Nothing could be finer…

Here’s how this works:

• 4 oz can pineapple (crushed)
• 1 peach (Georgia peach preferred) pitted and chopped
• 1 orange (juiced and zested)
• 1 lime (juiced and zested)
• 1 lemon (juiced and zested)
• 1/4 c. cilantro (Chinese parsley)
• 1/2 red (Spanish) onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup assorted bell peppers chopped (Red, Orange, Yellow and Green bell peppers)
• 1 jalapeño pepper – seeded and ribbed, chopped finely
• 1 (healthy) dash Cayenne pepper powder
• 2 Tbsp chives flowers (if available)
• black pepper and salt to taste
• cinnamon to taste

Get cooking:

Zest the citrus and then juice all of it.  Grab the herbs, wash them well and then chop them finely.  I love cilantro, so “more is more yummy”.  You can replace the jalapeño with a Scotch bonnet or your favorite Thai chili if you chose: Rib it and seed it as you wish.  The colored bell peppers I used from Costco’s bell pepper-mix.  Just chop them up and add them to the salsa-mix.

The cinnamon, black pepper and kosher salt is to taste as well.

Mix the salsa and refrigerate no less than 1 hour.  Serve the salsa with farmed fresh salmon and enjoy with a happy face.

So, exactly what should you do with your leftovers?  When I cook – it seems I cook for eighty-million people.  It’s a huge waste of money – unless you get really creative with those leftovers.  And, if you’re really good, you’ll event your own ideas.  Cooking for two, while preparing for four leaves a lot of food.  Do NOT throw it away!  Learn, grow and experiment!

In this case, you’ll have to eyeball the ingredients because you’re the only one who knows the total quantity of the leftover.

• Leftover spaghetti (sauce and pasta) enough for two
• 4 Tbsp sour cream (heaping)
• 4 Tbsp Ricotta cheese (heaping)
• 3 Tbsp shaved Parmesean
• 3 Tbsp Italian-blend shredded cheese
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Oven @ 350 | Serves 3

In a large skillet, add the leftover spaghetti and reheat it (add red pepper flakes if you chose).  While reheating, grab a 9 x 11″ casserole dish and grease with butter or cooking spray.  Once the leftovers are hot, add the ricotta followed by sour cream.  Once well blended, pour it into the casserole dish.  Add the Parmesean and shredded cheeses on top.  Bake for 30 minutes and serve.

Here in Minnesota, wild rice is not only a delicacy, it’s a staple.  My parents were raised in Deer River, MN, long regarded as the “wild rice capital of the world”.

Nicknamed the “caviar of grains; “Wild Rice” has an extremely long shelf life and cooks just like long grain rice.  A simply three hour drive north to Deer River from the Twin Cities and you can buy it for next to nothing.

If there’s a trick to preparing wild rice, I would say: “Leave it to soak over-night”.  Rinsing it like you would lentils, only cleans the grains. Rinsing and then soaking it over night will soften the outer hull and the inner seed will readily soak up the chicken (or pork or whatever) stock when cooked.

I believe it was higher-priced grocery markets like Lunds and Byerlys here in the Twin Cities who unveiled the first recipes of Creamy Wild Rice and Chicken soup.  It’s taken a variety of twists and turns since then.

Here’s my version:

• 2 qt homemade chicken stock *
• 2 fresh carrots from your local Farmers’ Market (Diced into half-coins)
• 2 chicken breast seasoned *
• 1 medium red onion (Nicely diced)
• 1 pt fresh cream (half and half)
• 3/4 c wild rice thoroughly rinsed and soaked overnight
• 1/4 chopped ham (diced or deli would do)
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp Tobasco (optional)
• 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1/2 sliced mushrooms (optional) of any kind

Chop the vegetables and dice the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces.  In a Dutch oven or stock pot, heat three tablespoons of a very good extra virgin olive oil.  Toss in the onions and season well with kosher salt.  Once the onions have begun to turn translucent, add the carrots.  Grind some black pepper and once the carrots have heated through, remove everything from the pot.  Add another drizzle of olive oil and turn in the diced chicken.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until the chicken has been seared on all sides.  Remove from the heat and set  aside with the vegetables.

