My first introduction to Apricot Lane Farms was back in 2020 when we watched The Biggest Little Farm for the now defunct Food ‘n Flix group. I loved the movie and I have wondered about how the little farm is doing. I recently revisited the recipe that I posted for that 2020 event and found that the link to the salad recipe was broken. In fact, all the recipes seemed to have disappeared off their site. Aha, they had published a cookbook. Makes a bit more sense now.

I decided to check out the cookbook from the library to see (a) if the salad recipe was in the book, and (b) if I got my revised recipe even close.

About the book:

Our debut cookbook is eleven years in the making, and brings the bounty of the farm to your kitchen with more than 130 seasonally inspired recipes. As a chef who has long understood that flavor and nutrition go hand in hand, our co-founder Molly Chester — an organic foods chef turned regenerative farmer— is passionate about farm-fresh ingredients, and her cooking celebrates the tree-ripened fruits, seasonal vegetables, pastured eggs, and grass-fed meats for which Apricot Lane Farms is known.

With sections divided by season, and insider tips for sourcing the best produce, this a must-have cookbook for home cooks looking for inspiration for their farmers’ market hauls, and anyone looking to create a closer connection to their food. With enticing, preserved end-of-summer larder treasures like Tomato Raisins or a Dried Summer Stone Fruit Medley, comforting dinners like Slow-Roasted Pastured Chicken with Lemon-Fennel Crust or Spring Frittata with Fresh Peas, Arugula, Artichokes, Chevre, and Pesto, and bright, luscious salads like Avocado and Cara Cara Orange Salad with Jalapeño and Sesame-Miso Dressing, these nourishing recipes are a delicious guide to eating in connection with the land. (Taken from their website.)

About the author:

Molly Chester is a cofounder and farmer of Apricot Lane Farms, a 234-acre biodynamic farming porject in Moorpark, California. Prior to farming, Molly was a private chef in Los Angeles who specialized in healing the gut through nutrient-dense culinary techniques such as soaking, sprouting and fermenting. Molly believes that a delicious and healing dish is created in harmony with the rhythms of the local ecosystem. She lives on the farm with her husband, John; son, Beaudie; dog Blue; and a menagerie of farm animals and wildlife. Molly’s story can be seen in the award-winning documentary The Biggest Little Farm. (Taken from the author blurb in the book.)

What I thought…

As mentioned in the opening, I enjoyed the documentary about Apricot Lane Farms. I was anxious to get the cookbook from the library. It’s a hefty book with a hefty original price tag of $45.00. Alice Waters writes the forward and extolls the Chesters’ stewardship. She speaks the same love language of the land and applauds the farmers for re-building the soil to grow delicious food that can be devoured in-season.

In the introduction, Chester talks about what led them to farm life (an ever-barking dog and not enough room on the patio for tomato plants) and what led her to her style of cooking (staying healthy and alleviating her health problems through food). She discusses how they turned the land around, becoming an organic- and biodynamic-certified farm, expanding the culinary aspects of the farm, and outlining how the cookbook is meant to inspire. Even if you don’t have a farm.

Of course, “The Larder” section focuses on the most fresh ingredients, preferably organic and biodynamic produce, grass-fed meat and eggs, raw dairy, unrefined fats and oils, unrefined sweeteners, whole grains, whole flours, seeds, nuts, raw vinegar, miso, filtered water, and sea salt.

I loved that the first chapter focuses on “Preserved, Cured, and Activated Ingredients.” I do wish there were a bit more recipes that I could find doable. I don’t have access to Coffee Cake persimmons so I can’t pickle them. I did appreciate the preserved lemon instructions and the “Tomato Raisins” recipe (35). I have dried countless quantities of cherry tomatoes but I never thought about pricking the skins beforehand. She includes instructions to render lard and make your own bacon. This chapter is a hodgepodge of preserving and making with recipes for soaking and dehydrating nuts, nut butters, making two different kinds of tortillas, and serving up grits.

Chapter two is where the fermented recipes can be found. There’s a pretty extensive tutorial on sour dough that I found interesting. She includes recipes for Farmer’s Cheese (simply milk, lemon juice and salt and patience) and crème fraîche. The jalapeno kaut recipe sounds delicious.

