Watermelon Lemonade

watermelon lemonade - refreshing!

Simply delicious and bursting with flavor - this one is too easy not to try. I found the recipe in the Greenwise flyer - I should look through that thing more often.


Ingredients:

3 lemons, juiced
2 tbsp honey
3 cups seedless watermelon
1/2 cup apple juice/cider



Combine ingredients in blender.


Serve over crushed ice with a silly straw.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! Click it or ticket, people!

God bless all those who have come before us and sacrificed so much.

Having no original thought of my own, I typed in a quick quote search for "memorial day" on quotegarden and this one rang true like no other:

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."

~From a headstone in Ireland

Truer words have never been spoken.

back to the food...

Ginger Slaw

Ginger Slaw Girl

Our BBQ today pokes around my favorite flavor set - the far east. Here is the first entry!

Ginger Slaw! My Asian-inspired cool and crispy slaw is perfect on a burger or some Harryaki grilled salmon. We have been mixing a pre-cut bag of broccoli slaw with Makoto's ginger slaw bottled dressing and I thought it was time to try my own. I’m serving it today with some Chinese 5-spice bbq ribs and tall glass of Watermelon Lemonade!

Ingredients

½ cup mayo

½ tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

2 -3 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp grated ginger plus any juice that accumulated during the grating process

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp black pepper

2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 cups finely shredded Napa cabbage

4 cups finely shredded red cabbage

1 cup shredded carrot

1/3 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

In a food processor or blender, combine first 10 ingredients until smooth. Add mixture to the cabbage, carrot and parsley and toss well. It’s that easy. Chill for an hour. Serve cold.

Lillie decided she wanted to eat a Napa cabbage leaf while we were making the slaw...

She took about five bites, started choking and spit/coughed the rest out. Yikes! Our human garbage disposal is growing up!

SAUTER 76

SAUTER 76
Originally uploaded by pikamatron

The revolution is about to begin....

Zellwood Corn Chowder

Its Zellwood corn season again here in Central Florida and truth be told, we are in corn heaven. No seriously, its that good. You know you love good corn when you show up to the local farmers market and they yell out, "Hey, its the corn guy!"

Over the past couple of weeks, we have paired corn on the cob with everything from meatloaf to fish tacos. This locally grown "triple sweet" offering is outstanding and as the spring season comes to a close, it is time that I took my gourmet kids recipes to the next level.


I've been in the mood for some comfort food lately and nothing screams comfort like a good, homemade chowder. I combed my favorite food blogs for some corn chowder insight and used my clam and seafood chowder experience as a base. I will have to say that the best advice was to grate some of the fresh corn. It created this ultra-rich, fresh-flavored creamy corn base that every other flavor was more than happy to enhance. It also did a great job thickening up the chowder to the perfect consistency. The only thing I would do differently next time is maybe add one or two extra slices of bacon. Glorious bacon...


Zellwood Corn Chowder

10 ears of fresh sweet corn, shucked
4-5 slices thick-cut bacon (applewood smoked or maple)
2 cups cubed (1/2 inch) red bliss potatoes
1 vidalia onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half and half
3 cups water
4 tsp Better Than Bouillon Organic Chicken Base

Cut half the corn off the cob and set aside. Grate the remaining ears using the largest side of your box grater into a flat-bottomed large Tupperware container. Watch those fingers!

Your wrist will cramp, but it will be worth it. Use the back of your knife to remove all the kernels and pulp from each cob.

bone dry

Over medium heat, crisp up the bacon using a large Dutch oven. Add onion until softened. Create a space in the middle, tilt pot and spoon in a little bacon fat. Press in the garlic - cook until fragrant. Add the flour, stir and cook for an additional two minutes. Inhale.

Slowly add water and milk. Scrape up any browned goodness on the bottom of the pan. Whisk in bouillon. Add potatoes, grated corn, fresh thyme and bay leaves. Slow simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes until potatoes are al dente. Be careful not to bring to a full boil! Click on the word simmer if you need clarification on the difference between simmer and boil.


Mix in the sliced corn kernels and half and half. Continue to simmer for just a few minutes. Remove bay leaves. Add parsley as well as salt (1 1/2 tsp) and pepper (1 tsp) to taste. Serve to your ravenous children. Add an ice cube, if you must. Enjoy!

Lillie takes her chowder seriously

What time is it Sadie? Chowder time!

Funyuns!

george's funyun sprouts

I've been on my back for over a week recovering from umbilical hernia surgery (no really, its more fun than it sounds!) and you would think I'd be catching up on posting the 20 or so backlogged recipes sitting in pieces on my hard drive. But, for some reason, Super Mario Galaxy and Darvocet go much better together. The family food blog will have to wait.

I finally checked my email today and was psyched to see my old pal George "Gourmet" Kurtzer has been inspired by my gardening exploits and decided to plant one of his own. When we were stationed at RAF Lakenheath in England, I always used to make fun of the fact that he loved funyuns but hated onions. I had so much to learn....

thanks for the laugh, Geo!

