You Say Tomato I Say Tomahto!!

Tomatoes, who has tomatoes…I DO!!!!!!!!

My Dad’s garden is producing a plenty, his plants are 8 feet tall and going wild!!!

I have a few pictures here from the beginning stages, they are about 5 to almost 6 foot at this point,
my Dad here is growing, leaf lettuce, kale, peppers, cucumbers, onions, green beans, eggplants and of course Tomatoes!!!
There maybe be more he grows but I can remember, I do know he has another patch that asparagus is in and the green house that things grow too…

 

but I just decided to write this blog about tomatoes last night, so I don’t have recent pictures of it 🙂 these picture were about the 2nd week of June

So I have been eating a lot of tomatoes lately, but they have really only been from my Dad’s, I don’t buy them usually, but I do love when I get them from him and his garden.

As anyone knows they just taste better than you can get in the store and it’s really the only eat time I do eat them.
My Mom and Dad will freeze them, stew them, roast them, sauce them, slice them for BLT (which I think they east daily during the summer) and chop them for salads.  Plus whatever else they do with them 🙂

I on the other hand I tend to eat them a little differently 🙂

First I blanch them and remove the skins, I have issues with the skins, that’s all I will say 🙂

Here are a few pictures of ways that I have enjoyed using my Dad’s fresh tomatoes from his garden.

I hope you will enjoy too!!!

Making sauce, in my Vitamix are tomatoes, roasted garlic, some Italian herbs, red pepper flakes and salt.
The Vitamix will also cook it too you let it run about 5-7 minutes and you have hot soup or sauce 🙂

Mixing it all up

 

Freezing some for winter 🙂

Cooking some down too

This is the cherry tomatoes, sauteed with garlic, onions and spinach
tossed with the pasta, then fold in some fresh mozzarella pearls
then a drizzle of some balsamic glaze…Delish!!!!

My all time favorite thing in the world is
Polenta with fresh tomatoes and a poached egg!!!
This is heaven for me!!!

 

another day again…YUMMY!!!

This is my FBT…Fake bacon and tomato 😛

Ran out of the cornmeal to make polenta
So I made couscous instead…Delish too!!!

This was last night’s dinner
tomatoes, roasted garlic tossed with pasta and some fresh mozzarella cubes
I was talking about making this a work…so ladies this is what I made…simple and quick 🙂

Oh and here is the kale and I made some kale chips…very good with a
sprinkle of kosher salt and garlic powder 🙂

 

Here are couple of links of 2 more of my blogs that I used tomatoes in the past
First up is my Tomato Cobbler – this turned out really really good so if you
want something a little different try this recipe.

 Second is Orzo Salad with Basil, Tomato & Feta – I made this at one
of my outdoor cooking classes last year.

Enjoy the rest of the summer everyone!!!

What’s next here hopefully sooner than later
my trip to Bourbon Country 🙂

Summer Grilling Recipe #1

Well as summer is here and the grills start to get cleaned and great smells permeate the air 😛
I do love me something grilled, so as the summer goes on I will be posting some easy grilling recipes.

This one is just dang simple…who doesn’t like potatoes and onions on the grill 🙂

I’ve been wanting to do a little grilled so called potato salad…

And I picked up some Colman’s Original English Mustard…it has a kick and I like that!!

I’ve been wondering what to do with it so I came up with this…

Ingredients

Chopped my potatoes and onions

In a large bowl add, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar & oil

Whisk it

add potatoes and onions

stir to coat and let set for a least an hour

Put into a grill basket, keep the access dressing for later

Done

add a little more dressing just to coat once finished, then serve

Recipe

4 potatoes, cubed in 1 inch pieces
1-2 large sweet onions, 1/2 inch slices, then in half again

you don’t want them to small but not too big either, remember your onions will shrink up so keep 1/2 inch strips about 3 inches long.

Marinade 
5 tsp. Colman’s Original English Mustard*
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. brown sugar

In a large bowl add all ingredients for marinade and whisk together, add potatoes and onions and toss to fully coat, set aside for a least one hour, stir to coat every 10-15 minutes.

