Herb Roasted Vegetables from Deb Hester

Deb Hester emailed her latest cooking adventures with Tastes & Treasures.

"This is me before popping the Herb-Roasted Vegetables and
Roasted Red Potatoes into the oven---together in one roasting pan! It
was super easy and wonderful for our dinner guests. Tasted great!!
Of course these were recipes from our Tastes and Treasures cookbook!"

page 24 A recipe from historic The Cottage Place Restaurant in Flagstaff.

Bacon Wrapped Trout in Old Sacramento

Visiting our daughter, Candice, in Sacramento means bike rides around the city with dinner destinations along the river. Rio City Restaurant fit the bill on our last trip. We had a table outside enjoying the boating and activities along the waterfront. The Spinach Artichoke dip was sinful but delicious with fresh tortilla chips. I personally like the Smoked Salmon Pate pg 166 Tastes & Treasures.

Did not really enjoy the trout staring at me but it was tasty and flavorful, and I ate it all. The grilled asparagus had just the right amount of crunch and spices. Nothing like dining al fresco.

Tomatoes from the Garden

Nothing beats homegrown for flavor and I know how it was fertilized so we are eating pesticide free. We really enjoy the tomatoes and also basil and parsley from the garden. Unfortunately, I have to buy the cheese but the vinaigrette is homemade.

Historic Camelback Inn gave us Marinated Heirloom Tomatoes in White Balsamic Vinaigrette found on page 67 Tastes & Treasures

1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
5 heirloom tomatoes, cut into wedges

Mix the vinegar and brown sugar in a bowl. let stand until the brown sugar is completely dissolved. Whisk in the olive oil, garlic, shallots and basil. Season with Kosher salt and papper. Add the tomato wedges and toss gently to coat. Chill for 4 hours before serving. Serve using a slotted spoon.
Serves 6.
Note: We made it a hearty salad with sliced cheese. Since we are black olive fans we like to sprinkle a few slices on top.

Margarita Pie- Frozen and Refreshing

Frozen pies are so good in the summertime. This one you can make ahead of time and freeze for several days. It is easy and s-o-o pretty and colorful. I purposely did not mix the green food coloring uniformly so it had a slight swirl of color. Topped it with a lime slice instead of more whipping cream. Thanks to Rancho de La Osa for this wonderful recipe.



MARGARITA PIE pg 124 Tastes & Treasures

Pretzel Crust
1 1/2 cups finely crushed pretzels
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Pie
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1(14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons gold tequila
2 tablespoons Triple Sec
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
Green food coloring (optional)

For the crust, pulse the pretzels and sugar in a food processor several times to combine. Add the butter in a steady stream and process until well mixed. Press over the bottom and up the side of a 9 inch pie plate sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

For the pie, combine the lime juice, condensed milk, tequila and Triple Sec in a bowl and mix well. Fold in the whipped cream. Tint with green food coloring, if you desire a deeper color.
Spoon into the crust. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 4 hours or up to 1 week. Garnish with additional whipped cream and lime slices.
Note: Do not use fat-free or low-fat pretzels in the crust or the crust will not hold together when cutting. You may substitute graham crackers for the pretzels.

Serves 6 to 8

Cowboy Caviar for Memorial Day BBQ

Always a winner for a BBQ and the boys from Calgary, "Lumpy", "Custom", "Moose" and Joey, joined us after golf.

This time I eliminated the dressing because the avocado was already mashed into a spicy guacamole. It became a more robust dip, easier to keep on the tortilla chip. Below is the original recipe.

COWBOY CAVIAR page 180 Tastes & Treasures
Ingredients:
1 15oz can corn, drained, or 1 ½ cups frozen corn, defrosted
1 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14oz can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2/3 cup green onion, chopped
2 large avocados, chopped
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
Tortilla chips

Dressing:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1-2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 t salt
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp chipotle chili powder, or to taste


In a colander, drain and rinse the corn and beans. In a separate colander, drain the tomatoes.

Chop the cilantro and the green onions. Peel and chop the avocado.

Make the dressing: mince the garlic. In a small bowl, pour the olive oil and red wine vinegar- whisk to combine.

Add to the dressing the minced garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and chipotle chili powder. Whisk to combine.

Into a large bowl combine the corn, beans, cilantro, green onions, avocados and tomato. Gently toss with a large spatula.

Pour the dressing over the caviar mixture and gently toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover and chill until serving time. Can be made several hours in advance. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Makes 6-8 cups

German Sweet Chocolate Cake

If you are a chocolate lover, this is one of the best desserts. My neighbor is known for her baking and she shared this recipe.

German Sweet Chocolate Pudding Cake

Ingredients
1 package (2 layer size) yellow cake mix –Duncan Hines
1 package (4 serving size) Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding
4 ounce Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate, melted
4 eggs
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
¼ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in large mixer bowl. Blend. Beat 4 minutes at medium speed. Pour into 3 greased and floured 9 inch layer pans – cut out wax paper to fit pan and grease and flour paper in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in pans 15 minutes. Remove and finish cooling on racks. Fill with coconut filling on top of each layer. Do not ice sides of cake just on top of each layer.
Coconut Filling:
Combine 1 cup evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten, ½ cup butter or margarine and 1 teaspoon vanilla in saucepan. Cook and stir constantly over medium heat until thickened, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat/ and add 1 1/3 cup bakers angel flake coconut and 1 cup chopped pecans. Cool, beating occasionally, until of spreading consistence. Makes 2 ½ cups.



Note: Everyone loves the coconut filling so she usually doubles the recipe for this cake to make it extra yummy.

Memorial Day BBQ

Remembering those loved ones is an important part of this day. Flags are flying, speeches are being made and flowers freshen up the gravesites.

We also enjoy getting together with family and friends around a BBQ and salad. Try this fresh salad from The Cottage Place Restaurant in Flagstaff.

Exotic Greens with Strawberry Vinaigrette in Tastes & Treasures. page 21.

Strawberry Vinaigrette
8 ounces frozen strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soybean oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Salad
8 cups baby salad greens
1 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
6 whole strawberries, fanned
2 ounces goat cheese

For the vinaigrette, process the strawberries in a blender until pureed. Add the sugar, balsamic vinegar, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, soybean oil, salt and white pepper and process until blended.
For the salad, toss the salad greens and tomato with the vinaigrette in a salad bowl to coat. Place on six chilled salad plates. Top with the pine nuts, strawberries and goat cheese. (I made it in a big bowl instead and got rave reviews from guests.)

Serves 6