| |
 |
|
|
By Nancy Hoover
 Pack your bags and head to wine country because it's California Wine Month in Paso Robles! Every year, the Wine Institute celebrates the California wine community - its vintners, growers and consumers, in what is deemed California Wine Month. During the month long celebration, many wineries offer special promotions to visitors in the form of bottle, tour and tasting discounts, as well as a gamut of special events held at each winery. If you enjoy Paso Robles wine, or if you have never visited, there is no better time to experience Paso Robles wine country!
I took a peek at all the special promotions listed on the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance website, and boy, was I delightfully surprised! Many wineries, including Ancient Peaks and Derby Wine Estates offer complimentary wine tastings throughout the entire month! Nearly all the wineries listed (upwards of 50) offer visitors bottle purchase discounts in the range of 5-20% off the regular price. In addition, many tour operators also offer discounts, including First Crush Winemaking, where visitors can "Buy 1, Get 1 Half Off" of their all-day hands-on harvest winemaking course at Silver Horse Winery. Real aficionados shouldn't miss the opportunity to taste reserve and small lot production wines - a handful of wineries offer this special promotion, including Vina Robles Winery.
Even the hoteliers in Paso Robles will offer special discounts during the month of September! La Bellasera Hotel and Suites, Best Western Black Oak Motor Lodge and the Paso Robles Inn are a few to name. Check it out!
September is a beautiful time to visit Paso Robles. With its scattered oak rolling hills, gorgeous sunsets and special wine country promotions, there is no reason not to take advantage of the relaxing retreat that awaits you in Paso Robles!
To view the full list of wineries that offer special discounts and promotions click here or visit the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance website at pasowine.com.
Photo courtesy of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance
By the Travel Paso Robles Alliance
 The Paso Glow Ticket Contest ended on Wednesday afternoon with over 45 essay entries and 237 official votes! The Travel Paso Robles Alliance was thrilled to announce Leslie Taylor as the winner of two tickets to Paso Glow and two tickets to SAVOR the Central Coast's main event held on October 2nd and October 3rd, respectively. At the city's first-ever Paso Glow, Leslie and a guest will enjoy a six course meal prepared by Paso Robles' top chefs and one cheese proprietor (see August 17 post below), paired with local wines from over 25 wineries! Leslie is sure to enjoy the evening while in the company of Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence and Sunset Magazine's Wine Editor, Sara Schneider. As part of Leslie's prize, she and a guest will also enjoy SAVOR the Central Coast's main event held at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch. A full day pass to the main event entitles Leslie to enjoy the Central Coast's fresh produce, meats, cheeses and wines prepared by over 30 chefs and 200 wineries during the three-day food and wine celebration!
 The Travel Paso Robles Alliance would like to thank all those who participated in the Paso Glow Ticket Contest! We had a long list of fantastic entries that all spoke to the incredible beauty of Paso Robles and its people. Congratulations to the winner, Leslie Taylor and her very lucky guest! We hope you have an incredible weekend at the inagural Paso Glow and SAVOR the Central Coast!
You can view Leslie's winning essay entry (and other participating essays) by clicking here or go to Travel Paso's Facebook page.
Tickets to attend the main event or other special events at SAVOR the Central Coast, including seminars, vineyard tours and winemaker dinners, can be purchased at savorcentralcoast.com.
Pictured right: Leslie Taylor, winner of the Paso Glow Ticket Contest
By Tina Swithin
Fondue was a huge hit for dinner parties in the 60’s and 70’s. I still have old recipe books listing a variety of ways to create this amazing party in a bowl. The dinner theme eventually faded and, until the past few years, I was sure we would never have a use for a fondue pot again. Don't look now, but Artisan, one of Paso Robles’ top restaurants, has made fondue trendy again, but with a contemporary flair.
“Fondre” is a French verb which means, “to melt”. This is precisely what I did upon tasting the Artisan Smoked Gouda and Porter Fondue recipe that I am about to share with you. Dust off your fondue pot and invite your friends to share in this gourmet experience that will make you the envy of those around you.
Artisan Restaurant’s Executive Chef Chris Kobayashi serves this amazing dish with crusty garlic toast, andouille sausage and broccolini--all prepared to perfection. The dipping possibilities are endless, but Chef Kobayashi starts his with these three favorites. Let your creativity soar along with your taste buds as you embark on a journey of culinary delight. The consistency of this fondue is creamy and soft, and the taste is out of this world.
