The title should be more like “forgot and found”…

Last weekend when Marissa’s friends came up from Tucson, she and I made a grocery run to Food City for inexpensive Mexican food items. I found such a great price on poblanos that I purchased ten of the delicious and versatile peppers. I used 2 last weekend and placed the rest in one of the refrigerator’s produce drawers… and promptly forgot about them. After discovering them yesterday, I quickly roasted, peeled, and seeded all eight. Two were used for these enchiladas and the remaining six will be put to go use in tomorrow’s post… stay tuned! [Read more →]

Gratin and scalloped potatoes are so versatile, from the cheese to the flavorings – the mixing and matching options are endless. For the cheese; Swiss, cheddar, blue, goat, or no cheese at all. There are too many flavorings to mention but a short list might include onion, red pepper, tomato, fresh herbs, bacon, or mushrooms. The liquid doesn’t have to be milk or cream; you can use chicken broth, wine, sour cream, yogurt, and even water. What I like best about the gratins featured here is the size. Individual gratins are prettier than the “scooped from the pan” version and are perfect with as a summer BBQ side.

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One important lesson quickly learned by the summer students these past few weeks… it takes a bit more effort to not only eat healthy but also to cook healthy. That may seem obvious to most adults… cruise through the drive-thru window vs. grilling a burger yourself – obvious. But how about throwing a fat and juicy T-bone on the grill vs. grilling vegetables? A bit more effort with the vegetables, but effort well worth it, not only for the fabulous color and flavors – but also for your heart and soul!

Feel free to tweet and add to this recipe all you want. I would have included zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, etc., but those were already on the menu of the day in a variety of other vegetarian dishes. So scour the farmer’s market or pluck from your own garden and heat up the grill – enjoy!

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I found  out today that I am older than the fajita. This makes me seriously depressed! I can deal with being older than say; cell phones, laptops, GPS, and a wide assortment of of technological gizmos or even the microplane zester!  But older than fajitas… that’s just not right!

According to Wikipedia, “ Sonny Falcon is believed to have operated the first commercial fajita taco stand at a weeklong outdoor event in Kyle, Texas,  in 1969 (let’s just say I was already in elementary school by then). He also went to rodeos, fairs, and outdoor festivals selling his fajita taco. An Austin reporter christened him ‘The Fajita King’ and Falcon was able to trademark the name.” And according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word fajita is not known to have appeared in print until 1971 (at least I was still in grade school at the time).

Originally only skirt steak was used for this Tex-Mex icon, but today, popular meats include chicken, pork, shrimp, and just about all cuts of beef.  As an example; my sister Sloane had boneless bottom round on hand, so she marinated it overnight and we grilled that up for a quick and delicious fajita dinner. Thank you Sloane, and I have to say that the Dos Equis and my winning our 7 person/3 hour marathon of Mexican Train Dominoes did relieve a tiny bit of my new found realization about just how old I am!

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(Disclaimer: So I’ve already had a few people (whom I dearly love!) call or email to advise that I do not know how to spell all right... I do indeed know how to spell it correctly, but I’m going with the thought I had when I wrote the title for this post -which was Elton John’s hit, “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” … and if Elton spells it that way – it’s just fine and more than alright with me!)

After a long day of company picnicking, errands, and cleaning – a quick dinner was in order for Saturday night. I’ve used pomegranate molasses several times before, so just click on that ingredient and it will take you to the easy recipe. Pom molasses is a valuable ingredient to have on hand. It gives a great big punch to everything from chicken, lamb, beef and fish to your run of the mill – ho hum vegetable dishes.

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Mole – when most gringos think of mole, they immediately think “Oh, that Mexican sauce that has chocolate in it.” Not necessarily true, there are a wide number of sauces that are moles and only one of them contains chocolate. The word mole comes from the Nahuatl word “milli” which means “sauce” or “concoction”.  The most common or widely known mole in America is guacamole, meaning “avocado concoction”.

Moles can be black (negro), red (rojo), yellow (amarillo), and green (verde), to name but a few. Mole negro is the most labor intensive to prepare. It traditionally has six varieties of chile peppers, seeds, nuts, spices, herbs and chocolate.

