Peach Salsa

I continue to drown in peaches, yummy, right? So last night before dinner we were craving chips and salsa and didn't have any salsa so I threw this together in my cuisinart food processor.  Craving fulfilled!

3 Peaches
1T Lime juice
1/4 c. Onion (red or white), chopped
1/2 c. Bell pepper, halved
1 T Cilantro, chopped
1-3 Jalapenos, roasted, seeded, halved
1/2 Salt

Place onion, jalapeno, and bell pepper in food processor and pulse until chopped.  Add remaining ingredients and pulse to desired consistency.  Enjoy.






I wish you enough!

Bread

I love making bread.  Bread of all kinds, but mostly dense sourdough artisan bread.  In fact I can't think of a better thing to pull out of the oven and eat warm!  This will be the first of, probably, many bread posts and it just happens to be sweet bread.  What a great time of year to use up those baseball bat sized zucchini from the garden right?

Last night I had a relaxing time making Amish Friendship Bread.  It is made from a starter that is often shared with others much like a chain letter, but much tastier.  I received my starter from my MIL who got hers from someone at work.  As I can best tell she has given it to 6+ people and I gave it to 7 which ended my bread making for some time.  Then I got it back from a friend that I gave it to, who in turn had already given it to 11 people.  So boy, this bread has been around the block.

I will have 2 extra bags from this batch, let me know if you want one.

Amish Friendship Bread

You might ask yourself, what kind of wine should I drink when I make this bread???

Malbec is a nice choice, and I happen to like this one.


"Malbec originates from France, but it is Argentina where the grape truly thrives. While it is used primarily as a blending grape in Bordeaux, it has developed into a premium stand-alone varietal in Argentina."

Yummy but Not Easy

First let me say, I am so happy to have 5 followers!!!  Have to start somewhere right?

So I started this blog as a way to share good food (and other things) that is easy to make because I think it is an important skill to keep and pass on.  But sometimes I dapple in recipes that take me, um, fooorreever!  They are usually super tasty but I assume most people don't have 3-6 hours to make dinner every night, right?  hmmm, so here are a few pics of some yummy food that I enjoyed with some amazing people.  Enjoy.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Lasagna

8 Layer Jello Mold

Homemade flat bread with Garbanzos, Tomatoes, Avocado, Feta, and Reduced Balsamic Glaze

(This one is pretty easy after making the flat bread)

I love to try new fancy yummy recipes, if you have some please share.  

I wish you enough!

No Internet

We were without internet for several days this week and I started feeling out of touch with people.  I wasn't really because I talk to people on the phone... but I had to actually turn on the TV to find out the weather (b/c I check it 3 or 4 times a day, like it's going to change.)  Anyway this week has been nice without technology and lots of projects.  Looking forward to a couple more days without internet, so I probably won't be posting much until next weekend.  Can you wait that long?

from Plant to Popper

Since my tomatillo plants dried up I can’t make anymore salsa verde this year. BUT the jalapeno plant is thriving so I am swimming in these spicy little peppers of love.  I got to spend Labor Day weekend with great friends at a BBQ so I brought these lovely homemade jalapeno poppers.

Ingredient list:

10 Jalapenos, halved, seeded and deveined

6 oz cream cheese, soft

3 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

½ t ground cumin

¼ t onion powder

2 eggs

¼ c flour

2 c bread crumbs, I added herbs de provence to mine

oil for pan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil 8x12 pan.

In a small bowl combine cream and cheddar cheeses, cumin and onion powder.

Fill each halve jalapeno with cheese mixture, and prepare to coat.

Place flour and breadcrumbs on separate plates and beat eggs in small container.

Coat cheese filled jalapenos with flour, then egg, then bread crumbs and place in pan in rows.

Bake 25-35 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

These won’t last long once taken out of the oven, so you better taste test them before offering them to others…

**Be creative with your coatings: corn flakes, bread crumbs with different herb mixes, cornmeal…  what will you top yours with?

Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde

I had two tasty food projects this summer, the pickle project and the salsa verde project.  So, I decide to grow what I needed to make them mostly in my front yard, but also at the farm.  So I started seeds in March and bought a few plants from Poor Boys Garden Store and here is the final product for salsa verde.  The pickle project will come soon.

Ingredient List for Salsa Verde:

3 lbs. Tomatillos

1 Green Bell Pepper, halved, seeds removed

1-3 Jalapeno(s), based on how high you sit on the spicy scale, halved, seeds removed

2 Yellow Wax Peppers, halved, seeds removed

1 sm Onion and 2 cloves of Garlic  (I didn’t grow these, but I tried)

2 Tbs. Lime Juice

2 Tbs. fresh or dried Cilantro, chopped

Optional for additional heat: Serrano peppers, additional wax peppers.

Place tomatillos, and all peppers on foil lined (or silpat) sheet and broil on low 8-12 minutes or until browned.

Let cool 10 minutes.  Set aside roasted tomatillos.  Place all other veggies in food processor with lime juice and cilantro and pulse till chopped.  Add tomatillos and pulse to desired consistency.  This makes about 1 quart of salsa verde.

Enjoy with your favorite chips, veggies, over burritos or enchiladas, or just plain on a big spoon.

Cold Brew Coffee

As requested, I am posting today about the yummiest coffee recipe.  I found a version of this online after reading about it in the America's Test Kitchen magazine, and went about experimenting.  This is how I like it best:

Things you need to get started:  french press, coffee, water, container for fridge, coffee mug.

Mix coffee and water in a 1:4 ratio, respectively, in a french press.  Let sit overnight, 8-12 hours.  (Example: 1/2 c. ground coffee and 2 c. water)

When you wake up, press out the grounds and pour the coffee concentrate into a container that you can put in the fridge.  The concentrate may be 2-3 times stronger than your normal cup of coffee and can be used for several days before you have to make more.

To make your coffee (I do this one cup at a time):
HOT: heat up water first and mix with equal parts of coffee concentrate, if this isn't hot enough for you just throw it in the microwave.
COLD: mix the concentrate with equal parts water and pour over ice.

Add your favorite flavorings
Enjoy!

questions?  Is this clear? clear as coffee concentrate?


NOTES:
**If you drink more than one cup per day you should increase this recipe so you don't have to make it so often.  If you double this recipe you should have enough concentrate for about 6 cups of coffee.
**I like this best cold but.... you decide and be creative.
**I use this recipe for my women's health patients because it has much less acid and bitterness resulting in less irritation to the bladder.   People love their coffee so it's easier to give them an alternative than to ask them to stop drinking it altogether.
**Some people use a special brewer for this called a toddy, but a press works fine and you can use whatever you want as long as you can strain out the grounds easily.