AwesomeBites

Author: Sandy

  • Avocado and Corn Salsa

    yield: Makes 2 to 3 cups

    A salsa this simple lives or dies by the quality of the ingredients—ripe avocado, luscious tomato, and a sweet, crunchy ear of corn. Most of my corn salsa recipes call for grilled corn. This one features the succulent crunch of raw corn to reinforce the sweetness of the fresh avocado. 

    Ingredients

    • 1 ripe avocado, cut into 1/4-inch dice
    • 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
    • 1 ripe red tomato, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
    • 1 ear sweet corn, shucked
    • 1 scallion, both white and green parts, trimmed and finely chopped, or 3 tablespoons diced sweet onion
    • 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers or serrano peppers, seeded and minced (for a hotter salsa, leave the seeds in)
    • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
    • Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper

    Preparation

    1. Place the avocado in the bottom of a nonreactive mixing bowl and gently toss it with 2 tablespoons of the lime juice. Spoon the tomato on top of the avocado.

    2. Cut the kernels off the corn. The easiest way to do this is to lay the cob flat on a cutting board and remove the kernels using lengthwise strokes of a chef’s knife. Add the corn kernels to the mixing bowl. The salsa can be prepared to this stage up to 2 hours ahead. Refrigerate it, covered.

    3. Just before serving, add the jalapeño(s) and cilantro to the mixing bowl and gently toss to mix. Taste for seasoning, adding more lime juice as necessary and season with salt and pepper to taste; the salsa should be highly seasoned.

  • Meyer Lemon Marmalade

    • 6 Meyer lemons (1 1/2 pounds)
    • 4 cups water
    • 4 cups sugar

    Special equipment:

    Preparation

    Halve lemons crosswise and remove seeds. Tie seeds in a cheesecloth bag. Quarter each lemon half and thinly slice. Combine with bag of seeds and water in a 5-quart nonreactive heavy pot and let mixture stand, covered, at room temperature 24 hours.

    Bring lemon mixture to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 4 cups, about 45 minutes. Stir in sugar and boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam, until a teaspoon of mixture dropped on a cold plate gels, about 15 minutes.

    Ladle hot marmalade into jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of top. Wipe rims with dampened cloth and seal jars with lids.

    Put jars in a water-bath canner or on a rack set in a deep pot. Add enough hot water to cover jars by 1 inch and bring to a boil. Boil jars, covered, 5 minutes and transfer with tongs to a rack. Cool jars completely.

    Cooks’ note: • Marmalade keeps, stored in a cool, dark place, up to 1 year.

  • Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

    Hodgson Mill’s Recipe

    Ingredients

    ½ cup Hodgson Mill Steel Cut Oats
    2 ½ cups Hodgson Mill Naturally White Flour
    1 cup water
    1 ½ cups raisins
    ¾ cup butter
    1 ½ cups granulated sugar
    1 egg
    1 tsp. vanilla
    1 tsp. baking soda
    1 tsp. salt
    1 tsp. cinnamon
    ¼ tsp. nutmeg
    ¼ tsp. ground cloves
    ¾ cup chopped nuts

    Preparation

    In a small saucepan, bring oats and water to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir for 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and fold in raisins. Allow mixture to cool. Preheat oven to 375 ° F. Lightly grease two baking sheets. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla beating until smooth. In a separate bowl, blend dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to creamed ingredients mixing well. Fold in softened oats, raisins and nuts. Using a large spoon, drop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet evenly spacing to allow for spreading. Bake in a 375 ° F oven for 10-12 min. or until golden brown. Remove cookies from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.

    Yields: 48 cookies.

    Recipe Nutrient Analysis: 1/48 of recipe

    100 calories; .77g dietary fiber; 16 g carbohydrates; 2g protein; 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat); 10mg cholesterol; 96mg sodium.

