This is Italian meets French. Panzanella is an Italian bread salad, typically rustic, rough and rugged,  while the ruffled egg is French, dainty, cute, like a little purse. I used a French imported brioche to make the bread salad which added an unique sweetness to the dish, countered by a spicy vinaigrette. The flavors are complex, and this one of those meals that can be eaten any time of day.

This is the fifth recipe in a five recipe-10 ingredient challenge from Tabasco. The ten ingredients are explained here along with the rules of the challenge.

Tabasco sauce helps to boost flavor. A good recipe will have a balance of fat, salt and acid, but to take it a step further, heat pushes the flavors. Tabasco has acid, heat and salt which is probably why it’s so popular and sits on so many restaurant tables.

In this recipe I used the brioche, eggs, cherry tomatoes, herbs, maple syrup and cider vinegar. Olive oil was a free ingredient and, of course, Tabasco.

I love salad and there were no greens in this challenge. The idea of an Italian bread salad came to me because I had brioche and eggs to work with. I love using cider vinegar to make a vinaigrette. It’s going to have a sweet profile, but this is balanced by the heat of the Tabasco. This Tabasco vinaigette could easily work on a green salad, perhaps with some smoky bacon and blue cheese.

Typically panzanella is made with Tuscan bread, very crusty, very dense which holds a vinaigrette. I was given brioche to use which is a more delicate, sweeter bread, which paired nicely with sweet cherry tomatoes and ruffled eggs. In some pictures, you will see poached eggs, because I wanted you to have that option.  You could also make this with sunny side up eggs. The Perfect Poached Eggs recipe can be found here. This is the second brunch type dish I’ve made for the challenge. If you like this one you’ll love the Eggplant Benedict with Tabasco Hollandaise Sauce.  You could even use some of that hollandaise sauce for this dish. Isn’t cooking about making a dish you’re own creation?

I do have a sixth recipe, which I will post tomorrow. One of the ingredients was chocolate and I came up with yet another Italian dish, so please do come back to see how chocolate goes a bit savory.

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Panzanella Made with Brioche, Cherry Tomatoes, Ruffled Eggs, Tabasco

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 4 cups brioche cubes
• 1/2 cup vinaigrette more if you need it
• Basil Leaves
• Ruffled Eggs

Vinaigrette

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon tabasco
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• Fry cubed brioche in hot olive oil, about 20 seconds each side. Cool.
• Toss with Maple Cider Tabasco Vinaigrette
• Add in cherry tomatoes and basil
• Top with Ruffled or Poached eggs
• Garnish

The Five Recipes for the 10 Ingredient Tabasco Challenge

Monday: Grilled Swordfish with Salsa Verde over Tomato Agridolce, Paleo Friendly

Tuesday: Eggplant Benedict with Olive Oil Tabasco Hollandaise Sauce, Paleo Friendly

Wednesday: Savory Eggplant Bread Pudding

Thursday: Swordfish Milanese with Eggplant Tomato Sauce with Tabasco

Friday: Panzanella Bread Salad with French Ruffled Egg, Tabasco Vinaigrette

The post Panzanella, Ruffled Eggs, Tabasco Maple Vinaigrette appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is the second recipe in the Tabasco 10 Ingredient Challenge. Each day this week, I will be posting a recipe, where I could only use any combination of just ten ingredients. See those ingredients and read more about the challenge here in the first post.

Eggplant Benedict with Tabasco Olive Oil Hollandaise is not only zesty, creamy, spicy and comforting, it’s Paleo friendly. I replaced the English muffin with fried eggplant that is not breaded. Breading the eggplant is an option, but for this recipe I wanted to go grain free.

Before I get into the recipe I want to take a minute to thank my best friend for the cute blue salt and pepper shakers in the foreground of this picture. I know she reads every post (thanks for that loyalty). She said, “just a small gift,” but it was the big thought. I love anything blue, kitchen or  owls, even thought I’m not one of those collector types. Who knew they would be so adorable in the picture. It reminds me of how much a small thought can count.

I only used two ingredients for this dish. Eggs and Eggplant. Oil is allowed and Tabasco is of course, in every recipe. Tabasco has always been on my breakfast table to spruce up egg dishes, and it’s a natural in the Hollandaise sauce.

