Chile Relleno Pizza Recipe

My chile relleno pizza in a take out box after a pizza contest.

• ¾ cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon organic sugar
• 2 cups whole wheat flour, divided
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 3 Tablespoons  extra virgin olive oil

Whole Wheat Olive Oil Pizza Dough

Heirloom tomatoes make amazing Zesty Red Sauce

Best pablano peppers found at Patrick's Garden

• 4 or 5 pablano peppers, stems, veins, and seeds removed
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

Labels: chile relleno, chile relleno pizza recipe, farmers' market Sacramento, locavore Sacramento, roasted pepper recipe, seasonal recipe, tomato sauce recipe, whole wheat pizza dough recipe

Traditional applesauce recipe gets California twist

Pineapple guavas: seasonal addition to applesauce

Pineapple Guava Applesauce Recipe

Labels: apples, applesauce, canning applesauce, childhood story, fall recipe, local recipe, locavore, pineapple guava, pineapple guava applesauce recipe, seasonal recipe

Heirloom Tomatoes to be Roasted for Freezer Sauce

Labels: farmers market ingredients, heirloom tomatoes, locavore recipe, October Unprocessed, roasted heirloom tomato freezer sauce recipe, seasonal recipe, tomato sauce, unprocessed

1 large grapefruit cut into 1/8ths
2 large stalks celery, cut into large chunks
2 large cloves garlic, cut in ½ crosswise
2 ½ large, red onions, quartered
2 Tablespoons each: mustard seed, coriander seed, peppercorns, mild paprika, torn lemongrass, salt
1 Tablespoon allspice
½ Tablespoon each cayenne pepper, rosemary, and fennel seed
4 bay leaves
1 ½ lbs purple potato cut in half
5 ears of corn, shucked and halved
4 small sweet potatoes, whole
2 lbs crawfish
4 carrots cut in large chunks
4 washcloths
Juice from half a lemon

Farmers' Market Fare: garlic, onion, purple potato, corn, sweet potato, crawfish, carrots, lemon
Fresh from My Garden (and my neighbor's tree): grapefruit, lemongrass, rosemary, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, fennel seed
Non-local Supermarket Ingredients: celery, mustard seed, coriander seed, peppercorns, paprika, salt, allspice

Fill your largest soup kettle ½-full of water. Add the grapefruit, celery, garlic, onion, and spices. Bring to a boil on your grill. Reduce heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 10 minutes.


When the meal is finished, submerge clean washcloths in a bowl of very warm water. Add the lemon juice. Squeeze the excess water from each washcloth and place them in a metal bowl with a lid to trap the heat. Hand one to each guest. Their hands will be messy, and they will thank you for this lovely gesture!

Serves 4.

Labels: Cajun, cajun recipe, crawfish, crawfish boil, crawfish boil spice recipe, farmers' market recipe, John Besh, Kelly's Crawfish, My New Orleans, Sacramento locavore, seasonal recipe

Do you have that one family recipe that you guard with your life? The one that everyone begs you for, but you’re just not willing to give up? Well, this is one such family recipe of mine. My mom made it, my grandma made it, and my great-grandma made it. In fact, this is the recipe that best defines my kitchen memories. I almost named my blog after this recipe. It means that much to me.
This recipe was passed on to me when I first left home. Grandma wrote it on a slip of scrap paper and mailed it to me while I was living in Denmark as an exchange student. I made it for my host families, who immediately begged me for the recipe. It’s a one-of-a kind. It’s the best rhubarb recipe there is, using almost five cups of chopped rhubarb. It has everything a great dessert needs: it’s served warm; it’s covered in a rich sauce; the pinwheel dough is moist and comforting; and it pairs wonderfully with vanilla ice cream. It's tangy, sweet, and like the vegetable that gives it its name, utterly unique.

If I gave you the recipe as my grandma gave it to me, I doubt you’d have much luck. The instructions reflect the hands-on learning that’s associated with a family recipe. For example, she lists all the pinwheel ingredients, and the directions simply state, “Mix in order given. This is the dough.” Yet, I had to call home to ask whether the butter was cut in like scone batter, or blended like cookie batter.

Of course, like everything I do, I have altered her recipe ever so subtly to provide a slightly healthier version of this luscious dessert. I have decreased the amount of sugar, added some extra spice, and added wheat flour. The wheat flour makes a slightly chewier pinwheel, but I think only Grandma will notice.

