Fresh Green Beans, Steamed

Fresh Steamed Green Beans

Fresh green beans are so much better the the frozen, and I have no use for canned green beans.  I perfer my green beans with just a little crunch or snap when I bite into them.  For that snap I find steaming to be the best cooking method.  

photo by: Mike Licht under Creative Commons Licenses

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notionscapital/  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The Ingredients

1 pound of fresh green beans

4 slices of bacon

2 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons white wine, or another mildly acidic liquid, such as deluded vinegar or apple juice.    

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Sea salt to taste

Preparation

Cut the bacon into ¼-inch wide strips and fry over medium heat.

Dice the garlic, I use a garlic press, set the garlic aside in a small dish.

Wash the green beans, remove any unwanted stems, trim, cut if necessary.  I prefer long green beans that are uncut, with both the little curled pointy ends and the stem ends intact, but no stems.

Set up a steamer basket in a 6 quart saucepans add 2 cups or water and bring to boil over medium, to medium high heat. Be sure that the water is below your steamer basket, you should not be able to see any water once you place the steamer basket in the saucepan.  Add the green beans and steam for 3 to 6 minutes; you will have to test the beans as they cook. I like then al dente, cooked but still crunchy.  Place the beans in a bowl, but we are not through, keep the beans close by.

.

Once the bacon is cooked crisp strain the bacon from grease.  Return approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of bacon fat grease to the pan and sauté the garlic, once the garlic starts to turn light brown add the wine to deglaze the pan.   As soon as the pan is deglazed, add the butter stir until it is melted.

Combine and toss together the beans, bacon, garlic, and the bacon sauce, together, salt to taste.

Clifton

   

Post by Clifton's Cooking Blog.

Garlic Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Garlic Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Grilled garlic Parmesan crusted chicken, this is a marinated grilled chicken that is coated ranch dressing and parmesan- panko bread crumb coating.  

The Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
The juice of 1 lime juice
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Ranch Spread
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup ranch dressing

Parmesan Crumb Topping
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoons garlic salt,
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup shredded provolone

Preparing 

Mix the marinade 

Place the chicken breasts in a glass dish add the marinade.

Allow to marinade a minimum of two hours, it could marinade overnight

Just prior to cooking, prepare the ranch spread and parmesan crumb topping.

For the ranch spread, mix 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan and 1/4 cup ranch dressing. Set aside.

For Parmesan crumb topping, mix bread crumbs, garlic salt, shredded Parmesan and butter. The crumbs should be evenly moistened.

Cooking

Grill the chicken until it done.

Transfer cooked chicken to a preheated cast iron skillet. Spread 2 tablespoons ranch spread on each breast, then top with provolone and Parmesan crumb topping. Place skillet with the chicken back on the grill, but not over direct heat and cook until cheese melts and crumb topping begins to turn light brown. Serve immediately.


Enjoy
Clifton

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Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Honey mustard dipping sauce, great for chicken strips, grilled chicken, fish, broccoli bites, or any thing else you may want to dip.  It can also be used as a spread for sandwiches, or thin it a little with additional lime juice and use as a salad dressing. 

Honey Mustard Sauce (1) (Photo credit: RobynAnderson)

The Ingredients

1/3 cup Mayonnaise

1/3 cup whole grain or stone ground mustard

1/3 cup honey

Juice from 1/2 of a lime

1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or 1/8 of a teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1/8 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

Mixing

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl, mix and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.   

Related articles

• Cashew Chicken Tenders (Paleo and Whole 30)
• Broccoli Bites with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce ~ Delicious Appetizer!

Post by Clifton's Cooking Blog.

Broccoli Bites

Broccoli Bites

After Easter, you may have some left over ham or you may want to make something to nibble on while cooking Easter dinner.  If so here is a recipe to use some of those small pieces of ham.

I am always looking for ways to use leftovers, so years ago during the pre-internet era and pre-copycat recipe searches I developed this recipe.  Most of the copycat recipes call for using fried bacon. I go a slightly different route, this recipe uses ham, if however you want to use bacon, you just need to make a couple of modifications.  Just be sure and to reduce the bacon to 1/2 cup and eliminate the salt.  This recipe is also a good way to utilize those broccoli stems that may have been left over, if you made another broccoli recipe such as broccoli and cheese.

