Kimchi Gazpacho

The long weekend is almost here! Hallelujah! What are your plans for Memorial Day? Going out of town? Vacay trip? Staycation? With the weather now warming up, especially here in New York, where the past couple of days have risen up to the near 90's, I created a new recipe suited for the start to summer! Now that it's getting hotter and the fact that I love soup, I did my own twist on one of my favorite summer soups, gazpacho.

One of my favorite strolls through the city is at the Union Square Green Market. They have everything from jams & honey to fresh farmer's fruit & vegetables, to even flowers, cheese, bread and wine. The works! I love going with the boys for a little quality time along with getting the best produce to cook with! And what's more awesome? They always got new herbs and veggies to work with, such as chive blossoms and red scallions, both of which I have yet to experiment with! I even saw fiddleheads!

Kimchi Gazpacho

Serves 2-3

recipe + photos by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Ingredients:
3 c chopped tomatoes (peeled and seeded)
1/2 c kimchi with juice (chopped)
1/2 c Kirby cucumber (peeled and chopped)
1 large garlic clove, chopped
3 tbs rice wine
salt & pepper to taste
Chive blossoms & red scallions, for garnish, optional

Directions:

In a blender, puree tomatoes, kimchi, cucumber, and garlic. Add rice wine, salt, and pepper. Taste for accurate seasonings. Chill. Pour into bowl(s), garnish, and serve immediately.

Using staple ingredients within a gazpacho such as tomatoes, Kirby cucumbers, onion, and garlic, I incorporated some Napa cabbage kimchi to give this chilled soup a bit of heat. Gazpacho is simple to make. Takes less than twenty minutes to prep and complete. Waiting for the soup to chill is the hardest part! I hate waiting to eat! Ha ha!

I've been wanting to elevate my dishes to another level and have been working on better garnishing my plates. To me, garnishes are vital when completing the look of a meal. In this case, gazpacho would look pretty bland without any decorative gems on top! So instead of using chives or green onion, I went for something completely different and totally out of my normal 'comfort' cooking zone. Never have I tried chive flowers, but now I've got a feeling I'll be sprinkling these onto everything!

LOVE & XX'S

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

Green with Envy

Happy Monday! I'm starting the week off with a bang and getting rid of those Monday Blues, pronto! Did you see last night's episode of Game of Thrones? If not, it's cool. I'm not going to give away any spoilers but I am going to talk about one of my favorite characters on the show, however, and how she came to be the inspiration behind this drink!

When I think of dragons, and more so, the Mother of Dragons, the first color that comes to mind is green. You'd think I'd go with a red, an orange; anything fiery. Passionate. But there's something cold and earthy about Khaleesi. She is a force to be reckoned with. AND she makes mistakes, regardless of what and who she's made up of. That's real, and the color green, to me, has a tranquil feeling but at the same time, there's something powerful within the palette of green. And that she is. Tell me a woman who watches GoT that you know of who isn't a little envious of her life. She's got pet dragons, for Pete's sake!

Cocktail recipe + photos by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Green with Envy

Ingredients:

2 oz cucumber, roughly chopped
A sprig of basil
1.5 oz Korean Soju
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz Limoncello
Sprite or club soda
Extra cucumber for garnish

Directions:

In a juicer, press cucumber and basil.
Shake ingredients together (EXCEPT carbonated drinks) with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with cucumber rose and top with limoncello and Sprite/club soda.

Mostly consisted of cucumber, then basil, lemon, Korean soju and a mixture of carbonated drinks, the Green with Envy cocktail is subtly sweet and refreshingly cool. Perfect for warmer weather. Have you heard of Secret Squirrel Food? She is an amazing food blogger based in Dubai who's been trendsetting the 'avocado rose' while also playing up on different fruits and vegetables incorporating the same style of plating like with the avocado. When I made my first avocado rose, it was so beautiful, that I didn't want to eat it! So as a final touch to my cucumber garnish, I recreated a miniature version of a cucumber rose Secret Squirrel Food did on her blog. At first, I thought it'd look super cute, like a water lily pad, within the drink, but then I figured it would be too big and in the way.

Which is why it's teeny-tiny and in my opinion, a nice modest touch to the cocktail. Especially when in a martini glass, the garnish should remain sleek and sophisticated just like the glass. What's your favorite drink in a martini glass? A classic martini? Gin or vodka? Maybe a Vesper like James Bond? I'd love to hear your favorites! Leave your comments down below. Thanks for reading! As always, you can download the recipe from the click-on button. And you can also find me on Yummly and foodgawker.

LOVE & XX'S

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

Fried Green Tomatoes

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm so delighted to finally share a recipe it took nearly 20 years in the making! Ever since I was a little girl and saw, 'Fried Green Tomatoes', the movie (the book is entirely something else!), I've been obsessed with the idea of trying to make them. I've tried several variations of this Southern comfort food dish, but never in a Korean-fusion way! So, of course, I had to create my own version!

The first secret to the perfect fried green tomato? Bacon drippings. You know all the grease you get after cooking bacon in the pan/oven? Save that for this recipe! I'm serious! You can even freeze it in the freezer should you want to use it in the distant future. I put mine in a Mason jar and it's seriously what gives the tomatoes it's ultimate flavor. Second? Cornmeal. And yellow. It gives a better color than white cornmeal, in my opinion.

Photos + recipe by © Suzanne Spiegoski

Fried Green Tomatoes

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1 medium green tomatoes (per person)

Batter:
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c yellow cornmeal
3/4 c buttermilk
salt & pepper
enough bacon drippings to fill 2" deep in a skillet /pan

Sauce:
2 TB coconut oil
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c buttermilk
1 TB ranch dressing
salt & pepper

Directions:
Slice tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Combine batter then coat tomatoes on both sides. In a large skillet, heat enough bacon drippings to coat the bottom of the pan and fry tomatoes until lightly browned on both sides. (2-3 min per side) If oil sizzles or pops before you put the tomatoes in, it's too hot! Transfer to a colander or wire cooling rack to drain. To keep the tomatoes from getting soggy before they're served, the best way is to stand them up like wheels in a serving dish instead of stacking them. To make the sauce, add coconut oil in a saucepan until melted over medium heat. Whisk in flour, then milk & buttermilk until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Garnish with fresh dill, cucumber carrot kimchi & red pepper flakes. Serve immediately and enjoy! (You'll think you died and gone to heaven!)

They came out crisp and golden, a wonderful juxtaposition to the tart and juicy tomato. Added components to the dish were fresh dill, cucumber carrot kimchi, and red pepper flakes. I chose these ingredients because I felt it overall completed the entire dish. The combination of flavors was explosive to my palette! You got the acidity from the tomato (By the way, do you consider it to be a vegetable or a fruit?), the slight smoky bacon flavor, the refreshing balance from the dill, and the spiciness from the kimchi and flakes.

Lastly, the buttermilk sauce is creamy and tangy. The final finishing touch. I've been working on my style and plating, what do y'all think? How do you make fried green tomatoes? Perhaps next time, you'll give this recipe a try? It's great as an appetizer or for lunch. Or if you're just very, very, hungry. 😉 Until next time, feel free to comment down below and subscribe (to the right, in the side bar). Have a nice weekend!

LOVE & XX'S,

FOLLOW MAQ + SUZ

Mini Open Faced Turkey Avocado Sandwiches

Mini Open Faced Turkey Avocado Sandwiches

with Havarti cheese, cucumber and roasted red pepper mayo

Mini Open Faced Turkey Avocado Sandwiches

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

French baguette bread, approx. 6-8 slices

Smoked turkey deli meat, cut into rectangles

Havarti cheese, cut into rectangles

Cucumber, peeled and cut with Mandoline slicer

1 Avocado from Mexico, sliced

4-5 Tablespoons mayo

7 oz. Cento roasted red peppers

Red pepper flakes for seasoning

Don't forget to jazz it up with red pepper flakes or fresh black pepper!

Directions:

1.     Puree roasted red peppers and mix in with the mayo.

2.     Slice baguette bread, turkey meat, cheese, avocado and cucumber.

3.     Spread the roasted red pepper mayo on each baguette.

4.     First layer with cheese, then a few slices of turkey, two slices of avocado and last, cucumbers slice.

5.     Season to your liking with red pepper flakes or fresh black pepper.

6.     Enjoy every single bite!

These little mini turkey bad boys are fresh, healthy and abso-freaking-lutely delicious!

Close-up view of the mini open faced turkey avocado sandwiches.. YUM.

Ready to devour these cuties. Be back later.

Monday's lunch got me all inspired after hearing about Chef’s Roll's March Madness style competition leading up to the Final Four. Their “Avocado Madness”, sponsored by Avocados From Mexico, is starting on March 1st with a line-up of 64 chefs who will develop avocado-inspired recipes through a possible 6 rounds of competition. Each week only half will make it through to the next round until there are only four remaining.  From those finalists, two will be selected to travel to San Diego for a live head-to-head competition on April 11th, 2016 where the final contestants will create an avocado-inspired menu in front of the city’s best chefs and culinary press for a chance to win some amazing prizes. Eeeek!

Since my friends have been encouraging me to venture more into the cooking world, and after seeing this contest with a serious passion for avocados, I figured why the heck not?! So here you have it folks. First round's an avocado-inspired sandwich/wrap recipe, so for preparation today, I made mini open faced turkey avocado sandwiches with Havarti cheese, sliced cucumber, roasted red pepper mayo, sprinkled with red pepper flakes. I've been making this for years and usually I just do a regular sandwich with all the same ingredients but I wanted to create something more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. And this would be a killer hors d'oeuvre /appetizer for a lunch/dinner party. I'm digging this open faced sandwiches' versatility! What do you guys think? I'm ready to hork these bad boys down, stat!

Wishing everyone a great week! Check y'all later! 😉

Love & xx's,