Sweet Green Curry Potatoes

I came up with last night to go with Soy Glazed Chicken.

Ingredients

10 to 12 medium size Red Potatoes

1 stick unsalted Butter

1 medium Onion

3 Tablespoons of Thai Green Curry Paste

1/2 cup of Sweet Chili Sauce

1 Tablespoon dried Sumac 

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cube Potatoes with skin on

Cut Onion into strips

Place in a bowl and season with Salt and Pepper

Melt Butter, add to it the Sumac, Curry & Sweet Chili Sauce, whisk to combine.

Pour over Potatoes and Onions, Toss to coat.

Place mixture in baking dish, cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes or until Potatoes are soft. Toss Potatoes at least twice during the baking process.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool about 5 minutes before serving

Enjoy Cooking

Tuna Fish Salad Sandwich

This mourning a received an interesting request for a Tuna Fish Salad Sandwich recipe.  At first I was like "Hmm?" but then I though why not, so here is my take on it.

Ingredients

1 medium Onion, diced

1 medium Bell Pepper, diced

1 hand full of fresh Italian Parsley, chopped

1 spring of fresh Oregano, diced

3 7oz cans of solid light Tuna in Olive Oil, drained

1/2 cup Olive Oil Mayo

3 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard

1 tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar

1 teaspoon ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Smoked Mild Paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground Turmeric

Pinch of ground Ancho Chile Pepper

Elder wood Smoked Salt and Pepper to taste

Dice Bell Pepper and Onion

Add it to the a bowl with the mustard, vinegar, herbs and spices: toss to coat

Next add the Tuna to the mixture and combine

I love the above brand of Tuna, which you can get at Costco, but any Tuna will be fine

Now add the mayo and stir to combine.  The mixture will have a red tone to it do to the Paprika

Serve on a nice Artisan Bread.

Note: Most of my "Sandwich Salads" start the same way: Onions, Peppers, Dijon, Vinegars and Spices that are list above, so play around and add different proteins instead of the Tuna, 

Enjoy Cooking 

Cream of Asparagus Soup

I was going through the freezer today, when i came across several bags of asparagus ends: during the year instead of throwing out the ends of the asparagus, I save them to make soup. Well actually I have entire freezer full of bones, veggie ends, apple cores, etc.

This soup calls for homemade Chicken stock, which is really easy to make, and its all from things most people throw out. You will need a few chicken carcasses, celery ends, carrot ends, onions and parsley stalks.  I will post a bit later my stock recipes, all from throw away ingredients; now back to the soup.

If you like a garnish of asparagus tips for the soup you will need a few fresh spears.

Above are some of the frozen asparagus from the freezer.

Ingredients

2 pounds of Asparagus, cut into inch pieces

1 large onion

1 medium Italian Pepper

a hand full of fresh Italian Parsley, diced

3 table spoons of butter, unsalted

5 cups of homemade Chicken Broth

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup of half and half

Vanilla Salt and Pepper to taste

Place a large sauce pan over medium heat, add butter to pan to melt.

Next rough cop the onion and pepper and add to pan.  Cook until soft.

Add the asparagus stalks to pan and cook for about 5 minutes. 

Add Chicken Stock and Wine, bring to a boil then reduce and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender.

While the soup is simmering; if you are using the tips of a garnish, place a small pot of water on high heat.  Once the water is boiling, add tips and boil until tender, about 2 minutes.  Remove and place in cold water until serving.

In small batches, puree soup until smooth, then return to pan.  Now add the half & half and parsley, stir to combine. Warm soup until just about to boil.  Taste, add salt and pepper as needed.  Remove from heat, plate, add the asparagus tips to the bowls and serve.

I have a few times also served with a lemon wedge.  

Enjoy Cooking 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Roasted Brussels Sprouts: this recipe usually converts people from disliking them to loving them 

and its really simple.

