Nothing says "Summer" like nachos & margaritas on the patio

We have Jimmy Buffett to blame for this post. Like I mentioned when I blogged my Key West trip, I am a proud Parrothead. And it was at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurant in Las Vegas that Jared and I decided nachos were an acceptable dinner. The Margaritaville restaurants have something on their menu called “Volcano Nachos”. These nachos are basically a huge pile of tortilla chips topped with chili, cheese and all the standard nacho fixins’. They’re served on a platter, and are piled high enough that they actually do resemble a volcano. Also, they’re awesome. Then again, I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a bad nacho.

Anyway, we certainly couldn’t finish the whole appetizer, much less eat a meal on top of it. So we decided to make the nachos our meal that night. And, every once in awhile, usually on a Sunday when we want to drag out the weekend, I’ll make a plate of nachos for dinner. Healthy? Not at all. Yummy? Oh yes. So, in continuing with my summer isn’t over theme, here’s a recipe for some great, Key West-inspired nachos I made a few weeks ago.

Tilapia Nachos
Serves 2-4 as a meal, more as an appetizer

Nacho Ingredients
Yellow corn tortilla chips
2 tilapia fillets
1 lime
Goya brand Adobo
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 bag shredded Mexican-style cheese
2-4 jalapeño peppers, sliced thin
1/4 red onion, diced
Kernels from 1 grilled ear of corn (optional)
Pico de gallo & guacamole for garnish (my recipes follow)

Pico de Gallo Ingredients
2-3 large tomatoes, diced
1-2 jalapeños, seeded & diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt & pepper to taste

Guacamole Ingredients
2 avocados, peeled & seeded
1/8 onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp. fresh cilantro
1 tsp. minced garlic
Splash of tequila (optional)
Salt & pepper

Directions
1. Make the pico de gallo by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The longer you refrigerate your pico de gallo, the better it will taste.
2. Lightly coat tilapia with lime juice and a light sprinkle of Adobo. Broil for 3-4 minutes per side. Chop broiled tilapia and set aside.
3. Reduce oven heat to 350°. Cover a round pizza pan with aluminum foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray. Layer tortilla chips on the foil-covered pan. Follow with a layer of tilapia, jalapeños, cheese, beans, corn, onions and pico de gallo. Add a second, smaller layer of tortilla chips and top with remaining nacho toppings. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and other toppings are heated.
4. While nachos are baking, make the guacamole. The easy way to do it is to throw all the ingredients in a 2-cup food processor and turn it on. If you’re into manual labor, mush (yes, that’s a technical term) everything together with a fork.
5. To serve, top nachos with guacamole and enjoy with a margarita!

My thoughts & suggestions

• For once, I don’t have many suggestions. They’re nachos. For dinner. Anything goes!
• That being said, here are some notes and explanations. I put the pico de gallo on before baking the nachos because I like the taste & texture of warm tomatoes on nachos. I know there are people who put more or less things in their pico de gallo. I roughly follow what my host mom in Mexico did when she made hers. This recipe is heavy on jalapeños because Jared & I like hot food. Feel free to reduce or eliminate them if you’re not a fan. I have to admit that I feel like a bit of a slacker because I didn’t shred my own cheese after going through the trouble to make my own salsa & guacamole. But part of the point of this meal was to use up leftovers & staples before they went bad. One final note about the guacamole. I do sometimes put tequila in mine. It’s a suggestion I came across on the internet a few years ago. You can’t taste the tequila; but it definitely enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.

This summer, I've started almost every work day with an iced version of my morning coffee

Attention retail stores, parents, teachers and food bloggers! Summer is not over yet! As a matter of fact, it’s not technically over for another month. And even if we go with the unofficial summer end date of Labor Day, there’s still over a week of summer left. So please stop with the Fall recipes, clothing and whining about how Summer is over. It’s annoying.

Summer is my favorite time of year. So I refuse to hop on the apples and sweaters bandwagon in August. I’ll enjoy my flip-flops, sunshine, warm temperatures and cold drinks as long as possible, thankyouverymuch. Which brings me (almost) to Iced Coffee.

First, let me say that, just like I don’t know much about wine, I also don’t know much about coffee. However, I do know what I like and don’t like. I like my coffee strong and sweet; and I enjoy flavored coffees. I love coffee shops, but try not to go more than once or twice a week. I can’t stand Starbucks. When I do go to a coffee shop, I stop at Staufs in Grandview for a coffee and a bagel or scone. That’s also where I usually buy my coffee beans, which finally brings me back to Iced Coffee.

Last summer, I cold-brewed my iced coffee using this method. But it was kind of a pain, and I didn’t like the flavor as much. This summer, I’ve made my iced coffee by brewing a super strong pot of coffee, adding sugar, and keeping it in a pitcher in the fridge. Here’s how I do it.

