Drink Pairing: Fresh Juice (Beet-Carrot-Pineapple-Celery-Ginger Recommended)

Ingredients:     (Makes 6 Servings)
2 cups Organic Quinoa (we made a blend of both red & white)
1 small Shallot, minced
½ cup Fresh Parsley Leaves
¼ cup Fennel Fronds
¼ cup Celery Leaves
1 can top quality Canned Tuna
¼ Preserved Meyer Lemon, deseeded & minced
1/3^rd cup (Sherry) Vinaigrette (how to make a vinaigrette)
Salt & Pepper to taste

 Directions:

1. Soak the quinoa in 3 cups of water for 15 minutes, then move the quinoa and water to a pot on the stove.

2. Bring the water to a simmer, cover, and let the quinoa cook until tender.

3. When the quinoa is cooked, drain off any excess water and cool the quinoa. 

4. Put the quinoa and tuna in a large bowl.  Stir with a spoon, breaking up the tuna.  Add the meyer lemon, shallot, parsley leaves, fennel fronds, vinaigrette and celery leaves.  Stir to combine.

5. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Serve.

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Fresh Herb Recipes
Seafood Recipes

Pan Roasted Pomegranate Glazed Quail with Faro and Pearl Onions

Drink Pairing: Red Burgundy or Chilean Syrah

The pomegranate glaze gives the slight game flavor of the quail breasts a complex, tangy, almost honeyed sweetness without being cloying.  The farro grain side dish is hearty, nutty and savory with strong thyme and dill flavors that accentuate the quail’s game flavor.

Ingredients: (Makes 4 Small Plate Servings)
2 Quail Airline Breasts
Pomegranate Glaze
10 Pearl Onions, peeled
2 Carrots, medium diced
2 cups Cooked Farro (follow the directions in this recipe, but omit the onion and use water instead of stock)
½ tbsp Fresh Dill Leaves, minced
½ tbsp Fresh Thyme Leaves, minced
¾ cup Chicken Stock, plus extra as needed

Directions:

1. Cook the farro & keep it warm on the stove top.

2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

3. Simmer the pearl onions in the chicken stock until mostly tender, and then add the carrots.  Add more chicken stock as necessary to keep the pan from becoming dry.  Season with salt & pepper and continue simmering until both the carrots and the onions are tender. 

Note: If your onions are particularly large or you’re in a hurry, cut them in half first.

4. Split the quail airline breasts into individual breasts (in half).  Trim off any excess skin.

5. Stir the carrots, onions, and fresh herbs into the farro.

6. Salt the quail and lay it skin-side down into a hot pan with olive oil.

7. When the skin side of the quail has cooked, flip the breasts and brush them with the pomegranate glaze.  Move the pan to the oven and roast until the breasts are cooked.

8. Brush each plate with a few streaks of the glaze.  Put a pile of the farro to the side of the streak.  Add a quail breast & serve.

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Grain Recipes

Ingredients:    Makes Eight Tortillas
2 cups AP Flour, plus extra as needed
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Oil (vegetable oil, olive oil, etc.)
3/4 cup Whole Milk

Directions:
1. Heat the milk until it’s quite hot.

2. Mix together all the ingredients & knead for two minutes.  If the dough is too wet & sticky, add additional flour.

3. Once the tortilla dough has become silky in texture, put it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and rest at least 20 minutes.

4. Divide the dough into eight equal balls.

5. Place the balls on a lightly oiled baking sheet.  Cover with plastic wrap & let them rest at least ten minutes.

6. Heat a dry cast-iron skillet over medium, medium-high heat.

7. Either roll out all your tortillas ahead of time & cover them to keep them from drying out or roll each one right before you cook it (recommended for best quality).

To roll out a tortilla, dust the table and the dough lightly with flour.  Use a rolling pin to roll one of the dough balls into an 8″ wide circle.

8. Put the rolled out tortilla into your skillet. When you start seeing bubbles forming in the tortilla, it’s time to flip it.  After flipping, cook briefly until the tortilla starts to rise off the pan via the bubbles. The first tortilla is generally not as pretty as the others.

