Arugula, Red Cabbage, and Carrot Chicken Salad

This is one of my summertime lunch staples.  I adore chicken salad, and love it on a bed of lettuce or, in this case, on fresh arugula for a punch of flavor.

What's in it:

(2) 5 oz. cans of chicken

(2) carrots

onion (to taste)

6 tbsp dijon mustard (i like maille or grey poupon whole grain)

4 tbsp mayonnaise

pepper

arugula

red cabbage, finely shredded

honey dijon salad dressing (i like maple grove farms)

How to make it:

1.  Open, rinse, and drain the canned chicken.  Put into a mixing bowl and add grated carrots and finely chopped onion.  Mix in mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper: amounts depends on your taste.  I tend to add lots of mustard and little mayo, but if you like it creamier, do the opposite.

2.  Toss arugula and red cabbage in salad dressing and lay in serving bowl.  Add a dollop (i love that word!  add a big one if you're hungry) of chicken salad in the middle.

3.  Sesame crackers and cheese make a nice side.

Serves: 2-3

Arugula: fresh from the garden.  The little yellow flowers are edible too!

Camie Kury's Zucchini Bread

My cousin Camie makes a ridiculously delicious zucchini bread.  Hope it's nice timing for those of you growing it fresh in the garden!  And thanks to Camie for sharing.

What's in it:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups finely grated zucchini

How to make it:
1.  Mix first 10 ingredients together in a large bowl.
2.  Mix in zucchini.
3.  Bake in greased loaf pan for 1.5 hours at 350 degrees, or until golden brown.  Check after 1 hour to see how it looks.


Drawing from Pie in the Sky by Susan Purdy.

Asian Slaw with Pickled Daikon

Sweet, tangy, and a little spicy.  This makes a great summer side dish.

What's in it:
1 1/2 lbs daikon radish, peeled
1/4 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 thai or serrano chiles, cut into wide slices
1 1/2 qts thinly sliced napa cabbage
2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
3 green onions, chopped
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds


How to make it:
1.  Cut daikon lengthwise into 1/2" slices, then stack and cut into 1/2" cubes.  Toss with salt in a medium bowl.  Let stand about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, to draw out moisture.  Rinse daikon well and drain.  In bowl, stir sugar with vinegar until dissolved, then stir in daikon, oil, and chiles.  Chill, covered, at least 4 hours and as long as 1 week.
2.  Drain daikon, reserving pickling liquid, and discard chiles.  In a large bowl, toss together napa cabbage, red cabbage, onions, sesame seeds, and daikon.  Add 1/2 cup pickling liquid (or more if you like) and toss to coat.


Makes: 3 quarts
Serves: 8
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus 6 hours to pickle
Source:  Sunset Magazine, July 2012 issue, pg 86

Peach-Ginger Crisp

A gift from Ma & Pa Felder, Pie in the Sky by Susan Purdy is geared towards baking at any altitude, often an obstacle in places like Santa Fe.  Without the right combination of ingredients, baking times and temperatures, your breads, muffins, or pies can end up looking like someone gave them a swift kick to the gut.  To avoid collapse or undercooking, you need to adjust accordingly.  Susan wrote this book based on baking experiments across 5 states, so I find it a trustworthy resource.  This recipe happens to bake at the same temperature for the same amount of time across the board.  

Here's her recipe for Peach-Ginger Crisp, which "can be considered a master recipe for whatever fruit is in season, from peaches to nectarines to pears, plums, apricots, berries or apples, or a blend of these." Susan also notes that the ginger can be replaced with cinnamon and/or nutmeg, and grated fresh ginger adds some punch to the flavor.

I made this recipe last weekend with fresh peaches courtesy of Ventana Fine Art's tree on Canyon Road.


What's in it:
1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or to taste)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

For the oat crumb topping:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
pinch salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut up




How to make it:
1.  To peel peaches, use a slotted spoon to lower into a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes, then remove them to a bowl of cold water to cool, then drain.  The peach skins will slip off easily.
2.  Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350.
3.  Butter a 10" deep pie plate or ovenproof casserole
4.  In a large bowl, toss the peaches with the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon juice, and spread in the baking dish.
5.  In a medium bowl, combine all the crumb ingredients and pinch them together with your fingertips or mix with a fork to make crumbs.  Spread them over the fruit,
6.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the fruit is tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife and the crumbs are golden brown.  Cool slightly on a wire rack.
7.  Serve that baby warm, spooning it from the pan.  A la mode with vanilla ice cream?  Mm hm.




Servings: 8 to 10
Cook time: approx 45-50 minutes 

Pita Pizza

Fast, easy, and great with garden-fresh vegetables.

What's in it:
pita bread
hummus
feta cheese
cucumber
tomato
kalamata olives
raddicchio, lettuce, or baby spinach (optional)

How to make it:
Spread hummus onto pita bread and sprinkle feta cheese on top.  Bake or toast until feta cheese just starts to melt.

Add toppings!

Green Chile, Chicken Enchiladas.

This is an unconventional approach to a recipe post ... and I hope that's ok. But if you know what you're doing, then you know what you're doing ... you know?

