Here is another idea of what to do with them. This one is from Chef Payton Curry, so you know it will be good!
Spring Mushroom Ragout
½ lb Mixed Forest Mushroom, cleaned and washed
1 Tbsp Green Garlic, Shaved, reserve green ‘stems’
2 Tbsp Iitoi Onion
1 Cup Fresh Fava Beans, Shelled
2 Tbsp Olive Oil plus 1 T Butter
¼ Cup Red or White Wine
½ Cup Chicken or Vegetable Stock
6 Dates, sliced, optional
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Medium-High heat pan, add oil.
When a light smoke comes up, add mushrooms.
Let sit for 3-5 minutes (until golden brown).
Remove from pan with a slotted spoon.
Place on to a cookie sheet with a paper towel.
Add fava beans and sauté for one minute.
Add green garlic and onions. Sauté until translucent (about 1-1.5 minutes)
Add butter, allow to brown.
Add white wine and reduce by half.
Add stock, mushrooms, and adjust with lemon juice and balsamic.
Optional: Fold in dates or chopped herbs.
Morels! Morels! Morels!
I almost hate posting this, as we won’t actually have morels at the market. We would if it wasn’t for a certain chef in Cave Creek who buys them up as quickly as we get them in. (You know who you are Kevin Binkley.) But, I think this little recipe will work nicely with any of the new mushrooms we have. Marsha made this last night with morels and it was all I needed to eat.
Wash the mushrooms in very cold water. Just like Payton’s instructions on his recipe. Keep transferring the mushrooms from one bowl of cold water to another until the dirt is rinsed off. Then allow them to air dry. Don’t handle them more than you have to and don’t use warm water.
Then heat a little olive oil on medium-high heat and brown the mushrooms just a little on each side. Throw in some diced green garlic and shallots at the very end and allow them to quickly brown a little too.
Then serve.
Really – that’s it.
You can serve these with anything. They are a nice side to a good steak, work well on top of crusty bread, can be tossed with a pasta, or, even better, just eat as is. They are that good!
You can do this with any of the new mushrooms that we have at the market. Marsha is partial to the black trumpets.
That said, the morels she prepared were amazing. Right now morels are at the very beginning of the season. By the end of April we hope to have a good supply to have available for you at the markets. Until then, if you really want to know what you are missing out on, you know you can get them at Binkley’s. If anyone in this valley is going to do something spectacular with morels, it would be Kevin.
(Or Marsha, but it is much harder to get a table here.)
Mushrooms!
We are very excited about the new offering we have for our restaurants and market customers… wild mushrooms!!
Bob recently made a new friend up in Oregon who is as serious and passionate about mushrooms as Bob is about produce. These mushrooms are grown and foraged in the Pacific Northwest, thriving in the same climate and conditions as those enjoyed in Europe. The mushrooms are foraged in the forests surrounding Medford, Oregon. What is the difference between these and those you can find in a grocery store? Well, much like our produce, they are foraged, sent and available at our market within a day or two from when they were in the ground. Kept cold throughout the process, so that they maintain premium flavor and freshness. They are never exposed to heat, nor do they sit on a truck for days on end.
A few of our chefs have had a chance to sample and play with them, and they were given a resounding thumbs up. Here is what we will have and when they will be available….
Morel – End of March to July
Porcini – End of April to July
Chanterelle – August to January
Lobster Mushroom – July to October
Matsutake – September to October
Black Trumpets – December to March
Yellow Feet – December to March
Hedgehogs – December to March
Oregon White Truffles – November to March
Oregon Black Truffles – November to March
And, in case this isn’t exciting enough, we are also getting Oregon Huckleberries from August through November. Can’t wait!
So, what are you going to do with them? If you are one of the lucky ones that took a few home today, here is an idea from Payton…
Foraged Mushrooms on Brioche with Arugula
½ lb Mixed foraged mushrooms, triple soaked
1 each Green Garlic, half moon cut down the middle, julienned
2 each Medium shallots minced
1 each Lemon, zested and juiced
3-5 pcs Grilled asparagus stems coined, left over from your salad last night!
