Super salad dressing

This is a recipe that is a complete original and is great for any salad. It sounds a bit spicy but it really is not.  I came up with the idea after going through all the stuff I usually add to my salad and I said hey why not make a dressing that incorporates this stuff. 

Now I use a blender to make my vinaigrette, yeah I know Bobby Flay and Emeril use a whisk on TV but at home one of them uses a blender and the other can’t cook.  So take out your blender and blow the dust off it.  Most of the recipes you see for vinaigrette tell you to incorporate the oil slowly to get a better emulsification.  Well I have done it that way and it does stay suspended longer but how much are you going to make?  If you are making a week’s worth; first of all why?  But sure incorporate the oil slowly.  We are making a salad worth today so we will do it another way.

Into your blender throw ¼ cup or franks red hot.

                1/4 teaspoon of cumin

                1/4 teaspoon of paprika

                ¼ teaspoon of pepper

Now when I say ¼ teaspoon I mean use the ¼ teaspoon to scoop with but you can heap it up a bit if you like, even take two if you want.

                ½ teaspoon of mustard

                ½ teaspoon of mayo

These help the mixture stay together.

Turn you blender on and toss in ¾ cup of oil.  A bit about oil, olive oil is the healthiest oil to use.

 There is no argument here, it just is. Now a lot of people say they do not like olive oil because of the strong flavor, and they have a point.   Olive oil comes in three varieties, extra virgin, virgin, and just olive oil.  The variety use to be based on how the olives were crushed.  First squeeze was extra virgin, the second- virgin and the rest was just olive oil.  I do not know if that is true now that it is mass marketed but one thing is true, the higher the level of oil the more flavor it will have.  So just regular olive oil has very little flavor and usually cost less.  No, canola oil is not a good alternative.  Canola oil or (Canadian oil) which is where the name comes from it just oil squeezed from the rapeseed plant.  You remember those we use to grow them to make mustard gas now we have no use for them.  The oil in not unhealthy or dangerous it is just another type of vegetable oil.  So, if you do not get olive oil and this is for salad all the vegetable oils and about the same.    

So blend for like 30 seconds and wow the best dressing you will ever taste.  If you like to spice it up a bit I add some ground red pepper and a shot of tabasco.

Salsa baby,

Salsa baby,

Well the Latin salsa dancer on Dancing With the Stars was eliminated and I think a lot of women out there were heartbroken.  And my favorite, Catherine was eliminated too but I am sure they will make out ok.  The break in seasons gives us a chance to look at salsa and why everyone likes it.  I have seen a lot of salsa recipes and it seems that people think if you chop it up and throw it in a bowl it must be salsa.  Well I am not against experimenting with some ingredients but let’s get back to the basics.  Salsa is essentially a mixture of 3 things with two added later.  Basic salsa is Sweet (not acidic) tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.  Now the mixture has to be adjusted based on how sweet your tomatoes are and how overpowering your onions are.  One thing that a lot of people miss is it takes a lot of cilantro, this is not just a sprinkle.  Now once you have those three if you want some spice you add some hot peppers and just before you serve you add the juice of a lime.  Notice I said the juice of a lime, this is juice that came from a fruit you bought and squeezed by hand over your salsa, not a bottle or lime shaped piece of plastic. In addition to these basics many other things are added like garlic, green or red pepper, chili powder, sugar, scallions and all add something to the flavor.   Some spend extra money to get the chunky salsa I just do not find it as easy to use.  It is hard to dip and the flavors to not seem to blend as well. 

So here is how I make it.  Take out your blender and wipe out the left over daiquiris.

To the blender add:

                 2 cups of roma tomatoes

                1 large onion loosely chopped

                1/3 cup cilantro

Turn on blender and process till smooth, now add

                1 or 2 chipotle peppers

                1 jalapeno

                ½ teaspoon of chili power

                ¼ teaspoon of cumin

                ¼ teaspoon of paprika

Put a small amount of oil in a pan, cook 3 to 4 cloves of garlic until it is soft and started to color, do not overcook  we are talking like 2 minutes here.   Add the garlic to the blender and process

Pour into a bowl and eat.

