Green Tea Sangria

I'm making the most out of every summer minute! This sangria has been really refreshing and delicious! Maybe we can call it "healthy" and drink more of it?!?!

GREEN TEA SANGRIA
Make 1 cup of super strong green tea of choice; do not brew longer, instead use more tea leaves; I used a mango flavored green tea which was great and also jasmine green tea

SIMPLE SYRUP:
1 cup brewed green tea
1 cup sugar
Bring to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Boil 5 minutes, Remove from heat and cool.

1 bottle White Bordeaux or Sauvignon Blanc of choice
1 cup green tea simple syrup
1 peach, peeled, pitted and diced
a handful of frozen grapes (these work great as they don't water down the sangria!)
1 1/2 cup club soda

Combine and let chill. Enjoy!

Weekly Inspiration

Just a few of the most charming things I've seen, tasted, been inspired by....

Lemon Lavender French Meringue Cookies with Pinneau des Charantes wine after supper.

A macaron packaging gift set; make you own tiny macarons and package it with pink sketched parchment paper, striped boxes, clear lids, tags and bright pink ribbon. Cutest damn thing ever....I purchased it at World Market and am going to get busy on the macarons. Cross your fingers for me, those suckers are elusive for me.

My newest obsession of blush patent leather and matte black leather handles. This handbag has a tablet pouch, zippers all the way to the bottom for easy access and a great embossed logo. I love it because I'm forever carting around wine catalogs, big cameras, all sorts of electronic devices and little dog leashes! Along with a great handbag comes a great quote I ran across years ago "Handbags; less calories than chocolate, cheaper than therapy!"

And this beauty that realized no one in this house can stand one more minute of winter and decided to blossom after being relegated to the orchid "graveyard"....thank you.

Vin d'Orange

I have forever loved the European custom of an aperitif. If you're not familiar with it, you can read about it on my previous post. Most recently, I tried my hand at making Vin d'Orange. I researched a gazillion recipes and tried the one I thought seemed the most authentic. I waited the requisite month of aging and .....yuck. It was weirdly slimy and pulpy and murky, not what I had in mind for a tiny afternoon tipple or a lovely spring brunch I was planning. Generally, the recipes consisted of allowing whole oranges to soak in wine and sugar about a month, then boiling the mixture, straining and adding the brandy.

So, I put on my creative hat and began again. This recipe is not as traditional, but there are a few points I think you'll like better.

1.I didn't boil the entire bottle of wine, so I am assuming you keep the majority of the alcohol intact.
2.Much fresher flavor overall, less of a "baked" taste. I also think you could add some club soda to make it sparkle.
3.The long strand of orange zest looked really fabulous suspended in the wine.
4.We drank on days 4 and finished the bottle on day 10.....I hate waiting.

So very sorry, apparently I did not photograph.....please use imagination to visualize.


VIN D’ORANGE

1 bottle (750ml) dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
Zest from 3 Oranges
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Brandy or other spirits

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of wine, sugar and orange zest over medium heat. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine remaining wine and Brandy in a decorative pitcher or bottle.

Using a fine sieve or coffee filter, strain zest/sugar mixture and add to wine/brandy combination. Add a piece of zest if desired. Refrigerate. This will last up to 1 year in a cool place. Serve cold as an aperitif.

I packaged mine in a great, clear, flip top bottle for a bit of vintage flair, but you could also pour right back into the pinot grigio bottle and re-label!

Blue Cheese Spring Nests

A few months ago I came across a box of "kataifi" at my favorite Mediterranean grocery store. It's basically phyllo dough made in long strands, much like angel hair pasta. As the possibilities swirled in my head and around shrimps for dinner, this recipe was my first thought and I've been waiting to make them for Easter brunch!

I made a variation of this for a cooking class at The Market, but the flavor was very mild and for Easter I wanted more punch! Originally, I used an aged goat cheese from Four Corners Creamery, a few bits of onion and a sprinkle of parsley. On my trial run last night, I used a hunk of blue cheese and was much happier since it's more flavorful. So feel free to use either cheese depending upon your preferences (maybe both together would be great too?)!

The kataifi does dry out quickly, so you'll only want to thaw what you plan on using, and cover it with a damp paper towel while you're working.



BLUE CHEESE SPRING NESTS

1/3 box of Kataifi
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/4 lb blue cheese cut into slices

1 cup fruity red wine-Gamay, Cabernet Sauvignon (young), Syrah/Shiraz
3 Tablespoons Agave Syrup or honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wrap several strands of kataifi into a nest shape on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Using a pastry brush, brush melted butter gently onto nest. Top with a slice of blue cheese.
Bake 12-15 minutes (watch carefully, they can get a little TOO brown) until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine agave and wine over medium heat and allow to reduce to about 1/2 cup of thickened syrup. Use immediately or refrigerate up to 3 days. Drizzle over slightly cooled nests and serve.

Sorry, about the lack of photos, apparently the Easter Bunny brought me the flu. I was struggling to get this posted before Easter and nothing turned out well finished photo wise!

