Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Vintage Custard Filling Recipe

I love this stuff. I could eat it right out of the bowl with a spoon!
This is a Betty Crocker recipe from 1966 and I don't think I've found another I like better. The key is like with making gravy; be sure to cook it as directed so you don't have a floury taste.

Be sure to put plastic wrap down onto the top of the custard so it doesn't develop a skin as it cools. I also don't seal the edges tight, so the condensation doesn't leak down into the custard and make it yucky.

  •  1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoon butter, unsalted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix sugar, flour and salt in a saucepan.
Slowly whisk in milk, and cook over low heat, stirring until it comes up to a boil.
Boil while whisking, for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Very slowly, drizzle hot mixture into egg yolks while whisking eggs vigorously, until all of the hot mixture is into the eggs.
Pour all back into the saucepan and bring up to a boil again. <--important so your custard doesn't taste like flour paste.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
Cover and chill !

This is a FILLING recipe, so you can use it between cake layers, to fill cupcakes, donuts...just about anything you want to fill.

I used it to fill a cupcake recipe I saw on the Today Show.  I also used semi-sweet in the gnache, instead of the bittersweet the recipe called for. And I waited until the chocolate was thicker set before I put it on the cupcakes. I wanted them easier to eat. :)
The result was a Boston Cream cupcake that tasted JUST like my favorite Boston Creme doughnuts! 
SO good! I'm already wondering who I can give some too, so I can stay out of the rest. haha!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sesame Orange Chicken

I love the flavors of orange and chicken together, with a subtle heat that slowly builds, but won't burn your mouth off. I'm not a big fan of real hot things. I'd like to taste the other flavors, please. lol

A quick and easy dish you can serve over rice, quinoa, angelhair pasta, or by itself, you can play with the combination of veggies and amount of heat, to make it your own.  Stick leftovers in a container, and you have an awesome lunch at work the next day!

Arbol chilies are little red dehydrated chilies found in your Mexican spice section of the store. I'm lucky to live in within a large Hispanic community, so my local groceries have a huge section of  a Mexican brand spices, in cellophane bags and more often than not, good quality and MUCH cheaper than their American name brands in the regular spice isle of the store. The brand I find around me is Mi Constentina.  I bought 8 oz of sesame seeds for 2.49.  Better than 5 bucks for a little, dinky, useless amount, I find in the other isle. And I can't tell the difference in taste!
Reconstitute the chili in hot water until soft, about 30 minutes. Don't use the inner seeds and veins unless you like using the use of your taste buds for awhile. Oh, and as always, use gloves or wash your hands VERY well when messing with chilis.
If you prefer, you can sub the chili with a different kind of chili or a minced jalapeno. I just like the subtle, smoky heat these little Arbol chilies give. ahh.. I'm hungry, let's cook!
  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cubed
  • 1 small Arbol chili, reconstituted, seeded, deveined, and minced very fine
  • dash of Sesame oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, sliced lengthwise and then in half. More or less to suit your tastes.
  • 1/3 cup sliced green onions (scallions)
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
The Sauce:
  • 1 cup chicken stock or broth
  • 1/3 cup juice and zest from one orange
  • 1/3 cup apple cider
  • 3 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • few grates of fresh ginger (I keep mine in a freezer bag in the freezer, it keeps practically forever and saves $$)
  • the rest of the reconstituted and minced red chili, about 1/2 teaspoon
  • about one teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
  • few drops sesame oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch melted in about 2 Tablespoons cool tap water
sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds for topping. As many as you like.

In large frying pan, heat about 2 Tablespoons veggie oil over fairly high heat.
Put chicken in one layer into the hot pan. Season with salt and pepper.
Flip pieces over when golden, reduce heat to medium-high and season that side with salt and pepper.
Add red bell pepper, grate a garlic clove down over the chicken, add couple drops sesame oil and green onions, pinch of the chilies, and stir for about one more minute and remove chicken from pan, unless chicken is still very raw. Depends on your chicken chunk sizes.

