MendoGrass
Sun Grown & Local Power Greens—Available All Year!
by Torrey Douglass
When Mendo Grass owner Adam Goldberg and his wife, Amanda Tuttle, started their wheatgrass and microgreens business in 2020, he was “hell-bent on growing with the sun.” Sungrown plants have better flavor and a lower carbon footprint, and this approach aligned with Adam’s priority to work with what he already had in order to keep overhead costs low. It is also less time-intensive since he doesn’t have to purchase and maintain complex climate control systems—though he does use a germinator shed where plants spend their first 3-5 days. This shed can be warmed or cooled, protecting young plants from winter’s freezing temperatures and extreme summer heat. After that, they are moved to the greenhouse where they will stay until harvested 10 to 21 days later, depending on the time of year.
Unlike diversified farming, wheatgrass and microgreens can be grown year-round, even when eschewing climate manipulation. This means Adam’s schedule doesn’t include the cold-season break other farmers enjoy. “It’s a marathon,” shares Adam. “Winter is slower but still busy. The rhythms are different from a regular farm.” Thanks to the greenhouse environment, Adam’s microgreens business is easier on his body than traditional farming. He doesn’t have to work on the ground, and the use of vertical space means a lot can be grown within a smaller footprint.
The success of Mendo Grass can be traced back to Adam’s past job with the former Solar Living Institute in Hopland, where his role included growing wheatgrass and microgreens for local restaurants and grocery stores. The program was let go after a time, but he had seen its potential as a sustainable local business. So when he and Amanda moved into a tiny home outside of Hopland in 2020, he had the time and bandwidth to launch Mendo Grass.
That was also the year that Adam lost his mom to cancer. He’d always admired how she had “lived on her own terms,” as he put it, balancing career, family, and personal interests so she could make the most out of the time she had. Her illness put things in perspective, motivating Adam to follow her example and take the entrepreneurial plunge so he could build a career that provided more time for family, as well as experience the satisfaction that comes from working for oneself. As someone with a Master’s in International Education, Adam appreciates how the intellectual and analytical challenges of running a business complement the physical and mental demands of farming. “I appreciate the balance of admin and dirty hands,” he reflects.
An early break helped get the business off the ground, when a Hopland business owner saw the potential for Mendo Grass and granted Adam a rent-free year on his ranch to get started. There was no infrastructure save a vineyard pond, but the price was right, so Adam and Amanda built a greenhouse on the site and proceeded to figure out, through trial and error, what it takes to grow and sell organic wheatgrass and microgreens to Mendocino and Sonoma counties.
These baby plants sell themselves in a lot of ways. They contain up to nine times more nutrients than their adult counterparts, making them beloved as an immunity-boosting superfood. Microgreens work beautifully as a garnish for restaurant dishes, delighting both the eye with their bright green hue and the palate with their tender taste. They go great in salads, smoothies, and sandwiches—for example, they add a little crunch and a lot of fresh flavor as a topping on avocado toast.
For folks who like to include fresh wheatgrass or microgreens in their morning smoothies, a convenient subscription program is available. You can find Mendo Grass microgreens at the Ukiah Farmers Market, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-Op, and Mariposa Market. Outside of the county, they are at the Healdsburg and Sebastopol farmers markets. In addition to the microgreens and wheatgrass, jars of fresh “peasto” and refreshing “Mendomosas”—a mocktail that combines a shot of wheatgrass, orange juice, and kombucha—are for sale. Both were developed by Amanda, whose expertise includes a background in the culinary arts. In addition to creating delicious, value-added items for their farmers market table, she also manages branding and marketing for the business.
Adam and Amanda’s belief that Mendo Grass was a viable business idea has been proven correct thanks to their hard work and creativity. Now, four years in, the business is stable, and they are a year or two away from hiring a manager to help carry some of the load so they can enjoy an even better work-life balance. Even with all the demands launching a startup business requires, Adam feels it allows him to live on his own terms, able to spend time with Amanda and their daughter, providing food that supports his customers’ health, and growing his plants according to his values: organic, sungrown, and watered with rainwater. “We are part of our community, very embedded,” Adam shares. “Being a local farm business and providing local, healthy foods is very rewarding.”
To get a delicious taste of Adam’s microgreens, make your avocado toast with the recipe below for a tasty and healthy start to your day.
Great Start Avocado Toast
INGREDIENTS
1 slice of artisan bread, toasted to perfection (we love Grainsong bread!)
1/4 cup Mendo Grass Peasto
2 oz microgreens
1 avocado, mashed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt + pepper to taste
Optional: red pepper flakes or toasted pumpkin seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
Toast a slice of bread until it reaches your desired level of crispiness. While the bread is toasting, mash the avocado in a bowl until smooth. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.
Spread the mashed avocado evenly over the toast. Next, generously spread ¼ cup of Mendo Grass Peasto on top of the avocado. Top with 1 oz of Mendo Grass Microgreens, then sprinkle more salt and pepper over the microgreens if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy the delightful combination of flavors and textures!
Subscribe for regular deliveries of wheatgrass and/or microgreens at mendograss.com, or visit Healdsburg, Ukiah, and Sebastopol farmers markets to purchase.
Photo courtesy of Mendo Grass
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and drinking good coffee with a friend.
Delicious Little Coconut
Spice Up Your Festivities with Vegan Coquito
by Erica Schneider
Creamy, tropical, and cozy all at the same time, Coquito (“little coconut”) is a traditional Puerto Rican Christmas cocktail. Made with coconut milk, rum, and warming spices, our version is reminiscent of eggnog, but without the eggs or dairy.
At Fog Eater, we use four types of coconut milk to really get that island taste. Some traditional recipes use evaporated and/or sweetened condensed dairy milk, which might be easier to find at your local market (though we easily found the coconut versions in Fort Bragg). If you do switch up milks, make sure to taste and adjust sugar accordingly!
Use your favorite Puerto Rican rum—we used a spiced variety for this recipe to give it even more Christmas warmth, but golden, white, or even a blend would be lovely.
Fog Bottle Shop & Wine Bar
45104 Main Street, Mendocino
(707) 397-1806 | fogeatercafe.com
Open Wed - Sun 12pm - 7pm
Coquito
INGREDIENTS
2 cans (13.5oz each) full-fat coconut milk
2 cans (5.4oz each) coconut cream
1 can (7.4oz) sweetened condensed coconut milk
1 can (12.2oz) evaporated coconut milk
2 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups spiced rum
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the milks, spices, and sugar in a pot and bring to a light simmer, then cut the heat. Allow to cool a bit, then add the vanilla and rum. Chill overnight, then remove the cinnamon sticks and star anise. If you have the time and self-restraint, Coquito tastes best if allowed to sit for a couple of days before drinking. Heat (if you want), pour it into your most festive glass, and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon or, if you’re fancy, a cinnamon stick.
Erica Schneider is co-owner of Fog Eater Cafe and Fog Bottle Shop. She creates incredible vegan dishes for her patrons. She and her cat live in a little cottage by the sea when they are not out foraging in the wilds of the Mendocino coast.
Photo by istock.com
Pretty & Plentiful
Trametes Versicolor Makes an Invigorating Immunity Tea
by Torrey Douglass
The trametes versicolor mushroom is found throughout the world and, as such, is known by many names. In Japan it’s referred to as kawaratake, meaning “mushroom by the riverbank.” In Holland it’s called elfenbankje, or “fairy bench.” The Chinese name is yuh chi, or rain cloud mushroom, and the German one is schmetterlingstramete, or butterfly tramete (tramete is a fungi genus). Here in the U.S., its common name is turkey tail, and they are lovely and abundant, with a host of health benefits that our beleaguered winter immune systems will appreciate.
The Latin name reflects the delicate beauty of turkey tails—trametes means “one who is thin” and versicolor means “multicolored.” They do what all mushrooms do—break down organic matter to make its nutrients available to other plant life. Found on decaying hardwoods a few weeks after a soaking rain, they are distinguished by stripes of earthy grey and brown colors rippling out to the edges. There are several look-alikes (none of them toxic), so be sure to check the underside for small white pores rather than fins.
In Chinese medicine, these mushrooms are used as an anti-inflammatory and to combat infection, benefiting respiratory, urinary, and digestive systems. They are believed to improve energy and stamina, increase circulation, and even prevent cancer and regulate cholesterol. Over 400 scientific studies in Japan over the past 30 years have demonstrated its benefits to cancer patients, improving their immune systems both in conjunction with and in the absence of chemotherapy.
When foraging for turkey tail, always leave a third of the body to disseminate the spores and yield more mushrooms for future foragers. After collecting the fruiting bodies, clean them carefully with a dry brush to remove dirt and any other forest debris. You can dry them at home in a dehydrator or spread out on a cookie sheet someplace warm and dry, covered by a screen. After they are dried, be sure to store them in a dark place inside an airtight container to preserve their nutrients. The dried mushrooms can be added to soups or heated at a gentle simmer to make tea. The result has a flavor reminiscent of mushroom soup, which can be balanced by adding some lemon and honey to perk up the taste. Follow the recipe below for a warming, zingy, immune-boosting tea that will support your system during the wet and chilly winter weather.
