Foie Gras & Flannel

Friends, meet Foodzie (as if you hadn’t met already), which describes itself as an “online marketplace where you can discover and buy food directly from small passionate food producers and growers.” If you’re near me in the Central Valley, you may recognize local names like Bravo Farms on the Producer Map.

I recently joined 19 food other bloggers on Foodzie’s Tasting Panel, and have been challenged with creating a recipe each month featuring a product highlighted in the Tasting Box, a subscription sampler of Foodzie favorites. I accepted the challenge because 1) I like to try new things and 2) I want to push myself a bit in the kitchen (as previous posts show, I dine out a lot)!

Our first challenge features Horseradish-Dill Mustard from SchoolHouse Kitchen (check out their story—it’s pretty cool). I felt ambitious, so the salad is the first of two recipes that I created. Everything fresh was picked up today at Vineyard Farmers Market.

The meat:

• 1 lb. pork tenderloin
• 2 tbsps. SchoolHouse Kitchen Horseradish-Dill Mustard
• 2 tbsps. fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

The greens:

• Loose green and red leaf lettuce
• Fresh arugula, to taste
• 6-8 golden beets, peeled and quartered
• 1 orange, peeled and sliced
• 1 purple carrot ¹, grated
• 1 oz. dried currants
• 2 oz. fresh goat cheese

Horseradish-Dill Mustard Vinaigrette:

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsps. balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsps. SchoolHouse Kitchen Horseradish-Dill Mustard
• 1 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped fine
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped fine
• Pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper (or to taste)
• 5-6 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. On a cutting board or smooth surface, spoon the horseradish-dill mustard over the pork, and rub in to coat fully. Spread out fresh cracked pepper and roll the meat in it.

Heat the oil over high in a cast iron skillet; when hot, sear the pork, about two minutes each side. Remove from stove and place immediately in oven, cooking until the meat reaches your desired temperature – I like pork medium-to-medium-well, so there’s still just a little pink throughout. Once cooked, let rest until ready to slice.

While the meat cooks, peel, quarter and steam the beets until fork tender ². Chill in fridge until ready to use.

When ready to serve, layer the greens on a large plate, mixing in the currants, beets and orange slices. Slice meat and fan out over the salad, and garnish with the grated carrots. Crumble the goat cheese over everything, then drizzle two tablespoons of the salad dressing.

Making the vinaigrette: Combine garlic, vinegar, mustard, herbs and spices in a large mixing bowl and lightly whisk. Continue whisking while lightly pouring in the olive oil to emulsify the mixture. Consistent, repetitive circles with the whisk around the bowl will help.

¹ I’m obsessed with these lately, and get them from a farmer at my local market, but regular carrots will taste just as good.
² I’m also obsessed with golden beets lately, and was informed as I cooked this last night that the juice left after steaming is quite tasty in a martini.

Since Mardi Gras, I’ve been craving Southern flavors, and jambalaya is one of my favorite dishes. Ever. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to make.

I’ll be honest: I’m having a hard time sharing this batch with Kim—it only made about 10 servings, and it’s that good. In other words, if you want some, you gotta make it yourself. Here’s the recipe (reposted from TasteFresno):

Ingredients

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsps. Cajun seasoning mix (like Tony Chachere’s)
• 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs.), quartered
• 1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced ¼ in. thick
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 bay leaves
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme, roughly chopped
• 2 cans whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ½ quarts chicken stock
• 1 good beer
• 2 cups long grain rice
• 4 green onions, sliced
• Parsley, chopped, to taste

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven (I use the 9-quart pot for this), heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat. Season shrimp with Cajun seasoning and saute until almost cooked through (about 4 minutes). Remove shrimp and set aside until later. Season chicken pieces with Cajun seasoning; add remaining olive oil to Dutch oven and when hot, add chicken pieces and saute until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add sausage and cook until browned.

Add onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, cayenne and thyme and cook until vegetables are wilted, about 6 minutes. De-glaze with the beer, then add tomatoes and stock and return chicken to pot. Season with salt and pepper and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add rice to pot, stir well and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove chicken and cut into bite-size pieces; return to pot.

