Last month we attended several events, including Savor Dallas and the San Antonio Home and Garden Show.  At Savor Dallas, the admission price gave guests an opportunity to taste food and wine from 30 Texas wineries 30 of the finest restaurants in the Dallas metro area.  Thousands of people were on hand to taste our extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars.  This event truly showcased the best of the Texas food and wine industries.  We are really looking forward to being a part of Savor Dallas again next year.

At the San Antonio Home and Garden Show, our booth was manned all three days by Danny Adams and Susan Scott, the newest members of our family team who have joined us to help out at events and farmer's markets.  I'm very grateful to have Danny and Susan on our team.  Their hard work at this event resulted in more sales than we've ever had at an event.  We also offered Danny's expertise as a chef who really knows what he's talking about where food and olive oil are concerned.  Thank you, Danny and Susan, for all of your hard work that made this such a successful event for us!

One of the companies we ran into at Savor Dallas offers a very sweet treat.  Paciugo brought along samples of their handcrafted artisan gelato, a truly delicious alternative to high fat ice cream.  They have locations all over Texas and in several other states.  I am proud to call Ugo and Cristiana Ginatta, the owners of Paciugo, our friends.  Texas Hill Country Olive Co. highly recommends you find a location near you!! 

Recently I brought some of our extra virgin olive oil all the way to Alaska for a taste test with one of my favorite people, Chef Bobby Nikolaides.  Chef Nikolaides is the owner of Bobby's Downtown, a wonderful Greek restaurant located in Fairbanks.  I first met Bobby when some friends suggested I head to Bobby's Downtown for the lemon soup and swordfish dinner.  The meal was wonderful and I was hooked. 

I was very excited to have a chef with such a passion and dedication to fine cuisine compare our products and give us his opinion.  Out of our three extra virgin olive oils, Bobby chose the Terra Verde as his favorite because of its buttery, slight peppery aftertaste. 

Special thanks go out to Chef Bobby for his input.  I hope he enjoys the bottle of our estate blend extra virgin olive oil that I gave him.  We hope to share some of his favorite recipes in an upcoming newsletter. 

We have just received our shipment of new trees for the second half of the orchard, and they are beautiful.  The strong winds we've been having out here were a shock to the new trees, but after a drink of water and a dose of Texas sun, they perked up and now seem happy to be here.  We also received one gallon mission and arbequina trees that we are going to offer for sale.  These trees are absolutely gorgeous.  We're putting together a pamphlet that will teach you how to care for your tree if you decide to take one home to enjoy. 

On the ground here we are fighting the weeds which are sprouting everywhere after the rainy winter and we are doing our best to control all the extra growth.  We are also continuing with land preparation on the back part of our land.  It is still a little wet back there but we are making progress.

Plan your visit soon so you can see the new trees, enjoy a soda under our grand oak trees, and enjoy the sunshine and spring weather!

Serves 10-12

Salsa:

2 Texas tomatoes

10 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 white onion, peeled and quartered

1/3 cup Texas pecans

2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 T. Texas olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. salt

Potatoes:

1 large Texas potato, peeled, cut into ¼-inch cubes

3 T. Texas olive oil

1/4 tsp. each salt, freshly ground black pepper and ground coriander

Shrimp:

2 pounds Texas shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed

5 T. Texas olive oil

1/2 tsp. each salt, freshly ground black pepper and ground coriander

To prepare: Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Place tomatoes, garlic, white onion and pecans on a sheet pan, and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Turn the oven up 375 Degrees F. Place roasted tomatoes, garlic, onion, pecans, chipotles, cinnamon, cloves, olive oil and lime juice in a blender, along with the salt, and blend. You do not need a smooth consistency.  Taste the sauce and season more, if needed. (All of this can be done a day or two in advance.) Put the diced potatoes in a bowl with the 3 tablespoons oil and the ¼ teaspoons of salt, pepper and coriander; toss to coat. Pour the potatoes onto the sheet pan used earlier and roast for 20 minutes. In the meantime, put shrimp in the bowl and toss with 5 tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon of salt, pepper and coriander After 20 minutes, carefully add the potatoes to the bowl of shrimp, stir just enough to combine. Pour this all back onto the pan and return to the oven. Cook for another 10 minutes. It's ready when the shrimp just turns pink. Do not overcook. Remove the shrimp and potatoes from the oven and transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in the salsa.  Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired.

To serve: Serve with a big green salad or slices of crusty bread.

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