In early 2001, when I started Pure Joy Catering, I put a favorite salad of mine on the menu that included a trendy new California Blue Cheese from a place I'd never heard of, I had no idea that years later I would buy a house across the bay from that, also woman-owned, farmstead. It was partly seeing their WOMAN-OWNED certification there at the farms that inspired me to get certified as a woman-owned business too.
That salad is still a best seller at Pure Joy. I love picking up our cheese at the original Point Reyes Farmstead and seeing the classic California happy cows grazing above the beautiful Tomales Bay, about an hour above San Fransisco. It is open to the public and they do free tastings. The Wild berry season is just beginning, so I'm up there as often as I can be to gather & feast. It's just a few more minutes farther down the bay for some of the best oysters anywhere. Pretty great Mead is being made at Heidrun nearby too, which makes for a wonderful day all in all, I love my job.
Our Point Reyes Blue Cheese goes into the salad with baby spinach, candies pecans, and a fresh local pixie tangerine honey vinaigrette, both recipes appear below.
Ladies at lunchtime.
Point Reyes Cheeses are outstanding on our cheese displays & yours, try their tomas and brie
This is the good stuff but if you want to try a really special treat try their Bay Blue
radish sprouts add a nice bite to our blue cheese salad with local organic raspberries
Pure Joy’s Spiced Pecans
great with the Blue Cheese on a platter or in a salad
1 egg white
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cayenne
2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 1/2 cups whole, shelled, fresh pecans
Oven: 350 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with vegetable oil. In a bowl, whisk egg white until foamy. Add remaining ingredients; toss to coat. Spread evenly on the pan; bake for 6 minutes. Pull out, toss with a spatula, return to oven, and bake until fragrant.
Local Pixie Tangerine Honey Vinaigrette
Shake well in a mason jar or whisk in a small bowl;
.25 cup fresh tangerine juice (Microplane the zest first then squeeze)
2 Tbl. rice vinegar
1 Tbl. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 Tbl. honey
1 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
.25 tsp. allspice
.25 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1/3 cup grape seed or neutral oil
zest from the tangerines
See you out there,
Lynette La Mere
Pure Joy Catering Founding Executive Chef
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