Pineapple Habanero Salsa

This is the fabulous salsa I made for yesterday's football game. It's super spicy, so consider yourself warned! The only habanero peppers they had at the store yesterday were itsy, bitsy, tiny ones, each about the size of a dime, so I used three. Yowza! Those three tiny peppers packed a wallop! I really love the salty-sweet-tangy-spicy nature of this salsa.

I mentioned in yesterday's blog that I would like to try roasting the pineapple next time. I bet it would taste great!

Pineapple Habanero Salsa

1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
Reserved pineapple juice
1 small red or green bell pepper, diced
3 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tbsp agave nectar (can substitute honey, molasses or sugar), to taste

Mix all ingredients, including reserved pineapple juices, in medium bowl. Cover and let stand at least one hour at room temperature. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Football Food!

Because the weather is crummy, and we don't have a babysitter, and it's not supposed to be the most exciting game, we decided to stay home and watch today's LSU game vs. North Texas at home today. We're having some friends over to watch the game here, and are making yummy football food to munch on. Should be fun!

I made a few tried and true recipes: Pineapple Habanero Salsa, Monterey Nacho Snack Mix, and a BBQ Chicken Pizza (minus the chicken).

The salsa was inspired by a salsa of the same name that we had in Hawaii the last time we were there. It was almost painfully spicy (just the way I like it), and sweet and tangy. This recipe calls for fresh pineapple, but some time I'd like to try roasting the pineapple first, which I think would add a nice smoky depth to the salsa. We loaned our propane tank to the in-laws after our power came back on last Sunday, so maybe next time!

The Monterey Nacho Snack Mix is something I've made at least a half dozen times over the past several years. I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com awhile back, and have tweaked it somewhat to make it much spicier. I use about 10 times as much Tabasco Sauce as the original recipe calls for, as well as several tablespoons of crushed red pepper.

I've blogged about BBQ Chicken Pizza before. It's one of my favorite ways to eat pizza, and is good with chicken, seitan, or grilled tofu, or just minus all of those, as I made it today. Red onion, cilantro and BBQ sauce are the key ingredients that make this recipe awesome, so adding a meat or meat alternative is just extra. I love this pizza!

I also made a plain cheese pizza for the kids, because come on...who doesn't love a cheese pizza?

Hooray for football food!

Chipotle Barbecue Bean and Corn Salad

I was so inspired by this recipe on Food Blogga last night, that I had to switch up my menu and make it for tonight's dinner. I mean, look at Food Blogga's pictures! I was drooling from the first glance. So I stopped at the store on the way home, picked up all the ingredients, and made it almost as soon as I walked in the door from work. I wanted to make sure it had time to chill for a bit before dinner, as the recipe states that it tastes best after a few hours.

It's so delicious! Tangy, smokey and spicy. I love it! We've really been enjoying the Black-eyed Pea Salad lately (which I've now taken to making with garbanzo beans and edamame instead of black-eyed peas), so I'm thrilled to have another chilled bean salad to add to my repertoire.

I made a few minor adaptations to the recipe: I used 1 whole red onion instead of 2 green onions, because I'm a red onion fanatic; I omitted the red bell pepper, because bell peppers are crazy expensive these days; and I added some diced avocado. Oh, and I just realized that I omitted the oregano because I was in a hurry, and just didn't notice it. Woops.

This is great just eaten plain with a fork as a main dish, or scooped up with chips as a dip, or served as a side dish. You really can't go wrong with this. And it's vegan! Woohoo!

Thank you, thank you, Food Blogga, for an amazing recipe! It's guaranteed to become a favorite in our home.



Chipotle Barbecue Bean and Corn Salad
Makes 4-6 servings

Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus 1-2 tablespoons of adobo sauce

Salad:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
2 ears sweet corn, kernels removed from the cob
1 (14.5 oz) can of black beans, rinsed
1 (14.5 oz) can of red kidney beans, rinsed
1 (14.5 oz) can of chick peas, rinsed
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

To make the sauce, whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl, and set aside.

