Homemade Salsa in the Blender

It's that time of year where we are either entertaining, going to parties or we are just so darned busy we don't even want to mess with cooking a full meal.  Sometimes we just have snack night and we will eat mini naan breads with hummus, or little freezer tacos with queso.  Or <GASP> pizza rolls.  I'm not too much of a food snob to hit the freezer snack section of the grocery store once in a while, BUT the one thing I am picky about it store-bought salsa.  There is really only one kind I like, and I swear everyone in town must like it too, because it is always out of stock.  Only a couple of stores around town even carry it, and on the rare occasion I do see it, I'll buy several jars.  When I can't find it however, I prefer to make my own.  I love this version because not only is it super easy, it's made with canned whole tomatoes.  Of course I love salsa made with fresh from the garden tomatoes, but now it is the time of the year the grocery store tomatoes are mealy and white in the middle with no flavor.  This version has much more flavor and you can control with spice with how many jalapenos you use.  It's great for Mexican food night, or company because most of the ingredients are items you probably have on the pantry shelf.  Grab a bag of chips and give this a try - it might just be your favorite (or in my case, my second favorite!)

This is so quick and easy to make.

Just a few ingredients.  Use as many or as few
whole pickled jalapenos as you would like to 
make your salsa milder or hotter.  I usually use
around 6-8 PLUS the juice from the can.

Grab some chips and enjoy.

HOMEMADE SALSA IN THE BLENDER

1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes
1 small can whole pickled jalapenos (AND the liquid from the can)-use as many as you want to make it hotter or milder

1 small red onion (or part of a red onion if it is larger)
1 garlic clove
handful of fresh cilantro (to taste)
juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar (this helps the canned tomatoes not taste so canned)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or to taste)

Combine everything in a blender or food processor and pulse until everything is chopped and combined.  Check for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.  Will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce from the Occidental Hotel

One of the zillion things I love to collect is paper ephemera.  That's a fancy word for collectible memorabilia that was for a short term purpose.  Ticket stubs, post cards, newspaper articles.  I really don't collect recent ones as much as I love to prowl antique stores and estate sales for little historical things that catch my eye.  There's not really a theme, just little advertising images or blurbs that were once tossed aside but now seem historically interesting to me.  So when I saw this cute little newspaper article including a hot fudge recipe I immediately had to try it.  In true historical fashion, I had to do a little research on the Occidental Hotel.  It was originally built int 1864 in Muskegon, Michigan as the Hamilton House Hotel.  It reopened as The Occidental in 1868 and enjoyed many decades, even experiencing a devastating fire in 1936.  It finally closed the doors in 1970, making way for the Muskegon Mall.  But back in the glory days, apparently Betty and her friends that worked at Sears nearby were onto something because the hot fudge sauce is amazing.  I'm ashamed to admit how many nights in a row we ate hot fudge sundaes.  With Valentine's Day coming up, this is the perfectly classic ending to a Valentine's Day meal.  Enjoy with someone you love!

This sauce is so thick, rich and luxurious.
Be sure and use quality cocoa powder,
whole milk, real butter and quality vanilla
to get the full experience.

Here is the original newspaper clipping
that caught my eye and inspired me to
make this recipe.

Aren't these just the cutest little Valentine's Day Desserts?
A Classic Hot Fudge Sundae with
Homemade (Historic) Hot Fudge Sauce

Be generous with the Hot Fudge Sauce and
Whipped Cream.  You only live once!

This is soooo good.  We ate sundaes for a week.
We have the scale to prove it.

Using quality ingredients in the sauce makes
all the difference.  Using homemade whipped
cream and splurging for these cherries will too.
The Merry Marachino Cherries from Tillen Farms are the best cherries ever.

Here are a few of the little paper ephemera
things I have collected over the years.
Sometimes I change it around for the holidays
with things like vintage Valentines.

Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce from the Occidental Hotel

2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup cocoa (I used dutch-processed)
6 tablespoons flour (I used gluten-free flour blend with great results but feel free to use all purpose)
1 teaspoon salt (I used Diamond Kosher)
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
2 teaspoons vanilla

Whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, cocoa, flour and salt) in a saucepan.  Place over medium-low heat stirring in the milk and cubed butter.  Stir constantly until combined and thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Store in refrigerator.  To reheat, place in a microwave-safe container and heat for 20 seconds at a time, stirring well in between until hot.

NOTE:  I varied a little from the instructions when I made this.  The clipping wasn't entirely clear when to add the butter or vanilla so I added ingredients according to similar recipes with great results.

Prep Time:  Approximately 5 minutes     Cook Time:  Approximately 25 minutes

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ranch Dressing is the quintessential Okie condiment.  I'm not positive but I think the trend of putting ranch salad dressing on pizza started in Oklahoma.  I remember doing it in high school much to the chagrin of my parents and Pizza Hut waitresses everywhere.  As I've gotten older though my tastes have changed and while you'll still catch me grabbing a bottle of Ranch Dressing when we order a pizza, it's not something I really put on a salad anymore.  Mainly because I like to make things from scratch.  In fact, we make so many things from scratch around here when I do eat something like a store bought cookie all I can taste is preservatives.  So the other night we made lovely salad for dinner.  I brined and baked some chicken breasts, fried and crumbled some bacon, chopped some hard boiled eggs.  We had Romaine lettuce, chopped celery and carrots.  It was quite colorful and refreshing and lovely to look at and then I realized I had no dressing to put on it.  What would have been perfect was Mr. DD's Blue Cheese Dressing but I didn't have any blue cheese on hand and I sure wasn't changing out of my pajama pants to make a trip to the store.  So I came up with a quick little version of Homemade Ranch Dressing that was an absolute hit.  The secret ingredient?  Pickle Juice. Mr. Devilish Dish loves anything with lots of dill and while I did add dried dill to the recipe, I wanted to boost the dill flavor and thin the dressing just a little.  The result was delicious and we ate salad for days.  This is my new favorite go-to dressing and I just might have to order a pizza for old times sake and try it out! 

Oklahoma's favorite condiment: HOMEMADE!

Delicious on salads, veggies, as a dip
and of course on pizza!

Christmas Charcuterie Board

As you may know, my other hobby besides cooking is sewing.  I make scarves from repurposed threads.  A lot of team shirts, but if I can put a needle through it I'll try to make just about anything.   As I've probably told you before Mr. Devilish Dish is quite the cook and he has even taught cooking classes at the international pantry many times.  I've even roped him into helping me with some pop-ups and demonstrations when I've held craft shows there.  He always features some kind of delicious food item or kitchen tool available at the international pantry.  This year we decided to do something different.  As our gift to our loyal shoppers who come to our holiday show every year, we decided to have him teach a little workshop and our theme was Charcuterie Boards & Cold Brew Coffee.  The cold brew coffee was amazing and I will feature it soon in another blog post, but I wanted to share the charcuterie boards just in time for Christmas.

Charcuterie is the craft of preparing smoked and cured meats for preservation and flavor. Typical charcuterie meats are salami, ham, bacon, sausages, and pates. A selection of meats and cheeses are often accompanied by other yummy bites such as crackers, olives, pickles, jams, spreads, fruits and vegetables.  Think of it as the modern relish tray!

Pizza Nachos

It's no secret I enjoy cooking.  And I don't mind complicated recipes with lots of ingredients.  My recent post of Traditional Tikka Masala was in no way difficult, but it did have several steps with several ingredients.  A few weeks ago I made a Southwest Meatloaf that had 25 ingredients between the meatloaf and the sauce.  I didn't mind making it.  I enjoyed it, BUT sometimes I just want to hurry through dinner so I have some sofa time with my sweet pooch Elli.  These PIZZA NACHOS are the answer to a night you need some satisfying comfort food in just a few minutes.  Convenience Food.  Four ingredients, One Pan, Easy clean up.  Perfect for a night you just feel like dogs and sweatpants!

