Fresh Pico de Gallo

Farmer's market means, fresh veggies and herbs!  My husband and I took advantage of the fall like weather and loaded up our dog and off we went!  It was the perfect day at the market.  I even tried goat cheese (again) still don't like it.  Found some fabulous local vendors and some great treats!

I was feeling pico in my soul, so we picked up everything I needed.  Oh the joy of fresh veggies as opposed to the icky stuff in the store.  Take advantage while you still can!!!

This recipe seems to easy to even share, but I am sharing it anyway!  I never miss the chance to make some fresh pico and just wanted to share how I do it!

While I enjoy the combination of white onion and green onions, please, use just one or the other if you like.  Cilantro is another "to taste" ingredient.  We have discussed this on social media before, it seems people love it or hate it, there isn't much of an in between.  I VERY finely minced mine so a tablespoon is perfect, if you like more, get on with it!

2 cups finely diced tomatoes
1 jalapeno FINELY minced (remove veins and seeds unless you want to shoot fire out of your....whatever)
1/4 cup finely minced white onion
1 green onion chopped
1 T cilantro (not my fav, so add more if you like)
1/2 of a lime
1 tsp. salt

Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined.  I used 1 tsp of salt and then ended up adding a WEE bit more.

This pico is so refreshing, so flavorful and should definitely make all of my healthy eaters happy! Very easy to double or triple for a party, and it will keep in the fridge a few days, so make tons, it is a delicious snack!  I think I will use the rest on some well seasoned grilled chicken breasts!  I am down for healthy AND this delicious and I hope you love it too!

This will get stronger onion and jalapeno flavor the longer it sets.  You could let the tomatoes drain before mixing in other ingredients, I simply use a slotted spoon to scoop it out into a bowl for eating!  

ENJOY!

Grandma Smith's Meatloaf

I call her mom (OK sometimes Ethel or...OK, maybe even pirate hooker once or twice), everyone else calls her Grandma, Mema, Nana Moo, and "ama".  Let me tell you a bit about my mom.  She grew up in the town they still live in, her father the county attorney and her mother a stay home mother.  She had 2 sisters and 2 brothers, all of whom have sadly passed away.  She had a cow.  She milked it AND rode it around town.  Yes, they lived in town with a cow.  And people shake their heads at society today?!? HA!  (had to mom)  She went to school, and college, she was a ....you ready for this?  Lingerie model for a few years, can you say HOTTIE?  Or should it be more like "scandalous"?  She fell in love with a tall, dark, handsome soldier from a foreign land, Philadelphia.  He was her boyfriends roomie in the hospital! WHAAAT?  He was stationed at the Army-Air Force base in Lincoln, NE.  She was a teacher, she intended to be a lawyer, but, life had other things in store.  Ten "other" things to be exact.  During her 82 years of life, and probably most of that as a mother, she became famous for her meatloaf.  Seriously though, I should call and make sure she isn't pregnant, the woman obviously doesn't know how it happens, and I want my info to be accurate....

Anyway, a fun little briefing on my mom.  Marlene is her name.  Actually, her name is Mary.  There was a typo on her birth certificate, and so, she is Marlene who was supposed to be Mary.  Her stripper name.......oh nvm, I forgot I wasn't going to tell that part.

Btw for anyone who is going to tell me that last comment was disrespectful, has NO idea the relationship I have with my mom.  She would shake her head and say "CAH-RIS" yes in 2 syllables and then just laugh..  So no worries.  My mom and I butt heads on a regular basis, but at the mature age of 83, even on the phone I can tell when she wants to say something, but just knows to zip up.  I do the same.  ALTHOUGH I am a bit more persistent, hopefully by the time I am her age, I will have matured.  I love her with all of my heart, and I will embarrass her, make her laugh, make her wonder if I was really switched at birth and her biological child is out there somewhere, and hug her and did I mention love her, forever!

