One of my favorite amaranth varieties is red orach,  also known as garden orach, French spinach and mountain spinach.  Red orach was first documented in the New World in 1714 and Thomas Jefferson grew a green variety in his Monticello gardens.  It was discovered as far back as Mesolithic times and was commonly grown in the Mediterranean before spinach became popular;  the  red and green varieties were used to color pastas in Italy due to natural color retention. A member of the salt-bush family, the tender leaves have a light salty flavor which combines nicely with sorrel’s lemony flavor.  The over-sized leaves and colorful presence make orach a favored annual in ornamental gardens.

In San Diego, I first began seeing Red orach in the La Milpa Organica booth at the Hillcrest Farmers Market a few years ago.  Farmer Barry Logan specialized in ancient greens and heirloom vegetable varieties which made his stall the organic anchor of the market.  While La Milpa is no longer operating, the influence lives on. Suzie’s Farm is growing many of the varieties Barry used to sell and I was pleasantly surprised to see red orach a couple of weeks ago and began using it in salads, greens, tarts, pastries and, of course, stuffed dishes. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of cooking red orach, have no fear–it’s easy to work with.  If you can’t find it at your local market, request it, talk your local farmer into growing it and/or plant it in your garden as a culinary ornamental.

Stuffed Red Orach with Pomegranate Molasses

10 large red orach leaves

Filling
1/2 cup garbanzo beans, cooked
1/2 cup artichoke hearts, cooked
1 tablespoon green onion, minced
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Mix garbanzos, artichoke, green onion, sea salt and oil in a food processor and process to a coarse paste. Place a generous tablespoon of filling on the wide end of a leaf and roll into a thick cigar shape.  Repeat until all leaves are used.

Cook
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons white spring onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

Place a ten-inch skillet on medium-high heat and cook the oil, crushed red pepper, onions and garlic until the onions are clear around the edges.  Placed the red orach rolls in the pan, cover and let sear for 1 minute.  Pour in the lemon juice, cover, turn down heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes.  Turn the burner off and leave covered until ready to serve.

Pomegranate Molasses

2 cups fresh pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons agave syrup
2 teaspoons Meyer lemon juice

Place a skillet on medium heat, add all ingredients and reduce to a syrup consistency.  Allow to cool before using.  May be prepared ahead of time to use as a condiment.

Serve
Drizzle Pomegranate Molasses onto plate and place a red orach roll on top.  Serve hot.

Notes:
To simplify the cooking process and make it a quick dish, use Eden Foods organic canned garbanzo beans and organic canned artichoke hearts.

I use fresh pressed organic pomegranate juice from Lone Oak Ranch but the recipe will be fine with bottled 100% pomegranate juice.

~P.B. Shelley

Seasonal cycles have ruled humanity since the beginning of time. No matter how hard we try to control them, inevitably everyone must succumb to the laws of nature.  Farmers markets, by definition, work with the earthly cycles of growth and regeneration. When shopping at them, we become partners with the land, locally and regionally.  The food we procure and the interactions at the markets enhance our lives with the energies of the earth and the vitality of communing with it. There is no better time to experience this than the transition from winter to spring. 

Winter

Winter in the Midwest, where I lived most of my life before San Diego, is often brutally cold, yet hardy shoppers come to the markets to buy cold storage items such as apples, leeks, onions and potatoes.  As the farmers gear up for spring, they order seeds, tend to cold frames, greenhouses and hoop-houses in order to get a good start on the season.

In Southern California, the hallmark of the winter season is citrus.  Unique varieties such as Satsuma tangerines, Paige tangerines, Naval oranges, Mandarin oranges, Persian limes, Mexican limes, Kaffir limes and citron grace the stalls of the local markets.  Lettuces, greens, herbs and vegetables are also available in moderate quantities, depending on the location of the farms and the methods used for growing, ie, permaculture, dry farming, hoop houses, plastic covers or other warming techniques.  On rare occasions, usually once every few years, a frost will temper the harvest in the warmest areas.

