Bloomin Onion

Outback Steakhouse claims to have invented the Bloomin Onion. Whether they did or not, they definitely made the name a household word.If you have a bit of trouble cutting the onion exactly right, consider visiting a restaurant supply store for a special “blooming onion” cutter.  They make the job MUCH easier and you’ll end up with a perfectly beautiful onion every time.

Ingredients

1. 4 Vidalia or Texas Sweet Onions
2. .
3. Batter:
4. ===========
5. 1/3 Cup Cornstarch
6. 1 1/2 Cup Flour
7. 2 tsp. Minced Garlic
8. 2 tsp. Paprika
9. 1 tsp. Salt
10. 1 tsp. Pepper
11. 24 oz Beer
12. .
13. Seasoned Flour
14. ===========
15. 2 Cups Flour
16. 4 tsp. Paprika
17. 2 tsp. Garlic powder
18. 1/2 tsp. Pepper
19. 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper
20. .
21. Creamy Chili Sauce
22. ===========
23. 1 pint Mayonnaise
24. 1 pint sour cream
25. 1/2 cup Chili sauce
26. 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Mix cornstarch, flour, and seasonings until well blended.
2. Add beer, mix well.
3. Cut about 3/4″ off top of onion and peel. Cut into onion 12 to 16 vertical wedges, but do not cut through bottom root end. Remove about 1″ of petals from center of onion.
4. Dip onion in seasoned flour and remove excess by shaking.
5. Separate petals and dip in batter to coat thoroughly.
6. Gently place in fryer basket and deep?fry at 375 to 400 1 1/2 minutes. Turn over, and fry an additional 1 1/2 minutes.
7. Drain on paper towels.
8. Place onion upright in shallow bowl and remove center core with circular cutter or apple corer.
9. For the Creamy Chili Sauce, mix all of the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

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Creamy Pea and Artichoke Pesto Pasta Salad

Pasta salads are salads formed with a base of pasta and pretty much anything that you can think of can be added after that. Pasta salads are normally served chilled and often have a mayo based dressing. This pasta salad has mayo in the dressing but the dressing is primarily based on freshly made basil pesto. I really liked the sound of combining the creamy and tangy mayo and with the fresh pesto and I just had to try it. Not only did the dressing for this pasta salad sound good but it also contains two other great ingredients, artichoke hearts and peas. Luckily I was still able to find some fresh peas at the farmers market but frozen would also work well. This pasta salad came together easily with the hardest part being the waiting for it to chill in the fridge. The creamy pea and artichoke pesto pasta salad turned out great! It really was nice and creamy and the pesto and mayo dressing was nice and tangy and fresh and really tasty. As I found out just recently, peas go really well with mayo and they added a nice hit of sweetness to this pasta salad. The salad tasted great after chilling for just a half an hour but it tasted even better the day after when the flavours had had a chance to mingle a bit.

Yield:

makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1. 1/2 pound penne
2. 1 cup pesto
3. 1/3 cup mayonnaise
4. 1 cup peas
5. 1 cup artichoke hearts, quartered
6. parmigiano reggiano to taste, grated

Directions

1. Cook the pasta as directed on the package.
2. Mix the pesto and the mayonnaise in a bowl.
3. Toss the pasta in the pesto mixture along with the peas.
4. Gently fold in the artichoke hearts.
5. Let chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or more.
6. Serve garnished with the grated parmigiano reggiano.

Chiles Rellenos

I have been making Chiles Rellenos for about 30 years. I have never had an actual recipe. I just watch someone I knew (from Texas) make them and have been making this way ever since.

Yield:

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1. Chile Rellenos
2. ===============
3. 1 or 2 cans whole chili peppers (usually 3 or 4 in a can)(or roast fresh poblano peppers)
4. Monterey jack cheese
5. 2 or 3 eggs separated
6. 1 tablespoon flour
7. salt and pepper
8. oil for frying
9. .
10. Tomato Chile Sauce:
11. ==============
12. 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes roasted or one 28 ounce can of quality tomatoes
13. 2 to 3 hot jalapeno peppers
14. 1/2 small onion
15. 1 large clove of garlic
16. 1 tablespoon lard or olive oil
17. salt
18. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Cut cheese into finger size pieces.
2. Carefully shove the cheese stick into a pepper being careful not to split it.
3. Heat about 1 inch of oil in frying pan.
4. Beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form. do not overbeat.
5. Beat egg yolks with salt, pepper and the tablespoon on flour.
6. Gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture.
7. Dip the pepper stuffed with cheese into flour and then into the egg mixture. Carefully add to the oil. If needed, spoon a bit of the egg mixture on top of the pepper while in the pan. (these fry quickly), flip over and fry other side. Remove and drain on paper towels. Continue cooking until all of the peppers are cooked.
8. To make the sauce, place the tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic in blender and pulse. Puree leaving a little texture.
9. Heat oil in sauce pan. Add tomato chili mixture and simmer until the sauce thickens. About 5 minutes. Remove from heat and seaon with salt and add the cilantro.
10. Serve Chili Relleno with sauce on the side OR Place the fried chile rellenos in a casserole dish and pour the sauce over them. Bake in a 350 oven for 20 to 30 minutes.