|
Culinary destinations
Published July 1, 2009
Back in the car after our stop in Tarpley on our Hill Country food tour, we decided to continue west on FM 470. Like the bear that went over the mountain, we went to see what we could see. What we found was scenery so glorious that it’s hard to keep your eyes on the road. Let me suggest when traveling through this area to always go with a friend. Take turns at the wheel and let one admire while the other drives, because negotiating the hilly course can be tricky.
Coming to a division in the road at FM 187, the choice was either north to Vanderpool or south to Utopia. Because chef Naylene Dillingham at Tarpley’s Mac & Ernie’s Roadside Eatery had suggested we could find Australian meat pies in Vanderpool, we went north. As this section of our back road drive was pocked with leather-clad bikers whizzing along in packs like black bees following pollen, it seemed obvious we were heading for the same destination.
Four miles outside Vanderpool is the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum. Inside you will find a showroom crammed with bikes dating from 1910 to the present. The Motorcycle Museum is a sort of shrine where large numbers of road-loving mobile monks rest up and take nourishment before va-room — va-rooming their bad machines and spinning out again onto the public roads.
Nourishment is found at the museum’s Ace Café. We tried three varieties of the café’s Aussie meat pies: the Classic (ground chuck and gravy), the Chunky (ground chuck, onions, mushrooms, wine) and the Aussie-Mex (chuck, poblano, cilantro and cheese). At $3.95 a pop, the national snack food of Australia provided an interesting alternative to grabbing a burger on the run. The Ace Café also serves hamburgers, but it was puzzling to see beets listed among items like onions and pickles that a diner could choose to have added to the burger. I was tempted, but managed to suppress the urge.
Leaving Vanderpool, we took FM 337 east. Everybody knows the best thing about any road trip is discovering the unexpected. So when, just a couple of miles out of Vanderpool, we spotted a small sign that read: “Lavender Farm Open Today,” we turned the car around and headed back to explore.
There’s something soothing and magical about purple. The sight of fields spread with blossoming purple-headed lavender plants confirmed the notion that when the eyes drink in beauty, the mind forgets everything nasty, even beets on burgers.
We parked and walked to the front porch of the quaint Farm Store building where Jim Parker, co-owner of the farm with his partner Patience Diaz, welcomed us. We wouldn’t meet Patience this trip because she had packed up loaves of her aromatic lavender bread and headed out at 5 a.m. to set up the Lavender Farm’s booth at the Pearl Brewery Farmer’s Market in San Antonio. “Did she leave any bread behind?” I asked trying not to salivate and failing.
Jim told us that the bread baking is an arduous process that begins Thursday night when Patience starts the dough. They use a wood-filled outdoor brick oven for baking, and after the dough has properly risen and has been cut and shaped into a variety of bread types, it’s ready for the oven. They light the fire at 4 p.m. on Friday and it takes three hours for the walls of the oven to get hot enough to bake the bread. By 1 a.m. on Saturday, the bread is done and they are able to get a couple hours sleep before rising to wrap up the loaves in preparation for the weekly trip into San Antonio. “No,” he said about the bread-baking labor of love, “not a loaf left. All went with Patience.”
Inside the shop, the nose is immediately embraced by the fragrance of lavender. Out on the 153-acre farm, three acres are given to cultivated lavender, and when harvested, the buds are put to good use, being incorporated into products available at the shop and through their online store: www.imaginelavender.com. You will find lavender soap, a bag of lavender potpourri for the dryer, lavender insect repellent, lavender lip balm and delicious food products made with the tiny purple buds. Culinary lavender is a wonderful cooking ingredient, and Jim and Patience offer not only items such as jalapeno lavender jam and lavender spiced pecans, but jars of pure lavender that, once tried, will become a staple in the herb pantry ($8 for a 4-ounce jar).
They also sell starter lavender plants for $3 a piece, or four plants for $10. When planted, lavender usually blooms the first year with May to June and October to November being harvest times. Patience recommends also using the leaves in cooking. “Substitute lavender for rosemary,” she suggests. “Crush lavender leaves and sprinkle them over a dish of fresh glazed carrots, or make ciabatta bread with both the leaves and the buds.”
Back in the car for the 17-mile drive east to Medina, we began talking apples. My significant other told me that the tiny town of Medina is “the apple capital of Texas,” and it has been a tourist Mecca since 1984 when Baxter Adams and his wife Carol harvested the first crop from their dwarf apple tree orchard at Love Creek Ranch.
Developing their apple enterprise into a business that included a bakery, a store, a café and an apple tree nursery, the endeavor has drawn visitors from all over the world, as well as being featured on The Food Network. Two years ago, the Adams sold the Cider Mill operation to Bryan and Stacie Hutzler. Bryan says: “We never planned to be in the apple business, but now that we are, we absolutely love it.”
Plans are to expand, and the Hutzlers believe they will be ready in a year’s time to move the commercial business into a larger house on larger acreage located next to the orchard (still owned by the Adams). Until that happens, the current operation still is as charmingly appealing as a 5-inch tall apple pie (which, by the way, you can purchase fresh from the on-site bakery every day of the week). Plan to have lunch next to the little apple tree nursery out on the patio, and take home a couple of dwarfs to plant in your own backyard garden. Sweeter and crunchier than larger varieties, the dwarf trees also yield fruit in less than two years. And don’t forget to taste the Cider Mill Kitchen’s apple ice cream, which pairs very well with their outstanding, freshly baked cookies. The cookies might not truly be as large as your head, but the deliciousness is as big as all outdoors.
Lavender Lemonade
1 quart lemonade
2 tablespoons culinary lavender
1 cup boiling water
Directions: Make lemonade and set aside. Boil water and pour it over the culinary lavender. Allow the lavender to steep for 20 minutes. Strain and add this water to the lemonade. Stir and serve chilled.
Lavender Salt Wet Rub for Meats
2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions: In a spice grinder, pulse the lavender with 1 tablespoon salt until well ground. Transfer to a small bowl, stir in the remaining ingredients plus the extra 1 tablespoon of salt. Store in refrigerator in sealed container until ready for use.
Note: This is great rubbed on any meat, especially chicken and pork. Just massage the rub into the meat, cover and refrigerate for 1-3 hours. Grill, bake or broil.
Grilled Lavender Honey Chicken Breast
Makes 8 servings
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon or lime juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup lavender-infused honey or honey
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender, ground in a spice grinder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
8 boneless chicken breast halves, with skin on
Directions: In a large bowl, mix the first eight ingredients. Add the chicken breasts and turn to coat each breast. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Grill, skin side down, turning every 5 minutes and brushing with marinade. Cook 15-20 minutes until done.
— Recipes by Patience Diaz
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print |
Comment
|
|
|
 |
|
Photo Reprints
Get Daily Times photos from the latest games and scenic locales.
Special Sections
Visitor's Guide
Real Estate Guide
Hill Country Life
Medical Directory
Home Directory
|
