I salute all the hardworking moms out there who would do anything for their kids and families, and I use the plural “families” because, more often than not, we have more than one! Moms do the things they do out of love, pride, necessity and responsibility, but there’s a whole nest of emotions that take over when children come into our lives. Even though our children eventually grow up and move out (if we’re lucky), they will always be our little girls or boys – and we invariably treat them that way.

I confess that I am that mom. My daughter is a fully grown girl and I still tell her to wear her seat belt, get more sleep, and never accept an unopened beer from a stranger – no matter how “fine” he is. It’s just my way of showing how much I love her because I can’t influence her on a daily basis anymore. The other thing that I do – and I know I inherited this from my mom – is to try to feed her as soon as she walks in the door. “Do you want something to eat?  We have leftover leftovers, there’s potato salad, we’re baking a lasagna…” Sometimes I can get her to bite and sometimes I can’t, but…sigh…. it makes ME feel better if I try (calling, Dr. Freud…)

I’m just grateful that I am a mom, and I have my darling daughter to thank for that. I cherish the time with her whether it’s a phone call, a visit or a thank you card (where’d she learn that?) She brightens my day, makes my life so much richer and, at this stage, she’s a friend, a confidant and a sounding board for my rantings about politics, the world or Dancing With The Stars. She makes me laugh, she makes me cry, but she likes me, she really likes me, and that is everything to me.

SALTIMBOCCA ALLA GARLICIA

Okay, I couldn’t let my weekly blog go out with no mention of garlic, so I’m including one of my daughter’s favorite dishes. It’s been a while since I’ve made this, but it’s one she won’t turn down when she walks through the door.

8 boneless chicken breasts – pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

1/2 cup (8 tbls.) olive oil

4 tbls. butter

Salt and pepper

2 cloves Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic – finely minced

¾ lb. tomatoes – peeled and chopped

2 to 3 sprigs parsley – finely chopped

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh oregano

12 slices paper thin parma ham or prosciutto

12 thin slices mozzarella cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat 5 tbls. oil with all the butter and lightly fry the chicken breasts until golden on both sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and keep hot. Heat the remaining 3 tbls. oil in another pan, sauté the garlic for about 30 seconds, add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley and oregano and cook quickly for about 10 minutes or until tomatoes are mushy. Arrange the chicken breasts in one layer in a shallow baking dish (you may need a second baking dish to hold 8 breasts.) Layer one to one and a half slices each of ham then mozzarella on each breast. Spread each with a tablespoonful of tomato mixture. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan. Bake at 425º until the cheese is melted. Serves 4 to 6.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Take barbacoa, some refried beans and rice, a few margaritas and blend well with Cinco de Mayo. What do you get?  A fiesta of Mexican heritage and pride across the United States. But no May 5 – or any occasion for that matter – would be complete without salsa and chips to kick it off and keep it going. I have my own “easy on the jalapeños, canned tomatoes” (uhhh, wimpy) recipe for salsa, but in honor of the holiday, I wanted to find a salsa that was truly authentic with Mexican roots.

A young Isaias

I didn’t have to look far….  I asked Marie, with whom I share an office, if she had one. She didn’t but told me, with pride, about her dad’s salsa. “You’ll be licking your fingers – if you can stand the heat!”

Marie’s father, Isaias, who was born in Michoacan, Mexico, worked in the D’arrigo Brothers cactus fields in Gilroy for many years, cutting the tender nopales and prickly pears for market. Houses now fill the nopal fields, but Marie still remembers her father, who is now retired, coming home from work covered with cactus stickers which she helped pull out every night. This may give us a little insight into his secret for making salsa – patience!

Marie and her dad. A nopal plant is on the upper right.