Add the chicken stock and the wild rice.  Simmer on a low boil for at least 30 minutes.  When the rice has “bloomed”, return the chicken, the vegetables to the soup and add the thyme.  Add the sliced mushrooms if you’re including them, and bring to a low boil and simmer for another thirty minutes.  Add the cream and the butter and return to a low boil for another 10 minutes.  Season with red pepper flakes and/or Tobasco and serve hot on a cold winter’s day.

* Chicken stock.  I rarely throw anything away with any kind of meat protein.  Beef bones and pork bones make excellent stock alone.  (As a child, my parents took me to central mid-Ontario to a missionary camp for the Cree Indian tribes three or four years in a row.  My parents were amazed that if the Cree killed an animal, no part of the creature was thrown away.  I think we could learn a lot from the Cree if we paid attention.) If I’m grilling chicken, I set the back, the giblets and sometimes the wings aside to make my chicken stock.  A couple of diced carrots, a bay leaf, cardamom and the leafy celery tops in a pot and simmered for a good thirty minutes and you’re done!  The best chicken stock is made  from a rotisserie chicken!  Simply remove the skin and the meat.  Add the skin and bones to the stock pot, add the vegetables and you have an outrageously good stock.  I will either can my chicken stock or get those plastic containers from the deli section at the grocery store and freeze it in individual pints.

**Seasoned or marinated chicken breast.  Of course, plain chicken breast works just fine.  But, I like to zip it up a little bit.  In this case, I purchased a small jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil.  I chopped up the tomatoes and soaked my chicken pieces in the tomatoes and the oil they came in.

t’s an app…  Easy and delicious.

Cream Cheese spread

• 4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
• 2 oz chevre (goat cheese)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 oz pine nuts
• 1/2 cup of fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cucumber (seeded and optional)

In a food processor blend well and refrigerate.

Carnival Tomato Tapenade

• 2 heirloom yellow tomatoes
• 10 large cherry tomatoes
• 2.5 oz can of sliced black olives
• 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• 3 red radishes, trimmed, cleaned and sliced thinly (see Assembly)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 oz of capers (if you insist…)

Seed and squeeze the water out of the tomatoes.  Into a food processor for all of it and pulse until coarsely chopped.  Into a sieve or a strainer, squeeze out at much liquid as you can and then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tomato Bruschetta

• 3 large garden ripe tomatoes
• 1 large onion
• 1 yellow bell pepper (roasted and skinned)
• 4 Tbsp fresh cilantro
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

If you’ve never hand-roasted a bell pepper, don’t sweat it.  You can watch this video and follow along.  I think this guy is way off the mark because I never put them into an oven.  Far too much energy wasted trying to char the skin.  We have a gas stove and all I do is fire up a burner and drop the pepper right on top of the flame.  When I smell the char, I grab my tongs and turn the pepper “15-minutes” in one direction.  In no time, I’m finishing with the bottom and the top of the pepper and the entire thing is charred.  Hint: In the video he drops the pepper into a bowl and covers it.  That’s lame.  Grab a paper bag and drop the pepper inside and scrunch the bag closed.  The steam from the heat will peel the pepper’s skin and make it easy to remove.  After 10 to 15 minutes, pull the pepper out and under a cold water tap, rinse the charred-skin clean from the flesh.  Very easy.

So, back to our bruschetta:  Seed and squeeze the water out of the tomatoes and add to the food processor.  Chop the onion into large chunks and add to the processor.  With all of the ingredients except for the olive oil in the processor, pulse until well incorporated and coarsely chopped.  Into a sieve or a strainer, squeeze out at much liquid as you can and then add the olive oil and toss until it’s well incorporated.

 Assembly…

Grab a loaf of French or baguette bread and slice it at a biased cut. Brush each piece with olive oil and then place face-down on a preheated griddle pan.  Once toasted nicely, remove and assemble.  The bruschettta can stand on it’s own while the cream cheese and basil spread gets topped with the tapenade.  Each crostini with the basil cream cheese and tapenade gets shingled with the radish slices for a little peppery-crunch.  (Notice the photo.)  So you grab a spoon and spread each slice as necessary: 16 slices of Frenched bread  equals 8-pieces of each.  Cream cheese and tapenade on each while eight bread slices get the bruschetta.  It’s guaranteed.