Winter Immunity Turkey Tail Tea
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup diced turkey tail, fresh or dried, well cleaned
2 tsp fresh ginger, diced fine
lemon juice to taste
honey to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Put diced mushrooms and ginger in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer gently for at least an hour and up to 2 hours, and monitor it carefully so it never boils vigorously. Pour through a fine sieve to remove the solids and add lemon juice and honey to taste.
Just because most people can consume turkey tail without any issues doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. When you first try a new foraged food, ingest just a small amount and then wait for a day or two before consuming more.
Just because most people can consume turkey tail without any issues doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. When you first try a new foraged food, ingest just a small amount and then wait for a day or two before consuming more.
Photo by Tom Fisk courtesy of pexels.com
Say Labneh!
Fresh, Delicious, and Surprisingly Easy Homemade Cheese
by Lisa Ludwigsen
A bite of carefully crafted cheese evokes its place of origin and the people who made it. The complex flavors can be a full-body experience, engaging all the senses. Or maybe that’s just how I experience good cheese. Even a simple fresh cheese made in your kitchen can be transcendent, and it is surprisingly easy to make. A handful of everyday ingredients and a little patience yields a delectable and versatile addition to a meal or snack. Fresh homemade cheeses are almost always mild and uncomplicated, making them particularly kid friendly. Kids can dive right into a cheese-making project around the kitchen table.
My interest in homemade cheese was sparked many years ago after an aikido class. On a bench by the door, the sensei’s young daughter would set up a little produce shop, selling the harvest from her garden. She would set out berries, lettuce, zucchini, and tomatoes. It was hard to resist her big brown eyes and beautiful produce. Sometimes, off to the side, she had small cellophane-wrapped packets of cheese made that day from the milk of the family’s goats. The only additives were lemon and salt. The cheese was room temperature, creamy, fluffy, and fragrant. It carried in it the essence of the grass, earth, and sky above the rolling northern California hills. It was so fresh and delicious that I couldn’t resist eating it all on my drive home. That sweet 9-year-old girl taught me that fresh cheese could be simple, delicious, and nourishing, for body and soul.
One of my favorite homemade cheeses is labneh, a traditional Middle Eastern cheese made by straining yogurt until it has a consistency between a thick spread and a soft cream cheese. It is typically seasoned with savory spices and served as a dip or spread.
While some cheese requires heating the milk and adding a coagulant like rennet or lemon, labneh happens by simply hanging whole milk Greek or European style yogurt to remove the liquid. Greek yogurt is preferred because of its thickness and lower moisture, and using whole milk yogurt is a must.
The following recipe for labneh is inspired by the cookbook, Home Made, by Yvette van Boven, which features a chapter on homemade cheese-making. Like all recipes, it’s more fun to make with friends, so I enlisted a couple of young neighbors to help me out.
Labneh Balls with Herbs in Olive Oil
INGREDIENTS
• 4 cups plain, whole-fat Greek or European-style yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper or red pepper flakes
• ½ cup dried herbs: basil, parsley and/or herbs de
provence
• Approximately 3 cups olive oil
• Lemon zest, small dried chiles, or other spices
• Cheesecloth or large dish towels or even a large square
of an old clean sheet
• Visually appealing jar for storing the cheese balls
INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium bowl, mix yogurt, garlic, salt, and pepper. Line a colander or sieve with four layers of cheesecloth placed cross width. The pieces should be large enough to gather and tie a knot at the top.
Pour the yogurt into the center of the cheesecloth and let it drain for a few minutes. Depending on the type of yogurt used, you may see a lot of liquid coming out.
Gather the corners of the cheesecloth and tie a sturdy knot at the top. Gently push the yogurt to the bottom of the bundle. Hang over a bowl (to catch the liquid) in a cool spot for three to four days. You’ll notice the yogurt becoming smaller and firmer each day, as liquid drains from the yogurt. A couple of times a day, squeeze the yogurt to release more liquid and form into a cohesive ball.
After three days, the ball will be significantly smaller, firmer, and a bit flatter. Peel or cut away the cheesecloth to reveal the pretty ball of cheese inside. It’s labneh!
Now for the fun, kid-friendly project. I invited my two favorite neighbors, Axel and Abby, to give me a hand: Fill an attractive jar 2/3 full with olive oil. The jar will need to be large enough to hold about 20 small balls without pushing them down. Add lemon zest or dried chilies.
Onto a plate or flat bowl, sprinkle a layer of dried herbs.
Cut or break the ball into large pieces that kids can easily handle. The small balls will be made from these pieces. Roll about two tablespoons of the cheese into a ball roughly the size of a walnut. With kids, the balls won’t be uniform, which is great.
Roll each ball into the herbs, making sure to press hard enough that the herbs stick.
Gently place the balls into the jar (I use a spoon). Make sure the oil completely covers the cheese.
Store the jar on the counter if the cheese will be eaten within a week, and in the refrigerator for longer term storage. The oil will solidify if the jar is kept in the refrigerator, so you’ll need to leave it on the counter to warm up.
Serve as an appetizer with crackers and a glass of wine, with fruit, or as part of a post-dinner cheese course. Because kids almost always eat food that they’ve prepared, they’ll welcome a labneh cheese ball or two with a piece of fruit after school.
In a pretty jar, they also make great hostess or holiday gifts.
Homemade labneh is so easy and satisfying you may be encouraged to try making other cheeses at home. The world is full of possibilities to share with family and friends. Give it a try!
Miner’s Lettuce
Springtime’s Tasty Weed
by Holly Madrigal
Springtime in Northern California blankets the coastal woodlands in lush green. If enough rain has fallen, then the moss drips, the forget-me-nots emerge, and miner’s lettuce flourishes. Most people can easily identify it, perhaps cultivating some ancient memory of coastal walks of their youth, or of an older companion saying “you can eat this.” Miner’s lettuce is characterized by a succulent, mild, yet slightly lemony green leaf—a heart-shaped oval with the delicate white flower perched atop like some sort of fairy fascinator hat.
Known as Claytonia perfoliate, large swaths can be found grouped under the shady side of oaks and buckeyes. It is so ubiquitous that many a forager overlooks it, like how your eye no longer registers the intricate glory of the California quail because it is so common. Food and forage writer, Hank Shaw, calls miner’s lettuce the “iceberg lettuce of wild foods.” In an article on the website Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, he describes how this humble spring green has enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy, which is how the miners used it during the gold rush. Native to North America, it is one of the few predominant “weeds” that can claim this providence, a plant indigenous to the Americas but which does not have the bitter weed-fame of the dandelion (native to Europe).
You can find miner’s lettuce quite easily near any trail within roughly thirty miles of the coast, and in fact it may be a pleasant surprise in many other locations. Keep an eye out for this overlooked gem next time you are on a springtime walk.
Spring Miner’s Lettuce Salad with Strawberries and Feta
Make the dressing:
Equal parts light olive oil & apple cider vinegar
Honey to taste
Fresh ground pepper & salt
Assemble the salad:
Two handfuls miner’s lettuce leaves, large pieces torn, rinsed, and dried
Half a basket strawberries, sliced
3 Tbsp feta, crumbled
2 Tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
Layer on plates and drizzle with the dressing.
Photo originally posted to Flickr by andrey_zharkikh at https://flickr.com/photos/33497841@N02/17725750654 and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Spontaneous Wanderlust
Kitchen Tips and Tricks from an Impromptu Excursion
by Holly Madrigal
April Cunningham can usually be found chopping vegetables and prepping delicious meals at the Caring Kitchen, a wonderful organization that provides nutritious meals for free to cancer patients. Last year, April and her husband Fred received a last-minute opportunity for what she described as “the trip of a lifetime.” April had made the acquaintance of Mara Jernigan twelve years back when they went to a culinary retreat at Fairburn Farm in British Columbia, spending each day gathering items for that evening’s meal. Mara was a Canadian representative for the Slow Food movement and an accomplished chef. April had continued to follow Mara on Instagram, so when Mara posted that she had an eleventh-hour spot on a trip to Sicily, April and Fred spontaneously decided to join her.
Mara has led annual tours to this region for many years. After a whirlwind preparation, they converged in Sicily with four other Canadian women and a guide from Torino. A villa had been rented in the town of Scopello on the northern top of the geographical football being kicked by Italy’s boot. The group settled in, often gathering on the terrace nestled amongst the hills with views high above the sea. Each day they would embark on excursions to quench their culinary desires. Mara and their guide explained the lay of the land, including a tour of Mount Etna. They hiked the edge of the caldera of this still-active volcano, which gives the island the soil to grow excellent wine and other crops. Visiting a pistachio farm, they tasted fresh ground pistachio butter and watched a shelling machine separate the pink-green nuts from their shells.
“Each day was a whirlwind,” says April. “They are so in touch with their food and where it comes from there. A visit to the market was required before dinner was decided each night. One day we visited a dairy where they crafted cheese for the town. It was amazing to see them making mozzarella and aged cheese, but the most incredible part was lining up with the townsfolk to have scoops of warm, fresh-made ricotta dolloped into our bowls,” she describes in reminiscent wonder.