“Make Your Own Stocks and Condiments” continues to include fermented recipes: Roasted Garlic Hot Sauce, Fermented Ketchup, and Fermented Mustard. Instructions for her Healing Potassium Vegetable Broth along with chicken stock and roasted beef bone stock are found here as well. I’m always on the hunt for things to gift from the kitchen and her “Family Day Peach BBQ Sauce” (while not canned it can be frozen) and trio of flavored sea salts will probably be found wrapped up for the holidays.

This is, of course, a seasonal produce inspired cookbook, so the real recipes start rolling in with the fall/winter crops. It’s hard for me to get in to these kind of recipes in May, but they all seemed comforting and hardy. Some of the recipes call for specific and specialized veggies like Adirondack blue or red potatoes, Tokyo turnips, Nantes carrots, and red kuri squash.. I’m sure one could make due with whatever veggies they could find to sub in like regular carrots or any winter squash.

I was expecting a bit more recipes from the Spring section. Remember, I was on the hunt for the original chickpea-bean salad from their website. I did find a “Kale Salad with Crispy Chickpeas and Parmesan” and a “Spring Snap Pea Salad with Shaved Radish, Carrot, and Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette” though. Pages 140-143 lists (with illustrations) edible flowers for garnishes and salads, everything from okra flowers (never thought about that) to daylilies (but be careful with that one). Included here are ideas and recipes for infused honey, too.

There is an incredible aerial view of their 2.5 acre garden on page 98. It looks so immaculate and is laid out in an almost medieval knot pattern. I covet its neatness and simplicity.

In the “Summer” section, I was still looking for that elusive chickpea salad. I didn’t find that exact salad, but I did find a lot of great light recipes to try like Roasted Picnic Pepper and Tomato Panzanella Salad, Summer Corn Salad, and Marinated Picnic Peppers. There are a lot of blistered, grilled, and wood-fired recipes in this section, too.

This isn’t a vegetarian book by any means and we finally get to the protein part of the book. It is divided into Pastured Chicken and Eggs (there’s great illustrations of breeds), Pastured Beef and Lamb and Pastured Pork,

In the fowl section, there are frittata recipes for every season and chicken is not left out. She includes a chicken pizza and lots of braises and roasting recipes.

In the Beef and Lamb section there’s the obligatory Shepherd’s Pie but it is topped with sweet potatoes and features a chimichurri sauce. YUM! I thought the standout in the beef section was a Wood-Fired Rib Eye with a nasturtium berry sauce.

For pork recipes, she presents carnitas (cinnamon and citrus infused), sliders, ribs, pork chops with a PB&J sauce, pork meatloaf, and recipes for chorizo and sausage.

The Orchard section features more than just desserts. In the stone fruit section, there are a lot of savory options like Loquat Gazpacho, Yellow Corn Pancakes with Carnitas and Peach Salsa, and a cherry salad with bacon and goat cheese. For true desserts, there’s strawberry ice cream, panna cotta, a crisp, and a cordial. Moving to the Harvest fruits (like apples, figs, persimmons, pomegranates, and berries), I found quite a few recipes to try. Two of these are the Strawberry-Apple Butter w/Vanilla and the Blacberry-Fig Jam w/Caramelized Onions. I do wish that both of these preserves had instructions for canning. They are the “refrigerate for up to 2 months” types. Winter Citrus rounds out the Orchard section. Again, here there are more savory options than dessert-like ones—grain bowls with grapefruit and feta, orange and avocado salad, and a Fennel and Melogold Salad with Blue Cheese and Pickled Shallots. A Meyer lemon curd, a fancy limeade and kumquat cocoa bites are the sweet offerings. A two-page very nicely illustrated spread shows the citrus that Apricot Lane Farms grows.

Pets are not left out and she includes recipes for horse cookies and raw pet food.

