Strawberry Lemon Butter

This recipe was inspired by another blog that I stumbled upon recently. I want to give a shout out, but I cant remember the name, and havent been able to find it again. Needless to say , I was inspired.

At our local market, I made a friend who was inspired to offer us deals on goodies. I recently bought both of these packages of organic strawberries, (that were already reduced from $5 each to .75). . . for .75! that is an amazing deal. . . I love you Famous foods :)

I promptly chopped them up as I day dreamed of the recipes these summer beauties would inspire.

The first recipe to share will be this one for Strawberry and Lemon rind butter. It is a nice change in the mornings, rather than just plain butter on toast. It adds color, texture and zing to my routine during busy week day mornings.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of organic butter, preferably salted
1 cup of sugar
1 Lemon

Directions:

1) let butter reach room temperature

2) Remove rind from half of one lemon- more or less depending on your taste buds

3) Chop up strawberries in to small chunks

4) Add sugar and lemon rind to bowl of strawberries

5) Add sticks of butter to other ingredients and start to blend with a spatula, or if your like me, go straight to the electric mixer. Mix with electric mixer for 2 minutes, until well blended, light and fluffy.

now for the fun part

6) Lay out a piece of saran wrap and a stretch of tin foil.

7) Spoon out strawberry lemon mixture into a line on the saran wrap

8) Fold it like a burrito, fold the outer edges first, then fold the roll over.

9) Place burrito type shape on top of tin foil, roll it up, and twist the ends in firmly to create a cylinder. place in the freezer for 1- 2 hours.

10) When you are ready to use it, take it out of the freezer, unwrap the part you want to use, cut with a sharp knife, maintaining the round shape for added interest.

11) let it reach room temperature, serve and enjoy!


Notes:

This recipe is great on french toast, and turns everything pink.

Enjoy

Love from the SLR Gals

Lemon Maple Glazed Salmon

Before:

After:

Ingredients:

1) Prepared wild spring salmon

2) Lemon

3) Organic Canadian Maple Syrup

4) Salt and Pepper

5) Dill, tarragon, soft favorite spices

6) Polish Mayonnaise



Directions:

(* Note : If you are preparing your salmon for two, you can cut it now to create a seamless edge during the cooking process. This way when you are serving, your guests don't have flaky salmon, rather it is in one piece, moist, neat and tidy.)

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Cut your lemon in to thin slices, on a slant if you want to be fancy-schmancy.

3) Combine about 3 tablespoons of Mayo with 2 teaspoons of maple syrup.

4) Add spices, salt and pepper to the Maple-mayo combination. Stir.

5) Place salmon in baking dish- arrange lemons on top.

6) Drizzle half of the the maple mixture on the salmon, focusing on the center.

7) Bake for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the fish.
( You will know when its cooked, as your house will start to smell delish, and the salmon will have milky white layers develop on the surface.)

8) Pour the remainder of the Maple mixture on to the cooked salmon, followed by salt and pepper to taste.


Tip:

This dish is great with salad, or any side dish that can mimic the flavors with notes of citrus.

Spicy thought:

I like to use the same spices in the side dishes as I do in the main course- its just like decorating- Choose your main focus and add little splashes of the same flavors throughout the space to develop the theme and create comfort.


Enjoy!

~ Jessica

Tuesdays Tip: How to choose the best mushrooms

Mushrooms are great in so many different dishes from soups to stir fry's. I prefer to use a variety of them , but most often find myself reaching for Cremini. I find them to be the easiest to use and most versatile.

When at the market, look for mushrooms with firm, unblemished skin. Leave the ones with damp, soggy or withered appearances. Mushrooms should have an earthy, pleasant scent. When possible, mushrooms are a food that should be bought organic, as the skin is being eaten.

Another important tip is to check the base and make sure that the cap is tight around the stem, without cracks that expose the dark brown , velvety , accordion patterned material underneath. There are lots of different kinds of wigglers, dirt and other "miscellaneous bits" that can get caught in there, so its more sanitary when choosing cremini or button mushrooms to find them with a tight cap and stem.



Happy cooking :)

Jessica

Saturday Sips ( Super early!)

Maple Italian Soda

Organic Milk

Flavored syrup of your choice- in this case, Maple

Bubbly water of your choice- tonic water works well

Ice cubes in fun shapes, or plain- just use what you have




1) Cool your glass by adding the ice cubes and letting it sit for a short while

2) Fill glass about 1/4 way up with milk

3) Add one teaspoon of maple syrup (adjust to taste)

4) Fill your glass with the bubbly water of your choice, leaving room for the Italian Soda to fizz.

5) Whisk or stir with a spoon, and enjoy!


Suggestions:


* Talk with an accent like Fran Drescher, The Godfather or Janice from Friends after drinking it

* Add a fun garnish- frozen blueberries


* Drink it through a crazy straw




Enjoy!

Just Wing It ~Summer Wings~

The other day I picked up a huge bag of organic chicken wings fresh from a local farm . I wanted to try something different so I came up with this recipe from what I had in my fridge . It turned out really yummy, I hope you think so too

Just Wing It ~Summer wings~

1 pound organic free range chicken wings - you can leave the skin on or take it off if you would like
(this recipe would work great with any cut of chicken)

Preheat oven to 425. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Rinse the chicken and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl whisk together the following ingredients till smooth.

2 cups organic sour cream
1 cup organic dijon mustard (I like to use the grainy mustard but regular mustard would work great as well!)
1/2 large organic white onion, diced
5 gloves organic garlic,diced
1/2 cup agave nectar, (+ more for later)
2tbsp organic oregano
1tbsp organic chilli flakes

Set aside 1/2 of the sauce into a separate mixing bowl for later.

One wing at a time, coat each piece of chicken and place on the parchment lined pan. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until fully cooked in the center. After the wings have been in the oven for 15 minutes , pull from the oven and use the extra sauce to re-marinate the chicken . Do this a few times throughout the baking process . With 10 minutes left on the clock , I drizzled a little extra agave nectar on each wing to give it that special touch .

Once fully cooked, pull them from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes before serving . I sprinkled mine with a little extra chilli flakes while they were resting . They will be pipping hot, so be careful . . . and try to share :)

These wings make great leftovers, broken apart for sandwiches or on salads! But its not likely you will have leftovers, these are delicious .

Enjoy !
-Vanessa