Ooey, Gooey, Cheesy and best of all:
FAST!

I may have over done it on the sauce.
Oops.

Top with lots of shredded mozzarella.
I like to buy my cheese in blocks and grate it myself.
But you could use a package of pre-grated cheese
if you prefer to make this even faster!

Hot cheesy comfort food in just a few minutes.

Here's my boxador:  Ghirardelli "Elli" for short.
See why I need a quick meal like Pizza Nachos?
I need lots of time to cuddle with her!

PIZZA NACHOS

1 package frozen waffle-cut fries
1 jar of your favorite marinara or pizza sauce
1 block mozzarella cheese, grated
1 package pepperoni (or your favorite pizza topping!)

Preheat the oven and bake the waffle fries according to package directions.  I baked them a few minutes longer to make sure they were extra crisp before I drowned them in toppings.  Top fries with pizza sauce, shredded cheese and pepperoni.  Return to oven and bake a few minutes more until cheese is gooey and melted.

Big Mac Salad

I can honestly say I've never had a Big Mac.  As an adult I don't eat much fast food.  As a kid I was all about the Happy Meal.  I'm not really a fan of the special sauce, which I always assumed was Thousand Island Dressing.  Now Mr. Devilish Dish is somewhat of a Big Mac Expert.  And as I drag him through life on my gluten-free journey, I'm always looking for gluten-free options that will keep him intrigued.  When I ran across the idea for a Big Mac Salad, I knew it was something I had to try.  His first comment was, "Big Macs don't have tomatoes."  Then I ran through the jingle in my head, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun."  He's totally correct.  But I think they made a great addition to the salad, and added a necessary color component as well.  Also missing was the sesame seed bun, but if you're not gluten-free, wouldn't some sesame seed bun croutons be a fun addition?  Other than the tomatoes/missing bun debacle he declared the salad tasted, "Exactly like a Big Mac."  A very simple recipe, full of healthy ingredients, and a fun twist on an old favorite!

A really fun twist on an old favorite...

You won't miss the bun.

Layer the ingredients in a glass salad bowl
for a pretty presentation.

Drizzle the salad with the "special" dressing.

Enjoy the flavors of an old favorite
in a gluten free, low carb form!

BIG MAC SALAD
gluten free/low carb

For the Dressing:

1/2 cup good quality mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 Kosher dill pickle spear, finely minced

For the Salad:

1 pound ground beef
Kosher salt
pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/4 cup finely sliced white onion
1/2 pound cheddar cheese, freshly grated
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup finely diced Kosher dill pickles

To prepare the dressing, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, paprika, sugar, and salt.  Stir in pickles and set aside.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, season the ground beef with salt, pepper and onion powder.  Brown until crumbly and drain.  In a large glass salad bowl, layer the salad starting with the Romaine lettuce.  Top with the ground beef.  Then layer on the onion slices.  Cover with shredded Cheddar cheese and top with chopped tomatoes and pickles.  Serve drizzled with dressing.

