Delicious Food And Beverage fan-Healthy Care And Tips

I'm still trying to use up almonds over here. I am happy to report that I am down to the bottom of the can, I only have about a cup left. These almond jam bars helped to make a dent in my supply.

The dough for these bar cookies is very simple; it's a standard flour-butter-sugar combination with the addition of cinnamon and sliced almonds.

Half of the dough is pressed into the bottom of a pan. I lined the pan with foil to make for easier removal of the bars. A layer of jam goes on top of the dough. I went with a mixed berry jam, but you can use whatever type you have on hand.

Some of the most unexpected ingredients come to life on the grill. Ever tried grilled lettuce? If you haven’t, you should; trust me on that one. In this recipe, pineapple is tossed on the grill to create a unique and delicious salsa for pork tenderloin.

The pork tenderloin is marinated in a mixture of lime juice, garlic and spices. While the pork marinates, the pineapple and some vegetables go onto the grill. The original recipe called for grilling the pineapple with red and yellow bell peppers, and left the red onion and jalapeno raw. I figured that I might as well throw everything onto the grill; I prefer cooked onion over raw onion anyways.

The pineapple only needs a few minutes to cook through – the grilling process really intensifies the flavor of the fruit.

Once the pineapple and vegetables are done, they’re coarsely chopped and mixed with lime juice and cilantro to create a salsa.

After the salsa is made, the pork goes onto the grill. I tend to cook pork until it’s just slightly pink on the inside.

The pork and pineapple salsa is a great flavor combination, but I could also see this salsa being great on chicken or fish.

Most people don’t think to make their own crackers. If you haven’t tried it before, you should. The process is fairly simple, and the results are so much better than store bought. I combined extra sharp white cheddar cheese with ground pecans to get a cracker with a bold flavor.

The ingredient list is minimal for this recipe, and the dough comes together quickly in the food processor. I added some chipotle powder for a touch of heat and a smoky flavor.

The dough is rolled out and cut into shapes. I used a 2.5 inch flower cookie cutter. You can use a different shape, but the cutter should be at least 2 inches. Otherwise, you can simply cut the dough into squares. The crackers are sprinkled with fleur de sel before heading into the oven.

The crackers bake until crisp and golden brown. These crackers are great on their own, but could also be served as an accompaniment to dips and spreads.

Cheddar pecan flowers
Makes about 2 dozen
Adapted from the Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

½ cup all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¾ cup pecans, toasted and finely ground
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons cold water
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
fleur de sel for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, pecans, kosher salt, black pepper and chipotle powder. Add the butter, pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cheese, pulse until the cheese is thoroughly incorporated into the mixture. With the machine running, gradually add 2 tablespoons of cold water; process until the dough comes together.

Gather the dough into a ball, dust with flour. Put the dough on a plate and cover; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut the dough into shapes using the cookie cutter. Place the crackers onto a baking sheet lined with a silpat. Sprinkle a little fleur de sel over the tops of the crackers; lightly press the salt into the dough.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, until the centers are firm and the crackers are lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool.

My produce market stocks all their varieties of peas in one spot. Looking over the selection, I thought it would be fun to do a vegetable dish with three types of peas. I picked up some snow peas, english peas and snap peas. I shelled the english peas, then blanched each variety separately. You could skip the blanching if you’re in a hurry, I just like the way it preserves the color and ensures a perfectly cooked end product.

I decided to cook the peas with some leeks and bacon. I mean really, who doesn’t like bacon in their vegetables? Even with the small amount of bacon, this is a fairly healthy dish, and it was fun to taste the differences in the pea varieties.

Three types of peas with bacon and leeks
Serves 4

½ pound snap peas, trimmed
½ pound snow peas, trimmed
1 cup fresh or frozen English peas
1 medium leek, halved then thinly sliced
2 strips of bacon, sliced into ½ inch pieces
Salt and pepper

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the snap peas for about 1-2 minutes, or until just tender. Transfer to an ice bath. Repeat the process with the snow peas and english peas. Pat dry with a paper towel.

