Tomatoes & Gazpacho

I am heading out of town tomorrow for a family wedding in Chicago so I won't be posting until I'm back the week of August 8th.  And this week hasn't been a great week for cooking as I've been rushing around a lot before hitting the road.  Fortunately my tomato plants have been very generous with their bounty.  My grape cherry tomatoes are almost the size of small plum tomatoes. I've been eating them right off the vine or with some fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt - yummy!!

The one thing I did manage to make this week was a spicy gazpacho that came out really flavorful with a lot a heat so I've only been consuming it in small amounts. It's so refreshing this time of year.  My "recipe" is below but for me it really is about lots of vegetables in the food processor with ingredients similar to a Bloody Mary.

Have a good week!

Jenabeth's Spicy Gazpacho
2 lbs of tomatoes, cut into chunks - I used a mix of plum, grape cherry & heirloom
1 English Cucumber, peeled & cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 celery heart (inc leaves), ends cut off & cut into chunks
1 red onion, cut into chunks
1/2 jalapeno pepper
3 cloves of garlic
3 T sherry vinegar
3 T balsamic vinegar
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
3-5 T Hot Sauce (to taste)
3 T horseradish
2 cups of V-8 juice
3 T honey

Put all vegetables (tomatoes - garlic) into a food processor and pulse until desired consistency. I like a little pulp to my gazpacho so I leave some texture.  Then add vinegars, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce & horseradish and pulse a few more times.  Transfer to large bowl and add juice.  Whisk in honey to temper the heat.  Chill for several hours before serving.

Seared Tuna Over Warm Cole Slaw

First planned off night in almost four weeks from baseball!  In addition to making stock, I also made dinner.  One of my favorites seared tuna and I used the napa cabbage, purple carrots and sweet onions to cook up a quick, warm slaw. 

Seared Tuna over Warm Cole Slaw
Tuna Steaks
Sesame Vinaigrette (see recipe in Seared Tuna over Arugula Salad post)
Peanut Oil
Napa Cabbage, shredded
Purple Carrots, sliced thin
Sweet Onions, sliced thin
1/2 Lemon, juiced

Marinate tuna in sesame vinaigrette for 20 minutes, flipping half way through.  Sear tuna in oil over high heat for 2 minutes per side.  Remove tuna to a plate and let rest.  Lower heat to medium and in same pan, add onions to saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add carrots and cook for 2 minutes before adding cabbage and a couple of tablespoons of sesame vinaigrette and the lemon juice.  Once cabbage has wilted remove from heat. 

I flaked the tuna with my fingers and place over the cole slaw.  You could slice it on the bias but I find the flaked tuna a little more casual and comforting.

SEARED TUNA WARM COLE SLAW

Week Seven!

Wow summer is getting crazy!  Heading to Chicago next week for my cousin Caroline's wedding plus the baseball season is coming to an end and that means lots of end of season stuff to do.  Both those things mean not a lot of time for cooking.  Luckily its the time of year when veggies are best when just eaten plain . . like fresh tomatoes off the vine! This week we got:


Arugula
Summer Squash
Yellow Fin Potatoes
Napa Cabbage
Cucumbers
Basil
Cilantro
Chard
Sweet Onions
Tomatoes
Carrots

The first thing I did was make up some pesto using parsley from last week, cilantro from this week, mint from my garden and lemon verbena. I added walnuts, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and lemon juice.  I used the pesto in a salad with orzo, peas and feta cheese.  Totally yummy salad and good to bring with you to baseball games!

I am ashamed to admit that some of the veggies from last week were in my fridge and starting to look on the wilted side.  And I had new veggies and am leaving town this weekend. So instead of letting them go to waste, I made stock.  I threw all the veggies and in some cases just tops of onions or carrots into a large pot with cold water.  I added a good size handful of salt, couple tablespoons of peppercorns and bunches of herbs from my garden.  I brought it to a boil, let it simmer for a few hours, strained it, poured into air tight container and put in freezer. Now I have homemade veggie stock next time I want to make a soup.

Watermelon and Feta Salad

Wow it's been hot out there and when you can say that on Cape Cod you know it's really hot!  Tonight we did a little tailgating at the baseball game.  I made my most favorite sandwich in the world - a Cobb Salad Sandwich. I discovered this about 12 years ago at the Hilton Hotel in San Jose and for a while I spent a lot of time in San Jose but it's been years since I've been back. I have re-created the sandwich from time to time.  In order to do it right you need to cook the chicken breast and bacon fresh and then assemble everything in the perfect order.  Oh heck I'll give you my recipe below!  Anyway the Watermelon & Feta Salad which is the true "vegetable" dish that I intended to blog about tonight was a perfect accompaniment and it's a great summer salad that travels well. And it's ridiculously easy.  Here is hoping is cools off!