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For the “end of spring break” brunch yesterday we had home fries, also known as breakfast potatoes, along with our frittata. I generally add diced red bell pepper to my potatoes, but since those were already prominent in the frittata, I left them out this time. Feel free to use 1 diced pepper in your potatoes though, you’ll just add and sauté it along with the onion.

Most recipes for home fries, such as these, call for the potatoes to be boiled first. I’ve found that this leaves the potatoes too water logged and they do not brown as well when later sautéed, so instead I use the microwave to steam them… far better end result! How long to steam them all depends on your own microwave, and you know it best, so use your judgment.

My microwave is, by far, the worst tool in my entire kitchen… as my kids say, “it sucks!”  Every single time they come home, they are shocked to see that it is still here. I do not know why I am so resistant to just go get a new one. I’ve had to purchase several in the last few years for the kids’ dorms and apartments, so why not just get a new one for myself? Maybe I feel I need to have just one thing in my kitchen that isn’t “all that.”  I mean, I am so fortunate to have all the latest and greatest and, in many cases, (because of the cooking school) more than just one of each of those latest and greatest…  Three KitchenAid standing mixers (all the big model); four Cuisinarts, including the new super-duper one; a Vita-Mix and two Waring blenders; more than two dozen silicone spatulas in every shape, size, and color; a dozen whisks… you get the picture. So if I have to suffer with an inferior microwave that literally takes twice the time to cook something, so be it!  I honestly don’t use it that much for actual cooking, more often than not, it is used to melt chocolate and butter or to soften something. Although it did take a full 17 minutes to get these potatoes tender! But if you have a “good” microwave, it may only take 6 or 7 minutes.

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My girlfriend, Lorie, was recently in town from California; along with her sister, Cathy, who was in from Indiana. We had a great night out and Lorie was raving about a roasted vegetable and polenta lasagna she had ordered at a Los Angeles area restaurant called Zinc Café & Market. Let me tell you, I am a fool for polenta and there aren’t too many things more fantastic than roasted vegetables! Since I won’t be getting to LA in the near future, I had to make my own concoction! The polenta fills in as the “noodle” layers in this healthy, gluten-free, and vegetarian lasagna. You can purchase prepared firm polenta in a tube at most grocery stores and always at Trader Joe’s. Thank you Lorie for a great night, dinner, the cute little glasses you gave me, and the idea for this scrumptious lasagna. It was a bona-fide hit with Dave, me, and (believe it or not) even my Dad!

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Yes, it’s true, I’m still talking about our gorgeous Sunday Valentine’s Day at the Queen Creek Olive Mill, hope you don’t mind ~ because I really love that place! I picked up a bottle of one of their new flavored balsamic vinegars. Fig Balsamic – delicious!

You too can have a bottle of the balsamic or any one of their amazing olive oils… just click here and mail order.

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My darling daughter, Marissa, requested I post some yummy and easy sides. How about an outline – sort of a guide on how to make quick improvisational sides anytime you want? I made this dish with what I had on hand in my produce drawers. You begin by gathering your hard vegetables together; such as onion, carrots, celery, bell peppers, fennel, parsnips, squash, etc. Clean and chop.

Next pull out your soft vegetables; things like spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, leftover cooked potatoes, etc. and prep them. Sauté the hard vegetables together until soft, add in the soft veggies and season, that’s all there is to it! You can add in other items too, such as canned drained beans, chickpeas, frozen corn, chopped olives or artichoke hearts…getting the idea?

Once you have the vegetables cooked, use them in pastas, salads, quesadillas, wraps, or on their own as a nutritious, colorful side dish.  I like to keep a small bowl on hand to add into scrambled eggs for a quick, satisfying, and ”no-brainer” breakfast. (because who wants to think too hard in the morning?)

Here, I am adding them to some brown rice as a side. Instead of the rice, mix it up by serving on top of couscous or quinoa. Also pictured at the bottom, I’ve chilled the rice and veggie mixture, formed it into a patties (mix in a tablespoon or two of sour cream, mayonnaise, beaten egg, crème fraîche, or soft cream cheese to help bind the mixture, if needed). Bread the patty with a mixture of Parmesan cheese and panko, chill the breaded rice cakes for a couple hours, then cook in a little olive oil, to brown and crisp them, and serve on their own or with a little bit of hot marinara sauce. Versatile, right?

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