Sizzling Salsa

I hate shopping on Amazon. Hate it. When I type leather messenger bag into the search engine I do not want to sift through 45, 956 result items. 20 pages of messenger bags? That seems a little over zealous Amazon.

You need to do a better job at reading my mind. If facebook can figure out that photography is a hobby of mine, that I exercise and take my nutrition seriously, that I am a science nerd and I dislike the color pink all on it's own and then supply me with random in your face advertisements on a routine basis, then you, Amazon, can at least narrow down the search results to a select few.

Does this irritate anyone else?

Change of subject. The end of the summer, means everything is in season. Yippee...except I can only eat cucumbers and tomatoes 18 days in a row before I start to dream of cucumbers and tomatoes. And I'm going to go ahead and make the executive decision and say that once you start dreaming of the vegetables you're eating, you're probably spending too much time with them.

The other day I decided to make cucumber salsa after I was inspired by a picture I saw on pinterest. I like salsa, a lot. I think it's pretty versatile. I used up anything I could find in my garden. This is what I had and some.

Tomato and Cucumber Salsa

1 c tomato, seeded and chopped

4 c cucumber, seeded and chopped

1/2 c red onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tblsp basil, chopped

1/4 c sour cream

1/4 c greek yogurt

3 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp salt

Prepare your vegetables. You really only want the 'meat' of your vegetables, so you need to seed them. You do not want watered down salsa right? Mix the first 7 ingredients together once prepared in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl mix the remaining ingredients (sour cream, yogurt, lemon juice and seasonings). Add the wet ingredients to your vegetables and mix. Serve with tortillas or whatever you want, but eat immediately. The longer it sits the more watery it gets.

This salsa has a little kick to it. So if you don't like spicy hot, don't use the jalapenos or chipotle in adobo sauce.

This would be amazing in fish tacos!

 Enjoy!

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

First day of official vacation. I spent it all day on my computer playing with freeware photo editing software.  I used Photoshop and Illustrator when I was a grad student, but I refuse to pay for those now. So, I've been testing out anything and everything I could use for free. Definitely harder than I anticipated. I've been using GIMP today, but if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know. This is as far as I got:

Lots to still figure out. I'll get there I suppose. 

Anyway, before my eyes start going crazy I thought I'd get in this blog post. And make it short and sweet. 

My dad's birthday was not that long ago and for his special birthday dinner I made sausage stuffed mushrooms. They were pretty fantastic and make a great appetizer. So, if you're having a small get together sometime soon, I suggest you make them. They are somewhat time consuming, but totally worth the effort. I'm pretty sure everyone agreed.

I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman on the foodnetwork and jotted it down. It is the first of her recipes that I have tried, but I was very pleased with how they turned out. 

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

2 small containers of fresh White Button Mushrooms

1/3 pound Hot Pork Sausage

1/2 whole medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup red or white wine

8 ounces cream cheese

1  egg yolk

3/4 cups parmesan cheese, grated

salt And pepper, to taste

You want to start by browning the sausage in a skillet on medium to high heat. When it is brown remove sausage and set aside to cool.

While the sausage is browning you can prepare the mushrooms. Wipe the mushrooms with a wet paper towel or dish towel. Do not rinse them with water under the faucet. They will just soak up all the water and become water logged. Pull the stems out of the mushrooms (they should pop right out), chop (the stems) and save them for the filling. With a small spoon scrape out the inside of the mushroom, making a nice little bowl for the filling. Place them on a foil covered baking sheet to be filled. 

Saute the onions and garlic in the same skillet you used to brown the sausage. Once tender or translucent in color, deglaze the pan with a wine of your choice. I used a slightly sweet red wine. One that I drink frequently. You should always choose a wine that you'd actually drink to cook with. When you cook with wine, the flavor of the wine is intensified. So, if the wine does not taste good to begin with your dish wont either. After most of the wine has evaporated add the chopped mushroom stems and cook a little longer. Add salt and pepper to taste. I did not need to add any salt at this point. I thought the sausage I was going to be adding was salty enough on it's own. 

In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, parmesan cheese and egg yolk. Mix together. Add the cooled sausage and the onion, garlic and mushroom stem mixture to the bowl. Mix everything together. Refrain from eating by the spoonful.

If needed, refrigerate mixture to allow to set for easier filling. However, I am impatient. I filled the mushrooms to the brim right away. About a tablespoon for each mushroom, unless the mushroom was small.

Bake the mushrooms for roughly 25 mins at 350F or until golden and crispy on top. Allow to cool. If you can. Once again, I couldn't, so I dug right in. However, they do taste better once they've cooled a little while. Hence, why they make great little hand held appetizers. 

I had filling leftover from this recipe, so stay tuned for a second recipe using it. I promise it wont disappoint either.