Did you know that there is a fantastic artisan honey producer in Napa Valley?  I recently met Spencer and Helene Marshall of Marshall’s Farm.  I had seen their display of honey at the San Francisco Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, and I had tasted a number of their fine honeys.  But I had the opportunity to interview them recently for Napa Valley Wine Radio.

I was thrilled to find out that their honeys contain no additives or preservatives.  And I couldn’t believe what a big variety of honeys they have!  In fact, they gave me an assortment to take home with me.  I have been making homemade corn bread and having the neighbors come over for honey tastings.  I think my favorite honey so far is the one that comes from the flower of the blackberry.  It is dark in color and so complex in flavor!  I also really enjoy their honeycomb served with my favorite Roaring 40′s blue cheese.

They will be happy to ship their honey to you, too.  Check out their website.

I am often asked my favorite wines for pairing with food. Certainly among my favorites are the 2005 Silverado Vineyards Vineburg Chardonnay and the 2003 Silverado Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2005 Silverado Vineyards Vineburg Chardonnay features 100% chardonnay grapes from a single vineyard. The wine has flavors of apples, citrus and oak that create a perfect balance on the palette. It pairs beautifully with my Roasted Chicken with Roasted Meyer Lemons. The wine sells for $30 per bottle.

The 2003 Silverado Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet has aromas of blackberries, plums, cherries and chocolate. It is intense, rich and well-balanced. It is a spectacular pairing with my Filet of Beef Tenderloin Roast. It sells for $43 per bottle.

Ingredients
4 slices of bacon, cut into 4 strips each
16 large uncooked shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1/2 cup barbeque sauce, plus more for dipping

You will also need:
Toothpicks
Baking dish
Brush

Instructions
Turn the broiler to 500oF.

Wrap a small strip of bacon around the center of each shrimp and secure with a toothpick through the middle. Place the shrimp into the baking dish. Brush each shrimp with barbeque sauce. Place under the broiler and cook for about 3-4 minutes until the bacon looks done. Turn the shrimp over to the opposite side. Brush with barbeque sauce. Broil for about 3-4 minutes on this side until the bacon looks done.

Serve immediately with barbeque sauce for dipping.

Serves 6-8 as appetizer.

Ingredients  
1/3 cup currants or chopped raisins
4 T port wine
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. chicken livers, cleaned
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. sea salt (fine), or to taste
Pepper to taste
½ t. fresh thyme

Fresh bread or sliced apples

You will also need:
Small bowl
Skillet
Slotted spoon
Food processor
Terrine

Instructions
Soak the currents or chopped raisins in port wine overnight.

Melt half of the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the livers. Sauté for about three minutes on one side, then turn them onto the other side. Sauté them for about three minutes longer. The centers of the chicken livers should be cooked but still slightly pink. Remove the chicken livers with a slotted spoon and put them into the food processor.

Drain the currants and add the port wine to the skillet. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook for about 1 minute over medium-high heat. Pour over the chicken livers and process until smooth.

Stir in the remaining butter and the currants, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Pack the mixture into a terrine. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with bread or apple slices.

Ingredients
12 ears sweet white corn, shucked and de-silked
1/3 cup water
¼ stick (2 T) butter
Sea salt to taste

You will also need:
Large pot, such as a Dutch oven, with lid
Serrated knife

Instructions
The secret to making fresh creamed corn is in the way that the corn is cut from the cob. Take an ear of corn that has been shucked and de-silked. Hold it inside a large pot with the stem end up and the pointed end down. Take a serrated knife and start to cut down on the kernels of corn, but just cut off the very tip of the kernel. This is really key! Don’t cut off the whole kernel, just the tip. Continue down the ear of corn until you have cut the tips off of all the kernels in that row. Turn the ear slightly and cut down the next row, just taking off the tips of each kernel again. Continue this process until you have cut off the tips of all of the kernels on that ear of corn. Then, using the same downward motion, take a knife and scrape down the cob on all sides, removing the remaining “cream” from the cob. Continue this process with all of the ears until you have a nice pot of corn and “cream”.

Add the water to the corn, cover it and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer covered for about 15 minutes, stirring several times as corn tends to stick to the bottom of the pot. Turn off the heat and add the butter. Let it melt. Stir. Add salt to taste.

Serves 8.

Ingredients
Olive oil
16 small cubes of goat cheese
8 ripe black mission figs, halved
16 strips of Serrano or prosciutto ham
Honey

You will also need:
Baking pan
Brush
Toothpicks

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425oF.

Brush the baking pan with olive oil and set aside.

Place one cube of goat cheese solidly into the center of each of the fig halves. Wrap each fig with Serrano ham and secure the ham with a toothpick. Brush each one with honey. Place the figs into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for about 5-7 minutes until heated throughout.