2 Tbsp Madeira, Marsala
2 Tbsp Red Wine
¼ Cup Green Garlic broth, chicken or veal stock
1-2 Tbsp Crème Fraiche
1-2 Tbsp Pecorino, grated fresh
to taste Italian Parsley, fresh chopped
to taste Celery leaf
to taste Black Pepper
Grilled bread or toasted brioche
½ lb Arugula
Sanitize both sinks in your kitchen and fill them with cold water. Room temperature or warmer water will harm your mushrooms. Go from one full sink to the next with a colander or slotted spoon. Do not drain then transfer. This causes dirt and mushrooms to remix. Drain and start with fresh cold water alternating until mushrooms are clean. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with a kitchen towel.
Warm a sauté pan with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Using your fingers not a knife, break apart mushrooms from the top down.
Once broken apart and your sauté pan has a light hue to it add DRY mushrooms to the pan. A little water, a lot of flames!! Do not for any reason touch this pan for 2-3 minutes. Let them cook and caramelize. Look for nicely browned edges, if the pan is too hot take off of the heat and do not sauté mushrooms yet. Let them caramelize.
Once nice and brown add green garlic, shallots, asparagus tips and sauté until shallots and green garlic are wilted and fragrant.
Add Madeira and flambé. Watch your eyelashes and reduce to syrup, add Red Wine and repeat, flambé, reduce. Add stock and when reduced by half swirl in Crème Fraiche.
Cook until thickened, do not boil or the crème fraiche will break. Add cheese, parsley and black pepper to taste. A touch of Red Wine Vinegar or nice Balsamic will be necessary to add acid.
To Plate:
Place bread on the plate, spoon over mushroom mixture. In a bowl toss arugula, celery leaf, lemon zest and parsley with a bit of olive oil and salt. Grate cheese over the top and a crack of pepper.
More beans from Payton…
Another great recipe for beans from Payton Curry…
Saturday Morning Market influences Sunday Morning Tuscan Style Soup
1 lb. McClendon Farms dried Legumes, beans of choice
1/3 lb. Raw Italian sausage, house ground
1 cup Carrots, brunoise
1 each Large Leek, brunoise
1 each Yellow onion, brunoise
4 each Celery stalks brunoise
2 each Green garlic stalks, Chiffonade and washed
2 each Bay leaves
1 cup Dry white wine, dry (1 cup for you, quality check)
1 bunch Rainbow Chard Chiffonade, optional
As needed Chicken Stock
Procedure
1.) Soak beans over night in a large container with water to cover by at least four inches. Place in fridge
2.) The next morning drain beans and rinse in a colander in your sink
3.) In a 8 to 10 qt stock pot at medium heat place 3 T of olive oil in the base and once a beautiful light smoky hew wafts up place broken pieces (1 inch ish) of your sausage into the pan. Once caramelized, golden brown and delicious remove from pan
4.) With sausage removed add all of your vegetables and lightly caramelize your mirepoix for about 3-4 minutes.
5.) Deglaze you’re the vegetables with the white wine reduce by half
6.) Add beans and pour room chilled chicken stock over the beans and bring to a slight simmer and allow beans to “dance” around in the stock adding more stock as needed to keep the dance alive
7.) Once beans are Al Dente, add sausage, remove bay leaves and season to taste with Banyuls vinegar or other fine vinegar. Fold in Swiss chard at the end and garnish with your favorite aged hard cheese. Or if your Midwestern, Velveeta.
Nerd Notes:
Reserve the green garlic and leek stems to make a small batch of broth. Add all stem ends and tops cover with chilled water and bring to a simmer. Reduce to low and steap for 1 hour. Strain and chill. Use to make your rice or to boil your pasta in instead of water. Cheers!
****Brunoise means to finely dice, producing the tiniest of cuts, approximately 1/8 inch x 1/8 inch x 1/8 inch. Yes – I had to look it up.
