My Eggcelent Christmas Adventure...

Christmas is here and along with the presents and lights and all around good cheer comes what could very well be the best part of all, traditions.  Each family has traditions of their own, in our family we always went to my Grandparents house on Christmas eve, ate honey baked ham (which was the only time I have ever eaten ham by choice, not really a fan, weird I know), bean salad and relished in the fact that my sister and I were the only grandchildren.  Christmas eve seemed to be all about us and I'm not going to lie, it was awesome. The drive home was filled with possible sightings of Rudolph and Santa's sled and promises of staying in bed until at least 7 am. Christmas day at home was filled with the usual gifts and family time and was always finished off with my mom's amazing prime rib and twice baked potatoes.  It really was perfect and was what I always thought was the way I would spend every Christmas,  but, I was wrong. In 2006 I met Ayman and in September of that same year we were engaged. The following Christmas we decided would be spent in Egypt.  I knew that an Egyptian Christmas would be different from our good old fashioned American Christmas, but, little did I know how different.  Ayman's family is wonderful and celebrates Christmas like many Coptic families. First and foremost Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, for the 45 days prior they do not eat meat or dairy,  there are no gifts exchanged, Christmas trees or lights, but, there is an overwhelming feeling of love, humility and faith. At midnight on the night of the 6th the "fast" is broken and the feast begins. We ate and laughed and truly celebrated.  It was different from any Christmas I had ever known and it was wonderful.  One of the traditional foods we ate were hard boiled eggs fried in ghee.  They are absolutely fantastic. It is almost like a fried egg and a hard boiled egg had a super secret and delicious love child. I have since asked Ayman what they are called and he has told me he's not sure how it is spelled in English or what it is even called, but I will give it a shot...baid mezzahl. Once  a year we make Ayman's family's traditional Christmas meal and these eggs are always included. They are part of his tradition and are now a part of mine. I love them and hope you do too.

 

Fried Hard Boiled Eggs

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 dozen hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup of Ghee

2 Tbs. Salt

2 Tbs. Pepper

1 tsp. Cumin

 



 

 

Directions:

• In a medium sized skillet, heat your ghee until it is melted and hot, turn the heat on your stove down to medium.
• Mix your salt, pepper and cumin together in a small bowl and sprinkle it on your hard boiled eggs.
• Carefully place your eggs in the hot ghee and allow them to brown on all sides. Allow them to sit on one side for about 2-3 minutes before rolling them.  They should be a dark, golden, reddish brown when they are done.  If the temperature gets too hot the eggs with pop and you can get burned so be careful. If this starts to happen, turn the heat down to medium low. 
• Serve with pita or alone and enjoy! Oh, and be sure to serve them with the ghee from the pan, and dip your pita or Arabic bread in it, mmm mmm good!

Merry Christmas, however you celebrate!

 

Let them eat...shortbread?!

Ayman loves sweets and baked goods and I love baking, so, if that's all it takes to be happy then we are clearly insanely happy and meant to be together. Right?! Whatever. So after night after night of hearing, "Do we have anything for dessert?" I decided to head into the kitchen and bake something. Now, I could have said "What would you like me to make you?" but I did not. As you should all know, it is usually all about me and although I am not a big sweet eater I do love me some shortbread. So I made "him" shortbread, I also had a ton of leftover limes from my previous days adventures in salsa so I decided to make them lime shortbread cookies and was I ever glad I did. These cookies were fantastic, buttery, flaky and totally satisfying. You could definitely drizzle them in dark chocolate for some added decadence. Mine, of course, became German Shepherd shortbread cookies because I have a sickness and am obsessed with my two dogs (who are by the way the greatest, cutest, smartest and sweetest dogs on the planet and no, I am not lying or exaggerating its the darn truth), but, yours can become whatever you want! Sur la Table has a great selection of cookie cutters and that's where I got mine. Be creative and have fun! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.




Lime Shortbread Cookies
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour 

1 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups(3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

 3 tbsp. grated lime zest

 

 

 

Directions:

• Sift the flour, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
•  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until it is light in texture and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
•  Add your confectioners' sugar and the lime zest and cream until it is relatively smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• With your mixer on low, mix in the dry ingredients until they are blended. 
• Place your dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a large disc continue to roll the dough until it reaches approximately 1/4" thickness.
•  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes
•  Preheat the oven to 350
• Remove your dough from the refrigerator and proceed to cut into your desired shapes.
• Bake your cookies for about 20 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.
• Allow cookies to cool completely on a rack, they will harden as they do, and enjoy!

 

 Hey Mom, are they done yet?!

 

We Are Family, I've Got All Your Recipes With Me!

I am a hoarder, a girl with a serious problem. I hoard all things related to my family.  My collections include, but are certainly not limited to, photo's, dinnerware, silverware, artwork, knick knacks, linens, and of course recipes. To me these items that once belonged to others or were picked up in some random location on some random family vacation are the most precious things I own.  They are my memories, they represent bits and pieces of my life and give me a certain piece of mind knowing that no matter how rough my day is I am surrounded not by meaningless wall art from Pottery Barn and Z Gallerie (although, those are two of my favorite stores), but, I am surrounded by my family or at least memories of them. I am lucky to have other family members that support me in my obsession.  My Aunt Melinda made my sister and I each a binder full of cherished family recipes titled "Madigan's History of Food". This recipe comes from that "cookbook", it is one of my favorites from my Paternal Grandmother. It has always been one of my favorites and one of the first things I learned how to cook when I went away to college.  It is rich, creamy and delicious and the blue cheese in this recipe is bold and tangy. This recipe is simple, homespun comfort food and every time I make it I think of my Grandma and how much I love her.

The recipe as written in Madigan's History of Food.

 

 

Jeanne's Great Blue Cheese Chicken

 



I know the photo isn't that impressive but this recipe will knock your socks off!

 

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 Tbsp Butter or Margarine

2-4 oz packages of crumbled blue cheese

3 cloves of garlic

2 cups sour cream

1/4 cup dry white wine

 

*side note; as you may have noticed, my recipe is a tad different from Grandma's only because I double the blue cheese sauce, we really like it.  We serve it with rice and like a lot of the sauce, it's just that good!

 

 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Season your chicken breasts with the salt and pepper and using your butter (or margarine) brown them in a large skillet.  Add your minced garlic towards the end and sauté with the chicken and butter until it is translucent. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place in a large casserole dish.
• Add your wine to the hot skillet you used to brown your chicken and deglaze your pan. Let the wine simmer for about a minute stirring well with a spoon to get all of the yummy goodness off of the bottom of the pan. Next, add the sour cream and blue cheese, stir together so that all of the ingredients are mixed well. Pour your blue cheese mixture over your chicken in the casserole dish making sure to coat the chicken well. Cover and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.
• Serve with rice and enjoy!

Tis the Season!

(Que music) It's the most wonderful time of the year! Well, maybe not THE most wonderful, but, it is pretty darn awesome. It's date season!! When Ayman first brought these home from our local arabic market and told me they were dates and to try one, I was pretty sure he was trying to poison me or he really didn't understand the English word date. Think of my dear, sweet Ayman as an Egyptian Ricky Ricardo and I am definitely his Lucy. In case you were wondering,  yes, generally I have a lot of "splainin" to do. I once again threw caution to the wind and tried one. To my delight,  I was not only not poisoned but, I was actually enjoying this new found food that was not like any date I had ever known. In Egypt they are called"balah" which to me sounds exotic and fabulous. 

Dates are the fruit of the date palm which thrive in desserts around the world. The US crop hails from California and The Great State of Arizona (I'm biased and that's okay). These sweet little gems are harvested from September to March, so now is the time!  They are crunchy like an apple and have a nutty carmel like flavor and make an awesome snack or a fantastic addition to any cheese plate. You can most likely find them beginning in September,  in your local arabic market. So get out there and buy some, you won't regret it!

 

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' Keep Those Grape Leaves Rollin' !

