Recipes by Chef Ruben Gomez

This recipe was featured at the Hike, Taste, Picnic event.

No-bake Oat Bars

Makes 20 - 24 bars

Adapted from The Cookie Bible

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Grease an 8- by 8-inch baking dish using the butter wrappers. Add vanilla and brown sugar to melted butter and stir until well combined. Stir in oats and cook 2 to 3 minutes until completely combined. Press half of oats evenly into baking dish.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. When chocolate is melted, stir in peanut butter until combined and creamy.

Pour chocolate mixture over oats in baking dish. Crumble remaining oats over the chocolate and press lightly. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before slicing into bars.

I’d like to show you how I appropriate recipes to fit my needs. In this case the recipe is for a simple oat bar recipe. I believe that you gain not only confidence but also knowledge of how to use ingredients. Here are the additions I made to this recipe.

½ cup almonds sliced, toasted

½ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

¾ cup dried apricots, sliced thin

I added the almonds and pumpkin seeds to the oat mixture right before you spread the oats onto the baking dish. The apricots where added when the chocolate is layered in. You can also use other dried fruit, or citrus zest, and most nuts work well with this recipe.

These recipes were featured at Celebrate Earth Day in Green Valley

Farro Salad with Grilled Spring Onions and Sorrel

I have been asked “How do you get the flavor you get from your recipes?”  Well, outside  of the special powers from my magic hands, I believe in magic of reinforcement of flavors in recipes. This means try to use the basic flavor in a recipe twice on the same ingredient. For example to cook the faro I make a vegetable stock from the same ingredients used to season the faro. This theory of repeating and reinforcement of flavors works with many different recipes and is worth the effort in flavor and utility.

1             carrot

1             leek-cut where the green and the white separate and save both

1             fennel- cut where the bulb and the tops start and save both     

                the stems of the herbs used in this recipe

2 qt, 1c    water

1½ c        farro

8               green onion-grilled and cut into ½ inch pieces

6               sorrel leaves

1 Tbsp      lemon zest

1 cup        feta cheese

¼ cup       lemon juice

1/3 cup     cider vinegar

1 Tbsp      garlic

½ cup       extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp         thyme- leaves only

½ tsp        rosemary –leaves only

For the vegetable stock

Take the carrot, the green of the leek, and the fennel tops into a bowl. Please make sure all ingredients are thoroughly rinsed before they go in the pot. Cover the vegetables with cold water and bring to a boil. Once the stock comes to a boil, skim any scum that rises to the top, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let simmer slowly for 45 -60 minutes, and then strain saving the stock and discarding the solids.

Cooking the farro

Dice the fennel and the white of the leeks and sauté in a small amount of olive oil, over medium heat. Once the vegetables begin to sweat ,add the farro to the pot then add 3 cups of vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Once the farro boils, reduce the heat to simmer and cover. Allow the farro to cook for 18-22 minutes or until to stock is consumed and the farro has cooked through. Spread the farro out on a sheetpan, and allow to cool.

Making the salad

In a large bowl mix the lemon zest, lemon juice. vinegar, garlic, thyme, rosemary;then drizzle the olive oil into the mix and season with salt and pepper. Cut the sorrel into thin strips(chiffonade). Add the sorrel to the dressing then mix in the rice to coat then mix in the green onions and the feta. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

 Asparagus and Ginger Puree

2 cups               asparagus

½ cup                leeks-white only cut into half moons and rinsed completely

1 Tbsp               garlic-minced

1 cup                 apple-chopped and cored

1 cup                 potato- peeled and chopped

1 quart              vegetable stock

1 Tbsp               olive oil

2 tsp                  thyme- leaves only

                          Salt and pepper to taste

Take the leeks and sauté in the oil; allow the leeks to cook slowly until clear. Do not let the leeks brown. Add the garlic, apple, potato and vegetable stock, and cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Once the potatoes are cooked through, bring the soup to a boil and add the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Remove the soup from the heat immediately. Now while being extremely careful place the hot soup into a blender, I do this by placing the blender cup in the sink and ladling the hot soup into the blender. Remove the blender cup from the sink and place on the blender. Place the lid on the blender and open the top to allow hot gas to escape. Place a towel over the lid and begin to slowly to liquefy. Once the soup is pureed completely, season with salt and pepper. This soup is quite wonderful hot or can be served cold.

Citrus Salad with Pickled Red Onion and Arugula

This salad is very simple and refreshing. I use a variety of citrus for this salad but you can use one or two kinds of oranges as well. The best and simplest way to pickle the onions is the day before in the fridge.