I recommend pairing the Artisan Smoked Gouda and Porter Fondue with the Adelaida Cellars Estate Chardonnay. This Paso Robles Chardonnay is approachable, and conjures up vanilla bean aromatics. It delivers a rich mouth feel and finishes with a complex mix of lime zest and crisp apple fruit, leaving this wine crisp, yet bold enough to stand up to this rich, flavorful fondue. Enjoy!!
Artisan Restaurant's Famous Fondue Plate
Artisan Smoked Gouda and Porter Fondue
4 ounces butter
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons A/P flour
Melt butter and whisk flour in, cook for five minutes to make roux
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 cups porter beer (we use Anchor Steam)
3 cups heavy cream
12 ounces white cheddar cheese
12 ounces smoked gouda cheese
Tabasco to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
1. Make the roux as stated above and then add the dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, porter and cream. Take care to stir and not boil the sauce.
2. After all the liquid ingredients have been incorporated, add the cheeses in small chunks, whisking continually as to keep the sauce from boiling or breaking.
3. Once the cheeses have been incorporated, taste and season with tabasco, salt and pepper. Strain sauce and hold in double boiler. Recipe yields a little more than 2 quarts.
I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I did- cheers!
by Nancy Hoover
I love when my friends and family visit me on the Central Coast. Not only because I love their company, but also because I love to plan fun culinary and wine tasting adventures for them. Lucky me, new adventures are not hard to find in Paso Robles.
I have listed below just a sampling of some of my favorite spots, and, mind you, there are plenty to choose from, so I’ve just chosen four for now. Tune in each month for more Four Favorites in Paso Robles!!
 Favorite #1: Farmstand 46 is a great spot for lunch when wine tasting along the Westside Winery trail and it has a fresh vegetable kitchen garden to die for! Farmstand 46 is an upscale deli with outdoor seating that offers incredible paninis (try the Cruiser!). It also has an outdoor brick oven that produces delectable pizzas: YUMMY!
Favorite #2: Antiques are for old folks? Heck no!! I’m not old, but I do enjoy a good antique store. Thank goodness for that because Paso Robles is full of them! Located right off of Highway 101 south of Paso Robles, Vineyard Antique Mall is my favorite and stocked full of hidden gems. And if you are really into antiques, the small town of Santa Margarita holds a monthly antique auction where you can find truly unique Mission style furniture, custom to the area.
Favorite #3: The newest gig in town, Il Cortile Ristorante is a hit with locals and visitors. Chef Santos MacDonal of Honduran decent is firing up amazing dishes in the kitchen at Il Cortile. Specializing in rustic Italian cuisine, Il Cortile has an incredible burrata and mozzarella antipasti menu as well as a long list of homemade pasta dishes for your entrée selection. Attention pasta lovers: the spaghetti al ragu is to die for!
 Favorite #4: A pioneer in Paso Robles wine country has returned to his roots, and we locals couldn’t be happier! After selling his award winning Wild Horse Winery in 2005 to Constellation Wines, Ken Volk ventured down into Santa Barbara County to produce wines at the old Byron Winery facility. Well, he’s back! Ken Volk is a Paso Robles icon and anyone that know him, loves him – and his wine! Stop in for a taste at his new tasting room located off of Highway 46 West – Ken shares a space with Lone Madrone and Fat Cat Farms, an herb and flower garden nursery with outdoor picnic areas.
What are some of your favorites? Post them in the comments section below and I’ll be sure to try them out!!!! Come visit Paso Robles – there is a favorite adventure waiting for you!
Photos courtesy of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance and Farmstand 46
By Nancy Hoover
While most people equate olives and olive oil with Greece and Italy, California olive oils, and specifically Paso Robles producers, are fast getting the recognition they deserve as growers of a wide variety of the high-quality, delicious, oil producing fruit.
Paso Robles and a good portion of California enjoy a maritime climate, similar to that of the Mediterranean. So it makes perfect agricultural sense that Paso Robles is not only a burgeoning wine region, but also an olive oil region. I must admit this makes me giddy, because one of my favorite Mediterranean treats is the olive and the fabulous extra virgin olive oil it produces. My husband and I love to cook with fresh locally grown products, including olive oil. By living in Paso Robles, we have become spoiled by the wide variety of extra virgin olive oils found here. Truly fresh pressed olive oils are a little bitter on the tongue and super pungent in dressings. I crave that fresh olive oil taste, which I never knew was there until I started tasting the good oils produced right in my own backyard. And I love the fruit itself in salads, martinis, and stuffed with jalapenos or blue cheese. Actually, I like olives in any food dish, cocktail (even my beer) or a la carte. As you can tell, I love olives!
