Hot Shots - December 16, 2022

Hot Shots - December 16, 2022
Severin R-B Danieli

Hello all,

Remember when I said last week that I was tired just writing out all the plans I had for the weekend? Well! That was a correct prediction! It was a great weekend, but there was a lot going on. 

Our friend is now back in the UK, and we are settling back into our normal North Van routine. The holidays are fast approaching so I really need to switch my brain from 'hostess' to 'holiday cheer Sev'. 

We've had a few days of bright blue sky, with the freshly fallen snow glinting off the mountains, and the sky turning a light pink when the sun dips down below the horizon. 

Christmas shopping is almost done, the house is decorated, I got my new advent candle wreath, I've consumed a few too many chocolate, aaaand we are ready for the weekend. 

Daisy Tangerines. 

Deep orange & easy to peel rind, daisies are bursting with bold flavour, and balance the sweet and tart taste perfectly. 

Cross bred in the 1970's, daisies are a combination of the fortune mandarin and the fremont mandarin from California. Daisies were developed by Dowlin Young, who is a citrus breeder down in Palm Desert, California, who named the citrus after his wife, Daisy. These tangerines were made commercially available in 1988. 

Our daisies come from Sunray Farm down in California, and are in 25# cases.

If you're looking for a fun and festive cocktail to serve at a holiday party, or just a random Tuesday night, here is one I came across:

2 oz whiskey
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh tangerine juice
1 tsp grand marnier
1 tsp honey
Splash of soda & 10 cloves

Mint.

A very versatile herb, this sweet, fresh and cooling aromatic herb has about twenty-five varieties, the most common being spearmint and peppermint. 

Spearmint is often used for culinary purposes, while peppermint is preferred for making oil for toothpaste, candies, gum and pharmaceutical flavouring. 

Mint contains vitamin A, C, B2, calcium, copper, zinc and magnesium, along with reported therapeutic properties of antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic, antifungal, treats nausea, indigestion and can also been used as an essential oil to be diffused in your home. 

In regards to recipes, mint can be added to a whole host of dishes, the immediate ones I think of are: mojitos, basil mint pesto, a salad (fresh and citrusy?), or something sweet like mint chocolate brownies. 

Kiwano Melon. 

Or horned melon, is a very unique looking fruit. They start bright green, and as they ripen, turn into a golden orangey-yellow colour, covered in spikes. 

When I say they have spikes, I'm not joking. These guys poked me several times for their photo op. Natures defense mechanism for a shy fruit? It works! 

Once you get past the spikes, the inside looks like a magnified middle of a cucumber; bright green, with big edible seeds, and a gooey center.

Kiwano's are native to Central and Southern Africa, specifically in the semi-arid region of the Kahari Desert. Solely grown wild and cultivated in Africa, Kiwano's made their way to New Zealand and Australia in the 1930's, and are now sold worldwide. 

I am stumped on how to eat these, so I am heading straight to google and looking up some recipes. 

You can consume them raw, just scoop out the insides and enjoy, juice them, kiwano margarita, make a chunky salsa with mango or pineapple, blend it up in a smoothie, add it into a citrus forward salad, popsicles & ice cream! Okay, so there are a lot of options for this melon. 

Cara Cara Oranges. 

This citrus. Where do I even begin?

My top three fav citrus items, in no particular order cause that would take me years to decide, are as follows:

Limes
Blood Oranges
Cara Caras 

The cara cara comes around Disco close to the holidays, and these light pink beauties are always a welcomed sight. 

These oranges were the result of a natural mutation in a navel orange tree, and are light pink in colour because of the presence of a particular carotenoid by the name of lycopene. This orange originated at the Hacienda Cara Cara in Venezuela in 1976. 

It was my cousins 30th birthday this past weekend, and we were out celebrating, and a friend of hers mentioned that she had never eaten a grapefruit before. Of course, my citrus ears perk up and I said "you've NEVER had a grapefruit before??", and she responded that no, she hadn't and that they were a bit to sour for her. And then, ladies and gentleman, something happened to make me the most proud wife in the world, my husband pipes up and says "you should try a cara cara! It's somewhere between a grapefruit and a navel". I just about fainted. 

Napa Cabbage. 

But not any old green napa cabbage, we have gorgeous purple napa cabbage from Coke farms! 

Purple napa has a slightly sweeter flavour than green, and is mild with a few notes of pepper. Originally, this cabbage was introduced under the name 'scarlette', but is now known under the name Red Dragon, or a more scientific name, KN-RCC3. 

"Are we adding KN-RCC3 to our stir fry for dinner tonight?" Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, eh?

Coke Farms is a regular supplier to our warehouse during the winter months, and their website is one of my favourites. 

Posted above is a graphic from their website illustrating how their company works, who they support, and some interesting stats. 

Right now, from Coke, we have cauliflower, scarlet turnips, jalapenos, watermelon radishes, purple daikon, sunchokes, black radishes, napa cabbage, white daikon, napa purple cabbage, dandelion green, baby bok choy, broccoli crowns and purple turnip. 

Okay so, pictured above are some recent pasta dishes I had had. 

The first, above on the left, was made by a wonderful friend who invited us over this past Monday. I brought the salad (spinach, strawberries, red onion, shaved almonds, feta and a vinaigrette), and she made a delicious pasta dish with fresh basil and charred broccolini.

This dish, along with a family favourite recipe from InGrain Pastificio, inspired my meal on Wednesday, pictured to the right.

The InGrain recipe contains: broccoli, chilis, garlic, lemons, walnuts, parmesan and their own pasta variety, farro lilies. 

I was looking for something to cook, and was staring at black kale, broccoli and a leek in my fridge. Inspiration hit, and I began to chop up garlic, leeks, broccoli and black kale and sautéed those all together. Started to boil some pasta, I happened to have farro lilies from InGrain, and when that was nice and al dente, I threw the pasta into the frying pan with the veggies, 

I mixed them all together, added in some chili flakes, a few squeezes of fresh lemon, salt, pepper and topped it off with some shaved parmesan cheese. 

Delizioso.  

Disco has an exciting weekend planned, as it is our holiday party! Planned by the lovely Alyssa. 

Enjoy your weekend, dear reader, and I will talk to you all next week. 

Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli