Monday, August 25, 2014

Veggies, Veggies, Everywhere...

We received another bunch of beautiful veggies from our Pitchfork & Crow CSA share.

Aren't they gorgeous? Now that the boys are both off to school again, we actually have a bit more food  in the house which is nice. I decided to make a few different things with the aforementioned vegetables. First on the list was roasted vegetables~ simple and delicious! Check out the following easy recipe.

Roasted Summer Vegetables

1 lb.  green beans, washed, stemmed and halved
1 lb. small red potatoes, washed and cut into quarters
1 lb. beets, washed, peeled and cut into quarters
2 zucchini or summer squash, cut into chunks
3 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried red chile powder
2 tsp. coarse sea salt (I used Sel Gris- grey sea salt from France)

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place all ingredients in large bowl; mix until well blended. Pour onto baking sheet(s) and roast for 20 minutes. Stir and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes more until vegetables are tender. 
These are great as a side dish, wrapped in a tortilla or served in a bowl with grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream.







Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Cold Brewed Coffee-Honey Latte

So, I've been making cold brewed coffee syrup for a while, but it haven't used it for a bit. My dear friend, Annette, posted a photo of her cold brewed coffee on Instagram which made me think of the jar I had in the fridge. I decided to take the coffee syrup and pour it over some ice, mixing in a dollop of half & half and some of the honey simple syrup I had leftover from Joshua's 1920's cocktail graduation party we had Sunday. The results- delicious! Now I need to make some more coffee syrup so as to share with the other coffee drinkers in the family.


Cold Brewed Coffee Syrup
1 cup coarsely ground coffee
3 cups cold water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger

Pour coffee, b. sugar, cinnamon and ginger into quart size jar; add water and cover with lid. Shake well and place in refrigerator overnight. The next day, either 1)pour everything into a French press, press to separate grinds from coffee or 2)use strainer and strain liquid through into container to separate grinds. Wash out original jar then return coffee syrup to jar for storage. Keeps in refrigerator for up to three weeks. 

Honey Simple Syrup
1 cup honey
1 cup water

Place honey and water in medium saucepan and warm over medium heat- do not bring to boil. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and pour into container. Once completely cool, store in refrigerator.

Coffee-Honey Lattee

1 1/2 cups coffee syrup
1/2 cup half & half
3 tablespoons honey simple syup
ice

Place ice in glass. Add coffee syrup, half & half and honey syrup. Mix well. Enjoy!