I'm going to be very honest. Do these bad boys of the Middle East look like a wet cigar? Heck yes.  Do these same small, green, tightly wrapped packages taste like a little bit of awesome? Absolutely! As a kid my mom would make these on hot summer afternoons and we would dine like Bedouins on these and other Middle Eastern style foods while we sat in our living room on our giant Persian rug (Yeah, yeah, I know Iran is completely different from the rest of the Middle East, don't judge, when your 8 it is all the same figgin place!)  and my Dad played the soundtrack from Lawrence of Arabia on our record player upstairs. My Mom would serve us wearing her best galabeya type outfit and all of her beautiful Afghani jewelry.(You make think my Mom is of Middle Eastern descent as I describe her, but, she is not. My Mother is a rather tiny, very blond chick who looks as Swedish as they come.) As a side note, Lawrence of Arabia is to this day one of my favorite movies of all time. But I digress, the feeling was magical.  The only problem was, I really wasn't a huge fan of the grape leaves, they tasted great, but, looked well, unappetizing. So the majority of my meal consisted of homemade hummus. It wasn't until I met Ayman that I would embrace the stuffed grape leaf.  As some of you know Ayman is Egyptian and most of his family is still there.  I learned the proper methods of rolling and stuffing grape leaves from Ayman's mother Reda.  It took hours to learn how to do it and after hearing "mesh kedah" (basically Arabic for "you're doing it wrong") more than once I finally mastered her recipe and techniques.  Ayman loves them and I know that his mother would be proud.
This recipe is actually pretty simple, the only time consuming part is the actual stuffing and rolling.  When I am having people over I will do all of my stuffing and rolling in advance.  I roll the grape leaves and stick them directly into the pot that I will cook them in and stick that pot into the fridge until I am ready to add the boiling water and cook them.  This recipe is delicious, fun, authentic and great to serve as an appetizer or main course.  I hope you enjoy and learn to love this neat little package as much as I have!


Rolled Grape Leaves
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
2 cups of rice, uncooked and rinsed
3 tbs black pepper
3 tbs salt
5 tbs ghee (if you don't have ghee available, you can substitute butter)
1 medium yellow onion, shredded with a coarse cheese grater
1 jar of large grape leaves in brine 

Grape leaves in a jar are available at most major grocery chains in the Middle Eastern foods section.

 

 

 

Directions:

 

• Remove the grape leaves from the jar and place them in a colander to drain. You will want to separate them and lay them flat one on top of the other. Rinse them thoroughly with cold water and press them down with the flat of your hand to remove most of the excess water. Set them aside to continue draining.
• Meanwhile, take your ground beef and place it in a large mixing bowl. Add your uncooked rice, ghee, onion, salt and pepper to the ground beef. Now, here is the fun part, with clean hands mix the ground beef with the other ingredients (think of the hamburger helper scene in Vacation).  Once all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined it is ready to go.

 

The filling (rice, meat, onion, salt, pepper and ghee)

 

• Now, you can begin rolling and stuffing.
• Take on large grape leaf and lay it flat on a large plate, remove the stem with your thumb and forefinger. Make sure the veins of the leaf are facing up towards you. Take a small handful of the meat mixture and squish it in the palm of your hand until it is approximately the size of your pointer finger.  You don't want it to be too big, because once the rice cooks it will expand.
• Place your finger sized bit of filling in the center of your grape leaf. Pull either side of the grape leaf inward and then begin rolling the leaf up from the bottom so that it make a nice, neat and tight little cylinder.

 



Now you're ready to roll!

 

• Have your cooking vessel ready to go. I use a large stock pot.
• After you roll your grape leaf, place it in the bottom of the cooking vessel. As you continue to roll the grape leaves place them in the pot in a straight line one right after the other. You will want them packed in the pot relatively tightly so that when you add the boiling water and boil them they won't fall apart and bounce around while they are cooking.  Continue building your stack until you are out of leaves or your pot is full.



This is how I roll and stack mine, nice and tight.

 

• At this point if you are going to be serving them later, you can stick the entire pot in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook and serve them.
• Place your pot full of the grape leaves on the stove with the burner off.
• In a separate medium sized saucepan bring about 3 cups of water to a boil.
• Once the water has reached a rolling boil, turn on the heat under the pot with the grape leaves to medium and immediately add the boiling water.  You will want the water to cover only about half of the grape leaves.
• Allow your pot to simmer, covered for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  After about 45 minutes check them by removing one with a pair of tongs (be careful, it will be quite hot!) and tasting it. Make sure the rice is cooked and not al dente. Once the grape leaves are cooked and the rice is done, remove from the heat, and again using tongs place the rolled grape leaves on a serving plate.  Serve them to your friends, family and enjoy a little taste of something exotic and divine!



