Once again the walk-in refrigerators of Villa Creek have been graced with the presence of beautiful summer treasures. As I step into the cool frigid air and lay my eyes upon the shelves I see unbelievable produce and dream of dishes to prepare for patrons. Flats filled with juicy strawberries, blueberries, black mission figs, cherries and raspberries all brought to us from the Bay area via one of our organic, sustainable and local purveyors Veritable Vegetable. In addition to those juicy fruits we try to provide on the table some local treats featured on a number of our plates such as the Cheese Plate, Shepherd’s Plate, Fruit Plate, Fresh Berry Gratinado and a couple other dessert items. Some berries from closer to home are blackberries and boysenberries that are without a doubt the best I’ve ever had. When they arrive from Four Elements Organics, located in Atascadero, I look at the flat and try not to consume too many while thinking of new and creative ways to use them. Though the best way to have them is just washed and popped in your mouth. Chef, gets on the staff for eating too much of them but its so hard when they are as good as these and when you see the tips of his fingers stained, just as yours, with the color of their incredible juice you smile inside knowing you can’t just walk by them without a taste. Its as if they are calling to you…eat me…eat me, I’m so tasty.

Not only has the kitchen tried to shove these amazing berries down your throats but so has the bar. If you find yourself at Villa Creek and are in dire need of a cocktail to unwind from the days pressures post up at the bar and let one of bartenders fix you a black berry mojito or some other concoction that will have you slip away into berry ecstasy.

If there is one thing you can be happy about last weeks intense heat is the beautiful summer treasures it has packed for us in little cardboard flats from our farmers, berries galore.

Whether you are a local, regular or first time diner coming in this weekend you are in for a treat. We will be featuring our kitchen staff’s favorite Braised Rabbit with Sauteed Bloomsdale Spinach, Creamy Polenta and Mole Negro. We do this dish from time to time and has gained much popularity from its appearance on some of our previous menus. This dish speaks to someone who is either willing to try something new and go on a culinary adventure to the heart of Mexico or to a mole guru who expects something great from anyone bold enough to put it on their menu.  And Chef Tom has created just that a very robust mole that culminates to a sweet, spicy, chocolaty, nutty and fruity finish that will have you quite literally licking your plate. Obviously my opinion as the Sous Chef is quite biased and I think that everything we do is absolutely fantastic so don’t take my word for it, come in and try it for yourself. I will promise that you will not be disappointed. If you come in, tell you server to not even bother with the additions or the menu at all and say, “I’ll have the Rabbit.” I recommend a nice glass of Tempranillo or our Villa Creek Cellars Cuvee.   Enjoy!

For all of you who have read and remember the post on our charcuterie program I would like to update you on the progress of said meats.  Over the last 6 months We have used, in the restaurant, salami, lomo and house cured Jamon. I was fortunate to be able to take one of the hams to the Aspen Food & Wine Classic and  it was well received.  I was asked several times as to how consumers could purchase some of the Jamon and I was pleased to direct them to the restaurant.  Maybe one day I will be able to ramp up production enough to sell retail. For now if you want some, it will be available at the restaurant for the next 2 months and then gone for another year.  Good news though, I will be doubling my production this year and creating more yummy cured pig parts for the restaurant using only organically grown boutique pigs. Sooo, If you want some come and get it!

The perfect starter for those warm Paso Robles evenings, here is another recipe to showcase Windrose Farm’s assortment of organic heirloom tomatoes.

Yields 6 servings

5lbs heirloom tomatoes
1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 small white onion
3 cloves garlic
4 tblsp. good Sherry vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

PUREE TOMATOES, CUCUMBER, RED PEPPER, GARLIC AND ONION
IN BLENDER UNTIL VERY SMOOTH.  SLOWLY ADD VINEGAR  AND OLIVE
OIL TO BLENDER UNTIL EMULSIFIED INTO SOUP. SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE.  SERVE ICE COLD, AND GARNISH WITH TOMATO SORBET.

Tomato Sorbet

5 lb yellow  tomatoes( Pureed)
2 shallots(SLICED)
5 tablsp. Red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
salt  to taste

COOK TOMATOES AND SHALLOTS ON LOW HEAT FOR ABOUT 1.5 HOURS
LET COOL.  ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS AND PUREE UNTIL SMOOTH.
POUR INTO ICE CREAM MACHINE AND FOLLOW OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS.

