Easy, Fresh, Corny Salsa

Every year I wait for a certain vendor to show up at our local farmer's market with his home made corny salsa. A small jar is over $7!  This year I couldn't wait and since I'm not working now, I thought I would try saving some money on salsa by making my own. I thought how hard could it be to find a good salsa recipe on line?  You can find everything online!  Guess what? It wasn't hard at all! I found two right off the bat! So, my recipe below is an adaptation of Tyler Florence's Salsa Fresca and Rob Barrett's Cooking For Dad's recipe on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_evFB7RIKA   This guy is from Minnesota and so am I.  Many of us don't like fire-breathing dragon spicy food and he takes that into consideration with his recipe.

I hope you enjoy my version!

What you will need:

Food processor-or get ready for lots of chopping.

4 large or 5 small Roma tomatoes 

1 green pepper-use half or the whole thing.  Cut into quarters.

1/3 of a large peeled sweet onion

1/2 jalapeno with seeds for spicy and without seeds for mild

8-10 cilantro sprigs (important for flavor!-I use six because hubby is cilantro challenged) 

2-3 peeled garlic cloves finely minced, or equivalent garlic powder

1/2 cup fresh off the cob or frozen corn-not canned. If using frozen, do not defrost.

1/2 teaspoon salt

juice of one lime

Directions:

Wash all vegetables well.

Slice tomatoes in half and with your finger scoop out the seeds and juice-throw seeds and juice out.  Throw tomatoes into the food processor.

Slice the green pepper in half, scoop out the seeds, and throw them out with the stem. Quarter it and throw into the food processor.

Slice the 1/3 of an onion in half and throw into the food processor.

Slice the jalapeno and put in as much as you would like. I like mild salsa so I use ½ without seeds.

Break cilantro sprigs in half and throw into the food processor.

Add the remaining items to the food processor and pulse to get the desired consistency.

This recipe makes about 3 cups of salsa-Enough for a couple bags of  Tostitos brand scoops!

Veggie Delight Lasagna

The high today in Minnesota was 44° and that was before noon.  They told us we could possibly get snow!  Here I was ready to plant my annuals and instead I decided it was a good day for baking.  I once tasted my cousin Frank's vegetable lasagna.   I was in the mood for it and had friends coming for lunch who like veggies.  I remembered his was delicious. So I called him up. I was thrilled when he said he would give the recipe to me.  Then he just started dictating! I was scared.  When someone is not reading a written recipe, it makes me think they will forget something.  So I wrote while he spoke.  My post today is proof Frank has an excellent memory and an excellent recipe! I did change one or two things and added one or two things, but this recipe lends itself to improvisation.  Without further ado, here it is!

Cousin Frank's and Gloria's veggie lasagna

My friend's rescued puppy Bronte looking hungry for lasagna!!!

Ingredients:

One small box no boil lasagna noodles

About a ¼ cup olive or other vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

16 oz sliced small baby bella or crimini mushrooms for divided use

24 oz can Hunt's pasta sauce or your favorite pasta sauce

1 large bag rinsed and dried fresh spinach (the bags are about 7 ounces or so. )  *You may substitute frozen spinach that has been thawed and well drained.

1 cup shredded carrots ( my addition)

½ cup half and half creamer or cream (my addition)

32 oz container ricotta cheese

2 large eggs.

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided use.

18 slices mozzarella cheese.

Getting Ready:

Preheat oven to 350

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.  Set aside.

Spray the foil which will be covering the pan during baking or use non stick foil for covering the pan.  

For the sauce:

Pour the vegetable oil into a large saucepan.  Set heat to medium and sauté chopped onion until it is translucent (you can kind of begin to see through it). Then add 8 oz only of mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Then add garlic and continue to cook for a few minutes so mushrooms lose their moisture and shrink.  When the mushrooms are cooked stir in the 32 ounce container of pasta sauce and pour in the bag of spinach.   Cook on medium low so the sauce just barely simmers uncovered for about 20 minutes.    Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup half and half or cream AND 1 cup shredded carrots.

For the ricotta layer:

Scoop out approximately 2/3 of a 32 ounce container of ricotta and put it into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir in eggs and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Stir until well combined.

To assemble:

To the sprayed pan add about a quarter cup of sauce to spread over the bottom.   Use a little more if you need to.  Then add a layer of noodles.  Break to fit them if necessary. Spread some sauce over the noodles. Then place half of the remaining mushrooms evenly on top of the sauce.  Lay six slices of mozzarella cheese over them. Then spread half of the ricotta mixture over the mozzarella cheese.   Repeat. You will end up with the ricotta mixture on top.  Add six slices of mozzarella cheese on top of the ricotta and sprinkle top with one half cup Parmesan or to taste.  Bake covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for about 20 minutes or until cheese on top turns golden.  Note: you can assemble this lasagna and refrigerate it overnight. Then you will need to add 15 extra minutes or so to the "covered" baking time.

