Cornmeal Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes and Zucchini Sticks

Regardless, this was down right delicious. (Never met a fried vegetable I didn’t like!) I wanted a salty starter for our Tunitas Creek Kitchen Pig Roast and green tomatoes were still going strong on Potrero Nuevo Farm  – so why not? We used three deep fryers to turn appetizers out for 65 people. It went smoothly until we overloaded the circuits, but nonetheless my incredible chefs re-wired and got it all figured out without too much fuss. Never a dull moment in the farm kitchen!

Chef Stefan Moser at Tunitas Creek Pig Roast: Fried Green Tomatoes

We taste tested different varieties of green tomatoes, including the Green Zebra – which is a ripe tomato that is green. The chefs and farmers preferred the dry farmed Early Girl’s. This is an intense small (red when ripe) tomato that is packed with minerality, high sugar, and high acidity. The big heirlooms were good too but didn’t fry quite as well because they had more water content – they were still delicious – but if one has options then go green Early Girl or Molina or use the ripe green zebra but make sure it’s not over ripe.

What do you mean the electricity is out? Arrgh!!! ( Chef Jose Castro & Stefan Moser)

The zucchini sticks were tasty too. We cut medium size zucchini long, but they didn’t coat too well in the cormeal. I didn’t hear any complaints for uneven coating from our guests. Fried, is arguably the best way to eat zucchini. Of course homemade ranch dressing with any veggie is irresistible.

Gawd, what’s happened to me? I used to be so Frenchified and now I’m all country Western. Fine dining is boring – give me some fried food and ranch dressing any day of the week!

Just to give you an idea of what 65 appetizers looks like….

Rice bran oil is best to fry these tomatoes in. It has one of the highest smoke points of all frying oils and it is used in Japanese cuisine for tempura. Any flavorless oil with a high smoke point will do, just make sure it can take  375˚F without catching on fire or becoming toxic as some oils will at a certain heat.

I’m not making a plug for deep fryers, but after using so many restaurant professional fryers its hard to go back to rinky dink home kitchen appliances. I used Warning Pro and thought it was great for the price. It’s lightweight, big enough to hold a few hand-fulls of fries or tomatoes without the temperature dropping, it has a nice little electronic dashboard and cleans easy. It’s not fancy but who cares? It’s a deep fryer not a brushed copper KitchenAid. And for $100 compared to other more expensive brands, I think it gets the same job done.

Chef Valentine getting ready for the rush…

I love Ranch dressing, it’s definitely a guilty pleasure, and we made two versions for dipping – cool ranch and hot ranch.  I don’t know who invented “ranch” but I’m grateful.

Pig Roast at Tunitas Creek Kitchen

Fun times on Potrero Nuevo Farm with Tunitas Creek Kitchen!

For more Pig Roast Sides:
Smoked Potato Salad with Tarragon and Hard Cooked Egg

Dragon Lingerie Succotash & Hot Bacon Vinaigrette

Cowboy Up Cattle Beans

Sautéed Greens with Pine Nuts and Red Spring Onion

How to Roast a Whole Hog on a Spit

The post Cornmeal Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes with Homemade Ranch first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Sautéed greens from the farm to the frying pan. Jay Jackson Photography

(As if succotash, smoked potato salad, cowboy-up cattle beans, cheddar scallion cornbread, cornmeal crusted fried green tomatoes, and fire & ice watermelon and tomatillo salad wasn’t enough.)

And when those beautiful rich dark greens are grown and harvested by Suzie & Jay Trexler, co- manager’s of Potrero Nuevo Farm,  right before cooking – that’s about as fresh and healthy as it gets – that is truly Farm to Table.

Farmers Suzie & Jay Trexler, Jay Jackson Photography

The trick to setting out a dish of vibrant greens is to blanch them first. I toss the greens in boiling salted water for about 2 seconds then shock in a big bowl of ice water. On the pick-up (or when you’re about to serve them) quickly sauté and serve. They will not only keep their color but also their vitamins and minerals. And if you are cooking for a crowd they can be blanched the day before too.

I topped these with some toasted pin nuts, sliced red spring onions, a pinch of chile d’arbol (hot!) and squeeze of lemon.

For more great pics of our Pig Roast check out Jay Jackson’s website.