9. Cover the cooked tortillas with a towel to keep them warm while you cook the rest.

10. Optional: Let the tortillas rest for a few minutes before serving, this may make them more tender.

11. Serve.

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Flour & Grain Recipes

Nutty, chewy farro (emmer) grain salad loaded with flavor and texture.  The seabeans can be omitted, but they add further complexity to the salad as well as some saltiness and very welcome green color.

Farro Salad with Roasted Beets, Sea Beans, Fennel & Chanterelles

Ingredients:
1lb Organic Farro Berries (aka Emmer Berries)
1/2lb Fresh Chanterelle Mushrooms
½ cup Seabeans
¼ cup Fennel Bulb
2 Beets
1 bulb of Garlic
2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Shallot, minced
1 tsp of Mustard
¾ cup of Oil

Plus: Pickled Carrots

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Wash, oil, and salt the beets. Cut the fennel bulb in half and pull apart into sections.  Lightly coat them with salt, pepper, and oil.  Place the beets and fennel bulb in separate baking dishes and cover them with foil. 

3. Cut the top off of the garlic bulb and wrap it in tin foil.  Place the baking dishes in your oven to roast with the garlic bulb on top.

4. Roast for about an hour, until the beets are soft, the fennel bulb is tender, and the garlic has become dark and sweet.

5. In a large pot completely cover the farro with water and bring it to a simmer.  Simmer until tender, adding more water if necessary to keep the farro submerged.

6.  Peel the beets and let them and the fennel cool completely.

7.  When the farro is tender, drain off the water and spread the grain out on a baking sheet to cool.

8. Saute the chanterelles whole in hot oil with a pinch of salt until browned and they emit a rich, nutty aroma.  Let cool completely.

9. Cut the beets into thin wedges, roughly chop the fennel bulb, and mince the pickled carrots.

10. Lightly blanch the seabeans in salted water, then shock them in an ice water bath or under running cold water.

11. Make the roasted garlic vinaigrette with the roasted garlic, vinegar, shallot, mustard, and oil. (how to make a vinaigrette).  You should be able to just squeeze the roasted garlic out of its peel into your vinaigrette bowl.

12.  Toss all the salad ingredients with the vinaigrette, and serve family style in a large bowl.

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Chanterelle Mushroom Recipes
Grain Recipes
Wild Produce Recipes
Mushroom Recipes

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A Spanish tapa with cured mangalitsa

Ingredients:
¾ C.    minced dry cured Mangalitsa ham
8 T.      pork fat, melted preferably Mangalitsa
1 C.      flour, all purpose (some for breading)
2 C.      whole milk
¼ t.     nutmeg, freshly grated
2 ea     eggs, large, whisked together
1 C.      bread crumbs, unseasoned
2 C.      oil or lard for pan frying the croquetas

Makes about 8 servings as a small tapa or appetizer

Preparation

In a medium saucepan heat the minced Mangalitsa ham and pork fat over low to medium heat. The ham should be changing color and bubbling but not burning. Add three quarters of the flour and cook for two to three minutes until the flour mixture (roux) has a slightly nutty smell. Reserve the rest of the flour for breading.  Slowly whisk in the milk so the mixture doesn’t clump up, add nutmeg and reduce heat.  Stir until mixture comes to a simmer and begins to thicken.  Once the ham/milk mixture is very thick, remove from the heat and transfer to a shallow pan to cool and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Prepare to bread the croquetas by setting up three small bowls; one with the reserved flour, one with the eggs, and one with the breadcrumbs. Using a teaspoon, scoop the thickened mixture into a small football shape and drop into the flour, shake the bowl to coat thoroughly. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the flour coated croqueta into the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Shake off as much egg as you can before placing in the breadcrumbs to avoid clumping. Repeat this process until all the croquetas are coated. Place prepared croquetas in the refrigerator until ready to fry.

Heat the oil or lard over medium heat until oil shimmers and a pinch of flour sizzles when dropped in. If you have a high heat thermometer, heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Drop 2-3 croquetas in the oil at a time removing them when they are golden brown and warm in the center. If the croquetas seem soggy or moist before frying roll them with an additional coating of breadcrumbs and shake off any excess. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven.

