In The Kitchen... Grapefruit with Honey & Mint

This "In The Kitchen" is super easy to make and super tasty!

Grapefruit with honey & mint. 

Grapefruits are abundant at our farmer's market so it's a great time to make this. 

Ingredients: 

- Grapefruit

- Honey

- Mint

Told ya it's EASY!

You just cut up the grapefruit - remove all the yucky white pulp stuff, squeeze any extra juice from the rind - and put in bowl.

Then thinly slice up the mint and sprinkle on top.

Then you drizzle some honey to taste on top of all that!

Voila! DONE!

It's a great side if your hosting a brunch. It looks fancy yet it's super simple to make! 

And it's YUM YUM in my TUM TUM!

In The Kitchen... Broccoli Stir Fry

This "In the Kitchen" recipe is something I make nearly every week - it's delicious, healthy and super fast to make! Here's what you'll need:

- lotsa broccoli
- your choice of mushroom (or leave it out if no likey)
- grated ginger - I prefer a lot of ginger, like 3 tablespoons but it's to taste
- finely chopped garlic (I use 4 cloves)
- scallions
- any other veggie you like! I threw some spinach in this one at the end
- 2 cups of cooked sushi rice
- cashews
- sesame seeds
- soy sauce
- hoisin sauce
- olive oil
- toasted sesame oil
- siracha hot sauce

Whew.... OK, it looks like a lot of ingredients but if you like to cook Asian food you should have a lot of these items as staples in your pantry. Usually I just have to run out and buy the veggies because we have everything else.

Anyway:

- Saute the garlic and ginger in a little olive oil & simmer for a couple minutes on medium heat.
- Throw in your mushrooms to the mix:

- cook them down for a couple of minutes
- then throw in the broccoli and add a 1/4 cup of water to help steam the broccoli.

(sorry for bad pics again! but i finally found my camera so better pics to come!)

- At this point you should throw in some splashes of soy sauce, a tablespoon of hoisin sauce and throw in the chopped scallions.

- cook all that just a little - you still want the broccoli somewhat crunchy

- then you get out a big bowl, fill it with some sushi rice then load up this tastiness on top!

- next, drizzle a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil on top the dish, garnish with sesame seeds, handful of cashews, and drizzle the siracha hot sauce on top

And enjoy!! It's SO good! I also like this recipe because you can add so much to it. Either more veggies or beef or chicken. Leftovers are even great the next day.

Let me know what you think if you try it!

In The Kitchen...Quinoa Patties

I luvs me some Pinterest and just wanted to share with y'all one of my new favorite recipes! Quinoa patties - recipe HERE.

Here's how I made them tonight:

On a bed of organic mixed greens, local tomatoes, grated Parmesan cheese, oil & vinegar dressing - and fried them up in coconut oil. Let me tell ya - it was YUM!! (full disclosure - I probably ate 8 patties they were so tasty! but 8 would've looked rather piggy for the sake of the picture!) 

I also read a reviewer say they eat them in the morning with some maple syrup. (another full disclosure - I tried this after my dinner and it was also delicious!! Oink! Oink!) 

This is a great thing to make ahead of time and heat up when you're running late. They are a great source of protein and super yummy!! Let me know if you make them and how you serve them!

In The Kitchen...Brussel Sprout Salad....YUM!

This "In The Kitchen" recipe is inspired by a salad from one of my favorite restaurants here in NOLA, Sylvain. It is so simple, refreshingly healthy and a great salad option for a dinner party.

To make this delicious salad, you will need:

Brussel Sprouts (I used 8 for a salad for 2)
Gala/Fuji Apple
Almonds or Hazelnuts
Pecorino or Manchego Cheese

For Vinaigrette:
Olive Oil
Pear Infused Vinegar
Honey

First, I finely chop up the brussel sprouts like so...

 I mandoline an apple, then slice it up into bite size pieces like so... (I LUVS me my mandoline!!)

Then I chop up the almonds and grate the cheese and throw it all together in a bowl. I just eye ball everything, so for the vinaigrette, a tablespoon or so of honey, tablespoon of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil - toss it all together and bada bing bada boom - delicioso salad!!

Fresh cracked pepper on top, maybe some artisan bread on the side and ENJOY!!

In The Kitchen...Quinoa Salad

Our local coffee shop - Satsuma has THE BEST Quinoa Salad! Although at $8.50 a pop, my addiction to the salad became a quest to make it myself. (If you're not familiar with Quinoa click HERE)

It's VERY healthy and very simple to make! It is extremely filling and would even be a great option for a picnic. OK, enough praising - this photo below lists everything I threw in it.

