It's in the Bag!

Today's Specialty Produce Farmer's Market Bag was full of delicious treats; from bottom left blood oranges, snap peas, basil, blackberries, rhubarb, spinach, white scallions, spigarello broccoli, and French Marmonte heirloom tomatoes.  We had a terrific class at Great News! today and for those of you who didn't make the class here are a few more ways to use the produce that is in the bag this week. We'll start with dessert first because I'm that kind of girl!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

Serves 8 to 10

For the Fruit

4 cups hulled strawberries, cut in half or quartered if large

4 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 4 stalks)

1 cup granulated sugar (or more if the berries need it)

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and coat the inside of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

In a large mixing bowl, toss together the berries, sugar, cornstarch and juice and transfer the mixture to the baking dish.   Set aside while making the crumble. 

For the Crumble:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1.      In a food processor, combine the flour and sugars by pulsing on and off 4 to 5 times.  

2.      Drop the butter cubes onto the flour mixture, and pulse the mixture on and off until it begins to come together. 

3.      Break up any large pieces, and sprinkle evenly over the fruit in the prepared pan. 

4.      Bake the crumble for 35 to 45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. 

5.      Serve the crumble warm, or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, or gelato.  

6.      If you have any crumble topping (uncooked) leftover, freeze it and then use it another time. 

If you are doing individual crumbles, they will cook for 20 minutes, until they are golden and bubbling.  This recipe will make about 16 ramekins. 

Slow Sauteed Spigarello Broccoli with Garlic
Serves 4 to 6

 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
One bunch spigarello broccoli, stems trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
salt and pepper
In a large saute pan, heat the oil and saute the garlic for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the broccoli, broth and season with salt and pepper.  Turn the broccoli in the broth and garlic oil to coat.  Cover and slow simmer for 10 minutes, turn the broccoli, cover and cook another 5 minutes.  Remove the cover, and cook another 5 minutes, to evaporate some of the liquid in the bottom of the pan.  Serve the broccoli as a bed for roasted meats, grilled fish, or chicken.  

Caprese Salad Traditionale  
Serve 4
5 medium vine ripened heirloom tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick
One 8-ounce ball fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/2-inch thick
12 to 16 leaves of basil
salt and pepperolive oil



Arrange the tomatoes alternately with the mozzarella on a serving platter.  Tuck the basil between the tomatoes and mozzarella. Sprinkle the tomatoes and mozzarella with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with oil and serve.  
Cooks' Note:  Another way to serve this type salad is to alternate slices of blood oranges with the mozzarella, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and drizzle with oil.

I hope you all have a safe, and delicious weekend, buona sera from San Diego
 

Chicken Fried Salad......or Fried Chicken Salad, or Awesome Chicken Salad

After making fried chicken for dinner the other night, I've got a few pieces leftover, and they are perfect for one of my favorite salads.  I sometimes make this salad with leftover turkey or chicken, but it's especially good with leftover over fried chicken, with the crispy coating soaking up the mapley Ranch Style Dressing; trust me, you'll be addicted!

Fried Chicken Salad              

Serves 6

One 10-ounce bags mixed salad greens of your choice

1 European cucumber, diced

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, or 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 cup fresh or defrosted frozen corn kernels

3 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken or turkey

1 cup Ranch Hand Special Dressing (see next recipe)

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 strips bacon, cooked until crisp, drained on paper towels, and crumbled

1 cup Spicy Pecans (see next recipe)

1. Put the salad greens in a large salad bowl. Add the cucumber, celery, chives, corn, and chicken. 
2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the ranch dressing, maple syrup, and pepper.
3. Toss the salad with the dressing, add the bacon and pecans, and toss again to coat everything. Serve immediately   

Ranch Hand Special Dressing

Makes about 2 cups

Once you taste this dressing, you won't be buying that bottle on the shelf in the grocery store; but if you need to buy the bottle, just add the maple syrup and pepper to spice it up a bit.  

2 cups mayonnaise

1 cup buttermilk, or substitute 1 cup whole milk mixed with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1tablespoon chopped fresh parsley            

1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives

1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon

1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and buttermilk, then add the garlic, herbs, salt, and lemon pepper and stir until blended.

Do-Ahead: At this point, you can cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Shake well or whisk before using.

Spicy Nuts
Makes 2 cups

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups pecan or walnut halves or whole almonds

2 tablespoons raw sugar

1. Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.   
2. Add the sugar, the seasoned salt, garlic salt, and cayenne and stir until the spices give off some aroma, 1 to 2 minutes.  
3. Add the nuts and toss until well coated, and the nuts begin to give off an aroma, about 4 minutes. 
4. Remove from the heat and place the nuts in a glass bowl.  Sprinkle the raw sugar over the nuts and toss until coated.  