Garnish with a flower from your garden and enjoy.

Easy enough: Head to the butcher’s and order a couple of center-cut pork chops (bone-in).  They’ll waive and say “Howdy”, I promise.  With the two pieces of meat, I also recommend a pint of their cole slaw to pair.  Once the goods are bagged, head to the grocer’s and grab one Granny Smith, a Pink Lady or a Braeburn apple.   You really don’t need a lot of the sweet or the tart, I promise.

With the goods at your kitchen counter; grab the chops and season both sides with salt, pepper and a good dash of Old Bay Seasoning and fire up the grill.  Once the coals have begun to turn white, prep-up with this:

1 Granny Smith apple (peeled and cubed)
1 sweet apple (Pink Lady or Braeburn) (peeled and cubed)
1 Tbsp Canola
2 Tbsp (unsalted) butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla abstract
2 Tbsp a.p. flour
4 Tbsp Disarono (hazelnut liqueur)
2 pork chops freshly seasoned and grilled.

Add the apples, butter, sugar and spices to a hot skillet. Add the flour as your thickener along with the hazelnut liqueur and sauté while the chops are grilled. (Please watch for fire flare-ups when adding the liqueur!) Once the chops have rested, plate them and sauce them with the apple-topping and enjoy.

A pork chop that you will not forget for a very long time, I promise.

Need to clean out the fridge?  Here’s a great thought: Chix ala King! 

• 2 chicken breast (cubed)
• 1 bell pepper (diced)
• 1 med-sized sweet potato (diced)
• 6 large cherry tomotoes (diced)
• 6 – 7 mushrooms (diced)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 stalk celery (diced)
• 3/4 cup chicken broth (homemade and low sodium preferred)
• 3/4 cup of low-fat milk
• 3/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 sweet wine (Red Zinfandel)
• no-yolk ribbon pasta noodles (cooked and buttered)
• salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper to taste
• parsley to garnish
• 2 adult appetites

In a paper-bag, add 1/2 cup of the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne and chicken breast pieces and shake until well coated.  In a large skillet, heat 2 Tblspns of Canola Oil.  Once piping hot, add the chicken pieces turning occasionally until the pieces are almost finished.  Remove the pieces and set a side.  Add the vegetables and the wine to de-glaze the skillet.  Once the vegetables are soften, add the chicken broth, milk, the chicken pieces and the remaining flour .  Cook until thickened and serve over those hot buttered-noodles.

This sort just came to me earlier today while visiting my favorite butcher shop in Robbinsdale. Woman behind a small table handing out samplers of Andouille sausage freshly made from the butcher’s block.  On the other side, she had crackers with cream cheese and hawking her own homemade pepper jam.  I have a dinner party to attend for the Fourth of July, so I snatched up a jar of her pepper jelly and sort of worked it out in my head like this.

• 3 large tortillas
• 2 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup Pam’s Pepper Jam (Bold)
• 1/2 finely chopped cucumber
• 1/2 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
• Peppadews roughly chopped (option)
• pine nuts (lightly toasted) (option)
• 1/4 lb smoked Virginia (deli sliced) ham (about six slices)
• lettuce

You can figure out the rest from there.  With the cream cheese at room temperature, add the cucumber and the pepper.  A large skillet heated, drop the tortillas on the skillet and spin them so they don’t burn.  Once they’ve begun to bubble, flipped them and continue spinning.  Place the tortilla on a cutting board, spread the cream cheese mixture over for layer one.  Then Pam’s Pepper Jelly for layer two and the smoked Virginia ham for layer three.  Drizzle lettuce over for layer four, roll up the tortillas and cut slices with a knife that has a serrated blade.  Place on a serving platter and chill before the big dinner.

You get the heat from the jelly, the creamy from the cheese, the salt from the ham, the sweet from the cucumber and the crunch from the bell pepper.  It’s like – a cornucopia of awesome!

Since it’s a Fourth of July party, I’m thinking I’ll try to find the blue corn tortillas, the plain white and the sun-dried tomato flavors.  That would work, don’t you think?