Watermelon and Feta Salad
1/4 Seedless Watermelon, cut into chunks
8 oz Feta cheese, crumbled*
1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
Olive Oil - maybe 2 T
Pinch of Salt

Mix watermelon, feta and mint lightly. I buy a chunk of feta and crumble myself as opposed to the crumbled feta because I don't think that tastes like feta.  Add olive oil and just a pinch of salt and toss lightly.  

Cobb Salad Sandwich
Scali Bread
Mayo
Chicken Breast
Crisp Bacon
Iceburg Lettuce
Sliced Tomatoes
Sliced Avocado
Blue Cheese, crumbled

I use split chicken breasts and toss them with olive oil, salt & pepper and then cook for 30 mins at 375.  Once cooled I remove the skin and bones and slice the breast meat on the diagonal. 

I cook the bacon in the oven on a baking sheet at 375 for about 15 minutes. Then drain on paper towel.

Ideally you assemble the sandwich when the bacon and chicken are still on the warm side.  Not hot but typically I'd let them rest maybe 30 mins.

Spread just a little may on the bread - the Hilton used sourdough bread but I have trouble finding good sourdough that slices well for sandwiches so I've used the Scali bread for awhile. 

One one side of bread layer, in this order, blue cheese, chicken and avocado. On the other side lettuce, tomato (be sure to salt & pepper your tomato), bacon.  Put together, cut in half and enjoy!

WATERMELON & FETA SALAD

I forgot to take the picture before I left the house so this is my Mother's plate at the game . . and my Brother's foot in the background!

Week Six!

It's a hot one today - thank god for the ocean breeze! Just picked up the following:

Lettuce
Arugula
Summer Squash
Parsley
Baby Bok Choy
Stuttgarten Onions
Red Gold Potatoes
Salad Turnips
Kale

I'm heading to our Nation's Capital this week to visit some friends, family and then attend a conference. It's suppose to be VERY hot - yikes! I'll post what I can but not sure how much of a chance I'll have to do some cooking. 

Stay cool!!!

Ginger Senposai with Orange Bell Pepper

Senposai is apparently is a new hybrid between cabbage and Komatsuna recently developed in Japan. Everything I read says you can eat it raw or simply saute it in some oil.  I had another pork tenderloin that I was going to grill up and was making herb & butter egg noodles to go along with it.  I have to admit the only time I ever buy egg noodles is when I make beef stroganoff and even that I don't make very often.  However I saw them at the grocery store and felt compelled to buy them.  I cooked them according to package directions until they were al dente. Then I tossed them with butter and fresh, chopped parsley.  Back to the senposai I wanted to be sure I incorporated some strong flavours.    Check out the recipe below.  It was a delicious dinner - tender pork, buttery noodles and some spicy greens!

Oh and I was getting tired of my same blue & white dishes in every photo so I pulled out my "party" white plates!


Ginger Senposai with Orange Bell Pepper
Olive Oil
Garlilc clove, minced
Ginger, 1 inch of ginger grated
Crushed Red Pepper, good size pinch
Orange Bell Pepper, sliced
Senposai, cut into bite sized pieces

Sesame Oil, 1 teaspoon
Salt, to taste

Pour oil into cold saute pan and add garlic, ginger and red pepper and then put pan over medium heat and let everything warm.  Just as oil starts to sizzle add bell pepper and saute for a 2 minutes.  Add the greens, sesame oil & salt and cook for a 2-3 minutes until wilted.

Lemon Verbena and Mint Iced Tea

My herbs are nothing short of out of control this summer so I am scouring the web to find different ways to use them up.  One of the new herbs I planted this year is lemon verbena which smells so lemony I'm a little addicted to smelling the leaves.  I found a recipe for lemon verbena and mint tea which helps use up one of the other fast-growing plants, mint, in my garden.  I made the tea much stronger than the recipe called for and let is steep longer so that I could put it over ice for iced tea.  It's a very refreshing beverage and I added only a little superfine sugar to heighten the natural sweetness not really sweeten it much. 

Lemon Verbena and Mint Iced Tea
1 cup mint leaves, picked from stems and washed & rinsed
1 cup lemon verbena leaves, pick from stems and washed & rinsed
4 cups water
1 T superfine sugar

Bring water to almost a boil then pour over the leaves and add sugar. Let steep for 1/2 hour.  Strain water into pitcher and serve over ice.

