Salsa Fresca, Fresca! Salsa Fresca, Fresca!

Fresh flavors, bright colors and crisp textures make salsa fresca the perfect accompaniment to any summer meal! I’ve enhanced my version with sweet Fuji apples and smoky roasted bell peppers. It’s really quite tasty.

Salsa Fresca – Blackberry Pockets Style

Two medium sized tomatoes – small dice
One small red onion (or half of one large red onion) – small dice
One roasted yellow bell pepper – small dice
Half of one Fuji apple – peeled, small dice
One Jalepeño – fine dice
Half cup of fresh cilantro*– course chop
Juice from one lime

*Note: Personally, I love the strong sagey, citrusy flavor of cilantro but some people really seem to hate the stuff. If you happen to be one of those people (you know, one of those…), you can either omit the cilantro from the recipe or substitute fresh Italian parsely.

Combine tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, apple, Jalepeño, and cilantro into a bowl, squeeze the lime juice over the contents and fold the ingeredients together to mix.

You now have a bowl of delicious salsa! Open a bag of chips, add it to your fish tacos or simply help yourself to a spoonful. However you choose to eat this salsa, you will enjoy the hell out of it.

I really enjoy adding fruit to my salsas and I think the crispness of the Fuji apple works really well in this recipe. Pineapple might be a nice touch as well. Ooh, or jicama! As always, feel free to use your imagination, add a few of your favorite ingredients to the mix and work to make this recipe your own.

Po-Tay-Toes! Boil ‘em, Mash ‘em, Stick ‘em in a Stew!

Or in this case, slice 2 potatoes into ¼ inch strips, toss with a tablespoon of olive oil, place them on a medium heat grill (around 370 degrees), close the lid, cook them for about 6 minutes, flip them and give them another 6 minutes.



Pull them off, season with salt, pepper (and any other seasonings you like on your potatoes) and enjoy! Serves 4 as a side dish. Otherwise, serves 1 potato lover!

Ok, so not the most exciting post this week, but sadly, I have just not been cooking that much lately. I suffered some battle damage to my back and it has put me in kind of a lazy mood. That being said, grilled potatoes are really excellent! If you haven’t tried them, you are in for a treat. Light, crispy and smoky and I promise, you won’t miss the deep frier.

Chocolate and Orange

Oh, the delicious pairing of orange and chocolate! It is truly one of my favorite combinations and orangettes are fast becoming a candy staple at Casa de Pockets. For those unfamiliar with these delightful treats, orangettes are delicate strips of candied orange peel with a crisp chocolate coating; they have a soft, chewy texture and a citrus bite.

When I began researching recipes for candied orange peel, I discovered that there are a wide variety of ways of preparing them with no general consensus on the best approach, and surprisingly, few detailed instructions. Unfortunately, this lack of direction resulted in several failed batches with seized sugar, burnt peels and puddles of mush.

However, after a long process of trial and failure, Blackberry Pockets’ test kitchens were finally able to develop a method for candying orange peel, which appears to work faithfully time and time again. Hopefully, today, I can give you the direction that was denied to me and help you to create flawless candy with no waste.

Orangettes (chocolate-covered candied orange peel)

Ingredients:
The peel from 3 oranges*
3 cups of sugar
1 ½ cups of water
¼ cup of light corn syrup
8 ounces of dark chocolate

* Note: If you are not in the mood to eat 3 oranges and can't coordinate another orange recipe to use the fruit and juice, you can save the peel from the oranges that you eat over the course of a week or two by storing them in a ziplock sandwich bag in the fridge.

Method:
Cut the ends off of the oranges, quarter them and remove the peel (pith intact) from the fruit. Slice the peel into ¼ inch strips.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the orange peels for 3 minutes, drain them and repeat the process two more times. This process removes some of the bitter flavor from the peel.

After blanching the peels, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup into a medium-sized sauce pot over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the orange peels and bring the solution to a simmer.

Allow the orange peels to simmer on low heat for 30-50 minutes until they are translucent. This is the step where I blew it on multiple occasions. Pay close attention that the liquid never comes to too hard of a boil. You should still be able to see the submerged peels and you don't want all of the water to evaporate.

When the peels have become translucent (and tasty), transfer them to a drying wrack on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Note: you can preserve the syrup in an air tight container and use it in marinades and drink mixes!

Place the peels in the refrigerator and allow them to cool overnight. Roll the peels in sugar and, again, allow them to dry in the refrigerator for a few hours.


Next, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler until it reaches a smooth consistency with a glossy shine. If you want to properly temper your chocolate in order to achieve a crisper bite and glossier coating, follow these handy directions from David Lebovitz. Dip the peels into the melted chocolate one-by-one, leaving the tips uncoated and place on the parchment. If you end up with leftover melted chocolate, dip some nuts, fruit or cookies into the remainder!

Place the candy back in the refrigerator to help the chocolate firm up faster (about 15 minutes). Enjoy!



P.S.
This recipe works great using other citrus peel as well:

Grapefruit Peel

Pomello Peel

Lemon Peel

Simply Superb

Grilled Veggie Salad

As the temperature climbs steadily through the 100’s, the idea of standing over a hot stove or oven for any length of time is becoming increasingly less appealing. As such, the grilling season is in full swing here at Blackberry Pockets, with teriyaki New York strip steaks, seared ahi, flame broiled burgers, smoky bacon-wrapped scallops and many a cold vodka tonic helping to make the intense heat a little more bearable.

In addition to my affinity for grilled meats, I also love to grill a variety of vegetables. Asparagus and sugar snap peas are two of my favorites and when tossed with olive oil and salt, result in a satisfying flame-kissed snack that works great as an appetizer or a harmonious accompaniment to your main course.

Although both of these items make fantastic sides on their own, I have discovered that combining them, along with grape tomatoes, creates a crisp, fresh and delicious salad that I could probably eat every day. This recipe is incredibly easy to prepare and it is always a hit!

Simple Grilled Veggie Salad

½ lb of Asparagus, trimmed (about 12 spears)
½ lb of Sugar Snap Peas
1 cup of Grape Tomatoes (whole)*
2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt to taste
½ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

*Note: *I prefer to leave the grape tomatoes whole for this recipe in order to add a nice juicy pop to every bite. However, if the tomatoes you purchase are not particularly sweet or crisp, it would probably be better to slice them in half and squeeze the seeds out of them.

Preheat your grill to medium-high.

Cut the asparagus into equal-length pieces about 2 inches long. Combine the chopped asparagus with the peas in a medium sized bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of the extra virgin olive oil until all pieces are evenly coated.

Place the asparagus and snap peas on the grill and cook for 5 minutes, giving the vegetables a quarter roll with your spatula every minute or so, until they are bright green with minimal char.

Remove the asparagus and peas from the grill, place back into the bowl, and add the grape tomatoes. Add the other tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to the vegetables and combine until everything is evenly coated. Enjoy!

Variations

I thought this recipe might be made even better by adding a few more ingredients and I prepared a batch that included yellow summer squash, green beans, and fresh mozzarella.



Although it was perhaps a little more visually appealing, I think the better recipe was the original less complex version. However, maybe I am still missing something; so play around with this recipe and let me know what you come up with!