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What's in your garden, Fallbrook?

Maggie Stewart

Special to the Village News

Avocados are in the garden, of course. Fallbrook is known for hillsides of avocado trees and the Avocado Festival. The festival started 33 years ago and just keeps getting better on the fun scale.

Shane McSheehy is fond of avocados. Actually, all plants that can provide food for his creative palate. He is a pilot and can live anywhere, but he knows Fallbrook is where gardeners can grow most anything you place in the ground and nurture.

McSheehy, his son Thomas and his wife Victoria, decided that Fallbrook is where they want to grow roots. I had the honor of helping them find just the right property. They selected a home with a little more than 2 acres, perfect for planting their own garden and family fruit trees. It's a large enough space to corral an active family and provide for entertaining friends.

Fallbrook holds a ton of great memories for McSheehy, since he grew up here. Beyond the fact that his parents still live in Fallbrook, he said he knows how to climb into an avocado tree and how to make really good guacamole. When he was younger, he won second place for his guacamole at the Avocado Festival. Then in 2008, with the help of his son, Thomas, he was awarded first place in the Amateur Most Creative Dish with "Avocado Chicken Egg Rolls."

Here is McSheehy's winning recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pound cooked, diced chicken breast or leg meat

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature

1 whole avocado, peeled and sliced into 24 pieces

1 package large, square egg roll wrappers

1⁄2 tomato, diced

2 tablespoons white onion, diced

2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1⁄2 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon Serrano pepper, finely chopped

2 green onions, chopped

Directions:

Preheat deep fryer to 375 F.

Combine all ingredients, except avocado, in large mixing bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of filling and one slice of avocado to egg roll wrapper. Roll and form egg rolls.

Deep-fry at 375 degrees for approximately 5 minutes. Remove and place on a paper towel to drain and cool. Serve.

Who is going to submit an entry April 14 at this year's Avocado Festival? The McSheehy family will be found downtown that day, celebrating and sampling locally grown produce and products from the Fallbrook community.

Maggie Stewart is a family farm-to-table specialist with CR Properties, Real Estate Services. She can be reached at (760) 703-4788.

 

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