Heat a large pan over medium, then add the bacon. Cook until the bacon is crisp and browned. Remove the bacon from the pan, drain on a paper towel. Discard most of the bacon fat from the pan until you’re left with a few teaspoons. Place the leek in the pan, season with salt and pepper and saute until the leek is tender and slightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add all the peas to the pan, toss to coat with the leek mixture. Cook until the peas are warmed through, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the reserved bacon over the top and serve.

A few years ago, my in-laws brought us some rhubarb plants from their yard in San Diego. Most of the plants couldn't handle the Bay Area winters, but we do have a few that are still standing. I had enough rhubarb in the yard to put together this rhubarb and raspberry crisp.

This recipe is similar to most other fruit crisp recipes that you'll find. There are a few ingredients that make this one a little more unique. The raspberries and rhubarb receive a healthy dose of orange zest, and toasted hazelnuts go in to the crisp topping.

The end result was delicious, with a perfect topping to fruit ratio. I served this with black raspberry ice cream. I was out in the yard yesterday and noticed that our largest rhubarb plant has grown some more stalks, which means I can make another rhubarb dessert in the near future.

I first noticed this recipe in Giada’s Family Dinners a few months ago, but wanted to wait to make it until corn was in season. I started seeing fresh corn in the markets a couple weeks ago, and moved the recipe to the top of my list. The dish combines an assortment of seafood with fennel, corn, shallots and potato.
For the seafood, I went with littleneck clams, mussels, salmon, sole and pink hopper shrimp. You can use whatever variety of seafood that you like; I think scallops would be a great addition.
The seafood and vegetables are cooked in white wine, tomatoes and fish stock. I love that this is a one-pot meal; all you need is bread or a salad and you’ve got a great dinner.

I’ve been seeing a lot of great looking strawberries at the market lately. What’s even better than fresh strawberries from the market? Fresh strawberries from the backyard.

I wanted to do something with the strawberries besides eat them plain. I recently received some delicious sweet and salty cashews from Oh! Nuts, and I knew they’d be great in a salad with my berries.

I decided to go with watercress as the base for the salad. I really like watercress, but I don’t use it often enough. I tossed the watercress in a very simple dressing of minced shallot, lemon, honey and olive oil. I added lots of strawberries, the cashews and some shaved ricotta salata.

This is a great summer salad, and very easy to put together. Strawberry season has just started, and I’ll be getting berries from the yard for a few more months. I need to come up with some other ways to use them, any ideas?

Strawberry, watercress and cashew salad

I bought my first jar of piquillo peppers from a spanish food specialty store in Berkeley. Once I tried these peppers, I knew I’d be incorporating them into my cooking on a regular basis. Piquillo peppers are sweet red peppers from Spain that are roasted and sold in jars or cans. I usually buy my piquillo peppers packed in water, but they also come packed in olive oil. Piquillos taste similar to roasted red bell peppers, but with a more intense, slightly smoky flavor – I happen to think that they’re vastly superior.

My local grocery store carries piquillo peppers, they have them right next to the jars of regular roasted peppers. Trader Joe’s has them right now too, but I noticed that they’re imported from Peru rather than Spain, so I can’t vouch for the quality. You can also order them online. Unlike most jarred products, these peppers don’t have a very long shelf life. I usually end up freezing whatever I have left over after the jar has been open for a week.

You can use these peppers in any way that you would normally use your standard roasted red peppers. I like to put them in pasta, on pizza, or stuff them with a variety of fillings. One of my favorite preparations is to stuff the peppers with goat cheese, raisins and pine nuts. There’s no real recipe for this – I mix softened goat cheese with some toasted pine nuts, golden raisins that have been plumped in hot water, salt and pepper. If the mixture seems too thick, you can thin it slightly with a touch of milk or cream. I fill the peppers using a piping bag – you can use a spoon, but it’s a little messier. These are good at room temperature or just slightly warmed.

