Fried Green Tomatoes

Well, not actually the middle of summer- worse than that, it’s the gosh darned end of summer.  Gosh darned, by the way, isn’t something that I actually say.  Here in the heart of the gorgeous, temperate, Russian River Wine Valley, my vines and vines of heirloom tomatoes are well, green.  Mostly anyway.  And, starting to shut down.  Those bushels of ripe red, yellow and green (you know the ones that are deliberately green) tomatoes that we gorge on daily until we can’t stand the sight of them anymore, just haven’t materialized this year.  So, what’s a girl to do?  Pick ‘em green and fry them, pickle them, turn them into relish…. or get her Michelin starred chefs to do it for her…. (are you guys reading this?).

One Big Fat Green Tomato

I’ve been trying out all kinds of recipes for green tomatoes.  And, funny, this is my first year ever to do that.  Usually we just sit back, stay patient, and sometime around mid-July, presto, tons and tons of juicy ripe tomatoes.  Why start with the green ones?  Well, turns out that you start with the green ones because they’re fabulous.   Really, I never knew. 

Here’s one that I’ve been making regularly it’s from Cooks Illustrated (my favorite resource of all time, thank you Christopher Kimball) – it’s amazing with a slow roasted pork shoulder- perferably one that’s totally biodynamically raised and finished by your neighbor on wild herbs…  But if you can’t get one of those, shoot for organic…

Green Tomato Chutney

Ingredients

Directions

• Bring tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, coriander, salt, and red pepper flakes to simmer in medium saucepan. Cook until thickened, about 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours or overnight. Stir in lemon juice just before serving.

These Fried Green Tomatoes have become an absolute favorite of ours this summer.  Don’t cut the tomatoes thicker than 1/4 inch, or the tomato to crunch ratio gets askew.  And, don’t use coarse corn meal or they’re just too crunchy and kind of bitey.  We’ve been eating these with grilled local halibut or, yes I’ll admit it, fried chicken- once you’ve got the skillet going…

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 4 large green tomatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Slice tomatoes 1/4 inch thick. Discard the ends.
2. Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
3. In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.

I’d love to hear about what you all are doing with your green tomatoes.  And, if you’re having a summer chock full of  ripe, juicy tomatoes, no need to tell us….We’ll talk next year.

Once your little Russian River Valley Wine Country Get Away has come and gone, wouldn’t it be nice to have more than just memories, and a few flip videos, of your romantic escape?  Well, you can- Farmhouse Inn and Wine Country Shipping can make sure you have “bottled memories” to last as long as you’d like.  Pinot noir, chardonnay, cabernet, zinfandel…from Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley… you name it.  You can experience a wine country memory every evening of the week. 

The Wine Country Shipping Van, All Refrigerated and Ready

You visit the wineries, purchase a bottle here and there, a case here and there, whatever you like.  You bring them back to Farmhouse, fill out a little form, and voila.  A whole future of memorable evenings is on the way to your door. 

Our guests put together such fun combinations (we always peek, I have to admit that).  We have people that have a theme- all pinot noir from small producers for example.  We’ll see twelve different bottles from twelve different wineries (Copain, Lynmar, Porter Creek and Hartford Court seem to be some big Farmhouse guest favorites- this week anyway).  Some go with all white or all big heavy reds…  I’ve been seeing a lot of that fantastic Martinelli Zinfandel… Or visit each of our eleven Winery Partners and have one slot to spare…Some guests want to make sure they won’t run out of that tiny production wine they’ve fallen in love with- they’ll ship home a case or two of each.

And, if guests want to mix the Wine Country Take Home up just a little- they can even include olive oil, jams and other non-wine memories… They tuck right into those fabulous- eco-friendly, recyclable shippers!  No extra cost to mix it up a little.  We love Preston Olive Oil, Kozlowski Jams and absolutely everything up at Quivira! 

Kozlowski Farms Jams, Russian River Valley Wine Country

You purchase it, leave it with us, and they pick it up and do the rest for you.  They’ll hold it for you if you’re not headed home right away (they’re holding some for guests who won’t be home unitl October).  They package it and they ship it to you under perfectly controlled conditions.  Oh, for those of you on Horizon Air, you can carry one case back with you for free.  Then Wine Counry Shipping willl ship the rest for you…

When you get here, don’t hesitate to ask me or my brother or our fabulous concierge team for recommendations for your own specialized take home box.  We love to help create fun, exciting vacations followed by really wonderful (and tasty) evenings at home.

