RECIPE: TWO BERRY COMPOTE FOR ICE CREAM, PANCAKES, ETC

Martie Duncan June 12, 2014

TWO BERRY COMPOTE

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes

This berry compote recipe will be your new favorite go-to for desserts, spooned over pancakes, on biscuits, or drizzled over ice cream. Delicious served hot or cold; keep some in the fridge or make it in a flash. Makes any recipe a little more elegant and you can even use frozen fruit if you must.

1 cup fresh strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon lemon zest

¼ cup Chambord liqueur (crème de cassis will also work)

Put the sugar into a saucepan over medium heat for about one minute or until the sugar begins to melt slightly. (Watch it because it will burn quickly!) Add the fruit, lemon juice and zest and toss to coat. Increase the heat slightly and cook and stir for 2 minutes until the sugar is melted and the fruit has broken down slightly. Remove from the heat. Stir in the liqueur. Carefully return to the heat and cook 1 minute more. Allow to cool slightly before using. Will keep up to a week in the refrigerator.

RECIPE: SPICY SPEEDY FOOD PROCESSOR TOMATO SALSA

Martie Duncan June 10, 2014

This is one of those recipes you can whip up fast when friends drop in… and if you don’t have all of the ingredients, it really does not matter. Use what you have; it is perfectly okay to omit the cilantro and add Italian parsley or omit the jalapeno and add your favorite pepper.

Normally, if I'm serving chips and salsa, I will stop by my favorite Mexican restaurant and pick up warm chips to serve but this salsa is so good, any old chip will do.

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: no cook recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 small white onion, quartered

2 small jalapeno peppers, halved, seeded

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon olive oil

Juice from 1 lime

¼ teaspoon lime zest

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

4 large red tomatoes, quartered, seeded

1 green tomato, quartered, seeded

1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Pinch red pepper flakes, optional

INSTRUCTIONS:

Add the first 2 ingredients into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped. Add the next six ingredients and pulse until chopped but not runny- leave the texture as whole as you can. Add the tomatoes and pulse 6-8 times depending on how chunky you like your salsa. Add the cilantro and pulse 1-2 more times. Check the seasoning; you may want to add more salt and maybe a pinch of red pepper flakes to up the heat. Serve with tortilla chips or over eggs for breakfast.

RECIPE: ARGENTINE STYLE CHIMICHURRI

Martie Duncan June 8, 2014

I’ve been to Argentina more times than I have been anywhere else in the world… probably at least 15 times. This condiment is always on the table and is always served with beef. And in Argentina, you have beef almost every meal.

Argentine Chimichurri is simply a parsley, garlic, and olive oil mixture. It is also delicious spooned over hot potatoes or on toasted bread. Argentines never add hot peppers or hot spices to their chimichurri like many U.S. chefs do. And they never use a food processor; mainly because they don't typically have them and also because using a food processor makes the consistency too liquid and runny.

I got this basic Chimichurri recipe many years ago from one of my best friends, Marianella Castagnola. She is a professional polo player and horse trainer and her daddy is a cattle rancher in Argentina. Marianella is no slouch in the kitchen and her mom and grandmother are two of the best cooks I've ever met. This Chimichurri brings back many fond memories of my days on their farm, trips to the cattle market in Buenos Aires, and playing gaucho on their farm in La Pampa.

Any grilled meat will taste better with this Chimichurri; you'll love it on chicken, too!