Decisions, Decisions

It has been 17 whole days since I have sat down and spent time writing and crafting this 'thing" I started almost 3 years ago but really got rolling in the past year and a half. I have had this wonderful opportunity to recently write for MyPodCooks.com the last few months and have enjoyed having a reason to create even more new recipes. I auditioned for a new cooking reality show and I am currently putting together my application for Chopped. Work school, home, unexpected surgery on the horizon...so much going on. My love of food has not change. My love of cooking has not change. Now it is simply about time and desire and well, lots of things!....stay tuned. I have some decisions to make!

Wordless Wednesday: Veal Chop with Mushrooms

My mouth has watered many a time at the thought of this dish so the last time hubby and I took beloved step-daughter to Il Gardino,  I made it mine. Delicioso!

Cook Crook Creation: Heirloom Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad

Nothing gets my attention more during the summer than tomatoes! I am especially a sucker for heirloom tomatoes, the various colors and tart flavor are a treat! I really wanted to showcase the tomatoes as well as make something with a lot of flavor so I pulled out one of my other favorite ingredients: blue cheese.

Blue cheese, especially the quality kind purchased from a specialty store or a grocery with a good cheese case, is strong so a little goes a long way. It also has a natural saltiness so extra salt is often not needed. For this creation, I decided to go very basic: simply red wine vinegar, red onion, olive oil, the blue cheese and tomatoes and some fresh ground black pepper.

The result was a very pretty and fresh tasting salad that went perfect with that evenings grilled ribeye steaks. It reminded me of the days when my mom would bring in ripe tomatoes from out garden, slice them and then crumble blue cheese on top of them. I think the heirlooms are beautiful and their acidity combined with the blue cheese creates a nice bite of flavor.

Steal of the Week: Black Bean and Mango Salsa

A dear friend of mine came for a visit and of course I wanted to cook some yummy stuff for her! We have the same likes and when I saw that mangoes were on sale at the local grocery store for $1 a piece, I immediately thought about making mango salsa. I found a pretty good recipe in my trusty The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook ( I also recommend Best of America's Test Kitchen: The Year's Best Recipes, Equipment Reviews.) The fact that it also called for black beans and I was sold. Of course I made modifications as I always do. In this case I omitted the pineapple juice (I have NEVER had a mango salsa with pineapple juice)and replaced it with red wine vinegar and I omitted the jalapeno and replaced it with cayenne.

Black Bean and Mango Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 - 15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed
  
• 1 - mango, peeled, pitted, chopped fine
  
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped fine
  
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
  
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  
• To taste sugar, salt and pepper
  

Combine all of the ingredients, seasoning at the end with a little sugar (I probably used about 1/4 teaspoon) and fresh ground pepper and Kosher salt to taste. The result was sweet and spicy and delicious. I served it with the spicy grilled shrimp and basmati rice and the next day we were eating leftovers of it right out out of the bowl with tortilla chips!