Wine grapes are fabulous.  Heaven knows we love what they turn into.  Wine!  (Ok, that’s stating the obvious…)  But, one of the many things that makes our lovely Russian River Valley, and Sonoma County as a whole, unique, is our incredible diversity of agriculture and artisan produce.  We farm- and our farming really speaks to the old world traditions of using the land for a variety of different crops, livestock and native habitats.  More and more, we’re seeing the farmers and ranchers expand from one crop or one animal on the land to a variety of uses on one property.

On our ranch, where we’ve farmed for five generations, we have chickens for eggs and meat, antique apple trees, vegetable gardens, bee hives for honey and polination, prunes, plums, cherries, peaches and berries scattered about the property and lovely creeks with riparian habitats.   

Lettuces and Heirloom Shelling Beans

This kind of farming is wonderful, because it’s year-round.  We have produce, eggs and meat every month of the year.  But, I have to admit that this month and the next few months are just amazing and so incredibly bountiful! 

An heirloom squash and its delicious blossoms

Late July in the Farmhouse Inn gardens is something to see! Sonoma County Wine Country is in full bloom, and the gardens at Farmhouse Inn are exploding with color, variety and wildlife.  Our gardner, Jana Mariposa, has provided the following account of who, what and where, all around our beautiful Russian River Valley property.

Many of our mid-summer flowers are in their full glory now, and we are all enjoying the mild weather.  We are seeing many kinds of Butterflies:  Swallowtails, California Sisters, and I’m hoping for some Monarchs, now that we have our Milkweeds for their dining pleasure.  Some Butterflies, such as the Swallowtails and Monarchs, are very specific about which plants are suitable for their ‘children’;  Monarch larvae can only feed upon Milkweed (Asclepias sp.), and the Pipevine Swallowtail larvae can only feed upon the native California Dutchman’s Pipe, which is growing happily inside the large yellow-flowering St. John’s Wort (Hypericum sp.) shrub on the West side of the Restaurant.   If you are lucky, you may see the striking Blue-Black caterpillars with bright red spikes….but they are elusive, and like to stay in the shade. 

The Tiger Swallowtails prefer plants in the Parsley (Umbelliferae) family; I am leaving many of the Parsley plants in the Culinary garden to go to flower and seed; the flowers attract dozens of kinds of beneficial insects, and the seeds are medicinal; and perhaps the Swallowtails will lay their eggs there and we will be able to see the stunning black/white/yellow/green striped caterpillars.

California Sister host plants are the various local Oak (Quercus sp.); Coast Live Oak, Valley Oak, and Black Oak are present on the Farmhouse Inn property.

West Coast Lady, Red Admiral, Lorquin’s Admiral, Mourning Cloak, Buckeye, and some Skippers have been seen in our Habitat Garden. Their palates are much more varied, as their larvae can feed on many kinds of both native and ornamental plants.

Of course our Hummingbirds think they are the ‘bosses’ of all the flowers in the garden….and they very generously share their territory with the Butterflies and other Pollinators.   It takes a lot of variety to keep everyone happy.  

It is a sad task to have to take out the ’spent’ Sweet Peas, that perfumed the air for 4 or more months…….but happily the Summer Vines are blooming and will continue to bloom until the frost.   On the West Pool fence, the Scarlet Runner Beans are already providing nectar for the Hummers and other pollinators, and the Honeysuckle(Lonicera sp.) Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia sp.), Morning Glory (Ipomoea sp.),  and Purple Hyacinth Bean (Dolichos sp.) are all making their way up the fence for privacy and beauty.

Come and sit for a while in the Habitat Garden, and see how many kinds of flying gems will keep you company!

Here are a few of my favorite resources for this time of year:

The Natural Gardening Company will ship organic seeds from Sonoma County to you.

Creating an Organic Hummingbird habitat can be fun and easy with a little know-how.

The Halberg Butterfly Gardens are the perfect place to learn more about butterfly gardens, and you can visit when you’re in Sonooma County.

The folks at Beekind keep the bees on the Bartolomei’s Ranch.  But their site has a wealth of information about bees, habitats and organic practices.