Nocino
Sometimes the bounty of summer comes too quickly to be harnessed, and I was reminded of this last year after wanting to make the green walnut liqueur nocino. Picking walnuts too late means that the husk inside their green casing becomes too rigid to slice, so they must be harvested early in their development. In certain European countries, the cutoff date is June 24th. In keeping with tradition, I paid attention to the calendar and began scouring some of Santa Rosa's generous walnut trees in the neighborhood. Black walnuts are not used for nocino, as their higher tannin content makes them painfully annoying to deal with. They stain anything they touch, including hands and fingers, which will be an unpleasant yellow-brown tinge for days and days to come. English walnuts are the choice insisted for nocino recipes. They stain too, but nowhere near the same degree. The walnuts should be easy to slice through, or be "pierced through with a sewing needle" as many makers declare.
The process of making many liqueurs is quite easy, and usually involves no more than steeping the main flavor ingredients in grain alcohol, sugar, and spices or herbs. Nocino is known for its notes of warm of baking spices, and countless recipes include clove, cinnamon, and citrus peel. Wanting instead to accent the green notes in the liqueur, I opted for a very small amount of fennel seeds, coriander seeds, lemon peel, and orange peel.
The process of making many liqueurs is quite easy, and usually involves no more than steeping the main flavor ingredients in grain alcohol, sugar, and spices or herbs. Nocino is known for its notes of warm of baking spices, and countless recipes include clove, cinnamon, and citrus peel. Wanting instead to accent the green notes in the liqueur, I opted for a very small amount of fennel seeds, coriander seeds, lemon peel, and orange peel.
It's time to strain and bottle the nocino, now that it has steeped for the prescribed 40-45 days. There is variation among the recommended steeping times, within about a two week range. The liqueur should last for years, and is to be in bottle for at least one year before it is best enjoyed. Nature waits for no one.
Once In A While, Getaways
When one is graced with the gift of time off of work, wanderlust can creep in, sated only by removing one's self from regular surroundings. The draw of a good cocktail can dictate which direction to travel.
Measurably, the best Bloody Marys can be found at the San Gregorio General Store, just off of Highway 1 in a sleepy old outpost surrounded by pleasantly lonesome farmland. With unpretentious ingredients in perfect proportion, the San Gregorio Bloody Mary is truly legendary. There's no gregarious garnish and no non-traditional ingredients, just the classic as it's meant to exist.
Measurably, the best Bloody Marys can be found at the San Gregorio General Store, just off of Highway 1 in a sleepy old outpost surrounded by pleasantly lonesome farmland. With unpretentious ingredients in perfect proportion, the San Gregorio Bloody Mary is truly legendary. There's no gregarious garnish and no non-traditional ingredients, just the classic as it's meant to exist.
Delicious beer is as good a reason as any for travel, and Sante Adairius Rustic Ales lures many the drinker to its casual tap room in Capitola, CA. The list is comprised of all-grain beers brewed in American and European styles. Saisons are delicate and earthy, and ales have approachable malt profiles. All beers seem to be hopped with elegance and precision, as opposed to the overbearingly sweet and bitter brews found in too many California watering holes. Bring your own food to the tap room if you like, and be ready to pet plenty of friendly dogs.
Gardens at Full Tilt
Now fully in the swing of summer gardening, many cooking and pickling projects are underway in the Umami and Fat kitchen. This year has brought many new plants to the garden to taste and play with, as well as the easy-to-grow classics that produce prolifically throughout the long warm season.
Below is a photograph of the most recent haul from the backyard. Everything pictured was grown by my mother or myself. It's pretty unbelievable what can be produced from a little garden with diligence and consistent effort, and also extremely satisfying.
Below is a photograph of the most recent haul from the backyard. Everything pictured was grown by my mother or myself. It's pretty unbelievable what can be produced from a little garden with diligence and consistent effort, and also extremely satisfying.
The first cucumbers went straight into a 3% brine with dill, garlic, and peppercorns, where they fermented for just under two weeks. They are superbly savory and crunchy treats, while the others have been offering their mild, cool flavor to many batches of gazpacho.
In these last long and warm weeks, there hasn't been much drive to mix complex cocktails. Simple glasses of white and lightly chilled red wines have been the go-tos around here. However, a fresh bottle of whiskey begs a proper tasting, and the fresh peaches from Dry Creek in Healdsburg with blackberries from the backyard became a galette, in perfect harmony with rich sherry.
Still We Wait
As abundant as garden offerings currently are, the waiting is not over. Pepper plants are long to produce, and I anxiously await what looks to be a plentiful crop of Fresno chiles. New bean seeds have sprouted near where the old ones were this year, after the plants were decimated by hungry birds. They too love heirloom vegetables.
Autumn and winter projects ideas are brewing, and looking ahead in the year brings motivation and preparation, but for now, it's frequent trips to the yard to harvest herbs and vegetables, to ensure an enduring harvest for the summer season.
Autumn and winter projects ideas are brewing, and looking ahead in the year brings motivation and preparation, but for now, it's frequent trips to the yard to harvest herbs and vegetables, to ensure an enduring harvest for the summer season.