This May Sound Corny, but Chipotle Is My Life! {Recipe: Corn Salsa}

"I love Chipotle, Chipotle is my life!" I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this quote from some viral vine. My son went around saying it for months! He does love Chipotle though. One problem, we don't have a Chipotle anywhere near us, so I try to figure out copy cat recipes. In February I posted a cilantro lime rice recipe that is pretty close, and now for the corn salsa. It's been a little while since I had Chipotle's, so I don't know how close this is, but it is really good!

P.S. Sorry for the groan worthy title, my husband's knack for bad puns is rubbing off on me. 

Corn Salsa

There are lots of copy cat recipes on the internet, this is just the combination we like. It is easily adaptable to your tastes. Add more or less cilantro, onion, lime, salt, and/or pepper accordingly. 

1 16 ounce bag of frozen corn, defrosted and drained

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

2/3 cup chopped red onion (about one small or 1/2 large red onion)

1 jalapeño pepper

juice of one lime

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Taste to check flavor and adjust accordingly. 

This is great in burritos and burrito bowls or on it's own with tortilla chips!

Enjoy!

Popularity Isn't Everything {Recipe: Baked Macaroni and Cheese}

Kraft boxed mac and cheese was all the rage when I was a kid, in fact I believe their ads claimed to be America's #1 packaged dinner, but my mother refused to buy it. I think I may have talked her into it once. She probably had a coupon. Mainly, if I had it at all,  it would be at a friends' houses. The only macaroni and cheese we ever had was made from scratch. While I liked the homemade macaroni and cheese, I thought the boxed stuff was way better. Of course my mom was right, the homemade was the better of the two and I will not touch the Kraft stuff now. 

The other thing my mother would never buy, which every other household seemed to have, is American cheese. That I could go along with. We only had Tillamook cheddar in our house (again, it's an Oregon thing). It about gagged me if I went to a friend's house and I was served American cheese. I still can remember struggling to swallow grilled cheese sandwiches made out of American cheese in an effort to be polite. 

Baked macaroni and cheese is one of the first dishes I learned to make on my own. I was around 10 years old when I learned to make it. The recipe I used came from my mother's old Better Homes and Garden Cook Book. I have no idea the edition, the cover wore off and the page with the copyright was missing before I ever used it. It was always held together with a large rubber band. I am not sure how much longer the cook book will survive, so I thought I better make another record of the recipe. It is not fancy like all of the mac and cheese recipes I see lately, but it is a good basic recipe. 

It wasn't until recently that I thought that my daughter should make this recipe. She is a little more experienced cook than I was at 10, so she had no problems making it. Although she did point out how vague the instructions are, so I will break it down a bit more. 

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted from Better Hones & gardens Cook Book, edition unknown. 

1 8-ounce package macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
1-3 tablespoons flour, depending on how thick of white sauce you want
2 cups milk 
Salt and pepper, to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon fine ground pepper.)
1/2 pound grated cheddar cheese*
1 cup dry bread crumbs, optional (I have never used.)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.
2. Cook macaroni until al dente according to package directions; drain and rinse. Pour into the prepared baking dish; set aside. 
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour. Cook for a minute or two, then whisk in the milk slowly to help prevent lumps, Continue to cook the white sauce until it starts to thicken, then add 2/3 of the cheese. Stir until all the cheese is melted. 
4. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni in the baking dish and give it a good stir. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and crumbs, if using, over the top. 
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and starts to brown. 

*Original recipe calls for American cheese. 

Serves 6

Enjoy!

My Roots Are Showing {Recipe: Small Batch Strawberry Honey Balsamic Jam}

My Oregon roots are showing again. I mentioned in the post,"For the Love of Anything with an 'Errie' in it...", that my mother was from Oregon and my family and I spent summers visiting my grandparents there. Not only would my grandmother load us up with fresh berries, she gave us lots of goodies she canned herself. The most coveted among all of the canned goods she gave us was the strawberry jam.

Last summer my husband and I took the kids on a road trip to Oregon. They have been there before, but only as far as Ashland, which is near the California border. This time we headed up to Portland. Portland is closer to where my mother grew up (she grew up in Hillsboro, OR). The kids loved Portland! Portland is a unique place. Anyone who has spent time there totally gets the show Portlandia and the phrase "let's keep Portland weird." But it's the uniqueness of Portland that makes it a great place. Among the things we all love about Portland is the food. It is a marvelous place for foodies and budding foodies alike.