Add potatoes and onions to grill basket, reserving the marinade.  Grill on low stirring mixture everything few minutes.  As potatoes and onions cook drizzle the extra marinade over top each time until potatoes are tender and cooked through. 

Extra Dressing

3 tsp. Colman’s Original English Mustard*
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
add  the mustard, vinegar and sugar all to a small bowl and whisk together, toss with grilled potatoes and onions and serve.

I hope you will try this next time you grill out…Enjoy!!!

*Note – If you cannot find the Colman’s in a “Mustard” form and can only find it in dry form, just take the amount in the recipe in dry and add just a little water until you make mustard 🙂

Strawberry Bruschetta

A friend of mine was coming over because we were going to go see Theresa Caputo – The Long Island Medium.  She was in town doing a show, and if you know who she is or watch her show then you know who I’m talking about, no we did not get read.
But the show was much more then that, it was great experience and I’m happy for the people who came and might have gotten a glimmer of hope and peace.

And since we were not going to be having dinner, I thought maybe a little appetizer and a glass a wine before hand would be nice.

I had been thinking of this recipe and how I wanted to make it a little different then other recipes…well it came to me…maple syrup 🙂

(you can see from the pictures I cut the recipe in half, the recipe below is the full recipe)

Ingredients

Dice the strawberries

add balsamic vinegar and maple syrup

                                

add a pinch of salt and stir, let set for 1 hour

 

add maple syrup to ricotta and a pinch of salt, stir

   

Slice your baguette, brush with olive oil, bake to brown

   

till light brown

stack your basil leaves on top of one another, and roll like a cigar

 

Chiffonade

  

Ready to assemble 

spread ricotta, then top with strawberries

  

then basil….One done 🙂

The rest done 🙂

Recipe – makes 18 – 20 pieces

14 strawberries, diced (1 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. good balsamic vinegar
 couple pinches of salt (I used Kosher)
1 cup ricotta cheese 
18 – 20 slices of a baguette
olive oil
Fresh Basil, chopped

In a small bowl add diced strawberries, vinegar, 2 tbsp. maple syrup and a pinch of salt, stir to fully coat all the strawberries, set aside for for 1 hour, stirring about every 20 minutes. You can leave longer, the strawberries will start to release their juices, this is a good thing since we will be using all the left over juice.

In another small bowl add ricotta and remaining maple syrup, along with a pinch of salt, stir to fully combine, keep in refrigerator until ready to use.

Take slices of baguette and brush with olive oil and bake on a baking sheet at 400 degrees until lightly brown.   Let cool.

Putting them together, divide ricotta among the slices of bread and spread over top, top ricotta with strawberries, but try not to get too much of the juice, you can drain, but reserve the juice for a tip later in this post.

Take you basil leaves and stack them on top of one another and roll like a cigar, take your knife and slice roll (like in photo above), this is called Chiffonade.

Top the strawberries with a few pieces of the basil and serve with the beverage of your choice…ours was some Sweet Strawberry Wine 😛

These were so delicious, what great appetizer for a party or a great dessert after a summer meal.  It’s light and it really it the spot 🙂

Okay now I told you to keep the juice from the strawberries…which is now Strawberry Maple Balsamic Vinegar
Which you can put on a salad like I did, or you can whisk in a 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil as well and toss with your lettuce or mixed greens.
This would be great on a salad with sliced strawberries and candied pecans too!!

  

Wild Harvest Three Bean Salad

So this weekend in one of our stores we had the Wild Harvest Beans on sale and we were having a food demo on the beans.  So I thought I could come up with a simple and quick recipe for Three Bean Salad.

So we had Black Beans, Pinto Beans and Garbanzo Beans, now how about some crunch…celery, onion that sounds good, I do have some fresh rosemary so lets add that, and parsley is a nice addition too.

We will use some apple cider vinegar…I know, I know any of you that truly follow me know that I absolutely love Balsamic Vinegar (especially the kind we sell in our Hyde Park store back in the Deli)…but I’m changing it up on you plus a lot people use it in lots of recipes so they may have that on hand.  Okay a little sugar for sweetness, oil and good old salt and pepper.

