Pico de Gallo

As I promised I have the Pico de Gallo! I know I said I would post this a few days ago, but things have been crazy! I feel like my weekends are sometimes busier than the rest of my week. I threw this dinner party Saturday, it was basically my final for my International Foods class. We had to cost out, decorate and throw an international dinner for 6 people. I chose Thailand and it was so much fun! I will have recipes and pictures for you next week and I will go more into everything I did then! Anyway I spent most of Friday and Saturday prepping for that. I did most of the cooking myself! Like I said...crazy!

                                       

So Pico de Gallo....easy peasy (spelling? I don't think I've ever written that out before haha). Here is the most simple recipe you will ever encounter!

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

5 jalapenos-chopped

                    seeded or not. your choice. Seeded will make it less spicy, but where's the fun in that?

3 tomatoes-chopped

1/2 white onion-diced

1/4 bunch cilantro-chopped

1-2 cloves garlic-minced

garlic salt to taste

1 lime juiced

1-3 cubes of ice

                  depending on how big your cubes of ice are. The ice is the key to enhancing the flavors. It helps bring everything out and just taste amazing!

Alright..here's the hard part....

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir. Let sit for 10-20 minutes in the refrigerator. 

 AND...done. Told you it was hard! (yes, there is heavy sarcasm there). Seriously easy and seriously amazing. Try this tonight!

HAPPY EATING!!

Yummy Summer Salsa

So yesterday in my International Foods class we headed off to Mexico! I'm telling you we had some awesome food. I made the Salsas! It was so much fun and I have now acquired two new amazing salsa recipes! These salsas are super practical and you can make them super fast (depending on how fast you chop haha for me that means it takes a little longer).

 By the way neither of these salsas are very hot (for all you with tender palates out there)! I love love super hot salsa so to put this in perspective, my husband swears they are not that hot, and I promise he is kind of wimpy when it comes to spicy foods! However, if you are like me and can take the heat ;-) these salsas are super customizable and you can make them as hot as you want them!!

My beautiful creations!

So today I am going to give you the Avocado Chile Salsa recipe and tomorrow I will post the Pico de Gallo recipe!

Avocado Chile Salsa

Ingredients:

1 whole red onion--quartered and finely sliced
2 whole red chilies--seeded and sliced or diced
1 whole lime--zested and juiced
2 whole large avocados--halved and pitted
2 large tomatoes--seeded and diced
1 large handful of cilantro leaves
TT salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Put the onion, chile, and half of the lime juice into a bowl and set aside to marinate for a few minutes.

2. Using a spoon, scoop out small balls of avocado into a serving bowl. Add the lime zest and remaining juice and turn gently to coat. This will help stop the avocado from browning.

3. Add the diced tomatoes to the onion mixture, toss gently, then add the avocado mixture. Tear the cilantro over the top and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

See! Easy! Told you lol 

Try this with you next meal. Top a taco or enchilada, or serve as an appetizer with tortilla chips. No matter how you eat it, it is awesome!! Let me know how you tried it and how it was! I want to know, and don't forget to come back tomorrow for the delicious Pico de Gallo recipe!

You do not want to miss it!

 HAPPY EATING!!

Culinary Skills

How to Peel a Tomato

 The first Culinary Skill I want to teach it really simple, but I didn't realize how many people don't know how to do this! I want to make your life easier! Usually this is because you really haven't had the need for a peeled tomato, but you should! If you grow your own tomatoes it can be super cheap and easy to whip up a delicious pasta sauce or you can can them so you can have fresh tomatoes all year round. Both of these recipes plus others call for peeled tomatoes.

Have you ever thought to yourself "there is no way I am peeling a tomato! That's impossible! Skipping that part". Because I totally have! Then, when I started in the Culinary program I learned this and it has changed my life!!

Step 1: Start by putting some water on the stove to boil. Next, get a bowl of ice water ready. Make it large enough to fit all your tomatoes in at once. Wash the tomatoes. Then take them, one by one, and using a knife cut a shallow x in the bottom of the tomato. Like so...

Step 2: Once your water is boiling and you have slashed all of the bottoms of the tomatoes, place all the tomatoes into your pan of water. Let the tomatoes sit in the water for about 30 seconds. 

                                             

Step 3: Spoon out your tomatoes and place directly in the bowl of ice water (also called an ice bath). Let the tomatoes sit in the water until they have cooled. You can pull one out before it has cooled completely to test. Sometimes the tomatoes need to boil longer. 

To test: pull out one tomato out of the ice bath and try to peel the skin off with your fingers. If the skin does not immediately start to peel place that tomato back in the boiling water and try another. If the second does not peel, put all the tomatoes back into the pot of boiling water. If, however it does peel off, put in back in the ice bath and let cool. 

Step 4: Once you have tested your tomatoes and they have peeled properly and they have cooled completely you can pour out the ice bath. Take each tomato one by one and peel off the skin. They should peel off really easily and look something like this....

                              

Finish peeling and you are done! Congrats you have successfully peeled a tomato!! Questions? Comment on this post and I will be happy to answer!

Happy Eating!!