Tropical Granola

My Nephew Ry surfing on Christmas day

I have a sister that lives in Hawaii that we will visit from time to time. The last trip was over Christmas. We get there in the early evening so we had to hit one of my favorite restaurants called The King & I for some Thai food. Sadly it is now closed. Of course while at dinner my sister informs my husband that he is making Paella, which I will save for another post. She likes to do this to us from time to time so there are a few things that I make her stock her shelves with. One such item is Anahola Granola. She got me stuck on it and it is the Bomb!!! Well I don't get to visit very often so I had to come up with my own recipe so here it is. 

8 c.................. Old Fashioned Thick Rolled Oats

0.75 lb............. Mixed Tropical Dried Fruit 

½ c................. Crystallized Ginger

1 c.................. Raw Coconut

1 c.................. Raw Macadamia Nuts

¼ c................. Flax Seeds

1 c.................. Raw Sunflower Seeds

½ c................. Corn Oil

½ c................. Honey

1 Tbs.............. Vanilla

1.    Pre heat oven to 300ºF.

2.    Mix oats, nuts and seeds

3.    Add oil and vanilla and mix well.

4.    Drizzle honey in parts while mixing.

5.    Place on 2 sheet pans lined with foil and place in oven for 10 minutes.

6.    Remove from oven and stir.

7.    Place back in oven for 6 minutes then remove and stir again.

8.    Repeat until golden brown.  About 30 minutes.

9.    Dice fruit into ¼” pieces and add to the hot granola mix.

10. Dice ginger into 1/8” pieces before measuring and add to oat mixture along.

I found all of the ingredients at the local health food store.  If you don’t like one of the fruits in the tropical fruit medley then you can get each of the ingredients by them selves so you can leave one out or replace it with something else.  You can also replace or delete any of the seeds or nuts. If you want a maple flavor, you can cut back on the honey by adding ¼ c brown sugar with ¼ c honey to give it a maple flavor. With this version I like to add some dried cranberries and blueberries. 

Granola is a great way to get lots of fiber and protein which will give you lots of energy for the day a head.   Oatmeal is, also,  good for lowering your cholesterol. 

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion Cake)

When we visit family in Germany life stops at around 4:00 pm so we can eat cake or pastries. No matter where we are or what we are doing, at 4:00pm we stop for cake.  I will watch the time to make sure I don’t miss out.  In the fall there are about 2 weeks that you can get new wine which is the wine after it is put into the berrels but before it is corked. It is a little effervescent and is very tasty with Zwiebelkuchen so it is often served with it.  …So, needless to say, while out sight seeing on the Mosel river we stopped at 4:00 pm and had some Zwiebelkuchen and new wine in one of the small towns.  It was one of the most memorable meals I had in Germany and I will often crave it.  It isn’t easy to find new wine here so I like to serve it with a nice Riesling.

Dough

½ oz............... Yeast

1 c.................. Milk (lukewarm)

2½ c............... Cake Flour

pinch............. Sugar

½ tsp.............. Salt

3 Tbs............. Butter

Topping

1½ ea............ Extra Large Yellow Onions

5 oz................ Raw Bacon

1 c.................. Sour Cream

2 ea............... Eggs

½ tsp.............. Salt

pinch............. Nutmeg

pinch............. Pepper

1.    Heat oven to 425ºF.

2.    Mix 2 Tbs flour, yeast, and sugar together then mix in milk.

3.    Set aside in a warm place.

4.    Cut butter and salt into remaining flour .  Set aside.

5.    Dice bacon and Julian the onions.

6.    Add milk mixture into the flour mixture and mix until it forms a ball.

7.    Cover and set aside in a warm place.

8.    Sautee bacon and onions until the onions start to caramelize. Let cool.

9.    Mix remaining topping ingredients in a separate bowl and add the onions and bacon.

10. Place dough into the bottom of a greased spring form pan and top with onion mixture.

11. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes.

I created a warm place to let the dough steps rest by placing a container with about 2 cups of water in the microwave and heating it for about 3 minutes.  I then place the dough in the microwave with the container of hot water the door shut.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Hollandaise Sauce

Today is National Eggs Benedict Day!!! One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. The hardest part is the Hollandaise sauce because it is an emulsion of butter and egg. Which is why it is soo good. Hollandaise sauce is a very delicate sauce but is worth the extra trouble to make from scratch.  The powdered mixes don’t come close. 

To make clarified butter melt down one stick on low until only the fat is left.  I like to continue cooking my butter so that the solids toast just a little bit. It adds a little flavor to the sauce.  The clearer your butter is the better your sauce will come out so I will strain it through a strainer with a cheep paper towel or a coffee filter.  

