Salsa-ing into Summer!

This summer I want to play around with different kinds of salsa. Salsa's are incredibly healthy and a great way to get your fruits and veggies!!! They are a wonderful refreshing snack.
Yesterday we had friends over for a cookout and I concocted a wonderful fruit salsa. It was great for chips, or I also poured some over cream cheese to make a thicker spread. That was great on crackers.

Fruit Salsa

3 mangoes diced
2 kiwi's with skin off
1 pineapple (I got the kinds in the produce section what was cut and cored)
1/4 cup strawberries
1/4 of a red onion
1/4 cup of cilantro
1/2 jalapeno pepper, without seeds

Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend to desired consistency.

A Last Minute Lovliness

The other night I got creative with dinner. I didn't get the chicken breasts out in time to make my taco soup, so I had to get inventive.
It was the last week before payday, when things are a little tight, so I had to rely on what I had in my fridge and pantry.
I found spinach, feta cheese and sundried tomatoes. I always keep puff pastry in my freezer...it is so handy for things. So this is what I came up with.

Mediterranean Chicken Pizza

2 Chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 TBLSP butter
1 TBLSP flour
1 cup milk
1 package crumbled feta cheese
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, drained of oil
sprinkling of pine nuts (optional)
1 sheet puff pastry

Defrost one sheet of puff pastry according to the package directions. (I left it in one big sheet this time, but next time I think I will cut it into individual pizza sizes) Place on pan and prick it with a fork.
Poach the chicken breast in the chicken broth until done, covered on medium heat. If one can of chicken broth doesn't cover the breasts, add water until they are just covered. When done and cooled shred chicken, add red pepper and salt and pepper to taste, as well as the spinach. Set aside.
Now for the sauce for the pizza. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, add the flour and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the milk, cook on medium low heat until thickened. Add the nutmeg and half of the package of feta. Feta doesn't melt completely, so the sauce will be a bit lumpy.
Spread sauce on puff pastry, add chicken mixture, sundried tomatoes and the rest of the feta. Bake at 400 for about 25-30 minutes, until pastry in done. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and enjoy!
*You can also make this pizza early in the day and put it in the fridge until it is time to bake!*

Layering Flavors

I have come to realize what layering flavors means. When I first heard the phrase the picture of a Mexican 7 Layer Dip always came to mind.
However, as I have delved into the world of food and have started making more sauces and such I have realized how you create layers in your food. These layers make even simple dishes much more flavorful.
Basically it is allowing different ingredients to shine though. I am going to use a simple tomato sauce for example:
To begin my basic tomato sauce I heat some olive oil in the pan. When is it hot I add my onions. I cook the onions till they are translucent. This releases their sugars and gives them a wonderful sweet flavor. Then I add my carrots, celery and garlic. I cook these for about 5 minutes on medium heat, and this starts their cooking process. I de-glaze the pan with either sherry or red wine, depending on what I have handy.
After that I add in my soft vegetables. Mushrooms, fresh tomato and chopped garlic. I also add any herbs at this time. Oregano, basil, tarragon and some red pepper flakes usually find their way into my pot.
I cook those for about 3-5 minutes on a medium low heat. Then I add two cans of tomato sauce and one can of diced tomatoes. A quick stir and then I add my secret ingredient.....balsamic vinegar, about a quarter cup. I taste it at this point and add salt and pepper as needed.
I let it simmer on a very low heat for about 30-45 minutes. I like a chunky tomato sauce, but you are welcome to use an immersion blender to blend it all together.
Either way, you can taste the different flavors in it. The sweetness of the onions and the tang of the vinegar come thru clearly. Each ingredient is cooked in its own time. The soft vegetables are added later because they don't need as long to cook as the carrots and such. The same with the herbs, whether fresh or dried, they don't like high heat. They need low and slow to bring out their loveliness!
So take a look at your favorite recipes...take the time to cook each ingredient, and enjoy the difference it makes!!!

