Cactus Stir Fry and White Whiskey Margaritas

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about fresh Summer dishes? That’s right, Thai-Mexican fusion and white whiskey margaritas. Before you dismiss these soon-to-be summer classics, you should remind yourself that the blog you're reading once made carrot pie for a post. 

Sure we could have made separate posts for both the cocktail and the meal, but they played so nicely with each other we couldn't keep them apart. The stir fry and noodles are heavy enough to be filling, but still light enough for a summer dinner that doesn't strike an evening stroll around the neighborhood from the agenda. Meanwhile the margarita is so refreshing it could be drank like water, but as a medical novice I would advise you not to drink it like water, unless you want to reach a Snookie level of drunk.

White Whiskey Margarita

Yields 1 drink

• 1 1/2 limes juiced
• 1/2 shot Triple Sec
• 1 shot White Whiskey
• 1 cup Ice

For the rim:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• zest of 1 lime

1. Pour the lime juice, triple sec, whiskey into a pint glass. Add the ice to the glass. If you don’t have a shaker I recommend using a red Solo cup as a lid, and not just because it’s classy. This technique works so well I’m expecting my future offsprings to pass this down for many generations to come. Shake, don't stir.
2. Use the squeezed lime to rim the glass with the juice. On a small plate mix the zest and the sugar together with your fingers to infuse the grains of cane with the sent of lime. Dip the wet edged glass into the sugar mixture. 
3. Pour the contents of the drink into the sugar rimmed cup.
4. Drink and be surprised how refreshing this drink is on a sticky summer evening.

Cactus Stir Fry w/ Curry Rice Noodles

Yields 3 servings (4 if you’re not that hungry)

• 2 Cactus paddles julienned
• 2 large Chicken Breasts cut into strips
• 1 Green Bell Pepper julienned
• 1 Jalapeño sliced
• 1/2 Red Onion julienned
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic minced
• Bean Sprouts
• Olive Oil
• Black Sesame seeds (optional)

Chicken Marinade

• Splash of triple sec
• 1 Lime juiced and zested
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Garlic minced

1. Find a medium sized mixing bowl, a tupperware bowl or even an empty Cool-Whip container and add the chicken and the marinade. Make sure everything is well mixed in the container. Allow the chicken to absorb the flavors of the infused concoction while the rest of the meal is prepared.
2. Get your medium sized skillet to sauté the cactus. If you need a tutorial on cutting cactus, Pati's Mexican Table has a fine how-to. Pour 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil in the skillet and cook over medium heat. Do that thing with the skillet to flip them and add a pinch of salt. Cook until the gel oozing from the strips stops. Set aside and take off heat.
3. Saute the chicken and 1/4 of the onions over medium heat in a skillet until the chicken looks done, about 7 minutes or so. Take off heat. Find a saucier, put it over medium heat, add 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and all of your vegetables, except for the bean sprouts. Cook for 3 minutes then add the chicken and cactus. Stir and mix all the contents well. Drain any excess liquid and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. 

Curry Rice Noodles

• 1 can Coconut Milk opened
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Red Curry Paste
• 1/4 teaspoon Fish Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 4 oz. Thin Rice Noodles
• 1/4 cup Water

1. Add all the ingredients above except for the noodles in a sauce pan and heat over medium high until it reaches a boil. Add the noodels as best you can and cook in the sauce until they become soft and have all the characteristics of cooked noodles.
2. To plate the dish place the noodles in the bottom of a bowl or you can even use a plate with a nice bevel to it. Then top with the stir fried chicken, cactus and vegetables. If you're feeling fancy you can even add bean sprouts and black sesame seeds on top of the dish.

What are you waiting for? Go out to your local farmer's market and pick up anything that catches your eye, and make a stir fry out of it. Summer is for fun and adventurous, venture out into the world and see what it has to offer besides the status quo. Enjoy!

Once again Katy Weaver has outdone herself with these stunning photos.

Open Face Steak Sandwich

Here's a cooking tip for everyone reading, if you want to make a sandwich fancier, make it an open face sandwich. It shows off all the content in the sandwich in an appetizing way. Want to make that PB&J sandwich more interesting? Just make it an open face sandwich. Boom! All your dinner guest will be impressed with your culinary skills. Here's another cooking tip, don't serve PB&J sandwiches at a dinner party, unless it's some weird dinner party for 8 year-olds.