Herbed Compound Butter

Here is a quick and easy way to add intense flavor to any dish. A little bit of this decadent butter goes a long way, so use it sparingly. Lillie loves a little on some fresh Zellwood corn and the best fried egg EVER started with a dollop of this roasted garlic and herb compound butter in the pan...


Start with some cropped garlic heads in your garlic roaster....don't have a garlic roaster, you say? Use a small casserole dish with some aluminum foil - it will work just as well.


Drizzle on a little extra virgin olive oil and the dust with Kosher salt and a little of your favorite herbs and spices.


I cracked on some Tuscan Chicken seasoning from Spice Islands - I love the adjustable mill it comes in. Ahh, the simple things....


Cover your roaster and put in the oven at 400 for about 30 minutes until the tops are golden brown. At this point you can spread it right onto some bread or wait until it cools and mix into hummus (recipe on the way), a vinaigrette - you name it. How about butter? Oh yeah....


Combine mixed fresh herbs (rosemary, Genovese basil, Italian flat leaf parsley are used in this recipe) with cloves from a whole head of roasted garlic and a stick of softened butter. Add a pinch of salt if you are using unsalted butter. Blend with your immersion blender (or you can use a food processor or even a countertop blender.)


Chill in a large ramekin or even roll out a log (gross!) onto parchment paper to make your own "stick" of butter for easy use. Where is my French loaf?!

Spring Garden Update

Sadie was out in full force to help me out with the garden this past weekend. She gladly helped me pull some weeds and quench the thirst of some parched veggies.


The garden is doing well and some of the slow-growing first arrivals are already blooming past their prime like this broccoli raab...


and this lonely sparkler radish...


The second round of microgreens are almost ready for the salad bowl...


Sadie's favorite part was yanking these perfect radishes out of the dirt.


Time to rest!


She loved picking the sugar snap peas too - we chomped on a few right off the vine.


Get ready for some lemongrass-grilled shrimp with gingered baby bok choy next weekend! Yum!

(lemongrass)

(baby bok choy)

new camera!

I'm excited to announce that I picked up a new Nikon that takes some amazing micro shots - perfect for food items! The Sony Cybershot I was using had a crack in the battery compartment door so I had to hold the batteries in while taking a picture for the last few months. No fun. Here are a few new shots of the girls at Leu Gardens.

and of course, good old Bitzy...

food art

Carl Warner has created these breathtaking landscapes using nothing but food! Click on the each image for a higher resolution version...

mini mac

Here it is! Who needs a Big Mac when you can have the real Mini Mac!

garden check

The garden has been planted for a few weeks and already, some of the lettuce and greens have made their way into a salad. I forgot how fast the radishes grow as well - we should start eating them in a few weeks. The sugar snap peas and the tomatoes will start to produce soon too. The scarecrow did a great job keeping the birds away but I still had a problem with some seeds disappearing. I think it might be ants so I sprayed a mixture of pureed jalapeno and water to ward off the bugs and keep the garden organic.

I had to replant about 4 squares and fill in some of the beets and carrots that were on the thin side. No big deal. I'll take some pictures this week. I'm placing an order with John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds this week to back fill the radishes and some of the greens that will be harvested in the next month. They have an amazing selection - everything from edible flowers to hard to find varietals. Here is the latest garden layout.

(click image for full size view)

Here is a great shot of Lillie with last years spring garden after about 8 weeks.

candy for dinner

Hey Kids! Here is what your smile will look like if you eat candy for dinner! Brush those teeth!

blueberry honeycakes

At some point you realize as a parent that the challenge isn't just feeding your children, but feeding them food that not only tastes good but is also good for them. Blueberries are high in antioxidants - a super food if you will!

This uphill battle seems all but impossible at times. Here is a variation of the classic blueberry pancake that ups the flavor and nutritional value in one fell swoop. No maple syrup needed....although a splash never hurt!


ingredients:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp Tupelo honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 omega 3 egg
2 cups whole milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp spray canola or grape seed oil
1 cup fresh Maine blueberries


Whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together egg, butter, milk, honey and lime juice.

Create well inside dry ingredients and pour wet mixture into center of the bowl. Whisk slowly for 10 to 20 seconds. Don't overmix - make sure you leave a few lumps to ensure a light and fluffy pancake.


Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat and spray with a 2 second blast of oil. After letting the skillet heat up for a few minutes, add one to three 1/4 cup scoops of honeycake batter depending on the size of your pan - each honeycake will end up about 6 inches in diameter.

Sprinkle each honeycake with blueberries. Don't be shy!


Cook until edges start to stiffen up and bubbles start to form (about 2 minutes.) Flip honeycakes and cook the other side until golden brown (maybe 1 to 2 minutes.)


Use your spatula to check! Once you get the timing down, it will all fall into place.
Place cooked honeycakes in warm 200 degree oven until ready to serve. Repeat with the remaining batter. Cooking times will shorten because the heat of the pan will increase. Rest pan if honeycakes start to sear or burn too quickly.


Once that stack is ready, feed immediately to ravenous children.