Payton’s Campari Sauce…
Campari Tomato Magic
½ cup Olive Oil, no blended oils here people
5 lbs Campari tomatoes, ¼’d & stems removed
¼ cup Shaved Green Garlic, trim for stock
2 each Carrots, washed, unpeeled, small dice
2 each Leeks, white only, small dice
1 each Vidalia Onion, small dice
3 each Celery stalks, small dice
1 each Roasted Anaheim Chile, minced
1 tsp Chili flakes
1 pint White wine to finish
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 Tbsp Really good sherry vinegar
Preheat oven to 200-degrees.
In a large stock pot or small rondeau bring the olive oil to a medium heat and add mirepoix and brown. When slightly caramelized add Green Garlic, Leeks, chili flakes and roasted Anaheim. Add white wine and simmer with veggies until reduced by half. Toss in tomatoes and bring to a simmer and slowly simmer for 10-15 minutes. Throw it in your oven and puree with a wand mixer after a minimum 6-8 hrs at 200-degrees. Check after 2 hours and add a touch of stock if needed. The longer and slower this cooks the deeper and sweeter the flavor. Be patient!
* Reserve all tops, greens & trim from veggies. Cover the trim with cold water and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, cover and turn off heat. After 45 minutes of steeping, strain and chill. Use for rice, cooking beans or other dried grains/legumes.
A little green for St. Patrick’s Day…
Don’t let my Scottish last name fool you, this lass is Irish. I have been a McClendon for a decade now, but I am honoring my lineage with a second post today in celebration of all things green around here.
Just look at all of that beautiful green garlic above. If you haven’t cooked with it, you don’t know what you are missing. They are milder than regular garlic and can be slightly sweet when cooked.
These are baby eggplant that just went in the ground. They don’t look like much yet, but they soon be two-feet tall with eggplant hidden within the leaves. Can’t wait – I have missed eggplant. I am not yet ready to say good-bye to some of my favorites from this season, but knowing that eggplant is coming back will ease me into summer.
Summer squash will help too. This is some of the zucchini that just went in the very back of the back field.
Radishes also just went into the back field.
And peppers in the front garden. These are shishito peppers. (FYI – all you need to enjoy these is pan roast them for a little bit with the kosher salt. Mmmm!)
Sean and Bob have also been very excited about the new seeder on the back of the tractor. It was used for the first time last week to plant rows of arugula in the back field.
It is amazing that in the course of a week it can go from this (above) to this (below).
Yup… the McClendons may be Scots, but it is all green around here!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
The Guerilla Gourmet and his team of epicurean bandits…
Chef Payton Curry, the Guerilla Gourmet, and his team are taking over at the Old Town Scottsdale Market. For the lucky ones that got to visit his booth this past Saturday, you will be pleased to know that they are coming back and will be located right across from us. I came too late last Saturday and missed out on the fresh-pulled mozzarella, but I did catch up with the Curry Crew at Devoured on Sunday.
For one tiny plate, Payton created magic. His booth earned a Gold Medal from Howard Seftel for his Pork Banh Mi sliders, a pate made from high-end breeds Berkshire and Mangalitsa, and a vegan rutabaga and potato vichyssoise topped with bee pollen. Just looking at the picture makes me want to eat this exact meal again. And again.
Can’t wait for Saturday! I understand that they will be serving fresh-pulled mozzarella, McClendon Select jardiniere, Campari Tomato Bolognese, and Tender Belly Farms slow-roasted pork with Braised Tuscan Kale sugo and pate. Mercy! I will have to get there earlier this time. And just so you aren’t worried, Chef Curry will still be working with us to answer questions for our customers and to lend his expertise for any recipes or advice you may need.
P.S. If you want a literary treat too, Payton also has a way with words. You can find him at www.paytoncurry.com or on twitter @paytoncurry! And for that matter, you can find us now on Facebook too!!
Come together…
Sean and I have been wanting to go to Justin Beckett’s new restaurant Beckett’s Table for awhile now. We have heard all of the rave reviews he has been getting since opening last fall. Actually, we had been hearing of all of the advanced excitement before their doors opened. Not a lot of places can rack up 800 Facebook fans before ever serving a meal. One look at their menu and I was sure I would be a fan too. (They had me at pancetta!)