The Apricot Lane Farms Cookbook is huge in girth, breadth and width! I found the writing to be informative. A lot of the recipes did call for specific farm things (not that you couldn’t sub in grocery-store bought meat). Some recipes were built upon fermented items and that is doable too. Some of the produce I just can’t get either like sunchokes, figs and some of the specialty heirloom apples (not that you couldn’t sub in a good baking apple).

We are really getting into sour dough and while that section was very informative, I probably won’t use any of the recipes because her sour dough is a whole grain based one. There are a lot of good tips (like breaking down a whole chicken) and I loved that edible flower section.

She does end with a pretty definitive resource section on where one can order from sustainable farmers and vendors. Frontier is mentioned for bulk herbs and spices but there’s a ton of other vendors for unique spices, raw honey, hand-harvested sea salt, and ethically sourced items. Anything you need could be ordered here from specific vendors: heirloom and “pre-colonial” grains and beans, hand-harvested sea vegetables, raw vinegars, grass-fed meat, organic whiskey (!), organic ghee, small-batch misos and koji, dried fruits and nuts, and artisan flours. If you’re into this kind of sourcing, these two pages are worth a looksie.

Of course, Apricot Lane is mentioned as a source for avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil and “cool swag.” 🙂

I never did find my chickpea-bean salad recipe. I guess I will have to make do with what I created.

I did, however, find a great veggie recipe for cauliflower steaks. Any of the three parts of this recipe are good on their own. The Salsa Verde is great on beef or pork (or salads), the cauliflower cream can be used as a side, and the roasted cauliflower is good absolutely on its own.

Cauliflower Steaks with Cilantro-Almond Salsa Verde and Chèvre Cream

By Debra (based on a recipe from The Biggest Little Farm Cookbook)

The BLF original recipe called for parsley in the salsa verde. I used cilantro because that’s what I had on hand. I also adapted the recipe further by only making half of the salsa verde (but using a bit more garlic and adding habanero vinegar). I also halved the cauliflower steak recipe (using only one large head) but I didn’t skimp on the cream! Furthermore, I adapted the instructions a bit and cut the roasting time from 1 ½ hours (!!!!) to about 40 minutes and I utilized the microwave to cook the cauliflower for the cream.

Ingredients

Make the Salsa Verde:

• 1 c. packed cilantro
• 2 large garlic cloves
• ¼ c. sliced almonds
• ½ t. capers
• 1 t. anchovy paste (or adjust to taste)
• 1 ½ t. habanero vinegar (or other flavored white vinegar to your liking)
• ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
• ⅛ t. red pepper flakes
• ⅛ t. Kosher salt

Make the cauliflower steaks:

• 1 large cauliflower head
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 ½ t. lemon zest (about half a lemon)
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ t. Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper to taste

For the cauliflower cream: 

• ½ c. whole milk
• 2 oz. herbed goat cheese (or plain)
• ¼ t. Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 2 c. crumbled outer cauliflower florets (from slicing the steaks)

Instructions

1. Place the ingredients for the salsa verde in a small food processor and pulse until mostly smooth. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Remove leaves from cauliflower head. Make three or four even slices (1-1 ½ “), keeping as much of the core as you can attached to the steaks. Reserve the outer crumbles for the cream (about 2 cups).
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, lemon zest, juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange the steaks on the parchment paper and brush both sides with the garlic mixture. 
5. Place in middle rack of preheated oven and roast for about 40 minutes. After 15 minutes, flip steaks using a spatula and brush on the remainder of the garlic mixture. Roast until fork tender but the steaks are still in one piece (mostly).
6. While the steaks roast, make the cream. Take the remaining cauliflower florets and place them in a glass baking dish with a lid. Add about a tablespoon of water. Microwave for about 3-4 minutes or until tender. Drain and transfer to the bowl of a large food processor.
7. Warm milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds until warm. Add the warm milk to the food processor and add the chevre, salt and pepper. Process until smooth.
8. Spread the cream on a serving platter, place the roasted steaks on top, and drizzle on the salsa verde. If you have more cream left, you can place a few dollops on top as well.

I have other recipes bookmarked before this goes back to the library. This one was a great dish!

Would I buy this book? Probably not but I am glad I checked it out!

I’m linking up with May’s Foodies Read.