Always, olive oil

<p>Like most Americans, cookbook author and baker Fran Gage came late to appreciate extra-virgin olive oil.</p><p>She grew up with margarine, then embraced butter in a big way, buying 60-pound blocks of it for her now-closed San Francisco bakery.</p><p>Olive oil didn’t slip into her kitchen until after she took an “Olive Oil Sensory Evaluation Course” through the UC Davis Extension in 1999. By then, the health benefits of olive oil had been widely touted in the press, and the California industry was on its way up.</p><p>“Twenty-five years ago, the California olive oil industry was making mostly junk olive oil,” Gage said in a phone interview from her San Francisco home. “It really started 20 years ago, when people started realizing that they could do better.”</p><p>Like American wine and cheese, American olive oil now rivals its European counterparts, thanks to artisan producers like Ridgely Evers’ DaVero extra-virgin olive oil of Healdsburg. In 1997, DaVero won a blind tasting in Italy, a startling upset equivalent to the 1976 blind wine tasting in Paris.</p><p>Due to her discerning palate, Gage was invited to join the taste panel of the California Olive Oil Council in 2003. The council meets on a regular basis and tastes olive oil for defects, certifying it when it meetsextra-virgin standards.</p><p>“We usually taste 12 oils,” Gage said. “We never know what the oils are, but we find out the varietals and where it was produced.”</p><p>As her olive oil credentials grew, Gage’s love affair with the golden liquid deepened. These days, her kitchen is always stocked with at least three bottles of extra virgin olive oil.</p><p>“Once I tasted the good stuff, there was no going back,” she wrote in the introduction to her sixth cookbook, “The New American Olive Oil” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009).</p><p>While producers such as McEvoy Ranch in Petaluma have published olive oil cookbooks, Gage’s is the first to give an overview of the burgeoning olive oil industry in California.</p><p>The opening chapter covers olive oil fundamentals, from how it is produced to more murky issues of classification and labeling.</p><p>Home cooks in a hurry to get dinner on the table may want to skim through the history of American olive oil, then jump ahead to Gage’s tips on choosing and using an extra-virgin olive oil.</p><p>Gage advises limiting your choice to oils that are labeled extra-virgin. Avoid oils that are “pure” or “light,” which means they’ve been refined and are tasteless.</p><p>“If it’s California oil, look for a COOC seal on it,” she said. “That means a taste panel tasted it, and it is certified extra virgin olive oil.”</p><p>It’s also important to store extra-virgin olive oil away from heat, in a cool, dark place.</p><p>“Hopefully the bottle is dark, which is a big help,” she said. “It will deteriorate even under the best conditions, but if you leave it out in the sunlight, it will be worse.”</p><p>And price does matter. Extra-virgin olive oil is expensive to produce because it is often hand-picked. It should sell for no less than $20 a liter.</p><p>The highlight of Gage’s “The New American Olive Oil” are the profiles of 15 olive oil producers across the state. These stories paint a vivid portrait of the various orchards, presses and people behind the oils.</p><p>“I started with people who won competitions and are known for their great oil,” Gage said. “I also wanted a cross-section of the state, from down south to up north ... from people who are small and sell at farmers markets to bigger companies.”</p><p>North Coast producers in the book read like a who’s who of local food pioneers: McEvoy Ranch, DaVero, Stella Cadente Olive Oil in Boonville and The Olive Press in Sonoma.</p><p>There’s also a section on community milling that gives home growers tips on how to pool their fruit with others. McEvoy, the Olive Press and Dry Creek Olive Co. in Healdsburg are three of the local producers offering community press days.</p><p>Interspersed with the producer profiles are 75 classic recipes from around the world, from soups and salad dressings to pizza and paella.</p><p>“I was trying to let the olive oil really be the main player in the recipes,” Gage said. “That’s why there are a lot of recipes where you don’t cook the oil.”</p><p>While all extra-virgin olive oils taste fruity, the amount of bitterness and pungency varies considerably.</p><p>That’s why Gage suggests buying three styles for cooking: delicate, for salad dressings and baking; medium, to use in just about anything; and a robust oil, for drizzling on steak or pizza.</p><p>One of the common misconceptions about extra-virgin olive oil is that you cannot use it to fry food. While it’s an expensive oil to use for frying, Gage said it works fine.</p><p>“You can heat it to 375 degrees,” she said. “That will cook french fries.”</p><p>At her weekend cottage in Navarro in the Anderson Valley, Gage uses olive oil to cook all kinds of rustic dishes for friends, from rabbit paella and wild mushroom pizza to fish stew with aioli and spicy eggplant ragout.</p><p>Most of the book’s photographs were taken outdoors there, where Gage and her husband try to spend one week a month.</p><p>Although Gage’s culinary reputation is based on buttery baked goods — and cookbooks like “Chocolate Obsession” and “A Sweet Quartet” — she has converted many of her favorite dessert recipes to olive oil, including a delicious Pan Con Chocolate and Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake.</p><p>One of the trends in olive oil, Gage said, is that it’s now being produced all over the world, from Chile and Argentina to Australia and New Zealand.</p><p>As more growers start planting trees that can be harvested by machine, Gage predicts that the prices will come down. And that’s good news for consumers.</p><p>“Some people raise their eyebrows at the price of a good extra virgin olive oil,” Gage writes. “But those same people might pay even more for a fine bottle of wine that is consumed in an evening.”</p><p>“Because these caramelized onions are so deeply flavored, any style of extra-virgin olive oil is suitable for this recipe,” Gage writes. “And do use your best balsamic vinegar.”