There are a few food places we really enjoyed, but top of the list would have to go to Salt & Straw Ice Cream. There are not many places that we would wait in line for, but for this place we did and it was well worth it! The stand-out flavor out of all the ones we tried is: Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper.

Inspired by the Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper, I made this Strawberry Honey Balsamic Jam. I went to the Salt & Straw website to see if they sourced the honey balsamic vinegar they used and they do. It comes from Honey Ridge Farms in Brush Prairie, WA. and they ship! So once it was delivered, I set forth to make the jam. It is outrageously delicious! And as soon as I can figure out where to get the Pohnpei black pepper (apparently it is difficult to get), I'll try and make the Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper ice cream at home. In the event that I cannot get ahold of the pepper, I will try it without. I'll keep everyone posted on the ice cream progress. (Update: The ice cream was a success! The recipe is on the blog, filed under "Desserts,Sweets and Treats" in the Recipe Index.)

Small Batch Strawberry Honey Balsamic Jam

Makes 4 half-pint jars.

Ingredients:

Roughly 6 cups of chopped fresh organic strawberries (about 2 quarts)

3 cups organic evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar, divided

2 tablespoons Honey Ridge Farms Honey Balsamic Vinegar (I have seen other brands, but I have only tried the one from Honey Ridge Farms.)

Juice from 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Wash, hull, and chop the strawberries. In a large bowl that can be covered, toss berries with 1-1/2 cups of sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours (can be refrigerated up to 36 hours). 

2. Prepare jars when ready to make the jam.  Wash and sterilize jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. Then pull the jars from the boiling water can keep the jars warm by placing them on a tray in a 250°F oven until ready to use. Warm the lids in hot, but not boiling, water to sterilize and soften the seals.  I use a large frypan filled with about 2" of water or enough to cover the lids. Keep the lids in the hot water until ready to use. 

3. Pour the berries into a large saucepan and add the remaining 1-1/2 cup sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer the jam until it reaches 220°F. Stir frequently to prevent burning on the bottom. Also, if the chunks of strawberry seem too large, take a potato masher to them to break them up more. Add the honey balsamic vinegar and lemon juice during the last five minutes of cooking. 

4. The gel of the jam can be tested by putting a small spoonful on a chilled plate and placing the plate in freezer for a minute or two. If you want a firmer gel, cook the jam for a little longer. 

5. Once the jam is done, remove from the heat, and skim off the foam.  Carefully ladle the hot jam into the jars leaving 1/4-1/2 inch space from rim. Wipe the rim and threads of the jars clean with a damp paper towel. Place the lids of the jars and screw on the rings. Process the filled jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Make sure there is at least one inch of water above the jars at all times while they are in the water bath. Remove the jars from the water and let the jars rest for 24 hours. 

6. After resting the jars for 24 hours, check the seals. If any of the jars did not seal, the jam should be refrigerated and used within 3 weeks. 

Update: The jam made as made above does not gel as much as one made with pectin. It has the perfect consistency for adding to ice cream, but some may like a firmer jam for spreading. The problem with trying to cooking the jam until desired gel is it can burn easily. This year I made this jam with the addition of pectin to achieve a firmer gel. 

Strawberry Honey Balsamic Jam made with pectin.

Strawberry Honey Balsamic Jam with Pectin

Follow the recipe above for the ingredients. In addition you will need:

1 1.75 ounce package of pectin
3/4 cup water

Prepare the strawberries the same as in the above recipe. Once the strawberries are added to a large sauce pan, add lemon juice, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil, stirring constantly until the mixture cannot be stirred down. This takes about 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat; set aside. In a separate small sauce pan, bring to a boil the pectin and water and boil for about a minute. Return strawberry mixture to heat, add pectin mixture and honey balsamic vinegar, and bring to a boil. Boil hard for another minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam, if needed. 

Follow canning instructions above, or jam can be frozen in freezer proof containers. 

Note: I got 6 half-pint jars following this method. This method does not cook down the fruit and liquid as much. 

Happy canning!