Category Archives: Recipes

Mexican Skillet Fry

 

I use this mix for tostada’s and scoop it over some great refried beans or top with tamale topping and bake or even spread on nachos or in tacos and burritos. Feel free to use other ingredients as well, look to see ‘What’s In Your Pantry’

Mexican Skillet Fry

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  • 1 lb. ground beef or turkey
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 bell peppers, diced, I used 1 red & 1 green
  • 1 8oz can diced tomatoes with green chile
  • 1 cup long grain white rice
  • 2 cups chicken or beef stock
  • 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
  • Sea salt
  • 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese or a mixture of jack & cheddar cheese*
  • 3 green onions, sliced to garnish
  • Optional
  • Tamale Topping:
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

In a large pan skillet with a lid, brown ground beef (sauté the meat until you can break it up but don’t cook all the way through before adding next ingredients. Do not drain, if using ground turkey, you may have to add a little vegetable oil to the pan.

Add onions & peppers and cook until they are soft, then add spices and a little salt to taste, mix well.

Add can of tomatoes with green chile’s (including juice), rice, and stock and stir together, cover and let simmer until liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked, about 10 minutes. Taste and re-season if needed, top with cheese and cover, cook over low heat until the cheese has melted. Garnish with chopped green onions.

Serve with soft tortillas or chips.

*Omit cheese if using the tamale topping.

Follow these instructions for Tamale Pie:

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a medium saucepan, heat milk with 1 teaspoon salt and the butter. When the milk is hot, but not boiling, gradually stir in the 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal. Continue cooking until thickened, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir add the cheese and beaten eggs. Stir to blend.

Place meat mixture into an oiled baking dish and top with tamale mixture, bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cranberry, Apple & Pear Relish

Cranberry, Apple and Pear Relish

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A perfect relish or conserve for fall and winter use. Serve it with chicken, beef, duck or other game meat; it also makes a great spread or dip mixed with cream cheese.

  • 2 cups peeled and chopped apples
  • 2 cups peeled and chopped pears
  • 12 oz. fresh cranberries
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2 orange, zested and juiced
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 6 - 8 whole cinnamon sticks
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Makes 6 pints, approximately

In a large pot combine apples, pears, cranberries, sugar, water and orange juice.

Simmer, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes.

Stir in the nutmeg and walnuts, and then cook for 5 more minutes.

Use fresh or can for future use. To process follow these instructions.

Place a whole cinnamon stick in each sterilized jar, then ladle the hot relish into jars leaving 1/4″ headspace.

Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Adapted from Farmers Daughter

Chicken Stew Cassoulet

 

Chicken Stew Cassoulet

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  • 8 chicken thighs
  • Sea Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 small to medium onion, finely chopped
  • 4 carrots, cut in half and then sliced into half-moons about ¼” thick
  • 3 celery, sliced 1/4" thick
  • 3-4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme, crushed
  • 1 lg. can whole tomatoes
  • 2 cups white beans
  • 1 cup bread crumbs, large pieces not fine

Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Trim any excess skin and fat.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large Dutch oven, add the butter and oil. Season the chicken with sea salt and pepper, place the chicken pieces skin side down in the pan and brown well on both sides. Don’t crowd the chicken in the pan, do this in 2 steps if needed.

Set aside and pour off most of the drippings leaving about 2 Tablespoons in the pan. Sauté the onions, carrots and celery, return the chicken to the

pan and add chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, tomatoes, white beans and a little salt

and pepper. Cover and place into oven and cook 30 minutes.

Check to make sure that chicken is nearly cooked.

Add bread crumbs and return to the oven, uncovered. Cook until crumbs are

lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Green Beans, Bacon and Caramelized Shallots

Grow a Second Crop of Green Beans

In Southern California we are lucky enough to grow a fall crop of beans. With warm days still ahead the beans will sprout and grow quickly. Bush beans are your best bet, with shorter days to harvest than pole beans you should be able to harvest in just 45-50 days. Check your seed packet for harvesting information.

There are three types of bush beans, snap beans (eat the pod & all), shelling beans (eat the beans inside the pod like peas) or dried beans. Dried beans you’ll want to leave on the plant until everything has dried up, pick the dried pods and put into a grocery bag. You can knock the bag around to remove the shell or pull the dried pod away from the beans. I like to freeze the beans for 24 hours to kill any pests that may have hitched a ride. Then store in a glass jar or other container in your pantry, away from heat and light. When you’re ready to use them, treat them like any other dried bean (that’s another story….)

