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Mother’s Day Dinner with Cornish Hens and Sauerkraut

May 28, 2014 by Mary 32 Comments

We have had a consistent thread running through our celebrations lately, and that is not celebrating on the exact day – but boy do we celebrate! We’ve got our own calendar going! We celebrated Easter Sunday on the Saturday before, Zach’s birthday (which is July 10^th – but he’ll be in Europe for the summer) on May 10^th and Mother’s Day for us was a week later as we had to travel to Boston for business on the actual holiday. My boys, with the help of one girlfriend, once again made a spectacular meal using recipes from Jamie Oliver, Mark Bittman, and the Chocolate Covered Katie blog. Not too shabby, right?! The standout main dish, unusual but terrific, was Bittman’s Cornish Hens and Sauerkraut recipe.

My boys always ask what I want and I promptly say, “Surprise me!” I like/love nearly everything except processed food and of course they’re not going to go there because after all, they were raised by me. When the older one texted me to ask if I had juniper berries at the apartment, I knew I was in for something great. I LOVE juniper berries – as I love my gin martinis on a Friday night!

They started with a Jaime Oliver roasted tomato bread soup. It was different (I can always count on that from them) and delicious but was supposed to have used day-old bread which may have been better to add a bit more substance instead of the bread being so fresh as to soak everything up. No matter – that was a texture issue – the taste was fabulous! And since I was really hungry, it was substantial and great! Here’s the recipe – cute name! http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/bread-and-tomato-soup-pappa-al-pomodoro

The next course (yes, we have courses!) was this amazing salad of really unusual ingredients – fennel, red onion, cucumber, radishes and oranges. Yes oranges! They provided a wonderful refreshing burst of flavor!

Here’s the complete recipe – they did not use the ice cubes.

INSALATA AMALFITANA Amalfi Salad – Adapted from Jamie’s Italy.

1 bulb of fennel, washed
1 red onion, peeled
1 cucumber
a large handful of radishes, washed
2 tablespoons good-quality herb or red wine vinegar
good-quality extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black peper
4 oranges, peeled, segmented, and seeds removed

Optional: a small handful of ice cubes

Remove the herb-like tops from the fennel and set them aside. Then trim the fennel at both ends and take off the outer layer. Split the fennel in half and slice lengthwise as finely as possible. Put into a large bowl. Remove both ends of the onion, then halve it and slice it as finely as possible. Slice the cucumber finely into disk shapes. Leave the stems on the radishes as a grip. Then slice a little bit out of the side of the radish so it will be stable on the counter. Slice as finely as possible into disks.

Throw a few ice cubes in the bowl and toss the salad with them for a few minutes. Jamie says that this makes the vegetables get crunchier. I’m not sure why it works, but it really does.

Remove the ice cubes. In a bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of good herb or red wine vinegar and about 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well, and taste. If your oranges are super sweet, you may want some extra vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss the salad with the dressing, then add the orange segments with their juices. Sprinkle the reserved fennel tops over the salad right before serving.

And then we had the amazing main course of the Cornish hens with sauerkraut served with some sliced, crispy roasted Yukon gold potatoes.

CORNISH HENS AND SAUERKRAUT – By Mark Bittman
From the How to Cook Everything Essentials^® app

An elegant but straightforward dish and an excellent introduction to sauerkraut. But steer clear of the canned stuff; instead, look for a bottled brand that contains no more than cabbage, salt, and water. This preparation also works well with pheasant, chicken, and duck.

4 Cornish hens, about 1 pound each
4 slices bacon, diced, or 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds sauerkraut
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon juniper berries, crushed with the side of a knife
1 sprig fresh thyme or a pinch dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine
Stock or water as needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the backbone of the hens by cutting along their length on each side. Separate breast and leg quarters. Cook the bacon over medium heat in a large, deep ovenproof skillet until crisp, about 10 minutes, or heat the oil until it shimmers. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the hen pieces to the bacon fat or olive oil and brown them on all sides. Meanwhile, rinse the sauerkraut in a colander and heat the oven to 300°F.