Enjoy!

 

 

Peachy Keen!

It's summer and across the nation we are in the thick of it.  It's hot, really hot and the thought of heating up the house with my oven is, needless to say, unappealing.  We have been using our new grill for just about everything lately, so when my Mom recently came over for a visit we decided to put something on the grill that screamed summer is here! My sister had sent over lemons and limes from her yard which were just beautiful and I couldn't wait to use in something.  Mom had come up with the idea to make chicken with peaches and a bit of a kick, so we sat, noodled it through and came up with this gem.  If something was swell around the Madigan house growing up according to my Dad, it was most definitely "Peachy Keen"! This chicken is not only healthy, it is delicious and easy, in a word it too is peachy keen!


Grilled Chicken with Peach and Jalapeno Salsa
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
For the marinade:
Juice of 1 large lemon
Juice of 1 large lime
1 11.3 fl. oz. can of peach nectar
2 large jalapenos
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs honey
1 chopped ripe peach

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts


Directions:

• Place marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth
• Place chicken in a dish and pour marinade over chicken breasts
• Place chicken in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to absorb all of the sweet and spicy flavor
• Heat up your grill or grill pan if you don't have a grill, and leave it on high for direct heat grilling.
• Place the breast on the hottest part of the grill and don’t touch them for about 7 or 8 minutes
• Lift the chicken breasts with tongs and flip them over and let them cook for an additional 7 or 8 minutes.
• Remove the chicken breasts from the grill and place on a plate. Top them with your tangy homemade peach salsa and enjoy!

Peach Salsa

Ingredients:
4 ripe peaches, slightly firm, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
2 large jalapenos. seeded and chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
Juice of 1 large lemon
Juice of 1 large lime
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs. honey


Directions:

• Place all of your ingredients in a medium sized bowl, stir well to coat the peaches, jalapeno, onion and bell pepper with the honey, citrus and salt.
• Let stand in refrigerator for about 2 hours so that the flavors can mingle.

Mom with our finished product!

You Say Potato, I Say Dinner!

Potatoes and I go waaay back. I'm Irish so its kind of in my blood.  When I am in need of some yummy comfort food I definitely head for the potatoes.  My mom makes the best potato leak soup, frankly, my Mom makes the best everything, but her potato leak soup is to die for.  The last time I was in town she did something new, she asked if I wanted broccoli in it.  Broccoli in potato soup? Heck yes! I tried it and it was fantastic. That night after I finished dinner I headed down the long hall to my childhood bedroom and I crashed. It may have been some sort of potato soup induced food coma or the fact that I was in my old room in the house I grew up in, all I know is I was full and happy and I slept better than I have in quite some time.  I decided that I would make a batch of my own shortly after I returned to Arizona.  My mom uses chicken broth, which tastes amazing, but, I decided to opt for vegetable broth as I am on a vegetarian kick (yes, again).This recipe is super easy, really filling, totally comforting and absolutely delicious.  I hope you enjoy it!


Cheesy Potato Broccoli Soup
By: Vanessa Madigan

 

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste
5 small, Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 quart vegetable broth (or chicken broth, your choice)
2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pepper
1 small head of broccoli, roughly chopped
cheddar cheese, to top



Directions:

• In a large stockpot over medium heat, melt the butter.
• Add the chopped onions and cook until they are translucent.
• Add a tablespoon of salt and cook for about 2 more minutes.
•  Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the potatoes and the vegetable broth.
• Increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
•  Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the potatoes are soft, approximately 45 minutes. You should be able to easily poke them with a fork.
• Turn off the heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender or hand mixer, until smooth and creamy. The consistency will be relatively thick.
• Stir in the heavy cream and additional salt and pepper. 
• Add your chopped broccoli and allow to cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes on low heat or until your broccoli is tender.
• Top with cheddar cheese and serve! 

Say Cheese! - Grilled Cheese Three Ways!

