This week on the blog, we are traveling to the West Coast to explore some of the most iconic and delicious foods available in the heart of California!
Home to almost 40 million people (including lots of foodies), California is known for its delicious and multicultural restaurant landscape. We particularly love the up-and-coming, pop-up smash burger scene, where chefs are whipping up some seriously tasty burgers in many locations, from parking lots to back yards! But, aside from burgers, California is also one of the largest producers of fresh fruit and veggies that are available in grocery stores across the nation!
Scroll down to take your tastebuds on a tour through California’s most popular produce, learn some food history, and check out three iconic dishes that we’ve recreated using Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls and Bread.
Avocado
You may have guessed that a blog about California foods would involve avocados. Because, among many things, California is famous for its avocado harvest. In fact, 90% of the avocados grown in the United States are from California! With its temperate climate and vast geography, California is the perfect place for avocado trees to grow.
Of course, avocados are not everyone’s cup of guac, especially if you’re not sure how to choose the right one. But, this famous superfood is so diversely useful (ipso facto avocado brownies), there’s an avocado dish for almost everyone.
Featured Recipe: Avocado Toast with Poached Egg
The array of recipes that use avocado is about as vast as the avocado tree population in California. But, for this particular blog, we chose a simple, classic, and customizable option: avocado toast. For our protein-packed variation of this breakfast dish, we’ve used toasted Martin’s 100% Whole Wheat Potato Bread, fresh avocado mixed with herbs, a poached egg, and a drizzle of sriracha.
Get the recipe: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/avocado-toast-with-poached-egg
Check out our video tutorial for this recipe: https://youtu.be/IXCF17teRP4
More avocado goodness:
California Chicken Flatbread | California Club Sandwich | California Turkey Burgers
Cobb Salad
Did you know that Cobb salad originated in a restaurant in California? It was first created in 1937 at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, where silver screen stars would often come to enjoy a meal. The restaurant owner, Bob Cobb, invented this combination of ingredients on a whim to share with his friend. These ingredients—lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, tomatoes, chives, and, of course, avocado—are all still part of a classic Cobb salad.
Featured Recipe: Cobb Salad Sandwich
Our fresh take on the Cobb salad lies between two toasted pieces of Martin’s Butter Bread, making for a flavor-packed, handheld meal. On this sandwich, you’ll also find a homemade aioli, inspired by the original Brown Derby Cobb Old-Fashioned Dressing!
To make, simply layer ingredients on a slice of toasted Martin’s Butter Bread: grilled chicken breast, romaine lettuce, pan-fried bacon, tomato, avocado, hard-boiled egg, bleu cheese, chives, and watercress. Then, drizzle aioli over all ingredients and top with another slice of toast.
Get the recipe: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/cobb-salad-sandwich
Another Cobb salad creation:
French Dip
In addition to the Cobb salad, the French dip sandwich also originated in a restaurant in California, although this sandwich has a much more controversial history. In LA, both Phillipe The Original and Cole’s restaurants claim to have invented the sandwich in the early 1900s—one saying it was accidentally invented from being dropped into a roasting pan of broth and the other recalling dipping a crusty beef sandwich into meat broth to soften it, per request. Either way, the sandwich has since gained widespread popularity and remains a classic recipe.
Featured Recipe: French Dip
A slight variation from the original, our French Dip sandwich is prepared with warm roast beef slices on Martin’s Hoagie Rolls and served with French Dip sauce on the side.
Get the recipe: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/french-dip/
More French Dip inspiration:
https://potatorolls.com/recipes/foil-pack-french-dip-sandwiches/
Stone Fruits
When dreaming of California’s vast avocado produce, don’t forget about its plentiful fruit supply as well. From grapes to nectarines, California harvests tons of fruit in a year, particularly stone fruit, like peaches and plums.
Featured Recipe: Plum and Cherry Bruschetta
In celebration of stone fruit from The Golden State, we chose a simple bruschetta where peaches and cherries are the star.
To prepare this bruschetta, combine sliced plums and cherries with sugar, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl and let macerate. Then, lightly toast squares of Martin’s Cinnamon-Sugar Swirl Potato Bread and top with sweetened ricotta cheese and a slice of each prepared fruit.
Get the recipe: https://potatorolls.com/recipes/plum-and-cherry-bruschetta/
Extra fruity ideas:
Peach Panzanella Salad | Summer Fruit Bruschetta | Peach, Brie, and Basil Panini
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We hope you enjoyed this culinary tour through the Golden State! Although we are not yet in retail stores in California, you can find our rolls in many delicious restaurants across the state, from smash burger pop-ups to restaurant chains.
We are looking forward to the day when we can travel back to California for events like the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and taste some of the state’s iconic cuisine for ourselves. Until then, we’ll continue to enjoy California’s vast produce harvest with delicious recipes like these.
Related Blogs:
https://potatorolls.com/blog/restaurant-road-trip-part-5-texas-california/
https://potatorolls.com/blog/potato-roll-journey/
https://potatorolls.com/blog/food-service-awards/
Sources:
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