As a kid and young adult I hated meatloaf.  I swear, if it wasn't meatloaf it was roast beast  every Sunday.  And God bless you mom but those roasts, were so dry, even the poor bay leaf on top was screaming for a drink.  Her recipe doesn't call for ketchup but I was sure she always used to put it on top.  I also think she used to triple this recipe because there is no way one loaf pan of meatloaf would cover 12 mouths!  One of my sisters, #3, had her write her recipe out and  then gave each of us kids, a towel she had the recipe printed on.  How cool??!?!

This meatloaf has only a few ingredients, and it may be close to some of your recipes, or seem like it would be a little blah, but it has great flavor and even if it didn't, it is my moms, you better love it too!  My brother Jimmy,  dreams about this stuff, he is coming next weekend and I think I will surprise him with a meatloaf!

Easy as it is, here it is!

2 lbs ground beef (I use VERY lean since the sausage has a lot of fat) ALSO her recipe says 3lbs, she has corrected it to 2.
1 lb pork sausage
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups saltine cracker crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  She says to basically mix it all together, being careful not to over mix, making the meat mixture tough.  I say saute your onions first, you do what you want.  Toss it all in a bowl, and get your hands in there, just like my mom did.  Mix to combine, place in a loaf pan and bake 1 hour.  I actually think mine took about 20 extra minutes.  Like I said I swear she used to put ketchup on top but, it isn't in the recipe.

So, from my mom's 7X10 kitchen to yours.................enjoy this special recipe that she nourished us with for years and years.  Love you ma!

ENJOY!

PS. Phone verification, yes, she did put ketchup on top.  I KNEW it!  I don't like it that way so, no harm over there!

Peppersteak Kabobs

Good evening! 

How is your summer going?  Summer grillin', and chillin', I hope!  It has been so humid, so stormy and so hot here!  I say that as if it is any different from any other Midwestern summer!  The humidity will sometimes just about take your breath away. 

The night I made these babies, I wanted them done on the grill.  Hard to do in like, 60 mile an hour winds and ping pong ball sized hail, ya know?  I did these in the oven, but as per usual, please feel free to do them on your grill, where they were intended to be!

These kabobs are so easy.  I have made them for so long, and just thought maybe they were to easy and run of the mill to share but you know what, sharing is caring, right?  Can a "to easy" recipe really be all that bad?  There is only one thing about this recipe.  It insists on being made ahead for maximum flavor.  They are just always a crowd please, always a success and so easy.  If you ever have any leftover, chop the peppers and onions, slice the beef, and toss in a wok with a little soy sauce, cornstarch and beef stock, and serve as a stir fry over rice! 

Heeeeeeere we go!  This will yield about 10 skewers.  Or, it does for me anyway!

2 lbs beef cut into cubes.  Use steak or roast beast, whatever is better for you
3 large bell peppers
1 large onion
1/2 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp minced or crushed garlic
2 tsp onion powder
10 skewers (if wooden, soak in water as long as possible to avoid burning)

In a large Ziploc bag, add in soy sauce, pepper, garlic, oil, and onion powder.  Squish vigorously to combine ingredients.  Add in beef cubes and seal it up.  Smoosh to coat all meat with the soy sauce mixture.  Set in a bowl or on a plate and let sit at LEAST 6 hours, overnight, or 2 days is even better!  Before skewering chop onion into large chunks and separate layers and cut bell peppers  into about 1 inch chunks.  The only left is to skewer!  Skewer on kids, in whichever order or fashion you prefer.  If done in the oven bake at 425, 10 minutes, then flip and do another 10.    On the grill, use your judgment, I would say about 15 minutes on one side and 5 on the other!

Skewer on dudes!

Roasted Red Pepper Marinara

Hello beautiful friends!  I am in a good mood, can you tell?  If I tell you why, you won't believe it.  I have just made the most amazing marinara, EVER.  Yes, I said EVER.  Just look at this beautiful goodness!

