Sparkling Peach Sangria

As spring arrives, I thought to myself, "Self, it's time to add some refreshing beverages to the readers' arsenals".   To start off, I'm sharing a super-easy recipe for Sparkling Peach Sangria because people are still talking about the batch I made last summer for an all ladies pool party I hosted at my house.  So, here it is, ladies! (and Gents...)  

You'll need the following ingredients to make 4 drinks, however you can feel free to add other types of fruit as well.  

2 Firm Ripe White Peaches

1 bunch of Green Grapes

2 Granny Smith Apples

1/2 cup Peach Schnapps

1/3 cup Superfine Sugar

3 cups chilled Rose' or White Zinfandel wine

2 cups Sparkling Water or Lemon-Lime Soda (such as 7-Up)

1 cup pineapple juice

Cut up peaches and apples into bite-sized chunks, add all fruit and sugar to the peach schnapps, mix and cover for at least a couple of hours, but ideally overnight.  When ready to serve, put schnapps mixture in pitcher or serving vessel and add wine, pineapple juice, and sparkling water or soda.  Mix well.

Serve over ice!  YUM!

Thai Spice Cupcakes

 

So, the second cupcake flavor we're planning for my sister's shower is a Thai Spice cupcake.  I wanted to make something unique that would go with the Thai menu theme... something more interesting that boring plain white or chocolate, and something that was more about the flavor than about doing something outrageous for the frosting decoration.  So far, I've settled on a Lemongrass Vanilla Cupcake (see "find it" section for recipe), and a this one which we did a test run of today and boy oh boy are these Thai Spice Cupcakes good!  The unexpected savory-sweet flavor profile of curry, mango, vanilla, mint, and jalapeno, upon first bite inspires a raised eyebrow, and an "oh wow!", the tangy mango curry filling sends you over the top and into a moment of ecstacy and the mango butter cream?  To diiiiie for.  Really.  You'll want to sit and savor this extraordinary treat for as long as you can stretch it out.  But enough of the foreplay, here's the recipe for making one dozen!  I suggest making the mango curd the day before so that it's already done and ready to use. 

Enjoy!

Cupcakes:

1 tablespoons curry powder

2 tablespoons minced jalapeno

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

1 cup finely diced mango

1 recipe Vanilla Bean Cupcakes (see "cupcakes" in the "find it" section to the right)

To Assemble:

2 cups Mango Curd (see Lemon Curd recipe with alternate instructions to make it Mango)

Frosting:

1 cup Mango Curd (see Lemon Curd recipe with alternate instructions to make it Mango)

1 recipe Vanilla Buttercream (American Style)

Make your Vanilla Bean Cupcake batter according to the recipe instructions then add the curry.

Fold in Jalapeno, mint, cilantro, and minced mango gently. 

Bake according to directions.  They will not be golden brown.  They're done when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of a cupcake. 

Allow to cool completely. 

Make the mango curd.  

Make the Vanilla American Buttercream.  

Fold 1 cup of mango curd into the buttercream.  If it's too thin, you'll have to add more sifted powdered sugar until it's thick enough to hold shape when frosting your cupcakes.

When the cupcakes are cooled completely, push a finger down into each one leaving a hole.

Using a turkey baster, fill each hole with some of the remaining mango curd.

Then frost the cupcakes with the mango buttercream frosting.  

Garnish with mint or cilantro sprigs.

YUM

The Pyrate's Soupe L'Ognion (French Onion Soup)

Yesterday the Pyrate made the BEST FRENCH ONION SOUP I HAVE EVER HAD!  I will never crave it again from elsewhere... not even that French bistro at the Grove promenade.  If you are a fan of French Onion Soup, you will fall in love all over again when you learn to make it at home from scratch.  It is truly a beautiful thing.
You'll need oven proof dishes, either porcelain, ceramic or stoneware individual crocks, ramekins, or bowls.  We used porcelain ramekins, which worked fine except they are a pain to get clean again... you have to soak them in baking soda and hot water overnight to get the baked-on brown stains off.  The picture below is not mine.  Just wanted to give you something to look at.  We forgot to take pics before we ate ours!  Ha!  Sorry!

This recipe was inspired by one we saw Alton Brown (the food scientist dude) make on the Food Network with some slight alterations because his ended up with not enough onions and even the entire recipe was a bit scant to truly feed 6 people like he said it would.  

Enjoy! 

7 large sweet onions (red or sweet maui or a combination of both as we did for ours)

4 tbsps butter

sea salt

1 cups of white wine (we used a chardonnay)

32 oz of beef broth (or vegetable if you prefer)

12 oz of chicken broth (or more vegetable if you prefer)

2 cups of apple cider

1 bouquet garni (thyme sprig, bay leaf, and parsley sprig tied together with kitchen twine)

1 loaf of country style bread

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Cognac

2 cups of grated Gruyere

Cut onions in half then thinly cut into half-moon slices, mix together if using two kinds.  

Melt the butter in the bottom of a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium low heat. 

Spread a layer of onions over melted butter and sprinkle layer with a pinch of salt.

Repeat layering onions and sprinkling with a pinch of salt til all onions are layered in the pot.  Do not stir.

Leave to cook down over medium low heat for 15-20 minutes then stir. 

Continue cooking and occasionally stirring til onions are carmelized to a dark mahogany and reduced to about 2 cups.  This will take about 45 min. to an hour, and don't worry if it seems it's burning.

Add the wine and cook over high heat until liquid is reduced and is syrupy. (We had a chuckle-worthy moment when we got to this part because the Pyrate imitated Julia Childs as he sloshed the wine into the pot without a measuring cup. )

Add broths, cider, and herbs, turn down fire, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Place oven rack on top notches of oven and heat your broiler.
Cut bread in rounds large enough to fit soup bowls.
Place the slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
Broil in the oven til nice and toasty, turn and repeat on the other side.
Season soup mixture with salt, pepper.
Add a splash of cognac. We used about 1/4 cup.
Remove herbs and ladle soup into crocks leaving one inch from the top.
Place bread round on top of soup and top with grated cheese.
Broil until cheese is bubbly and golden.
Be sure to watch it so that it doesn't burn.
YUM!!

Lemon-Ginger-Soy Stir Fry

Mmmmmmm!  This dish was a pure improvisation tonight!!   You will not be disappointed. 
You'll need a wok or a decent sized skillet/saute pan for this preparation and a hungry stomach!! The trick to stir frying is a very hot pan, a good oil with a high smoking point, and your ingredients in approximately the same sizes.


The Players:
2 Boneless Chicken Breasts please use organic, hormone/antibiotic free, free range chicken or just go veggie... seriously people... cut these into 1 inch cubes. Soy Sauce low sodium, about 1/4 cup.  Fresh Ginger  about a 2 inch piece cut into chunks. Fresh Garlic 10 cloves.  Lemon Juice from two organic lemons.  Five Spice 1 tablespoon.  White Rice Wine Vinegar 1/4 cup. 1 large Red Onion  cut into 1 inch cubes.  1 bunch Green Onions organic, white and green parts cut into one inch pieces 1 Green Bell Pepper cut into 1 inch pieces. Snow Peas  about a good handful left whole. Sesame Oil

Preparation:
1.  Prepare ingredients as instructed above.
2.  In a food processor add ginger, soy sauce, garlic, lemon juice, five spice, and rice wine vinegar and process on high til well blended and fairly smooth.
3.  Pour this mixture over chicken in a plastic container, cover, and allow to marinate at least 1 hour or more.
4.  When ready to cook, heat wok over high heat til it begins to smoke. 
5.  Add about 4 tablespoons of sesame oil to hot wok.  Don't worry if it smokes.  You want it to smoke.  Turn on your fan! :)  Let the oil smoke a minute or two until it starts to turn.
6.  Add cubes of chicken to the hot wok reserving the marinade for later.
7.  Brown chicken in wok stirring occasionally for even cooking.
8.  Remove from wok and return to the marinade.
9.  Add 3 tablespoons more oil to the pan.
10.  Allow to come to a smoking point again.
11.  Add remaining vegetables and stir fry just til the colors brighten and they start to get gentle caramelization.
12.  Add chicken and marinade to the wok at this point and toss together.  Allow to cook another 4 minutes, occasionally tossing and stirring.

13.  Serve with steamed rice.

YUM YUM!!!

Hot Wings Mexicana! Ole!

Alright, no picture for this one, but let me just tell you, this was an absolute improvised meal this evening.  Marinated and grilled chicken wings drenched in the combined flavor of lime, tequila, cilantro, and salsa verde.  You will LOVE these wings if you love hot wings, and my wings are healthier, made from fresh, flavorful, organic ingredients.  You may never feel the same about traditional hot wings once you try these, spicy, tart, finger licking good wings.  

The Players

2 pounds of organic, free range, vegetarian fed, hormone free Chicken Wings.  The juice of 4 Limes.  5 cloves of fresh Garlic. 1 bunch of fresh Cilantro (about 1 cup chopped coarsely, stems discarded).  4 tbsps of Olive Oil.  1/2 cup of Tequila.  1 16 oz container of fresh Salsa Verde (from the refrigerator deli section of your local grocer... I like to get it from a latino foods store such as Vallarta if possible.) 1/3 cup organic, raw Honey.  1 tbsp. spicy Mexican Hot Sauce (such as Cholula, Pico Pica, etc... NO TABASCO!)

Instructions:

Wash wings well, and allow to drain on paper towels.