“My father puts a lot of time and sweat into his salsa,” says Marie, “and everything must be right!” Here are a few of his rules: “don’t’ overcook the chiles and open all the windows because when you start toasting the chiles de arbol, the aroma is strong and you will start coughing!”  His rule of thumb when buying chiles: choose the ones that have brown lines – those are the best (to Isaias the best means the hottest!)  I have to add my own CAUTION: When handling chiles, I recommend wearing gloves (I speak from experience!) or at the very least, wash your hands often and do not touch your face or eyes!

Isaias’ recipe makes enough for a big celebration but feel free to cut it in half for smaller parties. The hotness of chiles is also unpredictable so add more or less depending on your preference, but if you’re like Isaias, the hotter, the better!

Muchas gracias, Isaias and Marie, and Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Isaias: patience is important.

ISAIAS’ SMOKIN’ HOT SALSA

20 jalapeños

15 habaneros

30 chiles de arbol

10 to 15 serrano chiles

6 to 7 cloves Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic

7 to 8 tomatoes

2 lbs. tomatillos

Salt to taste

Cut the stems off all the chiles but do not seed. Fill a large pot with water and boil the jalapenos and serranos together for about 10 minutes. Core the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and habaneros to the pot and boil for another 10 minutes. Add the tomatillos (remove outside skin and wash) and boil until tomatoes and tomatillos are tender but not mushy.

While cooking the chiles and tomatoes, etc., toast the chiles de arbol on a comal (cast iron griddle) until dark and well toasted. Finely chop the garlic.

Drain the boiled chiles and tomatoes, etc., but reserve the chile water. Blend chiles de arbol and garlic with 1 cup of chile water in blender until well blended (somewhat smooth but not pureed) and place in a large pot.

Blend the boiled chiles separately with half cup chile water and add to garlic pot. Do the same with tomatoes and tomatillos until you’ve added all the ingredients to the garlic pot.

Blend well, add salt to taste. Serve with chips, put on refried beans, carne de puerco (pork riblets) or your favorite dish. Disfruta la comida!

Marie sharing family pix and recipes.

My blogs are always inspired by garlic, but the inspiration as to what I’m going to write about my favorite herb/vegetable is sometimes lacking. I certainly have no shortage of garlic subjects – its flavor (Monviso rules!), health and medicinal aspects, fascinating folklore, its care and feeding, and on and on, but every now and then I just can’t get started…

This whole week felt slightly out of kilter (I blame it on sun spots) and putting words to Word wasn’t jelling for me. I was blocked – until yesterday… I was in the middle of a hair appointment when I was introduced to the work of a very talented tattoo artist. Hmmm… Tattoos are definitely a personal preference, but when looked at simply as artwork, not on canvas but on skin, they can be just that… art.

Chef Giletto's garlic bulb is a work in progress

Whether you agree or not, tattoos are objects of fascination and curiosity – and I was compelled to find out if anyone had ever gotten a garlic tattoo. Our friend, Chef Michael Giletto, does indeed have a tattoo of garlic nestled amid some of his favorite foods, but cooking is his life so it’s a natural for him. However, I wanted to know – who else would be so bold as to ink the stinking rose?

I Googled “garlic tattoos” and, WOW, up they came in all their garlicious glory! At first I was surprised at the number of adventurous souls who wanted to show their love for garlic in this striking – and permanent – way. Gotta love that… but why was I surprised? A garlic bulb is such a pretty thing, flavorful, bold and even magical – it’s perfect for the symbol of a well-seasoned life!

Would I ever get a garlic tattoo? I never thought about it before – but now that it’s in my head, hmmm… Maybe a little bitty one? I think I feel the inspiration for another blog coming on…

Allium Sativum Forever!

]]> http://www.christopherranch.com/archives/6596/feed 0 http://www.christopherranch.com/archives/6556 http://www.christopherranch.com/archives/6556#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:17:07 +0000 christopherranch http://www.christopherranch.com/?p=6556 By GARLICIA   April 20, 2012

Every day is Garlic Day here at the Ranch, April 19 notwithstanding, and so it goes with Earth Day (April 22) also. The Christopher family has been farming in California’s Santa Clara Valley since the 1880’s, and has always had great respect for the land that made it possible to grow a family and a family business.

