Off The Counter: A Garden Challenge

We have a beautiful grapevine climbing up our lower deck railing.  This time of year it's filled with clusters of deep purple fruit that sweetly scent the air.  Each time my beekeeping, cheese making, avid gardening neighbors come over they encourage me to do something with these amazing grapes.  Not having nearly the same homesteading abilities as they do, I was quite intimidated by their suggestions of making jams, jellies or pies.   Thinking that simpler is better for now,  I found a great grape juice recipe here.  Take a look:

Don't forget to check out Cocoon's first guest post over at Kumquat.

Off The Counter: Late Night Noodles

This week's Off The Counter features a noodle dish my husband created for a bon voyage dinner.   Good friends were moving to Paris. We wanted to serve a meal that was fresh, creative and interactive.   Inspired by our favorite Vietnamese pho dish (from Minh Tri in San Francisco, which unfortunately is no longer open),  this fresh and fragrant dish can please carnivores and vegetarians alike.  Take a look at how this meal came together and how our table was set for our late night noodles.   Ingredients and instructions below:

Ingredients

carrots, cucumbers, limes, mint, basil, cilantro, angel hair pasta or rice noodles, peanuts, boneless pork chops, bacon, rice vinegar, fish sauce, brown sugar.

Instructions

 Crush peanuts, chop the herbs and thinly cut the carrots and cucumbers into separate bowls. Cook the pasta or rice noodles while grilling the pork chops and cooking the bacon.  For the dressing mix equal parts rice vinegar, fish sauce and brown sugar.  Then add lime juice, zest and Sriracha hot sauce to taste.  Serve guests bowls of noodles and have them add ingredients and dressing per their preference.

A great wine pairing for this meal is Rodriguez Verdejo's 2010 "Basa" as recommended by our local wine shop Central Bottle.

Leftovers make great banh mi sandwiches the following day!

Stay tuned for Cocoon's first reader gift giveaway this week...

Off The Counter: Figs, Avocado, and Cantaloupe

Almost 16 years ago, I was introduced to this salad while working at a health food store in San Francisco.  It's an unlikely combination of figs, cantaloupe and avocados, that turns into a surprisingly satisfying summer treat.  Served on skewers as an appetizer, or tossed as a salad,  it’s sure to delight your palate.  Take a look at how this unusual fruity combo comes together.  Instructions and original recipe to follow.

Ingredients

cantaloupe, avocados, figs, mint leaves, chives, olive oil, rice vinegar, sugar and salt

Instructions

Cube melon, slice avocados and cut the figs in half.  Finely chop the mint and chives and whisk along with the olive oil, vinegar, sugar and salt.  If you choose to skewer the fruits,  do so before adding the dressing.  In that case, add the ingredients to a bowl or platter and drizzle with the dressing before skewing.  Enjoy!!

Off The Counter: A Favorite Cocktail

This week's Off The Counter features my favorite cocktail, The Ginger Rogers.  We were first introduced to this refreshingly spicy drink at Absinthe's in San Francisco, and ever since it's been dear to my heart (or should I say liver?).  So last Saturday, when my husband and I organized an impromptu bar crawl through our neighborhood, we decided to start it off at our place, with a round of Ginger Rogers for all.  As you most likely guessed, we never left the house.  A good thing.  Take a peek at the cocktail that immobilized us for the evening  (ingredients and instructions below):

Ingredients: Ginger syrup (recipe below), mint leaves, gin, ginger ale, lemons and limes

Ginger Simple Syrup

Combine 2 oz of thinly sliced ginger root with 2 cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cup of water.  Simmer for 30- 40 minutes stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.  Let it cool and strain

Ginger Rogers

Add mint leaves to the glass, cover with ginger syrup and muddle until the fragrant oils are released. Fill glass with ice;  add gin, lemon and lime juice then top it off with ginger ale.  Garnish with mint leaves and lemon or lime wedges.

Sit back and sip.  Heaven in a glass.

(P.S.:  we're still planning a bar crawl for the near future.)

.

Off The Counter

This week's Off The Counter is a salad introduced by a dear friend.  The mix of ingredients is a surprising combination of radishes, oranges and black olives.  Take a look at how pretty  and surprisingly yummy it is.  Ingredients and instructions below.

Salad Ingredients: 1 red onion, 1 bunch of radishes,  3-4 oranges, canned black olives, parsley, olive oil, rice vinegear, salt and pepper.

Slice one red onion and soak  in olive oil and salt for a least 20 minutes.   Cube radishes and oranges and add to a bowl with black olives.  Mix in the onion and olive oil.  Toss all the ingredients together then add a splash of rice vinegar, some chopped parsley leaves, salt and pepper.

If you have any questions, please let me know.  Enjoy!