This is a really fun recipe and extremely easy.  All you need is an oven and an electric mixer.

• 2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 bananas
• 2 Tbs honey
• 1 Tbs butter (unsalted)
• 2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/2 c heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350F

In a large pot, drop the sweet potato chunks in water about 1″ above them.  Salt the water and bring to a boil.    In about twenty-five minutes, place the bananas on a cookie/baking sheet with the jackets still on.  10 minutes later, the potatoes should be fork tender and the bananas have turned black so turn off the heat on the potatoes and remove the bananas from the oven.  Once the bananas are cool enough to handle, drain the sweet potato water and place in a mixing bowl.  Remove the jackets from the bananas and add to the sweet potatoes along with the butter, cream, nutmeg and honey.  Mix very well until smooth, serve and enjoy.

Alternate method: Place the potatoes on a cookie/baking sheet and pop them into the oven.  In about 30 minutes, have the bananas join the party.  Let them go another 10 to 12 minutes and remove.  Once everything is cool enough to handle, remove the skins (they should just rub off) and the bananas, mix with remaining ingredients until smooth.  Return to the oven to reheat and then serve.

Nutrition value on this dish is through the roof.    According to Sow True Seed, the sweet potatoes alone are: “Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene which is a great source of Vitamin A, an immune booster and an important nutrient for cellular health. They are low in calories, have no fat and are loaded with potassium. They are also a good source of complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins C and B6, iron and calcium.” Fruits and Veggies More Matters notes that the bananas have 0g fat, 0g in sodium, 0g cholesterol and 110 calories each. Benefits of Honey notes that honey is extremely high in anti-oxidants, burns belly fat (while you sleep), and is a monosaccharide – which means that it is a raw sugar compound that is immediately absorbed into the blood stream once it’s introduced to the small intestine.

I love fish. In addition to being very good for the body, fish oil is extremely healthy in Omegas and cell-structure. Here in the upper-midwest, seafood, fresh seafood comes expensive and typically arrives as poor quality.

I typically apply the “smell-test”: The fish monger is expected to put the fillet on butcher’s paper, hold it out for me to take a sniff. If it smells like fish; let him keep it and shop at a new market. If there is no smell whatsoever — grab it, pay him/her go home and enjoy.

Salmon is tricky. Farms add pellets to the water that are highly carcinogenic. Since everybody is screaming about mercury levels in seafood, BP’s disaster in the Gulf, I’m keeping the rule of moderation for all of it.

Semi-Poached Salmon

• cooking spray
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 c white wine
• 4 Tbsp Dijon mustard (coarse ground)
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• one half lemon, sliced thinly
• zest of one lemon

Grab a cookie-sheet and aluminum foil that’s twice the length and preheat the oven to 425F.    Spray the aluminum foil with the cooking aerosol and and layout your dinner of fresh salmon.  Season the fillet with salt and pepper; think in terms of layers:

• On top of the seasoning, sprinkle the brown sugar liberally
• One top of the sugar, zest the half-lemon and dash the zest over the fillet
• One top of the zest and the sugar, dollop spoonfuls of the Dijon mustard

Spread the Dijon mustard out to coat the entire fillet.

Add the lemon slices, layering each slice like they were tiles.

Grab the foil beneath the fillet and bring up the edges to form a “boat”.   Grab the excess over the baking sheet and fold it over.  Before you begin, pour the 1/2 c of white wine over the entire lot and then crimp the “lid” over your make-shift boat and seal everything up.  Now you’re ready to “poach”.

If your oven is ready, pop it in.  The standard rule is 425F at 4min per 1/4 inch.  If the fillet is a half inch thick, then it will probably need to be the oven at 425F for 10 minutes.  I personally use the 425F/12 minute rule: If your oven is truly prepped – 12 minutes inside is almost guaranteed to finish off your dinner.

Expectations:  The brown sugar will sweeten the flesh, while the lemon zest and the wine will compliment the sweetness.  The Dijon will add depth to the flavor and will meld in with the sugars from the wine.

I recommend serving it on a bed of white rice risotto or a parsnip-puree.

It’s an astounding flavor.   Pleas enjoy!