So one of the super cool hipsters that I work with just returned from Chicago and told me about a restaurant there that specializes in grilled cheese.  That's what they do, its called Cheesie's Pub & Grub (https://cheesieschicago.com/) and apparently its amazing.  She showed me the menu and I was inspired! I mean, really, what cant you do with grilled cheese.  Everyone loves an ooey gooey grilled cheese sandwich.  One of the most popular food trucks in the United States is The Grilled Cheese Truck (https://www.facebook.com/grilledcheesetruck) and people flock from all over Los Angeles to try there melted cheese and bread mini miracles.  Well, once again I dove into my fridge to see what I could come up with for my own variations on grilled cheese and this is what I came up with.  I'm happy with the results and so were my taste testers (two legged and four legged alike!).

Mexican Style Chorizo Grilled Cheese
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
1 sliced Roma tomato
1 chopped green onion
1 small avocados, sliced
5 oz. chorizo, cooked and drained
1 small jalapeno, sliced
cheddar cheese
lime juice
bread
butter

Dipping Sauce:
3 tbs. sour cream
3 tbs. of your favorite salsa or hot sauce

Directions:

• Lightly coat the sliced avocado with the lime juice
• Butter your bread on the outside
• Place all of your ingredients in between your two buttered slices and grill as usual.
• Mix your two items for the dipping sauce and enjoy!

The ingredients listed are for one sandwich.



Steakhouse Brie and Blue Grilled Cheese
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
.25-.40 lb. steak this could be leftovers from the night before or fresh. 
salt and pepper
Worcestershire sauce
mushrooms, sliced, about 8-10
butter
blue cheese, crumbled or sliced
brie cheese, sliced thinly
3 strips cooked, crisp bacon
bread

The ingredients listed are for one sandwich.

Directions:

• If using fresh steak, pan sear with salt, pepper and a dash of Worcestershire until you reach the desired doneness.
•  Sauté mushrooms in about 1 tbs. of the butter until caramelized and cooked.
• Prepare your sandwich bread buttering the outside of the bread and then layering your ingredients inside. It is best to start with the brie on the bottom.
• Grill and serve!

Pizzeria Grilled Cheese
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
sourdough bread, sliced
your favorite pizza toppings (I used pepperoni, mushrooms and bell pepper)
marinara sauce
mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

The ingredients listed are for one sandwich.

Directions:

• In a small fry pan  sauté your pizza toppings (example: pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms) until they are warm and starting to brown just a bit.  They should look like they do on top of your pizza.
• Butter your sourdough bread on the outside and assemble your sandwich. Marinara first then cheese, toppings and cheese again. Grill and serve!
• Serve with a side of warm marinara for dipping!

I use a Breville Panini press to make my grilled cheese, it is an awesome gadget and worth every penny.  You can buy them at Williams-Sonoma or Sur la table. 

 

Thor hoping that this one is for him! Silly boy :)

So, What's Wrong With Hogo Boss? Nothing!

 

 

I will be the first to admit that this is not exactly authentic Mexican.  This here recipe is most definitely gringo Mexican and not only is that okay, its delicious!  Its easy to get caught up in world of authentic food snobbery,but, seriously people, life is too short to think that way. When I shop its all about how it looks, not the brand.  Ayman has a HOGO BOSS tuxedo that we bought in Cairo that beats the pants off of any Hugo Boss anything that I have ever seen. This enchilada recipe is the Hogo Boss of Mexican food and if I say so myself it too beats the pants off of many much more authentic enchiladas. It may be a knock off, but, its damn good and I know you'll love it!

 



Creamy Cheesy Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas

Written, developed and tested by: Vanessa Madigan

 

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs shredded chicken, cooked
1 7oz can diced green chilies
1 8oz brick of cream cheese
2 serrano chilies, finely chopped
3 green onion, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
1 15oz can of corn
1 28oz can of green chili enchilada sauce
3 cups of shredded cheese
1 small can of sliced black olives
3 tomatoes, chopped (for garnish)
1 package medium sized flour tortillas


Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a medium sized bowl, mix the shredded chicken, cream cheese, corn, seranno chilies, green onions, green chilies, and about 2 cups of the enchilada sauce.
• Pour about 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish.
• Spoon the chicken filling into the flour tortillas and roll together rather tightly, placing each one in the baking dish seam down.  Continue until the baking dish is full, it should be about 8 enchiladas total, but may vary due to the size of your pan and the amount of filling in each enchilada.
• Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the rolled enchiladas and finish by sprinkling your cheese on the top.
• Bake at 350 for about 1/2 an hour.  Remove from oven when cheese is melted and the pan is bubbling, garnish with fresh tomato, black olive and green onion and serve!