It is important to whip your sauce with a wire whip because the sauce can break with too much friction.  It can also break if you add in the butter too fast or reheat the sauce later on.  A trick used by many chefs if the sauce does break is to add in just enough cream to bring it back together.

4 ea................ Egg Yolks

¼ c................. Warm Clarified Butter

to taste........... Salt

1 Tbs.............. Fresh Lemon Juice

¼ tsp.............. Tabasco

1.    Place egg yolks in a small bowl and slowly whip in the butter with a wire whip.

2.    Whip in the remaining ingredients,

3.    Serve right away.

When I make Eggs Benedict, I like to grill my English muffin with butter on a flat grill. Then instead of a traditional Benny with Canadian bacon, I like to do thick sliced & grilled tomato, steamed spinach and bacon. I also scramble my eggs because I don't like poached. If you want a fancier Benny you can use crab/crab cakes and asparagus. 

Hollandaise sauce can be used for many different things.  You can also take it a step further and turn it into béarnaise sauce by adding in some tarragon reduced in red wine vinegar.  I love to eat good French fries with béarnaise sauce.  Both sauces can also be used on  beef, chicken, seafood and veggies.  

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Ok so I am back to blogging, or at least I am going to try. I am getting ready to do more cooking classes this month & they will go through the summer. I am very excited to be doing them. I have missed doing them. I am starting with a Pantry class which is a basic informational class explaining what I like to keep around the house for easy through to gather meals. Then onto Spanish & some of the countries that it has influenced such as Mexico, Chile, the Caribbean & New Orleans. But the Caribbean & New Orleans are influenced by other foods so I will be doing an East African & a French class.  And, sense I am touching on French & Spanish I will go into Italian & German to cover the rest of Europe. 


 Pantry                   4/24        5:00 pm                 $60pp
Spanish                5/8          5:00 pm                  $60pp
Mexican                 5/22        5:00 pm                 $60pp
Chilean                  6/5          5:00 pm                 $60pp
New Orleans        6/19        5:00 pm                 $60pp

Pantry                     7/17        5:00 pm                $60pp

East African          7/31        5:00 pm                 $60pp

Caribbean             8/14        5:00 pm                $60pp

French                   8/28        5:00 pm                $60pp

Italian                     9/11        5:00 pm                $60pp

German               9/25         5:00  pm                $60pp

You can contact me at (719)351-4859 or by email at trombelland@earthlink.net to sign up.

Each class is about 3 hours long. They will sometimes go a little long if there are a lot of questions. I only allow 6 people per class to keep it focused.  I do the classes in Palmer Lake, CO. nestled up against the mountains of the Front Range. I don't like to use any fancy tools or a microwave because they are not needed & I like to get back to the basics. So come join me it the fun this spring & summer. 

Corn and avocado relish- Truly SUPER Superbowl food!

Corn and Avocado Relish

4 ea............... Diced Avocados 

½ c................. Diced Red Onions

1 c.................. Corn

2 ea............... Diced Tomato

½ c................. Diced Green Chilies

¼ c................. Chopped Cilantro

1 tsp............... Ground Cumin

1 tsp............... Oregano

1 tsp............... Garlic Powder

2 tsp............... Onion Powder

½ tsp.............. Tabasco

1½ tsp........... Kosher salt

½ c................. Olive Oil

1.      Place all of the ingredients, except avocados, in a bowl and mix well.

2.      Add avocados last and mix gently without smashing the avocado.

This relish is great with corn chips but you can try it on a cheeseburger with bacon, or anything you might put salsa on. You can cheat and use frozen corn but you can also try roasting your corn on the grill when you roast your green chilies to add a nice roasted flavor. 

When you are picking out avocados,  get ones that are darker in color and that slightly give when pressed with your finger. Avocados are too ripe when they already have indentations or when pressed they make an indentation.  Avoid avocados that are too green and hard unless you don’t plan to use them for a few days. Avocados generally take three to five days to ripen at room temperature. Avocados are truly fruit so they should never be refrigerated before they are cut into.  Refrigerating unripe avocados will actually halt the ripening process completely, and no one wants a hard unripe avocado in their dips!     

Many people avoid avocados because they are high in fat, but avocados are actually chock-ful of the good fats!, One avocado has three grams of monounsaturated fat along with thirteen important vitamins.  

This relish is a great idea for our Superbowl Sundays! Try making a food that you and your loved ones can indulge in, guilt-free!

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Gearing up for Superbowl...