Another great way to use piquillo peppers is to make a marmalade. I use the marmalade for lamb chops, but it would also be great on pork or chicken.

Piquillo pepper marmalade

I feel very lucky that I'm able to structure my work schedule so that I can take every other Friday off. I usually take those opportunities to catch up with friends, and this past Friday was no exception. I'm sure it won't surprise any of you to hear that most of my friends are into food. I met one of my friends for lunch in Berkeley, and afterwards we headed over to the Monterey Market which is one of the best produce markets in the area. I mean really, where else can you find baby artichokes that look like this?

I always find fun ingredients to work with when I shop there. Once I was even able to snag a fresh white truffle. This time around, I picked up some chiogga beets, purple carrots, opal basil and sweet limes with the intention of making a salad.

I already had some spinach in the fridge, so I decided to use that as my base. I tossed the spinach in a little bit of sweet lime juice and olive oil, then seasoned it with salt and pepper. I had never worked with sweet limes before, and as advertised, they're sweet, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. I know it will be difficult, if not impossible for most of you to find these, so I wrote the recipe with lemon juice instead. Next, I added in some thinly shaved yellow and chiogga beets, along with some shaved purple carrots. I finished the salad with some chive flowers, opal basil and shaved ricotta salata.

This was quite delicious, with a lot of great flavors and textures. It may also be the prettiest salad I've ever made.

Spinach and shaved vegetable salad

Serves 2

4 cups baby spinach

1 bunch of baby carrots, trimmed and thinly shaved lengthwise

1 small chiogga beet, thinly shaved

1 small yellow beet, thinly shaved

1 tablespoon of opal basil, torn

2 tablespoons of ricotta salata, shaved

chive flowers for garnish

lemon juice

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Dress the spinach with a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss and taste; adjust the seasoning as necessary. Add the carrots and beets to the spinach. Sprinkle the basil, ricotta salata and chive flowers over the top.

For all you purists out there, I will acknowledge that this chicken gumbo is not exactly traditional. However, it’s quite delicious considering it only takes half an hour to make!

This recipe starts with a quick roux of oil and flour. Once the roux has started to darken, red peppers, garlic, onions and oregano are added. The next step is to add some water, sliced sausage, frozen okra and cooked shredded chicken. The roux thickens the liquid and adds complexity to the stew.

As always, I made a few changes to the original recipe. I used chicken stock instead of water, and added about a tablespoon of tomato paste and a few dashes of hot sauce. These extra steps don’t take any more time, but added a lot of flavor.

Like I said before, you may not find this version of gumbo in New Orleans, but don’t let that deter you. I typically serve this with rice, but you could also bake some cornbread to go alongside.

I will admit, I got excited when I saw containers of fresh chickpeas at my produce market. Yes, I do realize that I’m a total food nerd. Anyways, I abandoned my plan for a butter lettuce salad and immediately starting thinking about what to do with the chickpeas. There was a pile of wax beans sitting next to the chickpeas, so I picked some up because I liked the color contrast.

I wanted a third vegetable to go in the mix, so I wandered around the store looking for inspiration. I thought about fava beans, I considered English peas. Then I spotted baby artichokes, and my mind was made up.

This dish was a little bit time consuming – the chickpeas needed to be shelled, and the artichokes needed to be prepped. Once I got through that, I blanched each type of vegetable and put them in the fridge for later.

When it was time to eat, I melted some butter in a pan and added a minced shallot. After the shallot had cooked through, I added the vegetables and a generous dose of salt and pepper. I finished the dish with some fresh tarragon from my garden.

This was a great way to enjoy spring vegetables, and worth the extra effort. The fresh chickpeas had a very different taste from their dried counterpart. I especially liked the color and texture contrast between the different vegetables.