Reader Recipe: Persimmon Hazelnut Salad with Goat Cheese Croutons Recipe

Persimmon Hazelnut Salad with Goat Cheese Croutons

By luisascatering

Luisa Ormonde, an avid Sigona’s shopper and private chef from San Carlos, has sent in a few of her fantastic recipes, such as her recipe for Fresh Saporito Ravioli with Sage Butter & Toasted Walnuts, which we’ve shared with you before. Knowing it’s persimmon time, Luisa submitted the following recipe that you’ll definitely want to try!

I recreated this salad after having it at Harris’ Steak House in San Francisco. Great fall/winter salad when persimmons are in season. – Luisa

For croutons:

• 4 slices white country bread
• melted butter
• fresh soft goat cheese, room temperature

For vinaigrette:

• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon hazelnut oil
• 3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• white pepper to taste, pinch of kosher salt

Salad:

• Frisee lettuce
• toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• fresh chives
• 2 ripe Fuyu persimmons (not Hachiya)

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Whisk all vinaigrette ingredients together and set aside.

Cut bread into 8 circles, using biscuit/cookie cutter. Arrange the bread circles on a baking sheet and lightly brush with butter. Turn the slices over and repeat on the other side. Bake for about 6 minutes, turning the baking sheet around in the oven halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. Bake until the croutons are lightly browned.

Neatly spread goat cheese on each crouton then place back in oven to slightly warm the goat cheese, about 2-3 minutes.

Using a mandolin or a very sharp knife, thinly slice the persimmons. Set aside.

To serve: Place a small bundle of Frisee on each plate. Fan out persimmon slices. Top with warm goat cheese croutons and drizzle with orange vinaigrette. Garnish with hazelnuts and chives.

BONUS: Bratwurst-Stuffed Saporito Ravioli and Plugra Butter (STANFORD ONLY)

Free! Bratwurst-Stuffed Saporito Ravioli & Plugra at the PALO ALTO location only Celebrate Oktoberfest in style! Get a cube of Plugra butter & Saporito ravioli stuffed with Niman Ranch Bratwurst for free with a purchase of $30+. Valid from Oct. 14 – 20, 2009	Wow! Because I remembered to print out and bring in this coupon, I’ll get a package of fresh Saporito ravioli stuffed with Niman Ranch Bratwurst and a cube of Plugra European butter when I spend $30 or more! If I forward this to my friends, they can use it too!
—————————————————————————————– And now for the fine print: Must present coupon. This coupon may not be combined with other offers.  One per household and one per visit, please. CODE: 1047 GOOD AT THE STANFORD STORE ONLY

Recipe: Apple-Gouda Panini

Apple-Gouda Panini

Apples and cheese go together like peanut butter and jelly, so why not try apples and cheese in sandwich form, too! To lighten this up a bit, you can make a quesadilla instead of a sandwich – simply all all ingredients in a tortilla instead of bread and grill in a large skillet!

Recipe and photo courtesy of US Apple Association

Servings: 4

• 8 slices whole-grain bread
• 1/4 cup low-fat honey mustard
• 2 crisp apples, thinly sliced (use different varieties to add more color!)
• 8 ounces Beemster Gouda cheese, thinly sliced (on sale now at Sigona’s)
• Cooking spray

Preheat a skillet or panini press on medium heat. Lightly spread honey mustard evenly over each slice of bread. Layer apple slices and cheese over 4 slices of bread, using about + apple and 2 ounces of cheese for each sandwich.

Top each with remaining bread slices. Lightly coat panini press with cooking spray. Grill each sandwich for 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese has melted and bread has toasted. Remove from pan and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Pasta Sauce: Simple, Healthy, Delicious

Here are a few of my favorites made with fresh, local ingredients, such as flavorful herbs and fantastic heirloom tomatoes. - Carmelo Sigona

The sauce…it really all boils down to the sauce! Pairing pasta with a sauce is important because you don’t want to overpower the delicate taste and flavor of pasta, whether it be simple spaghetti or savory ravioli. But first, let’s talk a bit about the pasta itself before we get to the sauce options.

Truly enjoying a delicate plate of pasta means keeping your eye on the pasta while it cooks – you want to cook it only to al dente, meaning it’s cooked enough to be firm but not soft. When using fresh pasta, remove it from water a bit before you normally would, knowing the fresh pasta will continue cooking a little. With fresh pasta, you really only need to cook it in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Just follow the instructions on the package, and don’t – we beg you – don’t gauge its readiness by tossing a noodle towards the fridge to see if it sticks.

Now…on to the sauce. Following are 5 “no recipe” recipes. I love cooking and learning about nutrition, but I’m not a classically-trained chef! I started teaching myself to cook when I was just a kid and found that some of the best dishes were made completely by guessing on measurements. Instead I had to rely on my taste and small tests to get it just right. Enjoy!

• Cook like a pro: Luisa Ormonde, a private chef and caterer in San Carlos, cooked up an absolutely fantastic topper, with your free plugra butter, that is a perfect accompaniment to the free butternut squash ravioli. See her recipe here.
• Pesto pick: Use a traditional pesto with pine nuts and reggiano, or make your own, and toss a couple spoonfuls with cooked pasta – it’s one of my favorites! You can also add in a veggie to this dish, such as broccoli or any variety of fresh shell bean, like fava beans. I like using penne for this dish as it holds the pesto well in the tubes.
• For the ‘fancy’ cheese ravioli: Pasta pillows filled with specialty ingredients need little sauce, especially ravioli filled with flavorful cheeses. For these, I have used caramelized onions with a Plugrá butter base. Simply work the onions in olive oil until caramelized and then add in the Plugra. Wait until it’s slightly brown around the edges and use the resulting sweet sauce on ravioli. The onions and cheese create a complex flavor, but feel free to add fresh herbs for a third layer.
• Gardener’s delight: An heirloom tomato makes outstanding sauce that is quick and easy. Simply remove the skin from the tomato (tip: slit the skin and add to boiling water for a minute. Remove and set aside, the skin will be easy to peel off). Use your hands to crush the tomatoes. Sauté a bit of garlic in olive oil, add the tomatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Scissor in some basil when it’s done and serve. Wow! (I love to use the marvel stripe for its sweet taste and balance it out with an acidic Cherokee purple)
• For the hearty boys: Of course a hearty sauce with meatballs that have been simmering all day makes for a fantastic meal. Meatballs simply make the dish! Be sure to add extra eggs along with great herbs & spices to the meatball mix, and brown them before adding them to the sauce.
• The basics: A quick, down & dirty dish. Sauté garlic in olive oil and stir in cooked pasta. I like adding a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes when I’m in a spicy mood.

Recipe: Fresh Saporito Ravioli with Sage Butter and Toasted Walnuts

Fresh Saporito Ravioli with Sage Butter & Toasted Walnuts

We asked Luisa Ormonde, an avid Sigona’s shopper and private chef from San Carlos, to help us develop a dish using the ingredients offered in this issue’s second coupon. Luisa, who has had a passion for cooking ever since she was a little girl, quickly sent in her recipe for ravioli with sage butter & toasted walnuts. This recipe is simple, yet elegant; the sage adds a perfect fresh and earthy flavor to the ravioli, and the walnuts are the icing on the cake.

• 1 package Saporito’s Fresh Butternut Squash Ravioli
• 8 oz. Plugra European Style Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces (or toasted hazelnut pieces)
• 1/3 cup sliced fresh sage leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated

Cook ravioli according to package directions. Place the cold butter in a medium skillet preheated over medium heat. Do not swirl or move around. Once the butter has melted and has begun to turn brown around the edges, add the sage and salt and pepper to taste.

When the sage begins to give off its aroma and slightly crisps up, add the nuts. To serve, add the ravioli into the hot skillet with the brown butter mixture. Remove and serve on a warm platter and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Local Vendor Spotlight: Pura Vida! Gourmet

“It’s flavor with a kick!”

