Horchata
May 13, 2012
Sonoma County may be a culinary destination for other reasons, but in my family we are most grateful for the abundance of fantastic taquerias. Within walking distance of our house there are many places to enjoy a tasty taco, crunchy tostada or a big @#* burrito. Our kids share our love of Mexican food (which is a family requirement along with love of pizza). They generally gravitate towards a simple bean and cheese burrito with a Horchata to wash it down. My husband and I recently discussed that we need to branch out a bit, or our children will think that every restaurant features the cuisine of Mexico!
Horchata is a sweetened rice drink infused with just enough cinnamon to make it interesting. It is served cold, over ice, and is the perfect balance to a hot and spicy meal. Given that we often make our own Mexican-inspired food at home, we decided it was time to make horchata as well. After researching several recipes, I settled on one adapted by David Lebovitz. It is so incredibly simple that I have happily made it many times already. Long grain white rice is ground into a powder and soaked with cinnamon over night. The bits are then strained out and the liquid sweetened and mixed with milk. Done. I love that by making it at home, I can control the amount of sugar that is in the drink. Our kids love it and so do we. According to myth, this drink is also quite the hangover cure, though I can not personally confirm that. Horchata is a refreshing drink for any spring or summer day.
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Mango Avocado Salsa
May 9, 2012
One of the many wonderful things about salsa is there are no shortage of excuses to make it. Any time of year, any weather, any occasion, there is a salsa to fit the bill. This most recent concoction folded beautifully into a pre-Cinco de Mayo/ baby shower (yes, Fresh Lime Margaritas were included, of course! ).
Mango Avocado Salsa combines sweet tart mango with creamy avocado spiked with red onion and jalapeño and doused with lime. This palate pleasing mix is equally at home on a piece of grilled salmon or chicken as it is on a tortilla chip or quesadilla. It is the kind of dip that makes you want to whip up another batch as soon as the first is gobbled up. If you are unsure how to cut a mango check out this post. I would love to hear what creative ways you come up with to serve this salsa!
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Quick Pickled Spring Vegetables
April 25, 2012
One trip to the Farmers’ Market is enough to know that spring is truly here. Mounds of fava beans, pea shoots, and strawberries compete for space with kale, beets, and last season’s potatoes. My kids and I headed over last weekend to pick up some fresh foods and the obligatory honey sticks. When we returned home, our house was unpleasantly warm thanks to unseasonably sultry weather. It may have been too hot to cook, but it was the perfect temperature to put together some quick refrigerator pickles.
Pickled Spring Vegetables are an Asian-inspired quick pickle. Quick pickles are a fantastic use for all sorts of vegetables and do not require time or canning equipment. I used Easter egg radishes, fresh nantes carrots, and leeks from our trip to the market, though you could also use cucumbers, onions, daikon radishes, or just about any other vegetable you want to pickle. The brine is based on rice wine vinegar and lime juice that tempers the sweetness. These pickles have hints of flavor from slices of ginger, garlic and cilantro. Slice up the veggies and pour over the brine. The pickles will be ready to eat in under an hour. Letting them sit overnight will intensify the flavor, if they last that long.
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Potato Salad with Arugula and Snap Peas
April 8, 2012
Spring is officially here. Time for fresh potatoes, crisp peas, and tender greens. This dish celebrates them all. With no resemblance to its more traditional mayo-based cousin, this potato salad is fresh and crisp with a delicate balance between marinated potatoes, plump peas, crunchy toasted walnuts, and peppery arugula. The whole lot is tossed in a simple mustard vinaigrette to make an uncomplicated, appetizing side dish for any spring meal.
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I would love to say that each jar of jam I make is a smashing success. It would be great if each jar was filled with mouth watering combinations of fruits that strained our self-control through the winter. In fact many of the jams filling our pantry do exactly that. The Three Berry Jam of last July is long gone. Each weekend we dole out the last drops of the Mixed Berry Syrup over yet another batch of Buttermilk Pancakes. There is only one last jar of Strawberry Rhubarb to get us through until truly sweet strawberries start cropping up at the Farmers’ Market. Yes, these are fantastic jams that I cannot wait to make again. The same cannot be said for the poor Drunken Fig Jam I made (too much of) last summer. They cannot all be winners.
Perhaps it is the brandy- I am not a big fan, or the need for a bit more acidity, whatever the reason, the fig jam did not fly off the shelves. It got to the point when I began to consider the unthinkable- tossing the jam in favor of freeing up the precious real estate, when I discovered a recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook and adapted this recipe.
Drunken Pork Chops with Fig and Onion Marmalade is perhaps the perfect application of this drunken jam. Pork pairs so beautifully with sweetness and fig is no exception. For this dish, the pork chops sear off first, then nestle down into a saucy bed of well caramelized onions bathed in rosemary-infused brandied fig jam. The dish simmers slowly as the pork cooks through and the flavors meld. In the end, the pork is incredibly tender and awash in a deliciously sweet and savory sauce. No ample stash of drunken fig jam in the pantry? Just add some apricot or plum jam and a splash of brandy.
How do you cook with jam? Feel free to link to your recipe below.
My Pantry Shelf 