When the bird is nicely browned, add the sauerkraut, cloves, juniper berries, thyme, bay leaf, and white wine to the skillet. Cook over medium heat until about half of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes; move the skillet into the oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding liquid as needed to keep the sauerkraut just moist, until the legs are tender and the sauerkraut is slightly browned. Remove the skillet from the oven, then remove the cloves and bay leaf. Taste the sauce, adjust the seasoning, garnish with the bacon pieces (oops – they forgot that) and serve hot or warm.

And for dessert, they made this amazingly rich, decadent chocolate mousse topped with fresh raspberries and strawberries, that had this secret surprise ingredient that not one of us could guess – it was tofu!!! Yes tofu was used instead of cream. Can you imagine?

It was delicious – and no doubt a whole lot healthier for you!

Here it is from the Chocolate Covered Katie blog. She apparently specializes in healthy chocolate desserts. How cool is that?!

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/02/06/chocolate-chocolate-chocolate-mousse/

Chocolate mousse with raspberries and strawberries half eaten

I couldn’t eat the whole thing!

I know I’m lucky. Hope all you moms out there enjoyed a fantastic Mother’s Day, filled with LOVE too!

Coconut Macaroons with a Quadratini Surprise

May 18, 2014 by Mary 34 Comments

Our last item in MARY’s secret ingredients spring box is the hazelnut or dark chocolate Loacker Quadratini, the number one wafer cookie in Italy. Now this cookie is so good, it really doesn’t need anything but you and your mouth. Many of you have written on your social pages that this cookie package was the first thing you dug into and most likely polished off the full bag in one sitting. It’s easy to do. They are great, of course with ice cream or even crushed on top of yogurt, ice cream or sorbet. So honestly, I was stumped to come up with something more to enhance these cute little squares until I came up with this idea – Coconut Macaroons with a Quadratini Surprise!

We were having our dear friends, Maria and Joey, over for dinner last night and these Coconut Macaroons with a Quadratini Surprise were our dessert, along with some blood orange and lemon sorbet, garnished with a strawberry. I really wasn’t sure if this recipe idea was going to work, but amazingly, it did!! The Quadratini still held their crunch and with the surprise chocolate or hazelnut burst, they were awesome! Needless to say, this dessert was memorable. We all ate too many and talked about it this morning (they spent the night – and it’s always a good sign when you talk about a dish again in the morning) but nothing that a brisk walk or gym workout wouldn’t take off today.

For those of you who didn’t receive the spring box, you can certainly make these cookies without the Quadratini surprise, although I highly recommend this inner delight! Much better than just coconut throughout. Here’s the recipe.

COCONUT MACAROONS WITH A QUADRATINI SURPRISE – makes 20 – 22 cookies

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
20 -22 Loacker Quadratini Dark Chocolate or Hazelnut cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop 1 teaspoon of the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper, place a Quadratini wafer cookie in the middle and cover with another teaspoon of cookie dough to cover up the inner cookie completely, especially on the sides. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Serve with LOVE and enjoy all the compliments!

Spicy Brined Chicken and Pork

May 14, 2014 by Mary 24 Comments

The wonderful bottle of brine from Sweetwater Spice Company, included in the MARY’s secret ingredients spring box, makes for a super easy way to tenderize and flavor meats. You would have either received the Tres Chilies Fajita Bath or the Pineapple Habanero Jerk BBQ Bath Brine. Both of these flavors are great to make spicy brined chicken and pork or even seafood. If you didn’t order a spring box, you can click on their ad on the right rail here and go directly to their website and order some bottles.

We have received amazing positive and enthusiastic comments and reviews on the box. Such excitement! You can see those reviews here:

http://subscriptionboxmania.weebly.com/1/post/2014/05/marys-secret-ingredients-april-2014.html
http://www.hangingoffthewire.com/2014/05/marys-secret-ingredients-box-may-2014.html
http://www.subscriptionboxmom.com/2014/05/marys-secret-ingredients.html
http://shouldibuythisbox.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/marys-secret-ingredient-spring-2014/
http://2littlerosebuds.com/2014/05/06/marys-secret-ingredients-msi-culinary-box-review-discount-code/
http://www.ramblingsofasuburbanmom.com/2014/05/spring-2014-marys-secret-ingredients-review/
http://modernmommyfiles.com/2014/05/marys-secret-ingredients-box-may-2104/

Best of all, sales of boxes help to feed hungry children worldwide as 10% of our annual profits will be donated to Feed The Children. Because of these great reviews, the summer box is selling fast, as well as the other seasons too, so if you want to get in on the fun, place your order now. Use the promo code 4LOVE when checking out for $4.00 off for a total cost of $21.95.

