Yaki Udon with Teriyaki Salmon

Yaki Udon with Teriyaki Salmon

Ingredients:
2 bundles organic udon noodles
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
4 salmon fillets - 4oz each
1 julienne zucchini
4 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup broccoli slaw mix
4 scallions chopped


Salmon marinade / sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Instructions:
 
Marinade salmon fillets in sauce for 30 minutes.

Place a small amount of oil in a wok or skillet and cook salmon fillets for 2-3 minutes on first side, and 1 minute on the second side, getting good color on both sides. Remove.
 

Add garlic, 2 of the chopped scallions, ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Then add your mushrooms and cook till softened, add zucchini and cook for a few more minutes, and then your broccoli slaw.
 
In the meantime, add your udon noodles to boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and reserve.
 
Take about half of your marinade, add some water, and add to the wok to deglaze.


Add in your noodles and toss to coat.

Turn off heat and stir in baby spinach.

Top with salmon and enjoy!

Great Grandmas Borscht (beet soup)

Great Grandmas Borscht (beet and tomato soup)

When I bring up the topic of beets to most people I almost immediately see a weird unpleasant look on their faces, and they are reminded of the pickled beets sitting at the salad bar no one eats.

Beets, by there very nature, are sweet, creamy and rich, and I've never quite understood the pickled beet, I mean I get it from an evolutionary standpoint because of the health benefits of fermentation and picking, but a sweeter application of the beet will almost always yield more pleased eaters than not.

I was raised eating this creamy warm soup since infancy, it has always been a Christmas Eve tradition at my Polish/Russian great grandmothers house, along with scratch made bagels, periogi, a homemade liquor from clove and honey and lots of shrimp. We would pack 40 people into her small wash park home, with the table extending the length of her house, and sing Christmas carols before opening presents. Santa Claus was even known to make a special appearance from time to time. These memories are so special to me that I will cherish and try to hold onto to their detail for as long as possible.

Anyways, back to the soup, it is simple and perfect for fall and winter, especially if you've harvested your own beets, which I have done in previous years. 

The soup is usually served with a mushroom filled tortellini (there is an actual Russian pasta name for this little guy but I don't know it, we usually buy fresh mushroom tortellini or make our own from scratch) for some reason they were referred to as "pig ears" while growing up, probably some attempt to freak us children out, but nevertheless soups with stuffed pastas are always amazing, but not always necessary, so for the sake of health I usually only eat the pasta variety at Christmas Eve.

The soup freezes really well and can be enjoyed any time of the year, some people will eat beet soup cold and some people will top the soup with sour cream, whatever variation you prefer, do it! Beets are just too delicious and too healthy not to include in your menu!

Ingredients:

5 cans julienne beets

2 cans cream of mushroom soup (your favorite variety or homemade, I look for an organic gluten free variety)

2 cans tomato soup

2 can v8 juice

Pickle juice to taste (several tablespoons to add tang)

This is a one pot soup, bring all ingredients to a boil and when it is smooth, add in your pickle juice, to taste, it should have a slight tang, and then it is ready to enjoy.

If adding pasta add 15 minutes before serving so they stay whole.

I added 2 poached eggs into my soup for dinner and it was amazingly creamy and delish! 

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are pretty much the sole reason I buy and carve pumpkins each year, I have one of those tierd stepped porches so I load up on pumpkins for both sides of each step, resulting in lots of pumpkin seeds each year.

First, I place a large bowl of warm water with about a tablespoon of salt in it, next to my pumpkins. As I clean my pumpkins I place the seeds in that bowl. When finished I agitate the pumpkins seeds with my hands, cleaning any pulp odd of the seeds. I then dump my seeds into a colander, and rinse. 

I've also soaked my seeds overnight, my mother did it, so I do it, not exactly sure why, but I think soaking your seeds in salted water results in a crispier seed after baking, I've also never burned a seed, so that may also be an effect. 

