In June’s edition of Keeping It Fresh, Charles visits the Templeton Saturday morning farmers market. The 6-8 week cherry season is here and this visit inspires a couple of seasonal cherry recipes: Rustic French Cherry Clafoutis & Pennsylvania Dutch Cherry Soup. Then Charles interviews Antonio Varia from Buena Tavola Restaurants who is just getting underway with a new project; Allesina Fine Cured Meats. His first offerings are several varieties of artisan, small batch salamis. Soon to come from this project are chicken and turkey sausages, proscuitto and pancetta. They are available at the Templeton farmers market and soon at the Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo markets. Listen to June’s Keeping It Fresh here:
Cherry recipes from Keeping It Fresh
Jun 1 2011Cherry season comes and goes quickly, so here are some ideas for celebrating the peak of the season. Any variety of cherry will do, like Chelan or Brooks (I like to mix them for the cherry tart)
Quick Rustic Cherry Clafoutis (French Whole Cherry Tart)
1 generous pint basket of cherries – any varietal, cleaned, stemmed, unpitted (The pits are a little awkward, but the cherries taste better with the pits – but pit them if you must)
2 Tblsp butter
1/3 cup sugar (plus 3 Tblsp)
a pinch of ground cinnamon
fine zest of 1/2 lemon
2 eggs, separated
3 Tblsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup non-fat yogurt (traditional ingredient – heavy cream)
powdered sugar as garnish
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Melt the butter on medium heat and add the whole cherries with 1/3 cup sugar, the cinnamon & lemon zest. Stir and stew the cherries for about 5 – 7 minutes until softened and caramelized. Pour into a 9″ pie plate.
Meanwhile beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to form stiff peaks. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3 Tblsp of sugar until light and pale yellow. To the yolks add the flour, vanilla, almond extract and yogurt (cream) and beat until well blended. Fold in the egg whites gently until just incorporated. Pour this batter over the cherries, smoothing to cover. Bake in the upper half of the oven for 20 minutes until browned. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar. Cool until you can handle the pie plate. Cut carefully around the edge of the clafoutis and invert a plate on top. Flip onto the plate. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve as dessert, or for a light sweet breakfast.
Pennsylvania Dutch Hot or Cold Cherry Soup
2 1/2 lbs pitted cherries (Save the juice from the cherries as you pit them)
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
2 Tblsp all purpose flour
6 Tblsp sugar
2 cups red wine (sirah, zinfandel, merlot)
fine zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
sour cream/creme fraiche for garnish
Rough chop the cherries (a food processor is fine – do not puree) combine with the reserved juice.
Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour and stir until the “roux” is straw colored. Add the cherries and sugar, stirring thoroughly to cover the cherries with the roux. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups of water, the dry red wine, lemon zest spices and salt. Bring slowly to a boil. Remove from heat. Cool for cold soup or serve immediately garnished with creme fraiche.