Using the Austin, Texas, Sweetwater Spice Company brines, I created this wonderful dinner salad by marinating skinless, boneless chicken breasts in the Pineapple Habanero Jerk Brine and then grilling them. The beauty of this product is that the brining time (30 minutes) is quick and the results produce really juicy flavorful meat. This is not a sweet dish, don’t let the pineapple in the name fool you. It is spicy with just a hint of pineapple on the back end. Here’s the recipe, super easy – use any leftover vegetables you have or grill some fresh.

PINEAPPLE HABANERO JERK GRILLED CHICKEN ON A SALAD – serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, washed, dried and trimmed of all fat
Sweetwater Spice Company Pineapple Habanero Jerk BBQ Bath Brine – follow instructions on the bottle to dilute the brine and marinate for 30 minutes or more. Do not strain the spices and add on unless you like things super firey hot!
Boston lettuce, washed and air dried
Radicchio leaves, washed and air dried
2 vine ripened tomatoes, cored and washed
16 asparagus spears, washed and trimmed of woody stem parts
1/2 lb. okra, washed and tops trimmed
2 tbs. olive oil
Vidalia or other sweet onion, very thinly sliced
Croutons – homemade preferably
Sherry vinaigrette salad dressing

Marinate chicken in the brine for 30 minutes or more – up to 2 hours.

Wash and dry the lettuce and radicchio. Toss asparagus and okra in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cut the tomatoes into wedges. Make the salad dressing. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Discard brine. Grill the chicken until just done. Let rest for 5 -10 minutes before slicing on an angle. While the chicken is resting, grill the vegetables until nicely done.

Arrange the lettuce and radicchio on the plates. Place the grilled vegetables, tomatoes and the sliced onions on the sides, leaving the center area clear for the chicken. Slice the chicken breasts and place in the middle. Scatter croutons on top. Drizzle dressing overall to taste. Serve with LOVE.

Enjoy!

Just look at how juicy that chicken is!

I also used the Tres Chilies Fajita Bath to brine big thick pork chops and they turned out divine! I brined them for 3 hours and grilled them – really wonderful!

Tea and Honey Marinated Chicken Breasts

May 11, 2014 by Mary 24 Comments

The Calmer Sutra Peppermyntle Tea and Ginger Infused Honey from Australia, which were in the spring box of MARY’s secret ingredients are, of course, divine as a cup of tea with honey. Lovely before going to bed at night, the peppermint is a digestive aid as is the ginger in their ginger infused honey. Add the lemon kick from the myrtle and you’ve got a flavor explosion in your cup. I LOVE the ginger honey! The ginger adds a kick of heat perfectly combined with the sweet honey, the combo is quite nice! (Please remember to refrigerate your honey after you’ve opened it.) With the myrtle being indigenous to Australia, a little research came up with a lot of dessert recipes for this herb. So of course I could have followed in that direction which would also work well with the honey, but I chose to go the savory way instead with this Tea and Honey Marinated Chicken Breasts recipe.

This is my first time marinating with tea and this resulting dish was just delicious! Besides the chicken being juicy, tender and subtly flavored, the browning was beautiful and I do believe that was because of the tea and honey!

Here’s the recipe:

TEA AND HONEY MARINATED CHICKEN BREASTS – serves 4

3/4 cup of water
1 tbs. Calmer Sutra Peppermyntle Tea
4 scallions, white and pale green only, chopped
3 tbs. canola oil, divided
Zest of one lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbs. low salt soy sauce
1 tbs. Calmer Sutra Ginger Infused Honey
1 tbs. chopped fresh ginger root
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Heat the water over high heat to a simmer. Pour over the tea leaves and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the tea mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard the tea leaves. Add the scallions, 2 tbs. canola oil, lemon zest and juice, soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic. Stir to combine and place over a bowl of ice water to cool. Make 4 to 5 diagonal cuts 1/4” deep across each chicken breast half. Pour marinade into a zip lock bag, add chicken and massage the chicken with the sauce, turning occasionally and refrigerate overnight.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Remove the breasts from the marinade and pat dry. Place the marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer. Add the chicken to the skillet without crowding and cook until browned, 3 – 4 minutes.

