by using a paper towel or ice cubes. (Dredge the paper towel through the juices to pull out some of the fat or pour off the juices into a heat proof measuring cup. Add a few ice cubes; the fat will stick to the cold cube, discard cube. You may have to do this several times).
Put the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium-high heat and bring a boil, add remaining wine and stock scraping the fond (the yummy pieces stuck to the pan) from the bottom of the pan. Reduce by half, add demi-glace if using and serve with chicken.
Photo: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Dan Becker
I love this bright lemony cake so much I adapted it slightly from Dorie Greenspan by adding these super sweet little strawberries, Alpine strawberries.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8 1/2-x-41/2-inch loaf pan and place the pan on a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Put the sugar and zest in a medium bowl and, with your fingertips, rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is moist and aromatic.
Add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla and whisking vigorously until the mixture is very well blended.
Still whisking, add the dry ingredients, then switch to a large rubber spatula and fold in the oil and then the strawberries. You'll have a thick, smooth batter with a slight sheen. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan; it should be golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan. Unmold, and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.
Glaze (optional)
½ cup lemon marmalade mixed with 1 teaspoon water
To Make the Glaze:
Put the marmalade in a small saucepan or in a microwave-safe bowl, stir in the teaspoon of the water and heat until the jelly is hot and liquefied. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the cake with the glaze.
You can make this cake with any flavored or un-flavored olive oil that you like. Instead of poppy seeds try adding some dried cranberries or cherries. For serving dust with powdered sugar or make a citrus glaze with orange or lemon juice mixed with some powdered sugar and drizzle over the top of the cake, I like serving this with fresh raspberries on the side and a dollop of freshly whipped cream wouldn’t hurt either!
I’ve used cake pans, bundt cake pans and small Mason jars for this cake, just be aware of your baking time, test by inserting a clean toothpick into the center of the cake and it comes out dry.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and whisk in the eggs, milk, olive oil, zest and vanilla.
Add the almonds and poppyseeds to the batter, and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Pour the batter into a greased Bundt cake pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until the cake is golden on top. Cool the cake, invert on a plate and dust with confectioners sugar if you like.
If using Mason jars, spray the inside of the jar with oil spray and fill only 2/3 of the jar with batter. Place jar on a baking sheet and when all jars are done place the sheetpan into the oven and bake accordingly. Check the cakes at 30 minutes and then every 5 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
These are my family favorites for the Thanksgiving Holiday, these recipes will serve 6-8 people. Many of the recipes can be made ahead of time making it easier to pull together the entire meal on one day. Make ahead the stock, gravy (add pan drippings later), mashed potatoes, dressing (I don’t stuff my turkey any longer and because I don’t I can cook a large bird in about 2 hours), green beans and of course the apple pie! I hope you enjoy and have a safe and tasty holiday!
Debbi & The Debettes (Sue & Barbara)
Watch my YouTube videos with Christina Peters on making Turkey/Chicken Stock and how to make successful gravy! Click here to watch!
Both recipes can also be found in my book, ‘What’s In Your Pantry’ pages 43, 44 and in the video’s.
Order my book here, next day shipping!
Place cranberries, sugars, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves into a 6-qt Instant Pot®. Stir until well combined.
Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 4 minutes. When finished cooking, naturally release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions, about 20-30 minutes.
Remove orange zest and cinnamon. Using a potato masher, mash cranberry mixture until desired consistency is reached.
Let cool completely.
Old fashioned stuffing recipe but I cook it as a ‘dressing’ rather than stuffing a turkey. For one reason it’s safer (temperature-wise) and the turkey cooks faster if it’s not stuffed. If you stuff a turkey the stuffing needs to reach 165° to kill any bacteria, but that means the turkey is well past 185°, overcooked and dry. The spice that makes this dressing the bomb is Penzy’s Poultry seasoning, penzys.com, it’s definitely my go to herb blend!
The day before you make the dressing tear the bread into 1-inch pieces and place on a baking sheet, set atop your stove for the bread to dry out slightly.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, shallots, celery, salt, and pepper, and sauté until tender and translucent.
Place the bread into a large bowl and pour the vegetable mixture onto the bread cubes, add the poultry seasoning and parsley and toss lightly until coated. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock & toss again, the bread cubes should be fairly wet, if not add more stock and mix well until it is wet.
Before you add the eggs, taste the dressing, and adjust any seasoning. Then add the eggs and mix in well. *For a heartier dressing add Melissa's Steamed and Peeled Chestnuts (chop them into bite sized pieces and mix in). See link below.
Transfer to the prepared baking dish and bake, covered, for 30 minutes, uncover the dish and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes to crisp the top a bit.
Dried Herbs or ‘Poultry Seasoning’ from Penzy’s Spices
Melissa’s Steamed & Peeled Chestnuts
*Recipe for Chestnut Dressing can be found on page 120 in ‘What’s In Your Pantry’
These are similar to my Grandmother’s Famous Green Beans but I replace her garlic with Caramelized Shallots.
Cook bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings in skillet.
Add olive oil to the pan with the bacon drippings then add the quartered shallots and sauté until browned. Add the vinegar, stir well, then add the green beans and toss until coated with oil, cook for another minute then season with salt and pepper and toss with bacon, serve hot.