Since the growing season here is year round, farmers stagger plantings in order to prolong the harvest of tender varieties into months instead of weeks.  Examples of this are arugula, spinach, tat soi, chard and many varieties of kale.  Staggered plantings of garlic, leeks and green onions do the same.  San Diego farmers have to keep their market stalls filled year round, so the approach is very different from commodity farmers who supply their harvests for commercial food production, national and international supply chains

Spring

One of the joys of living in the Midwest is the arrival of spring. The animals and humans share the phenomenon with a flurry of activity. Buds pop up from half-frozen soil, birds are feathering nests and singing, land is cleared then tilled and people are running around in short-sleeves.  It is a time of dramatic change and the collective mood is one of exuberance. I do miss this and hope to experience some of it when I travel to Michigan in late March for my next book tour.

I’ll be be hanging out at the Royal Oak Farmers Market with my farmer friend Don Cinzori of Cinzori Farms who, in addition to having his greenhouse planted herbs and plants, will have green garlic shoots, spinach and leeks. 

Other Michigan spring delicacies to be discovered are morel mushrooms, fiddle-head ferns and asparagus. As spring progresses, baby lettuces, raspberries and sugar snap peas will bolster the drama of spring at the Michigan markets.

In San Diego, spring is different. To say there is no spring in Southern California is incorrect; it has its own unique version. While the markets of San Diego continue to bustle all winter, I always get excited when spring crops start showing up. The warm ever-constant sun brings people to the markets and the romantic days of mid-February to early-March find shoppers searching for the abundant sensual pleasures.

The first sweet strawberries appear at JR Organics in early February.  Depending on the Santa Ana winds and warmth of the sun, the harvest steadily increases until it peaks in May. Giant one and two pound sweetly-fragrant Chanterelle mushrooms from the mountains near San Luis Obispo are sold.

Tender lettuces, baby kale, spinach and green elephant garlic are abundant at Sage Mountain Farms. Young broccoli, radicchio and baby beets are at Suzies Farm. Siberian Kale and cilantro accompany the basil of Archi’s Acres.

Fuerte avocados, chermoyas and guavas begin in February at Korals Tropical Fruit Farm with Kumquats and a continuing plethora of citrus  in March.

Lone Oak Ranch begins to press fresh pomegranate juice. Terra Bella Ranch has the very special Livermore red walnuts, almonds and Chandler walnuts. Spring doesn’t just pop up in San Diego, it comes in like a high tide. The arrival is heralded by the bounty and festivity of the markets.

I encourage everyone to shop at the local farmers markets.  Even during the off-season months, there is much to discover. In addition, we make a community connection, life is enhanced and we are healthier for it.

In the coming months I will be working on a lot of quick and easy to prepare recipes which I plan to share with my subscribers.  So if you haven’t already done so, subscribe to my blog below, or on the upper right hand corner of this page.

See you at the markets!

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After selling Inn Season Cafe in 2002, Sara and I began to restore homes. Our passion was to breath life back into homes built in the 1920s with Arts and Crafts influences and handcrafted before the age of drywall and engineered trusses.  We appreciated styles such as Tudor Revival, Cotswold, Spanish Revival and Craftsman for the romantic concepts they added to daily life.

We restored the homes to their original luster and outfitted them with modern amenities to accommodate today’s lifestyle.

As one may imagine, the area I concentrated on was the kitchen.  I designed each one with the home chef in mind, one who supports local farmer’s markets and enjoys cooking as a form of relaxation.  For me, it was important for the kitchen to be the hub of the home–the place where raw ingredients are assembled to create nurturing meals.

In every house, I created a potager, a kitchen garden full of perennial & re-seeding herbs, culinary and medicinal plants. Mostly, I planted items not easily found at the local farmer’s markets or plants that are best harvested just before serving.  They included: French tarragon, thyme, oregano, sage, mint and fennel, tender greens like sorrel, arugula, varieties of kale and lettuces, and medicinal plants like chamomile, peppermint and lemon-balm.  Time and again, people would be very excited about the gardens and the vision of fresh-from-the-garden vegetables, herbs and flowers.

The potager goes hand-in-hand with farmer’s markets, victory gardens and the entire concept of local food.  Kitchen gardens were a part of our history as much as the local farmer’s market.  When I saw Dennis Stowell at the San Diego’s Little Italy Mercato promoting the concept of the Patio Potager, I was enthused.  The garden boxes, available on a subscription basis, enable one to pick lettuce, herbs and other vegetables at home just before using them.