 Could you imagine my excitement, then, when I learned that Paso Robles hosts an Annual Olive Festival? Held in Paso Robles’ charming downtown city park, the Paso Robles Olive Festival is the perfect opportunity for any olive lover to sample the delicious oils made not only in Paso Robles , but from producers all over California. This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, August 21st from 10 am to 5 pm.
Rumor has it that Paso Robles’ Olive Festival is fun for the entire family! With fun games and activities like, guess the number of olives in the jar, olive branch wreath-making and a special clown appearance by Freckles the Clown, olives are sure to grow near and dear to your children’s heart. For olive enthusiasts like me, visitors will enjoy olive and olive oil product samples, olive infused foods from gourmet vendors, olive branch arts and crafts and the chance to compete in an olive cooking contest. Many gourmet food vendors will also share their olive recipes for you to recreate at home.
For those of you who can’t find your way to the Annual Olive Festival, but wish to sample olive and olive oil products grown in our region, plan a special visit to We Olive in downtown Paso Robles. We Olive carries a wide selection of extra virgin olive oils made in California. In fact, about three quarters of what they carry is made by producers that are located within a 50 mile radius of Paso Robles. There's no tasting fee, so be sure to get in there during your next visit to taste the fine Paso Robles olive oils.
The 7th Annual Olive Festival is a fun gathering of California olive and olive oil producers, farmers and enthusiasts that is sure to enhance your love for the salty, yummy, round olive. Please visit pasoroblesolivefestival.com for information on the festival and related activities.
Photos courtesy of the Paso Robles Olive Festival
By Debby Harris, Guest Blogger
Hello everyone! We are Tom, Debby and Cactus Sam Harris of Harris Stage Lines. Judging from our name most would think we are a bus company, but no, we are an actual stage line, with an actual stagecoach and a team of horses for hire!
 We are not native Paso Roblans, however, we love sharing the history of the region. We feel it is important to keep the agricultural heritage of Paso Robles alive. For example, we farm with our horses and mules growing grain hay, which is a big part of Paso Robles’ early history. We also offer visitors the opportunity to visit Harris Stage Lines to experience a variety of activities and educational classes that include learning about and caring for horses.
Harris Stage Lines operates as a working horse ranch that provides horseback riding and stagecoach driving lessons, day and night horse camps, horse training, horsemanship clinics, and driving school for both children and adults. We also offer field trips for students and have worked with schools all over California.
We have horse drawn vehicles for hire, and hold birthday, anniversary, graduation and any type of party you can imagine. If you wish to experience a real western BBQ, stagecoach ride or working horse show, we encourage you to plan an event at Harris Stage Lines. Our events are perfect for small and large gatherings like tour groups, family reunions and special birthday parties. And yes, we even host western weddings at Harris Stage Lines. Everything we do here involves our horses. We invite you to come check out what we do here, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Listed below are some upcoming activities that we have planned at Harris Stage Lines:
 August winds up our Summer Horse Day Camps. Our day camp is scheduled for August 16-20 and is open to children ages 7-18. Kids will learn what it takes to own a horse, ride, drive, trick ride and trick rope. The camp ends with a choreographed show in which the campers perform the skills they have learned for family and friends.
If you plan to visit Paso Robles, schedule a horseback riding lesson to learn horsemanship skills that you can use in your travels as you venture to other places and plan trail rides. We have different horses to suit each person’s riding level.
 Want a unique horse experience? Take a horse driving lesson to try your hand at driving a single horse buggy up to a team four horses. You may get hooked and come back to one of our driving schools!
You can also schedule a stagecoach ride to experience what a way station is like as the horses are hitched to the coach and you board for your ride.
For a real taste of the west, you can visit the ranch to cook your own steak on our western BBQ. We will provide all the food for a tasty meal, then we’ll take you on a stagecoach ride and end the evening around the campfire telling Wild West stories.
Harris Stage Lines is located on North River Road just four miles north of downtown Paso Robles. All activities and events at Harris Stage Lines are on a reservation basis. Please contact us at: info@harrisstagelines.com. For more information and some great photos of the activities, go to www.harrisstagelines.com.