Turn the breast and continue cooking until the juices run clear when pierced with a knife, an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside on a platter to rest for 5 minutes. Serve the chicken topped with the sauce.

I served this with fluffy Jasmine rice, topped with the sauce and a side of the Eggplant Tomato Yum.

Eggplant Tomato Layered YUM! with Greek Oregano

May 9, 2014 by Mary 8 Comments

There is oregano and then there’s Greek OREGANO! The oregano in our spring box from Harmonian, straight from Greece, is so fragrant, so flavorful and unlike any store bought oregano you’ll find in grocery stores here. Now of course you can use this just like you would use oregano in any recipe, but I have 2 suggestions for it here, one with a nod to Greece using lemon, as my memories of Greece and Greek food always include lemon. The main recipe, Eggplant Tomato Layered Yum! is a go-to meal for us on our meatless nights. I have another version posted before, but since I have noticed that this is an often searched-for recipe, I thought I’d spice up your repertoire and add this version as well!

EGGPLANT TOMATO LAYERED YUM! with GREEK OREGANO – serves 6

4 small Italian eggplants, trimmed and cut into 1/4” slices
5 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 bunch of scallions (with large bulbs if you can find) or 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 tsp. Harmonium Greek oregano
1/2 of a ball of mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
8 slices of provolone cheese, torn to fit
6 plum tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4”slices
Salt
Pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tbs. chopped chives

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slick a 15” x10” glass Pyrex pan with olive oil. Lay eggplant slices to cover the bottom. Sprinkle on sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Spread out garlic and sliced scallions or shallots to cover. Then sprinkle on the Greek oregano and take a moment to breathe in the wonderful aroma. Lay on top any leftover extra eggplant slices. Swirl a little bit of olive oil all over the top.

Lay on the mozzarella,

then cover with the Provolone, tearing slices to make a nice even covering. Spread out tomatoes on the top. Lightly salt and pepper the tomatoes.

In a small bowl, mix together with a fork, the panko, olive oil, Pecorino Romano, chives and salt and pepper to taste.

Spread crumb mixture on top. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before cutting up to serve.

Cut into 6 rectangles and serve on top of whole wheat pasta for a delicious vegetarian meal!!

For this delicious LEMON OREGANO ROAST CHICKEN, refer to this recipe, but instead of shoving garlic and thyme sprigs under the skin, cover lemon slices with oregano and slide underneath the skin, oregano side down.

Use 2 slices for each breast and one slice for each back side of the thighs. Also use the parmesan cheese rinds in the cavity and you’ll have a delicious roast chicken!

I served this on top of fusilli with sautéed broccoli rabe.

Smoked Tomato Soup with Nueske’s Sausages and Flathaus Cheese Straw Croutons

May 7, 2014 by Mary Frances 20 Comments

Here are two matches made in heaven to go with the first review of ingredients from our MARY’s secret ingredients box!

For those of you who ordered a box, I know you dug into the cheese straws as your first or second thing, right? They are great directly out of the box! Before discovering these, I was actually convinced that no one could make a cheese straw as good as the ones I made one Christmas, but I was promptly proven wrong by these cheese straws from Mississippi made by the husband and wife team at Flathaus. These are super! Full of cheddar, crisp and light, with a hint of chipotle, these are going to be a staple in my house.

Serve up a bowl of these Flathaus Cheese Straws with some delicious Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Landjaeger Sausages for a quick and terrific appetizer with cocktails. All you need is a pretty little bowl for the cheese straws and juice glass for the sausages. Cut the sausages in long strips and stand them upright in the glass for a handsome presentation. Stand back and watch your guests delight in these two taste treats!

And then I’d like for you to try this smoked tomato soup recipe with some of those lean Nueske’s sausages, diced, and topped with the Flathaus Cheddar Cheese Straws broken into a crouton size — ooh la la – isn’t this to die for? It’s brilliant! Popping with flavor layers and OMG moments, run to the kitchen and make this. If you didn’t get a box, go to these sites and order the sausages and cheese straws now!

