Fancy melons, to get fruit into kids.

The secret to getting veg into kids is soup, and the secret to getting fruit is the freezer. This is an alternative to the frozen banana.

Half a melon (or a box of the cubed kind)

1 cup yogurt (whole, low fat or non, they all work)

1/2 bag frozen raspberries (cheaper than fresh)

a couple of dashes of honey.

a blender

ice pop molds

First puree raspberry with a little honey, set aside.

Puree down the melon with the yogurt, (you can add some milk to get the machine going) add a little honey if its not sweet enough

Starting with the melon mixture layer the ice pops with melon and raspberry, Take a skewer and run up and down the sides for the swirl look.

They should be frozen in around 5 hours.

Pesto, a Great Friend to Zombies Everywhere

Ever walk into the grocery store and smell all the basil, it comes around twice a year, the winter when its beautiful and pungent and in the summer when its sweet and overwhelming.

If you dont think that Pesto is one of the great foods of the world, than you have never made your own, and even if you have try this one. It is truly, I’m not wasting a drop of this, cleaning the blades with a piece of bread, even though i just made a huge jar pesto.

• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
• 1 cloves garlic
• 3 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1 1/2 cups golden colored olive oil
• 1 cup  grated parm

One little note, olive oil tastes better the fresher it is, so if possible open a new bottle of something a little fantastic, by the way Spanish olive oils are great and so much cheaper than that of  better known  olive producers.

In a food processor (this will fit in a little one, but barely so have some bread on hand) grind up nuts and garlic, squeeze in basil (you can be brutal with them stuffing them in there, no delicacy needed here) and let it rip, although it will be a bit of a let down, cause its too dry. Add the olive oil through the feed tube with the motor running, and watch it go.

Add all that lovely parm, the pesto should be a dream, although I prefer to make this in the summer, you can make this with winter basil, it will still be great but will have a little spicy kick, rather than a sweet undertone.

Oh, and to avoid browning, add a little layer of olive oil on top and everything stays a nice bright.

Word to the wise if you feel this pesto is too much for your household to handle, you can pass it along to all your friends, but they may ask for another batch once youve worked through the reserves.

While buying pesto, try to get your hands on some, the fresher the better mozzarella, crusty bread, and sweet scented tomatoes,  cause all the zombies will be handing around the kitchen eating it directly out of the jar, christmas cookies dont get this kind of attention.

Day old Donuts meet Bread Pudding

4 to 5 donuts, any kind will work really.
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup coconut

Tear up the donuts and place in an mid sized oven safe pan, top with chocolate chips, and then cocnut.
mix together eggs and milk and van. (I shake it up in a jar)
Pour on the donuts,
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Added bonus some donuts’ glaze will create almost a caramel
If your not a coconut and chocolate fan you can sub them out for raisins and nuts, with a touch of cinnamon.

Be Yourself with Tuna

My adventures with tuna sandwiches

The Beginning

I ate tuna sandwiches as a kid, ordered it at the deli and at diners. The traditional mayo, celery, and pickle combo.

After finding my way into the Kitchen

When i started to make them at first, i replaced the celery with the stems of lettuce, (cause i wasnt a celery fan) and eventually i started to make more of a pasta salad, and started to make a sweet and tarragon version of tuns salad. Reading a package of ready made tuna salad i discovered vinegar on the list. A new dawn, one went the lemon, in with the vinegar.

The real epiphany

Staying at my aunt’s house in europe and making sandwiches for the long train ride ahead of me, i made a tuna sandwich with no mayo. she didnt have any. I also used oil packed tuna (but i didnt give it enough credit at the time) i also used her homemade pickle, which turned out to be much spicier than what i was used. wow, there was nothing else like it.

The mess

Soon my tuna took on a life of its own, spicy, sweet, tangy, huge ingredient list, i even used to put in leftover salad.

the english

I started to travel to england regularly and often found my meals in the grocery store sandwiches, (which are so much better than what we get in the US) and basically corn came into the mix, mayo was back, and the list grew longer.

simple food

i took a step back, most of my cooking i had started to simplify, finding better flavor in simple food. i tried to recreate the tuna “sandwiches” i ate as a kid, tuna, relish and mayo. eaten with crackers  but the spark wasnt there.

rediscover

tuna packed in oil was really the break i was looking for, there was flavor there that i need, the flavor of fish had been missing.

modern times

my official tuna salad recipe.

one can tuna packed in oil, drained

heaping tablespoon mayo
a nice serving of (good quality) relish

a nice amount of tabasco (im not shy with spice)

a couple tablespoons vinegar (usually red wine)

serve with pepper and poppy crackers

You have no idea how passionate i am about this, love it, and it is so far away from the established tuna salad, run with it go wild, dont make what everyone else does. do youre own thing. Be yourself with tuna.

