One thing I did manage to take a picture of was the peach salsa I made last week.  Good heavens, but this stuff is good!  And not too hard; you will have to peel and pit the peaches and peel and seed the tomatoes, but after that, just toss everything into the food processor and give it a whirl.  If you like your salsa on the mild side, you should remove the seeds and veins from the jalapeños as well.

To peel peaches and tomatoes, drop them in boiling water for a 30 to 60 seconds (you should make a small, X-shaped incision in the bottom of the peach, but this is unnecessary for the tomatoes), then remove them to a bowl of ice water until they have completely cooled.  The skin will slip off easily if the fruit is ripe.

While we love to top our food with this salsa – eggs, chicken, pork – I’m sure it would be just fine with some good quality tortilla chips.

We’ve jarred about half the recipe and frozen it for later; when, in the depths of winter, we remember it is there and thaw it out to eat, I’ll let you know how well it freezes. 

Ham and scrambled eggs, topped with Peach Salsa

Peach Salsa

makes about 4 cups

4 large peaches, peeled, pitted and quartered

2 large tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeded

One large sweet onion, peeled and quartered

2 jalapeño peppers, stems removed and cut in half

1/2 cup cilantro, loosely packed

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 – 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey (optional)

Place the onion and jalapeños in the bowl of a food processor; pulse 2 or three times.  Add the peaches and tomatoes, and pulse several times until it is almost the consistency you like.  Throw in the cilantro and pulse another 2 or 3 times, or until everything is chopped, but still chunky, or the consistency you like best.

Pour the mixture into a large glass or stainless steel bowl; add the salt, cider vinegar and honey, if desired.  Stir well, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, to allow the flavors to develop.

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But we’ll see.

We’ll be stopping in Chicago overnight, and I made reservations at Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurant for dinner.  Why Roy’s?  Well, we love the place, for one.  For another, it won’t require us to A) dress as if we’re attending Princess Diana’s wedding and 2) take a second mortgage out on the house.  Seriously – Google “fine dining in Chicago”; the prices you’ll see will make your eyes hemorrhage.   You know me – I love good food and am willing to pay for it, but $200?  Per person? At those kinds of prices, I’ll worship it from afar, thank you very much.

Anyhoo.  Another easy recipe today, especially if you like to grill/smoke/barbecue (or, in Beloved’s case, all three).  The instructions for this require simple, indirect heat on your grill, but we put them in the smoker with the brisket this weekend and they were just fine.  In fact, we’ve had to restrain ourselves from eating them all so we’d have some road trip snack food for today (Chicago is a six hour drive from our house).

Have a lovely day, y’all.

Smoked Almonds

Smoked Almonds

makes..a lot

1 pound natural (raw) almonds

1 1/2 tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce

2 teaspoons of your favorite barbecue rub

Set up the grill for indirect grilling.

Toss together all the ingredients until the nuts are well coated with the hot sauce and rub, then pour into a disposable aluminum pan (at least 9″ square) in an even layer.  Cover and smoke until the nuts are crisp, about 3 hours.

Cool completely.  Store in an airtight container if you have any leftover to store.

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Cut me some slack – I’m paying for it this morning.  (It sure was tasty, though.)

At any rate, I’m back on track today and will remain there until I’m seduced once again by the siren song of a four-star restaurant.  Which doesn’t happen with any regularity, thank goodness.

So – pico de gallo.  There’s some debate about the origins of the name, but it’s basically a fresh, uncooked salsa often served with Mexican dishes.  It’s easy and delicious and has the added bonus of being extremely good for you, too.  I don’t care much for cooked tomatoes, but I love them raw and this is one of my two favorite ways to eat them (I’ll get to the other way later in the summer when my own tomatoes ripen).

Note: Seed the jalapeños unless you like it really spicy.

Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo

makes 3 – 4 cups

2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes, finely diced

1/2 red onion, finely diced

2 jalapeño peppers, finely diced

Juice of one lime

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients except the salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl; taste and season.  Let it sit, covered, for an hour or so at room temperature, to allow the flavors to combine.