I think everyone liked it, I didn’t stay while it was being sampled but I did get an email from one the manager’s saying how awesome it was…so let’s see if you all do too!! 🙂

Ingredients

drain and rinse you beans

add to a big bowl, beans, celery, onions, parsley, rosemary
and give stir

whisk together vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and oil add to bean mixture

Recipe

1 can Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or dill would be nice)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/3 cup granulated sugar

In a large bowl add beans, celery, onions, parsley and rosemary, mix and set aside.
Whisk together in a small bowl vinegar, sugar, oil, salt and pepper, then pour over beans and fully combine to coat.

Put in refrigerator for a few hours or over night, let set about 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature before serving. 

This would be fantastic for afternoon picnic or backyard BBQ this summer!!

Here it is in my containers ready for the demo, I failed to take a picture of it in a dish…sorry 😦

Shrimp Po’ Boy & Shrimp with Creamy Polenta

I made Shrimp Po’ Boy’s for a recent get together with friends, and it was a HUGE hit!!  I must admit I’ve never had a Po’ Boy, shrimp, seafood, beef or otherwise, but this one turned out down right delicious.

I had gotten a couple extra piece’s of shrimp for my dinner the next day and I made the shrimp the same way, but served it with creamy polenta.  
So you get both recipes in one blog 🙂

You can also I serve this shrimp with just the Remoulade sauce at party, I just love the light crispy coating on the shrimp.  Also would be great on a salad too, summer is coming and this would be a quick addition to a great refreshing summer salad.

Now I used large 16/20 shrimp 4-5 per person, I also used ciabatta rolls, you can use any fluffy crusted bread or roll.

Or you could also serve these as sliders on slider buns, one piece of shrimp is diffidently a nice size for this different party appetizer

First you need a Remoulade sauce/slaw, this usually starts with mayonnaise, then after that its your own taste buds that will take you to the end.  Just Wikipedia it, it will tell you were to begin and give you ideas on what to add…here’s mine

Shrimp Ingredients

    

Add spices, flour and cornstarch together whisk,
then whisk egg & milk together

Divide flour mixture into 2 dishes

dredge shrimp in first flour dish, then into egg,

then into 2nd flour dish

get  your oil hot, about 350 degrees            to know your oil is hot and ready
                                                                            take the end of a wooden spoon
                                                                            press to bottom of skillet if it
                                                                  sizzles then you know it hot and ready

                              

add shrimp and cook for about 30 seconds each side

         

Place them on a paper towel

Remoulade Sauce/slaw  ingredients

Slice cabbage or lettuce thinly       in a small bowl add Remoulade 
You can use pre cut as well                sauce ingredients, mix to combine

                

add in cabbage/lettuce                    mix together

               

Slice roll add some of the slaw

top with the shrimp and top of roll

Recipes

Remoulade Sauce

1 cup Hellmann’s Mayonnaise
3 tbsp. horseradish
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. each kosher salt and white pepper
3 tbsp. sweet pickle relish
2 1/4 tsp. paprika

Mix all together and refrigerate until ready.

I take 1 bag of shredded lettuce,  or if you like more of a “crunch” then use a bag of angel hair cabbage, or thinly slice it off the heads, place it in a large bowl and add about half to 3/4 of the remoulade sauce, toss to fully combine.   Keep the rest of the sauce if you like more on your sandwich. 

Shrimp

Peel and devein shrimp, tails off, just as much shrimp as you want to make for each sandwich.

1/2 cup each all-purpose flour and cornstarch
4 tsp. each cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. half and half
Oil for cooking

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, cayenne, onion/garlic powder, paprika and salt in a medium bowl, divide mixture into 2 shallow dishes, in another shallow dish whisk eggs and half n half together.  

In a medium/large skillet add enough oil so it will come up half way to the side of the shrimp.  Heat over medium high heat, (adjust heat as cooking so not to burn).
Once oil is hot, take shrimp and coat them in the first dish of flour mixture, then dip them into the egg wash, then into the  other dish of the flour mixture, coating evenly.
Carefully place them into the hot oil and cook on each side for maybe only 30 seconds each side.  Shrimp cooks quickly, so you want to work fast not too ever cook the shrimp.
Once cooked place on a platter lined with paper towels.

To make a Po’ Boy

Cut your roll or bun in half, on bottom piece layer some lettuce/cabbage mixture and top with the shrimp, if you want to add a little more remoulade sauce on top then do it, top with other half of the roll.

Grab a cold beer (if you like that) or some cold Iced Tea or Lemonade and dig your chops right in…yummmmmm

Now for the Shrimp with Polenta

Ingredients for Polenta

once the water/broth comes to a boil whisk in polenta

add butter and let cook for 30 minutes it will look like this

                                        

The stir in cream cheese

until fully combined and creamy

serve with shrimp

Shrimp with Polenta

Use recipe above for shrimp 3 or 4 shrimp per person

Polenta

2 cups water or broth (chicken or veggie)
1/2 cup polenta
2 tbsp. butter
4 oz. cream cheese

In a medium sauce pan add water and bring to a boil medium high heat, then quickly whisk in polenta until it has been fully incorporated.  Reduce the heat to low simmer, add butter and allow potenta to cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then stir in cream cheese (marscarpone cheese can be used as well), season with salt, stir until cream cheese in fully incorporated and creamy.

You can serve with just like I did above or serve as a side with the shrimp and some delicious grilled or roasted asparagus, what a great summer dinner!!!

Enjoy!!!!

Mango Avocado Salad with Balsamic Poppy Seed Dressing

This is “Part Two” of my previous blog
“Mango Wrapped Coconut Macadamia Nut Crusted Tilapia”

I served this salad with it and I must say it just went perfectly together.

Now like I have said in a past blog I work for a local grocery chain (Remke bigg’s), and I will get products from time to time from our merchandisers.  I recently got this product, that is not out yet, but it’s

Hellmann’s  – Creamy Balsamic Mayonnaise

So I’ve been trying to think of something to do with it, I do like it a lot, I’ve already made tuna salad with it and it gave it great flavor.  So I was thinking about this salad that I have had before but used a creamy store bought poppy seed dressing.  And thought well why not make a “Balsamic” Poppy Seed Dressing instead…

And you know, it was really, really good I must say, along with this salad my family got to partake in the eating of the fish recipe as well, when I was putting these couple of blogs together.

Ingredients for Dressing – along with a little sugar

add mayo, balsamic, sugar and half n half in a bowl and whisk it together

then add the poppy seeds and mix

Prep Mango and Avocado

Leftover Coconut Macadamia nut crusted topping
(from fish recipe, one right before this one) I toasted it until brown

Put a little dressing in a large bowl

Then add your lettuce and toss with tongs to coat leaves

I place the tossed greens on a platter,
then topped it with the mango & avocado pieces

You can certainly serve it just like that or use the topping
if you just make the salad you can add some toasted almond slivers,
pecans or whatever  you like

Mango Avocado Salad with Balsamic Poppy Seed Dressing

Recipe

Dressing
1/4 cup Hellmann’s Balsamic Mayo
2 tbsp. half n half
1 1/2 tbsp. aged balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Poppy seeds

In a small bowl add mayo, half n half, sugar & vinegar, whisk to combine then add poppy seeds.  This can be kept for up to a week in a container in the refrigerator.

1 mango
1 Avocado
1 Mixed greens
1/3 cup of crispy topping

Peel and chop mango, open avocado, take seed out and scoop out fruit, chop. You may not use all the mango or avocado, its up to you and how much you want to use.  This is what I use with a whole bag of mixed greens.

In a large bowl pour in about half of dressing, then add greens, toss to coat, if you need more dressing, pour it down the side of the bowl, and toss again, this just allows the greens coat evenly.

Place greens on a platter or individual plates, then top with mango, avocado and topping then serve!!  Enjoy!!!

