When in Rome!

Each year, summertime brings us long days and lazy hot evenings, and if we're lucky enough to get away from our busy schedules, it also allows us to vacation and travel. I have found that no matter where I travel, if I want to find fresh and sustainable food I usually can. This proved again to be true when my daughter and I took off on our annual trip to California. Immediately upon arriving at our destination town (Hollister to be exact) my dear friend Lisa suggested that we go make a visit to her local farmer's market. The beauty of farmer's markets are that they can usually now be found in almost every city or town. If you're really into checking out the local food scene, this is a one-stop shop! Just as all cities are unique and different, so are their farmer's markets. Hollister was no exception! I was intrigued by the array of meats, nuts and produce. I loved that they had local honey and creameries represented as well. I could not help but brush off a little earth to eat a strawberry that had just been picked one hour before I consumed it (absolute heaven). I also really enjoyed the conversation I had with the local sausage purveyor, who was told me all about his fig/gorgonzola/walnut sausage and how he had to play around with recipe after recipe to find a way to keep the figs from breaking down the protein of the meat, which by the way, has to be my new favorite sausage.

Of course, some days I have a plan as to what I am on the hunt for at these markets, however, since I was on vacation I got to let my mind wander. I had remembered from back at the house before we left that Lisa had 2 baguettes that needed to be used. With that in mind, and some fresh produce at my disposal, Panzanella (Italian bread salad) would be a lovely choice. Luckily, I am blessed that Lisa will totally let me take over her kitchen while I am visiting. Lisa's husband George fired up his grill for our sausage sampler and I got to work on the salad. As much as I wanted to eat it as soon as I finished making it, I decided instead to take advantage of their lovely backyard by taking some photos. With that said, I got quite a treat when I started to take photos of the salad. Lisa lives in a beautiful little town that still has a ton of country charm. She has chickens, dogs and cats and they all roam peacefully together in her yard which makes for some curious photo ops.

Reflecting on that afternoon at the farmer's market gives me a sense of satisfaction, both to my stomach and my soul. Reinforced was the fact that I don't have to travel all the way to Rome to enjoy good people and a beautiful Roma tomato salad - I'm jus' sayin'!

Farmer's Market Panzanella

1 Day Old Baguette (cubed)
4 Large Tomato's (cut into large bite size chunks)
2 Small Zucchinis (cut into bite size chunks)
1 Medium Sweet Onion (sliced thin)
1 Large Bunch of Basil (thinly sliced - chiffonade)
3/4 Cup of Grated Good Parmesan Cheese
3 Cloves of Garlic (minced fine)
2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to Taste

In a large bowl make the vinaigrette by whisking the garlic and vinegar together and slowly adding the oil until it is emulsified. Add the salt & pepper to taste. This will seem like a lot of dressing but the bread will soak it up. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well. Cover with wrap and let sit in cool area for about an hour to absorb all the flavors. If it looks too dry when time to serve, dash a little more olive oil and one dash of vinegar on top. This is a very hearty and delicious salad to serve anytime of the year, but especially good in the summer when the tomatoes are at their peak. You can also add cubes of fresh mozzarella cheese to this to bring in more texture.

When Life Gives You Citrus!

About 9 years ago, we moved from sunny California to the big state of Texas. This was a huge shock to our systems and not for the obvious reasons you may think. Take our backyard garden - when we were in California, we were spoiled by the soil and the weather. We could virtually throw seeds into the earth and up would spring a glorious garden or plentiful fruit trees. Of course, the first time we started our garden here in Austin, we had the same expectations. Unfortunately, the results were very different. My dear husband hit that hard Texas clay earth with the shovel and we started to realize maybe we don't have the magic green thumb after all. Still, we persevered and over the years we have managed to start a few gardens and harvest crops not nearly as abundant as we had grown accustomed too (humbling, absolutely!). A few pumpkins (grown from old jack-o'lanterns thrown in the compost pile), lots of peppers (naturally) and a surprising herb garden have been the highlights. Over the years, we have learned what we can and can't grow and what veggies we still need to learn more about as far as growing in this environment.

With all that said, we may not have the fresh and plentiful veggies growing in the backyard garden (there's always the local farmer's market!) but what we do have are 2 of the most prolific citrus trees around. Granted, they are transplants like us and we didn't listen to locals that said citrus wouldn't grow here. We have one Meyer Lemon that we brought in our moving truck from California and my Mom brought us our Moro Blood-Orange tree in her moving van when she moved from California to Austin a few years later. Both are now firmly rooted in our Texas backyard, just like us. Every year, the Meyer produces the most amazing lemons - which I will be writing about soon. This blog, however, is about our beautiful blood-orange tree. If you have never had the pleasure of drinking fresh blood-orange juice, then I suggest you put that on your must-do "foodie list". Having a tree with an abundant supply allows us to try many different recipes and still have plenty left over to bless friends and family.

We started our holidays off with blood-orange mimosas on Christmas morning, a glorious and sweet ruby-colored drink that makes regular mimosas blush in comparison. I have made blood-orange vinaigrette's for salads as well as candied orange peel. My daughter and I baked rich, golden loaves of cranberry-orange bread as gifts for neighbors. We infuse the zest into vodka and make lovely martini's. And this year, I attempted to make blood-orange marmalade. Tonight, we had blood-orange sorbet for dessert and Wow! so yummy! So with all the recipes and new ideas out there, one would think that if life gives you all this beautiful citrus, why just make juice? I'm jus' sayin'!

Blood Orange Marmalade - I found an orange marmalade recipe online from "The Barefoot Contessa" as a base and revised it to make blood-orange marmalade. If you would like to try her recipe with plain oranges you can find it here. I suggest you start the the night before, right before you get ready to go to bed.

In a large stainless steel pot, slice 8 medium size blood-oranges in half and take out seeds. Take each half and slice paper thin half-moons from them. (Ina Garten suggests using a mandolin for the slicing to make this chore quicker - good luck! I tried mine and ended up with a mess and the thought that bloody fingers instead of blood-oranges was enough for me to use just my knife) Transfer all the slices as well as any juice to the pot. Fill the pot with 8 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn of heat and add 8 1/2 cups of sugar to the pot. Stir until dissolved. Put the lid on the pot and let this sit on the counter overnight. The next morning, bring the pot with all the oranges, sugar and water to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Bring the heat back up and boil gently for about 30 minutes. Skim any foam off the top. At this point, use a candy thermometer and watch for the marmalade to come to 220 degrees F. It should be a thick consistency with a dark, golden-red color. Pour the marmalade into clean mason jars and place in a hot water bath to seal the lids. After they have been canned, they should last in a cool pantry for up to a year - that is, if you have not opened it and put it on a toasted English muffin, in which case I promise that jar will go fast. Enjoy!

Blood Orange Sorbet - Absolutely simple! I followed David Lebovitz's recipe which was very precise and you can too! I find David's work to be clean and clear and it's always a joy to read his blog.