Mango Salsa

Since I'm graduating later this afternoon, I have family flying in from all over the country (well, New York), and they are all very, very hungry. They are staying at my house for hours, after all. Anyone who has ever hosted large amounts of people with varying tastes and large appetites knows how difficult it is to feed them all, but I found a recipe I think will satisfy everyone.

I made some salsa with mangoes, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, and black beans, among other things. It sounds like a pretty strange combination, but trust me. It works. The mango brings a pop of sweetness, and the corn does, too (to a degree). I mainly use the bell peppers for crunch, and I like tomatoes for a bit of acidity and more texture. Black beans are a great way to make the salsa more filling.

You may not realize it, but most salsas do have some sort of "dressing," or a combination of liquids to add extra flavor and help all the flavors from the vegetables (and fruit, in this case) blend together and make the salsa more cohesive. I start with lime juice and olive oil and then season it with chili powder, cayenne, and other spices. The lime juice adds a nice punch of acidity, and the olive oil is a wonderful way to bring the flavors together. You can season it however you like, but I included my recommendations in the recipe.

Now for the spice. Most people like their salsa to have at least a little bit of heat, but my grandma--who I'm sure will want to try some of this--is very picky about her seasoning. She can detect an extra grain of salt in a whole vat of tomato sauce, and she is extremely sensitive to spicy things. You can probably guess she won't really want much heat in her salsa, but that's the beauty of this recipe (and most of my other salsas as well). I used one habanero--minced finely of course--to give a hint of spiciness without burning off my taste buds. Feel free to use less spicy peppers like jalapenos or more spicy peppers of your choosing or simply increasing or decreasing the amount of cayenne in the dressing.

Salsa is pretty simple, but the main secret is to make it the night before and let it "marinate" for a few hours. It becomes more cohesive instead of just a jumbled mix of random produce, which could be good, but salsa is certainly far better. I'm just keeping a big jar of it in my fridge for all my visitors this weekend, and hopefully it lasts through tonight!

2 Ears Corn
2 Small Mangoes, Diced
1 15 oz Can Black Beans, Drained & Rinsed
1 Small Bell Pepper, Diced
3 Roma Tomatoes, Diced
1 Habanero, Minced
1/2 Red Onion, Minced
2 Limes
2 T Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp baking soda. Add the corn, cover, and remove from heat. Let sit for 10 minutes, drain, and cut off the kernels once cool.

Whisk the juice from the limes, olive oil, cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder together. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Combine the corn, mangoes, black beans, tomatoes, habanero, and onion. Stir in the dressing and let sit for at least two hours, seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.

Serves 8-10
Recipe Adapted from Joyful Scribblings

Meatballs

It seems like the simplest dishes are the most difficult to prepare. While I have yet to find a flawless mac and cheese recipe, the good news is that I have perfected my meatball recipe. It's taken years to do so, and I've tried everything from my Grandma's recipe to buttermilk, panko, and gelatin. It's pretty hard to make a bad meatball, but it's even harder to make an outstanding one. Luckily, this recipe is simple and flavorful, and it comes with an amazing marinara sauce recipe, too.

Let's start with the meat. You can't have meatballs without meat (although I know some vegetarians who beg to differ). The "classic" Italian trio is beef, pork, and veal, but I've found that veal is a little hard to come by and is often a little too expensive. Beef and pork work just fine, though you can always substitute some veal if you like.

Next is the big bread crumbs vs soaked bread debate. My grandma always took some slices of sandwich bread, removed the crust, and let it sit in hot milk or water. Another recipe I tried had you soak panko crumbs in buttermilk. That was a little weird for me, so I figured I'd go back to basics. Meatballs need some sort of bread for textural purposes, but I don't always have sandwich bread or any other suitable bread in my house. One of my main goals for this recipe was to make it easy and accessible, something I could make on a whim without having to go to the supermarket. I always have plain breadcrumbs, and fortunately they work perfectly in this recipe. You don't even have to soak them in anything.

From there, it's pretty standard. You add your eggs, some milk, some parmesan, and some seasoning. I like to go easy on the herbs because the marinara sauce usually has enough and I don't want it to be overpowering. To cook the meatballs, I first sear them in batches in a skillet to get a nice crust on them. That's usually not enough to cook them through or make them all that tender, so I transfer them to a big pot of marinara sauce to simmer for 30-60 minutes. You can go longer, but I usually can't wait much more than that to dig in.

Since you cook the meatballs for so long in the marinara (and I usually douse my pasta in the sauce, too), you need to make sure you have a good one. If you have a favorite brand of jarred sauce, you can definitely use that. I, however, have an extremely easy recipe that only takes a few minutes to put together. Because I like a smooth sauce, I take a few cans of tomato puree (two 28 oz cans usually make enough) and add some olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, and spices. You don't even have to cook it because it cooks enough with the meatballs. Adding the leftover fat from searing the meatballs adds a touch of savory flavor and brings the whole sauce together, but of course that is completely optional, especially if you decide to make the sauce without the meatballs.

Your grandma may be a little shocked if she catches you making someone else's meatballs, but these are definitely worth a try. This is a simple, classic recipe that makes enough for any occasion. I made a batch a few days ago and I'm still eating leftovers for lunch (happily, of course!).

1 lb Ground Beef
1 lb Ground Pork
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Cup Breadcrumbs
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Oregano
Marinara Sauce (See Recipe Below)

Combine the eggs and milk. Stir in the breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano. Add the ground beef and ground pork. Roll the mixture into balls.