Can be served as a condiment, side dish or as a dip with good quality tortilla chips.

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Sweet Corn

Yes, it is the extremely tasty evil Georgia sweet corn, and is entirely the fault of the guy at the farmer’s market who forced six ears on us Saturday morning, shortly before the guy at the meat market twisted our arms and made us buy 3 racks of baby back ribs.  All of which we were then compelled to grill, then consume, later that evening, entirely against our will.  And we won’t even go into the watermelon.  *sobs*

It was a heartbreaking experience.

So we smoked a turkey breast and beef brisket on Sunday.  And I felt the need to do something with the three ears of roasted corn we had leftover from our excess Saturday evening.  Once I realized I had a bag of dried black beans in the pantry, this dish was on the menu.  (You can, of course, make it with canned black beans.)

We ate it as a side with our brisket and turkey, but it would be marvelous served with good quality tortilla chips.

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Black Bean Salsa

makes…a lot

4 cups (or two cans) black beans, drained and rinsed

3 ears roasted corn, kernels cut away (about 2 cups)

1 large tomato, chopped

1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1 cup red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, torn

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cover (and refrigerate if desired) for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to develop.  Bring to room temperature and stir before serving.

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“I had clearly fallen into the Midwest version of the Black Hole of Calcutta.  Civilization was but a distant memory,” I mourned.

I was ecstatic at the time because I’d found a recipe for it in Frank Stitt’s Southern Table, and the ingredients were easily found, even here in The Italian Food Capital of The Western Hemisphere.  So I immediately made it.  And the angels came forth and sang while I rejoiced, because it was surely the best pimento cheese I’d ever eaten.

I was so thrilled, as a matter of fact, that I immediately published the recipe as it was written in the cookbook, having found that it was already all over the internet, thus allying my fears of copyright infringement.  (To this day, no one has come forth and asked me to remove it, so I’m guessing it’s all good.)  But, like most recipes I make, it has been tweaked and fiddled with and while it’s more or less true to Miss Verba’s recipe, it is now something I am proud to call my own.

‘Cause it’s even better.

It makes a lot, and keeps well in the refrigerator, but I’m willing to bet you’ll never find out it’s shelf life – this stuff goes quickly.  It is absolutely yummy on crackers, as you see here, and stuffed into celery and cherry tomatoes.  And for my Southern readers, it makes one mean sammich.

Jan’s Pimento Cheese

serves Beloved during a Cowboy game

3 large red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped into a small dice

1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, or other hot sauce

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, Miracle Whip, sugar, pepper and hot sauce, mixing well.  Stir in the cheddar cheese until well combined, then gently fold in the chopped bell peppers.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving, unless your husband snatches the bowl out from under your nose as soon as you’ve finished mixing it; then you let him have it, throw a box of crackers at him and get out of his way.

This is my last chance at room service, which I am convinced is the greatest invention in the history of all mankind.  If I didn’t think the company bookkeeper would kill me, I’d order one of everything.

Oh, wait – I am the company bookkeeper.

Well.

Anyhoo, I can’t go a whole week without boring you all to tears with a new recipe, so here’s this weeks:  Texas Caviar.  Popularized by Helen Corbitt, the famed 1950s food consultant and cookbook author who directed food service at Neiman Marcus in Dallas, it isn’t really caviar, of course, it’s really more of a salsa.  And my, oh my – is it tasty.  Even if you’re not a fan of black-eyed peas – silly you! – you’ll like this.  It’s absolutely marvelous with good, crisp tortilla chips.

Texas Caviar

serves me and Beloved if you’re not quick

2 cans black-eyed peas

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small can of chopped green chiles

dash – or two – of your favorite hot sauce

2 tablespoons minced onion

2 tablespoons minced celery

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro, minced

2 plum tomatoes, diced

Drain peas, rinse with cold water and drain again.

Combine olive oil, chiles, hot sauce, onion, celery, vinegar, salt and pepper, and mix well. Pour over peas and stir gently. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, if possible.