To blanch green beans: Fill a large bowl with ice and cold water leaving room for green beans. Bring a large saucepan full of water to a boil and add green beans and a good helping of salt, cook for 1-2 minutes, drain the beans and plunge them into the bowl of ice water. Let them cool, drain and dry well.
Cut the potatoes into like sized pieces so they all cook at the same rate. Cook the potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until they are tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Drain the potatoes and return to the dry pot. Shake over low heat for about 1 minute. This helps make the potatoes fluffy as it whisks off excess moisture.
Mash the potatoes until there are no lumps
Heat cream, milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium until just about to simmer. Reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to add to potatoes.
(If you have a potato ricer or mill, pass the potatoes through into a bowl. If you don’t have a food mill you can mash the potatoes with a potato masher), slowly add cream mixture while tossing gently, season with sea salt and pepper and mix in sour cream.
Take the potatoes out of the refrigerator about 3 1/2 hours before serving time. Stir the potato mixture well. Remove the potatoes from the dish and place it in a 4- or 5-quart crockpot. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 to 4 hours, stirring once or twice.
add more melted butter, sour cream or milk if you want a softer consistency. The potatoes can be held in the slow cooker an additional 30 minutes or more on low. Or turn the crockpot to "keep warm" for another hour or two.
*Melissa’s Dutch Yellow Potatoes can be found at Gelsons, Bristol Farms and Lazy Acres or order from their website (link below).
Preheat oven to 425°
Remove turkey from refrigerator and let rest for 1 hour before cooking. Carefully rinse and dry turkey inside and out, dry well. Select a roasting pan where the turkey will fit snugly but doesn’t hang over the side. Place ½ of the herbs into the pan as a bed for the turkey, roughly chop the remainder of the herbs and stuff inside the turkey. Squeeze the lemons over the turkey and place the rinds into the pan with the herbs.
Place the turkey inside the pan and rub with butter, season with sea salt and pepper.
Insert probe thermometer and set for 165°. The turkey will cook for approximately 2 hours. Pour wine and chicken stock in the bottom of the pan and place, uncovered in hot oven.
Baste after 1/2 hour, if you don't have enough juice in pan use some stock. Do not cover bird until browned and then loosely place foil over breast. If wings start to brown to early wrap with foil. If the breast starts to brown too much, loosely cover with foil and turn oven down to 400°.
Let turkey rest for 15 minutes before carving.
*Pick up a probe digital thermometer here
To make sure your oven is the correct temperature use an oven thermometer
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 flatten into a disk, 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 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, or pinch the edges to your liking.
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or while you prepare filling.
Your pie crust should be rolled out into the pie pan and be resting in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Place your rack in the center of the oven.
Peel, core, and thinly slice apples to about 1/4” thickness. You should have 7 cups of sliced apples. Place them in a mixing bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour then simmer for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Whisk in water and sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue simmering for 3 minutes, whisking frequently. Pour the sauce over the apples and stir to coat the apple slices. Pour apples over bottom crust.
To Make the Crumb Topping, stir together dry ingredients: flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter and work it into the mixture with our hands until pea-size crumbs form throughout the mixture. Spread the crumb topping evenly over your apples, place pie onto a baking sheet and bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes or until the center of the pie registers 175˚F. If topping is browning too much, cover with a sheet of foil. Remove from oven and cool 1 hour to allow the filling to set so it’s easier to slice.
*Cinnamon, I like using Penzey’s Spices ‘Baking Spices’ instead of just cinnamon.
I was in Lazy Acres meat department picking up an order when I notice the beautiful veal shanks in the case. This time of year, I love any kind of braised meat, beef, or chicken and one of my favorites is Osso Bucco. I’m not sure why you don’t see it on restaurant menu’s very often, perhaps the cost of veal would choke you, but you can also make it with beef shanks which aren’t quite as expensive.
Although this dish takes a fair amount of time to cook, hands-on cooking time is very little. Instead of cooking the dish in an oven for up to 3 hours, a slow cooker or maybe even an instant-pot would do.
A braise is a dish that used two kinds of cooking techniques, one is searing, and the other is moist heat cooking (in liquid). Wine, broth, and tomatoes are used to ‘stew’ this rather tough cut of meat into fall apart deliciousness. Typically served with Risotto Milanese but you could substitute mashed potatoes or pasta.
6 1-1/4-inch-thick veal (or beef) shanks
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, reserve 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoon tomato paste 1
1 28-oz. can Italian plum tomatoes, drained and chopped, juices reserved
1 cup low-salt chicken broth, more if needed
1 large sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. arrowroot mixed with 2 tsp. broth or water
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Wrap string around the shanks to hold them together. Put the flour onto a paper plate, Season the shanks with salt and pepper. Dredge the shanks lightly in flour, shake off the excess.
Use a large Le Creuset or the like, one that you can fit all the shanks in laying flat.
Heat pan and add oil, when hot add ½ the shanks and brown well on both sides. Remove and repeat with remaining shanks, set aside.
