New Twist to Spaghetti

I admit it, we've been on a Chorizo kick lately.
so, my husband went to the local Farmer's Market last Saturday, and he bought some Chorizo from West Wind Farms (organic, pasture fed, pork).
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I love this Chorizo, because it is milder than some of the others I've tasted.
well, we cooked some up, and made the usual Egg Bake, etc.
but come Monday night, we had 2 more Chorizo sausages we needed to use up (or freeze), and we were not sure what to do.
so
I checked the label to see what spices were in this sausage. It was mostly garlic, paprika, onion, salt, nothing too crazy.
so
I had the random idea to cut the sausage meat out of the casing, brown it like it was hamburger, and then toss it into Spaghetti Sauce. we used the Muir Glen's Organic tomato Basil sauce.
paired with Trader Joe's Brown rice Penne Pasta.
It was DELICIOUS!
yum!
*note, sometimes rice pasta seems a little bland to me, so I salted the water as I boiled it, and added fresh chopped basil leaves. yum!

Vegetarian Mexican Chili

Vegetarian Mexican Chili
1 pkg Soy Chorizo (Trader Joes), browned in skillet
2 cans Organic Black Beans
1/2 can Organic Garbanzo beans
1 can Organic diced roasted tomato
1 can organic tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 large can mushrooms
1/2 bag Frozen Roasted Corn
2 Poblano Peppers (chopped, de-seeded)
1 cup Red and Yellow bell peppers (chopped, de-seeded)
1/2 cup onions chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or 1/3 tube of cilantro paste)
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lime (to taste)

Directions:
Toss all ingredients into crock pot (do not bother draining the cans, just pour it all in there). Stir. Cook on medium heat for 6 hours (stirring every so often). Serve.

Optional Garnishes:
Avocado slices
Shredded cheese
Sour Cream (or plain Greek yogurt)

Variations:
For more spice, add New Mexico Green Chiles or chopped Jalapeno's.

Click on this link for the "Kick Some Booty Salsa" recipe.

La Ensalada Mexico

2 heads Chopped Romaine
1/2 can drained garbanzo beans
1/2 container of Trader Joes fresh hot salsa, drained (but save the liquid for later)
Chill in fridge for 2 hrs
Brown 1/2 pkg of Trader Joes soy chorizo in skillet
Add chorizo to chilled salad
Very lightly splash with some of the remaining salsa liquid and a splash of olive oil
Toss
Serve

To drink:
In 12 oz glass, fill 1/2 full with ice cubes
Then 3 oz Rosangel Tequila
3 oz diet tonic
3 oz raspberry lemonade crystal light
Stir
Drink



-- Post From My iPhone

Vegetarian Mexican-dip

Vegetarian Mexican-Dip
1 bag Santita's tortilla (white corn) chips
1 pkg Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo
1 can Trader Joe's Organic Black Beans
1 can (smaller can) mushrooms
1/2 bag of Trader Joe's Frozen roasted corn
1/4 a wheel of Brie cheese (chilled, not softened)
handful of chopped scallions
dash of cumin
dash of salt
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Directions:
Put frozen corn bag into the fridge, to defrost slightly.
Pour black beans, mushrooms (don't bother draining anything just toss it in), scallions, salt, and cumin into a small saucepan, simmer on low heat, stirring occaisionally.
Brown Soy Chorizo in skillet. While it's browning on low/med heat, start cutting the rind off of the brie. Once the rind is removed, cut the brie into cubes/balls, and mix into the Chorizo.
Add frozen corn to skillet. Then add Black bean mixture.
Turn off heat.
Stir everything all together.
Serve as dip for your tortilla chips OR as filler for Tacos (but for taco's you'll need some sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and tortilla shells most likely).
Viola!

Cherry Mistmas ?