At serving time, add the green onions, chopped tomatoes and cilantro, and stir gently to mix. Serve with tortilla chips.

Have I ever mentioned that I love the lettuce wraps at P. F. Chang’s?

I love the lettuce wraps at P. F. Chang’s.

This recipe is my attempt to make them at home.  It’s based on a recipe in a cookbook I have for 15 minute meals, so it’s quick and easy to make, and if you use extra-lean ground turkey – the kind that’s 99% fat free – it’s a lot healthier than the restaurant dish in terms of calories and grams of fat.  Also, if you’re worried about the sugar, you can substitute Splenda® with marvelous results.  Don’t use Equal® or aspartame – it simply doesn’t hold up well to heat.

I’ve also substituted the ground chicken with cooked, leftover chicken and only stir-fry it enough to heat it through before adding the vegetables and sauce – it’s an even quicker dish this way.

This is a really good summer-time recipe, and is one of Miss Jacki’s favorites.  And it more than makes up for the fact that there is no P. F. Chang’s in Podunk.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

serves 2 to 3 as a main course or 4 to 6 as an appetizer

8 ounce can water chestnuts, drained

1 cup sliced mushrooms

5 green onions, white and pale green parts, cut into 2 or 3 pieces each

6 peeled baby carrots

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 ½ teaspoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound ground chicken

Iceburg lettuce, leaves separated into “cup” sized pieces

Place the water chestnuts, mushrooms, green onions and carrots into food processor with the S-blade in place.  Pulse just enough to chop everything to a medium consistency.

Combine soy sauce, sugar, garlic and rice vinegar.  Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add the chicken and stir-fry, breaking it up as it cooks.  When about half of the pink is gone from the chicken, add the chopped vegetables and stir-fry everything together for a few more minutes.  When the chicken is cooked through, stir in the soy sauce mixture and let everything cook for a couple of more minutes, until the liquid evaporates just a little and the sauce coats the chicken and vegetables.

Wrap spoonfuls of the meat mixture in lettuce leaves and eat them by hand.

And have a lovely weekend, y’all.

The weekend was…stressful?  Yes, stressful.  And today has potential to be every bit as stressful – that work-related crisis lingers,  today begins the yearly standardized testing in Ohio schools and Beloved is out of town yet again for the entire week on business.  But I am going to try and rise above it all and make a feeble attempt to retain my serenity.  All of the grown offspring are gainfully employed, Jolly’s pregnancy is progressing normally, Miss Jacki and The Young One are doing well in school, no one is in jail and the dog hasn’t thrown up on the carpet in at least two weeks.

It’s always important to look on the bright side of things, you know.

So, in keeping with my promise for Mexican inspired recipes for Cinc de Mayo, I give you 7 Layer Dip.  Okay, so this isn’t really Mexican, or even Tex-Mex, but it is definitely a reasonable facimile – and also very, very  good.  Shove a dish of this in front of your guests, along with copious amounts of tortilla chips, Fritos Scoops and ice cold beer and your party is guaranteed to be a rip-roaring success.

And if you’re lucky, the ripping and roaring won’t take place until after everyone’s gone home.

7 Layer Dip

serves one Cinco de Mayo party

1 recipe of guacamole

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 package taco seasoning mix

2 1/2 cups prepared bean dip, plain or jalapeno

1 cup thinly sliced green onions

3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced

7 ounce can ripe (black) olives, sliced

8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, and taco seasoning.

To assemble, spread layers in the following order on a large, shallow platter or dish:

- Bean dip

- Guacamole

- Seasoned sour cream mixture

- Sliced green onions

- Diced tomatoes

- Sliced olives

- Shredded cheese

May be made in advance and refrigerated, tightly covered.

I was going to do something rather fun (if necessary) today, but that work-related crisis I told you about yesterday?

Yeah, it’s still here.

I’d do my Charleton Heston impression and fall to my knees while wailing, “Damn them!  Damn them all to Hell!” but it just wouldn’t have the same effect, since I lack a ruin of the Statue of Liberty, to say nothing of a beach.

