The ranch for THE RANCH (lovingly dubbed “The Farm”). A parcel filled with well-tended fruits and vegetables that supplies about 70 percent of the summertime produce used in Chef Michael Rossi’s exquisite cuisine at THE RANCH Restaurant & Saloon, Anaheim.
Let’s start with the quail. I have to. Then we’ll go to the crops, and then the table.
THE RANCH’S COUNTRY FRIED PETALUMA QUAIL: This crisp-outside moist-inside quail will spoil you. Fried chicken – it just won’t be good ‘nuf any more.
It’s served atop baby arugula and roasted fingerling potatoes napped with agave mustard warm bacon dressing. This is the stuff food dreams are made of.
Now to get a small sample of what’s growing …
Master Sommelier Michael Jordan (shown here with sweet-crisp Painted Serpent cucumbers) plays a major role at The Farm – located on The Edwards Ranch Estates in the foothills of Orange (Orange Park Acres). It is owned by THE RANCH Restaurant & Saloon’s founder, Andrew Edwards.
Currently, Edwards Ranch is home to over 400 heirloom tomato vines, plus several varieties of heirloom cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins and squash, zucchini, beets, corn, kale, melons, herbs – and fruit trees, too. At left, black cherry tomatoes, just one of the gazillion varieties (ok, 70 heirloom varieties) grown in this fertile soil.
Bushels of Roma ‘maters … imagine them ripe-and-roasted.
Chiles from around the globe are grown here, many started from seeds in the greenhouse, including this purple-black variety that shines in the sunlight.
Squash thriving on teepee trellises. So cool.
To The Table
Baja Stone Crab Gazpacho (with Valencia oranges – yes, grow on the grounds) and Tempura Zucchini Flowers stuffed with Sierra Nevada goat cheese and Meyer lemons.
ROSSI SPREADS: So very very very good – Eggplant Hummus, Black Mission Fig & Olive Jam, Fennel Tzatziki. Served with Naan warm off the grill.
Light and lovely Chilled Cucumber Soup with Hot-Smoked Skuna Bay Salmon.
THE GARDEN STARS: Beautiful heirloom tomatoes – dressed simply with Napa Valley Olive Oil and sea salt. With names such as Yellow Mortgage Lifters, Sarah Blacks, and Gigantesque. So sweet, so herbal, so delicious.
Maplewood Smoked Jidori Chicken – The Farm Panzanela – Jalapeno Cornbread, Picholine olives, heirloom tomatoes, corn and Purple basil. MMmmm.
Citrus Grilled Mexican White Shrimp served with red quinoa salad tumbled with cucumbers, radishes, avocados, watercress and a cumin-lime vinaigrette.
Delectable Colorado lamb chops teamed with baby artichokes and mint chimichurri. Enjoy it with a glass of Williams Selyem Pinot Noir and you might be able to hear angels singing.
All dishes are on (or will soon be on) The Ranch Restaurant’s menu. The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon, 1025 East Ball Road Anaheim, CA 92805 714-817-4200
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