Spring Farm, Food & Wine Tour
Spring Central Coast Food, Farm & Wine Tour
Friday 4/20 ~ Sunday 4/22
Friday
Join Chef Debbi at Cambria Farmers Market 3 ~ 4 (optional)
Dinner Party Cooking Class
Italian Trattoria Style
Learn to make & grill pizza doughs
Prepare an Italian style farmers market dinner using fresh, local ingredients
Saturday
Paso Robles Tour
Halter Ranch Vineyard Tour
Farmer Mitch will give us a backyard tour of his biodynamic, dry farmed vineyards
Wine Tasting & Vineyard Lunch created by Chef Debbi
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Pasolivo Olive Ranch
Backroom tour, learn how olives are turned into different kinds of olive oils
Tasting and food pairing of Pasolivo’s varietal oils
Sea Salt & Herb Tasting
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Per Cazo Wine, Cheese & Chocolate Pairing
Relax under the oaks and learn about how wine pairs with Ca. Cheeses & Chocolates
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Saturday afternoon (return to Cambria approximately 4 p.m.) free
Sunday
Biodynamic Farm Tour & Lunch
Meet the farmers at Windrose Farm, Barbara & Bill Spencer
Bill & Barbara in LA Times Food Section, read about them here
Learn what biodynamic farming involves, how Barbara & Bill manage their family farm
Tour and taste the farm (walking shoes required)
Enjoy a farm lunch using ingredients that we find on the farm that day
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Transportation to and from Cambria not included
Transportation for Sat events included
Fri./Sat. fireplace rooms at Cambria Pines Lodge in Cambria
Hot Buffet breakfast at lodge included Sat/Sun
Also included:
Friday events
Farmers Market optional upon guest arrival time, please check into the hotel in time for dinner
Dinner 6:30 ~ 9:30, Private Residence
Sat. Events
All described events, Sat afternoon (after 4) is free time, dinner not included
Sun. Event
Hotel check out and caravan to Windrose Farm, farm tour and lunch included
Great swag bags full of pantry items and surprises
$675.00
50% deposit required for reservation
$50.00 off if paid in full by March 1st
Price per person, double occupancy
12 guest spots available
For more information or to book a space, contact Chef Debbi
Curing Olives
My latest adventure was to be a part of a special group that learns to cure olives at Pasolivo Olive Ranch in Paso Robles. Farmer Bill (Spencer), Windrose Farm, led us through a fun day of how to cure the bitterness from fresh picked olives so that what you end up with are luscious, meaty, beautiful olives for your table.
We drove from So. California just as the wind was beginning to blow and missed most of the storm during the drive to Cambria on the central coast. The town was pretty quiet as we pulled in and the vacation rental company was closed so our house keys were in their lock box. I thought maybe they closed down early that day as it was ‘hospitality’ night and everyone wanted to get home early.We headed over the hill to our rental and turned to pull off the road onto our street but this tree kind of blocked the way…..
We managed to find a way around the tree and up the hill to our house. We unloaded and began to settle in when we realized we had no power, hmmm, I wonder if that tree had anything to do with it, duh! Did you see the size of that tree? Come to find out the entire town was without power. Lucky for us we stopped in Morro Bay and did a little shopping! We stocked up on wine, salad fixings, potatoes to bake for Sat. dinner. I’d brought frozen steaks and we thought we’d throw them on the bbq. I happened to find this great deal on frozen lobster claws and legs in Morro Bay and so I grabbed a bag, again lucky for us because with the town closed down and no power, the steaks were still frozen so we cooked the lobster, slice up the potatoes and fried them up in a little olive oil. Quite a candlelit dinner we had! A bit of a cold night as we couldn’t get the wood in the fireplace to burn and not one scrap of kindling.
We headed out for Paso Robles and our olive curing fun in the morning where group of about 30 ‘press club’ members gathered at the ranch and began sorting through the just picked olives. In the beginning one is very careful about which olive end up in the ‘good’ bucket. You want to discard any olive that has any blemishes or ‘bad’ spots, any leaves and any debris go into the compost bucket destined for….you guessed it, the compost pile!
Rinse, and repeat and repeat and repeat. Mix up the water and lye and add to the olives for 8-10 hours, we chose overnight.
