Chef Emma making guacamole

My 7 year old daughter, Emma Hurley, is becoming quite a Chef.   She's excited about her cooking class this summer at Faraday's Kitchen Store in Lakeway!   Here is her demo of guacamole... she did it all by herself.   In case you're wondering, the knife she uses is a lettuce knife.   It won't cut the skin so it's perfect for kids to learn their knife skills!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, TED Award and how YOU can help!!!

Saw Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and I'm so excited to have him on loan from the UK, his wife and his children.   His vision is amazing and frankly, it's about time.

As a Mom - I see what my kids eat at school and have never been happy with the menu they offer.   Additionally, I hate the fact that our children are limited on their lunch time frame, having only 20 minutes from start to finish!   Typically they have a mere 10 minutes to woof down their meal...   most things are processed, frozen, canned and microwaved or re-heated.

The school my child attends has a wider variety of choices, and I'm thankful for that, however I try to instill healthy choices by packing her lunch at least 3 times a week.   She will eat cherry tomatoes, pickles, loves the healthier yogurt and organic non sweetened applesauce.   I pack 2 fruits and will happily peel a clementine at 6:00 a.m. so she has more time to eat it.   I do allow her to pick goldfish, pretzels or something like that because she is eating a well rounded variety of things.

After watching Jamie's TED Video, which I will post, I want to have a sit down with her and get her to identify fruits and vegetables.   I am lucky though, she already can cook and she is 7 years old.   She can make a mean guacamole, has her own knife (it's a lettuce knife) and will attend local cooking classes in a summer camp fashion.   She eats broccoli, edamame, avocado and will try everything I give her, even if it's just a tiny bite.   I rarely buy her fast food... honestly, we went twice in one year (1 time to Chuck E Cheese for her Birthday and 1 time to McDonald's during Spring Break).

I urge you to watch Jamie's TED video all the way through... Steiner Ranch Elementary has a garden plot, but it's primarily a Butterfly garden.   I'm going to email the Vice Principal to see what we can do to expand it and utilize what is grown in the kitchen.   What can you do?



Go to www.tedprize.org to sign up to help Jamie and move his Food Revolution throughout our country to better our childrens health!

An Antipasto - Artichoke and Pepper Marinated Salad

Finally walked through Mandola's Italian Market in Lakeway yesterday and I'm thankful it's not too far away from Steiner Ranch.   While perusing the cold cases I saw a marinated artichoke salad and knew I'd be making my own version for dinner.   With yellow, orange and red julienned peppers, red onion, artichokes, black olives, ribbons of basil, lots of garlic and capers, this yummy marinated salad can be used as a topper to Bruschetta or on top of Balsamic Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts (I did both last night).

Artichoke and Pepper Marinated Salad

Ingredients:

• Red, Orange and Yellow Peppers, seeded and julienned
• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts (non marinated kind)
• 1/2 med red onion, thinly sliced
• black olives, sliced
• fresh basil, thinly sliced (into ribbons)
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 2 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mis en place - prepare by seeding and julienning your peppers, keeping in mind that thinner is better.   Same with the red onion.   Drain the artichoke hearts well and place everything into a bowl.   To slice your basil into ribbons, place the leaves on top of one another and roll them up together, then slice through it all.   Add the garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.   Stir well and place in the refrigerator.

Variations for this salad that I love are topping fresh bread, as in Bruschetta.   I also marinated Chicken Breasts and topped them with this.   Delicious!

Bruschetta Style with marinated salad on bread.

Over marinated and grilled Chicken Breasts.

Simple Side: Herb Roasted New Potatoes

Herb Roasted New Potatoes, a simple yet delicious side that I have forgotten about.   With the emergence of spring, my herb garden is showing signs of life though covered with Live Oak leaves.   I was able to cut a handful of thyme and rosemary... an excellent combination!

Herb Roasted New Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 16 - 18 red new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
• 2 T olive oil
• your choice fresh herbs, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.   Scrub and quarter your new potatoes and place in a roasting pan.   Drizzle with olive oil.   Finely chop your herbs and garlic and add to the potatoes.   Salt and pepper to taste and toss to evenly coat potatoes.   Place in oven and roast 35-45 minutes until potatoes are tender but have that delicious roasted crush.

Lemon and Sour Cream Pound Cake with homemade Lemon Curd

Amazing is the word that describes this ultra moist and extremely lemony pound cake.   Topped with delicious homemade Lemon Curd, you will be saying "welcome spring" with this recipe.   I loved working with the lemons as my entire kitchen smelled so good!