Everyone loves steak, even vegetarians, they just won't admit it. Steak is amazing and an important part of a balanced diet, but sometimes just eating a hunk of meat doesn't cut it. Not even with a steak knife. And most of the time when I order a steak sandwich from a restaurant, it's either super greasy or very dry, occasionally I'll find a place that's somewhere between the two, but those places are pretty rare. That's why I wanted to make my own steak sandwich and use the most marbled pieces of meat I could find. 

Caramelized Bourbon Onions

• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 shot of bourbon

Serves about 4

1. Get a skillet, melt the butter, and add the garlic. After about 30 seconds add the onions, and sugar. Cook over medium high heat until the onions are caramelized.
2. Add the shot of bourbon to deglaze the pan and cook until the liquid is gone.

Open Face Steak Sandwich

• 1 lbs Denver steaks
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• a dash of salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar
• 1 loaf of ciabatta bread thickly sliced 

Serves about 4.

1. Preheat your oven to 500 and place a cast iron skillet in the oven (I used my cast iron griddle and it worked just as well). 
2. While the oven is heating up. Place the steaks in a bowl and toss them with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Once the oven reaches temperature take the skillet out of the oven and place it on the stove top over medium high heat. 
4. Place the steaks on the skillet for 30 seconds. Flip and cook the other side for 30 seconds as well. Flip the steaks again and place the skillet back into the oven for 2 minutes. Flip the steaks one last time and let cook for another minute. Take the steaks out of the oven and let them sit on a plate for about 3 minutes before cutting them into strips.
5. Take a slice of ciabatta and spoon enough of the bourbon onions on it to barely cover the bread.  Sprinkle the cheese over the onions, that way it gets all melty. Then slice the steaks into strips and place on top.  Enjoy!

This steak sandwich pairs nicely with the chard from this recipe, and if you're looking for an appetizer, yam hash browns make a wonderful opening to this dish.

Once again all these stunning pictures are by Katy Weaver.

French Onion Soup

It's been kind of cloudy and grey the past couple of days in Portland, even though it's terrible June weather it does make for great soup weather. French onion soup is filling and warm, so it's a nice contrast to the cold and wet weather outside.

I'm a terrible food blogger, because when I went to the store I forgot to buy a loaf of French bread. As a replacement I used the whole grain sourdough bread that was sitting in the bread box. The sourdough was a good replacement, I recommend using sourdough if you don't have any French bread.

This is a very simple dish with only a few ingredients. The hardest part about preparing this dish is cutting the onions, it's going to make you cry, so it's a good time to work through some emotions and think about that childhood pet that's now, "living at a farm upstate." If the onions make you cry too much don't worry, eating the finished soup is like a warm hug.

French Onion Soup

(4 servings)

• 3 1/2 medium yellow onions coarsely chopped
• 3 TBS. butter
• 3/4 cup dry white or red wine (just make sure it's not sweet wine)
• 1 pint vegetable stock or beef stock
• 1 TBS flour
• 4 slices of french bread
• 5 oz. grated Gruyere cheese
• salt and pepper

1. Find the largest pot in your kitchen, okay maybe not that big, but large enough to hold a pint of stock and three and half onions. Melt the butter in the pot over medium high heat. Once the butter has melted add the onions.
2. Preheat the oven to 375. Toast the bread, just a little to remove most of the moisture. It should be slightly crisp. 
3. Occasionally stir the onions, until most of them have turned golden brown. This is an import step in the soup, because it's where most of the flavor develops. Once the onions have browned add 1/2 cup of the wine. Stir occasionally until all the wine has cooked out. Then add the flour to the onions and let the flour brown and stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the stock once that's happened. Scrape the flour off the bottom of the pot and add the rest of the wine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the soup simmer for 5-10 minutes and allow the wine to cook off. 
4. Grab 4 oven proof bowls and scoop the soup until it fills 3/4 of the bowl. Lay one slice of bread on top of the soup and layer the grated cheese on top of the soup until you can barely see the soup and bread. Place the bowls in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and the edge cheese browns a bit. 
5. Remove from oven and eat with fork.

The bowls will be very hot! It's a good idea to have a mat or pad to place the bowl on once you remove it from the oven. 

For a soup that's mostly onions, it's very filling. If you want a good red wine to pair with this soup I recommend a Cabernet Sauvignon, because of the wine's rich buttery taste. Enjoy!

Photos by Katy Weaver 

Peach Glazed Salmon

I asked for suggestions for dinner and the response I got was, "salmon with...peaches!" After mulling it over for a while I decided to make an Asian inspired Peach Glazed Salon dish. For making it up as I went along, I say it turned out pretty damn good. I paired the salmon with some brown rice and stir fried vegetables. 

I would suggest starting the rice first.

Brown Rice with Chives

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1 table spoon of chopped chives

1. Make the rice and once it's finished cooking, fluff the rice and add chives to add some color and flavor.

Peach Glazed Salmon

• 1 pound salmon fillet
• 2 peaches diced 
• 2 chives chopped (mainly for garnishing)
• Juice from one lime
• 1 teaspoon of lime zest
• 4 large leaves of mint finely chopped
• 3 sprigs of lemon thyme
• 1 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• crumbled goat cheese (optional)

1. In a bowl combine everything listed above expect the goat cheese and salmon. Mix and crush everything together with your fingers. 
2. Heat the oven to 375. Take out a baking sheet and some tin foil and set the salmon fillet on the tin foil. Pour the peach mixture (glaze? salsa? chutney?) over the salmon covering the top of the entire fillet. Wrap the salmon in the foil making a nice foil pocket so all the moisture doesn't escape. 
3. Bake for 25 minutes. 
4. Though it may look a little gross, leave the peaches on the salmon! That's where flavor lives. 

Stir frying vegetables is pretty easy to do just take out a skillet or a wok, turn the stove on medium and add the following ingredients in the order they're listed in.

Stir-Fried Vegetables

• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Garlic
• Mushrooms
• Carrots
• Bell Pepper
• Snap Peas
• Carrots
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Seeds

There are two methods of plating this dish. The traditional way of piling everything into thirds on a plate and eating them separately. The other option is to make a tower of deliciousness and top it off with some goat cheese and chives. 

Option #1

Option #2

Another healthy and delicious dish!

Photos by Katy Weaver

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

The three words I would use to describe this dish would be healthy, colorful, and delicious. These stuffed peppers are both filling and very light at the same time by the time you finish them you're full, but not stuffed (see what I did there?). 

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 1/2 cup quinoa cooked
• 1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
• 4 bell peppers stem and seeds removed 
• 1/4 lbs. of ground pork chorizo 
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 of a large zucchini coarsely chopped
• 10 grape tomatoes cut into quarters
• 6 small mushrooms sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
• a dash of cayenne pepper if you have it

These things go on top of the peppers:

• hot sauce
• avocados
• cheddar cheese
• sour cream

1. Boil the water for quinoa about 1 cup of water. Once it reaches a boil turn down to a simmer and cook until the water is gone.
2. While the quinoa is cooking take out a skillet and add the olive oil, onions, and garlic Once the onions become golden brown in color add the mushrooms. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine or water. Then add the chorizo.
3. Oh did you preheat the oven to 375? You should probably do that now.
4. Once the chorizo is browned add the zucchini, taco seasoning, and cayenne pepper. Mix so that the taco seasoning is no longer visible as giant clumps of red stuff. Then add the cooked beans, tomatoes, and the cooked quinoa. Mix.
5. Scoop the filling into the peppers. Place the pepper into a casserole dish or meatloaf dish, really anything that can go in the oven and can hold 4 bell peppers.
6. Place the peppers into the oven for 20 minutes.
7. Remove the peppers from the oven. Cut vertically and top it with cheddar cheese, sour cream avocado, and hot sauce, or whatever you think would be good. 

A healthy dinner that's not terribly complex to make and it looks festive. This dish can easily be turned into a vegetarian dish by replacing the chorizo with some sort of meat substitute. Are you still reading this? You should be stuffing your face with this stuffed pepper by now!

Photos by Katy Weaver