Weekly Review and Peruvian Green Sauce aka Aji Virde

It was a cooler than normal week here but the heat and humidity is making a comeback.  I worked on the garden trying to get it ready to plant a little for the fall.  I still have tomatoes, cayenne peppers, basil, rosemary and oregano growing.  Everything else has been harvested and cleaned up.  The farmers market was amazing Friday and I picked up a number of things.

Dinner this week:

Chicken, onion and pepper stir fry with mac and cheese and tomato slices with basil    

 Beef picadillo with  rice and green sauce       

 Omelette, bacon, roasted diced potato     

 Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread 

RARE, a local family owned place...our first dinner in a restaurant since March.  I had a beer cheese pretzel as an appetizer and an amazing steak and salad for my meal.  The steak was SO amazing. 

Grilled chicken, corn on the cob and stuffed poblanos                                                                                

A BIG salad

So a little on the 'green sauce'.  Well over 25 years ago I worked with a woman whose father was originally from Peru.  She gave me her recipe for Peruvian Green Sauce or Aji Verde.  I did a google search and found that there are as many recipes for this sauce as there are people in Peru.  Some add mayo, vinegar, mustard, cilantro, one I saw even added cheese.  I am sticking to the one I've always made because it is delicious.  It is very good on grilled meats, spaghetti, picadillo, chili...you name it.                  

Lydia's Peruvian Green Sauce:

1 medium yellow onion  

1 medium green bell pepper

4 cloves garlic

3 or 4 jalapeno

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil  

                                                                                           

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and combine until smooth.  Will keep for over a week in a covered glass jar in the fridge. 

I'm working on my Fall cleaning and going through every cabinet, drawer, closet and surface of this house.  I plan to be done by October 1st.  The beginning of my Holiday season.  Yes it's all on the way...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years.  I love celebrating them all.  Not sure what this winter will bring between the election and Covid, but I'm hoping it will be OK because this woman could really use something to look forward to.

Oh and Blogger...you're killing me.  It took me way to long to post this because of your settings. 

An appetizer and a score at the farmers market

I love appetizers, I always have. When a party invite says "heavy hor d'oeurves" I am in.  I was watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate a couple of weeks ago and Molly Yeh picked Dill Pickle egg rolls. Sounds odd but let me tell you, they are SO GOOD!

I took egg roll wrappers and spread a little water all around the edges.  Placed a slice of Havarti in the center and a dill pickle spear in the center of the cheese.  Wrap as you would an egg roll and fry.  Serve with Ranch dressing with a little Sriracha added in for dipping. The picture I snapped doesn't do them justice.  I should have sliced them sideways for better presentation but I was in a hurry to try them.

I will be making these again.

Since something ate all of my Jalapeno Peppers we went to the farmers market Saturday to find a few more to freeze for the winter.  We scored.  These mammoth jalapenos (same as the variety I was growing) were 5 for a dollar.  Between what I have already frozen this year, the ones I've pickled and now these, I think we will be good until next summer.

Things That Make Me Smile

I don't know if this is new or not but I have not noticed it before.  I love the barcode on Tollhouse Chocolate Chips.

I'm working on my appetizer game tonight so I'll have a new and hopefully tasty recipe posted tomorrow.  

Breakfast for Dinner

So far, our summer weather has been typical.  Hot and humid.  But today, the high is 70 F.  It is actually a bit chilly out.  It is so refreshing, especially being August 1.

We've been having breakfast for dinner once a week for awhile now.  Last night we had bacon, green peppers and onion scrambled eggs, potatoes and biscuits.  I'm not a huge biscuit lover like the big guy is but I have to say they were very good.

Most recipes for southern biscuits call for lard instead of butter.  I prefer to use butter. These biscuits are very flakey and tender. This recipe is from The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.

1/2 Cup buttermilk

1/2 Cup sour cream

2 Cups Flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick of cold butter

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 425 F.  Whisk together the buttermilk and sour cream in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and process until blended, about 3 seconds.  Scatter the cold butter evenly over the flour and pulse until the mixture resembles course meal and the largest butter pieces are about 1/ inch at their widest.  Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until combined.  Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until it just comes together, adding extra flour as necessary. 

With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12 inch square.  Using a bench scraper, fold the right third of the dough over the center, then fold the left third over so you end up with a 12 x4 inch rectangle.  Fold the top third down over the center, then fold the bottom third up so the whole thing is reduced to a 4 inch square.  Press the square down and roll out again into a 12 inch square.  Repeat the folding process one more time.

Roll the dough again into a 12 inch square.  Cut six 4 inch rounds out of the dough.  Transfer the rounds to a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Roll up the scraps and press out two more biscuits.

Brush the top of the biscuits with melted butter and bake until golden brow and well risen, about 15 minutes. Rotating the pan about half way through the baking time.

*I like to keep a container of cultured buttermilk blend in the refrigerator.  You simply mix with water.  I don't buy buttermilk because I would never use it up before it would expire.  This stuff is handy and for baking works beautifully. I buy The Saco Pantry blend.  The ingredients are: A cultured blend of sweet cream buttermilk, sweet dairy whey and lactic acid.

Cruel Summer

Like most everyone else, I have struggled with the mental highs and lows from this pandemic.  Between this virus and everything else going on in the world...saying this has been a trying time is just skimming the surface.

When spring came I felt a little better because I knew I could escape to my back yard and grow all kinds of wonderful things.  Everything has been doing very well.  Until last week.

I grew a six foot long patch of sun flower seeds.  They were looking so good.  As I stood at my kitchen sink doing dishes I looked up and saw one stalk swaying all around.  Upon further investigation it was a squirrel.  He pulled it down and was eating it. I went out and chased him away and sprinkled red pepper flakes all over the ground to keep him from coming back.