Fred enjoyed learning about the history and culture of Sicily as they traveled. “One day we went out with a mycologist, Mario, and his truffle-hunting dogs. Mario was a big part of writing the foraging laws in Sicily to protect both the local fauna and the economy of the mushroom treasures to be found there.” Fred describes the scene: “We trekked through the forest, and you had to keep an eye on the dogs and hurry to dig up the truffles that they found so that they didn’t damage them. That day we made a warm salad with the mushrooms we foraged and sauteed, covering fresh greens that wilted under the mushroom’s heat. The only issue was that, at some point, I just couldn’t eat any more food,” laughs Fred. “I needed a break.” April agrees. “Each day our hosts would lay out the most amazing spread—locally cured meats, Castelvetrano olives that had been salt brined instead of lye, mandarin oranges, and prickly pears! And that was before we went out for the day,” she adds.
The education continued as the group traveled to Palermo at the southern end of the island, where fishing is more commonplace. They toured the fish markets, and Nicoletta, one of their local hosts, explained the local market culture to them: “When you visit the market, you find your favorite vendors and you become their patron. You are theirs and they are yours, it’s mutual. You choose them and they ensure that you are taken care of,” an idea that feels foreign to the western anonymity of the massive grocery store.
The group visited Planeta, an estate that makes olive oil, grows wine, and creates other foodstuffs. This business has been pressing oil for over 400 years. Seventeen generations of family members have played a part in its continuity. April and Fred marveled at the history of this place.
Along the ramparts of a seaport in Palermo, the group was invited to stay at Palazzo Langa Tomasi, the residence of a duke and duchess whose family helped restore the palazzo to prominence in the late fifties. The duchess created a culinary experience of sorts, where you stay in a collection of apartments in her Palazzo; she leads you on trips to the market, planning each meal; and then all retire to her spacious kitchen to learn from her mastery. April, who has worked in kitchens for North Coast Opportunities for decades and is no stranger to cooking foods at the peak of freshness, was tickled to learn a new method for making Trapanese Pesto (recipe below). This tomato pesto sauce is poured atop freshly cooked pasta, the heat from the pasta gently warming the sauce and helping to release the full flavors. Fresh parmesan was grated on top, and the group enjoyed an outstanding meal.
Aspects of Mendocino County are Mediterranean and similar to southern Italy, and a deep appreciation for produce at the peak of ripeness is shared here as well. “This was truly the trip of a lifetime” muses April. “I’m not sure I ever would have specifically traveled to Sicily, but I learned so much, so many culinary tricks that I plan to bring back to the Caring Kitchen in Ukiah. We are so lucky to get to have an experience like this.” There is so much to learn and implement from our neighbors across the sea to strengthen our connection to the food that we grow and eat.
Ruvidelli al pesto trapanese
Ingredients
1 lb Roma tomatoes
¾ c blanched almonds
Large bunch of basil
1 c unflavored breadcrumbs
Salt & fresh ground pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1 lb Ruvidelli pasta
Instructions
Any sweet, ripe tomato with a thin skin would be perfect for this recipe. Put tomatoes, almonds, basil, salt, and pepper in a blender and start blending. Eventually pour the oil, little by little, until the desired consistency is achieved (I like it quite creamy). The sauce will be pink/orange in color. Pour half of the sauce in a serving bowl.
Bring plenty of water to boil in a large pot. Cook the Ruvidelli (or Busiate or any other short pasta, or if you prefer long pasta, Bucatini) until al dente.
For the breadcrumbs, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and swirl it all over the bottom of the pan. Stir in the breadcrumbs with a wooden spoon. Turn them repeatedly until they get a golden brown color, 2-3 minutes. Take care not to burn the crumbs! Immediately spread the toasted breadcrumbs onto a plate, allowing them to cool, stirring once or twice.
Drain pasta and put into the bowl with sauce. Add the remaining sauce and toss well. Decorate with basil leaves and serve with Muddica Atturrata (toasted breadcrumbs).
Photos by April Cunningham
Flex those Mussels
Gifts from the Sea in Sturdy Packages
by Holly Madrigal
One of the most easily harvested local treasures is the mussels that encrust the shoreline, visible all over the rocks, especially at low tide. But as with any wild foods, it pays to be smart and to research what you are eating before you bite. Wild forage at your own risk. Ask questions from locals and heed their advice.
Good rules of thumb:
Only eat mussels in months with an “R,” avoiding the summer when toxic algaes can bloom and the mussels are spawning, which can alter the taste.
There is often a quarantine period from May to October to avoid paralytic shellfish poisoning—NOT something to mess around with. Call the California Shellfish Biotoxin Information Line at 1-800-553-4133 just to be extra cautious and ensure that the area you are foraging is safe.
Double check that the waters and the weather are safe at the time that you plan to forage.
Go at low tide, as mussel beds form on rocks at the tideline. Respect the ocean and keep your wits about you.
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to try harvesting and enjoying these small shellfish delicacies. You can pick up a fishing license at one of the local shops, or purchase one online. (If you don’t have a license, you can be fined by Fish & Wildlife.) This license will allow you to forage up to 10 pounds of the mollusc, with this caveat: You are not allowed to use tools, so bring strong gloves and a bucket to hold your goodies.
To prepare your harvest, place the mussels in a colander and run water over them, using your hands or a stiff brush to rub off any debris like seaweed, sand, barnacles, or mud spots that could be on the shell. If you find any mussels with open shells, lightly tap that mussel against the side of the sink. If the mussel closes up again in response to this stimulus, it’s alive. If it doesn’t respond, discard it.
The beard of a mussel is the clump of hair-like fibers that sprouts from the shell. To remove the beard from the mussel, grab it with your thumb and forefinger and tug it toward the hinge of the mussel shell. You can also use a knife to gently scrape away the beard.
Once your mussels are cleaned and debearded, they’re ready to cook and eat. Try them in a white wine sauce, served with crusty bread. Slather them in aioli or melted butter. Or, try the delicious recipe that follows.
Drunken Mussels
This easy recipe is quick and delicious. Just bring a flavorful, wine-based broth to a boil, add mussels and cover, cook until they open, and eat. Yum!
Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 lemon, zested
2 c white wine
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 slices bread, grilled
2 lemon wedges for garnish
Directions
Melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic and let sizzle for about 30 seconds. Season with red pepper flakes and lemon zest, stirring for about 45 seconds.
Quickly pour wine into the pan and season with black pepper. Bring to a boil, stir in mussels, and cover immediately. Shake the pot and let boil for 1 minute.
Stir again, replace the cover, and let it boil for 2 more minutes. The shells will begin to open. Stir in parsley, cover the pot, and simmer until all the shells are open, 1 to 3 minutes.
Serve with grilled bread and lemon wedge.
Photo by Magda Ehlers courtesy of Pexels.
Springbank Clover
An Edible Springtime Wildflower with Hidden Strengths
by Torrey Douglass
When Spring’s wildflowers appear, keep an eye out for springbank clover, whose deep magenta or pink-purple hues add some snazz to the landscape. With the Latin name Trifolium wormskioldii, its common names include cow’s clover, coast clover, and sand clover. This versatile and beautiful plant can be found in spots that offer both moisture and sun–beside a creek, in a patch of sunny meadow that stays damp from runoff, in marshy areas next to ponds, or on the edge of seasonal wetlands. They are especially abundant after a wet winter. All parts of the plant, from the young leaves to the flower heads to the tender roots under the soil, have something to offer. Starting at the top, the flowers can be dried or used fresh to make a refreshing tea. The greens can be eaten raw in salads or steamed and seasoned with sea salt for a simple side dish. But the real bounty of this plant is hidden beneath the ground, where its nutritious and abundant rhizomes historically served as an important vegetable for Indigenous peoples from California to Western Canada. Rich in calcium, magnesium, iron, and other nutrients, the roots of springback clover were traditionally dried for eating later in the year, but they are good fresh, too, when they are similar in taste and texture to Chinese bean sprouts. They can be washed and added raw to salads, or fermented into a quick and tasty kimchi (see recipe on the right). The flowers attract all sorts of bees and butterflies, so be thoughtful about gathering the plants and leave plenty for the pollinators. Mature plants thrive when they are periodically divided and replanted, so it’s fairly easy to cultivate your own to beautify the view, sustain pollinators, and provide an abundance of flowers, greens, and rhizomes for eating.
Springbank Clover Kimchi
Ingredients
• 2 c Springbank clover fresh rhizomes
• 1 c shredded carrots
• Optional: ½ c additional diced veggies like radishes, bell peppers, celery
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/4 c mushroom broth or water
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• Optional: sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
Combine garlic, chili flakes, fish sauce, and salt, and set that aside for one hour. This is your kimchi mixture.
Combine all of the vegetables into a bowl and salt generously, then set aside for one hour. Rinse the vegetables, then add the kimchi mixture and combine well. Transfer to a vessel, add a weight to press the veggies down, then add enough mushroom broth or water to cover.
