Garden Bruschetta

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Last Thursday I walked outside after a day of work inside and was taken back by the warm sun and need for no jacket or coat. I went over to my family’s private campground and began the necessary clean up to open it in time for camping this summer. I started a fire to burn old leaves and sticks cluttering the ground and dug into my flower beds and landscape features that needed sprucing up. It was a lot of work but it felt great to be outside and working after a brutal winter trapped indoors.

I was so inspired that I thought it was time to make a garden fresh snack to enjoy outside. For this recipe, I create an Italian-style salsa, or bruschetta and serve it on thin slices of crusty bead. Fresh vegetables combined with parsley, Italian dressing, lemon juice and zest form a fresh and light topping for a crusty baguette. It’s the perfect snack to enjoy on the patio while contemplating major projects that need to be completed to make the yard clean and beautiful for summer.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Garden Bruschetta

I'm so glad its Spring. Winter here in the Midwest was long, cold and snowy. I’ve never been witness to a layer of snow that literally blanketed the ground for three months. Nor have I experienced a major snow fall followed immediately by sub-zero temperatures for days afterward, which happened three or four times in January and February. Needless to say this has been the hardest winter I’ve ever lived through.

In the last two years I have went through two of the wildest seasons in my life, the aforementioned winter and the summer of 2012 which packed 40 or more days of over 90° with one reaching 106°. These are extreme weather shifts and I wonder if they are the direct result of global warming.

I'm just glad the weather will by getting nicer from here on out, it's the end of April and soon the summer will be in full swing, I hope mother nature is good to us because she was a real bitch this winter!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Garden Bruschetta

Makes 28 to 30 appetizers; 35 minutes
1 Tomato, diced
1 Green pepper, diced
1/2 Onion, diced
1 Tbs Parsley, minced
1/2 C Italian dressing
Juice and zest of 1 Lemon
1 Baguette sliced thin

Mix, rest and serve
In a bowl combine tomato, green pepper, onion, parsley, italian dressing, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper to taste. Let rest for 30 minutes for flavors to meld. Place a spoonfull of mixture on a thin slice of baguette and serve.

Grilled Tomato Poblano Salsa

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The garden vegetable frenzy has begun. Last week my Dad canned a dozen and a half quarts of green beans – the first bounty taken from the garden in 2013. Cucumbers, peppers, corn, tomatoes and a number of homegrown treats will soon follow. It won’t be long before enough has been canned for the winter and there is plenty of fresh vegetables for every meal.

Huge bowls of tomatoes will sit on the counters attracting little black flying bugs. Spoiled vegetables will start to litter the garden floor and then the inevitable: Teenagers will find the rotten leftovers and start chucking them at passing vehicles and unsuspecting bystanders. It’s my annual duty to produce recipes to help rid the garden of these potential hazards.

For this recipe, I grill up a mess of fresh veggies from the garden. I then blitz them in a food processor, creating a fire roasted salsa. It’s perfect for an August snack and an easy way to keep the garden floor clear of any would-be projectiles.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Yummy grilled salsa!

This is the first garden-centric recipe this summer. For the next couple of months I’ll do a bunch of these from ingredients that is grown in either my Dad’s garden or some other relative or neighbor who has more bounty than they can handle.

It starts with tomatoes, beans and cucumbers and will end with the winter squash. It’s hard to believe it’s August already and the gardens are producing. Before you know it, the leaves will be changing and football will be in full swing - and so will the tailgating!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Salsa nestled in tortilla chips

Makes 2 cups; 45 minutes
5 Roma tomatoes whole
2 Poblano peppers whole
1 Onion quartered
4 cloves Garlic
1/2 C Cilantro
2 Tbs White vinegar
1 Tbs Sugar
1 bag Tortilla chips
for dipping

Grill vegetables, clean
On a grill over medium heat cook tomato, poblano, onion and garlic for 10 to 12 minutes, turning to sear on all sides. Remove vegetables and let cool for handling. Remove skins from tomato, stems and seeds from poblano peppers.

Process
In a food processor place tomatoes, poblano, onion, garlic, vinegar, sugar and cilantro. Pulse to combine and chop to desired consistency. Serve with tortilla chips.

French Onion with Bacon Dip

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To me, chip dip screams summertime. It seems like whenever I’m scooping a mouthful onto a wavy potato chip I’m either at a lake for a picnic or an outdoor party in the heat of summer. The one exception is Super Bowl Sunday, but that is the pinnacle of party food and dips are a requirement.

For this recipe, I decided to revisit a classic that I had made a couple of years ago for my print column - French Onion Dip, only this time I add bacon.

The secret to making this dip delicious is not the onions or the bacon – it’s the roasted garlic, which provides a savory balance to the sweetness of the caramelized onions and gives the dip depth of flavor.

I tried something I have never done before to cook the garlic for this dish. Instead of roasting it in the oven, I wrapped it in foil with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and tossed it into the pot with the onions. After a half an hour it was perfectly roasted and ready for me to mince and put in the dip. The foil worked perfect as a little garlic roaster.

In the end, this dip was outrageously good.
The homemade version just blows any store-bought french onion dip out of the water. It will be a highlight in any spread at a party.

