Green salsa from scratch

While visiting Eastern Washington, I went to a farmer’s market, hoping to find some delicious fresh produce to use in some new recipes. Lo and behold, a basket of serrano chiles for $1 and tomatillos for $1/pound! Perfect for the salsa I had wanted to make.

The tomatillos have a papery loose skin on the outside, and are sticky when the skin is removed. Underneath, they look like green tomatoes. Once cut open, the flesh is much denser and less juicy than a tomato. The tomatillos are cooked in this recipe, which makes them actually become slightly sweet. I was surprised. The green salsa with salty tortilla chips was a perfect combination. I highly recommend trying Juanita’s Tortilla Chips, available at Whole Foods.

Tomatillo Salsa (from Gourmet Magazine, September 2007)

1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered
1 fresh serrano chile, seeded and chopped
1/2 large white onion, cut into 4 wedges
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Coarsely purée tomatillos, chile, onion, garlic, water, and 1 teaspoon salt in a blender. Transfer to a large heavy skillet and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature, then stir in cilantro, lime juice, and salt to taste.

Martha's Banana Walnut Bread

With all the in-season, ripe, juicy fruit available, I decided to make something from nearly-rotten old bananas which you can get any time of year. Don’t ask me why... it just sounded good.

Anyway, I have made banana bread more times than I can count. I have tried every recipe in every cookbook I own and from many websites. Most turn out too dry and are lacking in flavor. After many years of just ok banana bread, I finally looked to the ultimate authority when it comes to recipes, Martha Stewart. Of course she had a delicious banana bread recipe. I should have consulted her sooner! The only recipe I have made that comes close to this is the Cooking Light banana bread that uses yogurt in the batter. The reason I like Martha’s recipe so much is that it uses butter, sour cream, and enough salt to bring out all the flavors. I love the flavor and texture walnuts add to the banana bread, but feel free to leave them out.

Banana Bread (Taken from Martha Stewart Living, August 2004)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Fresh and Easy Chopped Salad

With the warm weather finally here (well, for a weekend at least), salads have been sounding really good. I love chopped salads but have never tried to make one for some reason. Purple Café, a restaurant and wine bar in the area, makes a really good chopped salad, so I attempted to make a similar one. Theirs has garbanzo beans, tomatoes, avocado, and blue cheese among other things. I decided to keep everything, but instead of blue cheese, I used Beecher’s Flagship Cheese (a Seattle sharp cheddar-ish cheese). I also added cucumber, red onion, a little yellow pepper, and basil. I really think the basil made the salad. For dressing, I decided to make a sweet balsamic vinaigrette (sweetened with honey). The salad turned out amazing! I could have just had that for dinner, but we also made fried chicken to serve with it. And my Peach-O-Rama Tart for dessert... what a satisfying dinner!

If you don’t like any of these ingredients, leave them out, or substitute them with something you do like.

Chopped Salad

Serves 6-8 as a side dish or 4-5 as a main dish

1 head romaine lettuce
1 cucumber, seeded
2 tomatoes, seeded
1 can garbanzo beans (or cook your own from dried - see http://anytimegourmet.blogspot.com/2011/08/dont-buy-canned-beans.html)
1 red, yellow, or orange pepper
½ red onion
5-6 basil leaves, julienned
4 ounces blue cheese, sharp cheddar or other cheese that you like (I used Beecher’s Flagship)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Chop all vegetables into roughly the same size. Toss together in a large bowl. In small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together vinegar, honey, oil, salt and pepper. Taste after mixing and add more honey, oil or vinegar to your liking. Dress just before serving. You may not need all of the dressing on the salad, so use about half at first, mix well, then taste to see if it needs more. You can always add more.