Keep it at room temperature for 24 hours before enjoying. The kimchi can be refrigerated for up to a week. Try it with roasted meats, as a stir-fry side, or alone as an invigorating snack.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her family. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and inspiring her dogs to jump into the air with uncontained canine happiness.
Sourberry
Zesty Sumac Drupes Might Be Growing in Your Own Backyard
by Torrey Douglass
Fruit from the hardy sourberry provided a lemony tang to dishes long before lemons were introduced to North America. The berries—bright red, slightly sticky, and roughly ¼” long—ripen in fall and can persist through the winter, a welcome food source for birds, other wildlife, and even people!
Also known as three-leafed sumac or rhus aromatica, the plant can grow as a low groundcover 2-3’ high or a large, bushy shrub up to 6-8’, depending on the amounts of light and moisture it receives. It is drought tolerant and boasts glossy green leaves in groups of threes, just like its cousin, poison oak. Sumac is common all along the western coast, from Baja California to Oregon, showing up in a variety of landscapes from oak woodlands, seasonal streams, and chaparral, primarily below 3500’ elevation.
Za’atar spice blend
The sumac fruit are drupes that contain a single hard seed, ripening from light green to dark red as the year rolls along. Wait until the berries are a rich red before picking. (Gloves and old clothes are advised due to the fruits’ sticky coating.) Indigenous Americans used the berries to settle an upset stomach or ease a toothache, or to make a refreshing, tart drink not unlike lemonade. If you try your hand at a sourberry lemonade, don’t rinse off the berries’ sticky coating, as that adds a natural sweetness to the drink. Instead, soak the berries in cold water for 2-4 hours before draining through increasingly finer meshes to remove any particulates.
Where the fruit really shines is in your spice cabinet. Sumac is widely used in Middle Eastern cooking, often as a key element of the popular Za’atar spice blend in combination with sesame seeds, thyme, oregano, and salt. But it’s perfectly suited to be used as a standalone ingredient as well, in place of lemons or vinegar for a tangy, gently acid flavor. Sumac adds spark to lentils, meats, fish, hummus, roasted vegetables—really any dish that could use a zesty wake-me-up.
Instructions
To make the sumac “spice,” first dry the berries. In hot and dry weather, you can do this by spreading them out on a cookie sheet under a protective screen, but in colder seasons, put those sheets in the oven for 3-4 days, periodically turning it on the “low” setting (less than 150 degrees) several times each day.
Once the berries are dry, grind them gently with a mortar and pestle—hard enough to press out the seeds from the fruit, but not so hard as to crush those seeds. Move the mixture to a plate, then “shimmy” the plate and tilt it, placing your hand perpendicular to the plate to hold the hulls back and let the seeds slide away under it. Discard the seeds.
After cleaning and drying the pestle, return the hulls to it and finish grinding into a powder (you can also use a coffee grinder for this step). Store in a jar. Soon you’ll be reaching for it whenever you’re cooking up something delicious in your kitchen.
Note: Like cashews, mangos, and pistachios, sumac is in the Anacardiaceae family. If you have allergies or food sensitivities to these foods and/or poison oak, avoid eating sumac.
Fruit Photo by Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Spice photo by annafood, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Boozy Hot Chocolate
Mix & Match at Every Step for a Sweet Winter Warm-Up
by Torrey Douglass
Sometimes the answer to the question "Which one?" is really just, "Yes, please." There are so many yummy hot chocolate recipes available, we decided to take a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure approach to this season's Bebemos beverage: a rich and luscious hot chocolate with a grown-up twist. Take a gander through the steps below, pick which option strikes your fancy for each (sometimes more than one, as in the case of toppings), and curl up next to your favorite heat source (fireplace, wood burning stove, kind human with nice eyes, cuddly creature) to indulge in this hot-sweet-chocolatey-boozy treat.
Step 1: The Chocolate
2 tablespoons cocoa powder or 3/4 oz solid baking chocolate
The chocolate is the foundation of your drink, so whatever you choose, go for quality. You can opt for a solid, semi-sweet block of premium chocolate melted over a double boiler, or an excellent cocoa powder (both Ukiah Natural Foods Coop and Boont Berry Farm have great cocoa in bulk, and I go for the cocoa rouge if it's available). Pro tip: semi-sweet chocolate chips will do in a pinch, just skip the sweetener.
Step 2: The Milk
1 cup
I used to love the creamy richness of organic whole milk, and it's still a great option, but I find alternative milks are equally tasty and don't leave me feeling sluggish. Unsweetened almond milk or oat milk are my favorites. If you're using a solid chocolate, heat over a double boiler until melted, then slowly add in the milk while whisking. If you're using powdered cocoa, place a small saucepan with the milk over medium-low heat and whisk the cocoa into it.
Step 3: The Sweetener
2 teaspoons
I prefer honey, but organic sugar works, too. You can also use monkfruit sweetener, date syrup, and other sugar alternatives. Add to the saucepan after the chocolate is well blended. A hand held milk frother works well for this, or just whisk it in.
Step 4: The Booze
1 ounce
You can double-down on the rich, creaminess theme and use Bailey’s Irish Cream (non-dairy version is available) or Kahlua. Whiskey is popular, and I've even heard of people using red wine. Pour the hot chocolate into a large mug so the liquid does not fill it more than 3/4 full, then pour in 1 oz of the alcohol of your choice before adding …
Step 5: The Toppings
Go wild.
Here’s where you can channel both your 5-year-old self and your inner Julia Child into some creative jubilation. Cap your drink with a generous “hat” of whipped cream or latte-style milk foam. Dust it with nutmeg, cocoa powder, cinnamon, or even some Piment d'Ville chile. If you're really going for it, a chocolate or caramel syrup would not be out of the question. And, of course, there's always marshmallows of any size to complete your wintery elixir. Once you're done bedazzling your beverage, both your inner child and outer adult can sit back and savor your customized cocoa.
Photo by Cecilia O’Reilly courtesy of Unsplash
Fall’s Gems
Versatile & Aromatic Quince
by Cozette Ellis
The Boonville Hotel’s Chef, Perry Hoffman, gets really excited about seasonal foods. I mean, really excited. So when I asked about what he looks forward to when fall comes, all he could talk about was quince, quince, quince!
The most sought-after culinary quince is a varietal known as Pineapple Quince, which Perry describes as “intoxicatingly aromatic” and “as important as asparagus is to spring.” A unique fruit, quince is almost indebible raw—it’s exceptionally astringent due to an abundance of tannins while its pectins make it jaw-breakingly hard. Once it’s cooked, however, its sweet and somewhat tropical flavors emerge. It also lasts for an incredibly long time after it is harvested, much longer than its autumn sisters, apples and pears.
You can poach, steam, or roast quince, put it in chutney (which is a staple at the Apple Farm), make membrillo (spanish quince paste), quince lemonade, shrub, and even ratafia (quince-infused vodka). Or, take a chance and make the recipe that Perry has created especially for this article. I can assure you it will be delectable.
Autumn Quince and Gorgonzola Salad
Ingredients
1-¾ c water
1-½ c sugar
15 black peppercorns
4 strips of orange zest
2 bay leaves
Juice of half lemon
¾ c red wine
2 medium pineapple quince
1 tsp grainy mustard
2 tsp cider vinegar
4 T olive oil, plus extra to finish
Salt and black pepper
2-½ c mixed seasonal greens (such as arugula, chicory, mustard)
4-5 oz Gorgonzola (Grazin' Girl gorgonzola from Valley Ford or Pennyroyal Boonters blue are great)
½ cup shelled unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted, some whole and some roughly chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 275° F.
Take a medium-sized heavy pan that can go in the oven—make sure it has a tight fitting lid. Place the water, sugar, peppercorns, orange zest, bay leaves, lemon juice, and red wine into the pan. Bring to a light simmer, removing from the heat as soon as the sugar dissolves.
Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to peel the quince, retaining the skin. Cut and core the fruit vertically into quarters with a heavy knife, keeping the cores as well. Cut each quarter into two segments.
Place the quince segments, skins, and cores into the sugar syrup. Cover the pan and place in the pre-heated oven for about two hours. After this time, the quince should be completely tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, uncovered.
Whisk together until smooth the mustard, vinegar, oil, four tablespoons of the quince cooking liquid, ½ teaspoon of salt, and a good grind of black pepper.
Place some salad leaves on four serving plates. Arrange four quince segments per portions and some hand-broken pieces of Gorgonzola on the leaves. Build the salad up by placing a few more salad leaves on top.
Spoon the dressing over and scatter the pistachios on top. Finish with a light drizzle of olive oil. Alternatively, arrange in a large central mixing bowl and bring to the table.
Yields four servings.
The Boonville Hotel
14050 Hwy 128, Boonville
(707) 895-2210 | BoonvilleHotel.com
Venison Jerky
A Spicy, Smoky, Tangy Family Favorite
by Alan Thomas
During deer season, friends who prefer hunting to butchering will sometimes gift us a portion of venison in exchange for help processing the animal. Venison is a lean, vitamin- and mineral-rich meat that does well when used in recipes that typically call for beef. And with less calories than chicken breast, it can arguably be called a truly heart-healthy red meat. Deer jerky is a family favorite, and it disappears almost as fast as it is lifted off the dehydrator’s screens.
