Fresh Cherry BBQ Sauce from Taste of the Nation 2013

We have the honor of being the exclusive caterer at the 2013 Taste of the Nation VIP Reception at Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport.  The event benefits a number of different charities including The Good Shepherd Food Bank, Opportunity Alliance, Cultivating Community, as well as Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign.

One of the dishes that we are serving is a Seared Duck Breast with a Fresh Cherry Barbeque Sauce.  This sauce would go great with any poultry – serve it at your next summer barbeque or let us come prepare it for you!

Fresh Cherry BBQ Sauce

1 Yellow Onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 can Cherry Juice Concentrate
1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
3 Chipotle Peppers, stems removed
4 packages of Dried Sour Cherries
8 cloves of Garlic, chopped fine
1 tablespoon Paprika
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 cup Sour Cherry Preserves
1 jar Roasted Red Peppers, with liquid
2 tablespoons Rye or Bourbon Whiskey
2 tablespoons Sugar
Salt

Directions
In a heavy saucepan, sauté onion in oil until caramelized.  Add cherry juice, vinegar, chipotle peppers, half of the dried sour cherries, garlic, paprika, and roasted red peppers.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until chipotle peppers are completely softened, at least 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.

In a food processor, puree the mixture together with the remaining half of the dried sour cherries, the tomato paste, roasted red peppers, and cherry preserves until smooth.  Push puree through a mesh strainer into a saucepan.  Add sugar and salt to taste.  Add whiskey and return to stove to bring back to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for another 20 minutes or so.  If needed, add additional sugar/salt.

The Land of Rancheros, Wine, BBQ, and Solvang

In early May, Nancy and I needed to go to Southern California on business. I decided to show her a part of California that is totally unique from what you find in Northern or Southern California.

California is made up of five distinctive regions and personalities. There is Northern California, Southern California, the Inland Empire (Reading to Bakersfield), the Sierras, and the land of the Rancheros – the Central Coast/Santa Ynez Valley. I wanted Nancy to see this area, as I know it, and to experience two quality wineries.

Three hours north of Los Angeles on Route 101 is the gateway to the Central Coast – Santa Barbara.  Santa Barbara is a beautiful and sophisticated city on the Mission Trail from San Diego to San Francisco.  Once past Santa Barbara, traveling north, you will find rolling hills and mountain valleys, dotted with ranches, mountain lions, wild boar, and the amazing Coastal Oaks that live for hundred of years and survive in the salt air from the sea.  This area has the only transverse mountain range between Alaska and Cape Horn in Chile. This unique east-west orientation of the Santa Maria Valley allows unobstructed flow of coastal wind and fog to create a cool long growing season for wine grapes. The cool air and the fog create an ideal environment for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  This is where the towns of Santa Ynez, Solvang, Santa Maria, and Buellton we planned to visit are located.

On trips like this, we plan to visit only one winery per day. The reason is that we will spend several hours with the management and wish to gain a feeling and a taste of their wines and company.

The first winery we visited was Fess Parker’s. Yes, Fess Parker – the original Davey Crocker. Fess Parker would use this area to escape the dazzle of Hollywood to a place where people are friendly, warm, and genuine, while still getting the sophisticated atmosphere of Santa Barbara.  You do not hear people in Santa Ynez say, “Hey, dude” or “Chow, baby.” Here, people you will meet always have a big smile, ask how they can help you, and say thank you. The bellman at our hotel, Chico, was there when the hotel opened 39 years ago. He always has a smile on his face, remembers your name, and does anything to make your visit pleasant.

My wife, Nancy, is very much like Fess Parker. She loves first class service and products with unpretentious hospitality. She loves preparing great food and serving great wine with the desire to share this with everyone. Like the Fess Parker Family tradition, this is also the CVC Catering family tradition.

In 1989, Fes Parker established his winery. At that time, there were only 18 wineries in the area. Today, there are over 350. His desire was to produce small productions of quality wines that are critically acclaimed. I believe their production is around 50,000 cases. Nice size, but not big. Robert Parker, a famed wine critic, once wrote, “These are some of the finest wines and wine values emerging from Santa Barbara County.”

Fess Parker Winery is located on Foxen Canyon Road in Los Olivos, California.  Los Olivos was a stagecoach stop on the Mission Trail from Southern to Northern California. The Foxen Canyon is a two-lane road winding through a valley of picturesque scenes of ranches and vineyards. As you approach the winery, you see rows of grape vines with amazing rose bushes planted between each row. It is a beautiful sight. The winery itself is a beautiful structure of stone and wood. The grounds are covered with old oak trees and flowering shrubs. It is a wonderful site for a wedding, and they do many.