The Ingredients

Broccoli Mixture

1 pound broccoli, fresh or frozen

3 large eggs

12 oz shredded cheddar cheese; I use 6 oz mild and 6 oz sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded ham

2 green onions finely dices

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

The Ingredients, Breading

1 egg

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Approx 6 cups peanut oil

Mixing

If you are using frozen broccoli allow it to thaw and drain.

If you are using fresh broccoli, blanch in boiling water for 15 seconds the immediately chill in ice water to stop the cooking.  Then drain.

In the food processor process the broccoli until it is finely diced, most of the pieces should be 1/8 inch or smaller.  Remove the broccoli and place in a medium size, 1 ½ to 2 quart should be about the right size, bowl.   

Chop the ham into about ½ pieces, then process in the food processor, the ham should also be processed to 1/8 pieces or smaller.  After processing, add to the bowl with the broccoli and mix.

Process the eggs in the food processor for 15 seconds add the green onions and the flour while the food processor is mixing and process for another 15 seconds.

Add the egg mixture to the broccoli ham mix and thoroughly by hand or with a wooden spoon.

Cover and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour, so that the mixture can firm.

Forming and frying

Put approximately 6 cup of peanut oil in a large saucepan, and heat to 375°.  

In a small bowl whisk, the egg so that it is well blended.

In another small bowl, place the Panko breadcrumbs.

After the mixture has firmed in the refrigerator form into approximately 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoon balls.  One heaping tablespoon or a small ice cream is a good measure.  Roll into balls, then roll first n the egg wash then in the breadcrumbs.

Fry for 1 to 1 ½ minutes, place on a wire rack to drain and serve with ranch dressing or honey mustard dipping sauce

  

Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

This is a recipe for chocolate cookies with white chocolate chocolate chips.  They are very good and stay nice and plump after baking.

Last week Shirley and I went to the grocery store together, and when we came home Russell helped put the grocery away.  He came across a bag of white chocolate chip, then quickly looked through all of the other bags.  All he could find was one lonely bag of white chocolate chips.  With a look of bewilderment he wanted to know what the white chocolate chips were for.  I told we were going to make cookies.   The chocolate one with? As he held the the bag of white chocolate chips with both hands, by the corners, making the bag dance as his hands alternated up and down rapidly.

YES

The Ingredients

2 sticks softened butter (1 cup)

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar (see notes at the end of the recipe)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup baking cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°

Mixing the Ingredients

In a mixer beat butter and both sugars until creamy approximately 3 minutes on a medium high setting.

Add eggs and vanilla, mix another 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, mix thoroughly.

Turn the speed on the mixer down to slow and slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter- sugar-egg mixture as it is mixing until it is fully mixed.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and mix in white chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula. 

Baking

Roll the batter into approximately 2-inch balls and place 4 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350° preheated oven.

Allow to cool.

Other notes

I like light brown sugar for this recipe, but dark brown sugar works just fine. Make a batch with light brown sugar and a batch with dark brown sugar, and see which way you like it.  Then let me know.

You can make the batter ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for a day or two. Just be sure that you cover tightly so that it does not dry out.  The batter will be very stiff after refrigeration so you may need to take the batter out of the refrigerator 30 to 45 minutes ahead of time.  

You can also freeze the batter, for later use.

Post by Clifton's Cooking Blog.

Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie

This is an absolutely wonderful recipe for key lime pie.  I use to make the graham cracker crust but now I buy the premade crusts.  I will post a recipe for making graham cracker crust separately, just in case you want to make your own.

I only use fresh key limes, regular limes will not work, and I have never tried the bottled key lime juice.  The first few time that I made this, I squeezed the limes by hand, but that is slow and tedious.  Then I decided to buy a cheap plastic lime squeezer.  It only lasted a couple of time before it broke.  I now have an aluminum squeezer we have been using it for at least 10-15 years.
 