“Keeping It Fresh” with host, Charles Myers, on KCBX Public Radio
Jan 5 2011In this month’s edition of Keeping It Fresh, Charles visits with the owners of the new Meze Market and Wine Cafe’ in Railroad Square in downtown San Luis Obispo. The owners, Jason and Carry, are both from the local wine industry and bring their experiences living in Europe as inspiration for the meze and charcouterie served at their new cafe’. Authenticity is at the heart of their efforts to bring hard-to-find European meats, cheeses and wines to SLO. Listen to the show with the following link:
“Keeping It Fresh” on KCBX Public Radio with chef/host Charles Myers
Sep 1 2010In this month’s edition of Keeping It Fresh on Public Radio, KCBX, chef/ host Charles Myers chats with Christine Hance, organizer of Savor the Central Coast- a celebration of the culinary & agricultural bounty of the central coast sponsored by Sunset Magazine. Hear about the various dinners, tastings and events throughout the county as well as the exhibition “kitchen garden” installed at Santa Margarita Ranch. The event lasts from Thursday Sept 30th through Sunday October 3rd. Listen to the audio file below, link to the podcast or visit the KCBX website
“Keeping It Fresh” July edition with chef/host Charles Myers
Jul 7 2010In this month’s edition of Keeping It Fresh on Public Radio, KCBX, chef/ host Charles Myers visits with Neal Maloney of the Morro Bay Oyster Company. Neal farms 134 acres in the middle of Estero Bay in Morro Bay and delivers his fresh, local oysters to area restaurants and farmers markets. He has 5 years experience raising oysters out in the bay, but has only owned the Morro Bay Oyster Company for the last year and a half. Neal shares his daily experiences of aquaculture and gives insight into the local seafood industry. Listen to the audio file below, link to the podcast or visit the KCBX website
Morro Bay Oyster Recipes from “Keeping It Fresh”
Jul 6 2010The following recipes were all inspired by my conversations on “Keeping It Fresh” with Neal Maloney of the Morro Bay Oyster Company. You can find him selling his local oysters at the Thursday night SLO Farmers Market or daily on the dock at the embarcadero, across the street from the kite store in Morro Bay.
To Barbecue Oysters
Heat the grill. Scrub the oysters in clear, cold water. Place on the grill and close the lid. When the oysters pop open (10 – 15 minutes) they are done. Carefully remove the top shell with an oyster knife or bottle opener at the hinged end. Season in any manner you like, salt & pepper, garlic butter, hot sauce, etc.
Macho Beer Roasted Indoor Oysters
Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a roasting pan inside.
Scrub oysters in clean, cold water.
Saturate two clean kitchen towels with dark beer by soaking in a bowl.
When the pan is hot, add a bottle of dark beer, 2 dozen unopened oysters, salt & pepper and cover with the beer soaked towels.
Roast for about 10 minutes until the oysters open.
Serve with home made hot sauce
Hot sauce
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp whole grain mustard
1 Tbsp honey
salt
1 Tbsp chipotle chile pepper puree (chipotles in adobo, pureed) or harissa or other chile pepper puree
Mix together thoroughly
Warm Buttered Oysters on Young Greens
5 Tbsp butter
1/2 a loaf French Bread (for crostini)
Enough mixed young salad greens for 4 salads
1 minced shallot
3 Tbsp sherry vinegar
2 dozen fresh oysters – scrubbed & shucked
Make crostini in any manner you like (brush with seasoned olive oil and toast, broil, bbq or bake.
Melt some of the butter in a skillet and sauté the shallot until it begins to brown. Add the vinegar and reduce by half. Add the remaining butter and the oysters, stirring and tossing until the oysters are plump and firmed and the butter is incorporated into the beurre blanc.
Serve by creating a salad with the greens and crostini and top the greens with the oysters and the butter “dressing”. Season with fresh ground pepper and salt. The salad will be enhanced with interesting greens, like perslane or arrugula. This recipe is a side salad for 4 with 6 oysters per person.
Spinach Fennel Baked Oysters “Rockefeller”
2 dozen fresh oysters
1 lb fresh spinach
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
3 Tbsp butter
Coarse salt to hold the oysters
Wash spinach and place in a glass microwaveable bowl with the fennel seeds. Microwave on high for 3 minutes covered and let sit to finish wilting. Squeeze dry. Puree in a food processor with 1 Tbsp of the butter.
Sauté the fennel with the remaining butter until softened. Stir into the spinach mixture and season with salt and white pepper.
Shuck the oysters and arrange on a baking pan nestled in the coarse salt so they don’t tip. Spoon spinach-fennel mixture onto each one. Bake at a preheated 400 degrees for about 10 minutes until the oysters are plumped and cooked through.
Variations: top with hollandaise before baking. Add a whipped egg or a little mayonnaise to the spinach mix so that it sets up firmer – broil at the end if necessary. Garnish with caramelized shallots or another crispy-oniony garnish.