All photos courtesy of Harris Stage Lines
By Nancy Hoover
 Looking for an interesting and fun-filled wine country event? Sharpen your palate and plan to attend this weekend’s 12th Annual Winemaker’s Cook-off at River Oaks Hot Springs in Paso Robles. This is truly an interactive wine and food experience! This event showcases the culinary and viticulture skills of some of Paso Robles’ finest winemakers. Watch them work, taste their cuisine and savor their wine all while they battle each other to see who wins the “People's Choice” and “Judge's Choice” Awards. That’s right, you get to vote on the best from the best!
Visitors will revel in the musical talents of Julie Beaver & the Bad Dogs as they enjoy culinary delights and perfectly paired wine from each participating winery’s winemaker. All proceeds from the event will benefit local high school seniors as part of the Rotary Club’s annual senior scholarship program. The Winemaker Cook-off is set on a grassy hillside, next to a beautiful lake with views of Paso Robles’ famous rolling hills. What more can we say????
Join us in Paso Robles for the 12th Annual Paso Robles Winemaker’s Cook-off and witness Paso Robles winemakers venerate the meaning of “wine country cuisine”. The event starts at 6 pm on Saturday, August 7, 2010. Tickets are $75 per person.
Photos courtesy of winemakerscookoff.com.
By Nancy Hoover
A few days before the Fair officially opened I had the opportunity to meet Tom Keffury, Director of Marketing & Sponsorships at the California Mid-State Fair. Tom took me on a backstage tour of Chumash Arena, the site of Paso Robles famed summer concert series where Justin Bieber and Sean Kingston have already performed for a full house. On my backstage tour, Tom took me to the staging area to capture the commotion of vendors, production crews, and fair officials in full-blown set-up mode in preparation for the summer concert series.
With over 14,600 seats in Chumash Arena, the California Mid-State Fair certainly is a large venue by most county or state fair standards. And with this many seats, it is a natural draw for past performers and big-name talents like the Black Eyed Peas, Aerosmith and Carrie Underwood to entertain fans in Paso Robles. “Chumash Arena is what really sets the California Mid-State Fair apart from the typical county fair,” Tom explained. “The California Mid-State has the usual corn dog stands, carnival, pig races and unique vendors that sell anything from shoe polish to sunglasses, but in addition to all that, the California Mid-State Fair has an incredible venue for outdoor concerts, unlike any other county Fair.”
I posted my video clip to YouTube and embedded it below. Take a peek and see what insider information Tom has to share!
Another insider tip: You may wonder as I did how the fair chooses the concert line-up. I learned that the California Mid-State Fair uses a talent company out of Chicago named JAM Productions to book the performances. Tom explained the key factor in who the Fair books depends in large part on the summer tour schedules for each artist. For a list of this year's Chumash Arena and free stage entertainment line-ups, click here.
Cheers!
By Nancy Hoover
 We alluded to it before in a previous post, but I have to say it again, the 2010 California Mid-State Fair is coming! In a span of 12 days, the California Mid-State Fair invites guests to be entertained by live music, public contests, yummy fair food and unique vendors selling anything from hot tubs to Justin boots. The California Mid-State Fair is the largest event held annually in Paso Robles and as a result, nearly 370,000 people travel to Paso Robles from across the state (and some even across state lines) to be a part of the Fair’s festivities. So, get your bags packed and come on down to what is known by many as “the biggest little fair anywhere!”
The California Mid-State Fair has something for all ages and interests to enjoy. For the summer fair traditionalist, enjoy the many agricultural exhibits and displays from quilting to pie baking and home landscaping. For the young and young at heart, the fair offers a fantastic carnival full of rides for people of all ages, the ususal fair games and the best cotton candy you can find! In addition, children can enter and win prizes in the public contests like sand castle building and shark roping held at Paso Pete’s Ponderosa Stage. For the foodie and wine lover, visit the Mission Square to taste daily featured Paso Robles wines and to watch our talented local Chefs conduct cooking demonstrations! And for the music and performance lover, attend one of our numerous concerts offered nightly on a number of different stages. The Headliner Stage features FREE local music and dance talent including Ashley Garland, Class Act Dance and the famed KJUG Barn Dance. Also FREE, the Fort Frontier Stage steps up the talent a bit with music from seasoned pros such as Coco Montoya, Blue Oyster Cult and Cross Canadian Ragweed. And for high profile concerts, purchase tickets to see our Main Grandstand headliners, like Justin Bieber, Aerosmith, Keith Urban, Weezer and many more!
  
The 2010 California Mid State Fair is open from July 21st thru August 1st, 2010. Fair admission is $8 for adults and $5 for children. Gates open at 12:00 noon and close at 12:00 midnight. We’ll see you there!!