The door handles say “Come Together” when you enter, and you can tell that Justin has designed not just the menu, but the whole restaurant to have that feeling of breaking bread together. The space was transformed with reclaimed and recycled materials, something Justin documented and shared with his patrons as they were awaiting his opening. It has an open view into the kitchen with its large wood-burning oven, high ceilings with exposed wooden trusses, and there is a communal table for you to pull up a seat, should you want to make a new friend. Within minutes of sitting, Sean and I had met our neighbors and were starting to compare notes on what to order. We were the newcomers next to several seasoned veterans who had plenty of opinions and advice to share. We were told we couldn’t go wrong with the Roasted Brussels Sprouts, that the romaine salad is addictive, and that the chicken and dumplings are out of this world. Come together indeed!
I will say this, I like Brussels Sprouts. I make them at home , but it took me awhile to grow into them. I wasn’t expected to enjoy them quite as much as I did at Beckett’s Table. While I loved the enchiladas, the chopped salad, the blood orange glazed salmon, it was the Brussels Sprouts that I am still thinking about. This dish was unlike anything I thought was possible, it was the next incarnation of Brussels Sprouts.
We were told that they were blanched first to cut the bitterness, then cooled, and then placed in the wood-fired oven. They came in a little iron skillet, still piping hot, and tossed with tangy lemon thyme vinaigrette and topped with smokey, salty pieces of pancetta and thin slivers of manchego. I loved it. It was a rustic mix of flavors that played well together. Apparently these have become quite a hit, especially among some of our fellow diners who also confessed to not being the biggest of Brussels Sprouts fans before ordering them at Beckett’s Table. This dish will make you a convert.
The vegetable chop salad was also a nice blend of fresh veggies with just a little sweetness thrown in with pieces of pumpkin seed brittle. Sean loved his wood-fired mussels, but we were told before hand that the buttery garlic bread that it came with would be a downfall, and it was. The bread got a knowing nod from our new friends. They knew. Even the bartender looked like he wanted a piece.
Justin is super nice and his welcoming manner is definitely felt and shared throughout the restaurant. He wants to serve well made food and have it enjoyed by friends. I think that has been well achieved.
They are expanding their patio to offer additional seating this spring, which I think they will fill up quickly. Already on my list to try next visit… the “addictive” romaine salad we heard so much about, the mac-and-cheese with crispy pancetta, and the chicken and dumplings. I have my eye on a couple of those cocktails too. The Palmaire is served with a pomegranate liquor, lemonade, and “a little bit of love”. Sounds delightful.
It might take a few more visits actually.
Heather and Daren – you in??
Beckett’s Table
3717 East Indian School Road
Phoenix, AZ 85018
602.954.1700
www.beckettstable.com
**Disclaimer… since writing this, we DID go again! Yes – we liked Beckett’s Table that much. This time we took Aidan, who took one look at the Chocolate Covered Bacon S’mores and declared that he was having that for dessert. In his words, the only thing missing from s’mores was bacon. Clearly this is a hereditary thing, since I was scanning the menu for pancetta myself. Don’t let the thought scare you off, they were quite good. Sean and I may have helped ourselves to a bite or two!
Change of seasons…
In a matter of weeks we have seen the temperatures go from below freezing to the nineties. (Yikes – not already please!) As a matter of course, this has resulted in some big changes around here. I posted a little of what we have done to the front garden, and here is what is going on in the high tunnel.
It was just a few weeks ago that the tunnel was filled with row after row of beautiful lettuce greens. Now that frost is no longer a threat, the greens are growing outside in the backfield and we were able to harvest those in the tunnel to make room for heirloom tomatoes.
Aidan, never one to miss out on something big going on around here, had run out to the tunnel at breakneck speed when he heard what was going on. Not a lot goes on around here without him having to help, give an opinion, or supervise.
After we harvested all of the rows, Sean then got to work on the tractor and spaded the ground to get ready for new planting.
Sean is so ridiculously happy when he is on a tractor. It must be a boy thing.