During the summer and early autumn months, Bill and Barbara Spencer at Windrose Farm bring us the most bright and beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Here is one of many recipes written to showcase the Windrose bounty.

MINT PESTO
2 CUPS LOOSE PACKED MINT LEAVES
1/2 CUP LOOSE PACKED PARSLEY LEAVES
3 CLOVES GARLIC
4 TABLESPOONS PINE NUTS
1/4 CUP GRATED PARMESEAN CHEESE
1/2 CUP VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
JUICE OF 1 LEMON
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

USING A BLENDER OR FOOD PROCESSOR, BLEND ALL INGREDIENTS EXCEPT OLIVE OIL. WITH BLENDER RUNNING ADD OLIVE OIL IN A SLOW STEADY STREAM UNTIL MIXTURE IS A BRIGHT GREEN AND BLENDED WELL.

RISOTTO
3TABLESPOONS EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
2 CUPS NANNO VIALONE  RICE
1/2  YELLOW ONION (DICED)
1 CLOVE GARLIC (SLICED)
1 CUP WHITE WINE
2 QUARTS CHICKEN OR VEG STOCK (WARM)
1/4 CUP GRATED  PARMESEAN CHEESE
3 CUPS ASSORTED TOMATOES  (I.E. GREEN ZEBRAS, AUNT RUBIES, CHEROKEE PURPLE, VALENCIA,ETC.)
1/2 CUP MINT PESTO (RECIPE ABOVE)

IN A SAUCE POT, SAUTE ONION AND GARLIC IN OLIVE OIL ON LOW UNTIL ONIONS ARE TRANSLUSCENT. THEN ADD RICE AND INCREASE HEAT TO MEDIUM HIGH, COOK FOR 3 MINUTES STIRRING FREQUENTLY.  ADD WHITE WINE AND STIR UNTIL WINE IS ALMOST EVAPORATED. REDUCE HEAT TO MEDIUM AND SLOWLY ADD THE WARMED STOCK 4-6 OUNCES AT A TIME
UNTIL RICE IS CREAMY AND ALDENTE.  FOLD IN TOMATOES, PESTO AND PARMESEAN  CHEESE.
SERVE ON INDIVIDUAL PLATES, OR FAMILY STYLE AND GARNISH WITH FRESH MINT SPRIGS AND EVOO

This classic winter dish was designed to pair with the Rhone wines from local vintners and house friends Justin and Heather Smith at Saxum Vineyards.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

10# Beef Short Ribs or Beef Brisket
2 Sliced yellow onions
1/4 cup peeled garlic cloves
4 dried avocado leaves
4 chopped tomatoes
2 oaxaca pasilla chiles
2 guajillo chiles
2 ancho chiles
1 tsp whole coriander seed
1 tsp whole fennel seed
1 tsp whole mustard seed
1 tsp whole cumin seed
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/2 stick of cinnamon
1 tsp achiote
4 cups water
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups veal or beef stock
salt and pepper to taste

process:
Heat oven to 300 degrees.
In Large rondeau, heat 1 cup olive oil over medium high heat. Brown short ribs in batches and remove from pan. Reduce heat to medium, and add onions, garlic, avocado leaves and chiles. Sweat onion for about 5 to ten minutes then add the tomatoes, fennel, coriander, mustard seed, cumin and cinnamon. Continue to sweat ingredients, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Add 2 cups of red wine and reduce to au sec then add the ribs and all the stock and water. Stir and cover with a tight fitting lid. Place in Preheated oven and allow to braise for 3 hours. Remove pan from oven, carefully remove lid and check texture of ribs with tongs. If the ribs are soft to the touch they are finished, if they are still a little tough replace lid and put them in the oven for another 30 minutes. When finished, place ribs in a serving casserole and cover. In batches, carefully puree remaining braising liquid in a blender. (Be careful When Blending Hot Liquids). Place Pureed Sauce in 8 qrt pot and simmer slowly until reduced by a third. Salt and pepper sauce to taste and ladle over ribs. Serve with mashed potatoes, creamy polenta or Cheddar Cheese Grits.