Traditional Mexican salsas and tortilla chips from Ana Maria Valenzuela

(Pictured: Sigona’s local vendors)

“About four years ago I decided it was time,” said Ana Maria Valenzuela, founder and creator of Pura Vida! Gourmet, LLC. “I decided it was time to do my heart’s desire.”

Ana Maria grew up in Kansas where she learned to make traditional Mexican salsas with guidance from her mother. She later moved to California where she worked in various fields and earned her Master’s degree in Bi-cultural/Multi-cultural education at Stanford University. She always knew, though, that she had a deep desire to produce and share her salsas with the community.

(Pictured: Ana Maria with her gourmet chips and salsas.)

“I took certain small steps, which led to bigger steps and the creation of my trademark,” said Ana Maria. “I met with a consultant in Atherton who believes everyone has their own symbol. After just the first meditation meeting with her, the symbol I use now as my Pura Vida! Gourmet trademark popped out in my first drawing! That image gave me a lot of mileage. “

It didn’t take long to get going. Ana Maria first produced her red, tomato-based salsa, which she tested at local farmers markets. She quickly began producing her green, tomatillo-based salsa, and started selling them at Sigona’s in July 2007.

Both the red and green Pura Vida! Gourmet salsas are great for dipping (with Pura Vida! Gourmet tortilla chips) or used as simmering sauces. Just imagine how flavor-packed your flank steak would be after it’s simmered in the tomatillo salsa!

Ana Maria’s focus with Pura Vida! Gourmet is to create low-fat, traditional Mexican food products. She now has an entire menu of product ideas, including dessert, and she’s also working on a sugarless Mexican beverage. Her goal, she says, is “to have Pura Vida! products contribute in healthy, delicious and elegant ways to the table.“

To do so, Ana Maria keeps her recipes simple. The salsas, which are made at her state-certified kitchen in Belmont, contain only 5 ingredients each and have no preservatives. The Pura Vida! Gourmet tortilla chips (a private-label product made for Ana Maria) are made from 100% California-grown stone ground corn, and they’re also low fat (only 4g!), very low sodium, light, crunchy and come in a stand-up, ziplock pouch!

(Pictured: Pura Vida! Gourmet salsas and chips. Pura Vida!, which literally means Pure Life, was used in Ana Maria’s household growing up to mean ‘full of life.’ Ana Maria remembers saying, “Mom! This is pura vida!” when her mom would make something delicious.)

“I remember when Ana Maria came to pitch Pura Vida!,” said John Nava, specialty foods buyer at Sigona’s. “I was actually taking a lunch break in my car, listening to a game, when she tapped on the window! At the time we already carried a few different salsas, but I’d done my research I knew hers would do well because it’s a true Mexican-style salsa — Jalisco style, actually — and is used for dipping and cooking. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants has this style of salsa, and Ana Maria’s makes me feel like I’m sitting down at the restaurant with a basket of fresh, warm chips.”

“I could tell John Nava had extensive experience as a buyer,” said Ana Maria. “He knows food products and pricing. He has been helpful and supportive to me and I’ve learned from him. “

“Sigona’s really believes in a sense of community, just as I do,” she continued. “There are so many tastes, experiences and palates in our community, and Nava treats his local vendors with the same sense of integrity and appreciation for what they bring to the market, on an equal playing field. I admire him for that.”

Ana Maria’s Pura Vida! Gourmet products are now sold at seven different Peninsula locations, and this October she will ring in her forth year of business! In celebration of the approaching fourth year mark, Ana Maria is offering $1 off all Pura Vida! Gourmet products at Sigona’s during the month of September as a way of saying thank you to the community and the support received from customers.

Congratulations, Ana Maria!

Farm Focus: Locally-grown Natural Thompson Seedless Grapes

California’s all-around most popular grape!

By Robbie Sigona

The Thompson Seedless grape is no stranger to Californians – we’re most used to seeing Thompson Seedless grapes sold as “table grapes,” along with other popular varieties, such as Flame, Sultana and Muscat.

