Salsa Verde

I got this recipe from Cynthia. I made a few changes and the results came out great. If you have never had tomatillos, you will love them!

5-6 lbs tomatillos, outer leaves removed and cut in half
6-8 jalapenos, stems removed and cut in half
5 bulbs of garlic, peeled
1 cup loosely packed cilantro
zest and juice of one lime
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Coat a roasting pan with vegetable oil (you'll need a pretty big one)
2. Fill with tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic, cut side down
3. Roast in 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until everything is tender
4. Tomatillos have a lot of water in them!! Remove from oven and strain in a fine mesh strainer.
5. Place in food processor with lime and cilantro. Blend until smooth.

This sauce is great served with chips. Would also be great over tamales, enchiladas, grilled steak, chicken, seafood or pork. The mild acidic flavor is a fantastic compliment to any Mexican inspired meal. This recipe cans really well. I got just over 5 pints. Process in a pressure canner at 10 psi for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Hydro Harvest Herb Haul

I love alliteration!

Tonight I am making turkey gyro burgers and last night I discovered I did not have enough dill for the Tzatziki sauce. So today on my lunch break I went to Hydro Harvest Farms in Ruskin. It is a great U-pick, hydroponic, organic farm that has amazing herbs and veggies. They also sell growing systems for commercial and home use. For only $2.50 I got to fill a quart sized container with fresh herbs that I don't have growing in my porch garden yet. Most grocery stores sell a couple ounces of herbs for $3-4 each! I freeze my extra herbs in zip top bags so I always have them on hand.

Pictured (from left) Dill, Chives, Sage, Thai Peppers (small),

Mexican Tarragon, Ornamental Oregano, and Oregano

The ornamental oregano is a clipping so I can plant it and grow some of my own. It is edible and is also a really beautiful hanging plant. I love the varigated leaves!

Tzatziki Sauce

32oz Greek plain yogurt (regular yogurt works too)

1/2 cup or more fresh dill (to taste)

zest and juice of 1 fresh lemon

2 tbs roasted garlic paste

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

fresh cracked black pepper

2 cups diced cucumbers

1. Combine all ingredients in food processor. Blend until smooth.

2. Seperate into pint containers. Chill before use.

Although you can freeze Tzatziki sauce, it alters the texture significantly. If you do decide to freeze it, let it thaw and mix in some sour cream to bring it back to life.



Tortellini en Brodo

Last night I made tortellini. I froze some of them and used the rest to make tortellini en brodo. Although they came out great and taste fantastic, I did use some processed food to get there. Instead of making the pasta, I used wonton skins (which I already had in my fridge). I also used store bought ricotta and parmesan cheese.  Next time, my goal is to make the pasta and ricotta myself. Everything else in this recipe was scratch made.

Tortellini

1 package wonton skins (or better yet, home made pasta!)
15 oz part skim ricotta cheese
8 oz parmesan cheese (buy a block, do not use the canned stuff)
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1-2 tbs roasted garlic paste
fresh cracked black pepper
filtered water
corn starch

1. Combine cheeses, basil, garlic and black pepper in a food processor. Blend until smooth.
2. Sprinkle a smooth surface with cornstarch. Place a scant tablespoon in center of pasta, moisten edges of pasta with water and fold over to seal. Here's a quick video that can show you how to fold them way better than I can explain it. Thanks to http://www.chow.com/
3. Keep tortellini seperated until ready for use. If you are freezing them, line them up on a baking sheet and pop in the freezer. Allow to set for about an hour, then remove and store in a plastic container or zip top bag.

Tortellini are great in all kinds of sauces! To cook, bring water to a boil and drop in tortellini, if fresh cook about 3-4 minutes. If frozen cook about 5-6 minutes or until tortellini float to surface. Toss in your favorite sauce, devour.

Tortellini en Brodo (tortellini in broth)
Serves 4

1 liter beef broth
1 zucchini, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 tbs oregano
1/2 tbs basil
1/2 tbs thyme
1/2 tbs onion powder

1. Bring broth and herbs to a low boil. Drop in zucchini and tomatoes. Cook about 15 minutes or until zucchini is tender.
2. Drop in tortellini. Reduce heat to medium. Cook an addition 5-8 minutes or until tortellini are cooked. Do not over cook!
3. Serve piping hot with crusty italian bread.

To make this a heartier dish, add 8 oz presoaked cannelini (small white) beans.