Tea Steeping

Glass of Iced Tea

Drunken Haddock with Escarole Over Cumin Couscous

Tonight was one of my favorite kind of nights in the kitchen where I just cooked by instinct and created something totally new. I came home thinking I'd make a big salad with some grilled haddock.  Well the head of lettuce I thought was in the fridge ended up being the rest of the escarole and the haddock wasn't as firm as I'd like to grill. I ended up marinating the haddock in some lime juice, ancho chili powder, salt and a little olive oil.  Oh and then I added the juice of half a lime that I saw in the fridge - see where this is going?  I was thinking flaky fish tacos which lead me in the direction of Mexican flavour but I didn't want tacos again. Instead I I pulled out my big skillet and started where all great dishes start - olive oil with some onions and, in this case, garlic scapes.  From there it was what did I have and what looked good. I was heading in the direction of some type of stew or at least something with a great broth so I knew I'd need a starch to soak up the juice.  While I was being creative, I wasn't interested in a lot of time so I went to the quick, traditional couscous with some cumin for seasoning.  Back to the skillet and I started throwing in ingredients to develop this really great tasting broth to which I added the escarole and haddock.  The drunken part comes from the tequila! I surprised even myself tonight with how good this dish turned out so I would highly recommend giving it a try.  It was spicy and warm but not to heavy and really, really tasty!!  I would recommend topping this with cilantro but I only had parsley available.

Drunken Haddock with Escarole Over Cumin Couscous
Haddock, cut into large bite size pieces
Salt
Juice of one lemon
Juice of half a lime
Ancho Chili Pepper
Olive Oil

Couscous
Cumin
Salt
Olive Oil

Onion, chopped
Garlic scapes, chopped
1/2 Jalapeño pepper, minced
Red Bell Pepper, chopped
Ancho Chili powder
Mexican Oregano
Smoked Paprika
Diced tomatoes (small can)
Water
Orange juice
Honey
Tequila
Escarole, chopped 

Parsley, rough chop
Scallions, diced


Marinate haddock in salt, juices, chili powder and olive oil.

Cook cumin according to package directions while adding cumin to the water or broth.


Saute onion until softened then add garlic scapes and jalapeno and cook a few minutes be careful not to let them burn. Add red pepper and cook only for a few minutes so it softens slightly but holds bite.  Add seasonings and cook 1-2 minutes.  Add tomatoes and 1/2 can of water and bring to boil while adding juice and honey.  Add tequila and cook out liquor. Taste and adjust seasonings.  Add escarole and cook until wilted. Add haddock with all marinating juices and cook until haddock is cooked through.

Serve haddock over couscous and top with parsley and scallions.

Seared Tuna Over an Arugula Salad

Arugula has been in quite a few bags this summer and I've often incorporated it with other lettuces into a salad. Today I wanted to make an arugula salad and something that complimented the peppery flavour.  In addition, I have two beautiful pieces of tuna so I thought I'd do an Asian flavoured salad dressing on the arugula with some seared, rare tuna on top.

I coated the tuna in wasabi paste and then sesame seeds and I barely cooked it on each side for 2 minutes max.  Then I let it rest and sliced is on the bias to place over the salad. I actually could have cooked them a little less.

With the arugula I knew I needed to added some sweet flavours and perhaps a little crunch so I went to my old stand by, shredded carrots and julienne red peppers.  Oh and some scallions for a little onion flavour.

For the dressing I did a simple sesame vinaigrette - a combination of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and salt & pepper. 

All in all and delightful summer lunch!

One of My Favorites!!!

Tonight it was all about the grill. I made one of my favorite summer dishes - Grilled Vegetables and Israeli Couscous with Lemon and Tarragon.  I'm a little crazy for grilled vegetables in the summer and I made this dish last year and then proceeded to eat it almost every night for a month.  One of the things I do that gives it such flavour is grill paper thin slices of lemon until they are caramelized and practically disintegrated but then chop them up and add them to the dish. Love that bit of tart lemon!  I used the summer squash from this week's haul.  I served a grilled salmon with tonight's veggie & Israeli couscous medley.  Yummy!!

