At Kendall-Jackson, not only are we known for our amazing wines, we are also known for our heirloom tomatoes.  We have been saving heirloom tomato seeds for the past 15 years and now have over 400 varieties of seeds saved.  Each year, we plant approximately 175 heirloom varieties in our culinary gardens and invite chefs from all over to come and cook tomato-inspired dishes to pair with our wines at the annual Kendall-Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival.

It is an awesome event that usually attracts 2,500 guests who love heirloom tomatoes and wine.  And the best thing is, it’s not just a fun day of eating tomatoes and wine tasting, the event also benefits a wonderful charity, The School Garden Network.

The Tomato Festival is always fabulous and this year promises to be better than ever.  Some of this year’s highlights include:

• Tomato-inspired tastings from over 50 gourmet food purveyors
• Educational seminars on organic gardening, growing tomatoes and wine & food pairings
• Live music by the Carlos Herrera Band
• Chef’s competition featuring celebrity chefs from the popular television show, Top Chef
• Tasting of 175 varieties of heirloom tomatoes
• Tomato growing contest – Bring in your home-grown heirloom tomatoes to be judged by professional tomato growers.

We would love to see you at this year’s festival.  Be sure to purchase your tickets as soon as possible as this event sells out every year.

We’ve been so excited about the Tomato Festival this year that we couldn’t wait for the tomatoes to get ripe, so we just added fried green tomatoes to our Wine & Food Pairing.  We serve them with the new Avant Chardonnay and the pairing is exceptional.  The green, sour flavor of the early tomatoes and the refreshing acidity and long, fruit finish of the Avant Chardonnay makes an incredible pairing.  Below is our recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes with Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch.  Enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes with Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch
Serve with Kendall-Jackson Avant Chardonnay
Serves 4

For the fried green tomatoes:
Ingredients

• 2 large unripe green tomatoes, sliced ½ -inch thick
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup neutral flavored oil
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• ¼ tsp. good sea salt, for plating

Method

1. In a medium sized bowl, soak the tomatoes in the buttermilk and set aside.
2. Heat a 12-inch cast skillet over medium-high heat and add oil.
3. In a large bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients, except for the sea salt.  Using tongs or a fork, remove the tomato slices from the buttermilk and coat with the cornmeal-flour mixture.  Place the tomato slices in the cast iron skillet with the oil and fry until golden brown on both sides.
4. Place the fried tomatoes on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with finishing salt.  Serve immediately with Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch on the side.

For the Tarragon Buttermilk Ranch:
Ingredients

• ¼ cup buttermilk
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. chives, minced
• 2 Tbsp. parsley, minced
• 1 scallion, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp. granulated garlic
• ¼ tsp. celery salt
• ¼ tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. tarragon, chopped
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

Method

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  This dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Of course, a wine from SIP Certified Tolosa

The evening was great, filled with holiday fare including Beef Wellington, Creme of Chestnut Soup, and Bouche de Noel for dessert. We brought a tasty bottle of Tolosa Syrah for the meal and watched the cooking in action from first row seats at the counter. I’m even going to use my schooling and bring the Smoked Salmon Brushetta to Christmas dinner!

The meal

Oh, and the best part…leftovers.

This week I was feeling the fall air so I threw together a meal for the season: Chicken Breasts with Mushroom-Artichoke Ragout, Mashed Potatoes, and Apple Calfouti “Pie”. And the best part? I had it the leftovers lunch the next day!

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom-Artichoke Ragout
3  cups baby bella mushrooms, halved (quartered if large)
2 Tbsp. olive oil divided
1 cup thinly sliced leeks
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp. flour
1 can artichoke hearts
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
Salt and pepper

Saute mushrooms in 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cook until browned, 5-7 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add leeks and cook until wilted, 3 minutes. Remove mixture and wipe out skillet.

Sear chicken in remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil in thepan until brown on one side, about 4 minutes. Flip chicken over and sear it 3 minutes. Deglaze pan with wine and broth; cover and simmer 8-10 minutes.

Blend butter and flour. Transfer chicken to cutting board, cover, and keep warm. Bring wine mixture to a simmer over high heat; whisk in about 2 tsp. of the butter-flour mixture. Use more is needed. Cook until thickened, about 3 minutes.

Add reserved mushroom mixture, artichoke hearts, tarragon, salt and pepper to sauce.

Serve with chicken and mashed potatoes (We should all have a recipe for mashed potatoes under our hats. I like sour cream in mine!)

Tasty local white wine for deglazing and, of course, sipping

In the begining there was a knife, leeks and mushrooms.

Saute away!

Scrumptious

Dessert. This is what I really care about. The Apple Calfouti (pronounced kal-foo-TEE) was a breeze to make and so tasty it is officially gone in less than 24 hours.

Apple Calfouti “Pie”

The Filling
1/2 dried cherries
1/2 cup brandy
5 small Fuji apples, cored and sliced
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

For the Batter
4 Tbsp. butter, melted (plus one for brushing the pie plate)
3 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
Ground cinnamon and sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine cherries and liquor in a small bowl; set aside to plump, 15-30 minutes. Strain cherries, reserving liquid; set both aside.

Cook apples, brown sugar, 3 Tbsp. butter, lemon juice, vanilla seeds, and reserved liquor in a skillet over medium heat, until apples soften, 7-10 minutes.

Grease pie plate with 1 Tbsp. butter and heat in oven.

Blend first 7 ingredients for batter until smooth and frothy; set aside.

Pour half the batter into heated pie plate. Layer the apples (reserving juices) and cherries on top of the batter. Top with remaining batter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar; bake until golden and set in the center, 25-30 minutes.

Simmer reserved juices in a skillet until reduced by a third. Serve calfouti drizzled with warm juices. (I would double this next go around!)

If only my photography was as good as this dish!

A great finish.

Then there are the adopted summer squash plants.  My former neighbor had a small veggie garden of his own with a nice Zucchini and Crookneck.  Last month he moved out and abandoned the garden.  I contemplated taking on the weighty responsibilities of another garden:  It will have to be watered (it does not have the nice drip irrigation system that my garden does).  It will have to be weeded (sprinklers water more weeds hence the nice drip irrigation system in my garden).  Do I really need more squash?  YES! (What a glutton).

Needless to say I am inundated with Black Beauty Zucchini, Yellow Crooknecks, Cocozelle, Round (these really spread out so you find green round squash, in with the potatoes, spread out five feet from their own plant ) and Caserta.  Now, in addition to my double duty gardening tasks, I need to spend time perusing cookbooks and the internet for squash recipes (there is such a thing as Mexican Ratatouille), freezing (this involves partially cooking, moving squash to an ice bath, drying, and then you get to the freezing part) and of course sharing with friends!

Squash is really a very rewarding plant to grow.  It requires very few inputs and produces copiously.  Mine have even managed to evade the gophers, which have been into just about everything else.  So, next year I look forward to doing it all over again.  Maybe I will up the stakes and grow nine.  Send me your squash recipes!