MDF’s Icy Melon Granita

ICY MELON GRANITA

Our version of a childhood summer revival with a twist, a little bit more sophisticated and all grown up.  Chill out, cool down and make the most of your long hot days.  Using white and orange cantaloupe makes for a very fragrant and well-balanced combination.   The addition of basil and the spicy, salty, sweet sugars really liven up this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups cantaloupe chunks
• 1 1/2 cups white cantaloupe chunks
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• curry sugar, didi’s sugars for the spicy component and for the salty and sweet component we used “martini” from go lb. salt rim-licks.
• chiffonade of basil

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, stir the water and sugar over low heat just until the sugar melts.  Let cool completely.
2. In a blender, puree the cantaloupe with the syrup and lime juice.
3. Strain puree into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve, pressing through with a wooden spoon.
4. Transfer the puree to a shallow container and place in freezer until frozen around the edges and slushy, about 30 minutes.
5. Using a fork, stir the granita every 20 until it is completely frozen, about 1 1/2 hours.  Just before serving, fluff granita with fork.
6. Scoop into bowls, sprinkle with curry sugar and garnish with chiffonade of basil.

Our good friends Liz and Aaron Ecburg own a great company, go lb salt which is a local salt bar here in Arizona and boy, do they know their stuff.  We highly recommend their website, there is a wealth of information, along with a user friendly online store,  filled with everything you could possibly need, and if that wasn’t enough they offer classes as well.   Check them out at golbsalt.  We also used another favorite resource of ours for this recipe, Didi Davis’s Food Sugar Blends.  This is a great source for all things spicy, salty and sugary, and they focus on small-batch handmade productions.  Check them out at salttraders.  So many new ways to play with your food.

Modern Day Forager

“Day in the Life” A video

Check out “Day in the Life” A video by Gooi Films LLC a Phoenix, Arizona-based video production team, that specializes in developing creative video content for businesses & organizations.

This one is about Modern Day Forager, as we worked on this weeks posts.  We had an amazing time working with Andrew he is a consummate professional. we hope you enjoy watching this as much as we did doing it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEtJZ69V1i8

Selecting, Storing and Preparing

Every Saturday during melon season, I was asked the same question over and over;  “Could you select a melon for me?”  “How can I tell if a melon is ripe?”  “How do I store this at home?”  So let me try to arm you with the information you need.  First of all, one of the great things about shopping at your local farmers market is that most, not all, of the farmer’s at the market grew what they are selling, that being said, the melon was picked ripe, there are degrees of ripeness to be sure, but the melon is certainly eatable.  The problem comes in when the farmer or a grocery store purchases melons that have to be trucked to their final destination.

 Selecting Melons:

Cantaloupe – Good quality cantaloupes will have a lot of  webbing on the skin, it will have a yellow/orange color and be slightly soft on the stem end.  If the cantaloupe is not ripe enough to your liking, store at room temperature on your kitchen counter or in a loosely closed paper bag for one to two days.

Honeydew – High-quality honeydew melons should be a creamy color and the skin will almost feel waxy when ripe.  They will be somewhat firm with a bit of softness at the stem.

Watermelon – Great tasting watermelons will be firm, even-shaped and heavy for its size.  The easiest method to judge ripeness is to look at the spot where it laid on the ground, that should be a darker yellow, and the rind overall should have a healthy sheen.  Watermelons do not ripen any further once they are cut from the vine.  Most popular watermelons are round dark green or dark green striped.  The light green oval shaped are usually not as sweet and red on the inside.

Seedless Watermelon– Like seeded watermelons, seedless watermelons will be firm, evenly shaped and heavy for their size.  Remember seedless watermelons are not seedless, instead of the large black seeds; they have the small white seeds that some people consider edible.  (I do not)

Storing Your Melons:

Uncut melons can be kept at room temperature for two to four days.  Ripe melons can be refrigerated for an additional 5 days.  Cut melons should be placed in a covered container and refrigerated for no more than three to four days.

Preparing Melon:

Melons taste wonderful just as they are.  Although, we are going to play around with them this week (that’s what we do.)  We like cantaloupe sprinkled with salt and a little black pepper, the combination is amazing, wrap them in prosciutto or any cured meats, blend the flesh and add the juice to anything, perfect addition to any fruit salad. Watermelon is wonderful with salt as well, we also like honey and lime or balsamic vinegar.  Let us know your favorite way to enjoy melons and we will pass them on to our readers.

I hope that I was able to shed some light on the picking a melon question, please comment here or on facebook if you have any other questions on choosing a melon or any other farm fresh fair for that matter.

Modern Day Forager

Grandma’s Donuts

Recipes by Rj of Urban Table

Photo Styling & Art Direction by Traci of Urban Table

Photography & Art Direction by Heather of Heather Gill Photography

Donut or Doughnut …no matter how you spell it, there may be nothing more satisfying to put in your mouth than a hot and fresh one of these old fashioned, hand-cut pieces of fried dough.

Ingredients:

• • 4 cups flour
• • 1 cup sugar
• • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• • 2 tablespoon baking powder
• • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• • 1 cup milk
• • 2 eggs, beaten
• • 1 quart oil for frying

Powdered sugar and/or cinnamon sugar (I liked to switch off, while grandpa stuck with plain dunked into his coffee)

Directions:

Pre-heat oil in a large Dutch oven or pot to approximately 375 F.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and nutmeg.

Stir in milk and eggs.

(This step was done by hand on a large floured cutting board in grandma’s kitchen) Divide dough into easy to work with portion and spread out to about 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut out donuts (Grandma use two biscuit cutters to cutout donuts. She did not make donut holes so she just kept re-using the center piece.)

Once you have cut out all your donuts drop them into hot oil, just a few at a time. Fry about 3 minutes, turn and fry for about 3 more minutes or until golden brown.

Drain: (Grandma always tore a brown paper bag and set that on a plate to drain the donuts… never really a necessary step since my grandfather and I ate them as fast as she could make them, which always created plenty of giggles.)

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cinnamon-sugar, or neither, just plain.

Eat and enjoy! 

Modern Day Forager

Stone Fruit Week Wrap up…

Stone Fruit Week Wrap up…

I want to start this week’s wrap up off by giving you a glimpse behind the curtain at MDF and no I am not the wizard, that job falls squarely on the shoulders of Traci and Heather. There is a whole lotta love,  I mean thought, at least one meeting, (yes there’s food) several days of planning, recipe writing, recipe testing and then at least one, usually two days of food styling and photography.

When it came to the planning meeting for this week, stone fruit as our subject matter was a no brainer. Summer and stone fruit go hand in hand, for that matter stone fruit is summer in your hand.  If you never make a single one of these recipes, please at the very least take a bite out of as many of these drupes as you can get your hands/mouth on.

We started the week off with an intro to stone fruit and then on Tuesday we featured Nectarine Salsa, I am incredibly proud of this recipe, not only does it taste great, it highlights the nectarine and is a wonderful representation of how I like to cook. (Let the ingredients shine, equal balance of sweet and savory, presence of heat and several textures.)

Next we took a journey down south with a totally different take on the crumble… Our Peach and Cardamom Crumble takes advantage of a white peaches less acidic and sweeter taste paired with the herbal and citrus characteristics of cardamom to create a truly memorable dessert.

On Thursday we brought you Roasted Chicken with Pickled Cherries and Radish Sprouts… a sample of what happens when Traci and I start freethinking about a flavors.

“What does it pair with, what can we do to enhance its core qualities, what sounds wrong but tastes so right?”

Friday brings another dessert inspired by the south but with our MDF name all over it. The Caramelized Plum Tartlets are a great example of how to incorporate several textures into a dish thats featured ingredient is high on flavor but low on crunch.

For those of you wondering where the cocktail is, let me refer you back to cocktail week for the Crazy Jane … ok, ok I can’t help myself. A classic is begging to make an appearance here:

Apricot Bellini

Add 2 tablespoons of *apricot puree to a glass of chilled sparkling wine (Those of you that follow us, know we prefer Prosecco)

*Apricot Puree

4 apricots, pitted

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

1 teaspoon sugar

Place all the ingredients into your food processor and process until smooth. Force mixture through a sieve with a spoon then store in an air tight container in your refrigerator.

Caramelized Plum Tartlets

Recipes by Rj of Urban Table

Photo Styling & Art Direction by Traci of Urban Table

Photography & Art Direction by Heather of Heather Gill Photography

What better way to celebrate the summer and the end of our week than with an old fashion caramelized plum tartlet!

These deep purple and burgundy drupes are filled with a good source of fiber, potassium and vitamins A and C.  A real summer time treat.

Here is our take on how to use them.

Caramelized Plum Tartlets

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ lb. unsalted butter, room temp

2 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon hibiscus extract (we love lc finn’s extract)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 plums pitted and sliced

½ cup turbinado sugar (you may substitute light brown sugar)

Powdered sugar as garnish

Directions:

• Six 4 inch ramekins

• Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

• Butter ramekins and place on baking sheet.

• In medium sized mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt.

