Thursday, November 20, 2014

Guest recipe: Olive Oil Appetizer



Joan Smith from Castle Ridge Olive Oil shared this great recipe with us!

She wrote: This appetizer is quite attractive and can be served as an appetizer or on each plate to greet the guests as they are seated for dinner.  Serve in a spoon shaped dish - like the porcelain spoons used for soup. Square shaped spoons are available at Pier One or other specialty shops and plastic appetizer spoons are available on the internet.

Also for a gluten-free alternative, see the note below.

Serves 8 guests
Ingredients:     
½ C Castle Ridge Olive Oil (with a 1/4tsp of lemon zest blended in if you choose!)
1/4 C buttermilk
½ cucumber (be certain it is sweet, not bitter - always taste cucumbers before serving) chopped into small pieces - about the size of a square pea!
16 cherry tomatoes or 2 tomatoes - Sliced into small pieces and seeds/liquid discarded.
½ C toasted Panko (or bread crumbs)  - place crumbs in small pan with 1 t of butter and stir fry for a few minutes until crumbs are buttery and crisp. 
Garnish with a few grains of sea salt.

Assemble: Place ½ t of olive oil in spoon and 3 drops of buttermilk (about 1/4 t).   Place 1tsp of cucumbers, 1 tsp of tomatoes (hopefully they are really sweet tomatoes!), and top with Panko crumbs.

Gluten free alternatives for crumbs: grated red radish, grated daikon radish or chopped cilantro!
            
 Enjoy the left over ingredients on your salad the next day.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Guest recipe post: Chocolate Ganache Dessert with Nut Crust



Joan Smith brought Castle Ridge Olive Oil to our 1st Annual Carmel Valley Olive Growers Festival! She has graciously shared some recipes with us and let's start with the best meal of any day: dessert!

Chocolate Ganache Dessert with Nut Crust
Nut crust for chocolate ganache pie (may be used with pumpkin, fruit, lemon curd, or any other filling.)
1/3 C cashews (preferably raw)
1/3 C almonds (“)
1 C almond flour (or cashew flour, hazelnut flour, or regular flour)
1/3 C rapadura (or any raw sugar or regular sugar)
1/3 C coconut oil
½ t Vanilla
1/4 t salt
Place nuts in food processor and process to medium (consistency of coarse ground coffee)

Add rapadura and flour and process to mix. Add about half of the coconut oil and process. Continue to add oil until the mixture holds together and you could pat it down in a spring-form pan (pan that allows you to remove the rim from the base - it makes it easier to serve). Add vanilla and salt, process for last time. Place crust mixture in spring form pan evenly covering the base and teasing it up the sizes of the pan.  (I use a sandwich bag with my hand inside to pat it down - it works without being sticky and shapes the crust more easily.)

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes - check - if starting to brown - remove from oven.  It will smell very nutty and buttery - yum!

While the nut crust is baking, prepare your Chocolate Ganache

1 C heavy cream (You may add some culinary lavender or a balsamic or fruit vinegar  reduction.* If you are adding liquid, just reduce the cream amount by 2T and add that amount of syrup. It is fabulous!)
9 oz of chopped dark chocolate (Trader Joe’s dark chocolate bar is the absolute best flavor and least expensive!)

Gently warm the cream in a pan on the stove, just until bubbles start to appear around the edge. Don’t boil it. But - if you do - just skim off top and use it anyway. Chocolate makes things very forgiving!

Remove from stove and place chocolate in pan.  Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then start whisking the mixture.  It will blend very quickly and you will have a satiny chocolate ganache!

Pour the ganache over the baked crust. Let it sit on cool counter to firm up. If you want to hurry things along you may chill it. When you chill chocolate it loses the satiny shine on the top - but still tastes great.             

Note: This pie can be frozen for later use so make two if you want or make ahead for an party! - Once it is frozen, defrost about one or two hours before the party - drizzle some caramel lines on top and grate some chocolate on top or grate some nuts and it will be gorgeous!

This whole process takes me about 30 minutes to complete. Easy dessert and quite elegant to serve.  Be certain to serve very small portions. Drizzle with Castle Ridge Olive oil, balsamic syrup, and sea salt.        