Creamy Cheesy Chickeny Deliciousness!

The Left Over Throw Together Tastes Good Side Dish!

So, I work.  I may not have kids but I work a full time job, take care of 2 ginormous German shepherds, maintain the house and work on having a good relationship with Ayman.  Seriously, I don't have a ton of time after I get home at 6:30 to prepare the quintessential meal.  In most cases it's a mad dash to the fridge to see what I can throw together that will satisfy the hungry Egyptian and wont take hours.  This is one of those concoctions.
This is a ridiculously easy, throw together side dish that you can basically add anything to. It is a collector of left overs.  Do you have some left over ham in the fridge, some tomatoes that are about to go south or in my case, a few strips of bacon that need to be eaten? Throw 'em in!  As always I like to top our with something a little zesty, in this case it is jalapeno sauce.  I hope you enjoy it!




French Fry Casserole
By: Vanessa Madigan

 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. bacon, chopped

3 lg eggs

3 cups milk

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese

2 serrano chilies, chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 lb bag of french fries thawed and broken up a bit.

Salt and Pepper 

2 tsp butter

 

 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a large baking dish with the butter
• Fry your bacon until it is crispy, set aside on a paper towel to drain.
• In a large mixing bowl whisk your milk and eggs together, add the french fries, serrano chilies, onion and cheese.  Season with salt and pepper and mix together well.
• Empty contents of bowl into your prepared baking dish and bake for about one hour.   The top should be golden brown and the cheese and egg mixture should rise a bit and set up.
• Remove from oven when done and serve.  We top ours with jalapeno sauce (a recipe from the previous blog on Sonoran Hot Dogs), but,  top with any salsa or ketchup that stikes your fancy!

The French Fry Casserole hot out of the oven!

 

 

 

 

The finished product, with jalepeno sauce, of course! 

Shake, Shake, Shake Sonora!

A hot dog wrapped in bacon is nothing new to any of us who grew up in Southern California.  I cannot count how many tipsy evenings I spent in Tijuana eating bacon wrapped hot dogs from random street vendors in a desperate attempt to sober up before I headed back across the border.  But, this is something different, something very Arizona.  This is the Sonoran Hot Dog!  This spicy, mouth watering pork wrapped wonder is native to Arizona and chances are you wont find it anywhere else.  There are small restaurants in Phoenix that serve it, but, it's origins are in Tucson.   There are so many things to love about this great state and this is most certainly one of them.  The recipe is crazy easy and the flavors it packs are B.I.G.  I would like to present to you a recipe for the amazing Sonoran Hot Dog.  The mayonnaise is part of a traditional Sonoran hot dog and so is the butter, so don't skimp, just do it!  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Sonoran Hot Dog
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
1 avocado, cubed
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
jalapeno sauce (recipe is below)
mayonnaise
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained, rinsed and warm
hot dog buns or bolillo rolls
3 tbs butter
6 hot dogs
6 slices of bacon


Directions:

• Wrap your hot dogs in one strip of bacon.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet or on a griddle and place your bacon wrapped hot dogs on the skillet.   Cook until brown and slightly crispy.
• Toast your hot dog buns.
• When the buns are golden brown, assemble your hot dogs.  Pinto beans first, then jalapeno sauce, tomato, onion, avocado and finally the mayonnaise.

The hot dogs wrapped in bacon

Sonoran desert goodness

Jalapeno Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
12 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon salt


Directions:

• Place the onion in a medium skillet over medium high heat and cook until translucent and golden, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer, make sure the garlic doesnt burn. Set aside.
• Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the jalapenos to the hot skillet and cook until the jalapenos are soft and begining to char, add the lime juice, the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and cook until the jalapeños are tender.
• Transfer the jalapeno mixture and the onions and garlic to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Meatless Funday!

