Tomatillo Salsa

Jason and I hit the farmer's market this past weekend to pick up some hot peppers for homemade hot sauce. We chatted with a nice guy at the market, discussing which of his peppers would be best for our intentions. He also pointed out the "ghost peppers" he had on the table. The ghost pepper, or Naga or Bhut Jolokia is the hottest pepper in the world coming in at a 1,000,000 on the Scoville rating (for reference, a jalapeno comes in at a mere 5,000, and a habanero tops out at about 350,000). When we paid for our jalapenos and serranos, he offered us two for free.

We were scared but intrigued. After a visit to Walgreens for some latex gloves, we decided to try the pepper in a tomatillo salsa. Jason started working and we decided to put our tongue on the tiniest slice of the pepper.... Not much happened. We got bold and took a little nibble. And pretty much nothing. A very mild hot pepper. Obviously not a Bhut Jolokia, we're thinking it was an Anaheim.

Either way, we ended up with a delicious tomatillo salsa. Try it out with your favorite pepper! And if you get your hands on a real ghost pepper, let us know!

TOMATILLO SALSA

1 1/2 lbs tomatillo
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 anaheim pepper, destemmed and seeded
1/2 jalapeno pepper, destemmed and seeded
1/2 cup or so cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp lime juice
salt to taste
*optional 1/2 tsp sugar

-Preheat oven to 450

-Remove husks from tomatillos and rinse. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, slice the tomatillos in half and roast face down in the oven until the skins start to blacken. Remove and let cool.

- Put tomatillos, onion, peppers, cilantro, and lime juice in a blender and pulse until finely chopped. Season to taste with salt.

Sun Dried Tomato Butter and Kalamata Tapenade

For our anniversary we ate at Girl & the Goat! The food, the service, the wine, everything was amazing. One of the simplest dishes which simply blew us away was a bread dish. A lovely, oil soaked stecca served with sides of smoked tomato butter and a tapenade. At first glance we couldn't really figure out how the flavors would come together, but on first bite we were sold. It was amazing!

Here's our version of the Girl & the Goat dish. Sun dried tomatoes and a dash of pimenton (smoked paprika) stand in for smoked tomatoes, and the tapenade came out of whatever we had in the fridge. All in all, a really nice accompaniment for a slice of baguette that we've been making frequently this summer!

Sun Dried Tomato Butter
2 sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
Approximately 1.5 Tbsp butter
Dash of pimenton (we've been using spicy but you can use spicy or sweet)
Salt (depending on whether your butter is salted or not)

- In a mini-food processor, process the tomatoes
- Add the butter and spices and process until smooth

Kalamata Tapenade
15-20 kalamata olives, pitted
1 anchovy filet, packed in oil
1 tsp fresh oregano
1 tsp fresh parsley
1 scratch black pepper
dash of olive oil
squeeze of lemon

- On a cutting board pile up the first 5 ingredients and run your knife through several times to chop
- Add a dash of oil and a squeeze of lemon, enough to get all of the ingredients to hang together

Slice your baguette, smear with a little butter and top with the tapenade. Enjoy!

Homemade Worcestershire Sauce

I came across this recipe on the America's Test Kitchen website and had to try it! Luckily, I had a 2 week break from classes, giving me some free time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I got myself into a bit of a cooking frenzy one day which was kickstarted by this recipe for homemade worcestershire sauce. I adjusted the cooking times a dash which I'll note in the recipe below. Overall, something emerged which smelled and tasted remarkably like worcestershire sauce! We've already used it in some burger patties to rave reviews. And over the past few weeks the flavors have melded into something even more delicious.

Is it time or cost effective? Not really. Was it fun? Yes. And is it always more satisfy to make a condiment rather than buy it? Of course.

HOMEMADE WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground clove
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup water
½ cup molasses
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 shallots, minced
5 anchovies, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced

- Toast pepper, ginger, cinnamon, clove, onion powder, and cayenne in small skillet over medium heat, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer spices to bowl; set aside. Whisk vinegar, water, molasses, fish sauce, and tamarind paste together in second bowl; set aside.

- Heat oil in small saucepan over medium-low heat until shimmering. Add shallots and cook until softened and browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add anchovies, garlic, and toasted spices and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

- Whisk in vinegar mixture, scrapping up any browned bits. Bring to boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 hour.

- Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer; discard solids. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 2 months.

Garlic Scape Pesto

I bought a bunch of beautiful garlic scapes recently at the farmer's market (yay summer!). Last year I had purchased a pre-made garlic scape pesto and figured this year I would try to make my own (the one I purchased last summer was delicious but way too garlicky for me).

Taking a look around the kitchen I found a mini bag of walnuts and a giant bunch of parsley and thought that those flavors combined with the garlic scapes would be wonderfully nutty while the parsley would help cut down a bit on the overpowering, headache inducing garlic flavor. And I was right. This pesto is delicious with the perfect amount of bite. Don't be confused, this is not your regular basil pesto, but I can't wait to try it out on some pasta this week or spread on a grilled chicken breast!

GARLIC SCAPE PESTO

2 garlic scapes, cut into pieces
1 large handful fresh parsley
1 oz walnuts (approx)
Parmesan cheese (a couple of Tbsp?)
Dash of salt
Olive oil
Fresh squeezed lemon juice (optional)

-Combine the garlic scapes, parsley, walnuts, parmesan and salt in a food processor.

-With the blade running, drizzle in the olive oil until you get the desired consisteny, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

-Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and a dash of lemon juice if you like

This recipe can be doubled, tripled, whatever you like! I'm planning to make a few batches and freeze some for later in the season!

Blue Cheese Burgers with Red Onion Jam

Bobby Flay knows how to grill. We used his recipe for blue cheese burgers and red onion last weekend and served them with the roasted fingerling potato salad with watercress and horseradish dressing. I did my burgers with blue cheese, Jason and Nancy opted for provolone. Either way, with the red onion jam, dinner was delicious! We'll be enjoying these throughout the summer, and tonight!

BURGERS

1 lb grass fed ground beef
Worcestershire sauce
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Arugula or watercress
Blue cheese or provolone

- Mix the seasonings into the beef. Form into 3 patties, and make an indent with your thumb on the top of the patty. Grill to your desired level of doneness, just before done, add cheese to the top and cover the grill to melt. And don't forget to toast your buns!

- Serve the burgers topped with dijon mustard, red onion jam and arugula or watercress if you'd like

RED ONION JAM

1 medium red onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup red wine
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper

- Halve the onion and slice thinly

- Heat the oil in a sauce pan and saute the onion, with some salt and pepper, until nice and soft

- Add the wine, vinegar, honey and thyme and cook until the liquid is absorbed.

- Set aside and season to taste with salt and pepper