Entries in Summer Recipes (2)

Friday
Sep172010

Fun With Fennel Pollen

I'm always up for trying new, exotic ingredients.  Some--like the smoked Himalayan black salt--really didn't reach its potential.  Maybe it was my fault for thinking that Himalayan black salt had potential!  One of the newish designer ingredients that I do love is fennel pollen.  Fennel pollen is harvested from, you guessed it, fennel plants.  Like fennel it has a licorice flavor, however I find that the licorice flavor of the pollen is more subtle and much sweeter.

I began to experiment with fennel pollen last Thanksgiving when I decided to make a traditional Thanksgiving rabbit. I was going to use a Culinary Institute of America recipe for rabbit that called for fennel pollen.  Although I never have actually made that recipe (due to popular, yet misguided, demand I ended up making a turkey), I have had fun experimenting with the pollen.  It has such a lovely flavor that it is delicious sprinkled over roast vegetables or on pasta.  It's also a really good base for dry rubs for meats, poultry and fish.  The company I purchased the fennel pollen from, Pollen Ranch, has many good rubs that are pre-mixed.  It's a really easy dinner to rub one of the spice blends on chicken or fish or my favorite, lamb chops, and throw them on the grill!

Wednesday
Jun022010

Eating for Three

As some of you may or may not know, I've been eating for three over the past eight months...we're expecting twin boys in another month or so.  While this may have been a great excuse to try lots of new recipes, pregnancy has actually made it quite hard to cook.  Imagine cooking, while sea sick, with a forty pound bag of dog food strapped to your chest.  It's not that fun.  trust me.

I've been making simple meals, lots of take out, and sometimes even my husband pitches in.  I'm not complaining, he really does try, but I think he perfected his cooking during college when gourmet was sticking an entire box of pasta in a pot, not stirring it, and then consuming the "pasta log" with a knife and fork.  Unfortunately, he hasn't made much progress... the other night we had an argument on how to make ravioli--he insisted that you didn't have to use much water or stir the pot and that there was no need to heat up the sauce since it would warm up once it mixed with the hot ravioli.  don't try this at home!!!!!

Now that summer is here, I can't resist the kitchen.  Unfortunately, it's difficult to stand for long periods of time, so I have resorted to sitting down to prep the meals.  it works though!  It's early in the season, but I have been able to get delicious tomatoes in the farm market.  Summer GazpachoGazpacho, paired with crositini and crabs, is a delicious and easy summer meal.  I usual serve it with Maryland lump crab meat or smoked fish (trout or salmon are delicious) to add protein.  I also made delicious crab cakes--the key is getting high quality lump crab meat (you really can't beat maryland crab).  Although you need some spice and bread crumbs for flavor and texture, use restraint or else you will overpower the crab.

Here's to being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen....