The Wonder-full World of Mango Dragonfly!: "Scarpaccia...a.k.a Something To Do With All That ...

The Wonder-full World of Mango Dragonfly!: "Scarpaccia...a.k.a Something To Do With All That ...: This old favorite always returns to dinner rotation late summer when loving neighbors come ...

How to Clean a Pomegranate While Wearing a White Shirt

There was just the barest, slightly discernable chill in the air this morning. It wasn't enough to swing southwest Florida into sweater weather, but it was enough to give the barometer in my head a welcome break and make everything feel crisper, fresher... just right for those celebrating a Happy New Year.

If you are serving pomegranates during this holiday, here is how to clean them without you and the kitchen ending up looking like a scene straight out of a slasher movie…

• Cut the pomegranate into four sections
• Fill a large bowl with cold water and place the pomegranate quarters into the bowl.
• Working under water…Remove the arils (the dark red juice and seed sacks) from the white pith.
• Remove and discard the white pith
• Pour the bowl of water and arils into a strainer or colander in the sink. Voila!

Black-Eyed Pea Tabbouleh Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

1/4 cup pomegranate molasses

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 tbsp olive oil

2 cups bulgur wheat

2 cups water

2 tbsp jalapenos, seeded and minced

1 15 oz can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1 cup green onions, diced

2 cups plum tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Whisk the pomegranate molasses, garlic and 3 tbsp olive oil together in a small

bowl until well blended…set aside.

Heat the remaining olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat.

Add the bulgur wheat and stir for 1 minute.

Add 2 cups warm water, bring to a simmer and then remove from heat.

Cover and let stand until the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the wheat to a large bowl and add the jalapeños, black-eyed peas,

parsley, green onions, tomatoes and walnuts.

Add the dressing and toss gently until well combined.

Chill for 1 hour before serving.

Recipe from "Deep Roots: The Soul-full Grain, Virtuous Vegetable and Enticing Egg Recipes of an Evolving Vegetarian," by Mango Dragonfly

Available on Amazon.com

Visit our website at www.mangodragonfly.com

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Chess Pie, Chanterelles and Salmonberries

~If you asked me to name favorite places I have been in my life…a great many of them would be farmer’s markets. They truly are my happy place…a coming together of two of my most favorite things, gardening and abundant, fresh good food…all laid out for you in an inspiring, visual, fragrant, sensual feast. They recapture the joy, simplicity and spirit of community found in the color-full ancient marketplaces of our ancestors in a way that modern, soulless shopping malls at best only vaguely hint at.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to frequent some pretty special ones…the oldest… Lancaster Central Market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania….and arguably the most spectacular… Pike Place Market in Seattle…Union Square …Santa Monica. One of my favorites was a smaller, but no less exceptional market in Camarillo, California. You could smell the heady scent of stock and tuberose from the flower seller drifting through the air as soon as you got out of the car. My favorite vendor would be there with a spectacular, customized gypsy vardo that would be laden with carrots, radishes and beets in as many vivid, desert sunset shades of pink, gold, orange and purple as you can imagine.

The Coos Bay, Oregon one is pretty special also; especially when the berries come in and table after table is laden with luscious blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and salmonberries. I once bought a twenty- pound box of lusciously ripe, sauce-bound tomatoes there that included a free little garter snake trying to take a quiet nap down in a bottom corner. Now that’s what you call organic! Luckily I saw him before dumping the last few tomatoes into the boiling water and was able to relocate him to a much better home in the backyard.

If you have a Farmer’s Market near you please go. Be supportive. Smile at the volunteers, tip the musicians, accept all flyers. Enjoy the riches that are plentiful and regional…mangoes in Englewood, chilies in Tucson, artichokes in Monterey or apples in Lancaster. Most importantly, meet the people who grow your food. Ask them questions and listen to their stories. Encourage the vendors that are growing organically with your enthusiasm and give extra kudos to the ones that are converting their land from non-organic to organic and sustainable. Show them with your attention and dollars that their choice is appreciated and economically feasible. 

