Avanti Cafe Musings

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Peach Bhut Jolokia HOT Sauce

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If you like your flavors complex and your hot sauce smoking, then grow yourself a patch of Peach Bhut Jolokia HOT chili peppers!

Peach Bhut Jolokia Persimmon & Tahini HOT Sauce

I wanted to create a light colored hot sauce to showcase the crazy heat of the peach bhut jolokia I grew this summer in the Avanti Natural garden. This HOT sauce is sincere! It’s got all the SE Asian flavor components, Spicy, Salty, Bitter, Sweet. Hence one of the odd ingredients in the recipe, Scotch Wiskey. It imparts a slightly smoky bitterness that marries w/ the bite of the sesame and other seeds.

It’s all made over the course of a day in one large blender jar. If you have a smaller blender, you can make a half batch. I use organic whole brown sesame seeds. I never use hulled sesame seeds, those have most of the beneficial fiber removed. So this HOT sauce has good texture. The seeds will plump and begin to germinate as they sit in the jar before grinding.

Amount	Measure	Ingredient	Prep Method
1 1/3	Cups	Organic sesame seeds	Whole brown
1	Tablespoon	Organic flax seeds
1	Tablespoon	Organic chia seeds
2	Tablespoons	Organic quinoa
5 /12	Cups	Flavorful herbal brewed tea	Room temperature
3	Tablespoons	Miso	White preferable
2	Tablespoons	Avanti ginger puree
¾	Cup	Red wine vinegar
1	Medium	Orange	Juice and zest
1	Medium	Lemon	Juice and zest

Directions:

When you make the herbal tea, make at least 7 cups. You’ll need some more at the end. You can get extra fancy and whip up a batch of Avanti Power Dashi for added flavor & magical nutrition. Combine all in the jar of a large powerful blender. Let plump and germinate for several hours or overnight. Next, prepare the flavor base:

¼	Cup	Evoo
1	Large	Shallot	Rough chop

Saute the shallot over med heat in the evoo until it begins to color. Add in:

1 ½	Teaspoons	Hawaij	Or garam masala
¼	Teaspoon	Nutmeg	Freshly ground
¼	Teaspoon	Black pepper
2 ½	Teaspoons	Sea salt
2 to 4	Whole	Peach bhut jolokia	Or favorite habanero type chili
¼	Cup	Scotch whiskey

These chilis are soooo hot, I hold the stem end and snip w/ scissors into the pot. Even then, you will get some chili oil on your fingers. So wash your hands well, rub your finger tips w/ oil, or wear gloves. The Bhut family is like The Sons of Anarchy. Mess w/ them at your own risk peoples. And, if you can’t find peach bhut jolokia, substitute any extra HOT chili, preferably from the habanero family, like scorpion, scotch bonnets, chocolate habs, fatalii, etc. I grew a fatalii chili this summer and got over 50 chili fruits. The peach bhut produced only 5. But man, they pack a wallop.

Once the chilis are slightly wilted, after a few minutes of sauté and the scotch has reduced a bit, add in the pulp of two very ripe persimmons, skin and seeds removed:

Medium

Persimmons

Pulp only

You can use either fuyu or hachiya persimmons for this. Just make sure they are very ripe, nicely squishy and gelatinous. Heat through for just a couple of minutes and cool.

Have the following ingredients ready:

½	Cup	Jamaica / Hibiscus blossoms	Full flower pieces
1+	Cup	Extra herbal tea	To rinse out blender jar

Add to the blender jar and let ‘er rip. This makes a full jar. Blend just to combine and work the seeds into a tahini like paste. Don’t let the sauce get too hot from the friction. It’s filled w/ healthy probiotics after all. Let this mix sit in the blender for several hours and blend again, two or three times. Pour into clean and sterile glass jars, not completely full. Add a couple of pieces of Jamaica (hibiscus) to each jar for a rosy glow. Add a cup of herbal tea to the blender jar and rinse out. Top off each jar. Allow to ferment at room temp for up to 4 days. Shake twice daily. Then put into the fridge.