Most bush beans don’t need to be trellised, and they produce most of their crop all at once. For a great harvest and good use of space, plant Square Foot Gardening style, 9 plants to a square foot.

To get the best crop inoculate your bean seeds before planting. Beans, peas and all legumes ‘fix’ nitrogen into the soil. The inoculant, Rhizobium leguminosarum,  is a nitrogen fixing bacteria. These bacteria “infect” the legumes growing in the soil and cause the legumes to form the nitrogen fixing nodules that make peas and beans bombshells.
You should be able to find the inoculant at any garden center or nursery. It can also be ordered from www.groworganic.com (Peaceful Valley Farm Supply).

While you are digging the holes for the seed, soak the seeds in water for about ½ hour. Dig your hole and sprinkle a generous helping of inoculant into the hole. Water and then plant your seeds. They’ll take up to 10 days to sprout, don’t overwater while you are waiting for them to poke up from the ground, overwatering can cause the seed to rot before it sprouts. Watch out for birds as well, they love seeds! I like to cover my bed with a floating row cover until the seeds are up and have several sets of leaves.

Give the plants 2 – 3” of water a week and you can side dress with a little compost. I mulch my beds with straw to help keep water evaporation down and to keep weeds from sprouting.

Plant companion plants near beans for the best growing bed, they like to grow near beets, cucumber, nasturtiums, peas and radish.

Watch for pests such as a cucumber beetle, bean beetle or weevil. I planted my beans near basil which is usually a good pest deterrent but this year those white butterflies (which are really cabbage moths) laid eggs on the basil and the little worms devoured my newly sprouted beans. So I planted a new round because I love green beans, especially in the fall. I freeze some for soups when winter comes and hopefully have enough until next spring when I can get some more in the ground.

Here’s an easy side dish recipe for you to try.

Green Beans with Smoked Bacon & Caramelized Shallots

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Serves 6
* To blanch green beans: Fill a large bowl with ice and cold water leaving room for green beans. Bring a large saucepan full of water to a boil and add green beans and a good helping of salt, cook for 1-2 minutes, drain the beans and plunge them into the bowl of ice water. Let them cool, drain and dry well.

  • 2 pounds haricots verts (thin green beans), trimmed, blanched and dried well*
  • ½ pound applewood smoked bacon
  • 3 large shallots, quartered
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vinegar
  • Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Cook bacon until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings in skillet.

Add olive oil to the pan with the bacon drippings then add the quartered shallots and sauté until browned. Add the vinegar, stir well, then add the green beans and toss until coated with oil, cook for another minute then season with salt and pepper and toss with bacon, serve hot.

Hatch Chile Brownies

Fudgy, chewy, mild or hot…..a delicious treat!

 

Hatch Chile Brownies

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  • 1 cup flour
  • ¾ cup Dutch cocoa powder
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt, use ½ teaspoon if using unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons Hatch chile powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 lg. eggs
  • ½ cup butter, melted (8 Tb)
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375° and lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

Add all the ingredients to a large bowl in the order they are listed. Stir together and beat until the mixture is smooth.

Spoon into the prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes, or until just barely beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, remove from oven and let cool.

Hatch Chile & Potato Rajas

 

Hatch Chile & Potato Rajas

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  • 1 large potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch dice, cooked
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 small onion, cut into small strips
  • 4 mild Hatch chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and julienned *
  • ½ cup cream
  • ½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 12 corn tortillas

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add oil; add onions, season with salt and pepper and sauté until lightly browned.

Add chiles, and cream, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook 4 minutes.

Add cheese and potatoes, stirring occasionally, until just heated through. Remove from heat.

Wrap tortillas in plastic wrap or paper towel and heat in microwave on low until warm.

Tomato Overload

There are many ways to save your harvest and if you have more tomatoes than you know what to do with here are some ideas.

 

First and foremost is water bath canning, I love this because it means that I can store tomatoes on the shelf in my pantry for the year. Fairly easy to do but when it’s hot and humid out like it has been this summer FORGET IT!

As many of you already know, I like to freeze my tomatoes also so later when it’s cool I can make sauce or unfreeze and can them to make more room in the freezer for up and coming dinners. Freezing tomatoes is the fastest way to get things done, wash, and dry then freeze on a baking sheet until frozen solid, pop into a freezer bag and you are done for the day! You can remove one or four at a time, whatever you need and as they begin to defrost, which is almost right away, the skin will slip off easily.