After cutting steaks from the legs and shoulders, I thinly slice the remaining meat for jerky. It’s the jerky that my wife, kids, and neighbors can’t get enough of, and the recipe, which is not written down, is different each time. As a result, you’ll find lots of alternatives in the recipe below to combine for that spicy, smoky, tangy, slightly sweet mix that is venison jerky.
Note: This doesn’t have to be deer—a good, lean piece of beef works great, too.
Venison Jerky
Preparation
I slice the meat approximately 1/8” thick and divide into containers with lids or large zip lock bags. This allows me to try a couple of different marinades each time.
The Marinade
I’ll basically check the fridge for whatever bottles of sauce might be suitable. I’m looking for heat, smoke, sweet, and something with vinegar. I treat this stage as a means to clean up the condiment shelves on the fridge door, using up those bottles with an inch of something good left in them that are taking up valuable fridge real estate. I’ll take a pint measuring jug and finely chop some garlic, ginger, and a jalapeño and throw it all in. I’ll then look at the bottles and most likely put a couple of good glugs (yes, that’s a measurement in our household) of a hot sauce—it might be a habañero or as basic as good old Tapatío. Do not hold back on the amount. I’ll then find some smoke, often in the form of toasted sesame oil, which is nice and subtle. Smoked paprika is also good, or maybe a smokey bbq sauce. I’ll then add some apple cider vinegar and often the juice of a lemon. A good shot of ketchup or orange juice adds some sweet to the party. When the amount in the measuring jug is a little more than half a pint, and the little pinky taste test makes me smile and my scalp sweat, I’ll stir well then empty it into one of the containers of the thinly sliced deer meat.
One down, another marinade to go. This could be as simple as a much hotter version of marinade number one, or you can take number two in a totally different direction, which tends to be the way I roll. I’ve done a great Indian spice marinade with cumin, coriander, and garam masala. It totally depends on what you have on hand and what needs using up. I’ve not made a bad one yet!
Dehydrating
I like to put the containers in the fridge for 3 - 4 days so that the marinades find their way into the meat. I then get out the dehydrator, lay the marinated pieces on the racks, close but not touching each other, then dehydrate for between 4 - 5 hours on the jerky setting, until they’re dried but still have some give when bent. Taste test, and if some of the smaller pieces are drying out faster than others, then simply pull them out when you think they’re ready.
These don’t last long in our house, but as the weather can still be hot this time of year, we store the jerky in airtight containers in the fridge.
Photo by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Alan Thomas lives on a hillside with his family in Anderson Valley, where he raises cattle and pigs, putters in the garden, and tries to make the home he built a little more finished every day.
Roses, Orange, and Spice
Fog Eater Cafe Toasts the Season
by Haley Samas-Berry
Autumn illustrates the beauty of change. At the Fog Eater Cafe, our restaurant is expanding to include a wine shop at 45104 Main Street in Mendocino. We will offer bottles of natural and organic wines made locally and elsewhere, with a focus on coastal wines with little intervention. Also available will be a variety of local sundries—some from our cafe (pickle plate and pimento cheese, anyone?) and some other exciting treats which, when paired with natural wine, make for a most delightful picnic basket. Wine, of course, brings us to a wonderful seasonal treat: making your own homemade garden vermouth. This fortified wine is a common cocktail ingredient that is deliciously enjoyed on its own (we like ours over ice with a citrus peel) or employed in classic cocktails like the Manhattan, the Negroni, or the Martinez.
Autumnal Vermouth
Courtesy of Fog Eater Cafe
Ingredients
750ml light body red wine
½ c brandy or Cognac (this fortifies the wine for preservation)
10g mugwort
25g rose petals
10g bitter orange peels
5g wormwood
5g green cardamom pods
10g rosehips
5g allspice
And add a handful of green herbs from your garden that excite you!
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in a large glass container. Let sit for 3 weeks in a dark place, shaking occasionally. Strain herbs using tea strainer. Sweeten to taste with simple syrup or honey (approx. ½ cup).
Serve and enjoy!
Fog Eater Cafe
45104 Main Street, Mendocino
(707) 397-1806 | FogEaterCafe.com
Happy Hour Wed - Sat, 4 - 5pm
Dinner Wed - Sat, 5 - 8:30pm
Brunch Sun, 10 - 2pm
Photo by Annie Spratt courtesy of Unsplash
Gratitude for Summer’s Abundance of Basil
by Torrey Douglass
One of summer’s many blessings is its bounty of basil. Leafy, fragrant, and green as the Italian flag’s emerald stripe, it adds a zesty herbal flourish to everything from starters, salads, meat, fish, and even desserts. My success at growing basil would be generously described as mixed, so I turned to two time-tested experts for their sage (ha!) advice.
Mike and Vickie Brock have been farming their property north of Boonville for over twenty years, and their basil never disappoints. Vickie credits their use of remay, also known as floating row cover—a thin white cloth that protects the plants from frost damage in the cold and sun damage in the heat, and aids moisture retention in the soil.
A relative of mint, basil provides health benefits through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds. In the kitchen, it plays well with other flavors like garlic, mustard, rosemary, and paprika. Mike and Vickie like to use it in their Lemon Basil Chicken for a summer dinner on the grill. Don’t let this season go by without taking full advantage of its abundance of fresh basil.
Lemon Basil Chicken
A note from Mike: This is what we do with home-grown chicken, which is a bit tougher since they run around a bit more than store-bought. It works best with chicken breast, or if you have legs and thighs, we marinate in lemon juice longer.
Juice of 2-3 lemons + some zest
2 large chicken breasts
1 garlic clove
1/3 c olive oil
1 bunch basil, stems removed, leaves chopped
Mix the lemon juice and zest in a bowl, then add the chicken breasts and let it marinate in the fridge for a half hour. Add the olive oil, crushed garlic, and chopped basil leaves, mix well, and marinate for another half hour. Remove the breasts and generously season with salt and pepper, then drizzle with additional olive oil and grill until cooked through. Great with a cold pasta salad or rice pilaf and a fresh summer salad.
Brock Farm
11960 Goodacre Lane (off lower Peachland Road), Boonville
Farmstand open seasonally
Fresh-Caught Rockfish
Richard and Corinne Thornton, owners of Anchor Charter Boats
While there are lots of ways to play at the edges of the ocean here in Mendocino County, there are fewer opportunities to get out on it, away from the land, atop that vast expanse of blue. With Anchor Charter Boats in Noyo Harbor, you not only spend half a day out among the beautiful waves, but you can also come home with dinner. From May through December, the charter company offers half-day trips where guests of all ages and experience levels climb aboard with high hopes of returning with a haul of rockfish.
Many different types of rockfish can be found in the waters beyond Noyo Harbor. Some live along the ocean floor in shallower intertidal areas to depths exceeding 1000 feet, while others live at midwater levels. Many weigh in at 3 lbs, but they can exceed a hefty 40 lbs. The company claims a 90% chance of coming back with a catch. Boat guests can each bring home a maximum of 10. The fish possesses a rich, nutty flavor with just a hint of sweet, making it particularly versatile for all sorts of recipes.
Company owners Richard and Corinne Thornton make the excursions a fun and relaxing outing for everyone. Be sure to dress warmly—summer mornings on the coast are typically in the 40s when it’s all aboard at 6:30am. The bonus? A stunning sunrise over the ocean. The trip is usually 5 hours, and you never know what you’re going to catch. Besides rockfish, you might pull up a halibut, an octopus, a wolf eel, or even a box crab. You might even win the fish pool, where each guest throws in $5 and the biggest haul by weight wins it all.
One hazard of the open water is motion sickness, so Corinne recommends taking a motion sickness pill the evening before and the morning of your voyage. Then prepare to make new friends, enjoy the wide open sea, catch some fish, and possibly fall in love with your new favorite pastime.
Two happy guests display the Rockfish they caught.
Fish & Chips
When Corinne gets a chance to get out of the office and onto the waves, she loves to prepare her rockfish with a classic fish & chips recipe, using the Sea Harvest Fry Mix, available in 5 lb bags at Harvest Market in Fort Bragg.
Ingredients
1.5-2 c Sea Harvest Fry Mix
1 bottle dark beer
Spices and herbs of your choice (oregano, chinese five spice, or garam masala, for example)
2 lbs fresh fish fillets, skin removed
Peanut oil for frying
Instructions
Add Sea Harvest Fry Mix, herbs and spices of your choosing, and beer into a medium bowl. Mix until the consistency of pancake batter. Cut fish into serving sizes, then heat the peanut oil in a deep pan to 375°. Coat fish pieces well with the batter.
Using tongs, slowly add pieces of fish to the oil, allowing the oil to recover its heat after each addition before adding more. Keep the temperature around 350°. Fry until fish pieces are golden brown. Remove fish with a slotted spoon or strainer and drain on a plate with paper towels. Peek inside to confirm the fish is cooked through. Serve with lemon, tartar sauce, and some fresh chips for the ultimate reward after your day on the waves!
Anchor Charter Boats
32450 N. Harbor Dr., Fort Bragg
(707) 964-4550 | AnchorCharterBoats.com
Photo credit for ocean: Elizabeth Lies of unsplash
Other images courtesy of Anchor Charter Boats
Bubbles & Citrus for the Best Summer Sipping
This is perhaps the perfect refreshing sipper for summer afternoons. Tamar Kaye and Crispin Cain of Tamar Distillery whipped up this drink to show off their award-winning Russell Henry Malaysian Lime Gin, which received the “Best Flavored Gin in the World” distinction and Chairman’s Trophy from the 2020 Ultimate Spirits Challenge. The subtle lime zest and mineral flavors balance the slightly spicy ginger beer. The mint keeps everything cool and collected. Preferably sipped barefoot on a porch swing.
Malay Mojito
Muddle in a Collins glass
½ lime cut into wedges
4-5 mint leaves
Then add:
Ice
1-½ oz Russell Henry Malaysian Lime Gin
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
Fill with Reed’s Ginger Beer. Stir, sip, and enjoy!
Tamar Distillery
1110 Bel Arbres Rd, Redwood Valley | (707) 485-2068
Retail hours:Tue-Thurs Noon-5 / Fri Noon-6
Pennyroyal’s Laychee
The First Cheese of Spring
by Torrey Douglass
When I was seven, I asked my parents for a bike. When my daughter was seven, she asked me for an American Girl Doll. When Erika McKenzie-Chapter was seven, she asked her parents for a cow. A live one. That she could milk.
This probably was not such a surprise for Erika’s parents, as they had family members who’d worked in the dairy business for generations. Erika’s great-grandfather operated a cow dairy in Sonoma County, later joined by his son. Her great-aunt also operated a cow dairy in Sonoma County with her husband, and currently a cousin owns a sheep dairy in the Central Valley with his wife. But for a child living in Fairfield, raising livestock was not an option, so Erika was forced to postpone the launch of her dairy career until more suitable conditions could be arranged.
This setback did not deter Erika from her destiny, though it did allow time for her to transition her focus from cows to dairy goats. “As soon as I started working with goats at UC Davis, I was hooked. They have so much personality,” Erika shared. “You have to develop trust with dairy goats, to milk them, to pull babies.” She was in the midst of a dairy science course at Davis when the class paid a visit to Vella Cheese Company, a creamery in Sonoma. Stepping into the facility was a singular delight, a kind of homecoming similar to the sensation of meeting a new-old friend. “I loved the smell,” she recalls. “I have a genuine joy for being around aged cheeses.”
After completing her Bachelor of Animal Science degree, Erika apprenticed at a goat dairy in France before returning to Davis to work on her M.S. in Animal Biology. There she met fellow grad student Sarah Bennett, a viticulture student who had grown up in her family’s winery, Navarro Vineyards of Anderson Valley. Though they were pursuing different fields, they shared a love of sustainable farming—agricultural endeavors that harmonize with the cycles of nature.
Sarah dreamed of integrating her ecological values into a new winery—specifically a combined winery/creamery, home to a herd large enough to produce enough manure for 100% of the vineyard’s fertilization needs. After two years of planning, three years of building, and the arrival of Erika’s 85 goats, the creamery at Pennyroyal Farm opened in May of 2012.
Pennyroyal provided the ideal testing ground for the pair’s agricultural ambitions. Some creameries use hormones or artificial lighting to stagger births so milk is available year round, but Pennyroyal prioritizes seasonality. This means the milk ebbs and flows throughout the year, as does the availability of certain cheeses. In the summer, milk production starts to wane from its peak of 15 pounds per day, and the decline continues once the goat and sheep mamas are bred in the fall. By the end of December, they’re “dried off,” producing no milk as their energy shifts to growing babies. It’s a welcome respite for everyone. “We want to embrace the seasonal nature of animals,” Erika explains. “We have a break in winter so no one gets burned out.”
This “winter maternity leave” lasts through January and into February and is one of Erika’s favorite times of year.She’ll walk into the barn where the pregnant goats are barely visible, buried in the straw and gently groaning from time to time, creating an ongoing soundtrack of maternal contentment she refers to as “the pregnancy hum.”
Then, in mid-February, the seasonal clock clicks forward again and the baby goats and sheep start arriving, and, with them, the milk. As cheesemaking resumes, the first product to hit the shelves is Laychee, a combination goat and sheep cheese that takes just 48 hours from start to finish. The milk arrives at the creamery, it ferments for 24 hours, the whey is drained from the curds, and voilà! Mix in salt (and blueberries if you’re feeling frisky), and it’s ready to eat.
Spring brings the maximum milk production from the sheep, so the proportion of sheep to goat milk is as high as 20% in the early batches of Laychee. This lends the cheese a particularly rich and creamy texture, as sheep milk is higher in fat and protein. It’s just a touch sweeter than the Laychee made later in the year, which expresses more citrusy flavors due to the higher amount of goat milk.
Other Pennyroyal cheeses take longer to mature. Bollie’s Mollies requires four weeks, while harder aged cheeses like Boont Corners, Fratty Corners, and Boonter’s Blue can take two months or more. Laychee, in contrast, is fast and fresh, the perfect spring cheese. Spread it on a slice of fresh bread with chutney, mix it into a creamy salad dressing, or go all out with Erika’s favorite Laychee Cheesecake for the perfect celebration dessert. Its creamy-sweet decadence embodies the jubilation that comes from being alive while the world shakes off winter’s frost and starts pushing green things up from the dirt under the welcome spring sun.
Laychee Cheesecake
by Erika McKenzie-Chapter
I take this cake to get-togethers, make it for holidays, etc. The crust can be modified with choice of spices to make it fit the occasion (i.e., I add nutmeg and cinnamon in the fall, some lemon or orange zest in the spring).
Crust:
10 graham crackers, crushed
6 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Spices to taste
Cheesecake:
2 lbs Pennyroyal’s Laychee cheese
1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp flour
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Heat oven to 350˚. Grease 8” spring-form pan. Using a fork, mix the ingredients for the crust. Pour into pan and tamp down with a spoon or bottom of a glass. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden around the edges. Set aside to cool.
Combine Laychee, sugar, and flour in a stand mixer. Mix on low speed, then add one egg at a time. Add vanilla. Pour batter over the crust. Bake for 12 minutes at 350˚. Then lower temp to 250˚ and bake an additional 45-55 minutes, until the top of the cheesecake is slightly puffy and spongy-firm to the touch. The center should jiggle slightly when the pan is tapped. Let cool, serve, and enjoy!
Pennyroyal Farm, 14930 Highway 128, Boonville
(707) 895-2410 | PennyroyalFarm.com
Open Mon–Sun, 10am–5pm
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her husband, two children, and a constantly revolving population of pets and farm animals.
Cattail Pollen
The distinctive velvet brown hotdog shapes of the cattail are hard to miss in the ponds and wetland meadows of Northern California. Considered a survival plant, in that most of the plant is edible including the green tender shoots, green flowers, and roots, the cattail offers an unexpected bounty. And for a very short window in early spring, the male flowers release a pollen that can be used as a flour substitute.
To harvest, grab a pollen coated flower and give it a sturdy shake over a container or clean brown paper bag. A handful of flowers will give you a healthy amount of pollen. Transferred to a clean jar, it will keep well for weeks. Use the pollen to replace half the amount of flour in your favorite baked good recipe. Nutritious and delicious, these biscuits are best eaten warm from the oven and drizzled in butter and honey.
Cattail Pollen Drop Biscuits
Preheat oven to 475°. Whisk together in a bowl:
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup cattail pollen
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Combine in another bowl
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until fully combined, but don’t over mix. It will be very thick and sticky. Use a spoon to scoop golf ball-sized dollops of batter onto a cookie sheet. Bake until bottoms are a deep golden brown, about 9 minutes. Eat hot.
Photo by Jim Morefield from Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Call of the Kumquat
Cally Dym of the Little River Inn whipped up this recipe to sip on brisk spring nights. While kumquats may be thought of as a holiday fruit, they are only really kicking off in Mendocino County in the early spring. These bite-sized bitter-sweet citrus are the perfect addition to this delicious cocktail.
Call of the Kumquat Cocktail
For the cocktail:
2 oz Russell Henry Gin (dark if you have it)
1 oz pickled kumquat brine, recipe below (or ½ brine, ½ vermouth)
Dash bitters (cardamom or orange if you have it)
For the rim:
½ star anise
4 pink peppercorns
1 Tbsp sugar
Finely grind star anise in spice grinder. Add peppercorns and grind again. Add sugar and pulse once or twice, partially breaking down the sugar crystals.
To assemble cocktail:
Moisten the lip of a martini glass and dip in sugar mixture. Cut one pickled kumquat in half and place in the glass. Add gin, brine, and bitters to a shaker with ice. Shake gently and pour into glass.