Muffaletta

Magic Muffaletta

(A New Orleans style hero sandwich)

You can find a Muffaletta anywhere in New Orleans or most of Louisiana.  It was supposedly made at the Central Grocery on Decatur Street first.  When I visited New Orleans, I waited in a line that rapped around the building for about an hour just to get an authentic one… Well worth the wait! 

I used regular ham in this recipe but traditionally you should use Mortadella ham.  Capicolla will also work.  Both are Italian hams that can be found at Specialty grocers.  The Muffaletta should always be served at room temperature- never toasted! The sandwich is best after it has been out for a bit because the juices soak into the bread. All of the flavors mesh together. Because of this, the Muffaletta is great for parties.

If you want to make this sandwich vegetarian, try grilling eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini, and/or yellow squash.  The olive salad is the magic- it is what makes the sandwich.  I found several recipes for Muffaletta.  Some had chopped carrots, chopped cauliflower, red onions and/or anchovies, but they all shared the important olive salad!

Make this sandwich for a Superbowl party, sit back and relax! Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Olive Salad

1¼ c... Green olives with pimientos (chopped)

1¼ c... Pitted Kalamata olives (chopped)

½ c..... Cocktail onions (chopped)

4 Tbs. Capers

1 c...... Celery heart with leaves (chopped)

½ tsp.. Fresh ground black pepper

2 Tbs. Fresh garlic (chopped)

1 Tbs. Fresh oregano (chopped)

¼ c..... Fresh parsley

¼ c..... Olive oil

4 Tbs. Red wine Vinegar

Sandwich (will feed 1-4 people)

1 ea... 10” Round focaccia or Italian bread

4.5 oz Genoa salami

4.5 oz Ham

4.5 oz Provolone cheese 

1 c...... Olive salad 

1.      Mix salad ingredients together and refrigerate overnight.

2.      Pile on salami, ham, cheese and olive salad.

3.      Cut into fourths and enjoy.

Sonoma California

I just spent Thanksgiving weekend in the Sonoma/Napa area if California & it was a truly great trip.  We had some spectacular wines & great food!!!  We found out early that 2-3 wineries are about the limit for the day. 

Of course our 1st day we visited 5, Chateau St. Jean, Imagery, Schug, Cline & Jacuzzi. I had to dump a lot of wine & some were too good to dump.  I can still say now that I have tasted just about everyone of Jacuzzi's wines I haven't found one that I didn't like.  I have to say that doing tour  & Private tastings were much more enjoyable then tasting with everyone else on a busy weekend when there is a special event where you spend $44 for a 2 day weekend & get to taste at 120 different wineries. We then went to dinner in downtown Sonoma at a place called the Depot.  It was very good but we were a bit wined out so we just ate with no wine. I had a tenderloin with a pepper sauce, whipped potatoes & some steamed veggies.  All very good!!!  We then headed up to the Russian river to the Korbel estates & spent the night in one of the guest houses.

The next morning we got up & walked around to discover that the estate is really an old railroad town that Korbel had purchased & turned into their winery.  We then headed back down to Sonoma to Kenwood & then Vally of the Moon.  They are both owned by Korbel. In between the two tours we went to the Meritage where I had a lobster salad sandwich on their home made foccica with a side of fries.  Very good!!!  I split my sandwich with my hubby & in return I got half of his burger with cambazolla cheese & bacon, also very good!!!  Doing only 2 wineries was a much better idea.  We then headed back to Santa Rosa were we stayed the night & went to dinner at Zazu restaurant & farm.  It would have been nice to get there in while it was still light to see the farm but it was dark.  There I had a fatoush salad that was made with mint & parsley for the greens with pomegranate seeds & goat cheese.  It also had red pepper that was a little over bearing but I just picked them out.  For my entree I had the flat iron steak that was cooked perfectly & served with blue cheese ravioli, whole roasted garlic cloves & red chard.  It was all sooooo good!!!! 

The next morning we headed up to Lake County to visit the Langtry Estate & Vineyards for a tasting, lunch & a tour. It was truly spectacular.  We had lunch up on a hill where the cab grapes are grown that overlooks the whole Langtry valley.  Our guide, Scotty, was extremely knowledgeable about the winery & knew all aspects of  the process.  We were able to enjoy wines from the barrels & the stainless vats, which was very cool to see the differences in flavor of each.  It was a great way to spend our last day.  We then headed back to SF to the airport.  Of course when ever I am at the SF airport I have to pick up 2 of my favorite things in the world, See's candy & SF sourdough bread, to bring home with me.  ...& I don't share!!!