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March 2012
 
   
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Events in Season
Fresno Food Expo
Fresno, Calif. 
March 8 

Natural Products Expo West

Anaheim, Calif. 
March 9-11

St. Helena, Calif. 
March 22-25 

Petaluma, Calif. 
March 23-25 




Our Oils with a Food We Adore: Pasta                   
We're gearing up to release our oils made from the olives we gathered during last fall's harvest. Our master miller, Bob Singletary, has been busy at the mill getting the oil ready.
Tagliatelle
Photo by "fugzu"
It will be available soon.

Bob and his team first had to wait several weeks for the fruit particles and other sediment in the new oil to drop to the bottom of the tanks where we store the oil. They recently began moving the oil to fresh tanks, and then removing the particles from the bottom of the original tanks. Bob talks more about this process, called racking, and other activities he and his team have been busy with in an interview below.

One dish we'll be using our  
fresh oil with is ... pasta.  It's hard to find anybody who doesn't like good pasta. "Even as countless other culinary fads have come and gone, our love for pasta continues unabated," Domenica Marchetti writes in her book, The Glorious Pasta of Italy (Chronicle Books, 2011).

Pasta and good California extra virgin olive oil are a natural combination. The Italians have been using olive oil in their pastas for centuries. In our kitchen, we like to use our oils to make a variety of pastas. We use our
Limited Reserve, for example, to make a fabulous garlicky pasta, aglio e olio. The dish allows our Limited Reserve to shine. Clam pasta in Puglia

We also use our Everyday, Arbequina, Arbosana, and Miller's Blend to make a wide variety of pastas sauces - from a peppery and cheesy dish known as cacio e pepe, to
pesto and white clam sauce.  

We've gathered a variety of pasta recipes for you below. The cooks who prepared these dishes share our passion for pasta ... and olive oil, among other ingredients.

"I keep my kitchen stock with the pasta basics: dried noodles, good olive oil, anchovies, capers, olives, canned tomatoes, and grating cheese," Janet Fletcher writes in her book,    
Four Seasons Pasta (Chronicle Books, 2004).

Fletcher notes "good ingredients are the foundation of all good cooking." So when buying preserved anchovies, canned tomato or olive oil, she advises, choose according to quality - not price.

"On a cost-per-basis serving, the difference between a good brand and an inferior brand will be insignificant," she says, "but it can make a big difference to your results."  

 Our Favorite Pasta Recipes   
Rigatoni with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Fresh Ricotta
Rigatoni with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Fresh Ricotta
















Recipe credit: Four Seasons Pasta (Chronicle Books, 2004) by Janet Fletcher
Reprinted with permission from the publisher


Orecchiette with Rapini and Goat Cheese
Orecchiette with Rapini and Goat Cheese


Recipe credit: Saveur: The New Comfort Food (Chronicle Books, 2011), edited by James Oseland
Reprinted with permission from the publisher

 Mafalde with Roasted Tomatoes, Robiola, and Crushed Fennel Seeds
Mafalde with Roasted Tomatoes

Recipe credit: The Glorious Pasta of Italy (Chronicle Books, 2011) by Domenica Marchetti
Reprinted with permission from the publisher

Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage
Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage


Recipe credit:  Four Seasons Pasta (Chronicle Books, 2004) by Janet Fletcher
Reprinted with permission from the publisher


Pappardelle all Bosscaiola
Parpardelle alla Boscaiola


Recipe credit: The Glorious Pasta of Italy (Chronicle Books, 2011) by Domenica Marchetti
Reprinted with permission from the publisher

 Our Miller Bob Discusses the Release of Our New Oil      
Bob Singletary
Master Miller
Our master miller, Bob Singletary, is a pioneering figure in California's extra virgin olive oil industry. Bob has been crushing olives and making olive oil for more than three decades. We caught up with him recently to ask  about Bob Singletary 2012the upcoming release of the oil made from the olives we gathered last fall. The oil will be available soon. He also told us about other projects that are keeping him and his team busy at the ranch.

As we prepare to release the 2011 harvest oil, what are you doing to get the oil ready?

This is a very important time of year for us. The oil has naturally settled for the past several months and our first "racking," or oil movement, is taking place. When we first make the oil during harvest, some solids, including tiny particles from the olive fruit, as well as impurities go into the storage tanks. These particles are heavier than the oil and naturally drop to the bottom of the tanks. The racking process means we move all of the settled oil to a clean storage tank, while leaving the solids and sediment at the bottom of the original tank for removal.

