Restaurant Style Salsa

What is it about chips and salsa that's just so addictive and delicious?  Did you ever notice that when you go out to eat, especially at a Mexican restaurant, the chips and salsa seem to disappear quickly, and it's never very long before the server brings you another dish; even if you didn't want, or ask for them.  Then, that dish seems to disappear just as quickly as the one before.  It's an endless cycle.

The great thing about salsa though, is that you don't have to limit it to just being served with chips.  You can also add it to different recipes for extra spice and flavor, or you can always use salsa as a garnish.  I tend to put it on top of grilled chicken, or scrambled egg whites, because it seems to give the food that kick of flavor I'm looking for.  Plus, I love how healthy it is.

Jeff's been asking me to make salsa for quite some time now, because he's not really a fan of the salsa that comes from a jar.  The main reason that he doesn't like it, is because there are large pieces of tomatoes and onions, and to be honest, I don't really care for jarred salsa either.  That's why I'm kind of surprised that it's been so long since I've made a batch.  The whole process is super easy and isn't time consuming at all.  As an added bonus you can "can" the leftover salsa to serve at a later date.  All you have to do is go buy the vegetables, toss them in a food processor, and voilà!  You have salsa.

The thing that I like best about this particular salsa recipe, compared to some others, is that you decide how mild or hot you would like it, just by adding or subtracting the amount of peppers you add in.  If you follow the recipe as printed below it isn't incredibly hot, however I wouldn't exactly consider it mild either.  At first bite you might not think that the salsa is hot, and then it hits.  Enjoy!

Restaurant Style Salsa
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Ingredients:

1 can (28 oz.) whole peeled tomatoes with juice
2 cans Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (I use the HOT, but you can use original for a milder version)
½ a large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, sliced thin (I left the seeds in for a more spicy salsa)
1 whole habanero pepper, cut into small pieces (I left some of the seeds in)
¼ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cumin
½ cup – ¾ cup fresh cilantro (or more, if needed)
½ a lime, juiced

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients listed in the bowl of a food processor and then pulse together until your desired consistency is reached.  Stop, taste, and then add more of the ingredients you think that it might need. (I didn’t add anymore)

Place the salsa in the refrigerator for at least an hour, in order to let the flavors combine; then serve.

 

 

Slightly adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

Marinara Sauce

One thing that we can never have too much of around my house is marinara sauce.  I seem to use it as a topping on a wide variety of foods ranging from pizzas, pasta dishes, and chicken.  It also makes for a fantastic dipping sauce.  Needless to say, my husband and I can devour a store bought bottle pretty quickly.  That is why I decided to attempt making it from scratch.  When I discovered just how easy and delicious it actually was, I decided that I would never go back to buying it.

Marinara Sauce
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Ingredients:

12 oz. can tomato paste
1 ½ cups tomato sauce
1 tsp. oregano
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. basil
¼ tsp. Italian seasoning

Directions:

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, combine the tomato paste and the tomato sauce and cook until it begins to simmer.  Now, add all the dry ingredients into the tomato sauce and stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.  Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 35-50 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Remove the pan from heat and use right away, or (once cool) store in airtight containers.

Source:  Adapted from Ehow Food 

Homemade Magic Shell

A friend of mine recently told me about this awesome website called stumbleupon.com.  Now that she has, I have to admit that I'm kind of addicted to it.  Especially when I have nothing to do!  The purpose of the website is to navigate you to other websites that contain topics that you are interested in, but might not otherwise have known were out there.  All you have to do, in order to get started, is check off things that you're interested in based on the categories provided.  Then you just have to click the "stumble" button. It's that easy!  The website will do the rest for you, by automatically popping up other websites and blogs that relate to your interests.

So, you might be wondering why exactly I'm telling you about this website.  It's how I happened to "stumble" across a recipe for magic shell.  I have to say that I am a huge fan of ice cream and all the toppings that go along with it.  I know that homemade ice cream is always the best, but as I was walking through the grocery store yesterday, I noticed that ALL Bryers ice cream was buy 2, get 3 for FREE!  Who could resist such a fantastic offer?  Not me, that's for sure!  Sooooooo many delicious flavors were calling to me, but my husband and I decided on our top five and I figured that this would be the perfect time to try out the new magic shell recipe I had stumbled upon.  I knew that the recipe would definitely make more than a little store bought container, but that is fine because I have plenty of ice cream to put it on! 

I'll admit that I was a little sketical of this recipe at first, seeing that there were only 2 ingredients called for, but to my surprise it turned out great and hardened up exactly the way that it should.  I will definitely be making this again and again, and also experimenting by adding different flavors.

Here is what you will need:

That's all!!

Homemade Magic Shell

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Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil (must be the hard kind, not the oily kind)

2 cups chocolate

dash of salt (optional)

Feel free to incorporate any extract flavors you want.  I think next time I might experiment by melting in some peanut butter!

*For an 8 oz jar use 90g coconut oil and 135g chocolate*

Directions:

In a small or medium saucepan melt the coconut oil over a very low heat.  Slowly stir in the chocolate until completely melted and well blended. 

 Here is where you could add in a dash of salt or any other flavors that you desire! 

Now, serve over your favorite ice cream!

 Store your homemade magic shell in a mason jar or squeeze bottle with cap.  In warmer climates the magic shell with remain in the liquid state and in cooler weather it may begin to solidify.  If this is the case, just microwave it for a few seconds until it becomes a liquid again.  Do NOT store in the refrigerator!

Source: Instructables