• In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter on medium high for 2 min.  Add yolks, sugar, hibiscus extract, lemon zest and cinnamon then beat until incorporated.  Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture, do not over mix.

• Divide dough evenly between ramekins.  Fan plum slices over top of dough pressing them in lightly.  Sprinkle tops with turbinado sugar.

• Bake for 25 to 30 min until tartlets look set and the tops are bubbly and caramelized to a golden brown.

• Dust with powdered sugar.

***Serving suggestion lots of ice cream (MDF favorite, homemade black peppered goat cheese)***

We are just over the moon to share with you one of our knock out recipes.  The buttery crust is what makes this…something truly special and the graham cracker crumb like texture…is my favorite part of this rustic tart.  Out of this world!!!

Then when the sweet juicy plums are added, bubble to the top, the sugar caramelizes, turns golden brown, and the hibiscus extracts comes into play, the tart becomes so flavorful and intensifies everything in sight.   Once you make this tried and true recipe you will be sure to add it to your recipe collection.

Roasted Ginger Chicken w/ Pickled Cherries and Radish Sprouts

Recipes by Rj of Urban Table

Photo Styling & Art Direction by Traci of Urban Table

Photography & Art Direction of Heather Gill Photography

Ahhh, roasted chicken, an all star staple in the MDF kitchen.  Simple, juicy, crispy and succulent, it just doesn’t get better.   Starting with this tried and true classic, we created a pan sauce from the pan drippings and added fresh grated ginger and a nub of butter.

These all American true blue crimson lil orbs are bursting with unbeatable flavor, packed with antioxidants and credited with anti-inflammatory benefits and are the new super fruit.  We had a blast working with cherries.  They are not just for pies anymore.  So we decided to go outside the box and pickle cherries.  Yes, pickled.  We added a few sprigs of rosemary that imparted a rich fragrant earthy evergreen like flavor and then pink peppercorns that added a note of heat with a touch of fruitiness.  We are pleased as punch with this recipe.

Roasted Ginger Chicken w/ Pickled Cherries and Radish Sprouts

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened but not melted

1/2 teaspoon, ground cardamom

1 lemon, zested

1 Tablespoon grated ginger + 1 Tablespoon for pan sauce

Salt and fresh ground pepper

One 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken

Olive oil

3/4 cup dry white wine, (if you wouldn’t drink it don’t cook with it)

2 Tablespoon butter

Directions:

If roasting immediately preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, ground cardamom, lemon zest, ginger, salt and pepper, to taste.  Stir together with a spoon until well mixed.

Hold chicken over sink and drain then pat dry inside and out with paper towels.  Poke a small opening in the clear membrane between the skin and the flesh of the over the breast and thighs gliding your index finger through the opening, loosening the skin from the flesh, without removing it completely.  You’re creating a big pocket for the butter.  Once the skin is loose, rub about three quarters of the ginger butter mixture under the skin, over the breast and thighs. Rub the rest inside the cavity.  You can now refrigerate for up to 2 days or cook immediately.  We like to refrigerate ours over night.  When you are ready to roast chicken smear the surface all over with about 1-teaspoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast the chicken, (we like to use a shallow roasting pan that we can then use on the stove top for our pan sauce) after 30 min pour wine over chicken.  Roast and baste for an additional 30 to 60 minutes, until the juices run clear with only a trace of pink when you prick the thigh and a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 170 degrees F.

Remove from oven and allow to rest, while you make a quick pan sauce.

In your roasting pan or a skillet, over a medium-high, heat the liquid remaining from roasting the chicken, plus the remaining tablespoon of grated ginger, salt and pepper.  Reduce liquid by half then whisk in butter and check seasoning, adjust if necessary.

  Pickled Cherries

 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup filtered water

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoon whole pink peppercorns

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 pound fresh cherries, stemmed and pitted

1 large rosemary sprig

Directions:

Boil first 6 ingredients in a medium pan, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Use a sieve to strain into a medium bowl then return liquid to pan.  Add cherries and rosemary to saucepan.  Simmer until cherries are tender, about 7 minutes.  Store cherries and rosemary in a re-sealable container and store in refrigerator for up to a month.

 

Radish Sprout Salad Vinaigrette

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Add lemon juice, minced garlic and lemon zest to a mixing bowl and slowly whisk in extra virgin olive oil until combined.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Dress radish sprouts and top roasted chicken.