In same pan used to cook chicken, add the rest of the sauce ingredients, saving out a pinch of the orange zest for garnish, and stir until it begins to thicken.
Add chicken back to pan and stir until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thick. Maybe 5 minutes, not too long so the red bells don't get soggy. Taste for salt. I had to add just a pinch more before serving. Be careful judging heat level. It builds after a couple bites. ;)

Toast about a Tablespoon or two, of sesame seeds over medium heat, in a small frying pan,  moving pan about, until seeds begin to let off a little aroma. This is quite fast after the pan is hot, so be careful not to burn them.
Garnish with more green onions, orange zest, and toasted sesame seeds!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Awesome Au Gratin Potatoes

I love piling these onto green beans! SO good!  You can make this ahead of time, just save the french fried onion topper until the potatoes are in the oven and almost done so they don't get soggy.

Keep peeled potatoes in water to keep them from turning brown while you peel and slice the rest!

You can choose to just slice the onions, instead of dicing, I just dice them due to the preferences of others I cook for.
The amount of cheese, salt and pepper in this dish is up to you and your tastes too.
Also, if you like some zip to your dishes, try adding one seeded & deveined minced jalapeno to this, and pepperjack cheese instead of cheddar. Fantastic!
  • 4-5 cups of peeled (your choice) and thin sliced potatoes, about 5-6 small/medium.
  • 1/2 cup diced white onion
  • 1 can cream of celery soup (undiluted)
  • 2-3 cups cheddar cheese, grated. Try not to get the pre-grated, not only do you get LESS cheese (they add cornstarch and such so the cheese doesn't stick together, and since it's sold by weight- you get less), but grating your own results in much creamier texture.
  • fresh grated parmesan cheese, maybe 1/2 cup
  • small (2.8 oz) can french fried onions
  • dried rosemary
  • dried thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • butter or margarine
  • dried or fresh parsley for garnish
Spray a 2.5 quart round casserole dish with spray oil.
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onion and undiluted soup.Try to separate as many of the slices as possible, when mixing, so they all get coated and they cook better.
Sprinkle with couple good pinches of salt and pepper.
Take a good pinch of rosemary, maybe about 1/8 teaspoon, and rub it between your fingertips, crushing so not have big twigs of rosemary and to get the flavor out. Do the same for the thyme.

Put a layer of potato mixture in the bottom of casserole dish, about 5 pea-sized dots of butter or margarine, sprinkle a handful of cheddar cheese, and grate some parmesan cheese down over it; maybe a tablespoon or two.
Repeat twice, for a total of 3 layers, ending the top layer with cheese and parmesan.
Cover and cook at 350 degrees for about 1.5-2 hours, depending on how soft you want your potatoes. Test with fork in the center.
When the potatoes are your desired doneness, uncover and add the French's onions, more pepper and parsley. 

Cook uncovered, for about 5 minutes. Be careful because the onions can burn fast.
Serve over green beans! YUMM!


If you wish, you can instead, top the potatoes with a mixture of breadcrumbs, butter and parmesan.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Meatballs! Stroganoff and a Sub!

Stroganoff pictured here

 This recipe makes enough meatballs to set some aside in the freezer for spaghetti, meatball subs (scroll to the bottom of this post for my meatball sub), or any other recipe you'd like to have a batch of meatballs ready to go. I forgot to write down exactly how many it made, but I baked two baking sheets of about one-inch meatballs. So 40-50 meatballs. I strongly suggest chilling the meatballs, as it helps them hold their shape and it's easier to form them. They can be prepped the night before, so all you have to do is throw them into the oven.

As always, much of this recipe is personal preference. For example, the mushrooms. I would have preferred large slices of mushrooms, but I live with mushroom-haters (haha), so I chopped them up pretty small. Same with the onions.  The meatballs were a big hit with them, by the way.  Score one for me. I won't tell if you don't. :)
Oh, also, a mixture of ground meats, such as pork, lamb and beef is preferable for ultimate meatballs, but I used just ground beef for the sake of my wallet.  They were still moist and wonderful!
But enough of that! Let's get to the recipe..