Lemon and Sour Cream Pound Cake with homemade Lemon Curd

Ingredients - Pound Cake:

• 3 C cake flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 C or 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 C sugar
• 6 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 C fresh lemon juice
• 2 T grated lemon peel
• 1 C sour cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.   Grease 2 loaf pans and then dust with flour, set aside.   Sift flour, soda and salt together in a medium bowl.   In a mixer, beat butter until fluffy.   Add sugar and continue to beat for 5 minutes.   Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each one.   Add lemon juice and lemon peel.   Next beat in flour, about 1/2 C at a time, until incorporated.   Gently mix in sour cream and transfer batter to pans.   Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.   Cool for 15 minutes then turn out of pan.

Ingredients - Lemon Curd:

• 2 C sugar
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 C grated lemon rind
• 3/4 C fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 C butter, room temperature

In a double boiler, add sugar, eggs, lemon rind and lemon juice.   Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats the back of your spoon.   Add butter, one tablespoon at a time and whisk until blended.   Chill, then garnish each piece of pound cake the with curd.

Apricot and Jalapeno Glazed Cornish Game Hens

With spring finally here, I knew I wanted to use fruit when roasting the Cornish Game Hens.   I also thought that fire roasted jalapenos and garlic would add more depth to the flavors... so here it is!

Apricot and Jalapeno Glazed Cornish Game Hens

Ingredients:

• 4 Cornish Game Hens, rinsed and patted dry
• 6 jalapenos, fire roasted and steamed, peeled and seeded
• 1 C. apricot nectar
• 1 C. apricot preserves
• 2 heads of garlic, smashed
• 2 T. olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:


Rinse and pat dry the Cornish Game Hens, set aside.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.   Add 1 T. olive oil to roasting pan.


I fire roast my own jalapeno's over one of my gas burners of my cook top.  Char them black and place them in a paper sack to steam.   Once cooled, the skin comes right off.  Slice and remove seeds and put them in the apricot nectar for 10 minutes.   Pour the nectar and jalapeno's into a blender and process until pureed.


Rub each Cornish Game Hen with the remaining 1 T olive oil.   Then brush the apricot/jalapeno puree inside and out of each bird.   Add 2 - 3 T of puree to pan and set aside remainder.   Stuff each bird cavity with 3 -4 smashed cloves of garlic.    Brush each bird with apricot preserves, salt and pepper to taste.   Add remaining smashed cloves of garlic to pan.


Roast, uncovered, for an hour and baste again with both apricot/jalapeno puree followed by apricot preserves.   The birds should have a yummy caramel color.   Remove from the oven and transfer the birds to a serving plate to rest.   For the sauce, remove garlic from pan, add remaining apricot/jalapeno puree and simmer until reduced and thick.


To plate - I started with a bed of fresh baby spinach, topped with a whole Cornish Game Hen and a side of mixed grain rice.   Add the sauce and you have an incredibly tasty meal!

The Four Points Foodie Demo and Give Away at Faraday's!

Finally downloaded the images from the first Four Points Foodie demo and give away in November 2009 at Faraday's Kitchen Store in Lakeway.   I want to thank Faraday's for providing me 100% access to their store kitchen.   They have been an invaluable supporter for the Four Points Foodie!

Faraday's Kitchen Store, Lakeway, Texas

In the Faraday's Kitchen, making Panini's for the crowd.

Adding the greens!

Chatting and slicing at the same time!

Don't forget about the next give away, the 6.5 qt Cuisinart Slow Cooker!   See www.FourPointsFoodie.com for more information and on how to register!

Delicious Mixed Berry Crumble

I just can't wait for Spring... I think that's why I made a crumble last night.   My enthusiasm for everything spring just cannot be contained... remember you can substitute mixed berries for peaches, blackberries or even rhubarb and strawberries!   Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Crumble

Ingredients - Sugar Crust

• 2 C flour
• 1 C powder sugar
• 12 T cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.   In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, butter and salt and process 20 seconds or until it looks like oatmeal.   Add eggs, one at a time, until the dough holds together.   Press 3/4 of mixture into a pan and bake blind (cover dough in tin foil and then cover with beans or pastry weights) for 18 minutes (reserve remaining 1/4 dough for topping).   Cool

Ingredients - Mixed Berries and Topping

• large bag frozen mixed berries or any other type of fruit, thawed
• 1/4 remaining crust dough
• 1 C oatmeal
• 1/2 C brown sugar

In a small bowl, combine remaining dough, oatmeal and brown sugar and mix with your hands until course to make crumble.   Put thawed berries on top of baked crust, followed by the "crumble" and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until top is golden brown and juices are bubbling.   Cool a little before serving... You must serve with ice cream while warm!