Good LORD it has been a rough year. I sincerely hope 2011 decides to be nicer to us - more Merry and less Bah Humbug!
Let me do a quick recap:
1)Sport was diagnosed with Cancer of the anal sac, in October. He went through 4 chemo sessions, and is now resting at home, until his recheck in February 2011.
2)Spice (who I adore but was allergic to, and she was pregnant and popped out a single puppy 2 weeks after she came to live with me), the puppy was adopted in October, and later Ms. Spice was finally adopted to a loving home just before Thanksgiving this year. We are very relieved to be down to only 2 dogs at that point, whew!
3) We also adopted another Basenji Mix, named Molly in August 2010. Molly is almost identical to Sport, but her colors are reversed, she is mostly white. She is doing well, and has recently learned to "shake" and what "belly rubbins" are. Sport adores her, and for some reason, every time we watch DEXTER (the serial killer series), she and Sport start playing like crazy. She is also learning to behave herself outside of her crate, so we are starting to leave her out of the crate from time to time. So far so good.
4) We replaced the ENTIRE roof (it started leaking in multiple places), replaced part of the driveway, cut down the massive tree that was tearing up our driveway (obviously not in this order), and repaired other minor things around the house. Can you say FINANCIAL DRAIN? yeah. exactly!
5) So everyone is getting Japanese Maple saplings from my front yard this year, instead of gifts. I tried selling them to a professional landscaper or nursery, but they said I had to have the trees "certified" somehow? and that was a huge pain in the you-know-what, so I said "screw it" and decided to just give them away.
6) I figured out how to make "Gluten Free Baklava" but you have to literally eat it, just after you remove it from the oven - maybe after letting it cool after 5 mins. It does NOT last well. If you leave it sitting out overnight, the rice paper (which I used instead of filo dough), it gets soft and is no longer crispy. It will also start to MOLD (yeah that's fun) if you cover the top of it, and leave it sitting out for more than 1 week. That is very different than normal Baklava. So just FYI be careful of those things. It does taste good, and in fact one person told me she liked it BETTER than regular Baklava. Interesting. I am proud of figuring this out, but disappointed in the shelf-life. I would not feel comfortable mailing this to my family for the holidays.
7) We upgraded to the new iPhone 4 hardware - works MUCH faster than the old iPhone 3G devices we had.
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Recipe Variations
So I made the Pumpkin Soup again last night, but I added some other ingredients:
Instead of meat stock/broth, I used veggie stock/broth.
I added chopped cabbage
I added minced fresh ginger
I used Green Curry paste instead of the other
I added Cayenne Pepper (just a little) instead of the White Pepper.
It was very good but needed LOTS more salt. Not sure why.
Anyhoo, enjoy!
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Happy Holidays everyone!

Thai Cabbage Rolls

Like Beef Burgundy, Bragiole, etc, there are several variations of a common recipe found throughout various culinary cultures.
In today's example we are looking at Cabbage Rolls. Here is a recipe for simple Southern Cabbage Rolls - http://southernfood.about.com/od/cabbagemaindishrecipes/r/bl30620u.htm
however, I did not have ground beef or lamb on-hand, and I wanted to use chicken.
thus if you google Thai Cabbage Rolls, Indian Cabbage Rolls, Hebrew Cabbage Rolls, there are many many variations of meats and/spices you can use to make essentially the same dish (although the flavor will be very different). For the Grape Leaf rolls, you have Greek, Moroccan, Mediterranean, Bulgarian, Turkish, and Lebanese. but I digress.
---------------
In this line of thinking I came up with the following recipe (my own) last night for dinner:
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Abbie's Thai Cabbage Rolls
1 large head of organic cabbage
2 small cans (or 1 large can) chopped chicken breast (do not drain)
1 can light coconut milk
2 tbsp key lime juice (or lime juice)
2 tbsp olive oil (or cooking oil)
2 tbsp Massaman Curry paste (or curry powder can be used)
1 tbsp dehydrated onions - or 1 cup of fresh white onion
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp Minced Garlic
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 egg
Fresh Basil Leaves
Ginger
1 cup cooked Basamati Rice (or just rice)

