Month: September 2017

Summer Harvest at Full Bloom Flower Farm

Published by Leah Engel

A couple months back, in the full swing of summertime harvest, Dawn and I headed out to meet local flower farmer Hedda at her farm, Full Bloom Flower Farm, in Graton. The fields were lush and overflowing, full of colorful zinnias, lisanthus, marigolds, sunflowers, rudbeckia, ammi, and scabiosas. The fields were so full of color and growth, they spread happiness every way you turned. Sunflowers reach for the sky in this gorgeous and lush summertime flower field.

Seasonal Fruit Galette

Published by Joni Davis

Galettes are a wonderfully easy dessert that really put the treasures of summer center stage. There is nothing better than beautiful fruit baked into flaky pastry. Once you learn the process of making this easy, versatile dessert, you’ll be making these gorgeous free form tarts all the time! Most importantly, have fun playing with the filling; apple, fig, peach, strawberry, the options are never ending. The secret to this recipe is in the flattening and folding of the dough, building up layers of butter in the pastry. Finishing the assembly with lashings of melted butter slathered all over almost makes the dough ‘fry’ in the oven. The key to many wonderful things is butter and this recipe is no exception. Served with ice cream, whipped cream, or whipped crème fraiche, it’s truly the queen of desserts. Summertime Rhubarb Galette For the dough: 10 oz flour 1 tablespoon sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 6 oz butter, cold and cubed ½ cups ice water For the rhubarb filling: 5-6 cups of chopped rhubarb zest and juice of 1 orange seeds from …

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Handline’s Smoked Trout

Published by Natalie Goble

We are thrilled at Handline to be featuring TwoxSea’s beautiful McFarland Springs Trout on our menu year-round. It’s farmed sustainably in Northern California and fed a 100% algae based vegetarian diet. It has a wonderfully delicate, sweet, pink flesh that lends itself well to a light smoke. You can find the trout in our Monterey Salad featuring local greens and seasonal ingredients as well as on our Happy Hour Menu in the Smoked Trout & Clam Chowder. The key to this recipe is time and restraint. We don’t want to overwhelm the delicacy of the fish with too much salt or smoke. It’s a minimum of 24 hour process from start to finish but the end result is totally worth the wait. Before getting started, you’ll need to collect some equipment to fashion a stovetop smoker: 1 half sized metal hotel pan (4” deep) 1 half sized perforated metal hotel pan (2” deep) 1 bag of cherry or apple wood chips Step 1: Brine the Trout To brine something is to submerge it in cold …

Handline’s Summer Squash “Ex Pat” Taco

Published by Emma Uribe

Every year in Sonoma County, as chefs, we count down the days until the turning of each season, knowing that that turn will bring a new and exciting perspective and creative process to our menus. As the leaves begin to change and the air becomes crisp with the first sights and feels of Fall, I begin to dream of delicata squash, roasted chestnuts and pomegranates. As Spring approaches, I become giddy at the thought of young fava beans, English peas and asparagus. And by the time Summer starts to creep into West County, my mouth waters and my mind is flooded with aspirations for all the ways in which I might prepare the bounty of night shades that is just weeks away. And then there is Summer Squash. As a long time employee, and well, family member, to the Peter Lowell’s, and now Handline crew, I have come to expect the imminent flood of Summer squash from our farm, Two Belly Acres. Between the months of June and September each year, hundreds of pounds are …

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Late Spring at Full Bloom Flower Farm

Published by Leah Engel

Late spring harvest at Full Bloom Flower Farm was full of color. Nicotiana, Ammi, Chantilly Snaps, Chinese Forget Me Nots, Nigella, Scabiosa, and many more. The Zinnias were just starting to come up and show their colorful faces. The star of the show was without a doubt Hedda’s David Austin Roses, with their full petals and gorgeous shades of pink and orange. You can tell that the farm was ready to burst into lush summer at any moment. Crates full of Dahlias are ready for summer, and the farm is so much fuller than when we were here last.