Archive | 2008

Mexican Salsa

17 May

I told you I was in an international mode these days, no?  Well, around the 5 de Mayo days, with all the TV ads about Mexican treats, I wanted some of my own.

I found a  recipe for Home-Made Mexican Salsa.  Please forgive me, but I did not save the address of where I got it from.  It seemed simple enough and I had all the ingredients at hand.  Let’s make some salsa.  I should say that I omitted the canned green chiles and the cilantro… they just do not agree with me.

 

MEXICAN SALSA

1 cup chopped tomatoes – I used Viter brand that comes in a jar, but you can use 2 fresh tomatoes too, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, grated
The juice of 1 ½ limes
1 tsp of kosher salt, or more to taste
1 tsp garlic salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

 

  1. In a medium sized bowl with a lid, mix together the chopped tomatoes, onions, bell pepper and garlic cloves.   Add the lime juice, salt, garlic salt and pepper.
  2. Mix well and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Serve with corn chips or tortillas.

 

I’ll be honest.  It’s good, but I still need to tweak this recipe to make it taste more like a salsa and less like a gazpacho.  And I am not fond of gazpachos because to me, they taste like a sofrito.

So you might be asking yourselves, why in the world did Madelyn is giving us this recipe if she doesn’t really like it??????  Because it served as a great starter for these Stewed Sweet Peas.   I served the sweet peas over rice mixed with some toasted almonds and as the filling for a Potato and Sweet Pea Pastelon.

This was a tasty exercise in recycling…   try it, and let me know if you have any other “recycling” stories in your cooking repertoire. 

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Rosemary Almonds

16 May

I love almonds.  They’re one of my favorite nuts, next to cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts.  I love almonds, not only for their flavor and crunchy texture, but also because they’re a great source of protein.  I read somewhere that eating 5-10 almonds a day gives you all the protein you need for that day.  Great news for me… because I rather eat almonds than beans any day of the week.

I wanted to treat the mothers in my life with something I made… instead of something bought.  I read this recipe in the Barefoot in Paris Cookbook where Ina uses cashews to re-create these bar nuts she ate at Union Square Café in New York.   I decided to go with almonds instead of cashews because I needed to make a large batch and almonds tend to be less expensive than cashews. 

I loved the results…  and as Ina says in her book, these taste best when they’re still warm.

 

ROSEMARY ALMONDS

3 cups peeled raw almonds
2 tbs minced fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs unsalted butter, melted

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread thee almonds on a baking sheet and toast for about 10-15 minutes, particularly if you soaked the almonds to peel them.  If you prefer to keep the almonds with their skin, toast them for a shorter time to avoid burning them.
  2. While the almonds are in the oven, combine the rosemary, salt, pepper, sugar, and butter in a large bowl.
  3. Add the toasted almonds to the large bowl with the salt/sugar/rosemary mixture.  Toss well to combine.
  4. Serve warm if possible.

 

These are great as a snack, as a hostess gift… you name it.  They’re super delicious.

 

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Creamy Tamari Dressing

13 May

In keeping with the international flavor of these last posts, I want to share with you a salad dressing that uses up any leftover tamari or soy sauce you use to marinate – in my case, it was tofu.

I am a firm believer in not wasting.  So, if the recipe calls for ¼ cup of something and that would leave a tiny bit left in the jar… dump it all in.  You should not either save a tiny bit that probably is not enough for something else in the future, nor throw it in the garbage either.  So when I marinated some tofu pieces the other day and was left with about a good 1-2 tbs of tamari left on the little dish, I decided to use it to make a dressing.

Many people come to me asking me for simple salad dressed ideas… salad dressings is even one of the offerings I have in my try-out culinary business, believe it or not.  People want something healthier than the bottled, preservatives filled options in the market these days.  But apparently, they are stumped when it comes to mixing it up.