Directions:
1) Prepare rice as normal, while it is finishing cooking...
2 In saucepan, heat olive oil, add 1 tbsp massaman curry paste, onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, and chicken. Then add half of the lime juice, half of the basil leaves. Cook over low heat and mash chicken gently with wooden spoon until fine and curry paste is mixed in and not lumpy. cover and turn off heat.
3) In large pot, bring 6-8 cups salted water to a boil. While waiting for it to boil, rinse off your cabbage, and peel the leaves off the head gently (try not to tear them).
Drop cabbage leaves 1 at a time into boiling salted water, cook for about 1 min, then remove from water gently with tongs, and immerse into ice water (I used a big plastic dish of ice water in the sink). Then place the cabbage leaf to dry on papertowels (I used a regular kitchen towel, folded, then covered that with a layer of paper towels). You want the cabbage to be "wilted" but not cooked fully.
4) When Rice is finished, sprinkle liberally with the cumin powder, mix. Then add rice to the chicken curry saucepan, and mix together. Add 1 beaten egg, mix together. This is your filling for the cabbage rolls.
5) Spoon chicken filling onto cabbage leaves (one at a time), roll the cabbage leaf "burrito-style" around the mixture, and place cabbage roll into glass baking pan. For the extra extra LARGE cabbage leaves, I used kitchen shears to snip them in half longways from the stem to the leaf) Continue rolling cabbage/filling until pan is full of cabbage rolls. One head of cabbage leaves should fill a 9x13 glass baking pan. It is okay if your rolls are of different sizes, as the leaves are different sizes, and people have varying sizes of appetite when you serve them. That's what I do anyway.
6) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7) In same saucepan as the chicken mixture (which by now should be empty), add coconut milk, lime juice, and 1 tbsp massaman curry paste. cook on low heat, mixing the paste into the milk. Add remainder of lime juice and basil leaves (tear them up in to small pieces).
8) Pour coconut "sauce" over the cabbage rolls. Cover your baking pan, and cook at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 mins. Watch that the coconut milk bubbles, but does not come to a full boil.
Serves 6.

Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup

Pumpkin Coconut Curry Soup
2 tbsp melted organic butter or olive oil

1/2 cup chopped organic onions
2 pressed organic garlic cloves (or 1 tbsp minced garlic)
1 tbsp curry powder (or curry paste)
1/3 tsp ground white pepper
1 can organic plain pumpkin
1 can light organic coconut milk (or 1 can evaporated milk)
3 cups organic broth or stock (can use veggie, chicken, or pork broth/stock)

Optional: 1 large sized can of organic diced/cubed/shredded chicken if you want meat in your soup.

In saucepan, melt butter/oil, sautee the onions and garlic.
Add spices, cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Add pumpkin, add milk, add broth, heat and stir for about 20 mins (or simmer for 25-30 mins).
Add more spice to taste if you wish a spicier soup.
Serves 6.

Hint: I like to use the Organic “Better than Bouillon” for the broth, the flavor is so much richer than other canned broths.

Once I tried it adding minced ginger and cabbage, but the flavor is very different, you’d have to see if you like it or not.

It's a Mexican Mojito kind if Day

Mexican Mojito:
In wine glass
4 ice cubes
1/3 glass Pancho Villa Silver Tequila
1/2 glass Diet Coke
5 fresh torn basil leaves
1/2 lime, squeeze juice into glass, then drop it in and let it settle on bottom of glass
Take a sip and say "Ole!"

Fried Green Maters
4 green tomatoes from Gpa's tomato plant, chop loosely
Heat sunflower oil in skillet, add lemon pepper, then add green tomatoes, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, corn starch, bread crumbs, and more lemon pepper. Stir/fry until crispy.

Abbie's "In A Pinch" Remoulade Sauce
Mix to taste:
Organic Mayo
Horseradish deli mustard
Tabasco sauce
Cayenne Pepper

Recommend dipping Green Maters in the Remoulade Sauce.

-- Post From My iPhone

Miche & Mimosa AND Miche & Martini Parties

I am madly in love with Miche Bag lately. My girlfriend Heather & her husband Sean are my Miche Bag folks. So I threw 2 back to back parties last weekend.
My fave is the big bag with the Allie, Laney, or Drew as my big bag shell.
Heather & Sean's Miche Bag Site.
-
Here are some recipes from the parties:
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St. Germain Mimosa
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1 oz Pink or Red Grapefruit Juice
5 oz Champagne or Dry Sparkling Wine
*Serve chilled in champagne flute or wine glass

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Pineapple Mimosa
2 oz Pineapple Juice
2 oz Orange Juice
3 oz Champagne or Dry Sparkling Wine
*Serve chilled in champagne flute or wine glass, garnish with slice of strawberry or pineapple

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Virgin Mimosa
4oz Orange Juice (or any other blend of citrus juices, etc)
3oz Sparkling Cider
Serve chilled in champagne flute or wine glass (*can also substitute Sprite, Tonic Water, Seltzer Water, etc)

