Summer Spritzer Anyone?


Try the Lavender Gin Dandy with a Twist (of course...)

For this drink you will need:

6 Mint Leaves
3 oz (or less) Gin
1 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
3/4-1 oz Lavender Simple Syrup
Top with Club Soda & a Twist

Muddle these leaves in the bottom of a glass with syrup (recipe below). Add juice and gin- stir. Add in remaining ingredients and enjoy!

To make Lavender Simple Syrup put in a saucepan equal parts sugar to water (cup for cup) and let boil down into a syrup of desired thickness- more of sugar or water can be added. Add in a small handful of dried lavender while boiling- you can add more or less depending on how flowery you'd like it. Cool, store in jar in fridge.

Duck, butter basted with a Kohlrabi and Sweet Potato Puree
& Cool Pea and Feta Salad

Duck, duck, ...Kohlrabi?

Word to the wise: don't look at cute pictures of duck before making this dish. For me duck is one of my favorite things to make- however, most people don't make it or don't make it right. If you've been wanting to try duck- try this. If you love duck and never make it - try this. If you love duck and make it all the time- try this.

Where does the kohlrabi fit in? It's my new favorite veggie. Slaw, saute, mash. Kohlrabi is versatile and delicious. It's a broccoli stem meets parsnip? I don't know except it's delicious and beautiful! Use the body, use the stems - magic.

For this meal you will need:
Duck:
One Duck breast
Salt and Pepper to taste (be generous)
1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
Pinch Sugar
___________

1 Large Spoon
1 Tablespoon Butter
Small bunch of herbs (Tarragon, Thyme, Rosemary - whichever you'd like)

You can choose to marinate this duck or not. Prepping it with salt and pepper will do just fine.
If you choose to marinate the duck place duck in a bowl or bag with above ingredients minus the butter and herbs for 6 hours or so. However when prepping the duck to cook wipe excess marinade off the duck's fatty side so as not to burn it on high temp.

When you are ready to prepare the breast score the duck with a sharp knife (almost like you would an avocado- into diamonds) on the fatty side. This side will down "face down" into the hot pan first.
To make the duck you will need a cast-iron or similar pan. Make sure the pan is hot for searing (med-high).
Place the duck fatty side down and let stand for 2 minutes. Turn the temp down to med/ med-low.  Continue to cook for  about 5 min. You will want to render out the duck fat so it becomes thin and crisp. Once this happens turn the duck over to cook for another 5 min. Turn back over to the fatty side and add butter and herbs- turn the heat to med/low and tip the pan towards you with a basting motion of a wide spoon continue to spoon melted butter over the duck as it continues to crisp and golden.
Once it has achieved the desired color remove from the heat and let rest. After 5 min slice open and fan onto a plate.
(One breast will feed two so you may want to double the recipe depending)

[So you know: You can use the drippings of butter, herb and duck fat left over with some red wine cooked down to make a pan sauce]


Kohlrabi & Sweet Potato Puree

You will need:
One very large Kohlrabi (or two med-large or three med-small) peeled or unpeeled but at least leaves removed
Two small Sweet Potato (peeled :( normally I like to keep the skin but for smoothness- not today)
1/2 Cup Greek Plain Yogurt
1/2 Teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice
Dash Cayenne pepper
Salt to taste (I used a smoked salt but whatever you have is great)

Cut into large cubes the peeled sweet potato and kohlrabi. Boil on the stove like you would potatoes for mashing. When they are just fork tender drain them and throw them into the food processor with the rest  of the ingredients. If you need to loosen up the mixture add a little olive oil or more yogurt.

Go the extra step: Don't throw out those kohlrabi leaves on top!! Save them along with two med onions (yellow and red) and saute them together with a little olive oil, salt and pepper (hold off on adding the salt til they start to caramelize)- to finish them off you can deglaze the pan with a little red wine. Put these right on top of the kohlrabi puree.


