Fresh Summer Salad

Experimenting with salad is wonderful in the summer. Starting with romaine and mixed spring greens I added red and yellow sweet peppers, green onion, baby pear tomatoes (from my garden), celery, a peach, strawberries, avocado and sliced toasted almonds. League member Kay Holcombe and I are ready to share the feast.

Topped it off with a delightful Peach Pecan Dressing from Schnepf Farm. It was so good, next time I am putting the Peach Pecan Dressing on my toast. Schnepf Farms also carries Tastes & Treasures cookbook so east Valley folks can buy it there.

Embellishing Pizza

Being creative with a basic pizza can be fun. Grandnieces Amelia (11 years) and Sydney (14 years) from Winnipeg visited us on Lake Minnetonka. They are veggie eaters and loved adding toppings to the pizza. . . fresh red and yellow peppers, tomato from the garden, purple onion, mushrooms and lots of mozzarella. It was almost too heavy to lift into the oven.We enjoyed the delicious dinner on the pontoon boat since that is the only dining room area large enough for 7 people. Lake living has it's perks.

Quinoa, Tomato and Mint Salad

Historymaker Eddie Basha gave us his family recipe for Tabouli Salad with cracked wheat, parsley and mint. It is a Lebanese dish with lots of flavor found on page 130 of Tastes & Treasures. Here is another version using quinoa.

Quinoa, Tomato and Mint Salad
For best flavor, allow quinoa to cool to room temperature before combining into salad.
Quinoa
1 c Quinoa
1 1/2 c Water
pinch Sea Salt
Dressing
1 t Rice Wine Vinegar
1 t Balsamic Vinegar
2 T Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil
1 lrg Shallot (2 T), sliced or minced
1/2 t Soy Sauce
1 T fresh Lemon Juice
Zest from 1/2 Lemon, finely grated
1/2 t Sea Salt

1/2 lb Tomatoes, 1/2″ dice
Handful fresh mint, chopped
a few small mint leaves reserved for garnish

1. Prepare Quinoa. Rinse and soak quinoa for 10 minutes. Strain and combine with 1 1/2 c water and sea salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover pan with a lid, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for @ 15 min., stirring once. Remove from heat, fluff, and set aside to cool.
2. Prepare Dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork to combine. (For best lemon flavor, grate lemon zest directly over bowl so the lemon oil which releases when zesting will land in bowl.)
3. When quinoa is cool, combine quinoa, tomatoes, mint, and dressing in a bowl and toss well. Place on serving dish and garnish with remaining small mint leaves.

Serves 4

Cornish Pasties

Rose Mofford grew up enjoying them and now there is a small, local restaurant near ASU serving a large variety of Cornish Pasties. The walls are covered with historic photos of miners. Great history and food. My friend, Carol Vie, and I enjoyed them with a light Belgium beer.

Try making them at home using Rose Mofford's family recipe or get creative with additional ingredients.

Cornish Pasties page 133 Tastes & Treasures

Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup beef suet, finely chopped
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Filling and Assembly
2 pounds round steak or other lean beef, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 or 3 potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 or 3 small onions, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
butter

For the pastry, mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the suet and toss with a fork until combined. Add just enough of the ice water to make the dough adhere and mix well. Knead lightly and shape the pastry into a ball. Chill, covered , for 1 hour.

For the filling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the steak, potatoes, onions, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pat the pastry on a lightly floured surface into ¼ inch thick rounds 8 or 9 inches in diameter. Press on the pastry to flatten pieces of the suet. Spoon ¼ to ½ cup of the filling onto half of each dough round and dot with butter. Moisten the edge with water and fold over to enclose the filling. Press the edge with your fingers or a fork to seal. Arrange the pasties on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour.
Makes 8 pasties

Outrageous Cookbook prices

It is amazing to me the different prices of Tastes & Treasures cookbook online. Normal retail is $24.95 but it is going for $58.45 at this site. cgi.ebay.com/Tastes-and-Treasures...-/170510238841
Also saw it used on Amazon for under $20.

Arizona's Cooking Heritage, the Historical League first cookbook, has also been featured online for $70. It is now out of print and definitely a collectors item. Must be those gila monsters on the cover.

Seafood at Dukes

Seafood Towers are a popular item in restaurants. This one at Duke's in San Diego was loaded with shrimp, cilantro, and salad fixings. A tasty and impressive appetizer.

We also ordered the Mahi Mahi dinner - so flavorful with fresh vegetables, rice and topped with an orchid. Very Hawaiian. Loved the views of the harbor from Dukes.

The Cottage Place Restaurant in Flagstaff gave us their Seafood Tower recipe with shrimp, scallops and avocados. It is one worth making.

Seafood Tower, page 18 Tastes & Treasures
1 cup water
¼ cup Cilantro Lime vinaigrette (page 21)
1 teaspoon salt
4 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 scallops, cleaned
¼ cup Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (page 21)
Tomato Caper Relish (page 20)
Horseradish Cream Sauce (page 20)
Bottled cocktail sauce
Avocado fans
Cilantro Lime vinaigrette (page 21)

Bring the water, ¼ cup vinaigrette and the salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the shrimp and scallops and reduce the heat to 170 degrees. Poach the shrimp and scallops for 5 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Remove from the heat. Add ice to the mixture to stop the cooking process and let stand for 4 minutes. Drain the shrimp and scallops and place in a large bowl. Add ¼ cup vinaigrette and toss to coat. Chill in the refrigerator.
Cut each scallop into three thin circles. Place two plastic tubes 2 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall on a place. Fill each tube half full with the relish and compact with a spoon handle. Arrange three scallop slices on the relish in each tube. Slide the tip of a metal spatula under each tube and place each on a chilled serving plate. Make a pool of the horseradish cream sauce around the tube. Drag a wooden pick through cocktail sauce and make a design in the horseradish cream sauce. Arrange the poached shrimp and avocado fans in the sauce. Drizzle some of the remaining vinaigrette around the edge of each plate. Remove the plastic tube by pressing down on the scallops with a spoon handle, while lifting each tube.
Serves 2

The Arizona Story - a 4th grade textbook

Are you smarter than a 4th grader ? Kyle McKoy told us her joys and frustrations as she embarked on the journey of writing a 4th grade History book at a Historical League meeting. The Arizona Historical Society staff, under the direction of Kyle, completed " The Arizona Story " in 2009. The textbook has received the 2009 Award of Merit for Educational Programming Excellence from The American Association for State and Local History. It has also received extraordinary acceptance from school districts across Arizona. Award winning author Jana Bommersbach wrote a Centennial article for the AZ Republic and applauded this textbook. We are very proud of Kyle and her staff.