I love making things like this because you could just throw in whatever you have on hand. As a side I made Kale Chips thanks to my blogger friend Amy's recipe!

It's SO good and lasts for days!! Great for these hot summer months!

- BOO

In The Kitchen... Plum Torte

This past weekend the plums were abundant at the farmer's market. We had so many, the hubs wanted me to make a plum torte - I had never even heard of such a thing?! Is this a Northern thing? His mom (who happens to be a chef!!) used to make it all the time so I was afraid of some complicated desert...

BUT it was super simple to make and I couldn't recommend it more!

The only somewhat time consuming part was halving the plums...

Before the oven!

 Cooling off! My niece thought it looked like a pizza... until she took a bite and couldn't stop devouring it - and wanting a second!

RECIPE:

3/4 cup sugar 
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup unbleached flour, sifted 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
Pinch of salt
2 eggs 
24 halves pitted purple plums
Sugar and cinnamon for topping
.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream sugar and butter in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs, and beat well.
3. Spoon the batter into a spring form of 8, 9 or 10 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, or to taste.
4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired (but first, double-wrap the tortes in foil, place in a plastic bag, and seal). Or cool to lukewarm, and serve.
5. To serve a torte that has been frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.
Yield: 8 servings.


** Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top to finish it off!!

- BOO

NOLA Farmer's Market...

One thing I love about living in the semi tropics is the abundance of amazingly yummy local produce... There are many Farmer's Markets throughout the city held on different days that I urge all you locals to check out!

My favorites grown here in Louisiana are peaches, tomotoes, blueberries and strawberries... the list could go on and on. There is such a difference in taste (not to mention no toxins!) when you buy local organic produce. Sorry, don't mean to be preachy but it's one thing I feel strongly about! And if you're a Foodie like me, you know what I'm talkin about with the taste!

I was excited to see the heirloom tomatoes are making their annual summer comeback! So I had to make a little appetizer of tomato, basil and mozarella - I love this simple dish! We used to always order this when we lived in NYC, so whenever I make it I have fond memories of NYC... (I put a little red cracked pepper for extra kick)

Oh and it's the Creole Tomato Festival June 10th and 11th in the Quarter so check it out!

-BOO

In The Kitchen... Greek Salad!...

Thought I'd share with y'all one of my favorite summer dishes....

GREEK SALAD! My parents went to Greece one summer and brought back this delicious recipe. It's super healthy, super tasty and super easy to make!

 

Here's what you'll need:

- Cucumbers

- Bell Pepper

- Red Onion

- Tomatoes (I like cherry tomatoes cause it saves a step of having to cut them)

- Feta Cheese ( I go to my local Greek grocery store - Mona's for you locals - and buy it there, it tastes SO much better than that other stuff)

- Pitted Black Olives - they're not pictured above but an important ingredient!

- Fresh Cracked Pepper

- Red Pepper Flakes - for added kick!

- Olive Oil

- Italian Seasoning

- Pita Bread as a side

Then you go ahead and chop everything up to bite size pieces and toss it all together in a large bowl. I love this recipe because you can add more of one ingredient if you love it and reduce another and it still tastes great!

It's such a colorful dish and so healthy. It's great for picnics as well.

Bon Apetit!  

 - BOO

The most beautiful veggie EVER...

We went to the farmer's market this morning and I saw this gorgeous Italian Cauliflower! Now, I don't normally describe veggies in such a way but LOOK AT IT!! I remember when I took a color theory class, my teacher would always say, look to nature for color inspiration and this is a perfect example. Such amazing greens...

I swear this is how the pictures came out - no photoshopping!

I would almost, almost feel guilty eating it!

This would be a beautiful simple centerpiece for a dinner party don't you think?

- BOO

In the Kitchen... Shrimp N' Grits!

The Hubs and I wanted to make something "New Orleans" for my in-laws who were in town over the holidays. I wanted something different than the usual gumbo or jambalaya so shrimp n' grits it was! Technically we made Emerils "Smothered Andouille Sausage and Shrimp over Stone Ground Grits" recipe here.

We bought the sausage from Cochon Butcher and it was excellent!

The recipe is very easy and it's a great dish for dinner or even Sunday brunch! 

 

Ummm yeah... this awesome kitchen is NOT mine! We were cooking at my parents house. I feel like I am cooking at a restaurant in there!

Yuummmmm....

We served the dish with champagne... it was a nice paring to do super spicy food with a dry bubbly cocktail! (learned that trick from my father-in-law!)

Bon Apetit!

 - BOO