Salsas are one of the saviors of the kitchen.

Baptize anything in a little salsa and you’ll up the flavor quotient and make it sing… as well as help stretch a meal. Fresh Green Salsa (also known as salsa verde) and leftover ground beef make a great taco filling. Eggs, salsa and cheese: Breakfast of Champions.

Fresh Green Salsa  is my favorite cooked salsa because the tomatillos (also called husk tomatoes) have such a distinctive flavor. The citrus balances the sharp bite of the Serrano or jalapeño chili peppers and the herbal, grassy flavor of the cilantro.

This recipe makes a big batch… share it, freeze it or grab a big bag of chips and park yourself in front of television! Kidding. Not kidding.

       Print this recipe.    

Do you share your recipes?

When you personally share a recipe, whether it’s a treasured family creation or something you tore out of a magazine, tried and enjoyed, you are sharing a little bit of yourself.

Many of us share recipes all the time: on our websites or blogs, on Facebook, Google+ and YouTube. And of course we’re all able to get our dose of visual food porn on Pinterest and Instagram.

But when someone gives you a recipe directly, it’s even more special. They are sharing with you something that made them happy (and probably made those whom they fed happy, too)… a food memory made this way is pure love.

My wonderful friend Ivy moved away from Chicago to begin the next chapter of her life in Santa Fe. When she saw all my Hatch Chile posts a few weeks back, she shared her recipe for Green Chile Lamb Stew.

I knew I had to make it… not just because Ivy’s a great cook, but because she’s all about family and friends and, well, sharing. I knew that when I made this Lamb Stew, I would have her back in my kitchen again for a little while.

I used Hatch Chiles in this recipe (remember I bought 25 lbs. and froze them), but you can use any green chile, like Anaheim peppers, Cubanelle peppers or poblano peppers. Just make sure you roast and peel the peppers. Remove the seeds and veins if you don’t want your stew spicy.

This recipe takes about 2 to 3 hours to slow cook on the stove, so I used my trusty Pauli Cookware Pot. This is the perfect piece of cookware for a stew because you don’t have to constantly stir the stew or worry that it’s going to burn!

Thanks, Ivy. For the recipe… and everything else that comes with it.

       Print this recipe.    

If you liked this recipe, you’ll love my recipe for Vietnamese Beef Stew!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Today is National Raspberries and Cream Day!

Please don’t confuse this momentous day of celebration with National Raspberry Cream Pie Day (that was August 1)… or National Raspberry Cake Day (that’s observed on July 31)… or National Raspberry Popover Day (long passed… May 3)… or National Raspberry Bombe Day (that’s not until next week).

(Come to think of it…who comes up with these “National Days” anyway?)

This is the day to buy pints and pints of beautifully luscious raspberries and pair them with rich, sweet cream for your own little bit of heaven on earth. Move fast because raspberry season officially ends in just a few weeks.

Raspberries are low in saturated fat and cholesterol and a great source of fiber, vitamin C and magnesium. But you won’t be thinking of that when you dive into these incredible Raspberry Whipped Cream Puffs.

I flavored the whipping cream with raspberry jam, which really makes the filling smooth and creamy (no seeds in sight but lots of raspberry flavor). You can make the puffs the day before and store them in an airtight container. Don’t fill them until just before serving so they don’t get soggy.

Now get moving! You have no time to waste…there’s another raspberry holiday right around the corner!

       Print this recipe.    

If you liked this recipe, here are some more great recipes with raspberries:

Coconut Raspberry Ice Pops

Black and Red Raspberry Tarts

Raspberry Jam Cookies

How do you like your steak… still mooing or like a piece of shoe leather?

At this time of year there are plenty of strange (and strangely wonderful) gadgets to boost your grilling mojo. Here’s one I really like: The SteakChamp.

The German-made SteakChamp is a high-precision steak thermometer that will help you cook your steak exactly the way you want it, either on the grill, in the oven or in a pan on the stove. The stainless steel probes come in four models to suit your temperature preference (rare, medium rare, medium and medium well), and are tuned to USDA temperatures guidelines.

But before I continue, may I digress a moment? The word “probe” has always bugged me. It reminds me of aliens, or something like that. Okay… back to the best tool for grilling the perfect steak, the SteakChamp.

Here’s how it works:

1. Remove your meat from the fridge about half an hour before cooking. The meat should be at least 1½-inches thick.
2. Select the SteakChamp probe (there’s that word again) for the level of doneness you want (rare, medium rare, etc.). Insert the SteakChamp into the center of the meat sideways, until it is completely inside the meat and only the end of the SteakChamp protrudes.
3. Sear both sides of the meat on high heat for 2 minutes.
4. Reduce the heat to medium. When the SteakChamp begins to double flash, remove the meat from the heat. Let the meat rest until the double flashing signal stops. Remove the SteakChamp and serve your perfect steak.

This is a great video to show you exactly how the SteakChamp works on a grill:

Visit the SteakChamp website to see how this gadget works on top of the stove and in the oven. You can find it at Sur la Table.  Follow the directions and you’ll be grilling like a champ all summer!