Liberty LOVES Daddy's Pancakes & Berry Compote!

com·pote
/ˈkämpōt/
1. fruit preserved or cooked in syrup.

I never liked "Blueberry Pancakes". To me, the blueberries messed up how the pancakes cook & taste. It changed the moisture, the texture, and the color too much!

So, instead of putting blueberries IN my pancakes, I started making various berry compotes to put ONTOP of my pancakes -- and I'll NEVER go back! WOAH!

Here is a quick & easy recipe for a berry compote. You can use fresh or frozen berries of any type and blend. See my notes in the recipe if you use more "tart" berries.

Ingredients:

(in parts so you can have as much or as little as you would like)

• 1 Part Sugar (you may add 1/2 part MORE sugar for tart berreis)
• 1 Part Water (substitue orange juice or any type of cytric acid jucie for bitter berries such as cranberreis & add less water if you are using frozen berries)
• 1/8 Part Honey
• 2 Parts Berries (if you are using frozen berries, use less water)

[I usually use about 2 table spoons of sugar, 2 table spoons of water, 1/8 table spoon of honey, and about a handfull of berries and a "pad" or slice of butter. That makes enough for me, Katie, & Liberty - but Liberty only gets a little bit.]

Directions:

Use an appropriate sized sauce pan. Add sugar & water and place on high heat. Stir in honey after about a minute -- this is your "Syrup" in the definition of compote. Stir in clean/rinsed berries & reduce heat to medium/high.

As mixture begins to bubble/boil (5 - 8 minutes or so) fresh berries will begin to "pop" open & frozen berries will become mushy, reduce heat to low/medium and stir.

If you feel the mixture is too thick, you may add small amounts of water in incriments. A little water goes a long way. Sometimes I add just a little bit of butter to keep it the right consistancy. Stir on low heat until the berries are no longer whole and the juice is like a thick fruit juice.

You may set the compote to the side while you cook your pancakes, or use it fresh to help melt your butter on top of the pancakes!

If you try this one out, tell me about it!! I'd love to hear what you thought about it and any edits you make. This is one of our favorite Saturday morning traditions. I hope you like it!

Peace, Love, & Pancakes!

Cilantro Lime Tilapia

Recipe 1 is a Mahi Mahi recipe that we LOVE. We will borrow a few of the ingredients but mostly, we will use this method to cook. This recipe we found courtesy of the Food Network's website. Ingredients we will be using from this recipe are: (I'll post a more organized recipe list below)

• sprigs fresh thyme (I would have liked to use dried thyme, but we are out)
• sprigs fresh parsley (SUB: dried parsley)
• 8 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless mahi mahi fillets (SUB: Tilapia)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (SUB: regular salt & ground pepper)
• 3/4 cup dry vermouth
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (SUB: Not fresh, lime juice)
• bay leaves, preferably fresh
• 12 cherry or pear red and yellow tomatoes, for garnish

Recipe 2 is a Broiled Parmesan Tilapia from All Recipes.

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (SUB: freshly grated parmesan cheese)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (Don't need since we are using olive oil)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (SUB: lime juice)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 2 pounds tilapia fillets

So, OUR recipe ingredients look like this: 

• 8 or 10 springs of fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 8 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 Tilapia fillets
• 1 cup dry vermouth
• 1/4 cup butter, softened (halved)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 cup whole milk or heavy creamer

Directions

Preheat oven to 425

Just before we cover it and put it in the oven.

In a medium gratin dish or baking dish, make a "bed" of herbs with the springs of cilantro. Scatter smashed garlic over cilantro. Spread dried herbs evenly on top. 

Mix onion powder, salt, & pepper. Even coat both sides of the fish.

Lay fish on top of the bed of herbs. Add vermouth.

Mix extra virgin olive oil, parmesan cheese, lime juice, half of the softened butter. Ladle mixture on top of each piece of fish.

Cover fish and and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until fish is opaque, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Our fillets happened to be huge and took about 23 minutes.