Buying locally-grown produce from a transitioning farmer will do more to reduce your carbon footprint than buying organic produce that has been shipped across the country ...or the world. Plus I think there is great aesthetic pleasure that comes from knowing that the green beans you are enjoying for dinner spent yesterday soaking in the last bit of golden magic from the sun rather than being piled in the back of a reefer truck somewhere on interstate 40.

P.S. If you do go to the Coos Bay Farmer’s Market…I suggest you hit the chanterelle mushroom guy first…he is usually sold out by 10:00.

From "Deep Roots: The Soul-full Grain, Virtuous Vegetable and Enticing Egg Recipes of and Evolving Vegetarian." Available on Amazon.com

Visit our website at: www.mangodragonfly.com

Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/MangoDragonfly

First day of Spring Lemon Shrimp and Fresh Pea Bowtie Pasta with Mint Chiffonade

     

      ~ A childhood spent in southern California comes with many blessings… unfortunately an appreciation for the seasons is not necessarily one of them. Days and forecasts idle along and pleasantly blend together without any major meteorological drama. It took living in Baltimore to truly appreciate just how brilliantly green a new spring leaf can really be. 

     Late Winter is grey and gloomy…all the crisp and sparkly white snow has turned into dingy, grey slush, dull naked tree limbs are faintly visible against sullen skies…everyone is in post-holiday, worn out, vitamin D starved depression…blah, blah, blaher…and then there it is…that first teeny, tiny nub of green promise. 

       My default color authority, Crayola box of 120, calls it most appropriately “Screaming Green”, renamed from “Ultra Green” in 1990. About 5 days after those tenuous leaves appear, the entire landscape is gloriously, screaming green!  Salvation comes to our winter bleary eyes! The earth starts popping out a sexy palette of crocus, tulips and fruit blossoms in every luscious coral/pink shade imaginable.  The birds and bees start to mambo and then the rest of us join the line… reborn, hopeful and in love.

        What we hunger to eat follows the same song…after hearty, soul-full, warming stews, soups and roasts, our palette is starved for bright, fresh, tangy, and crunchy.  To me Spring’s plate is tart, lemony asparagus, dill dusted salmon,  sun-warmed morning strawberries, tender green onions and the only time of year peas are tolerable.

Lemon Shrimp and Fresh Pea Bowtie Pasta with Mint Chiffonade

~To “Chiffonade”… Stack leaves on top of each other, roll them tightly into a tube, then cut across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine dainty ribbons…a ceramic knife will help keep the edged from browning.

1/2 cup shallots, minced

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups fresh peas

1 lb medium shrimp, shells off

2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1 pound bow-tie pasta

1/2 cup mint leaves

sea salt

black pepper

Gently sauté the shallots in butter, in a

saucepan over medium heat until softened.

Add the lemon juice and wine.

Boil until the liquid is reduced in half.

Add the cream, peas, shrimp, zest, and Parmesan to the pan.

Reduce heat and cook...stirring frequently... until shrimp just turns pink, 3-4 minutes….remove from heat.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente… drain well.

Toss pasta in a serving bowl with sauce.

Season with salt and pepper to taste…add the mint just before serving.

*I guess if you must…frozen peas would be acceptable.  Please, please don’t use canned…I am afraid in the middle of all the bright lemon yellow and minty green that baby poop color would just be too depressing.

From: "Love Fest: Everyday Celebrations and Exclamation Point Meals For Those You Love and Cherish," by Mango Dragonfly.

Available on Amazon.com

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MangoDragonfly

Or visit our website www.mangodragonfly.com

Photograph by Malene Thyssen

Pineapple Upside-down Pancakes

What a treat...this week, fresh pineapples are only 99 cents a piece at our local grocery store! I think we will start with this recipe and work our way through all our pineapple favorites!

Newman's first law...

"It is useless to put on your brakes when you are upside down."

~ Paul Newman

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 large pineapple, peeled, sliced into eight 1/2" rounds…cored

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup almond milk

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

nonstick vegetable oil spray

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

Add the cinnamon…cook until butter begins to brown and your kitchen smells cinnamon-y and delicious... about 2 minutes.

