SanLuisObispo.com: Food

Azores-style ribs start with roasted red peppers and olive oil

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:27 PDT

By Consuelo Macedo -- Is it camping if there’s a microwave?

We just returned from a sojourn to the mighty Kings Canyon National Park, staying in our 18-foot trailer, fully equipped with a propane fridge, stove and water heater for the tiny shower. If we’d found an electric hook-up, we could have used the microwave.

It struck me as humorous, after all our Girl and Boy Scout troop camping and backpacking and the years we took our kids in successively larger campers on our pick-ups. Our dads had stimulated a love of outdoor life, each having provided us with a compact teardrop trailer for convenience in the 1940s. So, it was poetic justice when the propane tank failed, and we returned to cooking over a wood fire.

Warm weather brings Fourth fruit salad

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:49 PDT

By Consuelo Macedo -- As local forecasters were predicting a coastal heat wave, I made a foray into the Central Valley, where it was really hot. Thank heaven for the perfect climate to bring crops there into fruition! And thank the Lord for field workers willing and able to work in the heat to bring the crops into your favorite local and farmers markets.

Stone fruits and melons, nuts, fresh grapes and raisins, and all the tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic to add to local avocados for your tasty salsa have been historically nurtured in the rich alluvial soil and water washed in from the Sierra via the mighty Kings and San Joaquin Rivers. And so the historic link between the Central Valley and Central Coast continues to be forged.

Just in time for your Fourth of July picnics, you can pick up huge nominally priced and certainly luscious cantaloupes and watermelons. I always look forward to the gigantic Royal Blenheim apricots, making sure to freeze some for winter, after sprinkling them with a little sugar and Fruit Fresh. White peaches and nectarines form the base for a wonderful Fourth of July compote combined with our coastal raspberries and blueberries, as is or dressed with a little vanilla yogurt.

Spice up barbecue meat with tasty Portuguese marinade

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 07:06 PDT

By Consuelo Macedo -- It must be getting closer to the summer solstice (June 21), because more folks are sporting their shades — wearing sunglasses, that is. I know, because some have left them behind on the counter at the post office and, more alarming, are leaving their keys there, too.

I can’t imagine getting to the car, noting the missing keys necessary to drive off are not in hand, and not backtracking to locate them. And what does one do upon arriving at a locked house?

One such cluster in the post office’s lost and found box is attached to a long lanyard meant to be worn around the neck. Get that: meant to be worn around the neck!

Fresh from Geneva, via Santa Monica: porcini polenta

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:40 PDT

Keep up the good work - we've received another recipe contribution, making this column a true "readers exchange," a goal we established seven years ago!

John Musante of Santa Monica read our article about the Santa Rosa Chapel polenta dinner in The Sun Bulletin and was moved to send a donation for the new roof.

To my delight, he also sent directions for his favorite polenta variation, using a "surfritto" of wild porcini mushrooms in a "normal" pasta sauce, which we are happy to share here:

No argument here: Rhubarb Crisp worth leaving the light on

Wed, 23 May 2007 09:35 PDT

By Consuleo Macedo -- We have returned from a memorable experience of seven days in Lourdes, France, with the Catholic Order of Malta, which I found too spiritually profound to relate in this column. However, when we rode through the nearby valley up to the village of Sainte Savin, I was reminded of our upcoming Memorial Day observances by the vision of crimson red poppies studding the emerald ranges, reminiscent of Flanders Fields in World War I.

Then I was astonished to see a large patch of globular California golden poppies. I wondered if they are considered an invasive plant in that area. I can say I was impressed by the delicious French cuisine and service at our hotel, including the sumptuous “potage” (soups) personally ladled-up tableside from large tureens carried by the waitpersons. I must add that the preparation of vegetables for us did not measure up to the quality of varied entrees and bread. In a word: overcooked.

Our first stop back home was at the Cambria Farmers Market for early season asparagus, yellow squash, avocados, cherimoya (custard apples), cherries, strawberries, and some luscious Royal Blenheim apricots brought in from Fresno. In a word: scrumptious.

Local Flavors: Nick Ranch raises grass-fed beef close to home

Wed, 09 May 2007 15:32 PDT

By Katy Budge -- Traditions meet up with trends when it comes to Nick Ranch Gourmet Grass-Fed Beef. The certified organic steaks, roasts, briskets, ground beef and sausages from this label come from a picturesque ranch in the Pozo hills that has been home to the Nick family for six generations.

The Nicks established their Santa Margarita ranch in 1918, noted Juanell Nick Hepburn, part of the family’s fourth generation of ranchers. In recent decades, the family became well known for raising purebred Brangus cattle for breeding and auction, but about seven years ago, Hepburn’s father, Fred Nick, jumped out ahead of the curve and began marketing their grass-fed and grass-finished organic beef directly to consumers.

“He was really one of the first to do that,” said Hepburn, “and really for us it was pretty easy; our cattle have always been only grass-fed and we’ve never used any growth hormones or steroids. Essentially we’re ranching the way our grandparents were ranching,” though she added that over the years, her father has definitely taken things to the next level by using rotational grazing, learning plant and soil analysis, augmenting the native feed by planting other grasses such as clover, and reintroducing an old-style line of Angus genetics to the herd. Organic certification was also important to the family (Hepburn even helped nudge a local processing facility to that designation), but the Nicks are also passionate about educating consumers to the many other health benefits of grass-fed and grass-finished beef

All the flavor of pizza with little of the guilt

Wed, 02 May 2007 08:34 PDT

By Consuelo Macedo -- When my granddaughters first caught sight of the pre-lit evergreen in the living room, they paraphrased Goldilocks, saying "Why Grandmother, what a big Christmas tree you've got!" Even though it was but two days until Easter, it took some explaining that the decorations actually reflected the Vernal Equinox, Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, and holidays yet to come.

Yoshiko Maeda, visiting from Japan, recognized it right away, and (even with limited English) identified it as a "season tree." The girls pitched right in and bedecked it with our heritage collection of Easter eggs and décor and totally got into the spirit.

Now it is in the last phase, and after Cinco de Mayo I will remove the chili pepper ornaments and lights, and relegate it to storage until December.

Consuelo Macedo of Cambria shares chili cooking info

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:00 PDT

Judge's verdict: Chile con carne pros' pros and cons

This issue of the Culinary Corner marks our seventh anniversary, and again I am writing about the Cambria Chili Cook-Off, which will be Saturday, April 21. The first time I was an observer and "sampler" like everyone else, and it looked like so much fun that the following year I was a contestant, sponsored by The Cambrian.

The competition wasn't so formidable because it was so friendly. It was a lot of work, preparing my family's delicious recipe from scratch, and I wasn't in for the win so much but to be "up close and personal" with the other competitors. And I got a nice T-shirt, which is the envy of my kids.