The next day when I came home from work I noticed almost all of the stalks looked damaged.  Then I watched as a squirrel climbed the fence to avoid the peppery soil and lunged to the sunflowers.  I went out to see what the damage was and it was a mess.  Sunflower seeds all over, flower heads pulled from the stocks.  The sunflower patch was totaled.

While I was out there I noticed I had about 10 tomatoes growing with one tomato that was about ready to pick and about 15 jalapenos.  

Then the next day I was doing dishes and saw a huge ground hog out there.  I figured he was just cleaning up what was left of the sunflowers.  I saw him chew up a very large leaf in about 30 seconds which I thought was pretty impressive.  I let him be because he seemed to be doing a good job of cleaning up the sunflowers for me.

Big mistake. I went out to garden the next day to get the tomato and the peppers that should have been ready and they were gone.  GONE!  All of them GONE!  I have been gardening for many years in Florida and then in Illinois.  I have never had something eat my jalapenos.  Our yard is fenced so whatever it was had to be able to fly, climb or crawl under the fence to get them.

It hasn't been a total loss.  Basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, lettuce, arugula, bell peppers and tabasco peppers have all done well.  Still, I want to know WTF ate my jalapenos?

Stuffed Jalapeno's

We grill a lot.  I love being able to cook an entire meal on the grill.  One side dish that is amazing on the grill is stuffed jalapenos.  I like the battered and fried version as well but in the summer, when the jalapenos are growing like crazy, the fresh taste of the pepper puts these over the top. And the types of fillings are endless.

These were cut in half, and stuffed with smoked gouda, small pieces of cooked bacon and a little panko sprinkled on top.  I put them on the hot part of the grill for about 4 minutes.

And, just for my blogger friend Spo, fresh, juicy, garden tomatoes.  I hope you're able to find some while you're in the Midwest.

Summer 2020

The best thing about summer in the Midwest to me is gardening.  Last Saturday I made my first batch of basil pesto for the year.  I will be making another bunch tomorrow morning.  When I make it I freeze it in an ice cube tray and then when frozen, I transfer to a freezer safe bag.  I like to have at least 24 cubes to get me through to the next year. 

Other than work and the grocery store runs, we're still staying to ourselves at home.  Like all celebrations since March, the 4th of July was very different this year.  First of all because I'm saddened by things going on in our country.  And second of course because of the pandemic.  We grilled out and then sat on our back porch and enjoyed fireworks from our back yard neighbors.  The only thing that has remained "normal" this summer is my love of gardening and cooking with fresh ingredients.  At least I have that. 

Killer Aioli

Friday when we went grocery shopping they had some beautiful grass fed/grass finished ground lamb that I couldn't resist.  The price was actually pretty good too.  So Saturday for dinner we had lamb burgers with an amazing aioli and oven fries.

Lamb Burgers:
I keep them very simple.  I make the patties and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and a pinch of cumin.  It was raining so I cooked them inside in a cast iron skillet.  About 5 minutes per side is perfect for us.

The aioli is what makes these burgers amazing.
Lemon, garlic, dill aioli:
Juice from 1/2 lemon
3 cloves of diced garlic
salt
dried or fresh dill to taste
Mix all ingredients with 3/4 cup of mayo

Drizzle mayo on the burgers, garnish with thinly sliced red onions.

Delicious!!

Today we had our first BLT of the season.  I may or may not have had potato chips with the left over aioli.  Yes it's that good.

Things That Make Me Smile

My cat Jet makes me smile everyday!

Gardening

We moved to our house 8 years ago and started two large gardens.  We built them out of cedar.  The wood was starting to split so earlier in the year we took them down.  We didn't rebuild them as I wanted them moved up a little from their original space.  So we decided to use our small garden and pots until we rebuild the gardens this fall with stone.

In the small garden we have that's made with bricks I planted a 4 foot row of a sunflower mix in the back of it and a tabasco, mammoth jalapeno and regular jalapeno in the front row.  The mammoth jalapeno plant was pulled up and chewed up by something.  I'm guessing squirrels as our yard is fenced in and nothing much else can get in. Then one night last week we had very high winds and it broke a couple of the sunflowers. There are still plenty but I wanted a full row.

In pots I am growing basil, oregano, tomatoes, baby bok choy, green peppers, lettuce and my rosemary that we wintered in the garage. We did have arugula but the high temperatures made that bolt pretty quickly.  The lettuce needs to be eaten before it bolts so it will be a week of salads for lunch.

We have a wonderful farmers market here and plenty of farms that sell their produce.  I supplement what I grow with their bounty.  I thought about just not putting in a garden again or growing anything as it is a constant fight with weather and creatures but there is nothing more satisfying then going out to your yard and picking things to eat.

Things That Make Me Smile

 

                            Not a great picture but I love driving by this Alpaca Farm in Albers.

This chicken was processed last Friday and eaten last Sunday. You can't get fresher or more delicious than that. 

Sopaipillos

I'm not sure exactly how 'traditional' this recipe is but I can tell you it is delicious, fast and easy.

I don't even remember where I got the recipe from I've had it for so many years. And the bonus is you will have extra chocolate sauce and lasts for 3 days in the fridge and is delicious over ice cream.

Chocolate Sauce:

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Sopaipillos:

Oil for frying

Flower tortillas cut in strips or triangles

Powdered sugar for dusting

Bring to a boil 1/4 Cup of water, sugar and salt stirring until the sugar has desolved. Wisk in cocoa until smooth.  Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla.

Heat oil in a pan until approximately 350 degrees.  In small batches fry the tortillas turning once.

Place tortillas on a paper towel or cooling rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Plate and drizzle with chocolate sauce.

Enjoy!