Not Your Grandmothers Grapefruit

I just want to start off by letting everyone know this isn't your grandmother's baked grapefruit.  That is, unless your grandma is the type to start the day off with a stiff drink.  Well maybe not a stiff drink, but a little something, something.  I would not recommend this breakfast before a busy day at work.  Think more along the lines of a champagne brunch or breakfast in bed.  This dish was actually really fun for me.  I got the idea around New Years Eve, I was thinking of my wild days in the military and how we used to put alcohol in anything we could.  Jello, fruit, gummy bears; like I said, anything we could.  A vodka watermelon was always a crowd pleaser.  I didn't really feel like buying a watermelon (or eating a whole one myself) so I picked a smaller fruit and tried to class it up a bit.  I've been craving grapefruit lately so that became my muse.  I can distinctly remember being made fun on in culinary school for topping my grapefruit with honey, so lets see what people think of this.  Pick out a nice white wine (I had a Torrontes on hand).  Torrontes is not a common household wine, it has a slightly acidic taste, a little on the dry side for a white and a wonderful fruity pebble smell. (yes, like the cereal)

  A good Sauvignon Blanc or nice Riesling would work too.  The method is the same as a vodka watermelon.  Pierce a small hole in the flesh of the fruit and fit with a funnel.  I used the topper to a squeeze bottle to compensate for the small size of the grapefruit.  Add wine a funnel full at a time until the fruit will no longer absorb it.  This can take quite a while to accomplish, I checked mine every half hour for the better part of the evening.  Once your satisfied with the fruit to alcohol ratio you can slice it in half and separate the segments.  If you are prepping the night before, just put your wine saturate fruit into the fridge until you are ready to slice and use.  There is such a thing as a grapefruit knife but I find a paring knife to work just fine.  Pop the grapefruit in a 350 degree oven for five minutes, just enough to take away the chill.  Remove from the oven and crank it up to a high broil.  Top the grapefruit with honey and put it back into the oven for just a couple minutes, checking frequently.  The top of the fruit will swell up under the heat and the honey will darken and caramelize.  Remove and enjoy!  If you don't have honey on hand a couple spoonfuls of white or brown sugar will do the trick. 

This is round one for grapefruit. I still have a couple left in the kitchen and plan to try a meringue topped treat.  Stay tuned!

sweeter than honey

This is round two of dish three from my first battle with honey. It was a huge success the first go round however I was the only person lucky enough to taste it. So when Miss Theary wanted to plan another food shoot I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share this dish. As a bonus Theary's adorable babies were at the house and I got to enjoy their smiling faces as they chewed on the fresh strawberries. They kept us entertained all day and filled the kitchen with the amazing stories and chatter than can only be produced from the innocence of a three year old. Theary has been talking about strawberries for weeks now so I switched my raspberries to satisfy her craving. The mint came from my tiny balcony garden that I am oh so proud of; and the yogurt was Greek (from the grocery store). The recipe, if you could call it that, is as follows:

handful of fresh fruit (rough chop)
sprig of fresh mint (minced)
pint of yogurt (plain)
honey

mix the first three ingredients together with a tablespoon or two of the honey. Freeze. Scoop and serve with a side of honey to drizzle over the top. yum!

I'm a firm believer that food inspires food and this is no exception. Working with the fresh strawberries made me crave a trip to the strawberry patch to pick my own. Which made me think of a farm a few miles down the road from my house that I've also seen advertising pick your own asparagus. Which makes me think of all the fresh fruits and veggies you can at the farmers markets this time of year. And that makes me wish I could have them all year long. Hence my July 'thing of the month' Pickling and Preserving. I plan to surprise myself with a canning set for my birthday this month. Everyone else can look forward receiving gifts of jams, jellies, sauces, salsas and canned vegetables.