Pea and Feta Salad

You will need:
1 Cup Peas (fresh and de-shelled)
1/4 Cup Sheep Feta
Juice of 1/2 a Lemon
Olive Oil
Smoked Salt (or reg Salt)
Heavy Pepper to Finish

Put a small saucepan with water on the stove to boil. Add the peas and just blanch them to cook. Place into a small bowl. Crumble feta on top, cut lemon in half and juice on top peas and feta, drizzle oil and salt and pepper on top. Easy Peasy- pun intended.
Bon Appetit

Zucchini Banana Bread with Browned Buttercream Frosting

Recently with the heat, I have been not able to keep up with my bananas. I come home, and there they are, on their little hook, looking all spotty. (Quick little fun fact, the smell of ripe bananas is not something pleasant to me, its not the story to be telling on a food blog, so if you ever want to know why the smell of ripened bananas literally makes my stomach churn, ask me the next time you see me!) So naturally, because of my hatred for the smell and needing them off my counter, I have turned to the classic banana bread solution. Well, I looked around to see if there was anything else I could use to spice up my usual banana bread, and there comes in the zucchini. I have always loved zucchini bread, and I have always loved banana bread, put them together and whoa doggy its brilliant. Enough said here is how to make it:

Ingredients for Bread:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
6 ounces vanilla or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup grated zucchini, loosely packed
1 to 1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (1 large or 2 small very ripe bananas)
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

Preheat oven to 325F, grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
Melt the butter. To the melted butter, add the sugars, egg, yogurt, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Add the zucchini, bananas, and stir.
Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and stir until just combined. Do not over stir. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for about 60 to 65 minutes (this is for one 9-by-5-inch loaf), or until top is golden. Allow bread to cool in the loaf pan for at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Ingredients for Browned Buttercream Frosting:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups+ confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoons+ cream or milk, optional and to taste

Brown the butter in a small saucepan on the stovetop, heating over medium heat. Swirl the pan or stir frequently for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the crackling and foaming has subsided, the butter has browned, and has a beautiful nutty aroma.

Transfer hot butter to medium-sized mixing bowl and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes. Add the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Based on desired frosting consistency and taste preference, add the cream or milk one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached, playing with sugar and cream ratios as necessary.

Crisp, Rad, Radish Salad

It's HOTTTTT!!! 90 plus degrees and I need refreshment. So I made up a recipe fit for any Summer night!
This has the crisp bite of a radish and the with a tart of the lemon dressing it marinates in.
You will need:

1 Large Bunch of Radishes (rinsed with tops discarded or saved for later)
1/2 Med Red Onion
1/2 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Honey
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
8 Mint Leaves Julienned
Heavy handed amount of salt as well as pepper

In a bowl whisk all ingredients together in a bowl minus the mint, radish and onion.
Next, MINCE the onion and radish until tiny, tiny. Fold into vinaigrette and then add in the mint. Chill or serve right away.
Bon Appetit

Late Night Cheesecake

Hi there friends- I made this cheesecake at 2 a.m. this weekend when I couldn't get to sleep. From start to finish it put me in bed tired by 5:15 a.m. Doesn't take too long to put together but like any good cheesecake it takes watching it like a hawk. I think my Saturday dinner party gets were thankful for my poor sleep habits the evening before! This is a classic NY style cheesecake with just enough fluff to not be dense - but trust me- I slept like a baby after a slice of this and no sleep the night before.

To make the cheesecake you will need:

Crust
4 Ginger Molasses cookies (recipe found from previous post)
4 Tablespoons of Butter
1/4 Salted Almonds
A Pinch of sugar

Put this in the food processor until blended into a ball and spread on the bottom of typical sized spring form pan. Bake in preheated oven at 375 for 10 min. Remove from oven and set aside.

Set oven to 325 and wait for temp. Meanwhile get together the following ingredients for the filling:

Filling
2 1/2 lbs (or 5 packages) Neufchatel cheese *
1 1/4 Cup Sugar (rough cane)
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
1 Teaspoon Grated Lime Zest
4 Eggs
1 Cup Sour Cream
Dash Himalayan Salt- course

After taking these items out and letting your cheese come to room temp put on a half full kettle of water to boil. Your cheese cake will eventually get a nice warm sauna bath. How lovely.