There are two tricks to making this recipe.  The first is the secret ingredient that is not listed in the ingredients below, but it is key to making this key lime pie.  The secret ingredient is………..air, you have to incorporate lots of air into the mixture and cook it immediately, otherwise the air will escape from the mixture.  The second is to temper the pie as it is before removing it from the oven.  If you just take the pie from the oven and do not allow it to slowly cool in the oven it will have large cracks in it.

The Ingredients

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice

1 can 14 oz sweetened condensed

4 egg whites

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/8 cup granulated sugar

 10 inch graham cracker pie shell (some stores only carry 8”)

Pre heat the oven to 350°

Bake the pie shell in a 350° preheated oven for 5 minutes.  I generally put the pie shell into the oven when I start beating the egg whites, but you can do it anytime just be sure it is ready when you finish mixing.

Mixing

Whisk the eggs in a medium size glass, or stainless steel bowl (incorporating air) I use an immersion blender for this, but a whisk or mixer will work just as good.

Add lime juice and sweetened condensed milk and whisk thoroughly (incorporating air) again I use the immersion blender

Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry (incorporating air). They should be able to hold a peak for at least 1 minute or longer, it will sag but it should not fall flat.   A couple of tips on whipping egg whites. Be sure that your bowl and beater are clean and dry.  Room temperature egg white will whip better than cold egg whites.  A warm bowl and beater work better than a cold bowl and beater.  If you do those things, you should have perfectly whipped eggs whites.  Other tips are use a copper bowl, add a pinch of cream of tartar, or add a few drops of lime juice.  Avoid aluminum or wooden bowls, or any bowl that may retain trace amounts of oil or soap.

Using a silicone or plastic spatula gently fold the egg whites into the key lime mixture.  Breaking or cutting into any large unincorporated clumps of egg whites.  We are trying to preserve all of that air we have so meticulous incorporated.  However we cannot have large clumps of eggs whites, that just will not work no one want to cut into their pie and eat a big bite of egg whites.  If you have, large chunks of egg whites gently lift them up with the spatula and press them with a clean fork that will break them up yet preserve most of the air.

Baking the pie

Place the graham cracker pie shell on a baking sheet.  Gently pour in the key lime pie mixture into the pie shell and put the pie into the 350° preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Here is where we start slowly cooling down the pie to minimize the cracks.

After the first 15 minutes of cooking, turn off the heat but leave the pie in the oven for 5 minutes.  Then crack the door and slowly let the heat escape.  For the next 10 to 15 minutes, I want you to slowly cool the pie down. Now our old oven had 2 places to crack the door open one at about 2 inches the other at about 6 – 8 inches, our new oven only has 1 stop to crack the door open and it is at about 5 inches.  With this oven I will crack the door open for about 15 seconds every couple of minutes, then open the door all the way for about 5 minutes before taking the pie out of the oven.

In the other oven, I would crack it open at the first stop and let it sit for 15 minutes then take it out.

You are going to have cracks in the pie, but by slowly cooling the pie, they should be small and shallow.

Allow to sit at room temperature on a cooling rack for a minimum of 1 hour then cover and refrigerate. 

 

The Whip Cream Topping

I do not make the whip cream topping until just before serving.  Here is how to make perfect whip cream every time.  Chill the bowl, beater and the cream in the freezer for 30 minutes. I use a KitchenAid mixer with a whisking beater. Make sure the bowl and beater are clean and dry.

Put 1/8 cup of sugar per 8oz of whipping cream in the bowl, start mixing on the slowest setting, again we are adding air.  Slowly increase the speed of the mixer until you are at the fastest setting this should only take about 3-5 minutes.  I know everyone uses powdered sugar, well one time I went to get the powdered sugar and we did not have any, so I was forced to use granulated sugar.  It made me think why did all of the recipes call for powdered sugar; I reasoned it was only because of the fine powdery texture of powdered sugar, as opposed to the course texture of granulated sugar. After all sugar is sugar but powdered sugar also has corn starch in it.  I used regular granulated sugar and it is now my standard way of making whip cream.

This pie does not have a long storage life, once it is topped with whipped cream. So if you top the whole pie with whipped cream plan on eating it in the next day or two. Otherwise top each slice just prior to serving.