It all comes down to browning and roasting chicken, then cooking together mushrooms and onions, making a béchamel with cooked chicken, roasted fresh green chile and garlic. Layer it all in a casserole, starting with lightly toasted or fried corn tortillas along with good quality sharp cheese and more raw onion. Build it just like you would a lasagna. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese is browned. I like to garnish or present with a red chile sauce my mother sends me from El Parasol in Santa Fe. The only real secret is using the best quality roasted and peeled green chile ... the kind only New Mexico can grow.

Enjoy.

two coconut recipes

until a few years ago i thought i did not like coconut, and who can blame me? i knew it only from those bags of dry sweetened coconut in the baking aisle, and from tropical drinks made with coco lopez. then came the crusade to conquer southern desserts. but how could i make my coconut cream pie better? and so it began.

my new love for coconut mounts to an obsession.

here are two interesting and delicious coconut recipes. the coconut milk i like best comes in a 32 oz tetrapak container, but if you don't have access to that, cans will be fine. the reason the tetrapak appeals to me is that the ingredient list cannot actually be classified as a list. it says, simply: coconut cream. to keep the coconut from reacting to the cans during processing, the canned varities contain a variety of stabilizers and salts which also make the product keep longer once opened. this does not appeal to my inner purist.

#1 coconut tapioca pudding

2 c coconut milk + 2 c water, or one can of coconut milk and water to make a total of 4 cups liquid
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 c brown sugar (this adds depth for me, but you could easily use all white sugar)
1/2 c tapioca pearls (not the instant, or quick-cooking type)
1/2 tsp vanilla, added at the end
pinch salt

you can go through all the trouble of soaking the tapioca overnight and cooking on a stovetop, or you can simply put everything in a smallish crock pot on the "low" setting while you're cooking something else and stir it every 1/2 hour or 20 minutes until it is thick. no soaking required. usually it takes about two hours for mine to cook, but crock pots are extremely variable.
this is a very rich pudding, even without eggs. it is really delicious served cold with bananas that have been cooked in butter and brown sugar. fresh mango or pineapple would be good, too.

#2 coconut horchata

what will you do with the rest of that 32 ounces of coconut milk? once opened, it only keeps a few days. you could put it in rice while it is cooking. or make a thai dish. or a coconut-based curry. or maybe you are planning to make a few coconut pies.

or maybe you can't resist drinking it. in that case, you might like to try this:

1 c uncooked rice
1 c almonds
a dash cinnamon
3 c boiling water
1 can coconut milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
5 c cold water

in a small food processor or coffee grinder, chop the rice until it is a coarse meal. then chop the almonds. mix together and add cinnamon.
pour the boiling water over this and let set at least 6 hours, or overnight.
strain twice to get all the pieces out. add to the liquid the coconut milk, condensed milk, and water.
serve over ice, or not. this is a delicious thing to put boba in (giant tapioca pearls: think bubble tea), or add rum for a delicious summer drink.
vegan people, don't despair! you can omit the sweetened condensed milk: warm up some of the coconut milk and add 1/2-3/4 c brown sugar until dissolved, and you won't be missing that much.

Huevos Diablitos

I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but I can only take credit for eating almost a whole tray of these. Even though I almost burst like Cool Hand Luke, these are the most bomb eggies you'll ever put in your mouth with the secret ingredient being truffle oil!

Recipe courtesy of Johanna Frenz

1 doz eggs
2T of vinegar
Salty water
1/3 cup mayo or so
1/3 cup good Dijon mustard
S&P
Capers, chopped finely (if you have them)
2 tsp truffle butter or oil
red chile powder, or red and green if ya wanna be festive!

Put the eggs in a pan with cold salty water and vinegar so they are submerged. Bring to a boil, cover the eggs and turn off the flame. Wait fifteen minutes and run under cold water.

Peel them. Or make someone else do it, this part sucks.

Slice eggs in two and take out the yolks. Save the egg boats.

Mash the yolks with the mayo, add the mustard and the chopped capers, salt it, pepper it, truffle it. Whip it and make it fluffy.

You probably have a pastry bag...perfect time to use it!
You don't? Use a plastic bag with the corner cut out. Fill those egg white boats up with the mixture; kinda like a soft serve ice cream.

When done sprinkle with chile powder. eat all in one sitting, before your guests even know you made 'em. ;)

Num Num Num!

Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake

One of my favorite breakfast treats over the holidays is coffee cake (with Santa Fe's Ohori's Coffee, of course!).  Mama Suzy has an excellent recipe, but left it at home when she visited, so we found this one at allrecipes.com.  It was also scrumptious!

What's in it:

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

For the topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tbsp cold butter

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

How to make it:

1.  In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.

2.  Transfer to a greased 9-inch square baking pan.  In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in nuts.  Sprinkle over top.  Bake at 350 degrees F for approx 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

Servings: 9

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 55 minutes

Andy's Christmas Cranberry Cocktail

Break out your fancy glassware and mix up one of these yummy booze-optional babies.  Let the festivities begin!

This makes one drink in a high-ball glass:
1.  Muddle together 3-6 fresh cranberries with 1 slice of lime.
2.  Add 5 small ice cubes.
3.  Fill 2/3 glass with ginger ale.
4.  Add Cran-apple Juice and stir lightly.
5.  Squeeze 1/4 lime over top.
6.  Pour a splash of OJ down side of glass.
7.  Sprinkle ground nutmeg over top.
8.  Add straw; drink and be merry.