Grilled Vegetables and Israeli Couscous with Lemon and Tarragon
Whole Wheat Israeli Couscous
Assorted Vegetables cut into pieces that can be grilled, I used:

• Vidalia Onion
• Red Pepper
• Crimini Mushrooms
• Zucchini

1 Lemon
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Fresh Tarragon, roughly chopped

Cook the couscous according to package directions but add the ends of the lemon while cooking to add their lemon flavour.  Meanwhile brush vegetables with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.  Grill vegetables for a few minutes on grill just so they get a char but not too overcooked as they can become mushy.  Slice 1/2 the lemon into paper thin slices, brush those with olive oil and grill as well. 

Transfer cooked couscous with a large bowl.  Add juice from remaining half of lemon and tarragon.  Once the vegetables are done cut them into good size chunks and add to couscous.  Chop lemon slices up as well and add to bowl. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Week Five!

Lots of good veggies this week but not necessarily those that require a lot of cooking.  Perhaps some interesting salads will be in our future.  Real quick here is the list and I'll be back later with some new preparations:

Lettuce - 2 big head of lettuce
French Bell Radishes - I really like these more than the regular radishes we had last week
Arugula
Scallions
Sen Po Sai
Fennel
Carrots
Peas - this is the last of them and I've just been snacking on them
Summer Squash
Cucumbers
Kohlrabi

Hope you're all staying cool!

Fish Tacos (Again) with a Fennel & Kohlrabi Salad

Fish Tacos were on the menu again tonight although this time I used Mahi Mahi.  Everything else was very similar to the last time - radishes & shredded carrots for crunch and cilantro as lettuce with creamy avocado. I did marinate the fish this time in some oil, lime juice and ancho chili powder before cooking.  But the star of tonight's menu was the salad I served along side. I had been dying to try the kohlrabi and really wanted to use it raw so I did some research on salads using kohlrabi and found one with fennel.  I am that strange person who goes through the jelly beans at Easter to only eat the black ones.  I love black licorice so when I discovered fennel with that anise flavour several years ago I've been hooked ever since.  Orange and fennel is a classic combination so while most of the recipes I saw called for lemon juice in the vinaigrette on this salad I used orange.  In addition to really heighten that anise flavour I used tarragon as the fresh herb.  As a bonus one recipe called for carrots and I still have my carrots from the CSA so I added those as well.  In hind sight I would actually have cut the orange into segments and added it to the salad.  It was a really refreshing salad!

Oh and one last thing - when I cut into the kohlrabi I swear it smelled like peanut butter.  It doesn't taste like peanut butter though - more like a sweeter broccoli stalk. 

Fennel and Kohlrabi Salad
1 kohlrabi, peeled and cut into cubes
1 fennel bulb, tough outer part removed & sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Orange, zest and juiced
Fresh Tarragon, chopped (or you can use parsley or dill)

In bowl toss kohlrabi, fennel and carrots. In small bowl mix olive oil, salt & pepper, orange zest & juice and tarragon until emulsified.  Dress salad until desired coating - this makes a little more dressing than is needed so I saved the extra for another salad.

Another trick is to save the fennel frowns and garnish the salad with them before serving.

Fresh Blueberry Pancakes for Sunday Breakfast

Sunday mornings are made for pancakes or at least they are when I have time!  Today staring me in the face were two containers of fresh blueberries so I decided to whip up some blueberry pancakes.  I use a standard pancake mix and add the blueberries and a 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon for a little warmth. In this case I added the fresh blueberries right to the batter after I'd mixed it thoroughly.  I've also been known to add the zest and juice of one lemon for Lemon Blueberry Pancakes.
Off to the beach and then some night baseball - what a perfect Sunday on Cape Cod!

BLUEBERRY PANCAKES

Grilled Swordfish with Grilled Rosemary Potatoes and a Tossed Salad

Thanks to a lightening strike breaking a circuit at the field our game started at 5 pm tonight so I was home and making dinner before 8:30 pm.  I had a beautiful piece of swordfish that I simply put on the grill along with some lemons on the grill.  I am a little nuts for lemons and limes on the grill - it makes the juice flow even more and you get great citrus flavour.  In addition I decided to grill up the potatoes we got this week. In the interest of full disclosure I  LOVE potatoes - mashed, roasted, fried, grilled - any type of potato!  Anyway tonight I was pretty excited to try the potatoes and since I was firing up the grill I put them on there.  Here is the secret to grilling potatoes - you have to cook them first or otherwise you'll end up burning them trying to get them cooked through. Sometimes I have even just microwaved them but tonight I parboiled them first.  Then seasoned them with salt and fresh rosemary. Yummy!!!!  Accompanying the swordfish and potato I made a tossed salad with lots of ingredients from the CSA including the lettuce, scallions, radishes and cucumber.  From my garden I threw in a mixture of basil, mint and parsley.  For the record if you still haven't tried fresh mint in your tossed salad you are missing something.  It was the perfect dinner for a warm summer night!

Grilled Rosemary Potatoes
Potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt
Fresh Rosemary, minced

Put the potatoes in a pot of cold water with a handful of salt.  Bring the water to a boil and cook potatoes 3-5 minutes. You want the potatoes to be tender but not cooked all the way through. Drain the potatoes and dry them off.  Slice them into 1/2 inch slices. 

Brush potato slices with olive oil on each side and season with salt & rosemary.  Grill potatoes 3-5 minutes per side until fork tender. 

Pesto! Pesto!

My basil is growing by leaps and bounds so I decided today to make up a batch of pesto.  Well that gave me a little inspiration so in addition to the traditional basil pesto I made a Pea Tendril and Mint Pesto - yummy, yummy!!!  I also used the garlic scapes instead of a traditional garlic clove.  The aromas coming from the food processor and my hands were delightful. I gave the basil pesto to a friend.  Meanwhile with the Pea Tendril & Mint Pesto I cooked up some orzo and added a bag of frozen peas to make a salad.  This would have been nice with some feta in it as well but I didn't have any on hand. I also added the juice of a lemon to brighten the flavours. 

Oh as a snack at the ballgame last night I ate the rest of last week's radishes and the peas - what an interesting snack between the tangy of the radish and then the sweet of the pea it was satisfying all my taste buds. 

Pea Tendril and Mint Pesto
2 garlic scapes
1 bunch pea tendrils (including stems)
1 bunch mint leaves
handful of pine nuts
few chunks of Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil

Put everything except olive oil into food processor and pulse a few times.  Drizzle olive oil into mixture while processor is on until desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning.


Orzo Salad with Pea Tendril and Mint Pesto
4 oz orzo
10 oz bag frozen peas

juice of one lemon
Pea Tendril and Mint Pesto

Cook orzo according to package directions in salted water. For last minute of cooking time add peas.  Drain orzo & peas and then put in large bowl. Add pesto and lemon juice and toss until combined. 

ORZO SALAD

Week Four!

A quick post to let you know what I picked up today at the farm. 

New Potatoes
Cucumber
Red Top Turnips
Radishes
Lettuce
Escarole
Peas - LOTS of peas!!
Cilantro
Arugula
Carrots
Kohlrabi
Garlic Scapes

Also I'm going to be making pesto today and will post more on that later!

Soup in the Summer!

I went into my pantry today to get my most favorite cooking vessel - my dutch oven! Yes I know probably not the first thing you think to cook with in the summer but I decided to make a big pot of soup today.  I love soup!  I often make a big, old pot at the beginning of the week and eat that for lunch all week.  And I have been known to eat leftover soup cold - some recipes I prefer cold.  Today my focus was on the bunch of escarole in my fridge and so after eating more than my share of burgers and ribs over the holiday weekend I figured a big pot of meatless soup was in order.   I made a White Bean and Escarole soup which was very good thanks to the care I took in seasoning the broth.  I used fresh thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley from my garden and that combination was simply inspired by walking through my garden and smelling what I thought would taste good.  I chopped up the rosemary because I love rosemary and white beans. However the rest of the herbs I used in a bundle to season the stock.

You can easily add meat to this recipe if you wanted to bulk it up - I thought of adding linguica but was quickly reminded that we were going to eat seafood or lots of veggies this week to make up for the holiday weekend.  I also thought turkey meatballs might be very good in this soup.  Of course for the vegetarians you can substitute vegetable stock in the recipe below and keep this vegetarian.



Escarole and White Bean Soup
Olive Oil
1 vidalia onion, chopped
2 c baby carrots, cut into thirds on the bias
1 clove & stalk young garlic
Salt
Crushed Red Pepper (good size pinch)
1 sprig Rosemary, minced
2 cans white beans, rinsed & drained
1 carton chicken stock + 1 carton of water
Fresh herb bundle - 2 sage leaves, 3 springs thyme, 2 sprigs of parsley, 1 bay leaf
1 bunch of escarole, rough chopped, washed and dried

Saute the onions, garlic and carrots with salt in olive oil until the onion is softened.  Add crushed red pepper & rosemary and cook 1-2 minutes so flavours develop.  Add beans, stock and water.  The amount of water you add is a judgement call - I added almost an entire carton full so it could reduce with the stock & seasonings to make a tasty stock.  Then tie the herb bundle to side of pot and drop into stock.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 20 -30 minutes. 

