Watermelon Feta Salsa with Fresh Horseradish, Euro-Mexican Fusion

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**July 8, 2011, Recipe Featured on Gourmet Live **

Thanks for voting this into today's (July 5th) Foodbuzz top 9.

To me no other fruit says summer like the heavy, green, oval fruit with a bright red center and little black seeds. Im talking about watermelon of course. It’s not like watermelon is the only summer fruit or that it is necessarily my favorite summertime fruit. I think it is because of my personal summertime memories that repeat summer after summer in homes all across the world. You see when I picture a hot, sweaty summer day I see a child with his or her face buried in a large slice of watermelon gobbling up the sweet fruit. Every bite squeezes out more juicy goodness that runs down the child’s face, arms and most likely down the top half of their clothes. As adults that is not an acceptable sight or one that other adults will find as funny and cute as watching a child take such pleasure in a slice of watermelon. Kids get to have all the fun! Nonetheless I think we can all relate to that childhood memory of sitting on the grass in the summer sunshine refreshing our bodies with a chunk of watermelon.

The recipe I have for you today is a little more grownup than just a slice of watermelon. Not that there is anything wrong with a juicy serving of watermelon. I came up with this salsa as a way of using up what was leftover in my refrigerator. In fact it’s not much of a recipe but more like a guide of throw this and that into a bowl to create a dish that takes advantage of the bounty of summer. The salsa is so in name but more like a fusion of ingredients so not specifically from one nation. But since I served it like a salsa and a good portion of the ingredients are European, we can call it a Euro-Mexican fusion.

Here is what went into my watermelon salsa, watermelon, cubed and seeded. I threw in some cubed feta cheese along with roughly chopped red radishes. If you do not have red radishes then substitute with finely chopped onion, red would be good. Then I finely chopped a small bunch of chives and added them to the bowl. Guess what there was also a lime, so I squeezed the juice over the other ingredient. Then in the back of the vegetable crisper I found some fresh horseradish root to grate into the salsa, that is where the spiciness was going to come in. The horseradish root gives more of a nasal spiciness than a back of the mouth spiciness that a chile would give. Nonetheless it was a great addition to the salsa. Before you grate the horseradish make sure it is thoroughly rinsed as dirt and debris can become logged in the curves of this root. Then using a vegetable peeler, peel away the darker outer layer until you’ve reached the white and woody layer. Grate as much as you like into the salsa. Lastly gently toss the ingredients together until well combined. Taste and adjust anything you like. Serve it in a bowl or inside the leftover watermelon rind.

The salsa was sweet, salty, a little tart and yes, spicy. That is the perfect combination of flavors! I served the spicy watermelon salsa with grilled Nile perch and grilled chicken. In fact this would be the perfect accompaniment for any grilled meats or fish. You could also serve as an appetizer or snack with some corn chips. Since the 4th of July means cookouts why not make the salsa and impress your guest. Enjoy it!

Other watermelon recipes:

- Agua de Sandia -Mexican Watermelon Water

- Summer Sunshine In A Bowl by Alisha Randell via Honest Cooking

- Grilled watermelon and haloumi salad by Scandi Foodie

- Tofu Feta, Watermelon and Basil Salad by Happy Healthy Life

- Watermelon Sugar Cookies by Megan's Cookin'

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Beef Borek , A Fusion Recipe

When we first moved to Prague the only "ethnic" grocery stores to be found were run by Vietnamese. I say ethnic in quotes because technically they could be called that but where not quite what you picture when you think of ethnic shops else where. Having freshly arrived from living in Paris where any and every type of ethnic foods could be found this took some getting use to. Sure the Vietnamese markets had some ramen, basic asian condiments and the best fresh fruit and vegetable selections but it didn't quite make up for not finding some of the world ethnic foods and ingredients we love and missed. Fast forward to 2011 and things have really changed here. Now small ethnic markets selling Japanese, many asian products, basic Tex-Mex ingredients, authentic Italian, authentic Greek, and a variety of middle eastern products have begun popping up all over the city. Czechs seem to have embraced the idea of tasting and/or cooking world foods. Don't get me wrong Czech food is hearty and very tasty, but I do love variety in my choices of both restaurants and ingredients to cook with.