I just fill my cleaned bowl up with warm water, another tablespoon or so of salt and let the seeds sit on the counter overnight. 

The next morning I drain the seeds and lay them out flat on cookie sheets to dry out.

Once they have air dried it is time to think about seasonings. I literally have about 6 cups of seeds each year, so I make a plain salted one and then I usually pick a flavor to try out with some of the seeds.

I've done garlic powder, chili powder, and chipotle powders in the past, but this year I'm going in a new direction. Pumpkin pie spice! 

First, regular salted seeds: 

Toss seeds in olive oil and sprinkle with a course sea salt. Place on baking sheets in even layers and bake at 250 degrees to 30-45 minutes until lightly browned. Stir at least once during cooking so both sides brown.

Pumpkin pie spiced seeds:

For a sweet application I used butter instead of olive oil. Toss seeds in melted butter, 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or brown sugar) and 2 table spoons pumpkin pie spice. 

Again, bake at 250 for 30-40 minutes being careful not to develop too much color since this recipe has sweetners with it. 

Once they are finished I keep them in mason jars and let them cool completely. They are packed with  nutrients and they are a fantastic snack to enjoy!

Our beautiful fall color

I love the fall! We've been pretty lucky this year to get some great color before the snow arrives and all the leaves fall off.

For some reason my linden tree is as deep green as it was in July, it makes for a great contract against the other trees though.

This is the first year I've noticed that one of our crabapple trees turns red, and it looks so pretty right now!

Our burning bush is at it's peak right now, which was the main reason for these pictures, is that amazing?

We had originally planned on pulling these out the winter we moved in, but we soon saw the following fall that these beauties are so gorgeous we will design our landscape around them!

Oh and I can't remember a lawn being so green at the end of October, so beautiful this year!

Grilled Skirt Steak with Poblano Pesto

Grilled Skirt Steak (Carne Asada) with Poblano Pesto
Serves: 2


Let me just start by saying YUM! This recipe is so tasty you'll want to eat it every week if not more!

My husband is from El Salvador, and grilled skirt steak, or carne asada, is probably his most favorite food in the world. It is a thin stip of meat found on the underside of a cow, and there is only 1 skirt steak per cow, so it is sometimes hard to find, but it is insanely cheap at about $6 per pound. I usually buy a few at a time to keep on hand for a quick meal.

A marinade and a quick high temp sear is all you need to make this delicious steak in your house. It can be served with rice, potatoes, any veggie, or in a taco or burrito, and with this creamy slightly spicy poblano pesto you really can't go wrong, the combinations are endless!

Ingredients:

Steak:

2- half lb skirt steaks

1 lime 

1 Serrano (or jalapeño) halved

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 tablespoon adobo seasoning (if you can't find, substitute with garlic powder, onion powder and oregano)

Salt and pepper

Poblano Pesto:

2 large poblano peppers, roasted, skins removed and diced.

1/4 cup walnuts (or pine nuts, pecans or almonds)

1/4 cup cojita cheese (or grated Parmesan)

3 tablespoons E.V. Olive oil

1 garlic clove

Juice of 1 lime

Handful of cilantro

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Your meat should marinate for 4-6 hours to break down the tissue and infuse flavor. You'll want to squeeze your lime juice and throw in the lime, smashed garlic, halved pepper, seasonings and olive oil into a large bowl, or ziplock bag, add your meat, give it a shake and refrigerate.

Take out about 20 minutes before cooking to come to an even temperature. 

While that is happening, make your poblano pesto.

I harvested the last of my peppers earlier this week, so I had lots of little baby poblanos, so that's what I'm using, but the equivalent of 2 large peppers is what you're after. Remove the seeds and stems and dice.

Assemble all of your ingredients, you'll be putting them into a processor or blender together. 

I used walnuts because at the moment they are my favorite nut, but anything you like will work.

Process all of your ingredients, except your olive oil, until it's nice and smooth, then drizzle in your olive oil until it is a nice consistency, tasting to make sure it doesn't need anything.