Dragon Lingerie Succotash & Hot Bacon Vinaigrette

How to Roast a Pig on a Spit

Cowboy Up Cattle Beans

The post Pig Roast Sides: Sautéed Greens with Pine Nuts first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Dragon Lingerie Succotash: Jay Jackson Photography

I wanted a colorful chunky pig roast side that would showcase  all the late season summer veg still goin’ strong at Potrero Nuevo Farm including: dry farmed tomatoes, corn, padron peppers, and pole beans.

Although this is not a traditional succotash (tomatoes are rarely included, I’ve subbed padrons for bells, and there’s no cream/mayo sauce but a hot bacon vinaigrette instead) it’s my updated rendition of  a normally terrible tasteless dish. Sorry – not tryin’ to offend here – I’m just not a Lima bean fan because they often taste mealy to me. And I hate canned corn.

My Husband showing me how to shuck corn. Ha! Jay Jackson Photography

A little history lesson: succotash (a mixture of lima beans, corn, and shell beans with bell peppers or tomatoes) was popular during the Great Depression and sometimes cooked with a pie crust on top. Obviously this would make a hearty comfort dish and provide protein and other beneficial nutrients on an extremely tight budget. I wonder if the cream base that is normally served with this dish as a cold picnic salad would taste rather rich if served hot with a flaky topping…

That being said, I prefer my version.

Dragon Lingerie beans lose their cool color when they are cooked but they are still intriguing in the flesh with a lacy purple appeal. When farmers Suzie & Jay Trexler (co-farm managers of Potrero Nuevo Farm) asked me if I wanted to include these in our Pig Roast menu I was afraid they would be tasteless. Quite the opposite –  fat and sweet!

Dragon Lingerie Bean

Hope you join us next year for our 2014 pig roast….

More Pig Roast Sides:

Cowboy-Up Cattle Beans

Smoked Potato Salad with Hard Cooked Egg & Tarragon

How To Roast a Hog on a Spit

For more pictures see Jay Jackson’s amazing collection: http://found-images.smugmug.com/Tanitas-Creek-Half-Moon-Bay

The post Pig Roast Sides: Dragon Lingerie Succotash & Hot Bacon VInaigrette first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Smoked Potato Salad , Jay Jackson photography

If you’ve never had a smoked potato, then you’ll be nicely surprised at how they elevate this simple picnic side dish to a whole new level.

I smoked these in the wood under our pig the day of our event but I’ve also made them in smokers before. You can do this in an oven too with a packet of mequite chips too or a regular charcoal BBQ.

Potrero Nuevo Farm potatoes

Tarragon flowers, tarragon, parsley and hard cooked egg garnish the top along with red spring onions and a mustard vinaigrette.

And look at these gorgeous red spring onions from Potrero Nuevo Farm! Wow!

Red spring oinons!

More Pig Roast Sides:

Dragon Lingerie Succotash & Hot Bacon Vinaigrette

How to Roast a Pig on a Spit

Cowboy Up Cattle Beans

The post Pig Roast Sides: Smoked Potato Salad first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Cowboy Up Cattle Beans. Photography by Jay Jackson.

Cattle beans are some of my favorite because they are black & white and keep their color when cooked. They are great in stews and soups or served with a smokey-spicy light tomato broth as a full side dish. It’s hard to describe bean flavor but I think nutty and meaty would be my best effort. I used some of Farm Manager Suzie Trexler’s pickled watermelon radish, and carrot around the beans for color.

There are a lot of people out there who will tell you that soaking beans overnight isn’t necessary especially if they are freshly dried (two years is considered “fresh” for dry beans). I’m going to tell you the opposite: every time I have not soaked beans beforehand they take much longer to cook, the skins break, and they cause gastro-intesinal problems. Seriously.  It’s also easier to see how much you are working with after they have plumped up. Guesstimating beans for a huge event is always a problem because some beans look small and then quadruple in size and others stay roughly the same. These cattle beans tripled in size.

I cooked these beans the day before the pig roast in a vegetable broth with thyme and bay leaf. To reheat I strained the liquid, brought it to a boil, and added more seasoning: ground dry guajillo chilis (you can sub guajillo powder), smoked Hungarian sweet paprika, cumin, tomato sauce, salt, and ground coriander to taste. Then I poured the ranchero flavored liquid over the beans and brought the whole pot to a low simmer before serving.

