Marx Foods Fire and Ice Contest : Chile, Yuzu, and Jasmine Tea Granita

This granita is a flavorful multi-dimensional creation that starts off cool and tart and builds with a fiery heat from the Thai and tepin chilies. It’s a short lived heat that surprisingly keeps you coming back for more. It’s sure to take your taste buds on a roller-coaster!  I’m submitting this to the Fire and Ice Contest held by Marx Foods. I will post the link where you can vote for my creation as soon as it goes live. I appreciate the support as always! To read more about the contest click here. VOTE HERE NOW

Serves : 2

Prep: 10 min

Set Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C. Yuzu Juice
• 1/4 C. Water
• 1/4 C. Jasmine Tea
• 1/4 C. Agave Nectar
• 1 Thai chile, ground
• 2 Tepin chiles, ground
• 2 Cherries, pitted

Instructions:

1. In a mortar and pestle, grind chilies, seeds and all.
2. In a small/medium pot combine all ingredients and heat to a simmer for 10 min.
3. Strain liquid, removing chilies and cherries. Reserve liquid and cherries.
4. Place liquid in a shallow container and freeze for 3 hrs.
5. Slice cherries and reserve.
6. Once liquid is frozen, churn up with two forks and serve, garnishing with the soaked sliced cherries.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer:  I did not receive any compensation from Marx Food for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Cucumber Yuzu and Lavender Granita

This is the perfect little frozen treat to make at home. It’s so refreshing and so simple to make.

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 20 min

Set Time: about 2-3 hours or so, or until mostly frozen.

Ingredients:

• 3 large organic cucumbers peeled and chopped into chunks
• 1 C. White sugar ( I would like to try this with agave nectar next time).
• 3/4 C. Water
• 1/4 C. Yuzu Juice
• Fresh basil
• Sea Salt (if desired).
• 2 sprigs of fresh lavender

Instructions:

1. Juice cucumbers if you have a juicer, if not blend in a blender and strain through a mesh strainer or cheese cloth, reserve juice.
2. Heat water and yuzu juice to a boil, adding lavender sprigs. Stir in sugar and create a simple syrupy substance, once sugar is melted take off heat and let cool. Remove lavender sprigs and discard.
3. Combine juice and syrup in a shallow plastic plan.
4. Freeze until mostly frozen, scrape icy mixture with a fork to “fluff” up.
5. Serve with a basil and salt garnish.

Enjoy and cheers!

Roasted Fennel and Carrot Salad with a Balsamic and Yuzu Reduction Chicken and Gnocchi Surprises

This is a nice warm salad that’s fresh and seasonal. I usually don’t make warm salads but this dish was a reminder of how good they are and I think I will be doing this again soon! It’s great as a side dish or main meal.

Prep: 20 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, fresh
• 5-7 Carrots, sliced in half long ways
• 2-3 Fennel bulbs, quartered
• 1 C. Gnocchi (cooked as you like) I do butter garlic and parsley
• 4 C. Mixed Spring Salad
• 1 Shallot, sliced into 1/4 inch slices, long
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 1/8 C. Balsamic (for carrots, shallots, and fennel).
• 1/8 C. Chicken stock (for carrots, shallots, and fennel)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/8 C. Yuzu (for chicken breasts)
• Balsamic and chicken stock (for chicken breasts) I’m not giving amounts on these so just have the containers available because you will have to eye ball it.

Instructions:

For roasted carrots, fennel, and shallots: Pre heat oven to 425 F. Cut produce and lay out on a large baking dish or pan (It’s helpful to line well with foil) add garlic, then drizzle with:

• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 1/8 C. Balsamic (for carrots, shallots, and fennel).
• 1/8 C. Chicken stock (for carrots, shallots, and fennel)
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Bake covered with foil for 20 and uncovered for 10-20 more min until done.

For Chicken:

• Clean breasts and trim fat.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• In a large skillet heat 1-2 TBS of olive oil on medium high and add breasts.
• This is where you will start with 1/8 C. Yuzu, 1/8 C. Balsamic, and 1/8 C. Stock all equal parts into a measuring cup.
• Add a dash at a time coating the breast it will reduce and get thick.
• Though out the duration of cooking the chicken until done you will keep adding balsamic and stock when it starts to diminish. Make sure your last time you put a bit more in so you have some reduction left to pour on top of salad.

Enjoy and Cheers!