Here is a little of the transformation…
And the final result, all of that fresh dirt ready to be repurposed for the new season. Amazing what a few days and a few degrees can do around here.
These are the tomato plants that have gone from little seedlings like this…
to this in the green house,
and now they have come to live here.
Marsha oversaw the planting of 600 tomato plants this week. (Aidan would have, but the third grade needed him more.) We have another 100 plants going into the front garden. There are 22 varieties of heirloom tomatoes now growing in the high tunnel that will be ripe and ready by mid-May.
All of the signs are to keep them straight. Heirloom tomatoes have wonderfully lyrical names like “Nebraska Wedding”, “Mr. Stripey”, “Garden Peach”, “Cherokee Purple”, “Aunt Ruby’s German Green”, and some new varieties for us including “Persimmon” and “Zhezha”.
The beans from Payton…
Here is the low down on beans from Chef Payton Curry…
Using Legumes
Purchasing dried legumes is a great way to save money and also gives you the flexibility to impart many flavors to your beans while they are cooking. If don’t think that you have the time to cook dried legumes take the time to read the back of a can of beans and rethink your schedule. Canned beans are cooked in a mess of preservatives and a manufacturing process allows them to stay in a stale suspended state until the end of time and beyond.
Cooking beans often puts a little question and fear into the minds of a home cook while in the end I always remind those of the greatest cooking appliance introduced to our lives, the Crock Pot. Set it and forget it!
There are two basic techniques to help produce beautifully cooked pillows of magic. The short soak method and the long soak method. The short soak method allows you to have beans cooked and on the table in about 3 hours depending on the bean of course. This method is completed with the following steps.
These are the most important steps to success with cooking dried legumes at home. Another important step is to never ever add salt until the end of the cooking process. The salt closes the “belly button” on the bean and won’t allow the bean to cook, ever! Also keep in mind to taste your cooking liquid before you cook your beans, store bought stock contains a lot of sodium. Be careful.
1). Place beans on a cookie sheet in a single layer and pick out any cracked beans and/or shrapnel like rocks, etc.
2). Rinse beans in a bowl of water and allow beans to fall to the bottom and remove anything that floats to the top. These are beans that will be to dried out and will not be cooked evenly
3). Cover the beans in a pot and bring to a light simmer and shut off and let steep for an hour. Strain and rinse with a bit of cold water to remove a bit of that starch.
4.) You will cook these in a beautiful mirepoix a little wine and a beautiful stock made of the trim of your mirepoix along with a bit of well deserved pride for taking this newfound passion for taking on this project.
Overnight soak- repeat steps above and allow beans to soak covered by 5 times the amount by volume of water to dried beans for a minimum of 6 hours, I suggest overnight to 24hrs max.
The overnight soak is my preferred method for using dried beans. The soaking allows the beans to release oligosaccharides, an indigestible sugar that cause music to most fathers ears out there. When you go to cook your soaked beans strain them into a colander and rinse with cold water. Below you will find a basic recipe, of course if you fancy, make it just that and add your own twist.
1 lb Dried beans, soaked and rinsed
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 each Yellow Onion, minced
1 each Carrot, minced
2 each Celery Stalks, minced
4 Tbsp Green Garlic, minced
2 each Bay Leaves
4 oz. White Wine
2-3 Quarts of your favorite broth or stock
In a one-gallon stockpot on medium heat allow the olive oil to heat to a light smoky hue. Add vegetables and sweat down until translucent, about 4-7 minutes constantly stirring. Deglaze with white wine and reduce by half. Add beans, bay leaves and cold/room temp stock. Never ever hot stock. Hot stock will make them cook unevenly, no bueno. Cook for about an hour constantly skimming the foam off of the top, this will guarantee a clear broth for your beans. Heat should be high/low enough that the beans are just doing a little dance in the broth. If needed add broth to keep beans covered by 3-4 inches. Check beans after a half an hour and continuously throughout the cooking process. Add salt, vinegar, crispy bacon, and sausage at the end. Enjoy!
Look for different techniques in the future. We will be updating once we receive full mastery of the basic technique!
McClendon's Select 