Lucky, lucky, lucky you! I am not only sharing our family’s most treasured recipe with you, but I have also rewritten it so that you will understand the instructions clearly. When you make this, I only ask that you give my grandma credit!

Grandma Betty’s Famous Rhubarb Pinwheels
4 cups water
3 cups organic sugar
1 cup diced rhubarb (1/2-inch pieces)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons organic sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ cup cold butter
1 scant cup buttermilk
3 ½ cups diced rhubarb (½-inch pieces)
1/3 scant cup sugar
1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and ginger

Farmers' Market Fare: whole wheat flour, butter
Fresh from My Garden: rhubarb
Local California Ingredients: buttermilk
Non-local Supermarket Ingredients: sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.


Bake in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. When your taste buds become giddy with joy, yell, “Thanks, Grandma Betty!”

Makes about 16-19 pinwheels.

Labels: family recipe, farmers market recipe, grandma's recipe, rhubarb, rhubarb dessert, rhubarb pinwheel, rhubarb pinwheel recipe, rhubarb recipe, Sacramento recipe, seasonal recipe

Utter delight awaits with this flavor-packed, blissfully fresh meal. Intensely delicious, bursting passionately with wet, bright aromas, this dish will have you licking your fingers and mumbling sweet nothings under your breath. You may even drool. It’s just that good.

The salsa alone could be gobbled feverishly. It’s packed with the season’s best fruits: crisp apples, luscious strawberries, and tangy orange. Add sinfully sweet dates, crunchy grated carrots, and a few sprigs of grassy cilantro for a harmoniously zestful fruit salsa.

I pair this with soft, fresh tortillas packed with a hint of salty Dry Jack cheese, a slice of creamy Jersey Jack, a sprinkle of earthy walnuts, and a drizzle of wet, sweet clover honey. Put the two together, and you just might begin imagining that you’re sliding down a rainbow into wonderland.

Pinch yourself. This is real.

Serve this as a light lunch, brunch, or even a snack. Go ahead. You deserve it!



Double Jack Quesadillas with Seasonal Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:
4 large strawberries, diced
½ small carrot, grated
1 small apple, diced
2 dates, diced
1 small orange, peel zested and fruit diced
2 sprigs cilantro, chopped fine
2 whole wheat tortillas
2 pumpkin spice tortillas
4 slices Jersey Jack cheese
2 Tablespoons grated Dry Jack cheese
4 Tablespoons walnuts, chopped
4 Tablespoons clover honey

Farm Fresh Ingredients: all of the above!

Use a spoon to mix the first six ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

On microwave-safe plates, lay the tortillas flat. Top each with 1 slice Jersey Jack cheese and a half tablespoon Dry Jack cheese. Place each plate in microwave and cook for about 45-seconds each, or until the cheese is melted. Remove and immediately sprinkle 1 tablespoon walnuts and 1 tablespoon honey over cheese. Fold tortilla in half to form a quesadilla. Slice each quesadilla into smaller sections and serve with ½ cup fruit salsa. Feel free to “ooh” and “mmm” as you chew!

Labels: complete meals from farmers market, dry jack cheese, farmers market recipe, fruit salsa recipe, honey, Jersey Jack cheese, quesadilla recipe, seasonal recipe, tortillas, walnuts

I recently attended an event on sustainable food. A supporter of the movement told me, “My problem with farmers’ markets is that you can’t make a whole meal from shopping there.” [Insert the sound of my jaw hitting the floor here.]

Yet, when I think back a few years, I certainly wasn’t making the farmers’ market my main grocery supplier. Back then, I wasn’t thinking about the distance my bell peppers had traveled to get to my table in the middle of winter. I wouldn’t have hesitated to grab a jar of pasta sauce made in Italy off the grocery store shelf. I’ve come a long way since then. It’s been a wonderful journey from my former life as a robotic grocery cart pusher to someone fully awake at the whisk.

Perhaps others just need to know the tricks I use to make local eating practical. After all, I do this in addition to my 50-hour per week job—just like other busy folks.

Going Local—My Latest Undertaking to Convert the World to Shopping Farmers’ Markets
This recent conversation gave me an idea: I will share my farmers’ market secrets so everyone can begin to see how easy it really is! From here on out, you’ll see a new twist to my recipes. I’ll be dividing ingredients according to those you can find at your local farmers’ market, those I’ve picked from my own garden, and those supplemental ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, black pepper) that I’m required to buy at the local supermarket.

