Pico de Gallo aka Salsa Fresca

This is also from Pioneer Woman's website. I can't help myself, but this is just 'it'. I've tried to make pico and fresh salsa for years, and it was never quite right. This recipe finally gets the ratio of tomatoes to jalapeno to onion jussssst right, in my opinion. When I make this I have to quadruple the recipe, at the very least. I'm not kidding. It turns people into pigs. Pico-eating pigs. I hope you have enough chips. I have even made this and used it to marinate leftover grilled flank steak overnight. Then the next day, I sear the leftover marinated steak in a cast iron skillet, just long enough to heat it up, and make steak fajitas with portabello mushrooms, mushrooms, onions and red/yellow/orange bell peppers, sauteeing the vegetables in olive oil and Sal con Chile y Limon before heating the steak. YUM!

 

 

Pico De Gallo

5 Roma tomatoes (firm, not soft)

1/2 large or 1 small onion

3 jalapeno peppers

1 bunch cilantro

2-3 limes

Kosher Salt

*These quantities are approximate

Dice tomatoes, onion, and jalapenos. (I quarter my tomatoes lengthwise, then scrape the seeds and tomato goo out with a paring knife. I also remove the seeds and white membrane from inside the jalapenos.) Mince cilantro. Toss together in a bowl. Squeeze lime juice over chopped vegetables, add cilantro, toss again. Add salt to taste. Toss again.

***To make wonderful guacamole, just add some of this pico to mashed avocado.

Lemon-and-Bay-Leaf Pickled Green Beans

During one of my 57 visits to Lowe's in the last few months, I made an impulse purchase (okay, there were probably a few impulse purchases, but this one has proven the most fun).  It was a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Canning.  I'm working my way through this cookbook/magazine and have made a few recipes, and adapted a couple others.  I'm really enjoying it, and recommend it to anyone interested in canning as a food preservation method. 

Lemon-and-Bay-Leaf Pickled Green Beans

recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Canning special interest publication, 2011 edition

makes 4 pints

2 3/4 cups water

2 cups white vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon pickling salt

2 1/4 pounds (11 cups) fresh green and yellow beans, ends trimmed

8 bay leaves

4 teaspoons whole peppercorns (I used a mix of red, green and black)

8 strips lemon peel (use a vegetable peeler to make these, then squeeze the lemons for the juice called for in this recipe)

1.  In an 8-quart stainless-steel, enamel or nonstick heavy pot, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and pickling salt.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar and salt dissolve.

2.  Add beans to liquid and return to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute.  Drain beans; reserve the liquid.  Set beans aside and return pickling liquid to a simmer and cover.

3.  Place 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of peppercorns and 2 strips of lemon peel to each of the 4 hot, sterilized pint jars.  Pack the hot beans into them, lengthwise.

4.  Pour boiling pickling liquid over beans in jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.  Remove any air bubbles in filled jars.  Secure lids and rings.

5.  Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes (start timing when the water returns to boiling after adding the jars).  Remove jars from canner and cool on wire racks.

Scallops with Creamy Pesto

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's actually been too hot to stand outside and grill, so I've been dredging up recipes that get me in and out of the kitchen quickly.  More accurately, this is a recipe that only requires your stove to be on for about 5 minutes.  Minimal ingredients, fast and really tasty.  Serve with veggies or pasta (which may require the stove to be on a little longer ;-P--make sure it's done before the scallops so they don't have to sit as they are best served immediately).

Scallops with Creamy Pesto

1 ½ lbs. sea scallops, patted dry

1/3 c. prepared pesto

2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

1 tsp. minced garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat 1 ½ tsp. olive oil and minced garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add scallops and cook just 4 minutes (2 minutes per side), until golden and barely opaque at the center.  Remove from skillet to plate and cover with a paper towel.  Turn off stove burner.  Add pesto and cream to still-warm skillet and stir to blend.
2. Spoon cream sauce onto plates and top with scallops.  Add salt and pepper, to taste, though this dish really doesn't require much of either.

Serves 4

Welcome Summer and the Sun Tea Jar

Memorial Day weekend is here and it's official.  Summer is here!  It's only been this last week that it FEELS to me like summer is anywhere nearby.  Maybe this has to do with the fact that while out and about the evening of MAY 3RD, I wore a SKI PARKA.  At any rate, this last week has finally found me turning on the central air, planning, buying  and planting the annuals in my summer flower pots for around the house and getting my hands dirty in the raised beds of my vegetable and herb gardens.

Now, I'm a year-round lover of iced tea (Luzianne tea bags, heavy on the sugar, please).  I prefer it to soda and always have a pitcher in the fridge.  Summer comes and I can't keep the pitcher full.  While I was grocery shopping the other day with the kids, I saw that our friends at Kroger had the glass sun tea jars I remember my mom and grandma sitting out in the sun each year.  I had to have one!  And this morning, its maiden voyage on my deck:

It couldn't be easier to make.  Just fill the jar with tap/filtered water (NOT boiling!!!), 4-6 tea bags and sugar (I like my tea to be like hummingbird food, so I use 2 cups...don't judge me ;-P).  Allow the jar to sit in the sun until the tea is brewed to your preferred strength then bring the jar in and pop it in the fridge or on your kitchen counter.  Serve over ice with a nice slice of lemon.

WELCOME SUMMER!!!!