Main diner

We truly enjoy going to different restaurants featured on Guys’ program Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives.  Last year while we were on vacation we visited several.  The one we really liked was the Maine Diner. http://mainediner.com/  . It was truly the nicest diner I have ever been in.  The service was fantastic, not like 5 star fantastic more like I just went back in time to an old time diner fantastic.  The decorations were perfect and the people were so friendly it was hard to imagine we were not in the south.  We both ordered some dish that Guy suggested and they were everything he said they would be. My wife had the Lobster Stew and it was great- we always try each other’s food. That is not always the case as we found at the Porthole restaurant in Portland, not worth stopping.  But the Maine Diner was great.  The food and even the deserts were large portions and freshly prepared. Just a great stop if you are going through Wells, Maine. 

Ciao baby

We had a wonderful weekend of eating out.  I try to keep these reviews positive. So, we went out three times and I have one review for you.  The last and best place we went is Ciao of Ithaca.  I have to say I hate to write a bad review; you just never know when you are just trying a place if it was just a bad day for someone.  One of the places we went is a place we go often and always enjoy , we just happened to get a waitress that was a lunatic.  The other place we went, there was just nothing good to say about it.  So, back to Ciao.  I have to say this is the best local restaurant I have been to in years.  Not as good as Union Block Italian Bistro, but very good.  It had great décor; it reminded me a bit of Carrabas Italian Grill.  Very well done, clean, and inviting.  Or server was Trevor, and the service was absolutely great.  I am a former waiter so I am pretty hard on some of them, but this guy had it down.  And to be honest I watched a lot of the other waiters and they seem to be doing a good job too.  And last; the food.  Everything we ordered was freshly prepared and tasted great.  The presentation was outstanding, taking every effort with the plating to add to the meal.  I had a chicken sandwich and my wife had butternut ravioli, both really good.  We stayed for desert and that was just as good, great taste and perfectly plated.  So if you are around the Ithaca mall, can’t imagine why you would be, but stop by Ciao for some great food.

http://www.ciaoithaca.com/

Hungarian chicken paprikash

So as most of you may have guessed, most of my good recipes either involve bread or belong to someone else.  So I have acquired a recipe from a person that might be the world’s best closet chef.  If any of you have seen the movie Outrun, this guy is a living example of the lead character in the film.  He is a large man that easily could scare off burglars and their little dogs too.  And I have to say a wonderful friend and just an all-around great person.  I will give him a code name of Howard to keep his identity a secret.  Well, Howard is a fanatic about cooking good food properly.  He uses all the right tools and his recipes are used by chefs in large restaurants.  The recipe I have from him today is an old family favorite. I hope you enjoy this one and let me know.  I can tell you this, if the recipe comes from Howard it can be trusted, I have used many of them.

Hungarian chicken paprikash

Prep time 20 minutes, cook in a crock pot on low 8 hours

Ingredients

1 large onion; sliced thin

1-2 tablespoons of butter

4 – 5 pounds of chicken

2 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

4cups chicken broth heated

1 cup sour cream

In a skillet, sauté the onion in butter until tender.  Mix together in a bowl paprika, salt, & pepper. Place chicken in crock pot and sprinkle with ½ tablespoons paprika, salt and pepper mixture.  Spoon the onion mixture over the chicken.  Sprinkle onion with another ½ tablespoons of the paprika, salt and pepper mixture and add remaining 1 tablespoon of mixture to the chicken broth and heat.  Pour heated chicken broth over chicken place crock pot on low and cook for 8 hours.

Remove chicken and keep warm, remove 1 cup of broth mixture from crock pot and let set for 10 minutes to cool down.  Combine cooled broth and sour cream in bowl then add to crock pot stir.  Serve with chicken.

Spaetzle dumplings

Total time 15 minutes

Ingredient’s

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 eggs lightly beaten

1/3 cup milk

2 teaspoon salt

8 cups water                                      

1 tablespoon butter

In a large bowl stir flour eggs milk and salt until smooth (dough will be sticky)

In a large sauce pan bring water to a boil

Pour dough into a colander coated with cooking spray.  Place over boiling water.

With a wooden spoon press dough until small pieces drop into boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes until they are tender and float.  Remove with a slotted spoon; add to chicken sauce or toss with butter.