Summer Cocktail: Rosemary Infused Mulberry Prosecco

You remember the simple syrup I made from mulberries last week — right?

Well now it is as simple as...

A teaspoon full of that same syrup in a champagne flute...

Pouring in some prosecco or bubbly of your choosing...

Garnishing with a sprig of fresh rosemary...

And toasting the season!

This is such a simple recipe that produces such a refreshing summer drink you can impress your friends (and yourself) with!

E.A.T. local Drink well

Blueberry Crepes: A ViSalus Recipe

When the folks at ViSalus contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in creating a recipe using their sweet cream flavored nutritional shake mix, I thought it would be a fun challenge and decided to try to make something not traditionally associated with the idea of a nutritional shake — sweet cream blueberry breakfast crepes! 

Ingredients: (yeilds about 6 crepes)

• 1/2 cup Vi-Shape nutritional shake mix (sweet cream flavor)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup water
• Handful of blueberries
• Dusting of powdered sugar (optional)
• Fresh mint leaves (optional garnish)

Begin by mixing the egg and the ViSalus nutritional shake mix together.

Slowly add the almond milk and water, blending into a thin and smooth batter with a whisk. This will not be thick like a pancake or waffle batter since we're going for that thin crepe consistency.

Spray or coat a non stick pan with oil or cooking spray and heat until hot. Add 1/4 cup of batter and swirl the pan to make a thin, even coat across the base of the pan and let sit over medium high heat to cook.

Once the edges and center seem dry and bubbling (2-3 minutes), gently flip your crepe over quickly to cook another minute.

Lay crepes across a plate and stuff with blueberries — feel free to stuff with any additional fruits, spreads or jams of your choosing at this stage.

Dust with powdered sugar, or more sweet cream shake mix if you like, garnish with a fresh mint leaf and serve while warm.

What are your favorite ways to make ingredient substitutions throughout your go-to recipes?

This post is sponsored by ViSalus; the recipe and opinions throughout are entirely my own. Learn more about ViSalus products, including the shake mix I used in today's crepe recipe here.

Rosemary Infused Mulberry Simple Syrup

You might remember the H&H Happy Hour cocktail series I wrote for Hills and Heights where I concocted this Blackberry Herb Cocktail — which turned out amazing! 

This basic simple syrup recipe came in handy when I came across some wild urban mulberries that I picked over the weekend — I just subbed in the mulberries where blackberries would have been used. This simple syrup and packed with seasonal sweet flavor and can be used for cocktails, drizzled over ice cream or your favorite breakfast pancakes!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mulberries (in season right now), rinsed
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (I used an organic raw cane sugar)
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 1/2T fresh chopped rosemary

Once mulberries, sugar, and rosemary are combined in your pot, add water and simmer on a stove top for about 20-25 minutes.

Everything will begin to cook down and start smelling delicious. Mixture will reduce by about two thirds and what you end up with is a warm dark purple syrup:

Strain the liquids through a fine sieve until you have just syrup in the bowl. Do not mash down on the solids. 

E.A.T. tip: This liquid will stain just about anything, including plastic, so make sure you use glass bowls or containers for storage.

Pour your deep purple liquid gold into a container, top with a small sprig of fresh rosemary and place in the fridge to get cold before using.

Syrup will keep fresh for at least a full week if stored in the fridge, so maybe you use it over ice cream for dinner and mix into your favorite cocktail the next weekend! Incidentally, these were picked off of Mulberry street here in the fan in RVA!

E.A.T. local E.A.T. well

Bucatini, Fennel & Fresh Shaved Parmesan in a Light Cream Sauce

I have cooked with fennel several times and have posted about how much I enjoy incorporating it into meals here on the blog — before today's recipe, my two favorites were a simple grilled fennel and an amazing fennel, garlic, and potato soup. Today's fennel pasta dish surpassed both of the previous recipes in my book!

Ingredients: (recipe for two)

• 8 ounces dried bucatini pasta (half of a box)
• 1 medium fennel bulb (reserve fronds), bulb cut in half and thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 garlic scape, diced (clove of garlic is ok to use)
• 2T olive oil
• 1t crushed red pepper
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Fresh parmesan reggiano
• Salt to taste

First, let's discuss two ingredients: 

1. Garlic scapes. I received mine in the Farm Table box and they have a very short season but that season is now. When you slice the end of the scape, you get little pieces that have a nice garlicky flavor and aren't overpowering. Snatch these up while in season and they are great to freeze for use later. You may use these to garnish and sprinkle on soups, use in dressings, and make a pesto.

2. Bucatini — a fun thick pasta that I have been cooking with of late, including this bucatini with prosciutto, asparagus, and lemon. This noodle takes a little longer to cook, but well worth the wait in my opinion.

Ok, back to the recipe. Start a pot of salted boiling water for the pasta. Heat olive oil in a pan and add the fennel and onion, cooking until soft (5-7 minutes) then add garlic scapes, crushed red pepper and stir for 1 minute. Mix in cream and simmer until reduced:

Drain pasta,* adding directly to the pan and toss to coat, adding salt as desired for taste:

*E.A.T. tip: Always reserve a cup of the pasta water in case you ever need to thin the sauce of your pasta.

Plate creamy pasta and shave several slices of the fresh parmesan reggiano on top:

Sprinkle some of the reserved fronds on top and enjoy! 

If you look closely you will see some of those garlic scapes coating some of the noodles. As I said, you can sub garlic but the scapes really makes this dish!

E.A.T. local E.A.T. well

Beans and Greens Stuffed Sweet Potato

You remember my braised greens with bacon and apple vinegar from a week or so ago — right? You might also remember the last time I cooked a sweet potato, it was topped with little baby marshmallows.  

This time around we just took the braised greens from earlier in the week, heated up some cannelloni beans, combined them together well and nestled the mixture inside a warm baked sweet potato.

It makes for a meal full of vitamin K, fiber, B6 and potassium. Quick, easy, and satisfying!

E.A.T. local E.A.T. well

Cooking for Two...

Image by Tori Watson of Marvelous Things Photography

Letting my readers know that today is a big day for me as I will take another journey in my life as I get married this afternoon to my best friend, confidant, and official taste tester in the E.A.T.  kitchen. After almost 9 years of dating, the day has finally come to be one in this journey called life.

Over the next week I will be eating and of course cooking, but I will take a brief hiatus from the blog to enjoy our time together and recharge the batteries for blogging. If you would like to learn more about us, our wedding, and take a peek into our daily lives we jointly write a blog called 17 Apart if you would like to follow along.

In my absence I hope you will find your days filled with those you love and tasty eats!

As always,

E.A.T. local E.A.T. well

Bucatini with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Lemon

Today I've got another spring inspired meal using fresh asparagus, lemon, prosciutto, and parmesan reggiano for you. I created this dish early in the week for my guest series, The Seasonal Palate, over on Lot18.

Check out my recipe for Bucatini with Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Lemon and enjoy the seasonal eats!

E.A.T. local E.A.T. well