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Kick Some Booty Salsa
Ingredients:
1 can whole tomatoes, drained (cut through tomatoes a bit to drain juice) - get brand name cans, not generic (tastes better)
1 can diced tomates (rotelle with green chiles will also work) - drained
2 cans stewed tomatoes (drained)
5 jalapeno peppers, cored and seeds removed
1 bunch cilantro - stems and all (just cut the bunch into quarters when feeding into food processor)
4 hot peppers (you pick whatever hot peppers you like)
juice of 1 lime (some zest is nice too)
3-4 Tablespoons Cumin
A few dashes Worcestershire Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Wear plastic gloves while coring and de-seeding the jalepenos and peppers. This will save you grief later. Be careful not to miss any, when you get rid of the seeds, they are the hottest part of the pepper. Do not touch eyes if you have touched the seeds or pepper juices with your bare hands. ouch.
Using food processor, finely chop the vegetable ingredients (may have to do it in batches depending on the size of your processor).
Then add lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper, to taste.
This freezes well. Caution: will get hotter while sitting in fridge so do not over-spice it.
*Abbie likes to save the juices drained from the cans and use for Ratatouille or Spaghetti sauce later on.
*If you save your fancy Tequila or liquor bottles (clean them first), then you can put the salsa in one of those and give as a gift to friend/neighbor.

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Easy Brunch Egg Bake
Ingredients:
12 Eggs
1 cup Milk (I prefer half n half or cream personally)
1/2 pound bacon, browned and crumbled
1/2 polish sausage chopped
1/4 cup tbsp chopped onion (or 1/2 small bag of frozen pearl onions is nice too)
1/2 cup chopped green and red bell peppers (roasted canned peppers will also work)
1 chopped poblano/pablano (however you spell it) pepper
1 cup cheese grated (any cheese you like)
a few leaves of fresh Basil or Spinach, torn up and sprinkled into mixture
1/2 tsp each of Salt and Pepper
Instructions:
In large mixing bowl, Beat eggs.
Add remaining ingredients and stir with spoon
Pour mixture into a greased 9x13inch pan. Chill overnight in fridge (optional) or just Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 mins, or until top is lightly brown.
*You may wish to wear plastic gloves while coring and de-seeding the pablano... also, my husband says he likes to eat this with some Tabasco sauce on top. Recipe may be halved if needed. Can also substitute other veggies or meats to whatever you prefer in your egg bake, should still work but recommend meats be cooked or cured prior to baking.

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Layered Athenian Cheese Spread
Ingredients:
2 pkgs (8 oz each) Cream Cheese softened
2 pkgs (4 oz each) crumbled Feta Cheese
1 garlic clove pressed
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 jar (7 oz) sweet roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry
1/3 cup cup whole natural almonds, chopped
Instructions:
In medium sized mixing bowl, combine cream cheese & feta. Press garlic over cheese mixture, mix well. Stir in spinach. Chop red peppers. Line a small mixing bowl with plastic wrap. Divide cheese mixture in half. Press half of cheese mixture into small bowl, top with red peppers. Spread remaining cheese mixture over red peppers. Cover. Refrigerate several hours to allow flavors to blend. To Serve: invert cheese mixture from small bowl onto serving plate. Remove plastic wrap. Chop Almonds and press them onto the top of the molded cheese. Serve with toasted French bread or assorted crackers.
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Cosmo-Not Martini (Virgin)
compliments of MartiniArt.com - click link above.
This one REALLY tastes like it has alcohol in it, but it is alcohol-free. DELISH!
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Gimlet Martini
4 oz Vodka
1 oz Key Lime Juice
Garnish with Lime wedge
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Gin Martini
4 oz Gin
2 oz Dirty Sue Olive Juice
Garnish with olives on a toothpick
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Chocolate Martini
4 oz ChocoVine Wine
1 oz half n half
1 dark chocolate pomegranate ball
In shaker, add about 2 inches of crushed ice. Pour in Chocovine and cream. Shake vigorously.
place chocolate ball into into bottom of martini glass. Pour chocolate mixture over it.
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Cosmopolitan Martini (from MartiniArt.com)
4 ounces of chilled/freezing vodka.
1 ounce of chilled Cointreau.
1 ounce of Absolut Citron vodka.
2 orange rind twists.
2 very, very thin orange slices.
1 lime cut in half.
3 ounces of cranberry juice.
1 ounce of pomegranate juice.
2 ounces of Naked orange juice.
4 drops of Amaretto.
MIXING: Fill a glass shaker 1/2 full with cracked ice. pour your vodkas and cranberry juice.
Give the shaker a good ten or fifteen shakes.
Add your Cointreau, pomegranate juice and orange juice. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime. Another twenty (thirty if you are up to it) shakes.
Strain your beautiful cocktail into two frozen cosmo or martini glasses. Each drink gets 2 drops of Amaretto. Gently float a slice of orange on top of each drink. On top of each orange, delicately lay a rind twist.

