Simple Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

• 1 pound tomatillos, husk removed 
• 2 jalapeno peppers, split in half (seeded if necessary)
• 1 small onion, cut in eight pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lime (juice and zest)
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½  cup cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Peel the husks off the tomatillos and wash thoroughly. Score the bottoms of the tomatillos with a knife.

Crank up the oven to broil and set the tray accordingly. Place the tomatillos, onion, jalapenos and garlic on a baking tray lined with foil sprinkle with some olive oil and coat evenly.

Arrange on the lined-tray and broil until the skins charred. Once you see the vegetables start to blacken, flip them over.  Keep an eye on the garlic, remove early if necessary.

Once everything is sufficiently charred, remove from the oven with the foil, being careful not to spill any of the liquid. Remove the core excess char from the tomatillos.  Place everything (liquid included) into a food processor, but allow them to cool for about 15 minutes before processing.  After things have cooled down to room temperature, pulse the veggies a few times to mix it all up.

The final step is to add the rest of the ingredients:  olive oil, sugar, lime, cilantro a pinch of salt and pepper and pulse until chopped, but still has a little structure.

Cover in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Ima Cheat, Making Cheesy Bacon Jalapeño Mini Corn Breads

I wanted to test out my new, “Square-shaped Mini Muffin Baking Tray.” Originally, I purchased it to make mini square cupcakes. Those I’ll make another day.

In lieu of the cupcakes, I decided to make mini corn breads; but with a twist. I’ve made corn bread from scratch before; but it was a pain. This is an easy recipe to make with good results.

Give it a try…

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes Jiffy Corn bread Mix
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• ½ cup of Milk
• ½ small Vidallia onion, finely diced
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove grated
• 2 cups shredded Monterey/Cheddar Cheese
• 8 slices Center Cut Bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 whole Large Jalapeno Peppers, seeded and finely diced
• ¼ cup reserved bacon fat
• 2 tbsp reserved bacon fat for greasing the tins.

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 400⁰ F. Fry up the bacon, to a crisp, on low heat to render out the bacon fat.  Reserve the fat for use in the mix and to grease the tins. In the same skillet add the onion, jalapeño peppers and grate in the clove of garlic. Sweat the veggies for a few minutes over low-medium heat. Remove and add to the mixing bowl to cool.

Mix together the two boxes of Jiffy Corn Bread Mix. Add everything into a mixing bowl: the sugar, black pepper, salt, sweat veggies, eggs, milk, crumbled bacon, rendered bacon fat and cheese. Mix to combine, do not over mix the batter.  Let the batter rest for 15 minutes, before filling the mini muffin tins.

Lightly grease the muffin tins with some of the reserved bacon fat (PAM, if you so feel inclined). Fill the tins 3/4 from the top. Tap the baking tray on counter top and let it rest a few minutes before putting it in the oven.

Above is the mini muffin baking pan I used.

Bake at 400⁰ F for about 17-20 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Use the tooth pick test to confirm they are done. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Finished product. I packed them into a zip lock for storage.  Reheat at 400⁰ F for 5 minutes to serve, or microwave for 15 seconds.

Enjoy…