Flavors are Friends

Jess took this photo of my son, age 1

Hello!

I'm going to go ahead and put the bug in your ear for our Wine and Cheese Happy Hour on May 14 from 5-8.  Jess Gallegos from Artefact Image Co.  is going to hang some of her fantastic prints in our store and we would love for you all to come check out her work and share some libations with us. I realize we didn't have a happy hour in April.  Things got a little crazy around here, but I'm hoping t
o make up for it with our May event.  I'll send out a reminder once we get a little closer.

We had a blast at the Ozark Folkways mobile tasting.  If you've never been out that way, it is a really neat spot.  It's about a 30 minute drive south on 71-B with just stunning Ozark views. The store is pretty spectacular, with lots of handmade pottery, art, baskets and generally cool things.  Big thanks to those guys for hosting us.  Don't forget, we can come to you if you ever want a private, mobile tasting.  Or we would be glad to keep the store open late for you and a group of friends!  Just give us a shout and we'll work out the details.

Behold! Sale Table!

We are very nearly out of the Wild Mushroom & Sage Olive Oil, so if you want it for your incredibly tasty egg salad sandwiches, come get it while you can.  We are about to switch out our Spanish Arbequina for a California Arbequina.  I think it will be really fun to see how the same kind of olive can make such different tasting olive oil.  We'll have to get out the good old tasting wheel to compare them.

As soon as we sell the tail end of our Pendolino, Arbosana and Leccino stock (all 20% off!) we will order the new Italian and Greek oils we've been coveting.  New balsamics will be coming in soon, too.  We will switch out some of the "wintery" balsamics for nice, light ones.  I'm not sure exactly which ones we're going to order yet.  What do you think of Tangerine Dark Balsamic, Alfoos Mango White or Coconut White Balsamic?  They all sound pretty fantastic to me.

I don't know about you guys, but I have been fairly uninspired with my recipe repertoire lately. The reason is partially due to cooking for a toddler, but it's mostly because of the gray, dark period called Spring.  "That's ridiculous!" you say, "Spring is all things green and bright."  Not if you think about it.  I've just emerged from my comfort food loving Winter, where everything swims in butter and it doesn't matter since I really only wear sweats anyway to "holy crap, I have to wear a bathing suit in 3 months, what have I been doing with my life?" Totally the dark days.  The problem is that Spring produce, to me, is the least fun.  I love all things fruit or veggie in the Summer and Fall.  Even in the winter, who doesn't love potatoes for every meal and a little citrus here and there to brighten things up?  Spring is  also tricky because the weather isn't consistent enough to either fire up the grill (oh, look at that - rain!), or run the oven for extended periods of time (why is the house suddenly 80 degrees and the air conditioner kicking on?).  You see?  Uninspiring.

That is why there are great food writers out there.  What did we do before the internet?  And I'm not saying I don't have favorite cook books.  I do!  You should see my bookshelves! But these ladies (whom I've never met, but I pretend that we're best friends and on a first name basis) give me something to look forward to cooking.  Even in Spring.  They embrace flavors.  Molly Wizenberg just won a James Beard award for her blog Orangette.  I have been following her for about 6 years.  Now that's love.  Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman is my other blog haunt.  If you ever need inspiration, look at these two fantastic blogs. They make me think of stepping out of my box and trying Asian-fusion food and Middle Eastern Carrot Salads.  I hope I'm giving you ideas, because here are a few of my favorite recipes.

Easy Asian Noodles
Adapted from Orangette

I love these noodles.  So much.  I love them right as I make them, and maybe even more the next day, cold, straight from the fridge. No shame.  You can make the whole recipe for a large group or cut it in half.  Either way it will get eaten.  You can add grilled chicken or shrimp, if you're into that.  You can substitute the Roasted Red Peppers for Grilled Eggplant or the Bean Sprouts for Shiitakes.  Or just throw it all in together, because the more the merrier!  The list of ingredients looks daunting, but chances are you have nearly all of these things lying around in the back of your refrigerator.