Clifton 

                

Capellini al estilo de Tejas

Capellini al estilo de Tejas - Capellini Texas Style

This is a slight twist on traditional capellini.  Typically, when you order capellini in a traditional Italian restaurant it will be served with a light sauce.  Traditionally capiellini is made from fresh vegetables that are cooked for only a few minutes then it is served with the thin pasta.    Here we are doing the same thing but we are adding some salsa to spice it up.  Most likely, you will have to play around with the salsas to find the one that you like best, but here are a few suggestions.  First, get a smooth well-blended salsa, not one of the chunky varieties otherwise; you will have large chunks of salsa in your pasta.  Second, the heat of the salsa is going to intensify in this recipe, I like hot salsa, but for this recipe, I only use mild.  Half to two thirds of the moisture from the salsa is going to boil off when the salsa hit the hot pan, leaving a salsa concentrate that will be much spicier than what came from the jar.  Third, identify the stronger flavors of the salsa, some have a strong vinegar taste, while others are strong with the flavor of onions, garlic, salt or even sugar.  Just as the heat from the peppers intensify, the flavors from other ingredients will also intensify.  Now I like to use a salsa for this recipe that has a strong garlic flavor, therefore if that is what I use then I will reduce or eliminate the garlic.  My preferred salsa is Albert’s mild hot sauce, but my local store does not carry it, probably because it has to be stored in the refrigerated section and not on the shelves with the other salsas.  Albert’s has less vinegar in it therefore; it should be in the refrigerated section.  

When we serve this, it is never the main course but a portion of the main course.  For example, this week we had a small cut of pan seared salmon with the Capellini al estilo de Texas and fruit salsa.  I will also serve it with chicken, shrimp, and pork chops.  I have even served it with crawfish.

It is very important to prepare all of the ingredients and to have them in small bowls or containers beforehand.  Once you start cooking, it will only be minutes until it is ready to eat. 

If I am not rushed, I prefer the tomatoes peeled.  Peeling tomatoes is very easy, especially with this recipe, because you already have the boiling water for the pasta.  All that you have to do is to blanch the tomatoes for about 30 seconds, then peel.  Here is a step-by-step link for peeling tomatoes.

This recipe is for four

The Ingredients

1-2 cloves of garlic

2 - Roma tomatoes - approximately 1 cup,   I normally use Roma tomatoes, but will use anything that I have on hand from small grape tomatoes to large Brandywines.  Sometimes I will add sundried tomatoes with the fresh tomatoes.

2 - green onions – scallions

1/8 to ¼ cup of salsa

1 tablespoon olive oil or clarified butter

8 oz capellini or angel hair pasta

Preparing the Sauce

Mince the garlic I prefer to use a garlic press.  Place into a bowl

Dice the tomatoes into approximately ¼ cubes collecting as much as practical. Place into a bowl

Dice the green onions both the white and green portions.  Place into a bowl

 Be sure that your water for the pasta is boiling, add 1 teaspoon of salt if you have already done so.

Heat the skillet over medium to medium-high heat.

Also at this time start the pasta to cooking.

Add olive oil or clarified butter

Spread the oil to cover the bottom of the skillet.

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute stirring as needed, do not let the garlic burn.  If the garlic starts to turn brown, add the tomatoes.

Add tomatoes, green onions, and salsa. Stir and mix well for approximately 2 minutes, most of the liquid should have reduced by about 50%.

Combining the Pasta and the Sauce

Check your pasta.  It should be al dente, if it is drain the past and add it to the fresh sauce in the skillet.  If the pasta is not ready, remove the sauce from the heat, so it does not overcook, or remove it from the pan and put in a bowl.  It may be necessary to reheat the skillet and combine the ingredients.

Bowl the pasta with the sauce, and serve, or serve directly from the skillet

Side note, if you cooked the meat portion of the meal in a skillet, then use the same skillet for cooking the sauce.  The flavors in the bottom of the pan will carry over to the sauce.  If there, is little or no grease in the pan, then deglaze the pan with 2 tablespoons of white wine then start cooking the sauce otherwise pour off most of the grease leaving 1 or 2 tablespoons, then proceed with cooking the sauce.

Clifton

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

Cinnamon Sugar

Earlier in the week, I was at the spice section of the local grocery store.  In that same section was a couple, 40ish. I had observed them on other isles in the store sticking to their shopping list and comparison shopping. They were clearly sticking to their list and grocery budget. 

So here, we crossed paths again on the spice isle, and they bought a premixed cinnamon-sugar mix, you know the type you use to make cinnamon toast.  I am not the food police, so I did not say anything.  I quietly wondered to myself. Did they not know how to mix their own, or did the not want to?  

Here are the prices

Premixed Cinnamon sugar $1.97 for 2.3 oz

Ground cinnamon $1.98 for a jar the same size

Sugar $2.54 for 4lb

This is so easy to mix. Here are the ratios, 4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon to ¼ cup of granulated sugar.

As a rule, 2 cups of sugar equal one pound.  

Therefore, we will use 7 cent of sugar and about 10 cents of cinnamon to make our own cinnamon sugar.

Now I have not worked out the exact math but this couple paid 1.97 for what they could have made for about 17 cents.

Clifton

  

  

Tossed Salad with Fresh Fruit

Tossed Salad with Fresh Fruit

Adding just a little fresh fruit to a run-of-the-mill green salad will give it a completely different attitude.  For me it usually does not require buying something special at the grocery store. I will use fruits that we have at home, for one reason that these are the fruits that I know will be eaten, and sometimes the fruit needs to be used.  No one but you will know your reason for adding a touch of fruit to your salad, but generally it adds a level of excitement to that otherwise dull green tossed salad. 

photo by: Goodmami  under Creative Commons

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/  http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodmami/

If you chose to add some fruit, it makes the pairing for the correct salad dressing critical. If someone puts ranch dressing on a salad with some fresh fruit in it, I am sure they may not like it.

Below are some suggested fruits that I sometimes add to salads, and some fresh, simple, salad dressing that you can make to pair with your salad.

Suggested fruits

Blueberries are among my favorite.

Oranges, nectarines, tangerines, clementines, or most any citrus fruit.  

Pears are wonderful if they have fully ripened and are soft/tender but not mushy.  You should be able to stick a fork into the pear without it breaking in half or being so soft that will not stay in the tines

Apples

Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries are all good however; they tend to be tart if I use berries that are tart I like to lightly dust them with sugar while they are damp from rinsing.  

Grapes

Whatever you decide to add be sure that they are cut into bite size or small pieces.

Spicy Honey Dressing

2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon (or less) crushed red pepper

Place all of the ingredients in a small jar screw on the lid and shake.

Clifton

Peeling Tomatoes

Peeling Tomatoes

This is a recipe on how to peel fresh tomatoes. I would always prefer to use fresh tomatoes rather than canned, and there are times that I do not want the skin in the recipe.  This method only take a few minuets and you have fresh peeled tomatoes. 

photo by: Dave Fisher under Creative Commons Licenses

The Instructions 

1                     Boil a pot of water in a four or six quart saucepan. 

2                    Wash the tomatoes, if they have any labels remove them.

3                     Fill a bowl half way with ice, and then add cold water until it is almost full, approximately 1 inch from the top, I use a 2 quart bowl.

4                    Cut a shallow slit into the bottom of the tomatoes, opposite from the stem end, with an X.  These slits are only to aid in peeling, it serves no other purpose.

5                    Put the tomatoes in the ice water for about 5 minutes.  This is to chill the tomatoes so that the interior does not cook.  If you store your tomatoes in the refrigerator, it is not necessary to chill them in ice water.

6                      From the ice water go directly into the boiling water.

7                      Only allow the tomatoes to be in the boiling water for about 30 seconds.

8                    Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and plunge directly back into the ice water, this is to stop any residual heat that would cook the tomatoes.

9                      Starting at the tip if the X peel the tomatoes.  They should peel very easy.

photo by: Chris Baranski Under Creative Commons License 

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• Poached Cod with Tomato and Saffron

Post by Clifton's Cooking Blog.