THink outside the box for company

There are 3 types of meal you usually get when you go to someone’s house for dinner.
1) Pasta people, this can range from mac and cheese to shrimp scampi to lasagna to spaggetti and bottled sauce. But there are many people out there who almost always serve some kind of pasta for company. Its understandable, its easy to make, fast, and a crowd pleaser. Even we’ve been guilty of serving some friends so much pasta over the years they think thats all we ever make.

2) Grillers – Everyone has been to a party where the entire meal is pretty much prepared after you get there on the grill, for many this is strictly a summer time activity, but for others it year round. Theres such a surge in the summer by september grilled anything is usually unappealing to many.

3) What’s a meal without a roast? people. Something roast be it beef, chicken, pork or turkey. Theres a roast, usually with some kind of potatoes and some other green veg. The sides can increase dramatically though thanksgiving or christmas dinners are usually the most extreme version.

I am guilty of falling into all categories and many times over, but i have been trying to rebel against the norm and this last weekend decided to feed the crowd something a little more outside the box. So i bought some cooked chicken breast at the store and went for chinese chicken salad instead.

5 chicken breasts, chopped into 1/2 in. cubes
i can water chestnuts, drained
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 bag coleslaw salad mix
1/2 cup cashews
2 tortilla, cut into strips
oil for frying

1/2 cup sugar (i went down the dark path it seems)
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup veg oil
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp sesame seeds
mix up the dressing, fry up the tortilla strips and drain on a paper towel. Arrange in a large bowl, cabbage mix, sugar snaps, chicken, water chestnuts, cashews and tortilla strips. Add the dressing before serving and enjoy a different kind of night for company. Oh and dont forget to get them to bring dessert.

The Perfect Hot Fudge Sundae – a quick and easy ice cream fix

The trick to the ultimate hot fudge sundae is completely dependant on the quality of ingredients. For ice cream, I like Double Rainbow’s vanilla, (by the way the fresher the ice cream the better the flavor) and for chocolate, there are many great brands out there, but basically the silkier the texture the better the fudge. The three little bars that come wrapped from trader joes are great. Personally im a milk chocolate fan, and normally use Cadbury’s, but there’s something about hot fudge sundaes that calls for dark.
I have found that simple is best.
For the fudge, i make a simple ganache with a one to one ratio.
1 cup cream
1 cup chocolate, bars are better than chips
heat the cream until small bubbles form on the sides of the pot, pour over a bowl filled with broken up bits of chocolate. Wait a couple of minutes and then stir together til melted. its best served in large glasses (vs. bowls) pour some into the bottom of the glass, add ice cream (I do two scoops per person), and then pour more over the top, reserve some chocolate sauce and serve on the side, (round half way through chocolate lovers need a refill)

Kitchen Sink Gucamole for Instant Gratification

3 ripened avocados, shell-less

1 little tomato, chopped

1 onion, chopped fine

1 jalapeno, chopped really small

1 small bunch cilantro, chopped

1 lime, juiced

3 garlic cloves, mashed

1 tsp cumin

salt

Mix it all together, if you under mix the avocados will be chunky, over mix and it will be  smoother.

Eat with chips, or make a quesadilla, top with guc and then sour cream, then slice.

Honey Pass by the Mustard Sauce

Easy Honey Mustard Sauce

1 tbsp Mustard of choice, (jalopeno mustard is divine in this)

2 tsp Honey (preferably with a nice dark color)

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp butter

1 tsp white wine vinegar

a little hot sauce (if your mustard isnt hot)

Combine this all together in a small bowl. Make a cup of tea, place the bowl on top, after a couple of minutes give it a little stir, if the butter has mixed in you’re done.

This is great with chicken or pork chops.

Ultimate Grilled Cheese

April is Grilled Cheese Month

Three ingredients

Bread

Cheese

Butter

That’s all you need, but for the ultimate try,

Baguette

Gruyere

Take a 5 inch piece of baguette, slice in half almost all the way. Flip the bread inside out, so the soft white is now outside, with the crusty inside. Fill the inside with slices of gruyere.Spread butter on the white outside. Heat up the Foreman grill or your two heaviest pans. Place the bread inside the forman or between the two pans (with the heavy pan on top), If using pans, you have to flip after you get a nice color on the bottom.

There are plenty of extras that can also go in as you grill

a little tomato

some ham or salami or turkey or a combination

sliced onion

After grilling

cucumbers

tomato

avocado

ketchup

mayo

If you have a sweet tooth, drizzle in some honey

Hummus with a Lime Twist

Hummus with lime instead of lemon juice has an extra kick, best hummus on the block.

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 can garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)

4 tbsp tahini (try the mid east section of the supermark)

2 tbsp lime juice

a little bit of cumin

Put the garlic in the food processor, and pulse til finely chopped. Puree the rest all together. Taste, you may need to add salt.

To garnish have fun with toasted pine nuts, chili oil, a little chopped parsley in the center, and pomegranate kernels along the rim.