Tasty little spring salad

There's no real recipe for this...just make an emulsified dressing from olive oil and some red wine vinegar.  Add a pinch of sugar and some basil.  Serve it over greens and decorate your plate with some spring fruit.  Yum.

Chile and garlic beef

Here's a lovely change of pace from Sesame Beef.  Much as we love the stuff, we need variety :-)

Chile and Garlic Beef

1 lb thin-sliced beef
2 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
1 t cornstarch
1 T sherry
1 T hoisin sauce
1 t rice vinegar
2 t chile and garlic paste
Salt
Vegetable oil
1 T fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
12 scallions, sliced into 2 inch pieces
Rice noodles
Pickled ginger

Place the beef in a crock pot with a little bit of water or broth.  Allow to cook on low for several hours until the fibers begin to break down.

Start water boiling for the rice noodles.  Combine the soy sauce through the salt and set aside.  In a large skillet, saute the ginger and garlic in oil until just softened.  Add the beef and scallions.  Saute quickly to soften the scallions.  Add the sauce and cook for a few minutes until thickened.  Serve over rice noodles with pickled ginger on the side.

Fresh green beans and mushrooms

Oh these are good, good, good!

Fresh Green Beans and Mushrooms

1 lb green beans
Butter
Shallots, minced
12 oz mushrooms (we like baby bella), sliced thick
1/4 c sherry
Salt and pepper
Thyme

Steam the green beans for 4 to 5 minutes until barely tender.  In a large skillet, saute the shallots in butter until tender.  On medium low heat, cook the mushrooms until their moisture cooks off.  Add the sherry and the beans.  Saute and toss together for a couple of minutes until heated through.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme.

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Whipped potatoes with shallot and horseradish butter

We like Yukon gold potatoes the best for making whipped or mashed potatoes.  You're welcome to use any variety you like...the important thing is to whip them with plenty of sour cream and serve them with the butter!

Whipped Potatoes

I use approximately 1 cup of sour cream per 6 potatoes.  Yeah, that's a lot.  So what?

Shallot and Horseradish Butter

Prepare as much as you will need in the following ratio
1 shallot, minced
1/4 c butter
1 T prepared horseradish

In a glass measuring cup, melt the butter in the microwave with the shallots.  Cook on medium-low until the shallots are soft.  Add the horseradish and mix well.  Allow to harden up if you prefer.  Can be served hard, soft, or melted.

Fruit salsa for salmon

This fruit salsa goes beautifully with any firm-fleshed fish, or it can be a nice side salad on its own. It doesn’t keep well overnight, so I recommend making and eating pretty much right away. Fortunately, there’s not much problem with that!

Fruit Salsa for Salmon

1 c fresh blueberries
1 avocado, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1 kiwi, peeled, sliced, and quartered
1 T soy sauce
1 lime, grated zest and juice
2 T canola oil
2 t fresh ginger, grated
Parsley or cilantro (optional)
Cayenne pepper flakes, to taste

Mix all ingredients together, toss lightly and serve with fish.

Slumgullion

What?  You've never heard of slumgullion?  How about mulligan stew?  Depending upon exactly where you live, they might be the same thing, or they might be different.  The stew might be slightly thinner and served in a bowl.  Then again, slumgullion can definitely be served in a bowl too.  Just depends...

Quick, easy, good use of left overs!

Slumgullion

Pasta
Left over meat
Vegetables of some sort
Tomato sauce and maybe some tomato paste too

Start the pasta cooking.  In a large skillet, heat the meat and saute the vegetables.  I think we used both left over hamburger and some sausage in the batch shown above.  Add the tomato sauce and heat through.  Add some tomato paste if needed.  When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the skillet.  Serve any way you chose.