BEHIND THIS BITE
As I mention in the beginning, it has been a couple of years since I have made homemade chip dip and I had forgotten how delicious it is. I destroyed about a half a bag of chips after I made this stuff and had to force myself to put it away.

It seems like over the last few weeks I had been putting together some huge posts with tons of pictures and steps. This dip was a conscious effort to make something simple that wouldn’t take hours to photograph and reproduce in an information graphic. I had done a couple of tacos (here & here) recently that contain as many photos and steps as I usually do in two or three posts. I wanted a simple recipe that would come together quick.

If you’re a fan of dips I highly recommend trying this, but make sure there is enough chips around because it’s pretty easy to polish off an entire bag with a bowl of it on the counter.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Makes 2 Cups; 1 hour
4 strips Bacon, diced
5 cloves Garlic, whole
1 1/2 C Onion, diced
1 C Sour cream
1/2 C Mayonnaise
1 bag Wavy potato chips

Fry bacon
In a pan over medium heat cook bacon until crispy and rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from pan with slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.

Caramelize onions, roast garlic
In same pan over medium heat saute onions in bacon drippings. Season garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Wrap cloves in aluminum foil. Add foil wrapped garlic to onions. Cook until onion are soft and have caramelized 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove onions from pan and let cool. Remove garlic from foil and mince.

Make dip
Mix together bacon, onions, garlic, mayonnaise and sour cream until well incorporated. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Let rest at least half an hour for flavors to meld. Serve with wavy potato chips for dipping.

Oven Roasted Salsa

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One of the best ways to make salsa is to oven roast the vegetables. The dry heat draws out the moisture and concentrates the flavors. It also makes the onions and garlic sweeter. Once everything is roasted I like to throw it all in a food processor, add some lime juice and cilantro and pulse it a few times. The end result is a chunky salsa that’s hard to quit eating.

Leaving the ribs and seeds in the jalapeno gives it extra kick and creates an addictive quality that seems to draw you back for more and more. It's my favorite thing about a quality salsa with extra heat.

It’s easy to enhance the flavor with the addition of reconstituted dried chilies, but that is for another post. This salsa could be made exactly the same way with everything raw, but when I get time, the extra application of heat is the difference between good and great.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I was recently at a gathering and a friend of mine brought a batch of salsa that had what I like to call “big boy heat.” It’s the kind of heat that numbs your lips and makes the Tostitos Hot Salsa at Walmart seem like baby food.

Needless to say, I ate about a quart of the big boy salsa myself and decided right then and there that I wanted make my own version for the blog. I’m glad my friend made it – And had the Kahunas to make it extra hot.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Makes 1 quart; 1 hour
3 large Tomatoes quartered
1 Onion quartered
1 Jalapeño whole
3 cloves Garlic whole
1 C Cilantro fresh
Juice of 2 Limes
Tortilla chips

Roast vegetables
In an baking dish, toss tomatoes, jalapeño, onion and garlic with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place vegetables in a preheated 475° oven and roast for 25 minutes. Remove vegetables and let cool for about 10 minutes. Clean vegetables of any roots or stems if necessary.

Pulse, serve
Place roasted vegetables in a food process with cilantro and juice of limes. Pulse 5 or 6 times or until well combined but still slightly chunky. Remove and serve with tortilla chips.

Crispy Fried Chicken Wings

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A couple of weeks ago, I had planned to grill a batch of wings at our outdoor Halloween Party, but time got away and frankly it was just to cold to walk away from our beautiful camp fire. That left me with a huge package of wings. Rather than freeze them I decided to make a party snack - crispy fried chicken wings.

These are plain, originally I was going to toss them in a sauce like most chicken wing recipes, but I had to try one and the crispy skin and succulent juicy meat told me otherwise. These are just mini pieces of fried chicken. When it comes to food, mini anything seems to be a hit.

This recipe is perfect for the big game and a few friends. Fried chicken isn’t the healthiest dish in the world, but a wing or two as part of a party spread could really hit the spot.

BEHIND THIS BITE
This time I got smart when I fried this chicken. I threw open the window and closed the door to my kitchen studio! That way my entire place didn’t stink of frying oil. I have done this in the past and literally had to wash clothes to get the oil smell off them.

The last time I did it, I remember getting in my car the next day and thinking "why does it smell liked fried chicken in here." That’s when I realized the coat I was wearing had been in my studio while I was frying. It smelt like I had splashed myself with fried chicken perfume. It took at least a week to get the oil smell out of the room.

This time ventilating worked - it got a little cold, with high temps in the 40s, but the smell didn’t linger at all after everything was cleaned up.

Lesson learned.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Party snack for 6 to 8;  45 minutes cooking;
4 to 24 hours marinating

4 lb Chicken wings
2 Qrts Buttermilk
2 C Flour
2 Tbs Baking powder
1 Tbs Smoked paprika
1 Tbs Onion powder
1 Tbs Garlic powder
1 Tbs Salt
1 Tbs Pepper
2 Qrts  Oil for frying

Marinate Chicken
Place wings in a large bowl and submerge in buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and no more than 24. Drain buttermilk and rest wings at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Mix flour, seasonings, dredge chicken
Mix and sift flour, baking powder and all seasonings into a bowl. In batches, dredge chicken through flour, coating all over. Remove and shake off excess. Place on a rack over a baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken is coated.

