Strawberries: Produce of the Month 3.24.15

Limehouse Produce Kicks Off Second Annual “Berry Creative” School Campaign to Raise Awareness for the Popular Fruit 3.12.15

Limehouse Produce kicks off its second annual “Berry Creative” campaign to celebrate the official start to strawberry season (National Strawberry Day was February 27)  with area schools to help raise awareness for the popular fruit. Schools and classes in the Charleston area are encouraged to get more engaged in this program by having students submit projects about strawberries. Projects can be recipes, drawings, artwork, or stories involving strawberries.  The school with the most creative entry will receive a Grand Prize of 100 pounds of local strawberries, an announcement of their win on the Limehouse Produce website and promotion about their efforts. The strawberries can be used in the schools next fundraiser, bake sale or however the school sees fit.  Also, each school that enters in the competition will receive some strawberries just for participating.

To learn more about the “Berry Creative” Campaign, schools can visit www.limehouseproduce.flywheelsites.com.  Entries for the competition are due April 3, 2015 with the winner being announced April 10, 2015.

To see more about last year’s competition:

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Great 10 Year CWFF Celebration 3.11.15

We ate, we drank, we celebrated! It was another successful Charleston Wine + Food Festival and it was exciting to see the 10 year old event shine with new venues, new layouts, and new aprons. Limehouse Produce has been a proud sponsor each of the last ten years and we were thrilled this year to sponsor the Official Launch Party in the early fall and then sponsor the official chef uniform. This year we created a special apron for the chefs to sport and it was exciting to see so many of our clients wear them all weekend. Here is a pictorial highlight from the weekend:

Here’s to another great year in Charleston and many more years of exciting Charleston Wine + Food Festivals! Cheers!

Limehouse Produce Announces 2015 Citrus Celebration Dish and Drink Winners 2.27.15

Charleston’s best bars and restaurants have been promoting sweet and savory citrus offerings for the last two months, as part of Limehouse Produce’s 2015 Citrus Celebration. Limehouse Produce shared these featured dishes and drinks on their website along with recipes for people to download and try on their own. Patrons were invited to vote for their favorite dish and drink online until February 22. A panel of judges then visited the top five places from each category and select a winner as well.

“This year’s Citrus Celebration was even better than the last,” stated Weston Fennell, lead buyer for Limehouse Produce, as well as a Citrus Celebration judge. “The competition was tough because all of the dishes and drinks that were judged were delicious and creative.”

The votes from online and live judges have been compiled and a winner for the Best Citrus Dish and Best Citrus Drink have been chosen!

Best Dish:

• Bryan Cates of Basico: Citrus, Radish, Pistachio and Amberjack Crudo

Best Drink:

• Jayce McConnell of Edmund’s Oast: The Anejo Age

The winner in each category will be promoted on the website and social media and will receive a ½ page ad in The Local Palate to showcase their dish/drink.

Featured Produce of the Month: Radishes 2.11.15

Featured Produce of the Month: Radishes

February 2015

The Facts:

¨ Locally we recommend getting them from Thackeray Farms in Wadmalaw Island (https://www.facebook.com/thackerayfarms)

¨ Easy to grow, they mature less than 30 days from seeding

¨ Some of the varietals include scarlet globe, cherry belle, cherriette, april cross, summer cross and red flame

¨ Vary in size, color, shape and taste

¨ Radishes are part of the Brassica family, and like other cruciferous vegetables, are packed with antioxidants. Since radishes are detoxifiers and are rich in vitamin-C, they have been connected to treating many types of cancer. Radishes are a very good source of potassium, which contributes to a large list of health benefits, including reducing blood pressure. Radishes lower body temperature and relieve inflammation from fevers, and since they act as good disinfectants, radishes also fight infections that can cause fever.

¨ Radishes with butter and salt is a French classic.  Because of its simplicity, it’s important to use quality ingredients such as fleur de sel, fresh crunchy radishes and good butter. Good salt simply deepens the flavor of the butter and radishes allowing you to enjoy the simplicity of each ingredient in harmony with each other. Radishes sandwiched between buttered bread is a traditional children’s snack in France.  However, you could easily serve individual radishes with a side of butter and salt as a beautiful appetizer.

Recipe: Raw and Pickled Radish Salad with Boiled Egg and Tarragon

By Joe Dimaio, Stars Rooftop and Grill

Raw and Pickled Radish salad

With boiled egg and tarragon.  Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the salad

Radishes, assorted easter egg, French breakfast, cherry bell

Eggs, boiled   1ea  ( crumble whole egg by hand into small pieces)

Tarragon  3 sprigs  ( pick leaves for garnish)

Bibb lettuce 8 leaves

Vinaigrette 1 cup

Pecorino Romano, a few thin shavings

Pickled radishes: quarter half of your assorted radishes, pickle the quartered radishes and  shave the other half raw with a Japanese mandolin

For the pickle:

1 cup Champagne Vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp Salt

1 ½ cup H2O

bring all ingredients to a simmer and add quartered radishes, turn off and let sit in fridge until cool and store up to 6 months in an airtight container.

For the vinaigrette:

Shallot  1tbsp. minced

Sherry vinegar  ½ cup

Evoo  ½ cup

Honey 1 tbsp

Pink peppercorn    a pinch (fresh cracked)

combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl whisking until combined. Set aside until plating the salad.

*Plating this salad is all up to the person eating it. It could be in a bowl or a plate. I prefer a plate so I can scatter all the ingredients out artistically but with little meaning so every ingredient is seen. I like to dress the salad on the plate so some of that vinaigrette you made can be seen then a little pecorino and the tarragon leaves at the end to finish.

Recipe: Bagna Cauda Curd

By Chef Nate Whiting, 492

Yield = 1 quart

5 each Whole eggs

170g Anchovies

1 each Lemon Zest

75g Lemon Juice

50g White Wine Vinegar

25g Anchovy Juice

25g Glucose

50g Shallots, germ removed, Minced

8g Garlic, germ removed, Minced

1 each Fresh Bay Leaf

2g Franks red Hot

.5g Malic Acid

375g Butter, Diced, room temperature

1. Place all the ingredients except the butter in a Cryovac or Ziploc (Freezer) Bag.

2. Set a circulating water bath to 82.3°C \180°F

3. Seal the bag in a chamber vacuum or use water displacement to seal the Ziploc bag.

4. Place the bag in the Bath; when the bath returns to temperature, cook for 2 hours.

5. Remove from the bath, discard the Bay leaf and transfer the entire contents of the bag into a blender.

6. Puree smooth.

7. While the blender is running add the diced butter a little at a time, continue until all the butter is added and the mixture is smooth.

8. Strain onto a pan and chill completely in the refrigerator.

9. Serve cold with Fresh Radish or other raw vegetables.

Recipe: French Breakfast Radishes

By Chef Aaron Lemieux, Michael’s of the Alley, Victor’s Social Club and Vincent Chicco’s

Ingredients 

(10) French breakfast radishes-cleaned and sliced in half

1/2 bunch Genovese basil

1/4 bunch Italian parsley

1 oz perigord truffles sliced thinly on mandolin

1/2 lb unsalted Plugra (or 83%) fat content butter

Kosher salt to taste

Micro sorrel, basil & beet greens

Olive oil

Maldon salt (for plating )

1 teaspoon lemon juice

method

Slice truffles and cube butter into 1/2 cube. Season with salt lightly and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

Use the paddle attachment on mixer and mix “truffle butter”   When the truffles are evenly dispersed cover and set aside

Use a 3qt sauce pot and boil salted water. Add the parsley + basil for 8 seconds and using a perforated spoon submerge in ice water.  Let sit for 2 minutes remove and squeeze excess water

Combine with 1/4 cup of high grade olive oil in the blender or vita mix

Pulse on low then gradually increase speed.

Pour mixture into plastic container and set aside.

To plate – start by tossing 1/2 of the radishes with some micro sorrel + micro basil, olive oil and fresh lemon juice, season with salt + pepper

Use a soup spoon and spoon the basil parsley mixture in the bottom of a plate. Top with the radishes , truffle butter and Maldon salt

Serve and enjoy