Seared Scallops and Creamy Mash ::: Crispy Bacon and Sage

We've been on a Jamie Oliver kick lately, and this recipe is yet another success story from Jamie's repertoire. As with all of the photos on this blog, the picture represents our own rendition of this delicious dish. Click here for a link to Jamie's blog for the full recipe (which we followed exactly, plus an additional spritz of lemon one everything was plated). Also copying screen shots of his recipe below. In particular, we found that the scoring of the scallops really helped for sauce absorption. Highly recommend this little trick for scallop cooking.

I'm classifying this dish under "easy entertaining," because it truly is very easy to prepare, but hosts should note number of guests to determine if cost of the scallops is feasible (we bought at Costco for approx $16 per lb).

Sunshine Champagne

It's as simple as this. Sunshine. Fresh fruit. Champagne. Enjoy!

Fruit and Blue Cheese Bites

A super simple appetizer that begins with quality, seasonal fruit pieces and delicious chunks of blue cheese. This appetizer is as simple and scalable as it looks. Begin with a basic cocktail cracker (the ones pictured below come from Costco and are a simple white cracker with sea salt), and add a small bit of fresh, seasonal fruit to the cracker. I recommend something like pear or strawberry (pictured below) as they pair well with blue cheese, but could be anything from apples, to grapes, to honeydew. 

On top of the fruit, place a small chunk of blue cheese. Then for the finishing touch, drizzle balsamic reduction over the plate, making sure to touch each fruit and blue cheese bite with the final sauce. A fantastic, easy discovery I made to have a readily available balsamic reduction (vs. heating and reducing balsamic vinegar every time) is to buy Blaze balsamic reduction from Costco (a simple, squeeze bottle of reduced vinegar).

Huevo Con Chorizo ::: Egg and Chorizo Breakfast Tacos

The breakfast taco -- a staple in the Maiz-Waller kitchen. While there are many varieties, this one is a favorite. Start by chopping half of a small white onion and cooking in a bit of olive or vegetable oil until translucent (we typically prepare in a cast iron skillet, but any nonstick pan will do). Then add one or two links of uncooked chorizo sausage. 

On the side, whisk 4 eggs (2 per person) with a bit of montreal steak seasoning and a dash of siracha sauce. One the chorizo is cooked through, add beaten egg mixture and keep over heat until cooked through.

While eggs are cooking, heat tortillas (corn tortilla pictured below, however my personal favorite is to make this particular breakfast taco using flour tortilla since the grease soaks into the flour tortilla really nicely). You may also want to heat your salsa of choice to pour warm salsa over your taco filling. Pictured below is a Herdez Salsa Verde (green salsa). Importantly, don't use a Pace Picante salsa substitute for this dish. Buy either Herdez or La Costena (in a jar or can), or make your own salsa (recipe for another day).

Evenly distribute the egg-chorizo mixture over warmed tortillas. Top with salsa and chopped white onion, cilantro and avocado (all optional, and not pictured below, but delicious if ingredients readily available). Also optional to serve with limes, which I feel is a Xtine adaptation... most Mexicans do not opt for this combination, but I love it.

Spinach and Hot Italian Sausage Frittata ::: Crustless Quiche

Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crustless quiche, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, vegetables or pasta. Frittata is a great brunch food and very easy to make.

I made this particular frittata by browning 1/2 of a large white onion and 1 large red potato (finely diced) in a cast iron pan. Then I added chunks of hot Italian sausage until browned. And then 1/2 bag of fresh spinach until wilted. At this point, I spread the ingredients evenly across the bottom of the pan and poured the egg mixture on top. To make the egg mixture I beat 6 eggs with 1/4 cup of milk, salt and pepper to taste and about 1/4 cup feta cheese.

After a couple minutes on the stove, I transferred the frittata to the oven preheated to 375 degrees. I let it cook for an additional 10 minutes and then removed to allow for the pan to cool a bit before cutting into wedges. I flipped the wedge upside down to serve on a plate (to show the nicely browned side) with a dollop of cream cheese and fresh cut green onions.

Rajas Con Pollo ::: A Mexican Curry

An easy one-pot meal that freezes well and tastes better and better each day as leftovers. The meal can be served over rice or wrapped in a warm flour or corn tortilla. We call it a Mexican Curry because of the mix of vegetables and sauce, but really it's one of many Mexican "guisos" or stews that can be served with any mix of grains (like rice or tortilla).

Rajas con Pollo ::: A Mexican Curry

• Start by cooking 3/4 of a large onion in olive oil, until translucent.
• Add 2 to 3 cloves of crushed garlic and quick for another 1 minute.
• Add 2 breasts of raw chicken to the pot, cut into strips and let cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring ingredients.
• Then add 3 poblano chile peppers (cut into strips) after removing the seeded core of the pepper (optional step is to remove outer, waxy skin from the pepper by roasting over open flame or in the oven... however not necessary for this dish given lengthy simmer time in the pot... it softens the outer skin).
• Finally, add 1 can of corn kernels (or one small bag of frozen kernels or kernels from 2 ears of corn uncooked).
• Let the whole mixture simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until all ingredients are soft and cooked through.
• Season to taste with salt (or Knorr as a great substitute) and pepper. Pedro added a touch of cumin to this rendition. 
• Finally, add an optional 1/8 cup to 1/4 cup of sour cream to make the mixture richer.

Yum!

Spring Teaser Hake

This recipe is definitely a keeper. We enjoyed it as a late evening supper after running errands on Sunday, including an estate sale in Mt. Lebanon and an open house near the high school. This meal is easily scalable, by simply adding an additional hake filet. The freshness of the meal would pair well with a rich, moderately portioned chocolate dessert. As an appetizer, proscuito wrapped melon balls would go wonderfully.

Mango Pico de Gallo

1 ataulfo mango (diced)
1/4 large white onion (diced)
2 plum tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1 serrano pepper
cilantro to taste
1 clove fresh garlic (crushed)
Juice from 2 limes
1 1/2 tsp salt
Dash of sugar if mangos are a little sour

Add all of these ingredients to a ziploc bag and let sit in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to blend flavors.

Hake Fish

Season thawed, raw filets (available at Costco) with salt, pepper, garlic powder and olive oil

Cook on cast iron grill or bake in the oven, depending on preference

Rice

Make batch of basmati rice using seasoning to taste, including salt, pepper, garlic powder, 1/8 chopped white onion, cumin, cinnamon and kirkland no-salt organic seasoning (21 seasonings from around the world in a single blend available at Costco)

To plate, put candied almond slices in the bottom of a mold and fill with rice. Flip over onto plate to make a beautiful presentation, topped with cilantro or parsley. 

Beans

Mix 1/2 can of refried black beans with a heaping spoon of sour cream. Add a dash of salt and siracha. Use the beans as a plate paste to hold the fish in place).

Garnish plate with cilantro and avocado.

Cafe a la Viennese (Fiaker)

1 shot espresso (no Keurig machines allowed)
1 tbsp Cognac
1/2 tsp honey

Dissolve honey into Cognac in the bottom of an espresso cup. Prepare espresso on top of Cognac honey mixture, using a small spoon to further dissolve the honey under the espresso creme. If you don't have an espresso maker, you may substitute with a macchiato shot.