This Dame Cooks A Collection of Recipes from Alaska to the South Pacific and Caribbean

Avocado and Olive Dip with Tortilla Chips

Hurrican Irene certainly has not effected the avocado harvest this year. For the last 3 weeks here in Rincon, PR, we’ve had an abundance (mucho aguacate) of big beautiful avocados for guacamole, salads, burgers, sandwiches, potato causas, deep-fried avocado wedges, and just eating right out of the shell with a little lime juice, salt and pepper.

I’ve also been pickling pequin chillies and jalapeño peppers which go in my salsas…some with Puerto Rican sofrito.  Last winter when the limes were in season I preserved some in salt using an old Fiji-Indian recipe and they are really coming in handy for seasoning the avocados.

My card partner and I feasted on nachos with this dip on Thursday.   I gave some to my neighbors who called it “rico” en español, meaning delish in any language.  Its super easy to throw together, then stuff it back into an avocado shell for a simple presentation.  Enjoy!

• 1 ripe avocado, chopped
• 1 Tbsp jalapeño peppers, chopped
• 1 scallion, sliced thinly
• 8 black olives, chopped
• 1 heaping Tbsp picante salsa
• 1/4 salt-pickled lime (2 tsp lime juice plus salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together just until combined.  Try to leave some chunky texture.

Take this poll and see.

If you only have $100 per month to spend on food, what would your meals consist of?  I’ve searched for menus given this spending restraint but could find no menus, only shopping strategies and grocery lists.  My real question is how healthy and well can you eat on $100 per month?  As a single retired person living on a fixed income, its important to keep expenses at a minimum and health at a premium.  Dare say, struggling single-young-people  have the same quest.  To that end, I’ve devised menus for a month of meals that ensure high nutrition, comfort and ease of preparation.  Every week starting Monday, August 29th, I will blog one week’s worth of menus with links to the recipes and a shopping list with prices so you can glean how this is being accomplished.  Shopping smart is the key.

Its important to note that certain food staples are necessary to have on hand when you begin creating menus.  A list is provided (below) of staples you should have on hand.  These will last for several months,  for example: a box of salt will last you 4 months or more; herbs, spices, vinegars, syrups and extracts will last at least 6 months;  ketchup, mustard and other condiments will definitely last more than a month.  Unless you love to bake, or dried beans and lentils are your thing, you can allow $10-$20 per month to buy new staples and replenish old ones.  Buying those “Lost Leaders” (sale items that get you into the store so you’ll buy more expensive items) will save a lot of money in stocking your staples for the freezer and pantry.  Once you have your staples you can buy more fresh produce (fruits and veggies), meat, fish, eggs and dairy for immediate consumption.

Growing your own herbs and some vegetables will add flavor and nutrition to your diet plus save money.  Making your own condiments and cooking from scratch will also save money.  And, whenever you get a bunch of fresh fruit or veggies from parents or neighbors, its definitely worth the time and effort to preserve, freeze, dehydrate or pickle for future use.  Food Banks are often called to harvest fruit from backyards where the owners cannot deal with the abundance of fruit falling from their trees.  If your neighbor has a lot of fallen fruit and it doesn’t appear they are using it, ask them for it, u-pick it instead of letting the fruit rot on the ground.   Freeze fruit for pies, smoothies, coulis, etc.  Make some jam, jellies or fruit butters for yourself and for gifts.  If you don’t know how to cook check out YouTube videos entitled “how to cook – “, check out Chef John’s videos at foodwishes, buy a cookbook at a garage sale, ask your Mom, your Aunt, your neighbor or your girl(boy) friend for recipes and definitely try some of my recipes.  Just remember, “If you can read, you can cook.”

List of staples to have on hand:

In the Pantry:

• flour, all-purpose and whole wheat
• yeast
• dry milk powder, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk
• baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, cocoa powder
• creamed soups (mushroom, chicken, celery, etc) (I like to make these from scratch and freeze them)
• canned veggies (tomatoes, tomato paste, chipotle chile, roasted red pepper, corn, beets) and fruit (black plums, peaches)
• various spices & seasonings (the basics: garlic powder, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, thyme, salt, pepper, dried onion, dill etc)
• various condiments (worcestershire, soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, Tabasco, olives, capers etc)
• vinegar, olive oil and vegetable oil
• rice, oatmeal and cornmeal
• peanut butter, molasses, maple syrup
• dried fruit like raisins, prunes, figs, and apricots, etc
• canned tuna, canned salmon, sardines, etc
• sugars, white and brown, powdered sugar
• dried beans, split peas, quinoa and lentils
• potato flakes, couscous, stuffing mixes
• pasta