Pepper Plants

I went to the Ruskin Seafood Festival today. We had beautiful weather!! Listened to some Reggae and ate some local fresh seafood (had some really good fried gator tail with mango habenero hot sauce). While I was there I met Don Swanson from Mild to Wild Pepper Plants. I bought 2 pepper plants to add to my growing porch garden. I got a large Thai Chili plant and a Ghost Pepper plant. Ghost peppers were recognized by Guinness World Records as the hottest peppers in the world until December of 2010. They are over 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. I can't wait for my little plants to fruit so I can try out some recipes!

Kitchen Staples: Roasted Garlic Paste

It would be an understatement to say that I love garlic. I LOVE garlic! So so much! Not a day goes by that I don't eat/cook something with garlic in it. I have a tattoo of a garlic bulb on my foot. That's how much I love garlic. I seem to make roasted garlic paste all the time. It's a great kitchen staple to have and it's so easy to make and use.
Roasted Garlic Paste (Makes about 1 1/2 pints)

2 lbs whole garlic bulbs
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Peel garlic and place cloves in a glass baking dish
3. Pour olive oil over garlic and toss to coat
4. Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes or until cloves are light golden in color and tender
5. Puree garlic and oil in food processor until creamy. Store in airtight container.

This recipe cannot be canned. I would not recommend freezing. The best thing to do is to keep it in an airtight container in your refrigerator.

Recommendations for use:
On bread with fresh herbs, in soups, in sauces, rubbed on chicken before roasting, in stir fry, as an ice cream topping or in your breakfast cereal. Yeah, it's that good. You should always have this in your kitchen.

Black Bean Soup

I grew up in Tampa, Fl. We have a huge latin population, dominated by Cuban and Puerto Ricans. I basically learned to speak Spanish (badly) by ordering meals at take aways and grocery shopping in bodegas. This is my take on the latin favorite, black bean soup.

Frijoles Negros (vegetarian)
Makes about 4 quarts

2 lbs dried black beans
2 yellow onions, skinned and cut into wide strips
5 roma tomatoes slices thick
1/2 cup minced garlic
4 small peppers (pablano or jalapeno), with membrane and seeds removed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
4 tbs ground cumin
3 bay leaves
vegetable stock

1. Soak beans in filtered water for at least 24 hours. Refresh water as needed. Strain and rinse.
2. Place beans and bay leaves in stock pot and cover with vegetable stock (to make about 4 quarts)
3. Bring to a low boil. Let beans cook at a low boil about 3 hours or until soft. Add filtered water to maintain level as it boils off.
4. Combine tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, cilantro and cumin in food processor. Blend until smooth.
5. Remove tomato mix from food processor and set aside.
6. When beans are soft remove about half and blend in food processor until smooth.
7. Return pureed beans to soup. Stir together. Reduce heat to simmer.
8. Stir in tomato mixture. Stir until well mixed.
9. Simmer 10-15 minutes.
10. Serve piping hot with sour cream, chopped fresh cilanto and diced raw onions. Goes great with cuban bread or served over white rice.

This recipe cans and freezes well. Process quarts in a pressure canner at 10 psi for 1 hour 30 minutes. This is a fantastic hearty soup. This recipe is vegetarian but it is great made with beef or chicken broth. You can also dice up chorizo for an added zip.

Pumpkin!!

A couple weeks ago I bought 2 sugar pie pumpkins from Wolfe's Produce in Riverview (6005 US Hwy 301 S, Riverview FL 33578). They were each about 5 lbs. I paid $5.00 for both. Right after Halloween is a great time to buy pumpkins but make sure you get pie pumpkins. Those monster pumpkins are super cool but lack that delicious pumpkin flavor. Pumpkins have a surprising amount of water in them so it's hard to know how much puree you will get from them. Here's what I did with them.

Pumpkin Puree (Makes about 4 quarts)
Can be canned or frozen.

1. Cut pumpkins in half. Remove seeds (save for other uses).
2. Place pumpkin halves cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until flesh is tender.
4. Remove skin and stem pieces.
5. Process in a food processor until smooth.


Pumpkin Butter (this recipe makes about 2 1/2 pints)
This recipe is great canned or frozen. Also makes a great gift!

4 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup light/no sugar added organic apple juice
1 tbs fresh grated ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground/grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups white sugar

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened. If it becomes too thick you can add extra apple juice.

Best Pumpkin Bread EVER!! Makes 3 loaves
Freezes well if you don't eat it all first

2 cups pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup filtered water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamom
2 tsp ground/grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (or nut of your choice)
1/2 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 7"x3" loaf pans
2. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove together.
3. In a seperate large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, sugar and ginger. Using an electric mixer, beat until well blended.
4. Add dry ingredients a half cup at a time. Mix in by hand until just combined.
5. Pour batter into greased pans.
6. Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat.
7. Add brown sugar and nuts. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes.
8. Spoon nut mixture over bread loaves.
9. Bake loaves for about 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from the center. Rotate loaves in oven every 20 minutes for even baking.
10. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool on wire racks.

