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The approach of Thanksgiving marks a busy time at Paicines Ranch as the team works to fill orders for their organic pasture-raised turkeys. Tasked with preparing the ranch’s Thursday lunches at the Overlook dining hall and planning upcoming farm-to-table dinners, it is also a busy time for Executive Chef Maggie Fernandez, who recently replaced Chef Carlos Cañada.
“Maggie was working as a sous chef,” said the ranch’s sales manager, Mary Rowan. “She has been doing a great job here—the spices she uses are flavorful, and they really seem to bring out the flavor of our meats.”
Fernandez originally attended California State University at Chico, intending to become a veterinarian, before studying culinary arts at the Clovis Institute of Technology. She credits her family for “showing me how much love you can cook into a dish” and changing her life’s pathway.
“A lot of people think it’s funny that I wanted to be a vet and then got into cooking animals,” she said, “but going back home and visiting with family and seeing how passionate they were about cooking opened my eyes.”
Before working at the ranch, Fernandez was a sous chef at Testarossa Winery in Los Gatos. She moved to Hollister and began looking for a closer kitchen to work in when she received an email inviting her to visit Paicines.
“I came here and saw how everything just was so peaceful, calm and open,” she said. “It caught my eye. It’s a bit different. You’re not constantly being rushed, and everyone’s just a little bit more friendly.”
She also appreciates having access to the best of what is grown in San Benito County, whether on the ranch or sourced from local farms.
“I think it is great,” she said, “because many restaurants don’t have the opportunities we have here. We work closely with the farmers, so we know exactly how it is being produced and how it gets to us.”
A recent Thursday lunch menu at the Overlook was a perfect example: a honey-apple braised Paicines Ranch pork chop plated with mashed potatoes, roasted sunchokes and caramelized Brussels sprouts, served with a bright cabbage salad with orange slices and a quinoa salad with cherry tomatoes.
To complete the meal, the Overlook serves wine from wineries such as Blade & Talon, Terah and Margins, which source their grapes from the Paicines Ranch vineyard. It is an elegant yet casual execution of the start-to+finish farm-to-table concept.
Fernandez has graciously shared several Fall-themed recipes, which we have made available as a PDF, Paicines Ranch Recipes. These include her Whole Mustard and Honey Glazed Pork Chops, reprinted below, Turkey Gravy, Candied Sweet Potatoes, and Mole with Turkey Leftovers, her favorite use for the leftover bird.
(Former Executive Chef Cañada shared his turkey recipe in a previous BenitoLink article.)
Turkeys are a particularly important part of the season for Paicines Ranch. Rowan said that, besides the turkeys being pasture-raised, the ranch harvests the turkeys in early August to avoid the high heats that have a detrimental effect on the meat. The ranch raises about 200 turkeys annually, of which 150 are for sale to the public.
Whole Mustard and Honey Glazed Pork Chops, courtesy of Chef Maggie Fernandez
Whole Mustard, Honey Glaze
Yield: 1.5 Cups
● Three sprigs of Rosemary
● 1 cup of organic Honey
● 1/4 cup of whole-grain mustard
● 4 tbsp of butter
● Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions:
● Add honey, mustard, salt, and pepper to a pot and let it boil.
● Once boiling, add in the rosemary and emulsify the butter.
● Turn down the flame to medium/low heat for about 5- 10 minutes.
● Turn off the flame and let the rosemary steep for another 3 minutes.
Grilled Pork Chop Seasoning
Yield: 3/4 cup
6 tbsp of kosher salt
6 tbsp of black pepper
8 tbsp of garlic powder
8 tbsp of onion powder
Instructions:
● Preheat oven to 350*.
● Add everything together in a bowl to season the pork.
● Let the pork rest for about 8 minutes before grilling.
● Grill the steaks, then brush with the glaze before adding them to the oven.
● Bake until the temperature hits 145-160 degrees.
Paicines Ranch is located at 13388 Airline Hwy in Paicines. Lunch is served every Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. except for the week of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. BenitoLink readers ordering a turkey from their website can receive a 10% discount using the coupon code BENITOLINKTURKEY10.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
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