What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Dried Figs

Continuing in the spirit of Autumn, we’ve decided to feature another one of our favorite Fall ingredients – dried figs.

Fig presents a delightfully sweet flavor that’s only complimented by the chewiness of their skin and the crunchiness of their seeds. A majority of figs come dried because fresh figs are highly perishable. They also come in a range of varieties – here in the EE kitchen we use Black Mission Figs.

Chef Ashley recommends…

Pizza Topping

“Figs make a great pizza topping – especially on a grilled pizza. Their sweet nature goes great with the char of the crust and also pairs well with things like blue cheese, caramelized onion, and walnuts – a great harvest themed pizza.”

Stuffing for Meats

“Figs and blue cheese go so well together and they make a really nice complementary stuffing for pork or chicken – and it’s very simple as it required little prior preparation. Simply sprinkle the fig and blue cheese in between your butterflied chicken or sliced pork loin, making sure to leave enough of a border to close, and then roll up and bake like you normally would.”

Desserts

“Figs make a fantastic wine sauce – if you quarter and simmer your figs with red wine (a dry wine would be best), sugar, lemon, cornstarch, and salt – it makes a great warm topping for vanilla ice cream.”

If you use Chef Ashley‘s tips at home let us know – take a picture and tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!

#LetsGetCooking

 

 

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What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Schartner Farm’s Sweet Corn!

 

As Summer nears end, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to feature one of our favorite Summer crops – Schartner Farm’s Sweet Corn!

Corn is a classic Summer staple, traditionally grilled and served on the cob at backyard BBQ’s, and who doesn’t love that? This week Chef Ashley hopes to expand your horizons with her recommendations!

A New take on Relish

“Relish is a classic topping for burgers, hot dogs, and tons of other sandwiches – sometimes i like to change it up and make a corn relish. It’s quick and easy – just cut the corn kernels off the cob into a bowl, and toss it with some chopped red pepper, lime juice, tomato, celery salt, and chili powder. Add a little spice with some finely chopped jalapeño too. This would make a great topper for fish tacos – one of my favorites!”

Soup

“Corn makes a great soup – and again it’s something very simple. What I like to do is cut the kernels off the cob and roast them. While they’re roasting I make a nice corn broth using the cobs, similar to the way you would make vegetable stock. I steep the cobs in some water and milk with garlic, onion, and other aromatics until it gets really flavorful. Then I start the base of my soup with some garlic and onion and the roasted corn, and puree it with the broth and more milk or cream, if needed.”

Grilling? Introduce Something New

“Grilled corn on the cob is a classic, and I love my classics, but sometimes it’s nice to revamp them a little bit. If you infuse some butter with a little bit of lime simply by whipping it with some zest and juice, then melt it in a pot and drizzle it over your grilled corn for a little bit of a new flavor profile.”

We hope Chef Ashley‘s tips find you well – be on the lookout for next week’s What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient!

What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Narragansett Creamery Yogurt

 

We’ve featured a lot of fruits and veggies from our various farmers and even our own gardens but this week I said to myself, “Self …what about the other things in people’s refrigerators?” So we decided to feature yogurt, as that seems to be a popular item coming off the dairy shelves these days. 

Our yogurt comes to us from Narragansett Creamery, and let me tell you it’s one of the best yogurts I’ve had. While most people choose to consume yogurt for breakfast, and I’m totally with them, it can be used in many more aspect of cooking. 

What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Backyard Eggplant

Another feature from our backyard garden this week – eggplant! Our Easy Entertaining gardens are flourishing and some eggplants have finally grown.

Long sought after for it’s deep purple color and unique flavor and texture, you can find eggplants all year round. However they are best from August to October they’re in season.

Eggplants are part of the nightshade family, kin to tomatoes, bell peppers, and potato. They are generally described as having a pleasantly bitter taste with a spongy texture.

Regarding eggplant, Chef Ashley says…

What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Backyard Green Beans

This week we’ve decided to feature something from our own gardens as our What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient.Chef Ashley is very proud of her green beans so she’s got some great ideas to throw your way. 

Green Beans come in two varieties – bush beans and pole beans. Bush beans are short plants that grow approximately two feet in height and produce all their fruit in a short period of time, then cease to produce. Pole beans grow upward and cling to their surroundings in a vine like fashion. 

From the EE kitchen, Chef Ashley says

A Day in the Life: Behind the Scenes look into #DonutFriday

A while back we started something we call #DonutFriday (follow our hashtag on Instagram to see our mouthwatering masterpieces – @EEntertaining) and it seems to be pretty well received by our clientele. Each week our Pastry Chef Danielle comes in and whips up these light, airy, and delicious treats to sell in our Cafe and I thought to myself, “Self, let’s show the public what actually goes into making our homespun donuts.” So here we are – I hope you enjoy 🙂

We started with the dough – bright and early, might I add. Doughnut dough is far less complicated than I thought it would be. It’s simply..

• flour
• baking powder
• salt
• yeast
• sugar
• eggs

What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Schartner Farm’s Cauliflower

Cauliflower is often neglected and looked right over at the supermarket because it is often thought of as boring and bland – but you just have to know how to work with it! Hopefully after reading this, we’ll sway you to give this versatile vegetable another whirl.

Cauliflower does have an extremely neutral flavor, but that makes it a great candidate to add some of your favorite flavors into the dish you’re making with it. Additionally, it’s also extremely good for you. Cauliflower is something that is nutritionally referred to as nutrient dense being so low in fat and carbohydrates and so high in fiber, folate, and vitamin C. It also comes in a variety of colors (purple, white, green, and orange). However the color of the head doesn’t change the flavor of the vegetable.

Chef Ashley had some nice tips for y’all this week …