Fry, drain chicken, serve
In a large fry pan filled half way with oil heated to 375° fry chicken in batches until golden brown and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a rack over a baking sheet lined with paper towel. Let drain, rest at least 5 minutes before serving on a towel lined plate.

SERVING SUGGESTION
An assortment of sauces can be served with the wings for dipping, such as barbecue sauce, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing or teriyaki sauce.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

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The final seven years I lived in New York my favorite burger and beer joint, named Sunswick, was just down the block from my apartment. The little establishment had the most beers I have ever seen on tap. Trying to drink a glass of all of them in one sitting would most likely have resulted in an arrest or a ride in an ambulance.

I loved going there on Thursday nights for karaoke or stopping by before heading home after a night of Big Apple debauchery. The burgers were the star of their menu, but my favorite item was their spinach and artichoke dip.

This recipe is inspired by the Sunswick’s recipe, but it contains my own gourmet twists. I’ve added red peppers, garlic and shallots and I make a cheese sauce from scratch, which provides an extra creamy and cheesy base to bind it all together. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat spinach and artichoke dip and not be reminded of great times at the corner of 35th avenue and 35th street in Astoria, Queens.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I mention in the intro that Sunswick had so many beers on tap that it would be impossible to drink one of each kind in one sitting. Well, that might be true for most, but there was one night back in 2005 that Sunswick decided to have a contest to see if people could do exactly that.*

I didn't enter the competition but my cousin, who was visiting from out-of-town, decided he would give the challenge a try.

Long story short, he was kicked out before finishing.

Because the owner knew me, it was not done with force, he asked me nicely to take him home, he told me I could stay, but made it clear that my cousin was going to be removed if I didn’t get him out myself. Luckily, he listened to me and we left without incident. He came to visit me often over the years I lived in New York and we always had a great time. (On one particular occasion, I found him explaining to my Brazilian friends what the slang term “tossing your salad” meant.)

*There was one guy at the Sunswick that completed the challenge. I am told he was walked home to make sure he didn’t fall down or take a nap on the stoop of an apartment building, but he completed the challenge and drank for free that night.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Appetizer for 6; 30 minutes
1 Tbs Unsalted butter
1 tsp Garlic, minced
2 Tbs Shallot, minced
1/2 C Red pepper, diced
1 Tbs Flour
2 C Milk
1 C Spinach cooked, chopped
1 C Artichoke hearts, cooked, chopped
2 C Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 C Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
Tortilla chips

Sauté vegetables, make roux
In a large sauce pan over medium heat, sauté garlic, shallot and red pepper in butter until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in flour, then cook another 2 minutes.

Add milk, thicken, add spinach, artichokes
Add milk to the pan and simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach and artichokes, simmer another minute or 2.

Add cheese, serve
Add cheese 2 tablespoons at a time. Stir until it is completely melted and then add another two tablespoons. Repeat until cheese is gone and incorporated. Adjust seasonings if needed. Place in a bowl and serve with tortilla chips.

Cheesy Chili Dog Dip

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Looking at this dip will add calories. It's the Medusa of all party dips. Weight Watchers wants me arrested for creating this culinary monster that registers a colossal 13 points per serving. I would recommend eating this guilty pleasure no more than twice a year – unless your immune to all the bad stuff contained in unhealthy food or you just flat out don’t watch what you eat.

Why would I create such a culinary beast? It’s ridiculously tasty. Consider it a special dish for a special time. Make it for the most cherished occasions – weddings, child births or an NFL football game.

For this recipe, I take everything that is wonderful about chili dogs and transform it into a dip. It can be served on a bun, but here it’s delivered on a tortilla chip. This dish will satisfy even the strongest cravings for chili dogs - which I am prone to for some mystical reason. After eating a large helping of this creation, I suggest spending the next three days on a raw vegetable diet or training for a triathlon just to compensate.

BEHIND THIS BITE

I love chili dogs. I wish they weren't so bad for you. In the past I have craved them after a late night of drinking. It's almost as if my body says "well after what you did to me last night, you might as well fill me up with the most unhealthy thing you can find." I like to top my chili dogs with shredded cheddar cheese and raw onion, which I incorporate here. The cheese and chili bring this dip together, much more is needed of the two in this dip than what is needed when eating a traditional chili dog. Usually the chili, cheese and onion are a compliment to the dog. For this dip, it is the opposite. The chili and cheese are what binds everything together to form a dip that will be easy to grab with a chip.

I made this dip to take to my cousin's birthday party. I decided to share it with my Mom and Dad before I went to the party. Mom got a taste and so did I. I then left a huge portion out in the kitchen that I thought I would put back into the pot I had made for the party. When I went to retrieve it before I left Mom and Dad's for the party, I noticed Dad had destroyed the entire bowl. Next time I decide to let Dad test out a guilty pleasure like this, I will be sure to leave just a small portion so there isn't as much to tempt him to over-indulge.

Eat well, cook often ...