Cocktail Time! Yuzu and Grapefruit Mimosa

I have really enjoyed seeing new cocktails on my fellow bloggers sites and decided I would post one I had last weekend. Cheers!

Ingredients:

• Champagne
• Grapefruit juice
• Yuzu juice

Mix 2 parts champagne, 1 part grapefruit juice, and 1 tsp yuzu juice

My friends at Marx Foods have a great Yuzu Juice!

Bison and Venison Meatballs with a Roasted Beet Salad Dressed with a Yuzu Poppy Agave Dressing

One of my new years resolutions was to be more aware of where ALL of my food comes from. Over the past few years I have really begun to notice little things here and there that are just not quite right with the food that’s out there on grocery shelves. I have always been a label reader and have made conscious decisions about what I purchase but even then I find myself surprised in the results of companies that are clearly being deceitful. For instance the other day I decided I would boil some eggs to have as a snack for last week with lunch… When boiling them, my “brown” (supposedly cage free) eggs starting peeling off this brown paint like film- it was then apparent that these eggs have been bleached and then dyed brown to look more natural… REALLY?!? Is that what the consumer is paying about $1.50-$2.00 extra for? WOW…

There are so many mis-labled food items out there whether it be “Organic” (theres are so many variations of ‘Organic’), “All Vegetarian Diet” (Lot’s of GMO corn counts), “Free-Range” (free to roam in there 5×5 pen with other chickens), “Fat Free” (may as well replace that term with 50+ ingredients, 40 of which you cannot even give a definition for), and my all time favorite “All Natural” this is the biggest crock of shit term ever coined whether it’s on human food or animal food! I recently bought some “All Natural” dog  jerky treats that I come to find out were made in China and are killing dogs due to the way the process the chicken… I could go on and on. The best thing you can do is educate yourself and make educated purchases when it comes to you and your families food.

So I have decided the best way to be aware of what I eat is by shopping local as much as possible and staying away from processed food items when at all possible. In Austin we are lucky to have so many great Farmer’s Markets at our dispense selling everything under the sun. I used to do workshare for Johnson’s Backyard Farm last year where I’d work for 5 hours and then get a large share of veggies. I really liked being a part of where the food I eat comes from! So now that I’ve moved to Lago Vista I just went ahead and became a member of the farm so I can pick up my produce on weekends! It’s really good to eat seasonally and locally – it tastes better, you know where your food was grown, and you support your community.

Click here to join the Johnson’s Backyard Farm

I’m going to share a recipe with you that uses nothing but fresh organic food and humanely processed meats. I hope you enjoy!

Prep: 20

Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min

Serves: 4

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb venison sausage, ground (Thanks Liz and Kyle, I love you and your love for good food).
• 1/2 lb bison, ground
• 2 C. whole wheat bread crumbs ( I made my own bread, served the rest with dinner and took the neighbors a loaf).
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 TBS. fresh parsley
• 5 large spinach leaves, chiffonade
• 1 green onion, chopped (the whole the green and scallion).
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 farm fresh egg
• 1 TBS butter

As a side note….Fennel would go great in these meatballs as well, I always do sausage and fennel so I wanted to do something different this time.

Instructions:

1. Pre-Heat Oven to 350 F.
2. Mix everything from above together minus the butter. Form into 10-12 balls.
3. Heat large skillet with butter on medium high, cook for 2 min on each side, browning the balls on most sides. 5-8 min
4. Transfer to oven for 10-15 min or until cooked through.

Roasted Beet Salad with Poppy Yuzu Agave Dressing Ingredients:

• 3 Large beets with leaves on top, cleaned and peeled and chopped into medium bite sized pieces.
• Beet leaves, washed and vein trimmed out. (Don’t throw these out, these are so good, they taste like a denser, sweeter spinach!)
• 1 Large shallot, sliced.
• 4 Garlic cloves, leave whole

Dressing

• 2 TBS Yuzu juice (this is one of my newest cooking “MUST HAVES”).
• 1 TBS clementine juice
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1 TBS agave nectar
• 1 TBS shallot, minced
• 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 2 TBS. Olive oil
• Mix all of the above and chill while beets cook.

Instructions:

1. Preheat Oven to 375 F.
2. Place beets, shallots, and garlic into a glass baking dish. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just until coated evenly. Bake for 40-50 min or until soft and starting to turn golden.
3. Cool for 30 min or so.
4. Place beets on greens and toss with dressing.