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Mangalitsa Pork Recipes
Grain Recipes

Farro (aka Emmer) is an old world heirloom grain found in traditional European and Near Eastern dishes (particularly peasant dishes from Tuscany).  Many preparations call for the whole grain farro berries to be soaked ahead of cooking to help tenderize them, but this recipe just simmers them on the stove, making it a very quick and convenient way to enjoy this delicious and nutritious nutty grain.  Use this recipe as a side dish, or add other flavors to turn it into a grain salad.

You can easily make this a vegetarian/vegan recipe by replacing the chicken stock with homemade vegetable stock.

Ingredients:
½ cup yellow onion, diced
12oz of organic farro berries
24oz of chicken stock (we recommend homemade chicken stock)
Optional: Portuguese sea salt to taste

How to Cook Emmer on the Stovetop
1. Rinse the farro grains.

2. Sweat the onions until translucent in an oiled saucepan.

3. Add the farro and toast for about a minute, stirring frequently.

4. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to low.

5. Simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Once the farro is cooked through, fluff with a fork, add salt & pepper to taste, and serve.

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Ingredients:         (Makes 8 Servings)
3 ½ Cups of All Purpose Flour (plus extra as needed)
5 Eggs

For Squid-Ink Pasta: only use four eggs, and add 1 tbsp Squid Ink, 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Make the flour into a mound on a clean large cutting board or counter.  Make a large well in the center.

2. Crack your eggs into the well.

3. If making squid ink pasta, add it and the olive oil to the eggs.

4. Using a fork, break the egg yolks and mix them up.

5. Begin to slowly draw in flour from the sides of the well and stir it in, taking care to shore up any walls that begin to collapse.

6. Continue to mix in flour until the mixture becomes a dough.

7.  Switch to kneading.  Knead for at least ten minutes to develop the gluten, adding additional flour as necessary to get the right consistency (silky, slightly sticky).  If your dough becomes too dry, you can sprinkle or mist it with a little water.

8. Wrap your finished dough as a ball in plastic wrap and rest it in your refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax into the right elastic consistency for rolling.

9. Set up your pasta machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

10. Lightly flour your counter or large cutting board.  Cut your pasta ball into quarters.  Work with one quarter at a time, covering the others with a towel to keep them from drying out.

11. Flatten the first quarter with a rolling pin until it is thin enough to pass through your pasta machine on its widest setting.  To prevent sticking, sprinkle a little flour onto the machine’s rollers.

12. Pass the pasta through the machine, then fold the dough back into thirds, press down with the rolling pin (taking care not to incorporate air bubbles), rotate, and send it through the machine again.  Repeat until you’ve run through the machine six times in total, lightly re-flouring the pasta dough as necessary to keep it from sticking.  If you’re hand cranking, try to maintain a constant, even speed (motorized machines make this much easier).

13. Reduce the rollers’ distance one setting, and repeat the rolling process three times.  Repeat until you reach your desired thickness.  Generally for pasta strands (spaghetti, linguine, etc) you want to roll pasta out to the #6 thickness setting.

Note: If you’re going to be using this pasta to make ravioli, keep in mind that portions of the ravioli will be double-thick, so you’ll probably want to roll the pasta sheets out extra thin.

14.  If making strand pasta, either hand cut it or use your machine’s cutting rollers.  If roll cutting, be sure to support both the sheet at the top of the rollers and the strands coming out the bottom of the rollers. Once the pasta has been cut,dust it very lightly with flour to keep the strands separate, cover it with a towel, and begin working with the next quarter of the dough.

If Your Pasta Tears:
You’ll have to feel it (healthy pasta dough will feel silky) and judge via the appearance to get a sense of what may be causing this, but it may be:
A) Too wet. Dust it with more flour between rollings.

B) Too dry.  If it’s really dry you’ll likely have to start over with another quarter of your dough, but you may be able to save it by lightly sprinkling (ideally misting with a spray bottle) it with a little water, then kneading until incorporated.  Depending on how much you knead, you may also need to re-rest.

C) Too wide, so it’s getting caught on the edges of your machine’s rollers. Trim the sides.

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Pasta Recipes

White Cornmeal Muffins with Venison Sausage

These savory muffins are very unique, combining the tasty Venison Sausage with Merlot and Blueberries and cheddar cheese. Using fine white cornmeal results in a wonderful soft and crumbly texture. These muffins are excellent when still a bit warm with melting butter. They are actually very filling. Just two of these mini sausage muffins can serve as a whole lunch for one person.

Ingredients:
2 Venison Sausages with Merlot & Blueberries
Safflower oil for frying
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup White Cornmeal Flour
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 cup Milk
2 Eggs
3 tablespoons Melted Butter
1/2 cup White and Yellow Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Heat safflower oil in a skillet. Fry sausages on all sides, for about 5-6 minutes. Remove the casing, and slice in small chunks.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Grease the muffin pan with butter.

3. In a large bowl, mix all-purpose flour, corn flour, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk and eggs. Stir into the flour mixture. Add melted butter, and mix in sausage and white cheddar.

4. Pour equal scoops of batter into the muffin cups. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffin tops are lightly browned on top.

Recipe Development & Photography by Natasha Price, 5 Star Foodie

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Venison Recipes

Ingredients:
3 lbs. farro berries
½ lb. pancetta, cut in ¼ inch cubes
2 onions, quartered
2 stalks celery, 1 inch chop
2 carrots, 1 inch chop
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
4 beets
3 turnips, 3” diameter or less (or, use 2 larger turnips)
12 cups chicken stock

1. Trim & Clean the beets & turnips. Toss in olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. Wrap individually in aluminum foil. If the turnip is more than 3 inches in diameter, cut in half before wrapping.

2. Place wrapped beets & turnips on a baking tray and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

3. While the beets and turnips are roasting, add olive oil to a pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add pancetta. Saute for about 15 minutes or until browned and crispy.

4. Add farro and stir to coat in oil.

5. Add onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme. Saute for 4 or 5 minutes.

6. Add chicken stock. Simmer until farro is tender, about 20 – 30 minutes.

7. Remove carrots, celery, onion, rosemary, thyme.

8. Add a little olive oil and stock if needed and adjust salt & pepper to taste.

9. When beets and turnips are finished roasting, cut them to ½ inch cube. Then, add to the farro and stir to incorporate.

Presentation: Serve in a wide bowl and garnish with fresh herbs.

Wine Pairing: Poulsard from Jura from Stephane Tissot

More Party-sized Recipes:
Marinated Wild Mushroom Canapes
Sockeye Salmon Fillets with Preserved Lemon Beurre Blanc
Kobe Beef Sliders with Tarragon Aioli & Carmelized Onions
Huckleberry Creme Puree Dessert

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Grain Recipes

I had to experiment a lot with this one…

Justin Marx at Marx Foods had offered a challenge: our choice of three ingredients to create something yummy with: I chose vanilla beans, coconut sugar, and truffle honey. Sounds easy, right?

Well, I had more of a challenge than I expected with this! I made several desserts, but none of them worked with the truffle honey. I was just about to give up and go to savoury, when I found a recipe for kourabiedes, or butter cakes, in my trusty Greek cookbook, and did my own personal take on it and got the most delicious little cakes, perfect with coffee.

Success at last….

Butter Cakes with Truffle Honey

4 1/2 cups pastry flour

1 pound sweet butter

3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons creme de cacao

2 vanilla beans

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup truffle honey ( more is better, I actually added some clover honey to the dregs to make it go further!)

Slice and scrape the vanilla beans into the creme de cacao and let marinate for 1/2 hour. Remove the beans, making sure that you have scraped all the seeds possible into the creme de cacao!

Sift the flour twice.

Cream butter on medium speed for about 15 minutes, until thick.

Sift sugar and add into butter gradually, creaming well.

Add creme de cacao and vanilla bean mixture.

Gradually work in flour to create a soft dough.

Pat and shape into little cakes ( I used a biscuit cutter to shape mine).

Place on an unbuttered baking sheet and bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes until sandy-coloured, not brown.

Before cooling on baking sheet, pour about a tablespoon of the truffle honey over the top of each cake and let soak in. More is better!

Sprinkle coconut sugar over each cake, and let cool.

all photos and content © leslie hunter uhl 2010

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Truffle Recipes
Honey Recipes
Vanilla Recipes