Peach Cardamom Crumble

Recipes by Rj of Urban Table

Photo Styling & Art Direction by Traci of Urban Table

Photography & Art Direction by Heather of Heather Gill Photography

We are pretty sure that you have had crumbles and cobblers before but we are guessing that you haven’t had anything like this!  We have added basil, balsamic vinegar and cardamom – not your grandma’s summertime crumble!

Peach Cardamom Crumble

Ingredients:

Base

6 white peaches, pealed and diced

2 Tablespoons loosely packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

1/8 teaspoon cardamom extract (we used lc finn’s cardamom extract)

1 teaspoon fresh chiffonade of basil

Crumble

1/3 cup old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

1/2  teaspoon citric acid

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place peaches in a greased 9 X 13 baking dish or 6 greased ramekins. (If using ramekins place on a baking sheet) Sprinkle with brown sugar, white balsamic, cardamom extract, salt, pepper and basil. Toss to coat, set aside.

In a large bowl combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, cardamom, citric acid, salt and pepper then mix until combined. Now add softened butter and mash with a fork until crumble is formed then sprinkle over peaches.

Bake 15 minutes then rotate and bake an additional 15 minutes or until crumble is nicely browned.

You can serve immediately or at room temperature.

We love it with ice cream or a dollop of crème fraiche.

Modern Day Forager

Celebrating Stone/Summer Fruits

Summer and stone fruit go hand-in hand, so we decide to take to advantage and celebrate these fruits brimming at our farm stands and markets.  So what is a stone fruit?   Well, simply put, it is a indehiscent fruit with flesh or pulp that surrounds the stone or pit.   Indehiscent what?   Simply put, ha!  Indehiscent means that the fruit does not open or split at maturity to release seeds when ripe.   Some unusual suspects that you would not think would be in the stone fruit family are almonds, elderberries and olives.

In preparing for all of this merry making, we carefully picked, grilled, roasted, sauteed, macerated, dried, poached, churned and pickled all of  these ripe blush pink peaches, succulent nectarines, golden rich apricots, deep tart plums and plump burgundy cherries.  We look forward to sharing some of our favorite savory and sweet recipes, along with how to select and store them.

So roll up your sleeves, get your hands on some of these mouthwatering fine drupes with all of their diversity and appeal and let the merriment begin.  Please share with us what you doing with your aromatic and fragrant beauties, we would love to hear!

Shop Girl for Farm Week

One more farm to pay tribute to…thanks to our fellow blogger AGRIgirl–Life Lessons From My Kitchen.

Please check out AGRIgirl, it is packed with  great content and valuable information.  Tammy’s love of  good food, life lessons from her kitchen,  leadership skills and an advocate for creating healthier communities is a food journal readers MUST!

Desert Roots Farm which is located in Queen Creek, Arizona.  Farm owner, Kelly Saxer has been tending to this 33-acre  CSA farm selling fresh high quality vegetables and herbs since 2001 without the use of pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.  Bringing back the farm to the community is her main goal.  A win-win relationship everyone benefits from.  When you sign up for Kelly’s CSA you will receive a box of seasonal foodstuffs throughout the farming season.  Know your farmer, know how the land is being treated, know your food. 

Desert Roots Farm
www.desertrootsfarm.com
Phone: (602) 751-0655

 

Tula Hats

Sun protection never looks so good…these Tula hats have timeless style and casual elegance.  Our favorite hats are the Somerset Black Bow $43.99 and the Brook’s $33.99…both UPF 50+.

tulahats.com

Working Wellies

Made from supple rubber and completely waterproof, they provide all day comfort.  We just think these dirt kickers are so fetching.

Comes in Red and Hunter Green.

$119

Gardeners.com

City Planter by Potted

How cool are these swanky hanging gardens…they are all the rage.  Made of 14 gauge steel and hand finished with a sealed rust patina finish.  Each piece is one-of-a-kind.  Love the city slicker style.

$198

Pottedstore.com

Chez Poulet Coop Blueprints by Heather Bullard

$39

coopplans.bigcartel.com

Farm fresh eggs just got better!!!

Detailed drawings to build your very own Chez Poulet, with a hip copper plated copula.  Your feathered flock will love the design, their new digs and lovely agrarian lifestyle.

 

Slow Food:  Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasures of Food, by Slow Food Editore, Carlo Petrini

$20

Amazon.com

The Slow Food Movement shares lessons about how to cook well, eat well and live well.  We are encouraged by Petrini to enjoy life to its fullest.  Bring back the pleasures of the palate, focus on being convivial, nourishing our homes, communities and the humanity of food.  A fresh look on an alternative lifestyle to the fast paced world we live in.  I don’t know who said this, but boy does it resinate loud and clear for me…he who lives slow, lives well.