Seasoning Greetings... Bon Appetite

Merry Christmas...

Because I can't be there to share the Christmas Season with you all, I thought I would share a few of my favorite holiday recipes.  

Easy Salsa

2 bunches of green onions chopped

1 bunch of cilantro

2 4 oz cans of green chiles (diced and roasted... I like Ortega best)

1 28 oz Whole Peeled Tomatoes

Throw all the greens into the food processor (blenders work too but you need to use the tomato liquid from the can to make it blend better)  and blend up (It breaks up the onion so it won't chunky- )  

Here is where it might very to taste.  

You can add another can of tomatoes if you like it tomatoey

If you think you know how spicy you want it, add the jalepenos now and blend.  If you're worried about it being too spicy, add the jalepenos a little at a time after the tomato goes in.

Add the tomatoes and blend it all up (don't over blend once the tomato goes in).  

The more jalepeno the spicier the salsa.  

You can use chipotle chiles instead of or along with the jalepenos to give it a smoky flavor.  Use a few spoonfuls of the sauce (adobo sauce) it is yum! One or two chipotle peppers will do you unless you are like my mom- woman with iron tongue.  

Another variation is to add lime juice.  

Last week I added pomegranite and it was really tasty... a little sweet with the spicy.  

I don't salt it, but you can.  

Final touch it to chop a few roma tomatoes and add it and give it one final blend.  The fresh tomato will liven up the taste and makes it look like it was more work than it really is.  

Enjoy...

Add it to smashed avocado (salted) to make guacamole (ol-e)

Another recipe is a Chile con Queso dip

4 tblspooons butter

1/4 cup of flour

1 can of chicken broth

4 cups of cheese (a yellow cheese works best)

Salsa

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the flour to make a rue (is that how you spell it?).  Stir over the heat for about a minute to heat the flour through (it should look pasty, if not, add more flour).  Add the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil.  It should be slightly thick like a gravy.  Add the cheese and stir until melted.  Add salsa to your liking.  

Serve in a fondue dish to keep warm and melty.  

I don't know what you would call the bread, I use it for Bruschetta and you can use it to make croutons also.  

Loaf of bread (sourdough or french pre cut is easier)

1 stick of butter

garlic powder

parmesan cheese

parsley

Melt butter and add garlic powder to taste, about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese palm full of parsley and mix together.  Slice bread into cracker size pieces (not to thick) or to bite size pieces for croutons.  Dip one side of each piece of bread to get it slightly wet.  Spread it out on a cookie tin.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or so, you know it is ready when it is golden brown.  Let cool.  Sprinkle more parmesan cheese if desired.  Once it is cool, it should be crusty.  

If you are making croutons, it is probably easier to add the bread into a plastic bag and pour some of the butter mixture in and shake it up.  The bread should be moist but not too wet.  Spread it out on the pan and bake like the bread.  Croutons need to be a little crustier so you might want to keep them in the oven a little bit longer.  Keeping them in a lower temperature oven for a longer amount of time will make it crustier.  

The butter mixture is also good for garlic bread.  Just use softened butter instead of melted butter and spread it on bread and bake.  

Hint, don't use garlic salt... when you mix it with the butter (which is salted) and the parmesan cheese which is salty, it makes your bread too salty.