DUCK

 Makes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS:

Duck breast (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Kosher salt and black pepper

Blueberry & green peppercorn chutney (recipe below)

ovenproof skillet

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Score the duck breast on the fat side with a sharp knife in a criss-cross pattern.

Season the duck with salt and pepper

Heat up the skillet

Test the pan to see if it is hot enough by touching the tip of the duck to the pan.

If it makes a sound, then it is probably hot enough.

Place duck fat side down to render the fat (about 6 minutes)

Remove the fat from the pan and set aside.

Turn the duck over and sear on that side for one minute.

Place duck in the pan (make sure it is oven proof) in the oven for another 7-9 minutes.

Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes so that the juices do not run out.

Fat side of the duck scored in criss-cross pattern

Duck searing on fat side

Duck fat set aside- you can cook potatoes in this if desired.  If not, discard.

Potatoes go well with the duck and chutney

Be sure to allow the duck to rest.

Yum!

BLUEBERRY & GREEN PEPPERCORN CHUTNEY:

2 cups brown sugar

1/4 cup raspberry vinegar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

4 cups blueberries (fresh are better in my opinion but you can use frozen

1 cup minced onion

1/4 cup green peppercorns

1 lemon juiced

1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Combine the vinegars with the brown sugar and stir over medium heat until dissolved.

Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add blueberries, onion, peppercorns, lemon juice and ginger.  Stir to combine.

Simmer for 45 minutes on low so it will not burn.  Continue to stir.

Makes for great gifts and goes well with Thanksgiving turkey.  Store in Mason jars and share!  Chutney is even delicious as a jam or with cheese.

Banh Mi Hot Dogs

"Banh Mi" is Vietnamese for all kinds of bread.

This hot dog calls for a freshly baked baguette, which mixes the French with the Vietnamese flavors

at the same time.

I sort of came up with this hot dog after seeing Tyler Florence and that food truck TV show he used to host.  There was a Vietnamese food truck that made some sort of banh mi sandwich that looked super good.  Then, I saw Daphne Oz on The Chew make something very similar so I kind of combined the ideas to create this hot dog.  You can customize it however you like.  For example, I love cilantro so that is a definite for my dog but my husband hates cilantro so he does not use it.  

Ingredients:

hot dogs - high quality (I use organic)

fresh french bread (rolls)

scallions diced

cilantro

sriracha

ketchup

mayo

cucumbers sliced length-wise

radishes (daikon if you can find them)

carrots

white wine vinegar

granulated sugar

kosher salt

Slice hot dogs so they are butterflied or cut in half but still connected 

Sear hot dogs in skillet on each side- don't burn

At the same time, peel carrots so they are thin and cut up the radish thinly.

Mix white wine vinegar, sugar and salt and pour over the carrots and radishes to pickle them.

Combine ketchup, srirahcha and mayo together - more ketchup and mayo will make it less spicy.

Cut the cucumber into strips and cut up the cilantro and scallion.

Once the carrots and radish have spent time in the vinegar mixture, drain the liquid.

Once the hot dogs are finished, add everything to your baguette as preferred.

Obviously, if you can add mustard or relish or any other topings you like if something does not appeal to you.

radish

scallions

Sriracha sauce

Sriracha

Cucumbers 

Cilantro

Final dogs

Pretzels

Recipe from The Chew on ABC- Clinton Kelly

I did not make the sandwich Clinton made but I made the pretzels and they came out a tad deformed because I did not buy enough pizza dough.  However, they were really good and I will make them again (with the recommended amount of dough next time).

Here is the link to the Chew and to the pastrami sandwich that Clinton Kelly made in case you want more than just the pretzel.

http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Pastrami-Pretzel-Sandwich-Clinton-Kelly

No Melt Ice Cream Sandwiches

Got this recipe from http://www.letsdishrecipes.com/2013/07/no-melt-ice-cream-sandwiches.html

Haven't tried this yet but plan to try it tomorrow.  Looks yummy in the photo by Danielle from Let's Dish Recipes.

Here are my sandwiches right before freezing

Sorbet

Use a Vitamix blender for smoothest results.

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https://www.vitamix.com/Home

Ingredients:

8 ounces frozen organic raspberries

8 ounces frozen organic blueberries

1 cup water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Blend until blender noise changes (only a minute or so)

Serve immediately.

You can change the fruit to any type you prefer.

Ingredients:

2 orange peels quartered

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon orange zest

4 1/2 cups ice cubes 

Place in Vitamix in this order and in about 1 minute, the motor sound will change.

Stop machine and serve immediately.

Vitamix Blender Broccoli Soup

BROCCOLI SOUP

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli steamed

1-2 teaspoons diced onion

1/2 chicken or beef bouillon cube

I cook my onions a bit while the broccoli is steaming.

Add all ingredients to Vitamix blender.

Select low speed.

Turn machine on and then switch to high speed.

Blend for 6 minutes or until heavy steam escapes from the vented lid.

When removing the lid be very careful- steam is HOT.

Salt and pepper to taste.

SUPER easy HOMEMADE PRETZELS

BY CLINTON KELLY - THE CHEW 

I am totally making these

I am at least making the pretzels if not the sandwich

Thank you Clinton Kelly and The Chew!!!

  abc.go.com the chew Pastrami Pretzel Sandwich-Clinton Kelly

ingredients

• 10 cups Water
• 2/3 cup Baking Soda
• 3 pounds Pizza Dough (room temperature)
• 2 Eggs plus 1 tablespoon Water whisked
• Flaky Sea Salt
• 1 pound sliced Pastrami
• 1 cup Sauerkraut (drained)
• 6 slices of Swiss Cheese
• 3 tablespoons German Mustard
• Dill Pickles to serve

• 
  

July 4th Beverages

July 4th Beverages

layer grenadine, blue curacao and peach schnapps

Coat the glass rim with Pop Rocks (Trpicana Punch rocks are blue) by dampening with lemon juice.  For a alcohol free drink, add pomegranate juice and 7-UP or pomegranate juice and cranberry juice with seltzer.  For an adult drink, add watermelon vodka.  You could really make anything as long as it's red in color.

1. 3 watermelon chunks, plus 3 watermelon chunks skewered on a pick for garnish
2. Ice
3. 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
4. 1/4 ounce agave nectar
5. 1/2 ounce St-Germain elderflower liqueur
6. 2 ounces blanco tequila

Combine vodka and lemonade in pitcher and allow to chill.  Add lemon slice and top with blue curacao and a sprig of mint 

Zrii (juices of grape, pear, pomegranate, amalaki, schizandra, jujube) and vodka

Absolut raspberry and cranberry juice, lime juice & Sprite

OR

Absolut raspberry creme de casis and Sprite

OR Absolut raspberry, orange wedges, raspberries, lime wedges muddled and simple syrup

Tequilla, blue curacao, triple sec, lime juice and simple syrup and a salt rim with a slice of lime.  The mason jar is optional

Berry vodka, cranberry juice, dash of grenadine, and blue curacao

Skinny Girl vodka or margarita, muddled blackberries and blueberries and club soda

Pinacle strawberry shortcake vodka, strawberry schnapps, cranberry juice, half and half, shake with ice

OR

Pinacle strawberry shortcake vodka, triple sec, grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, shake with ice

Smirnoff sorbet light raspberry pomegranate, diet ginger ale, cranberry juice, ice and lime wedge

Smirnoff sorbet light lemon, diet Sprite or 7-UP, pomegranate juice, ice and lemon wedge

Smirnoff whipped cream vodka, blue curacao, Sprite and ice

Smirnoff passion fruit, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, grapefruit juice, 2 dash bitters, Sprite, pieces of pineapple, oranges and a cherry. Garnish with lime

ENJOY and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

SUGAR CONSUMPTION

cancer-loves-sugar   This is a You Tube video about Dr. Lustig and his findings about sugar and several studies on the impacts of sugar.

Video from Dr. Frank Lipman's website- about the addictive properties of sugar and how cancer loves sugar:

Dr. Lustig is a great advocate for healthier eating and consuming less sugar.  Why?  Sugar is often hidden in foods and HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is just as bad as sugar.  Since the 70's sugar consumption has gone down but HFCS consumption has increased.  

We are hard wired to want fructose because cave men used to get fructose from small amounts of fruit, which contain fiber and slows metabolization of the fructose.

These sweetners are in everything!  HFCS has been shown to prove that sugar is linked to heart disease and stroke.  University of California Davis researchers have done nutrition studies on the impact of HFCS on blood.  Participants who ate HFCS (25% of their Calories) showed an increase in LDL cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.  The liver gets overloaded with fructose and converts the sugar to LDL cholesterol.  

Drinking sweetened drinks could be just as bad for the heart as is a fatty meal.  American diets reduced fats but metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cancer, heart disease have sky rocketed.  When fat is removed from food, it is replaced with sugar.

Other researchers at Harvard have proven that sugar is a catalyst for the growth of one third of common cancers.  Tumors have insulin receptors on them, which trigger the consumption of glucose and then glucose helps the tumor grow.  Scientists are working on creating medicines that block these receptors on tumors.

For now, the best thing to do is to reduce sugar.  Easy, right?  Hold on.....maybe not.  Sugar triggers dopamine in the brain and MRI's show areas in the brain have inceased blood supply and the reward or pleasure center in the brain is triggered in the same way that is when alcohol and drugs are consumed.  By scanning hundreds of volunteers, it has shown that the more sugar is eaten, the more it takes to trigger these reward centers.  More and more is consumed in order to get the same reward in the same way that people who are addicted to drugs need more and more to get the same impact.

The sugar industry says that eliminating sugar is not the solution.  They say eliminating Calories from other foods is the answer.  Dr. Lustig says that no more than 100 Calories of sugar a day is too much.  This is a public health crisis and sugar belongs in the same category as tobacco.  People need to limit their intake.

Eat Organic berries whenever possible.  They have a lot of nooks for pesticides to settle into and stay there.  90% of our strawberries come from non-organic farms in California.  In 2012, the EPA outlawed the use of methyl iodide in the U.S. but strawberries are not clear of other fumigants, which are linked to cancer.  Pesticide Action Network want California and federal officials to phase these chemicals out by 2020.  However, California Department of Pesticide Regulation says that a big shift will not happen unless strawberry growers have crop insurance or grants in case going to new forms of pesticide do not work for them.  Therefore, for now, stick to organic berries.

The Cronut? What is the hype?

A cronut is a trademarked combination of donut and croissant and was developed by Dominique Ansel in New York City.  It's got some sort of lemon glaze and filled with cream.  I first heard about it on The Chew.

Clinton, Carla, Daphne, Mario and Michael seemed to enjoy it.

Interns from all over the place were probably sent to stand in line for hours.  I saw the cronut all over the television.  Live with Kelly and Michael had two cronuts and Kelly Ripa was talking about it for days and days.

Look at that face!

Cronut

Each cronut is $5.00 USD.  There is a wait for the donut that goes around the block, and people get in line two hours prior to the opening of the bakery.  They are only allowing two cronuts per person.  There are even rumors that people will buy their cronuts and then sell them on the "black market!"

You can pre-order a cronut by telephone and the limit for pre-orders is six cronuts.  Sounds like a deal, right?  Well, don't get too excited because the pre-order lists are full.

212-219-2773.  Good luck!

Bring a chair!