Although the Giacomini Dairy, which overlooks Tomales Bay in west Marin, has been producing milk since 1959, it wasn't until 2000, when the family launched its Pt. Reyes Original Blue Cheese, that it made it onto the radar of food lovers in the Bay Area and beyond, demonstrating one of the benefits of value-added products to the farmer.
Nearby in Pt. Reyes Station, Cowgirl Creamery at Tomales Bay Foods has put the community on the map with its extraordinary cheese, made with milk from Strauss Family Dairy.
Little Gem Lettuces with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette
Makes 4 to 6 servings
1 small shallot, minced
-- Kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice, plus more to taste
4 to 8 Little Gem lettuces, rinsed in cool water and dried on clean tea towels
6 ounces Point Reyes Original Blue cheese
6 ounces Cowgirl Creamery Creme Fraiche
4 ounces extra virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
-- Black pepper in a mill
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
? cup fresh coarse bread crumbs, lightly toasted in olive oil, optional
Put the shallot into a small bowl, season with salt and add the lemon juice. Set aside.
Trim the stem end of the lettuces and remove any blemished leaves.
Set a lettuce on a work surface and use a very sharp knife to cut it in half lengthwise. Cut each half in half again. Repeat until all the lettuces have been cut, being carefully to keep the quarters intact.
Divide the lettuces among individual soup plates or wide bowls.
Put the blue cheese into a bowl and use a fork to crumble it. Add the creme fraiche and stir, blending well but leaving little chunks of cheese. Add the shallot mixture and the olive oil and stir until well blended. Taste the vinaigrette, and if it is too tart, add a little more olive oil, stirring and tasting after each addition, until the balance is pleasing. If it tastes flat, squeeze in a teaspoon or two of lemon juice and add several pinches of salt to the juice; jostle the bowl until the salt dissolves and then stir well. Season generously with several turns of black pepper.
To serve, spoon vinaigrette over each portion of lettuce and scatter with parsley and bread crumbs, if using. Serve immediately.
David Little, of Little Organic Farms, produces some of the best potatoes you have ever tasted. Because he dry-farms, the potatoes have a dense texture and rich, earthy, undiluted flavor. This recipe, adapted from one in Little's brochure, is ridiculously delicious. Certainly, it can be a side dish with roasted chicken or braised meats. Yet it stands on its own, too, needing nothing more than a simple green salad alongside.
Smashed Little Potatoes with Olive Oil, Butter, Garlic and Cream
Makes 4 to 6 servings
2? pounds potatoes, scrubbed (see Note below)
4 ounces butter, preferably Strauss, plus more to taste
4 ounces extra virgin olive oil, preferably McEvoy, plus more to taste
8 to 10 garlic cloves, minced
-- Kosher salt
-- Black pepper in a mill
? cup dry white wine or freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup heavy cream or creme fraiche
Put the potatoes in a steamer basket and set over boiling water. Cover the basket and steam until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a toothpick or bamboo skewer.
When the potatoes are cooked, melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the olive oil and garlic and saute over low heat until the garlic is soft, fragrant and golden brown.
Add the potatoes to the butter and immediately begin to smash and mix the potatoes, seasoning with salt and pepper and mixing in more butter, more olive oil, the wine and the cream or creme fraiche as you mix. (Don't worry about doing this perfectly; it is a casual rustic recipe; just don't mix it too much and you'll be fine.)
Taste the potatoes and add more butter and more olive oil if you like. Correct for salt, remove from the heat and serve immediately.
Note: I like to use a mix of colors when I make this dish. Sometimes I use all tiny potatoes, no bigger than a quarter, and sometimes larger potatoes; it depends simply on what I have at a given time. The important thing is to use potatoes of similar size.
Marin Sun Farms produces excellent eggs and?organic grass-fed meats -- chicken, goat, lamb, pork and beef -- that are sold throughout the Bay Area, including at their butcher shop in Pt. Reyes Station. Dozens of Bay Area restaurants feature the meats, and there are even three pet food distributors that use these pristine meats. Marin Sun Farms also operates a community supported agriculture program. I love flank steak and chimichurri sauce and prepare both frequently, often together; they are perfect companions.
Marin Sun Farm's Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
Makes 2 servings
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
5 to 6 large garlic cloves, minced
-- Kosher salt
? teaspoon red pepper flakes?
? cup sherry vinegar
? cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups fresh Italian parsley leaves, lightly packed
? to 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
-- Black pepper in a mill
1 flank steak, about 1? pounds
Put the oregano, thyme and garlic into a medium bowl, season generously with salt, add the red pepper flakes and stir in the vinegar and lemon juice. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
Use a very sharp knife to chop the parsley; chop it small but not so tiny that it begins to release liquid.
Stir the parsley into the liquid mixture, add the olive oil, taste and correct for salt. Taste and balance for acid by adding more lemon juice if it is not tart enough and more olive oil if it is too tart. Season generously with black pepper.
But the flank steak into a sturdy plastic bag, such as a freezer bag, add about a third of the chimichurri sauce and seal the bag, squeezing out air as you do so. Massage the sauce into the meat and refrigerate for at least one hour and as long as three hours. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce.
Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a stove-top grill. Remove the sauce from the refrigerator.
When the coals or the grill is hot, cook the steak for 4 to 5 minutes on both sides, turning just once. Transfer to a warm plate, cover with a sheet of aluminum foil and let rest 5 to 7 minutes.
Slice the meat in ?-inch thick diagonal slices, spoon some of the sauce over it and serve immediately, with the remaining sauce alongside.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: