Category: Produce

Inside the Mind of Glamah..Chilled Pear and Watercress Soup

I think I watch to much Top Chef. Seriously I don’t know how I come up with concoctions. The vegetable/fruit box arrived and had a bunch of pears and apricots. Mansi at Fun and Food suggested I enter her Monthly Mingle dedicated to Appetizers .The limitations were that it had to be vegetarian. No meat, but dairy was allowed. I got to thinking of the high end la de da Caterers I moonlight for on occasion. Their clientele include some rooster of gazzilionaries, who I have had the opportunity to meet.You name them ,I have served them. Chef always has innovative nibbles for the too thin and rich crowd. He liked to offer up ‘Shooters’ . These are often a semi sweet concoction non alcoholic concoction served up in shot glasses. The possibilities are endless. He even had raw oysters in some Yuzo suspension once. Then I got thinking of Hungary of all places, and their chilled fruit soups. All of this thinking is done in front of my computer screen at work ,as strange people call and email me from all over the world and I try to speak broken French to them make out their accents. So I brilliantly devised a quick, easy, healthy,refreshing recipe to be served chilled in shot glasses to your guests on your grand estate overlooking the Lake while you discuss polo, St. Barts, the moving of your money to other favorable currencies, etc.I did add a touch of liquor as Hungarian fruit soups often have their sweet wines. I used a liqueur I found in Sweden called XANTE( pear and cognac). But you could use Cointreau. I garnished with little slivers of Danish Rosenberg Blue Cheese.

Chilled Pear and Watercress Soup

3 pears

1 cup of chopped Honeydew Melon

1 teaspoon ground Cardamon

1 cup nonfat Greek Yogurt

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup Raw Agave Nectar( you could use sugar, I’m just keeping it healthy)

1 bunch of watercress

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons of Xante or other fruit flavored liquor.

Blue Cheese for Garnish.

Peel and core the pears.Put in a saucepan with the water, cardamon, Raw Blue Agave Nectar.Bring to a boil. You want the fruit to soften but not get to soft.Place the melon,washed watercress leaves,and pears and their liquid in the Blender of food prcoccesar. In a bowl , add your yogurt. Pour your whipped fruit/watercress mixture in and blend.Add 2 tablespoons of Xante. Mix until all is Incorporated. Chill covered for 1-2 hours.Serve in bowls or shot glasses for entertaining. Garnish with Blue Cheese slivers.

Makes approx 4-5 bowls and estimated 40-50 shot glasses.Can be prepared ahead.

I’m Jammin


I’m obsessed with canning. I admit it. For the Putting Up Event I made the most unusual Watermelon Rind Preserves. I was rather surprised that most of my commenter’s had not heard of this specialty. But that’s whats blogging is for, to learn new things. This time I wanted to do something a little sweeter and more traditional. I was worried that I would need massive quantities to make fruit preserves. Actually you don’t need so much and its recommended you make small batches. I purchased about 8 apricots and a pound of cherries. I envisioned these two together in a yummy preserve. As I prepped and stoned the fruit I had the sudden inspiration to add a vanilla bean. A lot of the seeds got caught up in the foam but the vanilla flavor shined through. I added a tad of butter to decrease foaming but I still got some. Foaming , experts believe. adds to spoilage. Another thing you have to worry about is the pectin setting. I need to stock up on pectin! I processed this and found after 24 hours the jam didn’t set. The instructions on the pectin box said how you can redo the jam.The only thing wasted is the lids and bands.So I redid the batch to much better results.I’m wondering if I did add enough sugar. I ended up adding a cup more sugar than was previously used.The taste of the unset jam was fantastic!I was almost tempted to use it just as a fruit syrup. I’m just be going to be handing out these as gifts to friends and coworkers while keeping a few for us. I asked Certain Someone to give a jar of Watermelon rinds to his golf buddy and co worker. They had to call me to explain why it wasn’t pink and what it actually was.I’m sure these fruity preserves wont be met with confusion.

Apricot Cherry Preserves with Vanilla Bean

1 pond of cherries
1 1/2 pounds of apricots ( about 8 or so)
6 cups natural cane sugar *I ended adding another cut when redoing the batch.
1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup water
1 package of Pectin

Wash and stone fruit. Cut vanilla bean down the middle and scrape seeds. Add fruit and vanilla bean pulp with pod to heavy pan. Add sugar , water , and pectin. Bring to rolling boil as you stir. Scrape off any foam that rises. Take of heat and stir more. Laddle into sterilised jars, place lids, on , and process according to instructions. I used the pressure canner with a weight of 5 lbs and a process time of 10 minutes. Take out canner and let and set 24 hours. I f the jam doesnt set, redo as instructed on the package of pectin. If you choose to use no sugar or sugar substitutes use a pectin brand for less sugar.
Makes 8 half pints

It’s The Little Things

Life for me is erratic. Sometimes I have a lot on my plate and sometimes things are kind of slow.I constantly push myself.But I go out on a limb because I want to. The key is to find balance. Besides my day job I have some sidelines. I wouldn’t call them profitable yet, but I get pleasure and some other things from them. This past weekend to ‘support” my sideline product I gave a free demo on my dime and time.I really wanted to stay home with Certain Someone, play in the kitchen, blog, and veg.The day seemed fine enough. I noticed a man arrive besides me who seemed at a loss. Seems he was supposed to demo at this fine wine emporium but didn’t speak much English or know what to do. I thought it was odd and tried to help him out. We spoke a little English and French as he knew French. We offered each other samples. About a few hours into our boring Sunday the store manager came by. Seems this kind interesting man was the owner of the vineyard and made these fine wines! From that point on they moved him to his proper place and make a big fuss. Where were they at the beginning I ask? Anyway I went over to say goodbye and took a bottle of his Moscato. He grabbed the bottle and said something in halting English. He returned with the bottle all wrapped up for me . Gratis! A small thank you. Made my day.Check out his vineyards.

The today I had a special package awaiting me. I won some Amano Chocolate from Blake Makes! I don’t know how this blogger does it but he always has great giveaways. I’m waiting for Certain Someone to return so we can sample together.

And a final thought from me for the week. I want and love good food. Time is a question most times. While I don’t shy away from the complex, sometimes I like it simple. I pulled this one out of my hat the other morning.A slow cooked pork loin in my favorite Asian spices and seasonings. I wanted this slow cooked meal to be similar to my favorite Schezwan green beans. Not quite, but a good meal . I don’t have to tell you the Certain Someone had a few servings of the meat!

Slow Cooked Pork Loin

1 pork loin

1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 cup water

4 Star Anise

Dried Chilies to your taste( I used 4)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

I/2 cup of a simple syrup I made infused with rum( leftover from the rum buns). Your could use Golden Syrup

Put all ingredients in a slow cooker. Place on 8 hours. Go about and enjoy your day. Serve with steamed Jasmine Rice and green beans.

Something New…The Turnip

It’s My 100th Post!But not a terribly exciting one.

After all that sugary goodness this week,my Certain Someone actually requested fish and some nice veggies for dinner. I still had a bit form the vegetable box. I wanted to use some large turnips but wasn’t sure sure how to incorporate with fish. I also had zucchini and a assortment of different types of tomatoes.My sudden inspiration was to mash my turnips with some butter and throw in some crumbled Feta to go with the Mediterranean style zucchini and tomatoes.I roasted my Tilapia with a brush of olive oil and smoked Paprika. Sauteed my zucchini with tomatoes,Shitakes, sun dried tomatoes and garlic and served both on a bed of Turnip Puree. Verdict: Certain Someone licked his pasta bowl clean and ate every bite. I liked my turnip puree but I felt the flavor was very strong. Maybe the Feta addition would have been more suitable with red meat.He thought it was fine.The turnips made a beautiful puree that needed no additional liquids.Turnips are a pretty underused vegetable. All in all a pretty good experiment and I will not fear the Turnip any longer.I was surprised at how filling this dish was.

Turnip Puree with Feta
1 large turnip peeled and cut into quarters
salt
3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of Feta

Boil turnips until soft. Drain water. Add butter. Add salt,pepper, and Feta. Take Immersion Blender and puree. Serve alongside roasted meat of fish.

Seasonal Lasagna…Golden Beet Chicken Lasagna

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My Vegetable Box finally arrived after postponing my order. It was chock full of Golden beets, Red Swiss Chard,regular Swiss Chard,assorted lettuces, garlic, zucchini, spinach, green beans,parsnips, and I’m sure I few other things I am forgetting.Because of the organic nature I have to consume them quickly. I made the mistake of leaving some out on the counter last time and they turned quickly. No pesticides require refrigeration. Anyway I never get to use the beets in time before the greens turn. I wanted yo use them in a recipe. I remember the current Top Chef contestant made a lasagna with rutabagas, So why not Golden Beets? Normally my lasagne’s uses red sauce and no Bechamel. I decided to try to make Bechamel and use it with ground chicken., fresh sage, sliced portabellos, garlic,sliced golden beets,beet greens which had been Chiffonade, Farmers Cheese( a low fat alternative to cream cheese, and in place of Ricotta),Gouda, Mozzarella, etc. Certain Someone was impatient to eat and was pleasantly surprised by it. Of Course he had seconds.

Golden Beet Chicken Lasagna

1 package of Lasagna Noodles

1 lb Farmers Cheese

3 Golden Beets with their Greens

2 eggs

4 Cups of Bechamel

3 cups grated Gouda

1 cup low moisture mozzarella

Parmesan / Regianno or both

Fresh Sage

1 pound ground Chicken

1 cup fresh Portabello Mushrooms sliced

Garlic to taste

salt

pepper

nutmeg

olive oil

Boil Lasagna noodles and set aside. I drain mine and soak in water to keep moist and workable.Prepare Bechamel. Wash beets , peel, cut off tops, and slice thinly.Now the choice is yours to precook the beets a bit. I didn’t , but they cooked up fine as long as they are cut thinly.Take the greens, and roll. Slice them in a Chiffonade. In a bowl mix the Farmers cheese, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, greens, eggs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Set aside . Brown ground chicken, sage, garlic, and mushrooms. Oil bottom of Lasagna pan. Place first layer of Lasagna . Take half of Farmers Cheese/greens mixture and smooth over. Sprinkle half of chicken/mushroom mixture.Add half of the thinly sliced golden beets. Sprinkle some Gouda and Mozzarella. Pour some bechamel. Repeat with 2nd layer of lasagna ,Farmer’s cheese chicken,golden beets, etc. Save some grated cheese and Bechamel for the top. Cover with 3rd layer of lasagna. Pour remaining Bechamel liberally. Add some grated cheese and Parmesan. Cover with Foil . Bake in a Bain Marie at 375 degrees for at least 45 minutes.Take off foil and brown for a additional 15 minutes.