Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Chicken & Pepper Kababs with Zukali Cilantro Pineapple Salsa

July 4, 2014 by Mary 22 Comments

Happy July 4th! May you all enjoy a wonderful holiday. The dish below makes for an easy BBQ so you can enjoy the fireworks!

The Zukali Cilantro Pineapple Salsa is so tasty and versatile. It is not too spicy, just a great flavor of roasted peppers and cilantro with a hint of pineapple! As the owner Cesar told me, he loves entertaining and always made these great, different salsas. He was encouraged to go retail with them by his friends. Luckily, he owns a graphic design firm in real life, enabling him to create beautiful packaging. But the goods inside are lovely!

In one of the first uses, I served it plain with the Simply7 Sea Salt Quinoa Chips – a delicious, no-brainer combo from the box!

Then I marinated boneless, skinless chicken breast chunks in it for 30 – 60 minutes, (3/4 cup of salsa worked for 5 chicken breasts), skewered those babies with some red and yellow pepper chunks (peppers in the salsa and fresh peppers – nice!) and Steve, my husband, grilled them perfectly, about 3 – 4 minutes per side on high heat on a preheated grill pan.

See how pretty they look!!!

Serve them topped with a bit more of fresh from the jar salsa (not the stuff you marinated in), add grilled Yukon Gold potatoes and a nice veggie (sauteed baby bok choy here) and you have a company meal. Delicious, juicy and flavorful! Thank you Cesar!

I also used it to top some simple roasted salmon to make a not so simple entrée. I imagine this would be great on eggs too!

And for those of you who have mates who don’t like fruits with meats or mains (I’m talking you, Margaret), this is not fruity or sweet at all. There is a tiny hint of pineapple but it’s mostly slightly smoky peppers and cilantro and just all goodness. Cesar makes many flavors. You can check out his website. He’s the real deal.

Super easy nachos

February 1, 2012 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

This is so easy, it’s almost stupid. But it’s really, really good!! I have seen the most sophisticated people not want to stop eating these in my home. And they are perfect for Super Bowl Sunday. You see, I made these up when I was having a casual weeknight dinner party, and needed a quick, easy and delicious appetizer. My guests usually sit at the counter at my kitchen so I can talk to them while I cook on the other side.

It’s funny to me that the “counter” has come full circle in my life. When I was a kid, (I’m the youngest of 6 with 5 older brothers), if we misbehaved at the kitchen table at dinnertime, we were sent to eat at the counter behind us having our back to the table and eating next to a sink filled with vegetable peels and a can of dog food ready to feed the dog. My Dad was a Major in the army in WW II and he could be pretty tough. The “crime” could have been something like my brother, Mark, making me laugh so hard that milk would come spewing out of my nose. Most of the time I was sent to the counter, not Mark! And now I grow up and my counter is full of friends and family hanging out and allowing me to be a part of the party! I love my open kitchen here.

Back to the nachos – I love nachos! We all love the crunch and the salt, but they’re too much. How do you make them lighter and a bit healthier, I kept on asking myself. This is what I think about in the middle of the night. Crazy, I know.

So here’s what I do.

NACHOS MADE FRESH & EASY
Restaurant style Tostitos – a mound to fit on an 11” round serving plate
1 15.5 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 fresh plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise and chopped
3 – 4 oz. fresh grated sharp cheddar cheese, to taste
½ fresh avocado, cubed
Pickled jalapeno peppers, sliced
Your favorite salsa on the side

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mound a pile of chips on a rimless cookie sheet the size of the plate you’re using to serve this. It’s very important that your cookie sheet is rimless because you have to be able to slide the whole thing off onto your plate. Scatter your drained beans on top, then the fresh tomatoes and grated cheese. Bake on the top shelf in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes, until the cheese is nicely melted. Remove from the oven and slide onto your serving plate.

Top with the fresh avocado cubes and pickled jalapeno peppers. Serve with a cake server on small plates with some salsa on the side so that your guests can spoon it on to their pile of warm nachos. Enjoy! GO GIANTS!!!!!

Serving of nachos with avocado and salsa.

A serving with salsa

For Football Sunday

January 13, 2012 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

Or shall I say, how to love your man and make him ADORE you.

I made this for dinner last Sunday and my husband was so so happy, and the Giants won!! So maybe it’s also our good luck burger. Now I don’t usually make things like this – too rich, too fattening, too, too and not special enough for a Sunday dinner, but Steve was so excited about the game last week, we had to rush home from the country and be here in Manhattan to see it. We don’t have TV in the country – just Netflix on the Internet, which by the way, the selection there stinks, and DVD’s on our old Sony.

But I saw this Bobby Flay Nacho Burger recipe on the cover of the January issue of Food and Wine and it just seemed so right for the day. It was really good. Really.

However in my inimitable way of constantly tinkering with recipes, if I were to make it again, I might do ¼ lb. sharp cheddar and ¼ lb. Monterey Jack cheese in the sauce, instead of all Jack. And I thought the salsa was too sweet. Rather than the pickled jalapeños on top, I think I would put in ½ of a fresh, thinly sliced jalapeño, with the seeds, directly in the salsa and skip the pickled ones all together.

I have also switched the order of his process – you need to make the cheese sauce first so it cools and gets thick.

Let me know what you think.

GO GIANTS!!!

(Fortunately we are invited to our friend’s house upstate for this weekend. They have a TV and Margaret is going to make rabbit! A bit more elegant than this!)

NACHO BURGERS from Bobby Flay and Food and Wine magazine

Cheese Sauce
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Salsa
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
Salt
2 tablespoons red onion, finely diced
3 plum tomatoes, finely diced
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 chipotle chile in adobo, seeded and minced (I left the seeds in)

Burgers
Vegetable oil, for brushing (I used olive oil)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Sliced pickled jalapeños and blue corn tortilla chips, for topping
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted

MAKE THE CHEESE SAUCE In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook over moderate heat for 30 seconds. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking, until smooth and thickened, 5 minutes. Stir in the Jack cheese until melted, then stir in the pecorino; season with salt and pepper. Let the sauce cool until it is very thick and spreadable.

MAKE THE SALSA In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt.

MAKE THE BURGERS Light a grill or heat a grill pan on high heat. Form the beef into 4 patties (try to handle the meat as little as possible) and brush with oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderately high heat until browned outside and medium-rare within, about 3 – 4 minutes per side, depending on your heat.

Place the burgers on the buns. Top with the cheese sauce, salsa, pickled jalapeños and chips. Close the burgers and serve.

Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Chicken & Pepper Kababs with Zukali Cilantro Pineapple Salsa

Super easy nachos

For Football Sunday

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