Carefully pour the pan juices into a small saucepan and set the fish aside. I poured ours into a wide mouthed glass, put a straining screen on top of the cup and turned over the screen and cup over the pan. As the juices flowed through the screen into the pan, I moved the cup around to speed it up. I didn't want herbs, garlic, or pieces of fish to make their way into the sauce. Reserve the garlic and any herb sprigs for garnish.

Let the sauce start to cool. Slowly add the whole milk or heavy cream (about 1/8th to 1/4th cup - depending on how creamy you want the sauce) with the remaining 1/8th cup of melted butter while you stir so the cream doesn't curdle. Once stirred, bring the sauce to a boil over high heat and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes (ours took 8 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Taste. Add 1/4 tsp of lime juice if you can't taste a hint of lime in the sauce. Set aside in 4 small glass bowls.

Divide fish among 4 serving plates. Ladle about 1 tbsp sauce over fish and garnish with the 4 remaining cilantro sprigs & the reserved garlic.

We served ours with Garlic Cheddar Biscuits and Cilantro Lime Rice!

I think it turned out great! The extra sauce was sooo good! We added more on the fish as we ate and even added some to the rice! If you try this recipe, let me know what you think and include any edits you make! We were very pleased since we just "threw something together" with what we already had. We would make & eat this again!

Ingredients

• 4 cups of cooked, cooled rice (minute or regular) 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 cup forzen or canned whole kernal corn
• 2 table spoons of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon lime zest
• Salt & Pepper to taste 

Directions

Cook Rice and let cool.
Heat corn in skillet or microwave
Scramble 2 eggs with Salt & Pepper
Add Cilantro, Corn, Eggs, Lime Zest & Lime Juice to Rice. Mix & Toss. Taste. Add lime juice, salt, & pepper to taste.

Sometimes we don't use the egg and corn. Sometimes we just use cilantro, lime, & rice. It depends on how we are feeling at the time. I hope you like it!

Here is my photo of the Cornish Game Hen (carved by me!) version on Creamed Spinach with Herb Infused Olive Oil, topped with a Fried, Soft Boiled Egg

My Edits

1. Substituted Quail with Cornish Game Hen. Only added a minute or two to the oven time due to the increased size of the bird.
2. Substituted Quail Egg with Regular Egg & increased the time to "soft boil" by less than 1 minute.

Tips

Fried, Soft Boiled Eggs
This was the hardest part of the entire meal. Practice this step a few times before attempting the entire meal. Time the boiling process each time you practice so you can perfect it. Be sure to put the egg into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Don't leave it in hot water, or it will hard boil. Peal the egg CAREFULLY once it is cooled. When you cook the entire meal, cook 2 extra eggs per 4 or 5 that you need. They can bust easily. Don't over fry them! Just get the outside crispy and do this RIGHT before you serve them for the best results. You want the middle runny. As you serve them, slice the side open and let the yolk bring all the flavors together! 

Herb infused Oil Garnish
The first time you make the meal, do this second, right after or as you prep the eggs. As you start cooking, things begin to move quickly and you run the risk of forgetting all together. When you have done this meal at least once, you can create this garnish quickly while your bird is browning.

Creamed Spinach
It is important that you remove all of the moisture from the spinach leaves after cooking them. Put the leaves in a bowl, take another bowl and stack it on top. Squeeze over the sink until the moisture is gone! This tip is straight from Chef Chuck! It works GREAT!

Here is the recipe information from Chef Chuck Hughes with a few of my notes. Feel free to ask me questions as they come up! You can find me on twitter @RayZorback

Recipe

Ingredients

Back on the bird

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.

Season the quails with salt and pepper. In a large oven-proof saucepan, heat the canola oil on high heat and grill the quails in canola oil on all sides until brown. Finish cooking them in the oven for approximately 8 minutes. Keep the quails warm on a separate plate.

For the creamed spinach

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spinach and cook for 15 seconds. Drain in a fine mesh strainer, pressing with a large spoon to release as much water as possible.