A staple on our menu, these enchiladas are a local favorite for meat lovers and vegetarians alike. We often top them with a mixed vegetable succotash and serve along side refried black beans.

FILLING:

INGREDIENTS:
2 Quarts raw butternut squash (peeled and large diced)
1 1/2 ears of corn (corn removed and cob discarded) (about 1 cup corn kernals)
1 small yellow onion, diced
Salt and pepper

Procedure:
Toss butternut squash with oil salt and pepper, then
Place in a two-inch hotel pan, add ¼ cup water and cover with aluminum foil.
Place in a 350-degree oven until soft. About an hour.  Sauté diced onions slowly until soft then add corn, salt and Pepper. Cook until corn is just soft.  Add corn mix to
Butternut squash, then mash together with potato masher
or large spoon. Cool, cover and mark.

GREEN ENCHILADA SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

2 LBS TOMATILLOS
1 BUNCH CILANTRO
1 BUNCH GREEN ONIONS, CHOPPED
1 JALAPENOS
1 TBLSP GARLIC, MINCED
1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER
1 1/2 T SUGAR

PROCEDURE

HUSK AND CLEAN TOMATILLOS AND PLACE INTO A PAN AND FILL HALFWAY WITH WATER. COOK TOMATILLOS UNTIL JUST COOKED. ADD CILANTRO,SUGAR, GREEN ONIONS, AND JALAPENOS AND BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH WITH BLENDER.

To assemble:  Heat corn tortillas in hot canola for 20 seconds one at a time.  Fill tortillas with butternut squash mix and your favorite cheese.  Roll them shut, and place them in a baking dish leaving enough space so that you can get a spatula under them. Ladle enchilada sauce over the top and add cheese. Place in oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Serve with crème Fraiche and lime.

Where to begin?

They serve Pop Tarts at schools. Did you know that? They serve them at schools in seemingly progressive areas in California. In the same zip code that organic farmers and Grass fed beef ranchers barely break even on a yearly basis doing the things they believe to be right, the School district has the unmitigated gall to serve “pop tarts” at the student run snack bar. Without a toaster. What is a Pop Tart? It certainly can’t be food. Is it a toaster candy bar that nods its head toward the fruits and vegetable block of the food pyramid? Or is it just another way we can further utilize the surplus corn that is grown in our fertile land in Middle America, to destroy the health of our youth.

I can’t tell which is more appalling to me; the way we underpay our teachers and overpay our politicians or the way we worship our Celebrity Chefs and yet pay no attention to the true heroes of the food industry, the farmers. Both are equally insipid, both equally damaging to our future and day to day life. But one seems obvious while the other is still cloaked in a perception of integrity. We can all agree that the crime of overpaying fat cats on the hill, whilst the mentors of our youth live in respective squalor is atrocious, and that it is so bogged down in the mire of bureaucracy and unions that we may never really find national solution. But do we really understand the idolatry involved in raising chefs to a level of god-like celebrity, and not really praise those who live on little or no profit to tip at windmills against the great corporate farming giants (seemingly in bed with the chemical companies, the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies. I like to call this the evil empire just to tip my hat to George Lucas).
We should be making TV shows about the Spencers of Windrose Farm or the Proprietors of T & D Willey. We should laude and write songs about the three visionary women who started Veritable Vegetable in the Bay area. Where are the parades and awards shows for sentries like Frank Lamacchia of PL Bar Ranch beef who raises smaller cattle on grass right up until they are respectfully loaded on trucks 6 at a time to go to slaughter at a local meat house. Or the Hearst corporation who funds the Hearst Ranch beef project that does the same thing, utilizing natural genetics to create tender beef not genetically modified corn slurries created by and funded by the evil empire. For that matter we could talk about even smaller ranchers Coco from Fair Oaks Beef who has gotten together with a rancher from New Zealand (a place much more spatially challenged than us) who together have been working on genetics and pasture management to create a more efficient use of land and resources to create their beef. Why are we not giving congressional medals to them? They seem to be more interested in our future than either the politicians, teachers unions or chefs. And these are only the farmers in my neck of the woods.