Serve with warm bread and butter.

Coming soon: My BEST pizza to date:  Brussel Spout, Bacon, and Shallot Pizza with homemade dough!

Kiwi and Mango Nigiri : It’s Easy Being Green : Marx Food Contest!

ZestyBeanDog has entered another Marx Foods Contest!  They are just too much fun to not partake in! Marx Foods send you a box of sample sized goodies and the rules are simple:  You have to use at least two ingredients and then blog the recipe. This time around there will be 2 winners, one from internal vote and one from public vote (that me means YOU, my dear friends). Voting will begin on Tuesday at which point I will add the new link to my blog. Then you can check out all the recipes and vote for your favorite one!  The winners get $100 in Marx Food Store Credit and you know I need that BAD!!! I’m all out of  YUZU juice!

I chose to use the Bamboo Rice, Cardamom, and the Mint Herb Crystals to create a Kiwi and Mango Nigiri. This was a tasty and whimsical play on dessert and sushi that I will be making it again for sure, probably for a dinner party. The cardamom infused bamboo rice was subtle yet alluring and the slight crunch of the crystalized mint paired surprisingly well with the mango and bamboo rice.  I couldn’t resist doing kiwi not only because it’s green but also because I love it and the little seeds gave a great texture to the nigiri. The nigiri was then served with a orange honey marmalade and rice wine sauce. Overall it was a fun dish, to eat and to make!

Prep Time: 60 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves: Makes 8 Nigiri

Ingredients:

• .5 Cup Bamboo Rice
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 tsp Rice wine vinegar
• 5 Cardamom pods broken crushed with seeds
• 1 Kiwi
• 1 Mango
• 1 tsp Crystalized Mint
• 4 Mint leaves, small
• Marmalade

Instructions:

1. Boil 1 Cup of water add crushed cardamom pods and seeds, let sit for 10 min on simmer. Strain and reserve water for rice. 
2. Add rinsed bamboo rice to water bring to a boil, add 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, cover and simmer for 20 min or until done.
3. Cut up kiwi and mango thinly to arrange on top of rice.
4. Let rice cool for about 20-30 min.
5. Make 8 nigiri mounds with your hands and place fruit on top and garnish with crystalized mint and real mint.
6. Serve with honey orange marmalade with a splash of rice wine.

Enjoy with a glass of wine!

Marx Foods Cocktails and Mocktails Contest

VOTE HERE

I’ve entered into another contest … Marx Foods Cocktails and Mocktails Contest!  They graciously hooked me up with several ingredients to experiment with:  fennel pollen, saffron, long pepper, dill pollen, juniper berriesand dried pineapple. I love experimenting with new cocktails so I was very excited about this challenge. 

I know many of you will be in shock… but for this challenge I did NOT use Yuzu. Being a Marx Foods Yuzu Ambassador (it’s official, I have a badge), I know I have probably committed a Yuzu ambassador sin.  The truth is, I just ran out last week (had it been in the fridge we all know it would have been in there somewhere)!

Anyhow! I’m more than pleased with my results!

Cocktail:

Pimmentine Cocktail 

The clementine ice cubes make this cocktail over the top! When you get the little bits of fresh squeezed clementine it makes this drink extra special! The subtle hint of cucumber and saffron makes this drink a delightfully refreshing cocktail that everyone will enjoy!

Makes 2 delightful drinks

• 6 Clementine ice cubes (see below for instructions).
• 20 threads of saffron
• 8 oz Pimm’s 
• Gingerale
• Seedless cucumber
• Clemetine wedges (2)
• Ice, 6 cubes
• 1 TBS Meyer lemon juice
• 2 Slices of cucumber

Clementine Ice Cubes

• 3 Clementines (juiced) with pulp
• Ice tray

Place juice in tray and freeze overnight.

Instructions:

• Place 3 clementine ice cubes and 3 regular ice cubes in glass with slice of cucumber.
• Add 4 oz Pimm’s to each cup
• Take saffron threads and mix them with Meyer lemon juice until bright orange. Put half a TBS in each cup of Pimm’s.
• Top with Gingerale and Clementine garnish.
• Enjoy outdoors!

Mocktail:

Bloody Mocky or Mocky Mary

The perfect savory mocktail for the a.m. or p.m. !

