You may have read my previous post about almond harvest back in August. Well, the nuts are finally ready for sale! We'll have raw, roasted, and sliced almonds, as well as almond butter at many of our farmer's markets this weekend. They are also listed on our website now if you don't have a market near you.
So, why does it take so long between harvest and eating? Basically, there are several steps of post-harvest processing, and they all take time. First, once the nuts are knocked off the trees, they need to dry in the sun for about 10 days. This allows the hulls and shells to dry out enough that they can be removed easily by the hulling and shelling machinery without damaging the nuts. Once they are dry, I haul them to a processor for hulling/shelling. Of course, once there they have to wait in line. The hullers run 24 hours a day this time of year, but there are a LOT of nuts to process in California--about 1.5 billion pounds this year. After shelling, our nuts went to another processor to be sorted. Sorting takes out all the damaged nuts, half kernals, etc. The perfect nuts are then packaged, and sent to the freezer for about a month to make sure there are no viable insect eggs hitching along. (The alternative to this step in non-organic production is fumigation or pasteurization.) Only after all of this are the nuts ready to be sold. Of course, I've been eating them all along--even right off the trees--so I know they are fantastic!
To celebrate the release of our almonds, here's a new recipe for you--our first recipe on this blog that doesn't include rice! This recipe comes from Marianne Brenner, a local chef and columnist in Chico.
Hot-Sweet Black and White Sesame Almonds
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups raw whole almonds
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine the spices, pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and mix well.
Place the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet and cook over medium heat until melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the almonds and cook, stirring, until they are coated with the sugar syrup.
Add a small amount of the sesame seed mixture to the almonds, stirring all the while. Add the remaining mixture, a little at a time, and toss until all the mixture has been used.
Transfer nuts to the prepared sheet and arrange in a single layer; separate the almonds with a fork or your hands and set aside to cool before serving.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Come Visit Us! (volume 2)
Here is yet another chance to live the dream! Come visit us on the farm next weekend as part of the Sierra-Oro Farm Trail Passport weekend. On October 11-12, you can visit us and 25 other farms and wineries in the Chico-Oroville area, including our neighbors, Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company. After a visit, make a risotto with our rice and their Northern Gold Cheese--you won't believe how incredible it is! (For a great farm blog, check out Mandy's Dairy Princess Diaries).
The tour is lots of fun, and there is truly some incredible food in this part of California--olive oil, jam, grass-fed beef, wine, wine, wine, and of course, Massa Organics brown rice, wheat berries, and our newest addition, organic almonds! We'll be serving some interesting rice dishes made by our friends at Roots Catering--you'll see rice in a whole new way. We'll also be hosting our local chapter of Slow Food, who will be selling box lunches using all local products, put together by local chef and columnist Marianne Brenner. See you next weekend!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Come visit us!
Admit it. You've always wanted to visit a rice farm. See some wildlife, sit in the cab of a combine, and touch the walls of a strawbale house. Well, now you can live that dream! On September 28, we are hosting a tour group from the San Francisco Bay Area, and there are still tickets available. The trip is sponsored by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), the organization that runs the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco. We are actually the second stop on the tour, the first being Carl Rosato's Woodleaf Farm. Check out the tour description and buy tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/42326.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Slow Food Nation
Today was Day 1 of Slow Food Nation in San Francisco, and what a busy day it was! I had lots of great conversations with interested people, and reconnected with people that I haven't seen in a while. We served a sample of Brown Rice Peach Crisp, which everyone loved! Come early Saturday if you want a shot at tasting it before we run out. If you miss out, not to fear, because you can make it at home--the recipe is below.
Come visit with us--we're booth number 6 in the marketplace at the SF Civic Center.
Come visit with us--we're booth number 6 in the marketplace at the SF Civic Center.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
New Post on Culinate.com
I finally got around to writing another post for Culinate.com in preparation for Slow Food Nation this weekend in San Francisco. Here it is below, and here's a link to their site.
--------------------------------------------
A Sense of Place
We’re rice farmers, and as I mentioned in my last post here on Culinate, we’re unusual among rice farmers in that we direct-market our organic brown rice at farmers’ markets. We’re up to nine farmers’ markets a week now, and this week, we’ll also be selling rice in the Marketplace at Slow Food Nation in San Francisco.
The rice we grow is called Calrose, a high-quality, medium-grain rice unique to California. It’s the variety that grows best in our soil and climate. But it’s also the most common variety grown in California. So what qualifies our farm for recognition at Slow Food Nation?
Quite simply, we do a better job of growing tasty rice than others do.
The biggest difference between our rice and others you may have tried is the taste. Many of our first-time customers are surprised simply to discover that rice has any flavor at all!
