Salsa

This is a great salsa recipe from my father-in-law. I eat it by the bowl. It is that good. I made a few changes to keep it mild, but kept the recipe below the same way I got it from him. Thanks!

1. I did not use the jalapenos, green chiles or habanero. It is just too hot for me. I made it with the 2 yellow chiles and pablano pepper (which is actually not in the original recipe) and it was spicy. The next day the salsa was much more mild. I am not sure why.

2. I did not include any salt or garlic salt. I do not like to eat that much salt. Besides, commercial chips have salt on them already. You can add the salt if you want.

I tried to freeze a little of the salsa and see how it comes out. It was watery and did not have the same texture. The salsa does not freeze well, so eat it up in a couple of days.

Salsa Recipe (Pico de Gallo)
28 oz can whole tomatoes
4 long green chiles
2 short yellow chiles
2 Jalapeños, optional
1 Habanero, optional
4 medium-large tomatoes
2 bunches cilantro
2 bunches green onions
1 white onion
5 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt

In a blender, blend the following:

Can of tomatoes, two green chilies, one yellow chile, both Jalapeños, the Habanero, the garlic, half the white onion, one bunch of the cilantro, along with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Pour into a large bowl. Note: To keep the salsa cool, seed the chilies.

Slice, dice and add the following:

The tomatoes, the other half of the white onion, the green onions, the rest of the chilies, and the last bunch of the cilantro. Stir and eat.

Tamale Pie

This is very good and very yummy. It is cornbread on top of yummy goodness. You can make the filling 24 hours ahead. Put the filling into the dish and cover with plastic. When ready, make the crust batter and bake as directed.

Filling

1 pound ground beef, as lean as you can get it

1 large onion, chopped fine

6 oz tomato paste

2 cups very finely chopped chard or frozen spinach (no need to defrost)

1 ½ teaspoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoons ground coriander

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoon cornmeal, coarse or fine
1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed

1/4 cup lentils, rinsed

3 cups water

14 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Crust

1 cup cornmeal, fine grind

1 cup all purpose flour, (not whole wheat because ww makes it too harsh)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup yogurt, any fat

1/2 cup milk, any fat

Cook meat and onion until the meat is cooked NO OIL in a 12 inch skillet or a dutch oven. Add the spices and the tomato paste. Cook for a couple of minutes to cook the paste. Add the rest of the ingredients, except cheese and vinegar, partially cover and cook until the lentils and quinoa are tender. Add the red wine vinegar. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

Pour the filling into an oven safe dish and sprinkle with cheese. Cook for 20 minutes at 350 F.

While the filling cooks, prepare the crust. Combine the dry and wet in two separate bowls. Just before getting the dish out, mix the wet and dry until just combined. Place big scoops of batter over the filling. Spread the batter over the filling with a wet spatula. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Basic Frittata

Frittata is like an omelet, but enriched with meats, veggies, cheese, or what ever you like. This is a very yummy and easy recipe. You can add whatever you want, but make sure that you do not add too much stuff.

In the pictured frittata, I put finely chopped fresh parsley, about 5 sun dried tomatoes that I sliced thin and half of fresh Anaheim chili pepper. I added the chili pepper with the onion and mixed the parsley and tomatoes with the eggs.

Basic Frittata

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

6 large eggs

1/4 cup milk, any fat

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

freshly ground pepper, to taste

Add oil to a 10 inch non-stick skillet and preheat the pan over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the stuff that needs to be cooked. For the basic frittata it is the onion but you would also add for example mushrooms, hot or regular peppers at this point. Season with the salt and pepper and cook until the onion is soft.

Turn the broiler on while the stuff is cooking in the pan. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, herbs (such as parsley, thyme, rosemary) until combined. Just before adding the egg mixture, add the garlic to the pan and stir. When you smell the garlic, pour in the egg mixture.

Stir with a rubber spatula. When the eggs become almost done (look curdled, but still soupy) place the eggs under the broiler (middle shelf). The frittata is ready when it is puffy. This should take about 2-3 minutes.

Remove and slide a rubber spatula over the bottom to release the frittata. Slide on a plate, cut and eat.

It is better fresh, but I think that it tastes just fine the next day.

Serves 4 people

Spaghetti and Meatballs

These meatballs are really tasty and moist.  You can make some spaghetti and meatballs out of them, serve them with a salad or make a sandwich.

You want to use fresh breadcrumbs, not the dry ones from the store. Fresh breadcrumbs are really easy to make. Just put stale or fresh bread into a food processor and process until fine. I prefer to use whole wheat bread. To store the breadcrumbs just put into a bag and keep in the freezer.

When tossing the meat together with the rest of the ingredients, be gentle. You do not want to force the meat together too much because that will result in a dense meatball. You want a light and fluffy meatball. Use your fingertips to toss the meat.

To make 12 even sized balls, divide the meat in half and then divide each half in half pieces. Divide each of the 4 pieces into 3 to get 12 meatballs.

I steam and then brown the meatballs. This is not how normal meatballs are cooked. I prefer to steam them for health reasons and then brown them for look and taste.

You can freeze cooked meatballs, well wrapped, for up to a month. Defrost in the refrigerator.

Meatballs

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 tablespoon plain yogurt, any fat

3 tablespoons milk, any fat

1 large egg yolk

1 pound ground beef, as lean as you can get it

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil or parsley

2 garlic cloves, made into a paste on a microplane

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Combine the breadcrumbs with the buttermilk and yolk in a large bowl. Mash until you get a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss with light hand to combine all the ingredients thoroughly. Divide into 12 chunks, form into balls and put on a plate. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

You can put a cube of mozzarella cheese in the meatball (about 1/2 inch cube). Fresh mozzarella (the one that is sold in water) works better in the meatball than the harder mozzarella. Be sure to tuck it in really good. During steaming the cheese may spill out a bit.

