tomato love

I picked up some lovely heirloom tomatoes at farmers market today. Aren't they just so pretty?! Once you've tried a fresh, ripe heirloom tomato you'll never look at those blah, tasteless store bought tomatoes the same way ever again.



I put together a nice tomato salad when I got home from the market.

I sliced them up thick



stacked 'em up



tossed on a bit of crumbled blue cheese, fresh basil, cracked pepper and creamy balsamic dressing



grabbed a fork...and a knife



and got busy!

Ode To Tomatoes
by Pablo Neruda

The street
filled with tomatoes,
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
a
tomato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds
its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhaustible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved hemispheres,
pepper
adds
its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it's time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth, recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.

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sweet n' salty pistachio almond butter

I was hunting around for something to stick the last of my pistachios into and I stumbled onto 101 Cookbooks and this scrumptious nut butter. I just couldn't pass up trying the recipe.




The only nut butter I can recall making is peanut butter, which is technically not a nut at all so...I guess this is truly my first nut butter.



I love pistachios! The almonds and pistachios together are a nice combination. I chose to use roasted nuts in my nut butter for a bolder flavor. I also threw some agave nectar and a bit of salt.



The sweet and salty mix was terrific. We tried some of this yummy nut butter on crackers. Delicious!



Sweet n' Salty Pistachio Almond Butter
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 cup shelled dry roasted pistachios
1 cup shelled dry roasted almonds
about 1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 tsp salt

Using a food processor, mix the nuts until finely ground. Slowly add the hot water to reach desired consistency. Mix in the agave nectar and salt.

Serve however you please! :D


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warm potato salad with lemon and fresh herbs

I'm one of those strange birds that prefers their potato salad warm. I love to dig in just after I'm done mixing it up instead of waiting and eating it cold from the fridge. My dad makes the greatest potato salad on the planet and I always eat it warm too. My dad's salad is jam packed with bacon, olives, eggs...it's incredible!



I made this lemon and herb potato salad for Easter brunch. I thought the lemon and fresh herbs made it a nice choice. It also has a touch of balsamic. It may not look like much in these photos but it actually was quite scrumptious!



warm potato salad with lemon and fresh herbs
recipe adapted from Dragon's Kitchen

serves 6-8

Print recipe

10 medium red potatoes, cut into cubes
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup chives, finely chopped
1 1/4 cup mayo
juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and cracked pepper

Cook potatoes in a large pot of salted water until tender. Drain and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl combine the herbs, mayo, lemon juice, zest and balsamic. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fold potatoes into the herb mayo mixture. I like to break my potatoes up a bit as I stir.

You can serve this immediately or refrigerate and then serve. It's up to you.


Hope you are having a lovely day! ;)




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A spring in my step

My wonderful husband went all out for my birthday this year and bought me a fancy-schmancy camera! I've wanted one for years now. I couldn't wait to run outside and have some fun! Flowers are always a good subject and what a great time of year for flower photos. My yard is coming alive right now. I love to go outside each day and see what changes have taken place overnight. I tell ya, it puts a spring in my step!



We have a ton of daffodils!



We have tried tulips but some crazy critter likes the taste of the bulbs so we don't have much luck growing them.



The daffodil bulbs must not be very tasty because nothing seems to mess with them. They grow like weeds...only much prettier! ;)



I made a topping for fish yesterday using green olives, tomato and meyer lemon.



I didn't care for the fish at all but did like the topping. I think this would be great as a bruschetta topping.



green olive tomato fire-roasted red pepper bruschetta topping
by theUngourmet

makes about 1 cup

print

1/3 cup green olives, sliced
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 small fire-roasted red peeper. peeled, seeded, and diced
1 tsp meyer lemon zest
juice from 1/2 meyer lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
cracked pepper
fresh thyme (I had mine in the freezer so it was a bit dried out but still good.)

Toss all ingredients into a bowl and serve over bread, crackers or whatever suits you.

Thanks so much everyone for the lovely birthday wishes! You all made my day even more special!




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Spicy cornbread pudding with black eyed peas for the new year

I thought I'd better fit some of those lucky black eyed peas into my day to help ring in the new year! I just love the look of dried beans don't you? I'd like to decorate my house with them. Seriously!

It was a quiet New Year's Eve over our way. My husband got called out to work, my daughter was at an all night youth group celebration, and my son finally zonked out around ten-thirty despite the fireworks and yelling coming from the youngsters next door. I rang in the New Year with a bit of the bubbly, watching some girl grabbing at her privates and singing off key on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year (a real class act!). I wonder just what Mr. Clark thinks of today's "talent"?

Sometimes I wish for a time machine. I'd like to be blasted back to the forties or fifties for New Year's Eve.

This corn bread pudding recipe turned out really nicely. Moist and flavorful with a bit of heat.



I threw in some black eyed peas, creamed corn, and Rotel tomatoes, along with some other goodies.



Then served it warm with a nice helping of salad greens.

Click HERE for the recipe.

I just found out that Debby at A Feast For the Eyes had her blog content stolen. I have no idea if this has happened to me or not but I am thinking of linking my recipes instead of posting them here. What do you think?

Here's to 2010!! May your new year be filled with peace, love, good health, lots of laughter and fun! Thank you so much for visiting my blog in 2009! XO




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Warm lentil salad with lemon dijon vinaigrette

I don't know about you, but after all of the Christmas goodies I'm about ready for a nice salad.

I've been wanting to try French lentils in a recipe for some time now. They are so beautiful. As I did some hopping around on the computer for fun recipe ideas, I found that there are true French lentils and then there are impostor French lentils. I'm probably the last one to know this fact. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?!

Anyway, the real French lentils are called lentilles du Puy and are grown in volcanic soil in France. Hop over here for some great info on the different types of lentils.

I found a lot of variations of this salad and in the end did a bit of mixing and matching to come up with what I feel is a pretty darn tasty salad.



Warm Lentil Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
by theUngourmet

approximately four servings

1/2 cup French lentils
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1/3 cup chopped red bell peppers
2 sprigs fresh thyme
cracked pepper
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
1 cup vegetable broth

1 package of Mache or baby salad greens

Vinaigrette

juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

Garnish

cooked crumbled bacon
feta cheese

Sort and rinse lentils. In a 4 qt saucepan saute garlic in olive oil. Add the lentils, red peppers, thyme sprigs, pepper, Marsala, and veggie broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until just tender (not mushy), about 40 minutes or so.

Drain and allow to cool a bit. Remove thyme sprigs. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, and Dijon. Toss with lentils.

Place a good sized handful of Mache on a plate, add about a 1/2 cup of lentils over greens. Top with crumbled bacon and feta.

Print recipe

This is so delightful! Not too heavy! It could be used as a side dish or light main dish with some crusty bread.

Give this a try, I know you'll love it!




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My daughter the baker

I hope that your Thanksgiving holiday was filled with love, a spirit of thankfulness, and a whole lot of great grub!

My daughter baked this wonderful cornucopia to compliment our Thanksgiving feast. Isn't it fabulous?! I was impressed with her handiwork!

Here is a photo of my lovely daughter at a recent school event.

According to Wikipedia, the word cornucopia comes from the Latin words Cornu Copaie and is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century B.C., also referred to as the food of worship and holiness. If you hop over to Wikipedia you can read a bit more about the cornucopia.

We definitely enjoyed an abundance of yummy food today. Everything was delicious!

I am so very thankful to have been blessed with such a sweet, caring, loving, beautiful, artistic daughter!

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Orange you wild about these sweet potatoes?

I was waiting in line at the supermarket the other day, trying to resist the urge to buy a half dozen of the magazines sitting there. I decided it wouldn't hurt to take a quick peek while I had a few moments to spare. During my page flipping I spotted a photo for sweet potatoes in an orange peel and it reminded me of the cupcakes I made last summer. Remember those? If not, click HERE. I can't remember now which magazine it was. It might have been Taste of Home. I didn't have time to peek at the recipe so I just came up with my own.

Sweet potatoes in orange cups
serves 4

1 very large sweet potato
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp low fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 oranges cut in 1/2 and hollowed out
(You can squeeze the juice out and reserve it for another recipe.)
24 mini marshmallows
4 tsp brown sugar
nutmeg

Peel sweet potato, cut into chunks and cook in boiling water until tender. Drain. Whip potatoes with butter, buttermilk, ginger, salt, and pepper.

Scoop mashed potatoes evenly between the 4 orange rinds. Top each with 6 mini marshmallows, brown sugar and nutmeg.

Place into a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Watch that the marshmallows don't get too brown.

I think these are so fun for Thanksgiving. You can easily adjust this for the amount of guests you are inviting.

Have a nice Sunday!

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Stuffing and Mashed Potato "Cupcakes" and a Crazy Cupcake Challenge

This is proving to be a super busy weekend. A weekend full of Halloween fun, parties galore, and a big 13th birthday for my wonderful daughter! She has requested Red Velvet Cupcakes for her party. I really want to do a bit of a twist on them so my mind gears are working overtime to figure that out.

Needless to say, mealtime has been a bit rushed and I've been looking for fun and easy ideas for my Crazy Cupcake challenge. Here is my latest concoction...Stuffing and Mashed Potato Cupcakes.

I really don't have a specific recipe for this one. I just used the cheater stuffing, prepared according to directions.



I cooked up 3 large potatoes and whipped them up with 2 tbsp of butter, some sour cream, salt and pepper.



I pressed an even amount of stuffing into 12 muffin cups and topped with a scoop of taters. I topped each cupcake with a bit of shredded cheese and a sprinkle of dried parsley and placed into a 400 degree oven for about 7-8 minutes.



These are so darn cute! I think they would be great for Thanksgiving, don't you?!

Speaking of Thanksgiving....How about a little challenge from the Ungourmet!

Send me your most creative CrAzY CuPcAkE recipe and I will put it before my panel of judges (namely my kiddos). The winner will walk away (or rather, be mailed) a few goodies.

I was thinking of this pie crust shield and this awesome spatula. This spatula ROCKS! It is so perfect for scooping out those stuffing and mashed potato cupcakes!

So, send me your recipe idea by either a link in your comment or to my yahoo email. kkautto(at)yahoo(dot)com. I want to pick a winner before Thanksgiving so that the winner can use these prizes while whipping up the big meal.

How about we make the deadline...Thursday, November 19th. That should be enough time to mail out prizes.

Show me whatcha got! :0)

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