  • Grilled Fresh Salmon and Asparagus with Balsalmic

    Ingredients

    Salmon:
    1 1/2 lbs fresh salmon
    3/4 stick butter
    3-4 cloves garlic
    juice of one lemon
    lemon slices for garnish
    2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
    Dry white wine (to taste)(optional)

    Asparagus:
    2 1/2 lbs asparagus about 1/2 in. thick
    2 1/2 tblsp. unsalted butter
    2 1/2 tblsp balsalmic vinegar
    salt and pepper to taste

    Preparation

    Heat grill on high.
    In a suacepan, place butter, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and wine over low heat, and simer until the tastes meld (approximately 10 min.) Place the salmon on a platter, skin side down and brush the lemmon/butter sauce liberally on each piece. Let stand for 20-30 minutes. Place salmon on hot grill and grill on each side about no longer than 5 minutes. Serve with lemon slices and the remaining butter sauce.

    Asparagus:
    Bring salted water to a boil in skillet large enough to hold asparagus lying down. When boiling, add asparagus; cook uncovered, until tender. Timing will depend on thickness of asparagus, 5-8 minutes Drain asparagus. Spread on cloth towel; scatter ice cubes over asparagus. Can be cooked several hours ahead of time kept at room temperature.
    To serve, heat butter in same pan over medium high heat. When hot, stir in vinegar. Add asparagus and cook until hot, about 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, shake gently until mixed. Serve hot.

  • Spicy Cilantro Sauce

    • 1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
    • 1/2 cup packed fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves
    • 2 shallots
    • 1 large garlic clove
    • 2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh gingerroot
    • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
    • 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
    • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
    • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
    • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

    Preparation

    Have ready a bowl of ice water. In a small saucepan of boiling water blanch cilantro and parsley 10 seconds and drain in a sieve. Refresh herbs in ice water and drain in sieve. Chop shallots and garlic.

    In a small nonstick skillet cook shallots, garlic, gingerroot, cumin, and red pepper flakes in 1 tablespoon water and oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until shallots are softened. In a blender purée shallot mixture, herbs, remaining 1/4 cup water, and soy sauce until smooth, about 1 minute, and season with salt and pepper. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring sauce to room temperature before serving.

    Just before serving, stir in lemon juice.

  • Ravioli – Swiss Chard and Cheese Filling

    Ravioli – Swiss Chard and Cheese Filling

    6 cups Spinach or Swiss Chard stems and spines removed, finely chopped 

    12 T oil

    12 eggs

    1 cup grated cheese or mixture of grated parmesan and ricotta cheese

    1 tsp nutmeg

    1/2 tsp cloves

    parsley

    garlic

    marjarom

    grated bread crumbs

    Stuff into cannelloni shells, wonton wrappers or make your own ravioli pasta

  • Arroz con Leche – Rice Pudding

    Arroz con Leche – Rice Pudding

    Serve as dessert or for breakfast in the morning

    Abby would make this for the kids for breakfast and they would go crazy for it.  It is still a favorite.  I tried to make it on the stovetop like she did, but invariably I burn it. Nothing smells as bad a milk and rice.  Yuk.  I stick to the oven method. The classic recipe is with raisins, but they make it too sweet for me, so I omit them.

    4 to 6 servings

    • Milk — 4 cups
    • Short-grain rice –1/2 cup
    • Cinnamon stick — 2 broken into pieces
    • Salt — pinch
    • Raisins — 1/4 cup (Optional, I like mine without raisins)
    • Sugar — 1/2 cup
    • Butter — 2 tablespoons
    • Vanilla — 1 teaspoon
    • Zest of one orange
    • freshly ground nutmeg (garnish)

    Method

    1. Place the milk, rice, cinnamon stick, orange zest, salt and sugar  in a medium oven proof bowl and set into oven at 300 degrees for 2 hours.  Stir every 20 minutes. 
    2. Add the raisins if you are using them, vanilla and nutmeg and bake for another 20 minutes. Stir often to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Adjust sugar to taste and serve hot or cold, with some ground cinnamon or nutmeg and orange zest to top as garnish.

    Variations

    • Arroz con Dulce (Puerto Rico), or Arroz-Doce (Brazil): use coconut milk in place of regular milk.
    • Short-grain rice, like arborio or Valencia rice, is best for rice pudding as it gives the dessert a creamier texture, but regular long-grain rice can be used to good result too. A little more rice can be added if you want a firmer pudding. If the pudding gets too thick, just add a little more milk.
    • Sometimes water, cream, sweetened and condensed milk or evaporated milk is substituted for part of the regular milk. Just make sure the total amount of liquid adds up to 4 cups. And adjust the amount of sugar as needed.
    • Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of brandy or rum when you stir in the butter and vanilla if you like.
    • Some recipes call for stirring in 2 beaten egg yolks at the end before adding the butter and vanilla. The heat of the pudding will cook the yolks, make it creamier and give it a pale golden color. (I like mine eggless.)

  • Green Tomato Rice

    This is a delicious rice dish to serve with pork or beef, and it’s a great way to use green tomatoes.

    Servings: 6 people

    Ingredients

    4 slices bacon, diced
    1 bunch green onions, sliced, with most of green (6 to 8)
    4 medium green tomatoes, peeled and chopped
    1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, minced
    1 clove garlic, minced
    2 cups chicken broth
    1 cup long-grain rice
    dash dried leaf thyme
    salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    dash Tabasco sauce, optional
    1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese, optional

    Preparation

    In a medium saucepan, saute the bacon over medium heat until crisp; remove to paper towels to drain. In 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings, saute green onions for 1 minute. Add green tomatoes and saute for 1 minute longer. Add garlic and jalapeno pepper; saute for another 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, rice, thyme, pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in Parmesan cheese just before serving, if desired. Sprinkle with the cooked bacon.

  • Salt Crusted Rye Bread

    Definitely one of my favorite breads. Skip lots of steps by making in a breadmaker and let it do its initial rise in the machine.
    Then shape, let rise and finish up.
    Servings: 2 Loaves

    Salt Crusted Currant Pecan Rye Bread
    1 T Dry yeast
    1 T Sugid
    7 1/2 T Caraway seeds
    1 T Salt
    2 1/2 c Rye flour
    3 c Bread flour plus additional for working dough
    2 c Warm water
    1 c Coarsely chopped pecans
    1 c Dried black currants or raisins
    1/4 c Kosher salt

    In the 5-quart bowl of an electric
    mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons
    of the caraway seeds, the salt and both the rye and bread flours. Mix until
    thoroughly combined. With the mixer running, slowly add the warm water and
    mix until the dough forms a ball and leaves the sides of the bowl. This
    will take about 2 minutes. Add the pecans and currants or raisins and mix
    for 2 minutes more. Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Wipe out the
    mixing bowl and spray with nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray. Return the
    dough to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel, and place in a warm (about
    85 degrees) spot for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
    Punch the dough down to release the trapped gases. Form into 3 loaves
    approximately 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. Brush with cold water and
    sprinkle generously with kosher salt and the remaining 6 tablespoons
    caraway seeds. Place the loaves on a lightly greased baking sheet and let
    sit in a warm place for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to
    350 degrees.

    Bake for 30 minutes, turning the pan every 10 minutes or so to ensure even
    browning. Cool on a wire rack. (Makes 3 loaves, about 15 servings).

    Note: The perfect accompaniment to cheese or smoked salmon. This is one of
    the recipes that made the Inn at Little Washington so famous. They’re
    all contained in Patrick O’Connell’s new book, “The Inn at Little
    Washington Cookbook”

  • Green Goddess Dressing

    This is my new found favorite dressing.  Toss with romaine lettuce.  Perfect served with Croque Monsiere.

    1 egg yolk

    1/2 tsp salt

    1/2 tsp dry mustard

    2 T tarragon vinegar

    1 T anchovy paste

    1 cup olive oil

    1/4 cup cream

    1 T lemon juice

    1 tsp onion juice

    dash of garlic powder

    2 T chopped parsley and or cilantro

    In a deep bowl or pint jar, mix egg yolk, salt, mustard, vinegar, anchovy. Add 2 T olive oil; beat until blended with stick blender.

    Beat in remaining oil, 2 tablespoons at a time.  Stir in rest of ingredients; cream, lemon juice, onion, garlic and parsley. 

    Store in refrigerator tightly covered until needed. Makes 1 1/2 cups of dressing.

    This is a great ceasar like dressing.