Home Made Spaghetti Sauce

This is my home made spaghetti sauce.  I just made it so it's upside down to seal and cool for storage and later use.

Ingredients:

• 8 or more tomatoes, washed, stems removed.
• 20-30 leaves of fresh basil
• 8-10 green olives (unstuffed) finely diced
• 5-6  Shallots finely diced
• 7-8 garlic cloves peeled and chopped of garlic or a heaping spoon of chopped Garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Green Chili Seasoning (optional)

Directions:

1. Clean the tomatoes and place in hot water and cook until the skins are starting to crack and fall away.
2. Remove from heat and add cool water and let them cool.
3. Remove skins and any center core you don't want etc.
4. Add the the tomatoes, basil, green olives, shallots, garlic to a food processor and pulse till blended.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. I sterilize jars, lids and caps and fill them with the sauce and place the caps,lids and seals on not too tightly and place in a pot of boiling water.  Once the mixture boils I remove and tightly seal with hot pad holders and place upside down to lock and seal for storage.  Can be used right way if you want.  Just cook up the meat you want and you are good to go.  

Note.  Depending on the juiciness of your tomatoes, you may choose to thicken it.  We use Wondra if we need to.

Jalepeno Poppers with a twist

These Jalapeno poppers come w/ a great twist.  Little smokies and bacon wrapped make them a super big hit!!!

Ingredients:

• Fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise, stems, seeds and membranes removed
• 1 brick Light Cream Cheese softened
• Precooked Bacon
• Little Smokies
• Chives, finely diced

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line your baking sheet with tin foil and lightly grease  (we use pam spray) the baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese, and chopped chives (reserve some for later).
3. Spread 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture into the middle of each jalapeno half.  Then sprinkle randomly with left over chopped chives.  Place little smokie in the middle of the cream cheese mixture and then wrap with the bacon, using a tooth pick to keep them closed.   Place the completed peppers, cut side up, on the prepared baking sheet and bake until the filling is soft and the jalapenos and bacon look good but not too crisp, about 20 -25 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and serve immediately. 

Cabaza de Ajo

This is a wonderful appetizer comprised of roasted garlic, jack cheese and salsa Verde.

Directions:
Roasted Garlic
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
3. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

Directions:

Roasted Baguette 

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Cut baguette into small slices.  Baste with butter and sprinkle with Green Chili powder.

3. Cook just short time until lightly browned.

Ingredients for Cabaza de Ajo:

• 3-4 cups of Jack cheese grated
• Roasted Garlic
• Salsa Verde

Directions:
Place grated cheese on microwaveable plate.  Add roasted garlic randomly.  Randomly place Salsa Verde to desired taste.  Microwave until melted.


To Serve:
Use a spoon or knife and place Cabaza de Ajo on the baguettes and enjoy.

Fire Roasted Salsa

Fire Roasted Salsa

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Jalapeno peppers
• 8-9 tomatoes
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 3-4 shallots 
• Cilantro
• Sea salt to taste

Grilled the tomatoes, jalapenos, shallots and garlic until lightly charred.  

Remove stems and some seeds (depending on how hot you want the salsa) from the jalapenos.  Please all ingredients into food processor and pulse till desired texture. Add salt to taste preference.

I sterilize jars, lids and caps that seal.  I fill with the salsa and close them up not too tightly and place in boiling water about 1/2 way up until the liquid inside is boiling.  I remove from the water, tighten the lids with hot pad holders and place them upside down to help seal.  This keeps the salsa good for a long time.  I try to keep jars around for year round.   


If you want it for right away make sure to store in fridge.

Spicy Grilled Shrimp

Chili paste and fish sauce give these shrimp a Thai-inspired flavor. Both are available in the ethnic-food aisles at many supermarkets, in Asian grocery stores, and online.

Ingredients

For The Shrimp

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest, plus 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 7 to 8 limes)
• 2 tablespoons Asian chili paste (such as sambal oelek; ethnicfoodsco.com)
• 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (such as nam pla; amazon.com)

• Coarse salt
• Safflower oil, for brushing (I used Olive oil)
• 36 large shrimp (about 3 pounds), peeled and deveined (tails left intact; optional)

Directions:

Soak 12 wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to prevent charring.

Meanwhile, make the sauce: Bring sugar and lime juice to a simmer in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. 

Remove from heat; stir in lime zest, chili paste, and fish sauce. Season with salt.

Make the shrimp: Heat grill to high. Brush grates with oil. Thread  shrimp onto each skewer; season with salt. 

Divide sauce in half; reserve half for serving. Grill shrimp for 1 minute; brush with sauce. Flip, and grill for 1 minute more; brush with sauce again. Flip, and grill, brushing occasionally with sauce, until opaque, 1 to 3 minutes more. 

Serve with reserved sauce.