I can’t remember which site I found this recipe on, but it’s delicious.  The roasting of all of the veggies really ads a nice flavor to the salsa.

Note that this makes a lot — a big mixing bowl full.

•  16 full size tomatoes, or nearly a produce bag full of roma tomatoes (we used roma)
• 2-3 yellow onions
• 20-25 Serrano peppers (remove caps) Note: this many peppers makes it hot. Feel free to reduce # of peppers, or scrape the seeds out of them
• 8-10 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 Tbsp salt
• 1-2 bunches cilantro

1.  Halve the tomatoes and onions and lay cut-side up on a cookie sheet along with the peppers and garlic
2. Roast at 375 till the onions look nice and translucent (see bottom left of the next picture), tomatoes look soft, and peppers are getting a nice char on them
3. Let it all cool a bit, then run through the food processor with salt and cilantro (we had to do this in two batches)
4. Stir it all together and eat!

Storage

It’ll last at least a week in the fridge in a Tupperware-type container, although it’ll rarely stay around that long. You could potentially freeze some if you wanted to store it for longer (then defrost it in the fridge), but really, it is at its best when it’s still hot from roasting!

Spiciness

Varies a lot based on personal taste and individual peppers. Sometimes you’ll get a batch of extra hot peppers and other times you might as well have used bell peppers.  If you are very sensitive to spice, cut the seeds out and just use the meat of the pepper. Also, roasting the peppers longer will bring out the sugars in the peppers which will make it less fiery. Use fewer peppers if you’re wary.

Roasting

You can definitely do this on a grill instead of the oven, in fact, that is my preferred method. I typically roast the onions until they’re translucent, the garlic until it’s browned (not too black), and the tomatoes and peppers until the skins are mostly blackened.

• 3 cups flour
• 17 ½  Tbsp unsweetened butter
• 1 egg
• Some salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• Water for texture

Mix all. Divide in 2, with one ball larger than the other. Place in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.

For the filling:

• 3 ½ cups of walnuts
• 3 cups sugar
• 8 eggs
• Lemon zest
• Cinnamon, nutmeg (to taste)
• ¼ cup of Sultana Raisins or more, as you wish (my raisins were soaked in rum since Christmas. You can have the same effect if you microwave the raisins in rum, then let it cool)
• 1 tbsp sour cream. I used cream cheese instead because that’s all I had.

Grind it all up in a food processor or a heavy duty blender before you add the eggs and raisins, then add these at the end and mix a bit.

Turn oven on at 450°F. Take 2 dough balls out of fridge, and roll out larger one of the 2.

Layer into a buttered 13” x 8” pan. Pour filling on dough. Roll out the 2^nd dough ball, and place on top. Bake for 50 minutes.

When the cake is cool, you can sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.

Enjoy!!

Place all ingredients in your food processor and run until they are completed blended.

Serve with chips or on top of cream cheese or whatever sounds good.

Active Time: 8 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups Coleslaw Mix (from a bag)
• ½ Cup Thinly Sliced Red Onion
• ¼ Cup Light Mayonnaise
• 1 Tsp. Grated Lime Zest
• 3 TBSP Fresh Lime Juice
• 2 Tsp. Granulated Sugar
• 6 Frozen Beer Battered Fish Fillets (usually in boxes of 10)
• 8 Corn Tortilla Shells

1. Toss coleslaw mix, onion, mayonnaise, lime zest, juice, and sugar in a bowl.  Leave at room temperature.
2. Heat oven to 375°F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup.
3. Place frozen fish fillets at one end of pan.  Bat 25 minutes.  Place tortilla shells at other end.  Bake 4 minutes, or until shells are warm and fish is cooked though.
4. Place fish in medium bowl and break into chunks with a fork.
5. Spoon into tortilla shells; top with coleslaw

Suggestions:

Don’t use beer battered fish fillets.  I would suggest using some white fish that is not breaded, like Tilapia. You may need to use more of an un-breaded fish in order to make up for the lack of bread chunks.  The bread portion of the fish takes away from the actual fish taco taste.

The tacos needed a little something to them when we followed the recipe above.  I would suggest using a green salsa or something else to add a spicy kick.  I used Sriracha Sauce and it was delish!

Vegetarian Version:

Don’t use fish in the tacos at all.  Instead warm a tortilla up with some cheese (I suggest pepper jack for a little kick).  Put the coleslaw on top & add your salsa.  Enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from a recipe found in Women’s Day Magazine.

Pictures will follow soon, I promise!

