{"id":32471,"date":"2017-05-13T20:45:34","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T00:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=32471"},"modified":"2017-05-25T23:05:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T03:05:33","slug":"fresh-recipes-joe-scrizzi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=32471","title":{"rendered":"Fresh Recipes from Joe Scrizzi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Seems like Summer came early to the Lehigh Valley this year, temps in the upper 70&#8217;s and low 80&#8217;s in April, trees and plants started blooming quickly! \u00a0With the early summery weather, people were out and about getting their yards &amp; gardens ready for the upcoming Summer Season. I too, was thinking of what to plant this year and all the great foods filled my mind about dining al fresco. I have been leaning towards the idea of farm to table more and more as of late. Buy Fresh &#8211; Buy Local, do right by yourself, live a healthier lifestyle, clean eating.<\/p>\n<p>During the warmer days that we recently experienced, I got the itch for Sun Teas &amp; Caprese Salad. Although, the ingredients aren&#8217;t from my garden as of yet, most soon will be and yours as well and plenty of Farmers Markets opening this weekend!<\/p>\n<p>Here a few recipes you can enjoy as the warmer weather will be returning soon&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2>Sun Tea<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tea.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32473 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tea-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tea-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tea-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tea.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sun Teas can be made with various ingredients. Purchased tea bags, fresh &amp; dried herbs, fruits, veggies, mints, etc. I picked up a bag of Sunburst Tea from Crooked Row Farms over the Winter at the Trexlertown Farmers Market @ the Velodrome. Recently, I purchased this acrylic pitcher from Bed, Bath &amp; Beyond with a larger diffuser basket inside. I&#8217;m looking forward to all sorts of blends this year!<\/p>\n<p>Pack diffuser (any type) with Sunburst Tea. Submerge in jug filled with water and set in sun for at least 2 hours. Any type of vessel will work. If a diffuser isn&#8217;t readily available, wrap dried herbs in cheese cloth and place in jar. I&#8217;ve been drinking sun teas unsweetened, however if you like to sweeten it, use local honey versus sugar. Dissolve 2 T. honey in 1 C. of warm water and add to the jar.<\/p>\n<p>The next recipe I could eat several times a week and I usually do once Tomatoes &amp; Basil are in season. Tomatoes and several type of basil take over half of my garden. More recipe and pictures to come once the season is underway.<\/p>\n<h2>Caprese Salad<\/h2>\n<p>(serves as 3 appetizers or 2 light lunches\/dinners)<\/p>\n<p>2 &#8211; hand sized tomatoes, cored &amp; sliced<br \/>\nBunch of Fresh Basil, leaves removed<br \/>\n8 ozs Fresh Mozzarella, sliced (1\/4 inch)<br \/>\nBalsamic Vinegar Reduction<br \/>\nHimalayan Pink Salt<br \/>\nFresh ground pepper<br \/>\nExtra Virgin Olive Oil<br \/>\nBasil Chiffonade (recipe below)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/caprese.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32474 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/caprese-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/caprese-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/caprese-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/caprese.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Layer tomato, basil, cheese (as shown) to fill plate. If you have a round plate, start from the outside and make a circle towards the center.<br \/>\nZigzag\u00a0 balsamic reduction across the plate, grind salt &amp; pepper over top, drizzle with EVOO.<br \/>\nGarnish plate with basil chiffonade. Serve<\/p>\n<p>~ Bon Appetite<\/p>\n<h2>Basil Chiffonade:<\/h2>\n<p>Lay 4 to 5 basil leaves as shown in picture, roll up tightly from stem end. Press seam side down, take French\/chefs knife and cut across the roll. Fluff the threads with your fingers and garnish the plate, by sprinkling from above. Present for your guests!<br \/>\nThe oils released from slicing the basil, are intoxicating and bring to mind other recipes like: Baked Pesto Chicken, Pesto Chicken Pate, Basil\/Mozzarella-Tomato Grillers, Pesto Ricotta Crostini&#8230;&#8230;.I know I&#8217;m making everyone hungry. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/leaves.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-32476\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/leaves-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/leaves-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/leaves-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/leaves-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/leaves.jpg 1334w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>This tasty article was contributed by: Joe Scrizzi &#8211; The Valley Ledger Contributor<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class='adkingprobanner sidebar banner3023'><a href='http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/' target=\"_blank\" data-id='3023' data-ga='{\"campaign\":\"\",\"banner\":\"\",\"implemented\":\"universal\",\"imp_action\":\"Impression\",\"click_action\":\"Click\"}'><img src='https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/inpostblank.jpg' alt='' \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class='adkingprobanner sidebar banner7036'><a href='http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com' target=\"_blank\" data-id='7036' data-ga='{\"campaign\":\"\",\"banner\":\"\",\"implemented\":\"universal\",\"imp_action\":\"Impression\",\"click_action\":\"Click\"}'><img src='https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/inpostblank.jpg' alt='' \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?post_type=adverts_posts&p=7036\" class=\"read-more\">Click here to read more... <\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,2360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-joe-scrizzi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/joes-.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}