Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

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Delicious multipurpose vinaigrette to use over fresh greens and vegetables.
I love the acidity and sweet flavor of meyer lemons but you can use regular lemons too.
You can refrigerate/store this in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of dry tarragon
1 tablespoon of fresh minced basil
salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, mustard and sugar until combined.
Whisking constantly, add the olive oil until well combined and thickened, whisking
constantly.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add tarragon and fresh basil.

I serve mine over tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese.

And check out these crazy lemons!
Known as Buddha's hand or bushukan.
BEAUTIFUL!
I purchased one to use as zest. 

Grand Marnier bread pudding

Grand Marnier  is an orange-flavored cognac liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle.
It is made from a blend of Cognac brandy, distilled essence of bitter orange, and sugar. . . Aaand
Grand Marnier  is 40% alcohol, yikes!
It goes great on this bread pudding, I serve it for breakfast.

Ingredients

1 loaf of challah bread
(the braided bread), I purchase mine at trader joes.
3 cups of whole milk
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
5 tablespoons of Grand Marnier
1/2 of dry orange cranberries
A small pinch of salt


Generously grease an oven dish with unsalted butter.
Slice bread and arrange tightly into two layers.
Sprinkle dry cranberries all over bread and in between layers.
Whisk milk, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, salt and Grand Marnier in a bowl and pour over the bread.
(You can sprinkle additional cinnamon and sugar on top, I do).
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 2 hours,
the bread will absorb the mixture.

Preheat oven at 400°
bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden and garnish with
fresh fruit or powdered sugar..Or Coconut chips like i did.

Madeleines

While standing in front of the register at Starbucks, i noticed a package of delicious madeleines.
I purchased them and my appetite for this delicious French snack almost vanished at first bite.
Too soft and doughy, too processed and too sweet.
This bothered me all day and doop de do, off I go to make my first madeleines!
I purchased this Martha Stewart mold at Macy's Only $ 14.99.

Now, off to some fun.

Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 1/3 Cup of flour
1 stick of melted unsalted butter
1 1/4  cup of sugar
1/8 cup of local honey
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp orange blossom water (optional)

Whisk the sugar, honey, salt and 3 eggs together until light and fluffy.

 Sift flour and the baking powder together, then gradually fold in the egg mixture and mix together gently.
Add melted butter, orange blossom water and lemon zest, stir lightly, cover and place in refrigerator at least 2 hours or even overnight. This step is super important, the batter MUST be cold before baking so that
you get nice BUMPY madeleines.

Preheat oven to 350°

Butter and dust the mold with flour.
Add 1spoonful of cold batter into the molds.
Bake for 12-15minutes.

Use a butter knife to gently lift the madeleines off the molds and dust with powdered
sugar if desired.

Hillcrest Farmers Market

My 1st visit to Hillcrest Farmers Market

Here is an example of how I am an extremely lucky person.
Besides living in Sunny and lovely San Diego, having a home 2.3 miles
away from an outdoor market which offers local and often organic

produce, I'm also lucky to have great friends.
My friend Andrea recommended Hillcrest Farmers Market on
Sundays and I don't know how i  f-ing waited so long!

I love carrots, I award them the title of easiest vegetable to deal with. You can slice them and prepare them in so many ways.

A minor sad irony in my life is that i love to cook and i love food but
Cannot stand beets. So beautiful and good for you but (TO ME) they taste awful.

I discovered squash blossoms thanks to cucina urbana last  year. They offer an amazing appetizer in their menu which consists of beautiful squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta cheese, lightly fried and topped with lemon aioli. Here at Hillcrest Farmers Market you can buy a half dozen of these for just $ 2.00.

Stay tuned for a squash blossom recipe coming to my blog!
To reward you for reading this far, I am sharing a picture
of the most delicious salami.
I bought it at the Farmers Market (of course) and
its called the NAUGHTY CONSTABLE.
A semi-dry sausage, spiced with caraway, juniper
berries and ground black pepper.
I paired mine with a glass of Riesling,

sat on the couch,
watched the last episode of breaking bad and cried, cried, cried.

http://meatmenstore.com/

 

Simple Butternut squash soup

My husband believes he is lactose intolerant 

so until he comes to his senses; I have switched to a butternut squash soup

without cream.
The not so secret ingredient: 
1 Granny Smith Apple

and I love lots of extra fresh thyme.

Ingredients
2 Tbs olive oil

1 large carrot

1 celery stalk, diced

1 large onion, diced

4 cups of peeled and cubed fresh butternut squash

1/2 tsp of fresh thyme

4 cups of chicken broth

1 Granny smith apple, peeled and cubed

pinch of salt (to your taste)

pinch of pepper 

-

 

Heat oil in a large pot.

Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook until onions turn translucent (about five mins).

Stir in butternut squash, thyme, chicken broth, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until squash is tender (about 30 mins).

Add apple.

Let the soup cool slightly and puree in small batches in a blander.

Garnish with dry mushroom blend or sunflower seeds.

Serve HOT!

NOT a flan!

So my favorite time waster is reading food blogs and day-dreaming of French pastries and dishes I hope to one day make.

Below is a recipe for CRÉME ORANGE CARAMEL 

Ingredients

2 cups of whole milk
1/4 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 orange rind
1 pinch of salt
4 eggs

For the caramel
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tbs of fresh OJ
3 tbs of water

You can use ramekin mold of your choice but be mindful of its size and cooking time.
I used small metal ramekin molds

Preheat oven to 350º

For the caramel:

Melt the sugar, orange rind, orange juice and water in a small pan over medium-high heat.

Do not stir and let the mixture melt slowly on its own. When the mixture reaches a light brown color shake the pan, and slowly stir. Remove from heat, and pour immediately into ramekin molds.

Be VERY careful not to burn yourself as caramel temperature is super hot.

While wearing oven mittens, swirl your mold in a circular motion so the edges are covered

with caramel.

Set ramekins aside to cool.

Now boil milk in a pot.

Lower heat once it starts to boil.

Add sugar, orange rind, vanilla bean and pinch of salt.

Stir, remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk 4 eggs in a bowl and pour into the warm vanilla milk.

Whisk continuously while you are doing this so the eggs don’t coagulate.

Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a small container to avoid air pockets

and for a smooth cream.

Pour mixture from your container into the caramel lined mold.

Place molds in a large roasting pan, pour hot water so it comes up just over half the mold.

This method is called bain-marie.

Bake for 55 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Once cool, leave in the fridge for a least 2 hours.

When you are ready to serve, gently loosen the sides with a small knife.

I served this with a spiced Apple cider (Drink recipe to follow)

Dark Chocolate Mendiants

I cannot believe how easy these beautiful and heavenly disks come together.
Mimi is a huge inspiration to me and I learned about this easy recipe in her blog.
Mendiants are beautiful and terribly delicious. I am weak in the face of chocolate and this is no exception.

Makes about 12 Mendiants

Ingredients
10 ounces of good quality dark chocolate (I use Godiva)
A few unsalted pistachios, unsalted roasted almonds, pepitas and dry fruit of choice.
(I used left over pomegranate seeds from my mimosa brunch)

Place parchment paper over a flat surface or cookie sheet.

Place a glass or metal bowl over a simmering pot of hot water.
Add pieces of chocolate. Stir gently until completely melted.

Drop a small spoonful of melted chocolate into parchment paper to create small bite size disks.

Immediately decorate with nuts, dry fruit and any topping of your choice!

I think shredded coconut would be a great Christmas topping and maybe red walnuts.
Saw red walnuts at the farmers market today and was blown away.
Stay tuned, something with red walnuts is coming to this blog soon.

Orange pomegranate mimosas

Pomegranates must be in peak season, it seems i cant go anywhere without running into this delicious and messy red fruit. I juice my own but you can always buy POM juice at the store and avoid looking like you killed someone.

1 bottle of Brut (I love Trader Joe's)
1 Pomegranate
5 oranges
(optional, a splash of cointreau - my friend introduced me to this)

1. Pour a small amount of pomegranate juice into a glass of your choice
   (flute, coup, or wine glass)
2. Add champagne slowly
3. Add as much orange juice as you'd like

(finish with a tiny splash of cointreau)

Thyme crusted pork tenderloin with pears

Ingredients 

-

1 Pork tenderloin (I used 1 lb)

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 Tbs of Olive oil 

1 medium red onion

3 pears (I used Bartlett pears), do not peel, cut in long slices

3 Tbs of balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs of organic honey

Fresh thyme (about 8-10 sprigs)

Preheat oven to 400º

Rub pork with salt and pepper.
Add olive oil to an OVEN SAFE pan over medium-high heat.
Sear pork, turning occasionally until brown.
Remove pork from pan and set aside on a plate.
Add onions and sliced pears to the hot pan with the left over pork fat
and saute for two minutes.
Return pork to the pan and drizzle honey and balsamic vinegar
over the pork and pears.
Transfer pan into the oven to roast for about 25-30 minutes.

Transfer pork into aluminum foil, make a tent to cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
Transfer pork to cutting board, cut into 1/2 inch slices and divide into
small plates.
Add pears, onions and finish off with a drizzle from the glaze in your pan.
Serve immediately.