Mango and Black Bean Salsa

April 28, 2025 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Twenty five or more years ago we ate dinner at a lovely bistro in Chelsea, Michigan called the Common Grill. I enjoyed a fish dish that was served with a side of mango salsa. As I recall the fish was excellent, but to me the salsa was the star. This recipe is my attempt to replicate those beautiful bright flavors. I have made this countless times and it’s great served with pork, fish of course including fish tacos, or all by itself with some crispy, salty corn chips. Mangos not only taste delicious, but they are high in Vitamins A and C, contain potassium, and they’re a good source of fiber. Black beans are a good source of protein, fiber, and they are one of my favorite beans. It’s always a bonus when you can enjoy something so tasty that’s actually good for you. And it’s so pretty!

Ingredients:

2 ripe mangos diced

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1/4 cup red onion diced

juice of 2 limes

1 cup cilantro rough chopped

drizzle of olive oil

salt to taste

Prep all of your ingredients. To me, the most challenging part is peeling and chopping the mangos. You want the dice to be similar in size to the beans.

Once everything has been prepped combine the mango, beans, onion, and cilantro in a medium size bowl. Juice the limes and stir to combine. Add a little drizzle of olive oil and salt to taste.

Enjoy!!

NOTE: If you want the flavors kicked up a bit you can add some fresh diced jalapeños or habaneros. Best made up at least an hour or two before serving to allow the flavors to marry. Keep refrigerated.

Onion Jam

February 26, 2024 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

For awhile I’ve been intrigued with the whole concept of “onion jam.” Sweet and savory in one bite. And who doesn’t like some beautifully caramelized onions?? A few days ago I was making sliders for our Saturday Nighters group and decided to give this jam a try. It is infinitely versatile in it’s flavor and utilization. You can change up the vinegar flavors and the herbs, use red or white onions, and adjust the sweetness level based on personal preference. Add a little bowl of onion jam to your charcuterie board, spread some on your burger or grilled cheese, add it to sauces for meat and poultry, and, of course, spread some on your roast beef sandwich. It’s easy to make, smells wonderful on the stove, and can be stored for several months in the refrigerator. The recipe below made approximately one pint of jam.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 large sweet onions diced (approximately 3 cups of diced onion)

Fresh parsley, rosemary, and bay leaves

2/3 cup of granulated sugar

2/3 cup vinegar (I used fig)

salt to taste

In a Dutch oven or heavy skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat, and add the diced onions. Cook for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Tie your fresh herbs with kitchen twine and add to the onions. Cook an additional 3-5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle the sugar over the onions. Without stirring, allow the sugar to melt. This took approximately 5 minutes.

Once the sugar has melted into the onions increase the heat to high and cook without stirring until the mixture is amber brown in color, approximately 5 minutes.

Once again, adjust the temperature. This time to low. Discard the herbs and stir in the vinegar. Cook an additional 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Taste and add salt if desired. Store in the refrigerator.

NOTES: You can use any kind of vinegar…balsamic, cider, white wine, champagne, fig.

Use any herbs you want to pair with the onion and vinegar. Rosemary and thyme are two of my favorites. Make sure you bundle them with twine to make them easier to pull.

Buttery Pesto Rounds

February 5, 2024 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

It’s hard to even call this a recipe, but everyone loves them, so here goes. My dear friend Jane shared this with me after she had them prepared by her daughter’s mother-in-law. The original recipe called for two ingredients. I expanded it to include three ingredients. My iteration included pesto for the twist. I’ve never been able to grow plants, but a few years ago my daughter gifted me an Aerogarden for Christmas. It grows basil like nobody’s business.

Not wanting to waste that delicious basil, in addition to adding it to salads and pasta dishes, I make a lot of pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays. It comes in handy for making so many dishes from sandwiches to omelets to pasta…and these delightful and addicting buttery pesto rounds.

Ingredients:

A nice bakery baguette

2 sticks of butter

2 T pesto (homemade or store bought)

Preheat your oven to 350 and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Melt the butter, along with the pesto, in the microwave.

Cut the baguette into about 1/2 inch thick slices.

Immerse the bread rounds, one at a time, into the pesto butter like you are making French toast.

Lay the rounds out on your parchment lined sheet pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 325. Turn each bread round over and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 10 additional minutes. Turn the oven off and, with the door slightly ajar, leave the pan in the oven to allow them to crisp up without getting too toasty. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Store in a zip lock bag or storage container. Enjoy them with a cheese spread, add them to your charcuterie tray, or just eat them as is. They won’t last long.

