Pole Positon 'peño Poppers

You have a big NASCAR race party and can't think of a killer appetizer? Have a basketful of jalapenos fresh from the garden sitting around?
Here's a recipe that will qualify you at the front of the pack and quickly lapping the #7-Layer Dip car. I pulled this recipe from a The Food Network, as submitted by some guy named Joe Rao. I changed a couple things to give it a little more horsepower (but not heat).

Ingredients:

• 20 large jalapeno peppers
• 1 package of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of shredded mozarella
  
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder (or 4 garlic cloves minced)
  
• Chopped fresh basil leaves
• Pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper
  
• 10 strips of bacon cut in half
  
• Skewers or toothpicks soaked in water (so not to burn on grill)

Preheat you grill. Cut tops off jalapenos and make a slice down one side of each pepper. Do not cut in half. Take a small paring knife and clean out all white flesh and seeds from inside the peppers (this is where all the heat of the jalapeno resides). Combine cream cheese, mozarella, garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper. Mix until creamy. At this point, put the cheese mixture in a pastry bag. Most folks don't have a pastry bag, so put the mixture in a ziplock bag, squeeze out all the air in the bag, and cut a corner off. Voila...a redneck pastry bag. Take slice of bacon and wrap around each pepper. Once wrapped in bacon, take each pepper and fill inside with cheese mixture. Poke skewers through each pepper (I put five peppers on each skewer).
If you have a grill basket, hang skewers on basket so that jalapenos sit upright. Grill on high heat until bacon is cooked. Remove from grill and let cool for 5 minutes. Crack open your favorite brew, devour, and watch Dale, Jr. suck once again (the only place he wins is the souvenir stand).

It's as simple as that!!!

Ooohh-lala, Saucey!!!

Since I'm in St. Paul, MN for the next two weeks, I thought this would be a good time to fire off some recipes. What good is a vegetable garden if you don't have anything to use the harvest for?

Before I start, I will apologize for the lack of specific amounts for the ingredients. I just judge it all by eye. A smidge here, a handful there, hmmmm...might as well use all those.

The main ingredient is of course the tomatoes. You can use a couple cans of crushed tomatoes; I'm using about 25 small fresh Roma tomaters.

Ingredients:

Roma Tomatoes, blanched
Half Onion, diced
Six Garlic Cloves, minced
Handful of Basil Leaves, chopped
Couple Sprigs of Rosemary, minced
Handful of Thyme, minced
Handful of Oregano, minced
Cup of Red Wine (and use some crappy stuff..save the good wine for drinking)
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper

Steps:
Heat up the olive oil in a pot. Bring a pot of water to a boil as well. Add onion to olive oil and cook for about 4 minutes. When the onion begins to turn clear, add garlic and continue for another couple of minutes. Add wine to the onions and garlic and let simmer. Meanwhile, take the tomatoes and cut an "X" in the bottom of each fruit. When water comes to a boil, add tomatoes and let them sit in boiling water for only 2-3 minutes.
Pull tomatoes out and rinse with cold water. Then grab the top of the tomato and squeeze the flesh out thus separating from the skin.
Discard skins and add tomato fleshes to onions, garlic, and wine. Add minced herbs along with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to let simmer for 15-20 minutes. ***Note: You can add Italian sausage to the sauce as well.***
Serve over desired pasta and enjoy.

There you have it. It may not be the perfect sauce recipe that your grandmama made when you were a little tot. But it's quick and fairly easy.

Down Home Gardenin' to Cookin'

This year I wanted to grow a couple of unique plants. One was okra. Having Cajun French as part of my heritage, I've always had a taste for southern food. So I figured if I grew some okra, I could try my hand at homemade gumbo. But tonight, I decided to fry my first batch. With a little milk, cayenne pepper, and cornmeal, I tried my hand at fried okra. Although the oil was a bit too hot, I'd say the first go 'round was a success. But my Cajun relatives probably would say I have a lot to learn.

You Can Eat The Flowers?

My Dill-ee-yo

My herbs have done great this year....except for the parsley. One cut of that and it was done. Otherwise, I've gotten a lot of use out of my herb section. My dill, in particular, has been great. But as the summer has gone on, it has gotten taller and less like what we see in the grocery store. Recently, all that was left is long stems and a pretty array of small yellow flowers.

Tonight I wanted to use dill for a tomato, cucumber, feta cheese salad. But could I use the flowers? After a little research, apparently I can. In fact, you can eat a lot of flowers. Here's a link: Edible Flowers List

And the recipe for that salad:
2 Tomatoes, diced
1 Large Cucumber, diced
2/3 cup Feta Cheese
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 tablespoons fresh dill
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and chill in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes before serving.