Last week my husband and I went to check out a new middle eastern market that opened up in our neighborhood. We both absolutely love middle eastern cuisine, definitely one of our favorites. As we wondered through the small isles we were delighted with the selection of products from north Africa, the middle east, and even India. Along with the mandatory Lokum for my husband we picked up some grains, deli delicacies, pickled veggies and a humongous pack of Yukfa, which is a thicker version of Turkish Philo dough. You will surely see the ingredients pop up in recipes in the coming weeks or months. But today I will be sharing what I cooked with some of the Yufka/Philo dough. The first attempt I made Rolled Beef Borek. Okay so these aren't quite Turkish Borek nor Balkan type Borek, but rather a fusion of both with my own take. But they did taste fantastic, so much so that my husband asked me to please remember how I made them so we could have them again soon. I've never made Borek before and I didn't have time to look up instructions prior to cooking so I just winged it. The second attempt I made the same filling and instead of rolling the dough I made a meat pie. Assemble it just as you would a regular pie by layering a yufka or two on the bottom and as well as the top. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Rolled Beef Borek or Yufka Beef Pie

3 large yukfa or philo sheets
500 g or 1 lb. ground beef (or a mix of ground beef and pork)*
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 small red pimentos or 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 pack (450 g or 15 oz) frozen garlic creamed spinach (I made my own w/milk) , drained
Turkish beyaz peynir cheese or feta cheese
olive oil or vegetable oil

melted butter, for brushing the Yufka
1-2 large eggs lightly beaten, for egg wash

* Please note that Turkish Muslims do not eat pork. So if you aim to make this more Turkish based used ground beef only. *

1. Defrost and warm up the garlic creamed spinach. Make sure most of the liquid evaporates or you will have to drain it all of the excess liquid. Set aside. (You could also use fresh spinach instead of frozen.) Heat just enough oil to coat the pan, once warm Add the ground/minced beef and cook all the way through. Drain off all extra fat. Remove meat from the pan and set aside.

2. Add a little bit of oil to the pan and once warm saute the onions until translucent. Add the finely chopped pimento/ pepper and saute for 3 minutes. Next add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add the beef back to the pan then sprinkle all of the seasonings into the pan, stir to distribute the spices well. Turn heat to low flame and allow to cook another 5 minutes. Turn heat off and set aside to cool slightly.

3. Preheat oven to 220 c and prepare a baking sheet. Have the melted butter and pastry brush ready. Once the beef has cooled down a bit, brush 1 extra large philo/ yukfa sheet with melted butter. Lay a thin layer of beef mixture in a straight line, top with the creamed spinach and feta. Tuck in the phyllo/yukfa and begin rolling up into a long tubular shape. Curl it into a coil/swirl shape and brush outer yufka with egg wash.

Bake in center of the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the dough is browned and crispy. Serve with a light side salad.

After dinner I decided to readup on Borek and all the varieties. Through Google images I came across Citra's blog with a great recipe for Turkish Borek with leeks. It looks so good and that will be the next Borek I make. Here's the link if you are interested.
http://c1tr4sinau.blogspot.com/2011/02/prasa-boreg-turkish-leek-pastry.html

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Confusing Meat Cuts and Braised Rosemary Lamb

When it comes to choosing cuts of meat I'm not that great. Okay, okay I do know breast, thighs, loins, chops and minced meat, the basics, that's a start no? But hear me out before you judge please, I promise I have good excuses. First excuse, language barrier. I have yet to learn all the cut names in Czech, they just don't stick in my brain. Excuse number 2, I never learned about cuts and their proper names in either English or Spanish. That is because I only started cooking about 4 year ago and we were living in Europe. Last excuse is that the cuts are different in Prague than they are in the states, and I think Mexico. My husband who worked at a butcher shop as a teenager, in the states, verified that the cuts are indeed different. See all good excuses and now you can judge me for not working harder at learning the names in Czech, haha!

You can imagine that one of the reasons I like to do our grocery shopping together with my husband is to make sure we have decent cuts of meat to eat. When I go off by myself to pick up some meat its best to stick with fish and the few cuts I know, unless I'm feeling adventurous. Sadly for my husband I'm very curious about food. The other day I saw lamb at the grocery store and it's not an every day occurrence, woohoo happy dance! Plus it was organic meat, double happy dance! Without much more thinking about it I took the lamb home. On the walk home I was daydreaming about how soft, tender and juicy it was going to be. I showed my hubby what I bought and he broke the news to me that is was Lamb shoulder. Of course I looked at him completely perplexed and said yeah but it's going to be good right? Oh.

