Limes Glorious Limes

What do really good salsa and guacamole have in common?  You guessed it: fresh lime.  Both of the recipes below have lots of it.  That's what makes them so tasty-- of course, I'm a lime fiend.  These recipes will be great for Cinco de Mayo!

Salsa Is A Staple

It seems that everyone in California was raised on salsa.  I had to learn to like it or I probably would have starved. Recently I made my first Pico de Gallo which is simply chunky form of salsa also called Salsa Fresca.  Of course I corralled a bunch of my husband's family to do a taste test of three different recipes of Pico de Gallo.  The one below was the favorite, and no one will be surprised to hear it has 4 ingredients. (Garlic salt doesn't count. If you're following my recipes you, already have lots on hand.)  Here's what you'll need: 

3 cups of chopped tomatoes  (About 1 &1/2 lbs) Roma tomatoes are good for Pico de Gallo, but not a must.

1  cup of chopped white onion  (approx. 1 medium onion)

1/4 cup of lime juice ( Approx. 2 limes)

2/3 cup of chopped cilantro  (approx. 1 large bunch)

Opt. 1 Serrano or Jalapeno peppers

Cut any stems or bottoms off tomatoes, then cut them in quarters.  With a food processor and the regular blade, chop the tomatoes very carefully using the pulse  (manual) button only until they are in small chunks. After the tomatoes are chopped, put them in a colander to drain the juice.

While tomatoes are draining, chop onion using the food processor and pulse button as well. Then, set onion aside in the lime, so that onions will soak up the lime flavor.

Next, twist the top off the cilantro bunch and use the processor to chop it (keep using the pulse button).  You then add all 4 ingredients together. Finally mix in 1 & 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of garlic salt and a few cranks of cracked pepper and  let it sit for about 20 min. to mix all the flavors. 

*If you want to use peppers chop very finely with veins and seeds (which are super hot) removed. (A hand chopper is great for this.) Add one teaspoon at a time to give your salsa the exact amount of kick you want. 

** Cooking is an art; therefore, we need to taste dishes along the way to see if they need more of something (just like the classic French chefs we see in the movies. With a wooden spoon of course:)

It Tastes as Good as it Looks

Last weekend my niece, Kelsey Nunziatta, made us this appetizer called Caprese. If you want to impress your guests, serve this. It looks like a piece of artwork! The green, white and red represent the Italian flag.

Speaking of Caprese, I had the wildest experience in Trader Joe's the other day. A young woman with a very cool accent came up to me and asked if I knew where the tomatoes were for a Caprese  She pronounced it "Caprayzay." Her name was Paulina and she was Columbian. I told her that surprisingly enough I was going to blog about that very thing that week.

Anyway, all you do is put sliced tomatoes on a serving platter. (To make it look even more like a work of art use heirloom [multi-colored] tomatoes.) You then sprinkle the tomatoes with garlic salt. Next you layer sliced fresh mozzarella on top of the tomatoes.  Then you put fresh basil leaves on top. Finally you drizzle extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and cracked pepper.

Opt. Drizzle balsamic vinegar reduction or regular balsamic on top. (Rachel Ray makes a great balsamic reduction that's at regular grocery stores.)

TRY IT YOU'LL LOVE IT!

Cooking Tidbit: Fresh mozzarella and buffalo mozzarella are not the same. Buffalo Mozzarella is actually made from buffalo milk and is a lot gooey-er.

 

All Things Beets and Butternuts

The idea for this salad came from my niece Cameron. She and her two sisters: Caroline and Courteney recently came out to California. They are some of the funniest people I know. Anyway Here's what you'll need for Cameron's salad.

A cup of beets (Trader Joe's and Ralphs/Kroger has them in a pkg. If you can't find this type you can use canned whole or sliced beets)

1 cup of butternut squash. (Again Trader Joe's and Ralphs/Kroger has them already in chunks) Don't get the frozen kind. (Soggy city) Cameron started with an actual butternut squash and roasted the seeds. Hats off to her.

2 bags of Spinach or Arugula (Cameron swears by arugula.)

1/2 a cup of crumbled goat cheese

(Opt.) Walnuts or any other kind of nuts or seeds.

Step 1. Preheat oven to 475. Take the beets and cut them into bite sized pieces, put them on a sprayed cookie sheet and stick them in the oven on the lower rack.

