No measuring here. Use as many as few vegetables as you like. Make sure to chop all of the vegetables into small cubes.

Here is what I used.

• Ripe tomatoes
• Fresh Mushrooms
• Green onions
• Red cabbage
• Raw baby carrots
• Fresh Spinach
• Pickled Beets
• Sprouts

Mix together in a large bowl all vegetables. Dress with balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt and coarse black pepper to taste. Gradually add pickled beet juice to taste. Mix well and chill. Serve cold.

Option:

Taste Tester Tom and I thought that adding garbanzo beans, pine nuts or peanuts might add to the salad.

This dish is full of vitamins and protein and great flavor.

Here is what you’ll need.

Add butter to deep kettle and melt. add all vegetables and same until tender. add chicken pieces and continue to saute.

• 1 cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast (Diced)
• 1 celery stalk ( chopped)
• 1 large salad onion (bulb and chives chopped)
• 6 crimini mushrooms (chopped)
• 1/2 cup slivered carrots
• 1/4 cup real butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth more as needed)
• 1/2 bag Amish style flat egg noodles
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Shredded Cheddar/Colby cheese to taste.

Prepare noodles according to package directions. Drain well and stir into vegetable /chicken mixture. Garnish each serving with desired amount of cheese. Stir to begin melting cheese.

Serve hot.

When I do a taco salad I like to focus on freshness both in the salad and the toppings.

This salad I garnished with freshly made guacamole and salsa made from fresh garden ingredients. Tasty!

Here’s what you’ll need.
Salad

• 1 lb lean hambuger
• 1 chopped green onion
• 3 mini multi colored peppers
• 1 chopped ripe tomato
• Salt, pepper and taco seasoning to taste
• Chopped lettuce
• Crumbled tortilla chips
• Raw chopped green onions, tomatoes, blacK olives
• Shredded cheese

Fry hamburger, peppers, onions and chopped tomatoes together. Drain off excess fat. Rinse with water to insure less greasy mixture. Return to pan and add seasonings and heat thru. Set aside.

On a large salad plate crumble tortillas, top with lettuce , hamburger and vegetable toppings and cheese.

Garnish with additional chips, fresh salsa, fresh guacamole and sour cream.

Salsa

Chop together tomatoes, favorite peppers, white onion, cucumber, purple cabbage , cilantro and mango (fresh or frozen). Season to taste with fresh ground sea salt, course black pepper, lime juice and sriracha sauce.

Guacamole

In a mixing bowl mash one fresh avocado, add one chopped green onion and one cropped fresh tomato. Season to taste with lime juice and freshly ground sea salt and coarse black pepper.

Quick, easy and delicious appetizers, and one of my favorites.

First cut off the stems of 12 jalapeños peppers. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Use a small spoon to scrape out ALL of the seeds and membranes inside the peppers. Fill each peppered with a spoonful of a mixture of softened cream cheese and shredded cheddar and jack cheese. Use 1 block cream cheese that is softened. Pre-softened wouldn’t work as well. Mix well with 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese.

Cut 12 strips of bacon in half. Lay a filled pepper cheese side up across the center of the half strip of bacon. Bring the end of the bacon furthest from you to the center of the pepper. Roll the bacon completely around the pepper and secure with a toothpick.
Place the peppers on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Serve warm.

TIPS:

• Wear disposable gloves when you are working with the raw jalapeños. Nothing worse than rubbing your eye with jalapeño on your hands!

VARIATIONS:

• Use any kind of shredded cheese you like.

Ingredients

• 8 cups (approx. 1kg) mixed berries
• I used blueberries and raspberry mix
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons (15g) cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Biscuit Topping

• 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1/2 cup (120ml),sour milk cold*
• for topping before baking: 1 Tablespoon soured milk and coarse sugar

Note:

Sour the milk by adding just a little vinegar.

Place berries in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Fold in remaining ingredients for berry mixture.

Place topping in a stand mixer and mix with a dough hook until totally mixed together for a soft dough. Using your hands flatten dough and put pieces equally over the top of berries.

Top with sour milk and sugar mixture.

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes. Cool before serving

Vietnamese Spring Roll

These Vietnamese spring rolls are a little bit time consuming, but they are well worth the effort. Otherwise they’re pretty simple to make. Your guests will think you worked for hours but it doesn’t really take that long.

When planning the number of rolls you want to make keep in mind that you will need 2 cooked medium shrimp for each spring roll wrapper you want to make.

Spring roll wrappers come in a package similar to the one pictured here.

One at a time take a spring roll wrapper and place it in warm water. Gently move it to soften it. Be careful picking it up. It will tear easily. Spread it out flat on a cutting board.

Working from side to side spoon a mixture of finely chopped raw carrots and cabbage on center of the roll wrapper. On top of the vegetables you place a small thin slice of ripe avocado and top with 2 cooked medium shrimp’s.

Fold the sides of the wrapper toward the center covering the ends of the vegetable shrimp and avocado. Then take the side of the wrap closest to you and fold it over the filling. And then start rolling the spring roll tightly toward the other end of the wrapper. Place each t try I’ll seam side down on a tray.
Repeat this process for as many tolls as you want to make. Place the covered tray in the refrigerator to chill. Do not stack the rolls or put them close enough to touch each other. They will stick.