Prepare your spring-form pan with aluminum foil nearly to the lip of the top of the open pan. Why? It's a swimsuit for your pan whose going to take a bath- and more like a wet suit than a swim suit you don't want your crust or cake getting wet!! So place your spring form pan into a wide roasting pan (minus the rack) and wait for the water to boil.

Meanwhile, in your mixer with a paddle mix all neufchatel cheese until fluffy. Scrape the side of the bowl and then add sugar. Scrape again- add all citrus and salt. Add in the eggs one at a time- again- scrapping sides when needed and finally add in the sour cream- blend until it's a smooth consistency.

At this point your water will be boiling and screaming at your distracted self. Go ahead and shut that off! Now empty the cheese mixture into the spring form pan and add kettle water around the pan until it's about halfway up the pan depending on how safe you feel with your "suit" - you don't want any water getting in.

Bake for 1 3/4 hours. Turn off oven and yet wait ten min to remove pan.
After ten min open the door of the oven and wait another twenty min. Take roasting pan out of the oven- the water bath should be mostly gone so you may remove it now but regardless wait to put in a refrig until completely cool. This is extremely tedious- I know- but this will save you in beauty because it will come out smooth and gorgeous - no cracks!

Finally- chill and serve, Bon Appetit




*(this is very much like cream cheese but lower in fat and tarter - please don't get the idea this is a "low fat" version of cream cheese- it just happens to be very much like cream cheese but naturally lower in fat- if you want to use good ol' fashioned cream cheese go for it!)

**I served this with a strawberry, blueberry, rhubarb compote YUMMY

• Molasses Micah's 

I'm calling these cookies Molasses Micah's because I made them for my friend Micah who loves Molasses Cookies :)

2 cups flour (shifted – this can be traditional white unbleached flour or a gluten free mixture of 1 cup cashew flour and one cup sorghum or other substitute)

• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cardamom pods split and seeds crushed
• ½ teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup dark molasses
• ¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• Coarse sanding or raw sugar (for rolling)
• Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. This sounds funky but is key for good cookies.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk egg, butter, granulated sugar, molasses - don't be afraid to add a little extra, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Mix in dry ingredients just to combine.
• Place sanding sugar in a small bowl. Scoop out dough by the tablespoonful and roll into balls (if dough is sticky, you can chill 20 minutes). Roll in sugar and place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2” apart.
• Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until cookies are puffed, cracked, and just set around edges (over-baked cookies won’t be chewy), 8–10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Stuffed Peppers (Need I say more?) 

Hi there Friends!
I need to be more consistent with my posting to say the very least. This next recipe is for some good friends of mine who have asked maybe twenty times for the recipe of these stuffed peppers which I have been holding hostage wayyyy too long. So no picture comes since they were enjoyed with these very friends over a few months ago and I haven't made them since but they deserve a blog spot even though they seem like less of a summer food they are pure comfort so maybe save them for a cooler, rainy day. They can be baked or put in a cock pot. Even baked briefly the evening before and put in the cock during the day if you are working or out and want to come home to a hot meal... 

Ingredients:

6 green& red (mixed is best) bell peppers

1 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes or four juicy fresh :) diced 

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

3 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or chuck

1 1/2 cups cooked long-grain rice - 

(Note:I use white rice this works best, but you can certainly substitute Quinoa or a short grain brown rice)

shredded Parm cheese, about 1/2 to 3/4 cup, optional

Directions: 

Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Put burner on high and place peppers (one at a time on burner to char and heat all sides- giving them a quick blistering. Put aside. 

Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Sauté chopped pepper (from tops), chopped onion, and chopped celery for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, crushed garlic, oregano, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.Add uncooked rice. Simmer for about 15 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg with remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Gently stir to blend; add ground beef, cumin, smoked paprika and 1 cup of the tomato mixture. Mix well. Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a glass 9x13 or dutch oven baking dish. Pour remaining tomato mixture over the stuffed peppers. Bake at 350° for 55 to 75 minutes. If desired, top stuffed peppers with a little shredded Parm cheese (for extra zest and salt just before peppers are done; bake until cheese is melted.
Recipe for stuffed peppers serves 6. Bon Appetit