As part of our commitment to our retail clients, we offer to do free tastings at their stores.  We got a chance to do one of these tastings at High's Café & Store this month.  High's is owned by Brent Ault and Denise Rabalais in the historic downtown area of Comfort, Texas.  A great time was had by all. 

Approximately 60 guests were treated to tastings of all of our delicious olive oils and our new flavored balsamic vinegars (traditional, fig, red apple, wild cherry, peach, and blueberry) along with other great Texas products sold in the store.  If you're ever in Comfort, please stop by to enjoy Brent and Denise's great food and other products as well as their truly warm hospitality.  We look forward to our next event at High's!

Please stay tuned to our newsletter and website for information on similar events going on around the state.  The event we're most looking forward to right now is the ground breaking for our millhouse, which we hope will happen around the middle of March.  The delays in getting this started have given us a chance to make many wonderful changes and additions to the original design.  We hope you will join us for the ribbon cutting / grand opening ceremony once construction is complete. 

We are excited to announce that we are expanding on the types of extra virgin olive oil available for you to purchase.  We will soon be offering single-varietal extra virgin olive oil made purely from luscious arbequina olives under the label "Sola Stella."  "Sola Stella," Italian for "Lone Star," is the perfect name for this olive oil that is a perfect blend of Texas and Italy.  This oil is perfect for salads, pasta, or just for dipping bread. 

Additionally, we are introducing a new blend labeled with our Texas Hill Country Olive Co. label.  This oil is mild and buttery and has a spectacular aroma and taste.  Try it on angel hair pasta with balsamic vinegar, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes.  It's delicious! 

Both Sola Stella and the Texas Hill Country Olive Co. label will be available soon on our website in 250 ml and 500 ml bottles.  Check in next month when I'll tell the story of the olive oil tasting I arranged for the most famous chef in Alaska. 

After a long wait, the earth has finally dried enough for us to begin clearing the back portion of our land for planting.  As we began the process, we quickly realized there were more issues to deal with than we had anticipated.

First, we have to make some tough decisions about the oak trees.  They are not spaced as far apart as they were in the first half of the orchard and there are more of them.  This leaves us deciding whether to thin or remove them and trying to determine how best to set the irrigation system. 

Second, there are some low spots which will take extra land preparation to ensure proper drainage.  After a very dry summer and a very wet winter, we are well aware that we better be prepared for every weather situation. 

I think land preparation is the most important part of planting an olive orchard in the Texas hill country.  The layer of limestone that lies just beneath the rich soil must be dealt with in order for the moisture to make its way past the root system without damage to the tree.  That means trenching or drilling, which we are working on now.

As the weather begins to warm up some this month, we will have great weather for you to tour the orchard.  Y'all come on by to visit!

We had a blast at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo this month!  Even though we spent a whopping 10 hours a day behind the booth, it was more fun than exhausting.  It was a wonderful experience to have people sample all six flavors of our new balsamic vinegar and our three blends of olive oil.  We were located in the Go Texan General Store; a great place showcasing countless Texas made products, including our olive oil.  We were pretty excited that we got to help out a great cause too, with 10% of our sales going to the San Antonio Livestock Exposition, Inc. Scholarship (to learn more about this charity go to http://www.sarodeo.com/who/educational.html). The whole event was really a great experience. It was wonderful meeting more of you and getting feedback on our delicious new oils and balsamic vinegars. We look forward to more events like this in the coming weeks.

Chiles:

10 ancho chiles

1/2 cup Texas olive oil

1 white onion, sliced

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup orange juice

1 pound dark brown sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

The Stuffing:

1 box couscous, unflavored

1/4 cup Texas olive oil

1 pound fresh Texas spinach leaves, chopped

8 ounces Texas mushrooms, sliced

1/2 of a red bell pepper from Texas, diced

3 green onions, sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup Texas pecans, chopped and toasted

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup dates, chopped

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. ginger

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup Texas olive oil

1/4 cup Texas extra virgin olive oil

To prepare: Clean the chiles by cutting a slit from the stem to the bottom of the chile. Remove all

the seeds. (Note: I find it helpful to do this wearing "surgical" gloves so my hands won't burn later.)  Heat the oil in a sauté pan and fry the chiles on each side for a couple of seconds, being careful not to burn them. Set them aside to drain. Fry the onions in the same oil. In a separate pot, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil, making sure that the brown sugar completely dissolves.  Turn the heat down and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the chiles and onions. The chiles must marinate in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours, but can

remain in the liquid indefinitely.

To prepare stuffing: Put the couscous in a bowl and cover with very hot water by about ½ of an inch. Quickly cover with plastic wrap; set aside for five to 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium-high flame. Add the spinach, mushrooms, bell pepper, onions and garlic. Cook for 7-10 minutes until all of the vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. At this point, the covered couscous should be ready. Add the sautéed vegetables along with the remainder of the ingredients to the bowl with the couscous. Stir to combine.  

Recipe created by Chef Michael H. Flores. Photograph by Tracey Maurer Photography. Food Styling by Mary Ellen Rose.