With the holidays upon us, all of us at Marin Organic thought you might enjoy some ideas for creating delicious and inspiring meals that are all organic and all local. Below are three different menus, complete with recipes for some of the dishes. For even more fun, mix and match, add some delicious winter squash to your lamb dinner or feature three desserts, not just one!

To add to the festivities, we’ve included ideas for a holiday gift basket, filled with weekend getaways at some of Marin’s finest B&B’s and restaurants, as well as other local organic treats produced and served up here in Marin County.

To purchase any of the items listed on the menu or in the gift basket, please contact the producers and business owners directly. All contact information can be found on the Marin Organic website at www.marinorganic.org/mofarmers.html and www.marinorganic.org/supporting_business.html

(*recipes included)

Marin Organic Holiday Menu 1:
Marin Sun Farms Leg of Lamb with roasted garlic, rosemary and mint Straus yogurt sauce
Frisee au Lardons*
Creekside gardens persimmons pudding – with a meyer lemon sauce

Marin Organic Holiday Menu 2:
Clark Summit Farm Herb Roasted Turkey
Drakes Bay Oysters Stuffing*
Puree of Little Organic Farm winter squash with a dollop of cowgirl panir cheese
Gospel Flat Farm roasted brussel sprouts with McEvoy Olive Oil and toasted hazelnuts.
Star Route Farms Sugar Pie Pumpkin Tart with Straus Whipped Cream

Marin Organic Holiday Menu 3:
Marin Sun Farms Slow Cooked Rib Roast with roasted shallots and wild mushrooms
Puntarelle alla Romana* – try something new!
Marin Roots Farm Rainbow Chard, sautéed with currants and pine nuts
Three Twin’s Eggnog or Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Recipes

Salads
Frisee au Lardons (for 2)
2 heads Star Route Farm Frisee
2 Marin Sun Farms Eggs
4 Strips of Marin Sun Farms Bacon
3 Slices of slightly stale Brickmaiden Bread
McEvoy Olive Oil or Straus Butter for the croutons. Red Wine Vinegar, salt and pepper

Wash and Spin Frisee

Boil water in a shallow small pot. Add 1 TBS vinegar.

Cut crust off of bread and cut bread into cubes. Sautee cubed bread in olive oil or butter until golden. Take out of pan and drain on paper towel.

Cut bacon into small strips and sauté in pan. When they are done, take out some of the of the fat, deglaze the pan (with meat still in it) with some vinegar and allow to cook a little, but do not evaporate all the liquid since it will be the dressing for the salad.

While the bacon is cooking poach your eggs in the now boiling water, bring to simmer. The poached eggs should have yolks sill partly runny.

Place frisee on each plate, add croutons and then a poached egg. Finally spoon over the “lardoons” (bacon) and the liquid from the pan. Add Olive Oil if needed and salt and pepper.

Puntarelle alla Romana – try something new!
Puntarelle is a plant in the chicory family and can be found and purchased from La Tercera Farm at the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Berkeley California. You can substitute Puntarelles with Chickories which can be found at your local farmers market.

Ingredients:
1 TBS. Red Wine Vinegar
1 Clove of Marin Roots Farm Garlic – very finely minced.
2 TBS. McEvoy Olive Oil
3-4 anchovies – finely chopped
½ lb. of La Tercera puntarelle shoots and tender leaves.

Fillet Punterelles and place them in ice water for 20 to 30 minutes. Once the puntarelle filets have curled up remove them from the water, dry on dish towel and place in salad bowl.

In small bowl mix together oil, vinegar, garlic, and anchovies. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour mixture over puntarelle and mix. Serve.

Sides
Drakes Bay Oysters Stuffing
14 cups coarse bread crumbs from loaves of Brickmaiden Bread
1 tsp. of salt and favorite poultry seasoning
¼ tsp. white pepper
¼ lb. Straus butter
½ medium local onion, chopped
¾ cup chopped organic celery
1 ¼ cups chopped Drakes Bay Oysters.

Measure crumbs. Add salt, poultry seasoning and pepper. Toss well.

Melt butter in saucepan, add celery and onion. Sauté until onions are softened, then stir in oysters. (Add in some of the juice from the oysters to increase moisture in the dressing)

Pour over bread mixture and mix lightly with fork.

Place in a 8 x 11 baking dish or inside a Clark Summit Farm Turkey. Baking time and temperature depends on cooking method.

Desserts
Creekside gardens persimmons pudding – with a meyer lemon sauce

1/2 cup Straus milk
1 Marin Sun Farm egg
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
1 tsp melted Straus butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup Creekside Gardens persimmon pulp
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix together egg, sugar and melted butter. Add milk, persimmon pulp and
vanilla and mix well. Sift soda, and cinnamon with the flour. Add to
persimmon mixture and mix well. Mix in raisins and nuts. Pour into buttered
pudding mold, cover and steam 1 hour. A one pound coffee can covered with
foil can be substituted for the pudding mold. Place in a large pot,
partially filled with water and steam one hour. Cool 15- 20 minutes. Invert
over a plate to unmold the pudding. Serve with Lemon Sauce or Straus whipped cream
or both.

Lemon Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon flour
1 tbl flour
1 tbl water
1 tbl Straus butter
1/4 cup Creekside Gardens meyer lemon juice