How many times do you move the oil from tank to tank?

Depending on the olives harvested in a particular season, the racking process can occur several times. Typically, by around March the sediment has been completely removed.

Since the end of harvest, what have you been doing with the oil, in addition to racking?

We also sample the oil during the settling process and taste it to identify the different characteristics of the finished product.  We constantly look for differences in fruitiness, flavor intensity, and pungency. These are all identified when we initially make the oil. But our efforts at this time are to ensure the oil in each tank has the same profile as it did when it was made.

How do you blend the oils to achieve the desired taste?Bob Singletary Artois

Blending totally depends on an individual customer's preference - be it consumers, or chefs and others who special order our oil. In general, we have very intense oils, and the selection process is usually based on when the olives were harvested. The earlier the oil is made during harvest, the more intense and pungent that oil is. During the blending process we select different oils from the same olive variety to establish a more complex flavor profile. Oils made at different times of the harvest have flavors ranging from intense to mild.

Each of these individual oils has its own excellent flavor characteristics, and when identified and blended together the best of all qualities come together. Not only do we do single varietal blending to obtain maximum flavors, but we also take the best of each variety - Arbequina, Arbosana, and Koroneiki - and create our Miller's Blend. This blend has all of the best flavors that each type olive variety has to offer.

What type of taste are you trying to achieve with each of the oils - 
Arbequina, Miller's Blend, Everyday Fresh and Arbosana?

Each style of oil has a totally different flavor profile. The Arbequina for retail consumers has the fruity and intense flavors characteristic of olives picked early in the harvest. The Miller's Blend combines the best early harvest oils available. The Everyday is very fruity, but the end-taste profile is mild and not so robust. The Arbosana generally is made at one time and the importance of selecting the exact time is critical to having a well balanced oil. If you are too early on this, the flavors are green and harsh and take time to settle out. This selection of when to harvest the olives is  important with all varieties, but especially the Arbosana and Koroneiki.

What do you do when you aren't busy during harvest?Fresh Olive Oil

The racking and blending process take up a lot of my time. I also supply oil to bottling line and the line we use to package our oil in our bag-in-a-box.  Both lines require different oils at different times.  Being a part of California Olive Ranch (COR) is exciting, because we're growing quickly. There always is new equipment being installed that we use to mill the olives and make the oil. We have to review that equipment beforehand. This season we'll be installing three complete lines of equipment to make and bottle our oil. The coordination of equipment arrival and installation before the harvest is very exciting. I'm very fortunate to have colleagues who are young, very intelligent people.  COR has a great team spirit, and the excitement is always there.

How do you like to use our oils at home?

I'm lucky to have a Meyer lemon tree in my backyard. I use the lemons and our oil to make all my salad dressings. I also drizzle our oil over asparagus and artichokes. My favorite dish involves saut�ed fish. Once the fish is in the oil I add spinach, sliced tomatoes, sliced lemons, pine nuts, and garlic. When the spinach starts to wilt the fish is done, and I spread the entire dish over rice. The flavors blend together beautifully. Again, I'm very lucky because I go to Mexico fishing every year and am able to enjoy my catch with our excellent extra virgin olive oil.

How have you been using the Limited Reserve?Bob Singletary Thanksgiving 2011

That's a very special oil. When blending this oil we use the most intense flavor profiles from two different oils, the Arbequina and Koroneiki. The two together make a very robust flavored oil. I really like the Limited Reserve on spinach salads.  Of course the dipping of great sourdough French bread with basil, mozzarella cheese, and thin sliced garden fresh tomatoes is always a show stopper.

What do you like to do in your free time?

For many years I've traveled to Mexico to fish and relax. It's so enjoyable, and when I return  I'm refreshed and ready to tackle my projects with gusto. I'm very proud to say I won't be going fishing this year, because my one-and-only daughter is going to have my first grandchild. I can't begin to describe how excited I am about this child. I'm getting along in my years and have been praying for a long time to be able to enjoy a grandchild. Again, how lucky I am. I can always go fishing!

 Thank You
Stay Healthy in 2012 with California Olive Ranch!

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