Serve immediately.

Serves 8 people.

Ingredients
 3 large or 4 medium sweet potatoes or yams
Fleur de sel (coarse sea salt)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup chopped pecans
4 Tablespoons (2 oz.) butter, melted
1/2 cup Kahlua

You will also need:
Baking sheet
Baking dish or casserole (or individual ramekins, if desired)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425oF (218oC).  Wash the sweet potatoes or yams, dry them and place them onto a baking sheet.  Bake them for about 45 minutes – 1 hour until fork-tender.  Remove from the oven and let them cool. 

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into ¼” thick slices.  Place them into the baking dish.  Sprinkle lightly with the fleur de sel.  Sprinkle the brown sugar on top.  Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the top.  Pour the melted butter on top, followed by the Kahlua. 

Bake at 425oF (218oC) for about 20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are browned and bubbling.   Note:  If using individual ramekins, start checking at 10 minutes. 

 Serves 8 people.

Ingredients
A loaf of sourdough bread, sliced
1 ½ T olive oil

2 lbs fava beans, shelled
Water
2-3 T Round Pond Meyer Lemon olive oil
1 T. minced sweet onions
1 T lemon zest, plus more for garnish
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

You will also need:
Baking sheet
Pastry brush
Saucepan
Bowl
Mortar & pestle or food processor
Serving platter

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425oF.

Brush sourdough slices with olive oil. Bake at 425oF for about 10 minutes, until toasted. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the fava beans into the saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes, until the fava beans are soft. Remove from the heat, pour off the boiling water and pour cold water over the beans. Change the water again so that the beans cool off quickly. Drain.

Pop the fava beans from the skin and place them in a bowl. Mash the bean in a mortar and pestle or process them in the bowl of a food processor until smooth. Add the Meyer Lemon olive oil, onion and 1 T. lemon zest. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the fava bean paste on to the bread. Garnish with Meyer lemon, zest, if desired. Serves 8.

Here is a wine e-newsletter that I really enjoy!

Nat Decants FREE wine e-newsletter is full of wine picks, articles and humor from Natalie MacLean, named the World’s Best Drink Writer at the World Food Media Awards in Australia. Natalie is also the author of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. For more details on this book and to sign up for the newsletter, visit www.nataliemaclean.com.

If you are planning to put together a beautiful cheese plate, check out The Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley. Their selection of local and international cheeses cannot be beat, and their prices are by far the best I have found.

The Cheese Board has been in business for almost 39 years. They are a collective with about 30 members. Everyone who works there is a member and has equal decision-making power. They are so friendly and knowledgeable and….they have an amazing selection of international and domestic cheeses, as well as a bakery that produces interesting and delicious breads. I find that their prices are substantially less on their cheeses and breads than I find at high-end grocery stores or specialty shops. I love the casual atmosphere, too – the place is really charming.

While you are there, check out Cheese Board Pizza, which is a couple of doors down the block. Cheese Board Pizza opened about 20 years ago and is located just a few doors down the street from the original Cheese Board. They make only one kind of pizza made each day, and it is vegetarian. We are not vegetarians, but we absolutely love their pizzas. We buy them half-baked and finish the baking at home. We have found that they freeze well – just wrap them tightly in foil and freeze for up to a couple of months. Then take them out of the freezer and pop them (still frozen) into a very hot oven (about 450^oF). Let them bake for about 10 minutes until bubbly. (If you can re-heat them on a hot pizza stone, that is even better.)

The Cheese Board
1504 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley
(510) 549-3183

www.cheeseboardcollective.coop

Cheese Board Pizza
1512 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley
(510) 549-3055

I decided to grow lemon verbena in my garden this year. I am thrilled with the beauty of the herb and the richness of the lemony taste. It is now producing like crazy and I am experimenting with recipes for it. Here is one that is exceptional! It is based on the homemade ice cream that we used to have when I was a little girl growing up in Georgia. My grandmother did not cook the base, and she did not use eggs in her ice cream. It is simply milk and sugar-based – and delicious!

Ingredients
1 cup cream
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup lemon verbena leaves (packed)

You will also need:
Small pot with lid
Slotted spoon
Ice cream maker (I use one with a compressor in it, but you can use just about any kind.)

Instructions
Infuse the cream with the lemon verbena by heating the half-n-half until it is almost boiling. Turn the heat off and add the lemon verbena leaves. Cover and let sit for about 20 minutes to let the flavor from the lemon verbena infuse into the half-n-half.

Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon. Add the sugar to the cream and stir well. Add the milk and stir again. Put the lid back on the pot and place it into the refrigerator for about an hour to fully cool.