Cowboy Caviar

January 29, 2024 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

It’s been way too long since I’ve attended to my blog, and not because I haven’t been cooking. I’ve come to the realization that part of the reason I blog, in addition to wanting to share food with friends, is because I often have to search through my archives to find recipes that I’ve made, and want to make again. Like this recipe for Cowboy Caviar. This works great as a dip with corn chips or just on it’s own as a side salad. The fresh squeezed citrus gives it a bright, fresh taste. And it is SO colorful. I brought this to our Saturday Nighters group as my passing dish last weekend. As snack foods go I think it’s pretty healthy, and except for the chips, pretty low calorie! Lots of chopping is involved, but it comes together pretty quickly.

Cowboy (or Texas) Caviar was actually invented in the 1950s by Helen Corbitt. She was the food director for Neiman Marcus, and she first served this on New Years Eve at the Houston Country Club. Apparently the very humble ingredients are what inspired the name “Cowboy Caviar.” Regardless of what you call it, it is delicious.

Ingredients:

1 cup tomatoes diced

1/3 cup red onion diced

1 can black beans

1 can black eyed peas

1 1/2 cups frozen sweet corn

2 bell peppers diced

1 jalapeño diced

1/2 cup cilantro

1/3 cup olive oil

3 T fresh squeezed lime juice

2 T red wine vinegar

1 T sugar

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Dice the tomatoes, red onion, bell peppers, and jalapeño into pieces about the size of the beans and corn kernels.

Drain and rinse the black eyed peas and black beans.

Remove most of the stems (a personal preference) and chop the cilantro.

Add all of the beans and diced ingredients into a large bowl. Make your dressing.

Whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, and garlic powder. Pour over the beans and vegetables and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy! With or without chips.

NOTE: I chose to use a red and a yellow bell pepper but any color will do. If you want a little more kick do not remove the jalapeño seeds or use the jarred pickled jalapeños. You can also add diced avocado.

Cowboy caviar tastes best if prepared a few hours before eating.

Spring Rolls

February 21, 2022 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Spring Rolls were this weeks foodie project. I like to try new things to keep work in the kitchen interesting, and I’d never attempted spring rolls until now. There are a large variety of appetizers referred to as spring rolls. Wrappers differ as do fillings and cooking techniques. The spring rolls I made were filled with raw vegetables, a little mango, rice noodles, and herbs. They were wrapped in rice paper, and were not cooked. They were served at room temperature with dipping sauce. Ingredients and preparation vary from one Asian culture to another. After a little research, the preparation I used seems to me to most closely resemble Vietnamese salad rolls known as goi cuon. They can also be made to include cooked pork or shrimp. While these are not difficult at all to make the preparation is a bit fussy and tedious. All of the veggies need to be match sticked and that takes patience and a good sharp knife. Apparently you can buy the vegetables already prepared, but where is the fun in that?? You can easily personalize these and fill with ingredients of your choosing. This is what I used.

Vegetables:

Baby butter lettuce

Red cabbage

English cucumber

Carrot

Sweet red pepper

And a mango

Rice Noodles

I used 2 to 3 oz of Bifun. Most of the recipes I found called for rice vermicelli, but this is what I had. Prepare the noodles according to the directions on the package. Once they are cooked shock them in ice water to stop the cooking, drain, and return to the pan. Toss with one or two tsp of toasted sesame oil and set aside.

1/4 cup finely sliced green onion

1/4 cup cilantro

1/4 cup thai basil

1/4 cup mint

Tear or chop all of the herbs, combine, and set aside.

Once all of your preparation is done, set up what I referred to as my rolling station. You want all of your ingredients in one place and within reach.

Fill a pie pan with about an inch of room temperature water. Put a wooden cutting board next to the pie pan. Put one piece of rice paper in the water for 10-20 seconds and remove to your cutting board.

On the bottom third of the moisten wrapper, leaving about a one inch boarder, start piling on your veggies. I started with the baby butter lettuce, then the cucumber, carrots, peppers, cabbage, and mango. Next I added the rice noodles and finished it off with the herbs. Then you want to fold the bottom up over the filling, fold the sides in, and continue rolling like you would a burrito. Try to roll them tight. I set them on a parchment lined sheet pan. Once you get the hang of it this part goes quickly.

Now you can prepare your dipping sauce.