We both started doing some research online about the best methods to prepare this cut and all the sites suggested braised. Braising is a great technique to use on cuts that are tougher or chewier, aka cheaper cuts. But it is also a technique I like to use with other more expensive cuts. Of course good spices must be used and the results are always tender and juicy meat. We ended up with succulent lamb shoulder chops that were so tender, juicy, and the meat just fell off the bone. No fatty or tough chewy texture at all, the lamb was just awesome! Enjoy and try my recipe with any lamb cut of your choice.

Braised Rosemary Lamb Shoulder Chops
Ingredients:
2 lamb shoulder chops, weighed 550 grams or 1.21 lb
1 medium onion, cut into 1/8ths
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tbsp dried rosemary
6 whole allspice, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup or 118 ml vegetable broth, low sodium and no MSG

1. Preheat the oven to 150c / 300f. Over medium heat melt the butter in a frying pan, saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes then add the spices and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the pan contents and set aside. Turn heat to high, Pat dry the lamb then place in frying pan. Brown on both sides. Turn heat off. Mix the onion spice mixture back with the lamb.

2. Place the lamb and pan contents into a baking dish and pour the broth over the lamb, place in center of oven. The lamb will need to cook for 3 – 4 hours or until the meat is very tender and breaks up easily.

Do not let the baking dish dry out, add a little more water or broth as needed. Reserve the pan juices and serve as a sauce over the meat.

I served our lamb with some mashed potatoes, my Love Handle Mash Potatoes , and some garlic baby spinach.

See mistakes always have a way of working themselves out and an inexpensive cut of meat if cooked correctly can still be tasty. Amen, let's eat!

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I'm Ready To Be Spanked! And Mazanec Czech Easter Bread

Easter is here and the city of Prague has been gearing up for the celebrations. The first signs of Velikonoce (Easter) are the markets that open up all over the city. The small vendors sell traditional hand decorated Easter eggs, and pomlázka which are decorated pussywillow twigs. Along with many other souvenirs you will also find gingerbreads baked in the shape of lambs, eggs and even chicks. At the markets you will also have a choice of typical Czech food and beer to enjoy as you take a stroll through the markets.

I am not religious so Easter is not a holiday I have paid attention to in the Czech Republic. From what I've seen and know about Easter in the Czech Republic, I would say it is more like a celebration of spring than a religious holiday. Czech Republic was under communism for a long time and religion was oppressed. Communism has been replaced by commercialism and the freedom to practice any religion. While most Czechs have no religion there are Christians here who will be going through the rituals of Easter as well as the nonreligious people following with tradition. Easter eggs will be decorated, traditional Easter dishes will be served and the boys will visit girls to spank them with their pomlazka. The pomlazka is used because tradition says that by being spanked the girls will be blessed with health and beauty during the whole year. I'm ready to be spanked, who else is with me? The spanking is accompanied by traditional carols and the boys are rewarded/thanked with a special hand decorated egg from the girls. If it's men that do the spanking then they get a shot of alcohol. It's almost like trick or treating in the states, the boys want to visit as many girls and receive as many rewards as possible. Some girls get their revenge by pouring buckets of cold water on the boys. This all sounds like fun and a bit naughty, lets move on shall we?

As is typical of many holidays, religious or not, around the world there is always food to go with the celebrations. I will be telling you about the baked Easter treats. Czechs will be baking gingerbread, cakes shape like a lamb that are dusted with powdered sugar, cross buns, Jidasky buns, and Mazanec which I will be showing you how to bake today. Mazanec is a sweet yeasted bread made with rum soaked raisins and topped with almonds. The bread has a crusty golden surface but is soft and delicious inside. You don't have to be religious or wait for Easter to bake this bread. It make a great accompaniment to coffee or tea and it can be enjoy at breakfast or as dessert.

Mazanec Czech Easter Bread
adapted from Albert Magazine

* You can cut the recipe in half to make a smaller loaf if you like.*

4 tbsp. rum
150 g or 5 oz raisins
42 g or 1.5 oz fresh yeast
400 ml or 13/4 cup lukewarm milk, use whole milk
200 g or 7 oz (1 cup) sugar
1 kl or 2.2 lbs. a.p flour
1/2 tsp. lemon zest or orange zest
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
40 g or 2 heaping tbsp butter
4 tbsp sunflower oil
slivered almonds to decorate

3 bowls, parchment paper, baking sheet

1. In a bowl pour the rum over the raisins, stir well and set aside.

Yeast starter:
In a bowl combine the yeast, milk and a couple tablespoons of the sugar. Set aside.

