Summer Salads from The Market Tasting

Thanks a million to all the folks that came to Thursday's tasting event! Hope you enjoyed the salads and here are the recipes! A big thanks to Prochaska Farms for the awesome vegetables, they made our salads super great!

Watermelon Salad

1 small watermelon, rind removed, seeded and sliced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 lb. Bleu Affine or Danish cheese

3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar (I used our Boulevard Market bottled one!)
3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I used Mas Portell brand from Spain)
Salt and pepper

Toss to combine watermelon, onion and bleu affine cheese. In a small bowl combine vinegar and lemon juice. With a whisk, add olive oil in a thin drizzle, constantly whisking until emulsified. Salt and pepper to taste.

I laid my fruit and cheese out on a large platter and drizzled with the dressing. Magnificent!


Halloumi & Sweet Corn Salad

3 large ears of sweet corn, blanched and cut from cob
4 ounces Piqullo peppers, sliced (These are Spanish peppers that have been roasted and peeled) or sauteed sweet red peppers
1 package Halloumi cheese, approx. 8 ounces

2 Tablespoons fresh chives
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Grill Halloumi over high heat until browned and crispy. Combine cheese, peppers and corn.

In food processor, pulse chives and oil until pureed.

Drizzle Chive Oil over vegetables and toss to coat. Salt and pepper to taste.

I only used about 1/2 of the chive oil recipe on my dish and saved the rest to use on chicken!

ZUCCHINI & WALNUT SALAD

1/3 cup toasted walnuts
3 medium-ish zucchini, sliced ¼ inch thick
4 T Olive Oil
Salt & pepper
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 ¼ cups mixed greens
½ cup fresh torn herbs
3 ounces romano cheese, curled
2 Tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

Tear greens and herbs and toss lightly in a large bowl.
Toss zucchini with olive oil and grill over high heat on a BBQ grill until tender.

Toss zucchini with greens, sprinkle with toasted walnuts and romano. Lightly whip balsamic vinegar and evoo until emulsified and drizzle over greens.

White Sangria

I'm always in love with Sangria in the summer, but I'm not fond of the overly sweet, fake fruity stuff, so I created my White Sangria to be refreshing and just lightly sweet. By using a simple syrup, you can ad just the sweetness you like versus waiting for sugar to dissolve or cooking your wine and allowing to cool. Feel free to use the simple syrup for Mint Juleps, Mojitos or drizzling over fresh fruit. If mint is not your thing, you could easily use rosemary, basil or thyme for an herbal edge that gives your sangria layers and layers of flavor!! Of course you can use whatever fresh fruit you have and enjoy the most. We love lemon slices and strawberries or fresh peaches and blueberries as combos!

SIMPLE SYRUP
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
a handful of fresh mint leaves (cut this amt down for thyme or rosemary, use the same for fresh basil)

In a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a boil and cook 5 minutes. Bottle up and refrigerate up to 1 month.

WHITE SANGRIA

1 bottle DRY white wine (I used a Spanish Verdelho from Rueda)
16 ounces cold club soda
1 batch simple syrup
handful of fresh raspberries
3 fresh plums, chopped
2 handfuls of frozen green grapes instead of ice

Make sure all of your ingredients are cold. Mix all ingredients in a pitcher, allow to sit about 15 minutes and enjoy!!

GAZPACHO @ THE MARKET

Our workshop for Gazpacho was fun last night! This recipe is my family's favorite, so feel free to adjust seasonings to suit your family's tastes. Tis the season for all of the fresh produce!! If you've got the time to make a day in advance, you'll appreciate this, otherwise, I make it an hour in advance and it's perfectly amazing!!

GAZPACHO

5 small tomatoes, quartered
3/4 of a 6 inch cucumber, cut into chunks, peeled if using a cucumber, unpeeled if using a "pickling cucumber or English cucumber
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 of a sweet bell pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (I used Bourbon Barrel Smoked :))
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 cup Olive Oil (I used Zoe brand)
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar (I used the 20 year at The Market, sweeter is better)
2 Tablespoons fresh Cilantro
1 cup or so of Tomato Juice ( need to adjust to desired thickness)

Blue cheese, fresh goat cheese or yogurt for garnish would be nice too

In a blender, I chop onions and cucumbers first and then throw the rest in on set on grind. For a finer puree, use the "liquify" setting. TASTE, TASTE again and adjust seasonings to fit your taste! Will last up to 3 days or so in fridge before "splitting".

OLE!

PAELLA RECIPE @THE MARKET

Thank you one and all for coming out for The Boulevard Market's Spanish Night! The Paella was a big hit and so easy to make at home! Here is the recipe I follow and just cut down amounts according to how many you are serving. I reduced the ingredient amount to 4 cups broth and 2 cups rice...so you'll get a gauge of how much the original makes! Feel free to give a call if you run into a snag.....

PAELLA

6 cups very strong chicken broth (bouillon)
1/2 tsp saffron
1/4 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (Pimentón de la Vera)
1 small onion, peeled
2 small chickens, about 2-1/2 lbs each (I used boneless skinless chicken breast for ease in eating)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 lb of cooking chorizo, in 1/4 inch slices
1/4 lb piece jamón serrano ham, diced (optional-I didn't use last night)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
4 tbsp chopped garlic
2 sweet peppers
1 lb small or medium shrimp, shelled
3 cups short grain Spanish rice such as Bomba or Calasparra
5 tbsp chopped parsley
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 lb fresh or frozen peas
18 clams and/or mussels, scrubbed (While I didn't use because of the lack in our county, this is a MUST for authentic flavor!)
Lemon wedges for garnish
Parsley for garnish

Heat the broth with the saffron, paprika and the whole onion. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove the onion and measure the broth -- you need exactly 5-1/2 cups.

Cut the chickens into small serving pieces -- the whole breast in 4 parts, each thigh into 2 parts, the bony tip of the leg chopped off, the wing tip discarded, and the rest of the wing separated into 2 parts. Dry the pieces well and sprinkle with salt.

In a metal Paella pan, with about a 15 inch base, heat the oil. Add the chicken pieces and fry over high heat until golden. Remove to a warm platter. Add the chorizo, and jamón to the pan and stir fry about 10 minutes. Add the chopped onion, scallions, garlic, and peppers and saute until the onion is wilted. Add the shrimp and saute about 3 minutes more, or until the shrimp barely turn pink. Remove the shrimp to the platter with the chicken. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat it well with the oil. Sprinkle in the 5 tablespoons of chopped parsley. (You can make in advance up to this point.)

Stir in the chicken broth, boiling hot, the wine, rice, and peas. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, over medium high heat about 20-30 minutes or until rice is tender and juice has been absorbed. Bury the shrimp and the chicken in the rice. Add the clams and the mussels, pushing them into the rice, with the edge that will open facing up.

To serve, decorate with lemon wedges (or squeeze over at the counter) and chopped parsley.