SMOKED TOMATO SOUP – serves 6 to 8

13 vine ripened tomatoes, (or 16 plum) cored and tops sliced off
1/4 cup plus 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
2.25 cups diced leeks (white and light green parts), split in half, washed thoroughly & dried
1 heaping cup chopped yellow onions
1 cup dry red wine
2 thick slices diced smoked bacon, preferably no nitrates & remove and discard really fatty areas
5 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Landjaeger Sausages, diced
12 Flathaus Cheddar Cheese Straws, each one broken into 3 pieces

Preheat the grill to medium. Arrange the tomatoes in an aluminum pan. Sprinkle the cut tops with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, some salt and fresh ground pepper. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil and grill for 20 minutes. Remove from grill, uncover and cool for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the tomato skins.

Meanwhile, place 1/4 cup of the olive oil, as well as the leeks, onions, and bacon in a soup pot. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Crush or roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and all the juices and olive oil from the roasting pan, wine, garlic, salt, vinegar, pepper, and cayenne to the pot. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Add the parsley. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup (or cool slightly and puree in a regular blender in small batches). Add the diced sausages and stir for 5 minutes to warm them up. Divide evenly among warm soup bowls and float cheddar cheese stick croutons on top. Serve immediately.

You have just entered heaven!

MARY’s secret ingredients revealed!

May 5, 2014 by Mary 14 Comments

Everyone should have their box of surprise secret ingredients by now. It was chock full of goodies from all over the world. So let me present it to you with music in the video below! This is our lovely Marie Anello, our project manager and soon to be famous opera singer belting it out to the tune of “I Can Cook Too” from On the Town.

Or you can watch the video on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/bneUwn7zMWk

Here’s what Marie is pulling out of the box, in order:

Sweetwater Spice Company Brine Bath bottles SWEETWATER SPICE COMPANY
Created in Austin TX, their brine concentrates produce the most tender and juicy meat, no matter how it’s cooked! Now this is a brine concentrate, NOT a BBQ sauce. You need to follow the directions and dilute this with water to create a quick time brine solution to marinate, tenderize and flavor your chicken, meat or seafood. Either one of the two flavors below were included in our box.

Pineapple Habanero Jerk BBQ Bath Brine: This brine is a classic, island inspired recipe with the traditional flavors of pineapple, thyme, allspice, garlic, onion, and of course, habanero chilies. In all, there are 16 herbs and spices and each hits the tongue together with an extra kick from the habaneros. It’s great on pork, poultry, and seafood!
OR:
Tres Chilies Fajita Bath: This brine uses natural smoked salt and smoked chilies (chipotle, ancho, and cayenne) to bring the taste of the grill indoors. The medium degree of spice of this flavor is balanced with the sweet final note of the apple juice base.

Harmonian Greek oregano
HARMONIAN
Harmonian is a Greek brand just established in June, 2013. The company’s aim is to bring a new understanding of “healthy” and “taste conscious” food to the market.

Oregano From Wildcrafted Plants: The ultimate Mediterranean spice – with rich aroma, full flavor and antioxidant properties – is inextricably linked to red sauces, Greek cuisine, and pizza in any form. Following the tradition of Harmonian spice collection, the oregano is collected by hand from wildcrafted plants in Pindos’ cliffs, contributing a unique, strong aroma in contrast to conventionally cultivated oregano. You can smell this through the packaging – it is heavenly!

Flathaus Fine Foods chipotle cheddar cheese straws
FLATHAU’S FINE FOODS
Flathau’s Fine Foods was formed by a husband and wife duo back in 1995. They set out to systematically perfect gourmet snacks, one at a time, and I do believe they succeeded with these cheese straws. And the packaging is so darn cute!!

Chipotle Cheese Straws: These are all natural cheese straws made with aged sharp cheddar. Based on the owner’s great grandmother’s family recipe, this version has been released in an updated cheddar chipotle variety, using the right blend of high quality ingredients to create these perfect gourmet snacks. Bite into this traditional Southern favorite blended with a tiny kiss of chipotle that will keep your taste buds coming back for more. “I could eat a LOT of these” my husband, Steve, said.

NUESKE’S
Nueske's Applewood smoked sausages Nueske’s was founded in 1933 by R.C. Nueske who couldn’t find an Applewood smoking flavor as good as his family recipe anywhere. So, he decided to market his smoked bacon, sausage, turkeys and hams in rural Wisconsin.