Once the yeast has risen : In a separate bowl combine the flour, rum soaked raisins, salt, and lemon zest. Stir to well combine the ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together 3 of the eggs,melted butter, oil until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the yeast and egg, fat liquid into the dry ingredients. Work the dough until it becomes a smooth and elastic dough. If need be add a little more flour. Grease a large bowl, place the dough, cover and allow to rise for 11/2 hours.

Punch the dough down, divide the dough in halves, knead and shape into two loafs. Place the loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush over the loaves. Allow them to raise for another 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 180c or 356 f. Sprinkle the almonds over the loaves, and bake in center of oven for 35 - 40 minutes. If the top of the loaves is browning too much cover with aluminum foil for the remaining time. Allow to cool before slicing.

Serve with butter, honey, jam or any other toppings desired. Enjoy and Veselé Velikonoce! (Happy Easter!)

**April's YBR signup has been posted. It's a special edition so do check it out.**

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Spicy Spaghetti with grated Zucchini

Who doesn't love pasta? I've never heard anyone say they dislike pasta, or Italian food for that matter. I don't know a whole lot about Italian cuisine but I do know that I love it. I consider pasta one of my comfort foods and a basic meal that we always have ingredients for. It can be prepare in no time and one meal that is pretty hard to mess up. Well, just don't over cook the pasta noodles and you'll be off to a great start. I didn't grow up eating pasta, or Italian food, so the only times that I got to eat it was out in restaurants. Of course pasta became a favorite and what I ordered when we went out for Italian. As good as the Italian food was in the states it's nothing compared to eating in Italy. I'll never forget sitting on a quiet sidewalk cafe in Florence taking that first bite of ravioli. Simply Wow! Then that trip to Rimini with the simple yet heavenly pasta with clams. Oh yeah both cities are also ancient magical places, I didn't just eat pasta....Okay maybe I did.

When it comes to pasta I like it simple. In my personal preference I rate simple pastas tossed with just olive oil first, then tomato sauce pastas, and last preference are cream based pastas. Now that spring is here and with summer on the way, simple and light pastas are what I crave over the others. You can toss in some fresh seasonal vegetables, a bruschetta on the side, serve a light wine and you've got yourself a fabulous meal that is ready in about 30-45 minutes. I came up with this recipe a couple of weeks ago when I was feeling both lazy and uninspired. My husband and I loved the pasta so much that I've made it several times already. I hope you guys enjoy the recipe and remember it can be altered to your personal taste.

* I'd also like to thank Saverio from Ariosto (http://www.ariosto.it/ ) spices for sending me the fantastic selection of spices to add to my cooking. They smell wonderful and taste fantastic. Plus I love that they don't have MSG. Grazie Ariosto! *

Spicy Spaghetti with grated Zucchini
Ingredients:

1 large zucchini, grated
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced
1/2 tsp salt, adjust to taste
1 tsp. Ariosto Garlic Chile spice ( Aglio e peperoncino)
1 pack of spaghetti (or other pasta if you like)
1 tbsp. (evoo) olive oil, good quality
ground black pepper, to taste
cherry tomatoes, halved
arugula or rocket dandelion greens, to taste
extra olive oil to coat pasta

1. Heat the water for the pasta. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and coat with olive oil, sprinkle some salt and ground black pepper for extra flavor.

2. While the pasta is cooking : Heat oil and over low heat saute garlic for 2 minute, do not allow to burn or turn golden. Then add the shredded zucchini, sprinkle salt, pepper and Ariosto spice. Stir often to prevent burning, allow to saute for 5 more minutes. Add the zucchini to the pasta and toss until the zucchini is well distributed. Please notice the zucchini will tend to clump together so you'll have to keep separating it to better distribute it through the pasta. You could also just grate and add the zucchini without cooking but I prefer to cook it first. Add the tomato halves, taste and adjust salt if necessary. Serve with fresh arugula or rocket greens on top or it can also be tossed in with the tomatoes.

Carnivore version:
If you would like some meat in your pasta I suggest chicken. Simply cook chicken breast in a little olive oil with garlic, salt, pepper, and a dried oregano or basil. Slice into to strips and toss or serve on top of the pasta.

I'd also like to tell you that my friends at The Ardent Epicure now have a phone App so please stop by and get all the details. http://www.theardentepicure.com/2011/04/announcement-weve-gone-mobile.html How exciting and congrats to the 3 of you!

My friend Gina's (formerly from What's For Dinner Across State Lines) new site SPCookieQueen has a new Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001993222785) please make sure you update that and the new url, http://www.spcookiequeen.com/ .

If you are looking for great authentic Italian recipes visit Frank, Memorie di Angelina.

That's all and I hope your week is starting off well!

P.S. In case you are curious about the wine, it is a Syrah - Grenache wine. The recipe for the bread in the background is coming next. Potato Bread Bruschetta with Tomatoes and Arugula and can be found here, Potato Bread Bruschetta with Tomatoes and Arugula.

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Slavic Cabbage Rolls (My First Attempt) and The Huffington Post

I hope everyone is starting off their weekend well. I just found out that I'm on the Huffington Post (again), and that's a pretty neat way to start off the weekend. The feature this time is for "Ten Recipes To Jazz Up Your Weekend Breakfast." and mine is the Strawberry Banana Soy Breakfast Shake. Their selection (made by Honest Cooking) is a great collection of recipes so do make sure you check it out. Congrats to all the other featured bloggers too!! Now on to my recipe, hope you enjoy it.

Cabbage rolls, or stuffed cabbage, are one of those dishes that span many countries all with unique variations. To many of you cabbage rolls (stuffed cabbage) are a very common dish, perhaps even one you grew up with. To me it is still a fairly new one. I don't have any childhood memories of my mother making cabbage rolls for us. Now that I think about it I've never seen cabbage rolls on any authentic Mexican menus. Perhaps they do exist but I've never had the pleasure of eating one. The first time I ate one was about 5 years ago in Berlin, Germany. The first time I saw them on the menu I knew immediately what I was having for lunch. The waitress set down a cabbage roll the size of my head with a light and creamy white sauce over it, I wish I would have taken a photo. With huge anticipation and a big smile on my face I took my first bite, I loved it! My husband having grown up with cabbage rolls also agreed that they were fantastic. From that day forward every trip we made to Berlin we went to Joe´s Wirtshaus Restaurant right down the street from the Zoologischer train station. On several trips we even had both our lunch and dinner there, much to the amusement of the staff. Sadly I just learned that after 15 years they have closed down. I will greatly miss Joe's and all of their fantastic German cuisine. Auf Wiedersehen und danke Joe's.

The only times I have eaten cabbage rolls have been on our trips to Berlin, maybe because I felt no others could compare. Czechs also eat cabbage rolls but so far I've only found them in the frozen food section and I rather have them fresh. A couple of weeks ago while reminiscing about Joe's cabbage rolls I made it my mission to learn to make them. I searched high and low for a recipe that sounded or looked similar to Joe's. I wasn't able to find one so instead I settled for a standard regional version. In Czech they are called Holubky, in Russian Golubtsy, and in Polish Golabki. Both the names and ingredients are quite similar. Over the days I decided to wing it and experiment with my own take of a slavic variation. I used a local variety of white cabbage, typical Czech spices, the meat is a commonly found mix of ground pork and ground beef mixture. I didn't really follow a specific recipe, instead I read through many to get the idea of the standard ingredients used. So you could call these a Mexican girl's take on Slavic cabbage rolls, sounds kinda funny.

Ingredients:
Makes 12 rolls or 3-4 servings

1 head of white cabbage (700 grams)
1.75 lb. (or 800 g) ground pork and ground beef mix, or use just beef
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup raw long grain rice, or 2 cups/400 grams cooked
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. sweet paprika
handful finely chopped fresh parsley

Tomato sauce to pour over the rolls before baking

1. Boil the rice and set aside to cool down. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Remove any damaged or bruised outer leaves from the cabbage and discard. The first thing to be done is to soften the cabbage leaves in order to make them soft and bendable enough to roll up. Peel away the cabbage leaves from the cabbage and place in boiling water for upto 10 minutes or until soft and bendable. Remove each leaf from pot with a pair of thongs then set aside to drain.

2. Preheat the oven to 200C or 392F. In a large mixing bowl combine the meat, rice and all of the spices. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated and spices are well distributed. Grab a softened cabbage leave and spread some meat mixture towards one end of the leaf. Tuck, fold and roll the cabbage then set the roll aside. Repeat until all of the meat filling is used up, this recipe made 12 medium rolls. Place the rolls inside a deep baking dish. There will be extra leftover cabbage that can either be placed on the bottom of the baking dish to form a bed on which the cabbage rolls are placed over to bake. In addition I also used some of the remaining cabbage to add to the tomato sauce. Finely chopped the extra or remaining cabbage and mix with the tomato sauce.

3. Pour the tomato sauce over the cabbage roll. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil, place the baking dish in the center of the of oven. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove aluminum. Look at the cabbage and use a fork to test the softness of the cabbage leaves, making sure they are soft and wilted. Once cabbage rolls are soft bake uncovered a further 10 minutes to allow the tomato sauce to thicken.

In honor of Joe's I served with them with mash potatoes. To add to the whole slavic theme I also served a small bowl of Ukrainian Borscht,beet soup, as an appetizer. These may not be Joe's cabbage rolls but if I do say so myself, not bad for a first attempt.

Do you guys have any tips or recipes for cabbage rolls similar to the ones served at Joe's?

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What do The Godfather and A Scruffy Terrier Have In Common?

What does The Godfather and a Scruffy Terrier have in common? More than you may think. The Scruffy Scrappy Terrier will also make you that offer you can't refuse. It is very frightening, don't let that innocent look fool you. I've been woken up in the middle of the night by that chilling feeling, you know when you feel something isn't right. It's the Scruffy Terrier sitting up on the bed, just starring at me with a cold blank stare. What is he thinking, contemplating, or is it scheming?, gives me chills just to think about it. And then there are those "offers" he makes us, pet me now or I'll keep jumping around you annoying you until your nerves are wrecked and you can't resist my "offer" any longer. It can also be their shared love for Spaghetti. The Scruffy Terrier's demands go like this, get in the kitchen and make me some Shpaghetti or I'm going to tell everyone that you are a bad Mommy and starve me. (Shpaghetti is not misspelled, it's just how Czechs pronounce it and our dog prefers that pronunciation over Spaghetti, it's something about the ch and sh sounds that get his attention.) Shpaghetti is one of his favorite meals, and nothing better come between him and his Shpaghetti.

Well OK, the Scruffy Scrappy Terrier is actually nothing but a furry ball of love. He loves everyone and wants to share the love with both people and his fellow species. He doesn't care if you want or don't want some love and attention, you're getting it! Panchito is one of the sweetest dogs in the world, and has been my little shadow for the past 12+ years. He loves people food, and somehow he just knows what's for dinner and when not to fill up on his dog food and save room to fit his people dinner. Now I know many of you are bothered by the fact that we feed him Spaghetti or more specifically pasta sauce, don't be. Our dog has been eating pasta sauce, pepperoni pizza and many other weird things for 12 years. We have been lucky that his stomach is like a rock and hasn't had problems eating these foods. But that's my dog and may not be the case with many dogs out there, so be careful what you feed your dog.

So here is where the Godfather movie comes in, I actually learned how to make decent spaghetti sauce from the movie. It was from this scene in the first The Godfather movie,
"Heh, come over here, kid, learn something. You never know, you might have to cook for 20 guys someday. You see, you start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste, you fry it; ya make sure it doesn't stick. You get it to a boil; you shove in all your sausage and your meatballs; heh…? And a little bit o' wine. An' a little bit o' sugar, and that's my trick." I tried it and was so happy to not have to buy the disgusting jars of pasta sauce that are available here. While it started out exactly as in the scene my sauce has evolved and it depends on what I have in the house to make it. Here is my general recipe.

Ingredients: ( 4 servings for 1 lb. or 500 grams spaghetti)
1 15 oz (400 grams) can stewed tomatoes
6 oz (200 grams) tomato puree
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
finely sliced/diced olives, optional
1 tsp. dried Thyme
2 tsp. dried Oregano
2 tsp. dried Basil
1 large bay leaf
large pinch of granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup (100 ml) red wine, *
Optional:
minced meat or sausage

*I will leave out or add it after I separate some sauce for the puppy, because alcohol is bad for dog.*

1. Heat the oil, add the minced garlic and cook for 3 minutes, then add all of the spices and stir around for 1 minutes. Add the wine then the stewed tomatoes and tomato puree, if the tomatoes are whole use the spoon to break up. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until ready to serve.

If using sausage or minced meat fry until cooked through then add the remaining ingredients. You can use this basic tomato sauce for spaghetti or any other type of pasta you like. I like to use it on just about any pasta, even to make lasagna. It also freezes well.

You remember that movie Lady and The Tramp, the scene where they are having a romantic dinner slurping the spaghetti? Panchito kinda looks like him, now if we could only find him a girlfriend.... but he'd skip the long romantic walk and go for seconds then right into ....mmmmm.. let's just call it dessert to keep it G rated.

