Recipes: Ranch Cauliflower Mash - Baby Kale Rainbow Salad - Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone and Mint

Saturday was THE BEST sampling to date. It all came together as the PERFECT PAIRING! 

Salmon (cutting on the floor event) 

Primal Kitchen's recipes for: 
     - Baby Kale Rainbow Salad
     - Cauliflower Mash  
Landmark Vineyards:
     - Chardonnay 
     - Pinot Noir  

It could have been a meal.  (Oh wait! It was for me that night!)

My DELICIOUS dinner!

I've never prepared a meal with everything I've sampled.  However, after sampling all day, my mouth was watering and I had to have it for dinner.  I'm not one for eating healthy, but this was amazing.

Now ... on to the recipes.

Primal Kitchen is founded by Mark Sisson - "an American fitness author, food blogger, and a former distance runner, triathlete and Ironman competitor" (Wikipedia).  Having visited Primal Kitchen's booth at the Fancy Food Show, I had to share with all my customers.

The recipe card I had for customers was Primal Kitchen's:

Note: Add ghee when you add Primal Kitchen's Avocado Oil.

Here's how I prepared:

Ranch Cauliflower Mash

1 head cauliflower

1 c. water

Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil

1/4 to 1/3 c. Primal Kitchen Ranch Dressing

2 Tbl. Ghee

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Garnish: parsley (optional)

Break cauliflower into florets.  Insert steamer basket into the Instant Pot and add 1 cup water.  Add cauliflower.  

Set Instant Pot:
     - steam valve closed
     - PRESSURE COOK - HIGH/LESS
     - KEEP WARM off.  
Cook for 4 minutes.  

Natural release 5 minutes, then instant release.

Once red pin drops, remove steamer basket and liquid from Instant Pot.  Return cauliflower to Instant Pot.  Mash with potato masher. Set Instant Pot to Sauté 

  and cook just enough, stirring occasionally, to remove liquid from cauliflower.

When cauliflower "dried", add Avocado Oil, ghee and Ranch Dressing; salt and pepper to taste.  Stir until thoroughly blended. Place in serving bowl.  Garnish with parsley. 

Nice.  Creamy.  Flavorful.  Customers enjoyed.  On top of that, easy to prepare.

*****

Baby Kale Rainbow Salad

8 c. baby kale

1 English cucumber (thinly sliced) 

1 granny smith apple (cored and diced)

1 c. blueberries

½ c. walnuts (raw or toasted)

1 c. shredded carrots

1 c. shredded red cabbage
salt and pepper, to taste

1 bottle Primal Kitchen Lemon Turmeric 
                                                         Vinaigrette, to taste

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl and serve between 4-6 plates.

NOTE: If  you are prepping the salad ahead of time, store the vinaigrette separately and wait to combine until just before serving.

This was perfect and refreshing for a hot summer day.  Colorful. Flavorful.

I used products that were on sale:
    - traditional cucumber, peeled and seeds removed
    - blueberries
    - clementines, peeled and sectioned
    - one day I used baby kale, the other baby arugula

*****

Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone
2 peaches 
1 container Mascarpone
TFM Clover Honey
Fresh Mint, chiffonade

Wash and cut peaches in half. Remove peach pit.  Place halves on HOT grill, or pan, flesh side down.  Cook over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes (warmed, nice grill marks, but not overly soft).  Remove from heat to serving dish, cut side up.

Top each half with Mascarpone, to taste.  Drizzle with honey.  Garnish with mint.

Yields: 4 servings

Another perfect dish.  Refreshing for a hot summer day.

Wine and Food Tasting - July 27th & 28th

This weekend and for August, I turn my sampling to easy, fun, delicious recipes for weekend grilling, Labor Day weekend, and back to school.

I'm excited for this weekends sampling!  (Then again, I'm always excited to sample.)  It's TFM's cutting on the floor - Salmon.  I have a nice variety of food and wine, that will be the perfect accompaniments.  Since there is the cutting on the floor, I will only have one table; it will be packed with deliciousness!  But sadly, I'm not cooking the salmon.

Saturday, July 27th
and
Sunday, July 28th

(12:00 to 4:00 PM)
     

Wine

• Landmark Chardonnay
• Landmark Pinot Noir

Food

• Corporate Required:
• Grilled Peaches with Marscarpone, honey and mint
• Primal Kitchen (My Fancy Food Show "find")
• Ranch Cauliflower Mash
• Baby Kale Rainbow Salad 

Sneak Peek:  Next weekend it's all about shrimp.

