Cheery Cherries

You can tell summertime is coming when you find sweet, fresh cherries in the market. Cherries grow in most temperate climates and have a very short growing season. The peak season for cherries is in the summer. In many parts of North America they are among the first tree fruits to ripen.

Pitting cherries is FUN. I have mastered the art of the pit. First, you buy a really snazzy cherry pitter. Remove the stem and place the cherry, stem-side-up in the pitter. The tricky part is not getting cherry juice all over the place, and making sure that the pits don’t get lodged into the finished dish. I shoot the pit right into the sink (making sure that the stopper is in place). After all of the cherries have been pitted, I simply scoop out the stones and toss them in the trash.

The next trick is to resist the temptation to eat them all before you use them in your recipe. (Remember the cherry scene from the movie The Witches of Eastwick?)

But i digress... Cherries are versatile. You can plop them in a garden salad, simmer them in a butter sauce, and poach them in red wine reduction. For dessert there’s cherry pie, cherry scones, and of course cherry crisp. My version of this traditional dish really highlights the flavors of the cherries. The topping takes a backseat to the fruit. Check out my recipe for Baked Cherries with Apple, Sage and Crunchy Oat Topping.

While you are enjoying your baked cherry treat, lick those fingers off and check me out on Oprah's website: just click here to watch my audition tape; with your vote, I just might get my own cooking show on Oprahs' new OWN network. Please vote for NANA - there's only three weeks left.

No matter what, just remember this: life’s a Bowl of Cheery Cherries!!!!

Baked Cherries with Apples, Sage and Crunchy Oat Topping

Reminiscent of a cherry crumble, this dessert focuses on the fruit first. Cherries mixed with fresh, vibrant ingredients and a touch of fresh herbs burst in your mouth. The crunchy topping is the enhancement.
Serves: 4 to 6
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

1 pound fresh sweet cherries, pitted, about 2 1/2 cups
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced, about 1 cup
1 tablespoon all natural granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour, plus ½ cup for topping
Zest of 1 medium lemon, about 2 teaspoons
1-inch piece fresh Ginger, peeled and grated, about 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), chilled, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon coarse salt

Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat a pie pan, or 8” x 8” baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Place the cherries, apple, 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar into the dish. Add lemon zest, grated ginger, sage and toss. Use your hands to crumble together ½ cup flour with brown sugar, oats, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Sprinkle the crumbs on top of the cherries. Bake until the cherries begin to burst and the topping is golden, about 40 to 45 minutes.

NANA’s OWN Talk Show

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Oprah plans to launch her Oprah Winfrey Network OWN on 1/1/11. Part of the marketing plans to promote her new cable channel is a contest where applicants submit video to showcase themselves and their concepts for a unique television program.


Guess which NANA had decided to apply to Oprah’s Search for the next TV Star for a talk show? ME! I think I’ve been inspired by rocker (and winner of Celebrity Apprentice) Brett Michaels.


The hysterical part of all of this is this NANA doesn’t have a clue about video. But, with the help of my son the photographer we were able to make a video of me requesting my own cooking talk show and submit it for the contest.


There are plenty of contestants and plenty of votes. But there are fewer contestants in the “cooking category” and I’m getting a couple of votes.


To VOTE for Nana’s Talk Show, go to Oprah.com, search for the audition contests and type in my name.


You can view my audition video and vote for me at the same time!



But just for laughs, you can look at my blooper video. Obviously this NANA will need a little polishing if I get to the finals!!

Fast and Furious Fish Stew

I bet you’ve always thought that fish stew is a complicated meal to prepare. This recipe will open your eyes. You can make the base for the stew in minutes, with your favorite veggies and a bit of wine, broth and clam juice to finish it. Fish cooks in just minutes, so add it to the base just before you are ready to serve. It’s as FUN to eat as it is easy to make.

Serves: 6 to 8
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 to 30 minutes

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 strips bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed and chopped, about 1 cup
3 medium celery ribs, sliced, about 1 cup
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced, about 1 cup
6 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced, about 2 tablespoons
2 (8-ounce) bottles clam juice
1 cup white wine
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste, about ¾ cup
1 cup homemade chicken broth, or prepared low sodium chicken broth
2 fresh or dried Bay leaves
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
2 (4 to 5-ounce) lobster tails
½ pound cod fillet, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound fresh squid, cleaned, bodies cut into narrow rings, tentacles left in tact
½ lb. medium shrimp, about 25 to 30, peeled and deveined
1 pound mussels, scrubbed

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, onion and garlic and cook until soft and golden, about 5 minutes more. Stir in the clam juice, white wine, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and chicken broth. Add the salt, pepper and Bay leaves. Bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Split the underside of the lobster tails to easily remove the meat after cooking. Place the lobster tails into the pot and cook until just opaque, about 3 minutes. Add the cod, and cook for 3 minutes more. Add the squid, shrimp and mussels. Cook until the calamari and shrimp are opaque and the mussels open, about 3 minutes more. Serve right away.

Note:
Want to skip the bacon and chicken broth, to make this a totally fish dish? This recipe still works great if you substitute vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.

VOTE for Me!!!