Taste your stock and taste a bean to make sure the flavours have developed.  Adjust your seasonings at this point.  Then add the escarole and cook for another 20-30 mins.  Again taste your stock and adjust seasonings. Remove the herb bundle before serving.

Serve with crusty bread and sprinkle some freshly grated Parmesan cheese over the top. 

ESCAROLE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

4th of July Weekend Roundup

Happy 4th of July to Everyone!

Lots of cooking happening over the holiday weekend so I'm going to post a few recipes and some tips and then get back to hanging out with my family. I made my potato salad for a family cookout tomorrow and I am very picky about my potato salads - I don't like a lot of mayonnaise but it must be Hellmann's and while I like added flavour I don't like a lot of other "stuff".  It's one of those things that I typically only eat my own.  You can find my recipe below.

Last night I went to a friend's cookout and I brought a super easy appetizer that was a big hit. However I can not claim it as my own as my cousins made it several summers ago and I've used it many times since.  It's as simple as buying goat cheese, mango chutney, pita chips and a bunch of cilantro.  And it's one of those salty/sweet/cream/crunchy tastes that hit all cylinders! You can hardly call it a recipe but below you will find the instructions. Apologies for not remembering to take a photo . . but by the time I thought of it the dish was already half way devoured!


Finally, I commandeered the kale I had given to my Mom and made kale chips as an appetizer tonight.  They were pretty good but when I asked my brother how they tasted he said "salt".  I may have over-salted them in my quest to make sure they didn't taste too much like kale.  I worked at our local Friendly's restaurant for 8 years and we used kale as a garnish so that's really what I think of kale as. However I would definitely make them again with a little less salt.   I used Melissa D'Arabian's recipe and I'll list the link below.

Ok before I go here is my tip on corn on the cob - who doesn't love corn on the cob in the summer?  It must be one of my most favorite summer treats.  Two important things in getting to great corn on the cob. First when you are selecting the corn in the store - peel back the husk and check out those ears. Make sure the kernels are good size and have good colour.  If the husks are brown or moldy pass. Another good test is can you feel the kernels through the husk and does it smell like sweet corn.  Smell your produce . . that my grandmother taught me!  And the second key is not to over cook it. I've grilled it both in and out the husk but the easiest & surefire way to cook it is in water on the stove.  Use a large pot big enough to hold all your corn and several inches of water. Put them all together, put the top on, put it on high when the water comes to a boil, let it cook for 3-4 minutes and that is is.

Hope you enjoy whatever you are cooking up this July 4th and be safe! 

Jenabeth's Potato Salad

5 lb bag red bliss potatoes
Kosher Salt
1 small bunch Celery Hearts, diced and include leaves
1 vidalia onion, diced
1 T celery seed
Salt & Pepper
2 Hardboiled Eggs, diced
2 T Dijon Mustard
Hellmann's Mayo (I use the Olive Oil kind)
Handful of Parsley, chopped

I chop the potatoes, leaving the skin on, into bite size chunks.  Put potatoes in a large pot and fill with cold water and add plenty of salt. This is just like cooking pasta - you wants lot of salt in the water so your potatoes get seasoned.  Put on stove, bring to boil and cook until fork tender. 

While potatoes cook put celery, onion, celery seed, salt & pepper, mustard and the eggs into a large bowl. To be honest I don't dice the eggs so much as smush them with my hands! 

When potatoes are done, drain them and put them right back into pot and put on stove (with burned turned off) for 1-2 minutes so the excess water will cook off.  Then add the potatoes to the veggies in the bowl.  I made my salad while my potatoes are still warm - this is when they soak up the flavours the best.  I toss lightly and then start to add the mayo about 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time. I do not like too much mayo so I just add until I think there is enough.  Then TASTE your salad and adjust seasonings - I can be sure it's going to need more salt & pepper.  Finally top with parsley and refrigerate until time to serve.

Goat Cheese & Mango Chutney Appetizer
8 oz log goat cheese
9 oz jar mango chutney (not the hot stuff)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bag pita chips, plain


Put goat cheese in middle of platter - it's best if you do this awhile before serving so cheese comes to room temperature.  Pour the bottle of chutney over the cheese.  Sprinkle with cilantro. Arrange pita chips around sides. Enjoy!! 

Kale Chips
Visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/crispy-kale-chips-recipe/index.html

MY POTATO SALAD

KALE CHIPS