Holiday 2012 Cooking Classes

Tomorrow is the day to sign up for Holiday Cooking Classes at Newcastle Produce! Three ways to sign up. www.newcastleproduce.com, call the store (916)-663-2016, or stop by in person to sign up! See you soon! Thanks,

Chelsea

Please save the date for May 25! To celebrate the start of the summer season, we have invited Auburn Barbeque Company to bring their BBQ to NP. On Friday, May 25, from 12 to 6 pm, enjoy their excellent ribs, chicken and pulled pork sandwiches starting at $7. In the NP deli, we’ll have salads, sides and desserts featuring local produce to add to your dinner, and you can choose to eat it all here or take it home with you. On this Fun Friday afternoon, come sip a sample of  the fine craft beers from Knee Deep Brewing Company of Lincoln. This award winning local brewery is becoming well known for its unique blends and creative outlook on brewing. We’re also hosting a wine tasting with Lone Buffalo Winery of Auburn on that same afternoon. Their  food-friendly, Rhône-style wines with an old western attitude are perfect to pair with your BBQ dinner. We hope you’ll join us!  

http://www.facebook.com/kneedeepbrewco 

http://www.facebook.com/lbvwine 

http://www.facebook.com/AuburnBBQ

Newcastle Produce Cooking Classes Summer 2012

Private Cooking Classes!!!

Reserve your date today!

Create your own private cooking class party. Minimum of 8 guest required. All classes are held at Newcastle Produce. Give us a two week notice to reserve your date. Email for more information!

chelseafederwitz@hotmail.com 

Blue Cheese Rolled Grapes

Blue Cheese, crumbled= 8 oz.

Sour Cream= 3 Tbsp.

Cream Cheese= 4 oz.

Walnuts and Pecans, chopped= 1 cup

Red Grapes, = 1 bunch

1. Blend the blue cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese.

2. Chop walnut or pecans up and place in a bowl.

3. Wash grapes, drain, and pat dry.

4. Put one heaping teaspoon of the mix in the palm of your hand with a grape in the center and roll between both palms until the grape is completely coasted, then roll in the nuts.

Note: Best to serve with a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or a dry port

Kumquats

In Season: Kumquats

By Chelsea Federwitz

I remember seeing kumquats for the first time on Food Network. They were dipping them in hot sugar with long skewers and letting the sugar form long strands off of the kumquat to create a garnish. I fell in love with them, and couldn't wait to get my hands on them.

My family has always loved citrus. Enough to have a lemon tree as our Christmas tree one year that could be replanted and produce zesty gifts each year after. Sometimes our presents from our parents were citrus. A Beares lime tree, Ringpur lime, and a Kumquat tree.  Unlike regular Christmas presents, which you only have to wait a couple of weeks to open, I had to wait 2 years before I could even get a sample of my Christmas Kumquats. Waiting for them to ripen was torture. But I am telling you, the reward was greater in the end and I know I will get the same present every year.

These little golden beauties have been native to Japan and long cultivated since the 12th century in Japan, Taiwan, Philippines and South East Asia. Kumquats were discovered in 1846 by Robert Fortune, who was a collector for the London Horticulture.  Soon after their discovery, Kumquats were brought to North America. The kumquats are classified in the genus “Fortunella”, named after Robert Fortune, and are part of the orange, lemon, and grapefruit family.

With their irresistible, edible, sweet skin and prettiness, kumquats can add a new level of sophistication to your dish. Use them as a garnish, infused, or eaten raw. They make a perfect Martini garnish. Replace the olive with a kumquat and the oils will infuse into the alcohol. You can make your own infused sugar or salt easily by dropping a couple of kumquats into a jar of either. The oils will seep out and infuse the sugar or salt. Check in about a week. Once the fruit is brown or dried up, you can toss it out. Your infused sugar or salt will last for a very long time. Fresh kumquats are a great addition to any salad. They brighten up the dish and add a little zing to your palate.

I recently started thinking about kumquats again when they were in my CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) box from Del Rio Botanical in West Sacramento. These boxes of edible treasure and endless possibilities are harvested in the morning for same day delivery once a week. The box comes with a wonderful letter updating us on the farm and providing great tips and information on using the produce. The letter this week suggested making a jam or spread out of the kumquats, however, wanting to make something a little more versatile for myself, I candied them. I will probably use my candied kumquats as an ice cream topping, in my scone mix, added to my muffin batter, or as a glaze on baked wild salmon. I encourage you to give kumquats a place in your kitchen, so you can fall in love with them too.

Candied Kumquats

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Water

20 Kumquats

1. Prepare the kumquats by slicing them into quarters creating rings. Flick away any visible seeds.

2. In a small sauce pan add the sugar and water. Turn heat on to medium and let the sugar dissolve. Increase to a boil.

3. Add the kumquats and return to a boil.

4. Reduce to a medium simmer for 45 minutes. You want the kumquats to be translucent and the liquid to be like syrup.

5. Cool to room temperature. Cover and chill. Candied kumquats will last 2 weeks.

Green Garlic Pesto

Green Garlic Pesto:
Pine nuts= 4 oz.
Parmesan, shredded= 1 cup
Salt= 2 tsp.
Pepper= 1/2 tsp,
Olive oil= 1 1/3 cup
Green garlic, trimmed into 2 inch pieces= 25 ea.

Combine all ingredients into a blend. Blend. If the pieces stop mixing in the blender, turn it off. Stir around with a spoon to loosen up the chunks. Blend until fully smooth.

What is good with green garlic pesto, you may ask? I personally like it on toasted bread....but be prepared to have super garlic breath if eating straight like that. It is also excellent as a spread on a grilled cheese sandwich, mixed in pasta, pasta bake, or added into a dressing.

64 Days of Michael Pollan Day# 6

Day#6 Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.
The specific number you adopt is arbitrary, but the more ingredients in a packaged food, the more highly processed it probably is. Note 1: A long list of ingredients in a recipe is not the same thing; that's fine. Note 2: Some products now boast, somewhat deceptively, about their short ingredients lists. HaagenDazs has a new line of ice cream called "five". Great-but it's still ice cream. Same goes for the three-ingredient Tostitos corn chips advertised by Frito-Lay-okay, but they're still corn chips.

64 Days of Michael Pollan Day# 5

Day #5 Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.
Labels list ingredients by weight, and any product that has more sugar than other ingredients has too much sugar. Complicating matters is the fact that, thanks to food science, there are now some forty types of sugar used in processed food, including barley malt, beet sugar, brown rice syrup, cane juice, corn sweetener, dextrin, dextrose, fructo-oligosaccharides, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, surcrose, turbinado sugar, and so on. To repeat: Sugar is sugar. And organic sugar is suar to. As for noncaloric sweeteners such as aspartame or Splenda, research (in both humans and animals) suggests that switching to artificial sweeteners does not lead to weight loss, for reasons not yet well understood. But it may be that deceiving the brain with the reward of sweetness stimulates a craving for even more sweetness.