Painting the Town Red: Cranberry - Jalapeño Salsa

(shown au naturale & "tweaked")

Looking for something sweet, sour and spicy that you can make in a flash for a party? Then you definitely need to try this crazy-delicious cranberry-jalapeño salsa by allrecipes. I made some for Thanksgiving this year, with a few tweaks (namely mixing it up with a block of Philadelphia cream cheese) and served it up with some sesame water crackers...and voila!  A party in your mouth!  What's nice about this salsa is that you can use the leftovers for a multitude of other dishes. I gave some to a friend to taste test and she came up with the brillant idea of  pairing it with some grilled sausage. Mmmm!

Cranberry-Jalapeno Salsa (adapted from a recipe by allrecipes)

Ingredients

makes roughly 2 cups of salsa

1 (12 ounce) bag cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 bunch green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

2 limes, juiced

3/4 cup white sugar

1 pinch salt

1 block of Philadephia cream cheese (optional)

Instructions

- Combine cranberries, cilantro, green onions, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a medium blade. 

- Chop to medium consistency. 

- Refrigerate if not using immediately. Serve at room temperature.

* TIP: For an alternate serving suggestion, original recipe says to just pour 1 cup of salsa over a block of cream cheese and serve it that way but I found mixing the salsa and the cream cheese up in a food processor made a better tasting product.

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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99 Ranch Market Opens Up

 fresh steamed dumplings

4220 Florin Rd, Sacramento, CA 95823

One of the small things I'm always thankful for is living in California where Asian food is plentiful. I have Oto's Japanese Market on Freeport that I hit up for most of my Japanese cooking needs and the Asian Farmers' Market (kitty corner from the W Street Farmers' Market on Sundays) that I can pick up fresh Asian veggies at; but once in awhile, I need specialty ingredients when I'm attempting a new Thai, Indian, Hmong, etc. recipe. For the most part when the need has come up, I've been able to find what I need at SF Supermarket on 65th Street. But variety is the spice of life and I was pleased to know another large Pan-Asian market had opened in Sacramento (thanks for the heads up Anthony!). Since I had a few hours to kill, I trekked out to So. Sac to check out the new 99 Ranch Market located at Florin and Franklin (just down the road from Luther Burbank High School).  I didn't know much about 99 Ranch but many of my Bay Area friends seemed familiar with the chain. 

yucca root

jujubes and longan

Upon walking in, I was struck by two things: the behemoth size of the store and that it was extremely clean. As you walk in, to the left is the produce area. The area was well organized and the fruits and veggies were colorful and fresh. There was a wide variety of ethnicities represented- I found myself next to rambutans, kholrabi, bitter melons, daikon and indian eggplants to name a few. Toward the back of the store is the live seafood area. The area was non-stop busy. I immediately noticed that the pungent "fishy" smell of other Asian markets and cloudy watered tanks were missing; looks like 99 Ranch is on top of their sanitation issues. The store states that they will "cut and gut" (and even fry) the fish for you if you like, which is a great deal. Amazingly, the entire time I was there (mid-day on a Monday) the area was hopping with people purchasing large prawns, bags of oysters, a plethora of fish and even sea cucumbers! It never stopped! The middle of the store carries spices, treats, sauces, liquor and dry goods like noodles and rice. I came across several sections of interesting looking frozen stuffed buns and dumplings. There's a few aisles of housewares and electronic kitchen gadgets and then you're upon the chaos-- the bakery and "food court" section. Here you can buy fresh breads and made-from-scratch pastries as well as tasty dim sum items, steaming hot bowls of noodles and boxed lunches. Hopefully the food court lines die down a bit once the market's been open for awhile. I'd like to go back and pick up a BBQ'd duck or some crispy pork. During my visit there were so many people elbow to elbow and a confusing criss-cross of lines that you would have thought that they were giving out free Justin Bieber tickets.

fresh fish

rice cooking wines

 

fruit wines

99 Ranch Market's prices seem on par with it's competitors. The fact that it's clean and well-stocked will probably be what draws me back. I also like that the customer base is as diverse as the products they carry there and everyone seems welcomed. The staff that I came across during my visit were all polite and helpful. There was a language barrier issue with one store clerk that was trying his best to help me locate an item but several nearby customers immediately jumped in to help me out. In addition to finding out where the item was located, I got several useful cooking tips! Oh and before I forget, take heed-- much like the other Asian markets in town, this place is rampant with little old Asian ladies speeding along like Andretti and ramming you with their carts. But no pain, no gain right?

moon pie

dried chrysanthemum

pastries

 

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"Doesn't Taste Like Celery, My Lily-White Ass": Celery Root & Apple Soup