I was cooking for 75 people and needed burner space the day of but they can be made in one go. This was a big hit and an unusually beautiful one with the pickled veg.

A word of advice on cooking beans: do not salt your cooking liquid in the beginning of the process. It can change the texture of the bean and also the salinity can mysteriously disappear and then reappear. Beans will soak up the salt from the water and if you just taste the water (and not the bean) during the cooking process you will continue to add more salt. When the beans are soft enough to taste you will be disappointed. I lightly salt the bean liquid mid way through the cooking process and then adjust seasoning at the end.

More Pig Roast Sides and Pictures…

How to Roast a Pig on a Spit

Smoked Potato Salad with Tarragon and Hard Cooked Egg

Dragon Lingerie Succotash & Hot Bacon Vinaigrette

Sautéed Greens with Pine Nuts and Red Spring Onion

Jay Jackson Pig Roast Pictures

The post Pig Roast Sides: Cowboy Up Cattle Beans first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Cowboy and Pitmaster Jeremiah with Me at Potrero Nuevo Farm.

Every hour or two you both stand around and talk about the game plan as the pig turns one rotation per minute and you let Jeremiah take the meat temperature from different parts – because his arms are much longer than yours – while trying not to die of smoke inhalation because the direction of the light breeze is following you both around the pit.

As the Pig turns…. one full rotation every minute

Next you stand around the pig and take pictures with the farmer’s that raised the heritage pig: Suzie & Jay Trexler co-farm managers of Potrero Nuevo Farm and founders of Tunitas Creek Kitchen.

When the hog is cooked to 160˚F (figure 1 hour for every 10 lbs. at 225˚F) you push the indirect fire away and just let it slowly continue to turn on the spit so the juices reabsorb. This way the pig rests and you can actually carve it without burning your fingertips off – well sort of – it’s still going to be pretty darned hot even if it rests for thirty minutes.

We went through about two pallets of firewood over 8 hours and used whatever applewood we could find from neighboring farms mixed in with oak and eucalyptus. Jeremiah did a great job with the fire and created indirect piles next to the 4 honches with some coals alongside the belly (as you can see from the pics below) and then replenished them as needed.

His spit held the pig sturdy – better than any I have ever seen – and this took a few people to secure because the main rod is going to go from nose to tail (ouch!!!) Jeremiah’s spit securely bolted the pig to the spit.

Jeremiah’s spit with braces that bolt on to the pig

No need to brine or inject the pig with marinade unless you want to. I prefer the pig to taste like pig and the sauces can be added on top afterward. And we didn’t coat it with oil before roasting because we didn’t want the skin to turn black. Once that skin turns to crackle no salt or seasoning rub is going to stick to it, so again, it’s best to season after wards.

Jeremiah’s amazing motorized spit can take up to 200lbs. Jay Jackson Photography

Lastly, you enlist Jeremiah and another cowboy (my husband in this case) to carry the 170lbs. pig to your make-shift carving station (2 saw horses with a piece of really thick ply wood over the top). Stick an apple in the mouth for your guests to see and go for it.

Taking the pig off the spit….

Spit Roasted Pit ready to carve up

Why the obligatory apple? I’m not sure but it is necessary…

Beautifully cooked spit roasted pig with perfect crackle and totally cooked juicy meat

Note: this is the second pig roast I’ve done and no matter how amazing your butchering skills are, spit roasted pork is going to look pretty much the same color which is a greyish-white. I take the legs off and carve them, then go for the loin and slice it up, then cut in between the ribs and serve those too, and cut the pork belly into chunks.

I put large pieces of crackle over the top of the platters (boy oh boy does crackle from a pig that’s been perfectly spit-roasted taste amazing) and serve with a bunch of sauces on the table – in this case guajillo BBQ sauce, tomatillo salsa, and blue cheese dressing.

Spit Roasted Pig. Photography Jay Jackson

But lets not forget the sides and I will follow up with recipes in another post. Because a pig roast has got to come with a plethora of accoutrements. I started the meal with cornmeal crusted fried green tomatoes and long zucchini sticks, then served a Fire and Ice salad with watermelon, tomatillo, pickled jalapeno and smoked chili d’arbol vinaigrette. For the mains I served a smoked potato salad, an heirloom tomato-corn-dragon lingerie been succotash with hot bacon vinaigrette & smoked padron peppers, and ranchero cattle beans with pickled vegetables. And cheddar scallion cornbread to soak up all the juices and corn tortillas.