Iced Coffee
Makes 6-8 glasses

Ingredients
Whole coffee beans
1/4 cup white sugar (if desired)
Skim Milk
Ice

Directions
1. Fill a standard, 8-cup drip coffeemaker with the maximum amount of water.
2. Coarsely grind coffee beans. Add coffee to coffeemaker, using 2-3 tablespoons of coffee per 6 ounce cup of water. Brew coffee as usual.
3. When coffee is done brewing, pour into a pitcher and mix in about 1/4 cup of sugar. Adding sugar while the coffee is still hot will help it dissolve completely.
4. To serve, pour over ice and skim milk. Stir and enjoy!

Quick Note: I usually use flavored coffee for this. I’m partial to Coconut, but Staufs Snickerdoodle and Highland Grog also make great iced coffee.

5:00 on Friday! The work week is over and another wonderful summer weekend begins. Sure, it’s kinda rainy right now. But the weathermen are predicting sunshine and temperatures in the mid-80s for the rest of the weekend. It’ll be the perfect time to sit on your patio and enjoy a frozen concoction. This one has all the ingredients of a classic margarita, plus watermelon to add some sweetness. Also, it’s pink which is always a plus in my book!

Frozen Watermelon Margarita
Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients
3 c. watermelon, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 oz. fresh lime juice
6 oz. tequila
2 oz. triple sec
2 c. ice
1 lime, sliced into wedges, for garnish
1/4 c. granulated sugar, for garnish

Directions
1. Pour the sugar onto a small plate. Use a lime wedge to wet the rims of 4 margarita glasses. Dip the moistened rims of the glasses into sugar to coat.
2. Place all ingredients into a blender, reserving about 3/4 cup of ice. Puree, adding additional ice, until smooth.
3. Pour into the prepared margarita glasses. Garnish with lime wedges and enjoy!

One of my favorite meals

Hummus is a refrigerator staple in my household. Besides being one of my favorite foods, it’s easy to make and stays good for a long time. Served with sliced veggies and pita wedges, it’s is a quick and healthy weekday lunch or light dinner. It’s great to have on hand this time of year, when it can get too hot to cook. And it’s awesome with the fresh, in-season and locally grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers that are currently available.

I’ve been eating and making hummus since high school when it was an important source of protein for my then-vegetarian diet. My mom refused to cook me vegetarian food, which meant I had to learn to do it if I wanted to live on more than salads and grilled cheese sandwiches. So I subscribed to Vegetarian Times and bought a copy of their cookbook. I actually keep meaning to get that cookbook back from my mom’s house because it has so many great recipes. Anyway, the first hummus I made used a recipe similar to this one. I’ve been playing with it since then and finally got around to writing it down last week after I made a particularly good batch. This is a fairly classic hummus recipe. There’s no spinach or roasted red peppers, just chickpeas accented with tahini, garlic and lemon.

Lemon-Garlic Hummus
Makes 3 cups

Ingredients
1 15 oz. can chick peas
scant 1/2 c. juice from the chick peas
3 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. tahini
1 lemon, juiced
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and combine until smooth.
2. Enjoy immediately with fresh veggies and pita wedges, or cover and refrigerate.

My Thoughts & Suggestions

• I usually eat my hummus with pita wedges, tomatoes, cucumbers and red bell peppers. Other veggies that go well with it are cauliflower, broccoli, celery and green bell peppers. While I’m not a fan of hummus on carrots, a lot of people do enjoy it.
• My other favorite way to use hummus is as a sandwich topping. Spread the hummus on a pita, then add lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, bell pepper and feta cheese. Yum yum!
• This recipe is fine to double. I usually make a big batch of it and eat it for lunch all week. As long as it’s kept cold, it stays good for 5-7 days.

Cake & Ice Cream

Once upon a time, I hated ice cream sandwiches. Even as a kid, I didn’t like those thin, soggy “cookies” filled with tasteless ice cream that are sold in grocery stores. Then I discovered the ice cream macaroons at Jeni’s Ice Creams. For the uninitiated, Jeni’s is a company that makes artisan ice creams right here in Columbus, Ohio. They use local, seasonal ingredients and make ice creams that are rich and flavorful, but not overly sweet. Jeni’s ice cream is excellent on its own, and is only enhanced when it’s made into sundaes, floats and other treats. That’s where ice cream sandwiches come in. Jeni’s takes their ice cream and sandwiches it between two handmade macaroons. The first one I ever tried was Double Chocolate Buttermint, which is exactly what it sounds like. Two fudge macaroons are filled with buttermint ice cream. The resulting treat made me realize that ice cream sandwiches, when made carefully and with quality ingredients, can actually be very good.

Of course, I still wasn’t about to go to the grocery store and buy those icky ice cream sandwiches that they sell. I just figured I’d content myself with the occasional Jeni’s sandwich & leave it at that. The idea of making them myself never even crossed my mind, until I came across an article devoted to ice cream treats in the June issue of Food Network Magazine. It has recipes for homemade versions of classic ice cream truck treats, such as Orange Cream Pops and ice cream sandwiches. I plan to make several of the treats featured in this article, starting with these Ice Cream Sandwich Cakes. Sure, they’re not Jeni’s macaroons. But their rich, fudgey cake puts those nasty grocery store cookies to shame.

Ice Cream Sandwich Cakes
Makes 18 sandwiches

Ingredients
4 tbsp. butter
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. coffee, brewed
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 pints mint chocolate chip ice cream

Directions
1. Line bottom of two 8″ square cake pans with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 325°.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk about 1 minute to dissolve the powder.
4. Transfer cocoa mixture to a bowl and whisk in sugars until combined. Add coffee, buttermilk, egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the flour mixture until just combined.
5. Divide the batter evenly between both pans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Allow cakes to partially cool in the pans, then invert onto a rack to cool completely. Transfer cakes to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour.
7. Take ice cream out of freezer and allow to soften for 20 minutes. Clean and dry cake pans, then line each with plastic wrap, leaving a 4″ overhang on all sides.
8. Scoop all ice cream into one of the pans, packing it to make an even 1″ thick layer. Use a spatula to smooth the ice cream. Fold the plastic wrap over the ice cream to cover it, then freeze until solid, at least 1 hour.
9. Put 1 frozen cake in the remaining cake pan. Unwrap the ice cream and invert it on top of the cake. Remove plastic wrap and cover with remaining cake, pressing gently. Cover cake with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
10. To serve, unwrap the cake and cut it into 9 squares. Cut each square in half to make 2 rectangles. Enjoy!

That's a big ice cream sandwich!

Recipe Source: “What A Scream”, Food Network Magazine, June 2010.

Sugar Cookies: 4th of July Edition!

I’ve spent the last month doing a lot of cooking, baking, bicycling and traveling. This has left me with very little time for blogging (I know, such a tough problem to have).

After being out of town so much, I’m excited that I’m not going anywhere for the long weekend. Instead, I’m planning to stay and play in Columbus. I can finally check out the North Market Farmer’s Market on Saturday. The rest of the weekend includes The Crew soccer game, new recipes, working on my sister’s bridal shower, going to the pool and who knows what else. I’m also planning to update this blog with some things I’ve made recently and try to get into a semi-regular posting schedule.

Until then, I hope that everyone has a fun and relaxing 4th of July Weekend!

Admittedly, not the prettiest containers. But they are definitely cookout ready!

This is one of those recipes that I originally had no intention of blogging. I mean, what is there to say about making fruit salad? Chop up some fruit and maybe mix a quick dip. Easy. However, tonight marks the second Thursday in a row that I’ve found myself in the kitchen making this. I took it to a cookout at work last week, where the combination of sweet fruit and tart dip got rave reviews. A couple coworkers asked for the recipe and a couple others asked me to make it again for a Mother’s Day breakfast we’re having tomorrow. Since I’m hosting & catering my sister’s bridal shower in July, in addition to all of the usual Summer cookouts and picnics, I can see myself repeating, and playing with, this recipe a lot in the coming months.

Fruit Salad & Key Lime Dip
Makes approximately 12 servings

For the salad
1 pineapple
1 papaya
1 pint of strawberries
4 kiwifruits

For the dip
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. heavy whipping cream, cold
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 Key Lime, juiced & zested

Directions
1. Prepare the fruit. Peel, core and cube pineapple. Cut papaya in half, remove seeds, and chop into cubes. Peel kiwifruits and cut into small cubes. Remove tops from strawberries and cut into quarters. Mix all fruit together in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Make the dip. Using a stand mixer, combine powdered sugar and cream cheese on medium speed. Once ingredients are combined, add whipping cream and sugar. Increase speed to high. Beat until cream is slightly firm, about 4 minutes. Add lime juice and zest. Enjoy!

My thoughts & suggestions

• I know there are people who add sugar to fruit salad. I don’t understand this, since fruit is so sweet on its own. However, I do like to let the fruit sit for at least a few hours, if not overnight, before serving. This allows the flavors to combine and the natural sweetness to come out.
• Using this recipe, the dip tastes a lot like key lime pie filling. I considered adding vanilla, but didn’t think it needed any. I probably will try adding that in the future. I’d also like to play with other citrus fruits. I think that oranges would be especially refreshing in the summer.