For Dressing & Noodles
7 Tbsp. Japanese Toasted Sesame Oil
7 Tbsp.  Soy Sauce or Tamari
3 Tbsp. Traditional Balsamic
3 Tbsp.  Honey, Maple Syrup or Sugar
1 Tbsp. Chili Paste or Sriracha
6 scallions, green parts thinly sliced
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, Thai basil or mint (I prefer mint)
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted if you'd like
1 lb. spaghetti, or rice noodles or soba noodles

For veggies
3  Red, Yellow or Orange Bell Peppers (look at the Aldi ad for the week, they are frequently on sale)
1 c. snow peas
1 carrot, grated
1/2 lb. mung bean sprouts (or shiitakes!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  While oven is preheating and water is warming, mix everything for the dressing together in a very large bowl (all your noodles and veggies will get tossed in this bowl together later).

Once water comes to a boil, add noodles and cook until al dente.  Before you drain the noodles, throw in your snow peas and boil for another 30 seconds.  Drain the noodles and snow peas, rinse with cool water to stop the cooking process.  Put your well drained noodles and snow peas in the large bowl of dressing and toss well.  Set aside to meld those flavors while you move on to roasting the peppers.

Place cored and halved red bell peppers on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, flipping once (or use our lovely roasted red peppers here at the store!) .  Once they are cool enough to handle, cut them into strips and throw them in the bowl of noodles along with the grated carrot and bean sprouts.  Taste and adjust for seasoning.  If you used low-sodium soy sauce you might want to add 1 tsp. of salt.  If you like the spice, add some more chili paste.

Eat up!

My Go-To Granola
Also adapted from Orangette

I am not a breakfast person.  At least not until 10-11 a.m.  But this granola is a great breakfast food.  I eat it with a little yogurt (either plain or honey-vanilla) and some fruit and it completes me.  I have made a lot of granola and I truly love this Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Granola from David Lebovitz, but Molly's granola is the bees-knees.  And! It features a ton of olive oil! I know a place that has a lot of olive oil!  But seriously, this is a great snack to have around the house.  It requires one large bowl, two baking sheets and some parchment paper.  No excuses not to make this one.

6 c. old fashioned rolled oats
2-3 c. unsweetened coconut chips (found at ONF in bulk or the baking aisle at Wal-Mart)
3-4 c. chopped nuts of your choice or a dried fruit/nut combo
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. pure maple syrup
2/3 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or try the Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil!!)


Preheat oven to 300.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Dump everything into a large bowl (I seem to use the same bowl for this granola as for the above mentioned noodles) and mix well.

Bake for 40 minutes, flipping the granola every 15 minutes, so that it doesn't burn.  It should be lovely and fragrant and nicely golden when it is finished.  Let it cool before putting it in an air-tight container.

This will keep at room temperature for a couple weeks.  However, I freeze mine and grab handfuls out of the freezer bag in the morning.  Which ever you prefer!


Carrot Salad with Harissa
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

So, this is a great spring salad, in my opinion.  The carrots are sweet, the Harissa is spicy, and it is so good.  Eat it on a sandwich, or a pita pocket with either of these Lamb Meatball recipes (Deb's Meatballs or Molly's Meatballs adapted from Deb's).  Personally I prefer Molly's version, because I'm a very busy woman and I haven't got all day (won't cost much, just your voice) and she omits a step.  Back to the carrot salad: try it.  You will love it and never think of carrots in the same way again.

3/4 lb. carrots, peeled, trimmed and grated
4 Tbsp. Harissa Infused Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. ground coriander (The original recipe calls for ground caraway seeds)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
Feta, as much as you'd like

In a small frying pan, over medium heat, cook olive oil, garlic, coriander (or caraway), cumin, paprika and sugar until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.  Remove from heat, add lemon juice and a pinch of salt.  Pour over your grated carrots that are eagerly awaiting in a medium bowl.  Add herbs and mix well.  Let marinate for 1 hour, add the feta and enjoy!

Happy Dark Days of Spring, my friends!