My recipes already focus primarily on seasonal, locally grown fare. Now, you’ll find it easier to trace the food back to its place of purchase so that you, too, can believe in the power of making complete meals from the farmers’ market. Believe me—it’s well worth your trip, even on a crisp, rainy, winter morning. You’ll feel so glad that you’re trying!

Practical Tips to Being a Full-Blown Farmers’ Market Shopper
Let me begin by providing my most basic tips:

• Make a shopping list: I keep a running list every time I run out of an item. That way, I don’t have to guess when I arrive at the market about whether I have enough eggs at home.

• Visit the farmers’ market first: Take your shopping list straight to the farmers’ market. Deplete as much of your shopping list here as you can. Head to the grocery store afterwards. You’ll be surprised by how many items you can purchase—and even substitute—right from your local farmers. They’ve got it all: olive oil, cheese, bread, jams, rice, eggs, herbs, and even meats, not to mention fruits and veggies.

• Make substitutions: Do you have bananas on your grocery list? Why not buy some seasonal fruit instead? We’re lucky here in California. We can eat fresh fruit year round: berries in Spring, stone fruit in Summer, pears in Fall, and oranges and apples all Winter. Do you have orange juice on your list? Why not buy a bag of fresh oranges and juice them yourself?

• Think outside the box: We tend to get trapped in a food rut, making the same familiar meals over and over again. Why not step outside the comfort zone? Instead of making another cold cut sandwich for lunch, how about making a fried egg sandwich with eggs from your local farmer and bread from the local baker? You can even find all the ingredients for a classic PB&J at the farmers’ market, but you’ll need to swap your typical peanut butter for local almond butter.

• Ease into it: Don’t purchase five vegetables you’ve never seen before and don’t know how to cook. You’ll end up frustrated once you’re at home, and will probably throw half those veggies away because you get busy and return to the recipes you’ve been cooking for years. If you see something new and interesting, purchase just one. You’re more likely to use it, and you’ll feel more accomplished. I like to try one new veggie each week: a dikon one week, an opo the next. Little by little, you’ll start to incorporate them into your everyday recipes with ease.

• Commit to one farmers’ market-only meal a week: "If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels,” (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver). As part of the “ease into it” plan, try making just one meal a week that’s completely purchased from your local farmer. You can buy corn tortillas, onions, and cheese (yes, all from the market!) for an easy quesadilla supper. Or you could buy croissants, honey, and quark for a gourmet farmers’ market breakfast. After you’ve tried one meal a week, you’ll want to make it two meals, then three! But start with one, and see how truly easy—and delicious—it can be!

• Limit recipes to those that are seasonal: If you’re trying to make peach pie in the middle of January, you’re going to miss out on the wonders of a fresh, seasonal apple pie or orange muffins. And I challenge you to find delicious peaches in January that stand up to the quality of a peach purchased in August. If you want to succeed, you’ve got to start with the right tools: a seasonal recipe is essential. This very blog is laid out by month, which makes it easy for you to click on a date and find something seasonal that tempts your palette.

You’re Not Eliminating—You’re Adding!
I’m not a die-hard hippie who chokes down flavorless food mindlessly. I’m a passionate foodie who believes any good meal should engage all your senses: sight and presentation of a dish; smell and the aroma that fills your kitchen and your nose; sound and the noise of a sizzling sauté, touch and the textures that move through your mouth; and of course, taste and the powerful flavors of a well-cooked meal!

Eating locally is not at all about what you’re eliminating. Indeed, it’s about the richness you are adding to your life and your diet!

Join me!
What are you doing on the Internet? Grab a re-useable bag and let’s get out to the farmers’ markets! Check back here for recipes, to post questions, and to find more tips about making farmers’ markets practical. Upcoming features include ideas for a seasonal, romantic Valentine’s meal, ideas for making the farmers’ market fun and engaging for kids, and in celebration of the upcoming Sacramento Beer Week, recipes that include locally-brewed beer!

(Adjacent photo by Johanna Carson)

Labels: complete meals from farmers market, farmers market secrets, farmers market tips, grocery shopping tips, seasonal recipe

Just in time for The Big Football Game, here’s a seasonal dip fresh from the garden that the toughest of guys will love. My giant, 6'4" husband loves it!

There’s nothing like the bright, grassy flavor of cilantro in the middle of winter. Out here in Cali, winter is when it grows best. It’s wonderful for adding to stir fries, fish tacos, quiches, salads, you name it! But when I think about cilantro, my mind automatically wanders to salsa. Sadly, we don’t have ripe tomatoes or peppers right now.

So what else can we do to get that cilantro onto a dipping chip? The answer: Cilantro Pesto Dip. This dip gathers all the freshest flavors of the season for a tangy, zesty, creamy dip worthy of your finest tortilla chips! This recipe has it all: bright grapefruit (juice and zest) ripe from my neighbor’s tree; walnuts, onion, and garlic from the farmers’ market. The only “naughty” ingredients are the black olives (those are from a can) and the jalapenos.

Cilantro Pesto Dip

Ingredients:
1 large bunch of cilantro (about 3 cups), chopped roughly, including stems and leaves
1 cup walnuts
1 cup black olives
½ a large onion, roughly chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, roughly chopped in quarters (use less if you don’t like the heat—but remember, this is being added to sour cream later, so the heat will mute)
Juice & zest from one large grapefruit
1-2 cloves garlic (again, use more or less depending on how much you like garlic)
3 Tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil (use the best quality you can find)
Salt to taste (about ¼ teaspoon—remember, your chips will have salt)
1 16-oz container light sour cream
Organic blue or yellow corn tortilla chips for dipping

Add all the ingredients (except for sour cream and tortilla chips) to the bowl of a food processor. I find it blends more easily if you put the liquid ingredients on the bottom, followed by the non-liquid ingredients, because you’ll end up scraping down the sides less often.

Turn the food processor on and blend until you have a creamy mixture. Turn off the processor and scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure that all the ingredients are incorporated and pulse again. Now, you have a bold cilantro pesto.

Remove one cup of the cilantro pesto and add it to a medium bowl. Add the sour cream to the bowl. Stir the two together. Voila! You have a delicious dip! Grab your chips and dig in!

Note: if the dip is too strong for your tastes, add more sour cream.

You’ll have lots of pesto left over. I store it in an airtight container in my fridge and use it to make more dip for up to a month. You can use the dip to top tacos, nachos, or anything else where you would otherwise add a dollop of sour cream. You could also add the pesto (without the sour cream) to Southwest-style pastas, soups, or stir it into a bowl of black beans to serve as a side dish.

Labels: black olives, chip dip, cilantro, cilantro pesto, cilantro pesto dip, dip recipe, grapefruit, seasonal recipe, Super Bowl recipes, tortilla chips, walnuts

Meet my winter happy salad! We haven’t seen the sun in days, and the constant grey is starting to affect my mood. However, there is a blessing to California living. Despite the cloudy skies, our trees are covered in bright orange, and our gardens are perky with greens. My own garden is happily churning out spinach, despite the recent frosts. The farmers’ market is still selling the last of the pear crop. All this color calls for a celebratory salad, the likes of which will perk up any mouth and mood!

Welcome to my Zesty Freshy Spinach Pear Salad. When served on a yellow plate (a must!), this delightful salad offers the crunch of strong, fresh spinach, the zip and happy aroma of grated orange zest, the sweet melting away of hearty pear sugars, and the meaty richness of pistachio nuts. The lively orange juice and grainy mustard dressing add the perfect energy to this pick-me-up salad. Top with some parmesan, and you’ve got a true winter winner!

Zesty Freshy Spinach Pear Salad

Ingredients:
One bunch fresh spinach
One pear, diced
¼ cup pistachio nuts
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Zesty Orange Mustard Dressing:
Zest of one orange
Juice from one orange
2 Tablespoons grainy mustard, such as Boetje’s Stone Ground Mustard (you can find it at Corti Brothers in Sacramento)
¼ cup olive oil (depending on how juicy your orange is)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Wash and dry spinach. Tear leaves by hand into large pieces and throw them in a large mixing bowl.

Make the salad dressing by adding the orange zest, juice, and mustard to a small bowl. Whisk together. While whisking, add the olive oil in a steady stream. Add black pepper and whisk again.

Add desired amount of dressing (you’ll probably have more than you need) to the spinach and mix with tongs to coat leaves.

Split the leaves between two yellow plates. Top each plate with half the pear, nuts, and cheese. Serve and smile!

Labels: Boetje's mustard, mustard, orange, orange mustard dressing, pear, salad, salad recipe, seasonal recipe, spinach, spinach pear salad, winter