Ciro came for lunch with his wood burning oven on a trailer hooked up to his truck. He fired up the wood and whipped up pizza after pizza after pizza. If you’ve ever had Ciro’s pizza you know he makes the best pizza in Paso Robles or almost anywhere as far as I’m concerned. A simple bean salad drizzled with Pasolivo Extra Virgin Olive oil and huge chunks of Ciro’s Italian bread.
Back to the ranch the next day to check how far the lye mixture penetrated the olive. A second cure of water and lye is mixed and the olives once again rest overnight. At this point the lye has leached out most of the bitterness and we go on to the water bath. Now I might tell you too that because it’s been so cold that rinsing a 5 gal. bucket of olives/water is not the most fun. My hands were numb from the cold as you rinse the olives at least 3-4 times with fresh water before you cover them with water for another overnight bath. You get to repeat this procedure every day for 10 days and then every 3 days for another week.
BUT, if you’re really lucky-like I am-my olives finished their water bath by the 4th day and I was able to jar them with liquid and spices….
I’ll leave them to steep for a few weeks and then feast on them daily until next year!
Holiday Side Dishes
Chestnut Dressing
This is a variation on my grandmother’s old fashioned bread stuffing. I’ve updated it with sausage, apples and chestnuts and I bake it separately from the turkey. I can prepare it the day before and heat it while the turkey rests.
1 box cornbread mix, baked and cut into 2” pieces
1 loaf artisan bread
½ lb. chicken (or turkey) apple sausage
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
1 bunch sage, minced
2 sprigs thyme, minced
3 tablespoons Italian parsley, minced
2 cups chestnuts, chopped*
1 tart apple, peeled, seeded and diced
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup turkey stock, or more
Bake the cornbread mix according to package directions and cut into approximately 2″ pieces. Set aside to dry out. Do not cover.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Cut bread into 1″ cubes, approximately. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, toss bread cubes with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake until lightly browned.
Mix together the cornbread pieces and toasted bread cubes. Do not cover while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Dry bread will absorb more liquid than slightly damp bread.
Heat a large sauté pan. Remove sausage from the casing and crumble into the hot pan; sometimes the sausage doesn’t have
much fat so you may have to add a little oil; cook until lightly browned. Set aside.
Add butter and oil to the pan and sauté onions and celery until translucent. Add the herbs and sauté until fragrant; add the chestnuts and apples; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Mix the sausage and vegetable mixture to the dry bread; tossing the mixture well, stir in the parsley and salt and pepper to taste, and let the dressing cool completely.
Add the egg and enough of the stock to just bring the dressing together.
Place dressing into a baking dish, cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until lightly browned, approximately 15 minutes.
* Approximately 1 pound fresh chestnuts,
or 3/4 pound pre-cooked whole chestnuts (Check Melissa’s for store availability)
To roast fresh chestnuts with shell:
With a sharp knife cut an X on the round side of each chestnut. Spread the chestnuts in one layer on a baking sheet and bake the chestnuts in a preheated 450° oven for 10 minutes, or until the shells open. Peel them while they are still warm.
What Kind of Grapes Does Mitch grow at Halter Ranch
Yeah! We have 3 winners! And that’s my lot of Aquarium of the Pacific tickets!
Armida Gordon had an insider answer (she was on our vineyard tour this year) Grenache!
Brenda Birdwell was a very good Deb-ette and read the blog coming up with another technically correct answer, mostly reds in the valley because of the heat but some white varietals on the coastal slopes.
While both of them are correct and won a pair of tickets each, the answer I was looking for was a little more playful and Ariel Kidder came up with the correct one, Mitch grows his ‘rock star’ grapes so that he is able to offer a better product for the wine maker to work with.
Have fun at the aquarium to all of you! Say hi to the fishies for me and don’t miss the new Artic foxes, their home is near the Loriqeet exhibit.
Eat lotsa sustainable fish, print a wallet sized seafood recommendation card here…….Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Windrose Farm
All Photos courtesy of Armida Gordon
If you don’t find Barbara & Bill Spencer out standing in their field then you will meet them under the huge tree in the yard where the red headed woodpeckers farm their food. Bill will tell you how they, the woodpeckers, are not harvesting the acorns for the nut, but harvesting and storing the nut in their holes to attract the worms who are the intended food target.