Add lime juice, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, tequila and salsa verde together in a food processor and process til well blended and the cilantro is finely minced and incorporated.

Place the wings in a container and pour the marinade over them.  

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.  

Grill wings over medium to low heat, basting occasionally with the retained marinade, until skins are nice and brown and crispy, and the meat begins to pull away from the end of the bone on the drummettes.

Remove wings to a platter or shallow ad wide serving bowl.  

In a medium sauce pan, bring remaining marinade to a boil over medium heat. 

Add honey, vinegar, and hot sauce, simmer over low heat for 5 minutes longer. 

Pour this sauce over the wings and serve!!

If you find these to be too spicy, you can serve these with a cooling dip made from equal parts ranch dressing mixed to equal parts sour cream.

Enjoy!!

Portuguese Chicken and Linguica

The Austrian's Most Sincere Form of Endorsement.

 

The fragrance of smoked sweet Spanish paprika permeates every room of our house this evening.  It is all that is left to remind us of a most delicious meal.  About 14 years ago I visited the beautiful seaside town of Lisboa where the people are like something out of a charming old world fisherman's tale.   The food is to die for, and the ocean breezes most lovely.

Although this dish is not truly a traditional Portuguese meal, its ingredients pay homage to the flavors I still hold dear in my memories of that place.   Salty olives, roasted peppers, smoked sweet pimiento (paprika), sea salt, and madeira wine.  

I cooked this in a cast iron dutch oven, because I really like the heat conduction it provides.  The ingredients in my pot were at a full boil even with the fire turned down to its lowest setting.  It was my first time using the dutch oven.  It was a wedding present.  (Thanks Tambela) If you don't have a cast iron dutch oven such as this one, you can use any heavy pot large enough to hold about a gallon of liquid, with a tight fitting lid.  You can also make this in a slow cooker if you first brown your chicken, sausage, and onions in a saute pan before adding to the slow cooker. 

I cook this with chicken thighs because they stay moist.  You can use other parts if you like.  I prefer to cook this with the chicken on the bone, to maintain the moisture.  You can use boneless chicken if you like.  You can also remove the skin from the chicken before cooking it for reduced fat content.  Another thing you will be glad to hear, this is a very adaptable recipe.  You may, if you like, add some fresh unpeeled shrimp, scallops, clams, or mussels (or all of the above!!) to the pot about 12 minutes prior to serving.   I cannot eat seafood (much to the boys chagrin) so I didn't add it to ours. 

THE PLAYERS: (your grocery list)

 Chicken Thighs (you know my song... for this recipe, you'll need 6 thighs... organic, free range, vegetarian fed, hormone free please... )  Portuguese Linguica Sausages (these usually come 2 in a pack.  you'll cut them up into 1 inch diagonal pieces.  they are easily found in your grocery store, in the section where the pepperoni, salami, and other dry sausages are found... near the high end cheeses...) Onion (you'll need 1 onion, cut into large pieces... eighths perhaps)  Carrots (you'll need 2 carrots cut into large diagonal chunks... about 1 inch thick) Celery (You'll need 4 stalks cut into 1 inch chunks) Tomatoes (4 roma tomatoes cut into eighths) Garlic (4 cloves coarsely chopped) Red and Yellow Bell Pepper (1 of each cut into 1 inch chunks) Crushed Peeled Tomatoes (in the can... 16 oz)  Broth (2 cups of chicken broth) Piquillo Peppers  ( 1 jar. These roasted Spanish peppers are used widely in Spanish cooking.  I threw them in for a little extra flavor. Find them in most larger groceries with international products, or purchase them online from the link below. ) Manzanilla Olives  (Spanish green olives can be found in the section where the pickles are.  Don't get the ones with the pimentos in the middle. Get whole ones with the pits in. You'll need about 1/2 cup of olives) Pimenton Dulce (This smoked SWEET Spanish paprika is an essential part of this dish.)  You can find it at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and other stores that carry a wide variety of spices from around the world.  You can also order it online below) Madeira  (pretty much any wine department will carry this.)

PREPARATIONS:

Heat 4 tablespoons of Olive Oil in a dutch oven, or large heavy pot.

Season chicken with sea salt and pepper and when oil is hot add to pot, skin side down.  

Cook over medium heat until chicken is brown on one side.  Turn over. 

Cook until golden brown on other side. 

Add onions, carrots, celery, Linguica, 4 tablespoons of pimenton, chopped garlic, bell peppers.  

Cook until onions are transparent. 

Add tomatoes, piquillo peppers, olives, crushed tomatoes, 1 cup of Madeira, and 1 cup of broth.

Mix everything together, and put a lid on.

Simmer for 40 minutes with the lid on... until chicken is tender and pulls easily from the bone. 

Meanwhile steam up a nice pot of rice to go with your chicken and sausages.  

