You Ready for Fresh Salsa

Everyone loves Salsa and there are so many different ways you can make salsa. One of things to remember, it is the peppers and their seeds as to the "warmness degree". When you leave the seeds out, even some of the hottest peppers aren't as hot (yes still hot but not as much if you leave the seeds in, I know from personal experience).

If you are concerned about the health scare with fresh vegetables, visit your local farmer's market. Also remember that if you want to make a large quantity of Salsa and you have a local farmer who has a stand ask him/her about their tomatoes that might have a little bruising or are very ripe. I am very fortunate to be growing my own but I do buy in bulk a large box of tomatoes from one of the local farmers who has a Vegetable/Fruit Stand.

Here is a pretty simple recipe for making Salsa and also offering some other suggestions you might want to try.

Basic Salsa Ingredients
6-8 Med to Large Tomatoes
4-5 Peppers (do a variety; Anaheim, Fresno, Sweet Banana's, Serrano) If all you can find at your local grocer is the big peppers, that is okay, however, use a variety to add some color to your Salsa.
2-3 Garlic Cloves
1 Onion
1 Bunch Basil
1/2 Bunch Cilantro (if you can't find it, don't worry)
1 Tablespoon Salt (Kosher, Sea Salt)
2-3 Teaspoon's Pepper (Optional)
1 Lime

Wash your vegetables. Cut up your tomatoes,onions, peppers (don't forget to remove the seeds) into small pieces. Put all of this into a large bowl and mix up together. If you think your Salsa is too chunky, then add to your Cruisiart and on the Low setting, pulp your Salsa ever so lightly. Depending on how much you have, you should do this in small batches. You will get some liquid, that is okay, just drain some of it out of the bowl.

Peel your garlic and either cut up or using your garlic press add in your garlic.

Wash and then cut up your Basil and Cilantro and add to the Salsa mixture.

Add in the salt and pepper. With your Lime, roll it on your cutting board (it does help when you want to squeeze it) and then slice it in half and squeeze over the Salsa. Save the squeezed limes and after you are done making your Salsa, wash your hands with the lime's and some salt. This will remove the pepper juice and smell from your hands.


Ready to serve.

Options:
#1--Add in some fresh fruit that has been cut up finely (Pineapple, Apples, Peaches, Mango's). Use your judgement as to the amount of fruit you want to add. Also add in about 1/4 to 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar. This adds a little sweetness to your Salsa and will not take away from the spiciness. This makes a great side dish to serve with Fish or Chicken, or even a different version of Salsa to serve.
#2--If you are going to serve your Salsa that day for a party, slice and chop an avocado and add to your Salsa.
#3--Try roasting your peppers on the grill or saute in a hot pan before you cut them up. This adds a nice roasted flavor to your Salsa.
#4--Don't just use large red tomatoes, but also try Heirloom's and other varities of tomatoes.

Remember--you do not need to add Hot Sauce to your Salsa. The spiciness comes from not only the peppers, but also the garlic and cilantro.

Serve with Tortilla Chips, Pita Chips, etc.

Fresh Salsa will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.

Grilled Veggies

Whether you have a garden or not, grill those veggies instead of cooking them up in the kitchen.

I have fell in love with the Olive Oil that contains Lemon. There are all kinds of brands out there, but I especially like this one produced by Asti Olive Oil Company. At our local store their Olive Oil called "Meyer Lemon Olive Oil". It certainly adds a little more flavoring to your recipes. I've started using it in just about everything right now.

With the zuchini, peppers and other fresh vegetable's coming out, here is a great little recipe to grill:

Grilled Vegetables:
1 Sweet Onion sliced
2-3 Zuchini's sliced or quartered
3-4 Peppers
1 Bunch of Basil cut up
After you have sliced/cut the veggie's and basil all up, put into a bowl. Add about 1/4 C of Olive Oil (OO)--if you prefer to use plain OO, then grate about a 1/2 lemon and add to the vegetable/basil mixture. Also, do not add more than 1/4 C of the Olive Oil as you do not want a big flare up when you are cooking on the Grill.

Then sprinkle on Sea Salt, Ground Pepper. Mix all together.

I have found a great grill basket at the store which is what I use when grilling the vegetables on the Grill.

Once the grill is hot, put your grilling basket on the grill, add all of the vegetables/basil to the basket. After about 5-8 minutes, stir the veggie mixture. You do not want the veggies to burn, so watch to make sure they do not sear too much. Depending on how many vegetables you have in the basket your cooking time can vary. Continue to stir your vegetables until they are finished to your liking.