I don’t want you to get the impression that I am unaware of the relative handful of celebrity chefs that do speak about their farmers and are advocates for a better food system. But why are we not as outraged about the sneaky pop tart as we are the dairy cattle that are being abused (Again not to undermine the ethical treatment of livestock, I will be ranting on that next week). Because we are entirely too enamoured with ourselves. The media makes gods of lesser men and denies deity to those who truly are heroes. Because we can look to those who create tasty treats with things like corn syrup and pectin powder, bleached and enriched flour with such doe-eyed respect that we lose sight of what is real. That is how we justify pop tarts that say things like “real Fruit” and “all natural”. We are putting our respect and trust in the wrong people. Go to Your farmer ask him where and what you should eat. Or better yet ask him what your children should eat at school. Ask him why abused cattle are getting into the school food system and ask him how we as a nation of small communities can change what we are doing to our future. He will tell you what chefs are doing the right thing. She will tell you where and what to buy, and in my experience they tend to be less self-serving than the media chefs.

When you stray from what is real, when you no longer respect those who provide for your needs, you inevitably run the risk of allowing questionable slaughter practices and the sneaky pop tart into your life and your children’s schools.

We’ve been thinking.

Choosing the highest quality, local, organic ingredients from around our local foodshed is not always the easiest route. And it’s certainly not the most affordable or most profitable. But we’re not willing to let that go.

On the other hand, we all have families and jobs and we understand that eating out on a Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday night “on the cheap” is expensive, especially if one is trying to eat ethically.

So here’s the deal.

Until further notice, come and join us during the week for some fun alternatives to our regular menu (which is also fun… it just happens to be a little pricier… but as we mentioned above, preparing excellent ethical food is not inexpensive).

Starting next week (February 5th, to be exact), Taco Tuesdays are here! And Paella Wednesdays!!

And starting February 21st, bring the whole family in (or bring all your friends…) for Family Style Thursday! Children eat for just $10.

Oh, and the most exciting part is that it’s all still delicious, local, sustainable, and organic. In that order.

For more info, check out our Upcoming Events page.

I know, I know, I have been truant in my correspondence with the masses. Here I am trying to decide what to talk to you about. Do I tell you about the 250 Pound Pig that we had raised, butchered and house cured? Maybe I write about the Political landscape in the upcoming election. How about discussing the merits and meanings of “sustainable and organic”…. No, let’s talk pig!

It was a blast taking a whole animal, disassembling it, curing it, hanging it, watching it dry, slicing it and eating it. It gives one a real respect for food when you have to look an animal in the eye before you process it. It also provides the necessary motivation to make sure you don’t screw it up.

I started with the hams. Wow! what hams! These things were 30 lbs a piece. It took 12 lbs of salt for each and almost 150 lbs of weight to press the liquid out of them.
Curing hams for Serrano ham(Spain) or Prosciutto(Italy) is one of the oldest forms of preservation on the planet and I felt linked to generations of people trying to feed their families in the off season. It is so very “Little House on the Prairie”.

I needed to press them in salt for 30 days, so half way through I changed the salt and checked the meat for the cursory outer drying that takes place. They were already tightening up nicely and getting the proper color. I replaced them under the 150 pounds of brick.

Meanwhile I started on the coppa. Using curing salts, sugar and herbs I cured the pork loin and allowed 16 days for proper curing. I also started making sausage for the restaurant. We made a standard spiced sausage that we serve on our “Shepherd’s Plate”. We made Chorizo in the Spanish style as well as a red wine and pepper flavored Salumi. I am particularly fond of the Chorizo, its smoky sweetness and meaty garlic flavor go so well with the local wines.

I also made some pancetta out of the pork bellies, which we use to wrap our house made pate´. I dig the earthy spice it gives the noble “meatloaf”. The other pork belly was gingerly braised in duck fat and is still curing in said fat as I write this tale.

With all this meat curing and hanging in the walk-ins, I can’t walk ten feet without smelling the romantically pungent odor of salted meat. In this Cook’s humble opinion, there are few smells more appealing than the earthy richness provided by hanging pork in a curing room. If you ever have the chance to do so don’t pass it up. It is an aroma that feeds the soul.