Applewood Smoked Landjaeger Sausages: Super lean cuts of pork and beef are coarsely ground and blended with just the right amount of fresh cracked black pepper to give this slightly chewy, traditional German snack its fabulous Old World flavor. Then they let their smokehouses work their magic, bringing the essence of sweet applewood to each and every bite. A standby for generations of outdoorsmen, these sausages are the perfect tag-along for your next trek through the woods, tailgate event, or any time you crave a deliciously different kind of snack.

Calmer Sutra peppermyntle tea and ginger infused honey CALMER SUTRA TEA
Calmer Sutra Tea is an Australian family-owned business specializing in crafting deliciously calming tea, herbal tisane and honey blends. They started their tea journey over 10 years ago.

Peppermyntle Tea: A calmer twist on a calming drink: Peppermint leaves with a hint of sweet lemon myrtle. This blend is fresh and minty with subtle citrus notes. It’s perfect for refreshing your body, settling an upset stomach, and helping to restore a sense of calm at the end of a long day.

Ginger Infused Honey: Smooth textured and sweet, our double blended honey dances with its freshest partner, ginger root, in this palate pleasing blend. It’s sweetness with a calmer KICK!

LOACKER
Loacker is an Italian company based in South Tyrol, at the base of the Alps, specifically the Dolomite Mountains, producing wafer and chocolate products. Alfons Loacker founded it in 1926 as a family company.

Loacker Quadratini wafer cookies
Quadratinis, Hazelnut or Dark Chocolate Flavors: A mouth-watering snack supply for a break
wherever you are: at home, at work, on a trip, or when exercising. Loacker applies craftsmanship to the best raw ingredients to make wafer and chocolate specialties that are appreciated for their fresh, crisp taste, their delicate creams, and their fine chocolate. A delight that never fails to please, combining a love of nature with a passion for the art of baking results in a delicious creation. And they’re not too bad in calories – only about 17 per cube!

Starting on Wednesday of this week, on every other day, I will post a recipe and/or serving suggestion using each one of these ingredients, starting with Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Sausages and Flathaus Fine Foods Chipotle Cheese Straws. You can also find our partners highlighted on the Partners page of our MARY’s secret ingredients website www.maryssecretingredients.com

A big thank you to all of you who ordered a box! Your purchase will help to eradicate childhood hunger as 10% of our annual profits will be donated to Feed The Children.

So see you on Wednesday – to put some LOVE in your cooking!

Snow Peas with Ginger, Garlic, Shallots, Lemon and Mint

May 4, 2014 by Mary 18 Comments

snow peas, ginger, garlic, shallots Photo from Apr 12, 2014

For a vegetable dish bursting with flavors, and a perfect springtime meal accompaniment, try this Snow Peas with Ginger, Garlic, Shallots, Lemon and Mint recipe. Our oldest son’s girlfriend made this for dinner a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious! They paired this with braised short ribs and some good French bread. It was a fresh, crisp antithesis to the tender, melty short ribs.

Here’s what she did:

SNOW PEAS WITH GINGER, GARLIC, SHALLOTS, LEMON AND MINT

2 tbs. olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 tbs. minced ginger
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb. of snow peas, strings removed
Pinch of sugar
Salt
Pepper
1/2 of a lemon, juiced
Grated zest of a whole lemon
3 tbs. chopped mint

Heat a large sauté pan on high heat for 1 minute. Add the olive oil, shallots and ginger to the hot pan and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the snow peas to the pan, the pinch of sugar, salt and pepper and toss and cook for another 1.5 – 2 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and zest and cook for 30 seconds more. Off heat, fold in the mint and serve.

We have had so much going on here at LOVE. As perhaps you’ve noticed, we’ve redesigned this site so that you can see more posts at a glance on the home page. This makes more recipes immediately accessible and hopefully will provide additional inspiration for you to cook clean, healthy, delicious food, with LOVE.

Our MARY’s secret ingredients boxes were all mailed on the 25^th of April, as scheduled! They should be in everyone’s hands, including those of you on the west coast, by tomorrow. There has been so much excitement surrounding them! Many of you have already posted your very enthusiastic comments and shared photos on Twitter and Pinterest. I will reveal everything here tomorrow and post recipes and serving suggestions for all of the ingredients in the coming two weeks. I’m very excited about that!