Shakshuka

Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce
An Israeli dish of  eggs, poached in a spicy tomato sauce

Serves 4 to 6

• 1/4 cup olive oil (I used some chili oil I made)
• 5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Warm pitas, for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water; reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk.

Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.

“Black Beans”

Yields 8 servings.

1 lb. black beans

10 cups of water

—————————————-

2/3 C. olive oil

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

2 green pepper

4 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

1/4 c. oregano

1 bay leaf

2 T. sugar

—————————————-

2 T.  vinegar

2 T. cooking wine

2 T. olive oil

Wash beans and soak in water with one green pepper.  Let soak at least 24 hours.

When beans are swollen start cooking in the same water until they soften (approximately 45 minutes).  In a skillet, heat oil.

Sauté chopped onion, garlic and then add a finely chopped green pepper.  Add approximately one cup of black beans to skillet and crush well, then add everything together with the rest of the beans.  Add salt, pepper, oregano, bay leaf and sugar.

Cook for another hour approximately.  Add vinegar and cooking wine and cook in low heat for another hour.  If it’s still quite “liquidy” (too bro-thy) cook without lid so it can thicken.

When you are ready to serve add 2 T. olive oil.

Serve over white rice.

2 pounds asparagus
Olive oil
Salt
Extra pork marinade from Grilled Pork Tenderloin recipe

Instructions

1. Prepare the grill.
2. Snap off tough ends of asparagus and trim scales. Arrange spears in baking dish or heavy-duty zip-top bag; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
3. Grill thin spears in a grill pan or basket; arrange thicker spears perpendicular to grates to prevent falling through. Cook 6 to 10 minutes, until slightly charred and crisp-tender. Serve with extra pork marinade.

Serves 6 to 8.

ð       2 whole Napa Cabbages

ð       1 Cup of Kosher Salt

ð       10 Cups of Water

ð       7 Tbsp of Anchovy Sauce or Fish Sauce

ð       1 1/4 Cup of Crushed Red Pepper

ð       8 Pieces of Green Onion, chopped

ð       1/2 of a Radish  (Korean radish or Daikon radish)

ð       1 Whole Garlic, peeled and minced

ð       1 Piece of Ginger, peeled and minced

ð       1 Yellow Onion, minced

ð       1/2 of an Apple, chopped

ð       1/2 of an Apple Pear, chopped (It is also called an Asian Pear)

ð       4 Tbsp of Sugar

Directions:

1. Slice Napa Cabbage into bite size pieces and put into a large bowl.
2. Mix water and salt together and pour over cabbage.
3. Let the cabbage sit for 2 hours.
4. In a blender or food processor, combine the garlic, onion, apple, apple pear, ginger, and Radish together and puree.
5. Julienne the Green Onions.
6. After 2 hours rinse the cabbage in cold water about 3 times.
7. Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl. (Rubber gloves recommended)
8. Store the kimchi in room temperature over night and then keep in the refrigerator.

Notes:  I live a very small town in northern Wyoming.  All of the above ingredients are available in my local Albertson’s grocery store.  I’m sure they are available in most stores around the country.  For the Fish Sauce, look in the Asian section of your grocery store.

It is also served at a restaurant I like in New York called Café Habana.  It is so yummy that I thought I’d share the recipe.

Ingredients

1.       Corn on the cob – husked

2.       Mayonnaise

3.       Sour Cream or Crema Fresca

4.       Cotija Cheese, grated

5.       Cayenne Pepper, to taste

6.       Chili powder, to taste

7.       Lime cut into wedges

Directions

1.       Husk corn & char the ears on a grill (I used the broiler setting in my oven)

2.       Mix equal parts of Sour Cream (or Crema Fresca) and Mayonnaise

3.       While corn is still hot, slather with cream mixture

4.       Roll corn in the grated Cotija cheese

5.       Give a healthy sprinkling of cayenne pepper and chili powder on top of the cheese

6.       Squeeze a little lime juice on each ear before serving

7.       ENJOY!

Tips

1.       I found Crema Fresca & Cotija Cheese in near the pre-shredded cheese in my grocery store

2.       Crema Fresca comes in a jar that kind of looks like Mayo

3.       Cotija Cheese comes in a large round circle

4.        I don’t have a grill, so I used the broiler setting in my oven.  It took about 15 minutes to cook this way.

5.       Don’t use frozen corn.  I tried it and it took forever to defrost and the corn came out a little mushy.  I suggest using fresh corn for the best taste.

This recipe is a great side dish for BBQ’s.  It’s easy and it tastes great!