I have chosen this recipe for the October YBR event

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Fresh Figs with Prosciutto and Spiced Balsamic Glaze

Today I have one of my favorite Autumn recipes to share with you. It's flattop grilled fresh figs wrapped in prosciutto and arugula and drizzled with spiced balsamic glaze. Sounds fancy and delicious doesn't it? Well delicious it is and it is a great way to impress your family or dinner guest by serving them this hassle free, fairly inexpensive, appetizer wrapped in a lavish bow. I have been preparing this dish for several years and it's one that I can highly recommend for a dinner party or for a treat for your family. Besides fresh figs are in season right now and this is a great recipe to keep handy during fig season.

I will be keeping this post rather short today, I am so swamped with work on my 'big project" I mentioned in passing a couple of post ago. I can't wait to share it with all of you but first I need to complete it. I may not be able to stop by all of your sites in the coming days, so I apologize. But I will stop by as I get small breaks to do so. Well, on to the recipe and hope you like it as much as I do.

for 2 figs
2 figs, cut into 1/4ths
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. honey
pinch salt
pinch ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
prosciutto or other cured ham
arugula

1. In a small cup combine the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper and garlic stirring until the spices have combined well into the vinegar. Rinse both the arugula and figs, cut each fig into 1/4 pieces.

2. Heat a nonstick pan,grill or griddle over medium heat. Place the figs skin down and cook for 2 minutes, drizzle a little of the vinegar mix over each piece. Turn the fig pieces on their sides, cook for another 2 minutes and drizzle a little more vinegar mix. Repeat one more time to cook on the last remaining side. Remove from heat and allow to cool until you can comfortably handle the fig.

3. Place one arugula leaf on top of the fig piece then wrap a piece of prosciutto around the fig and arugula. Repeat until each fig pieces is wrapped. Serve as an appetizer alone or alongside a small salad and baguette.

I have to admit that I like this dish so much that I will just have it as my dinner. I serve it with a small salad made of the extra arugula and balsamic glaze drizzled over it and fresh baked baguette from the corner bakery. Add a glass of your favorite red wine , now that's heavenly!

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Creamy Kuri Squash Pasta Sauce

Hello my name is Nancy and I am an addict...... OK not that kind of addict. I am a kuri squash addict, well at least until they are in season. These magical orange winter squash(or is it squashes for plural?) taste so good that they have turned me into an addict. Well at least I am able to admit my addiction, which is the first step in recovery right? hmm.

I can't tell you how glad I am that they are being sold in virtually all of the food stores and produce shops around my neighborhood. I like to be adventurous and try different foods, even if the adventures don't always turn out great (please see previous post.) The kuri squash left me happily surprised, both the look and taste. The taste was just so indescribably good to me, so delicate and lightly nutty at the same time, even just out of the oven on it's own I couldn't stop eating it. I also roasted the seeds as I typically do when I prepare pumpkin. But the seeds I'm not such a fan of, the shells were about twice as thick as normal pumpkin seeds. The taste was good they were just too hard on the teeth and jaw, so we ended up just throwing them out. Has anyone else had the same experience with the seeds, or is it just the ones I bought?

Over the past couple of weeks I have been making several dishes and baked goodies with this squash. But I bought 4 and there are only 2 of us so you can imagine that is just too much squash, well not for me. I roasted and froze the extra to use as I wanted in meals, and I think to my husband's delight there is only a small amount left. Every time he mentions having something for dinner I'm saying oh yeah that would go great with the squash, pobresito ( In Spanish it means you poor thing, ito is male and ita is female). So one of the ideas that popped in my head was making a pasta sauce, I know many people use butternut squash to make sauce with, so why not kuri squash pasta sauce. ( Speaking of sauce please see my note at the end of this post.) I couldn't decide which type of pasta to serve it with so I made two, tricolor Fusilli and Spaghetti. It tasted good with both, but I think we both agreed the spaghetti was the better tasting of the two. I would also recommend it with Ravioli or Tortellini pastas, maybe even better suited than the ones I had at hand.

Ingredients:
yields 4 servings

2 cups (500 grams) cooked mashed red kuri squash
1 cup (8oz or 200 ml) 12% fat cream
3/4 cups water
1 small yellow onion,finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. butter


1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan then add the finely chopped onion and saute until translucent. Next add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes while stirring to prevent burning. Add the salt, white pepper, thyme, oregano and basil to the saucepan and stir well, then add the mashed squash and stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. Slowly pour the water into the saucepan while stirring. Stir until the ingredients have completely combined well, then slowly pour the cream into the saucepan. Again stir until all ingredients are well incorporated.
2. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until ready to serve. Right before serving add the grated Parmesan to the sauce pan and stir well. While the sauce is simmering boil and drain the pasta of your choice. You can either pour sauce over the cooked pasta and stir to combine or just scoop some sauce over the pasta of your choice.