Serve cold with peanut dipping sauce. I just use a good bottled brand. Read the labels carefully. Some are spicier than others.

Boil a medium size russet potato until tender. Remove from water and hold under cold running water and slide off the skin. Put the potato in a bowl and mash well using a potato masher. Set aside.

Use a candy thermometer to test heat of milk. Heat milk to scalding (181 degrees). Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm (120 degrees).
Dissolve 1 package of yeast in the warm milk.

For mixing I used a counter top stand mixer with a flat beater. I use a KitchenAid, but there are a variety of brands.

Pour the milk and yeast into the stand mixer bowl. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup Crisco shortening, 1/2 cup mashed potato, and 1 egg. Mix on low speed. Start adding flour 1 cup at a time until you have a soft dough (about 6 cups). Remove bowl from mixer stand . Stir down with a wooden paddle. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. This will take about 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled, punch down the dough and transfer it to a floured surface. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out with a donut cutter.

Heat canola oil in an electric fryer to 350 degrees. No less than 330 degrees and no more than 360 degrees.

One by one fry the donuts and the holes until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a tray lined with paper towel.

GLAZE:

In a medium bowl mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1/4 cup soft real butter. Measure 1/3 cup cold milk and add a little at a time to the sugars and the butter while mixing with an electric hand beater. Mix in a tablespoon of maple syrup. Blend until smooth. *You probably won’t need the full 1/3 cup of milk. Just add enough to achieve the consistency you want for a glaze.

Dip the cooked donuts and holes one by one in the glaze. Set on waxed paper to cool allowing glaze to set.

TIPS:

• The maple glaze is optional. You can roll the donuts in granulated or powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar or top with any other flavor glaze.
• I used a 4 inch donut cutter and made 1 dozen donuts. The recipe could easily yield more with a smaller cutter.
• I found on Amazon this great biscuit/donut cutter set.

BIGGEST TIP:

Don’t get in a hurry. Making sure the temperature of the milk is exact and giving the dough ample time to rise is crucial.

First make the lemon curd.This is what you’ll need.

3-4 large eggs (or a mix of whole eggs and yolks)

4 to 1 cup granulated sugar

Zest of 2-3 lemons (about 1-2 tbsp)

½ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)

¼ to ½ cup (4-8 tbsp) unsalted butter

In a sauce pan beat the eggs. Mix the lemon zest with sugar. It works well to mix them in a small chopper to infuse the sugar into the zest. Add the zest, sugar and juice to the eggs and whip together with a whisk. Place the mixture on a stove over medium heat. Stir and heat until curd begins to thicken. About 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Place in a covered bowl and refrigerate completely. The curd will thicken more as it cools.

Assemble the dessert. Place the curd in a bowl. Top with two scoops vanilla ice cream and garnish with fresh blueberries that have been chilled. Yummy!

Yesterday for lunch I introduced my California pals to a North Dakota favorite. Knoephla soup is a creamy chicken broth based soup made with little dumplings (knoephla) and potatoes. it was a winner!

Dumplings:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons whole milk, plus more if needed

Soup:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 1 large salad onion (white bulb and chives)
• 4 stalks celery chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, plus more to taste
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 3 large red potatoes peeled cut into small cubes
• 1 cup heavy cream

Mix together all ingredients for dumplings. Mix and knead the dough into soft, smooth dough. Working with a little dough at a time shape the dough into ropes. Set aside.
To make the soup melt butter in a deep kettle. add potatoes and other vegetables. Sauté until tender. Add broth and bring to a boil. Using kitchen shears, cut dumplings into tiny pieces directly into boiling broth. dumplings are done when they float to the top.

Add cream and salt and pepper to taste. serve hot.

This Beef Stroganoff is just too good! Simple and delicious. A lot of stroganoff recipes use sour cream. Not this one. Instead use fresh heavy cream. Again: It’s just so good. . .

I used two small tenderloin steaks. First I patted them dry on both sides with a paper towel. I sprinkled both sides with fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Cut the steak into small strips.

Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet. I use cast iron, but a good heavy skillet will do. When the oil is very hot start searing the meat on both sides. Remove from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

Melt 2 tablespoons real butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 chopped shallot and sauté until tender. Scrape bottom of the pan and add sliced brown mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until liquid evaporates. Add 1 cup beef broth, then 3 tablespoons of brandy. Simmer until liquid thickens and just coats mushrooms. Stir in 1 cup heavy cream and 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard. Add meat and any accumulated juices. Simmer over medium-low heat until meat is heated through but not over cooked. Stir in 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill and 1 tablespoon Hungarian Paprika or any hot paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve over flat egg noodles prepared according to package directions

TIP:

• It’s ok to prepare the noodles while stroganoff is simmering. You can easily reheat by placing them in a colander and pouring boiling water over them.
  
• You can add a little butter to the noodles if they seem dry.
  
• An easy way to cut the steak is to cut it in half or thirds lengthwise. Turn entire steak diagonally and slice off thin strips. Use a large kitchen knife to do this.
  
• If you don’t have fresh dill, it’s ok to use dried.