Prep Time:  Approximately 20 minutes     Cook Time:  Approximately 10 minutes

Chili Cheese Dogs

Summer is in full swing.  We just celebrated the 4th of July and you know what that means:  Cook-Outs, Barbecues and Picnics.  Potato Salad, Popsicles and of course: Chili Cheese Dogs.  Hot Dogs are the quintessential backyard food of summer, and there's nothing better than one topped with tasty chili.  It's also time for our Summer Edition of Freaky Friday.  That's where us food bloggers get together and re-create each other's recipes.  It's a secret for everyone, including you!  The most fun is seeing who was assigned your blog and what they chose to make.  It's also a great way for you, the reader to meet some new bloggers and find lots of great new recipe ideas.  This time I was assigned the LeMoine Family Kitchen blog.  Angela is a busy mom of two boys and Jersey girl at heart, with a true passion for cooking!  I love following Angela on social media and I often comment I wish I had half her energy!  With Italian roots, you'll find many traditional Italian recipes on Angela's blog, like Classic Spaghetti & Meatballs or Tortellini Pomodoro.  You'll also find a variety of other cuisines, some healthy choices (which I love!) and some clever twists on old favorites.  I couldn't decide on a recipe because everything, and I mean everything on Angela's blog looks amazing.  We tried and loved the BLT Chicken Salad Stuffed Avocados and the Sheet Pan Kielbasa and Potatoes (sheet pan dinners = easy clean up!) I was really torn about which recipe to blog today, but ultimately I went with Chili Cheese Dogs because they seemed so fun and appropriate for our July theme!

Don't these look wonderful?
The perfect summer meal!

Grilled hot dogs, topped
with a seasoned simmered chili
and shredded Cheddar cheese.
Yum!

Ideal for your next potluck, picnic,
cook out or tailgate...

Thank you Angela from
LeMoine Family Kitchen
for the great recipe!

Make your next hot dog a
CHILI CHEESE DOG
with a big pot of LeMoine Family Kitchen Chili.

CHILI CHEESE DOGS
from: LeMoine Family Kitchen

1.5 pounds lean ground beef
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh jalapeno
3 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1.5 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
hot dogs
buns
shredded cheddar cheese

In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, add the olive oil, onion and jalapeno.  Once the onion and jalapeno are softened, go ahead and add the chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder, oregano, cumin and salt.  Cook for one minute.  Add in the canned crushed tomatoes, water and ground beef.  Using a potato masher OR this really cool tool (the handiest little gadget EVER) break up the meat until a fine texture is reached.  Simmer on low 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Season with salt and pepper to taste if needed.  Grill up your hot dogs, place in the buns, top with some chili and shredded cheddar.

Prep Time:  Approximately 10 minutes     Cook Time:  Approximately 30 minutes

If you enjoyed this recipe, try some of my previous
FREAKY FRIDAY FINDS:

Chocolate Covered Snickers Strawberries

Southwestern Coleslaw

Buffalo Ranch Dip

Golf season is here and once again I'm a golf widow.  I actually don't mind because Mr. Devilish Dish is assisting with the NCAA Regional Tournament.  He's volunteering his time so I volunteer to make him dinner when he gets home.  It's a lot of time in the sun and heat, and very long hours so he never wants anything heavy.  My go to golf tournament meals are usually something simple like chicken salad sandwiches or easy meatball subs with chips.  We had a big bag of wavy potato chips that were screaming to be dipped in something yummy so I whipped up a batch of tangy Buffalo Ranch Dip.  Everyone loves Ranch Dip and who doesn't love Buffalo anything?  There are all kinds of tasty Buffalo sauce flavored treats here at The Devilish Dish, including Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and one of my very first blog posts, and most popular recipes: Buffalo Chicken Casserole.  I'm game for anything with Buffalo sauce and Mr. DD really likes anything with dill so this was a foolproof combination.  The perfect dipper, fresh with that familiar kick of Buffalo flavor.  It goes together in minutes, but make it ahead so it has a couple of hours for the flavors to meld.  It's fabulous with chips, but I even dipped a couple of fresh cherry tomatoes from my garden, so I can report it's wonderful with fresh veggies too!

Buffalo Ranch Dip -
the ideal accompaniment to your
potato chips. 

Fresh and creamy
with the familiar kick of Buffalo flavor!

Is that towel not a hoot?
My friend Amy gave that to me for Christmas.
I told her it would make a
blog post appearance!

Check out today's harvest of Tumbling Tom
Tomatoes: They were yummy dipped in
the Buffalo Ranch Dip.