Recipes: Fermented Honey Sauce (Organic Red Onion) with Goat Cheese - Fermented Honey Sauce (Organic Garlic) with Shrimp - Deviled Egg Salad - Habanero Roasted Almonds with Habanero Salt - Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

It was GREAT to be back!  As always LOVE my regular customers and so much fun chit-chatting with everyone.  This was weekend #1 of my Fancy Food Show finds.  I have several more weekends of new, fun and delicious products to come.

  

Fermented Honey Sauce (Organic Red Onion) with Goat Cheese

Fermented Honey Sauce (Organic Red Onion) with Goat Cheese

1 jar Anya's Apothekere Fremented Honey Sauce, Organic Red Onion

4 oz. Celebrity goat cheese log

1 box Back to Nature Pink Himalayan Salt Flatbread

Spread goat cheese on flatbread.  Top with some Anya's Fermented Honey Sauce and a bit of the red onion.

SOLD OUT!  My favorite words.  Customers commented this was delicious and those who purchased were serving at parties this weekend.   Goat Cheese was the perfect pairing for Anya's Red Onion Fermented Honey Sauce, and the crackers added just the right amount of salt.

If you wanted to serve this where people could spread on crackers themselves ...

    -  Place goat cheese in a serving dish, where it would fit with just a little room around it's sides.  

    - Flatten goat cheese log just enough to make a flat top (so topping does not slide completely off).  

    - Pour some of the sauce on the cheese.  Top with red onions (from the jar).

ENJOY!

*****

I sampled Anya's Fermented Honey Sauce - Organic Garlic two ways this weekend.  Saturday with shrimp.  Sunday with Shrimp and Ricotta cheese.

Fermented Honey Sauce (Organic Garlic) with Shrimp

1 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 jar Anya's Fermented Honey Sauce, Organic Garlic

1 small container Ricotta cheese
1 box Back to Nature Pink Himalayan Salt Flatbread

Saturday - 
      Marinate shrimp in 1 jar of Fermented Honey Sauce for at least 2 hours.  When ready to serve, place shrimp and sauce in a saute pan.  Cook until shrimp are cooked through.  Serve over rice with asparagus.

Sunday - 
     - Drain garlic from fermented honey sauce; reserving both.  
     - Marinate shrimp in reserved sauce for at least 2 hours.
     - Place shrimp in saute pan.  Cook until shrimp are cooked through.  Refrigerate, shirmp and sauce, until ready to serve.
     - Spread Ricotta on a cracker, top with shrimp and a slice of reserved garlic.

Saturday, I served the shrimp cold.  Although customers liked the flavor, it could not compete with Anya's Fermented Honey Sauce with Organic Red Onion.  However, I did taste the shrimp right after I cooked it and serving this over rice with asparagus and a nice chilled white wine immediately came to mind.  I discussed this recipe option with customers and they said it sound perfectly delicious.

Sunday ... I had figure out a way to put the Organic Garlic on a level playing field as Organic Red Onion.  I decided on a mild cheese (Ricotta) so the sauce could shine.  Plus I still had shrimp.  This recipe worked as planned and customers now had a difficult time deciding which of the two Fermented Honey Sauces they enjoyed most.

*****

Deviled Egg Salad

Deviled Egg Salad

½ c. Greek Yogurt
¼ c. Yellowbird Serrano Condiment
8 chopped hard-boiled eggs  (see below to make the perfect, easy peel,
1 Tbl. yellow mustard            hard boiled eggs in your Instant Pot)
2 - 3 Tbl. red onion
2 Tbl. sweet relish, drained
¼ tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
Garnish: Hungarian Sweet Paprika (optional) 

Combine all ingredients (except Paprika) in a small mixing bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Customers and my coworkers went crazy over this!  I did cut back on the Serrano Condiment as my customers don't enjoy spicy food.  I added it to my taste and it was just enough for a creamy egg salad with the perfect amount of Serrano Condiment to shine.  I've always been a (Hellman's) mayo girl, but using Greek yogurt was delicious.

*****

If you enjoy spicy food, this recipe is for you. My spicy customers enjoyed this.  