No matter where one lives, a large home or a small apartment, they can take advantage of the Patio Potager concept, which can be described as a living CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)– a parallel concept to the one I used in my restoration gardens.

After the box is harvested, it is exchanged for a freshly planted one.  Dennis follows the planting cycles so every week there is something new to enjoy and harvest. Few culinary experiences can surpass eating fresh picked vegetables.

If his idea takes seed, it could be a marvelous solution for all the wannabee urban gardeners with limited land, small verandas and busy schedules.

A little piece of the farm comes to you.

A Lifestyle of Romance

This is the time of year to shake off the dust of distraction, polish our manners and look for creative ways to express ourselves romantically.   Often the centerpieces of these endeavors are built around sensual foods and, when wooing our loved ones on Valentines Day, chocolate rules supreme.

The roots of St Valentines Day lay in Rome with February marking the beginning of Spring on the Roman Calendar.  At that time, every household was swept out and  sprinkled with salt and spelt berries. The fertility festival, Lupercalia, began on the Ides of February (15th) and was celebrated throughout Rome by pairing unmarried youths until the following February, often resulted in marriages.

Roman culture had a great appreciation for earth’s beauty and those who inhabited it.  They celebrated the gifts of the land and the power of attraction which is intimately intertwined like a grape vine in an arbor. One could reason this had something to do with the word romance being derived from Roman.

In 485 A.D., the Catholic church sought to Christianize the Lupercalia festival by celebrating Saint Valentine, thought to be a martyred priest from two centuries prior.  As a result, the romantic aspect of the celebration does not appear again until the Middle Ages.  It was the mid 19th century when it began to resemble the phenomena it is today.

On Valentine’s Day, when the meal is emotionally charged, there is one ingredient that is a “must” on the menu–chocolate.  Chocolate has long been known as an all around sensual ingredient.  The Aztecs called it “Nourishment of the Gods.”  Not only does it enchant us with its dark seductive flavor, but it contains compounds which have an immediate sensual effect as well as long lasting health benefits.

This dessert, Hazelnut Love Bites, is a combination of three luscious flavors and textures–hazelnut, raspberry and chocolate–all making for a passionate dessert experience.

Love Bites

Makes 24 Love Bites

Bites

1/3 cup ground hazelnuts
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup evaporated cane juice (organic sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoons arrowroot powder
2/3 cups plain soy milk
1/4 block (3 ounces) firm silken-style tofu
1/8 cup raw cashew nuts, ground to a meal
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350º F. Using a 24 cup mini cupcake pan, line each cup with unbleached baking cups. Put hazelnuts, flour, baking powder, evaporated cane juice and arrowroot into a large bowl and whisk together with a French whip. In a blender, puree soy milk, tofu and cashews to a smooth consistency. Transfer to another large bowl and stir in canola oil and vanilla. Combine the two mixtures and stir vigorously for one minute to develop the gluten in the flour. Fill each cup to just below the rim and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean(a little sticky is Ok).  Allow to cool.

Raspberry Sauce

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon evaporated cane juice
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat a saucepan on medium heat. Add all ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes. Then strain by pushing through a fine wire strainer with a rubber spatula until only the seeds are left–really work it. Discard seeds. Return strained raspberries to pan and simmer for another 5 minutes. Reserve.

Chocolate Ganache

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
1/2 cup plain soy milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a double boiler on medium heat, add all chocolate ganache ingredients. Stir periodically and cook for about 30 minutes until chocolate is melted and smooth. Test a drop on a cold plate, it should set up to a frosting consistency.  Allow to cool and reserve.

Assembly

When the cupcakes are cool, use a small pointed-tip knife to create a crater in the center of each cake, then pour in a small amount of raspberry sauce.  To frost, either use a flat knife to frost each cupcake or put frosting into a pastry bag and pipe.
Ready to serve.

Note:

I only use organic and unadulterated ingredients

Through personal example, my father inspired me to respect beauty and romance on a daily basis–one never knows when they will be encountered, often by chance.   He often expressed his inspirations through poetry.

Beauty

With the kindness of its weather,

San Diego has developed multiple forms of beauty.

(My words of enthusiasm are difficult to restrain.)

