“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

– George Eliot

• Organic Cranberry Bean Soup with Saffron

“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been.”

– Percy Bysshe Shelley

• Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts
• Half Moon Bay Curry Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Crimini Mushrooms

“And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves…”

– Virginia Woolf

• Autumn Au Gratin Potatoes
• Cranberry Gelatin Salad
• Polenta with Mushrooms and Rosemary

“Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.”

– Samuel Butler

• Capay Organic Parsnip and Apple Soup

The leaves are changing color, the weather is cooler, and the days are getting shorter. What better season to get busy in the kitchen than fall! Whether you are ready for the start of the new season or you are struggling to say goodbye to summer, there is no denying that this fall-centric recipe will get you in the spirit. Happy Fall cooking!

• Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Pots de Crème with Bourbon Maple Cream Topping

“We all eat, and it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly.”

– Anna Thomas

• Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage
• Curried Pumpkin Soup

A Colorful and Healthful Harvest Menu

“Fall means harvest-time. Acres of ripe crops are ready to be brought in and shipped to market for consumption, or canned to preserve the harvest for the coming winter months. On Saturday, a visit to the farmers market reveals a colorful bounty of fruit and vegetables overflowing from the wood bins at farmers’ stalls – orange winter squash and pumpkins, purple figs, green lettuces and herbs, red pomegranates and blue-black eggplants.

For my fall recipes, I shine the spotlight on the season’s glorious produce. This all-vegetable menu is healthy, too – low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The recipes showcase a variety of vegetables and fruit, and provide protein through barley, nuts and cheese.

Head out for a brisk walk through the crisp twilight air, then enjoy this healthful feast with your family and friends. Savor this invigorating season and all its tasty delights!”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Capay Organic Parsnip and Apple Soup
• Airdome Orchards Persimmon and Cowgirl Creamery Goat Cheese Tart
• Guisti Farms Mini-Pumpkins Stuffed with Sausage and Sage, Served with Beluga Lentils and Sautéed Spinach Roots
• Jacob’s Farm Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Salad with Aged Balsamic Vinegar
• Fried Capay Organics Eggplant “Sandwich” with Sautéed Spinach, Grilled Tomato and Bellweather Farms Ricotta served with Sautéed Red Cabbage and Barley Broccoli Risotto
• Happy Boy Farms Arugula and Kale Salad with Pomegranate and Ginger Dressing 
• Creamy Fitz Farm Mushroom Stew

Present Perfect

“As a chef and owner of a sustainable foodservice management company, I welcome the bounty that autumn brings to our clients and to my family. I share with my fellow Epicurean Group chefs an eager anticipation of the fall harvest season.

I’m grateful that, today, our country is gradually reverting to eating the kind of food that our grandparents ate – rather than the processed, pre-packaged food that until recently was so prevalent in American kitchens. Customers want fresh, organic, local, seasonal food and they are going to farmers’ markets or joining CSAs to get it.

Fresh ingredients make all the difference. I appreciate all our sustainable partners who provide us with amazing foods. It’s so empowering to work with family farmers like Capay Organic, Jacob’s Farm, Guisti Farms and Airdome Orchards – and artisan producers like Cowgirl Creamery. It inspires me every time I go into the kitchen and start to work with such quality nutritious ingredients. I feel fortunate to be able to create original delicious dishes to share with our customers.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Capay Organic Parsnip and Apple Soup
• Airdome Orchards Persimmon and Cowgirl Creamery Goat Cheese Tart
• Guisti Farms Mini-Pumpkins Stuffed with Sausage and Sage, Served with Beluga Lentils and Sautéed Spinach Roots
• Jacob’s Farm Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Salad with Aged Balsamic Vinegar

A Menu to Bridge the Seasons

“Harvest in Northern California is a special time of year for both farmers and cooks. While we are all saying a fond farewell to summer fruits and vegetables, we are welcoming in the new season, which provides us with a bounty of fall vegetables and fruits to delight the palate. Cooking with fresh, local food attunes our bodies and our minds to the changing seasons in a way that cooking prepared foods never can. The recipes I’ve created here are a “bridge” – in other words, they provide a transition from summer to fall, easing you into autumn as the weather cools. They include both summer and winter vegetables that are available now, such as the last of those delicious summer tomatoes, paired with dried organic cranberry beans and with Lost Coast Ranch Beef Cheeks. Fall arrives with the first Brussels Sprouts and Half Moon Bay Pumpkin for my Pots de Crème recipe. Enjoy the bounty and blessings of harvest time. Cook something seasonal, and support your local farmers and ranchers!”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Pots de Crème with Bourbon Maple Cream Topping
• Lost Coast Ranch Beef Cheeks with Heirloom Tomatoes and Root Vegetables, Coke Farms Spicy Broccoli and Stove-Top Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Muzzi Farms Greens with Brussels Sprouts, Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette and Toasted Flax Seed
• Organic Cranberry Bean Soup with Saffron

Signs of the Season

“My aunt and uncle had a prolific garden. For me, as a kid, it was one of my favorite places, running through the corn and feasting on fresh tomatoes off the vine. Each autumn there was an exciting family event when all the cousins were invited to pick their own “pumpkin family” from the enormous pile in the old barn. Not just one pumpkin, but an entire family! – mom, dad, brother and sister pumpkins, who all would be carved, placed on the steps of our home and lighted for Halloween. The aunties also selected their pumpkins to roast for pies, soups, casseroles, and, of course, as decorations for the sideboard.

Signs of the season, you can see pumpkins piled high in local barns and pumpkin patches across the county. While I admire pumpkins for their aesthetic value and cheery jack-o-lantern faces, I also love to cook with them. I hope you enjoy my curried pumpkin soup – a perfect start to the beautiful harvest season, and all the magic and memories it entails.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Paso Robles Zinfandel Dessert Wine Poached Figs with Three Twins Vanilla Ice Cream and Pistachio Biscotti
• Grilled Llano Seco Pork Tenderloin with Fennel Apple Chutney, Red Quinoa Pilaf, Shelled Cranberry Beans and Happy Boy Farms Broccoli Rabe 
• Capay Farms Fall Greens Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
• Half Moon Bay Curry Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Crimini Mushrooms

Harvesting Autumn’s Bounty

“At Epicurean Group, we celebrate the harvest season with our partners – the organic and sustainable farms and ranches situated across the beautiful, Northern California countryside.

Autumn is a favorite time of year for me – my menu choices are endless. Here, I’ve crafted recipes using ingredients from Capay and Lundberg Family Farms, Stemple Creek Ranch and the artisan cheese makers at Cowgirl Creamery. Prepare this delicious and easy menu and enjoy nature’s fall bounty with family and friends.”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Ginger Pear Crisp with Lemon-Scented Cowgirl Creamery Crème Fraîche
• Stemple Creek Ranch Lamb on Rosemary Skewers with Salsa Verde, Creamy Polenta with Feta and Organic Butternut Squash Roasted with Red Onions and Sage 
• Capay Farms Organic Arugula and Radicchio with Warm Pacheco Dairy Goat Cheese and Warm Citrus Vinaigrette
• Lundberg Family Farms Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

“It’s harvest time – and we’re celebrating at festivals and feasts throughout Northern California! The “crush” is on, as grapes are picked and fermented to produce some of the best wines in the world. Pork is traditional fall fare and, in this menu, tenderloin is complemented with a sublime port and fig reduction. Crack open one of our excellent California zinfandels, and toast this glorious season!”

—Chef Rey Hernandez,
Co-Founder and VP, Epicurean Group

• Autumn Au Gratin Potatoes
• Cranberry Gelatin Salad
• Chocolate Cream Puffs
• Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts
• Polenta with Mushrooms and Rosemary
• Natural Pork Tenderloins with Port and Fig Sauce
• Frisée and Cabbage Salad with Ginger and Grapefruit
• Organic Potato and Leek Soup with Truffles