For the pickled kumquats (per pint jar):
1 cup washed kumquats (or as many as you can smash into the jar—they’ll shrink)
2/3 cup vinegar (I use ½ cider and ½ fig)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 star anise
½ tsp pink peppercorns
4-5 cardamom pods
¼ tsp fennel seeds
2 ginger coins (no need to peel)
Following safe canning procedures, bring vinegar, water, and sugar to a boil. Add kumquats and simmer a few minutes until glossy. Place ginger and spices in the jar. Add kumquats and pour brine over. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Wait one month to use, then store in the fridge after opening.
Pickles and cocktail mostly stolen from Kate Ireland of Peck of Pickles. Queen of Cocktails, Virginia Miller, makes a version with bourbon and spicy pineapple bitters.
Little River Inn is open for lodging, take-out dining, and golf within full adherence to Covid safety measures. To learn more or to hear about their upcoming Purple Urchin Festival, visit littleriverinn.com or call (707) 937-5942.
Photos by Brendan McGuigan.
McFadden Garlic
Grown to Help Sustain this Family Farm and Vineyard Year-Round
by Fontaine McFadden
Fifty years is a long time for experimentation. But in the northwest corner of Potter Valley, my dad, Guinness McFadden, has been doing just that. In 1969, he enrolled in Stanford Business School but quickly decided against a future of pin-striped suits and city offices, and instead opted for life in the country, where he would plant a vineyard. He found the ideal location when he arrived in Potter Valley in 1970. The only problem was that everyone said it was too cold to grow grapes commercially. But if you know Guinness, you’ll know that he is a man of his own mind. Not one to be dissuaded by silly warnings and cautionary tales of defeat, he paves his own way and does things in classic Frank Sinatra form, “my way.” Undeterred by the naysayers, he went ahead and planted 23 acres of grapes, to be followed in successive years by some 140 more. And boy, are we happy that he did.
Over the years, he planted and tended to the vineyards, trying many varieties to see which made the best wines. Some of his experiments worked, while others didn’t. We learned that Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel all thrive in Potter Valley. Cabernet, on the other hand, is better left to Napa County.
Soon after planting the first vines, it became evident that attracting workers might be a problem. Potter Valley is miles north of Napa and Sonoma counties, and therefore crops mature later. By the time the grapes were ready for harvest, many pickers had gone south for the winter. Guinness decided to develop enterprises that provided year-round work, where people could put down roots and find stability outside of migratory labor patterns. So back to the drawing board he went. Over the years, he has experimented with wild rice, dried herbs, a fresh vegetable CSA, garlic braids, bay leaf wreaths, beef, barley, wheat, grape vine wreaths, dried beans, blackberry jam, and sun-dried tomatoes, to name just a few. The result of all that testing is a curated variety of specialty items that provides year-round work for the people who call this place home.
In the late summer, between suckering and harvest, we make Garlic Braids. After harvest, we start up with Bay Leaf Wreaths, Garlands, and Swags, which keep us very busy through the New Year. In the springtime, we plant culinary herbs which we later pick, dry, and bottle. Rounding out the lineup is our wild rice and the newest addition to our family of products, dried speckled bayo beans, a nutrient-dense varietal that is as rare as it is delicious. We’ve been organic since day one and became formally certified by California Certified Organic Farmers in 1991.
To further diversify activities around the farm, and to make sure there’s always something to fix, improve, or tinker with, Guinness built a hydroelectric power plant on the Russian River in 1983, followed by the installation of 300 solar panels in 2003.
All these facets—the combination of products we make, and the way in which we go about doing it—set us apart. This is a unique and magical corner of the world in which we are grateful to live. We strive to be good stewards of the land, honest producers for our customers, and reliable employers to our team and their families. The average tenure on the farm is about 20 years. We’ve got a thriving ecosystem of flora and fauna, and we’ve built a great network of customers who buy from us year after year. So, I think you could say the experiment has succeeded. And I couldn’t be prouder to be part of the family business, carrying on these great traditions.
Our Famous Garlic Spaghetti
Legend has it that this recipe comes from my dad’s dad, Jim McFadden. It’s been a staple in our home for as long as I can remember. Every year on our birthdays, we got to choose our dinner menu, and without fail my brothers and I would always choose garlic spaghetti. Comfort food at its finest, it’s best served with a big loaf of crunchy bread that you can dredge in the bottom of the bowl to sop up all that buttery, garlicky goodness.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 lb spaghetti
2 peeled, chopped heads of garlic (heads, not cloves)
½ lb butter
2 or 3 Tbsp dried parsley
Lots of Parmesan cheese, granulated not shredded
Salt and pepper
Instructions
While the pasta’s cooking, melt the butter and mix in the chopped garlic and dried parsley, but do not let it boil. When the pasta is done (8 minutes or so), strain through a colander, then add to a serving bowl. Immediately douse the pasta with the parmesan cheese and mix thoroughly. Pour the garlic and butter sauce over the pasta and garnish with a little more parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Order wine, garlic, herbs, and other McFadden products on their website, bluequail.com. You can also visit their tasting room at 13275 South Highway 101, No 5, Hopland | (707) 744-8463
Fontaine McFadden grew up on the farm in Potter Valley. She was away for fifteen years before making her way back home with her husband, Brian, to work for the family business. When she’s not working on marketing, branding, or operations at the farm, you can find her playing with their brand new son, Declan, or enjoying a glass of wine with friends and family.
Farm to Pizza
Café Beaujolais & Wavelength Farm
by Holly Madrigal
You may have heard of the farm to table movement, highlighting the connection between a delicious meal, where it was grown, and the farmers that grew it, but have you ever heard about Farm to Pizza? Wavelength Farm and Café Beaujolais are pioneering just that.
Kelan and Carly Daniel are part owners of Wavelength Farm in Manchester, on the east side of Highway One. Kelan’s enthusiasm is infectious when he speaks about his farm. “Our farm is coming alive,” Kelan says. “Even though we’re not in the sun belt, we planted five hundred different fruit trees—citrus, plums, pluots, and apples. We are really digging in this year, solidifying our roots so that we can branch out with a ton of diversity.”
Their farming methods are both old-fashioned and forward-thinking. He elaborates, “We’re working to recreate the intensive grazing that used to be accomplished by herds of elk. Now we are doing that with sheep and goats. Our chickens are producing manure to fertilize the crops,” Kelan adds. “And my wife is an amazing, badass farmer. She studied regenerative agriculture at the University of Vermont. This is her eighth season doing this work.” They grow several annual crops such as beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, and squash. “We grow staples, but the purple version, the heirloom version, the most flavorful version. We do things differently,” he says. And because Kelan had worked as a chef for many years with Chez Panisse and other kitchens that focused on ultra-fresh cuisine, he cultivates specifically for certain flavors.
Kelan studied metalworking, woodworking, and landscaping in Santa Cruz, and he is still a novice to farming. He, Carly, and friends Kelsey LaCroix and Austin Carlson are learning constantly. “I have noticed over the past few years a whole new wave of young people choosing to make a life here, people in their 20s and 30s settling around Point Arena and Mendocino. We are part of this, and we learn from the work they are doing at Oz Farm, Nye Ranch, and Fortunate Farm,” he adds. “We love to collaborate with the restaurants that want to highlight the unique flavors we are growing.”
Chef Julian Lopez and his parents, Peter and Melissa, bought Café Beaujolais four years ago. They dove into the local landmark, retaining the high standards of quality cuisine while bringing in fresh and innovative ideas. In addition to the French American menu in the dining room, they began selling pizza, as well as their fresh baked bread, out of the Brickery window in the rear garden. The massive brick oven is nearly thirty years old, built by famed oven maker, Alan Scott. Utilizing the blistering heat of the oven, Julian has experimented to get the perfect dough, the most satisfying chew, and the most delicious flavors.
Julian has made deep connections with local farmers for both the restaurant menu and the Brickery. “When I roast these vegetables at their peak of freshness,” says Julian, “it adds a complexity of flavor that you just can’t get with other methods.”
Julian and his dad, Peter, had reached out to Lavi, Kelan’s dad, to redesign their large garden seating area at Café Beaujolais. Lavi is a true renaissance man—a painter, designer, and grower specializing in South African and Australian plants. He was able to weave these beautiful, drought-tolerant, exotics into the Café Beaujolais landscape, working in tandem with Julian’s restoration of the raised beds of vegetables and beehives.
Both families had grown up in Los Angeles but moved north seeking a different lifestyle. They all became friends, and the Farm to Pizza idea was born. Lavi designed a farmstand outside of the Brickery, built by repurposing old-growth redwood from salvaged barn flooring. Kelan and Carly come twice a week to fill it with whatever is freshest in season. Wavelength Farm values this relationship. “Peter became one of our biggest supporters,” says Kelan. “He appreciates the beautiful diversity in our soil, in our crops. These flavors come through when our produce is served at the restaurant.”
“Mendocino is a somewhat older community, but I have found that locals are hungry for new ideas,” Julian explains. “This farmstand allows us to collaborate with our friends, bring attention to their farm, and solidify the connection between our food and where it comes from.”