Buffalo Ranch Dip

2 cups sour cream
1/4-1/2 cup buttermilk (depending on how thick you want the dip)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons buffalo sauce (I use Frank's)
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
Kosher salt to taste
freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Whisk together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour prior to serving to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with chips and fresh vegetables for dipping.

Prep Time:  Approximately 5 minutes     Cook Time: 0 allow to chill

Chicken Cacciatore

Cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian.  The preparation of this dish means it is prepared "hunter-style" with onions, tomatoes, herbs, and wine.  Often it is prepared with rabbit, but we don't eat bunny foo-foo at our house so I opted for chicken instead. When I saw the dish included mushrooms and red wine, I knew it would be a winner for Mr. Devilish Dish.  Sometimes I'm picky and mushrooms are one of the things I'm picky about.  Turns out I was entirely wrong and I've really been missing out by not making this dish sooner.  It's very rich and hearty and I can't even begin to describe to you how much flavor is in the robust red sauce.  It's quite easy to prepare as everything goes in one pot, so don't be intimidated by the ingredient list.  Just chop everything ahead of time like I did.  It's really motivating when you see all of the beautiful, fresh vegetables ready to go into the cooking pot.  In addition, your house will smell amazing while this is cooking.  An ideal dish for company, as it is hearty and complex in flavors, but simple to prepare in one pot.  Whether you are a hunter, or you only hunt deals at the grocery store, you're sure to love this "hunter-style" dish!

A hearty, robust sauce full
of fresh vegetables and herbs.

Prep your ingredients ahead of time.
Everything goes into one pot,
making it quite easy to prepare.
Look at all of that color!

One pot preparation,
easy clean up!

So much flavor in one pot!

Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken prepared "hunter-style"
Served with pasta and crusty bread.
A perfect company dish...

Border Crossing Queso

A while back I shared a recipe for the Border Crossing Restaurant's Green Chile Stew.  The restaurant is sadly long since gone.  For years it was a favorite in Norman, Oklahoma.  Patterned after The Shed Restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it was a staple of southwest cuisine in our area.  I ran across two recipes in my Aunt Judy's things after she passed away.  One was the recipe for Green Chile Stew which is worth its weight in gold.  The other was the famous queso recipe.  This is the queso ahead of all quesos.  When I shared the stew recipe on some local websites and message boards, the number one response besides, "thank you" was "do you have the queso recipe?"  As promised, here it is.  It's a very simple queso, with Velveeta as the base.  It's thick and rich, and a great foundation for anything you want to add in.  One variation the restaurant offered was queso with their stew added in.  Since the stew recipe is now readily available, I suggest you try that combination as well.  You won't be disappointed.  In fact, my husband and I opted to stay in for Valentine's Day, celebrating at home this year.  Our menu was homemade chicken taquitos with Border Crossing Queso for dipping.  I rounded out the snack fest with some Chocolate Covered Snickers Strawberries for dessert.  If there is one way to show my husband the amount of love I have for him, it is with this queso!

Just like the restaurant...

Thick, creamy and rich.

Serve with chips, AND on top of your meal.

Note, this thickens quickly.
If you have a fondue pot, or chafing dish
it would be ideal for serving this queso.

A flavor of Norman's past...

Try some Green Chile Stew mixed in for a
true flavor of The Border Crossing.

THE BORDER CROSSING QUESO

2 pounds Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
5 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles (or more to taste OR use roasted Hatch chiles if you have them!)
2 ounces finely diced white onion
3 ounces whole milk

Heat in a double boiler.  Whip until smooth.  Serve with chips and on top of your meal.

Prep Time:  Approximately 10 minutes     Cook Time: Approximately 20 minutes

NOTE: The original recipe came in a HUGE quantity.  We could it down to a manageable amount.  Here is the original as written:

15 pounds Velveeta Cheese
2.5 pounds cream cheese
1 1/2 pound hot chopped green chiles
1 pound diced onions
3 cups milk
                                                   

If you love the flavors of The Border Crossing,
Try my husband's famousGreen Chile Stew: