Dairy Free

Farro is an ancient grain that, despite its popularity in central Italy, was once impossible to find in the United States. With rising demand for it, more and more domestic growers are starting to cultivate it, including Eatwell Farm in Northern California and Bluebird Grain Farms in Oregon. This hearty fall salad works well as a vegan entrée or a side dish, or even warmed and served as a Thanksgiving stuffing. I like to add diced or pulled roasted turkey to turn this into an entrée salad. Small cubes of good-quality Pecorino Romano are also a nice addition and give the dish added richness and umami.

Even if you think you hate tofu, or if you’ve never cooked quinoa, do try this salad. Together, the quinoa and tofu offer a variety of chewy textures, which get a refreshing lift of flavor from ginger, rice vinegar, and daikon radish. It’s also a favorite among the staff at the Market; the wallop of protein offers steady fuel for working a hectic shift!

This incredible sauce is particularly versatile and serves as the backbone for the Romesco Chicken Salad on page 187. It’s important to avoid overprocessing the sauce; not only does heat cause the mixture to become gelatinous, but the sauce simply tastes better when left a little chunky. If you can’t find piquillo peppers, roasted red bell peppers would work, too. Roasting and peeling them yourself is the ideal, because it gives you more of that nice smoky flavor.

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to stop buying bottled salad dressing, this is it. Delicate and well balanced, this dressing complements just about any veggie or grain you choose—in fact, it is the backbone of some of our most popular deli salads. One batch is enough for many salads, so make this, keep it in the fridge, and don’t look back. You can use different vinegars with equally successful results, but you might need to adjust the quantity of vinegar depending on its acidity. Use good-quality extra-virgin olive oil—the flavor will be well worth it on your beautiful greens.

Good hummus is hard to find; I find that most lack the acid needed to balance the nutty richness of tahini and olive oil, making it fall flat on your tongue. A little extra lemon juice completely transforms hummus to something much brighter in flavor. That’s why the best hummus is homemade—besides, nothing could be simpler or more satisfying. I firmly believe that my mother’s hummus is the benchmark for all other hummus out there. She personally taught our chef Eddy how to make it, and he in turn has trained all of our crew to make exceptionally delicious hummus. I keep a blend of ground toasted cumin and coriander in my spice set; it’s a great addition to Middle Eastern and Mexican dishes. I usually toast 2 tablespoons each of the whole spices in a sauté pan on low heat until aromatic and lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Once cooled, I grind in a coffee grinder reserved for spices; a mortar and pestle also works.

Any fish market that fillets whole fish can provide fresh bones for your stock. Call ahead to reserve the bones as some markets put them in their own stock. When you have shrimp, lobster, or crab for dinner, freeze the shells for the next time you make fish stock. The stock tastes best when freshly made, but you can freeze it.

It’s easy to overwhelm oysters with a topping that’s too bold or too rich, but chef Rick Moonen knows just when to stop. His hors d’oeuvre, served at the 2008 Workshop, elevates the oysters’ briny flavor, and frankly, it’s just fun to eat. Each oyster makes a tangy splash in your mouth, with cool, warm, brisk, and sweet elements in perfect balance.

You can make this dough entirely with all-purpose flour, but using part durum flour produces a more satisfyingly chewy crust. Look for durum flour at natural foods stores and online (opposite page). Although many yeast-dough recipes call for proofing the yeast first, Brian doesn’t bother, and the dough never fails to rise.

A staple of the Moroccan kitchen, preserved lemons have a tangy, fermented taste. For most recipes, the pulpy flesh is cut away and only the thick peel is used. Brian uses preserved lemons in a flavored butter for Grilled Mahimahi with Preserved Lemon Butter (page 113) and in Manila Clams, Arugula, and White Beans with Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette (page 54).

The olive oil is a nontraditional addition, but Brian believes that it keeps the stock from darkening. He salts it very lightly to avoid overseasoning the dish in which the stock is eventually used. Vegetable stock tastes best when freshly made, but you can freeze it.

We always keep chicken stock in the freezer because it is the foundation of so many of our soups, stews, and sauces. Making stock is an enjoyable project for a rainy day, and the results surpass anything you can buy. Homemade stock tastes fresh and lively compared to canned broth, which typically relies on dehydrated vegetables and seasonings. Brian doesn’t salt his chicken stock but you can add salt to taste if you like.

Napa spice merchant Shuli Madmone has introduced many fascinating seasonings to our kitchen, including the dried rose petals we use in this sorbet. His shop, Whole Spice (see page 126), is a playground for adventuresome cooks, and in recent years, he has brought a collection of exotic seasonings to the Workshop. We grind the dried rose petals fine with sugar, then use that fragrant mixture to sweeten a sparkling wine sorbet.

Most people steam or boil cauliflower, but roasting really brings out its sweetness. Brian tosses the sizzling cauliflower with gremolata, a mixture of parsley, garlic, and lemon zest—aromatic ingredients that release their aromas when they hit the hot vegetable. Toasted bread crumbs provide a pleasing crunch. Serve as an accompaniment to tuna or swordfish, or toss with spaghetti.

This five-minute side dish would complement any fish or meat from the grill, from swordfish to pork chops. Save the recipe for summer, when the cherry tomatoes have thin skins and you can find them in a rainbow of colors—red, gold, yellow, and green—at a farmers’ market.

With names like Good Mother Stallard, Goat’s Eye, and Yellow Indian Woman, the dried heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo (see page 55) charm diners familiar with only generic dried beans. Rancho Gordo proprietor Steve Sando finds some of these intriguing beans in Mexico and Central America and arranges to buy them direct from the farmers. Others are grown on farms in Northern California. You can use a single bean type for this dish, but Brian prefers to use multiple varieties, simmering them separately to accommodate their different cooking times. Just before serving, he unites them with a tomato sauce and some blanched fresh yellow and green beans. You could make a meal of this summer stew with a green salad and some crusty bread, or serve it as an accompaniment to grilled lamb. Note that the beans must soak overnight.

Brian sometimes roasts mushrooms and artichokes in the winery’s pizza oven alongside a chicken, but the vegetables will color up beautifully in a hot home oven, too. Serve them, browned and sizzling, as an accompaniment to a roast or to Grilled Bone-In Ribeye Steak with Garlic Sauce (page 138). Or pair with polenta for a meatless meal.

The quince trees at our River Ranch property are just delivering their first harvest at the time of the Workshop. Many chefs are captivated with these uncommon autumn fruits, which are rockhard and astringent when raw and must be cooked to release their floral perfume. Chef David Everett made a memorable quince chutney for duck breasts when he attended the Workshop in 1994. Brian likes to serve the same chutney with brined pork chops. Cooking the pork on the bone enhances flavor and seals in the succulence imparted by the brine. Accompany the pork with braised escarole or Tuscan kale, or with Brussels sprouts and chestnuts. Any leftover chutney will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator and would be delicious with blue cheese. Note that the chops need to rest in the brine overnight.

Seattle chef Emily Moore created this dish for Passover, but it’s too good to reserve for a holiday. Keep the recipe in mind for those cold, rainy days when you want the warmth and comfort of a pot roast. Don’t let the butcher trim all the surface fat from the brisket, and if possible, make the dish a day ahead; it improves with reheating. If necessary, you can brown the meat in one pot, then transfer it to a roasting pan for baking. Accompany with egg noodles and a crisp escarole salad. Leftovers make great sandwiches. Chef Moore participated in the 1994 Workshop.

The plump and pristine Belgian endive from California Vegetable Specialties (see page 91) always impresses the Workshop chefs, and they come up with some novel uses for it. Chef James Boyce, a 2008 participant, made “choucroute” with the sliced endive, braising it with onion, bacon, and apples as if it were cabbage. He paired it with seared duck breasts, but you could serve it with a pork chop and boiled potatoes instead.

The venison we serve at Cakebread Cellars comes from Broken Arrow Ranch in Texas (see page 144). The meat is as dark as beef but much leaner, with even less cholesterol and fewer calories than skinless chicken breast. Like pork, venison has a natural sweetness that welcomes a tart, fruity sauce. At the 1998 Workshop, Bruce Hill paired it with wild huckleberries; wild blueberries make a good substitute. Serve the venison with potato puree, as Bruce did, or with Brussels sprouts, roasted root vegetables, or the celery root puree from The Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cookbook.