Kielbasa and Sauerkraut Soup

Kielbasa and Sauerkraut Soup

 Ingredients:

• 2 links Kielbasa, sliced
• 1 cup sliced Carrots
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 clove Garlic, finely minced
• 64 ounces Vegetable Stock
• 1 (15 ounce) can Diced Tomato
• 2 cans Sauerkraut (do not use Bavarian style)
• 6 small Red Potatoes, cubed
• 3 tablespoons fresh Parlsey, chopped

In large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until almost smoking.

Add the carrots, onion, celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in sliced Kielbasa and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in stock, tomatoes and sauerkraut. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Stir in potatoes and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from heat, ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley.

Serve immediately.

Restaurant Style Salsa

Salsa is the Spanish term for sauce, and in English-speaking countries usually refers to the often tomato-based, hot sauces typical of Mexican cuisine, particularly those used as dips. There are many types of salsa which usually vary throughout Latin America.

There are many other salsas, both traditional and nouveau, some are made with mint, pineapple, or mango.

Outside of Mexico and Central America, the following salsas are common to each of the following regions: in Argentina and the Southern Cone, chimichurri sauce is common. Chimichurri is “a spicy vinegar-parsley sauce that is the salsa (and leading condiment) in Argentina and Uruguay, served with grilled meat. It is made of chopped fresh parsley and onion, seasoned with garlic, oregano, salt, cayenne and black pepper and bound with oil and vinegar. In Costa Rica, dishes are prepared with salsa Lizano, a thin, smooth, light brown sauce. In Cuba and the Caribbean, a typical salsa is mojo. Unlike the tomato-based salsas, mojo typically consists of olive oil, garlic, and citrus juice, and is used both to marinate meats and as a dipping sauce. In Peru, a traditional salsa is peri peri or piri piri sauce: “The national condiment of Peru, peri-peri sauce is made in medium to hot levels of spiciness—the more chile, or the hotter variety of chile used, the hotter the sauce. Original peri-peri uses the African bird’s eye chile (the African word for the chile is peri-peri). Milder sauces may use only cayenne and serrano chiles. To a base of vinegar and oil, garlic and lemon juice are added, plus other seasonings, which often include paprika or tomato paste for flavor and color, onions and herb—each company has its own recipe. It is also used as a cooking sauce.

This salsa “recipe” is quite adaptable – add as much of each individual ingredient as you prefer. You can pulse the ingredients in a food processor for a chunky type salsa or run the processor for a  few seconds to produce a thinner sauce – which is what my household prefers.

Restaurant Style Salsa

Ingredients:

• Fresh tomatoes (or 1 – 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice)
• Fresh green chiles (or 1 – 14 ounce can of tomatoes and chiles – Rotel brand)
• Fresh jalepenos (canned or jarred may be used)
• 1 small chopped onion
• Pinch of sugar
• Garlic salt
• Cumin

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until desired consistency is reached.  Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Bay Scallop Tacos

Before you’re able to cook scallops, you need to buy the scallops. Unfortunately, that’s not always so simple. Fresh scallops can be sold under a bewildering array of names — such as “bay” scallops, “sea” scallops and “jumbo” scallops — and these names don’t necessarily indicate a specific size or weight. And then there’s the mysterious “diver” scallop. What do all these descriptions mean?

Retailers should describe scallop sizes by using a range of numbers indicating how many of them there would be in a pound. Designating scallops as “20/30” would mean that it would take between 20 and 30 of them to make up a pound. The smaller the number is, the larger (by weight) the scallops are. You may also see size designations that look like “U/15” or “U/10.” In these cases, the “U” stands for “under,” indicating that it would take fewer than 10 (or 15) of these to make up a pound. U/10 scallops would be the biggest ones available.

Among the smallest of the scallops, corresponding to 70/120 using the numerical scale described above — meaning that there would be between 70 and 120 meats per pound of scallops. Bay scallops are particularly sweet and delicate tasting.

Scallops are a quick and versatile menu item for home cooking. Search out fresh scallops at a reputable fish market or fish counter at your grocery store. The scallops should be moist and have a sweet smell. Frozen scallops are convenient and rival fresh ones in terms of taste and texture.Scallops are a lean protein source and should be cooked quickly under high heat to prevent them from drying out. Also, a high-heat cooking method results in a pleasant browning on the outside and a delicious caramelized flavor. Because scallops are so lean, they require some fat such as oil or butter during cooking. Scallops are mild and need a little flavor boost. It can be a complex sauce or as simple as a squeeze of lime, as in our recipe.

Scallop Tacos

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Sour cream
• 2 tablespoons Orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated Orange peel (zest)
• Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cups Coleslaw mix
• ½ Jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Lime juice + more to taste
• Scallops
• 8 Tortillas, warmed
• Diced avocado, for garnish
• Minced cilantro, for garnish (optional)

Whisk together sour cream, orange juice and zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, toss the coleslaw mix with the jalapeno pepper, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the lime juice. Season to taste with salt and plenty of pepper, adding more lime juice if desired.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet until almost smoking. Add scallops to pan and sauté for 2 minutes – be careful not to overcook!