Remove the milk mixture from the refrigerator and pour into the container of your ice cream maker. Freeze according to the manufacturers instructions. Note: If you are using an ice cream maker that requires the container to be frozen before you make the ice cream, then be sure that you followed that step.

Makes 1 pint of soft-serve ice cream. Enjoy!

The truffle was referred to by French gastronome, Brillat-Savarin, as “the diamond of the kitchen”.  It is hard to find, coveted, very expensive and totally unique in flavor.

A truffle is an edible fungi of the Tuber family, and it grows underground. typically near the base of an oak tree.

Truffles are normally black (although there are some light-colored truffles that are called “white” truffles, as well), roughly round in shape and have a musky, mushroomy, damp forest aroma. In the mouth, a thin slice of truffle feels crunchy and soft at the same time and has a wonderful, unique, earthy flavor.

In the past, pigs were used to find these truffles. However, the pigs had a real liking for the truffle and wanted to eat it themselves. (Ever tried to take a truffle away from a pig? I can’t imagine that it would be a fun experience.) Nowadays, dogs are primarily used to find truffles. A dog has to be trained, sometimes for years, to detect the scent of a truffle in the soil and to dig in that particular location.

There are several varieties of truffles out there. Our favorite is the Black Perigord truffle (tuber melanosporum) found in Provence between mid-November and mid-February.

Black Perigord Truffle (tuber melanosporum)
To me, this is the king of the truffle. This truffle is very dark in color and extremely fragrant. It is found primarily in the Provence region of France and is harvested between mid-November and mid-February.

Brumale Truffle (tuber brumale)
This truffle is normally harvested on some of the same sites as the melanosporum truffle, but is quite inferior to the melanosporum in flavor. It is lighter in color and in fragrance than the melanosporum and is heavily marbled with white inside. It is also harvested between mid-November and mid-February in Provence and the surrounding areas.

Black Summer Truffle (tuber aestivum)
This truffle is much lighter in flavor than the melanosporum, as well, and is normally harvested in France between May and September.

White Alba Truffle (tuber magnatum pico)
This truffle is found in the Piedmont Region of Italy and is normally harvested between September and December. The truffle is very light in color (beige to light brown), but the fragrance and the flavor are exquisite!

Truffles in the U.S.?
Truffles are now being cultivated in the U.S. We are planning to do some research this year on the truffles being grown in Oregon and in Washington State.

Also, there are truffles on the marketplace that come from China. They typically don’t have nearly the flavor (or the cost – unless someone is trying to pass them off as a better variety) of the Black Perigord or the Alba or the other truffles listed above.The truffles coming from Australia and New Zealand now are supposed to be very good (and they hit the U.S. market in the summertime).

See for yourself :
If you want to find out more first-hand about truffles, how they are harvested, how they are sold and how they are used, join us for one of our Truffle Getaways to Provence in the Winter.

There are a couple of tricks to making paella.  One is the rice.  For beginners, I would highly recommend using Bomba rice from Spain.  It has a shorter grain and is more “foolproof”.   The other is to use smoked paprika from Spain.  Smoked paprika gives a rich, lingering flavor and aroma to this dish.  This really is a meal in a dish.

Ingredients
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
25 threads of saffron
4 T olive oil (or more) to cover bottom of pan
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/3 cup Bomba rice
1 1/2 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp. crushed dried chili pepper (adjust to taste)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 large red piquillo pepper, cut into strips
1 cup coarsely-chopped green beans, asparagus, squash or other vegetable of choice
1 1/2 cups Sungold or cherry tomatoes, washed and de-stemmed
1 cup fresh white corn kernels
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup freshly-shelled English peas

You will also need:
1 saucepan
1 paella pan sized for 8 people
Large spoon

Instructions
Heat the stock in the saucepan until it starts to boil slightly.  Reduce the heat to low to keep hot but not boiling.  Crush the threads of saffron and add them to the stock.

Heat the olive oil in the paella pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute until translucent.  Add the rice, smoked paprika and crushed chili pepper to the rice.  Stir over medium heat until the rice starts to turn brown.

Add the garlic to the rice and saute for about 30 seconds.  Pour the stock over the rice.  Add the wine.  Add the chopped peppers, chopped vegetables, tomatoes, corn and salt.  Stir well.

Note: From this point on, you should not stir the rice again.

Reduce the heat to a slight boil and let the rice cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the English peas to the top of the rice.  Let the rice continue to cook without stirring until the liquid has been absorbed.  Turn the heat slightly lower to let the rice caramelize.   This should take about 5-10 minutes.  Watch closely the first few times to make sure the rice is browning, but not burning.

Remove the paella from the heat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.   Serve warm.

Serves 6-8.