House Blog
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right, just beet it
by Jeremy Spencer on 06/15/11
I am not a hot weather person...in fact that might be putting it lightly.
I enjoy cold weather!
Brisk Fall air...love it!
Rosy cheeks and cold nose...no problem!
Snow storm in the forecast...I don't even run to the grocery store!
I know, crazy...but despite my love for the crisp temperatures, this is one of my favorite times of the year.
Do you know why?
Because the summer produce is starting to roll in! So far we've seen lots of greens (lettuces, swiss chard, etc...), radishes, fresh aromatic herbs. And this week...a bonanza of crops are coming in--carrots, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, basil, green onions, and beets!
Wait a second, beets? Who below the age of 87 eats beets? You know...they sort of taste like dirt!
I know, I know...I felt the same way (notice the tense and the italics for emphasis)!
But I have learned, as can you, that you can do some pretty amazing things with beets...and they're so bright and vibrant in color which means they are full of good-for-you-things!
Here's a couple of things we've done with beets: Roasted golden beets on a spinach salad, pickled beets with pickled okra and cucumber. But the way I'm going to share with you that my lovely, culinary wife created last week was a beet and goat cheese flat bread. As an aside: Don't even get me started on goat cheese. If you haven't tried it simply because it has the word goat in it--you are missing out!! It isn't strong. It isn't stinky. It is oh so delicious!
This recipe is simple. Something you can throw together as an appetizer before a party or just a side dish with almost any summer meal.
To make the flatbread crust, use any pizza dough recipe.
However, here's our cheat! For a quick simple crust go buy the packet of pizza dough crust mix from Kroger. It's on the bottom shelf near the rice mixes and cost about $0.56! It is really good and extremely simple.
But really, that is a secret, so don't tell anybody!
Cut off the stem and ends of your beets and place on a foiled baking pan. Roast them at high heat, like 375 degrees, for about 45 minutes or until tender. Just drizzle a little olive oil on to roast.
Once your beets come out of the oven, put your crust in to bake. Brush with olive oil and sprinkly with Kosher salt. Bake as instructed or until golden brown.
Let the beets cool and peel them. After roasting, the skin will basically fall off. Then dice into large chunks and put into a bowl. Toss the beets in a vinaigrette. We suggest you just throw one together--about 1 T red wine vinegar, 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper to taste--and toss all together!
Spread the goat cheese on the crust and drop your chopped, tossed beets strategically in place!
Cut the flatbread in whatever shape you like, drizzle with a little more olive oil and salt to taste! Check out our results:
Check out the color of the beets! It is really such an amazing naturally occurring bright purple or magenta color!
So try it out! Pick up some beets from the Farmer's Market and see what creative dishes you can come up with. You may just discover that you were wrong after all, so just beet it!!
If you've never been to one of our Farmer's Market Suppers this unique cuisine is what they are all about. We prepare our menu straight from the availability of the season. Our first supper of the season is right around the corner, June 25th. Grab a group and join us. Reservations start at 6:30 and you can call the store (446-3311) or email us (info@houseblendonline.com) for reservations or more information.
Have a great day!
guess who's coming to dinner...
by Jeremy Spencer on 06/15/11
I know, I know...we've left you guessing. In my office I have a bulletin board with little pieces of paper push-pinned into place: a fortune cookie message, receipts that I will need to find later, and one in particular that I've been ignoring lately--"Have you written a blog post this week?
I'm not even going to say I'll try better, I'm starting a new chapter of blogging...because who knows! But here's one now...
One thing I wanted to share is a recipe that we talked about on a recent installment of our radio show The Local Gourmet. Holly and I have been radio personalities for just over a year and enjoy being able to talk about our Dickson community and all things food!
At the beginning of the Memorial Day holiday just a few weekends back we were all ready for some outdoor grilling. The kids were happy to be out of school and for it to officially be summertime (said in a high-pitched penny-can voice!). We had all the right elements...sweaty kids on the trampoline...meat and peppers on the grill...cold drinks in hand...but little did we know that the item that was going to make the night so memorable was not the celebration to the beginning of summer or the time with family and friends, it was...the artichoke!
I had seen an episode of the Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis over a year ago in which she made baked artichokes with gorgonzola cheese, and I wanted to try it! As you may be aware, artichokes are not necessarily native to Tennessee, so they aren't quite as easy to come by as if you lived in say, California! But we had some in our fridge and it was time to try the recipe!
Here is Giada's recipe:
We basically followed Giada's (yes, I believe we are on a first-name basis) recipe except we didn't have quite as many fresh herbs available. We had some rosemary so we used that. However, fresh herbs make everything better, so I suggest you include whatever you can find or have growing on your window sill!
Here is our finished product:
And here's another one:
The creaminess of the gorgonzola in the middle of those artichokes was sooo good. This is one of those things that will wow you guests. Imagine this beautiful artichoke sitting on the plate...this is special stuff!
And here's what it looks like at the end of the night!
This recipe does have several steps to it, but it really is easy and extremely delicious. I encourage you to find a hot summer night, because we know they'll be no shortage of those, and bake up some California cuisine, you won't be disappointed!
the dinner bell's ringin'!
by Jeremy Spencer on 03/13/11
It is time for our first Farm Supper, held at the beautiful Turnbull Creek Farm!
Reservations are filling up, but there is still room, so if you haven't made your reservation, call us now (615-446-3311). Thursday is pretty much the last day you can let us know if you're coming, so again, call now!
I'm going to attempt to give you all the information you need in this very informative blog post, but if you still have questions feel free to leave them in the comments or on the event page on Facebook.