I have NEWS!! This blog has been nominated for a Best of Blogs award presented by the Sun Sentinel. If you like what you read, please take a moment to VOTE. The competition is stiff. I’m up against blogs titled Worst Pizza and Burger Beast just to name a few…….. Send a note to your friends and ask them to vote for me as well. (Us “Type-A” personalities just love a pat on the back!!)

Now, back to the food. I went to a pot luck supper the other night. Because my last name begins with an “M”, I was slotted to bring dessert. Boxed brownies be damned, I traded with my friend whose name begins with a “G” and opted for the salad instead. Rather than toss a bunch of veggies into a bowl with a container of dressing on the side, I decided to create an arranged salad.

A long time favorite that often anchors my luncheon buffet table, a platter full of stacked veggies centered around a protein like fish or chicken is an ideal dish. Guests can pick and choose exactly what the want. Arranging the food on the platter brings out your inner artist. The colors and textures of the food mix and match to create an appetizing main course meal. The adage is true; we eat with our eyes first.

One of my favorite arranged salads is Salad Nicoise, named for its ingredients used by the chefs of the City of Nice, France, which includes garlic, tomatoes, anchovies, black olive, capers and lemon juice. Another all time fave is the Cobb Salad. As the story goes, the dish was the invention of Bob Cobb, at The Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles. As do all practical chefs, he was trying to find a way to use up leftovers. His first salad was created at the end of a long day, when Cobb realized he’d been to busy to eat. Wandering over to one of the restaurant iceboxes, a weary Cobb scrounged around to see what he could fix and an American main-stay was born.

We home cooks can take a lesson from sensible chefs. Creating a dish worthy of sharing with friends and family is about using what we have in the fridge, not letting anything go to waste, and having the confidence to take a flight of spicing fancy. Check out my recipe for Arranged Salmon Salad with Chinese Five Spice Vinaigrette to see what I mean.

The next time you’re asked to bring a dish to a pot luck supper, or to take your turn dropping off a meal for a friend in need, think outside the casserole and prepare an arranged salad instead. Your pals will say, “thank you” with their mouths full.

If you like this and the other recipes, tips and info that you find on this site, remember to VOTE in the Sun Sentinel BOB awards contest.

Thanks a bountiful bunch!!!!

Arranged Salmon Salad with Chinese Five Spice Vinaigrette

When you are asked to bring a dish for a pot luck supper, or to drop off a dish for a neighbor or friend in need, think beyond the casserole. An arranged salad offers flexibility, allowing diners to pick and choose from a platter filled with an abundant supply of veggies, fish and hard boiled eggs. A sprinkling of fresh herbs and spicy vinaigrette create a hyper flavor experience everyone will enjoy.

Serves: 6 to 8
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes to roast potatoes and about 10 minutes for salmon

1 ½ pounds (1 ½ -inch long) fingerling potatoes, about 15
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus ¼ cup for vinaigrette
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
½ pound medium fresh asparagus spears, about 16
1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts, trimmed, about 16
1 medium lemon juiced, about 3 tablespoons
1 large shallot, peeled and sliced, about 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Miso paste
1 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
1 (1-pound) salmon fillet
4 large eggs, hard boiled, peeled and cut into quarters
2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons chopped fresh watercress

Heat the oven to 400°. Place the potatoes onto a baking sheet with lip. Toss with salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Roast until the potatoes are soft and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat. Blanch the asparagus spears in the water until crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Place the Brussels spouts into the boiling water and blanch until soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to an ice water bath.

Place the lemon juice, shallot, mustard, honey, miso and Chinese Five spice into a blender. With the machine running, pour in ¼ cup olive oil.
Place the salmon onto a baking sheet coated with vegetable oil spray. Brush 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette over the fish. Roast until the fish remains rare in the center, about 8 minutes per inch of thickness.

Assemble the salad by placing the salmon in the center of a large platter. Arrange the potatoes, asparagus and Brussels sprouts around the salmon. Place hard boiled egg slices and tomato wedges alongside. Sprinkle with watercress and additional coarse black pepper. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the top.

Yum...ography!

Photographically Inspired Musings by a FANatical Foodie
Title: White Sand

Miles and miles and miles of sand drifts. It makes one feel small… unless you are small. A toddler shoveling sand at the beach is not small when his sand castles wash away with a giggle and a tear that makes him stand tall. Life’s lessons, small and large. We reflect on them less and yet should it be more and more… Miles and miles of sand to cross with footsteps lost to shore.
A Salty Dog is a refreshing cocktail. One to be enjoyed by the sand, by the beach, in a lounge chair, with an umbrella and a beach towel nearby. In a cocktail shaker filled ¾ full with ice, pour 4 ounces of grapefruit juice, 1 ounce of vodka and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Close the top and shake vigorously. Pour into a martini glass and sip slowly. The perfect dish to pair with a Salty Dog is my Super Antipasti Platter. They come together swimmingly – just like the sea and the sand.

Now, my friends, this is what YUM …ography is all about!!
See more photographic inspirations at cjmphotography.net

Meet Chris at the Estero Fine Art Show February 26th and 27th