Meatless Monday is big right now.  In our house we have cut down on our meat consumption quite a bit for diet, health and ethical issues.  Don't worry  I'm not going to get on my anti-factory farming soap box (although as we all know, it is a great thing to buy local and from small farms and ranches).  Anyway, salads get boring and I don't know about you but I need to feel satisfied and want to have some substance to my salad.  So, I said to myself, what could I add to my salad to make it hearty but keep it meat free.  I went to my pantry and low and behold there was a box of falafel mix staring me in the face! Hooray! For those of you to whom Falafel is something new, here a quick definition of Falafel;  Falafel      (فلافل‎) is a fried ball or patty made from groundchickpeas, fava beans or both. Falafel is a traditional Arab food, usually served in flat bread.  Got it? Good! This is an easy, healthy salad that is packed with flavors and will leave you satisfied!  So embrace meatless Monday, if not for ethical reasons then do it for your health and your budget!




Falafel Salad with Jalapeno Tzatziki
Written, developed and tested by: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
1 bag baby greens
1 box of Falafel mix
2 avocados, sliced
2 tomatos, sliced
jalapeno tzatziki (recipe below)
the juice of one lemon
salt
pepper


Directions:

• Prepare the jalapeno tzatziki in advance using the directions below.
• Prepare the falafel according to the instructions on the package, set aside to drain.
• Stack your salad starting with falafel, tzatziki, avocado, tomato, lettuce and repeat.  Dress with the lemon juice, salt and pepper

Jalapeno Tzatziki
Written, developed and tested by: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:

2 lb Greek Yogurt

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Cups Cucumber, finely chopped

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp White Wine Vinegar

2 jalapenos, chopped and seeded

1 Clove of Garlic, crushed

Directions:

• Take your chopped cucumber and place in a fine strainer with the 2 tsp of salt, let them sit for about 1/2 of an hour so that much of the liquid drains from the cucumber.
• While the cucumber is draining, take your yogurt and place it in cheese cloth in a colander or strainer to help drain off the excess liquid. If you do not have cheese cloth you can put the yogurt directly into the colander, the yogurt should be pretty firm and you wont lose much through the holes.
• When your cucumber is drained, place it in a medium sized bowl with the  jalapeno, olive oil and garlic, stir well.
• Add your drained yogurt to the cucumber mixture and stir well, season with salt to taste.
• Refrigerate for about an hour and serve with your favorite pita, burger or whatever!

This is the brand that I use, but you can find Falafel mix down the "international" aisle of any grocery store.  It is usually located somewhere between the kosher food and the kim chee!

Go Fish! (Sandwich)

I once had someone very dear to me tell me that sandwiches were the perfect food.  I might have to agree.  They are filling, tasty and the combinations are unlimited.  There are an almost infinite amount of combinations of fillings you can put between two slices of your favorite bread.  I mean seriously, two of America's greatest contributions to popular culture are known for their love of sandwiches.  Elvis loved his peanut butter, banana and bacon (hard to disagree with that) and more importantly in my life, so did Boss Hogg.  Man, oh, man do I love The Dukes of  Hazzard.  Anyway, this sandwich is packed with all of the health benefits of avocado, tuna and peppers.  It is a terrific topper for salad, alone or in a sandwich.  You definitely wont miss the mayo with this healthy, tasty replacement. 
"Too few people understand a really good sanwich" -James Beard


Spicy Tuna Avocado Melt
By: Vanessa Madigan

Ingredients:
1 can tuna in water
1 small avocado, seeded and cubed
juice of 1\2 lemon
salt
pepper
2 green onions
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
4 slices of pepper jack cheese
4 slices of your favorite bread
olive oil


Directions:

• To a small bowl, add your avocado and lemon.  Season with salt and pepper and smash with a fork until the avocado in very well mashed.
• Add your tuna to the avocado mixture and blend very well with your fork.
• Finally, add the green onion and jalapeno and mix together.
• Assemble your sandwich, bread then tuna and finally two slices of pepper jack cheese.  Top with your final piece of bread and then brush the outside of both the top and bottom slices with olive oil.
• Place the sandwich on a panini press or hot skillet to toast until golden brown and enjoy!

The Tuna Salad before the melty goodness

Grilled to crunchy perfection