Meatballs:
  • 3 lbs ground beef
  • roughly 2 cups torn bread chunks from a thick bread like a sub bun
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup minced white onion
  • 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry as possible
  • 1/4 cup fresh fine chopped mushrooms
  • 2 lightly beaten eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire 
  • few good pinches of black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
Stroganoff gravy:
  •  5 Tablespoons margarine, plus 1 Tablespoon
  • 1 cup minced onion 
  • 1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped small
  • 1 small dried bay leaf
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire 
  • salt and pepper to taste (keep in mind the meatballs will add salt taste)
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, plus more to top with, if desired
To make meatballs:
 
Soak bread chunks in 3/4 cup of milk in small bowl for about 10-20 minutes, until all the milk is soaked up. 

Combine all meatball ingredients in a bowl. Mix with your hands to combine, but try not to over mix or squish too harsh. Cover bowl and chill for at least an hour; up to overnight.  

Line a cookie sheet (one with a small edge so the meatball drippings don't get all over your oven, that's always joyful) with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Using a small ice cream scoop, gently make about 1 inch meatballs. They don't have to be exact, but try to make them even sized as possible for even cooking.  When baking sheet is full, put leftover mix into fridge until the first batch is done.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your meatballs. I usually find when they are firm, but not hard, to the touch, they are done.

Let meatballs stand for about 3-5 minutes before removing from the baking sheet.

Remove and make the last batch of meatballs.

You should have 40-60 meatballs. Save some for this recipe and in labeled freezer bags, freeze the others for quick meals or snacks.

Stroganoff Gravy:
In large pan, use 5 Tablespoons of margarine, with bay leaf, to soften onions about 3-4 minutes over medium heat and then add mushrooms and dash of salt and pepper. Stir and cook a couple more minutes, but not so long as to soak up all the moisture in the pan.

Add 1 Tablespoon margarine and using a wooden spoon, slowly stir in flour.

Cook and stir until all flour is moistened and you have a thick mixture, or roux. Keep stirring for about 2-3 minutes, lowering the heat just a touch, if needed, so as not to burn the flour.

In a slow, but steady stream, add beef broth while stirring vigorously to avoid lumping. Keep stirring and adding broth slowly, until all the broth is added.  Add milk and keep stirring until thickening slows.

Add nutmeg, Worcestershire and then salt and pepper to taste, if needed. 

When gravy is thick, remove from heat and add sour cream. Stir, then add meatballs.

Serve over medium egg noodles, rice, or alone, and with extra sour cream, if desired.
 Mmmm.. I love extra sour cream!


What I did with some extra meatballs I saved out:
Add about 2 Tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan to a small can (15 oz) of spaghetti sauce to about 15 meatballs or so, depending out saucy you like them. Put on a buttered and toasted sub bun sprinkled with garlic powder. Arrange meatballs, spoon sauce over, top with a bit more grated parmesan, some thin sliced mozzarella, teeeny pinch of Italian seasoning, stick under broiler to melt and tada! LUNCH! yum!
Ahhh...nothing like a hot meatball sub for a Saturday lunch!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Arepas stuffed with Chipotle Lime Shredded Chicken



This is a delicious shredded chicken  that can be served in tortillas, in a taco salad, on a toasted sub bun, so many possibilities!
The warmth of the chipotle can be increased if you desire a hotter chicken, and is offset by a wonderful subtle sweetness given by the honey that should also be increased a bit if you increase the heat.
Make the day before a potluck, or freeze for quick lunches!


I'm sure you could make this in a crockpot too, but I don't have a crockpot now, so can't tell you what the heat and time would be on this. If you make this in a crock, feel free to drop me a note and I'll add the heat and cook time to this, crediting you, of course.

You can use the Mexican cheese, cotija, but I served this on arepas with avacado and feta cheese. The tangy-ness of the feta went SO well with the sweet heat of the chicken, and was easier on my wallet. I'll include the arepa recipe below.

I'm getting hungry, so on with the recipe!
  • 5 lbs chicken leg quarters
  • 2 cups crushed tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup diced purple onion
  • 1 (4 oz) can LaPreferida roasted green chilies (found in ethnic foods or Mexican isle, look for a small red and white label. About a dollar and SO good!)
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded & deveined, unless you prefer very hot foods :)
  • 1/2 chipotle, with its sauce, chopped (small cans of chipotles can be found next to the green chilies, freeze the rest of the chipotles and sauce for a quick flavor and heat boost to many dishes)
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
  • juice from 2 REAL (lol please don't use the bitter bottled stuff) limes (about 3-4 Tablespoons)
Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a large pot with lid, or dutch oven, brown chicken on both sides, in a little vegetable or olive oil.

When chicken is browned, remove from pan and set aside.
Add onion and jalapeno. Reduce heat to medium heat. Cook and stir about 2 or 3 minutes, then add the can of chilies, chipotle and sauce, and tomato paste. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook and stir a minute or two and add crushed tomatoes, seasonings, bay leaf, honey, and salt and pepper to taste, and lime juice.

Reduce heat to a low simmer, and add chicken back into the pan, stirring them around so all the chicken gets a coating of sauce.

Cover and cook 30-45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and practically falling off the bone. Remove chicken to a plate to cool to the touch so you can pick the meat off the bone and shred.

Add cooked chicken back to sauce and, leaving the lid off, cook and stir over a very low heat while you prepare tortillas, or arepas, or the rest of your meal.


Arepas 
Arepas are to South America what english muffins are to North America. Sort of.
They're wonderful little pockets of yumminess almost the size of an english muffin and can be filled with just about anything you like.
They're made of a gluten-free precooked white cornmeal that is ground very fine into a flour. It's found in the ethnic isle of a grocery store or a Mexican/Latino grocery, and is no more expensive than regular white flour. Common names are P.A.N, masarepa, harina precocida, but NOT to be confused with masa harina
, that is used for corn tortillas.

I LOVE these as an alternative to tortillas. They're yummy like a tortilla, but easier to make and have a crunchy exterior, but a soft interior and split easily apart much like english muffins. Fill them with egg, ham and cheese for a quick breakfast, a variety of meats and cheeses for snacks, lunches, or paired with soup and salad for a complete meal.

To get a better feel of how to make these, visit youtube and look up arepas. There are tons of videos to show you how to make them.  Don't be intimidated, they're easy as heck once you get your heat and grease just so. Much like pancakes, the first one or two might not turn out until you get the heat and grease "just so". 

I don't find these do too well in a dry pan like tortillas, they need some kind of help. So you can use the spray stuff, margarine or butter.  I don't recommend  butter or olive oil as these may burn in the medium-high heat needed to cook the arepas. 

I'm getting hungry typing about these! Let's get to the recipe!

To get started, you'll need:
  • large frying pan or griddle
  • 1 cup masarepa
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cup hot water
  • butter or vegetable oil for frying
Masarepa flour will have directions on the back, but what they don't tell you is the water should be HOT tap water, not warm or lukewarm.

Put hot water in medium bowl FIRST (they don't tell you this either), then add the masarepa and salt. Using your hands, mix it until you get a nice, pliable dough. This is where videos come in handy! Form a ball, and using your palms, slap into an english muffin size, but a bit thinner than an english muffin.

Put a dab of margarine or oil in a pan or griddle preheated over medium-high heat, and set the arepas in it and move them about a bit, so they all have a bit of butter under them.

Cook 5 minutes. They'll be a nice, golden  brown, with darker spots. Flip, adding more butter or oil as needed, and cook 5 more minutes until done. When done, they'll have a hollow sound when you tap on them.

Remove from heat onto paper towels, and cool to the touch. Slid a thin knife into the side of them to open up a little pocket like with a pita.