Serve chicken, sausage, and vegetables over rice, with a glass of  red wine to accompany it! 

Gnocchi with Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce

Dishes like this are very typical, very traditional Italian staples.  We eat it as a meal, however, in Italy this would be one of the first courses, before a main entree with meat and vegetables.   I wanted to make something quick, easy, and satisfying enough for my boys to not look at me like I'm trying to starve them.  Pasta sounded good, but kinda boring so I decided to get some gnocchi, which are little dumpling like balls of potato pasta dough that get boiled just like pasta, until they are the perfect consistency. 

I wanted to make a meatless meal tonight as well, so I figured a good tomato sauce would be nice, and since I was at Trader Joes, I could have gotten a pretty decent sauce in a jar from their shelves and everyone would have been happy, however, I decided to make my own sauce with two baskets of mini heirloom tomatoes I got on Sunday at the farmer's market.  Oh!  I also had a huge bunch of fresh basil that was gonna go bad in another day or so if I didn't use it, so homemade sauce it was!!!

 The gnocchi I used were found in my local Trader Joes in the pasta section of the store.  Most grocery stores will now carry gnocchi.  If you can't find it easily, ask, perhaps you're looking in the wrong place.  Sometimes they'll have it in a refrigerated section with fresh pastas. 


Believe it or not that's pretty much it, you'll need a large pot of boiling water, some garlic, and some cheese for the top, and that's it.  Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce in under an hour!

THE PLAYERS: (your grocery list)

Gnocchi (two packages of gnocchi will make enough to feed four to five people.  find it in your grocery's pasta section.) Tomatoes (I used mini heirloom tomatoes, cut in half, which provided a very nice variety of color in the sauce. You can also use regular size heirlooms, or organic tomatoes on the vine.  You'll need a total of 4 cups of cut up tomato.)  Fresh Basil (in your produce section.  You'll need about 1/2 cup cut in a chiffonade.) Garlic (you'll need 4 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed.)Red Wine (I used a bordeaux.  You can use any good quality  dark red wine.)











PREPARATION:

Chop your tomatoes into 1 inch chunks.  If you're using mini ones like we did, cut them in half, leaving the very small ones whole.
Add about 4 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a large Saute pan and heat on high until oil is sizzling. 
Add tomatoes.  

The tomatoes will go through a couple of stages while they cook.  First the juices will escape into the pan, then the water in the tomato juice will cook off, and the tomatoes will begin to fall apart.  Then the tomatoes will begin to reduce into a thick consistency.  

Add crushed garlic to the tomato mixture. 
Put on a large pot of water over high heat, cover with a lid. 

To chiffonnade your basil, stack the leaves, roll them like a cigar, and then cut thin slices to make a shred. 
Add 1/2 of the bottle of red wine to the tomatoes and stir in the basil.

The wine will re-liquefy your tomatoes, so now you'll put a lid on it and turn the fire down to simmer this for 20 minutes.  

 When your pot of water starts to boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt, and your gnocchi. 
The gnocchi will sink to the bottom.  
Bring back to a boil. 
When the gnocchi float to the surface of the boiling water, allow it to cook for 2 minutes more.  
Then drain immediately. 
Check your tomato basil sauce, it should be slightly thicker.  Turn the fire off.  
Add gnocchi to your saute pan and toss with the tomato basil sauce to coat the gnocchi. 
Serve with thin slivers of parmesano reggiano cheese, perhaps a bit of fresh ground pepper, and hot, crusty bread. 

Yum.

 

Sunday Farmer's Market Brunch for Ten... Part Two: Farmer's Market Quiche

 Potato Leek Gratin, Farmer's Market Quiche, Almondberry Tarte, Nectarine/Plum Pound Cake, Herb Infused Breakfast Meats.  Served on vintage, hand-painted, artistan signed plates from the Tonalo region of Mexico, 1940' s green Seneca Driftwood glasses, vintage Coorsite ball pitchers, crystal cake pedestals all from my collection.  All vintage wares come from my spelunking on ebay and in flea markets for a fraction of their worth. Shall I blog about my spelunking???(Ikea flutes bought on sale for less than $1 each... I have about 50 stored away for parties.)

 

This is the second of a five part blog mini-series about the brunch I hosted for my sister and her friends this past Sunday.   The other recipes will all be posted today as soon as I can get them each written.   Where you see the little book icons, you can scroll over the book and a window will pop up with additional info about ingredients or techniques or tools and such. 