Beaujolais Wine Fondue

If you happened to stop into The Boulevard Market today you were in for a special sampling of Beaujolais Wine Fondue!!

A really easy and fun appetizer or dessert that's a little "fancy" and suits the holiday season beautifully!  (Sorry, still no pics, I need to buy more space and I haven't done it yet!)

We just Beaujolais Nouveau  since it is so trendy right now (and there was an extra cup hanging around :))  I also think the Beaujolais is nice since it's fruity and light.  You could easily use any wine you want, including white!  We paired our fondue up for dipping with a Cranberry/Raisin Focaccia bread and Cubes of Quicke's Farmhouse Cheddar from England.  BIG HIT!!  Hope you'll try it out!

BEAUJOLAIS WINE FONDUE
2 cups dry wine
1 cup sugar
6 teaspoons dry pectin

Combine wine and sugar in a large saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and allow to reduce about 25 minutes or until approximately 1 cup of liquid remains.  Stir in pectin and boil 1 minute, then remove from heat.  Allow to cool to warm and serve!

BTW; this would be AMAZING over ice cream.....
  

Preserved Wine Poached Pears

Just the title gets me excited!  And make no mistake, this is an exciting recipe!  I have a few preserving cookbooks published in England that intrigue and confuse me on many levels.  I love their use of sweet/savory ingredients, yet warming sugar in the oven before adding to the pan...huh?  Why?  There is no scientific answer, so it must be a "that's the way we do it" answer.  I have some of those deals too...except my preserving class has kept me on my toes in questions!

This recipe is one of those things too.  I know it worked, yet, I still need to wait 6 months to find out if it was a success and the pears are still sealed without any scary bacterias.  I'm sure this is not approved by the USDA (but really, please read my "food pyramid" post to see how much I trust their opinion on food these days :))  but with all the wine and sugar, I'm sure nothing scary will survive and they are SO good!

My honest concern is that I used pears I grew organically....just remember, wine kills EVERYTHING! 

So, I peeled about 6 small pears, whole, leaving the stem attached for a rustic look.  I stuffed about 3 pears per pint jar and added a cinnamon stick broken into 3 pieces (3 inches), about 6 whole cloves and  3inch long pieces of lemon and orange zests to each jar.  I wanted them to be quite spiced!

In a large pot, I combined a bottle of delicious Pinot Noir wine (taste to make sure you like first!) and 1 1/2 cups sugar, brought it to a boil and boiled for 5 minutes.  I preheated the oven to 250 degrees.  I then poured the wine over the pears until about a 1/2 inch clearance was reached, checked for air bubbles and put the seals and lids on.  I popped the whole filled jars into the oven and cooked them for about 2 1/2 hours.  I removed them from the oven and checked the seals after 24 hours.

It worked!  Weird and fabulous!  Beautiful and so amazingly delicious!  Warm it was even better...and then I drank the juice!  In case you missed that...drink the wine too!  If you're not into preserving foods, find a friend and talk them into making these, you won't be sorry!

 

Yucky wine...

I'm not a wine snob.  We sample and drink a fair amount of wine through The Market and they are usually really decent wines.  I also like to buy wines I'm not familiar with, for their labels and bottle colors/shapes and or unusual varieties.  It's a way to get out of my comfort zone with wine drinking.

Occasionally we come wines that are nasty.  If I don't want to drink them, I don't want to cook with them either.  I dumped them down the drain for the longest time until I decided to make wine jelly after tasting some lovely Italian wine jelly made from Lambrusco wine.

The first couple batches I made from really lovely wines and they turned out fantastic.  Then I made a batch of wine jelly with a hideous Rose from Spain...and it was delicious!!! Since then, I have strictly used wines I don't care to drink and time after time the jelly turns out great!  Red, White or Rose, it doesn't make a difference and I have been known to throw in whatever wine is hanging around, regardless of color.

I usually buy some fun stemless wineglasses to fill for gift giving with a hunk of cheese, but any glass jar will work if you don't want a truly preserved jelly (no sealing of jars) and recipients should store refrigerated.  The jelly is an incredible accompaniment to salty, soft cheeses but also works great in thumbprint cookies and on toast/bagels/quick breads for a lovely brunch item.      

WINE JELLY

2 cups Wine (any will do!)
3 ¼ cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

Bring wine and sugar to a boil.  Add the pouch of liquid pectin and boil for exactly 1 minute!  Pour into clean, hot jars and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.  (You can find directions on water bath processing in the pectin instructions.)

I think you'll love this recipe!  Let me know how your icky wines turn into beautiful jellies!

The Boulevard Market Life

The Boulevard Market is a cheese shop and specialty food store in Tecumseh Michigan with a boutique wine selection, an in house creamery and Inn on the 2nd floor. My husband and I own the shop with our 3 teenage daughters.


Our "business" is sampling specialty foods and visiting producers around the world.

The Boulevard Market Life is about food, friends, traditions, wine and more! I hope you will visit us often to see what we are cooking, who we meet and what is happening in Tecumseh!