In a small saucepan, heat the cream to a simmer and let it reduce by half, for about 10 minutes. Add the Dijon mustard and stir. Put aside.

Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic, stirring until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, just until the liquid is released. Add the reduced cream mixture, season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Lastly, finish the Fried, Soft Boiled Egg!

Using a deep fryer, heat the oil to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. Fry the eggs for about 1 minute, or just until the crust is lightly brown.

For serving

Plate each portion with creamed spinach topped with a quail and garnished with the herb mixture. Finish the plate with the fried egg cut in half.

I started up again and posted a few of the runs on DM & then I stopped again (got too busy with the restaurant was my excuse, but I was working 18 hour days).

Now, I've started up again. I am not putting any pressure on myself this time around. I am just going to run. I'd like to sign up for a few 5Ks this year and complete a 10K. I have some running goals that should get me to the ultimate goal of running & finishing my first 10K sometime this year. So, I logged my first run of the year on daily mile. It was a tough run and chilly. I don't have the appropriate cold weather run gear. But it was a pretty good run. I did 1.5 miles in 16:50. That is an 11:13 pace. Then I went back and looked at my previous times: 12:00 was one of my fastest paces at the time. Most were around 13:00 or 14:00. WOW! This was really encouraging. I thought the run was slow and cold, but it was actually one of my best outside run times and it was the first run of the new year!

Then I realized, that is EXACTLY what Daily Mile is for! It isn't just to connect with other runners and get advice/encouragement. It is to see just how far you've come in overall fitness, focused on running.

Last year, I logged 100 miles. That sounds like a lot, but that really isn't much. This year, I want to run 350 miles. That is less than 7 miles a week on average and will be very doable with other fitness goals I have in mind. If I hit 350 early, I'll target 500, but it depends on how much time & effort are required from P90X at the start of the year and CrossFit by the end of the year. Follow along with me with the milage counter on the right side of the page. Jan 1, 2012 it was at 100 (unless I figure out how to make it count YTD only). 1.5 down, 348.5 to go!

This is why I've deemed 2012 is the Birth Year of the BEAST. Join up with Daily Mile and train with me. BEAST MODE!

Take note businesses! Your website is still the number one way that your consumers connect with you, but you must be able to connect to the consumers through your website using the social networks.

I think Leo gets it a little more than Sarah. Path is NOT a facebook replacement. Path is a life sharing tool for CLOSE friends and family, not a public social network.

He brings up a great point for business owners and marketing reps to consider. I contend that unless you are a "power user" most people will not get over 10-20 brands that they will regularlly follow and interact with. One thing that owners and marketing reps should remember is that services that offer a "limited social" environment (like Path) will pull eyeballs away from Facebook and other social networks. I see websites (with social connections to facebook, twitter, foursquare, etc) making a comeback and being the main social connection between the consumer and companies.

About a week ago, I got an "alert" message on my phone. My friend Jacob Slaton downloaded the app and added me to his Path. I hadn't checked the ap in a while, despite leaving it on my phone and downloading the updates, so I decided to check it out again.

WOW! What a difference. Path 2.0 is light years ahead of Path and any other social network I have ever used! The idea is to share your "Path" (your life) with your closest friends and family all from your mobile device (iphone or android). You can also use it like a "third party application" and update your facebook, twitter, tumblr, or foursquare status from the app. Below is a promotional video.

You can share photos, videos, check in at a location, tag your friends, note what music you are listening to, or just post a thought to share with your close friends and family. The interface is amazing & very easy to use. It is so smooth too. So far, I have no privacy concerns as no one can see anything until you approve them.

My family is currently using "Group Me" to share text, photos, and videos with each other. It works most of the time, but the quailty of video isn't as good after it goes through compression over the cellular networks. However, Path is the prefect tool to take the next step. I will only be adding CLOSE friends and Family to this "network" in an effort to share MORE of my life with those I love.

