What Real Food Bloggers Really Eat: Ren of Edible Aria

Today we continue taking a sneak peek at what real food lovers really eat. Ren of Edible Aria was kind enough to join in and even share a couple of recipes. His photos are beautiful and his food always inspires me in my home kitchen.

Here is a little more about Ren:

Having eliminated essentially all processed foods in favor of pastured meats, dairy & eggs, fresh/wild seafood and homegrown/foraged/CSA fruits and vegetables, I’m still battling with carbohydarates in the form of bread and pasta.

This a journal describing my efforts to eat a healthy, interesting diet on a reasonable budget. The focus here is primarily on sustainable, fresh whole foods. Analog cooking in a digital world; eat as if your life depends on it!

Breakfast: Soaked Oatmeal with Wild Honeycomb, Mascarpone and Fried Bananas

Steel-cut oats are soaked overnight in cool, filtered water with a little lemon juice before being cooked with cinnamon and freshly-grated nutmeg.  Topped with banana slices fried in cultured butter with Tahitian vanilla, mascarpone thinned with fresh cream and a sprinkling of wild-harvested bee pollen…

For the Oats

• 1 cup traditional, steel-cut oats
• 1 cup cool, filtered water for soaking
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups filtered water for cooking
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons wild honeycomb
• 1 teaspoon wild-harvested bee pollen (not propolis)

Combine oats, water and lemon juice in a non-reactive bowl. Cover and allow to stand overnight. Transfer oats to a heavy saucepan, add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.  Add cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and keep warm until ready to use.

For the Bananas

• 1 just-ripe banana, bias-cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 2 tablespoons cultured butter
• 1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped

Melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-low heat.  Scrape vanilla into pan and swirl to disperse.  Add bananas and cook until golden brown.  Flip and cook until the other side is browned, about 8 minutes. Total.  Pour remaining butter into oatmeal.

For the Mascarpone

• 1 pint raw, fresh cream (ultra-pasteurized cream will not work)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon filtered water

Heat the cream in a double-boiler until it reaches 185 degrees. Mix water and lemon juice and add to the cream; it should thicken right away. Keep mixture at 185 degree for a full 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Transfer mixture to a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. Transfer to a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a clean bowl, refrigerate allow allow to separate 12-24 hours.  Mascarpone will keep in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

To serve, spoon warm oatmeal into a bowl and drizzle cream-tinned mascarpone around the perimeter. Top with fried bananas and a spoonful of honeycomb and sprinkle with bee pollen.

Dinner: Shrimp and Grits

Gigantic gulf shrimp are sautéed in sweet butter with fresh lemon, celery, tomatoes, white wine and parsley and served over stone-ground yellow grits with fresh thyme, shrimp stock, garlic and cream…

Adapted from recipes by Chef Chris Hastings, Coastal Living

For the Grits

• 1/2 cup stone-ground yellow grits
• 1 tablespoon cultured butter
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup fresh cream
• 1/2 cup shrimp stock (substitute fish fumét or vegetable stock)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 clove garlic, slivered
• 1 tablespoon shallot, diced
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Add thyme, garlic and shallots and sauté until soft and fragrant.  Whisk in broth and cream, reduce heat and cook until done, adding water as you go, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.

For the Shrimp

• 4 very fresh jumbo Gulf shrimp, peeled, de-veined and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons sweet butter, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red or green bell pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoon celery, diced
• 1 small plum tomato, chopped
• 2 green onions, slivered
• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (substitute Old Bay)
• 1/4 dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Heat half of the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add celery, bell pepper and shallots and cook 30 seconds. Add shrimp and cook without moving until lightly browned on the outside and opaque on the inside, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Remove shrimp from pan and add wine, cook and reduce until only a little liquid remains, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, parsley, lemon juice and shrimp and heat through, about 2 minutes.

To serve, spoon grits into a bowl and arrange shrimp over the top.  Pour the remaining butter sauce over the top and serve with Tabasco if desired.

*******

Thank you, Ren for sharing your food journal, photos and recipes. I will have to try my hand at homemade mascarpone.

How do you do real food? If you are interested in sharing your Real Food Journal please contact me. I’d be glad to hear from you.