Pour or scoop excess oil out of the pan leaving the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Return the pan to medium heat and add the butter and reserved 1 Tbs. of oil.
When the butter is melted, add the onion, celery, carrot, oregano, and 1 tsp. salt. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned and translucent. Add the wine, and increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon, until the wine is reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes Stir in the tomato paste. Add the tomatoes with their juices, the broth, thyme, bay leaf, 1/2 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Add the shanks back to the pan, cover and cook in the oven until tender, 1-1/2 to 2 hours, checking the liquid occasionally.
If it has cooked down, add enough broth to keep the level about halfway up the shanks. To check for doneness, pierce a shank with a fork. The meat should pull apart easily.
Strain the pan juices through a medium-mesh sieve into a saucepan, pressing hard on the solids with a spatula to extract as much sauce as you can. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Whisk in the arrowroot mixture and cook briefly to thicken.
To cook in a slow cooker, after browning the meat and deglazing the pot, add the shanks to a slow cooker and pour all the juices over them. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours.
Recipe edited from Fine Cooking
Happy New Year to all!
Unfortunately, we are still dealing with a pandemic and since infections & hospitalizations are on the rise Cal State Fullerton’s Arboretum has decided not to host indoor classes at this time. We are trying to arrange ‘al fresco’ cooking classes but for comfort (weather-wise) they won’t be offered until a little later in the spring. But we WILL be back, patience for good food!
In the meantime, I’ve been falling back on my other love, Edible Gardening. Most of you know I’ve been gardening for over 20 years. Last year I was asked by a local (Oceanside) college to teach online Zoom classes in vegetable gardening. They are going so well we decided to add more Edible Gardening classes this winter/spring. I will add those to my website when registration is live. I’ve also added extra classes to my own company, Debs Kitchen, classes are 2-2 ½ hours in length with the last half hour dedicated to sharing a recipe. I hope you’ll join me.
YES! Spring tours will be back! Mary & I are in the process of setting up some new, local, So. Cal farm tours & educational seminars & tastings. Send us an email on what you’d like to see, do, taste!
On Line Classes begin Jan 29
Registration is live! For the moment, all classes will be Zoom classes
Sign Up for Current Class Schedule
Growing produce from Seeds, Seed Starting Basics
Jan. 29th 11:00-1:00, $30.00
Growing Cut Flowers in Your Vegetable Garden & How to Use Edible Flowers in Cooking
Feb. 5th 11:00 – 1:30, $40.00
Growing a Spring Salad Garden & Salad Harvest Demo
Feb. 26th 11:00 – 1:30, $40.00
Organic Vegetable Gardening & Cooking Demo
March 26 11:00 – 1:30, $40.00
Here’s a simple trick to cleaning up corn on the cob while not quite cooking it all the way. I love corn on the grill but husking it before hand can be a pain trying to get all the strings off.
Cut off the bottom of the cob just above first row of kernels. Place on microwave-safe plate, cover with a damp paper towel and microwave on full power for 30 to 60 seconds. (If you want to fully cook the corn, microwave for 4 min. per cob)
Remove from microwave and using a hot pad or cloth pinch and squeeze the top of the husk to push out the whole corn. It should slip out fairly easy.
Proceed to cooking it in the manner you like.
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving so the flavors have a chance to blend.
A few things to know about asparagus now that it’s in season. Buy organic, fresh, California grown asparagus for the most nutritious and best tasting.
Asparagus is dioecious, meaning that it has separate male and female plants. The female plants make berries, containing seeds. The male plants just make flowers, containing pollen. But both of them produce spears.
Scott Walker, president of the world’s biggest asparagus seed company (Walker Brothers, of Pittsgrove, N.J.), says that he’s heard that on really hot days, asparagus can grow an inch per hour. But he’s never actually measured them. During harvest season, farmers struggle to stay ahead of the growing spears. Each field has to be harvested every day, and sometimes even twice a day.
After about six or eight weeks, farmers stop harvesting and let them grow wild. The plant needs to grow into a fern to capture energy from the sun and store it in the root for the next growing season.
After harvest, asparagus loses quality very rapidly––the sugar content declines and the amount of fibrous material increases. Use spears with compact heads; those with loose heads are fibrous and do not keep well.
There are 3 types of asparagus, green, white (which is blanched by covering the stalks with straw or mulch to keep it from turning green) and there is a purple variety.
Green asparagus is a bit grassy in flavor, while white asparagus is mild and slightly bitter. Purple asparagus is a bit nuttier and sweeter because it has about 20 percent more sugar in its stalks. Purple asparagus is a bit nuttier and sweeter because it has about 20 percent more sugar in its stalks. While the stalks are purple on the outside, the interior is the same green spear. The outside may appear a little purple-greenish when cooked. Blanch this and use it in salads.
How to buy asparagus; look for bright, green, evenly colored spears with tight buds. You can store asparagus standing up in a glass with a little water in the refrigerator, I like to use them within a few days. If the stalks are a little thick you might want to peel them down up a bit so they’re not so fibrous.
Cook asparagus by blanching, steaming, roasting or grilling. Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve asparagus.
Read all about artichokes, how to choose and store them.
Artichoke Info & Recipes, click here