All posts filed under: seasonal eating

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad with Kale Pesto

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I recently purchased “The Sprouted Kitchen” cookbook by Sara Forte and I became a little bit obsessed with this one particular recipe for “Heirloom Tomato Stacks with Bocconcini and Kale Pesto”; so much so, that I’ve made it twice this week!   The original recipe, with its beautiful photograph of mid-summer, juicy heirloom tomatoes nestled on top of a bed of pesto and stacked between layers of fresh mozzarella cheese lured me right in!  I was hooked!  The only problem is…it’s not mid-summer.  Not by a mile.  And you and I both know that February tomatoes leave a lot to be desired–they aren’t very sweet; they are often flavorless at best and mealy at worst.  I’ve learned that slowly roasting tomatoes with a bit of olive oil, a sprinkle of sugar, salt, pepper and garlic totally solves the problem of less-than-flavorful off-season tomatoes, so you can have this salad year-round! The kale pesto is also a stroke of in-season genius, as it’s too early for fresh basil as well!  The kale pesto is a perfect …

Farmer’s Market Breakfast with Poached Eggs

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I have a confession to make.  Until today, I have never successfully poached an egg. It’s crazy, I know!  I mean, egg-poaching is a very basic cooking skill and I feel so ashamed that until now, it has completely flummoxed me.  About a year or so ago, I was bound and determined to learn the proper technique, only to end up with a pot of what looked like egg-drop soup.  I tried again and again; and again and again, I failed. I was told my eggs were too fresh. Then I was told that maybe they weren’t fresh enough! And then, this week I happened upon a little article in Real Simple Magazine about the many uses of a meat thermometer that just happened to mention that the ideal temperature for poaching eggs was 180 degrees fahrenheit!  Eureka! That was the variable I never considered in my earlier attempts.  I knew that the water should be barely simmering, but I never thought to check the temperature.  Well, that’s what I did, and SUCCESS!  Beautiful, silky, …

Valentine’s Day Shrimp and Grits with Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta

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Psst…!  I don’t wish to alarm you, but Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!  Now, before you panic and grab your phone to try and make a dinner reservation, allow me give you a better option:  a totally fussy, outright gourmet restaurant-worthy dinner lovingly prepared in your own kitchen!  I don’t know about you, but I think that a home-cooked dinner beats going out to an overpriced, crowded restaurant any day!  First and foremost, I will warn you that this recipe will take some extra time and a few steps.  You will dirty not one, but a few pots and pans. After you’re done, your kitchen will likely look like a tornado hit it, and for this, I apologize. But, this is a special meal, and I promise you, it will be so delicious, your sweetie will happily volunteer to do the dishes for you!  Plus, no long wait times, overwhelmed servers and outrageously priced prix fixe menus! I think it’s a win-win! This recipe is a take on a traditional Southern classic – shrimp …

Spicy Blood Orange Margarita

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You might be wondering why I’m having a margarita on National Pie Day.  Well, other than that fact that any day is a good day for a margarita, it’s mainly because my attempt at making pie crust this week drove me to drink.  Fresh from my stellar artisan bread success over the weekend, my starry-eyed self ran to Homegoods on Monday and bought a bundt cake pan and a tart pan (the two piece type that has a removable bottom).   I planned to break in that tart pan by making an amazing quiche from scratch with a blind-baked homemade crust.   I raced home from work and immediately began making a series of rookie mistakes.  First off, I didn’t thoroughly read the recipe all the way through.  I had assumed that the pie crust dough would be the same as a dough I had experimented with over the summer, so I didn’t notice that the recipe I had chosen required a two hour rest period in the refrigerator!  No matter, I thought, I’ll just …

When Life Gives You Key Limes: Key Lime Pie Bars

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One of the things about eating seasonally that has always confused my tastebuds is the fact that citrus season is in winter.  I mean, when you think of a tart, cold glass of lemonade, you think of summertime, not the dead of winter when lemons are ripe for the picking!  I’ve given this some thought, and perhaps this is Mother Nature’s way of perking up our palates after a long season of pumpkins, apples and winter squash. Over the past two years we have planted a few dwarf citrus trees in our backyard:  Eureka lemon, Meyer lemon, blood orange and a key lime tree.  They are still young at this point and I cannot wait until they are all bearing fruit!  I’ve had this Barefoot Contessa recipe for Lemon Bars on my Pinterest board for months, just waiting for that glorious day when the Meyer lemons on my little tree finally ripen (likely some time in December).  But, it so happened that the key limes ripened first, and boy are they wonderful!  They are super …