Dragon Lingerie Succotash: corn, dry farmed tomatoes, padrons, basil & bacon vinaigrette.

Finger lickin’ good!

Smoked Potato Salad with Chopped Hard Cooked Farm Egg, Tarragon, and Mustard Sauce. Jay Jackson Photography

Cowboy Up Cattle Beans. Jay Jackson Photography

If you are seriously interested in renting Jeremiah’s spit or having the Jay & Suzie Trexler (pictured below) raise a pig for your event please contact me and I will put you in touch with the powers that be. Only serious inquisitions will be tolerated. The rest will be thrown out with the slop!

Tunitas Creek Kitchen! Farmer’s Suzie &Jay Trexler who raised the pig and all the produce at Potrero Nuevo Farm

For more pictures from our pig roast please check out http://found-images.smugmug.com/Tanitas-Creek-Half-Moon-Bay We were blessed with a professional photographer, Jay Jackson, as one of our guests who captured our day, our guests, and our food in beautiful ways. Thank you Jay! Still blown away by your pictures….

Pig Roast Sides:

Smoked Potato Salad with Tarragon and Hard Cooked Egg

Dragon Lingerie Succotash & Hot Bacon Vinaigrette

Cowboy Up Cattle Beans

Sautéed Greens with Pine Nuts and Red Spring Onion

The post How to Roast a Whole Hog On a Spit first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Farm Fresh Eggs from Tunitas Creek Organic Eggs at Potrero Nuevo Farm

Once you have mastered the art of gently cracking the shell top with one of the devices pictured below without shattering the entire shell, then you can move on to the easy part which is the custard filling. A word of advice on using this instrument: crack gently then use the butt of a pairing knife to crack/puncture the top of the shell and peel down to the crack line. Then discard the white & yellow into a container to reserve for the custard.

Rösler, a German company, makes this device for cutting the top off of soft poached eggs but it works well for raw eggs too

Your egg shells should look like the photo below when you are done. You will break a lot when you are just beginning – don’t beat yourself up about it – just keep your eyes on the prize. Everyone comes up with their own technique for perfection. Place the egg shells back in the carton when they are cleaned. They will cook in the cartons so don’t jette them!

Tunitas Creek Organic Egg Shell Cups

Before making the custard it’s a good idea to sauté your shallot and bacon. You should see the size of the shallots growing here at Potrero Nuevo Farm. Holy Moly, I don’t know what they put in the soil (yes, it is an organic farm) but I have never in my life – not even in France – seen or tasted shallots quite like these. First off, they’re about as big as my whole entire hand. Secondly, they’re juicy when you cut into them. I don’t know if I’m crying tears of joy half the time or tears of onion fume inhalation. Either way, they are magnificent.

The bacon is also special. Suzie & Jay, co-farm manager’s, just processed the Berkshire pigs they’ve been raising for our events and for customers that bought shares, and we have some pretty serious bacon – O.M.G. do we have bacon! It’s not even funny how delicious it is. I can’t even cook it for events without eating half. It’s amazing there was even enough bacon for this recipe after I demolished most of it.

Fill your nicely cleaned eggs shells (remove that little lining inside if possible and give them a rinse in cold water) with bacon and shallot and Gruyère cheese. I know Gruyère is expensive but you only need a little bit and quiche Lorraine is not quiche Lorraine without it.

Quiche Lorraine in Egg Shell Cups

After the garnishes have been gently administered. The custard can be poured in over top. This part is really easy. Which is a good thing because – I’m not going to lie to you here– making the actual egg cups is a total nightmare (there’s another word for “nightmare” but I think my students are on to my blog so….)

Gently place the cartons into a large baking pan and fill it with boiling hot water just below the edge of the carton so the water comes up about 1/3rd the side of the egg shell. Cover tightly with tin foil and bake at 350˚F for about 15-20 minutes. When they are just set and have stopped jiggling all over, then they are done.

Garnish with caviar, micro greens, herbs – you name it – make ’em look pretty.

Quiche Lorraine Appetizer in Egg Shell Cups

Here’s another picture of this very same appetizer made with pancetta instead of bacon and topped with caviar:

Caviar topped Egg Custard Baked in Eggs Shells

The post Mini Quiche Lorraine Appetizer in Egg Shell Cups first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Lavender Fields Forever at Potrero Nuevo Farm in Pescadero

It only takes about about a teaspoon of dried lavender to add lovely perfume and a little extra herbal flavor to your salad dressing. Add too much lavender and you veer towards creating a fantastic smelling and yucky soap tasting vinaigrette – blech!

Watermelon Radishes for Tunitas Creek Kitchen. Do you see how excited I am to use these? Totally elated!

Co-Farm Manager’s Suzie & Jay Trexler, love to saddle me up with beautiful produce for our Tunitas Creek Kitchen events  (I know, poor me right? It’s real tough cooking with just picked produce and smelling lavender from the fields in my kitchen – real tough). They wanted to highlight watermelon radishes for a private luncheon so went for a simple salad with baby lettuces, fennel, mint, and mandoline shaved radish.

Watermelon Radishes up close!

For our upcoming pig roast (this weekend) Suzie has some pickled too, which I’ll share with you on a separate post.

Watermelon Radish from Potrero Nuevo Farm

Restaurants pay top dollar for this colorful radish. They are sweeter tasting than red radishes and have a slight turnipy flavor. Normally they are not peppery the way some radishes can be. And they are SO pretty in pink.

Nope, sorry, they do not taste like watermelon…

But they are really delicate in flavor so it’s nice to keep it simple no matter how you’re using them.

Watermelon Radish & Mint Salad

The post Watermelon Radish, Fennel & Mint Salad with Lavender Vinaigrette first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I am officially launching our new website! Check out TUNITAS CREEK KITCHEN at Potrero Nuevo Farm where I have the incredible good fortune to work with the dynamic husband & wife Co-Farm managers, Suzie and Jay Trexler, on this gorgeous contemporary farm.

Tunitas Creek Kitchen Farm to Table Dinner

Tunitas Creek Kitchen takes an artisan approach to celebrating the farm season with small-batch jams & pickles, farm-to-table dinners, and workshops that offer tips & techniques for farming and cooking.

The team originated with farmers Suzie & Jay, born out of their hands-on work managing the fields at Potrero Nuevo Farm. This 300 acre farm and wilderness property is committed to sustainable agriculture, fair accessibility to food and ecological land management. The majority of the harvest is donated to the low-income community on the Coastside.

With the blessings of Farm Owners Christine Pielenz and Bill Laven, we teamed up for our first farm-to-table celebration last year, and the TCK team was officially formed to bring you exceptional dining experiences.

We have 2 farm-to-table dinners upcoming: a PIG ROAST and a HARVEST CELEBRATION plus workshops on how to make preserves and probiotic foods like kimchi & kraut. Each workshop comes with a farm tour, tips for farming & harvesting, and a lunch prepared by moi with produce and protein grown/raised on site. For our farm to table dinners we partner with local brewers and wineries to provide a truly locally grown experience (mmmmhmmmm, it’s party time – get those cowboy boots polished up!).

Maybe you’ve always wanted to have a private event on a farm? Let us host your next celebration or corporate event. We can provide team building experiences too! Jay & Suzie will welcome your group with a tour of the fields. From there we can organize activities, screen an outdoor movie from our barn “straw bale theater” or teach a hands-on workshop on the farm or in the kitchen. And finally, you’ll be treated to a family-style organic meal in a gorgeous outdoor setting.

Jay and Suzie also tend to a flock of pastured organic laying hens and have a heritage hog operation for folks who enjoy quality, humanely-raised bacon, chops and sausage. Guests at our farm-to-table dinner last Fall commented that the ham we served was the best they had ever tasted. If you would like to participate in hog shares or the egg CSA please see their products link.

Potrero Nuevo Farm loves volunteers and they offer many opportunities to come pitch in! Bring the family and learn how to farm the earth. Or come and share the harvest with us at one of our upcoming events – or at your own private celebration!

Let us show you what our beautiful bountiful California coast has to offer!

