5 Fruit Salsa

No picture this time, just want to keep my recipe someplace other than this old piece of paper (that I keep losing).

Five Fruit Salsa
2 cups chopped cantaloupe
6 green onions, chopped
3 kiwifruit, peeled and chopped
1 navel orange, peeled and chopped
1 sweet yellow pepper, chopped (seeded if preferred... I don't)
1 sweet red pepper, chopped (ditto)
8 oz pineapple (either an unsweetened can or fresh)
2 serrano peppers (can sub jalapeños), chopped

Mix all together and let sit.

Just before serving all 1 cup chopped strawberries (it's good without the strawberries too)

Enjoy!

Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles with Cucumber Sesame Salad

Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles with Cucumber Sesame Salad, originally uploaded by *April*.

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup vegetable broth
* 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
* 1 tablespoon crystallized ginger root
* 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
*1 tablespoon lime juice
* 3 tablespoons spicy peanut butter (I used "The Heat is On" which you can get at Whole Foods, and many other natural grocery stores or here. You could also substitute regular creamy or chunky peanut butter and a tablespoon or so of Sirracha sauce.)
* 1 1/2 tablespoons clover honey (can be vegan if you substitute stevia or blue agave syrup instead of honey)
* 1 tbsp. minced dehydrated garlic
* 8 ounces rice noodles
* 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
* 8 oz. canned drained sliced water chestnuts
* 1 package frozen asian vegetable mix
* bean sprouts
* 1/4 cup bean sprouts

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil - no need to salt. Add noodles and cook until tender according to package directions. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, combine vegetable broth, crystallized ginger, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey and garlic in a large skillet. Add frozen asian vegetale mix and water chestnuts. Cook over medium heat until peanut butter melts and is heated through. Add noodles, and toss to coat. Garnish with cilantro, lime juice and bean sprouts. You can also add fried tofu, or for a non-vegetarian option include shrimp or chicken.

Fish curry

Fish curry, originally uploaded by *April*.

Ingredients:

10 oz. cubed butternut squash
5 oz. cauliflower florets
1 can (13.5 oz) full fat coconut milk
13 oz. vegetable stock
1 lb. mahi-mahi filets, thawed if previously frozen and cut into bite size chunks
1 large red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
1/2 white onion, medium chop
cilantro (for garnish)
1 tbsp. red pepper flakes
3 tbsp. red curry paste
olive oil
lime juice


Saute red and yellow bell peppers and onion over medium flame in a deep pot with a little bit of olive oil. Stir in onion and cook until translucent and peppers begin to soften. At this point stir in the red curry paste, red pepper flakes and the coconut milk and vegetable stock. Mix together with a long handled spoon. Stir in butternut squash and cauliflower, and reduce flame to medium. Cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, and add the cubed fish. You will only need to cook the fish about five minutes or until the flesh becomes white and opaque.

Serve over basmati rice with a sprinkling of cilantro and a sprtiz of fresh lime juice.

Grilled queso blanco

Grilled queso blanco, originally uploaded by *April*.

Queso blanco is a creamy, soft, and mild unaged white cheese that originated in Spain and spread to Mexico and other American countries. The name queso blanco is Spanish for "white cheese", but similar cheeses are used and known throughout the world by different names.

It is made by pressing the whey from cottage cheese. It is very similar to cheeses called pot cheese and farmer cheese. It has also been compared to Indian paneer and to a mild feta. Queso blanco is considered to be one of the easiest cheeses to make. It is a fresh and slightly salty cow's milk cheese, whereas queso fresco may be made from a combination of cow's and goat's milk. They may both be eaten straight or mixed in with various dishes. Some versions of these cheeses melt well when heated, but most only soften.

Queso blanco and queso fresco make a creamy addition to recipes, and are often used as a topping for spicy Mexican dishes such as enchiladas and empanadas, or crumbled over soups or salads. Meltable versions are used to make quesadillas.

