garlic

Pickled Banana Peppers

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? The Food Whisperer: Pickled Banana Peppers! Harvesting a vegetable garden has its advantages: convenience, great taste, chemical-free, and healthy. We’ve pretty much been of the theory, “Plant it and it will grow.” A little neglect will only make it thrive, right? So why in the world does my husband go overboard with so many plants? They all act like they’re on steroids in some kind of competitive race, so I end up with produce bursting off the vines. In any event, I often shrug my shoulders, come up with creative recipes, and make the best of it. A gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do.

PICKLED BANANA PEPPERS

Ingredients:

1 cup vinegar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

2 garlic cloves, whole

1/2 pound banana peppers, seeded and sliced

Instructions:

In a 2-quart pan over medium heat, combine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar, celery seeds, and garlic cloves. Bring to a rolling boil. Add the banana peppers. Keep them submerged under the pickling liquids. Remove the pan from heat. Let sit for 8-10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the banana peppers and garlic to a clean jar. Ladle the pickling juices to fill the jar within 1/2” of the top. Wipe off the rim and add the lid. Store in the refrigerator.

Original Marinara Sauce

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? The Food Whisperer: Original Marinara Sauce! Marinara isn’t just a fancy name for spaghetti sauce, it actually lacks one key ingredient that sets it apart. You guessed it: MEAT. Basically, marinara is a tomato-based sauce infused with herbs and spices. It can be prepared very easily in less than half an hour. Personally, I find it perfect for a meatless meal. I like chunks of tomatoes, the hint of garlic, and a slight kick of red pepper spice. Look again at the snapshot. Perhaps it’s time to make marinara at your house.

ORIGINAL MARINARA SAUCE

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

28-ounce can Italian Roma tomatoes, diced with sauce

2 tablespoons fresh oregano

1/4 cup basil, chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon marjoram

1 tablespoon agave nectar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions:

In a large skillet over medium-low heat, warm olive oil. Add minced garlic; sauté for one minute until slightly brown, stirring occasionally. Add diced Roma tomatoes with sauce, fresh oregano, chopped basil, sea salt, marjoram, agave nectar, and red pepper flakes. Simmer sauce until thickened, approximately 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Marinara sauce will be chunky and thick. Serve with cooked pasta.

Garlic Roasted Thyme Tomatoes

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? The Food Whisperer: Garlic Roasted Thyme Tomatoes! Turn ordinary tomatoes into a savory side dish with earthy vigor. Have you experienced roasted garlic lately? Don’t hate me if I describe it as smooth and sweet as a dab of butter. Having said that, I can tell by the look in your eye, you’re gonna roast more garlic cloves than I pictured here. Go for it. By quick-roasting vegetables on high heat in the oven, you’ll notice a natural hint of smokiness that satisfies the palate. Although they turn from shiny smooth to a dull luster when finished, the taste is what will win you over. I promise you this, here’s a down-home recipe that will not disappoint.

GARLIC ROASTED THYME TOMATOES

Ingredients:

6 medium tomatoes

6 cloves garlic, peeled

5 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 cup olive oil

Kosher salt

Cracked black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°. Rub tomatoes with olive oil and place in a baking pan. Add garlic cloves and thyme sprigs. Drizzle with remaining olive oil. Season, to taste, with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Bake 25-30 minutes, occasionally brushing tomatoes with olive oil from the pan. Skins may split. Remove from oven. Spoon tomatoes, garlic, and thyme into serving bowls. Drizzle with pan juices. Serve warm.

Jazzy Jerk Sauce

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? The Joy of Eating: Jazzy Jerk Sauce! Get fired up as you crank up the heat with this homemade habanero pepper sauce. Choose those festive little lantern-shaped peppers from the local market or nearby health food resource, don a pair of vinyl gloves, and fill your kitchen with aromas from the Caribbean Islands. As it cooks, let your imagination run wild for the condiment that sends the temperature rising!

JAZZY JERK SAUCE

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 sweet onion, diced

1 cup baby carrots, chopped

2 cups water

10-12 habanero peppers, seeded and finely chopped

3 tablespoons orange juice

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

In a medium sauce pan, sauté garlic in olive oil. Add onion, carrots, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are soft. Remove from heat. Add habanero peppers, orange juice, vinegar, and sea salt. Transfer to a blender and purée until smooth. Pour into a jar and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

*Serving suggestion: Wicked Hot Wings and Drummies!

Garlic Butter Mussels

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? The Joy of Eating: Garlic Butter Mussels! One of the best ways to experience new foods is to be adventurous at your nearby market. By trying a quality product there first, you can decide if you might want to step out and either order it at a restaurant or perhaps, attempt to make it at home from scratch. That’s exactly what I did with this version of mussels. By making subtle changes that appeal to my palate, it turned my kitchen into a gourmet restaurant. Picture this, my husband was drawn indoors by the enticing aromas of garlic and seafood. I literally stood there at the stove in my bare feet feeding him fingertip morsels of aromatic mussels and herb-infused vermicelli. Talk about romantic!!!

