Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Lime Blossom Honey Dipping Sauce

Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Lime Blossom Honey

 Dipping Sauce 

Fresh shrimp from the savannah coast is reason enough to keep it on the menu often.
We've given you another reason, our lime blossom honey.
This is just one of many ways you can pair the two lovelies together
for a refreshingly sweet and savory snack.

12-16 shrimp 

zest and juice of one lime

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar 

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons Lime Blossom Honey

Soak 8 inch wooden skewers in water for about 30 minutes. 

This will prevent the wood from burning on the fire. 

Remove the shells from the shrimp, leaving on only the tail.  

Starting at the tail side first, thread the pointed end of the skewer through the middle of the shrimp until you have skewered the entire shrimp. the end of the shrimp should be at the edge of the flat end of the skewer, without any edges showing.  Continue until you have skewered all of the shrimp. 

Refrigerate until ready to toss with sauce and grill. 

To make the marinade and dipping sauce: 

In a medium bowl, add the lime zest and juice, vinegar, salt and honey. Whisk until smooth. 

Divide the mixture in half. Toss the skewered shrimp with one part of the sauce just before cooking.  Let the shrimp marinate with the sauce for about 15-20 minutes.  Use the remaining sauce to serve with the grilled shrimp. Serve the shrimp warm or at room temperature. 

Serves 6- 8 as an appetizer 

or 

4 as a main course. * 

*Serve with a gorgeous green jade pearl bamboo rice from our friends at Lotus Foods. 

Buon appetito! copyright 2011 Alisa Barry

Meyer Lemon Limoncello Marmellata

Hot off the heels of a visit to San Francisco and a cooking class with renknowned jam-maker, June Taylor, I find myself standing in the kitchen with my copper jam pot and a big bundle of Meyer lemons. I hauled the precious produce home from the Ferry Plaza Market and generous pickings from a our foodie friends', Caryl + Ken, backyard tree.


Meyer lemons are an indigenous fruit typically grown in California. Different from the typical Eureka lemon, these lemons are bright yellow, have thinner skins, are much sweeter and aromatic with a slightly floral flavor.

I am no jam expert and baking+ making sweets is not what I do best, but I couldn't resist giving a go at making my own marmellata as a fun experiment. With a bit of trial, experimentation and error {the first batch burned!}, I finally I created a recipe that was worth eating and enjoying {and maybe even repeating}.



Slightly bitter and somewhat sweet, with an undetectable hint of home-made limoncello, the marmellata made a perfect pairing as an early evening appetizer with olive bread and a spread of goat cheese. Cue in the glass of white wine.........success! A day and two jars of jam later, I think it's fair to say that jam-making won't be in my regular repetoire anytime time soon, but it sure was fun to make {and eat} while meyer lemons are still around to enjoy.

If you have any recipe ideas you want to share, please do before I start recipe testing round two.

Buon appetito!
copyright 2010 Alisa Barry

Bamboo Rice, Bok Choy and Scottish Salmon

I love sunny Saturdays in spring. The garden is bursting with apple blossoms and cornflowers and tulips and roses {yes, already!} and mustard greens and the fig tree is just giving birth to tiny, green figlets.



It is one of my favorite times of the year. The neighborhood is bustling and Piedmont Park is packed with throngs of people gathering on blankets to soak up the weekend sun.

Today is the perfect day for lunch in the garden. I head to the farmer' s market for provisions, but alas, my procrastination is too late and the last of the farmer's is putting away her goods. It's off to the local farmstand, then. A co-op where a few farmer's bring their produce for those of us who haven't planned well enough in advance. Even there, the selection is on near empty. I manage a bunch of baby turnips from Crystal Organic Farms and a handful of still earth-clod golden beets from Love is Love farm {who could resist a name like that?!}.

Next door, Star Provisions will surely inspire a menu for lunch. And indeed, it never lets me down.
Two fillets of scottish salmon. A few thin slices of serrano ham {maybe not on today's menu, but always good to have in the pantry}. A bottle of pinot grigio.

Back home, I find a bag of beautiful baby bok choy that needs to be cooked. And Organic Jade Pearl Rice, a bamboo rice, one of the many varieties stocked in the pantry thanks to our friends Caryl and Ken of Lotus Foods. Bamboo is infused into sushi style rice from China. When it cooks, it keeps a beautiful green hue- it will be a perfect color compliment to the salmon .

When a day like this is on the menu, how can life be anything but good?



BAMBOO RICE, BOK CHOY AND SCOTTISH SALMON

To make the rice, follow directions on the package {Lotus Foods recommend 1 part rice to1.5 parts water}. Add a dash of olive oil or pat of butter just before covering to cook.

To make the bok choy, Cut two bunches in half lengthwise.
Heat 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a medium saute pan. Over medium heat, warm the oil. Add two cloves of crushed garlic. When the oil starts simmering around the garlic cloves, add the the bok choy face down. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, just until you see some caramelization on the greens, but they are not yet browned. Turn them over in the pan. Add about 1/4 cup water to the pan. Simmer, covered, until tender. About 7-10 minutes. Turn off the heat when done and keep covered until ready to serve.

To cook the salmon, heat a small saute pan over medium high heat. Add a Tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle about a tsp. of Citrus Fennel Salt on each fillet. Saute the salmon skin side down until the skin is crispy and golden brown, about 1-2 minutes. Turn the salmon over {if the skin sticks, simply cook it separately} and cook salmon on the other side just until browned, about 1-2 minutes. The salmon may still be bright pink in the center, but it will continue to cook.

Remove the salmon from the pan.
Spoon the rice onto the plate. Gently place the bok choy on the plate. Place the salmon and salmon skin {if seperate}, on the plate. Spoon the liquid from the bok choy around the plate. Pour you and your guest a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio.
Enjoy the day!


Buon appetito!
copyright 2009 Alisa Barry