This recipe makes 6-8, depending on size.
Fill as you desire! so yummy.  These can be made ahead of time, and once cooled, wrapped in foil and refrigerated. Warm up in the oven, or hot pan, to crisp up.  I haven't tried putting them into a toaster to reheat and crisp, but I'm thinking that might work too!
Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Eggplant Lasagna



An easy and scrumptious dish to satisfy your lasagna craving when you don't want to put in the time and work, or calories!, of regular lasagna.
It's easy to play with this to suit your tastes. For instance, you could use ground turkey or chicken, or no meat at all and add sliced raw mushrooms to saute with the onions, celery and carrot.

I like to add a pinch of sugar to help offset the acidity of the tomatoes. If you don't want to use white sugar, I'm sure a bit of honey or aguava, or adding another carrot, would work.

Before you get started, you'll want to sweat your eggplant. Slice it into 1/3"-1/2" thick slices and place on a cookie sheet covered in a couple layers of paper towels or a kitchen towel. Sprinkle with a couple teaspoons kosher salt and let sit for about 15 minutes. Pat dry with towel, turn over and salt the other side and let sit 15 minutes.

Now on to the recipe!
  • 1 large, or two small eggplants, enough for 16 slices, 1/3-1/2" thick and sweated, extra salt dusted off and sweat patted dry
  • 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
  • 1 small carrot, cut in half lengthwise and sliced thin
  • 1 rib celery, sliced thin, tops too if desired
  • 1/2 large white onion, diced
  • 3 fat cloves garlic, grated with zester
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • dash oregano
  • 8 cups, or 2 quarts, or two (32 ounce) cans of crushed tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoons each of dried marjoram, oregano, basil
  • 1 fat clove of garlic, grated
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 small zucchini, cut lengthwise, then thinly into half moons
  • 1 small yellow zucchini/yellow squash, cut lengthwise, then into thin half moons
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh grated Asiago cheese
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh grated parmesan cheese
    Salt and pepper to taste
  • 8 ounces fresh grated mozzarella cheese
  • fresh grated Asiago and Parmesan for two layers
  • Italian seasoning
Over medium-high heat, brown beef and add carrot, celery, onion, garlic, a sprinkle of oregano over the meat, and a few good sprinkles of salt and pepper, depending on your preferences of salt and pepper, keeping in mind the eggplant will have a little salt.

Cook and stir until beef is no longer pink and veggies are beginning to soften. DRAIN.

Add tomatoes, herbs, garlic, sugar, zucchini, yellow squash, tomato paste, 2 T Asiago and 1 T parmesan to the drained meat mixture.
Cook and stir over medium heat about 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper, if desired. Remove from heat.

In the bottom of a deep 9x13 inch baking dish, spread about a cup or so of the meat and tomato sauce, layer eggplant slices slightly overlapping each other.  On each slice, spread a spoonful of sauce, grate some parmesan and asiago cheese lightly over all the sauce, then sprinkle about half the mozzarella cheese over all.
Layer again with the last 8 slices slightly overlapping, sauce, parmesan, asiago and the rest of the mozzarella. Sprinkle lightly with Italian seasonings or parsley.

Cover with foil and bake in 375 oven for 30 minutes. TIP: spray the underside of the foil so the cheese doesn't stick to it!
After 30 minutes, take off foil and continue to cook for 15-30 minutes, until veggies are tender and cheese is melted.
Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting. 
Serve with garlic bread and extra parm, if desired.   YUM!

ppssst! It makes a to-die-for lunch the next day!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Easy and delicious Sloppy Joes



Packed with flavor, and just as easy as opening a can, you'll wonder why you ever wasted money and garbage space on the cans of sloppy joe sauce from the store. 

I like my joes a little on the sweet side like the not-so-sloppy stuff in the jars, so I used 3 T.  If you don't care for it that sweet, start with 1 Tablespoon, and after mixed and tasted, you can go up from there until you reach your desired sweetness.

