Weekend Events for Saturday, May 1st

City Beat Festival of Beers
noon to 6pm
http://www.sandiegomusicfoundation.org/beerfest/

Islande DiVine
3pm - 7pm
http://www.jlsd.org/?nd=island_divine

Temecula Wine and Music Festival at Vail Lake
noon - 7pm
http://temeculawineandmusicfestival.com/

Salmon with Citrus Salsa

This dish is so refreshing. It would be great as a summer time dinner or lunch. Serve with a nice salad and some bread and you have perfect summer or even a warm spring time dinner. We have not had much spring time weather, so I served it with orzo, just so it paired better with the weather we have been having.

1 tomato, diced
1 orange, peeled and diced
1 green onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 avocado, diced
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt and pepper, for seasoning
salmon
soy sauce
orange juice

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together tomato, orange, green onion, jalapeno, avocado and cilantro. Toss together. You do not have to worry about the avocado browning, because the juice from the orange will keep it from turning.

In a small baking pan (I like to use a small glass casserole dish), place salmon and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with soy sauce and orange juice. Let rest for about 5 minutes.

Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or so. Just until cooked through to the desired doneness you prefer. If you need longer time, cook in 5 minutes increments.

Top salmon with citrus salsa. Serve and ENJOY!!!!!

Wine pairing.....Pouilly Fume or Pinot Noir.

Shrimp Gumbo (with a twist)

I made this version of Gumbo to be an easy fix. I am not a fan of Okra, which is what is used in traditional Gumbo dishes, so I used your not so normal ingredients. Also, I skipped the flour that you normally would use to make the rue, just to make it even easier. Serve this with rice. I used brown basmati rice.

olive oil
1 white onion, diced
6 oz. ham, diced
3 celery, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
italian seasoning blend
ground red pepper, for seasoning
paprika, for seasoning
ground allspice, for seasoning
salt and pepper, for seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup chicken stock/broth (you can sub this out for vegetable stock/broth)
large shrimp, peeled, deveined, cleaned and patted dry
Mrs. Dash seasoning (or similar)
cilantro, chopped for garnish

Drizzle sauté pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and seasons with salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash. Sauté until cooked completely through. Remove shrimp and place in a bowl and set aside.

Drizzle sauté pan with more olive oil. Add ham and cook until brown and starting to crisp.

Add onions, celery, garlic and season with italian seasoning, red pepper, paprika, allspice and pepper. Continue to sauté stirring frequently until onions and celery are soft. During this step, you will need to add small amounts of broth/stock to keep the spices from burning and to help keep it loose.

Add tomatoes and the rest of the stock/broth. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally

Add black beans and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Top rice with tomato and black bean mixture and finish with shrimp. Garnish with cilantro. Serve and ENJOY!!!!

Wine pairing......Tempranillo or Riesling.

Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast with Roasted Bell Pepper Sauce

I served this with whole wheat fusilli pasta.

For stuffed chicken:
chicken breasts, pounded out flat
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
6 tbsp sundried tomatoes, packed in oil, chopped
1 tbsp dried italian seasoning
1 shallot, diced
1 green onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper for seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes for seasoning
2 tbsp butter
olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a bowl, combine cheese, sundried tomatoes, italian seasoning, shallot, green onion, garlic, season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Mix well. Place mixture in the center of flatten chicken breast and roll up. Reserve about 1/4 of cheese mixture. Season outside of chicken with salt and pepper.

In a sauté pan, drizzle with olive oil and melt butter over medium-high heat. Place rolled up chicken and brown on all sides. Start with seam side down. Be careful not to unroll while turning. Once browned on all sides, place in a casserole dish and set aside.

For sauce:
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup roasted red bell peppers, chopped
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 chicken stock/broth
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper for seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes for seasoning

In the same sauté pan, drizzle with olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add roasted red bell peppers and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add sherry and chicken stock/broth and sauté for another 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, italian seasoning, diced tomatoes and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle chicken with reserved cheese mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Top pasta (optional) with sauce and chicken. Serve and ENJOY!!!!

