Whisked away to cherry land

I don't often blog about my job, but this is too fun to pass up. This was the third year Whole Foods Market is celebrating Cherry Fest in stores, so we decided to take 3 fantastic bloggers up to visit the Rainier Fruit Company's cherry fields in Yakima, Washington.

The trip was a total blast (read my recap on the Whole Foods Market blog here). The bloggers were great (shout out to Gaby, Anjali and Meghann!), Rainier was so accommodating, and a few of my produce-savvy WFM colleagues made the trip the perfect combination of learning, delicious tasting and fun. 

Whole Foods Market field inspectors use sizers like the one pictured above to see how the cherries are measuring up

One of the coolest parts? Riding in a helicopter! Their farms are all over the state of Washington, so Rainier has a couple helicopters they use to get around. I was surprised at how smooth the ride was. 

 

Also, it was neat to watch their preferred method of protecting the fields from birds- falcons! They have a few falconers on staff who go to the fields each day and use falcons to scare the birds off. It was amazing to watch Jacob fly! (Yes, Jacob was named after Twilight). 

 

We ate an insane amount of cherries, both right off the trees and in a side-by-side taste test (my favorite varieties are rainier and sweethearts, in case you were interested).

Walking way, I have a new appreciation for cherries. I was hoping to whip up some amazing recipe to share, however I never could get past eating the cherries fresh, except to add them to a bowl of yogurt and granola for breakfast. Trust me, I'm having major blogger guilt. But, I have to say as someone who is driven so strongly by what I see in the markets and featured in my favorite magazines, it was such a pleasure to get to see one of my favorite fruits at the source. Hoping this happens again very soon!

Lemon Rosemary Drop

This past weekend our house was party rockin! We hosted a combo housewarming/birthday party and had close to 50 friends (and 3 dogs) over to our new humble abode. Luke and I love to entertain, and now that we have a much more spacious home, we've been having people over as often as possible. This one takes the cake though (literally! a lemon rosemary cake) and we had a blast planning for it. Luke's side was the beer. In addition to a keg of local beer (Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap Pilsner!) he also brewed up a gluten free beer in honor of a beer-loving friend of his who recently cut out gluten from his diet. My part? I planned plenty of snacks, decorations, cake and wine! The hit of the party was a delicious white wine cocktail recipe that I pulled from Better Homes and Gardens a month or two ago. Unfortunately it's not on their website, so I've typed it below with my small modifications:

Lemon Rosemary Drop


2 cups sugar
8 lemons, zested and juiced (plus additional lemons for garnish)
8 sprigs fresh rosemary (plus additional sprigs for garnish)
4 bottles white wine (they call for Pinot Grigio, I used Sauvignon Blanc)

Place 2 cups water, sugar, lemon zest and rosemary in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and then let simmer until sugar dissolves. Cool 15-20 minutes, then strain out solids.

Fill a 4-6 quart drink dispenser with 4 bottles wine, juice from 8 lemons and half of the syrup to start (I ended up using 3/4 of it). Stir well then add in lemon slices and rosemary sprigs. Have an ice dispenser on hand to enjoy chilled (I didn't add it to the dispenser since I didn't want to water down the wine!)

We were all pooped after a successful party - especially Benji!

A new mouth to feed

That's right! Now that we've got the house, the backyard and the dog door, we've got a new member of the family - a puppy named Benji! He's a border collie (with a bit of blue heeler we think), currently at 13 weeks and 35 pounds. 

I'm still cooking but didn't have any inspiring recipes to share, so instead I'm sharing a few choice shots of Benji :)

Benji loves his stuffed animals!

And de-stuffing them too!

He was a brave pup at the vet

King of the backyard!

My question to you: What do you feed your dog? What are his favorite treats? Any homemade doggie treat recipes you can share?

Mama Mia! Grilled Pizza!

Grilled pizza - it seems like each summer, every food magazine I read has a story or recipe for grilled pizza. I'm not sure why, but until now, I was too chicken to try. What if the dough fell through the grates? If I used a pizza stone, what if I messed up picking it up and broke it? Now that Luke and I have our fancy new house with our fancy new backyard and fancy new charcoal grill, I ran out of excuses - and I'm SO glad I did. This was not only simple, but infinitely better than any of the oven-baked pizzas I've done over the years.

Grilled pizza

1 bell pepper

1/2 red onion, sliced in thick rings

1 pound whole wheat pizza dough (got mine from the Whole Foods Market pizza guys)

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for coating pan

2 tablespoons fig jam

1 large, ripe tomato, cut into slices

1 ball fresh mozzarella, chopped

3 ounces pancetta

8 leaves fresh basil, chopped

Salt and pepper

Heat charcoals. Meanwhile, section bell pepper into quarters and cut red onion into rings. Once grill is hot, grill vegetables until beginning to blacken, about 4-5 minutes.Remove from the grill and cut both into smaller bite-sized pieces.

divide pizza dough into 2 balls. Oil a large, rimless baking sheet well, then press out dough as thin as possible (about 1/2 inch). Place dough directly on the grill grates and close the lid, let cook about 2 minutes or until bottom is starting to get good grill markets. Flip over using a large spatula or the baking sheet. Spread olive oil on one crust and fig jam on the other. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over both crusts, then top with sliced tomato, bell pepper and onion.Close grill and let cook another 2-3 minutes, until bottom crust is browned and cheese is melting.

Quickly crisp pancetta in a skillet and chop, then sprinkle over pizza with basil. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then enjoy!

 

Easy Breezy Breakfast

My sister and her husband came to stay this last weekend, and they brought my 2 favorite nephews - their dogs Cooper and Bear! I knew we had a fun weekend ahead of eating, drinking and playing with dogs, so I wanted to have an easy option for breakfast while still making it special so they would enjoy their first trip visiting us in our new house.

 

The menu:

• Blueberry and almond scones from Everyday Food magazine (I liked these, but they weren't my favorite scone, a bit too soft for my taste. But, I loved the abundance of blueberries and crunch of almonds in them!) (prepare these the evening before and then pop in the toaster oven just before serving to warm)
• Fresh grapes
• Yogurt jars

 Yogurt jars

4 ounces honey yogurt (or buy plain yogurt and stir in 1 tablespoon honey)

2 ounces raspberry jam

4 ounces granola

Using 4-ounce mason jars or bowls, place 1 oz yogurt in the bottom of each dish, taking care to smooth out for an even surface.Next, layer in 1/2 ounce (about 1 spoonful) on top of the yogurt, evenly distributing. Finally, top with yogurt. 

The yogurt jars were our favorite part of the breakfast, so next time I might try doing 6 or 8 oz servings instead since we all gobbled ours up!

Pork Chops with Peach Salsa and Zucchini Ribbon Salad

Peach season is here! Peach season is here! For some reason, this year more than others, Luke and I are FREAKING OUT about peaches and down several of the small, ripe, juicy ones in a day. This lunch was so fresh and satisfying, we were literally licking our plates (I'm not embarrassed to admit it!).

Pork Chops with Peach Salsa

1 3/4-inch thick, bone-in pork chops

Salt and pepper to taste

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large or 3 small peaches, chopped

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced

1 shallot, finely diced

1 lime, squeezed

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Season pork chops with salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet and cook pork chops 3-4 minutes per side or until they reach your desired level of doneness.

Meanwhile, add chopped peaches, jalapeno, shallot, lime juice and cilantro to a bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle in 1 tablespoon olive oil - add more oil if desired.  When pork chops are done, top with salsa and enjoy!

Zucchini Ribbon Salad
A simplified version based on this recipe from Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine

2 zucchini, washed and ends trimmed
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmigiano Reggiano, optional

Stand the zucchini up and, using a vegetable peeler, peel it into long ribbons. Rotate 90 degrees and proceed to do it with all four sides of the zucchini and discard the center seedy section.

In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Add zucchini ribbons and toss thoroughly to combine.  If desired, top with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Little Miss Mussels

Did you ever read the Little Miss and Mr. books when you were a kid? I loved them! That's besides the point here though unfortunately.

It took me a long time to come around to mussels. For the longest time I thought they looked strange and the thought of figuring out how to eat them in public, let alone attempting to cook them, intimidated me. I finally had mussels and fries and was transformed. The transformation was complete when I visited Thomas Keller's Bouchon in Vegas back in February - his were so decadent and well-presented, the ultimate feast!

Finally, the stars aligned for me to "muscle up" and make some on my own. While flipping through this month's Family Circle, they had a recipe for Mussels and Fries in their budget section - mussels are affordable? Who knew! So I walked down to Whole Foods Market, and low and behold, mussels were on sale! I bought some on the spot and made some for Luke the next day for a welcome home lunch. He approved. Here's my variation on FC's dish:

Mussels and Fries

2 pounds baking potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon lemon thyme sprigs
1 ounce Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
6 leaves basil, freshly chopped
2 pounds mussels
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white wine


Heat oven to 450 degrees . Place mussels in a large bowl of lightly salted cold water. Set aside.

Peel potatoes and, using a mandoline (a birthday present from Luke!), slice into 1/2 inch thick fries (alternatively, cut by hand). Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Scatter in a single layer on a baking sheet along with 1/2 of the thyme, still on the sprigs, and bake at 450 degrees for 17 minutes. Using a metal spatula (not tongs, I did and I broke a few!) flip potatoes and bake 15 more minutes or until they are browned. Remove from oven; toss with additional salt to taste. When ready to serve, sprinkle with Parmigiano Reggiano and basil.

Meanwhile, debeard mussels by pulling off the seaweed-like string between the shells. Discard any open mussels. (If open, tap on the counter; if shell closes, you can keep it.) Place mussels in a new bowl.

Melt butter in a large, lidded pot over medium heat (I used my medium-sized cast iron dutch oven). Stir in red onion and saute 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and saute another 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine, remaining thyme and salt to taste; bring to a simmer. Add mussels, cover and cook 6 to 8 minutes, or until shells have opened and mussels are cooked through. Discard any mussels that did not open.

Serve fries alongside mussels and cooking liquid.