Step 2. Next cut the butternut squash into small chunks, put those on a sprayed cookie sheet and pop them in the upper rack for 25 min. Remove squash from oven. (You want the pieces to be soft but not mushy.) Let the beets continue to cook until they are shriveled up. 

Let the vegetables cool then toss them with lettuce, goat cheese and a simple dressing like balsamic. (There is a great balsamic dressing recipe in the blog post called "Sweet and Blue". Just go to the top of this page and push Appetizers/Salads.)

Parsnips?

Another thing you can do with Beets and Butternut Squash is roast them with other vegetables like parsnips, red onion, and carrots. Try rainbow (multi-colored) carrots they look awesome. Follow the steps above and simply add the other vegetables to the butternut squash. I recently served this to Richard and Sue Davis from Switzerland and they raved!

Cooking Tidbit: What the heck are parsnips? They look like albino carrots and they have a sweeter taste. Sue says that Americans are clueless about them, but for the British they are a staple.

Abraquadabra

I was over at Michael and Marcy Tillman's in Laguna Beach. I remarked at how beautiful their garden was. Right there and then Michael cut me some stems way down at the base and told me to just stick them in the ground at my house and watch them grow. The one that took was the Chocolate Geranium. I was amazed! It was like magic!

Recently I talked to Dale Ghere also of Laguna Beach. He said the thing that would help the process would be to plant the stems in pots, then water them daily for a while. He also said that you could do this with succulents, and once the succulents take he only waters them when he feels like it.

Super, Super Bowl Sunday Appetizers

When we think of Super Bowl Sunday, most of us think of consuming really good food, especially appetizers. (While the players are burning tons of calories we are consuming them.) I have gathered 4 easy and yummy appetizers from my friends that are perfect for Super Bowl Sunday. They will produce almost as many cheers and applause as the game itself. (I guess that's going a little overboard.) 

Cowboy Caviar

The first one is an appetizer using Cowboy Caviar. My friend Debbie Trammell, Newport Beach, recently brought it over to my house for a party. Here's what you'll need:

A jar of Cowboy Caviar Salsa (Trader Jo's)

A block of cream cheese

A bag of Corn Tortilla Scoops (Tostitos)

It's pretty self explanatory, but you cover a block of cream cheese with the Cowboy Caviar and use the Scoops to scoop it up. (My niece, Caroline Cox Brantley, Panama City Beach, FL. told me about another great topping for cream cheese called "Pickappa" Sauce. You can find it at World Market, Walmart and online (like everything else under the sun.) The best one for cream cheese is the original sauce.

Artichoke Green Chili Dip

The second appetizer is one I got from Debbie Hogan, Newport Beach. Debbie is totally a gourmet cook, so I wasn't surprised when I tasted this one and loved it!  Here's what you'll need:

1 (14 oz.) can of artichoke hearts

2  (8 oz.) cans of diced green chilies (drained)

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese (reserve 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top before baking)

(Opt.) 1/2 a small pkg. of chopped spinach, defrosted and thoroughly drained and dried. (I personally am not a huge spinach fan, so I like the appetizer without this.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small casserole dish.

2. Using food scissors, (Not the kind you cut construction paper with.).cut the artichokes into small chunks and mix everything together well. Or blend all the ingredients in a food processor until mixed but still chunky.

3. Pour into baking dish. Top with 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly.

4. Serve hot with crackers, tortilla chips or fresh veggies. The Pickett's use these gluten free crackers called "Mary's". They are very "seedy" and super healthy. You can get them at Whole Foods or some grocery stores (in their gluten free section.) 

The Best "Ranch" and Veggies

The third appetizer is just ranch dip and vegetables, this is a great appetizer for those of us who are "attempting" to be on a low carb diet. The best ranch dip mix is the Hidden Valley "Dressing" mix instead of their "Dip" mix.  My sister, Courteney, in Malibu, always has this around and ready to use.

I use it all the time as a dip and a dressing. And oh, it's awesome when you mix in crumbled blue cheese! It's extra good when you put it in the freezer for a bit. (Don't forget it's in there. Oopsie) On that note, have you noticed that restaurant salads taste so much better? Their trick is chilling it all: plate, lettuce and dressing.

You Gotta Have a Sweet One

The fourth yummy appetizer is a sweet one that I also have at my sister, Courteney's. It's simply goat or Borsin cheese put on a cracker and topped with Dalmatia fig jam. You can get this jam at World Market. Super delicious! Bonne Maman also makes a fig jam. (Many grocery stores carry this.)

HAPPY SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!

*Other than these appetizers there are two totally delicious ones that I have already shared. Just go to the navigation bar at the top of this page and hit 4 ingredient recipes or scroll down to the posts called "It 's All About the Cheese" or "Better Bruschetta".

Better Bruschetta

Here is an hors d'oeuvre (there's that impossible word to spell again) that is super easy and Awesome!

I recently tasted this hors d'oeuvre at our friend Stefanie White's house. (Believe it our not, the White's have had their friends from High School over for a Christmas party for the past 40 years.  Yikes, we're that old!) 

Anyway here's how you make it: Get a baguette and slice it thin, then put shredded parmesan on top and broil the slices for about 3 min. or until tops are slightly golden brown. (The parmesan seals the bread so it doesn't get soggy.) Then take the bread out and cover each slice with bruschetta (using a fork to keep the bread from getting juice-soggy). Finally sprinkle with parmesan and if possible serve right away. Totally, totally yummy. (BTW Trader Joe's has a great bruschetta!)

Try it You'll Love It! 

When It's Good To Be Cheesey

These various cheese dips are adapted from a recipe given to me by Lisa who lives in Roseville, CA. She said that her mother has been making this appetizer for 50 years, and it's a total crowd pleaser. Here's what you'll need:

3 cups of coarsely shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 of mayonnaise

1/3 cup of whipped cream cheese

1 piece of chopped bacon

2 teaspoons of chopped shrimp

1 teaspoon of pimento cheese

Squaw or pumpernickel rounds (If you can't find them, the person in the bakery at your grocery store may slice some for you. At least Sarah at Ralphs sliced mine for me.)

Mix the first three ingredients together, divide into 3 parts and put in separate mixing bowls. Mix small pieces of bacon into one bowl, shrimp into another and pimentos into a third bowl. You then put the three types of cheese dips in 3 small serving bowls.

Next lightly toast the rounds and set them out with the dips (Lisa's mother spreads the first and second type of cheese mixtures onto the rounds and lightly broils them.) The ingredients that Lisa gave me sounded a lot like the pimento cheese that everyone from the South is raised on, so I added that as the third dip.  In the South we pronounce pimento "pimenta". Every one who pronounces it "pimento" is just plain wrong.

A Rose By Any Other Name Is. . . 

This rose napkin fold is sure charming and super easy to do. (and we are all about easy.) Below are the steps plus a video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy impressing your guests!

Step 1. Take a clean pressed napkin and face one of the points toward you so it looks like a diamond, then bring the bottom point up to meet the top point. 

Step 2.  With your  hands about a foot apart tightly role the bottom part toward the top stopping about short about 4 inches. 

Step 3. Turn the napkin over then make sure one end points towards you. Begin with the end closest to you then tightly roll it toward the other end stopping about 3 inches short.

Step 4. Tuck the little tail into the fold of the rose.

Step 5. Pull the pointed parts down in opposite directions.

Step 6. Finally flip it over and you have your rose.

Christmas Memories

It's funny how certain things stick with you. I remember that my little sister and I would make red and green paper chains and hang them all over our room. I remember that we went to confession once a year on Christmas Eve (God forgive us!).   My Daddy would drive us, and somehow turned this dreaded event into a super fun time. I also remember how Daddy would pile us all into the car to drive around and look at the Christmas lights                                                                     

Every year at our annual Christmas party, my Mama would serve cream cheese topped with red and green hot pepper jelly and surrounded by crackers. Recently, after all these years, I tried it, and couldn't stop eating!

Carly, my oldest daughter, said, "Mom, why in the world are you putting jello on cream cheese? Of course, she changed her tune when she tasted it. I plan to serve this extremely Christmasy hors d'oeuvre this week, and I challenge you to jump on the wagon too. You won't regret it.

I do have one question: does anyone else have a hard time spelling hors d'oeuvre? You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to look it up, and I still can't spell it. This "hors d'oeuvre" simply consists of red and green hot pepper jelly on top of a block of cream cheese, served with crackers. (I just discovered that Nabisco makes Christmas wheat thins!)