Here is a video that talks about all of the features of Path 2.0. 

Visit www.path.com to download the app to your phone (iphone/android) and find out more information.

Enjoy sharing your Path!

I would love to hear your freedback on what you think of this app! Or if you have any questoins, feel free to comment below.

That seems to be the first question social media users have to ask them themselves. After almost 10 years of social media participation, I have finally answered the question for myself.

I was an early adopter of Facebook (but was out of college so I had to wait until they opened it up to the public) and of Twitter. I only accepted people I KNEW into Facebook. High school, college, childhood friends and family or people I worked with.

I signed up for Twitter and Gary Vaynerchuck was on of my first followers and the ability to connect and have short conversations with him about favorite wines or "stream of consciousness tweeting" during a Razorback football game was tons of fun. I even connected with news anchors and my tweets were regularly featured on TV locally.

Gary Vaynerchuck was big into the "creating your brand" and branding yourself. He even wrote a book about it! I was too. At the time, I was a real estate agent and doing everything I could to become KNOWN online as THE agent in Northwest Arkansas. I received a lot of web traffic and leads, so it was working! Then, as a Business Broker, I had to be a little more careful about what I shared & who I shared it with.

Fast forward a few years: We opened a restaurant. Again, I thought it would be a good idea to be as public as possible to promote the business and get it off the ground. That worked too. We have more people following our restaurants Facebook page than any other local Facebook page! That's a pretty cool stat! Even more than the local college! I was able to connect with hundreds and hundreds of Foodies, which I LOVED! But after amassing thousands of followers, friends, & connections, I began to moderate myself too much.

I changed. As I became a G+ user, (read about that here) I started to share only with "my circles" -- users who I have accepted into my social network and not necessarily those who have added me. The reason was that I was catching myself temper and adjust my posts because they were going to be public. So instead of sharing specifics about a dining experience I had at a local restaurant and discussing how this restaurant could do this or that to improve. I would only post, "I wish all restaurants would focus on services and quality of food as much as we do." That isn't informative, constructive, or helpful. It is too vague to be interesting. I thought more and more about Facebook & Twitter... I was doing the same thing on those networks. I wouldn't share photos with my family on Facebook because I didn't want to share my family photos with "friends" I have in high school who barely know me or former staff that I may have forgotten to "unfriend" when they quit. My private life is supposed to be private, but how can I share my life JUST with those I want to??

The Lockdown

twitter: As I approached 1000 followers on Twitter, I began to wonder about "all of these people" who were following me and reading what I was saying. I immediately jettisoned almost 200 users who were companies, spam, or weirdos that I had no connection with. I am in the process of filtering even more! I only follow about half that many users who I follow and started to "weed through" them as well. Now, I am also creating lists of my followers, divided by interests and topics they post about. I will only follow those who I want constant updates from on my main stream. I can check my lists for others.

facebook: I locked it down completely and then chose what to open up to friends only. I also banned a few users. Then, I created a list to share my life with. These are friends and family who know me now and people who I am CLOSE to. I also created an "extended share" list who have old friends and distant relatives that I want to share some things with, but not everything. Now, I can chose who to share my life with.

What about building the brand and marketing??

I can still do that! Now with "pages" on Facebook & G+, each company can have their own page and twitter account. Now, the brand is the company and THAT is a sellable asset in the future.

For my own hobbies and interest, I can still share with everyone I choose to. I believe that a small group of active and engaged followers is far better than a mass of people who may or maynot really care. The hard part is that I have to continue to reach out to everyone I wish to connect with. I have to become an "active" participant in the discussion instead of a passive user. I don't think that is a bad thing at all and wish more people would do the same thing. It would help get rid of a lot of meaningless "chatter" and might provoke more focused discussion.

Moving my personal social steams from "wasted time attempting to find things that matter" to "engaged & focused discussion on topics I care about from people I care about" is something I am REALLY looking forward to participating in!

UPDATE

Since this post, I have starting using an application called "Path". See my post here.