This is a complex HOT sauce that has oh so many applications. Unlike some commercial jarred sauces that just make everything taste like it, this is a foodie’s creativity booster. Learn its flavor profile and create dishes that are enhanced by its bold and braggadocios flavor stance.

Even simple roasted vegetables take on a whole new dimension when infused w/ Peach Bhut Jolokia HOT Sauce. This one is the HOT Stuff for the big kids y'all!

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Eating Healthy & Delicious is a Win Win Win Situation!

Eat, Live & Party Well

Blog post by Chef Mark Cleveland

Avanti is the longstanding leader in organic, sustainable, local, flavorful cuisine in Orange County, CA.

Meaning 'forward' in Italian, Avanti Natural is a culinary philosophy that integrates the best of traditional European and Asian healthful eating with the latest nutritional information for optimum health.

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Friday, November 20, 2015

Manassero Farms :: Breakfast In The Barn

Manassero Farms

We've loved Manassero Farms for years, growing goodness next to Irvine Valley College off of Jeffery & at several other OC locations. And when Phyllis Ann Marshall of FoodPower invited us to enjoy Breakfast in the Barn w/ "The Farmer's Wife & The French Chef" we jumped in w/ verve.

And Invitation to beauty in the barn

Anne Manassero & Chef Pascal Olhats created a Saturday morning dining event that delivered both flavor and ambiance, with farmer Dan Manassero manning the BBQ. The barn is a charmingly executed puzzle of vintage doors and windows (and even a giant working fan), arranged to take advantage of the morning sun and cool breezes as well as protecting from the heat of the day and renegade winds.

The barn all ready for guests

We learned that the barn came together in its autumnal glory just the day before and that we were among the first group to dine al fresco-ish in the expanded & artfully appointed space.

Chef Pascal & Anne Manaserro enlightening the crowd

As we chose our seats and met our new neighbors in an impromptu barn meet and greet we treated ourselves to sweet pound cakes, hot coffee & Anne's butternut squash butter. We watched as the first course was plated & garnished w/ its fine French finishing touches and Anne & Pascal began to give us a tutorial of the entire menu prepared for us that morning.

Light & rich salmon terrine

And then w/ warm hearted precision meal service began.

A perfectly paired entree of gentle crustless quiche, mushrooms, watercress & farm sausage

Flavors, colors & textures, Oh My! We knew room must be saved for dessert.

Wee sugar pumpkins filled w/ sweet creme brulee, cranberry compote &

crisp cookie & crumbs

All eyes twinkled as we lingered over dessert, looked out onto the farm on that perfect So Cal autumn Saturday morning and counted our blessings. A beautiful breakfast, out of doors, at a farm, are among the sublime pleasures of life.

Chef Pascal Olhats shows Chef Mark Cleveland the bounty in his

heirloom vegetable jardin

But there was more to come, Phyllis, always the conversationalist encouraged Anne to catch us up on the upcoming holiday events at Manaserro Farms and Pascal took us on a tour of Pascal's Jardin, a collaborative garden where much of the produce served at his restaurants is grown.

Sweet, savory, charming and fresh in the gift shop & farm stand

We made sure to tour the farm stand and gift shop too. They have an eye for charming decor.

The vegetable bounty of Manassero Farms

And we took advantage of the 10% discount on our farm purchases that came w/ our ticket to The Breakfast In The Barn. Avanti salutes The Farmer's Wife & The French Chef. There is an amazing community of environmentalists, real food foodies & folks that value a great clean & welcoming outdoors for us to enjoy and preserve.

Fun under the So Cali autumn sun w/ Phyllis, Mark, Nollie, Anne, Pascal &

all the other guests & visitors

Make sure to visit Manassero Farms soon, shop for produce & gifts and make a reservation for an upcoming breakfast or lunch. You can also book the entire tent for your private events & make a date to have Pascal & Anne come to your house and cook up a French affair in your own kitchen. C'est un fete incroyable!