Tasting Notes:
A "burst" of fresh olive fruitiness and slight pungent finish
Fruity nose Smooth & buttery Slight peppery finish
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CA Olive Ranch Arbequina "Rated #1 CA-Grown EVOO" by Cooks Illustrated
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Labor Day Grilling with Olive Oil
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Iceberg, leaf & romaine
Nothing tastes fresher than a crisp salad for a Labor Day picnic, knowing each nutritious bite rewards your overall health. A colorful bed of greens serves as a perfect side dish to compliment your meal. Or, better yet, lettuce can take center stage in a delicious main entr�e salad. Grown in the United States since colonial times, lettuce is believed to be one of the first vegetables brought to the new world by explorer Christopher Columbus. Although ancient Egyptians once considered lettuce an aphrodisiac with sleep-inducing qualities, lettuce is now recognized as an essential part of a well balanced diet.
Although the U.S. remains second behind China as the largest lettuce producing country in the world, lettuce remains the nation's leading vegetable crop in production value, at $2.18 billion. Today, more than 98% of U.S. lettuce production is grown in California and Arizona, 80% of which is grown in the Salinas Valley of Northern California, known as the Salad Bowl of America.
Six main types of lettuce are known for either head formation, such as iceberg and butter, or for their leaf structure, such as romaine. Although iceberg remains the most popular, the reawakened interest in fresh, seasonal items and the popularity of salad bars both contributed to dramatic growth of other varieties over recent decades. And, with increased consumer demand for convenience, bagged salad 'packs' emerged in the marketplace. The innovative packaging of ready-to-go salad 'kits' only added to this momentum. Can adding this valuable source of vitamin A and folic acid be any more convenient than opening a bag?
But don't stop at the iceberg section. Enjoy other locally grown varieties increasing in popularity: romaine, green leaf, escarole, red leaf, butter lettuce - and even arugula and endive. Mix and match in robust colors and textures and you'll arrive at something truly spectacular, truly nutritious, and truly delicious with every bite. Labor Day weekend is upon us, so don't forget to add the fresh, wonderful flavors of salad to your picnic menu. Choose from the many recipes below and let someone else do the grilling!
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Lettuce and CA Olive Ranch EVOO
A perfect accompaniment to your Labor Day BBQ!Courtesy of Viking Cooking School Courtesy of Earthbound Farm
Check out CA Olive Ranch EVOO recipes in Bon Appetit's:
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Executive Chef Michael Tuohy
Grange
926 J Street Sacramento . CA . 95814
When not in the kitchen of Grange, expect to find Executive Chef Michael Tuohy at the local farmers market gathering fresh bounties of seasonal ingredients for his daily restaurant menu. A native Californian, Chef Tuohy started in the industry at the early age of 15 as a dishwasher in a San Francisco neighborhood steakhouse. After completing his culinary education, he joined forces with critically acclaimed chef and author Joyce Goldstein at Square One Restaurant, where he nurtured his fond appreciation for the the season's freshest ingredients.
After helping Goldstein launch Caffe Quadro, he moved to Atlanta in 1986 to launch his own "California inspired" restaurant, Chefs Caf�. Tuohy quickly became known as one of the first chefs to change his market-driven menu daily based upon freshly available items and using locally-sourced ingredients. "At the time, you could count on three fingers the number of chefs that were seeking local growers. Not a lot was available," he admits.
Local Flavors Flourish "Before email and the internet, purchase orders were a handwritten list. A station wagon full of local produce would come to the restaurant with daily offerings picked fresh from the fields," he smiles. Seeing a growing need in the industry, Tuohy helped establish " Georgia-Grown" in the early 1990s, a non-profit consortium of Georgia's local growers delivering their fresh farm-to-table ingredients to restaurants and markets around Atlanta. Since then, everything began to evolve naturally. "Growers email via Blackberry directly from the fields," he says. After spending 22 years pioneering Atlanta's farm-to-table movement, (and after opening his second successful restaurant, Woodfire Grill in 2002) Chef Tuohy is now back in Northern California, having recently launched Grange in the state's capital. Keeping in line with his signature 'farm fresh' cuisine, he requires nothing but the best of locally grown ingredients, vegetables, olive oil and sustainability caught seafood. "Everything we need is here...artisan cheeses, nuts, farm-fresh meats. We have so much available to us in California. The growing season is longer, the diversity of available fresh produce is unmatched," he says, as his team unpacks crates of fresh peaches.
As we speak, a mushroom farmer enters the kitchen offering a fresh bounty from the fields. "You just can't do it without great producers," he says. The same is true for locally grown extra virgin olive oil. "We've switched to sauteing with California-grown extra virgin olive oil, instead of grapeseed oil," he says. "Extra virgin olive oil is so versatile; we use it as a finishing oil, and as a healthier alternative in our restaurant's baking." With a growing appreciation for EVOO, "I encourage folks to see firsthand how olive oil can influence and affect a dish," he suggests. "Finish pasta or risotto with a drizzle, and see how it'll help bring the fresh characteristics of the ingredients up to the front." Tuohy recently launched an "Artisan EVOO Tasting Series" at Grange, where "we feature three local olive oil producers and discuss different ways of introducing extra virgin olive oil into one's daily cooking," he says excitedly. "We discuss tasting nuances, attributes of quality, color, cooking alternatives, and of course, we sample freshly prepared cuisine paired with extra virgin olive oil." The growing popularity of the farm-fresh phenomenon does not surprise Chef Tuohy. And as a strong supporter of the Slow Food Movement, it is about time. At the end of the day, Chef Tuohy encourages everyone to "cook real food, grown by real farmers that are hopefully, somewhere close to where [you] live." It's a very simple win-win. You'll eat healthier and you'll support local growers in the meantime. And what could be better than that?
Follow The Chef Lunch -
An exclusive tour of the local farmers market led by Chef Tuohy himself. Enjoy a guided tour followed by an exclusive three-course lunch at Grange made with hand picked ingredients from the morning's tour. Offered Wednesdays through October, sit at the chef's table and enjoy Chef Tuohy's savory creations.
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We appreciate and welcome your comments to [email protected].
Warmly,
Kirsten Wanket 'In Season'
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