To freeze, allow bread to cool completely. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then store in a freezer zip top bag.

Using fresh ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in these recipes makes a huge difference in the flavor. The fresh ginger really gives it a brightness that you do not get from dried. I tend to like the spices a little heavy so please adjust for your palate. In addition to the recipes above, I also made pumpkin pancakes and have a pumpkin pecan cheesecake planned for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!!

Tamales

Last night I made tamales for the first time. Tamales are a traditional and very delicious mexican dish. Basically a tamale is a corn meal dough filled with meat or vegetables and steamed in a corn husk. What could be bad?

I really started making the basic ingredients for my tamales about 2 weeks ago. I bought 10 lbs of beautiful beef bones at Apollo Meats (226 Apollo Beach Blvd, Apollo Beach, FL 33572, (813) 645-2379). I dumped them in my 22 quart stock pot and covered them with water. I cooked them at a low boil for the next 24 hours, topping the pot off with more water as needed. After the first 24 hours I removed the bones and added celery, carrots, onions and garlic. I cooked this at a low boil for another 24 hours. Because these bones were so meaty and marrow filled I needed to skim the pot every few hours. After straining the stock I was left with about 5 gallons of thick aromatic stock. As the stock cooled, the fat seperated out. I skimmed out all the fat and heated it back up and strained it a couple of times. I was left with 2 pints of pure beef tallow. I seperated the stock into gallon containers, cooked a few other things with it (1 gallon of fench onion soup, 1 gallon of lentil soup and 1 gallon of 15 bean soup). 

So back to yesterday. Here's the recipe for my tamales. 
Filling (I used chicken, but you can use pork, beef, veggies or cheese)
1 chicken
5 lbs carrots, cut into 3 inch pieces
1 bunch celery, cut into 3 inch pieces
2 yellow onions, skinned and cut in half
2 bay leaves
3 small peppers (pablano or jalapeno)

1. Cut chicken into pieces and place in stock pot. add veggies and bay leaves. Cover with water. 
2. Cook at a low boil for 3 hours.
3. Remove chicken from broth and strain remaining broth (reserve for another day).
4. Seperate chicken and discard bones and fat. 
5. Wearing gloves, cut peppers in half and remove seeds and internal membranes. 
6. Roast peppers on a baking sheet cut side down for 20-30 minutes until soft.
7. Shred 1 cup chicken (light and dark mixed) 
8. Dice/puree roasted pepper and saute with chicken and 1/2 cup water.  

Dough
2/3 cup beef tallow (or lard)
2 cups fine masa harina (or corn meal)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups beef stock/broth
20 corn husks

1. Soak the corn husks in warm water to soften
2. Combine tallow with 1/4 cup of warmed beef stock. Mix till smooth.
3. Slowly add masa harina, baking powder and salt to tallow mixture. The best way to combine these ingredients is to use your hands. Add beef stock 1/4 cup at a time until dough is spongy and a little crumbly but not too sticky.
4. Spread about 2 tbs dough on corn husk. Should be about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Place about 1 tbs filling in center of dough.
6. Roll corn husk up and fold ends in to create a rectangle. Should be about 2" x 3"
7. Place in a steamer (use your prefered method, I used an electric steamer) and steam for about an hour. Time will vary based on the humidity.
8. Remove tamales from steamer. Unwrap and serve with sour cream and salsa (recipe below)

This is the best, easiest, freshest salsa you will ever eat!

4-5 roma tomatoes
1 yellow onion
2 small peppers (pablano or jalapeno)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tbs cumin
2 tbs miced garlic

1. Skin onion and cut in half
2. Wearing gloves, cut peppers in half and remove seeds and membranes
3. Roast onion and peppers, cut side down in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes
4. Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until desired consistency. I like mine pretty smooth for the tamales. 

For dinner I served 2 tamales topped with sour cream and salsa with a salad of mixed field greens (that I harvested myself from Fort Lonesome Farm in Lithia, FL) topped with roasted corn kernals, chopped roma tomatoes, chopped cilantro and lime juice. A lot of prep went into making this dinner, but it was well worth it! The tamales freeze great, just individually wrap them and put them in a gallon freezer bag. To reheat, allow to defrost and pop in the microwave for about a minute or until center is hot.

I hope you enjoy eating these tamales as much as I enjoyed making them! I encourage you to experiement with scratch cooking. Be sure to check out your local organic and Pick Your Own farms for the freshest ingredients!

Here's a not so great picture. You can see my electric steamer on the right side of the cutting board.