Less commonly seen in a market produce section is the Natural Thompson Seedless grape, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s a rare variety. You’ve probably eaten more Natural Thompson Seedless (NTS)
grapes than you realize because not only are they super sweet eating grapes, they make a killer raisin! Did you know California is the leading producer of raisins in the United States? Most of which are from the NTS grape!

According to the California Table Grape Association, the average American consumes about eight pounds of fresh grapes per year, and 98 percent of these grapes come from California. Our state has our rich soil and a warm, dry climate which, when combined, produces the sweetest fruit.

NTS grapes are harvested in the early fall when they have reached optimum sweetness. They are smaller than most other commercial grapes because the vines are non-girdled, nor are they treated with plant growth regulators.

Girdling is a process used by some grape farmers where they cut a circle around the lower part of vine stump, allowing the water up the vine but not back down. NTS grapes are called “natural” because they are what nature intended – they’re smaller in size as no girdling has done to the vine – what you end up with is a grape that is simply bursting with its natural, sweet juices and hasn’t retained extra water.

Most supermarkets tend to favor big Thompsons that are bright green and stay on the bunch, but the ripest, sweetest ones – the non-girdled ones that are yellowish or amber in color – are available chiefly at farmers markets.

Though we’re used to seeing grapes available all year, right now is the prime season for California grapes. The NTS grapes we have come from Fresno and they’re delicious! C’mon in!

Tips for Healthy Living: Pillar 4

Being the health nut I am, I try to eat healthily, get to the gym every day and keep up on health & fitness news. For example, the June 2009 issue of Life Extension magazine featured an article about how to successfully shed lbs. which I’d like to share with you. We’ll feature a new pillar in each issue. - Carmelo Sigona

Pillar Number 4: Increase Physical Activity

Exercise induces many beneficial changes at the cellular level that contribute to better weight control. Increased physical activity itself improves insulin sensitivity and mimics the effect of certain anti-diabetic drugs, which can have a favorable effect on body fat contouring.

Of course, the type and intensity of physical activity will vary considerably among individuals. Even a modest increase in physical activity, as a component of the Nine Pillars, should produce a reduction of fat mass that can help motivate individuals to continue to make healthy life choices in terms of food and exercise!

Soon we’ll be sharing exercise tips from Dan Locsin, the owner of Train For Life fitness center in Morgan Hill. Stay tuned!

Robbie Sigona’s produce tips: Natural Thompson Seedless Grapes

• Follow your nose! Great Natural Thompson Seedless grapes are super-sweet and have a floral smell.

• Once home, wash and wrap grapes in a paper towel and store in a perforated plastic bag in the fridge. Remove them from the fridge 15 minutes before serving for optimal flavor.

• Grapes are great to pack in lunch boxes. They satisfy your child’s sweet tooth without added sugar or fat, and are an excellent way to get more fruit in their diets. Try popping some in the freezer for an icy treat!

Recipe: Chicken Curry Salad with Sweet Grapes

Chicken Curry Salad with Sweet Grapes

Courtesy of Sigona’s fan, Carol Evans

The combination of grapes and curry in this salad results in a refreshing, sweet & savory and flavor-packed dish. Using roasted or rotisserie chicken adds another layer of flavor, too!  The amount of curry is light enough to tempt even non-curry fans into serving themselves a spoonful or two!

Try this as a main course on a bed of mixed baby green or as a side dish to accompany any meal.

• 16 oz. box penne pasta, cooked according to box directions
• 1 1/2 c. Natural Thompson Seedless Grapes
• 3/4 c. finely chopped celery
• 3/4 cup toasted, slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 c. meat from roasted chicken, shredded
• 1 c. mayo
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1 TBL curry powder
• Salt, to taste

In a small bowl, mix together the mayo, yogurt and curry. Blend well and set aside. In a larger, serving bowl, add the cooked pasta and all remaining ingredients. Gently stir and then pour the curry mix over the top. Mix everything together and chill until you’re ready to serve.