I was really excited about cooking with celery root (aka celeriac). A cross between an albino turnip and an overweight parsnip; it's always been one of those "What the heck is THAT fugly thing?!" vegetables I would pass by time and time again in the grocery store. Everywhere I read said that celery root wouldn't have that sharp green taste that ordinary celery stalks have...well baloney! Celery root has a STRONG celery smell and taste as I found out last night. As someone who abhors the taste, texture and smell of celery; I was not quite pleased with last night's dinner. I had decided to attempt The Kitchen Sink's Celery Root and Apple Soup and the result was a bowl of soup with a VERY celery-centric taste. Maybe throwing in another apple would have helped sweeten it up more; but regardless, this recipe will not be repeated again in our household. Mr. S. who DOES like celery wasn't too jazzed with it either and I found myself munching on a box of Pocky as opposed to finishing my dinner.

[Note: I didn't have chicken broth on hand so I used vegetable broth. I also omitted the chives.]


Celery Root and Apple Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

4 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled celery root (from one 1 1/4-pound celery root)

3 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled cored Granny Smith apples (from about 2 medium)

1 1/2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)

1/4 cup white wine

4 cups low-salt chicken broth

4 sprigs of thyme

1/4 cup buttermilk

fine-grain sea salt and fresh-cracked black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup snipped chives, for garnish

extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Instructions

- Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat.

- Add celery root, apples, and onion. Cook until apples and some of celery root are translucent (do not brown), stirring often, about 15 minutes.

- Add wine, broth and thyme. Cover and bring to simmer.

- Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer covered until celery root and apples are soft, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

- Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth.

- Return soup to pot and stir in the buttermilk. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

- Garnish with snipped chives and a drizzle of olive oil.

("Celery is useless" by NatalieDee.com)

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Have You Checked This Out?

Just saw this fridge by Amana on Apartment Therapy, it's so cute. I'm totally lemming it! Mr. S. would probably hate on it because it lacks an ice/water dispenser but pish-tosh sometimes style comes before function.  ;)

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Have You Checked This Out?

I've always been a purist when it comes to coffee...I like my cup of joe black, strong and good. If you see me putting sugar or creamer in it, it usually means that the coffee's less than stellar in taste. However, last week my coffee routine was shook up with the introduction of So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer. I happened across it while buying some soy milk at the grocer's. O-M-G! This stuff is like crack...yes CRACK, not crap. It's seriously addicting. I threw a carton of the French Vanilla flavor (it comes in original, french vanilla and hazelnut) in my cart on a whim and a week later I've already returned to buy another one. According to Turtle Mountain, the company that cranks this stuff out, the coconut milk creamer is dairy/lactose free, soy free, gluten free, cholesterol free, no trans fat and certified vegan...it's basically free in everything but taste (and cost).  I think I might tone down how much of this I'm going through just because I really don't need to be throwing down any extra calories (little or otherwise) during the holidays, but for the occasional indulgence this'll definitely be at the top of my list. Like the carton says, it's "So Delicious."

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Thyme Out: Goat Cheese & Apple Tarts

It's been a giant rainfest here lately and the last thing I've been feeling like doing is driving. It's been a cold, damp weekend and tonight was the perfect night to relax with girl friends, gab and drink wine (thanks for hosting, Kristen!). I needed a dish I could throw together without having to don galoshes and slosh my way to a grocery store. Since I had a few Granny Smiths and a log of goat cheese in the fridge I decided to bake a batch of A Cozy Kitchen's Goat Cheese & Apple Tarts. I halved the recipe (listed below is the original recipe) and it came out fine. To top it off, when I came home from hanging out; the house smelled all warm and toasty from the thyme, prompting me to brew a cup of hot tea and put on some Nina Simone before settling down at the laptop.

FYI: This recipe makes a great appetizer but I think it'd pair perfectly with a pipin' bowl of soup as well. Check it out for yourself.

Goat Cheese & Apple Tarts


Ingredients

2 sheets frozen puff pastry

10 oz goat cheese

2 granny smith apples (or similar variety)

2 tbl olive oil

1 tbl chopped fresh or dried thyme


Instructions

- Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

- While the puff pastry is still frozen, lay flat and cut into squares.

- Place the puff pastry pieces on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread goat cheese in the center of each puff pastry square.

- Core and thinly slice the apples. Arrange the apple slices on the pastry, making sure that the cheese is completely covered.

- Drizzle the assembled tarts with olive oil & sprinkle the thyme over them.

- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until it's golden brown on the edges. Serve immediately.

(* Keep a close eye on the tarts once they're in the oven. I found they browned very quickly and took them out at 18 minutes; however, each oven is different.)

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