Reputable farmers have inherently been stewards of the land – it’s deep-rooted you might say – and Christopher Ranch is no exception. We’ve been growing California garlic since 1956, and without sustainable growing practices we wouldn’t be able to produce our bold and beautiful Monviso garlic 50 plus years later, while sustaining jobs as well.

But more work is always needed and Christopher Ranch does its utmost to be green in all aspects of its operations – from the ground up – with stringent field rotation programs, drip irrigation, pesticide residue free garlic, increased organic production, to the packing facilities with reduced energy use, eco-friendly packaging and preventative maintenance, to transportation with more economical fuels and shipping procedures, to the office recycling bins.

Christopher Ranch consistently reviews and updates its field and facility procedures in a concerted effort to produce the best garlic in the world – in the most earth friendly way possible. Our commitment to sustainable farming continues to grow so we can continue to produce our bold and beautiful garlic for the next 50 years to come. We hope you’ll join us in making every day Earth Day.

It's in our hands...

Easter is past but my head is still filled with memories of dinner at Mom’s. She always made ham for Easter – not the impressive spiral cut or honey-baked kind but the modest, off-the-rack canned ham with the “jelly” of undetermined origin inside. She embellished it with a few cloves (both kinds!), some pineapple slices and basted it with her favorite pink wine. Don’t scoff, it was always delicious and after Mom passed away, I continued her Easter ham “tradition” (with a little change in wine, however) until that year when BRUNCH – in a restaurant – sounded like the best idea in the world. Someone else cooks, serves and cleans up?  Ahhhhh…. yes!

I have embraced the brunch idea wholeheartedly and, although I did feel a tinge of remorse for not cooking last Sunday, it went right down the rabbit hole when my favorite brunch fare, Eggs Benedict, was placed before me. I loooove EB and have eaten it (them?) wherever my travels have taken me – not far, mind you, but in all the gin joints, in the all the world, oops, I just traveled too far, I’ve never tasted any better Eggs Benedict than right here in my hometown. Two of my favorite Gilroy cafes, OD’s Kitchen and Garlic City Café, make a great EB and my “royal taster” also prepares a pretty decent rendition, so my cup (and scale) runneth over.

Which brings me to a happy announcement: Monday, April 16, is National Eggs Benedict Day*! Yay! Guess I’m not the only one who’s hooked on this elegant dish. Even its origin is an interesting story (there are at least three versions*) and its ingredients are often up to the whim of the chef – except for the hollandaise which remains a constant. I usually opt for the traditional EB with Canadian bacon but there are times when I’m not in a meat state of mind, so this Mediterranean style twist from The Curvy Carrot really appealed to me. However, there was no fresh garlic in this beautifully fresh recipe so I’ve respectfully added CR Roasted Garlic Cloves to the mix. Seemed like an eggscellent idea to me…

CAPRESE EGGS BENEDICT

From The Curvy Carrot (Revised by Garlicia)

Hollandaise:

12 tbls. unsalted butter, room temperature

6 large egg yolks

1/2 cup boiling water

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Pinch cayenne pepper

Pinch white pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. sea salt

Eggs Benedict:

2 English muffins – toasted

2 eggs – poached

1 large tomato (or two medium ones) – slice to desired thickness

4 oz. (about half one 8-ounce mozzarella ball) – sliced to desired thickness (enough for 2 slices per muffin)

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves – lightly packed

Salt and pepper to taste

6 or more Christopher Ranch Roasted Garlic Cloves – whole, sliced or chopped

Chives for garnish – optional

Special equipment: Instant-read thermometer

Hollandaise Instructions:

In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water set on medium heat, whisk the butter and egg yolks together until smooth. Very, very slowly, add the 1/2 cup boiling water to the mixture, whisking constantly.  (You do not want the eggs to cook). Whisking constantly, heat the mixture until it is thickened and reads 160 degrees on your instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Gently whisk in the lemon juice, cayenne pepper, white pepper, garlic salt, and sea salt.  Serve warm.