</p><p>Caramelized Onion</p><p>and Balsamic</p><p>Vinegar Bruschetta</p><p>Makes 4 servings</p><p>6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided</p><p>2l arge onions, peeled halved and thinly sliced</p><p>Fine sea salt</p><p>Balsamic vinegar to taste</p><p>4 slices grilled or toasted bread</p><p>Fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper</p><p>Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over high heat until it trembles, becomes aromatic, and easily coats the bottom of the pan. Add the onions and turn the heat to very low. Sprinkle with salt. Cook the onions uncovered, stirring occasionally, until they are the color of a polished mahogany table, about 1 hour. They will shrink dramatically.</p><p>Transfer the onions to a bowl and let them cool. Add balsamic vinegar drop by drop until the flavor of the onions is complex but not vinegary. Sprinkle with fleur de sel if needed.</p><p>Brush the bread with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil.</p><p>Put a generous pile of onions on each slice of bread. Add a few grindings of pepper, and serve immediately.</p><p>“A robust, Tuscan-style oil works with this recipe, but if you want to match the oil to the country of the recipe’s origin, use a more delicate extra-virgin olive oil, such as an Arbequina,” Gage writes. “The type of rice is important. Short-grained rice such as Bomba will soak up liquid at just the right rate.”</p><p>Plan you schedule so you can soak the beans overnight.</p><p>Paella with Rabbit and Green Beans</p><p>Makes 8 servings</p><p>3/4 cup small dried white beans</p><p>1/3 cup robust extra-virgin olive oil</p><p>2 rabbits (6 to 8 pounds total), cut into serving pieces</p><p>Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper</p><p>4 small carrots, peeled and thinly sliced</p><p>3 celery stalks, thinly sliced</p><p>1/2 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped</p><p>2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced</p><p>Large pinch of saffron</p><p>2 teaspoons hot pimenton pepper</p><p>8 cups water</p><p>2-1/2 cups paella rice</p><p>1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces</p><p>1 spicy sausage, such as chorizo or linguica, cut into ½-inch slices</p><p>The evening before you make the dish, put the beans in a bowl, add cold water to cover them by 3 inches, and leave them at room temperature overnight. The next day, drain and set aside.</p><p>If you are baking the paella in a conventional oven, put a baking stone on the bottom shelf and preheat the oven to 400 degrees for 45 minutes.</p><p>Heat an 18-inch paella pan over two burners or on a grill with a medium-hot fire underneath. Add the extra-virgin olive oil and heat it until it trembles, becomes aromatic and easily coats the bottom of the pan.</p><p>Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper and brown them in the olive oil, turning once. Remove the rabbit and set aside. Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and a few grindings of black pepper and cook until the onions are translucent, 5 to 10 minutes.</p><p>Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over high heat. When a drop of water dances on the surface, add the saffron and shake the pan until the threads become brittle, about 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and add a few tablespoons of water to the pan. Pour the saffron water into the vegetables and add the pimenton. Add the drained, soaked beans, the water and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer. Continue cooking on the burners or grill (cover the grill if the fire has reduced to medium), or transfer to the oven.</p><p>Cook at a simmer until the beans are about halfway done and have absorbed about half of the liquid, 20 to 25 minutes.</p><p>Sprinkle the rice into the pan, return the rabbit pieces, and tuck the green beans and sausage slices into the rice. Don’t stir after the rice has been added.</p><p>If cooking on a grill, check the fire. Add more charcoal if the fire is waning. When the liquid returns to a simmer, continue to cook until the rice is tender, all the liquid is absorbed and the rice on the bottom crackles and smells toasty, another 20 to 25 minutes.</p><p>Remove from the heat, cover wtih a kitchen towel, and let the paella rest for 5 or 10 minutes. Serve directly from the pan.</p><p>“This is my version of a dessert I couldn’t resist at Laiola, a Catalan-inspired restaurant in San Francisco,” Gage writes. “I’ve taken the liberty of using a delicate extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter to make the ganache. An immersion blender ensures the proper emulsification of the ganache.”</p><p>Pan Con Chocolate</p><p>Makes 4 to 6 servings</p><p>8 ounces 64 percent dark chocolate, coarsely chopped</p><p>2/3 cup heavy whipping cream</p><p>1/3 cup powdered cane sugar</p><p>3 tablespoons delicate extra-virgin olive oil</p><p>4 pieces crusty bread</p><p>2 tablespoons orange or blood orange oil for drizzling</p><p>Fleur de sel</p><p>Put the chocolate in a 1-quart vessel, preferably a clear one designed for use with an immersion blender.</p><p>Put the cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking to dissolve the sugar.</p><p>Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let it sit 1 minute. Blend the two together with an immersion blender using a stirring motion, going to the bottom of the vessel until the ganache becomes less shiny and thickens to a puddinglike consistency, 1 to 2 minutes.</p><p>Add the olive oil in a steady stream, blending constantly. Pour the ganache into a bowl and let it cool at room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap without touching the ganache. Keep the ganache in a cool room until it sets, preferably overnight.</p><p>To serve, toast bread slices and put them on plates. Scoop balls of ganache and put them next to the toasts. Drizzle both the chocolate and the toast with orange olive oil and sprinkle with fleur de sel.</p><p>The ganache will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week. Bring it to room temperature before serving.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>