Let's start with directions: Dinner will be served at Turnbull Creek Farm in Bon Aqua, TN.
The physical address for Tally's farm is: 566 Doug Hill Road (when using google maps, put in Burns, TN--or click here).
So if you're reading a blog then you can probably handle using google maps, but I'll spell it our for you too. If you're coming from Dickson the easiest way is to follow the signs to "Old Spencer Mill". Turn on Deal Road (there's a sign here for Old Spencer Mill and also one for Contrary Trails) off of Hwy 96 and follow it until it Ts into Spencer Mill Road. Turn left on Spencer Mill and go for approximately 2 miles. Turn left onto Doug Hill Road (there's another Old Spencer Mill sign here). Travel for approx. 2 more miles and 566 will be on the right. Look for balloons!
If coming from Nashville, get off at the first Dickson exit, 182, and turn left. Go 2 miles on Hwy 96 and turn left onto Deal Road at the bottom of the hill. Then follow the directions above for those Dickson folks.
Parking: As you turn into the driveway you can park in the grass to the right of the drive. Once you pull behind the house, there is also a large grassy area in front of you that you can park in. Parking will not be marked, so please just be mindful of others parking as you pull in.
So if you know me, then you know how I love a surprise. So it's really hard for me to post this menu when we're so close to the event, but I've been telling you we would, so here it is!
Now for the menu: get ready for your tummy to start rumbling!
Hors d' oeurves:
Turnip green, country ham, and sharp white cheddar on flatbread
Sweet Potato biscuits with apple butter and honey cinnamon butter
Okra pancakes
Starters:
Bruschetta with Butternut Squash, Sage brown butter and toasted Hazelnuts
Tomato and Red Potato & Bleu cheese tart
Slow roasted pork ribs with Watermelon glaze
Salad:
Autumn Panzanella Salad with roasted turnips, squash, onion and corn over garlic croutons and Arugula
Summer Salad with Green Goddess dressing
Entrees:
Peach Pepper Shrimp and Grits
Vegetarian Peach Pepper relish over White Cheddar Grits
Southwestern Pot Roasted Beef served with roasted Corn and Cilantro Relish over crispy baked Polenta
Provencal Roasted Garlic Chicken
Crispy blanched Dragon Beans with Tomato, Lemon, and Feta
Desserts:
Watermelon Keylime Pie
Butternut Squash Cheesecake with caramel and macadamia nuts
Wow, do you need to read that again. I must admit, it sounds A-Mazing! Of course, the menu is subject to change as the produce hasn't yet been picked, but it will wind up being pretty close to this menu.
One other detail:
This is a BYOW event, so grab your favorite bottle of red or white and bring it to the farm. We'll provide the glasses and corking, unless you're into screwtop and then just have at it!
As I said, if you have any questions, you can comment here. Or feel free to call me, Jeremy, on my mobile (615-351-5938). Can't wait to see you all at the farm!
Farm Supper around the corner--September 25th
by Jeremy Spencer on 03/13/11
farmsupper2010 (click here for a pdf version)
Cold coffee...huh?
by Jeremy Spencer on 03/13/11
So some people claim that they just don't like cold coffee. Now believe it or not, I really like all kinds of coffee-- I know, shocker, right?
Anyway I drink more cold coffee than I do hot, year round. My drink of choice is an iced latte with skim milk and 2 shots of espresso. I actually have one sitting right here. (sip) Ahhh!
I'm convinced that the majority of people that don't like cold, or more accurately iced, coffee have this taste remembrance in their head of picking up their mug of coffee from their desk taking a big sip, not realizing their coffee is no longer hot and practically gagging at the taste. This is not what we are talking about people! That's old coffee, not cold coffee.
Now when you come to HouseBlend or in dire circumstances another coffeehouse the iced coffee choices are abundant: iced coffee with cream, blended mochas, iced lattes, monkey mochas (an HB favorite) and the list goes on and on. But when you're at home, it's a little more difficult.
I'm going to share with you my new favorite way to enjoy iced coffee at home and it's actually through a cold brewing method. Now there's all sorts of fancy gizmos that allow you to do this, but I'm going to share the most basic way, and you probably won't even have to go buy anything.
Ingredients:
There's only two things you need: coffee and water.
You do need your coffee ground a certain way, however. And the grind you need is course. This is the same grind you would use for a French press or even an electric percolator.
You can make this iced coffee for any amount depending on how much coffee you need (I recommend lots) and how many coffee drinkers you have in the house. Just do a simple ratio to figure out what you need. I say simple because I don't do ratios. If you don't do them either you can call my wife, she does them very simply :)
Ok so you need 9 cups of water and 2 cups of course-ground coffee of your choice for 1/2 gallon of cold press or iced coffee. I recommend doing at least a 1/2 gallon as it will keep great in your fridge and this is not instant gratification coffee, which is hard for me!
So all you do is put the coffee in a container, preferably one with a lid, and pour the water on top. That's it. Really. Don't stir, just make sure all the grounds are wet. Then cover and let it sit for 12-24 hours. See what I mean about no instant gratification!
Once the coffee has set for the allotted time you just have to strain out the grounds. Here's what I've found works best:
Strain once through a strainer to catch the majority of the grounds. Then pour through a standard coffee filter to catch the remaining, smaller grounds. This will take a few minutes (10-15 mins) so more patience is required.
And now you're done. Throw it in the fridge and mix each cup to your taste with milk, cream, ice cream or any combination that is delicious to you! And if you still aren't convinced, just come to HouseBlend and have a monkey mocha--now that's some awesome cold coffee!!