In the freezer and frigerator:

• chicken broth homemade
• beef broth homemade
• homemade breads, rolls, plus store-bought tortillas, English muffins purchased on sale
• pureed pumpkin, squash, spinach, sweet peas, broccoli, etc. and other fresh fruits & veggies frozen before they can go bad.
• ribs, ground beef, turkey, chicken, sausage, etc.  All meats bought on sale, divided into portions and frozen.
• nuts and seeds (these items keep better and longer in the freezer rather than in a cupboard)
• ginger root
• frozen juices
• butter (real) and cheese bricks bought when on sale

According to the Scoville Heat Scale pequin (also spelled piquin) chile peppers are right up there with Tabasco and Cayenne pepper…30,000 SHU to 60,000 SHU.  Not as hot as a Scotch Bonnet or habañero pepper but plenty spicy and fruity for my tastes.  Pequin chiles grow wild here in Puerto Rico and I have also picked them in the wild bush of Tonga in the South Pacific.

One of the advantages to this recipe is its replenishable without having to add more chilies or start from scratch again…at least a couple times…all that is needed to fill up the bottle again is more brine and time.

Any size glass bottle or jar will work depending upon how many chilies you have.  If a gallon jar is used, strain the sauce through a fine-mesh and fill smaller bottles for table use.  If you can’t find fresh pequin chilies in local markets, there are dried pequin chilies available in most Latin markets or check out chilepequin.com for seeds and all the instructions to grow your own pequins.  They also have several good salsa recipes.

Use this sauce like Tabasco.  It adds a little sparkle to just about any savory dish.

Ingredients for 1 pint bottle:

• 2/3 cup fresh pequin chilies, red and green, stems removed
• 3 sprigs of fresh oregano
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed slightly
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp sea salt
• enough white vinegar to fill bottle

Method:

1. Sterilize a pint bottle in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Drain.
2. While still hot, add chilies, oregano, garlic and lime juice to the bottle.  With a wooden spoon handle, crush the chilies slightly.
3. To make the brine:  In a small saucepan heat the water, sea salt, and vinegar to simmering.  Stir to dissolve salt.
4. Pour brine over chilies.  Cap or seal.  Let set for 7 days.  Refrigerate.

Notes:

1. For large batches, water-bath all bottles in boiling water for 15 minutes.  Water level must be 1-inch above bottle tops.  Remove from bath to draft-free area to cool.  Check that tops are sealed and store in cool, dark pantry for 1 year or longer.  Refrigerate after opening.
2. When sauce loses piquancy its time to start another batch or open another bottle.  When a bottle runs low on sauce but the chilies are still pleasantly piquant, just add more brine.

Prunes always remind me of summers at my grandparent’s dairy farm.   At the crack of dawn Grandpa would wake to the rooster’s chorus, go down to the cellar and stoke the sawdust furnace to take the chill off the house, then stop in the kitchen and throw a handful of prunes on the stove to simmer and finally head out to the barn to milk the cows.  We had the lofty job of washing utters and hooking teats up to the milking machine.  When the milking was done we’d traipse into the kitchen with a pitcher of literally half and half fresh milk and cream for breakfast.  Grandma’s kitchen always smelled divine but especially in the morning with mouth watering fruit breads, bacon, eggs, and stewed prunes for grandpa.

This recipe is from a Canadian friend living in Tonga, another South Pacific colony of the British crown.  It’s egg-less, dairy-free and fat-free but oh so yummy with the flavors of molasses, ginger and those sweet prunes.  It toasts beautifully and is perfect with just butter.  However, this fruit loaf is even more tasty imbibed with brandy and aged like a fruitcake.  Give it as a house warming present or hostess’s gift at the next coffee klatch.  It is soooo easy to make, just mix the ingredients in a bowl, pour the batter into a loaf tin and bake.  Give this a try and if you’re not crazy about prunes, figs or other dried fruit will work fine.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pitted prunes
• 3 Tbsp molasses (or Treacle)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cups whole wheat flour

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C.).   Grease and dust with flour a standard sized loaf pan.
2. Mix prunes, brown sugar and molasses with boiling water.
3. Stir in baking soda.  The mixture will start foaming.
4. Mix flour and ginger together and gently stir into the foaming prune mixture.
5. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 35-40 minutes.   Let set for 5 minutes and remove from pan.

Tomatoes are abundant now and inexpensive especially if purchased in quantity.  Unlike hot-house tomatoes that the supermarkets carry in the winter,  fresh summer tomatoes are full of flavor that you can smell.   They’re a good source of vitamins A and C, and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant.   Cooked tomatoes actually have more antioxidants than fresh tomatoes, the exact opposite of other antioxidant rich foods which lose their potency when cooked.  Researchers believe a person who drinks one glass of tomato juice everyday will live a very long healthy life.

Tomato pulp with milk powder makes a wonderful facial mask that will actually help heal acne and defoliate skin.  Idea of Beauty claims vitamin C and potassium found in tomatoes help heal the skin.  We know the vitamins and minerals in tomatoes are internally good for our bodies so if you’d rather absorb  those nutrients in a pampered facial mask than eat them, so be it.  Certainly anything good to eat will not harm your skin unless you’re allergic to it.

There are dozens of varieties of tomatoes.  Beef steak tomatoes are good for salads, sandwiches, salsas, and stuffed with chicken salad, tuna salad, herbed cottage cheese, tabbouleh or couscous.

Roma tomatoes are more fleshy and make excellent Italian sauces, canned whole tomatoes, or dried tomatoes.  Even the sauce can be dehydrated for tomato paste.

Cherry tomatoes and salad tomatoes on the vine are wonderful roasted and preserved with olive oil for antipasto, meze plates, and everything in between.

There has got to be at least one new dish created everyday that uses tomatoes.  Try a few of the recipes given here.  Add your own herbs and spices, make them your own.  And while tomatoes are at their peak, preserve some for winter.

Homemade V-8 Juice:

• 2 lb tomatoes, washed, cored, and chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, washed and chopped with leaves
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 small red beet, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, washed, seeded and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
•  2 tsp of Old Bay Spice
• 1 Tbsp horseradish

Method:

1. In a stainless steel pan, cook vegetables about 20 minutes or until they are tender.
2. Puree in a food processor.
3. Add sea salt and sugar to taste.  Chill.
4. Follow the method for Canned Tomato Juice for larger quantities.

Here are a few ways to preserve them:

1. Frozen Tomatoes:  Wash and core, place in freezer bags whole and freeze.  They thaw out in a flash and are excellent in bolognese sauce and stews or soups.
2. Canned Tomato Juice:  Wash, core, quarter and cook (without added water) over medium heat in a stainless steel pan just until tender and juicy.  Run through a food mill or press through a fine mesh sieve (chinoise) to remove skins and seeds.  Add salt to taste and 1/2 tsp of citric acid to sterilized jars.  Pour tomato juice into hot jars up to 1/2 inch from the rims, seal and process in a pressure cooker for 35 minutes.  (see video below)
3. Canned Whole or Diced Tomatoes:  Wash and core tomatoes, slice an X into bottom of each tomato, dip into boiling water for 2 minutes then remove the skins.  Pack whole tomatoes or diced tomatoes into sterilized jars with salt to taste and 1/2 tsp citric acid.  Pour hot tomato juice into jar up to 1/2 inch from rim of jar, seal, and process in pressure cooker for 35 minutes.
4. Dried Tomatoes:  Use Roma or cherry tomatoes.  Wash and slice in half.  Place on trays in an electric dehydrator and dry per manufacturer’s instructions.  Or, place on racks over cookie sheets and dry in a 250° F. oven, turning ocassionally, until tomatoes are leathery.  Place dried tomatoes in sterile jars and store in a cool, dark pantry.  Or, add basil leaves, garlic, salt, and pour in hot olive oil up to 1/2 inch from the rims.  Seal immediately and place in a cool, dark  pantry for 1 week before using.  Refrigerate, after opening, up to 6 weeks.
5. Tomato Paste:  Use Roma or beef stake tomatoes.  Dry the tomatoes in a dehydrator until they are crisp (see video below), grind to a powder in a food processor or coffee mill and reconstitute with just enough water to make a paste.  To make a sauce, add a bit more water to the paste along with herbs, spices (salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, cloves etc.), onions, garlic, or mushrooms.
6. Tomato Caper Tapenade:  3/4 cup of dried tomatoes in oil, 1/4 cup drained capers, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves.  Process all ingredients until smooth.  Spoon into an 8 oz hot-sterilized- jar, top with 1/4 cup hot olive oil, seal immediately.  Refrigerate, after opening, up to 6 weeks.

Dehydrating tomatoes video

Canning tomatoes video