Enough drooling! On with the recipe!
  • 1 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 cup each of finely diced white onion and green bell pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 1-3 Tablespoons brown sugar (depending on your desired sweetness)
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
In medium skillet over medium-high heat, begin to brown the hamburger using an old-fashioned S shaped potato masher. As it cooks, add onion, bell pepper, garlic powder, a few good pinches of salt and pepper. When beef is done, taste check for salt, if desired.
Drain!
Over medium-low heat, add rest of ingredients and cook & stir until hot.  Serve, or let it simmer on low, stirring occasionally, to let flavors meld together more.


That's it!  :)

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Salsas

Salsas are a wonderful and easy way to use up a bunch of summer tomatoes!

I'm sharing with you, a Kiwi-Jalapeno Salsa and Creamy Artichoke Salsa, but really they are a basic recipe. Use as many or as little of the ingredients, as you wish.  Jalapenos and onions can vary in taste and heat, so what was perfect for my salsa, may be too hot or too mild for your tastes. Add ingredients, subtract, make them your own!  It's hard to go wrong with salsa! :)

Roasting jalapenos is easy and only takes a few minutes. Just slice in half lengthwise, take out the seeds and veins, sprinkle with olive oil and kosher salt, give a little mix around, and put in a hot preheated oven, about 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, or until you hear them sizzling and one side is starting to blacken.

Stick them in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and in about 5 minutes, or until they're cooled enough to handle, the skins will slip off and you'll have a bunch of nicely roasted jalapenos. They can be kept in the freezer so you can just cut off whatever amount you wish to add to eggs, stews, chilis, anything!

I am also in LOVE with the tender, mild celery flavor of celery leaves. I used these to garnish the salsas instead of the popular cilantro. I'm just not a huge fan of cilantro and find celery leaves are a great, fresh substitute, without overpowering a dish.  So when you celery shop, choose a celery bunch with a lot of nice, bushy leaves on the inside.

Without further ado, the recipes:
Artichoke Salsa

  • 2 cups chopped tomatoes, squish the seeds and pulp out of most of them, so the salsa isn't too watery.
  • 1 (6 ounce) jar marinated artichokes, drained and rough chopped
  • 1/2 cup red onions, small diced
  • 3 Tablespoons mayo
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoon sour cream
  • 1/2 (4ounce) can green chilies, undrained 
  • 3 cloves roasted garlic, chopped up
  • 3-5 roasted jalapenos, depending on heat level of them and your heat preference, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano, crushed with your fingertips as you add it in
  • tiny pinch red pepper flakes, crushed with your fingertips as you add in
  • pinch cayenne
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • juice from 1/2 lemon
  • celery leaves for garnish

    Combine all except mayo and sour cream and chill.  Be sure to taste and adjust heat and salt level.  Go a little at a time and test again after you've chilled it for about an hour. Drain any excess juice, then add mayo and sour cream. With kitchen shears, snip a bunch of celery leaves and mix in. Serve with pita chips, tacos, just about anything..I was ready to just eat it with a fork! haha!  If it's not creamy enough for you, you can make more mayo sauce, just remember 1 part sour cream to 2 parts mayo.



 Kiwi-Jalapeno Salsa
I'm not a huge fan of really hot salsas, but I love how the sweet kiwis balance out the heat and the sweet-hot salsa is addictive!  As always, adjust amount of jalapenos to your heat preference.
  • 2 cups chopped tomatoe
  • 1/2 cup small diced red onion 
  • 2 small kiwis, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 (4 ounce) can green chilies with liquid
  • 3-4 roasted jalapenos, depending on size and heat, chopped
  • 1-2 raw jalapenos, deveined and seeded, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves roasted garlic, chopped
  • dash cayenne
  • pinch salt and black pepper
  • the juice of one small lime
  • garnish with celery leaves or cilantro, if desired
Combine all, being sure to taste for heat and salt levels, and chill! That's it!
Yum!