The new wine country cookbook: recipes from California's central coast

535 Pages·2013·21.12 MB·English

by  Brigit Binns

OTHER BOOKS BY BRIGIT BINNS
The Cook & the Butcher
Whole Beast Butchery (coauthor, with Ryan Farr) How to Roast a Lamb
(coauthor, with Michael Psilakis) Mr. Sunday’s Soups (coauthor, with Lorraine
Wallace) The Relaxed Kitchen
The Low-Carb Gourmet
The Palm Restaurant Cookbook
The Tavern on the Green Cookbook (coauthor) Cuisine Naturelle: Modern
French Classics (coauthor, with Jean-Francois Meteigner) Cowboy Cocktails
(coauthor, with Grady Spears) Rockenwagner! (coauthor, with Hans
Rockenwagner) The Patina Cookbook (coauthor, with Joachim Splichal and
Charles Perry) Jody Maroni’s Sausage Kingdom Cookbook
Polenta: 40 Recipes for All Occasions
WILLIAMS-SONOMA TITLES
Let's Do Brunch
The Weeknight Cook
The New Slow Cooker Cookbook
Bride & Groom Entertaining
Pizza and Other Savory Pies
Food Made Fast: Salad
Food Made Fast: Small Plates
Cooks Collection: Sauce
Cooks Collection: Breakfast
Cooks Collection: Hors d’Oeuvre
American Christmas (coauthor) Complete Grilling Cookbook (coauthor)

To Casey, for finding it within his warm, New England–
loving heart to cherish this part of California almost as
much as I do.

Contents
Introduction

CHAPTER 1: Magic-Hour Grazing
CHAPTER 2: From Garden and Orchard
CHAPTER 3: From Field and Barnyard
CHAPTER 4: From the Sea
CHAPTER 5: From the Ranch
CHAPTER 6: From the Dairy
CHAPTER 7: From the Wood-Fired Oven

Acknowledgments
Metric Equivalents and Conversions
Index
About the Author
Introduction

Halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles—within a 20-minute drive of
the Pacific Ocean—lies a region that still resembles old California, the lyrical
land that drew generations of cold, tired souls westward in search of sun-kissed
dreams. William Randolph Hearst could have built his folly of a castle anywhere
in the world, but he chose the softly rolling, oak-studded hills of California’s
Central Coast; the wild boar that roam here now are descended from his farm
animals. These hills—emerald green in winter, shimmering gold in summer—
undulate with timeworn smoothness, the seas of waving grain broken only by the
majestic, deep green oaks. Avocado and citrus trees flourish within the ocean’s
influence; barley, rye, and wheat provide fodder for cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats.
And in recent years, a relatively new crop has come to dominate this rich
agricultural region: the wine grape. Back in 1976, a visionary young winemaker
who had just graduated from UC Davis corralled a few of his professors and
brought them to Paso Robles. “This will be the next great red wine region in
California,” they told him. Gary Eberle listened. Eberle was the first to plant
Syrah grapes in California, and in the ensuing decades the area has become
renowned as the primary growing region for Rhône varietals in the United
States.
emerald green in winter, shimmering gold in summer
The national and international press call the Central Coast “the third wine
region of California” and “the next wine country.” Arguably, the heart of this
fast-growing wine-and-food destination, which stretches from Monterey in the
north to Santa Barbara in the south, is the once-dusty town of Paso Robles,
where tasting rooms, boutiques, and world-class restaurants have replaced sleepy
junk shops and farm-supply stores. Now, sleek sports cars share the road with
pickup trucks and horse trailers, as wine country tourists increasingly choose this
“new” wine region over Tuscany and Bordeaux (too expensive), or Napa and
Sonoma (too crowded and too expensive). To add to the excitement, the area has
attracted a younger, rollicking gang of winemakers, often called the “Rhône
Rangers,” who tip their hats to convention, then break rules with wild abandon.
You’ll get to know some of the local winemakers, ranchers, and farmers in 25
intimate profiles. Most of these folks take pride in being known as coming from
“the non-Napa.” There is an uncommon, longstanding family connection to the
land that has stood the test of time—the landscape and terroir seem conducive to
keeping people on their land for generations. Yes, there are newcomers—more
with every passing year and glowing article—but these people are circling the
wagons, settling down for keeps. You could call it “Tuscany with cowboys.”
I was born and raised in Southern California, but the land of my birth no
longer exists. This sprawling state attracted too many people in search of the
good life and, in most of the state, the weight of their needs has erased the dream
they came to find. It’s only in the center of the state, just a little too far for
commuting—but close enough for luscious long weekend escapes—that my
California lives on. After decades in Spain, Italy, England, and the United States
Northeast, I have finally come home. Surrounded by the bucolic landscapes, rich
resources, and sensational wine of my new/old home state, my intention now is
to cook, sip, and revel in the bounty of the Central Coast. To share this intense
joy with you in my 25th cookbook is not only an obvious choice, but a great
honor. I have written a love letter to the food, wine, and cowboy spirit in this
golden corner of my home state.
MY CALIFORNIA
The California of my youth was a place of dirt roads and clean beaches,
boundless optimism, and unlimited parking. The wheaten hills were soft and
smooth, crafted by millennia of shifting tectonic plates, pounding surf, and
capricious winds, not by a plastic surgeon’s knife. Paradise had yet to be paved.
In the 1960s, I was lucky enough to spend perhaps the happiest times of my
childhood on a breathtakingly beautiful piece of the California coast: the
legendary, inaccessible Hollister Ranch. I count myself immensely lucky to have
grown up in the Golden State, one of the few second-generation Californians in
a rapidly growing sea of newcomers.
In Where I Was From, Joan Didion’s love letter to old California, she quotes
the doyenne of another huge landholding family, Joan Irvine Smith: “I can see
California as it was and as we will never see it again.” I believe the Central Coast
is the only place where that mythic California is still—just barely—visible. I can’t
imagine any more wonderful place to eat, drink, and be married.
A BOUT THE RECIPES
There is good reason why early immigrants from the Mediterranean flocked to
this area and made their livelihoods from the land. The gentle climate mirrors