My Farmer's Market Quiche is a great alternative to normal scrambled eggs.  Especially if you're like me... finicky about eggs.  I don't like them poached, runny, sunny side up, easy over, or anything like that.  I like them well beaten, well boiled, well cooked, and well seasoned.  This is a very simple recipe that can be pimped easily once you learn the basic structure of this thing called a Quiche... basically it's a savory egg tarte, made with beaten eggs, veggies, cheese, and if you want, meats, and all ingredients except for the crust and the eggs are optional and interchangeable.  If you do as I've always suggested and read through the entire recipe completely prior to even shopping for ingredients, you will be able to make this recipe happen in about 40 minutes, including baking. 

THE PLAYERS: (your grocery list)

The quantities listed are for one Quiche.  In my estimation, the perfect Quiche has certain variables always... a flaky flour pie crust.  You can make your own, or, for time economy, like I did, just buy it in the grocery store.   The ones in the refrigerated section where you find those biscuits and croissants in a tube, ready to bake are much much better than the ones in the freezer section... Pilsbury makes a pie crust that comes in rolled circles without the pans.  I have my own pie and tarte dishes so, this is better for my purposes... about 8 farm fresh eggs(that's means what, class?  that's right! farmer's market!!!). I prefer large brown... As for the veggies I use 1/4 cup of diced ingredients from each of the following categories: and as for specific ingredients, it depends on my mood, and what I find in the farmer's market that week, and what flavor profile I want, mexican, french, italian, etc....  Some sort of diced onion, brown, red, green, shallot, leek, etc... for this particular recipe, I used Vidalia onions for their savory sweetness.   Some sort of peppers... green, red, yellow, sweet italian, pepperoncini, jalapeno, chipotle, etc... I used 1/2 red bellpepper and 1/2 yellow bellpepper per Quiche.  Some sort of herbs... thyme, oregano, basil, sage, etc... In this one I used fresh oregano, thyme, and rosemary to compliment the herbs I used in the other dishes for this meal.  Some sort of coarsely chopped greens... spinach, kale, bok choy, cilantro, etc... For this one I used sweet pea greens, which you may not find... use spinach if your farmer's market doesn't have them.   Some sort of semi-hard cheese... parmesan, aged gouda, romano, manchego, asiago, cheddar, etc... I used 1/2 cup of shredded Emmentaler cheese.  Optionally, you can also add 1/4 cup per Quiche... diced and previously sauteed meat of some sort... salmon, bacon, shrimp, ham, ground chicken, crab, lobster, turkey... pretty much any protein you like can work if paired with the right accompanying components above... I used 1/4 cup of diced and sauteed Canadian bacon for  two of our Quiches, and I left the third Quiche completely meat free.  That's everything I used for our Quiches on Sunday.  But you can add mushrooms, asparagus, marinated artichokes, broccoli, peas, to your sauteed veggies, and pretty much anything you like.  It's also a great way to use leftovers that aren't enough to make a whole new meal.  But for this particular time, just try it my way before  you try to experiment.

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees if it's not already on from putting the potatoes in.

Dice your ingredients.  

Saute all of your vegetables (and meat) except for the greens in a pan with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, over medium high heat just until onions become transparent.

Prepare the pie crust.  Place it in pie tin or dish and create a scalloped or crimped edge. As you can see, from my photos, it doesn't have to be flawless to look beautiful.  The imperfection of your work will add a rustic look to the end result.  (and it won't make a darn bit of difference to the way it tastes!!)

Place your sauteed veggies (and diced meat) in the pie crust and spread to cover the bottom. 

Spread your fresh chopped greens over the top of that. 

Then your fresh herbs. 

Then 1/2 of your cheese. 

In a separate bowl, vigorously beat your eggs with a whisk until whites and yolks are completely combined. 

Add 1/4 cup of milk to the eggs and whisk again just until combined.

Pour egg mixture over the ingredients layered in your pie crust. 

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Grind a bit of black pepper and sea salt over that. 

Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, then check for doneness.  

Quiche should be golden on top and fluffy but firm, crust should be just golden.  Keep an eye on this, and if the crust looks like it's done but the egg part seems to not be done, use a strip of foil to to wrap around the crust edge to prevent it from burning.  

Serve hot or at room temperature.  

 

 

Sunday Farmer's Market Brunch for Ten... Part One: Potato Leek Gratin

Happy Monday Everyone!!!

Let me preface anything I compose here with the following statement, I am not 100% myself today.  The Brig you all know is missing at least half of her energy.  I may ramble more than usual.  (you know I know how to ramble...)  It was a fantastic weekend.  Lots of consciousness altering spaces, and I'm not talking about the pharmaceutical sort.

One of the spaces I found myself in was a room of a couple hundred really smart people gathered for a conference to discuss the advancements made by the Human Genome Project that will effect something called the Medicalization of Race.  I took the Austrian and the Pyrate to this and it was an experience that for sure has imprinted some new data upon each of our individual consciences.   More about that another time.  I want to do a little research so I know a little better what I'm talking about.