Mango and Shrimp Salsa

This recipe is from my Cinco de mayo class, it’s fresh and delicious, great for the summer!!!

1 bag Raw Shrimp 31/40, thawed, peeled, tails off
2 ripe mango, peeled, seeded, cut into ¼-½ inch pieces
2 cups jicama, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp. lime juice
4 tbsp. orange juice
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
In a bowl add all ingredients except shrimp, and chill for couple hours.  In a medium  sauce pan add water and bring to a boil, once boiling add 2 tbsp. sugar, yes I said sugar, stir to dissolve then add shrimp, cook shrimp just about 30 seconds until shrimp turn opaque, remove shrimp and add to a large bowl with ice and water to stop the cooking.  Drain shrimp, and chop, add to mango mixture, serve or chill until ready to serve.

I made mini tortilla chips for this dish, I took large flour tortillas, a 3.5 – 4 inch round cookie cutter and cut 4 rounds out of each large tortilla.  I then fried them in coconut oil, adding about 1/2 inch of oil to a large skillet, fry flipping them to brown on both sides.  Then place on paper towels and sprinkled them with a little kosher salt.

Everyone loved this recipe, it may take a little time, but its so worth it and everyone will be able to taste the love…

Other suggestions, use boston, bibb lettuce leaves to make a nice wrap, or just serve over a bed of lettuce as a fresh summer salad.
Add diced fresh pineapple as well, leave  out the shrimp, add the pineapple or just with the mango and serve with grill fish or chicken…Enjoy!!!

Strawberry & Spinach Salad

Strawberries are coming into season, I love this salad, its easy and delicious.

I use this balsamic vinegar that we sell in one of our stores

I absolutely love this, its aged and sweet the best I ever had, and I like that the bottle is refillable.  You buy the bottle filled for $11.99, then when you are out you can refill it for $6.99, best deal in town if you ask me.
So for me I use it all the time, oh even on vanilla ice cream, with sliced strawberries…YUM!!!

Strawberry & Spinach Salad

1 pkg. candied pecans (in nut aisle)

8 cups baby spinach, rinsed and dried, set aside
1 pound container strawberries, rinsed, hulled, cut into quarters, set aside

Vinaigrette:
In a small bowl add
¼ cup good-quality aged balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. honey or maple syrup
2 tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt and pepper, add more to taste
whisk in ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil to emulsify

In a large bowl add spinach, strawberries and ½-3/4 cup of the vinaigrette, toss to combine.  Turn out on to a large serving plate arranging strawberries all round.  Top with glazed pecans. Pour remaining vinaigrette in a container, in case any one would want more.

You can serve this as the main entree or as a side with a frittata or quiche  Frittata recipe to come on Monday.

Have a great weekend!!

Red Pepper and Corn Saute`

2 tbsp. butter
4 ears of fresh corn, kernels shaved from the cob (about 3 cups, or frozen)
2 large shallots, diced or 1 small sweet onion
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add shallots, cook for 2 minutes, then add corn, red pepper, sugar, salt and pepper.  Cook stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until the corn is slightly caramelized, about 6-7 minutes, then add cliantro.

This can be served as a side dish, served over slice flank steak (recipe for steak will becoming along with cilantro lime cream sauce, the saute with the steak and cream sauce on top is delicious).  You can also serve this in tacos or wraps as well with fresh grilled chicken.  Place sliced chicken in a nice piece of boston or butter lettuce top with the saute and some fresh avocado, makes a great light summer dish.  This is also great served cold over a nice summer salad…Enjoy!!

Shrimp and Avocado with Mango Vinaigrette

Mango Vinaigrette

3 tbsp. mango nectar
3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
Add above ingredients to a blender or in a bowl and use a stick blender to emulsify. Set to the side.

2 mango’s, seeded and cubed
1 pound cooked med shrimp, peeled and tails off
2 avocados, cubed
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, sliced

In a large bowl add shrimp, mangoes, avocados and cilantro, fold just to combine then add vinaigrette to coat.

Can be served in martini glasses for an appetizer, or over a bed of romaine lettuce.