In loving memory

My grandfather passed away July 31st after a long battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis (an incurable disease which scars the lungs). He died peacefully in his sleep in the afternoon. I will greatly miss him. However, I know that now he can breathe again without the assistance of oxygen machines. He has also been reunited with the love of his life - my Grandmother.

Grandpa taught me a lot about cooking, baking, and wine. I owe my culinary obsessions in part to his wonderful tutelage. Thank you Grandpa!

New addition to our family

Introducing Spice! Sunday July 18th, a coworker's wife went to church (near Mall of GA area), and she found Spice (who had apparently been abandoned, had no collar or microchip) in the church playground. She brought Spice home, but then her hubby wasn't really excited about having a dog, so they kept her until they could find another home for her. Hung posters up, went to the shelters and all that to hang signs, etc. Nobody ever claimed her.
-
I saw her photo in an email and I thought she looked a little bit like Sport, and he gets lonely when we are at work, so I decided to see if we could adopt her. Matt and I had her over the July 23rd weekend to see how the dogs got along. And we fell in love with her. So we kept her.
then the following Monday July 26th I took her to the vet for routing checkup and shots, and found out she was pregnant. Since she seems to only have one puppy in utero, it wasn't obvious that she was pregnant to the naked eye - at that point.
-
The vet said they could take care of it and spay her anyway if I wanted, but I would not feel right about that, so I decided to let nature take its course and potentially keep the puppy. The doctor says she may have 2 puppies, but we could only see 1 on the ultrasound, and she is too small of a dog to have a large litter. 2 max. So, we will see. At this point they told me she was due end of August.
but
then THIS Wednesday the Vet emailed me that upon going over the tests/xrays, etc they decided she was due August 16th. ha ha! so here we go!
-
I am just totally besotted with this little dog and her puppy to be, and I know I'm in for an adventure…

De Lux Potatoes

De Lux Potatoes
Courtesy of my friend Erica (who got it from her Grandmother) in Ohio.

2 lb. Pkg. Frozen hashbrown potatoes (Ore Ida)
Let thaw 40-60 mins. or until they are broken apart.

In large bowl, combine:
potatoes
1 onion diced thin
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. grated cheddar cheese
1 pt. sour cream
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
salt and pepper

Mix ingredients well. Spoon into buttered 9x13 glass dish. Bake in preheated oven at 350* for 60-90 minutes. Last 10 minutes of baking time, place crushed potato chips (Lay's) on top.

Grandpa's favorite Beef Rib Recipe

Downhome Barbecue Beef Short Ribs (courtesy of Food Network)
Prep Time: 10 min Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min Level:
-- Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
8 pounds beef short ribs, cut across the bone
2 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 cup brown mustard
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon molasses
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon granulated onion
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil. Add the ribs, garlic cloves and bay leaf. Parboil the ribs, covered, for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until fork tender.

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Pour 1 cup of the rib water into the mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for approximately 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened and is heated through. Add the ribs to the pot, turning with tongs to coat well. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the ribs to a hot outdoor grill, meat side down first, and cook 8 to 10 minutes on each side, taking care not to burn them. Serve with remaining sauce on the side.
NOTE: Let rib water cool, then freeze it for use as Beef Stock in future recipes.

Beef Stew - a la Grandpa's orders

Well, I am "winging it" with a gourmet beef stew. Grandpa is dictating the process to me, but has yet to give me any actual measurements (just the ingredients), so I'm sort of making this up as I go. So far it tastes and smells delicious, so I guess this collaboration is working well.
-
BEEF STEW
4-4.5 pounds boneless shoulder roast
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Vidalia Onions - coursely chopped
3 Green Bell Peppers - coursely chopped
2 Jalepeno peppers (de-seeded, and cores removed) - chopped
1 small bag baby carrots
2 celery stalks - coursely chopped
1 small container of chopped mushrooms (fresh)
1 cup red wine
4 cups beef stock (or broth)
4 Idaho potatoes (coursely chopped) - no need to peel unless you prefer them that way.
1/4 cup flour
1 big bay leaf (or 2 small ones)