Honey Love

As June comes to a close so does my love affair with honey. Well, that is a lie. My love of honey isn't going anywhere. However, my experiments with it are coming to a close. As I've mentioned before soup is my all time favorite food. If I had my choice I would open a restaurant that served only soup, maybe a few sandwiches or salads mixed in but ultimately soup. So I doubt it is a surprise to anyone that I felt compelled to make a soup starring honey. Let me tell you, this was not an easy task! I played around with the idea of several different co-stars for this soup and eventually decided it had to be a vegetable based dish. My next thought was to take it all the way, make it a completely vegetarian dish. So this one is dedicated to my favorite vegetarians Amanda, Richard, Mikie, Jaden, Josie, and little Ryleigh. (Ok, so every vegetarian I know is my favorite.) And they are truly inspiring people. I try to eat vegetarian a couple times a week and I recommend it to anyone who is attempting to up their intake of fruits and veggies. I promise you wont miss the meat for one or two meals and to be completely honest they will most likely be the healthiest, most wholesome, well balanced meals you eat that week.
Back to the soup. I decided picking a vegetable with a slightly sweet tone that the honey would complement would be the best choice. It had to be carrots, nothing else fit the criteria as well. The cauliflower has no real importance as far as complementing the honey. It just fairs really well with carrots and it just so happens that I only like cauliflower when it is in soup. This soup is wonderfully simple to prepare. The roasting of the vegetables can be slightly time consuming (40-50 mins) but don't skip this step! I realize the cook time could be drastically reduced by steaming or boiling the carrots and cauliflower but roasting is essential to the balance of flavors. The flavors from the roasted vegetables are delicious in their own right but its really the honey that binds it all together. The honey also makes this soup picky eater friendly. I would encourage parents to try this one on their children.

Roasted carrot and cauliflower soup with honey and chives

3-4 medium carrots
1 head cauliflower
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
4 cups stock or broth (vegetable)
honey
fresh chives
oil
salt and pepper

clean and cut carrots and cauliflower into bit size pieces. toss is oil and salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast is a 400 degree oven until caramelized on the outside and cooked through. In the mean time dice your onion and garlic and saute, add stock. When the vegetables finish roasting add to stock and puree. This soup will be a hearty one, thick and full bodied. Bowl soup and drizzle the honey over top. garnish with fresh chives. serves 4


Not in the mood for soup? start with the roasted veggies and instead of adding them to a stock, toss them in a kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment (or mash by hand if your super ambitious) a couple pats of butter and a drizzle of honey. Whip until smooth and serve as a side dish.

butter me up!

Butter....we use it in almost everything. Baking, sauteing, basting...it instantly adds flavor, moisture and texture to any food. So commonly used, so easily forgotten. When was the last time you made butter the star of the show? It's such an easy trick and a major crowd pleaser. I've got four recipes for everyone to make and taste but don't be shy, if something sounds good to you go for it. After all everything is better with butter!

Oh and don't forget the bread! If you are going to serve these spreads as a bread and butter coarse get a good quality loaf. In the pictures above we were chewing on a whole grain dark rye bread (thick and hearty) and a airy, chewy flour dusted ciabatta bread (one of my personal favorites).

Green heat
1 cup salt free butter (softened)
2-3 serano peppers (seeds removed, finely minced)
1 bunch cilantro (chopped)
Mix and serve!

*beside using this butter with bread I really love to add it to veggies, its just the right pop of flavor to zest up some corn on the cob or heat up some steamed carrots.

Classic
1 cup salt free butter (softened)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 bunch parsley (chopped)
2 teaspoons sea salt (the coarser the better)
Mix and serve!

*This is a very classic flavor, great for meats. My favorite use of this butter is with a grilled steak. If your looking for great presentation as well as taste, refrigerate the butter until hard and scoop into perfect balls with a melon baller. Plate the steak and add a butter ball on top right before serving, it will melt as it makes its way to the table. Your guests will see the flavor oozing from their dinner, yum!

Roasted Red
1 cup salt free butter (softened)
1 roasted red pepper (minced)
2 teaspoons sea salt
Mix and serve!

*Roasted red peppers blend so wonderfully with so many other foods; this is great over noodles, on chicken and is probably the best of the three for serving as a bread and butter coarse. But my FAVORITE use of this butter is as a sandwich spread. This would be best in a panini press but if you're like me and can't afford one a George Forman grill works wonders (or just a frying pan). Assemble this just like a grilled cheese; red pepper butter, bread, American cheese and smoked turkey. Press or grill until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

And of coarse this wouldn't be a post in June if I didn't have a honey recipe.

Honey butter
1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/4 cup honey (make sure you are using pure honey)
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
mix and serve!

*be creative with your breads here, this is an awesome topper for bagels or morning breads. It also mixes quite well with peanut butter for a great fast lunch sandwich.

Honey Bear

Round one: honey 2, Jamie 1.

As promised I've been playing with honey, trying to learn more about it and incorporate it into more of my dishes. Everyone knows honey is sweet, but working with it isn't always. I wasn't to thrilled with the results of my first few dishes and I'm guessing from the polite smiles and head nods from my friends this Friday they weren't either. Maybe next time I will pour the wine before I pass out the food.

Dish one: Honey Tequila Chicken Wings
I marinaded these wings over night and then baked them (not the best results but read on for variations)...

Marinade:
one cup tequila
one cup honey
boil until reduced by half
two cups apple juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon adobe peppers (minced) *more or less to personal heat preference
1 bunch cilantro (minced)
bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Taste. add more heat if needed or more honey/apple juice to reduce heat.
Marinade over night and bake.

These wings weren't 'bad' they just didn't have the sticky quality I wanted, the skin was slightly soggy and I was missing a layer of flavor. But they did smell amazing and I saw some potential. First thing I decided to change was the method. I know its bad for you but I promise to do some extra sit ups later....frying the wings is the only way to go with this one. I also kicked the marinade, instead I added a cup more honey to the recipe and reduced the entire batch by half. Oh and my missing layer of flavor? smoke! A couple drops of liquid smoke into the pot was just the trick. I then tossed the deep fried wings in the sticky sweet reduction. MMMMMM.....this is how its done. So for those of you who got round one Friday night, I apologize for the mediocre wings but I will make it up to you next game night.

Dish Two: Heirloom Honey Dijon Pizza
This dish was actually and accidental find. Since the beginning of this blog I have become slightly obsessed with reading others as well. By chance I was reading David Lebovitz blog and he had a recipe for a tomato tart with wild blackberry honey. It was to interesting not to try. However, since I am not living in France I made a couple variations to fit my American kitchen and tastes.
I made a basic pizza crust, brushed it with Dijon mustard and topped it with fresh heirloom tomatoes (beautiful shades of black, green and pink), crumbled goat cheese and then drizzled it with honey before baking. Truthfully I LOVED it. The dish made perfect sense to me. I mean we use honey and mustard on salads (with tomato and cheese), as a dipping sauce for chicken, glazes for pork, the list goes on and on. Having said that, the mustard as a pizza base seemed to freak everyone out. I got a lot of funny looks and comments like "there's something different about this and I can't put my finger on it" As soon as I mentioned mustard it was obvious that was where the confusion was coming from.
Overall I would say this dish was a fail (based on numbers, not my personal opinion) If you decided to try this one, know your audience.

Dish Three: Honey Raspberry Frozen Yogurt
Sadly enough, I'm the only one that has gotten to taste this delightful treat. It's the only dish so far that I consider a 100% win. Lucky for you though it is beyond easy to make! As much as I wish that my only job was to play around with recipes and review restaurants I unfortunately have a 'real job' as well. Although work is no where near as fun as this blog it does pay the bills and I occasionally have some wiggle room to add personal touches to our menu. One of my 'wiggle' areas is sugar free desserts. We have a lot of diabetics in our dinning room and we try and give them a new treat each week. I've been receiving requests for ice cream ever since the temperature outside went above 80. Sugar free ice cream is a challenge...sugar free frozen yogurt is not. This is so simple you will feel silly for not trying it sooner.
Plain yogurt (no flavor added)
*Greek yogurt is my favorite
fresh or frozen fruit ( I used raspberry but anything would work)
honey
fresh mint (optional)

blend your yogurt and fruit first, drizzle in the honey to desired sweetness and finally toss in the mint. Freeze, eat, enjoy!

***A quick note, honey is sugar so this dessert is not sugar free, I simple stumbled across it while make a sugar free version.