While current agriculture, the science of soil, is about monoculture and begins with killing every living organism in the soil with pesticides, then adding chemical fertilizer to feed the plants and when the plants get sick, as they will, more chemicals are added to cure them. Our entire future of food is invested in monocropping based on a chemical addiction that by nature is not sustainable.
Whew…….
Am I glad that Barbara & Bill have dedicated their lives to growing a little of everything and are transitioning their beautiful farm to becoming completely biodynamic. I know I’ll sleep (and eat!) better.
Stay tuned for more adventures at Windrose Farm…..
Sweet Young Coconuts
The Sweet Young Coconuts appearance is much different than a traditional coconut and may scare some people away from attempting to crack this nut. But actually they are easier to ‘crack’ and faster to get to the tasty part of the nut, the liquid or coconut water and the creamy flesh. My friends at Melissa’s Produce have this great new ‘punch’ that is so much safer and easier to use than a large chef’s knife.
A sweet young coconut will be full of sweet water that is high in electrolytes, potassium, calcium and other vitamins. As the coconut ages the liquid looses it’s sweetness and the flesh dries out; but the young coconut has a gelatinous flesh that you can scoop out with a spoon, toss it in the blender with some chopped pineapple and a scoop of frozen yogurt for a really cool treat.
Pick a coconut that is all white with no brown spots showing, you’ll find these in the refrigerated section in the produce department. They are highly perishable and should be used within a week or two. Make sure you refrigerate them as soon as you get them home. Some of the fresh coconuts may not slosh when you shake them because they are so full of water, just make sure they are heavy for their size and you’ll find them full of healthy and delicious coconut water.
Now how to crack that shell? Check this video out from Melissa’s Produce and enjoy some fresh coconut water and creamy coconut meat.
Rancho Los Alamitos-Starry Night
Some little trick or treaters at a special Rancho event…..
Happy Halloween……
Winter Squash Soup
Well, my sister out-law, (she’s not really an outlaw-but I’m thinking she might find it exciting!), asked me to pick a seasonal recipe and shoot a video, uh, ok…..
So this is my first video (please be kind) but not my first recipe. It’s a quick and easy (almost) soup recipe once the squash is cooked. I like the squash roasted in the oven for deeper flavor but you could cut the rind off and actually cook the flesh in the broth. If you use a hard shell squash as I did, I used a kabocha squash, courtesy of my friends at Melissa’s Produce, it might take you as long to peel it as it would be to roast it.
Here’s the video and the recipe and check out my sister out-laws page too (she’s a hoooot)! Cool 2 Craft, Creative Play
Winter Squash Soup©
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 shallot, minced
2 baby leeks, chopped, white and light green parts
½ bunch sage, minced or 1 tablespoon Italian flat leaf parsley
2 kabocha squash, roasted*
½ cup dry white wine
1 quart chicken stock
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, optional
½ cup cream
salt and pepper — to taste
seeds for garnish**
Heat a Dutch oven, add butter and oil; when hot, sauté shallots and leeks until soft and translucent. Add sage or parsley, wine, stock, roasted squash, and paprika, if using. Simmer and cook about 15 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
Add cream and season with salt and pepper, heat (if necessary).
Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with seeds for garnish.
*To roast the squash, carefully cut the squash into pieces and place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Scoop out some of the seeds to toast for the garnish but leave everything else-it will come out easily after roasting. Sprinkle the squash with a little oil and season with salt and pepper, roast until tender, about 30 minutes at 350°. Scoop out the remaining seeds and filament, then scoop out the flesh for the soup.
**For the seeds, toss with some of the smoked paprika and toast lightly in a small saute pan, season with a little sea salt and set aside to cool.
Fall Harvest Tour
Did you miss Chef Debbi’s tour of Paso Robles this Oct? Well, here are some highlights. If you missed this trip we’ll host a spring trip next year.
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Mitch’s Nice Ride
When we arrived at Halter Ranch for a tour of the vineyard we were greeted by farmer Mitch Weiss and Phoebe. Phoebe, is a Belgian Sheepdog and never stops moving. She herds everyone one of us the entire tour until she and Mitch returned to work.