*Balsamic Vinegar reduction: Place ½ C of balsamic vinegar in small sauce pan on low burner. Heat until it starts to boil off. When it is reduced down about half, you will have the consistency you need. At that point watch it because it can burn quite quickly.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Garlic EVOO and Plum Basil Bison and Sausage Meatloaf

Yes I mentioned it, meatloaf, and if you are much like me you will glance over this posting and not give it a good look...but PLEASE DON'T...this is the first meatloaf recipe I have loved. I can't get any credit for this one, our lovely store manager, Deb came up with this and you don't want to miss out on this fabulous meal. So let me share.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of ground bison
1 pound Italian chicken sausage, casing removed
1/2 red onion minced and lightly sauteed with garlic( Add 2 Tablespoons Garlic EVOO to pan. Set pan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for about 5-7 minutes just to soften)
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/3 cup almond milk ( we have have milk allergy in our family so feel free to substitute)

Preheat oven to 50*
In large bowl combine onion and garlic mix. Then add egg, breadcrumbs, and almond mild. Ensemble into loaf and place in loaf pan. Bake 350* for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile make gravy:

1/4 cup Quail & Olive Plum Basil Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/8 cup Pinot Noir
1/8 cup Chicken stock

Boil down until mixture is cut in half. Serve with cauliflower (or regular)  mashed potatoes and wilted greens. Enjoy!



Basil EVOO watermelon skewers

Okay, are you up to something that will WOW your guests? I have the best, and I do mean BEST appetizer for you! How about watermelon paired with Quail & Olive California Basil EVOO for a tantalizing experience?? I bet no one else will bring this and once you start eating, well lets just say it is hard to only go for one helping! Oh and did I mention this is a fabulous activity to involve your children or grandchildren.

Ingredients:

Cubed watermelon
Feta cheese, cut in squares
24 basil leaves
Skewers
Quail & Olive California Basil EVOO

Directions:

Cut up watermelon into cubes, seeds removed.
Cut up feta into cubes
Wash and remove bail leaves

Take a skewer and thread a cube of watermelon, basil and feta. Arrange on platter. Then drizzle Quail & Olive California Basil EVOO over watermelon. Yum!




Vegan Bacon EVOO and Plum Basil Wilted Greens

I have the best recipe to share, and guess what,,,,my eight year old daughter went completely Ga-Ga over this! What a great way to introduce to the pickiest eaters just how delicious greens can be. The Plum basil vinegar add a particular sweetness to the bold green flavors of the coniferous vegetables. Just a note, you can add whatever selection of greens you would like, I would highly recommend Kale, collard greens, spinach, and shaved Brussel sprouts.

Ingredients:

5 -6 cups of greens
3-4 Tablespoons Vegan Bacon EVOO
1/4 onion, diced
1/4 cup Plum Basil
1/2 cup chicken broth ( poured slowly over cooking time)
salt and pepper to taste


Directions

Place large saute pan over medium high heat. Add oil. Add greens. saute incorporating the greens with the oil for about 2 minutes. Add onion. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add plum basil vinegar and about 1/4 cup chicken broth. cover and let boil for about 30 minutes, add more broth if needed. ( I had to keep adding the chicken broth over the greens, the kale takes awhile to cook 30 minutes is a good amount of time, however I have to admit sometimes I cook it for about 40 minutes! But it is so good.) add a little salt and pepper to taste and more Plum basil if needed. Enjoy!





Garlic EVOO Moroccan Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Right now is the time to gather up all the pumpkin or squash seeds and make lots of batches of homemade spiced pumpkin seeds. I love surprising me family with all the different and unusual combinations of spices in my roasted pumpkin seeds. This recipe is by far the winner this year. The Garlic EVOO is amazing when paired with Moroccan seasonings. If you don't have a Moroccan blend mix up some Coriander, Cumin, curry, and coriander. Hmmm, so good!!

Ingredients:

3 cups Pumpkin Seeds
1/4 cup Garlic EVOO
1 Tablespoon Moroccan Spice ( or to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups water

Preheat oven to 375*
In stock pot, add pumpkin seeds ( works great with squash seeds as well) water, and salt. Boil for about 15-20 minutes. Drain and reserve seeds. Transfer to bowl and add oil and spices. Place on jelly roll pan. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes. Enjoy!