Pan Seared Salmon

Pan Seared Salmon

Salmon is very easy to cook, it requires little preparation, and only takes a few minutes to cook. for this recipe I am cooking with clarified butter in a hot cast-iron skillet. 

photo by: Juan Calderon under Creative Commons Licenses
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iguana_azul/  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

2-4 6 or 8 oz Salmon Fillets

Lime juice

Salt and pepper

Clarified butter

Place the salmon fillets on a platter or shallow glass dish, lightly salt and pepper the skin side.  Turn the fillets over and squeeze lime-juice on the flesh side, then lightly salt and pepper.  I generally let the salmon to set at room temperature for about 20 minutes before cooking, but don’t let them set out more than 30 minutes.

Preheat a heavy skillet' I prefer cast iron over medium, to medium high heat.  The pan may needs to heat for 5 to 10 minutes.

After the pan in hot, melt, just enough clarified butter to coat the bottom of the pan.

Place the salmon in the hot skillet skin side down.  Do not crowd the pan there should be at least an inch or two, between each piece of fish.  Cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side.  You can visually judge when to turn the fish by looking at the side and seeing how far it has cooked.  Once  the bottom 50% has cooked then turn, but re-butter the pan first.  Watch the edges of the fish when all of the pink flesh has turned white cook for 1 more minute, then remove.

Flake the fish to check for doneness they should still be pink in the center, but not raw.

If the fish is under-cooked in the center, but turning dark brown on the cooked faces then you need to reduce the heat.  If you did not get a nice crisp golden brown on the outside, then increase your heat.  If they are under-cooked return to the pan, or place them in a preheated 350° oven for 3-5 minutes.

Once you get the feel and the temperature for your stove, you should have perfectly cooked salmon fillet every time.  It does take some adjusting in time and temperature depending on the skillet, the stove and the thickness of the fillets. With a little practice you will have fantastic salmon that is as good or better than any you will ever get in a restaurant.

Clifton  

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Clarified Butter

Clarified Butter

Butter, the real stuff, not margarine, is great for cooking.  However, it has more than just butterfat in it. It also has milk solids and water.  By clarifying, you can remove the milk and water. This will make a yellow truculent butter that is fantastic for sauteing, and pan-frying when only a small amount of oil is needed.   Butter adds a slightly different taste and mouth-feel compared to vegetable oils whether it is corn or olive, canola or peanut.   By clarifying the butter you raise the smoke point, that is the temperature which the oil burns and will taste bad.  Clarified butter gives a toasty dark golden color to meats and fish that just has an eye appeal that will just make your table guest eyeing, whatever you cooked in the clarified butter. They will want more and want to know your recipe, but few will go to the trouble to clarify their butter, and wonder why theirs did not turn out as well as yours.  

There are dozens of ways to clarify butter here is the way I now do it.  I will usually start with at least two sticks of butter.

Ingredients

2 sticks of unsalted butter

The process

Heat the butter until it is fully melted and starts to boil.  You can do this either in the microwave, in a glass-measuring cup, or on the stovetop in a saucepan. If you do in the microwave, you must watch it very closely because it can make a mess if it boils over.

After it has started to boil remove from the heat, let it sit for approximately 15 minutes.  The butter will start to separate into its three components.  After it has set slowly pour into a tall clear, drinking glass, leaving most of the milk solids in the bottom of the measuring cup or saucepan and allow the butter to separate further into its three components.  Allow the near clarified butter to set at room temperature for about 30 minutes, so that it will continue to separate.  Then cover and refrigerate.

After it has solidified, you can run warm water over the outside of the glass and the almost clarified butter will slide out.  Scrape the milk and water solids off the top and bottom and store in an airtight container.  You now have your clarified butter.

This is a side note and an inside joke that I continue to hear about years later.  I almost always have at least a small amount of clarified butter in the refrigerator.  So one morning, I think it was one of those mornings where both of the boys had school assessment testing,  I got up early, and preheated the oven, to make a can of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Grab the clarified butter from the refrigerator, put a small amount in the bottom of the pan, melted it in the oven, added cinnamon rolls, and placed the pan back in the oven to bake.  Then, off to get a shower and get dressed.  Now to get everyone up to start the day.  What could be better than to wake up to the smell of cinnamon rolls (even though they were from the can) and coffee.  I started knocking on the doors, telling everyone to get up.  One of my secrets to get the difficult ones out of bed is, that I keep a bag of marbles in the freezer, then throw them between the sheets.  You cannot escape the ice-cold marbles, they roll with you, the only way to escape is to out of the bed, but be quick the marbles will start to fly.  Into the kitchen, something smells good but out of place, what is that? Prepare the table, everyone comes to eat sits down takes a bite and then looks at each other…what did you do... these are horrible.  

Me, what?

A quick taste and I knew…I had used my Garlic Herb Butter, rather than the clarified butter.

The point is garlic cinnamon rolls are not the way to start the day, kids are resilient despite their parents, or I guess I could say be sure and label what you store in the refrigerator. However, then I would not have a story.

Clifton

Fruit Salsa

Fruit Salsa

With spring just around the corner, and its bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, I thought that I would post a fruit salsa recipe.  This salsa can be served over fish or chicken, to add another layer of flavor and a colorful plate appeal.  The bright colors on top of the pale background of chicken or fish are inviting and cheerful.  This simple, quick, and inexpensive recipe will make you and your meal standout.  Doing small details like this will take your meal from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Ingredients

2 cups of fresh fruit. Use any combination of fruit that you enjoy, try for sweet bright colorful fruit. Possible suggestions kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, plumbs, clementines, grapes, or even some dried fruit such as craisens. Keep it to three or four types of fruit.

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 of a large avocado or 1 small avocado

1/2 chopped red onion

1/2 jalapeño, seeded and the stem removed

1 lime

Salt and pepper for taste  

Preparation

Dice the fruit into approximately 1/4 cubes remove any skin or inedible seeds 

Chop the cilantro, leaves only no stems

Dice the avocado into approximately 1/4 cubes

Finely chop the onion into approximately 1/8 pieces

Finley chop the jalapeno into 1/8 or smaller pieces

Squeeze the lime into a small bowl, and remove any seeds

Mix all of the ingredients together in a medium size bowl, if the salsa will be served within an hour then  lightly salt with sea salt or kosher salt, and mix again,

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

If it is going to be more than an hour before the salsa will be served, then wait to salt until 15 to 20 minutes prior serving.  The salt will start the salsa to sweat drawing the moisture and juice from the fruit and vegetables, and the flavors and juices for the ingredients will be a soup in the bottom of the bowl.  This salsa is best with each bite having its own personality, rather than a single flavor.   

Prior to serving taste and salt and pepper to taste.

Clifton

      

Green Avocado Salsa

Green Avocado Salsa

I can eat my fill of the green, mild avocado salsa served at so many of the Mexican Food Restaurants.  It has now become a staple in several Mexican food joints, but not so long ago the restaurants that that served this cool smooth salsa were few and far between.  The first time I had this was in the late 70’s in Houston. It was in a dated structure, in the warehouse district not the typical location you would drive to at 9:00 at night to eat, the restaurant was the original Nifa’s.  This salsa was wonderful, a cool green salsa served with fresh fried warm tortilla chips.  This was nothing like I had ever eaten in any other typical Tex-Mex restaurant, all the other green salsa that I was accustomed to were so hot that most people would not touch it.  I had to wait years before Nifa’s opened a restaurant in Dallas, but it was no comparison to the Houston original.

The Ingredients

5 tomatillos

2 jalapenos

1 small onion or half of a large

3 cloves garlic

2 large ripe Hass avocados

2/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparing the Vegetables

Position the top rack of the oven approximately 5” from the broiler element and preheat on broil.

Husk and wash the tomatillos, remove the outer skin of the onion and cut into quarters, wrap in foil, peel the garlic and wrap in foil. Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds and stems.

On a foil lined baking sheet place tomatillos, peppers, and the packets of onions and garlic. Broil for 10 to 15 minutes.   Watch the vegetables closely and turn when necessary so that they do not burn.  Some of the vegetables may cook quicker than others cook, remove any that appear done.  The tomatillos will take the longest to cook because of their density, be sure that they cook completely through.  

Remove the vegetables from the oven and allow to cool.

Blending

Peel and pit the avocadoes, put all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.  Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until cool.  Add additional salt if needed

Clifton