Using the Dehydrator - Crispy Chickpeas

So I've been experimenting with making Crispy Chickpeas for a couple weeks now.  I used to roast them in the oven, but got inconsistent results.  Anyway, I bought every low sodium brand of canned Chickpeas that I could find an the best ones are definitely the S&W brand.  They're much larger then the others and yield a more puffy finished product.  I wash one can of Chickpeas using a strainer under warm running water, give them a few shakes, then put them onto two of the Dehydrator trays.  It takes about 6 hours to get them crispy.  Once done, I put them on a baking sheet, hit them with a couple blasts of Pam, then sprinkle the seasoning on and toss them around.  A good seasoning for these is the low-sodium version of Tajin.  Tajin is a Mexican spice blend of Citrus and Chile Pepper.  The rub is a bit coarse, so I blend it up in a spice grinder first to make it more powdery.  Yum.

Using the Dehydrator - Kale Chips

Today I bought a 10 oz bag of Kale at Trader Joe's.  Separated the leaves among the 5 racks and put the temp all the way up to 160.  It took about 8 hours to get the leaves crispy and I rotated the racks once about halfway though.  It yielded about 2 oz of Kale chips.  I laid out the chips on a baking sheet, hit them with a couple quick spritzes of Pam, then sprinkled on my Nutritional Yeast Popcorn seasoning.  Another win for the Dehydrator!

San Clemente Wine Company

Well, Saturday, March 24 was a beautiful day so T and I decided to head down to San Onofre State Beach with some bagels and coffee. We headed down trail 3 and sat and read for a few hours. As we were leaving, a small pod of about 12 Dolphins swam by in the surf line. We drove back up to San Clemente for lunch at Beachfire.
After lunch, we stopped in at the San Clemente Wine Company and did a tasting of the featured winery, Malm. Barney, the store owner and CBO (Chief Bottle Opener) told us about up and coming winemaker, Brendan Malm, who buys his fruit from several vineyards in the Sonoma Valley area and uses equipment at various wineries. The Chardonnay was quite impressive and the two Pinot Noirs we tasted were excellent as well. It was interesting tasting the difference between the two Pinots. They were from the same year but one was from a valley vineyard and the other from a more coastal vineyard.
Anyone in the San Clemente area who enjoys wine should check this store out. You can fine it's location on their website: http://www.downtownsanclemente.com/sanclementewinecompany/index.htm

Dinner at the Resort

Well, after a full day of wine tasting, we made it back to the Worldmark Windsor by about 5pm. We settled in for the evening and I prepped the food for dinner. The room has a fully stocked kitchen and an outdoor grill. I had bought a flank steak at the store earlier in the day and prepped it by cutting it into 3 portions and pounding them out a bit with a meat mallet. I just used a little salt and pepper on each side and set the grill to high (the grill wasn't very powerful). I sauteed some onions and garlic in some rendered bacon fat, then added a cup of the DeLoach Nova Zin and half a cup of balsamic vinegar to make reduction sauce. I simmered that until it thickened. We had some garlic bread to go with it. Everything was delicious and we really enjoyed cooking with the same wine we drank with the meal. I usually use a cheaper wine when I'm cooking, but I think we could tell the difference here because of the simplicity of the sauce. Tomorrow we plan to head out to the coast and hopefully get to do a nice run in one of the park areas.

Raymond Burr

We finished up the day with a tasting at Raymond Burr. The tasting room here was a little smaller than most but what it lacked in size, it easily made up for in charm. There were many pictures of the actor on the walls as well as some other interesting photos. The tasting room servers were very accommodating and clearly enjoy their jobs. The wines were all very nice, our favorite being the 2004 Cabernet Franc ($38). The 2005 Chardonnay ($28) and 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($38) were also very enjoyable. The port was a treat as well.

Mill Creek

After the disappointing Rabbit Ridge, we stopped at Mill Creek. We planned to have a snack here too and it turned out to be the perfect place. We bought a package of salami to go with the Humboldt Fog cheese and crackers we already had. Before eating however, we did yet another tasting and were very impressed with what Mill Creek had to offer. We ended up buying two bottles of their Gewurztraminer ($16) to take home to have with our Thanksgiving dinner (it was great). We also bought a bottle of their Merlot ($22) and another half bottle to have with our snack. We liked everything we tried here and will definitely visit again. I noticed three menus on the wall from the White House and asked about them. A very nice lady (one of the owners) told me that they have been served at several White House dinners. She explained that wineries don't find out about these dinners until after the fact. What happens is that the White House will buy the wine from a local distributer and after the meal, they will send the menu card to the winery. I wish I had taken pictures of the menu card, that way I could try to recreate the meal.

Rabbit Ridge

From Porter Creek, we headed down the road to try some of the wineries we missed last year. We passed by Hop Kiln, which is just as the name implies, an old hop kiln. We recommend stopping here for a good tasting and picnicking in an interesting environment. We continued down the road past Arista and De La Montanya, which are both very nice smaller production wineries. We made the mistake of stopping at Rabbit Ridge. The server there told us that they would be closing in 6 months but if you are around before that, just keep driving. All their wines are from Paso Robles, which is a wine region to the south that we actually really like, especially for their Zins. The server seemed almost bothered by our presence. The wines here are very inexpensive and rightfully so.