recipephile

Quick lunch idea... Healthy Turkey Salad - 2 carrots cleaned and diced, 1 tomato chopped, 1 cucumber cleaned, deseeded and chopped, 1/3 cup of chopped red onion, 1/4 lb fresh turkey breast chopped, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, pinch of kosher salt, couple turns of a pepper mill and some parmesan cheese (use as much or as little as you want). Mix all ingredients together and serve with wheat bread.

I got a question about Edamame today and whether you need to cook newly shelled beans.

The answer is... Yes. The best way is to boil some water with a little salt and toss in the beans. They should take only a few minutes to cook and are done when bright green. Remove from the water and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. You can eat them as is or toss them on a salad.

Ideally however, you would steam the beans in their pods and then de-shell them. That is a little easier to do and is the way they do it in Sushi restaurants.

If you have a lot of beans they taste really good if you place them in a food processor with a little bit of lemon, salt and olive oil and then puree. I would then spread the edamame puree on toast points and serve.

Wine of The Week: Thomas George 2008 Syrah, Ulises Valdez Vineyard, Russian River Valley

Monday night was a treat for my friends Crista, the owner and proprietor at Boon and Sue, the warden and woman in charge at Boon. Crista is scouting locations for a music event in our town of Guerneville nestled in Sonoma County by the Russia River and the Redwoods.

She invited us to join her to tour Thomas George Estates, which is owned in part by Tom Baker.  The winery is the vision and dream of Tom's son Jeremy who, along with his father, purchased the property from Davis Bynum winery and vineyards on Westside Road. You can read more about the history of the family and their winery here.

While we sat and chatted Tom, his partner Stephanie and I began talking about Syrah.  I have a new passion for Syrah.  Syrah or Shiraz is a dark-skinned grape grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce powerful red wines. What attracts many people is not only the taste of this deeply complex wine, but also its color. Tom was generous enough to share a bottle of Thomas George's 2008, Ulises Valdez Vineyard, Russian River Valley Syrah. 

According to the winemaker's notes this quintessential cool climate Syrah shows an incredible spectrum of intense, deep, inky purple colors to a dense garnet. The nose is rich and filled with black licorice, dark bramble berries and notes of fresh lilac. Well defined tannin adds structure to dry pomegranate-like acidity on the explosive palette.  This is a wine that you can drink now and for the next ten years.

At $40 a bottle this wine may be pricey for some, but is definitely worth trying out. In fact, to make sure I really wanted this as the wine of the week I shared a bottle with my friends last night ;).

Log on to their online wine store and get yourself a bottle.

Check out this article on airplane food http://fxn.ws/cuV3Cq . It includes a few quotes about some of my favorite experiences being up in the air.

Amy's Local Food Challenge - Lamb Burgers With Fig and Jalapeno Ketchup

A good friend of mine, Amy, from high school lives in St. Louis now with her husband and kids. She gets a box of locally produced food every week and was stumped with what to do with the contents.  So she challenged me to come up with some yummy stuff for her to prepare.

Here is how our conversation netted out.

BTW – Paleo is a simple dietary lifestyle that is based on foods being either in or out. In are the Paleolithic Era foods that we ate prior to agriculture and animal husbandry (meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.). Out are Neolithic Era foods that result from agriculture or animal husbandry (grains, dairy, beans/legumes, potatoes, sugar and fake foods).

Another BTW - She is also participating in Fight Gone Bad to raise money for Livestrong, Wounded Warriors and Crossfit Foundation. Log on and help her raise some cash for these causes (http://bit.ly/bBtp89). All of you Upper St. Clair alumni.  This is the famous Amy Norton so I expect you to log on and donate!

Amy

I get my CSA stuff today...here's my list. Bonus Points if it's Paleo, Double Bonus if my kids will eat it! Ground Lamb ;Jalapeño Peppers; Sunchokes;Spaghetti Squash; Green Beans;Fairy Tale Eggplant;Grapes; Fresh Figs; Methuselah; Companion Muffaletta. Not sure what the Muffaletta is because Companion is a bakery, but ...

Michael

WOW! What a challenge, but I think you can make some great stuff here. Ground Lamb is so delicious, but not everyone loves the gaminess so I cut the flavor with 1/2 ground beef, add some garlic, salt and pepper and grill it up as burgers.

Then you can top it with Jalapenos that you have cleaned the seeds from and then roasted for about 30 minutes at 300 degrees. Cut the figs in half and roast them also at the same temp and for the same amount of time. Take one or two of the Jalapenos and blend them in a food processor with the figs. Taste and then add honey to sweeten it a little. You can also add some rice vinegar in, a little at a time, to give it tanginess.

Use the sauce as ketchup and to keep it Paleo by staying away from the Muffaletta. If you want the bread go ahead and place your lamb burger on one piece of the bread, spread the sauce over top and top it with the other half of the bread.

The side dish could be a warm salad of the sunchokes, which you will need to roast at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until a knife slides into them easily. Roast the squash and eggplant for the same amount of time. While they are roasting par boil your green beans until bright green. When all is done chop into bite sized pieces and toss with the juice of 1 or 2 lemons, olive oil, a few dashes of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I LOVE frozen grapes and so do kids Amy. When they get home from school give them a big cup of frozen grapes as a snack.

What is Methuselah... I am stumped.

Amy

It's a local MO cheese. Here's a definition I found: " Methuselah from Heartland Dairy is a hard, aged cheese with a nutty flavor and crumbly texture. Great in place of parmesan. Use in pasta dishes, on eggs, potatoes… " (so NOT Paleo. Although I can just omit it from my meal)

Michael

One other thing to consider is putting the cheese on the side and letting people add it to the salad. That would be soooo tasty. I want to know how this turns out.

Go light on the jalapenos ;)

 

For anyone visiting Sonoma County soon (or for all of my pals that live here) check out Slow Food Russian River (http://www.slowfoodrr.org/) for upcoming events. This Sunday is Pepper Palooza where Quetzal farm owners, Kevin & Keith will be roasting delcious peppers and chiles in their roasting drum.

Just made a roasted turkey wrap with arugula and Fig Jam from The Sweet Factor (http://www.sweetfactor.com). Call and order some of this amazing jam 707-596-1301.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Balsamic

Roasted Brussels sprouts are amazing.  Actually, Brussels sprouts anything is pretty tasty and this recipe is no exception.  It is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious.

You'll need...

- 30-40 Brussels sprouts, cut in half

- 10 whole cloves of garlic

- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

- 1 tsp Kosher salt

- 1 tsp lemon zest

- 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the sprouts, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, black pepper and salt into an iron skillet or heavy sauce pan. Cook for 30 minutes in the oven.  Remove and check for doneness.  If they are al dente and golden brown take them out of the oven and dress with the zest and parsley.  Serve with a hearty meat dish or as a vegetarian main course with cous cous, pine nuts and raisins.

Gremolata is pretty amazing. I learned to make it from my mother who uses it on many dishes. It is the perfect compliment and final touch to any pasta, veggie or meat dish. Take a few cloves of garlic and chop with a handful of parsley and two or three teaspoons of lemon zest. Right before serving a dish top with the gremolata. It goes really well with angel hair and marinara or on a pot roast or just a simple piece of grilled branzano.

Simple salad with heirloom tomatoes and avocados. Dress with rice vinegar, extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper. DONE!