The soil harbors and embraces plants which give birth

to hundreds of varieties of flowers.

Their creative method of procreation is:

they make their flowers so fragrant and colorful

that the bees and other pertinent species

are attracted to visit,

To collect their nectar, and thereby leave tracks

from gathering visits to neighboring flowers.

The plants then “eat”, and become happily pregnant.

This is the intelligence of beauty!

Now the plants we call ‘trees’ reach high for the sky

and its sunshine.

Each family has its own leaf formation, and height,

their arms lissome to the winds,

as their hair of leaves is tousled.

And we humans too enjoy our views of them.

~Spyros Vutetakis 2007

Happy Valentines Day!

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Vegetarian Traditions Video

This post was originally published in November, 2009.  The video is new.

At the Hillcrest Market, Barry Koral shares his booth with a seasoned organic farmer named Dennis Stowell of Tom King Farms.  He is dedicated, understated and the salt of the earth–the kind of guy you can trust your food to.  As I walked up to his side of the stand, he was in the process of showing one of his fans how to cut and eat a pomegranate, potentially one of the messier jobs in the kitchen.  Here is what he showed…(the only additional recommendation to add is that I would cut the pomegranate on a cutting board, or table to avoid any accidents in the hand).

First, you hold the pomegranate in one hand and core the stem out of each side.

Then, you cut the skin on four sides (in quarters)

Next, placing the pomegranate in a bowl of water peel the skin off and the juicy red arils will be released, floating to the top of the water.  Like a cranberry bog, “harvest” them from the water and enjoy.  The mess stays in the water.

He picked up a Persian-style melon next to him and cut a generous wedge for me and the infatuated bystander.  Dennis said the best melons in the world come from Uzbekistan and Tajikastan and the seeds from this melon came directly from there.  It was slightly underipe, but still had a candy-like melt in the mouth experience with a perfect flavor.  Can’t wait for the ripe ones!

Cranberries have been part of the American diet for a long time. Early immigrants learned about them from the native, indigenous tribes in New England where they became synonymous with late Autumn and, of course, Thanksgiving.  While various health benefits have been touted for years, such as the cranberry’s unique ability to prevent UTI’s, only recently has the true super-food quality of the berry become evident.  The anti-oxidant properties of the cranberry surpass even the heralded pomegranate.

Often, we are uninspired when working with cranberries.  Thanksgiving dinners have been adorned with the same cranberry-orange relish or the compulsory cranberry jello mold for a hundred years, usually made with large doses of refined sugar to counteract the tartness.

While cooking at my restaurant, I was inspired by the local organic cranberries at the Royal Oak Farmers Market and used them in savory dishes to counter balance the sweet flavors of squash or corn.  In my cookbook, Vegetarian Traditions, there is a recipe for Quinoa-Corn Arepas with a Chocolate-Cherry Salsa.  Recently, I adapted the salsa recipe by replacing the cherries with cranberries, making a new and exciting cranberry dish for the Thanksgiving table.

Cranberry Chocolate Salsa

Makes 2 1/2 cups

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic, finely minced

1/2 cup sweet onions, finely diced

2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted and ground dried pasilla (ancho) chiles

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 1/2 ounces organic semi-sweet 70% chocolate

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt

1 cup water

In a 4 quart sauce pan on medium-high heat, cook the oil, garlic and onions until the onions become clear around the edges.  Add the cranberries and the rest of ingredients.  Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Uncover, mash the cranberries and simmer for another 4 minutes.  Serve warm.

The story of zucchini is a tale of empires, beginning with Columbus’ voyages to and from the New World.  He took the first zucchino (meaning small squash) seeds back to his native Italy where the vegetable zucchini became ensconced into Italian cuisine.  It is a prolific plant with with a number of varieties and  culinary options; they can be grated, fried, stuffed, steamed, boiled, shaved or baked. Even the flowers are stuffed, sauteed, fried, or used in salads.   Italian immigrants brought the seeds back to the Americas at the beginning of the 20th century.

This recipe came about when I needed a colorful side dish to present for a demonstration.  It is simple, easy to make and highlights the beautiful traits of the baby globe zucchini.

Stuffed Globe Zucchini

Globe Squash

Lemon Almond Pesto

Assembly

Notes: