Pickled beets as sweet as candy

Last week, I wrote about the Ruskin Woman's Club annual fundraising event where members made homemade watermelon rind pickles. After the pickling party, club member Dorothy Renshaw gifted me with a jar of the leftover pickle syrup and suggested I combine it with cooked beets.

The combination sounded a little iffy to me, I have a love-hate relationship with the root veggie. I definitely prefer them pickled, so I decided to try Dorothy's tip.

I went to Mabry's Market and purchased a half dozen or so fresh beets. Once boiled to a crisp-yet-tender state, I ran them under cold water and let them sit for about 15 minutes. After trimming, peeling and slicing the beets, I let them sit in the fridge overnight, covered with the sweet, spicy pickle syrup.

They were simply delicious!

Leftovers, should you have any, will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Spinach for breakfast? Popeye would approve.

I picked up this beautiful bunch of Okinawa spinach recently at Greens on the Gro Farm in Palmetto.

The charming seven acre hydroponic farm grows a variety of greens, fruits and vegetables.

Too pretty to eat? Hardly.

The edible dark green leaves, with reddish purple undersides were destined for a special breakfast treat - olive oil fried egg with wilted spinach.

Greens On The Gro Farm

2309 Ellenton-Gillette Road (aka 36th Ave. E.)

Palmetto, FL 34221

Little Habana, tiny treasure is getting bigger

I stopped by Little Habana Cafe today to get a coffee fix and a light lunch to go.

I found BIG changes! Owners Al and Tanya Estevez have knocked down an interior wall and have begun expanding into the space next door. A pass-through archway is finished, and the entire job should be done in August.

But some things haven't changed. Their Cafe con Leche, is still one of the best in town. Perfecto!

For lunch, I ordered Ensalada de Churrasco, strips of charbroiled skirt steak, that were cooked perfectly to medium rare, accented by a zippy chimichurri and served on a bed of fresh greens.

Al and Tanya have made the cafe a super-friendly place to relax with an old friend or meet new friends. The food is consistently great.

Little Habana Cafe

13352 Lincoln Road

Riverview, FL

(813) 672-5111

Iron Chef Cat Cora coming to Clearwater

July will start with a bang.

Iron Chef Cat Cora will be back in town to host a free cooking demo and book signing at 12:00 p.m. July 1, at the Macy's Westfield-Countryside Mall. She’ll also share recipes from her new cookbook, Classics with a Twist.

In February, I had the pleasure of talking with Cat about food, her children, Iron Chef, and her new cookbook. She's delightful!

Cat will be at Macy’s as a member of the Macy's Culinary Council - http://bit.ly/culinarycouncil.

WHAT:

Free cooking demo with Iron Chef Cat Cora

WHEN:
Thursday, July 1

12:00 pm

WHERE:

Macy’s Home Store at Westfield-Countryside Mall, lower level

27001 US Highway 19

North Clearwater, FL 33761

RSVP:
RSVP’s are recommended, but not required. To reserve your seat, call 727-724-7314.

MORE INFO: http://pitch.pe/68822

It's time for Ruskin to shine!

Many folks consider Ruskin tomatoes the absolute best, and this year, the juicy jewels have lived up to their reputation. Luckily for me, Ruskin tomatoes are grown in my hood. Not many can make that boast!

Recently, my partner and I picked two five-gallon buckets of these stop-sign-red tomatoes. It didn't take long for me to decide what to do with them. After putting a dozen or so aside, I opted to make sauce.

I can now say with a hefty dose of pioneer pride, I have 14 quart-jars of tomato sauce lining my freezer shelves. And man, oh man, is it ever good!

Freezer tomato sauce takes a shortcut. In its simplest form, tomatoes are cooked, jarred and frozen.

You can read more about my recipe for basic tomato sauce here in this week's South Shore News & Tribune.