In Peruvian cuisine there are several recipes that mix queso fresco and spices to make a spicy cold sauce eaten over peeled boiled potatoes, examples including papa a la huancaina or ocopa.

Queso blanco and queso fresco also exist in Portugal and are called "Queijo fresco."

One of the easiest ways to enjoy queso blanco is to thickly slice it, and grill it over a high flame until brown and bubbly. When one side is fairly seared, flip it with a spatula, and grill the other side. Serve it with crackers, olives and artichokes.

Comfort

Comfort, originally uploaded by *April*.

As a child, I hated pumpkin pie. Despised. Loathed.

Now, I can't get enough of it.

We made a delicious pumpkin pie in a delicious Pâte Brisée (all butter crust). I made the crust and baked the pie - Patrick made the filling.

Ingredients for the crust:

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold
* 1 teaspoon grey sea salt
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 4 to 6 Tbsp ice water

Directions: Place the sticks of butter in the freezer overnight so they are thoroughly chilled. Remove from the freezer and slice into 1/2-inch cubes. Combine flour, sea salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse 4-5 times to mix. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles small peas. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again. If your dough is a little too damp, sprinkle a little extra flour on your board during kneading. Remove dough from food processor and place on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in saran wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of general purpose white flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish. Prick sides and bottom of empty pie with the tines of a fork.

Save the second disk of dough - either freezing or in the refrigerator for a day or two.

Filling:

I've tried many different variations on pumpkin pie - using fresh pumpkins, and nearly every possible combination of spices. Perhaps it's just nostalgia - but to me there's no reason to fix what's not broken. For that reason - I tend to rely on the recipe on the back of the Libby's can of pureed pumpkin with minor modifications.

Ingredients:

* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon high quality ground Cassia Cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon French grey sea salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 2 large or extra-large eggs
* 1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)

As a little secret - I find that baking in a pyrex deep dish glass pie plate is the easiest way to make the crust flaky and avoid unpleasant sogginess.

Rosemary bean soup

Yesterday we got our first flurries of the season. It was another brisk day today, and this morning before I left I poured some white beans into the crock pot with the intention of making something with them when I got home.



This was what we ended up with... and it was very, very good.

Ingredients:

3/4 of a bag of white beans (can be navy beans, Great Northern Beans - even Cannellini beans)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon cracked fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon spicy red pepper flakes
3/4 tube vegetarian sausage (I used Gimme Lean - though meat eaters could use any spicy sausage of their choosing)
1/2 red onion, sliced and caramelized
2 tablespoons butter
1 oz. goat cheese per serving
fresh rosemary
spicy paprika

Mix all ingredients except for goat cheese, onion, butter and sausage into a large crock pot. Add water to cover, and cook on low for 9 hours or until beans are tender. Mash 1/2 of beans with potato masher until broken apart and residual water in crock pot is thick. Add a few sprigs of rosemary to the pot. Grill vegetarian sausage, while simultaneously caramelizing onions. When sausage is lightly browned, crumble and add to serving bowls. Split caramelized onions amongst serving bowls. Ladle in finished soup, stir in 1/2 oz butter into each bowl, top with 1 oz. of fresh goat cheese. Sprinkle with spicy paprika.

Serve with a fresh green salad and homemade cornbread.

Tip of the day - A cure for overripe tomatoes

This past summer our next door neighbors were exceedingly generous with tomatoes fresh from their garden. The problem was, though, that with a newborn baby and no sleep - I often would forget the tomatoes on the counter for a few days and end up with a disastrous mess of mealy tomatoes that had to be chucked to the compost heap.

Sadly, I forgot that there's an easy way to salvage overripe tomatoes. Place the overripe tomato in cold water and add a little salt. Let sit overnight. In the morning, you'll find the tomato has firmed up and is less mealy.

If that doesn't work, you can always run them through the food processor or blender and reduce down to make a sauce. And I may have mentioned it before, but never store tomatoes inside the refrigerator. It causes them to break down faster. Instead they should be stored at room temperature, away from direct sunlight.