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My second favorite is to make Oven Roasted Tomatoes, although it does require having the oven on for some length of time. I love to dry my cherry tomatoes and then float them in a good olive oil and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. Chopped in a salad, in a bruschetta or top on a pizza, they pack a flavorful punch. Fill up your baking sheet and get started right away!

Fontina & Tomato Tart

Oven Roasted Tomato Recipe

Fontina & Tomato Tart

Add a baby green salad tossed lightly with olive oil & vinegar for a nice summer lunch or light dinner.

Fontina & Tomato Tart

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  • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator, keep cold until ready to use
  • 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 4 ounces grated fontina cheese
  • 3 large tomatoes, cut into 1/4" thick slices
  • 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or use with a non-stick tart pan.

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 11-by-11-inch square or roll to the size of your tart pan adding ½” for the sides. I using the tart pan, fold up the pastry carefully and lay into the pan, unfold the pastry draping it over the sides of the pan. If using just the sheet pan, lay the pastry in the middle of the piece of parchment on the pan. Prick (called 'docking') the pastry with a fork leaving a 1/2" edge clear.

Spread a thin amount of mustard on the pricked part of the dough.

Sprinkle an even amount of the cheese on the mustard and top with slices of tomato. Fold a couple of inches of the dough over the filling, leaving a large part of the middle open, disregard if using the part pan. If the pastry is warm, chill for 15 minutes.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Garnish with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Zucchini Blossom Quesadilla

 

 I first tasted these at The Santa Monica Farmers Market about 15 years ago when The Two Hot Tamale girls were doing a demo for their restaurant, Border Grill (now closed, sadly). It’s a perfect little snack for an early summer day, zucchini plants are going wild with flowers and are daring to be picked & stuffed. Make sure you pick all male blossoms rather than female blossoms or you won’t have any fruit. To tell the difference look at the bottom of the flower, you’ll see a round little nub or small zucchini attached, this is a female blossom….move on. The male blossoms are attached just by them stem with no nub at the bottom, you’ll be able to tell. Open the flowers gently as there may be a bee inside collecting pollen, he will fly away when you open the petals, be gentle. If you want to wash them use cool water and dry well but do this just before you’re ready to prepare the dish. Or you can buy them at your local farmers market, the blossoms are delicate and will last no more than a day so pick right before you’re going to make the quesadillas.

Squash Blossom Quesadilla

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  • 4-6 squash blossoms, stems and stamens removed, chopped
  • 4 roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
  • 2 ears of corn, roasted, cut off the cob
  • 4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
  • 1-2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
  • 8 flour tortillas
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Tomatillo Salsa
  • 1/2 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered

  • 1/2 - 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
(depending on how much heat you want)
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

  • 1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt,
or more to taste,
  • squeeze of fresh lime juice

Mix together all ingredients together seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Heat a grill pan or griddle, add 1 Tb. butter. Add a tortilla and cook it on one side until it puffs (about 30 seconds).

Flip tortilla over and sprinkle over entire surface 1/4 cup of squash blossom filling.

Top with another tortilla, and after cheese has melted and the two tortillas stick together (a couple of minutes), flip quesadilla and cook for a couple of minutes more.

Repeat for the remainder of the filling and tortillas.

For the Tomatillo Salsa

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse to combine. Blend on low speed until a coarse puree is formed.

Pour into a bowl, taste and add more salt or lime if desired. Salsa can be thinned with a bit of water if desired.

Lemon Roasted Chicken

This is by far my favorite dish with hints of Meyer lemon and sea salt and I like to add some roasted baby potatoes to the pan to soak up some of the juices. I use ‘Mary’s Organic Chicken‘ always for the best meat, always tender & juicy, it costs a little more but I think it’s worth the extra few bucks. (And they didn’t pay me to say that). And I love to tuck into the pan the ‘Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes’ from Melissa’s Produce!

You can dress this up by making the ‘pan’ sauce listed in the recipe of you can by pass it. I’ve also made brioche dressing for the side and it makes a great holiday dish without the hassle of cooking a whole turkey dinner. Add a beautiful green vegetable and you’ll find an easy weeknight dinner. It pairs well with my Spring Asparagus recipe. Prep all the ingredients the night before & you can walk in the door, pop the chicken in a preheated oven and within the hour you’ll have the best meal in town, no drive through chicken can EVER take the place of a chicken roasted at home.