Wine pairing....Pinot Noir or Sauvignon Blanc.

1997 Burgess Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine showed many layers; currant, berry, coffee, herb, chocolate and cedar notes.  Rich in flavor and provided a nice long finish.

Sunday Supper - Loaded BLT or as Brandon called it BLTopia

I used whole wheat french bread baguettes, but you could mix it up and use which ever type of bread you would like. I also served this with garlic french fries. Make your own or Trader Joe's has a great bag of these in the freezer section. I also used caesar dressing that included asiago cheese, but just plain caesar dressing would work too. Or choose a different dressing of your choice.

sliced bacon
plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
french bread baguette
green bell pepper, thinly sliced
white onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
olive oil
salt and pepper for seasoning
mixed greens
caesar dressing
avocado, sliced

In a medium sauté pan, cook bacon until crisp and cooked through. Remove and have rest on paper towel to absurd the drippings.

Drain just about all the bacon fat from the sauté pan. Drizzle pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell pepper, garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onions just begin to caramelize and are starting to brown and green bell peppers are soft.

While onion and bell peppers are cooking, mix greens with dressing. Toss to coat evenly.

Split baguette and toast until you have your desired texture.

Top toasted baguette with sliced tomatoes, mixed greens, onion and bell pepper mixture, bacon and avocado. Serve and ENJOY!!!!!

Wine pairing.....Chardonnay or an American Sparkling Wine.

Artisan Bread

This recipe was sent to me from Aunt Carolyn.  Everyone likes an awesome bread recipe.  I can't wait to  give it a try.

15oz (3 cups) all purpose flour
7 oz water
3 oz beer (not a dark beer, use a pale ale, etc.)
1½ t salt
¼ t regular yeast (much less than one package of yeast)
1 T white vinegar

The recipe works best if you can measure the flour, water and beer by weight. Otherwise use 3 cups of flour and 1⅛ cups of liquid.

1. Measure flour, salt and yeast into a medium bowl.

2. Add water, beer and vinegar.

3. Mix with wooden spoon until dough make ball.

4. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise on counter for 8 to 18 hours.

5. Punch down dough.

6. Flour working surface, knead dough approximately 10 to 15 times, shaping into a ball.

7. In a skillet (approximately the same diameter of the cast iron, enamel dutch oven in which the bread will be baked) cut and place a piece of parchment paper about 2 to 2½ long. Spray the parchment paper with Pam. Place dough on parchment paper in skillet and cover with plastic wrap.

8. Let dough rise for 2 hours, then score the top of the dough ball with an “X” with a sharp knife, being careful to not deflate the risen dough.

9. While the dough is rising:
    a. After dough has risen for 1 hour and 15 minutes, preheat oven to 475ºF.
    b. When oven is up to temperature, preheat dutch oven and lid for 30 minutes.

10. When dutch oven is preheated, remove it from the oven, reduce oven temperature to 425ºF, and using the parchment sling, transfer the dough ball into the dutch oven.

11. Place the lid on the dutch oven (it’s okay for parchment paper to be hanging out of the dutch oven), put back in the oven and bake, covered for 30 minutes at 425ºF.

12. Remove the lid from the dutch oven and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes uncovered 425ºF.

13. Remove dutch oven from oven, place bread on cooling rack and cool for a minimum of two hours before cutting into the bread.

2005 Coho Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine is elegant, but has great rich tones of cherries, currants, cranberries.  Also carries a bit of chocolate notes.   Well balanced with a nice back drop of herbs and cedar.  Medium balanced.

2005 PB Hein Vineyards Trailblazer Syrah North Coast

This is a dark wine, which has hints of black cherries. Slight bit of smoke. Deep dried fruit and is medium bodied. Great balance and structure.