Add in the pineapple slices, and cook until light golden brown,about 4 minutes per side.

Sprinkle in the brown sugar and cook a few more moments until the juices are thick and syrupy.

Transfer the pineapple to a plate to let cool.

Set the syrup aside for later.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Set a wire cookie rack on a baking sheet.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.

Add the almond milk, egg, vanilla and remaining 2 tbsp butter and whisk until smooth.

Heat a griddle or large heavy skillet over medium heat.

Lightly coat with nonstick spray

Pour the batter by 1/4-cupfuls onto griddle.

After one minute, top each pancake with a pineapple ring.  

Continue cooking until the bottom is golden brown...about one more minute.

Flip…cook until pancake is golden brown...2 more minutes.

Place pancakes on prepared rack and bake in the  oven for 5 minutes. 

Serve with the scrumptious reserved pineapple/brown sugar syrup.

From: "Love Fest: Every Day Celebrations and Exclamation Point Meals For Those You Love and Cherish" by Mango Dragonfly

Available on Amazon.com

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/mangodragonfly

www.mangodragonfly.com

"Ananas comosus Victoria P1190421". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ananas_comosus_Victoria_P1190421.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Ananas_comosus_Victoria_P1190421.jpg

Ambiance, Romance and Limoncello Tiramisu

     Webster defines ambiance as, “atmosphere with a romantic flair.”  Although I think their definition is perfection…I probably would have rambled on a bit including words like glimmering, sensual, mysterious, captivating, charming, and alluring.  Ambiance is one of my most beloved words and something never to be underestimated.  Good restaurants are undeniably divine and dressing up and going out to celebrate and be festive has its place.  However, there is something so lovely about being home, warm and intimate and all tucked in for the night.  Devoting time to cooking for those I cherish and then creating a romantic space with all the soul-full, inspiring trimmings of candles, music and flowers is one of my favorite love-making acts.

     As poor, starry-eyed newlyweds, my ex-husband and I quickly learned that the best way to indulge our champagne tastes was to make it at home.  Steak and lobster from the grocery store could be squeezed into our budget and with a little wine, k.d.lang and candlelight, the hand-me-down kitchen table in our horrid dive of a first apartment could be transformed into quite a magical place.

    I know that chocolate is the go-to romantic desert choice...but this is truly rich, bright and memorable. If ladyfingers are a challenge to find, thinly sliced angel food or pound cake will work in a pinch.

Limoncello Tiramisu

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups lemon curd, store bought is fine or find a recipe below.
1 1/2 cups Limoncello liqueur 
1 pound (2 cups) Mascarpone, at room temperature  
2 tbsp lemon zest
40 ladyfingers

Whip the heavy cream into magical stiff peak status.
In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup of the lemon curd, 1/2 cup Limoncello, mascarpone, whipped cream and lemon zest. 
Beat until light and creamy. 
In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining lemon curd and Limocello until syrupy. 
One at a time…quickly, roll a ladyfinger in the syrup and place it into your prettiest 9” x 13” casserole or glass baking dish.
Arrange the moistened ladyfingers in neat, tight rows, filling the bottom of the pan.
Scoop half of the Limoncello-mascarpone cream onto the ladyfingers.
Arrange a second layer of ladyfingers in the pan, and cover it completely with the remainder of the cream. Seal the tiramisu airtight in plastic wrap. 
Refrigerate for 6 hours …or up to 2 days.

Lemon Curd

3 tbsp lemon zest

1 cup lemon juice

1 1/3 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1” cubes

Whisk together zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan.

Add the butter and cook over medium low heat, whisking constantly, until the curd is velvety thick about 10 minutes.

Immediately strain the curd through a fine sieve or cheesecloth into a bowl.

Cover and chill.

From: "Love Fest: Everyday Celebrations and Exclamation Point Meals for Those You Love and Cherish"

Available on Amazon.com or at www.mangodragonfly.com