Nancy and I were met by members of management and were taken on a private tour of the winery. We saw the Estate Barrel Room where they age their wines in both American and French Oak. The facility is first class, but it is still the taste of the wines that is most important.

Some of the wines we liked were:

• 2010 Viognier –This is their most sought after white wine. It is aged 10 months in French Oak. It has a light golden straw color with the taste of honeydew, melon, lychee, apricot, and orange blossom. This wine has great balance and fresh acidity that leads to a zesty finish.
• 2010 Pinot Noir Ashley’s –This wine is aged 16 months in 50% new French Oak. The color is a dark ruby garnet. It has the aromas of cherry, raspberry, black tea, baking spices, and vanilla. A great balance of acid, tannin, weight, and texture makes it terrific for aging. This wine is rated at 90-91 points.
• 2010 Big Easy –This is a wonderful, fun wine to drink. It was developed to pay homage to New Orleans after Katrina. The wine is a blend of 61% Syrah, 23% Petite Syrah, and 16% Grenache. The blend is aged 22 months in French and American Oak. You will get notes of black pepper, blueberry, mocha, smoked meat, and leather with dark chocolate and vanilla. This is a wonderful wine for Cajun food.

Located in the heart of Los Olivos is the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn and Spa. The Inn is within walking distance from many craft shops and wine tasting rooms. But what makes this inn really unique is that it has one of the best Greek Restaurants we have visited called Petros.

After having lunch, we drove to Solvang. While we were driving east on Route 246 among ranges and vineyards, Nancy noticed that on the right side of the road, we had an ostrich running about 45 mph in the same direction. There is an Ostrich Land located in Solvang where you can buy ostrich and emu gifts and eggs. You can also buy ostrich jerky. I guess the jerky comes from ostrich that do not run fast enough.

Solvang is a Danish community on the Central Coast of California. The architecture is Danish, including windmills.  Visit the Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery for some of the best pastries in the west.  The bakery was founded in Demark in 1890 and over 30 years ago, they moved to Solvang Stop in at the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, which has the world’s largest selection of Andersen books for sale. Also there is The Book Loft, where you can find first editions and out of print books. Nancy got lost in the old cookbook section where she found many books dating back to the 20’s and 30’s.

In Santa Ynez (Spanish), where Ronald Reagan had his ranch, every spring they have the blessing of the Rancheros, or ranch owners. They come in mass, about 1,000, on horseback to the Mission Santa Ines (English). At the mission, they are blessed by the priest and celebrate the new calves branding in the spring. Afterwards, they have a BBQ for the vaqueros, or cowboys, and their families.

The morning of the blessing, Nancy took the elevator down for breakfast. She met two men in the elevator and she asked them if they were rancheros on their way to the blessing. They responded, “How did you know?” Nancy said the spurs and the cowboy hats were a good hint. She then cautioned them to be careful so they do not fall off their horses. The response was, “Hardly, Miss.”

Saturday, after Nancy’s encounter with the rancheros, we drove up to the Santa Maria valley to visit Cambria Winery. Cambria is a part of the Majestic Wine Group. The Majestic Wine Group consists of wonderful wineries like Kendal Jackson, Bryon, Freemark Abbey, and Le Crema.

The drive to Cambria takes you through some of the most productive farmland in California. Thousands of acres are planted in fresh product, strawberries, and wine grapes. Cambria is on a side of a hill just off of Santa Maria Mesa Road. The winery is small and well organized. The staff and management   were friendly and spent a great deal of time with us.

Barbara Banke, the owner, has built Cambria Estate into a world-class producer of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The primary vineyards are named after her daughters – Katherine’s (Chardonnay), and Julia’s (Pinot Noir).

Cambria is known for their work with clone grapes. A clone is like a variety within a variety. A clone is defined as apopulation of vines that are propagated asexually from a single mother vine. Each clone will have desirable characteristics, such as disease resistance or flavor attributes. Many winemakers like to plant more than one clone of a single variety to give the wine more complexity.

A few wines to try are:

• 2010 Clone 115 Pinot Noir – This is a gracious wine. This is not a huge Pinot, but it will impress you with its overall balance and sense of harmony. This wine has been scored 92 points.
• 2011 Clone 76 Chardonnay – This is cloned from French vines. When you taste it, you will get scents of butter and toast that will give away to pineapple, peaches, pears, nutmeg, and vanilla. This wine has body that will stand up to a wide variety of foods, but it is also so balanced that you can drink it on its own.