Serve with baguette or Italian bread, butter and Parmesan cheese.

Tricolore Fusilli Pasta with Creamy Kuri Squash Sauce or

Spaghetti Pasta with Creamy Kuri Squash Sauce

Just looking at these is making me want more, good thing there were leftovers.

I would also like to thank Food Pr. Specialists Sauce Communications for sponsoring this post. If I could please ask you to help me thank them by visiting their site, http://www.saucecommunications.com/sauce-pr/

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The Mystery Canned Meat and Corn Beef Hash

I would first like to warn you that this is not going to be a pretty post and there will be plenty of canned corn beef bashing. Don't take it personal if you like this stuff, this is just my very opinionated opinion. Oh and vegetarians be warned you may want to look away.

This mysterious tin can has been in our kitchen cupboard for about 6 months (or maybe longer than I would like to admit to). We purchased it from a local English food specialty shop to use in ..... well I honestly can't remember. I have always had a biased opinion against canned foods like pastas or anything that contains meat "products". The exceptions to this would be most canned vegetables, some fruits, and tuna or other fish preserved in water or oil like tuna. Honestly it's not an issue of me thinking I'm above eating canned foods, it's more along the lines that I really do not like the taste.

So last week we finally decided to use it in something. I have eaten American deli style corn beef, you know those thin strips of delicious meat. But never have I tried this canned stuff, so I didn't know what in the world to cook with or in. But the first step was getting this annoying can opened. I nearly cut my fingers off because the little key thingamajig fell out of place and I couldn't keep turning it. Well finally got it opened and eewww! it looked so disgusting, it looked like dog food. As a matter of fact my dog used to eat food that looked like that, used to being the key word. I kept telling myself well I'm at least going to try it and not judge it by its looks, it was quite expensive after all. I gave my dog a little piece that he then quickly spit out, I mean the chunk went flying out of his mouth. Well this isn't a good sign I thought to myself, my dog is not a picky eater but he also wont eat just anything. So I began examining and removing this mystery meat out of its can, and the more I looked the more I didn't like it. Look what the heck is this? No wait I really don't want to know or talk about it.

Still trying to keep a brave face and strong stomach, I was still in the mindset that I would cook it and it would taste decent. As I consulted my friend Mr. Google it quickly became apparent that the safest and most common recipe would be Corned Beef Hash. In the photos I saw and looking at the typical ingredients I thought that sounds like something I'm going to like. So here is a pretty standard corned beef hash recipe.

1 can of corned beef
1 large green bell pepper,finely chopped
1 medium onion,finely chopped
1 large potato, cut into small pieces
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbs. vegetable oil or butter

fried egg to add on top of hash

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, fry the onion until translucent. Add the potatoes and fry for 5 minutes then add the bell peppers. Cook the vegetables until soft and stir often to prevent from sticking. While the vegetables are cooking try to cut the corn beef into small pieces. Once vegetables are cooked through add the corned beef pieces and stir to well combine. Sprinkle in the salt and pepper, stir well then cover and allow the corned beef to warm up. This should take about 8 minutes. Serve with a fried egg on top and toast on the side.

As I was cooking the hash I thought it didn't smell so bad, then I lifted the lid and got a big whiff of the hash and still thought it's not so disgusting. Then I tasted it - ran to the garbage and spit it out. OK, OK put on a brave face what kind of foodie are you if you won't even give it a chance. One more try, nope! definitely can't eat this, it's going in the garbage and Now! OK one last chance, I take a small sample to my husband asking if it was palatable to him. He laughed at my question then said , "Uhm its good" my jaw dropped to the floor in amazement of hearing those words, "Are you serious?!" OK! So I served it to him for dinner and I ate left over soup. He actually went up for seconds! WTH !

I had the nerve to actually complain (more like ranted) to our English friend about this disturbing and disgusting meat. Since it came from an English store and the brand comes up in many English sites, I figured everyone there eats up this stuff like it's their favorite thing in the world. So I would now like to apologize to English people for my ignorance and for blaming you guys for putting this stuff out in the world. That said I will never ever buy or allow a can, oh sorry a tin, of corned beef in my house!

What do you guys think? Do any of you like this stuff or am I the only ignorant one here?

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