This recipe made about 1 cup of pesto, which will keep in the fridge for a few weeks, or you can freeze it! This pesto would be a great addition in tacos, burritos, mixed into guacamole, in your scrambled eggs, smeared in a sandwich, the options are endless!

Now to the steaks, take your steaks out of the marinate and wipe off any excess liquid, and chunks of garlic. You'll need to get your grill pan smoking hot, so if you leave garlic on it will burn, and excess liquid will steam not sear.

I seared 2 minutes on the first side and just 1 minute on the second side and took it off the heat. It was medium-rare, you can do an additional minute for medium-well, but anything beyond that will be tough.

 Let your meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing, and then slice it against the grain of the meat. This is the key to a tender fall apart steak. This is also not optional, do it!

I topped my steak with the pesto, and typical of my husbands style, some extra lime slices on the side. The pesto was also delicious with the roasted red potatoes I served on the side.

Make this, enjoy this and love this!

Easing back into painting

Long ago I used to paint, like 10 years ago, I would paint on my tabletop easel late at night, and create these cute Bob Ross style landscape paintings. They are hanging all over my parents house, literally, they are hanging ALL OVER my parents house. I love it, it think it's cool to see my progression and skills increase over time, but alas, I soon grew tired of this style painting, and the enormous expense involved with oil painting.

Now that I own my own home, and am at an ever desperate attempt to decorate and fill the vast empty walls my home contains, I've began thinking about painting again. I would love to have original unique artwork instead of your typical reproduction prints you pick up in the home department at Target. I also like the idea of creating something that truly complements the colors in your home.

So, here we are, I found myself at hobby lobby picking up a few canvases and some acrylic paints this time. My husband bought me a free standing easel, and we got a few new brushes. I've decided to try my hand at a more abstract style painting, I still love the idea of painting landscapes, but I feel the desire to be more open in my interpretation of what a landscape is. My first painting was a lose interpretation of two doves on a wire, something my hunting husband loved, and the colors compliment our master bedroom, so it's a win-win. 

I used acrylics and it is a highly textured canvas, using a texture medium. Not too bad for a 10 year hiatus if I do say so myself! More to come I'm sure!

Two Doves. Textured acrylic on canvas 2013. © Rene Lopez 2013.

40 Clove Garlic Soup

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 1/2-3 tbl Olive oil 

3 heads of garlic cloves, peeled

1-2 large cloves sliced thin, for frying
3 1/2 cups Chicken stock (or veggie broth if vegetarian)
1/2 cup Heavy cream- warmed (if going paleo substitute coconut milk)
3 Egg yolks
1 tsp ground Nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste
Thick slices of bread, toasted (optional)
Shaved Parmesan to top soup (optional)

Instructions:

Peel all of your garlic cloves.

Take your thin sliced garlic chips and heat in pot with the 2 tbsps olive oil on medium high until browned. Remove.


Then turn the heat to medium-low. Add the whole peeled garlic cloves and cook until softened considerably (could take from twenty minutes to a half hour).

When softened take 2 tablespoons of the oil and the cloves and put into a stock pot.


Pour in the chicken stock.

Season with salt and pepper, thyme and grate in the nutmeg. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer and then heat for fifteen to twenty minutes.

- Blend the soup until it is smooth. Return to the heat.

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks together.

Then slowly beat in about 1/4 cup of the heated soup mixture into the eggs, whisking continuously.

- Now, pour the egg yolk mixture into the soup, beating continuously. In a minute or two, the soup will thicken slightly.

Continue to heat at a low temperature until cooked through, then turn heat off and stir in the 1/2 of warmed heavy cream.


Take off of heat.


- Pour the soup into a bowl and put a few pinches of shaved Parmesan and a toasted piece of bread on top, then sprinkle fried olive oil chips on top. Serve immediately.

Nutrition estimated on myfitnesspal.com

This recipe was adapted from the James Beard garlic soup recipe. Soup Recipe