All photos courtesy of the California Mid-State Fair. Clockwise from top: Justin Bieber, Weezer, Aerosmith.
By Nancy Hoover
 As a home-gardener and winemaker, I thought I knew it all when it comes to food preparation, flavor profiles and culinary techniques. Not to mention that my Grandma, like many women her age, has a degree in home economics and taught me just about everything I know when it comes to preparing a meal. As a child I spent many weekends doting around my Grandma’s kitchen, which was only a short drive up the hill, making home-made desserts, applesauce and the like, always learning something new. I even remember the time when I made my first bowl of gravy from turkey drippings on my Grandma’s wood burning stove for Thanksgiving dinner. Now that’s something!
 When I recently visited the kitchen of one of Paso Robles’ most noteworthy Chefs, Chef Andre Averseng, for a cooking class, I realized I had a lot more to learn. Chef Andre is a Certified Executive Chef, born and raised in France, the son of a Chef, who received his formal culinary education at Et Voila in Avignon, France. Chef Andre made his move to the United States in the early 1980’s and began exploring the culinary scene in LA, eventually holding an eight year tenure as Chef Garde Manager at the prestigious Jonathan Club in downtown LA before embarking on a career teaching culinary education at some of LA’s most renowned spots like the famous Le Cordon Bleu (formerly the Southern California School of Culinary Arts), where Chef Andre was a founding teacher. Chef Andre and his wife, Christina, eventually followed the wine scene north to Paso Robles in the early 2000’s and opened Dining with Andre, a full service catering business and demonstration kitchen in the heart of downtown Paso Robles, and soon to be the site of their full service restaurant, Paso Terra.
 Immediately when I walked in Dining with Andre’s front door, I noticed the kitchen in the back of the room. It was a relatively small kitchen, especially given the number of students Chef Andre typically accepts in his classes – anywhere from 8 to 18 people, but I had always heard that a small kitchen is a working mans kitchen. You only need to take a few steps in any direction to grab the appliances or ingredients you need, which makes for a convenient working space. I could also tell, by the looks of the appliances that this was a working mans kitchen because the pots were a little tarnished and the wood spoons a little burnt. None of this threw me off though, it only increased the amount of respect that I had for Chef Andre for I would be more concerned had I noticed the pots were unused and the wood spoons brand new, right?
Before we began our cooking lesson, Chef Andre went over a few ground rules: no running, hair must be pulled back and knives are always carried by your side, pointed down. Chef Andre then went on to detail the cooking techniques that we would be using, like the proper way to use a paring knife, how to peel a tomato, blanch basil and knead pasta dough. With the recipe in hand and the safety rules in mind we were off like a pack of bandits! There were 6 in our group and I teamed up with Bill, a colleague of mine with a great palate – very similar to my own.
 We started using the cooking techniques demonstrated by Chef Andre. First with the onion, (of which I’m very sensitive, and was quickly supplied onion goggles!) then with the garlic and lastly with the tomato. Chef Andre uses a French term to identify the perfect consistency of a diced tomato for marinara sauce, “concassée”, meaning peeled, seeded and diced. When the marinara sauce was at a simmer on the stove, marrying all the rich flavors of garlic, onion, parsley and basil, we began mixing the pasta dough. With words of encouragement from Chef Andre, we embraced his mixing technique with our bare hands. There were periods of resting,  kneading, rolling, and separating before it resembled the beginning of what would be our pasta of choice: spaghetti, fettuccini, or angel hair—we all got to choose our own favorite. Then, we threw our freshly made pasta in the boiling water, until it was perfectly al dente; added the rich flavors of our own personally made marinara sauce and – bon appetit! A delicious meal of fresh pasta and marinara sauce made from scratch!
I would highly recommend Chef Andre’s cooking classes to anyone, even if you think you are a seasoned Chef. I guarantee you will learn a new technique, term or tool to improve your culinary skills, from one of Paso Robles’ best Chefs and culinary mentors! For more information regarding Chef Andre’s cooking classes, please visit diningwithandre.com and stay tuned for the grand opening of Chef Andre’s new restaurant scheduled to open in the Fall of 2010.
 Photos from top to bottom: Me in my front yard assessing our grapes; The cooking class begins with safety tips and groundrules; Chef Andre demonstrates his concassee technique; Onion goggles to the rescue--i need to get a pair of my own!; Freshly cut pasta--yum!; Me enjoying the fruits of our labors - bon appetit! All photos by Chris Dennis.
|
|
|
| |  |
|
| |
|
|
| | |
YouTube
Delicious
Flickr
