Garden Recipes | Bye Bye Seasonal Citrus Salad

Here’s a recipe for a last hurrah of the citrus season.  But, no tears now…spring fruit is on the horizon!

Citrus Salad with Some Spice

¼ cup sugar
½ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ cup (packed) cilantro, plus more for serving
4 blood oranges
4 clementines
2 navel oranges
2 tangerines

Combine sugar, cilantro, red pepper flakes and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan.  Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Strain cilantro syrup through a sieve into a clean jar and set aside.

Using a sharp knife, remove peel and white pith from all of the fruit and slice crosswise into ¼” thick rounds.  Arrange on a platter, drizzle with the cilantro syrup and top with additional cilantro leaves.

Photo Credit: Image in Public Domain, CC0 Public Domain

Mike and Jean Ryan live in Oregon on a farm that has been in the Ryan family for generations. We are now related to them as our daughter married their son. This makes us fortunate in uncountable ways, but this is about the filberts grown on their farm. Some people might know them as hazelnuts, but for our intents and purposes, these are filberts. For the last few years, a heavy box of filberts (two varieties!) and a discrete amount of walnuts arrives and then we bask in the abundance.  It’s also Bosc pear time and, of course, persimmon time so here’s a way to use them that does those Ryan filberts justice.

RYAN FILBERT SALAD

• 1 ½ T minced shallot
• 1 medium minced garlic clove
• 2 T Sherry vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 6 T hazelnut oil, or if you can’t find it, olive oil
• 3 med Bosc pears, sliced
• 3 med Fuyu persimmons, peeled, cored and sliced
• 6 handfuls of arugula
• ½ cup roasted filberts
• ¼ c crumbled Roquefort
• ¼ c pomegranate seeds (optional)

Combine the shallot, garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper and allow it to steep for at least an hour.  Whisk in the filbert oil and taste for seasoning.

Just before serving, divide the arugula between six salad plates, artfully assemble the pears and persimmons on the arugula, drizzle with the dressing and scatter the hazelnuts, Roquefort and pomegranate seeds.
Photo Credit: Filbert, Hazelnuts is in the Public Domain 

Garden Recipes: Shrimp and Green Peach Salad

Stone fruits are in season! Arugula is going wild in the garden!  If you have a peach tree, it’s hard to wait for all of them to ripen. We made this for my 92-year old mom and she loved it too.

SHRIMP AND GREEN PEACH SALAD

Serves 2-4

1 pound small or medium wild-caught shrimp, cleaned
1/2 c dried chorizo , cut into 1/8″ slices
1/2 c mayonnaise
1  large clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 handfuls baby arugula
2 1/2 pounds unripe peaches , sliced
2 T mint, chopped

Bring a medium saucepan filled with heavily salted water to a boil.  Add the shrimp and turn off the heat.  Let the shrimp rest in the water for 3 minutes, then drain and run under cold water for 15 seconds.  Slice into 1/4″ pieces.

Whisk together mayonnaise, garlic and lemon and add salt if you wish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine shrimp, chorizo, scallions and half the mayonnaise mixture.  Taste and adjust seasoning, add more mayonnaise mixture if necessary.

Make a bed of arugula on each plate, then a layer of unripe peach slices and mound the shrimp salad on top.   This is also great as a sandwich filling using a Ciabatta.

Photo Credit: Peach, Creative Commons, Unripe peach by Mary Madigan is licensed under CC by 2.0 

Spring Recipe: Feta and Honey

Maybe not so pretty, but such a lovely vehicle for our favorite bee by-product.  It might make a bit of a mess in your cooking vessel, but REALLY: so worth it. You could use pita bread, but a rough, edgy cracker with some personality of its own is what you want.  Sit outside in the softly warm late afternoon with the spring bees making their happy noise and have a snack—and Pinky’s Paloma, too.

FETA AND HONEY

1 -6 oz piece of Greek Feta

2 T olive oil

1 T honey

Freshly ground black pepper

Triangles of toasted Greek pita bread and/or your best crackers
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place feta in a small casserole a little larger than the cheese and cover with the oil.  Bake about 8 minutes or until the cheese is soft to the touch.

Preheat broiler.  Heat honey in a small pan until melted and brush over the top of the cheese.  Place under the broiler and broil until the top of the cheese is brown and has begun to bubble.  Season with freshly ground black pepper.  Serve immediately with crackers and/or pita.

Photo Credits:
Honey, Creative Commons, Lemon & Honey Chicken Skewers 1of4  by Breville USA is licensed under CC by 2.0 

Feta, Creative Commons, Spanakopita – Feta chunks by Rebecca Siegel is licensed under CC by 2.0 

Olive Oil is under Public Domain 

Garden Cocktails: Pinky’s Paloma

Pinky is a fantastic floral designer in Los Angeles () and fills her clients’ homes with color from the garden.  We like her so much we’ve named a cocktail for her.

PINKY’S PALOMA

Serves 1

2 oz. blanco tequila

1 1/2 oz freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice

1 1/2 oz freshly squeezed tangerine juice

1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand dry curacao or Cointreau

1 oz sparkling water

Tangerine wheel and a sprinkle of sea salt for garnish

Mix first 4 ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice, top with sparkling water and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.  Garnish with tangerine wheel.

Photo Credit: Grapefruit Cocktail, Creative Commons, cocktail shaker, cocktail glasses, cutting board, and fruit including lemons and grapefruit by Pro Flowers is licensed under CC by 2.0 

Garden Recipes: A Taste of Summer with Pasta Meyer Lemon

Citrus fruit has a way of tricking us into thinking a corner of summer is with us in winter.  At Eye of the Day every one of our citrus trees are decorated with orange, gold and yellow fruit and I am HAPPY to harvest a few pieces every day. Get yourself some of the little golden, smooth skinned lemons that are on the trees and in the markets right now and make this: (don’t worry yourself silly about the cream, just do it!) And since you will have plenty of these yellow gems, make a cocktail too!

Pasta  Meyer Lemon  for 4-6 dinners

1 lb pasta, fettuccine or tagliatelle: perfect

2 C heavy cream

2 t Meyer lemon juice

1 sprig fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Zest of 2 Meyer lemons

½ c freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Flaky salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil  and cook pasta until perfectly al dente.  While pasta is cooking, put cream and lemon juice into a large skillet and bring to a boil…reduce to a simmer and reduce to half.

When pasta finishes cooking, drain in a colander.  Add rosemary, lemon zest, Parmigiano, red pepper, salt and pepper to the cream mixture and stir until the cheese has melted.  Add the pasta to the skillet and toss to coat.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.  SERVE IT RIGHT NOW!