To Assemble: Place the fresh basil on top of the toasted English muffin.  Top with tomatoes, mozzarella, roasted garlic cloves and poached egg.  Lightly drizzle the hollandaise sauce over top. Garnish with fresh chives, if using. Serves 2.

*If you’d like to know the history of Eggs Benedict, this NY Times article is fascinating:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/nyregion/thecity/08eggs.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Freshly roasted Christopher Ranch Garlic cloves

Do you have a favorite recipe that you can’t live without? It’s the one that everyone asks for, the one you make when you invite friends for dinner, the one that’s bookmarked in your recipe file – it’s your signature dish – whether you created it, grew up with it, “borrowed” it or updated it from your best friend’s mother’s sister’s recipe – it’s the absolute favorite in your culinary collection.

I have many recipes that are excellent, and being in the garlic biz, I’m constantly on the look out for new ones that I can try and share. We have hundreds of garlic recipes on our website and some are Christopher Ranch’s tried and trues: roasted garlic, garlic soup, 40 Clove Chicken, etc. (all made with Monviso, of course), but if pressed for my personal favorite, the one that’s usually on the tip of my tongue is Kelly’s Asian Chicken – super garlicious (that’s garlicky and delicious) and kinda sweetly tangy and glazey all over. Mmmm.

Kelly’s Asian Chicken, was the unanimous first place winner of the Gilroy Garlic Festival’s very first Garlic Recipe Contest and Cook-off in 1979, and it’s a unanimous winner at my house. My daughter is not big garlic lover (what happened there… yes, we’re really related… these things just happen… maybe it skips a generation…) but this is one dish she asked for over and over again.

It contains a whole bulb of garlic, but don’t let that deter you because there’s something about cooking garlic slowly with soy, honey and vinegar that makes it rich and nutty and seriously tasty. One note: the aroma of this dish when it’s cooking is fairly pungent, but let me heartily assure you that it’s worth putting up with for the final outcome. I usually make a double batch so there’s plenty of “sauce” to serve on rice or noodles.

Vintage CR Festival Booth, Circa 1980

I’ve tried to find Kelly Greene, the creator of Kelly’s Asian Chicken, to see if she has any more amazing garlic recipes on the stove, but for now, I’m happy with this stellar dish. Kelly, if you’re out there, thanks for this recipe and feel free to contact me. Hope you’re still cooking!

KELLY’S ASIAN CHICKEN

1         3 1/2  lb. frying chicken, cut into serving size pieces, or the equivalent in chicken parts of your choice

3         tbls. peanut oil

1         bulb (not clove) fresh garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

2         small dried hot red peppers (optional)

3/4      cup distilled white vinegar

1/4      cup soy sauce

3         tbls. honey

Heat oil in large, heavy skillet and brown chicken well on all sides, adding garlic and peppers toward the end. Add remaining ingredients and cook over medium high heat until chicken is done and sauce has been reduced somewhat. This will not take

long, less than 10 minutes. If you are cooking both white and dark meat, remove white meat first, so it does not dry out. Watch very carefully so that the sauce does not burn or boil away. There should be a quantity of sauce left to serve with the chicken, and the chicken should appear slightly glazed. Serve with Chinese noodles, pasta or rice.

On the eve of St. Patrick’s Day my thoughts have already gone over to the shamrock side. I’m even wearing green a day early to gear up for the corned beef and cabbage I’m going to devour tomorrow. I’m not Irish, but for this one day – and several days after because I’m going to make a pot of CB&C big enough for the end of several rainbows – I will embrace green beer, green garb and green food. When in Eire, go Eire…

Hmmm, green food….  fruit, vegetables, chile verde, cake and cookies (thank you McCormick food color), it’s all good. However, there are some instances when green food is not of the favorable variety. I was going to list a few, like the cheese that’s been in the back of your fridge for almost a year, but no, I’m headed in another direction. It’s all about the garlic, of course, per usual.