We’ve also had a rush of people coming back and ordering more boxes after receiving this spring box. So if you are interested, I urge you to place your order now for the other seasons as they are selling fast and we will only have 100 boxes each season.

So stayed tuned and visit often or sign up for an email notification (on the right rail here) when I post a new recipe, and remember to cook with LOVE. Your food will always taste better!

MARY’s secret ingredients boxes are on their way!

April 27, 2014 by Mary 14 Comments

It’s been a week of preparing and packing the actual boxes. Our team at the office, headed by our amazing Lily, did an awesome job! The boxes have all been lovingly filled with amazing products that I know will inspire your cooking. All of our spring MARY’s secret ingredients (MSI) boxes are on their way. I’m guessing that those of you who ordered them will have them in your hands early this week and I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Our spring boxes are completely sold out. But don’t worry, you can still order the other seasonal boxes right now but really, don’t wait, as we’ve already sold quite of few of those as well, as many people purchased all of the seasons.

The ingredients in this season’s box are from all over the world, and of course, fit our profile of all natural, healthy, gourmet eating. I have been busy working on recipes and serving suggestions using all of them, which will appear here in the coming week.

More importantly, we want to thank everyone – our partners and our customers who have made a commitment with us to eradicate world hunger as we are donating 10% of our profits to Feed The Children. No one should go hungry.

Soon the suspense will be over and you’ll be spicing up your cooking with new flavors and new ingredients! Spread the word and remember, to always cook with LOVE.

Our Easter Dinner

April 24, 2014 by Mary 35 Comments

This year was unusual for us.

We celebrated a lovely Easter Sunday dinner on . . . Saturday night! I was originally planning on having a Sunday dinner, but then my sister-in-law pointed out that people would have to leave so early, or couldn’t be there at all due to the travel time needed to be back home for work on Monday morning. I thought this solution was genius. It accommodated some of our guests and worked out so well. I think I might do this every year! Last year I complained about Easter Monday not being a true holiday so I’ll just go at it from the other end and celebrate our Easter dinner on Saturday!

An added benefit for us hosts was that this left Sunday to be truly a day to relax, take a walk in the park, and enjoy leisure time. It was a gift!

The dinner I made, I must say, turned out really, really well. After a workout in the gym on Saturday, I got started on prepping all the vegetables, enlisting my husband to help. As long as I didn’t balk at listening to the baseball game, he was willing to be an able sous chef.

Vegetables that cooked with the elephant beans.

There were 10 of us. We started with an asparagus soup topped with crème fraiche and snipped chives – a recipe from the HayDay Country Market cookbook. This soup was delicious, however I must confess that when I was pureeing it, I had my doubts, as it smelled just awful – like Del Monte canned asparagus – eew! I was near gagging and then thinking, how could I possibly serve this? And by that time, it was too late to throw it out and make something new. Fortunately, the smell didn’t last and the soup tasted delicious – whew!

Our main course was a delicious 10 lb. organic, free range, no nitrate ham from Herondale Farms in upstate New York and it was amazing!! Just look at this beauty. My glaze was a homemade mustard, honey, rum and cloves number, no sticky pineapple and awful cherries for me! This type of ham almost looks like a fresh ham, because there are no dyes to make it pink, but it is smoked. It is so different and so good!!

Here’s the full dinner plate: the ham, chrzan (our Polish red beets and horseradish dish), Greek elephant beans baked in a tomato sauce that were so creamy and good (I’ll have to make that again and measure, so I can give you the recipe) and sauteed spinach with garlic. It was certainly colorful!

We ended the meal with this totally yummy sour cream topped cheesecake – an Amanda Hesser recipe that was in the New York Times years ago, with fresh figs and raspberries on the side.

A totally satisfying, delicious dinner! But what always happens at these big dinner parties is that I’m rushing and take crappy pictures or forget to take them at all! With all the excitement and all the people, it’s just not foremost in my mind, so I apologize for that.

As I said before, our big bonus was a totally enjoyable, lazy Sunday with a walk down to Central Park drinking in the sunshine and sights.

Aren’t they just so cute?