Pico de Gallo

This is a recipe I got from Chelz's boyfriend describing how his mom makes it back in Taxes. I used my kohlrabi which is in abundant supply this time of the year, and they are ever so tasty from the cool fall air and moisture.

1 medium red onion, chopped,
1 large kohlrabi, peeled and chopped,
10 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 C. chopped cilantro,
juice from one lemon,
juice from one lime,
salt to taste.

Mix all ingredients together, let set for half an hour before serving. Serve with corn chips.

Simple pickles

I have had hard time making pickles for a long time. My pickles never seems turned out they way I expected them to be - until I experimented with this simple version of the cold packed pickles...It is simple, delicious. Here's the recipe:
soak 10 lb. of cucumbers (sliced lengthwise) in a salt solution with 16 C. water and 1.5 C. salt for 1 day. The next day, make the brine: bring to boil 4 C. white vinegar and 6 C. water, add 2 T. colored pepper corns, 1 T. mustard seeds, 10 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 t. red pepper flakes, horseradish (optional), whole hot peppers (optional). Pack cucumbers in hot jars (boiled in hot water for 5 minutes). Pour brine in jars. Cap jars. Store in the refrigerator. Pickles should be ready in 7 days. Keep up to 2 month.

Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a southern rice dish with distinct flavor. I first had the real jambalaya when we vacationed in New Orleans. Walking on the street of New Orleans smelling the aromas came out of the numerous restaurants in the musky air is an unique experience. One dish I was determined to try while there was Jambalaya. Today I am trying to duplicate the taste and bring back some memories.

The foundation of Jambalaya is the a mixture of vegetables (celery, onions and peppers) and meats (I like to use smoked sausage, chicken and shrimp) cooked together with rice and the unique Louisiana seasoning (a real nice short cut). I use my rice cooker for this dish, makes it super easy.

Method:
Remove the skin from fresh shrimps, put the skin in a pot with 4 C. water, bring it to a boil. Turn off heat.
Saute the chopped vegetables in 2 T. oil, until onions become translucent, remove, place in the rice cooker. Saute the cutup meats in 2 T. oil until cooked, remove and place in the rice cooker. Cook 2 C. short grain rice in 2 T. oil until the rice turns white, sprinkle with Cajun spice. Pour stock made with shrimp water to the pan, add 10 oz. canned tomato. Bring it to a boil, add 2 cloves of crushed garlic. Place the content in the rice cooker. Stir well. Turn the rice cooker on. Cook until done. Leave the Jambalaya in the rice cooker for at least half an hour before serving. Serve with Louisiana hot sauce, boiled corns and fried breaded zucchini slices.

YUMEEEEEEEE! And watch Forest Gump on your DVD.

Mussaka

With all the fresh veggies come out of the garden, I decided to put something together that will utilize a few of them.... Moussaka came to mind. I have herd about this dish from Serge, an old Greek guy who sells tomatoes at the Portland Farmer's Market. I used to share my veggies with him at the end of the market day, and hearing him talking about all the wonderful Greek foods that made my mouth water....Today I am going to try one of the dishes he described to me, Moussaka, a dish that uses eggplant, potatoes, onions with meat and Béchamel sauce . I know the basic ingredients, now it's a matter of figuring out how to put them all together. I looked up on Youtube, and found a real simple version of it....

3 medium sized potatoes,sliced, 3-4 Black Dragon Eggplant,sliced, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 medium onion,diced, 1 lb. lean ground beef, 1/4 lb. Italian sausage. 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (16 oz.). Heat a heavy cast iron pan on high, add 2 T. olive oil brown potato slices on both sides, remove from pan. Add 2 more T. olive oil, cook eggplant slices until they turn soft. Remove from pan. Add Italian sausage to pan, cook until down; add ground beef, cook until done, add chopped garlic and onions, cook until onion turn translucent. Add the spaghetti sauce, stir until blended. Add some chopped herbs from your garden (I used parsley and oregano).

Spread a layer of the meat sauce on the bottom of a baking dish, arrange a layer of potato, a layer of eggplant, add meat sauce, add another layer of potato and eggplant. Pour the remaining meat sauce on top.

Make the white sauce: add 2 T. butter, stir in 2 T. white flour, stir until well blended and flour turning lightly brown, add 2 C. whole milk, salt and pepper, add 2 beaten eggs, cook until the sauce forms a nice consistency.

Pour the white sauce over the potato and eggplants. Bake at 350 F oven for 1 hour.

It was truly exquisite!