Peanut Sauce:

1/3 cup natural peanut butter (no sugar added)

2 T rice vinegar

2 T tamari (or soy sauce)

2 T honey

1 T toasted sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic grated

2-3 T water

Soy Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 T honey

2 T rice vinegar

2 T water

1 T toasted sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic grated

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl and cool. (I made a double batch of this sauce.)

Plate and enjoy.

NOTE: Zucchini or yellow squash, dykon radish, or other peppers would be delicious additions. You might also want to include cooked shrimp or thinly sliced pork if you prefer to add a protein.

Information I read regarding rice paper suggests not refrigerating the rolls because the paper may become chewy. Prep can be done ahead of time but the rolls should be made the same day as you plan to serve them. Keep them covered with a barely moist towel.

Chicago Style Giardiniera

September 17, 2020 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

This is still the Finnish Dish, but this is definitely not a Finnish recipe. Giardiniera means “from the garden” in Italian. It is a very common condiment in Chicago, thanks to the communities of Italian immigrants that made it popular. Pickling and marinating is a good way of preserving produce. In Italy, Giardiniera is considered an appetizer, and the vegetables are cut in bite size chunks. I have made that style before and just stored it in jars in the refrigerator. The olive oil solidifies in the fridge so you need to take it out and allow it to come to room temperature before serving. Chicago style requires a fine dice on the vegetables and the Giardiniera is used as a topping on pizza, salads, sausages, brats, nachos, sub sandwiches and the famous Chicago style Italian beef sandwich. The version I made today would most certainly be considered the “hot” version. The Serrano peppers are what kicks up the heat level. I did use half Serranos and half jalapeños, and I seeded the jalapeños, so my heat level should be a little lower than if I’d followed the recipe exactly and used all Serranos. According to the internet, in excess of a million pounds of Giardiniera are sold in Chicago annually.

The recipe I used was one my friend John shared with me. He had just made a batch and that inspired me to do the same. Some of the recipes I read used a different ratio of spices and vegetables but in the end they were all pretty similar. If you want to use your Giardiniera as an appetizer vs a topping you could follow the same recipe and cut the vegetables in larger, bite size pieces.

Day One Ingredients:

1 pound Serrano peppers sliced in quarter inch thick rounds

1 pound jalapeños seeded and diced small

1 pound sweet red peppers seeded and diced small

1 pound cauliflower chopped into small pieces

1/2 pound white onion diced small

1/2 pound carrots peeled and diced small

1/2 pound celery diced small

1 cup of salt

Now it’s time to chop, chop, chop. And remember to wear gloves when you’re working with the Serrano and jalapeño peppers. Get out a large glass or stainless steel bowl to put the diced vegetables in. I weighed all of the veggies as I chopped them.

Now that you’re done with the hot stuff you can take your gloves off.

White onion.

Carrots.

Sweet red bell pepper.

Cauliflower.

Combine all of the vegetables in your bowl and add the salt. Stir well to mix. Cover with Saran Wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The colors are beautiful!

Day Two Ingredients:

12 oz of sliced green olives with pimentos

1 cup of reserved liquid from the olives

2 T minced garlic

2 tsp cracked black pepper

3 T dried oregano

5 cups white wine vinegar

3 1/2 cups grape seed oil

Get your canning jars ready. If you’re using pint jars expect to fill between 10 and 12 jars. I used jelly jars (1 cup) and finished with 24 jars. Wash your jars well and keep them in a 200 degree oven, on a sheet pan lined with a towel, until you are ready to use them. Fill your water bath and turn the burner on because Day 2 is much faster than Day 1.

Pull your vegetable mixture from the refrigerator and drain off as much liquid as possible. I used a plate to push down on the vegetables while I poured off the liquid. Now, more chopping. Reserve 1 cup of liquid from the jarred olives and slice the olives.

Add the olives, olive brine and all of the remaining ingredients to the chopped vegetable mix. Stir well to combine. Now you’re ready to bottle your Giardiniera and process the jars.

Based on the advice John gave me, fill the jars just to where the rim begins. You don’t want the jars leaking oil while they are in the water bath. Be sure to wipe the rim of the jar well before putting the lid on and screwing it in place. Process your jars in the water bath for 20 minutes. Remove your jars to a towel or rack and allow them to cool down for at least 12 hours before storing them. Check all of the jars to make sure that they have sealed properly. If you have a jar that did not seal put it in the refrigerator.

NOTE; Like I mentioned earlier, if you want to use the Giardiniera for an appetizer, cut the vegetables into bite size pieces. If you want to make a much milder version scale the hot peppers WAY back and add more sweet peppers, cauliflower and carrots. You can leave the olives whole.

I have a beef brisket in my freezer. I think I’ll cook up that brisket and try to replicate a Chicago style Italian beef sandwich.

Empanadas

January 17, 2020 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

It occurred to me, as I was making the empanadas today, the last couple of weeks have been an ethnic diversity palooza in my kitchen. I made a Moroccan chicken tagine with apricots and olives, Asian inspired sticky ginger sesame chicken meatballs, Mexican tostadas with my friend’s pickled pigs feet sauce, a Vietnamese shrimp spring roll bowl with sweet chili mango sauce, Italian chicken parmesan with linguine and marinara, Polish pierogis with polish sausage and cabbage, and Jewish penicillin, chicken soup with matzo balls. It’s all been good. A couple recipes were better than others. But good just the same. It makes cooking and mealtime much more interesting when you experiment and try new dishes. A couple weeks ago I got new kitchen gadgets that made pierogis and empanadas more fun to make…a crimper and a roller that cuts the dough into perfectly sized discs to fit the crimper. The gadgets are the real reason I was inspired to make the empanadas today. I have a few packages of pierogis in my freezer. Now I will have a few bags of empanadas in my freezer. The recipe for the empanadas comes from America’s Test Kitchen, special collector’s edition, The Best Mexican Recipes. There are a lot of great recipes in that magazine.

Dough ingredients:

3 3/4 cups AP flour (18 3/4 oz.)

1 T sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

12 T unsalted, chilled butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 1/4 cups ice water

2 T olive oil

Process the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter the butter in the processor over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup of water at a time, stirring after each addition. You may not need to use all of the water. Once the dough sticks together, turn out onto a clean, dry work surface and gently press into a cohesive ball. Divide the dough into two discs, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour. Let the chilled dough sit out on the counter for a few minutes before rolling.

While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling. I made a vegetarian filling with corn, peppers, and cheese.

Filling Ingredients:

2 T unsalted butter

1 poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped fine

3 whole canned mild green chilis chopped fine

3 green onions, whites minced and greens sliced thin

1 small mild orange pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped fine

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper

3/4 cup frozen corn thawed

1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped

6 oz shredded Jack cheese

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and cook the peppers and scallion whites until softened and lightly browned.

Stir in the garlic and the spices and cook another 30 seconds until fragrant.

Stir in the corn and remove from the heat. Put the corn, pepper mixture in a bowl and refrigerate until completely cool.

While that’s chilling, slice the scallion greens, cilantro, and grate the Jack cheese. Once cool, mix all of the ingredients together and now you’re ready to start rolling your dough.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut discs with a biscuit cutter, a glass, or, if you’re fortunate enough to have one of these rollers, roll on.

Fill each circle with 1 T of filling. Brush the edges of the dough with water to help ensure a good seal. Fold the dough over and crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. Or, if you’re fortunate enough to have a crimper, crimp on.

Transfer the empanadas to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush each with olive oil.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to cool and enjoy!

NOTE: The filling options are endless. There is a beef and cheese filling in the magazine and many, many more recipes on line. The empanadas freeze well. Put them in the freezer on a cookie sheet until frozen and then transfer them to zip lock freezer bags. Bake them a few extra minutes if they’ve come out of the freezer. Serve them as is or with salsa or Mexican crema.

Goat Cheese Spread with Honey

June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

When you have guests and want to serve adult beverages and a snack, cheese, fruit and crackers are perfect. I was hoping to find the fresh goat cheese spread that our favorite party store usually carries but they were all out. I have a few good hard, savory, even stinky cheeses to serve but wanted a milder, spreadable cheese. Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention. I put together a real simple, 4 ingredient spread that tastes pretty darn good. Unlike cream cheese, goat cheese has a little kick or zing. But if you’re one of those people who dislike goat cheese, cream cheese would work in this recipe.

Ingredients:

10 oz package goat cheese at room temperature

8 oz lemon (or plain) yogurt

zest of one lemon

2 T honey plus a little more to drizzle

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until everything is incorporated.

Use a spatula to transfer the spread to a serving container and refrigerate.

Before you refrigerate, have a sample first. Because a good cook tastes everything before serving their guests.

Drizzle wth a little more honey before serving. Enjoy!