GARLIC BUTTER MUSSELS

Ingredients:

16-ounce package mussels in garlic sauce, frozen*

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons white wine

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

4 ounces vermicelli

Sea salt to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon capers

1/8 teaspoon basil

1/8 teaspoon marjoram

1/8 teaspoon parsley

Instructions:

Empty contents of mussels pouch into a deep saucepan and cover. Heat on high for 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add butter, white wine, and garlic to increase juice. Meanwhile, cook vermicelli according to package directions. Drain. Return to pan. Add sea salt, olive oil, capers, basil, marjoram, and parsley. Mix well. Transfer vermicelli to individual serving pieces. Split mussels between them. (Serve in the shell.) Drizzle garlic butter wine sauce over all. Serve with crusty bread for dipping in juices.

*The rule of thumb for serving mussels is ALWAYS ensure mussel shells are fully opened before serving.

Sweet Potato Stacks

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Equal Measures: Sweet Potato Stacks! Bring gourmet taste, with a quirk of presentation, to the dinner table tonight. It’s not rocket science. In fact, you may find yourself giggling at how ridiculously simple this is to make. When I pierced each stack with a rosemary sprig, my husband nearly fell out of his chair in amusement. (It’s not at all necessary. The sweet potato stacks stand upright on their own.) Roasted in a muffin tin, and drizzled with pure maple syrup are two trade secrets you can share with others. Or keep to yourself. Either way, it’s a tower of Yum.

SWEET POTATO STACKS

Ingredients:

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon rosemary leaves

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick oil. In a bowl, mix together olive oil, rosemary leaves, and garlic powder. Coat slices of sweet potatoes. Place a slice of sweet potato in each muffin cup. Top with parmesan cheese between layers of potato slices. Continue until the muffin cup is filled. Going above the top is okay since the cooked sweet potatoes will shrink a little. Repeat with remaining sweet potato slices. Drizzle maple syrup over each stack. Sprinkle extra parmesan cheese over all. Bake stacks 35-40 minutes until tender. Transfer to a serving plate. Spoon reserve maple syrup mixture over top. Garnish with fresh rosemary.

Honeycomb Cheese Wheel

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Equal Measures: Honeycomb Cheese Wheel! Remember when you were a kid and for fun you puckered up with those candy red wax lips? Me and my girlfriends would put them on, batt our eyes, sashay our hips, and laugh hysterically. Most often we’d find ourselves chewing on the sugary insides before spitting them out into tiny red blobs on our way home from school. I’m sure that made quite an impression on the neighborhood boys. Well today’s honeycomb is a distant cousin, twice-removed, to those artificial candy lips. Even better, raw honeycomb is completely safe to eat and naturally sweet. A little goes a long way simply because it is seeping with honey. Dress it up with a wheel of Camembert or Brie cheese, seasoned with a clove of garlic and a couple of sprigs from the herb garden. Spread it across baguette slices for an open-air treat.

HONEYCOMB CHEESE WHEEL

Ingredients:

1 wheel Camembert cheese

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 sprig rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Small section honeycomb

Instruction:

Preheat oven to 350°. Remove cheese from plastic wrap. Return cheese to its wooden box. Place box on a baking sheet. Take a knife and score a criss-cross pattern halfway through the cheese. Tuck garlic clove slices in the cuts. Sprinkle rosemary and thyme herbs over top. Drizzle butter over all. Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes until cheese is soft, bubbling, and fragrant. Serve immediately by spreading the golden cheese over toasted baguette slices. Then spoon the oozing honeycomb pieces over all. Garnish with fresh herbs.

Everything But Bagel Seasoning

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Equal Measures: Everything But Bagel Seasoning! Anyone who has trekked to a coffeehouse for their morning cuppa joe has, at one time or another, nibbled on a bakery fresh bagel. That special blend of garlic flakes, minced onions, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and pretzel salt is a coveted secret in some kitchens. Not mine, simply because you probably already have all these spices in your pantry at home. DIY to begin a journey of inspiration on foods beyond the bagel. For example, sprinkle it on everything from mac‘n cheese, avocados, and eggs to chicken, veggies, and popcorn. It’s genius!

EVERYTHING BUT BAGEL SEASONING

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon fried garlic

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Instructions:

Using a mortar and pestle, slightly crush fried garlic and dried minced onion. Add poppy seeds, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, and coarse sea salt. Mix well. Store in a spice jar.

Broiled Bay Scallops

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Equal Measures: Broiled Bay Scallops! Tender and sweet, bay scallops are a miniature version of the large-size sea scallops. When sautéed in garlic butter and dill, with a light squeeze of lemon juice, the end result is a splendid appetizer. Be festive and serve them on a half shell.

BROILED BAY SCALLOPS

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound bay scallops

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/8 teaspoon dill weed

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Warm olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic clove; sauté until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, add scallops. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, dill weed, and sea salt. Sauté until lightly browned. Squeeze lemon juice over all. Remove from heat. Combine mayonnaise, grated parmesan cheese, and garlic powder. Gently fold in bay scallops. Transfer mixture to a greased casserole dish or clam shells. Bake 20 minutes. Broil 3-4 minutes on High until tops are golden. Watch carefully. Remove from oven. Serve with bagel chips.