Want to know a little more about I’m up to on the coast and what Potrero Nuevo Farm does to feed the community? Check us out IN THE NEWS:

Edible Silicon Valley Magazine: AMY GLAZE, World Class Chef/teacher Enriches the Coast

Half Moon Bay Coastal Views Magazine: PARADISE FOUND at POTRERO NUEVO FARM! Philantrophy, organic practices, and family friendly volunteering 

The post Introducing Tunitas Creek Kitchen! first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Todd Parsons Photography: http://toddparsons.net

The French named this creamy soup after her. Why? Perhaps the milky color of the cauliflower reflected her complexion as the website The Old Foodie points out or for the shape and color of her powdered wig? Perhaps because the silky smooth rather curvaceous combination of cream and cauliflower reflected her – ahem – personality?

All I know is that this soup has a seriously sensuous mouth feel and when a little black truffle jus is added and a touch of white truffle oil – it’s magique.

Todd Parsons Photography, http://toddparsons.net

It is common in France to see the name ‘du Barry’ attached to a dish that has a cream sauce or even a mornay sauce (which is a basic white sauce with egg yolks added for extra richness) as well as dishes with cauliflower.  I have also made this soup adding egg yolks at the end to give an even more luxurious finished feel but I don’t always find it’s necessary.

Black truffle jus is very expensive. It can be left out if it’s not easy to find or doesn’t fit the budget. However, white truffle oil is often sold in tiny bottles and will give quite a powerful truffle kick even with just a few drops. I also like porcini mushrooms with cauliflower soup, but if you use the dried mushroom liquid (which is tasty) it will change the color a little bit.

A little trick of the trade and a beautiful look to cauliflower soup is shaving some of the larger florets on a mandoline and floating them on the soup. The white on white is stunning for full portions.

Excuse my shameless sales pitch here but a Vita Prep blender will totally change the way you cook. I use it more than any other kitchen appliance. It’s amazing for soups, purées, sauces, vinaigrettes, juices, smoothies, jams, sorbets, etc. And it can take hot and cold liquids and keep them hot or cold. Here’s the new one, it’s super expensive, but I have an old one an it works just fine! I tote it around with me from farm to farm – very durable. Amazon has a range of Vita Preps some with variable speeds (mine only has two).

The post Truffled Cauliflower du Barry Soup first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Todd Parsons Photography at http://toddparsons.net

Walnuts, golden raisins, and Potrero Nuevo Farm heirloom tart-sweet mystery apples (Golden Delicious perhaps, nobody know for sure because the trees are very old) are cooked in a spiked sweet soup with: canela, star anise, rosemary, nutmeg, cardamom, orange peel, brown sugar, and honey – and whiskey.

Yes whiskey and a few bottles of rich barley wine from Cypress Brewing Company. Basically this is a cocktail in disguise as a very innocent dessert. Perfect for wrapping cold hands around while sitting on a hail bail and watching an outdoor movie at Potrero Nuevo Farm.

Hot Apple Pie Sundae: http://toddparsons.net/

Shortbread cookies are close in ratio and recipe to a pâte brisée (pie crust). With two major exceptions: there is extra salt and pie crust is often half fat to flour instead of one-third fat to flour. Traditional Scottish shortbread is salty and sweet. This combo is totally underplayed in my humble opinion. In terms of flavor profiles it should go: butter, flour, salt, then sugar even though the actual recipe actually uses a 1:2:3 ratio of sugar: butter: flour and leaves the salt to your discretion. Don’t be afraid to taste the dough and adjust!

The caramel drizzle is malt extract syrup for beer making which I’ve been using a lot lately in different ways. It has become a fantastic secret ingredient adding depth to winter stews, soups, extra maltiness to pizza crust, and as a fun sweet dessert topping.  It has the consistency of honey and a rich sweet malty hop flavor.

There’s nothing pretentious about this dessert. It’s easy. It tastes warm and comforting and it is meant to be held by the hands and warm you inside and out.

The post Prohibition Hot Apple Pie Sundae first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Todd Parsons Photography

If you ask for Tarte Flambée Gratinée  in Alsace you will get an addition of Gruyère, or if you demand your pizza forestière you will receive added mushrooms. However, I think you will get nothing but strange looks if you ask for delicata squash slices…hmmm…would the translation be courgière?

Tunitas Creek Kitchen whipped up this Alsatian pizza to pair with wheat beer from Cypress Brewing Company at our recent dinner. We only made a few slight changes to the original recipe – we added delicata squash, rosemary, pancetta instead of lardon, pecorino, and a drizzle of malt extract – an ooey gooey malty sweet tasting syrup used in beer making.