Makes 2 Drinks

• 6 Dill Pollen, Long Pepper, and Olive Juice Ice cubes
• 11 oz Tomato Juice
• 1 tsp. Dill Pollen and Long Pepper, ground (2 long peppers, 1 tsp dill pollen) Use this mixture for Ice cubes as well.
• 1 tsp. Worcester sauce
• 2 Celery stalks
• 4 Dashes Tabasco
• Franks Red Hot Sauce

Franks Dill Pollen, Long Pepper, and Olive Juice Ice Cubes

• Ice Cube Tray
• Fill with olive juice almost to top.
• Place 8 drops of Franks in each cube.
• Top with 1/8 tsp. ground dill pollen and long pepper in each cube.

Freeze over night

1. Place 3 Franks dill pollen, long pepper, olive juice ice cubes in a cup.
2. In a shaker: shake 3 Ice cubes, 11 oz tomato juice, 1 tsp. dill pollen and long pepper mix, 1 tsp worcester  sauce. SHAKE well and pour over Franks Dill pollen, long pepper cubes and garnish with celery stalk.

This is a great bloody mary/mocky mocktail! It would even go great as a breakfast component!

Disclaimer:  I did not receive any compensation from Marx Food for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with a Cilantro Ginger Slaw

This is a delicious and healthy lunch or dinner dish that is super simple to prepare. You will love it!!!

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 6 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Ahi tuna steaks (I like to do about a 4-5 oz steak).
• 2 cups Green cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups Purple cabbage, shredded
• 2 TBS Pickled ginger
• 3 TBS Cilantro, chopped rough
• 1 TBS Black sesame seeds
• Salt and pepper
• Coconut oil

Dressing for slaw

• 1 tsp Sesame oil
• 1 tsp Agave nectar
• 1 TBS Yuzu juice
• 2 TBS Rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Wasabi paste

Instructions:

1. Wash Ahi and pat dry, season with salt and pepper. Place in fridge while you prep slaw.
2. Mix cabbage, cilantro, sesame seeds, and ginger in a medium mixing bowl. Place in fridge.
3. Mix up slaw dressing and reserve, dress right before serving.
4. In medium to large skillet heat 1 tsp of coconut oil on medium high.
5. Sear tuna for about 3 min on each side, at the end of the second side sear the edges quickly- serve rare.  You can always cook longer but do not over cook! You want it to be pink in the middle.
6. Place tuna on top of dressed slaw salad! Serve with anything else you like, I did sweet potato gnocchi!

Tempura Veggies with Awesome Sauce and Voting Polls are Open

We had a sushi night last Saturday and it was amazing! I’m doing a 40 day yoga challenge and one of my commitments was to NOT eat meat… so I haven’t had any meat but some occasional seafood. I’m halfway through it and doing well. See the end of post for details on how to vote for my Marx Foods entry!

These tempura veggies are a light and tasty snack or side to a meal.

Serves: 4

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 4 min or until lightly golden

Ingredients for batter: 

• 1 C. Flour
• 1 TBS Corn Starch
• 1 1/2 C. Club Soda
• 1 tsp. Salt
• Peanut oil

Veggies:

You can use what ever veggies you would like. I like sweet potato, bell peppers, Carrots, and Brocoli. Make sure you don’t slice too thick.

Awesome Sauce:

• 1/2 C. Soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Sesame oil
• 1 TBS. Green onion
• 5 Thin slices of ginger, fresh
• 1/2 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. Lime juice
• 2 TBS Rice wine vinegar

Instructions:

1. Slice veggies and make sauce.
2. Heat fryer oil to 375 degrees.
3. Coat veggies in batter, shake off remaining batter and fry for 3-4 min.  Doing small batches at a time.
4. Place on paper towel. Repeat until done.
5. Serve with sauce.

Please vote for my submission to Marx Foods, I made a Chile, Yuzu, and Jasmine Tea Granita, it was DELISH!  The voting polls close Thursday evening! Thank you so much for the support!

Vote For ZestyBeanDog

Hi there everyone! The voting polls are open for the 4th Annual Marx Foods Morel Recipe Contest!!!  Please take a moment to vote for my:

Morel, Bacon, and Parmigiano-Reggiano Stuffed Egg Rolls with an Agave Yuzu Soy Sauce Infused with Garlic, Ginger, and Purple Scallions.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Please help me spread the word! Thanks and CHEERS!