My sister was also in town from Friday til Sunday night.  She lives in D.C. so we don't get to see each other much these days.  To have her home for a couple of days was definitely a treat.

 Potato Leek Gratin, Farmer's Market Quiche, Almondberry Tarte, Nectarine/Plum Pound Cake, Herb Infused Breakfast Meats.  Served on vintage, hand-painted, artistan signed plates from the Tonalo region of Mexico, 1940' s green Seneca Driftwood glasses, vintage Coorsite ball pitchers, crystal cake pedestals all from my collection.  All vintage wares come from my spelunking on ebay and in flea markets for a fraction of their worth. Shall I blog about my spelunking???(Ikea flutes bought on sale for less than $1 each... I have about 50 stored away for parties.)

On Sunday I invited some of  my sister's  best girlfriends (who have treated me just as much like a sister, as they treat my sister) over to my house for brunch.

The Austrian and I got up early for our Sunday morning trip to the farmers market.   I know I'm repeating myself but every single time we go there, my love of the experience is validated.  The perfume of the fresh cut herbs, the resplendant hues of sun-ripened fruits and vegetables.  Shaking the hand of the farmer who grew that bounty of color and flavor.  Having them look me in the eye and proclaim their goods are hormone, pesticide, herbicide, and wax free!   I enjoy that place so much.

This week I went looking for a farmer who always has delicious Italian sweet peppers in every color and size.  There were none.  They are out of season.  Something you will seldom hear in a supermarket in America.  Mass producing farms will produce almost anything year round and do all kinds of obscene things to force grow foods that should not in a natural world be growing during certain times of the year, or you'll find little stickers on the food that says it came from half way around the world, picked long before the sun was finished doing its work, coated for travel with waxy protective mediums that do not digest well in the human body.

Anyway, there were no Italian sweet peppers, I let out a disappointed moan, then let it go and snooped around his long tables full of other earthly treasures.   I came upon some cool stuff I'd never seen before such as Chinese Sweet Pea Greens... something you will probably NEVER see in a grocery store.  In fact the farmer selling them claimed he is the only one selling them in California, and will only have them for about a month.  As I was asking the farmer about their flavor and use, a little old Chinese woman leaned towards me, with her giant sunglasses and her visor cap, and kindly gave me a couple of easy recipes that she uses to cook them and told me about the regions of China where they are typically found in the cuisine.  Pea Greens are used in the same way other greens like kale or spinach are used.   Usually cooked quickly, and can be exchanged in recipes that call for any other greens.

The farmer gave me a leaf to taste. (because the crops are chemical free, that's something you can do... ) The little old lady beamed in anticipation of my reaction and when I expressed approval of the flavor, she clapped happily and patted me on the back and told me to take some home before they are gone!  Call me corny, but I love that.  It's not just about eating it's about feeling.  I bought two bunches and used them to make a quiche that was met with ooh's and aah's and moans of gastronomic pleasure... beneath it all, boosting the health of those consuming it without them having to think about it...without them having to comprimise pleasure.

I love that experience of absorption that happens so often at the farmer's market... where people are not only friendly, but happy to share, to help each other broaden their horizons.  Imagine that.  Broadening your horizons by simplifying the one thing you definitely do everyday without fail, if you are able.  You eat.  It's about narrowing the distance between the earth your food was produced in and your mouth, while simultaneously spreading your mind wide open so that you might find new dynamic ways of thinking about the pleasure of eating  and food's  influence over your health and nutrition. 
Some think that affluence is about being able to buy expensive cuts of meat in the grocer, and shopping at stores like Whole Foods and Gelson's.  It's not necessarily about how much you eat.  It's not even about being able to eat out at restaurants more.   However most affluent people I know, in fact, most non-American people I know would very much rather shop at a farmer's market, get high quality super-fresh food and learn how to prepare a meal fit for a king!

In addition to the Sweet Pea Greens, I got Red Potatoes, Red and Yellow Peppers, Eggs from a chicken farmer, Canadian Bacon from the German style Sausage peddler, 3 kinds of berries from the berry farmer, almond paste from the almond grower, dried unsulfured nectarines and tangerines, and pluot jam!  mmm. mmm. MMM.


Now, I know I've gone too far off on a tangent, so...
FORK IN THE ROAD:

Farmer's market treasures collaborate to make a knockout brunch for people you really dig!

Sunday brunch was almost exclusively brought to you and my house guests by way of the Santa Clarita Farmer's Market.  Below you'll find the first of five recipes.  The rest of the recipes will have their own post.  They'll be up today, I promise... Be patient!
 
Prepare this feast for your family or friends, and they will recognize the hidden ingredient is LOVE.
 POTATO LEEK GRATIN A LA BRIG

This is so easy and so undeniably delicious, you will want to eat the entire thing yourself.  But don't.  Save room for a little of everything from this delicious spread!  I should have said this to my brunch guests because they really did go through this dish like nobody's business!  
This takes about 10 minutes to put together and about 30 minutes in the oven.  That's it.  

