My Brooklyn Garden

It is funny that I found my love for gardening while living in the city. There is something magical about watching flowers bloom in the spring. Growing up in Florida, I took the seasons for granted. It is spring and summer all year! But now that I must endure the bitter winter, I have a real appreciation for watching the transition back to warm air and sunny skies. 

Maybe there was always little farmer in me. I have memories of my Italian grandfather tending to his back yard garden where he would grow tomatoes, zucchini, onions and citrus.

There is a satisfaction that you get from eating food that you grow that I haven’t found anywhere else.

Whoopie Pies

Gluten free… of course! They are a fun two-bite treat. I admit, I cheated and used a gluten free cake mix (shhhh). Because it is gluten free the batter is thinner than a regular cake batter. So to ensure they kept their shape I used a cupcake pan. Only filled the cups about 1/4 of the way up. The ones that puffed up too much I leveled with a knife after they cooled. The trick is to freeze them hard before making the sandwiches. I have also found that making the icing the day before helps firm it up and prevents oozing. The whoopie pies taste great frozen too!

• Here is the recipe for marshmallow fluff cream filling. Keep it at room temp and covered.
  
  For filling
  
  1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
  2 cups marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  Make filling:
  Beat together butter, confectioners sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
  
  This is the recipe that inspired me. 
  
  Read Morehttp://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Whoopie-Pies-107615#ixzz1cEoqn6xL

• 

  Whoopie Pies Recipe at Epicurious.com

  www.epicurious.com

  Find the recipe for Whoopie Pies and other vanilla recipes at Epicurious.com
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Duck Off - 2012

The only rule… must use duck. There were several winning dishes!

I would like to think that we won with the Smoked Duck Sausage and Duck 2-Ways Gumbo for technical difficulty, but the Duck Doughnuts were most definitely a crowd-pleaser!

Duck Feet also won for ‘best nasty bits’. I can easily say that I would have never tried duck feet elsewhere!

To round out the evening we devoured the Duck Confit Tart with melted brie. The French would have been proud of this dish!

Enjoy the photos!

Spiced Grapefruit Salad
serves 6 (as pallet cleaner/appetizer)  

Ingredients
2 pink grapefruit
1 cup walnuts halved
2 oz fresh goat cheese  
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
spray olive oil on a sheet pan

Method
In a small bowl mix sugar, cinnamon, salt and cayenne pepper. Section the grapefruit, removing only the flesh. (if you have never done this before, here is a good guide: http://www.culinaryphilosopher.com/tips-tricks/how-to-section-a-grapefruit/ )

Set grapefruit sections in a slated bowl and allow the juices to drain. Sprinkle the sugar mixture on the grapefruit sections. Squeeze remaining grapefruit pieces and reserve the juice in refrigerator. 

In a medium-hot sauce pan, toast walnut halves about 3-4 minutes stirring frequently. Add remaining sugar mixture and cook until sugar firms. Remove from pan and place on olive oiled sheet pan. Put into freezer and cool completely. 

Assemble as individual servings — I used wine glasses. Place 2 grapefruit segments, then a dollop of goat cheese, lastly 1 or 2 candied walnuts. Drizzle the chilled juice on top and serve immediately. Yum!

Smoked Duck Sausage. Just in time for Mardi Gras!

you can find the recipe for Smoked Duck Sausage here: http://www.grouprecipes.com/38515/smoked-duck-sausage.html/saved . This kind sausage making man did not have a photo, so I uploaded mine.

After we cooked the sausage, we made a rich duck gumbo. 

Berry-Lemon  Jam 

Butter

For the love of KALE CHIPS! 

Pre-packaged Kale Chips are expensive and now I know why. Making them is a delicate process. It took me five trials before nailing the method. Two keys steps I have found are: only use very crisp kale and do not over cook it. I needed to leave my oven door cracked open the entire time they were in the oven.

Ingredients

2 lbs Kale
1 Tb garlic powder
1 Tb sesame seeds
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 tsp black pepper (to taste)
Olive oil spray

Method

Wash kale by soaking in water bath. Trim stems away from the leaves and tear into desired sizes. Then lay out on a towel until completely dry. (Make sure you don’t leave them in a warm or humid place, this could wilt the kale leaves.)

Mix spices and sesame in a bowl and set aside.

Once the kale is completely dry (could take a few hours depending on your climate), preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place kale on an baking sheet and spray with olive oil on both sides. Make sure the kale is not overlapping or touching at all.

Then sprinkle the kale with the spice and sesame mixture on one side.

Bake with the oven door cracked open until crisp, 8-12 minutes. 

Suggestion: Every oven is slightly different, so do a trial run to determine the exact temp and length of cooking time.

Enjoy your kale chips warm or store in a dry cool place! If stored properly, they will last for a few months.