NOTE: Like I mentioned earlier, this would also be good with cream cheese as well…might taste a little like a bite of cheese cake actually. You can add a little more zest or honey based on your personal tastes. May also be good with a little fresh mint or thyme mixed in.

Sangria and Poblano-Jalapeño Jellies

July 27, 2017July 27, 2017 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

I’m not a huge fan of Sangria or hot peppers but love both of these jellies. You could spread them on your English muffin but I would call these hors d’oeuvre jellies. They are amazing on crackers with a little creamy cheese. Goat cheese is great with the poblano-jalapeño jelly and Brie is wonderful with the sangria. Any one of your favorite creamy cheeses will do. Or just spread a little jelly love on a cracker or a piece of Finn Crisp and enjoy.

I found these two recipes in a Better Homes & Gardens special publication. I love experimenting and trying new things so I gave these a shot. Loved them both, as did my taste testers, and ended up making two batches of each. The sangria is the easiest jelly ever.

Sangria Ingredients:

2-3 oranges – enough for 1/2 cup of juice plus zest

2-3 limes – enough for 1/4 cup of juice plus zest

1 bottle dry red wine

5 cups sugar

1 6-oz pkg (2 foil pouches) of liquid pectin

2 T brandy

Remove 2 tsp of zest from the oranges and 1 tsp of zest from the limes. Squeeze the juice from the fruit and measure out 1/2 cup of orange juice and 1/4 cup of lime juice.

Combine the wine, zest, juice, and sugar in a heavy nonreactive kettle.

Bring to a full rolling boil stirring constantly. Quickly stir in pectin. Again bring to a full rolling boil stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon. Stir in the brandy. Ladle the jelly into hot sterilized half-pint jelly jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes starting the timer when the water returns to a boil. Remove jars from the canner and cool on wire racks.

Poblano-Jalapeño Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups of sugar

2 1/2 cups finely chopped and seeded fresh poblano peppers

1/2 cup finely chopped and seeded fresh jalapeño peppers

1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup lime juice

1 6-oz pkg (2 foil pouches) liquid fruit pectin

Green food coloring

In a heavy kettle combine the sugar, chopped peppers, vinegar, water and salt.

Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 30 minutes. Stir lime juice into the pepper mixture and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil one minute stirring constantly. Quickly stir in the pectin and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in a little green food coloring. While the food coloring is optional the jelly is pretty ugly without it.

Ladle the jelly into half pint sterilized jelly jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, starting the timer when the water returns to boiling. Remove jars from canner and cool on wire racks.

The results are amazing! Hope you’ll give these a try.

NOTE: It’s a lot of pepper chopping but food processors tend to turn peppers into liquid mush. Just get a good sharp knife out and chop chop. The pepper jelly is NOT hot. You get the great flavor from both peppers without the heat.

Smoked Fish Spread

September 26, 2016 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

For those of you who have visited the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (the UP) you know that smoked fish is a “thing.” As soon as you cross the Mackinac Bridge you start to see little shops with signs hocking smoked fish. Smoked whitefish, Menominee, salmon, and my personal favorite, smoked trout. You can buy a whole fish or a slab. It’s great to eat just as is. Your fingers get a little greasy and they smell a little fishy but we don’t care. The fish also makes an excellent spread. Easy to make. And you won’t smell as fishy! My Dad used to make us smoked fish from his fresh catches and I will always remember his as being the very best. My very favorite. But Dad is nearly 89 and isn’t fishing much anymore. So when I visit the UP I frequently get fish for our family and for friends from one of the little shops.

Ingredients:

2 cups (approximately) of smoked fish flaked

4 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

3-4 green onions sliced thin

2 T capers

2 T lime juice

2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (1 tsp if you want more kick)

Cracked pepper

Salt to taste

Use a hand mixer and beat the cream cheese and sour cream together until it is smooth.

Add the capers, lime juice, black and cayenne pepper, and paprika to the cream cheese, sour cream mixture and stir well to combine.

Slice the green onions and flake the fish.

Add the fish and onion to the creamed mixture and blend well.

Taste before you salt. Some smoked fish is saltier than others.

This spread is excellent on crackers or served with raw vegetable like celery and carrots. Great with bread and butter pickles. You’ll also love it served on another UP tradition. Finn Crisp. Rye bread is the most traditional bread in Finland and in some areas of Finland it is baked only a few times a year, then dried and enjoyed year round. It is baked with a hole in the center allowing the loaves to be hung on dowels to dry. I’m sure that Finn Crisp is modeled after those loaves.