Strawberry Pico de Gallo**

**tomato worm not included.

I will suffer a freeloader for good vine-ripe tomatoes.  A risk most of us would be willing to take for organic produce.  Sophie insisted I throw this particular tomato away before she went to bed.  She said, "I can't sleep with that thing in the house, it's just weird."

The rest of the tomatoes I used for a fresh salsa with strawberries.  I decided to use the knife skilz I learned at the CIA to make a concasse.   Concasse is French for fancy chopped tomatoes--i.e. skins and seeds removed and cut into a small dice.  There is more than one way to skin a tomato, but the best is to slice a shallow "x" into the bottom and briefly blanch in boiling water and cool.  The skins slip off easily.

After you have peeled the tomatoes, cut them into quarters and use your fingers to scoop out the seeds and "jelly".  Chop to your desired texture.  The resulting salsa will look prettier without the seeds and be less watery.

I chopped the jalapeno into a fine dice as nothing is more unpleasant than getting a big spicy chunk all at once.

The poblano pepper I cut into a 1/4" dice as it is less spicy than the jalepeno.  I love traditional pico de gallo but have found that many people don't like cilantro.  I had some basil that was in need of harvest; strawberries pair nicely with basil--the birth of strawberry pico de gallo!  My favorite way to cut basil or other leafy herbs is a chiffonade--French for "rags"

Stack and roll the leaves

Slice across the rolled leaves

Do this last minute so the herbs stay fresh and toss with the salsa

3 tomatoes--peeled/seeded and cut into desired dice

6 strawberries--hulled and cut into 1/4" dice

1/2 medium poblano pepper--seeded and cut into 1/4" dice

1 jalapeno--seeded and ribs removed--cut into 1/8" dice

2 scallions-sliced thinly

6-7 basil leaves-cut into chiffonade

kosher salt to taste

juice of one lime

Mix all together and chill.  I added a handful of chopped yellow cherry tomato from my garden, just for color contrast.

Banana Chai Smoothie

After a long, hot run nothing refreshes like a smoothie.  You can use banana or any other ripe fruit.  I have used pears in the past. 

1 cup Tazo Chai concentrate

1 cup milk

2 bananas

1 scoop ice cubes

Place all in blender and blend until smooth.

You can also substitute almond or soy milk if you are making this beverage for a vegan.  Just be careful if you have this in your refrigerator at the same time.... 

 Even meat-eaters don't like chicken stock in their smoothies....It was a close call!

Buchujeon-Korean chive pancake

One of my favorite Korean street foods is pajeon--basically "pancake" with various fillings, i.e. kimchi, scallion, squid, vegetable.  You could get these at most of the pojangma (food tents) that would crop up on weekends and evenings on certain side streets.  Staffed by ajumma (Korean women of a certain age), they provided filling snacks for drunken businessmen and waygookin (foreigners) alike.  If I had realized how easy they are to prepare I would have made them long ago.  Thank goodness for Maangchi and her awesome website.  

Pictured above are Korean garlic chives.  I purchased mine at a Korean grocery.  They were a bit sandy and needed a thorough rinse and spin cycle.  I combined with chopped scallions

but you could also use green peppers or zucchini.  If you use zucchini I would grate it and squeeze most of the water out.  You want about 3 cups of vegetables for the recipe.

Combine veggies with a simple batter of 1/2 cup flour, 2/3 cup water and 1 tsp. salt.

 I figured you didn't need a visual on mixing up a batter but I thought you would like to see my beautiful wooden spoon I got in Korea.

Heat oil to generously coat the bottom of a large, non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Spread pancake batter in a thin layer and reduce heat to medium.  Cook until it looks dry on top.

Prior to flipping, spread one beaten egg over the top of the pancake.  Flip and cook until lightly browned.

Flip onto cutting board and cut into squares.  Traditionally served with soy sauce mixed with a splash of vinegar (I use balsamic). 

If you use raw squid or shrimp you will need to cook the pancake a little longer.  Don't be afraid to use plenty of oil.  The only thing healthy about this dish is the veggies--it's basically Korean bar food. 

You can serve with American or Mexican beer if you want to.  Kimchi is good too.

Masshisoyo! Delicious!

Texting, texting...1-2-3

Even though I am not from Generation Text, I have found it a wonderful form of communication on many levels...it allows me to communicate with kids without them having to experience the embarrassment of talking with their mom in front of friends.  It allows my husband to text me from Costco about what he might be forgetting.  If I am in the middle of delivering a baby, the text will be there when I get done--important things won't go unnoticed.

A text from Sophie while I was at work the other day:

"Hi there is cat vomit but Piki (see above pug) is eating it" 

From Maddy who is teaching at computer camp and eating institutional food:

"I miss cutting boards and knives"

I responded with "peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting" to which Maddy replied "mean!"

Vegan cupcakes are taking over my kitchen!  Another favorite from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Modified because I used cream in my ganache and buttermilk in the cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup sugar

2 TBS molasses

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp ground flaxseed (I have omitted in the past and it worked just fine)

1 cup + 2 TBS flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Mix peanut butter, oil, sugar, molasses, vanilla, flaxseeds until well combined.  Add buttermilk and mix until incorporated.  Sift dry ingredients together and then mix with wet ingredients until just combined.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake ~24 minutes.  Cool completely then frost with chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache

8 oz. heavy cream

1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Guittard)

Heat heavy cream until just below boiling.  Remove pan from heat and add chocolate.  Let sit for ~5 minutes then stir until glossy.  If you want to drizzle on cupcakes, proceed.  If you want to pipe stars chill ganache until stiff.

OMG, they r so good! :) <333

 

Uppity Succotash--when canned corn and limas won't do

I learned this neat trick from Paula Deen, yep, we're bff.  She came over to my house and said, "Girl, just stand that lil' ole ear of corn up in a Bundt pan and you can remove those kernels quick as a wink without spattering your counter with corn juices and spraying your kernels all over the kitchen like buckshot."  Sweet corn is one of my favorites, and even Paula eats it without butter.  We have to take it off the cob now since someone in our family has braces....I was going to pair it with fresh pink-eyed peas (seriously, I got them at the farmer's market--they are like albino black-eyed peas) but realized they would take too long to cook.  Instead, I used a bag of frozen edamame I had, visually more appealing and cooked in 4 minutes in the microwave. 

Succotash

3 ears of corn--kernels removed using method of your choice but I highly recommend Paula's

shelled edamame--cooked and used in 1:1 ratio with corn kernels

2 medium shallots, diced finely

1 medium bulb fennel, sliced thinly and slices cut into ~1" pieces

olive oil

salt and pepper

sherry wine vinegar

In a medium skillet heat 2-3 TBS olive oil over medium heat.  Saute shallot until lightly browned.  Add fennel and cook until tender-crisp.  Add corn and cook briefly, just until heated through.  Remove from heat and add edamame.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Toss with a splash (or two) of sherry wine vinegar. I served mine in my favorite Fire King bowl.  We rounded out the meal with some grilled sausage and fresh tomatos with homemade pesto---no pictures because pesto looks like goose turds if it is more than a few minutes old.