Wondering what to fix for dinner, I stopped by the Whole Foods in St Louis Park, MN just to see what they were offering in their deli section.  They were offering a jicama salad that I thought was interesting, so I quick-memorized the ingredients list, ran home and made my own version. The jicama is relatively tasteless, but it does well soaking flavors from his neighbors in the bowl.  That makes Mr. Jicama a delicious blank-slate for any flavors you like.

• 1 jicama (peeled and cut into match-stick slivers)
• 1 English (seedless) cucumber (peeled  and cut into match-stick slivers)
• 1 (Bartlett) pear (peeled and cut into match-stick slivers)
• 1 red bell pepper (fire roasted, peeled an cut into match-stick slivers)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced and set aside
• 4 Tbsp fresh cilantro, minced and set aside
• 4 Tbsp fresh arugula, minced and set aside
• 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil and set aside
• 3 Tbsp Canola and set aside
• 1 Tbsp fresh (frozen) grated ginger
• 2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar and set aside
• 1 Tbsp honey and set aside
• salt (taste) and set aside
• brown sugar (taste) and set aside

Get to work on the bell pepper: Light the burner and place the pepper over the open flame.  As it crackles and burns the flesh, move it around until the entire surface has been burnt.  Meanwhile, grab the jicama and get to work peeling it.  It will suck – so, be prepared.

Once the bell pepper has been completely crisped – drop him into a brown paper bag and crinkle up the top.  Let that guy steam out on his own.  After ten to fifteen, grab him out of the bag and under a cold faucet, rinse away that tough outer membrane.  Pull out the seeds and the stems and slice into match-sticks.

Once the veg has been prepared, get on the dressing.  Minced garlic, cilantro, arugula gets thrown on into  a mixing bowl with honey, vinegar, oils, salt and brown sugar.  Emulsify the liquids, and the adding the solids such as the herbs and garlic.  Once thoroughly mixed, pour over the hard vegetables being sure to scrape the bowl to catch every bit.

Options might include:

• red pepper flakes
• cayenne powder
• 1 Tbsp sour cream
• 1 Tbsp white wine (in exchange for the brown sugar)
• Dijon mustard
• horseradish
• cherry (or grape) tomatoes (roasted) instead of red bell pepper
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Once everything is combined, drop a lid on it and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.  It’s fantastic.

Enjoy!

Sloppy Janes

This is a hobo version of the classic. Yes, I wander off my own reservation with the call of a processed food from the chicken gumbo. In spite of that demerit, the recipe is fail-proof. I love the flexibility in the preparation. I add a pepper-jack and a shaved Parmesan cheese to my personal serving.

4 hamburger-sized buns (thawed and toasted)

• 2 Tbs Canola
• 2 cloves – garlic (minced)
• 1/2 onion (chopped)
• 1 lb ground beef (fat-meet ratio is your choice: I prefer 85/15&
• 5 oz ketchup (Heinz or your preference – eyeball it)
• 3 oz yellow mustard (eyeball it)
• 1 can Chicken gumbo-soup
• 1 Tbs dijon mustard (eyeball it)

Minced the garlic and the onion. Throw a 12″ skillet on the burner while prepping the rest of the ingredients. Oil the pan with the Canola and when fully heated, dash the chopped onion and the garlic into the hot skillet. Season the veg with course salt and black pepper, stirring until well-mixed.

When you’ve noticed veg has begun showing signs of breaking down, add the ground beef. Break it up and season lightly with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Add the gumbo-soup, the ketchup, yellow mustard and the dijon.

Simmer until…just that point when you can stop calling it a “Sloppy James” and begin start calling it “a Sloppy”. Grab your toasted hamburger bun and dive in.

Options include:

• Red pepper-flakes
• Parmesan shakes
• cheddar slice
• cottage cheese (1 spoonful as a topper)
• bleau cheese (1/2 spoonful as a topper)
• 1/2 Tbs Sriracha sauce
• lemon zest
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• 1 10 oz can chicken stock
• crazy sauce (Tobasco or Sriracha)

It’s a hobo recipe, so serve it up with fun. Included options, I think: Onion rings, fries, apple pie, carrot “fingers” or Jell-O.

It’s delicious and you’ll love it.