To assemble, fill each tortilla with a scoop of the slaw mixture, diced avocado and scallops. Drizzle with cream and top with cilantro, if using.

Baked Apple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Oatmeal, also known as white oats, is ground oat groats (i.e., grains), or a porridge made from oats (also called oatmeal cereal or stirabout). Oatmeal can also mean ground oats, steel-cut oats, crushed oats, or rolled oats.

The oat grains are de-husked by impact, then heated and cooled to stabilize the “Oat groats”, the seed inside the husk. The process of heating produces a nutty flavor. These oat groats may be milled to produce fine, medium or coarse oatmeal.

Rolled oats are steamed and flattened whole oat groats. Steel cut oats may be small and broken groats from the de-husking process; these may be steamed and flattened to produce smaller rolled oats. Quick-cooking rolled oats (quick oats) are cut into small pieces before being steamed and rolled. Instant oatmeal is pre-cooked and dried, usually with sweetener and flavouring added. Both types of rolled oats may be eaten uncooked as in muesli or may be cooked to make porridge. It is also used as an ingredient in oatmeal cookies and oat cakes, or as an accent, as in the topping on many oat bran breads and the coating on Caboc cheese. Oatmeal is also sometimes porridge with the bran or fibrous husk as well as the oat kernel or groat. In some countries rolled oats are eaten raw with milk and sugar or raisins. Oatmeal is also used as a thickening agent in savoury Arabic/Egyptian thick meat plus vegetable soups.

Oatmeal is a perfect way to start a day of healthy eating. And who would have thought that a single serving of oatmeal could provide over half of the daily value for those hard-to-find omega-3 fatty acids!

Banana Brûlée Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled Oats
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1 tablespoon Butter, melted
• 1 Egg
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Apple, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Sugar

Spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except sugar.  Pour into baking dish and baked at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove dish from oven, move baking rack to the highest position and set the oven to broil.  Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top of the oatmeal.  Return the pan to the oven and broil, watching very carefully, until top is caramelized.

Remove from oven and cool for 5-10 minutes, cut into squares and serve garnished with fruit, nuts and/or warm milk, if desired.

Orange Glazed Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true. Salmon live along the coasts of both the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and have also been introduced into the Great Lakes of North America. Salmon are intensively produced in aquaculture in many parts of the world.

Typically, salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. However, populations of several species are restricted to fresh water through their lives. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they were born to spawn; tracking studies have shown this to be true, and this homing behavior has been shown to depend on olfactory memory.

The term “salmon” derives from the Latin salmo, which in turn may have originated from salire, meaning “to leap”. The nine commercially important species of salmon occur in two genera. The genus Salmo contains the Atlantic salmon, found in the north Atlantic. The genus Oncorhynchus contains eight species which occur naturally only in the north Pacific. Chinook salmon have been introduced in New Zealand. As a group, these are known as Pacific salmon.

Salmon is a popular food. Classified as an oily fish, salmon is considered to be healthful due to the fish’s high protein, high omega-3 fatty acids, and high vitamin D content. Salmon is also a source of cholesterol, with a range of 23–214 mg/100 g depending on the species. According to reports in the journal Science, however, farmed salmon may contain high levels of dioxins. PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) levels may be up to eight times higher in farmed salmon than in wild salmon, but still well below levels considered dangerous. Nonetheless, according to a 2006 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the benefits of eating even farmed salmon still outweigh any risks imposed by contaminants. The type of omega-3 present may not be a factor for other important health functions.

Salmon flesh is generally orange to red, although white-fleshed wild salmon occurs. The natural colour of salmon results from carotenoid pigments, largely astaxanthin, but also canthaxanthin, in the flesh. Wild salmon get these carotenoids from eating krill and other tiny shellfish.

The vast majority of Atlantic salmon available on the world market are farmed (almost 99%), whereas the majority of Pacific salmon are wild-caught (greater than 80%). Canned salmon in the US is usually wild Pacific catch, though some farmed salmon is available in canned form. Smoked salmon is another popular preparation method, and can either be hot or cold smoked. Lox can refer either to cold-smoked salmon or to salmon cured in a brine solution (also called gravlax). Traditional canned salmon includes some skin (which is harmless) and bone (which adds calcium). Skinless and boneless canned salmon is also available.

Raw salmon flesh may contain Anisakis nematodes, marine parasites that cause anisakiasis. Before the availability of refrigeration, the Japanese did not consume raw salmon. Salmon and salmon roe have only recently come into use in making sashimi (raw fish) and sushi.

Orange Glazed Salmon

Ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 boneless, skinless Salmon fillets
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

To make brine: Mix together the water, salt and sugar. Place the salmon fillets in a large sealable bag. Pour water mixture over it. Seal bag and refrigerate 2 hours.

Remove salmon from the brine and rinse well under cold water. Place salmon on a plate and pat dry.

In small saucepan, over low heat, whisk together the marmelade, orange juice, brown sugar, lime juice and Cajun seasoning.

Line a baking dish with foil and place salmon in dish.  Pour glaze over salmon and bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until fish is just cooked through.  Garnish with parsley or chives before serving.