Habanero Roasted Almonds

1 c. raw almonds
1 Tbl. Yellowbird Habanero Sauce
1 Tbl. brown sugar
Yellowbird Salt, to taste (recipe follows)

Pre-heat oven to 350^o.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In medium bowl, stir together almonds, Yellowbird Habanero hot sauce, and brown sugar until combined. Place mixture on prepared baking sheet  in a single layer to allow a uniform cook.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with Yellowbird Habanero salt. They will continue to cook after they’ve been removed from the oven, so allow them to cool on baking pan.

  

Yellowbird Habanero Salt

½ c. Kosher salt
2–3 Tbl. Yellowbird Habanero Sauce

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a non–stick baking sheet.

In a bowl, mix salt and Yellowbird Habanero Sauce. Spread the mixture out thinly on prepared baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and turn off the heat immediately. Allow the salt to sit in the residual heat until completely dry. Drying time can vary depending on many factors, but it usually ranges from 2 to 3 hours.

*****

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Add 1 cup water to Instant Pot.

Place steamer basket/insert in pot and add eggs. Put on lid and close steam valve.

Set Instant Pot:   

     Pressure Cook - High pressure, Low.     

     Keep Warm - off.     

     Cook time - 6 minutes

When cook time is up, do natural release for 6 minutes, then open steam valve to release remaining pressure.  Remove eggs to an ice bath.  Peel and eat/use.  Enjoy!

The shells on the eggs came off sooooooo quick and easy.  Plus, it was the perfect cook!

Wine and Food Tasting - July 20th & 21st

Dad's doing so much better and I came home Tuesday night.  I've been to TFM to see what Corporate's required sampling is. Rodney has given me the go-ahead for my two table set-up. Kevin has ordered the sample product I need.

Over the next few weekends I'm FINALLY able to share with you new products in the store (marked with an asterisk below *), that I was able to sample at the Fancy Food Show in June.

Saturday, July 20th
and
Sunday, July 21st

(12:00 to 4:00 PM)
     

Wine

• Cocktail: Salvatore Principe Prosecco and Bittermilk Tom Collins with Elderflower and Hops

Food

• Corporate Required:
• Evy's Tea
• Gaya Melon with Campofrio Serrano and fresh basil
• Sugar Kiss Melon with Mike's Hot Honey
• Santa Claus Melon wtih Mikes Hot Honey
• Olympia Provisions Salami (assorted)   
• Habanero Roasted Almonds with *Yellowbird Habanero Salt
• *Yellowbird Deviled Egg Salad
• Shrimp with *Anya's Apothekere Fermented Honey Sauce - Garlic
• Cheese with *Anya's Apothekere Fremented Honey Sauce - Red Onion 

Sneak Peek:  Next weekend is "Cutting on the floor" with salmon.  I have a great selection of NEW products to sample!  May even cook salmon?

Sampling ...

All's well in NY. Dad is doing so much better.  It's July 4th holiday and I am not driving back to VA in all the crazy traffic.  After Monday, based on how well Dad continues to do, I'll decide when to go home.  

As I said in a previous post, before I came up to NY, I was going to sample some great new products TFM got in the store.  I was so excited to sample them.  Here's what you'll have to look forward to when I come back:

Before going to the Fancy Food Show I saw Anya's Fermented Honey Sauce at TFM.  My first thought, "what do you do with this?"  Well wonder no more ... I chatted with Anya at the show and got to sample them ... DELICIOUS.  Hint:  I'll serve one with shrimp, the other with ... maybe cheese.

Great visit at this booth.  Enjoyed chatting with them and hearing the story how Hanks Sauce began.  If you enjoy hot sauce, you'll like this.

YellowBird!  Nice sauce.  Nice heat.  What fun chatting about recipes.  Yup, I knew this was one I had to share with you.  Cornbread?  Deviled Eggs?  So many recipes on their website.  Can't decide what to prepare for sampling.

You know from my previous samplings, La Tourangelle is one of my favorite oils.  They now make salad dressing.  Can't wait to sample this at the store.

Okay, this isn't new into the store.  But, when I found out the many cocktails one can make with this ... Luck for me (and you) Bittermilk decided to send this bottle/flavor home with me to sample ... with ... bubbles.  My favorite!

As soon as I get home, and back sampling, I will post again.  

Until then ... miss you!