Just like last year, Jon and I were faced with what to do with our overabundance of tomatoes from the garden… and this year, we ended up with a barrel full of Serrano Peppers too. After a bit of research we decided to make hot sauce and tomato ginger dressing. Check out this week’s issue of whatzup to view the recipes.
Serrano Pepper Hot Sauce
Tomato Ginger Dressing
Today has been a dreary day, so what better way to warm the soul than with a piping hot bowl of homemade chili? As most of you know, Jon does a majority of the cooking, so when I set up camp in the kitchen, I opt for quick and easy. That’s not to say the results aren’t tasty, they simply aren’t as complex. This chili is no exception. You can whip up this flavorful meal in less than 30 minutes- from prep to bowl.
Ingredients:
A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to prepare Brazilian cuisine for our annual neighborhood wine tasting fundraiser. And though it was a lot of hard work (3 of us in the kitchen ALL day), the results were exceptional and the feedback we received supports that assessment. I most enjoyed standing back and watching guests enjoy our food. Overhearing their praise made all of the frustrations and stress of the day melt away. The most important lessons: preparing food for 75 people is hard work and I don’t want to make a habit of it, and Jon really knows how to choose recipes!
For the event, we were tasked with preparing at least three dishes for about 75 people. After much brainstorming and testing in the weeks leading up to the event, we settled on three seemingly simple, but flavor complex recipes:
Preparation:
Puree the mango and then place it in a medium saucepan, add the ginger, 2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat, reduce heat to medium and allow it cook down until the mango softens (about 10-15 minutes).
Stir the water and gelatin together in a cup, and let soften (about 5 minutes). Add a third of the cream and the vanilla to the saucepan with the mango syrup. Stir in the dissolved gelatin and the rest of the sugar to dissolve. Remove the ginger pieces and the mango mixture to cool before running it through the blender or food processor to puree. Strain the puree, set aside to cool and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled and thickened.
Whip the remaining cream and fold it into the chilled mango mixture. Chill at least 4 hours before serving. Spoon into individual serving dishes lined with crushed Graham crackers, top with remaining graham cracker crumbs and a blueberry.
Yes, a decade. That’s how long it’s been since we’ve stepped foot in Sakura. And for good reason. The last time we ate there, they served us frozen sashimi. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but imagine biting into what you expect will be a succulent, fresh, melt-in-your-mouth-like-butter piece of salmon sashimi, only to be met with a mouthful of ice. Yeah, that’s about how it went and we never returned.
In the meantime, we’ve cultivated an undying devotion to Asakusa. The seafood is always fresh. The rolls are always delectable. The service is exceptional and we love the atmosphere. There’s never been a reason to even try other sushi places in town… until Koto opened in the former Bar-B-Cutie location on Washington Center Road. After a bit of digging, we discovered it was owned by the owners of Sakura. Ugh, but we went anyway. When we walked in, we were blown away by the transformation of the interior—classy, and totally unexpected. The main dining and sushi bar area are lined in wood from floor to ceiling, creating a very intimate and cozy atmosphere. Though we didn’t venture into the hibachi area, we could see it from where we were sitting and decided we’d like to go back and give it a try. The food did not disappoint either, and though it was not as good as Asakusa, it certainly removed Sakura from the black list. If Koto was this good, Sakura couldn’t be as bad as we remember.
On Labor Day weekend, our initial destination was not Sakura. In fact, we drove to Oyster Bar, Paula’s, JK’s and Henry’s before throwing up our hands in frustration and making our way Southwest. Everything was closed… except for a few chain restaurants and Sakura. We were pleased to see that the menu was very similar to Koto and so we set about ordering: edamame and seaweed salad to start, followed by soup (I had clear, Jon had miso, and Jon’s dad had crab), and then 3 rolls- Fire Island, Black Diamond, and Samurai.
Not the best seawood salad I've ever had, but it was adequate.
The edmame and seaweed salad were adequate—certainly nothing to write home about—and the soup was good. I didn’t try my father in law’s crab soup, but it looked interesting— a clear soup with a large piece of fresh crab in it that slowly broke down as the soup cooled. Our waitress advised that it’s best eaten after it’s cooled, giving the flavor of the crab time to infuse into the broth. My father in law enjoyed it.
Black Diamond Roll
Next up- the main course, and it did not let us down. We knew from our Koto experience that the Black Diamond roll rocked: crab, avocado, and shrimp tempura all rolled up, deep fried and then drizzled with spicy sauce. Delish.
Fire Island Roll
I was most excited to try the Fire Island roll, which contains spicy tuna, jalapeno and tempura, topped with salmon, spicy sauce and caviar. It had just enough fire to make me reach for my water glass, but not enough to slow me down. I love the combination of spicy, crunchy and fresh.
Samurai Roll
The Samurai Roll was also good. It contains spicy lobster, avocado, cucumber, BBQ eel (my fave), pepper tuna and green onion. All of the rolls were prepared with just enough rice. I hate sushi that is rice heavy. I go there for the seafood, not the rice.
So while Asakusa remains our favorite, I am happy to report that we now have two more sushi restaurants in town that we can frequent. I’ve yet to try Sushiya-US on Dupont… that’s next.
(Please forgive the low-quality photos. I was equipped with iPhone 4 only.)
I may have mentioned this before, but we’ve been blessed with more tomatoes from our garden than we know what to do with. We’ve made jars and jars of tomato sauce and ginger tomato dressing. We’ve eaten tomato sandwiches. We are definitely about tomatoed out! But, we still have tons left to preserve or consume. So this weekend, I whipped up a quick and tasty Tomato, Chickpea and Feta Salad that I found in the latest issue of Fine Cooking, which just happened to have an entire section devoted to ten-minute tomato recipes.
Though we had to search for za’atar (we found it at the Middle Eastern grocery store near our house on the corner of Lake and Anthony), a spice blend treasured for its savory thyme-oregano flavor, the recipe, overall, is very simple, and very tasty—a perfect snack for these last days of summer.
Ingredients:
In our neck of the woods, the past few days have been downright blustery. From upper 90s and sunshine last week to lower 60s and rain this week, Fort Wayne seems to have skipped from summer right to winter. Okay, it’s not that cold, but it’s cold enough for us to crave a spicy-hot bowl of chili, so that’s just what Jon made last night. Using some spicy Italian sausage we had picked up and intended to use for something else, and after a brief internet search (yes, Jon simply Googled Italian Sausage Chili), we landed on Emeril’s Sausage Chili. As is his way, Jon made a few adjustments according to our tastes and the resulting dish was the perfect accompaniment to a warm blanket and a bad movie on the Hallmark channel. This chili is packed full of spices and textures that work well with the soft sweetness of the cornbread. Perhaps not my favorite chili, it’s definitely one to keep on the radar for the even colder days ahead.
The cornbread is nothing special—just the Jiffy cornbread mix—a quick and easy, but must have, companion for our piping hot bowl of beans and spices.
Ingredients:
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, chili powder, Essence, and cumin and cook, stirring often, until soft, about 4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the beer and cook until the foam subsides, about 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, and beans to the pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the chili from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Remove from the heat. To serve, ladle into bowls or thick cups. Sprinkle each serving with grated cheese and green onions, add a dollop of sour cream and serve hot.