Heat some oil in a skillet. Add the meatballs and cook, turning often, until brown on all sides. Pour the marinara sauce over the meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes.

Marinara Sauce:
Pour 2 28 oz cans of tomato puree into a large pot. Add 1 1/2 cups water, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 T lemon juice, 2 T sugar, 2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp basil, 2 tsp thyme, 1 T garlic powder, and 1 T onion powder. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 8-12
Adapted from www.food.com

Spring Quiche

I first made these quiches a few weeks ago for brunch when my grandparents were here. Everyone loved them, particularly my grandma, my mom, and my sister, so it seemed fitting to write about them for Mother's Day. If three generations of women (all with very different tastes, might I add) loved them, they have got to be good.

Let's start with the crust. It's really the only thing in this recipe that's not so good for you. I use my basic savory pie crust, which is literally just flour and butter with a pinch of salt and sugar. Just throw everything in a food processor, adding a sprinkle of water as necessary to form a cohesive dough. I then roll the dough out very thin and cut it into approximately 5" circles to fit 4" tartlet pans. I love my tartlet pans for this because you get a bigger crust to filling ratio (and we all know the crust is the best part) and everyone can have their own little tart(s). An added bonus is a shorter cooking time; it takes much longer to cook a quiche in a 9" pie plate (which you can do with this recipe) than in a few 4" tartlet pans.

After you press the dough into the pans, freeze them for a while before baking. It's one of the few secrets of making the perfect pie crust because baking cold butter makes a flaky pie crust. There's a whole scientific explanation, but I'll save that for another post. I blind bake my crusts before filling them to prevent sogginess and ensure that they cook through. Blind baking simply refers to covering the dough with foil, filling the crater with pie weights or dried peas/beans, and baking until the crust is almost cooked through. It keeps the crust from puffing up and browning too much.

As for the filling, I wanted to celebrate spring and Mother's Day. To me, that means lots of squash and zucchini, and I also throw in some mushrooms and mozzarella. Crispy bits of pancetta or bacon would be delicious as well. I cook all the vegetables before I mix them into the filling so that I can bring out their flavors. I saute them with thyme and shallots for a gentle herby flavor that complements rather than competes with the delicate flavors of the squash. Thyme is one of my favorite herbs, and it's worth splurging on fresh thyme for this recipe. Shallots are less harsh than onions but offer a bit more flavor than garlic. I saute everything in batches so that all the vegetables brown evenly.

The final steps entail making the quiche "batter" and assembling the tarts. To make up for the butteriness and fattiness of the crust, I use milk instead of cream and low-fat mozzarella. You can always use the full-fat version, but I find that I can save calories without sacrificing flavor, so why not? I just whisk the milk and eggs together, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the mozzarella.

To assemble everything, I layer a few slices of squash, zucchini, and mushrooms on the bottom of each crust. It helps prevent the egg mixture from seeping into the crust, and they rise to the top as the quiche cooks anyway. I then pour some of the egg mixture on top of the vegetables, avoiding pouring any between the crust and the pan because it will cook and make it extremely difficult to remove the tarts later. Finally, I bake them until they are just set in the middle. You don't want to overcook or undercook them, so go by texture rather than time. I estimate about 20 minutes, but start with 15 and check every few minutes until they barely jiggle.

That whole description makes these quiches sound extremely difficult, which isn't exactly what you want if you wake up at 6 a.m. to make breakfast in bed for your mom. I'll admit that these do take a while to make, but there are ways to make it easier. Although my crust recipe only takes a few minutes to throw together, you can save time by using a pre-made crust and cutting it into the proper shapes. Or you could skip the individual tartlets altogether and go with a full-size pie pan quiche. It may take longer to cook (about 40-45 minutes), but you won't have to cut and press each crust and shingle on vegetable slices for each individual tartlet. Finally, you can saute the vegetables in advance and use them later on. My family snacked on leftover squash and zucchini for days because I made extra, so I know they keep well. I'm sure the quiches do, too, but we managed to eat an entire batch in one sitting, so I wouldn't know for sure.

1 Recipe Savory Pie Crust Dough, Blind Baked in 10 Tartlet Pans (See Below)
½ lb Yellow Squash, Sliced
½ lb Zucchini, Sliced
½ lb Mushrooms, Sliced
2 Small Shallots, Minced
1 T Fresh Thyme
¾ Cup Milk
4 Eggs
¾ Cup Shredded Mozzarella

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the squash, zucchini, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 4 minutes. Add the shallots and thyme and cook for 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the milk and eggs together. Season with salt and pepper and add the mozzarella.

Spread a few slices of squash, zucchini, and mushrooms in the bottom of each tartlet pan. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables. Bake for 20 minutes or until just set.

For the Pie Crust:
1 ¼ Cups Flour
1 ½ tsp Sugar
½ tsp Salt
1 Stick Butter, Chilled & Cubed

Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor to combine. Add the butter and pulse until small lumps remain, then drizzle in cold water until it clumps together.

Grease a pie plate, tart pan, or tartlet pans. Roll the dough to fit, then press lightly to adhere. Chill until cold and firm, then prick with a fork. Heat oven to 375°F and blind bake for 20 minutes. Bake for another 5 minutes or until golden.

Makes 10 Individual Quiches