To make the salad, heat olive in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and corn kernels. Saute until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, and add to a large bowl. Add rinsed beans, and sauce; stir until well combined. Gently stir in the fresh herbs. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled, though it tastes better if allowed to rest for a couple of hours.

Hot Wings

We decided to have a carnivorous day today, since Brad has been wanting to try his hand at making hot wings. He developed his own wing sauce today, broiled up the wings, and tossed them in the sauce. They were fiery hot, tangy and delicious, but definitely not for the faint of heart. Our mouths were burning afterwards. We love hot wings!

Hot Wings

Sauce:
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 bottle Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp oregano
4 tsp vinegar
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer 5 minutes. Set aside.

Wings:
20 chicken drumettes

Preheat broiler. Move top rack to 6 inches from heat. Line a baking sheet with foil, and arrange chicken drumettes evenly. Broil chicken about 20 minutes total, turning chicken every 4 to 5 minutes. Drain juices and drippings midway through, to ensure that chicken stays crispy. When chicken is thoroughly cooked and juices run clear, remove from oven. Toss in sauce, and serve hot.

Chocolate Dipped Stuff

Brad's away this weekend, drilling with the Navy Reserves, so I'm home with the kids for two days. It's amazing how quickly I've forgotten what it's like to parent solo. It's been wonderful having Brad home for the past four months, but I'm realizing how spoiled I've become. The kids were about to drive me nuts today, so we went to the store, picked up some chocolate, strawberries, pretzel rods, bananas, sprinkles and popsicle sticks. We came home, melted the chocolate, and started dipping.



Fun! If it were just me, I would have done something a little more grown up, like drizzling white chocolate over the milk chocolate. Or spiking the chocolate with bourbon. But this was all about the kids today, so I let them take the lead, and that's why nearly everything is covered in rainbow sprinkles.



So if you find yourself bored, melt some chocolate and start dipping! It's fun!

And what to do with the leftover chocolate? We smeared it on some pancakes leftover from breakfast, topped with sliced strawberries, then folded them and scarfed them down. Chocolate strawberry tacos. Yummy!

Pico de Gallo

We usually just use jarred salsa for our burritos, but today I wanted some yummy, fresh, pico de gallo. I think it really adds a lot to a burrito, much more so than your run-of-the-mill salsa, so I set off to make some.

The only tomatoes at the store were pathetic, but I didn't have a lot of choice. We had some crazy, wicked storms here over the last 24 hours, and it wasn't really the best weather for driving around in. That didn't stop us, however, from loading the kids into the car (school was closed because of the rain and flooding) and heading off to McDonald's to try a free chicken biscuit. Yes, we are idiots, but I told you I'm a food slut. A bunch of the roads in our subdivision were flooded, but we managed to make our way through, and got our chicken biscuits. We also stopped at the store on the way home to get some tomatoes, such as they were. And that's why my pico de gallo looks more pink, green and white, instead of red, green and white. Still tasty, though.

Pico de Gallo

2 tomatoes
1 medium white onion
2 fresh jalapenos
1 big handful cilantro
1 lime
salt & pepper

Dice the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno in a fairly fine dice, about 1/4-inch. Coarsely chop the cilantro, and combine with previous ingredients in a medium glass or ceramic bowl. Juice the lime and add it to the mixture. Combine thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill before serving.

Garlic Shrimp

This is a recipe for Spanish style garlic shrimp that my mom got while we were living in Spain back in the 80s. It's very fast to make, and incredibly decadent and fabulous. I almost didn't make it tonight because I was tired and didn't feel much like cooking, but now I'm SO glad that I did. You should have seen us eating this, oohing and ahhing and making other yummy noises like Bill Murray in What About Bob?

Be sure to serve this with lots of crusty French bread for sopping up the delicious sauce!



Garlic Shrimp

½ c olive oil
1/8 lb (1/2 stick) butter
1 head garlic
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper
5 lbs cooked, peeled shrimp
½ c cooking sherry or white wine

In a frying pan, melt the butter and olive oil together. When the butter has melted, add coarsely diced, peeled garlic and cook until garlic becomes soft. Add red pepper and shrimp; coat with garlic sauce. Stir until shrimp are warm. Add sherry or wine and simmer for 1 minute.

