Tomatoes 3 ways, part 2

This is one of Brenan's favorite things that I make. ever. We can literally eat an entire bowl in one sitting.

Pico de Gallo

5 tomatoes, seeded, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded, diced
1/4 - 1/2 (depending on size) white onion, diced
1 jalapeno seeded, de-veined, diced (if you like heat, keep in the seeds/veins)
Juice of 1/2 - 1 lime, depending on size, juiciness, and preference
2 Tablespoons salt  (sounds like a lot? Not really. It brings out all of the flavors and enhances everything magnificently)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
cilantro (optional, we don't use it...)

Chop everything, mix, and enjoy! I recommend adding the onions last so you don't cry. Also, add half of your salt and lime juice,  then do a taste test. It is always easier to add more, but if you overdo it you're stuck with a strong pico.

Tomatoes three ways: Part 1

Recently my mom gave me a ton of tomatoes, like more than one person could use in a month...So, I decided to be creative and get cooking so that they didn't go bad, plus it's good practice since I have tomato plants growing in my garden.

Fresh pasta sauce

Ingredients
8-9 vine ripened tomatoes (or slicing tomatoes)
3 TBS olive oil
2 TBS minced garlic
1 TBS Italian seasoning
2 TBS salt
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp pepper
**optional** basil and red pepper flakes

Roughly chop up your tomatoes. I threw out most of the "guts" i.e. seeds and insides, but I reserved some just in case my sauce got too dry.

 

The guts

Put your tomatoes in a pot on medium heat (with your olive oil) to cook them down. As they cook down the tomatoes will peel themselves and you can pick out the skins if you don't like them. Add all of your seasonings and continue to let the tomatoes render out, about 20 min.

After 20 min turn your heat down to lo/simmer and if your tomatoes start to get too dry, add in some of the guts that you didn't throw out. After about 15 more minutes, take out 2/3 of your tomatoes and puree them in a food processor/blender/magic bullet. I did a rough puree, dumped 1/2 back in, then finely pureed the rest. I like texture in my sauce, but if you do not, then puree all of the tomatoes until fine.

This was enough sauce to cover about 1/2 lb of cooked pasta, to which I also added 2 chicken breasts.

Chicken Breast Secret

 Heat your oven to 350. In a pan on the stove (medium heat) add a little oil before adding your chicken breasts and then sear your chicken for about 2 min on each side, giving them a nice golden brown color. Transfer them to your oven for about 10-15 min (depending on their thickness) and you have a perfect chicken breast that didn't dry out on the stove!

Gardening Tips

So, I have only killed one plant thus far. Here are some things that I have learned along the way:

1. Read plant labels. Some plants needs lots of sun and water, and other do not. Putting plants that need a lot of water next to plants that need less water was not my smartest move. However, everything is still alive, I just have to be extra careful how much I water everything.
2. Be nice to your hose. Once it gets a kink in it, even if you undo it, it will always have that crease and want to re-kink. It's annoying and can definitely be avoided. 
3. If you don't know what you're doing, try two things: ask someone what to do or buy miracle grow. Both have seemed to work for me.
4. Shop around for gardening supplies. There is no need to pay top dollar at a store just because you are there. Check ads and sales to save some money on your garden. My dad asked, "why don't you just buy a tomato plant?" I replied, "Because this (growing my own starters) cost me twenty cents and I got five tomato plants out of it."
5. Ask people in your area about how things grow in that local vicinity. I happen to be at a Relief Society activity where we started talking about gardening and the women gave great tips and advice.

 Here is my garden's progress.
This is the full view of the flower area. All of the flowers in bloom I bought that way and the green sprouts to the left I planted (about a month ago).The idea is to have short plants in the front and tall wildflowers in the back.

 

These guys in the center are the wildflowers that I planted about a month ago. I hope they make it to a full bloom!

 

These are the wildflowers I planted about two weeks ago. They are about 1/2" tall

Last but not least, my tomato starters. I think my last photo showed them to be about an inch, and they have quickly grown. Plus, there are 5 of the 6 that sprouted which is nice.I have been watering them daily, keeping them in the window sill, and I gave them some miracle grow tomato feed.

Sweet Potato and Chicken Risotto

Are you ready to love me? THIS STUFF IS HEAVEN.  My dad took me out to Brio last week and I was super sad because at $20/plate there is no way I can justify ever going there on my own. But making it on my own... YES! Check out the video and be prepared to LOVE me (or the chef who made this deliciousness.)

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/oct/05/video-cook-it-sweet-potato-and-chicken-risotto/

Sweet Potato and Chicken Risotto

Ingredients

2 ounces olive oil
4 ounces pancetta
12 ounces sweet potatoes, roasted (recipe below)
8 ounces asparagus, grilled, cut on a diagonal
24 ounces chicken stock (may be purchased)
24 ounces risotto, cooked (recipe below)
12 ounces pulled oven-roasted chicken (I got a rotisserie chicken)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 tablespoons Reggiano or Parmesan cheese, shredded
4 pinches salt and pepper
4 teaspoons pine nuts, toasted (place in 350 degrees oven for five minutes and toast till golden brown-- or in a dry pan till they're browned)
4 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped

Preparation

Heat oil in a sauté pan.

Add pancetta & sauté until golden brown and crispy.

Add sweet potatoes, asparagus, chicken stock and risotto.

Stir to combine and cook risotto.

Add chicken, butter, Reggiano or Parmesan and salt and pepper.

Stir to mix.

Place on a serving plate and garnish with pine nuts and thyme.

Serves 4 (large portions)

Roasted sweet potatoes

Dice 2 sweet potatoes, mix with salt and pepper and olive oil to coat. Place in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes and cook until slight browning occurs.

Risotto

Ingredients

1 quart chicken stock
2 cups water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 cup Arborio rice
½ cup white wine
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation

In a large pot, heat the stock and 2 cups water over medium low heat.

In a risotto pot or large skillet with a rounded bottom, heat the extra-virgin olive oil over medium to medium-high heat.

Add the onions and garlic to pan and saute to soften 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the rice and heat the rice for one to two minutes, then add the wine and cook until evaporated.

Add in the hot stock a few ladles at a time and stir for a minute with each addition to develop the starch and the creamy aspect. Total cooking time will be about 18 minutes or so. Keep adding stock each time the pan starts to become dry at the edges.

When rice is cooked to al dente, stir in the butter and cheese. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and transfer to a sheet pan and cool.

Garden Success

I have had my first garden success! I recently planted 6 pansies in the back yard (all of which are still alive, yea!) and with the empty container I filled it and planted 6 tomato starters inside. As of today, three have started to bud out of the soil! This proves that I am not a complete plant killer. I also planted some outside directly in the ground, but none have come up yet. Fingers crossed that they will...

Gardening diary

Since moving I have acquired a small patch of dirt in my back yard. I have decided to man the land and make something  grow. I feel completely out of my comfort zone since I have never managed to keep a plant alive for more than a couple of weeks, but I will share my success/failures in an attempt to help others who may feel lacking or lost in this area. I figured the best place to start was to clear out the weeds and prepare the ground with some soil/feed stuff. My mother agreed. Here are my first efforts.

 From the corner to the left will be flowers.

This whole section will be vegetables and herbs.

Nothing too exciting yet. I did plant a flower but it is not in photo condition yet. We will get there.