March Recipes Featuring the Flavors of the Month:
Lemon Blueberry Mini Bundt Cakes
For The Cake
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/2 cup lemon agrumato olive oil + 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 cups washed and dried blueberries (1/2 cup reserved)
For the Simple Syrup Lemon Glazed Blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon fresh lemon Juice or the juice of 1 large lemon
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Grease an 8 cup bundt pan with lemon olive oil, or 8- 1 cup mini-bundt pans.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together until light yellow and thickened. Add the olive oil, lemon zest, vanilla, and sour cream.
In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients and whisk until no dry spots of flour remain. Fold in the blueberries reserving 1/2 cup for decoration.
For the glaze, mix together the lemon juice and sugar in a microwave proof bowl. Heat for 1 minute on high. Whisk, and allow the glaze to sit until all the sugar is dissolved and the glaze has become transparent.
Bake the full size bundt pan for 45- 50 minutes, and the mini-bundt pans for 25-30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to coll for at least 20 minutes before inverting.
Allow the cake to cool fully. Add the blueberries to the cooled clear syrup and toss to coat. Decorate the top/center of the bundt with the blueberries allow the glaze to run down the sides and soak into the cake. Serve immediately.
Serves 8-10
The Spicy Olive's Strawberry Spinach Salad
19 oz. package of baby spinach leaves
1 cup strawberries, sliced thick
1/3 cup red onion, sliced thin
1/2 of a cucumber, seeded and sliced
1/4 cup toasted sliced apmonds
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp poppy seeds
2 Tablespoons The Spicy Olive's Lemon olive oil
4 Tablespoons The Spicy Olive's Strawberry balsamic
Mix the spinach leaves, strawberries, red onion, cucumber and almonds in a salad bowl. Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, poppy seeds and lemon zest. Pour over salad and toss. Serve immediately and enjoy!
The Spicy Olive's Strawberry Pork Tenderloin
One of our mosst popular recipes!
3 lb. package of pork tenderloins
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
10 bacon slices
1/2 cup The Spicy Olive's Strawberry balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
1/2 cup quartered fresh strawberries
1 Tbsp. The Spicy Olive's Garlic olive oil
Preheat grill to 400-500 degrees. Sprinkle pork tenderloin with sea salt and pepper. Wrap each pork tenderloin with bacon slices and secure with toothpicks- 3-4 bacon sliced should cover a tenderloin.
Turn off one side of the grill and arrange pork loins on unlit side of grill. Let the pork cook on the grill for 30 minutes, turning once after 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place garlic oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add strawberry balsamic and allow to come to a simmer, cook 5 minutes and then add strawberry preserves. Reserve 1/2 of the mixture to baste the tenderloins. Cool the other half and add the fresh strawberries.
After 30 minutes, put the tenderloins on the hot side of the grill and cook each side for 2-3 minutes, basting each side with the strawberry balsamic mixture.
Tenderloins should reach on internal temperature of 165 degrees. Take them off the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice and drizzle with the strawberry and balsamic vinegar sauce before serving!