Kelan and Julian discuss the “Pizza of the Week” that uses farmstand ingredients to best effect. The BLT Pizza is a regular favorite, featuring wild boar bacon, heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, and “pizza greens”—a mixture of collards, chicory, and radicchio—topped off with fresh mozzarella and dusted with pecorino cheese. A visitor can stop by the farmstand, grab the ingredients for the Pizza of the Week, and bring it to the window to have it cooked right there, or the ingredients can be purchased to make the pizza at home. As the seasons change, the farm now has lots of winter squash, so the menu will soon boast roasted butternut pizza with toasted spices.
Collaborative relationships have helped carry all of them through this pandemic. “When this all first started, we partnered with Erica and Haley of Fog Eater Café and let them sell their pies here. It helped them make it through until we all figured out the outdoor dining,” Julian explains. “We are feeding more people than ever from the Brickery and the walk-up window for Café Beaujolais, but it has been challenging because the income is not the same as from the dine-in restaurant.”
Julian is constantly striving for what is new and innovative. His love of craft breweries has led Beaujolais to develop a collection of 120 different beers, and “we keep these constantly rotating,” he explains. “Most places will have their beer sitting around, but ours is rarely more than two months old.” A good friend always makes it a point to stop for pizza when in Mendocino, and her method is just to ask for an IPA. The house picks one for her. She has never received the same one twice, and she has never been disappointed.
Julian does not limit his fresh ideas to the beer selection. The family is working on sprucing up another structure on the property into The Waiting Room—part coffee shop with WiFi, part place to enjoy a cozy glass of wine or pint of beer before dining in Café Beaujolais. “It is beautiful in there,” says Julian. The space is wrapped in warm redwood walls with a wood stove to keep it cozy. It will be a great addition to Mendocino Village once we can safely gather indoors.
Until we are able to snuggle up again, we can still enjoy the outdoor offerings at this culinary delight. The beautiful gardens designed by Lavi create outdoor “rooms” to safely enjoy the pizza. The raised beds overflowing with kale, tomatoes, and various edibles are tended by Julian and his friends, Martin and Andres. Their three beehives buzz with activity as the residents zip out to pollinate the garden before returning to their community hub. All this activity reminds me of the friendship and collaboration between Café Beaujolais and Wavelength Farm, sharing their gifts with the rest of the hive.
DIY Pizza Dough
If you have some time on your hands and a hankering for the zen exercise that is kneading dough, give this recipe a try. Stop by the farm stand at Café Beaujolais for some locally grown toppings, grab your marinara sauce of choice and favorite cheeses, and you’re good to go!
Ingredients
1 packet active yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2/3 c all purpose flour
2/3 c fine cornmeal
Add the yeast and sugar to the warm (not hot!) water, stir gently, and let it rest for 5 minutes. Combine dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, then add the yeast mixture and the olive oil. Mix roughly then transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a rough ball and place it into a clean bowl. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top, then move the bowl in a circular motion so the dough rolls around to gather a light covering of the oil. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and place in a warm area for an hour. Once the dough has doubled in size, knead lightly and roll out into a circle. Pizza sheets are great but a cookie sheet will work just as well. Be sure to oil it lightly first, and bake your pizza at 425˚F.
Café Beaujolais, 961 Ukiah Street, Mendocino, CA
Open Wed to Sun 11:30am - 7pm. Brickery Pizza open Wed to Sun 11:30am - 5pm.
(707) 937-5614 | Cafébeaujolais.com
Wavelength Farm produce can be found at Fort Bragg Farmers Market, CSA, and multiple wonderful restaurants. (310) 433-4604 | wavelengthfarm.com
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She’s fortunate to enjoy her meaningful work as the director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.
Toyon
California’s Christmas Berry
by Torrey Douglass
Toyon berries (or pomes) can be found along the entire California coast, and its nickname, “Christmas berry,” is well earned. It boasts festive small, bright red berries October through January, and at one point was so popular for foragers making wild-sourced holiday wreaths that the state passed a law prohibiting their collection on public lands. Toyon is a shrub, but it can grow quite large—up to 8 feet in chaparral, scrubland, and mixed-oak woodland habitats—and its drought-tolerance, fire resistance (if healthy), and ability to grow in different types of soil make it an ideal choice for erosion control and pollinator support.
The scientific name for Toyon is Heteromeles arbutifolia. Heteromeles means “different apple” in Greek, while arbutifolia is Latin for “strawberry tree leaves,” since the oblong leaves with serrated edges mirror those on strawberry plants. The berries are not particularly tasty on their own—mealy, acidic, and astringent. But you can coax a gentle sweetness from them through either drying or boiling. They can then be ground into flour and added to trail mix if dried, or, if boiled, simmered into a berry cider, added to pancake batter, or made into a kind of wild equivalent to cranberry sauce.
Another option for utilizing these winter gems is a sweet and chewy fruit leather. Chef and wild food expert, Alicia Funk, uses the following recipe for her Toyon berry fruit leather. Try it out for a yummy foraged snack.
Toyon Berry Fruit Leather
4 cups fresh Toyon berries
½ cup water
Lemon juice
Manzanita sugar, agave or honey
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Collect berries in the winter, then rinse and remove stems. Place in a pot, cover with water, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add desired sweetener, lemon juice, and spices to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes, then blend through a food processor or blender until smooth. Pour a thin layer—about 1/8” thick—onto a baking sheet. Let dry in the oven, food dehydrator, or place in the sun covered with cheesecloth. Cut into strips and enjoy!
Find more recipes from Alicia Funk at The Living Wild Project | LivingWild.org
Photo by docentjoyce from Los Osos, U.S.A., CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Tuber Tonic Toddy
The Perfect Cold Season Warm-Up
Turmeric had a moment a few years back, when its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits made it all the rage. But working this distinctive spice into your diet can require some creativity. Enter Tuber Tonic, a combination of potent natural ingredients, including turmeric, and made right here in Mendocino County. For devoted tea fans like myself, this signature product, created by Mendocino Tea Company, serves up a flavor-bursting, caffeine-free pick-me-up that boosts immunity and overall resilience with the help of organic turmeric, ginger, elderberries, cinnamon, and black pepper. Combine this vigorous infusion with drambuie and top it off with a cinnamon stick for a warming winter cocktail to spice up the season.
First, make the Tuber Tonic by adding two tablespoons to a quart of boiling water. Remove from the heat and let it sit for a minimum of 10 minutes up to all day (this magical mix will not become bitter). For the toddy, combine 6 ounces of hot Tuber Tonic with 1 ounce of Drambuie and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Pull up a chair by the fire, throw on whatever music soothes your soul, and sip solo or with some friends for a sociable occasion to keep winter’s chill at bay.
Purchase Tuber Tonic from Mendocino Tea Company at MendocinoTea.com.
Summer Sipping
Make a Tasty Cider from Manzanita’s “Little Apples”
by Torrey Douglass
For years I only appreciated manzanita berries for their color—ruby red, pea-sized pearls that make festive homemade tree garlands come holiday time. They start to ripen in late July and August, a cheerful splash of red on the forest’s edge where manzanitas grow, a joyful outburst of pretty as nature does her bling thing.
So I was surprised when, on a walk with friends, their forest-savvy daughter ran up to a manzanita tree and began snacking. My friend assured me they have a sweet-tart flavor and starchy texture, and as long as you avoid champing down on the seeds, the “little apples” (manzanita’s meaning in Spanish) are a safe and tasty find. Like all fruit with fleshy skin and a single seed stored within a central “stone,” the manzanita berries are technically called drupes. They brighten their branches well into fall, just when critters like deer, racoon, quail, and coyote are foraging to fatten up for the cold months.
Besides the carbohydrates that calorie-hungry animals are craving before winter, manzanita berries are rich in Vitamin C and potassium. But like regular apple seeds, their pips contain hydrocyanic acid, or cyanide, which is dangerous if consumed in quantity. So be sure to spit out the seeds if eating the berries straight from the tree, or, if you’re using them in a recipe, be careful to just bruise the fruit to release its flavor—don’t crush or blend since that could break open the seeds. As long as you exercise a little caution, you can easily concoct a refreshing summer sipper when poured over ice (front porch not included).
Manzanita Berry Punch
Collect manzanita berries and wash thoroughly—putting them in a colander and gently stirring them by hand while running water over them works well. Using a mortar and pestle, gently break up the fruit while being careful to keep the stones whole. Some people remove the stones at this stage, but it is not necessary.
In a 4:1 ratio of water to berries, heat water to just below boiling. (Don’t boil the water, as adding boiled water to the fruit can destroy the vitamins.) Add your sweetener of choice to the water at this stage. Honey dissolves nicely, but cane sugar works as well. You can also add a few sprigs of mint as the water heats, but remove before the next step so the flavor isn’t too strong.
In a clean container like a carboy or other large, glass jug, add the berries and then pour the heated water in. Let sit for 24 hours. Strain the juice into a different jug. Taste to test for sweetness and adjust if needed (a little goes a long way). Refrigerate and use within a week.
For a bubbly treat, simmer the juice to reduce it down to a quarter of its volume, then add the concentrate to carbonated water.
Photo by John Rusk available under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_d_rusk/17998226283/