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

One stalk of Brussels Sprouts ( for some reason they are much cheaper in the stalk)

4 to 5 tablespoons Olive Oil

3 tablespoons of minced Garlic

1 Shallot minced (optional)

1 tablespoon Maple Flakes

1 to 2 tablespoon Maple Syrup

Salt and Pepper to Taste 

Remove sprouts from stalk: its really easy, just bend them back from the top down. 

Keep the stalk: i cut it cup and freeze it to use in stocks.

Cut Brussels Sprouts in half, place in a bowl with Olive Oil, Garlic, Shallot (if using),

Salt and Pepper :  toss to combine

I usually let the mixture sit for at least an hour, tossing it a few times during that time

Next place in a bake dish and sprinkle the Maple Flakes on top. 

I use Tonewood out of Vermont, go to 

www.tonewoodmaple.com

To order them online or find a location near you to buy them.

I like Tonewood since its just Maple Syrup, some other flakes have added un-natural things ...

Place Brussels Spouts in the oven and roast for about an hour, tossing them a few times during that time, 10 minutes before they are done, drizzle the Maple Syrup on them and place back in the oven.

Enjoy Cooking

Sweet Corn Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

3 ears of Sweet White Corn

2 bunches of Green onions

1 bunch Cilantro

1 spring fresh Oregano

6 large Tomatoes

3 Chili's of choice, diced

1 lime, zest and juice

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground Adobe Chili

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 additional teaspoon of ground Adobe Chili

salt, pepper and Agave to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Husk corn, place on a cookie sheet and roast until they start to brown, remove and let cool.

While corn is cooling, in large bowl place diced chili's, lime zest and juice, cumin and teaspoon of ground Adobe Chili and toss.  Next dice just the light green to whites of the onions.

and add them to the chili's mixture.

In a small bowl blend the vinegar and tomato paste.

And add it to the chili mixture.

Next remove the corn from the cob, place and in bowl and break up the kernels that are still grouped together. Sprinkle the paprika and 1/4 teaspoon of ground adobe chili over corn and toss. Set aside and let sit for about 15 minutes.

Dice up tomatoes, you will need about 4 cups.  Usually i use large beef stake type tomatoes but this morning i had a lot of of the cherry tomatoes that were thrown off the vines last night due to the storm so i am using them instead.

Add tomatoes to chili mixture and toss. At this time also add the chopped herbs, salt, pepper and Agave to taste. Let set for about 15 minutes, toss a few times during this time.

Now add the tomato mixture to the corn, toss, chill for about an hour before serving. 

You can also can this Pico, use more firm tomatoes if canning; but only boil to seal no more then 5 minutes.  I usually do 3 minutes if the jars and lids are hot at the time i add the Pico.

Note: All chili's vary on their degree of "Hot" you like, so taste through out the process and add more diced chili's to get it to the desired taste.

Marinara

I was looking at the tomato gathering i had to do this morning and i have enough San Marino Tomatoes to make a batch Marinara.  When done i will have about six quarts of sauce/gravy when done.  And yes i do not peal or seed the tomatoes when i make my sauce.  A lot of the flavor is in the skins and there has been many posts on other food blogs about not pealing the tomatoes when making sauce.  The peal adds flavor and helps thicken the sauce.

I have been asked many times to post my recipe; this is one of those labor of love recipes; i took me awhile to get it perfect and i am not ready to part with it yet.  But below are some of the other things i do put into my sauce.  The ingredient below was a suggestion of a famous Italian Chef and why is Gravy was rich and robust. 

Fresh Herbs - during the simmering stage i throw in bunches of basil and parsley, stalks and all.  But when i am about to can the sauce i add fresh chopped herbs.  Another hint, i roast the garlic, onions and peppers prior to adding them to the sauce. during the simmering stage.  There are four stages to my marinara and 12 different ingredients.

A Day of Salsa

I have a host of Veggies from the garden I need to deal with today.  We had a storm roll through last night and it knocked a bunch of Tomatillo, Peppers and Tomatoes off their vines. So its a day of making Salsa and Pico de Gallo.  All of the recipes are posted, just use the labels listing on the side to find them.  I am also making a sweet corn pico today, which is not on the blog yet.  So that will be my step by step post later today.