Flammekueche, is said to have been created by bread bakers in Alsace to test the heat of their wood burning ovens. Legend has it, they would push the embers back and bake this pizza, then I presume enjoy a nice snack before getting down to business. The intense 700˚heat (or higher!) would torch the crust hence the term Flambé.

Even though this pizza can be cooked in a regular oven the wood fire smokes the cream sauce base and makes this simple pie incredibly more-ish. The malt syrup drizzle adds a hop-y caramel flavor that brings everything together. Brian (co-owner of Cypress brew with wife Lea) tells me he brushes pizza crust with the syrup, which would also be tasty. I opted for the drizzle because it has the consistency of honey and its troublesome to get off the spoon and off my fingers.

Our guests thought the pairing went great together. But when you’re drinking fresh cold beer that looks as good as this…

Cypress Brew Co. wheat Beer: Todd Parsons Photography

how can it not?

The post Delicata Squash Flammekueche first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Really Bear? Can’t you see we’re talking bout ham here? Jeesh!

Ramin Hedayatpour Photography

We have scheduled a date for our harvest dinner. We have spread the word via Good Eggs. We have sold tickets (all of them!) which has got our adrenaline going. What if it rains? What if we don’t have enough beer? What if we don’t have enough food? What if people decide they don’t want to trek all the way out here?

We tackle the “what ifs” and now we must solidify a menu that pairs with Cypress Beer but also represents seasonal produce available on the farm. Suzie and Jay Trexler, co-farm managers of Potrero Nuevo Farm and leading force behind Tunitas Creek Kitchen, want to showcase Berkshire Tamsworth ham from pigs raised on site. I would like this too, but I just don’t know if there will be enough meat for 50 people.

They are sure it will be enough. I remind the farmers that people really eat at events like this and if people are drinking and the weather is cold they will pig out! And we want them to – it’s a harvest celebration!

30 pounds of ham for 50 people just doesn’t sound like enough. Of course the menu does start with delicata squash flammekueche, cauliflower du Barry truffle soup shots, and a colorful array of homemade pickles. The sit down part of the evening commences with a napa cabbage and honey crisp apple slaw and warm pretzel sticks.  The side dishes range from cippolinis in caraway cream sauce, to roasted kuri squash with pancetta & sage, to braised cattle beans with kale & thyme. It’s doubtful anyone will starve.

But, I know from experience that people (myself) really like to eat pork. With beef I ration 1/4 – 1/2 pound per person depending on the cut. But with pork, especially the juicier tastier butcher cuts, I normally figure on around 3/4 – to 1 pound per person.

Suzie and Jay want to use their own meat – this is a farm to table dinner afterall – so we pull the hams out of the deep freezer and take a closer look. I can’t tell if they’ve been cured and smoked because the fat and skin layer is still in tact and I’ve never seen this on a ham. It’s not like we cook ham everyday in the restaurant world. I mean when was the last time you saw ham as an entrée on a menu?

Ramin Hedayatpour Photography

This causes me to panic. As much as I would love the opportunity to do this part of the process myself there just isn’t time before the event and I don’t want to experiment on 50 people or waste the only hams Suzie and Jay have left. Curing ham can take up to a whole week depending on size. And then they should be smoked and our smoker is super small and wood burning (not electric) which imparts great flavor but requires lots of attention.

It’s not that fresh ham is bad. But, it won’t be pink (yes, the nitrates keep the color – and the nitrates also stop any chance of botulism which when curing a large pieces of meat can be useful. but to get the curing process right and do it safe is tricky) and it will be a little rubbery and chewy in texture. Who wants to naw on a rubber band during a nice dinner?

Jay finds the form from the Meat Locker where the pigs have been processed. We run down the list of cuts. It clearly says that the hams have been cured and smoked. Well all-righty then! Let’s ham it up!

I rip open the vacuum seal on the smallest of the three hams and sure enough a heavenly smokey aroma comes through. Bear, who is sure there must be something for him in this clandestine meeting over the deep freezer, attempts to push his way through our barricade but no such luck.

We sample frozen slices and it is ridiculously delicious – like no ham I have ever tasted before. It is nicely salty and smokey but the nutty flavor of the meat is still full front. We are all nodding our heads and smiling at each other while savoring our samples because we know this is going to be even better cooked and people are going to go crazy over it.

A deep sense of relief washes over me. I cook on 4 different farms, and each one is fabulous and each one presents its own logistical hurdles to jump over in terms of cooking space and distance between kitchen and table. A ham can be pre-cooked, carried over to the table and presented, then sliced and served warm. It’s not like a piece of fish which goes from perfect to overcooked and freezing cold in seconds. This makes my job of serving 50 people a little easier.

Ramin Hedayatpour Photography

Two days before the event I thaw out the hams in the refrigerator. I make a an easy ham glaze by combining fresh pressed apple cider (from the farm) with three bottles of Cypress brew ale, brown sugar, molasses, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, star anise, dried whole chile peppers, coriander seed, cardamon pods, black peppercorns, cloves, and orange peel. I reduce this to a light syrup that has the consistency of olive oil. Yum.

Heck, if no one shows up to this party I’m going to sit down and drink the ham glaze all by myself.

The day of the event I set the oven to 250˚F and place the three 10-pound hams on large onions cut around-the-world. The onions will serve as my roasting rack.

To prepare the ham I cut through the skin and fat layer down to the flesh in a 1/4-inch graph design. This is important. It is virtually impossible to cut through the skin once it is cooked. You will need one of those gawd awful electric knives if you want to go that route. The ham must be cooked low and slow to render all the fat layer under the skin. And once this is achieved (crispy crackle and ooey gooey rendered fat) then you have reached ham heaven.

Because our dinner is centered around beer, I choose to make a poultice of mustard and rosemary which I think will go nicely as it drips down the roast and melds with the vinegar-y apple cider & ale spiced glaze. I smear it in between all the fat crevices.

Todd Parsons Photography

The ham cooks for two and half hours and I generously baste every ten to fifteen minutes with glaze and pan juices. The smell of the farm kitchen is like something out of an old cartoon – the animated wafting scent of the delicious roast tickles under the nose, hypnotizes, and beckons us to follow completely mesmerized. Bear, who has been given a “time out” in the farm office for being totally annoying is howling for a taste – and he’s not the only one!

When ready to serve dinner to our lively guests, I remove the ham from the onion rack which has imparted savory flavor and pour off the all the pan juices and glaze. I separate the fat from the jus and reserve. Suzie and I present the ham to the guests who surprisingly keep us posing as they snap photos (Wow! So this is what it feels like to be limelight?)

Todd Parsons Photography

We rush it back to the kitchen and slice it up. Slicing ham off the bone is not so easy and I suggest (unless you just happen to have a spiral slicer) to carve through the outer pieces until you hit the bone. With a sharp boning knife carve around the bone and remove it, then continue to slice to the thickness desired. I think 1/4 to 1/2–inch is just about right.

The plates come back clean. It turns out there is enough ham to offer seconds but guests are rubbing their bellies truly fed up.

“That was the best ham I have ever had in my life” one guest tells me. And as much as I’d like to take the credit, all the applause really goes to Suzie and Jay. With meat – it is, what it is. Ham glaze is just lipstick on a pig. The farmers have done a superb job raising their heritage pigs.

Todd Parsons photography

Our Guests finish dessert in the barn kicking up their heels on hay bails and watching movies we project, kegs are tapped, and people are happy and socializing. My cooking team is exhausted and we ditch the last of our energy in a final clean-up attempt. It has been a gorgeous farm to table evening under a beautiful starry sky, on a stunning farm, with impeccable produce, and delicious locally brewed fresh cold beer.

Bear is finally allowed to join the crowd and I sneak him a few tastes of the ham that he’s been crying for all afternoon. He rewards me with a deep “woof!” and a few kisses.

Ramin Hedayatpour Photography

I would like to boldly advertise for the Trexlers and Tunitas Creek Kitchen as they will be raising Berkshire Tamsworth pigs next year and you can buy shares in a pig which will provide a nice selection of fresh and cured cuts. It seems like such a rare opportunity to have this direct connection with a farm, but shouldn’t it just be the norm?

Todd Parsons Photography

Details to be announced when they come back from their Mexican holiday in the sunshine but you can check out the farm here. And in the meantime here’s the ham glaze recipe and mustard rub….

The post Ale & Apple Cider Glazed Ham with Rosemary Mustard Crackle first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.