So.

It occurred to me today in my desperate attempt to find something to blog about that would distract me from the work-related crisis that Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner.  Then it occurred to me that I have a lot of Mexican inspired recipes, because I’m from Texas and am required to love Mexican food.  So, between now and Cinco de Mayo I will post nothing but Mexican and Tex-Mex recipes.  Well, when I post recipes…I won’t post them every day.

You get my drift.  Right?

And we’ll start off with Guacamole.  The recipe I’m giving you is based on the recipe from Diana Kennedy‘s The Cuisines of Mexico, and it is simply delicious – the best guacamole you will ever eat.  If you do not have a molcajete (I do and I love it), blend the base ingredients well in a blender or food processor and mash the avocados roughly into it.  Always serve guacamole immediately once it is made, as Mrs. Kennedy instructs:

“This is such a beautful concoction, pale green flecked with the red of the tomato pieces and the darker green of the [cilantro]…It is so delicate that it is best eaten the moment it is made.  There are many suggestions about keeping it – leaving the pit in, adding  a little lime juice, not adding the salt until last, putting it in an airtight contianer.  They all help a little, but in no time at all that delicate green has aged.”

Guacamole

serves very few in my house

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion

2 or 3 Serrano chilies, finely chopped (seed beforehand if you don’t like it too spicy)

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

2 large ripe Haas avocados

1/2 cup finely chopped, unskinned ripe tomatoes

Garnish

Scant 1/4 cup chopped tomato

2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion

1 1/2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro

In a molcajete (or mortar and pestle), crush the cilantro, onion, chilies and salt together and grind to a paste.

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pits and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.  Mash the flesh roughly into the base mixture.  Stir in the chopped tomato.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup tomato, onion and cilantro and serve immediately.

Our day began when we were rudely awakened by the psychotic robin that lives in the hemlock outside our bedroom window.  It’s nesting season, you see, and when it sees its reflection in our very large, very south-facing bedroom window it thinks there’s an invading bird so it charges and flies directly into the window…repeatedly.  We finally gave up trying to sleep any later – the damn bird kept at it even after we’d lowered our blinds – so we turned on Turner Classic Movies, which was having an “Easter Themed Day” of programming, while Beloved grouched:

“Remind me to go out there first thing in the morning and body slam that damn bird’s nest a few times.”

Saturday night, I forced wheedled the Men In My Life into decorating about a dozen and a half hard boiled eggs with me.  I mean, it’s not Chocolate Bunny Day without colored hard boiled eggs, right?  Right?? So now, as usual, I’m stuck with 18 brightly colored hard boiled eggs that need to be devoured in the next few days.  Some of the will be eaten for breakfast over the course of the week, some will be put into salads for lunch, and the rest will be made into deviled eggs to be scarfed as snacks all through the day.

Because I love me some deviled eggs.

A note about hard boiled eggs. For years hard boiled eggs baffled me – half the time, at least, I’d end up with ragged egg whites that stuck to the shell, and even when the eggs peeled cleanly I’d be stuck with a yucky green coating on the yolk.  Both, I’m glad to report, are easily avoided if you know your eggs.  First, never boil a strictly fresh egg; they will peel much more easily if they’ve been sitting in the refrigerator for a few days (the ones we boiled Saturday had been purchased the previous Saturday in anticipation of boiling and coloring).  Secondly, when you do boil them, do so gently.  Lower the eggs into cool water that covers them by at least an inch, and bring them to a brisk boil.  Immediately remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes – no more,  no less.  Drain and cool in a bowl of cold water.

You will have perfect hard boiled eggs that are easy to peel and have no discoloration.

Deviled Eggs

makes 12 servings

12 large hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons brown or yellow mustard

1/4 cup sweet pickle relish

1/4 cup finely chopped onion or celery

Peel eggs and halve lengthwise. Carefully remove yolks and mash in a bowl with a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, onion or celery, and salt and pepper to taste to yolks and stir with fork until well combined, then spoon into egg whites.