Author: Robyn Rominger

Prime Rib

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Prime rib is a favorite food in many families, including mine. We enjoy eating this tender cut of beef, particularly during the holidays and other special occasions.

Prime Rib

Serves 14-16 people

Ingredients:

1 standing rib roast of beef, 10-12 pounds

3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

Seasoning salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Make small slits all over the roast with a knife and insert garlic slivers. Rub roast all over with seasoning salt. Place on a rack in roasting pan, with fat side on top, and roast for 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and roast the meat for 16 minutes per pound (about 2 hours), or until a meat thermometer reaches 135-140 degrees F for a medium-rare (pink) center. Remove beef from oven, loosely cover with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. Carving from the outside to the center, everyone gets a slice done just to his or her liking. Tip: Serve with horseradish cream or your favorite chutney.

Beef Burgundy

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Beef burgundy, also called beef bourguignon, has its roots in the historic Burgundy region of France. This region, located southeast of Paris, is known for its wine and architecture, as well as for its white Charolais cattle that produce distinctively tasty beef. While this dish started out as peasant food that depended on slow-cooking tougher cuts of meat, eventually it was elevated to haute cuisine status that was served in expensive Parisian hotels. It was also featured by famous American cookbook author and TV chef Julia Child. While it’s classically served over boiled potatoes or pasta, my version includes serving it over a bed of hot, cooked rice—I live on a rice farm, what more can I say? I guess that would be, bon appetit!

Beef Burgundy

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups white rice

3 cups water

1 pound beef steak, sliced into 1-inch-long strips

Drizzle of vegetable oil

2 cups sliced onions

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups sliced carrots

½ cup Burgundy or other dry red wine

1 ¾ cups beef broth

2 teaspoons seasoning salt

Dash of thyme and/or dried parsley

2 cups sliced bell pepper (or celery)

2 tablespoons corn starch

¼ cup water

Directions:

To cook rice, boil water in a saucepan, add rice; then reduce heat to low, cover and let it simmer until rice soaks up the water, 15-20 minutes. As rice is cooking, heat oil in a large pan and brown the beef. Add onions and garlic, stir and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots, wine, broth, seasoning salt and herbs. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Mix in the bell pepper, cover and cook another 5 minutes. Dissolve the corn starch in ¼ cup water and add to beef mixture. Continue cooking and stirring for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Serve over hot cooked rice. Makes 4-6 servings.

Scottish Shortbread Cookies

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‘Tis the season to bake cookies for Christmas. Here’s a recipe for Scottish shortbread cookies. These buttery-delicious cookies have a crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth texture and are very easy to make with common ingredients. The beauty of it is that you can vary the taste of these shortbread cookies by adding different flavors. I like to use vanilla, but other options include lemon or lavender extract. Also, you can sprinkle white sugar on top, or add a festive touch with red sugar sprinkles or another color. I’ve always been a fan of shortbread cookies–perhaps it’s due in part to my mostly-Scottish heritage. No matter what your background is, I hope that you enjoy baking–and eating–these as much as I do.

Scottish Shortbread

Ingredients:

2 ½ sticks butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vanilla (or other flavoring such as lemon or lavender extract)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cornstarch (or rice flour)

¼ cup white sugar (or colored sugar sprinkles)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine butter, powdered sugar, sugar, salt and vanilla in a bowl and beat on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in flour and cornstarch, and beat until well-blended.

Press the dough into a 13” x 9” baking pan. Pierce the dough all over with a fork to make a decorative design; this allows the melting butter to release steam, thereby preventing the dough from puffing up. Bake until crust is a light golden color, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven; take a knife and cut through the dough to make cookie bars. Sprinkle the white (or colored) sugar all over the top. Place back in oven and continue baking for 5 more minutes. Remove the baking pan to a rack and allow the cookie bars to cool until slightly warm. Makes 2 dozen cookie bars.

Butternut Squash Soup

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This is a classic, easy-to-prepare soup that tastes delicious and warms you up on a cool, autumn day.

Ingredients:

1 medium to large butternut squash, cut in half and seeded

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons ginger

6 cups chicken broth, divided

1 teaspoon salt

A few sprigs of chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place cut side of butternut squash down on a baking dish with half-inch of water. Bake about one hour until the squash can be easily pierced with a fork. Let it cool, then scoop out the pulp and set aside.

Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and ginger, stir and cook until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the squash along with 4 cups of chicken broth, bring to a boil then simmer, stirring often for about 10 minutes. Puree with a handheld blender. Add the remaining 2 cups of chicken stock and salt. Heat it through for about 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley.

Tip: Serve with warm, crusty bread and butter.

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Pumpkin Bread

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Pumpkin bread is a delicious and festive way to enjoy the fall season. This recipe makes two tasty loaves–enough to share with someone special!

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup butter

1 15-ounce can pumpkin

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

3 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup chopped nuts

2/3 cup raisins

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two loaf pans, 9 x 5 x 3 inches.

Mix sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add pumpkin, water and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder. Add nuts and raisins.

Pour into pans and bake 70 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool pans on a wire rack about 10 minutes, then gently loosen the loaves from the pan with a sharp knife or spatula. Remove from pans and let cool before slicing.

Pan-Fried Fish

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Our family friend Wesley went fishing in Bodega Bay, California and caught this ling cod in the Pacific Ocean. I fried it up in a cast-iron skillet, using a recipe that my mother always used whenever our family caught fish during our frequent camping-and-fishing trips. I grew up in a boating family and we enjoyed catching fish and cooking them in a cast-iron skillet on our propane camp stove. We had a red fiberglass boat named the Red Snapper. We would launch our boat and go fishing (and water-skiing!) in various lakes throughout Northern California. My dad taught my sister Ann and me how to clean the fish, and my mom (a native of Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, The Musky Capital of the World) showed us how to cook it. It’s a simple recipe that tastes delicious. This is down-home cooking–even when you’re away from home!

Ingredients:

Fish filets, 1 pound

Cornmeal, 1 2/3 cups

Flour, 1/3 cup

A dash of seasoning salt

2 Eggs, beaten (optional)

Water

Oil (I used rice bran oil for this batch of fish, but any vegetable oil will do)

Mix flour, cornmeal and seasoning salt together in one bowl. In another bowl, mix eggs with water. Heat oil in a skillet. Dip each fish filet in the egg/water mixture (or just plain water), then dredge both sides of the filet in the cornmeal/flour/seasoning salt mixture. Place in skillet and cook until golden brown on each side; the fish should be opaque (not translucent like when it’s raw) when you nudge it with a spatula. Remove each filet from pan; place on paper-towel-covered platter that will absorb excess oil.

Serve with tartar sauce (made by mixing together mayonnaise and pickle relish in a small bowl). Fried fish tastes great with sides of rice and steamed vegetables, crusty French bread and your favorite beverage.

Zucchini Bread

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This is my mother’s recipe for zucchini bread and there are three generations of my family who can vouch for how incredible this tastes.

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup butter

3 cups shredded zucchini (about 3 medium)

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

3 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup chopped nuts

2/3 cup raisins

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two loaf pans, 9 x 5 x 3 inches.

Mix sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add zucchini, water and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and baking powder. Add nuts and raisins.

Pour into pans and bake 60-70 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool pans on a wire rack about 10 minutes, then gently loosen the loaves from the pan with a sharp knife or spatula. Remove from pans and let cool before slicing.

Our Guard is up for the Guinda Fire

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There is wildfire burning nearby and we’re keeping a close eye on it from our farm north of Winters, Calif. It’s called the Guinda Fire, and it has thus far burned more than 2,000 acres of rangeland in the Capay Valley, according to our 27-year-old son Justin, who recently became a volunteer firefighter in Winters. Some of our friends who live in the area have been evacuated. The temperature reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit today with a gusty north wind. The fire is spreading south and southwest, toward Lake Berryessa.

Tomato-fed Deer

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These blacktailed deer are just some of the wildlife roaming around on our ranch. These does were caught grazing on our young tomato plants. They also eat the forage in the surrounding hills. Springtime means babies and we continually see fawns tagging along with their mothers. The does and their offspring typically travel in groups for safety. The other day we saw a fawn curled up underneath a tree while its mother was grazing nearby. Many different wildlife species live around here, including endangered and threatened species such as golden eagles and tricolored blackbirds. We are definitely into wildlife-friendly farming.

Getting Ready for the 4-H Spring Show

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My son John is going to show his market lamb at the Yolo County 4-H Spring Show on Friday. He has been working hard to tame his female lamb, “Midnight,” who will be entered in the Natural Color category. Natural-colored sheep produce natural-colored wool, in contrast to white wool that is dyed. They can also be meat animals. The sheep show is this Friday at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland, California. The kids use halters to train their lambs to walk around in the show ring, but during the show, the lambs are not on halters, so it can be a little tricky to keep the animals under control. And there’s always the possibility that the judge will handle the lamb, so each kid needs to control their animal so it won’t try to escape. Wouldn’t you know, John’s very first lamb is supersized, already weighing over 120 pounds–hopefully she won’t try to bolt!