Conroe Saturday AM market

Tonight I created a catastrophe. Without first  first breading my julienne Zucchini strips I went straight to the hot oil with 2 C. The oil soaked into the flesh of the vegetable after I added tomato juice and vinegar. I incorporated blanched fresh green beans and parmesean cheese, but over all the flavor combination gave me a stomach ache.If  I come up with a better way to enjoy these ingredients I will share on a future blog otherwise I will soon 86 this vegetable combination .

As a side note my presentation of Tex Mex Chicken Taco met with rave reviews this morning. I used a 1)fresh tortilla made with tomato juice and peppers 2) warmed Cumin chicken tossed in Adobo sauce 3) fresh Black Beans 4) cut corn 5) basic SamM Salsa topped of with a sprig of Cilantro. It took a week of searching to find the ingredients, From Peas Farm I am waiting for fresh Guajillo peppers to improve  the flavor profile. Watch for a future update.

Tonight I have created Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon cream frosting. The bread was wonderful  when it made an appearance at an evening church event. But tonight the addition of a simple Lemon Cream frosting on the cake was even more awesome.

3T butter softened

3 oz Cream cheese softened

3 oz Pwdr. sugar

Zest of one Lemon

Juice of one Lemon

Above ingredients were mashed with a fork

I am researching and learning about Tex Mex cuisine and the experiment that I tried on the wife with the awesome ending of the Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Cake / Lemon Cream frosting received a 'Dinner was Awesome tonight , Honey'  remark from my best friend. Life is fulfilling when your talents are appreciated.

The Guajillo pepper is still missing. I have Peas Farm on the case and we will track it down. I learned that when you smoke or dry the peppers the name changes and unless you are a connisouer of said pepper you may not know it's new name. In the mean time Peas Farm at market today provided me with Zucchini and Blueberries. I have since found recipes for Zucchini / Blueberry bread. The bread is wonderful. Took me till 10:30pm to finish baking the loaves and I am in love with the sweet crunchy crust. I added a mix of 'brown sugar / oil' to the top of the bread while baking it.

Ingredients

    3 eggs, lightly beaten
    1 cup vegetable oil
    3 teaspoons vanilla extract
    2 1/4 cups white sugar
    2 cups shredded zucchini
    3 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
    1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
    In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
    Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
 

And I located a recipe for Lemon / Zucchini / Blueberry cake. When shopping for the missing bread & cake ingredients, I left the powdered sugar on the shelf at the grocery store.Once I have the pwdr. sugar I will make the cake a reality. I also bought cabbage for $.50 and I have started a batch of saurkraut. In a week or so I will tell you about how I alter homemade saurkraut to make it the way I learned in culinary school.

Tomorrow Saturday July 9 should be another exciting visit to dwntwn Conroe. I am hoping that Elvis with Peas Farm will have Guajillo Peppers so I can learn to make Adobo sauce from scratch. This evening for dinner I cleared out the fridge with the weeks leftovers and made a 5 egg omelot for the wife and I. " How was dinner ? Honey. " Her answer," You did not see anything left for the dog on my plate. I finished it b'cause it was good." Into the omelot pan went 1) 4th of July  Italian Sausage, 2) Potatoes O'brien, 3) Parmesan Cheese and 4) SamM Salsa with Frederickburg Peaches 5) Cilantro for a garnish and 6) Whole grain Wheat bread, tstd. I poured the juice from the SamM salsa on the toast instead of margarine and I shed a tear as I tasted a new way to flavor my toast. If I find the Guajillo Peppers at market tomorrow next week may be filled with 10 ways to use Adobo sauce.