And if you feel like it, right before you serve the grilled veggies, sprinkle on a little Feta Cheese over the vegetables.

Enjoy!!!!

The Tomatoes/Peppers are Coming In

Well, it looks like we have got veggies starting to come in. For the last couple of weeks it has only been the peppers, but the tomatoes are ready for picking. At least the little ones (Sweet Golds, Sun Golds and the Celebrity 100's).

Some of the bigger ones are starting to come in but with a little heat wave we had and us being on vacation, they got a little burned on the bottoms. But they still taste good.

So I will be getting some recipes out there for you to try and hope you enjoy.

Cole Slaw with a Kick

Like Cole Slaw but sometimes you wish it had a little kick to it. Here is a recipe where you add Wasabe to your slaw mixture. You can add more if you want it a little spicier but do be careful.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of finely shredded green cabbage
1 Cup of finely shredded red cabbage
3/4 Cup of shredded carrots
1/2 Cup of thinly sliced Vidalia and/or Sweet Onion
1/4 bunch of of cilantro leaves, washed and chopped
1/2 Cup cider vinegar
2-3 Tablespoons of sugar
3/4 Cup of Mayo (Best Foods or Hellman's) or Yogurt
1/2 Cup of Milk
1 tsp of Dijon Mustard
1/4 Teaspoon of Dry Wasabi
1/4 Teaspoon of Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Slaw Dressing:
Combine cider vinegar, sugar in a small bowl and mix together. Then add Mayonnaise and/or Yogurt, milk, mustard and wasabi. Then whisk all together.

In a large bowl, add your cabbages, carrots, onions and cilantro. Mix in the slaw dressing and toss together. Add the salt and pepper, toss again then serve.

Or if you want you can make up the dressing earlier in the day (or the night before) and chill in a separate container in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to allow everything to blend. Then before you want to serve, add the slaw dressing to the cabbage/vegetable mixture and stir together.

Enjoy!!!

Make Sure Your Grill is Ready

Well, do you ever have one of those days, where you get the grill ready and it is not ready to work for you???? Maybe 1 or 2 of the burners are not working and/or partially working??? It happens and it always seems to happen when you have friends over for a barbecue and you really need it working because everything else is close to being ready and you just need the meat cooked.

So, remember, do a spring cleaning of your grill so you don't have these crisis. If you are like us and your grill is out on a deck, put lots of papers around it and remove the grills and place these on the paper. Brush out the inside, brush along the burners. If you know you have a plugged burner, you can always use a high pressure blower to clean out the plugged hole(s).

If you have one of those trays, remember to take that out and clean out the oil drippings from that as well.

I avoid using any type of chemicals on the grills. Yes, there are lots of products on the market that say they are safe and clean your grills. They may be safe, but I don't always find they clean the grills all that well. What I do, is get a bucket of warm soapy water and with a brush clean the grills as best as I can, rinse off with clean water. Then when I have the inside of the grill all cleaned out, put the grills back in, fire up the barbecue and then let the flame cook off the built up stuff burn off the grills you might not be able to get off with the soapy water and brush. Usually, I leave the grill on for about 20 minutes and before I turn it off, I take a brush and brush off the grills.

And it is always a good idea that after each time you use the grill, let the hot temperature burn off the food fats and sauces before you turn it off (if it is gas). I find that if you have a charcoal barbecue the food build up burns off the grills as it is cooling down.

How the Garden Grows

Well, the garden is doing really good. We had to replant the basil as we had a little cold spell a couple of weeks ago. The tomato's are really growing as well as the zucchini.

We have some blossoms on the vegetables, which always means I'll be seeing the cute little (yeah right) tomato worm soon.

Memorial Day--Get Going

Well, it is Memorial Day today, hopefully, you have gotten started cueing. For those who know me, know I am out there cueing in the snow, rain, thunderstorms, etc, etc. The weather out here in Northern CA is so wierd, we are having a cool wet Memorial Day weekend.

We were up in Reno on Friday and it was snowing pretty good as we were coming over the pass on Saturday. Thank goodness it hadn't started to stick and we have good tires on the BMW as we made it through with no issues.

Back to being at the Grill. Have some new pictures of how the garden is doing and well post those on the next chat.

Now as to the grilling, I am asked so many times, do you favor, charcoal, gas or electric. This is defintely a personal choice. Still believe charcoal (for a more smokey effect) gives the best taste but it takes so long and you have to keep adding the coals. At to Electric, oh my our electric bill would really be high, so I do not recommend this one. So I have been grilling on Gas (for us Propane) since we came back to CA. Now, also being up at about 2k feet addes a little cooking time as well I have found sometimes.