Feathers Of Friends

         It has been talked about for a couple of years, usually during harvest breakfasts.  "We should get some chickens out here in the vineyard.  It'd make this meal way better."   Then the return to working the grapes would make sure that was as far as the chicken talk ever got, just talk. 

     Well, it finally happened this spring.  The new born chicks at the vineyard supply shop were just too cute to pass up.  So we brought home a baker's dozen and turned a harvest bin into a nursery.  After a month or so of living in the cellar, the ladies were released into the wild.  Well, not the real wild.  Out here in the western hills of Paso Robles live coyotes, foxes, mountain lions, hawks and eagles.  Not the type of place to just let them enjoy free range living.  We built a huge coop for them and fenced in to huge area in an oak grove on top of the property.  And now that they are old enough, they are allowed to roam about during the day, just make sure everyone is back inside come sun down.  Nobody could be happier, and we are all anxiously waiting that first fresh egg breakfast come fall.

 

From The Kitchen At The Lookout

 

Individual Savory Tarts

 

Pate Brisee (Simple Pastry Dough)

2 ¼ cup flour

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter cut into small pieces.

¼ to ½ ice water

 

    In a food processor combine flour and salt and pulse to mix for 10 seconds.  Add butter and mix until mixture becomes like rough sand.   Then add the water slowly while running the processor until  mixture becomes formed as dough.  Remove and separate into to balls, wrapped and refrigerate for  an hour.

 

Roll out dough and cut into 4” squares.  Grease a muffin tin and put dough into circles.

 

3lbs. tomato

1-Large onion

2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 cup feta crumbles

½ cup chopped kalamata olives

1-egg, lightly beaten

 

In meantime:  350 degrees oven

Roast 3lbs. tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper in oven for an hour

Roast 1 large onion, sliced in ¼ strips with oil, salt and pepper until golden

 

Put onion tomato mixture into pastry, top with feta and thyme, then olives.

 

Bring points of dough together and brush with egg.

 

Bake 30 minutes , or until brown.

Pair with the 2009 Grenache or 2010 Marsanne.