Steam the meatballs until they are 160 F. Remove and heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 12-inch skillet (not non-stick) over medium-low heat. When the oil is simmering, put the meatballs into the skillet. Don't pull on them or move them around after that. Let them develop a crust and when they are ready to release they will come off easily. Remove on to a paper lined plate.

To make spaghetti and meatballs, this is what you do. Heat up some spaghetti sauce (as much or as little as you want) in the same skillet that you browned the meatballs. Add the spaghetti (again as much as you want) and toss to combine. Add the meatballs (do not need to add all, since you can freeze leftovers) and coat them in the sauce. Arrange on the plate (2 or 3 meatballs per person). Sprinkle with some parsley and Parmesan and serve.

Makes 12 meatballs

Kale Salad

Eat this salad and you will be very happy because it is so yummy and so delicious. I only had raisins, but dried cranberries will look prettier in this salad.

Kale Salad

6 cups kale, ribs removed and loosely packed
Juice of 1/2 lemon

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, made into a paste on a microplane
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated aged cheese, such as Parmesan, Pecorino, Asiago
1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Process kale in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Toss to combine and eat!

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Garlic Beets

My mom makes beets with sour cream and garlic. I love the taste and the sour cream gives the beets a pink color. I added turmeric because of its health properties and I enjoy the taste. This is really good with meat, but I actually eat it plain.

Garlic Beets

8 ounces whole beets, stems and leaves removed

3 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 garlic clove, grated on a microplane

Boil the beets until fork tender, remove and set aside to cool. When cool, rub the beets to remove the peel. Grate on the fine side of the grater and then add the rest of the ingredients. Mix to combine and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Spanikopita

Googums, who is my husband's God-Mother, makes Spanikopita all the time. I love it very much. I like to make it into individual triangles that I can freeze to bake later. I do this because the spanikopita is really only good the day it is made because the filo gets soggy as it sits.

You will need as little as half and as much as a the entire box of the filo dough. If the filo is behaving and not ripping, you will probably use 8 ounces (half the box). When I made the triangles, the filo was tearing and being a real pain. If you have leftover filo dough, you can not store it. Either toss it or make something with it, such as cups (scroll down to read).

After you form the triangles you can freeze them on a baking sheet. When they are hard, transfer to a bag and freeze for up to a month. When you want some spanikopita, take as many triangles as you want (no need to defrost) and place them on a baking sheet (lined with parchment). Bake at 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes.

By the way, you do not have to make triangles. You can make the whole thing in a baking dish. You will need 8 ounces of filo here. Just take a baking dish (the dimensions of the filo dough) and line the bottom with half the filo. Make sure to brush each sheet with olive oil. Arrange the filling and cover with the rest of the filo (again brush each sheet with olive oil). Here is the important part! Cut the spanikopita with a knife before baking. Now bake at 350 F until the top is golden. Cool to room temperature and enjoy!

Spanikopita

16 ounces fresh spinach
8 ounces feta cheese
4 large eggs
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
NO SALT, I think that the feta cheese provides enough salt (some may disagree)

16 ounces filo dough, may only use 8 ounces
Olive oil, for brushing

Combine spinach, feta cheese and eggs in a large bowl. Use your hands to squish the spinach and everything together with to get a compact and dense filling.

Take a sheet of filo and brush it with olive oil. Top with another sheet and brush with olive oil. Repeat one more time. Cut in half to give you two long ribbons. Put some of the filling on the corner and roll it up to make a triangle.

Put on a baking sheet, cover with a towel and continue with the rest of the filling. Work quickly before the dough dries up. When done, brush the tops with olive oil.

Bake at 350 F (in the center of the oven) for 20 minutes or until the filo is golden. Cool to room temperature and enjoy. Store in the fridge and try to eat the yums the same day.

What to do with leftover filo?
Arrange three sheets on top (brush each one with olive oil or melted unsalted butter). Cut out squares and line a muffin tin (small or regular) with them. Bake at 350 F until golden. Remove, cool and store in airtight container. You can fill these with anything sweet or savory.

Chocolate Waffles with Espresso Sour Cream

I have a recipe for really delicious yeast waffles. I thought, what if I replace 1/4 cup of the flour with cocoa powder and add a little chopped chocolate? Would I get chocolate waffles? Well, I just made them and they were really good and very chocolaty. The waffles are not sweet by themselves. You got to put some syrup, sweetened sour cream, honey or ice cream on top.

Besides being good for you, these waffles are so easy. You just mix everything the night before and put into the fridge. So easy! I also like to make Peanut Butter Surprise Chocolate Waffles. They have a thin sliver of peanut butter in the center.

By the way, if you want to make regular waffles just replace the cocoa powder with all purpose flour and leave out the chocolate.

Chocolate Waffles with Espresso Sour Cream
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, any fat and cold is fine
1 ounce olive oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder, Dutch or natural
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
¾ teaspoon instant yeast
1 large egg
1/2 ounce chocolate, chopped into little pieces, optional

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

Cover and store in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 36 hours. Remove the batter from the refrigerator when the waffle iron is hot. Mix well and pour 1/2 cup of batter in the center of the iron for 7 inch waffles. Close and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and eat up right away.

Makes 4-large waffles

Espresso Sour Cream
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons confectioner sugar
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.

Peanut Butter Surprise Chocolate Waffles
Chocolate waffle recipe
peanut butter

When the waffle iron preheats, place a 1/4 cup of batter in the center. Add a blob of peanut butter (about a tablespoon) and cover with another 1/4 cup of batter. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.