The only tricky part of this recipe is the eggplant. I dipped it in egg before I fried it. No bread crumbs. This means you must salt the eggplant for at least one hour to draw out moisture. If you don’t do this, the eggplant will soak up too much oil and not get golden brown and crispy.  I wanted Hollandaise for this but couldn’t use lemon, lime or butter as I did in this lime Hollandaise recipe.  No problem. The acid in the Tabasco gave the Hollandaise it’s zestiness and I used warmed olive oil instead of melted butter. It was creamy, rich and oh so good.

I love eggs made just about every way. You can find recipes for perfect poached eggs here and oven fried sunny side up eggs (with video) here.

The Five Recipes in the Tabasco Challenge

Monday: Grilled Swordfish with Salsa Verde over Tomato Agridolce, Paleo Friendly

Tuesday: Eggplant Benedict with Olive Oil Tabasco Hollandaise Sauce, Paleo Friendly

Wednesday: Savory Eggplant Bread Pudding

Thursday: Swordfish Milanese with Eggplant Tomato Sauce with Tabasco

Friday: Panzanella Bread Salad with French Ruffled Egg, Tabasco Vinaigrette

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Eggplant Benedict with Tabasco Olive Oil Hollandaise, Paleo Friendly

Paleo Friendly Eggs Benedict. Olive oil Tabasco Hollandaise Sauce atop perfect poached eggs and eggplant instead of bread.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Fried Eggplant

• 4 slices eggplant 1/2 inch thick
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Poached Eggs (Recipe Here)

• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar

Tabasco Olive Oil Hollandaise

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• black pepper to season
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco Sauce
• 1/2 cup warmed olive oil

Instructions

Fried Eggplant

• Slice eggplant 1/2 inch thick
• salt liberally for at least one hour and use paper towels to get moisture out
• Dip eggplant into egg.
• Heat olive oil in frying pan and fry eggplant until golden brown.

Tabasco Olive Oil Hollandaise

• Blend eggs, salt, pepper, tabasco in blender or Vitamix
• Warm olive oil over a double boiler.
• Trickle the olive oil into the egg mixture while on very low speed. Return the mixture to the double boiler and whisk over low simmering water until the sauce is the consistency you want.

To Plate

• Top each eggplant disc with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

The post Eggplant Benedict with Tabasco Olive Oil Hollandaise, Paleo Friendly appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Grilled Swordfish Verde with Tomato Agridolce is a big fat healthy dish that will tickle your taste buds with heat from tabasco and brightness from the sweet and sour agridolce.

Tabasco is the iconic hot sauce that everyone knows about, and it’s not too hard to figure out ways to use it. It brings tang, heat and brightness to a dish.  You’ll love how healthy, quick and easy this dish is. The dense texture of the swordfish is brightened by the salsa verde and boosted with texture and flavor by the spicy agridolce. It all combines to deliver one good bite of food.

This was originally created for aa most exciting challenge, because the rules of the challenge were to create five recipes using any combination of the following ten ingredients along with Tabasco sauce. We couldn’t use any other ingredients.

The herbs were basil, cilantro and mint. Any two of these herbs equaled one ingredient.

Today’s Ingredients: Swordfish, Basil, Mint, Cherry Tomatoes, Maple Syrup, Cider Vinegar

Grilled Swordfish Dish is an easy fast dinner, made in under 30 minutes.

This grilled swordfish over tomato agridolce topped with salsa verde was actually the last dish I made for this series and was made in under 30 minutes.  This is the healthiest of my five dishes, paleo friendly, as there are no grains, no sugar. I used maple syrup for the sweetness in the sweet and sour sauce.

What is Tabasco Sauce?

It’s made in the United States, by the Mc.Ilhenny Company,  in Avery Island, Louisiana and was established in 1868. It’s very simple. It’s vinegar, red pepper and salt. The key is the balance of acid and heat.

What does Tabasco Sauce do for a recipe?

It wakes it up, brings acid, salt and heat.  It can excite bland food or add an extra layer of flavor.

What is Agridolce?

It’s an Italian sweet and sour sauce which typically uses onions,  sugar and vinegar . Staying within the boundaries of the challenge, I only used vinegar, maple syrup, cherry tomatoes and Tabasco, and it was everything it needed to be.

The agridolce is great with swordfish, which is a dense steak-like fish. Each bite is almost like a tangy stew, enhanced by the salsa verde on top. I ate every bite and relished in how healthy and filling this dish was.

By Friday, I will have used at least 9 of the  ingredients, including a very unique dessert.  Get your hot sauce on, and stay tuned.

Monday: Grilled Swordfish with Salsa Verde over Tomato Agridolce, Paleo Friendly

Tuesday: Eggplant Benedict with Olive Oil Tabasco Hollandaise Sauce, Paleo Friendly

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Grilled Swordfish with Salsa Verde over Tomato Agridolce, a 30 Minute Dinner

Grilled Swordfish with basil and mint sauce served agridolce, sweet and sour Italian.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound of swordfish
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Salsa Verde

• 3/4 cup fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• salt
• pepper

For the Agridolce

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco Pepper Sauce divided

Sauce Verde

Instructions

• Rub sword fish with olive oil, season with salt and pepper.
• Place on hot grill and grill until cooked through, 5 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on second side.

Salsa Verde

• In blender or mini food processor pulse herbs, olive oil, salt, pepper, Tabasco Sauce until a puree is formed.

Agridolce

• Cut cherry tomatoes into quarters
• Heat in a small sauce pan, olive oil, maple syrup and 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce.
• Add tomatoes, vinegar, salt, pepper.
• Cook down for about 15 to 20 minutes. Sauce will be bright, tangy, sweet and sour. Add in more Tabasco Sauce to the heat level you desire. Mix well.

To Plate

• Place swordfish over the agridolce sauce. Top the swordfish with sauce verde.
• Serve immediately.

The post Grilled Swordfish with Salsa Verde over Tomato Agridolce, Paleo Friendly appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

If you love buttermilk dressing, blogging, recipes, the writing process, or you believe hospitality is the gold of life, read on.

One of my favorite Nashville bloggers asked me to join the “my writing process blogging tour.”  Teresa from Food on Fifth is one of those blogs I open right away, just to salivate over her beautiful food,  as Teresa is a professional food stylist. Last summer, I was fortunate enough to take a food styling class from her. Her expertise and warm teaching style gave us a day to remember, and for me, sealed a friendship.

I’m coupling this with the most fitting buttermilk ranch dressing recipe that comes from the Hedgebrook Cookbook.

The land at Hedgebrook feeds women writers at a farmhouse table while they are on retreat. I have a signed copy of the book, which has as its subtitle, “celebrating radical hospitality.” The recipes represent so much of my heart, as they use seasonal ingredients in a rustic, yet elegant presentation, meant to nurture the soul, create community and stir creativity. If I were ever asked to name a cookbook that is not my own, yet represents me, it would be the Hedegebrook Cookbook.

The Writing Process Blogging Tour is an ongoing tour of bloggers who are enlisted to join and share their journey. At the end of this post, you will see that I’ve invited three other bloggers to join me, and they will be posting next Monday, June 16th.

I was asked to answer the following questions, and I’ll pose these interview style.

What am I working on? 

When Teresa answered this question, she replied, photo shoots, photo shoots  and more photo shoots. This past week, I can say I’m working on recipes, recipes and more recipes.

A well known food company has contracted me to develop five recipes as part of a promotion, which will be presented here starting June 23rd and go for five days. I have 4 recipes done and one to go. I’m also working on developing three innovative salad recipes for the Williamson Source, an on-line magazine, as they’ll be here Friday to shoot a video. Tomorrow, I’ll be working with a new client, a food brand, developing recipes for their website. When I’m not in the kitchen creating recipes and doing photo shoots, I’m writing about restaurants and food events. I just completed two fun articles for the Nashville Arts & Entertainment Magazine that were not food centric. The 2014 publication will be at the bookstands and in Nashville hotel rooms in September. I am most excited about the feature piece and can’t wait for people to read it.  The blog was the reason I was approached by the publisher, which reinforces my decision to include Nashville centric posts. I felt honored to be a part of such a quality publication.

Of course, I never forget my readers. I’m working on this week’s posts which will be centered around buttermilk. Think buttermilk fried chicken, buttermilk blueberry pie and some new twist on buttermilk biscuits.

This buttermilk salad dressing incorporates fresh parsley and chives from my garden. Aren’t those chive flowers pretty?

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I have never considered Spinach Tiger a hobby, although it took years for me to develop my brand and value. Even from the beginning, I moved with intention, striving to make it look like a beautiful magazine and finding my voice.  I do mostly original recipes and all the food styling and photography.

Amongst thousands of food blogs, how do I manage to be different?