Yesterday I spoke with an acquatance and I was challenged to create a Tex Mex Taco. Never really new what Tex Mex meant . I learned their is California Tex Mex and Tex Mex. So I needed to refine my search and stick to information that has its origins in Texas. I believe I have done that. Currently I experimenting with a recipe that includes Adobo sauce , Chipolte peppers, Corn , Black Beans, Cilantro and meat { Chicken-Beef-Sausage} I went to 2 grocery stores on my way home from work searching for the Guajillo Pepper and came up empty handed . The{ Gway-Hee-yoh } pepper will be used to create an authentic Adobo sauce. I  will entice the gal that sent me on a wild goose chase to bring me a pepper so I can see it and then maybe I can find it . I think they may change the name in American grocery stores , not using the same name you would use in an Hispanic market place. Tonight I cheated and bought Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce.I will enlist Peas Farm to help me find the elusive Guajillo pepper and I will buy them at SamMarket on a future Saturday in downtown Conroe.  I plan on making all the Tex Mex ingredients from scratch using the freshest ingredients. I have made and tasted my first attempt, Finding it both spicy and fruity. But until I share my experimenting with my friend I will not know if I am creating what he is looking for. I also decided to tone down the heat by adding my SamM salsa that you would have read about in previous Blogs. {Tomato , Onion, Balsamic vinegar etc..} It is challenges like this constantly inspire me. I will create the finest Tex Mex Taco in Houston-Conroe Texas.

July 4th was unique in SW Texas this year. Fire Bans were in full effect. I did not see fireworks in our neighborhood . Only on TV from dwntwn. Houston and Boston Harbor. After having eaten hotdogs all day on Sunday . I decided Italian sausage was the food of choice for our Family Celebration. I baked the Italian Sausage at 405 F for 15 minutes. Resurrected Sunday's Salsa {Tomato ,Onion, Balsamic Vinegar & Peaches} by adding yellow Sweet Hungarian Peppers. It was the perfect way to enhance Sundays Salsa for Italian sausage. And most importantly a compliment from my Mother.

This weekend in Conroe though it was 100+ degrees it was worth the visit. A new surprise awaited us in the form of Fredricksburg Peaches. Signs were out to help direct us to Market and straight to the Peach stand. And yes a $5 dollar bucket was enough to satisfy my cravings. I also bought a bucket of  Onions and a variety of Tomatoes from Peas Farm Produce stand for $3 dollars.Fill the bucket was the way to go this weekend.

I found 1)Yellow Pear 2)Tiny Cherry  Tomatoes, 3) Baby Plum.

Diced a half pound of mix Tomatoes.

Added 1/4 diced White Onion

1 diced Fredricksburg Peach

2 Tblsp. store bought inexpensive Balsamic vinegar

Took this Salsa with me to a 4th of July celebration with my church family. And we enjoyed it on hot dogs.

1 bun

1 h.dog

bury the dog in the salsa

And enjoy.

The salsa will find many uses over the next few days.

Baked Potatoes & Green Beans from Peas Farm await there fate.

Now that my wife and I are empty-nesters I have returned to a passion of mine. 'Preparing affordable delicious meals for the two of us.' I shop Conroe Saturday am Market{SamM} looking for the freshest ingredients to please our tastes that have evolved during our child rearing years.

Let me share a few basics that I use regularly when creating our daily menu items.

1) I have learned to use meat first bases instead of salt to flavor our dishes.   {with the newest craze for Sea Salt I do experiment with this product}

2) I scour the grocery stores for the best price on Balsamic vinegar and buy fresh tomatoes, onions and different varieties of peppers from SamM for another flavor enhancer that I create.

 Recipe is as follows:2cups diced fresh tomatoes

                                  1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

                                   1/4 cup diced onion

                                    {Spanish, red, green, or white onions--you decide}

It is good to experiment and with this mixture I get creative. I may add diced apples,peppers, or Mango. Once I even added burnt bacon.

3) I fry rice , add liquid from containers in the fridge, cook until the liquid is absorbed and save it for a dish later in the week.Normally the rice is purposely undercooked. When the rice is reheated in a dish a few days later it is fully cooked and has full flavor from marinating.

My wife at this time is my only critic.So when she says,"Fabulous meal" I am happy and feel I have accomplished what i set out to do. Make her happy so she can say one day, " I have enjoyed our time together"

Fred