Spicy Basil Cheese Bread

Look what my sweetie made! We had some incredible leftover bread from the pan bagnat I made earlier, so Brad threw these together in less than ten minutes. Aren't they beautiful? He wasn't going off of a recipe, just off the cuff, and they totally hit the spot.



For lack of a more creative name, we're dubbing these:

Spicy Basil Cheese Bread

2 soft sandwich rolls
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
4 slices provolone cheese
fresh basil leaves
crushed red pepper
fresh ground black pepper

Preheat broiler.

Split sandwich rolls horizontally. Place cut-side up under broiler for 1 minute, just to lightly crisp, but not brown them. Remove from broiler. Brush cut surfaces with olive oil, and sprinkle with oregano. Place back under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, until edges begin to brown lightly. Remove from broiler again, and top with cheese. Place back under broiler just long enough for the cheese to begin melting. Remove from broiler (yes, again), and top with basil leaves, as little or as much as you want. Return to broiler, and broil for 1 to 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted and basil begins to wilt. Sprinkle with red pepper and black pepper. Serve warm.

Extreme Tots

Brad cooked dinner tonight because I was at a Women's Council welcome tea all afternoon, and especially after spending all morning making the rainbow jello, I just wanted an evening out of the kitchen. Brad's a fantastic cook, lest you get the wrong idea from tonight's menu, and think the only things he can cook are grilled cheese and tater tots. ; ) We just wanted some cheap and easy comfort food for dinner tonight, and Brad, awesome man that he is, stepped up and cooked it.

A month or two ago we were across the street from Sonic, and saw a huge sign advertising their "extreme tots". We were intrigued -- how does one make tots extreme? -- so naturally we drove over to see what they were all about. Turns out they were tater tots smothered in chili and cheese, topped with onions and pickled jalapenos, and drizzled with sour cream. OMG YUM! We ordered some, and they were just as fabulous as they sounded. Totally ghetto food, but sooooo yummy!

This is our own homemade version of extreme tots. Seriously, what's not to like?



Extreme Tots

Frozen tater tots
Chili
Shredded cheddar cheese
Diced onions
PIckled jalapenos
Sour cream

Cook tater tots according to package directions. Heat chili. When tater tots are done cooking, arrange them on a plate, spoon chili over them, sprinkle with cheese, onions and jalapenos, and dollop with sour cream. Serve hot.

Hummus

Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup tahini
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Pulse garlic in food processor to mince. Add remaining ingredients except olive oil, and puree. Once blended, drizzle in olive oil to the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Variation: For a spicier hummus, add 1 to 2 Tbsp chipotle chilies, chopped, or 1 tsp of chipotle chile powder.

Gyoza

Tonight I made gyoza for dinner. Back in Japan we could get it fresh at any convenience store, or frozen at the grocery store or even at the 100 Yen store. Here, though, it's a little harder to find. We all love it, so I decided to give it my best shot making it myself. I found a recipe online that looked like what I had in mind, but it didn't have any ingredient measurements. Lovely. I gave it my best shot, however, and...success! It was a ton of work, but it was worth every minute. It tasted just as good as the best gyoza we had in Japan. Today was the first time I've cooked with meat at home since Brad's birthday in early February, and it was worth it!

Now that I've made it successfully, I'll try it again and get some accurate measurements. In the meantime, though, I'll at least describe the steps. First I made a simple dough of flour and water, kneaded it for about 5 minutes, then set it aside while I made the filling. The filling consisted of ground pork, cabbage and green onions cooked together, and seasoned with sake, sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, ginger and garlic.

Next, I pulled off little pieces of the dough, and rolled them into circles.



Then I spooned a little filling into the center of each circle, folded it over and sealed it.





The edges are pleated 4 or 5 times. I'm not sure of the purpose behind this, or if it's just for aesthetics.



I heated a little oil in a skillet, and added the gyoza to lightly brown on one side.



Once they were lightly brown, I poured in about 1/2 cup water, then covered and steamed them until the water was gone.





Once they finished steaming, I plated them up and we ate them with a soy sauce and vinegar mixture for dipping. Fabulous! I almost forgot to take a picture before we finished eating all of them. Here's one of the last ones.

Chinese Steamed Buns

I made some of these tasty steamed Chinese buns for our last party in Japan. I steamed than in my Le Creuset dutch oven, on a rack that I had wrapped in foil to prevent water from splashing on the buns. It worked like a charm! The last time I made these, I steamed them in my mini rice cooker, which worked great, but it could only hold 3 or 4 at a time. The dutch oven made short work of it, and that's the way I'll do them from here on out.

I use a recipe I found on allrecipes.com, and just fill them with a teaspoonful of Lloyd's bbq chicken. I know, I know...it's tacky, but I love Lloyd's bbq, and the buns are delicious! The kids go nuts for these.

Chinese Steamed Buns

If desired, you can stuff these with any number of fillings. The easiest is just shredded chicken or pork with BBQ sauce (like Lloyd's brand). Make these as directed, but fill with a teaspoon of filling when shaping the buns.

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Mix together yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 cup warm water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Mix in 1/2 cup warm water, flour, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vegetable oil. Knead until dough surface is smooth and elastic. Roll over in a greased bowl, and let stand until triple in size, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Punch down dough, and spread out on a floured board. Sprinkle baking powder evenly on surface, and knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 2 parts, and place the piece you are not working with in a covered bowl. Divide each half into 12 parts. Shape each part into a ball with smooth surface up. Put each ball on a wax paper square. Let stand covered until double, about 30 minutes.

Bring water to a boil in wok, and reduce heat to medium; the water should still be boiling. Place steam-plate on a small wire rack in the middle of the wok. Transfer as many buns on wax paper as will comfortably fit onto steam-plate leaving 1 to 2 inches between the buns. At least 2 inches space should be left between steam-plate and the wok. Cover wok with lid. Steam buns over boiling water for 15 minutes.

REMOVE LID BEFORE you turn off heat, or else water will drip back onto bun surface and produce yellowish "blisters" on bun surfaces. Continue steaming batches of buns until all are cooked.

Bacon Crackers

1 (16 ounce) package Ritz or Club crackers
1 pound sliced bacon, cut into thirds
1 pound brown sugar

Preheat oven to 250.

Arrange the crackers in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Top each cracker with 1/3 slice bacon, and sprinkle desired amount of brown sugar over all.

Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until browned and crisp. Serve warm.

Crab Rangoon

2 sprays cooking spray
2 tsp olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 medium scallions, minced
2 Tbsp snow peas, chopped
6 oz canned crabmeat, drained
4 oz light cream cheese
2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
24 items wonton wrappers, half of a 12 oz package

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, scallions and snow peas and sauté until just tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in crabmeat, cream cheese and soy sauce with a wooden spoon; mix gently to combine.

Place wonton wrappers on a flat surface. Drop crab mixture by teaspoonfuls onto the center of each wrapper. Dip a finger into water and use it to moisten edges of wrapper; fold over one corner of wrapper to make a triangle and press sides together to seal. Create decorative lines along the edges of the wontons by pressing the tines of a fork along the bottom edge of each wonton.

Transfer filled wontons to prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Bake until wontons are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Samosas

Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Filling
2 large potatoes, peeled, diced and boiled until soft
1 onion, chopped
2 green chilies, very finely chopped
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon garlic, crushed
coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 lemon, juice of
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
salt

Mix together the flour, oil and salt. Add a little water, until mixture becomes crumbly. Keep adding water, kneading the mixture till it becomes a soft pliable dough. Cover with a moist cloth and set aside for 20 minutes. Beat dough on a work surface and knead again. Cover and set aside.

Heat 3 tbsp oil. Add ginger, garlic, green chillies and few corriander seeds. Stir fry for 1 minute, add onions and saute till light brown. Add cilantro (fresh coriander), lemon juice, turmeric, red chilli, salt and garam masala. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add potatoes. Stir fry for 2 minutes, mashing the potatoes. Set aside and allow to cool.

