My yummy salsa!!

1. In food processor add and then blend:

3 vine or 4 large roma tomatoes – cut in half

1 jalenpeno- cut of head

¼ cup fresh cilantro- do not pack, let it be fluffy

2 garlic cloves

¼ red onion- rip into pieces

2 red peppers- cut in half

2. Now add and press blend a couple times so these last tomatoes stay a bit chunky

3 more vine or 4-5 more large roma tomatoes

¼ c white vinegar

1 tsp salt-

3. Pour into a sealed container and refrigerate over night to meld flavors. At this point you can add any additional salt, but don’t do it before because there is natural salt in vegetables that will come out.

Breakfast

The Breakfast

The EGG

This golden egg tasted amazing!! This one was from our chicken I dubbed Fatsy. As I thought about my traditional fried eggs on toast one morning, scenes from dexters opening credits flashed through my eyes as I looked at the Tabasco sauce in the fridge. Than my eyes glanced over to the over ripe avo. in the bowl. The idea was born. I created something. Wow. This is actually a big deal, because I have accomplished about 13% of the cooking in our 3.5 yr marriage. So here's one from me.

Fry your eggs as you prefer. And simultaneously be toasting your bread. Slice your avocado.

Once eggs are cooked, put them on top of buttered toasted bread. Crack some black pepper. Add Avo. slices, and splash some Tabasco on.

I like this with a cup of Orange Juice.

Summer

Quick note. I have been so busy this summer I haven't updated any new recipes, so I will make restitution by adding some delicious things Jarom's created this summer. And hopefully wherever you are, your having an Indian summer, and can still relish in sum great cooking. Ciao!!

Roast Beef Brunch

This ones pretty easy guys!! And taste Great.

Ingredients:

English muffins
cream cheese
tomato
roast beef
cracked black pepper

Start:

Toast english muffins. Spread cream cheese on both sides. Place roast beef on one side topped with 1-2 slices of tomatoes, cracked some black pepper over. Put muffin lid on top, and serve.

Fish Taco

This is Jaroms take on fish tacos. And oh it is so yummy. Thanks babe!!

Ingredients:
Soft shell tacos(I'd recommend 2 shells per person)
pound of white fish(serves 4) ex. talapia(1 choice) if you don't have it you could use basa, cod or white fish
fresh avacodo-sliced
guacamole
1 ripe sliced mango
sourcream mix (for a 250ml container of sourcream we add 1 med size clove of garlic and about 2 tbsp of white sugar. I would mix in 1 tbsp of sugar and taste it first and than add the second after. Also pre make this about an hr or two ahead, it lets the flavors meld)(sourcream mix is great for donairs too!)
2 fresh lime
1/8 c butter
1. TBSP taco seasoning
bunch of asparagus


start with prep:

Make Sour Cream mix, and Guacomole
Cut up mango and avocado(you might want to wait until fish is cooking to cut avacodo so it doesn't brown) into strips
Defrost fish

And Than:

Preheat skillet at (275 for ellectric pan) or Med- High Heat
Add butter and Taco Seasoning and lime juice(2-3 tbsp), mix in pan, add fish.
Grill until fish begins to separate. Using spatula mix and break apart fish. Grill for another 3-4 min.
Remove fish from pan, and add sliced mangos, grill until slightly browned/carmalized.
Add wedge of butter and grill asparagus until desired tenderness.
The fish, mango, and asparagus are all cooked in the same pan. At same heat. Remove one to cook the other.
Place items on serving platter. I like to have a lime wedge for every taco, it taste so good squeezing the fresh juice over.

Serve. Eat. and Enjoy!!

grilled cheese and tomatoe soup

You may be wondering how can anyone improve on the perfect Sunday afternoon lunch, well I didn't, but, Jarom however did, and that's why I created this blog- to showcase his extreme talent in creating dishes, recreating restaurant favorites(which are still to come), and using varied spices to take old favorites to a new level.

First of all, when contemplating grill cheese never think about using cheese slices(the only thing I could see you using a cheese slice for would be if you ran out of cheese whiz for a cheese sauce), cheese slices dull the flavor and true experience of enjoying pure cheddar at it's best- in a sandwich.

Ingredients:

Cheddar Cheese
Sliced Bread
Garlic Salt
Tomato Soup
Milk
Ground Pepper
margarine or butter

Start:

Preheat Frying pan to 3-4 or(225 on electric pan) Cut Cheese.

Start soup cooking and use milk instead of water. Add some cracked pepper, and heat on med until boiling. Turn down heat and let simmer while sandwiches are cooking.

Margarine your bread slices and sprinkle very lightly garlic salt over.
Put bread on pan add cheese and add slice on top. Note** butter side goes face down on pan.

Cook your sandwich. And add to plate with bowl of soup. Dipping is aloud!! I actually recommend it!

Pork Loin Roast

Preheat oven to 450.

Ingredients:

New York Steak Spice ( we buy the large container from our local wholesaler-costco)
1 - 2 pound roast

Pat defrosted roast thoroughly with steak spice. Place in a small roasting pan, and cover well with tinfoil. Cook at 450 for 15 minutes, than turn down oven to 350 and cook for 30 minutes. This will give a perfect pork loin roast. Yields about 10-12 slices, depends how thick of slices you prefer.

Edamame

Bag of frozen Edamame Beans
Sea Salt
Sesame Oil

Steam Edamame, lightly pour oil on top, and add some ground sea salt. Toss thoroughly. Serve.

Salmon Stuffed Red Peppers

Serves : 4

3 Red Peppers
3 Salmon Fillets
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp of E.V.O.O
1 C Crumbled Feta Cheese
Fresh cracked pepper and sea salt

Pull out salmon fillets out of freezer, and cut into 1-2" chunks. Mix garlic, E.V.O.O, Feta, salt & pepper and salmon in a med size bowl. Cut red peppers in 1/2, clean, and fill with mix. Bake in oven at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

Serves: 4

1 Pack Rice Noodles
2 cups Bean Sprouts
1 Cucumber
1 Carrot
toasted cashews
Pork loin
Hoisin Sauce
Fish Sauce
President choice Korean BBQ Sauce
Sriracha HOT Sauce(green lid with rooster on label)

Cook noodles(these will cook very fast), strain, and run under cold water to cool. Prepare meat- thinly slice pork loin roast or chops and marinate in 'presidents choice korean bbq sauce' for 3o minutes, and BBQ until char broiled( takes about 5-7 minutes when thinly sliced). Finely grate 1/2 of a carrot and cut cucumber shoe string style. To prepare Fish Sauce for each noodle bowl, add 2 TBSP of fish sauce and add a large pinch of grated carrot into each sauce dish.
In bowls dish out noodles, and add 1/2 c of bean sprouts on top of each, evenly divide cucumber, sprinkle cashews on, top with bbq'd meat. Serve. Have Hoisin Sauce on table and fish sauce by each bowl. Pour on fish sauce over each noodle bowl, add Hoisin Sauce(Hoisin sauce can be very salty, use caution when adding to taste). Add hot sauce to taste.

Onion Rings

Being on a tight budget doesn't have to be depressing. Though you might not have everything you want, you can definitely work towards those goals. For us it's finding ways to have enjoyable, cost effective meals. This appetizer will literally cost you under $1.00 to make, and they will taste sooo delicious!

Serves 4

1 white onion
2 C bread crumbs( we like to save our bread ends and freeze them, once we've collected lots we crush them up with a rolling pin)
2 C flour
2 C milk

Cut onions into desired thickness and separate rings.

Now place b.crumbs, flour, milk into 3 separate bowls. Now dip onions in the following order:

Milk
Flour
Milk
Crumbs
Milk
Crumbs
Milk
Crumbs

Deep fry onions in shortening, veg or canola oil. Make sure oil has been brought to it's full cooking temperature before adding rings. Cook on stove top at 5-6(medium heat) for 3 minutes.

Once you've taken them out of oil lightly sprinkle with some seasoning salt.

Enjoy!!

The Best Pizza Dough in the World!

Makes 1 Large Pizza with med thin crust

We love this pizza dough recipe and wanted to share it with all our friends. Never have we had such delicious home made dough before. It rise's beautifully. Make sure you follow each step for an outstanding pizza experience!

Ingredients:

1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water- 1 tbs white sugar
3 1/2 - 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour*(I like 1 cup wholewheat, 2 1/2 cups all- purpose flour)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs salt (Optional. I add a pinch of sea salt.)
1 tbs sugar (Optional. Use sugar if you like a puffier crust.)
1-2 tsp Italiano spice (optional).

Dissolve sugar in hot water, add yeast(i usually use a 2 cup measuring glass) . Let stand for 5 - 10 minutes until yeast is dissolved and is starting to foam up.

In medium silver bowl add dry ingredients. Than make a slight well in your flour mix, add yeast mix and oil. Mix until it’s all holding together. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Don’t skimp on the kneading! The dough should be smooth and elastic, tacky, not sticky, when you’re done.

Transfer it over to a bowl that you’ve lightly coated with additional olive oil. Turn the dough over to coat completely. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean and floured dishtowel and let rise in a warm place. I like to put mine in the oven, which has been preheated for about a minute (then turned off). Keep it in there for about 90 minutes until it’s about doubled in volume.

Punch the dough down and divide it in half. At this point you can use all the dough to make one large thick-crust pizza, two smaller pizzas

Roll your dough into a ball and let it rest, loosely covered, for about 10-15 minutes. While it’s resting, preheat the oven to 450F. Grease and dust your baking stone or baking sheet with cornmeal (don’t skip this step!), flatten the dough and roll it out flat.

The dough will be fairly elastic, so you’ll have to stretch it out. Place the dough on your baking sheet. To prevent the toppings from making the crust soggy, brush the top of the dough with a bit of additional olive oil. Use your fingers to push dents into the surface of the dough. This will prevent air holes bubbling up as it bakes. Let it rest for 10 minutes while you prep your toppings.

(We like grated zucchini to cover pizza sauce, than small cauliflower pieces, asparagus spears(cut in half), olives, fresh or dried thyme, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, sprinkled parmesan, grated cheddar, crumbled feta, smoked gouda, prosciutto (we like to put meat on top when we use the prosciutto it makes it crispy).

(When preparing your cheese take out of fridge when your preparing your dough and have it grated and set to the side- cheese will brown nicely on top of pizza if it's at room temperature).

And finally I like to mix a 1/2 tsp garlic salt and 1 tbsp olive oil, take a basting brush and completely cover all exposed edges.

It will take about 12-15 minutes to bake.

Let us know if you like it!!

(we really like to use the cream sauce from Jarom's recipe " fresh tomatoe chicken feta penne" as the base for this recipe).

Fresh Tomato Chicken Feta Penne

4 servings- serve with salad and or crusty bread

Ingredients:

2 fresh cloves garlic- minced

2 diced tomatoes

1 cup crumbled feta

½ c cheddar cheese finely grated

1 ½ Tbsp Italiano Spice

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp fresh cracked pepper

2-3 tbsp Olive oil

3-4 cups uncooked penne

Cook pasta.

In skillet on high heat(8) add oil and remaining ingredients(besides cheddar cheese and noodles) cook until chicken is cooked and all ingredients have blended creating a thick sauce. This is about approx 5-7 minutes.

Have strained hot noodles in bowls sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and than add chicken sauce.