Grillin' & Chillin'

It's memorial day weekend which means the grills are firing up and the smell of burgers and hot dogs are in the air.  My house was no exception!!  My Saturday started off with a nice trip to the broadripple farmers market with Lauren.  We found out that a lot of the arugula and turnip crops were damaged due to the rain we have had.  That is so upsetting to me.  These farmers work so hard all year round and then in just a few days it is ruined.  My main reason for going to the market was to get some arugula and pea sprouts.  Needless to say no arugula for me.  I did walk away with some yummy pea shots, local spicy mustard, fresh strawberries and asparagus.

All in all I would say a pretty decent trip to the market.  Lauren picked up some local pork bratwurst (we wanted the patties but they were out), asparagus, strawberry pie, fresh garlic bread and spinach.  The night before Lauren had requested that I make a broccoli puree I had made a couple weeks ago.  It was delicious, however I went a little overboard with the pepper flakes and it was just to hot for us. 

Dinner Saturday night dinner consisted of our Farmer's Market pork bratwurst with spicy mustard, broccoli puree and garlic bread.  I took pictures of our plates but somehow the picture did not save and we had demolished our plates by the time I realized it had not saved :( 

The broccoli puree I make is as follows:

• 1 large stalk of  broccoli (florets and stem cut into uniform pieces)
• 3 Tablespoons of pine nuts (toasted)
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves smashed and skinned
• 1 large shallot sliced
• 1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes (less if you don’t like spicy)
• 1 Teaspoon of chopped and grated lemon zest
• 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

1. Heat a large pot with olive oil, add the pepper flakes, garlic, shallot, and season with salt and pepper.
2. Once the garlic and shallot are “soft” add the portioned broccoli. Stir until evenly coated.
3. Add 1/2 a cup of water and put a lid on the pot.
4. Cook the broccoli until the water evaporates about 6-8 minutes.
5. Once water is evaporated add the lemon zest.
6. Puree mixture with an immersion blender, potato masher or whatever you have on hand

 

This time around my puree was super thick.  I added about 1/2 cup more of water and a couple more Tablespoons of lemon juice to loosen up the mixture a little.  This really can be made with any mixture of veggies.  The last time I made this I also used carrots and cauliflower.  This time I just had broccoli so pure broccoli puree it is.  No picture of it pureed as it didn't save.  BOO!  But I served it with toasted pine nuts.  We warmed up the garlic bread on the grill and cooked the pork brats until the skin was nicely charred and crisp.  It was the perfect meal to a fun day. 

Dessert was a little slice of the local strawberry pie and grilled pineapple with whipped cream.


 
Oh and we officially found a place to live.  We will be moving to broadripple June 17th.  We are really excited to get that stress done with.  Now onto the stress of packing and actually moving.  OYE the joys of moving!  Hope everyone is enjoying their memorial day weekend! :)