Most bloggers fall into one of two categories. They either write recipes, or they share restaurant reviews. I do both with equal excitement and dedication, but I believe the photography helps me to stand out, as food is not that easy to shoot. I had a long learning curve, and I’m still learning. I make the food as appetizing as possible and I will put just as much time into the visual appeal as I do the integrity of the recipe. It’s not that easy to find great recipes that are truly tested and approachable. I focus on using easily attainable, ingredients, and simple food that is memorable.

If I compare myself to other food bloggers (which I try not to do), I think I’m very clearly branded by a certain style and food presentation. I hear that people like the writing too, and that makes me happy.

Why do I write what I do?

I am compelled to share my life through food. I can’t not do it. It’s difficult to be this vulnerable, but I’m driven by a strong belief system about food quality and food style.  I grew up eating great food at the family dinner table, but we also dined out several times a week.

I cherish the local food scene in Nashville, as many locally owned, chef driven restaurants have popped up. I love to tell the world what Nashville is doing. The other half of me wants to show the world easy ways to prepare whole foods and have fun in the kitchen.

Originally, I wanted to connect with like-minded, food-centered people. I still do, but I want more than that. I want to help people who don’t know much about food, but dream of being better in the kitchen, and want more family food time.

Nothing makes me happier than emails, like the one I got from Julian from Wales yesterday, asking me a few more questions about this bolognese that he had on the stove.

I want the story to matter. I want to move people with words, because as a child, books saved me when I was lonely or anxious about situations I had no control over. It was words  that inspired me, kept me company and gave me a healthy escape.

Words have power, and when I attach a personal story, especially the transparent ones like this one, I am hoping it resonates with someone who needs to see that people do overcome bad experiences. Teresa described me as funny, and I hope there are times my words entertain as I do believe laughter is medicine and just as necessary as food.

How does your writing process work?

I am always writing in my head. When I’m observing a situation, I’m writing. When I’m cooking, I’m writing. When I’m working out, I’m writing.  I keep white boards and huge post it notes to keep me focused and on somewhat of a schedule, but I leave myself space to yield to where the blog might take me.

I write the stories early in the morning, usually in bed before anything crowds my mind. However, I have this cute kitchen table, and if no one is home, I can sit there and focus for hours without getting up. Sometimes, I go to this coffee shop and sit in the far facing, right dark corner against the wall, cocooned in. It’s very productive when I find myself too fidgety to stay home.

I have a crazy writing habit. I write partial posts, hopping from one to another, which may be considered a bit manic. I never typically finish a post from start to stop, because I’ll get an idea and jump over and start something new. To date, I have 70 blog posts in draft,  not finished, but all started. Some will hit the cutting room floor. Some I’m insecure about, as they are too personal and I don’t know if I can hit publish. Some don’t have enough of a wow factor or some I need better photos for.

If I were to advise anyone about blogging, it would be write, write, write, but only plan half of it, and yield to the process. Blogs have minds of their own. You might start the process and believe you are headed down a fast highway, but the blog takes you to mountain roads or a breezy sail ride. Let it happen! Your creative side is not as conscious as you think. Most of us plan with the left side of our brain, and then think we will attempt to blog the same way. However, the creative process, tucked up in that right side of the brain may reveal itself to you in surprising ways.

You are more creative than you think you are. You have more to say than you think you do.

The Three Bloggers I’ve Invited to Join the Writing Process Tour

As part of this process, I invited these three bloggers to join me on the tour, and I’m happy they accepted and will be writing just like this next Monday.

Jane Bonacci of the Heritage Cook lives in Northern California, and most recently was a guest speaker at a BlogHer Food conference. She’s talented, warm and friendly.  If she were my neighbor, we would be great friends. I met her as leader of my group in the Secret Recipe Club. You’ll especially want to visit her blogs on Mondays, where she posts a chocolate recipe.  Coincidentally, we are both traveling to France and Italy this Fall. We really are kindred spirits.

Phillip of Southern Fatty is another new Nashville blogging buddy. Let me set the record straight. He’s not fat, but his food sure looks so delicious that he must work out a lot. Southern Fatty is Southern eye candy. Beautiful pictures and a great story always accompany a mouth watering recipe like baked blackberry brie. Yesterday, we judged an ice cream contest together. His tag line is “Loosen your bow tie, mint your julep and stop in for a bite to eat!”

Susan Williams of That Susan Williams is new to the Nashville Food Bloggers Association, where we met at a special blogger’s dinner. I liked her right away and I was captivated by her blog posts where she uses words to provoke a discussion about faith and destiny. A few days after we met, we ran smack into each other at the Nashville Farmer’s Market. Destined to be friends because we live about 50 miles apart.

Now for that recipe for the best buttermilk dressing you will ever eat. Creamy, herbal, spicy, perfect. Oh, and please tell me, do you think buttermilk dressing is outdated or making a comeback? Here’s the recipe for what I call the Farmhouse Salad.

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Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Homemade Buttermilk salad dressing spiced up with a little hot sauce, and freshly made with herbs from the garden adapted from the Hedgebrook Cookbook.

Course Salad Dressing

Cuisine American

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup full fat buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons chives minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 4 tablespoons parsley minced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce I used Tabasco

Instructions

• If using a Vitamix, mix all ingredients except the fresh herbs. Once they are mix, fold herbs in
• You can also use a blender.
• Refrigerate for at least one hour, preferably 8 hours.
• Stays fresh in fridge up to three days.

The post Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

What makes a Bloody Mary best? They need to taste like food and jump a little. I got this recipe from a very sharp bartender who knew how to balance the briny,  salty, spicy elements with just enough citrus  to pull it all together.

Bloody Mary’s are most often enjoyed in the day time, maybe even the early morning.   Some years ago, Jason, the bartender at the lobby bar at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel helped  me to pass some rainy day time, while I was waiting for Mr. ST to return from his conference. We both just happen to have events that took us from Nashville to San Francisco on the exact same weekend, and I sat at the lobby bar waiting for him on a Sunday afternoon. I was intrigued that he wasn’t using a Bloody Mary mix. I watched him muddle together the tomato and jalapeno, add in real tomato juice, and horseradish, Tabasco and lemon, and I knew I had to have one. He was nice enough to make me second one, slowly showing me his step by step method. Then he wrote it all down for me.

Somehow I’ve managed to hold onto that paper for the past three years, and I’m finally sharing it today.

I don’t can food, and I rarely make anything pickled, but in recent years I’m discovering that pickling is a hot new trend and you don’t have to can the old fashioned way if you are going to eat the pickled food in the next few weeks.

I tend to like pickles a lot, especially if they are spicy, so I threw a good dash of cayenne pepper in the mix. I think this garnish is especially nice for a Bloody Mary and not everyone likes the typical celery.

The asparagus in this recipe makes a great appetizer, as well as a drink garnish. I used an interesting pickling spice that has cinnamon, mustard seed, dill seed and tumeric among other things, but any pickling spice will do.

The result is a very flavorful Bloody Mary. I was so excited to make this, I went and bought a muddler, which is used to muddle the  jalapenos and tomatoes.

Tell me, have you ever asked a bartender or a server for a  special recipe? Do you feel awkward doing that?

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Sir Francis Drake Hotel Bar Bloody Mary by Jason

Lucky enough to snatch the recipe for the best Bloody Mary from San Franciso's Sir Francis Drake Hotel Lobby Bar, starting with a key ingredient, olive juice.

Course Cocktails

Cuisine American

Servings 1

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 3-4 grape tomatoes
• 3-4 slices jalapeno
• 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 oz. vodka
• 2 oz. tomato juice
• FOR GARNISH
• 1 olive
• 1 grape tomato
• squeeze lime
• celery stick
• pickled asparagus optional

Pickled Asparagus

• 10 asparagus spears or as many as fit into the jar
• 2 pint mason jar
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 teaspoon dill seed or fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons pepper corns
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cloves garlic

Instructions

• Muddle the grape tomatoes and jalapeno and add ice.
• Add horseradish, pepper, salt, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice, vodka, tomato juice.
• Shake.
• Pour in pint glass, garnish as desired with garnishes

Pickled Asparagus

• Trim woody bottoms of asparagus and make sure it will fit into the height of the jar.
• Blanch asparagus in boiling water for one minute.
• Remove to ice bath
• Bring vinegar and water, pickling spice to a boil. Boil for two minutes
• Put asparagus into jar and pour pickling liquid over asparagus.Add remaining ingredients. Give a good shake.
• Cool. Put on lid tightly and refrigerate for a few days before serving.
• Pickled asparagus will keep in refrigerator for a few weeks.

The post Best Bloody Mary with Pickled Asparagus, Recipe from a Bartender appeared first on Spinach Tiger.