, 

This may look like your everyday, run of the mill sauce, but trust me, it isn't!  I was watching a blogger friend who also has a YouTube channel.  Her name is Heather, of "Mishmawshandotherthings", and you can find her at her blog, or here at her youtube channel.  I was inspired by her homemade marinara.  I took her method, and some of her ingredients and added a few things of my own.  This recipe looked fantastic and roasting the veggies before cooking them is fantastic.  What flavor!!!!  I have to thank her for being an inspiration for this recipe.  I hope you go join up with her, she is a good lady, a real mom, with real kids, and she cooks real food.  GOOD food.

I am planning on making a large batch or multiple batches of this sauce to can or freeze.  I am adding no meat, (as Heather did), and can see using this for a soup base, lasagna, for stuffed peppers, cabbage rolls, gravy, I mean the list goes on and on!  Oh it was ROCK over meatloaf!  When you want to add meat, you treat it as you would any other sauce, dare I say "jarred".  Add your browned meat, meatballs, sausages, whatever you want.  This is a versatile baby and I think you will love it!

10-15 tomatoes (cut out the core and cut in half)
4 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1/2 onion (cut into chunks)
1/2 red bell pepper
olive oil
salt
sugar
5-7 leaves of basil (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350.  Prepare all of your ingredients.  When you have them ready to roast, put them on your sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and salt liberally. 

Roast for 1 hour.  Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.

Put all roasted goodness into your blender.  Blend on high until smooth.  If you do not have a powerful blender you can strain it through a fine mesh strainer, mine left a FEW pieces of skin but I left them.  If I had blended longer they likely would have been completely pulverized!  I added about 5 large basil leaves to mine before I blended as well!

Add back into your saucepan and add sugar to taste.  I added 2 tbsp.  I also added salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. 

This is absolutely the most delicious marinara I have ever made or tasted I think.  As you can see I simply added it to some plain spaghetti and just enjoyed the goodness!  Crisp, clean, fresh and homemade goodness.  You may never by jarred sauce again, I know I won't, not even in an emergency!

Your "garden goodness and homemade happiness"Chefwannabe

Pizzaiolo Pasta Bake

Hello my friends!  I am so glad to be back.  I have been so busy, I apologize for no new post on Wednesday, it just wasn't going to happen.  I am happy you are still with me and hoping this recipe was worth the wait!

Most of you know I have a hard time with umm.....casseroles.  I won't say it again.  I refuse to use the word.  Casseroles to me imply a pot or pan of something that looks like a dogs dinner and I KNOW that is not always the case but when I was growing up, it seemed like it was!  I will go to every extreme to never name a dish using that "C" word.  I have a few friends who tease me about when I use the word "Bake" or something else.  I get this, "So basically it is a C word".  NO, it is a "bake". ROFL  This, my friends....is a BAKE.  Got it?

This recipe was born out of my sister telling me she wanted pizza mixed with pasta.  That you can always get one or the other at a restaurant but you can't get them together.  I decided to see what I could do to make her happy.  I am sure she could go to the Internet and look up 5 dozen different recipes but come on, you know she wanted me write a recipe for it.  After I was done I thought of the possibilities.  So where I added Italian sausage and pepperoni you can add any pizza meat topping you like or just add one or the other.  The are NO RULES kids!!  Make it how you love your pizza.  I dislike certain things so I made what I liked, but you can add whatever you want.  The more veggies the better, right? 

I call this "Pizzaiolo Pasta Bake" because I think a pizzaiolo would tend to make a dish like this with leftover pizza toppings.  Little of this and little of that.  Go for it, make it your own, and warm your families from the inside out with this wonderful meal!

Here is what you need:
16 ounces of short cut pasta of your choice (prepared according to pkg direction minus 1 minute of cook time)
1 lb Italian sausage
1 small onion minced (or approx 3/4 to 1 cup)
1 small bell pepper chopped (I used multiple colors since I freeze BP's for cooking)
8-10 ounces sliced pepperoni
1 tsp oregano
2-3 cups pizza sauce (I like tons of sauce because I don't like dry dishes, and the pasta soaks a lot up)
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (add more if you like)

Add 1/2 cup of any other topping you like, mushrooms, olives, anchovies, pineapple, etc.  I would recommend picking just a couple, or the mixture simply won't fit into your baking dish! HA!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.  Prepare pasta as directed above and drain.  In the same pot add in Italian sausage, bell peppers, onions, garlic powder, and oregano.  Cook until sausage is cooked through and peppers and onions are softened. 

When you are done, drain off any grease and  add back to your pot, adding in half of your pepperoni.  If you have large slices, cut them in quarters otherwise put them in whole.  Mix in pasta, sauce and tomatoes, and combine.  Add in 1/2 cup of mozz cheese to the pasta mixture.  Pour into prepared 9x13 pan, and smooth over the top.  Add remaining grated cheese and then lay the rest of the pepperoni on top.  I had large slices so it covered the top, yours may or may not.  It makes ZERO difference either way!

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake another 20-30 minutes.  The pepperoni on top will get a little crisp. 

There you have it.   I found that I needed ZERO salt and pepper, you have so much flavor from the sauce and sausage and veggies, there was no need for it. This can be made ahead, it can be divided into two dinners and one can be frozen.  It is a substantial.....(insert word I refuse to use) and add a salad and it is dinner!  Quick and easy, for all of you working parents/grandparents or anyone!

Your "pizza pleasin'" Chefwannabe

Mexican Rice

Hola! 
(this is all the Spanish I know basically)

Really, I crack myself up.  
So, I had a conversation under one of my son's dinner photos about Mexican or Spanish Rice with a reader.  I always say I am a big Mexican food fan, but the reality is, I don't like onions much, and I loathe beans if you remember.  I don't like shredded meat in Mexican food, has to be ground beef or chicken.  Ultimately, I think I am a complete "poser".  Is that word outdated now?   Anyway, a reader said her rice always turns out sticky.  I wanted to make her a new version but the truth is, I like my Mexican Rice a little sticky guys!  You could easily make this rice fluffier by reducing the amount of liquid by about 1/3 cup, letting it cook and then fluffing it up.  I just like a little stickage and stuff.  I like all other rice fluffy and wonderful but Mexican rice...

So I will share my recipe, you can love it or lump it.  I use a prepackaged rice for this.  So go with it, or don't and just use my method.  Yes, I realize it is sodium laden.  You can use salsa that is mild, or hot, it is completely up to your taste.  I ADORE this rice.  It is so good just alone, but when I decided to try and use it for Mexican Rice I was pleasantly surprised at how much excellent flavor it added.  I do use some fresh onions and peppers as well as the salsa.  I think you need some freshness in with store bought items to give them some life again.  We are eating this rice tomorrow with my Enchilada Casserole and I can't wait!

Mexican Rice
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup diced bell peppers (any color)
1/3 cup minced onion
1/3 cup salsa
1 1/3 cups water
1 pkg of Yellow Rice (saffron rice)

 

Melt butter in a medium saucepan.  Add in onions and peppers and saute for 2-3 minutes until softened.

  

 

Add in salsa and water. 

 

From here on out, follow the directions on the back of your package.  Mine called for 1 2/3 cup water, I reduced it to

1 1/3 cups to compensate for the addition of salsa and its liquid .  Does that even make sense?  I hope so!  

 

You can garnish this with green onion, cilantro, whatever you choose.  Don't even comment on how salt laden the package of rice is.  I realize that, but it is one packaged item I cannot live without.  If you want to omit the package of rice, follow all of the steps and add in 1 3/4 cups of chicken stock and 1 1/2 cups of rice.  Use instant or regular.  This has great flavor and isn't to spicy.  You know how to kick it up if you want it spicier though!!

Serve this next to enchilada's!  Yum!!

Your "where IS my sombrero"chefwannabe

Chris