Instructions:
Set Roast out to thaw (unless fresh)
Cut into 1 inch cubes
Put olive oil into a large pot, heat to medium low, and brown the cubes of beef, then remove the cubes and set aside.
Add coursely chopped onions, simmer in remaining olive oil/liquid, until translucent
Add celery and peppers, simmer until soft
Add flour and red wine, make a roux - careful not to burn, keep stirring
Then add carrots and potatoes, bay leaf, all of the cubed/seared beef, and beef stock/broth, bring to gentle boil
Add mushrooms.
Turn down heat to simmer. keep simmering, uncovered, stirring occaisionally for 1-2 hours (until beef cubes are tender)- basically you are reducing the broth down to the good stuff. mmm...
-
Serve in bowls. Side of toasted slices of french bread (or sliced/toasted baguette).

My Wonderful Weekend of Cooking

I joined a CSA. For those unfamiliar, this is a Community Share Association. Basically you sign up with a local farmer, and you buy a "share" or (half-share in my case), and you get fresh picked veggies off the farm each week.
This week, my half-share included several cucumbers, squashes, and and hot peppers.
My tastebuds were zinging with the possibilities, and the poor neglected state of my 12 cup foodprocessor, and thus I began to cook some SCRUMPTIOUS items. All of them can be made gluten-free assuming you use gluten-free pasta and gluten-free crackers for the various side items.

1) Salsa
2) Cucumber Soup
3) Ratatouille

1) Beth's Salsa
Ingredients:
1 can whole tomatoes, drained (cut through tomatoes a bit to drain juice)
1 can diced tomates (rotelle with green chiles will also work) - drained
2 cans stewed tomatoes (drained)
5 jalepeno peppers, cored and seeds removed
1 bunch cilantro - stems and all (just cut the bunch into quarters when feeding into food processor)
4 hot peppers (you pick whatever hot peppers you like)
juice of 1 lime (some zest is nice too)
3-4 Tablespoons Cumin
salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
Wear plastic gloves while coring and de-seeding the jalepenos and peppers. This will save you grief later. Be careful not to miss any, when you get rid of the seeds, they are the hottest part of the pepper. Do not touch eyes if you have touched the seeds or pepper juices with your bare hands. ouch.
Using food processor, finely chop the vegetable ingredients (may have to do it in batches depending on the size of your processor).
Then add lime juice, cumin, salt, pepper, to taste.
This freezes well.
Caution: will get hotter while sitting in fridge so do not over-spice it.
-----------------------------------------
2) Chilled Cucumber Soup - as published in Elle Decor Magazine, Daniel Boulud's recipe (we love him, we ate at his "Bar Boulud" restaurant in NYC on Thanksgiving Day last year - scrum-diddly-umptious!!!)
Ingredients:

• 4 large English Cucumbers (or I used 5 regular ones but removed some of the seeds)
• 2 cup Spinach leaves packed
• 2 Tblsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 large Red Onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 pound Idaho Potatoes, peeled and chopped (aka 2 large potatoes)
• 1 cup plain Greek Yogurt (I used "Fage")
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Juice of 1 lemon
• salt,pepper,Tabasco sauce to taste

Garnishes/Sides:

• 1 bunch dill leaves, picked
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 pound smoked salmon sliced
• 1/2 large red onion minced
• 1 box of Gluten-Free Crackers (I like Mary's Gone Crackers)

Instructions:

• Bring large pot of salted water to a boil; set bowl of ice water on the side.
• Peel cucumbers, reserve the skins, and roughly chop the flesh
• Boil cucumber peels and spinach until tender (about 4 mins)
• Then chill in ice water, and squeeze dry. set aside.
• In large sauce pot, warm olive oil on med. heat, add onion, celery, potatoes, and sprinkle salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring, until onions are tender but not browned (about 5 mins)
• Add half of cucumber flesh, and just enough water to cover the mixture, then simmer for 20 mins (or until potatoes are tender).
• Remove from heat and chill (I just stuck mine in the freezer for 10 mins)
• In a blender (or large food processer), combine chilled mixture with the cooked cucumber peels, spinach, and remaining cucumber flesh, yogurt, and cream. You may need to do this in batches.
• Puree until very smooth, then pass through a fine mess sieve.
• Chill the soup.
• When ready to serve, adjust seasoning with lemon juice, Tabasco, salt, pepper, to taste.
• I garnished mine with spoonful of greek yogurt mixed with the dill.
• Serve salmon/crackers on the side.