Lemon Roasted Chicken

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  • Serves 4
  • 1 whole chicken -- rinsed, drained and dried
  • 1 medium onion -- peeled and chopped
  • 3 baby carrots -- peeled and chopped
  • 3 celery stalks -- cut into chunks
  • 1 lemon -- zested and juiced; preferably Meyer lemon
  • 1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley -- minced
  • 1 bunch fresh sage -- minced
  • 1/2 bunch fresh thyme -- minced
  • 2 tablespoons butter -- room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon lemon olive oil, butter or regular olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons chicken demi glace -- optional for sauce

Preheat oven to 400°.

Wash and dry chicken inside and out then dry well. Fit chicken into a roasting pan (you want no more than 1" of space on any side of the chicken otherwise the juices will burn).

Mix together onion, carrot, celery, lemon zest, and 1/2 of the minced herbs. Loosely stuff cavity with some of the ingredients, place the remainder on the bottom of the roasting pan and place chicken on top of the aromatic vegetables.

Mix remaining minced herbs with butter. Gently separate the chicken skin from the breast meat and carefully rub herb butter on breast under the skin.

Rub the chicken with lemon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon over chicken and place rind into cavity. Insert probe thermometer into thigh and set for 165 degrees. Pour half of the wine and chicken stock in the bottom of the pan and place, uncovered in hot oven.

Baste after 1/2 hour, if you don't have enough juice in pan use some chicken stock. Do not cover bird until browned and then loosely place foil over breast. If wings start to brown to early wrap with foil.

Remove chicken to a warm plate and loosely cover with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Remove some of the fat in the pan by using a paper towel or ice cubes. (Dredge the paper towel through the juices to pull out some of the fat or pour off the juices into a heat proof measuring cup. Add a few ice cubes; the fat will stick to the cold cube, discard cube. You may have to do this several times).

Put the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium-high heat and bring a boil, add remaining wine and stock scraping the fond (the yummy pieces stuck to the pan) from the bottom of the pan. Reduce by half, add demi-glace if using and serve with chicken.

Asparagus Gratin

I love sweet California asparagus, especially the small early stalks simply sautéed in butter and seasoned with a little lemon zest, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. But for serving to guests I also enjoy this quick and easy gratin, it pairs well with Lemon Roasted Chicken and a cold glass of Viognier.

 

Asparagus Gratin

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  • 2 pounds thin asparagus
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, grated and divided
  • ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat broiler.

Prepare an ice bath (cold water and ice) large enough to hold the asparagus.

Cut ends off the asparagus and set aside.

Fill a large skillet ¾ full of hot water, bring to a boil. Add asparagus and a heaping tablespoon of salt. Cook for about 2-4 minutes or until lightly cooked. Immediately plunge asparagus into ice bath to stop the cooking.

Melt butter in now empty skillet over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly until golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, 3-5 minutes., whisk in ½ cup Parmesan and Monterey jack until smooth, season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minuets.

Place asparagus into an oven proof serving dish and drizzle sauce over center of asparagus and top with remaining Parmesan. Broil until cheese is golden and asparagus is tender, 4-8 minutes. Serve.

 

Photo: LA Times

Duck Breast with Grand Marnier Sauce

duck-breast

 

Duck Breast with Grand Marnier Sauce

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  • Serves 4 - 6
  • 4 duck breast fillets
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1/3 cup Grand Marnier liqueur
  • 3/4 cup chilled butter, cut into 6-7 pieces

Preheat oven to 350°.

Score the duck breast skin without cutting into the breast, cut in a criss cross pattern.

Season the duck breast on both sides with sea salt and pepper. Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat until hot and sear the breast skin side down, do not put oil or butter into the pan, you’ll have plenty of rendered duck fat shortly. When the breast is nicely browned turn and cook the other side, turn the heat down on the pan if needed.

Remove breast to a small baking sheet lined with parchment, a baking pan will do as well. Do not use a pan that’s too big or the fat will burn as it’s rendered, place a probe thermometer into the center of the breast and cook until temperature reaches 135°. Remove from oven and let rest while you finish the sauce.

Combine orange juice, sugar, orange zest, and half of the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the liquid is reduced to 2–3 tablespoons. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time, until thoroughly blended, and then whisk in the remaining Grand Marnier.

Slice the duck breasts on an angle and serve with the Grand Marnier Sauce, top with some orange peel or zest.

 

Photo: Chef Jon

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