Good day for chicken soup!

It snowed a half a foot or more somewhere in MN to day, so today's recipe is chicken soup...

Chicken vegetable soup

You just can't predict soup weather in Minnesota! In March we had an 80° day. Today northern Minnesota got 8 inches of snow. We all go figure.

I was totally getting overdosed on brownies so I decided to make something healthy for a change.  This recipe has evolved over the years so now I call it completely my own (especially since I add an ingredient most people don't add, but it makes a delicious soup.)

Recipe:

3 1/2 or 4 pound cut up fryer

6 unpeeled carrots cut in thirds

2 onions peeled and quartered (I use yellow or white onions)

1 parsnip cut in thirds

1  yam  cut in thirds

2 stalks of celery  cut in quarters

4 cloves garlic  peeled, but not smashed

1.5 tablespoons salt

To add after soup is completely done: 

1 package peeled mini carrots

2 cups sliced celery

Broccoli florets..to taste. 

Directions:

Place chicken in an 8 quart stock pan.  Fill with cold water until chicken is just covered. Bring the water to a boil and then boil for about five minutes.  While waiting for the boil, wash the parsnip and carrots and celery and prepare the vegetables.  Set aside.  Skim the foam out of the pan as it boils.  Add salt to boiling chicken.   Add prepared vegetables and simmer for about an hour and 15 minutes.   Remove chicken to a separate bowl.  Remove chicken meat and return skin and bones back to the soup.  Simmer for another hour (if I am pressed for time, I don't put the skin and bones back in and don't simmer for another hour.)   Strain soup to remove all cooked vegetables and debris.   So now you can do a couple of different things. If I use all dark meat (thighs or legs), I cool the soup, put it in the refrigerator overnight, and then take all the fat off the top before reheating it and adding the mini carrots and celery and broccoli.   If you use less fatty chicken,

then as soon as you strain the soup, put it back on the heat and add mini carrots and celery.  DO NOT ADD BROCCOLI YET!  Simmer for about half an hour. Then turn off heat, add broccoli, and wait for about 20 minutes.  Add chicken meat.  The broccoli will be cooked and the soup will be ready to eat!

Guilt Free, I mean Gluten Free Brownies (ok for Passover too!)

I was excited when I looked at the brownie photo on Cookie Madness Gluten Free Almond Butter Brownies.  All it takes is a shiny-topped brownie to get my stomach juices going!!!  (My tops were not quite as shiny because, well, operator error probably!)

Almond butter brownies with Scarlet Tanager

And the addition of browned butter also excited me-I am a huge fan! ( And huge will have the literal meaning if I don't stop eating these brownies!)
So I hauled my lazy body out of the house in search of almond butter since I had everything else.  Well, as I was looking at each jar of almond butter to get the freshest date, I forgot the recipe called for creamy. Of course I brought home a jar of crunchy!  That turned out to be a happy accident because these brownies could use a bit of crunchy texture. I did make my usual minor recipe alterations (I just can't help myself).  I have to say these brownies produced the best crispy edges I've had!   Another thought I had while eating my third, yes third! brownie was that adding chocolate chips to the batter before baking would have been overkill-and I like chocolate chips in brownies most of the time.   You can cut these after cooled like regular brownies, or scoop them out while still a little warm and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Please try these brownies; you will not be disappointed if you like fudgy, a little nutty, and rich brownies!  Thank you Anna for posting these.
See the link at the top of this post for the recipe from Cookie madness.  

Anna's adapted Deluxe 8 Inch Pan Brownies

I was so excited to see Anna's post on Cookie Madness  here today!  I tried it as soon as I saw it.  Sometimes a recipe just hits me hard between the eyes!  Also, I had all the simple ingredients. I only made ONE, yes, ONE change!   I followed her recipe exactly except I used salted butter (omitted the extra salt), and added 2 more tablespoons of flour, and used decaffeinated coffee.   OK.  You caught me.  I made THREE changes!  The crust is crispy and from Anna's teaching, I believe that is from beating the eggs for 3 minutes...They came out a little fudgier for me, but that may be because I just might have under baked them a bit.  I added the extra flour and I believe that helped the chocolate chips stay dispersed through out the batter and not sink.
If you try them you won't be disappointed!
See Anna's post for the recipe!

The "flashy" photo

Yummy, shiny, chocolate chip deliciousness

Just a short post to steer you to some excellent CC cookies!  Darlene by way of Anna at Cookie Madness steered me to these cookies.   I made them twice.  The first time I added a 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.  Not so great.   The second time I made them with no changes (for a change).  Great.  I've eaten and baked a lot of cookies.  They are near or at the top of my list.   You can get the recipe here:  Lee's chocolate chip cookies See photos below of CCC and my neighbor's  rescued King Charles spaniel mix named Finnegan.  He is so cute I can't help but post him!!!

Finnegan

Easy Cuban-style guava pastelitos (pastelito de guayaba)

Have you ever tried Cuban pastries? A few years back I fell in love with the  Cuban guava pastelitos I purchased at a kosher bakery in Miami Beach called Rolling Pin Kosher bakery.  I liked them so much that I purchased 6 more of them and carried them on the plane back to Minnesota.  They were the perfect combination of tart and sweet with a flaky, rich, shiny pastry.  As you know, Miami is a long way from Minnesota-too far to travel for this treat (even though I have been known to put on some 120 miles to buy my favorite caramels!) so I searched the Internet and came up with a couple of recipes. I was happy to learn Pepperidge Farm Puff pastry could be used for the dough-I don't like to make dough from scratch. It doesn't turn out for me.  The recipes also called for guava paste and had instructions on how to make it from canned guava shells.  So for the last two years I've been lazily checking my local Super mercado to find guava shells in order to make guava paste.   I checked local grocery stores also, but I couldn't find guava shells.  I didn't think about using guava jelly and it may exist in Minnesota, but I don't know where. So here I was in Fort Myers last December and low and behold not only did they have the guava shells, but they also had pre-made guava paste!  So I said to my self who needs to make paste when Publix grocery store is loaded with it!  So, I lugged three 21 ounce containers of it home!

To me guava filling tastes a little bit like rhubarb, but not exactly.  Plus guava is a fruit and rhubarb is vegetable. The pre-made paste is thick and does not spread easily on toast unless you microwave it for 15 or 20 seconds.  Anyways, I took some tips from Three Guys from Miami- TGFM (if you look at their site, scroll down to the For The Less Dedicated section) and 5 Star Foodie and came up with a hybrid   First I tried them without cream cheese and in a strudel shape per TGFM.

I also sprinkled some sea salt on one of them right after brushing on a simple syrup.   I liked it that way.
Next I made another batch with cream cheese, but kept the same shape because it just seemed easier to do it that way rather than making individual pockets.   Next time I think I would do the individual pockets because they look better and then you don't have to make a mess trying to cut the pastry.

It was probably the way I prepared the cream cheese, but I could barely find it in the finished product.  It seemed to melt into the guava paste or the pastry and I wanted it to be layered.   Oh well!!  My taste testers liked the cream cheese pastries better for some reason.


Here is the recipe for just the guava filling with a few easy steps. 


Utensils you will need:
1 cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
1 small saucepan
1 potato masher 
1 microwaveable bowl


Ingredients for simple syrup:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt (about 1/16 of a teaspoon)


Ingredients for egg wash:
I large egg
2 oz water


Ingredients for guava filling:
1/3 cup guava paste
2 teaspoons lemon juice


Ingredients for optional cream cheese addition:
4 ounces cream cheese (Maybe you could use 6 ounces?)
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 egg ( if you are going to use the cream cheese, beat the one egg listed above for the egg wash (you should have about a quarter cup of egg) and then divide it in half.  Mix half with the cream cheese and to what's left of the egg add a tablespoon of water and use that for the egg wash.    Beat all ingredients together until smooth.  See pictures on how to spread it on top of the guava paste.


Ingredients for dough:
1/2 package Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets, or make your own.


Optional:
Sea salt for sprinkling on top-If using cream cheese I'd leave it off.  


Directions: 
Set dough out to thaw per package instructions (set out on a plate for about 40 min at room temperature).


Make simple syrup first.   Combine sugar and water in a small pan.  Mix together over medium high heat until dissolved then stir until boiling.  Reduce heat to low, add pinch of salt, and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.  Set aside to cool. 


Mix egg with water and set aside. 


Microwave 1/2 cup of guava paste for about 20 seconds. Mash guava paste with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice until it is mostly smooth.  


Once dough is almost ready to use, preheat oven to 350°.

Cut the pastry dough lengthwise in half and then cut the halves in half again so that you have four long strips of dough. Place two strips of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a spoon to spread a stripe of guava filling down the center of each dough strip.

Moisten the edges of the dough strips with a little water. Cover each filling covered strip with the remaining two dough strips. Seal the edges on all sides of the dough by pressing and smoothing gently with your hands (some people use fork tines to make a design).

Brush the top with the egg wash (recipe above). Bake approximately 30 to 40 minutes (I baked mine 32 minutes) – pastry should be crisp on top and browning. Remove the pastry strips from the oven and brush with syrup (recipe above). If you are going to use sea salt, this is the time to sprinkle it sparingly on each pastry.  Return to oven and bake an additional five or six minutes.

Let cool for about 7-10 minutes and then cut the pastries into individual serving-sized squares. The simple syrup coating hardens and makes it difficult to get clean cuts if you wait until it is cool to cut it.