The Ugly Tomato

The Ugly Tomato: what I often hear heirlooms called. What do I think? They are some of the best dirt candy you can find at your farmer's market during the summer. How can you not smile at the crazy colors, shapes and sizes of these awesome tomatoes. 

I decided to make a pizza using some leftover green heirlooms as well as the famous green, kale, to make a delicious summer market flatbread. 

So the next time you are at the market, collect a variety of veggies and make a veggie collage on your pizza--a delicious creation that you won't be able to resist. 

Stone Hollow Farms Part 1

Weekends in Birmingham have led to excursions and explorations of the deep South. Stone Hollow Farms in Harpersville, AL is one of my favorite Saturday afternoon adventures. Stone Hollow Farms is run by Deb Stone and her family. Their delicious creation: gourmet goat cheese. What do they do with that goat cheese: sell it, of course, but also supply it to local restaurants including their own called The Pantry. 

Stone Hollow is one beautiful place--we went out a few weekends ago to scout for a future photo shoot we are planning in a couple of weeks...take a peek :) 

Vanilla-Blueberry Pecan Scones

Saturday morning, I managed to get out of bed and head to Pocahontas Produce to go blueberry picking. The farm was on the outskirts of Birmingham, quite quaint in appearance, and a weekend oasis.

We began filling our buckets, while also eating our fill of blueberries on the way--Mother Nature's candy.

We each left on a summer produce high with a gallon of berries and ready to cook up some berry fun.

Since it is the weekend, breakfast is always my favorite weekend meal--it's the meal that begins your day and sets your mood for the relaxation and fun you have ahead of you. So, I had to make blueberry scones, specifically Vanilla-Blueberry Pecan scones--yum! 

Vanilla-Blueberry Pecan Scones 

Time: 1 hour 

Servings: 8 scones 

Ingredients 

1 cup AP flour 

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup cold butter, diced

1 egg

1/4 cup heavy cream 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

1/3 cup pecans 

heavy cream for brushing before baking 

turbinado sugar, optional 

Procedure 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. 

2. Add butter and mix until flour mixture looks like coarse sand. 

3. Add egg and heavy cream, and mix until thick dough forms. 

4. Add blueberries and mix with mixer to allow berries to release some juices. 

5. Stir in pecans. 

6. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1-inch thick square.

7. Cut square into 4 smaller squares. Cut each square into 2 triangles to form 8 scones. 

8. Brush with heavy cream and top with sugar--*recommended turbinado sugar. 

9. Bake 18-20 minutes and sprinkle with more sugar when finished. 

A perfect summer breakfast treat! 

Citrus-Spiced Sweet Tea

Y'all, I have settled back in the South for a little bit. What does this mean?? Awesome bbq, fried chicken, sweet tea and an apartment with a kitchen...this girl isn't kitchenless anymore! 

To begin my Alabama adventure, I figured I would start this new chapter off with a twist on classic Southern sweet tea. This citrus-spiced sweet tea from Charleston Receipts will be the perfect welcome home drink.

Southern Spiced Tea 

Recipe by: Charleston Receipts 

Total time: 15 minutes 

Servings: 18 cups

Ingredients 

Tea

8 cups boiling water 

4 tea bags 

6 oranges, squeezed 

2 lemons, squeezed 

1 tsp. ground cloves 

Simple Syrup 

2 cups sugar

8 cups water 

Directions 

1. Steep tea bags in 8 cups of boiling water for 5 minutes. 

2. In a separate saucepan, heat 8 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar until the sugar dissolves. 

3. Squeeze oranges and lemons. 

4. Add simple sugar, cloves and fruit juice. Serve tea chilled.

Graduation Countdown!

Today we took our graduation class picture...what does that mean? Only a few more days until our graduation day---WOW, the past 6 months have flown by! My culinary school experience has been beyond my wildest expectations--I have been able to explore and learn about classic techniques and unique ingredients, as well as gain real world experience with an externship at Jean-Georges. I can't say thank you enough to ICC for an amazing educational experience! 

With graduation coming means moving on to new adventures, and that new adventure is taking me back to the South--aka Alabama--where I will begin a fellowship in food styling, recipe testing and recipe development while singing Sweet Home Alabama all Summer long ;) I am thrilled at the opportunity and look forward to coming back to NYC soon with new skills and experiences! SO...I guess I should begin drinking some good old sweet tea again--BAMA here I come! 

Crave of the Day 6.22.14

Hmmmm, well today I stopped by Breads Bakery to grab a little sample of their famous chocolate babka...DANGEROUS.

100 Happy Days #foodiestyle

Some of you may have heard of the 100 Happy Days foundation--well I decided to take the challenge and begin documenting my 100 Happy Days through food on Instagram. Follow the moments @loudandhungry on Instagram!