Do-Ahead: At this point, you can let cool, transfer to zipper-top plastic bags, and freeze indefinitely.

Cook’s Notes:  

• If you would like to make nuts to toss into salads, chop them before cooking them in the butter and seasonings. 
• It’s important to use dried spices with the nuts because they become fragrant in the butter and will adhere to the nuts.  Fresh herbs and spices are terrific in other recipes, but not here.

These little nuggets don't last long around here!

Can't remember where I bought these, but love Foxy Organic!!!

Every bite is different; tender chicken, crunchy romaine, celery and cucumbers, salty bacon, sweet and spicy nuts, and maple syrup spiked ranch style dressing.

 Don't toss the nuts into the salad, rather garnish the plated salad with the nuts so they don't lose any crispness. 
I'm teaching the Farmer's Market Bag class tomorrow at Great News! I will have some recipes for the ingredients in the bag in my next post, until then, buona notte from San Diego. 

August Beginnings.........

I know I've been gone for a week; I feel kind of like this person, buried under paper and "to do" lists, and my own stuff.

I've not felt like cooking, or eating, or even writing....but I'm coming back, all it took was for me to get the contents of the Specialty Produce Farmer's Market Bag on Tuesday for our class on Friday to get me back into the swing of things.
So what have I been cooking this week?  Well, there was the on-going search for the best Roman Pizza crust recipe

this one was from an award winning bread baker, and it was awful.....I'm sorry, but I tried it twice, neither time did we have a good crust.   I'm not publishing the recipes till I get the right one!

I did make some awesome fried chicken (we do this about once a year) last week, and served it with corn on the cob and a salad.  See that awesome Scanpan skillet---Scanpan is the BEST!

As the week has gone on, I'm realizing that cooking is really therapy for me, and since getting back into the kitchen, and getting away from the paperwork barrage, I'm feeling more like myself again. I'll be back again and I'll have new recipes, and great tips for cooking great meals for your family, until then, buona notte  from San Diego.

Felt Gone Wild

My friend Alexis over at Fern and Feather gave me the idea for this cool felt wall to make for our Granddaughter Poppy's 2nd birthday...click here to see Alexis' finished work of art.  She's much more clever than I, and as I told Dr. C. I can cook myself into oblivion but I've never been an artist, or had any artistic capabilities, but I wanted to make Poppy something rather than buy her something that won't last, and thought this would be a fun way to play make-believe with her, without the aid of electronics. 
So, for the past week, as we've been watching the Padres sink further into the cellar, I've been cutting felt and pasting googly eyes onto the figures for her wall.
Yesterday I made a few of the characters from Yo Gabba Gabba and plan to finish the set this week.  My plan is to mount the green and blue background on foam core, and we will put it beneath a window in her room---I'm hoping to do 4 of them, so we can have them be seasonal, or maybe even do a princess themed one for Christmas.

 

So this is the wall so far, and I'm working towards getting it done by the end of the week---I'll be back later with some food, but for now Happy Monday! 

Shrimply Irresistable

I've loved shrimp as long as I can remember; I could wax poetically about shrimp dishes I've loved just like Bubba in the movie Forest Gump, when he tells Forest how many ways you can make shrimp.
I'm particularly fond of shrimp salads and shrimp cocktail in the summertime.  Shrimp arrive in our markets here in California frozen; the shrimp that may look fresh in the case, is really frozen and defrosted.  When buying, buy the shrimp that's frozen, at least that way you'll know you're defrosting it.  I always have shrimp in the freezer, and today was one of those days when I felt like a shrimp salad, and had some leftover lobster roll buns from Bread & Cie here in San Diego.  So, Dr. C and I feasted for lunch, drowning our sorrows when the Padres lost to the Phillies.....it really is our losing season. 

 Shrimp and Dill Salad
Serves 4
1 rib celery, finely diced
1 scallion, finely chopped
2 teaspoon fresh snipped dill (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/3 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, cooked and chopped
grated zest of 1/2 lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
1/4 to 1/3 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, combine the ingredients, adding more mayonnaise if desired.  
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve on a bed of lettuce or in a toasted roll.  

A toasted roll really perks this up

As I tell Dr. C. you cannot rush a toasted roll!

Shrimp Roll with Potato Salad....ahhh summer!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.