Strawberry Salsa

This spring I haven't been able to buy strawberries fast enough. We have been going through them like crazy! It has become routine that every night after dinner my daughter asks for strawberries, and this is after taking them to school for lunch, too.

I have been enjoying them mixed with Greek vanilla yogurt and chia seeds, while my daughter and husband just eat them whole. When I picked up a new clamshell full of beautiful, red strawberries today, I had the idea to make a sweet snack with them. Something I could keep in the fridge for a few days (yea, right - I'll be lucky if this lasts one night!) that we can just pull out to snack on before dinner.

One of my favorite summer snacks is my Pico de Gallo (wow, that was my first blog post way back in 2007!) - sweet and juicy tomatoes, jalapenos, red onion, cilantro, and salt. I used that as my inspiration for this Strawberry Salsa.

The combination of sweet and spicy makes your mouth sing! I also added some lime juice for the sour factor, and the chips bring the salt. Seriously, this has everything!

Besides eating this as a snack, I think it would be awesome atop some grilled chili rubbed fish or chicken.

Strawberry Salsa
Original Recipe by Mary Ellen of Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

Ingredients

• 1 quart of Strawberries, chopped
• 1/2 of a jalapeno pepper, diced
• 4 Tbsp red onion, diced
• Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• Juice of one lime

Directions

• Combine everything in a bowl and mix in the lime juice
• Chill before serving. 

Individual Apple Cobblers

Last weekend I had a friend over for lunch. When I was planning my menu I knew immediately what I would serve for lunch (these Sweet Ham and Swiss Sliders, my Roasted Potato Soup, and a green salad with a balsamic Dijon dressing), but I could not decide on a dessert. The holidays just ended and I really didn't want anything too heavy or rich or full of chocolate... we all ate enough of that for 2 weeks!

I decided to do something with fruit, and took inspiration from a Peach Cobbler that I made a few years ago. Instead of making one apple cobbler, I pulled my ramekins out and made individual cobblers. I love these because they work well for a breakfast treat, lunch dessert, or night time snack... warm with some vanilla ice cream, of course!

Individual Apple Cobblers

Inspired by this Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

For the apples:

• 3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp cornstarch

For the topping:

• 1 c flour
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp butter chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 c boiling water
• 3 tsp sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon

You will need 6 individual ramekins - I used 4 oz ramekins which are 3 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches deep.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the apples, tossing to coat. Divide the apples evenly between the 6 ramekins. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes (I put all of the ramekins on a baking sheet).
• Meanwhile, make the topping. Combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Blend in the butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in the water until just combined.
• Remove the apples from the oven and drop a large spoonful of the topping mixture into each ramekin, spreading it out just a bit. Sprinkle each one with some of the sugar/cinnamon mixture.
• Bake for 22-25 minutes until hot and bubbly with a nice golden brown crust.
• Serve warm.

 

Red Wine Poached Pears with Blue Cheese

Jon and I spent our honeymoon in St. John, the best island in the Caribbean, in our opinion. We loved it so much and were lucky to visit for 2 days while in St. Thomas for Jon's work trip a few years ago. Those 2 days gave us the itch to go back, so we returned for a belated 5th anniversary trip last year. Everything about the island is amazing - the laid back atmosphere, the crazy roads, the protected national parks, the beaches, the views you catch when driving in your rental jeep - absolutely breathtaking, the waterfront bars and restaurants, and the feeling you get when you are on the island - I could honestly go back every year and would never be bored.

While there we enjoyed dinner at Chloe and Bernard's, the Westin's restaurant. I ordered the red wine poached pears with double cream brie, and loved it so much that I have been wanting to make the pears ever since. So last week when I had a few pears that needed to be eaten, I decided to give them a try. I wasn't sure what else was used as the poaching liquid besides red wine, so I turned to this recipe for help.

Coring the pears was easier than I thought, especially since I don't have a corer. I took a potato peeler and inserted it into the bottom of the pear, went around the core, and pulled it out. The core came out easily and I cleaned it up a bit with a small measuring spoon - 1/4 teaspoon to be exact. Once cored, I put them in a bowl of water with a touch of lemon juice while I prepped the poaching liquid.



Ingredients

• 2 cups dry red wine (I used an entire 750 ml bottle of Zinfandel - I think it was Robert Mondavi, just something cheap)
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 c sugar
• 2-inch stick of cinnamon OR 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I used ground)
• 3 large pears; I used 4 medium Bartlett pears
• Optional: blue cheese

Directions

• In a large pot over medium heat, bring with wine, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon to a boil (make sure you use a pot that is deep enough for the liquid to cover the pears once you add them).
• Add the pears to the poaching liquid, making sure they are covered.
• Slowly simmer the pears, loosely covered, until they are soft, but not mushy, when poked with a sharp knife.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the syrup to lukewarm.

I stored the pears in the fridge for a few hours. Once ready to serve, I put them on the stove over low heat to bring them back to lukewarm.

I served them with crumbled blue cheese. I see this dish a lot as a salad or starter, but I decided to serve them as dessert. I loved them, and they were so easy to make, but looked impressive on the plate.