Customer Recipe: Cherry Balsamic

Thanks to our Facebook friend Nickkii for this recipe! Looks fantastic!

NickKii: Put it in steak and Portobello mushrooms filled with mozzarella and cherry balsamic glaze

 

Customer Recipe: Chocolate Balsamic Muffins

A big thank you to Jen for this muffin recipe! It's for a small family competition, so I hope it beats you sister's muffins into the ground!


Chocolate Balsamic Muffins

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup Chocolate Balsamic From OLIVE -N- GRAPE
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix together all the ingredients and divide equally into 6 greased muffin cups.

Bake for 16 minutes.

Guest Recipe: Espresso Balsamic Sauce

Heide is a new employee of ours and we are enjoying working with her very much. She made this sauce the other day and shared it with us. It's great to have another creative cook!

'I made an easy sauce out of espresso balsamic. Hope you like as much as we did!'

Heide King

Espresso Balsamic Sauce

1/2 small can organic tomato paste
1/3 large bottle espresso balsamic
1/4 to 1/2 cup water (depending on desired thickness)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon oinion powder
1/4 cup rum
1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt (to taste)
Wisk over low heat till hot and combined.  Eat warm or cold. 

Customer Recipe: Zesty Lemon Balsamic Meatloaf

A big Thank You to Jill P. For this meatloaf redux!

So shake up your usual meatloaf with a couple additions. Balsamic inside and out!

I mix the balsamic in with my eggs and fresh herbs (photo) before I add to the meat and vegetables.

The recipe calls for two tablespoons of traditional balsamic but I felt that the zesty lemon works better.  The glaze is one half of a cup of ketchup to one quarter of a cup of balsamic.  Again the lemon is really good here too.

As for the glaze I mix the two and spoon/spread on the shaped loaves then bake.  The glaze darkens to a rich red color and the taste is the best.

Customer Recipe: Balsamic with Peaches

Hope that everyone had a great 4th!

There was a joint effort to get this one to me, so credit to Bruce for making it, and to Andrew for sending it on. Thanks guys!!

The balsamic used was a limited time product, but substituting it with the Black Walnut or the plain Chocolate Balsamics would be just as good!

"New Jersey local peaches and sour cream with honey, curly mint with a chocolate walnut balsamic drizzle! (That's where Olive-n-Grape comes in!)"

Customer Recipe: Jim's Chicken and Potatoes

One of our customers stopped by to restock over the weekend and showed off his cooking skills with this Instagram photo. He described it thus:

"White truffle sauté chukar, pancetta essence seared diminutive tubers and savoy florets over a bed of fresh spinach drizzled with piquant dressing and a fresh cut of lemon for zest."

Or, as he told me later, "Boneless chicken fried in White Truffle Garlic oil, baby potatoes and broccoli florets seared in Bacon oil. Everything was laid out on fresh spinach with a drizzle of Buffalo Ranch dressing (and a slice of lemon)."

Thanks Jim! It looks divine!

Customer Recipe: Beet Salad

Thanks to Beverly for this great recipe! It looks so beautiful, maybe I'll actually eat beets....


The beets are medium sized, about 2 1/2 inches across.  Cut off the tops if they are still on the beets, but leave a little of the top, about a 1/2 inch on so beets don't bleed out any of their flavor.  Wash and wrap in foil.  Roast in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Stick each beet with meat fork at end of cooking time to make sure the beets are done.  If they are still a little hard, continue cooking for about 10 minutes longer.  Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.  When they are able to be handled, open the foil, and rub each beet hard enough to remove the skin and the remaining top.  You may want to wear a pair of disposable rubber gloves so you don't stain your hands.  The top leaves that are cut off can be washed and chopped and sauteed for a side dish later.  Just cook them in a little flavored oil, for about fifteen minutes.  After the beets are skinned, put them in a plastic bag and cool in refrigerator until you want the beet salad.  It only takes one beet for each salad.  Dice the cold beets, put on a dish, add some chopped walnut, or black walnuts, Gorgonzola Cheese crumbles, and Black walnut vinegar.  Delicious. 
-Bev

Robin's Eggplant

Customer Robin sent in an idea for roasting eggplant. Sorry I didn't get to make this one. It sounds great! Thank you Robin!

Robin's Eggplant

Slice eggplants (don't peel).

Spray with olive oil, plain. Brush each slice front and back with Pear Balsamic.

Bake at 350degrees until crispy but not burnt.

Customer Recipe: Steamed Edamame with Balsamic Vinegar

We recently got a very nice email from one of our customers. They sent us a recipe for steamed edamame with balsamic vinegar too. 

Thank you Chris and Jaime! 

Here is a picture of the edamame that we made tonight. Basically, just steam up a fresh batch of edamame, and place it in a bowl. Drizzle with your favorite balsamic, Chocolate Mandarin in this case, add fresh ground salt and pepper to taste, then a quick toss with a pair of tongs. Absolutely delicious! 

Thank you for bringing these great flavors into our home! 

-Chris and Jaime

Squid Ink Pasta

I got a facebook message from a customer named Tammy. She sent in some pictures of what she did with her recent purchases. She didn't really have a recipe, but sent in what she had.

I had left over muscles I cooked as an appetizer, in their shells, in white wine, butter, garlic and fresh thyme.  I had saved the leftovers and the broth, and added canned lump crab meat and clam juice and poured it over your squid ink pasta, cooked 4-6 min.  It was delicious!  And we dipped bread into the white truffle garlic oil with the chocolate balsamic!  YUM!!!

Thank you Tammy! It looks fantastic!