Texas, the Carolinas, and Kansas City have their own style of BBQ, but on the Central Coast of California there is only one – Santa Maria. The Santa Maria Style BBQ was developed in the 19^th century on the cattle ranges in the area. This is what the rancheros served their cowboys. They did not use charcoal or gas. They use the wood of the red oak tree and bring it to the point where it is white hot. They developed a rub of onion, garlic, chili powder, and paprika, but the key to the BBQ is the use of tri-tip roast. This is a triangular cut of bottom sirloin. It is not well known outside of California, but it makes a wonderful BBQ.

So, if you want to go to a pleasant and not expensive part of California, look at the Central Coast. You will love the area.

Check out our other pictures in this Gallery!

Maine Potato Salad or Grilled Corn Salad…

I had my face in the sunshine yesterday- and it felt great. Spring has sprung and summer is here. Of course, that makes me want to get the grill going full speed ahead. Summer makes me think of eating out doors and barbecues. The most used modern definition of this is the grilling of meats or other foods over an open fire. It used to be made with charcoal briquettes. But now more often than not with a convenient gas grill. Such a shame- the charcoal brings that charcoal flavor and the smoky aromas.

Barbecue is more than a meal. It is an event. People gather for good barbecue in backyards, beaches and parks. We like the smell, we tell stories and drink while barbecuing.

When the first Spanish explorers arrived in the new world they found people preserving meats in the sun. This is an age old and almost completely universal method. The chief problem with doing this is that the meats spoil and become infested with bugs. To drive the bugs away the natives would built small smoky fires and place the meat on racks over the fires. The smoke would keep the insects at bay and help in the preserving of the meat.

Tradition tells us that this is the origin of barbecue, both in process and in name. The natives of the West Indies had a word for this process, “barbacoa”. Some people believe that this is the origin of our modern word barbecue.

Few things are more reminiscent of summer than the smell of meat on a grill. Americans in particular have an appreciation of the rich flavors of food cooked over a flame. Seventy-seven percent of U.S. households own barbecue grills, firing them up more than 2.9 billion times a year. Barbecue societies are springing up all over the country—and the world—and millions of people flock to barbecue contests each year.

Everything that is typically called barbecue has a couple of things in common. Barbecue requires meat. Sometimes we grill vegetables as well. But unless you are a vegetarian you always have meat.

Barbecue meats are always served with a barbecue sauce. There are many versions of such a sauce, but it is usually based on tomatoes and contains any or all of the following: wine, onions, garlic, herbs, mustard, brown sugar and other seasonings. I am going to add blueberries!

In my line of work I sometimes depend on my instincts and gut feelings. So, when I was asked to write about barbecue- Maine style, I immediately thought about Maine blueberries and Maine potatoes! When I throw New England into the mix I add corn on the cob! So those are the ingredients I am going to use to make my barbecue today!

 

Nancy’s Easy Barbecue Sauce

Combine the following liquids:

• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup cider vinegar
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup Worchester sauce
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 dashes of Tabasco Sauce

 

Add the following items:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 ¼ cups of tomato paste
• 1/3 cup of dark brown packed sugar
• (can substitute molasses)
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder or to taste
• 1 Cup or more to your taste blueberries
• Optional:  Chopped Jalapeño pepper with seeds removed. You can add liquid smoke.

 

Directions:

• Pour contents into sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes until solution thickens.
• Strain contents through fine mesh and adjust seasonings to taste: salt/pepper/etc.
• Use immediately or refrigerate up to a week.

Grilled Maine Potato Salad

 

Make Vinaigrette: 

• ¼ Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• ¾ Cup Extra Virgin Oil
• 2 Tablespoons of Dijon Mustard
• 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic

Other Ingredients: 

• 10 to 12 Par Boiled Maine Potatoes cut into chunks small enough to be grilled
• 2 Sweet Onions Chopped
• Herbs of your choice to include fresh parsley chopped. Rosemary is a good choice, but so is steak seasoning. Any thing is good really.
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:

• Grill Potatoes and mix with vinaigrette and onions, herbs and salt and pepper while hot.

 

Grilled Corn Salad

 

Make Vinaigrette:

• Juice of 1 lime
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove minced
• ½ teaspoon of honey
• ¼ Cup of Extra virgin Olive Oil plus 2 tablespoons

 

Other Ingredients:

• 6 ears of corn
• 1 can of black beans or chick peas
• 1 ½ cups of cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup of diced jicama
• ¼ Cup of diced red onions
• 1/ cup of diced peppers
• 1/ cup of diced peppers
• ½ cup of diced peppers
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs of your choice
• Salt and pepper

 

Directions:

• Rub corn with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
• Grill turning occasionally until charred.
• Remove kernels and mix with other ingredients and vinaigrette.