Mitch is the farmer here and his challenge is to grow 100 year old vines, which are not unheard of, especially in Europe. His way to do just that is to use as close to organic methods as possible when growing his ‘rock star’ grapes. Mitch believes that wine is made and developed in the vineyard as the grapes are an agricultural product and the wine will reflect the farming methods and the ‘terrior’ in the finished product, not to take anything away from the very talented wine maker! Actually by growing his ‘rock star’ grapes, he delivers to the wine maker a superior product with which to work. Halter Ranch sits on limestone rocks much like the vineyards you’ll find in Bordeaux, France. They grow mostly red varietals because of the high heat in Paso Robles but also have some white varietals growing on north facing slopes. Tending to over 200, ooo vines with 20 varietals is all done by hand with pruners, nothing is done by machinery. At Halter Ranch they believe that this brings a better quality wine to the table.
A vineyard inspired lunch with lots of tasty produce from our friends at Melissa’s Produce including organic Starkrimson Pears, under the olive and walnut trees made us all long for hammocks to string up and while away the afternoon, but more wine tasting was on the schedule.
A stop at Pasolivo Olive Oil Farm was highlighted by a tour with the always lovely Suzanne and a tasting of Joeli’s fragrant oils. They now boast a ‘salt, herb & spice’ tasting bar, they suggest you taste them alone and then with the olive oils. What a treat!
Coy Barnes from the Wine Wrangler arranged for our driver, Steve (who was a riot – btw), to take us down the tree lined Vineyard Dr. to a private tasting at Per Cazo Cellars. While Lynn and Big Dave don’t grow their own grapes, they do have a very talented wine maker and as a special treat, they offer wine tasting around the pool in their back yard lined with oak trees. Each wine is paired with cheese to highlight the wines best features or as in the case of the Zinfandel, chocolate. Quite a day for our little group. Oh yes, there’s more…tune in next week for our day at Windrose Farm.
Fall Gardening in So. California
Fall is a busy time in a So. California garden. Fall is the best time to transplant or divide many plants; the temperature is still warm (well mostly-this year is so-so) but more importantly the ground is still warm. It will give those seeds or transplants the perfect temperature to really build a great root system.
The soil in spring takes awhile to warm up so by planting in fall you can get an early harvest from some of those late winter and early spring vegetables. Sweet Peas are actually best started in fall, as are poppies. They won’t blossom until early next year but they get the advantage of the winter rains and a head start on a good root system. Plant along side a cover crop so the cover crop can feed and protect them by crowding out any weeds that may pop up.
Another great reason to plant your fall vegetable garden is that the pest population is at a minimum and weed germination is slow and slow growing. If you decide not to grow a fall/winter garden this year think about a cover crop to protect and feed the soil.
One herb to plant now us CILANTRO! Yes, the most often question that I am asked is why can’t I grow cilantro? We all know how fast cilantro bolts (goes to seed); well this is a great time of year for the herb to grow. The temperature isn’t as hot as summer but it’s still warm enough for a transplant or two. We still have tomatoes coming in as well as other summer veggies that pair well with cilantro in many recipes.
Other veggies you might consider are leeks, oh so wonderful in many dishes-especially soups! Kale, lettuce, onions, parsley, shallots, spinach, peas of all kinds! Love peas and snow peas, many times they don’t make it into the kitchen! Try transplants of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Swiss chard and cauliflower. I see more and more people growing potatoes and if you haven’t tried any in your garden yet, you’ll be surprised how easy they are to grow and the flavor of a freshly harvested new potato is incredible. You can roast them with a little olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. When they come out of the oven toss them with some fresh chopped herbs from the garden, parsley, shallots or true chives and you’ll never buy a ‘store bought’ potato again!
I’ll be at The Plant Stand Sat., Sept 17th to talk about more fall plantings and cover crops. I’ll be serving a Dried Cranberry and Apricot Quick Bread; you can find the recipe on my page, Event Recipes, www.debskitchen.com/eventrecipes. Thanks to Melissa’s Produce for the luscious, plump dried fruit, the best!
