The ingredients I decided to use were AJ's sweet black onion relish and Lisa's Hot Pepper and Red Onion Jam. I used the former as the base for a simple pita pizza, and the latter was incorporated into my version of a caponata with Japanese eggplant, red onions and two teaspoons of this sinfully spicy jam. Both ingredients elevated the ordinary weeknight dinner, and made me even more excited for the next Queens Swap in July. If you like what you see, I encourage you to be a part of it.
Queens Swap Inspired Dinner (Serves 1)
Ingredients:
For the pita pizza:
1 whole wheat pita
2 tbs of black onion relish (you can substitute with a homemade or store bought version)
Handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
Sprig of fresh basil
For the caponata:
1 long Japanese eggplant, chopped into 1 inch pieces1/2 medium red onion, chopped
2 tsp of hot pepper and red onion jam (substitute with a store bought option)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tbs of olive oil
Directions:
Top pita with black onion relish and cheese. Place in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese melts properly.In the meantime, sautee onions until lightly browned and then toss in eggplant. Add the salt and pepper and stir well. Sautee for about 3 minutes until the eggplant starts to color and then add the hot pepper relish. Stir well to incorporate, and cook for another 3-5 minutes, until the eggplant gets soft.
Remove pita pizza from oven and top with fresh basil. Enjoy the eggplant as a side to your pizza or even place it on top if you so wish.
Thanks Queens Swap for making my dinner so dee-licious.
Taking place this past Sunday at the fabulous Queens Kickshaw, Queens Swap brought together passionate foodies with a penchant to share their culinary goods with like minded foodies.
It was refreshing to see the diverse crowd that made their way into the back area of the Kickshaw, where we had a long, communal table set up for the swap.
How the swap worked:
We welcomed our lovely attendees with a warm hello and a few necessary materials to help them with the swap, including bid slips and a detailed schedule of events. The bid slips were used to describe the item that was being swapped, as well as for swapees to write down what they'd be interested in trading for it. Your item could get as many bids as possible - there was no limit.
The first half hour was for mixing and mingling, followed by the second half hour, during which everyone scoped out the goods and figured out what they were interested in.
During the last hour of the event, which was most exciting, participants engaged in actual negotiating for items and swaps were made. Some items went faster than others (i.e. black onion relish, hot red onion and pepper jam, dulce de leche sauce, etc). But in the end everyone received something, and some swappers who had extra items left over, shared the wealth amongst all of us. Thanks guys!
Swapped Items:
Here's a full sampling of the fabulous items that were swapped - one was more impressive than the next.
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - AJ
Black Onion Relish - AJ
Peanut Brittle - Amy
Marmalade - Autumn
Preserved Lemons - Autumn
Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies - Foodista Granola - Jean Homemade Cereal - JocelynCarrot Honey Wine - JohnMarshmallows - Kaitlin Chocolate Chip Cookies - LauraKombucha Starter - Lawrence Pickled Organic Cabbage - LawrenceHot Pepper and Red Onion Jam - LisaVin D'Orange - MegVanilla Extract - MegMaple Vinegar - MegHoney Lemon Apple Jam - MicheleHot Fudge Sauce - MicheleDulce de Leche - MicheleOlive Oil Granola - Rachel
Curried Pumpkin Seeds - The Queens KickshawAmaretto Cream - Victoria
What I Scored:
Overall, I think I made out pretty well, and as I saw, it was beneficial to have goods in smaller quantities, as it allowed for an easier swap.
My arsenal of goodies included:
AJ's Black Onion Relish - I already had it on a sandwich today and it was dee-licious.
Rachel's Olive Oil Granola - This too was hard to resist and I'm almost done with my batch, which is addictively delicious and includes ingredients such as coconut, pistachios, maple syrup, cardamom and more. It looks, smells and tastes divine!
Jocelyn's Cereal - Haven't had my bowlful yet, but will soon.
Lisa's Hot Pepper & Red Onion Jam - This dish has its roots in Italy and I can't wait to dig in.
Kaitlin's Marshmallows - They look wonderfully decadent and are so soft. Hot chocolate action here I come.
Amy's Peanut Brittle - Crunchy, wonderful and oh so decadent. It was totally addicting in the best way possible.
The Kickshaw's Curried Pumpkin Seeds - Given that I'm done with nearly my whole container is proof at just how stupendous these smokey treats are!
Meg, Charlene and I would love to thank everyone who attended and made this first swap so special. We can't wait to see these friends as well as meet new ones at the next Queens Swap in July. Stay tuned for details.
A BIG shout-out to the Queens Kickshaw for hosting this inaugural event. We couldn't have done it without your generosity and wonderful-ness :-)
So naturally, I wanted to ensure I make something attention grabbing and yummy, to encourage people to swap with me. My items of choice were these obscenely gluttunous chocolate chip bacon cookies. Yes...you heard right. Bacon.
The inspiration came from a fellow Foodbuzzer, Beth Michelle, who made these a couple of weeks back with much success. Her trick? Sprinkling the bacon with a healthy dose of brown sugar on both sides, and thus caramelizing it to a perfect sweet-salty bite.
Make sure you use good quality bacon because that's where the difference will lie. Try to go for organic if you can, or a reputable brand you trust (I used Applegate Farms Sunday Bacon). And follow the same rules for the dark chocolate - only the best. I used Ghirardelli jumbo dark chocolate chips, which did the trick.
The end result was a rustic looking (I arranged them too close on the baking sheet), thin-chewy treat with rich hints of sweetness and deeper accents of salt and smokiness. It was heaven - especially still warm from the oven.
I hope my fellow swapees receive them well! If you'd like to try these at home, here's the recipe from Beth Michelle.
Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies.
You may remember me mentioning Queens Swap - a cool, new food swap event that I'm organizing with two fabulous foodies, Meg and Charlene at The Queens Kickshaw.
A really hot topic and activity in the food world right now, food swapping has already debuted in other boroughs such as Brooklyn and Manhattan. But here's our effort to bring it to Queens. And your opportunity to join.
Although Queens Swap has been sold out for a couple of weeks now (the event is free), we've opened up a few more tickets, so you still have the opportunity to sign up. Here are all the deets you need to know and more about how to participate.
Inaugural Queens Swap Event:
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
The Queens Kickshaw - 40-17 Broadway, Astoria NY 11103. 718.777.0913
RSVP here - 3 seats left!
Queens Swap is a bi-monthly event that brings together passionate food enthusiasts, bakers, cooks, foragers to barter (or swap) quality, homemade foods.
Swapping at Queens Swap is free, but we're limiting it to 20 (now 25!) swappers for the first swap. If you can't get in, don't worry. We'll be having another swap in July. Queens Kickshaw normally closes at 4:30 p.m., but they're staying open later to host our event, so we encourage you to patronize them by purchasing coffee, sandwiches and other tasty items you spy on the menu. We happen to love the GOUDA sandwich!
Swap rules:
You can swap anything you want, but it must be made, grown, or foraged by you, personally. Product must packaged in some way - in cans, jars, paper bags or baggies, etc. This is because we need to comply with NYC health codes that prohibit "foods to be consumed on premises" brought in from outside the establishment. This means samples are also off-limits.
For more information on what to swap, head on over at www.queensswap.com
RSVP here.