THE PLAYERS  (your grocery list)
8 Large Red Potatoes  (where to find them??? anywhere!  but you know what I'm going to say here: FARMER'S MARKET-FARMER'S MARKET!!!) Extra Virgin Olive Oil (first press) 1 Leek (these cousins to the onion can be found everywhere produce is sold, be sure to separate and wash the layers well because they usually hold a lot of mud and dirt for the earth they have been plucked from) Fresh Herbs (this is flexible, but we used rosemary and oregano, you can also use dill, thyme, tarragon or most other herbs in whatever combination you like. you'll need about 1/4 cup chopped of each of two varieties or 1/2 cup total combined herbs)

Gruyere Cheese (this is a Swiss cheese that goes unbelievably well with potatoes and eggs.  remember that for your mental flavor pallete.  find it in any fine deli section where imported cheeses are sold.) Broth  (We used chicken broth, but you can use vegetable broth and it will be be very good as well, but be sure that either way you get organic and low sodium broth or stock)


PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Slice your potatoes in 1/8th inch slices and set aside. 
Peel back the green stalks on the leek to reveal the muddy sediment and wash your leek well and remove roots from end, and cut off wilted green ends of the stalk.
Slice your leek into thin slices, the entire thing and set aside.
Grate your Gruyer.  You'll need about 10 ounces (about 1 1/2 cup shredded) of cheese.  
Drizzle a bit of olive oil into the bottom of a square ceramic baking dish. 
Layer potatoes in the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle about 1/4 of the cheese over the potatoes. 
Add your sliced leek in a layer.

Add another layer of potatoes. 
Add another 1/4 of the cheese. 
Now add all of the chopped herbs.
Add a final layer of remaining potatoes.
Drizzle with olive oil. 
Grind some fresh black pepper over the top. 
Pour just enough broth over the entire surface so the cheese is moistened, and so that the broth almost comes up to the top layer of potatoes. 
Put this in the oven to bake for 30 minutes and then check. 
The surface should be golden and bubbly, and the potatoes should be tender when you pierce them with a fork.  If they need a little longer don't fret, leave them in and check again in 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

BBQ Korean Style!!!

This meal was so good, we had it two nights in a row!!!  Fresh fixin's cooked right at the table, just like in your favorite Korean BBQ restaurant!!!  You can do this with or without meat, and almost all of the other players in this symphony of flavor are readily available in any grocery store. 

So, this week has not gone as planned.  First of all, let me apologize for the badly lit photos, not only did we have a short in the light fixture over the kitchen table, but my camera was trippin' as well....
I may have bit off more than I could chew thinking I'd cover more than one asian culture's cuisine.  I was ambitiously planning a Chinese, a Japanese, and an Indian dish as well this week, but, that was a ridiculous notion!  So far, we covered the Korean Hot Pot (go here to see that recipe).  That was fun, and tasty.  I bought the smallest tub of Gochujang I could find.  That tub of Gochujang, however, would last me a year, if I don't use it, and for sure I knew I wanted  to do some Korean BBQ because it's one of my faves... I love to eat at places where you the food is cooked right on your table.   Korean BBQ steps it up a notch, with it's sweet, spicy, smokey flavors.  Everything tastes fresher than fresh.  Quick cooked to seal in the nutrients.  Fresh food just tastes different.  The molecules have not been completely destroyed.  The textures are more vivid.   So I recommend this sincerely!

There are two things you will need.  One is a table-top gas burner.  I bought ours at the asian grocer for about $19.

You can use it for doing a more traditional Hot Pot at the table, Shabu Shabu , Fajitas, and many other table prepared foods you'll find in many different cultures.  They use gas canisters the size of a spray paint can, and these are easy to load and replace.  I bought a pack of 3 canisters for about $8.  Between the Hot Pot, and two nights of Korean BBQ, we finished off one can of gas.

You'll also need a grill for this dish.  A traditional Korean grill will be round and has a stone center, and will fit neatly over your burner.  We purchased a rectangular grill top.

It has a larger surface area so we could cook more.  But in retrospect it probably would have been better to use the traditional one because the marinades and sauces used in Korean BBQ are sweet and will easily burn if they have nowhere to go.  The traditional Korean BBQ grill has a resevoir underneath to catch juices where they can't burn instead of them collecting on the hot grill and charring. 

If you've already got a George Forman grill or something similar to that, it will work.  But you still wanna be able to use it at the table and there needs to be enough surface area to cook meats and vegetables simultaneously.  These Korean grill tops run about $10-15 depending on where you look for them.  Asian grocery is the best place to look. 

I also had to adjust on the second night what grain we used.  The first night we used brown rice.  It wasn't sticky enough to take the sauce and be picked up with bbq via chopstick.  So the second night, I used a Japanese Sweet Rice which is highly glutinous (meaning sticky like glue...not high in gluten).  YUMMY.

Most of your prep time will be spent cutting up veggies, which shouldn't take more than half an hour, and then the food is actually cooked at the table where everyone sort of participates in adding, turning, removing, dipping, and gobbling it all up.

You'll want to set your table up prior to anything else so it's out of the way.  Each place setting will need a plate, with two smallish bowls.

One bowl will be for each person's portion of rice, the other will be for their sauce.  You'll also want to have some Gochujang at the table so that folks can mix in extra spice into their sauce.

So here we go.  That's all I have to say.  Let's get to it!!



 THE PLAYERS:  (your grocery list)

 Japanese Sweet Rice  (get this in any asian grocery store, and in some normal supermarkets in the asian foods section where the rice is shelved.)  Mirin Style Sweet Cooking Rice Wine (This is not Korean.  But I added it to the marinade anyway because it tastes good.  It's basically a cooking sake... basically... Just look in your asian grocer for this in the same aisle where the soy sauces and marinades are... Just get the one attached in the link above.  Make it easy on yerself!)  Soy Sauce  (Child, if you can't find a bottle of soy sauce.... you got issues... any store, probably even your neighborhood quicky mart has soy sauce...)  Garlic  (fresh by the head....)  Fresh Ginger (Get a decent sized root section from the produce section in the grocery store.  It should be firm and not easily bent in your hands.  If it's floppy, it's old and its flavor will be flat. Save the leftovers to make tea!  Fresh Whole Black Peppercorns (you'll be crushing these yourself, preferably with a mortar and pestle, however, if you don't have one, a grinder works well, and as a last resort you and smash them with the backside of a spoon.) Light Brown Sugar (Find organic brown sugar, instead of the typical brown sugar you find everywhere, because it's just white sugar with molasses added... organic sugar is brown because of its natural molasses content.  why buy sugar that's been processed to remove that, then artificially replace it.  that's silly to me, and even though I don't have the science to back me up, sounds like there has to be something wrong with that picture...) Veggies (Bok Choy, Broccoli, Soy Bean Sprouts, Zucchini, Green Onions, Red Bell Peppers)  Proteins (In asian grocers they will have thinly sliced meats and fresh tofu: Take your pick:  Firm Tofu, Thinly Sliced Chicken Breasts,  Shrimp, Thinly Sliced Beef,, Korean BBQ Style Sliced Beef Ribs).  Sesame Oil



PREPARATON:
Make your Sweet Soy Base Sauce (Jomi Ganjang) the day before.  
In a medium saucepan combine:
1/2 Cup water, 4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced, 6 slices peeled fresh ginger
 Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. 
Add:
1 cup of soy sauce... low sodium please, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of Mirin Style Sweet Cooking Rice Wine (can be substituted with a cold sake, or a sweet white wine like zinfandel)
Turn the heat to high and boil for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  
Strain the sauce through a sieve, into a container that has an airtight lid.  
Store in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Two hours before dinner time, marinade your meat in 1/2 cup of your soy base sauce. 
(we did both beef and chicken)

Cook your rice in a rice cooker according to the instructions on the package, allowing plenty of rice, because it will go very fast... 

Set your table.  Place the stove and grill in the middle of the table.

Divide remaining sauce between the sauce bowls at each place setting.

Cut up your veggies into 3 inch long julienne sticks, arrange them on a platter.  

Slice your broccoli on the thin side, so that it has flat surfaces to cook on the the grill. 

Turn the table top stove fire on, and place the grill over it.  If you're using the round Korean grill make sure to add water in the reservoir so that drippings won't stick and burn.  
While the grill heats up, call everyone to dinner.  
Invite them to add a bit of Gochujang to their sauce for extra spice.

Add a couple of tablespoons of sesame oil to the grill surface, then add some of your items that take longer to cook... a few broccoli slices, peppers, some chicken breast

Stagger adding ingredients so something is always cooking and something is always ready to eat.  
Chicken takes longer than beef.
The first round will seem like it's taking forever... 
Talk among yourselves, and just be patient. That's part of the charm... it forces you to commune with your people in a way you might not in your everyday dining.

Be sure not to eat everything that's ready and forget to put more on.  As soon as there's an empty area, add more veggies, meats, tofu, etc... 

One person can be in charge of that if you like.

Add more sesame oil if needed.

People can use their chopsticks to take food from the grill, dip it in their sauce bowl, then place it on their rice bowl.  
Delish-Delish!!!
 



 Afternote: If you have leftovers, put them away and stirfry everything that was left together in a wok the next day, drizzle with a bit of your soy base sauce,  and serve over ramen noodles.