Sundae's for Breakfast?!?!?

Yogurt is always something we buy, but not always something that we eat. So to keep from wasting money I have developed Breakfast Sundae's!
It is basically just a parfait, but instead of a regular bowl I serve it in a waffle bowl. Cameron gets to put whatever fruit he wants on it, and then adds some granola. It is so much fun to eat,and in his words, "a very healfy breakfast!"

Tastes Like Greek To Me.......

For awhile I have been playing with the idea of making an "apple baklava". All the ingredients in baklava seemed to be made for apples, so yesterday I gave it a try with fantastic result. I used a basic baklava recipe from Emeril Lagasse, but changed it a bit. I love the addition of the spices in the honey sauce, it keeps it from being to sweet.

Apple Baklava

Ingredients
For the Syrup:

* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup honey
* 3/4 cup water
* 1/2 of a lemons worth of juice
* 2 tsp cinnamon
* the zest of one lemon
* Pinch ground cloves
* Pinch ground cardamom

For the filling and dough:

* 1 pound walnuts, or a combination of walnuts, pistachios and almonds
* two apples diced very small
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* half a lemon's worth of juice
* 2 sticks unsalted butter
* 1 pound phyllo, thawed according to package instructions

Directions

To make the syrup: Combine the sugar, honey, water, lemon juice, cinnamon , lemon zest, cloves and cardamom in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the syrup is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Set syrup aside to cool.

Using a Chef's knife, finely chop the nuts. (Alternatively, if you have a food processor, pulse the nuts until finely chopped.) In a medium mixing bowl, combine the nuts, cinnamon, apples, lemon juice and salt and stir well to combine.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan.

Using a pastry brush, lightly coat a 13 by 9-inch or 15 by 10-inch baking dish with some of the melted butter.

Open the package of thawed phyllo and lay the thin sheets on a clean work surface. Measure the phyllo sheets; if the type you have purchased measures approximately the same size as the baking dish you are using, then proceed from here. If they are larger than your baking dish, use a sharp knife to cut the phyllo sheets approximately the same size as your baking dish. Discard any scraps. Cover the sheets with a piece of plastic wrap and a lightly damp kitchen towel, as the sheets of phyllo dry out very quickly if left uncovered.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 of the sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the buttered baking dish and lightly brush with some of the melted butter. Repeat this procedure with 6 more sheets of phyllo, for a total of 7 layers. Measure about 3/4 cup of the nut mixture and spread the nut mixture evenly over the buttered phyllo sheets. Repeat with 7 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each layer as before, and top these sheets with another 3/4 cup of the nut mixture. Continue this layering process, buttering 7 sheets of phyllo and topping each 7 sheets with 3/4 cup of the nuts, until you have used all of the nut mixture. Layer any remaining sheets of phyllo on top, buttering between each layer, until all of the phyllo sheets have been used.

Use a sharp knife to make 4 cuts lengthwise through the layered phyllo at 1 1/2 inch intervals. (You should end up with 5 lengthwise strips 1 1/2 inches wide.) Now use your knife to cut diagonally across the strips at 1 1/2-inch intervals to form diamond shapes. You should end up with approximately 36 diamond-shaped pieces of baklava in the baking dish.

Bake the baklava until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Using oven mitts or pot holders, remove the baklava from the oven and set aside on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Using a ladle or small measuring cup, slowly drizzle the cooled syrup over the warm baklava. Allow to stand several hours before serving.


I brought it to our girls game night and it was met with rave reviews!!!

Our Chef's Table Dinner

During our vacation one of the things I was looking forward to the most was our dinner at "Eleven" in Pittsburgh, because we got eat at the Chef's Table.
The Executive Chef, Derek Stevens, prepared a personal menu just for us, and served us and answered all of our questions. Because of a 24 hour stomach virus, I was not able to enjoy it as much as I would have liked, but I still got to taste each course.
Each course was a surprise, Andrew remarked that it was like Christmas morning, not knowing what to expect.
In all of my "food reading" I have heard people describe food as playful, but before that night I had never really experienced that. But our fifth course was a perfectly cooked scallop paired with Anson Mills grits, Surryano ham and a red bean relish. To me that was playful! I would have never thought to pair a delicate scallop with grits and ham, but the flavors mixed perfectly and made perfect sense.
I found this dish especially interesting because right before this course Andrew had asked the chef what his influences were, and one of the cuisine's he mentioned was Southern.....and that dish really showcased that.
I was excited to get to try a quail's egg. This was paired with white asparagus, a duck hollandaise and truffle vinaigrette. It was a perfect little bit!
I also got to try foie gras for the first time. It really does melt in your mouth like butter. The chef paired it with gooseberries and grapefruit and the acidity cut the fattiness of the foie gras perfectly.
One of Andrew's favorite things was lamb bacon. My husband loves anything lamb, and anything bacon (except for jellybeans, but that is another story). The taste was fatty, gamey and contrasted the kale and cous cous it was served with very well.
For my poor recovering stomach, the Gooseberry Soup with the pineapple-lemon verbena sorbet was heaven! Delicate slices of blood orange floated in the soup along with toasted black sesame seeds which provided a lovely texture contrast.
To finish the meal, the pastry chef brought out a Chocolate and Peanut Crunch Cake. It tasted the way a Whatchmacallit should taste. There was a small scoop of the darkest, smoothest chocolate icecream that I have ever tasted!
The other courses included a Smoked Artic Char with pecans, granny smith apples and a horseradish vinaigrette. I was afraid the horseradish would overwhelm the fish, but it really made the flavors dance across my tongue. We also enjoyed a raw tuna with citrus, cucumber, edamame and sesame broth. The edamame was a surprising crunch, and really rounded out the dish. Andrew and I had never had Golden Tilefish before that night. That was paired with perfectly cooked clams and a lobster broth.
Reading about the food we ate makes me want to go back. It really was a wonderful experience, and one I hope to repeat.....this time without a stomach bug!

A Wonderful, Fantastic Bread Recipe

I made this bread on St. Patricks Day, but between a sick husband and getting ready to go on vacation, this is the first chance I have had to post about it!
It is a No Knead Peasant Bread. It takes a while, especially the two risings, but it is worth the wait! You bake it in a cast iron dutch oven, by doing this the bread is crusty and just the thing to pair with soups, stews, and we paired it with corned beef and cabbage for St. Patricks Day.

No Knead Peasant Bread

2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
All purpose flour for dusting

Combine the bread flour, whole wheat flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water and mix with your hands or a spoon until the dough comes together, it will be wet and sticky. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap. If you have extra time, refrigerate 12 to 24 hours. It is not necessary but will improve the flavor of the bread. ( I let it rise about 6 hours in the fridge and it worked our great, also, I used the water and a bit of sugar to proof the yeast.)
Let the dough rise, covered at room temperature for about 18 hours. This rise is necessary whether you refrigerate the dough first or not. The surface will be bubbly after rising.
Generously dust a work surface with all purpose flour. Turn the dough out onto the flour then sprinkle flour on top. Fold the top and bottom of the dough into the center, then fold in the sides to make a free form square. Use a dough scraper or a spatula to durn the dough over, then tuck the corners to form a ball.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and generously dust with flour. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet, seam side down, and sprinkle with more flour. Cover with a cotton kitchen towel (do not use terry cloth) and let rise and room temperature until doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours.
Position a rack on the bottom of the over and place a 2 or 4 quart cast iron or enameled Dutch oven ( without the lid) on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 for at least 30 minutes. When the dough has doubled, carefully transfer the hot pot to a heatproof surface. Uncover the dough, lift up the parchment and quickly invert the dough into the pot (shake the pot to center the dough if necessary). Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes then uncover and bake until brown and crusty, 15-30 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool