Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Spanish Tapas: Red Onion and Orange Salad

 

I am dying to go to Spain! Two of my best friends have studied in Seville, Spain in the past year, and I don't think I can take seeing any more pictures or hearing any more stories. I need to go!

As you probably know I spent three weeks this past Spring in Europe, exploring the cities, seeing the sights and eating the food. I was amazed at how different the food and culture could change so dramatically in the seconds it took my train to cross the country borders. The food of Italy was as different from the food of Austria as I imagine it could possibly be.


I am very intrigued about Spanish food after hearing so much about the country from my two best friends. They told me of the wonderful tapas that were served at tapas bars and of the homemade comfort food their "host moms" served them every day at home.


When my first friend came back from Spain she helped me learn how to prepare the Spanish tortilla which I made and fell in love with!

My second friend just got back from Spain last Saturday night and before she even had time to get a good night's sleep her mother was hosting a Spanish themed Welcome Home Party! Every guest was asked to bring a Spanish Tapas to share and I was excited to find a recipe to bring.


I searched online for tapas recipes and decided on this red onion and orange salad. It seemed like the perfect tapas to serve on a hot July day.

The party was a hit and the food was great! My friend's mom made a to-die-for Paella and her dad kept everyone's glass full with Sangria. It was a wonderful party to honor my friend and the beautiful country of Spain!



Red Onion and Orange Salad
4 ripe medium oranges, peeled
1 small red onion, sliced fine
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons golden raisins, covered for 20 minutes in hot water, then drained
20 black olives, pitted
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons almonds, blanched and chopped fine
Springs of fresh mint, to garnish

Remove the white pith from the oranges and cut the fruit crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange on a serving platter and scatter over the sliced red onion.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spoon this dressing over the onion and oranges.

Sprinkle with the raisins, olives, sunflower seeds, and almonds. Garnish with mint springs and serve chilled.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

2010 Lavender Festival


If I had to pick one flavor that defined this summer for me I would undoubtedly choose lavender. Many people don't immediately think of food when they hear the word lavender...but I do. Traditionally lavender is used mostly as a scent, for oils, candles, lotions and deodorants. But when I hear the word lavender I think of all the wonderful things I can eat that are flavored with the wonderful floral taste of lavender.

I can pinpoint the day when my fascination with culinary lavender first began. It was the night when my roommate Heather brought home some lavender truffles from the high-end restaurant where she worked at the time, Jory. These truffles were some of the most decadent things I have ever placed in my mouth. The fragrant lavender blended so well with the creamy and rich dark chocolate.

Willakenzie's booth at the Yamhill lavender festival

Since then I have been on the hunt to find all kinds of culinary applications for lavender. I hit what seemed like the jackpot one day at a Portland Farmers Market when I got to taste and eventually purchase two utterly delicious, yet very different lavender products.


The first product was lavender cheddar from the Rogue Creamery located in Medford Oregon, my absolute favorite local creamery. It was really fun getting to taste lavender being used in a savory application, and it was the perfect combination. The second product that day I got to taste was lavender jam from Sundance Lavender Farm located in Salem Oregon. They produce eight different varieties of lavender jams, but my favorite combination was lavender and blueberry.

While I was visiting Sundance's booth at the Farmers Market I picked up a flier for the 2010 lavender festival (July 10-11th) . Initially I had no idea what the lavender festival was about, but regardless, I knew I had to go. Upon reading the brochure I learned that many different lavender farms around Oregon are opening up for visitors. Many have music, food, crafts, and lavender products to purchase.




The first place I visited the day of the Lavender Festival was the small Lavender Festival located in Yamhill Oregon. This was the only destination on the festival tour route that wasn't located at an actual farm. Instead, many local farms had booths here so that visitors could purchase products from many different farms all in one place.

I looked around the festival, testing a few lotions, smelling a few candles and even buying a bouquet of lavender, but the real reason I was here was to learn about different ways to eat lavender. Much to my delight it wasn't long before I found a food stand selling different lavender goodies. I purchased a lavender lemonade and a lavender scone and was in for a real treat! The lemonade was heavenly, and perfectly thirst quenching on an 80 degree day--I have now decided that lavender and lemon is one of my favorite combinations!  The scone had a delicate but present lavender taste, and was such a treat!

Lavender Scone

I then visited two lavender farms, Wild Rain and Willakenzie. Wild Rain had a great location with a beautiful lavender field and access to the river, but Willakenzie had the culinary products I had been looking for! They sold lavender salt, lavender pepper, lavender sugar, a kit to make lavender simple syrup, and culinary lavender. They also were selling lavender sorbet for the festival, it was very sweet but tasted just right on the hot day.

It was an absolutely perfect day and inspired me to start trying recipes with lavender. In fact, just yesterday I was recipe testing to create a lavender cookie, look for that blog post soon! (Here is the recipe for Lavender Lemon Bars!)

Lavender Sorbet

Here is the lavender simple syrup recipe you can use to sweeten lemonade (or any drink!), pour over a cake or fruit, or use in a sorbet recipe.



Lavender Simple Syrup
From ZoeBakes.com

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
 3 tablespoons dried or fresh lavender flowers


In a sauce pot bring the water, sugar and lavender to a simmer.

Allow to simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved. Turn off heat and let sit until cool. Use or store in the refrigerator for up to a month. The longer you let the lavender steep in the simple syrup the stronger the flavor will be. I store it in the refrigerator with the flowers still in the syrup and strain it when I need it in a recipe.

Attention! The bakery where I work, Sweetest Thing Cupcakes, in Newberg is now offering a lavender cupcake during the month of August! Super yummy!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Marvelous Morels

                             

I am a bad blogger. I am on summer break, yet I am blogging less than ever! During the school year I was looking so forward to summer with the hopes of blogging at least once a week. Well, I don't even want to know how long it has been since my last post...


Of course I have an excuse. It's less than two pounds, is black and gold, and goes by the name of Benji. Yes, I got a puppy. And as any proud mommy would boast, he is the cutest, best and most wonderful puppy in the world. His only downfall is that he takes ALL of my time, energy, and money, leaving me with a deserted blog. 
                          

This is not to say that I haven't had some wonderful food experiences this summer. I have. I've made some great recipes, tasted some awesome cuisine, and went to a few great events (all with puppy in-tow), I just haven't had the time or energy to write about them.


One of my favorite things about summer is the bounty of fresh, local produce. I absolutely adore going to farmers markets, finding wonderful treasures and making a spectacular dinner with my finds. 

A few weeks back I hit up one of the Portland Farmers Markets during the week and was surprised what a great selection they had considering I usually visit the large one on Saturdays. I picked up a few things that day, but what I was most excited about were the beautiful morel mushrooms I found. 


I absolutely love the woodsy, nutty flavor of morels and was thrilled to see them at the market for a reasonable price. I have always had the dream of hunting morels after reading The Omnivores Dilemma. However, I hear that this is quite difficult and somewhat dangerous so I have decided that for now hunting them out at the market is good enough for me.


The stand we purchased these morels at generously provided free recipe sheets to customers. I picked up a few and was delighted to see one for simple sauteed morels and asparagus--I had asparagus in the fridge just waiting for a great recipe!

The morels sauteed up beautifully and tasted heavenly with a little butter and shallots. I didn't want to detract the focus from the morels so I served them alongside al dente spaghetti tossed with a little olive oil, fresh basil and a sprinkling of Fusion Thai ginger sea salt. It was an awesome combination and I cannot tell you how satisfying and memorable this simple meal was! If you cannot find fresh morels dried ones can be found at the supermarket and then re-hydrated in some water.

 


Asparagus and Morels
Recipe courtesy of the mushroom stand at the Farmers Market, whose name I can't remember :)

1/2 lb fresh morels, sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter
2 bunches asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot pieces, garlic, morels, and asparagus. Cook until morels are browned and the asparagus is tender, usually 8 to 10 minutes.