Mark Your Calendars for the Best of Missouri Market!

Garlic Earth will have a booth at the Best Of Missouri Market at the Botanical Garden next weekend, Saturday and Sunday 10/3 - 10/4/09. We will be sharing free samples of the following recipes made with our seasonings:

Southwest Fajita Chicken with organic onions and locally-grown bell peppers

Asian Garlic Chicken (always a huge hit)

And for Vegetarians and non-vegetarians...

Organic Portabella Mushrooms and Eggplant in our sweet Italian Balsamic Marinade

Baked Wonton Chips made with our seasonings

Corn Cob Coins, marinated in organic olive oil and the Southwest Garlic Seasoning, then grilled 'til toasted and caramelized

We are about to introduce our new very low sodium Asian Garlic Seasoning. It'll actually contain omega 3, more vitamins and minerals and much less salt. We will sample some of that preliminary batch that I've been sharing at home -- the family loves it!

We sure hope to see you at the market next weekend. We will be one of nearly 150 vendors -- you can get a lot of holiday and birthday shopping done in one day! Please look for us -- follow the scent of the seasonings. We'll be cooking all day, both days and will have plenty of recipe ideas to share, as well. Any questions, just let us know at GarlicEarth@yahoo.com.

New Testimonial re: Baked Asian Chicken with Panko Crust

"I would love to know how you made the chicken...it was the bomb!!! - Cynthia, St. Charles"

Here's an easy recipe with the Asian Garlic Seasoning... Marinate cut up chicken with the "Secret" Asian Marinade (see below) in a ziplock bag for a few hours. Reserve the marinade for baking. Gently roll each piece of chicken in breading. Here's the breading:

For 2 1/2 - 3 lb chicken, combine:
* about 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
* 1 tsp. Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning
* optional: a couple tablespoons each of flaxmeal and almond meal (the almond meal is really expensive, but the flaxmeal isn't so much and it's SO HEALTHY!)

Carefully place the chicken in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, pour the marinade AROUND the chicken (NOT ON TOP of chicken so that the top gets crisp), spray each piece of chicken with olive oil spray (helps to make it crispy) and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 min, until done.

My son loves it when I do the same thing with chicken tenders or catfish nuggets.

Asian Marinade (for 3 lb meat)
3 tsp. Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup reduced-sodium teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce

Kindergartner Ate Seaweed for Breakfast -- SCORE!

That's right. I'm experimenting with a lower sodium and much healthier Asian seasoning blend. My son loves fried or microwaved-in-a-ramekin eggs with a little Asian Garlic Seasoning. I did an experiment and it worked! He didn't eat most of it since I didn't cook it long enough -- he doesn't like soft eggs. I thought it was delicious. We're onto something here.

By the way, the benefits of the secret ingredient are... there are so many!

It's Pepper Time at Pin Oak Farms in New Haven, MO

Here they are! If I could throw a rock far enough, just across the Missouri River from Marthasville to New Haven, I could reach the farm where our bell peppers are grown. How cool is that? Here are the bell peppers -- green, red, orange and some with a hint of yellow -- that will be a part of the next several batches of Garlic Earth Seasoning.

As always, we start off with LOTS of fresh organic garlic, fresh organic yellow onion, fresh local bell peppers, and several other fresh vegetables. That's what makes our seasonings different -- the freshness. Oh, and the fact that they're "microbrewed" in small batches, and the unique combination of about a dozen different natural ingredients in each flavor.

Gotta get more peppers while they're ripe!

Lemon Broccoli & Shrimp with Asian Seasoning

Imagine biting into a crisp, stir-fried broccoli floret, some succulent shrimp, both with a little tang from the lemon and sweetness from the ginger & Asian sauces in the Asian Garlic Seasoning -- delicious! Here's a new EASY recipe:

Lemon Broccoli & Shrimp
2 tsp. canola oil
1 lb fresh shrimp (shelled and deveined)
1 lb broccoli florets
the juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. + a few shakes Asian Garlic Seasoning

Heat the canola oil over medium heat. Saute broccoli florets with a few shakes of the seasoning for about 8 - 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the the shrimp, lemon juice, and 1 tsp. seasoning. Stir, cover and steam for about 5 minutes. Toss one more time before serving.

Back to School

Chef Gordon Ramsay AND planet approved: the 2-tier tiffin. I first saw this lunchbox on a Kitchen Nightmares episode and I found it at the Nubius Organics website. They have tons of earth-friendly lunch gear! I don't know if a kindergartner would find the tiffin very cool, but I sure do.

With the school year quickly approaching, I will try to include some lunchbox-friendly recipes and ideas, so please stay tuned! Many of you experienced parents may already know this, but here are a few tips to get us started:

* Freeze yogurt tubes and use them to keep lunch cool (thanks, Mandy!)
* Freeze juice boxes and use them to keep lunch cool
* My son's new favorite, Ham and Cheese Kabobs: stick rolled lunchmeat and cheese cubes on a small skewer (I'm not sure if the school will allow skewers so I'm going to experiment with straws as the skewer)

My New Favorite Local Band

This goes under my favorite local things: Pik'n Lik'n. I first saw them on accident in Washington, MO at Marquart's Landing. I met a friend for a garlic seasoning deal and there were Ed, Barb and Andy. The first song I heard them play was Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. Imagine Pink Floyd with a mandolin. It was beautiful. Next thing you know, they're playing bluegrass -- a song Ed wrote, I believe. Barb has an Amy Ray quality in her voice; the next time I see Barb she promised some Indigo Girls for me. Hope you can catch them soon! In the meantime, this link will take you to their webpage with streaming songs... turn it up: Pik'n Lik'n