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3) Ratatouille - took pieces of 2 recipes (one I found in MORE magazine at the gym, but did not have the foresight to take home so I'd remember how to make it), and another I found online someplace.
Ingredients:
2 yellow squash
1 zucchini squash
3 sliced tomatoes in wedges
2 cups tomato juice
1/2 red onion diced
1 celery stalk
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
1/2 box of Quinoa shells pasta
1/2 cup heavy cream
oregano, basil to taste
Garnish:
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh Tomato wedges
Instructions:

• Slice squash/zucchini into strips, toss or brush with olive oil and oregano, grill until soft.
• In skillet, add the olive oil, chopped onions and chopped celery, garlic, and fresh basil leaves, and sautee for a few minutes until soft but not carmelized
• add grilled veggies and then cover with tomato juice. Add a few tomato wedges also.
• let simmer for 15-20 minutes, and then turn off heat.
• Next, set pot of water to boil for the quinoa shells, follow directions on box. While shells are boiling...
• take skillet veggie mixture, and pour into blender, and lightly blend (chunky not too smooth - but this is all to your preference). then pour contents back into skillet.
• turn skillet on low heat, then add heavy cream, stirring, until skillet is warm again.
• Drain quinoa shells.
• Serve veggie mixture over shells, garnish with tomato wedges and fresh basil leaves.

Vidalia Onion Recipe & Mr. Rogers Quotes

Vidalia Onion Recipe
---preheat oven to 350 degrees---
2 large Vidalia Onions chopped finely
2 8oz pkgs Cream Cheese softened
3 heaping tblsp's of Mayo (use real Mayo not low fat)
---cream the above ingredients well---
1.5 cups shredded cheese (any of these or a mix of them will be fine: Asiago, Parm, Swiss, Ementhaler, sharp aged cheddar, etc).
---Mix in with the other ingredients ---
Grease a 9x13 baking pan (I used glass pyrex pan)
Press mixture evenly into the pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes
Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Serve with Tortilla chips or pita Chips, voila!
---VARIATIONS: Instead of 2 Vidalia onions, use 1 onion and 16 oz of Crab meat, sprinkle the final cooked dip with Old Bay ---

Mr. Rogers Quotes
"Grandparents are both our past and our future. In some ways they are what has gone before, and in others they are what we will become."

"The greatest gift you can ever give is your honest self."

"When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is:
the lovely with the unlovely,
the strong along with the fearful,
the true mixed in with the facade,
and of course, the only way we can do it
is by accepting ourselves that way."

Frances Mayes Quote:
"The more you know, the more you love, and by loving more, the more you enjoy"

Whew it's been a long time

Yes I know, I've been a terrible slacker/blogger. Well it's been a very busy year and I'm already exhausted. However, there have been a lot of good things going on, so it wasn't all working (Thank God!).

In a very quick nutshell, here's what I've been up to:

1. Visiting Grandpa - a lot. mostly monthly. lots of mileage.
2. Celebrating my girlfriend Lisa's 40th Birthday - Bahamas Cruise.
3. Eating as Gluten-Free as possible.
4. Recruiting new Wine Club members (please let me know if you are interested? All of our ladies keep getting "knocked up" and can't attend for 9-12 months at a time, and it's dwindling our attendance).
5. Travelling for work - a TON.
6. Doing the Modern Atlanta Home Tour (it ROCKED btw)
7. Going to Zane Lamprey's "Drinking Made Easy" Comedy Tour
8. Got a nasty Ear Infection, got better, then hurt my back, realize it was my mattress, switched mattresses, finally getting the back better
9. Working out more
10. Hosted Mother's Day Brunch for 3 moms
11. Hosted brunch with the White Russian
12. Went to the Princess Diana exhibit
13. Went to the Public Forum for the Nutrition and Health Conference to meet Dr. Andrew Weil and see Sanjay Gupta.
14. Finally attended "Wednesday Night Dinner" (missed 2 of the 3 though)
15. Cooked Paul Prudhomme's Shrimp Creole 3 times (over 2 months)
16. Dined on "The Queen's Paella" - and other Spanish yummies
17. Discovered Hi-Life
18. Gearing up to cut off my cable - for good. Hello Mac Mini!
19. Got a Yoga Ball Chair (they are awesome!)
20. And last but not least - planning a trip to visit my peeps in Ohio finally.

Well that's all the news with me. I probably missed something in that list, but that's okay. Anyhoo, hope you are all well, and thank you for bearing with my slacker-ness in the blog department.

Hope you are having a GREAT summer!

Dinner in 15?

1bag of Trader Joes frozen Balsalmic Veggies
2 frozen Omaha Sirloin Steaks
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

Put the steaks (still wrapped) in a plastic dish and fill with hot water until almost defrosted, but keep the middle of the steak still slightly frozen.

Unwrap the steaks, dump the water (or water a plant, etc) put steaks back into dish with the Worcestershire Sauce-massage into steaks to tenderize

Heat up the George Foreman grill

Put frozen veggies in microwave steamer dish - microwave 6 mins (as directed on pkg).

Put steaks on the hot grill, checking them every min or so and basting with the sauce.

When steaks are seared on both sides, use fork and steak knife to cut deep into center to pierce the frozen center. Pour sauce into the cut, close grill and let sear for another minute. Repeat this cut/sauce/sear method until outside of steak is nearly blackened but inside of steak is a perfect medium rare. Should not take more than 7-8 mins.

Serve steak with veggies (which should be done), pouring veggie butter sauce (which will have accumulated inthe steamer dish) liberally over the food. I do this because Matt loves to "sop it up".

Suggested wine pairing, Cabernet Sauvignon.


-- Post From My iPhone

Modern Home Tour Atlanta 2010

It's that time again!

Modern Home Tour Atlanta 2010 is June 5th and 6th.
Link for Tickets.

Diet & Health musings

Matthew and I had a lovely private vacation for our 4-year wedding anniversary. However, seeing myself in a bikini for the first time in a year, was fairly disturbing. I have definitely put on some weight. And I want to LOSE some before my cruise at the end of the May!
but how?
Yes the lo-carb method does seem to work for me.
Going Gluten free is great for my digestion, but I still get too many carbs from the rice-noodles etc.
And going lo-carb, gluten-free, and dairy free (helps alleviate congestion), is REALLY too strict for me. I'm not living in a bubble people!!! I am social, and I do need to eat once in a while. sheesh!
so
my thoughts are turning to other methods/lifestyle choices.
I already work-out 3-5 times week. I eat healthy foods (most of the time), and so Matt and I decided to reduce our alcohol intake (whenever possible). So, unless it's wine club night, or a weekend out with friends, we are sticking to water and herbal teas (of course I get my one cup of coffee each AM).
-
Also in regards to how wonderfully the lemon water helped stave off the cold I was getting last month, I did some more research on alkaline/acidic foods. These links are very helpful (although not entirely in context, they are written to help people who have had a colonic treatment, and how to elongate the healthy effects, etc). Considering I get major issues down-there after having too much gluten, I felt this was appropriate. NOTE - it's not telling you that you cannot ever eat meat or cheese, but just advising that it is better to eat more of the Alkalizing foods than the Acidic foods. Most of us (unless we are strict vegans) will not be able to stick to an only alkaline diet. Anyway, I was happy to see this online as I had often wondered about the differences in certain foods and how they affected me - this is a good list to have around.
--
Links
What to do/eat after a colonic
Alkalizing versus Acidic food lists
--
The Dogwood Festival was just wonderful. We walked around quite a bit (my workout for the day), and then lay out in the grass in the sunshine listening to the live music. (exhaling happily). It was just a beautiful weekend.
--
Chinese Grand Prix was entertaining also.
--
In other news... MAY MAYHEM of activities on the radar...
**Zane Lamprey is coming to Atlanta on May 22nd - show is at Center Stage.
**ISAW Foundation Drink Well Do Good Tour ATLANTA is also that night.
lucky me I'm going to both - why oh why do they put these things on the same weekend? lol.
**Alive Expo is coming to Atlanta May 15-16th weekend. Natural Products and Green Living Event. although I'll be most likely visiting my Grandfather that weekend, so I will miss it. Enjoy and let me know how it is, if you go?
**33rd Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival is May 29th & 30th
and I'm spent!