1             Grapefruit

2             Cara Cara oranges

2             Murcott Mandarins

2             Blood Oranges

1 qt.        arugula

½           red onion- sliced into thin half-moons

1 tsp       pomegranate molasses

½ tsp     salt

½ tsp     sugar

2 Tbsp    rice wine vinegar

2             garlic cloves –minced

1/3 cup   extra virgin olive oil

¼  cup    red wine vinegar

               Salt and Pepper to taste

For the pickled onions

Place the onions in a bowl with the rice wine vinegar, pomegranate molasses, ½  a teaspoon each of  salt and pepper. Stir the onions to coat and separate well with the pickle. Let refrigerate overnight for next day use

For the salad

Begin the salad by cutting the peels off the citrus. I do this with a serrated knife, cutting ends, top and bottom to create a stable base to cut the peels. Then I slice one strip of the peel. Then I follow that cut by cutting inside the pith, following the first cut I made, until I reach the peeled end around the orange. When done peeling all oranges, cut them into wheels, going from one end to the other. I prefer big wheels which are as thick as a finger. Place all oranges in a big bowl, add the garlic, pickled onion, arugula, olive oil, vinegar together and mix gently. Now finish the salad with salt and pepper.

Serves 4

This recipe was featured on the Iron Horse Holiday Greeting video.

Brussels Sprouts Casserole

This is a wonderful recipe that makes a wonderful entrée or can be doubled or more to serve as a side dish for your holiday table. I try to always use fresh Brussels sprouts. I just clean the outside leaves and blanch them until tender in boiling salty water.

3           cups      Brussels sprouts

1 ½       cups      slab bacon, cut into crouton sized dice

½          cup        Iron Horse Chardonnay

½          cup        yellow onion

2            tsp         garlic minced

1           Tbsp     honey

½          Tbsp     thyme chopped fine

1           Tbsp     olive oil

1           Tbsp     bacon drippings (optional)

½          cup        bread crumbs

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven at 5oo degrees F. to begin. Place the bacon in a sauté pan with half a cup of water and bring to a boil. You will continue to cook the bacon after the water is gone and until the bacon is cooked through and crispy. While the bacon crisps make sure to stir the bacon in the pan to cook evenly. Set the bacon on a paper towel to absorb the fat, and if you’d like reserve the drippings.

Preheat a large sauté pan on a medium high flame. Place the oil and bacon drippings to the sauté pan and then add the sprouts. Allow the spouts to brown a bit before stirring them. You can flip one or two of them to judge how quickly they will cook. Golden brown is what we are looking for, not black.  Add the onion and bacon and continue to stir until the onions begin to clear, and then add the garlic, and the thyme.  Once the garlic begins to sweat add the chardonnay, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the flame to simmer for a few minutes, this allows s the flavors to blend and the wine to reduce. Taste the sprouts; are they seasoned? Are they tender? If so then they can be placed in a casserole and topped with breadcrumbs. Place in the oven and bake until the crumbs are golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot.

These recipes were featured at the August 2, 2009 "Chef's Table" Wine Club Event.

I use this recipe as my go to recipe when I have a great ingredient like squash blossoms, green beans, or soft shell crab. I also have used this batter in combination with panko crumbs with great results.

Sparkling Wine Tempura Batter

2 cups Corn Starch

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ bottle Sparkling Wine

½ tsp baking powder

½   Tbsp Spanish smoked paprika

1 Tbsp kosher salt

½ Tbsp ground black pepper

Soda water as needed

Pour the sparkling wine into a large mixing bowl. Make sure the bowl is large enough, so that you can easily place and turn your ingredient in the batter. Slowly place the flour, then the corn starch, and finally the baking powder. Mix until completely blended well and there are no lumps. Blend in the spices and taste for salt. Next check the thickness of the batter by dipping in a wooden spoon. I like it to coat well, but not be too thick.  If necessary, add a small amount of soda water to thin the batter. If the batter is too thin add a small bit of corn starch.

Sparkling wine Tempura Beans

1 pound fresh string bean tops removed

1 sparkling wine tempura

Frying oil as needed. I prefer grapeseed or rice bran oil

1 Heavy high sided pot to deep fry in

Salt and pepper to taste

3 bamboo skewer

Place enough oil in your pot to cover beans to fry, they must be fully immersed. Place the pot over medium high flame to begin heating your oil. The proper temperature is about 250 degrees F., or you can dip a bamboo skewer in the oil and when it bubbles vigorously proper frying temperature is achieved. 

This recipe is simple but the most important part of this recipe is the beans. It is important that your beans are super fresh. I have used used all varieties of beans which are abundant during the summer months. After washing and topping the beans place a handful in the batter. Remove a couple of beans and allow the excess to drip off. Carefully place the beans in the heated oil. Let the beans fall away from you to avoid splashing, and do not throw the beans in the fryer. If you have a large pot you can add more beans, but do not add so many that your beans begin to stick together. Cook the beans until golden brown and cooked fully through. Season as you like with salt and pepper. Serve immediately while hot with a nice garlicky aioli or roasted red peppers and capers in mayonnaise.