8140 salad- original and 2.0

I live at 8140 Orange Street. I moved here 5 months ago with a very long "to do" list...it's still very long.  A couple of months ago I planted my inspiration garden.  I planted 3 very small citrus trees and then sprinkled flower and lettuce seeds to fill the space.  Now just a few weeks later my lettuces are mature enough to harvest along with a few other goodies from my garden.  I have a pomegranate tree.  My next door neighbor has a blood orange tree with a generous branch hanging over my wall.  I planted radishes AND I have a small herd of goats.  This salad came from my garden.  I'm going to call it the 8140 garden since all ingredients came from the property (well I guess I need to call it the "8140 salad with walnuts"

8140 salad

Start with the arugula:

arugula

Add some sliced blood oranges:

blood orange tree-January

blood orange slices

Well thin slice a couple of radishes:

radishes

Pomegranate arils, goat cheese and walnuts.  I used a little orange juice in the vinaigrette.

So last night I made a 2.0 version:

8140 2.0

My red oak leaf lettuce was ready, sugar snap peas and these lovely nastursiums...yes they are edible.

So my "8140 salad" is any combination of food items that come directly from my property and add a handful of California nut meats.

Bon Appetit!

nastursium, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Crab cakes anyone?

IMG_0223, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Who doesn't love crab cakes? A couple of posts ago I mentioned that nasturtium leaves make perfect little serving platters for crab cakes. When I lived in Corona del Mar the leaves were much bigger on my nasturtiums and even larger on those that grew wild on the bluffs at the beach. But even my smaller leaves like I get from my pot contained nasturtiums will do just fine. Most cooks have their own reliable recipe for crab cakes. I like mine with a few veggies added and a nice mayonnaise. Emeril Lagasse has a great recipe that I tweaked a bit but the mayonnaise is worth posting first hand. Always use the best hand picked lump crab you can find, I like using the Panko Japanese bread crumbs for more crunch and everything else FRESH. Emeril's "Essence" Creole seasoning is great to have on hand but any sort of pepper (cayenne or ancho) plus paprika will do as well. So here goes:
FRESH SPICY MAYONNAISE:
1 egg
juice of one Meyer lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp Chipotle or favorite hot sauce

In a small food processor with a metal blade, process the egg and lemon juice for 1 minute. With the machine running, slowly add 1/2 cup olive oil. The mixture will be thick after all of the oil has been incorporated. Add the Worcestershire and hot sauce, process the mixture to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper. Use for binder for crab cakes and as sauce for serving.

Serve hot crab cakes over nasturtium leaves and garnish with sauce and nasturtium flowers. The flowers are spicy, the leaves are mild but all are edible.

Add a nice cold white wine or Margarita and life is about to get better.

Bon Appetit!

footnote: homemade mayonnaise is fabulous! The ratio of 1 egg, juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 cup oil is essential. Feel creative and add any flavorings at all. Flavored mayo is fantastic when used on a sandwich and will add depth of flavor. Using olive oil will contribute good (unsaturated) fat as opposed to bad (saturated) fat most often found in commercial mayo.

nasturtium in the garden

IMG_0187, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

A brilliant orange nasturtium peeks out from its leaves. By the way these leaves are excellent serving platters for crab cakes.

Nasties in the garden

I love these happy flowers.  I can't remember a garden of mine that has not had nasturtiums.  last year the witch from the HOA's property management decided they were non-conforming plants and ordered them to be removed.  (They are, as you can imagine, so dangerous to live with)  But nasturtiums reseed quite easily and something tells me they will be back again this year.  The leaves make perfect little serving trays for crab cakes and the flowers themselves add a little frivolity to a green salad. 

Tomato & goat cheese tart

Tomato & goat cheese tart
Originally uploaded by cabanagirl

A lazy Saturday and watching the Barefoot Contessa inspired me to gather my on hand ingredients and throw this together. It was divine. Tomato and  goat cheese tart with cipollini onions and rosso bruno tomatoes. The nasturtium was illegally growing in my garden and was pulled out by the mean property management witch.