Divide dough into 10 equal portions. Use a rolling pin, roll a piece of dough into a 5" oval. Cut into 2 halves. Run a moist finger along the diameter.
Roll around finger to make a cone. Place a tablespoon of the filling into the cone. Seal the third side using a moist finger. Deep fry the samosas on low to medium heat until light brown.

Serve with tomato sauce or any chutney you love.

Spicy Papaya Salad

1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 to 2 tsp coarsley chopped fresh hot green chiles, such as Thai
chiles, serranos or jalapenos
1 1/2 cups shredded green papaya
2 Tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp coarsley chopped roasted, salted peanuts
6 to 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
several fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths

To prepare using a mortar and pestle, combine the garlic and chiles in a large, heavy mortar and use the pestle to pound and grind them to a very coarse paste. Add the papaya, pounding, scraping and turning with a spoon every now and then, for 1 to 2 minutes, until the papaya shreds are wilting and seasoned.

If you do not have a mortar and pestle, use a rolling pin. Mince the garlic and chiles and place them in a medium bowl. Spread the papaya out on your cutting board, and light into it with the rolling pin for a minute or two, pressing down hard, and mowing back and forth. Stop to gather up the shreds, squeeze them, and spread them out again for another pass or two. When the shreds are wilted, transfer them to the bowl.

Add the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar to the papaya and use the pestle to press and grind the mixture a little, and a spoon to turn and mix everything well. Or use your hands to squeeze the mixture a few times and work in the seasoning.

Add the cherry tomatoes, peanuts and green beans, toss well, then mound the salad on a small serving platter, juices and all.

Chicken Enchilada Dip

Chicken Enchilada Dip

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded/finely diced
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes & chiles
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients together. Spread in a medium baking dish.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown

Serve with Fritos, tortilla chips, and/or veggies for dipping.

Chicken Yakitori

3 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup Tamari dark aged soy sauce, available on the Asian foods aisle
2 tablespoons light oil, such as wok oil or vegetable oil
1 pound chicken breast tenders, cut in half on an angle
5 scallions, cut in half

Preheat coals for tabletop hibachi or preheat grill pan over medium high to high heat.

Combine sherry, sugar, dark soy and oil in a shallow dish. Turn cut chicken and scallions in marinade and let stand 10 minutes.

Cook chicken pieces and scallions in a single layer over hot coals or on hot grill pan for 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken and scallions to a serving plate and set several bamboo skewers on the edge of the plate for spearing meat and scallions.

Hot Wings

2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cayenne pepper
40 to 50 chicken wings
1 bottle Frank’s hot sauce
¼ cup butter, melted
Bleu cheese dressing
Carrot and celery sticks

Preheat oven to 425.

Combine flour, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper in a plastic, sealable bag. Shake the wings 6 at a time until well coated. Shake off excess flour and place on a baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes.

While chicken is baking, combine melted butter and Frank’s hot sauce; set aside.

When chicken has cooked for 35 minutes, remove from oven and brush sauce generously over wings. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and turn wings. Brush with sauce and return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve with bleu cheese dressing and carrot and celery sticks.

Finger Sandwiches

Varieties:

Cucumber and lemon butter on white bread (combine ½ c softened butter with zest of one lemon)

Cucumber and dilled cream cheese on white bread (combine 4 oz cream cheese with 1 Tbsp fresh dill weed)

Chicken salad with sliced almonds on honey wheat bread (use your favorite chicken salad recipe. Curry chicken salad is particularly good)

Radish with cream cheese and black pepper on wheat bread

Goat cheese with fresh tomato and basil on hearty whole-grain bread

Smoked salmon, cream cheese and fresh dill on pumpernickel

Orange butter on banana bread (combine ½ cup softened butter with zest of one orange, and 1 Tbsp fresh orange juice)

To prepare finger sandwiches, stack 5 or 6 slices of bread and carefully remove crusts with a serrated bread knife. Spread/fill with desired toppings and cut into fingers or triangles. For chicken salad sandwiches, roll the edges in sliced almonds.