The key is that we let our rice fully mature on the plant, which leads to a more complex flavor. It’s nutty but sweet, able to stand up to the most flavorful dishes on your plate or even to become the centerpiece of a meal.
People often ask if we grow jasmine or basmati rice, both aromatic long-grain rices. The answer is that we could grow them, and many in California do. But the jasmine we would grow would be inferior to our Calrose, and bear little resemblance to the jasmine that comes from Thailand, where the variety originated.
Jasmine rice responds best to the climate, soil, and farming methods of Thailand, where it attains its full flavor and aroma.
Another reason for us to not grow jasmine is that that variety was developed through the efforts of many successive generations of Thai farmers. Jasmine is their genetic heritage, and growing it in California feels wrong — like stealing something precious.
Visiting with Thai rice farmers, as well as hosting them on our farm, convinced us that we should stick with what we do well, and let them do what they do well.
This is another of Slow Food’s principles: Food has a story, which should not be taken out of context.
If you’ll be in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend, come see our booth at the Civic Center. I’ll be there all day on Friday, and helping out the rest of the weekend.
--------------------------------------------
A Sense of Place
We’re rice farmers, and as I mentioned in my last post here on Culinate, we’re unusual among rice farmers in that we direct-market our organic brown rice at farmers’ markets. We’re up to nine farmers’ markets a week now, and this week, we’ll also be selling rice in the Marketplace at Slow Food Nation in San Francisco.
The rice we grow is called Calrose, a high-quality, medium-grain rice unique to California. It’s the variety that grows best in our soil and climate. But it’s also the most common variety grown in California. So what qualifies our farm for recognition at Slow Food Nation?
Quite simply, we do a better job of growing tasty rice than others do.
The biggest difference between our rice and others you may have tried is the taste. Many of our first-time customers are surprised simply to discover that rice has any flavor at all!
The key is that we let our rice fully mature on the plant, which leads to a more complex flavor. It’s nutty but sweet, able to stand up to the most flavorful dishes on your plate or even to become the centerpiece of a meal.
People often ask if we grow jasmine or basmati rice, both aromatic long-grain rices. The answer is that we could grow them, and many in California do. But the jasmine we would grow would be inferior to our Calrose, and bear little resemblance to the jasmine that comes from Thailand, where the variety originated.
Jasmine rice responds best to the climate, soil, and farming methods of Thailand, where it attains its full flavor and aroma.
Another reason for us to not grow jasmine is that that variety was developed through the efforts of many successive generations of Thai farmers. Jasmine is their genetic heritage, and growing it in California feels wrong — like stealing something precious.
Visiting with Thai rice farmers, as well as hosting them on our farm, convinced us that we should stick with what we do well, and let them do what they do well.
This is another of Slow Food’s principles: Food has a story, which should not be taken out of context.
If you’ll be in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend, come see our booth at the Civic Center. I’ll be there all day on Friday, and helping out the rest of the weekend.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Brown rice peach crisp
Today's sample dish at the Chico Farmers Market was a big hit!
ROOTS CATERING BROWN RICE PEACH CRISP
Ingredients:
• 2 Cups cooked Massa Organics Brown Rice
• 2 Cups fresh peach (sliced)
• ½ Cup brown sugar (divided)
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger (grated)
• ½ c. whole wheat or regular flour
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. cloves
• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
Directions:
1. Combine rice, peaches and ¼ c. brown sugar and ginger.
2. Pour into a 9x9 buttered pan
3. Combine flour, remaining ¼ c. brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
4. Cut in butter.
5. Sprinkle mixture over rice
6. Sprinkle nuts on top
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
ROOTS CATERING BROWN RICE PEACH CRISP
Ingredients:
• 2 Cups cooked Massa Organics Brown Rice
• 2 Cups fresh peach (sliced)
• ½ Cup brown sugar (divided)
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger (grated)
• ½ c. whole wheat or regular flour
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. cloves
• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
Directions:
1. Combine rice, peaches and ¼ c. brown sugar and ginger.
2. Pour into a 9x9 buttered pan
3. Combine flour, remaining ¼ c. brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
4. Cut in butter.
5. Sprinkle mixture over rice
6. Sprinkle nuts on top
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
Friday, August 1, 2008
Almond Harvest has begun!
A few years ago, rice prices were extremely low, and we decided we needed to diversify our crops and marketing. That led to planting 30 acres of organic almonds, as well as direct marketing our rice. Four years after planting, we're harvesting our first crop of almonds! Our trees are small, so we're hand harvesting by knocking the nuts off of the trees onto tarps. The nuts are loaded into a cart and then spread out at the edge of the field to dry in the sun for about 10 days. The next step is to take them to a processor that will remove the hull and shell. The photos below show the kids out there doing the jobs, but in reality we had a very hard working crew do most of it!
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