June 12, 2011
Yesterday turned into quite an adventure. Eight of us hit the road at 9:30 to the mystical China Ranch Date Farm. Where? You might ask. And people say Vegas isn’t home to fabulous produce. Hmphf.
A mere 77 miles from Las Vegas, you can find yourself smack dab in the middle of the date farm. It’s a small oasis in the middle of nowhere with quite a crop of date palms. The ranch has a bakery/gift shop, succulent gardens, and a nice path that runs along the trees. Informational signs tell the history of date farming, and explain the varieties of dates. Strange as it may sound, this is my second trip to the date ranch.
The drive is a little bit treacherous and takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes from west Vegas. The last leg of the trip is a curvy dirt road. You head west on Blue Diamond, hang left on Tacopa highway and follow the signage. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, you will see a lush green oasis. We strolled around the path, admiring the variety of palms, while sipping on our treats.
Oh yes! You must sample a date shake. The China Ranch mixes them up fresh. In case you’re wondering, a date shake is essentially a vanilla milkshake with dates blended up inside. It’s good. The bakery also offers date nut bread, date cookies, date bars and so on. You can buy dates in bags, and boxes and they freeze very well.
What to do with these dates?? Well, aside from the shake, and the aforementioned baked goods, dates have a plethora of uses. They are popular chopped up in cous cous in Moroccan cuisine. They also make excellent hors de’ oeuvres when stuffed with an almond and wrapped in bacon. Chop them up and stir them into your morning oatmeal; mix them into a stuffing for a turkey breast; add them to mixed greens for a lovely salad. Naturally, since dates are a fruit, they provide fiber, and vitamins and minerals along with their delicious flavor.
Date Stuffed Turkey Breast
· 1 turkey breast
· ¼ cup almonds, toasted and chopped
· 3 slices dried whole wheat bread, diced
· 8 dates, pitted and chopped
· ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
· ¼ cup raisins
· 1 tsp. sage, minced (or substitute dried sage)
· ½ tsp. rosemary, minced
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together all ingredients in a small bowl and moisten by slowly pouring in chicken broth. Slice a pocket into the turkey breast - do not cut all the way through. Season inside the pocket with salt and pepper. Fill the pocket with moistened stuffing and secure opening with toothpicks or by trussing with twine. Heat a sauté pan over high heat and add 1 tsp. olive oil. Season turkey breast with salt and pepper and lay skin side down in pan to sear. For an even more healthful version, remove the skin form the turkey breast or buy a skinless turkey breast. After browning, turn breast over, pour in ¼ cup chicken broth, and place entire pan in oven until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Approximately 20 – 30 minutes. Remove breast from oven and take out of pan. Whisk in a slurry to thicken for a nice pan gravy. Bring to a boil and turn off. Remove toothpicks, slice stuffed breast ad served drizzled with gravy.
After wandering the date farm, we headed to the Pahrump Valley Winery for an afternoon lunch al fresco. We enjoyed the lovely 80 degree weather and sampled their offerings overlooking the grape vines and garden area. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. My mother and I shared a cup of the lobster bisque, the baked brie and fruit platter, and the chicken limone. It was all washed down with a glass of sweet Symphony. This is one of the many things I love about Las Vegas. There are about 1 million creative things to do on any given afternoon. There are day trips in any of three surrounding states, and I tend to feel like I am on an eternal vacation.
Love this! I am going to go on this adventure one of these days, very soon I hope. We need to know about places like this that will make a great day trip but expose us to great food along the way. Thanks!
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