Add shrimp, green onions and parsley to Dutch oven, mixing carefully, and continue to cook, covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes before serving. Serve with warm French bread.

Monday night was Fresno’s 10th installment of Pecha Kucha Night (“pecha kucha” Japanese for “chit chat”). If you’re not familiar with the concept, presenters are given 20 slides – and 20 seconds per slide – to talk about whatever they want. In the context of a theme, that is. Monday’s was Tasteful/Tasteless

My interpretation was more along the lines of tast-y. It’s embedded below, but before you watch that, check out these other food-related presentations from the event:

Dusty & Kristin from Dusty Buns Bistro

Mmm…now I want their grilled cheese…

Flannery & Katherine from Fashionably Bombed

High energy; high fashion. It’s hard not to smile around the f-bombed girls.

Rebecca Plevin from Vida en el Valle

Reminding us that many of our neighbors don’t enjoy the same luxuries. Thanks for the perspective, Rebecca!

Me

Talking about two of my favorite things: food and flannel. Specifically, my “food journey.”

Stop #5 on the food tour during our weekend in Pasadena came as a recommendation from a local. We walked up to front door of The Counter around 12:45 p.m. on Saturday; like everywhere else we visited, the place was packed.

I thought it might be a southern California thing, but The Counter an international franchise. It’s rare for me to find a burger at a restaurant (especially a chain!) that rivals something I can make at home, but I really enjoyed our meal. I also enjoyed the “build a burger” experience, though another patron told us it’s even better at the Santa Monica location, where you can watch the construction (thus the “counter”).

Pictured above is what Kim ordered: The Counter Burger. The onion crisps were overkill, but the burger was tasty.

I ordered a bison burger (bison was the market special – it’s not normally on the menu) with smoked gouda, fresh greens, red onion and steak sauce. The burger was cooked a perfect medium, at the recommendation of our server, and had excellent flavor. Actually, I was quite impressed with how little seasoning was used, even with the steak sauce; it speaks highly of the meat quality.

Sweet potato fries. Hard to screw these up.

Each menu comes with a pencil to mark meat, topping and bread selections.

Action shot.

Crisp, clean. We sat out on the patio to soak in the weather.

Random story: I couldn’t help but watch this woman with her labradoodle – she was struggling to keep him from jumping on everyone that walked by.

Daisy Mint is proof to me that a business that is notable can overcome a lot – including a less than desirable location. The place was packed Friday night.

We ordered the beef salad (I had hoped it would be comparable to B&K’s yum nua, but it had it’s own unique flavors), panang curry and summer wraps. Everything tasted incredibly fresh.

From Euro Pane in Pasadena. I wanted to eat everything they had, but I refrained.

My brother invited me to join him at our sister’s place in Baton Rouge for Mardi Gras. I couldn’t make it happen, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t celebrate with friends: Kim, Nicole, Amanda, Ruby, Ron, Phillip, Alisa, Oliver—did I miss anyone?

I can’t really take credit for anything here – friend, foodie and food pornographer Amanda cooked up the grub. Check out her recap of the festivities, then drool over her photo of the chipotle-strawberry filled king cake. She’s a little better at the photo thing, but here’s a few more for memory’s sake:

King cake #2: apple and cinnamon.

Kim, in a mask. That’s Phillip in his pimp hat in the background.

Decorations. Also, Nicole in the background.

More decorations. The organizers took this party seriously!

And salad.

Not pictured: the roast beef sandwich that was served with this. Or the brie appetizer I ate before.

And to think, that’s only a fraction of one menu, in one of Tenaya’s five restaurants. I think we need a few more days here to explore them all.

[update] As he promised, Steven delivered on the recipe. I’d second his recommendation to cut back on the bacon.

You read that right. Bacon. In an apple pie.

Tasty.

Thanks to Steven for baking it for the office (proof that a happy former intern is a pie-baking former intern). He’s promised to post the recipe on TasteFresno.

Turkey, bacon, avocado, pepper jack and jalapenos on fresh-baked sun-dried tomato and basil bread.

I ♥ Charlotte’s.