Hey, oil and vinegar with some salt and pepper is the ultimate dressing…  mixing ip different kinds of oils and vinegars will give you different results.  But what if you’re into creamy dressings?  The solution is Mayonnaise.  Veggie Mayonnaise in our case.   Pay attention kids, because this will happen really quick…

 

 

CREAMY TAMARI DRESSING

¼ cup Veggie Mayo
A good squirt of ketchup
1-2 tbs tamari sauce
A squirt of honey
1 tbs lemon juice
A pinch of garlic salt or garlic powder

 

  1. Mix everything up in a small bowl and spoon it over your favorite salad.

 

My salad was a simple lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad. The dressing is creamy and a bit salty and tangy.  Great partner for any stir fry or Asian rice dish.

 

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Vegetable Lo Mein for one

13 May

I am in a real international vibe these days…  now I am on an Asian kick.  My mom started it because she’s been craving a tofu stir-fry I make with snow peas and bean sprouts.  The thing is that we have not been able to get together to actually make it. You know how it is with busy schedules…

So, in the meantime, I made for lunch this clean-out-the-fridge stir fry.  It was a completely impromptu dish…  not even planning to share it with you just yet.  But the results were soooo good, I had to take a picture of it. 

This is really a method…  you can change it up as you prefer.  This is what I used this time…

 

 

VEGETABLE LO-MEIN for one

1/8 packet of dry whole grain pasta – spaghetti or bucatini would work well
½ onion, sliced
½ red bell pepper, sliced
1 garlic clove, grated
3-4 leaves of romaine lettuce, washed, dried and cut into thin strips and tough stems removed
Handful of bean sprouts, washed and dried
3 tbs teriyaki sauce
1 tbs olive oil
Squirt of honey
Freshly cracked pepper to taste
1 tbs toasted sesame seeds – for garnish

 

  1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Once water is boiling, add plenty of salt and add the pasta.  Cook according to package directions, approximately 10 minutes.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet with olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onions and peppers.  Stir to coat all the pieces with the olive oil.  Add the grated garlic over the onions and peppers.  Sauté for a few minutes.
  3. When the onions start to get a cooked look, but are still crunchy, add the bean sprouts.  Sauté for a minute.  Add most of the lettuce pieces.  Sauté a few minutes more until the lettuce starts to wilt a bit.
  4. Add the cooked noodles to the skillet and toss to combine thoroughly.  Add the teriyaki sauce and toss again.  Add any remaining lettuce.  The noodles will absorb some of the sauce.
  5. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

 

This was a very nice lunch indeed.  Filled with veggies, light, yet very satisfying.  You can definitely serve this for any weekday meal. 

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How to Peel Almonds

10 May

I feel the need to apologize… I have not been posting and sharing with you as frequently as I would like to.

I have been quite busy with a cooking project – trying to evaluate if cooking for hire is a career move I really want to make.  I’ll let you in on more information as it becomes available.

In the meantime, another project I took on was to make something for Mother’s Day, as opposed to buying something.  So I decided to make something with nuts… something to nibble, to snack, to entertain your mouth in between serious food.  My mom is a serious snacker so I decided to indulge her with my Rosemary Almonds.

I personally prefer peeled almonds to those with skins, plus my mom is always shying away from hard to chew foods…  you know, the story that at her age (which she does not represent at all…) her spare parts do not come cheap.  So to please my mom, I soak the almonds to make them a tad softer and to be able to peel them too.

What you need to do is:

  1. Soak the almonds in filtered water for about 2-3 hours.  The almonds will plump a bit and the skin will soften.

 

2.  With the help of your fingernails, clip the tippy tip of the almond and the skin will peel right off, just like peeling an orange with your fingers.

3.  Don’t soak them for too long or they’ll loose some of their oils and won’t roast well. 

4.  If you can’t peel them all in one sitting, drain all the water, let them dry and re-wet them when you’re ready to peel again.

This is how the almonds will look like after they’re peeled.  You’ll still be able to roast them on the stovetop or in the oven for that toasty almond taste, it’ll just take a little longer. 

After you do this, you really learn to appreciate why the cost of blanched, slivered almonds…  it’s a bit of a hassle, but I like them that way.

Enjoy your skinless almonds!!!

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