Just imagine that you’ve spent the better part of the last two days making your grandma’s favorite dill pickle recipe so that you have a year’s supply for family and friends. You make them the same way you’ve always made them: with vinegar, pickling spice, your secret ingredient and a generous amount of fresh garlic cloves. Perfect. But when you go to check on your newly put up jars, the garlic cloves have turned green or maybe even blue! Your first reaction… yikes, what the hello happened here?

What’s the explanation? The greening is due to a restructuring of garlic’s enzymes during a temperature change or contact with an acidic agent.

• Raw garlic contains an enzyme that, if not inactivated by heating, reacts with the natural sulfur in the garlic and the copper from water or utensils to form blue copper sulfate. The amount of copper needed for this reaction is very small and is frequently found in normal water supplies.

• Garlic will also turn green (develop chlorophyll) if exposed to a temperature change or sunlight.

• Vinegar can contain trace amounts of copper from being distilled in copper vessels. The acid copper combination together with a sulfur compound in fresh garlic can turn it green. Also, the iodine in table salt may discolor whatever you are pickling.

What’s the solution?

• Try to use only new crop California garlic (available July to December) that has not been in cold storage. Late season garlic (January to May) may have been in cold storage so it is more subject to turning green.

• Use stainless steel pots and utensils (not iron, tin, aluminum) to keep the garlic from turning color. Use kosher or canning salt instead.

• Garlic may be less prone to turning blue if it’s at room temperature before the cloves go into a hot vinegar solution. Blanching it before it before it goes into the jar may also control the color change.

If none these solutions work, be secure in knowing that the green-blue color is not harmful and the garlic is safe to eat. You can also use all those jars of pickled goodies to throw one heck of a St. Patrick’s Day party – that’s my favorite solution.

P.S. Did I mention that Christopher Ranch makes Pickled Garlic? No work, no worries! HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!

The only green is on the label!

It’s never too late – or too early – I say, to celebrate Halloween. Since 1992 Christopher Ranch has celebrated Halloween in a big way – we just couldn’t resist the garlic and vampire connection to market garlic – and every year we’re blown away by the lengths that stores go to observe the day as well.

Why am I talking about Halloween when Spring is right around the corner? Well, hit me with a wet bat, but it’s taken me this long to publish the results of our annual Halloween Display Contest. It’s my favorite holiday and judging by the entries we received for our 2011 contest, it’s a favorite with Savemart, Lucky and Food Maxx, also. Besides, anything great is worth waiting for and these displays are pretty great. Congratulations to all 58 entrants for making our Halloween Display Contest so frightfully fun!

Without further aboo, here are the winners of our 2011 Halloween Display Contest:

1st Place: SAVEMART #82, Kevin Lema, Patterson, CA

2nd Place: SAVEMART #781, Angelo Vasquez, Tracy, CA

1st Place: LUCKY #777, Ezequiel Jimeniz, Sebastopol, CA

2nd Place: LUCKY #740, Doug Rapoport, Petaluma, CA

1st Place: FOOD MAXX #460, Angel Legrande, San Jose, CA

2nd Place: FOOD MAXX #463, Don Ypil, Union City, CA

Mr. Congeniality: SAVEMART #556, Greg Vollberg, Reno, NV

We also couldn’t resist giving a Congeniality Award to Savemart #556, Greg Vollberg, Reno, NV. This little ghostie was too cute – not to mention taste-full!

All the entrants really threw themselves into these displays, and if you doubt that, please cast your eyes on Food Maxx #405. Oooh, it’s ALIVE!!!

For more info on our contest, see my blog from November, 2011, on our blog roll. Look for  GHOULISHLY GREAT GARLIC ON DISPLAY.