I want to share a garden tour and wine tasting fundraiser we did for our community gardens

J

joe

Well-known member
It was our 4th, and it gets more involved every year. This year the tour stopped at four gardens, with food at each one. There was live music at each garden and California wine tasting at the first three, coffee tasting at the last. I was, as usual, running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but it came off really well. I hope the link to the Facebook photo album works.

Here was the menu:

Stop 1:

Smoked Salmon and Sorrel Tart

Fried Sage leaves and fried zucchini

Lavender Pistachio Shortbread

Lemon Verbena, pineapple sage, stevia and strawberry infused water

Crane Lakes Sparkling Brut

Patianna 2011 Sauvignon Blanc

Music: Classical guitar from Micheal (one of my interns)

Stop 2:

Olive oil tasting from Joelle Farms

Pinky's Pink Peppercorn Feta

Dolmas (donated)

Tablas Creek 2012 Cotes de Tablas Blanc and 2013 Vermentio

Music: Jazz from the brass quartet of the Long Beach Community Band

Stop 3:

Chicken Salad, served on Romaine lettuce leaves

Kale Salad with lemon oil dressing, pine nuts and feta

Potato Salad Vinaigrette with fresh herbs and celery seed

Roasted Garbanzo Beans with Swiss Chard and Fennel

Pickled Beets

Organic Apples

Halter Ranch 2011Cotes de Paso and 2011 Synthesis

Music: Local folk musician Robi Duganne

Stop 4:

Lemon infused sugar cookies with lemon icing

Caramel Apple Bars (thanks, Meryl!)

Locally Roasted coffee from Rose Park Roasters

Music: Bolivian folk music from the Rodriguez family. (some of you may remember the two cute boys whose picture you had to click on daily to vote for our garden. They're growing up but they still play music with their parents.)

I'll post the recipes a little later.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.726579244064851.1073741826.189241474465300&type=1

 
Smoked Salmon and Sorrel Tart

TARTE AU SAUMON ET A L'OSEILLE

(The only hard part about this is finding sorrel. Fortunately it grows like a weed here in California.)

from French Tarts by Linda Dannenberg

1 9” inch butter pastry shell, partially baked
½ lb. large-leafed sorrel, washed, stems pulled off backwards
Salt
4 large eggs
⅓ cup heavy cream
⅔ cup crème fraîche (or use ⅓ cup sour cream and increase heavy cream to ⅔ cup)
½ tsp. ground white pepper
6 oz. smoked salmon, cut into thin julienne strips about 1-1/2 inches long

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Reserve 6 sorrel leaves for the garnish. Drop the remaining sorrel into a pot of boiling salted water, reduce to asimmer, and cook for 5 minutes.  Drain well, pressing out excess water, then puree several seconds in a food processor or blender.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, cream, crème fraîche, pepper and a little salt. (Keep in mind that the salmon is salty).  Beat with a whisk until blended.  Add the sorrel puree and whisk to combine.  Pour a layer of the filling into the tart shell. Scatter the salmon evenly over it, and fill the shell with remaining filling. Decorate the top with the reserved sorrel leaves.

Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the center of the tart is set.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.  Serve tepid or at room temperature.

 
Fried Sage leaves and zucchini

Beer Batter: Beat two eggs into half a cup of flour. Add a pinch of salt and dribble in beer until you have a fairly thin batter.

Wash and dry sage leaves. Cut zucchini into thin strips. Dip in batter and fry in hot oil. Serve ASAP.

I also like to use two sage leaves with a pieces of anchovy between them, dipped and fried, but that is harder to do for a crowd.

 
Herbal infused water. My intern did this on his own--he soaked sliced strawberries and pineapple

sage with a few sprigs of stevia covered in water in the refrigerator overnight. At the garden he added lemon verbena sprigs (it has to be freshly picked!) ice and more water. It was a huge hit-- absolutely delicious and it looked beautiful in a glass dispenser until the tap clogged. Then we poured it into a pitcher. It resembled dishwater but still tasted great.

 
Chicken Salad: The meat from purchased roast chickens, marinated in lemon, oil, S&P, and tarragon

then tossed with celery, red bell pepper, walnuts, parsley, mayonnaise, a little sour cream and a little Dijon mustard. Served on Romaine leaves.

 
Kale Salad: shredded kale, with a dressing of equal parts lemon juice and olive oil, S&P

garnished with toasted pine nuts and crumbled feta.

 
Garbanzo Beans and Swiss Chard with Garlic and Fennel

Roasted Garbanzo Beans and Garlic with Swiss Chard

Based on a recipe from Epicurious. This recipe leaves you with a cup or so of fennel-scented oil which can be used for salad dressing, hummus, etc.

Garbanzo Beans:
1 cup dried garbanzo beans
salt
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 large shallots, sliced
3 small bay leaves, preferably fresh
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Chard:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
3 small bay leaves, preferably fresh
2 shallots, sliced
2 bunches Swiss chard, center stems cut out and discarded, leaves coarsely torn


Garbanzo beans:
Rinse beans and place in a small pot with water to cover. Soak 8 hours or overnight. Add a big pinch of salt and bring to the simmer, skimming any foamy scum that rises. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, adding more water if necessary. Cooking time will be 1-1/2 hours or more depending on how fresh the beans are.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Drain the beans, reserving liquid. Combine them with garlic, shallots, bay leaves and fennel in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour oil over; cover dish with foil. Roast until garlic is tender, about 45 minutes. Drain beans, reserving oil. Discard bay leaves

Chard:
Wash the chard leaves and dry them in a salad spinner. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add chard and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and refresh under cold water. Squeeze the mass of chard with your hands, then in a clean towel to extract as much water as possible Chop and set aside. Heat several spoonfuls of the reserved oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, bay leaves, and shallots. Cover; cook until shallots are tender, about 2 minutes. Add chopped chard and stir for several minutes, until chard is heated through and the pieces begin to separate. Add garbanzo beans and a little of their reserved liquid. Toss over medium heat until warmed through, moistening with more oil and/or liquid by tablespoonfuls if needed, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

 
love love this! I will plan a trip sometime for this event. but please put up some hammocks for

after-all-the-wine.

 
Herbed potato salad. I really winged this. We were given fingerling potatoes. We sliced them

in rounds with the skin on, then simmered gently in salted water (Julia's method) until tender.

Drain the water out of the pot, reserving some of it, and let potatoes sit in their hot pot, covered, for four minutes. (it firms them up.)

Toss in a bowl with a little wine, a little vinegar, a very little Dijon mustard and a little of the cooking water. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool, tossing and adding more liquid and/or flavoring to taste as you go.

When cool, add olive oil, chopped red onion, cropped Italian parsley, minced chives, chopped dill and celery seed.

 
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