Have you ever heard or read about how hard it is to photograph brown and beige things? Hope you can even figure out this is onions! I had to balance some of the onions on a fork with my left hand and try to hold the camera steady AND click the shutter with my right hand. All to show some added depth to the photo. And although this may not look all that appetizing, it’s actually very good. Would I kid you?

After just stating yesterday that I didn’t have any posts waiting in the wings, I looked, and oh yes, I had this one. I hadn’t posted it because I made the onion pepper relish to go with the beef sliders for the 4th of July, and thought the two were too similar. This one is less sweet than the relish – more suited for a slab of grilled meat probably, than the burgers and accompaniments. I still have some of this in the refrigerator (as well as the relish from the 4th), and assume it will keep for another few weeks since it’s “pickled,” so to speak, with the vinegar. Hope so, as it was delicious and very suitable for some meat things. I used it on a sandwich last week too.

We had some friends over for dinner a few weeks ago, and with the pork roast we did on the rotisserie (that I’d brined) I wanted to serve some kind of sauce or salsa, or something. Found a recipe for a pork rib roast with this onion marmalade. It was just a perfect fit. And oh-my-goodness deliciousness. It’s not difficult, although it does take some time (total cooking time about an hour) to sweat down the onions, then to continue to cook them down to a jammy consistency. If you started this first (when about to make a dinner) it would be done by the time you were ready to sit down).

The recipe came from Food & Wine magazine, May 2008. If you want to do the pork roast, just brine it, bake or rotisserie it until it reaches an internal temp of about 133 degrees (still pink in the middle). Remove and let sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving with this cold, room temp or hot onion topping. The leftovers will keep for several weeks.
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I have a question – did your mother or grandmother can pickles? Both my mother and grandmother made a variety of pickles every year. They made regular whole pickles (sweet type, though), piccalilli, bread and butter pickles and sometimes even pickled watermelon rind. I was never very crazy about the latter (too sweet for me). And my mother would make some kinds of pickle relishes. Not the tiny-minced sweet relish that we can buy in the markets now, but bigger chunks of cucumbers, red peppers and onions. With a delicious sweet and sour flavor going on.

A month or so ago my daughter Dana and family came to visit and she brought with her my mother’s recipe box. I’d forgotten she had it. It’s like this really fun bonanza to re-discover some lost and found thing. Just now I went to the section for pickles and condiments, and pulled out a small stack of recipes. I found: Watermelon Pickle, Zucchini Pickles, Zucchini Relish, Chow Chow, my Dad’s Aunt Rosa’s Bread & Butter Pickles, Dill Crisps from my great, great Aunt Nora, my Grandmother Isis’ Bread & Butter Pickles, and Mustard Pickles.

Here’s a photo of the aging 3×5 cards. The top one is in my grandmother’s handwriting, I think. I’m flooded with memories of visiting my mother’s family, at their farmhouse in Ceres, California. This would have been in the late 1940’s, early 50’s. In the middle of the farming belt of central California. The house was located about half a mile from the railroad. Many a summer night do I remember trying to go to sleep in the attic room (you know how hot attics get in the heat of a San Joaquin summer?), trying not to think how hot and sweaty I was, hearing the whoo-hoo of the trains going by all hours of the night. Growing up within a mile of the bay in San Diego, the only sounds I heard at night were fog horns, so train noises would awaken me. I also remember helping my grandmother a little bit in the kitchen – usually baking something like biscuits. Or helping my grandfather kill a chicken for Sunday supper (I watched until it came time to start plucking the feathers). And of poking my nose into the icebox that sat on the inside back porch. And helping my grandmother feed clothes into the wringer of the round free-standing washing machine that sat out on the outdoor back porch. Of riding on the tractor out in the field on my grandfather’s lap, holding on for dear life, diligently trying to steer the darned thing (very difficult). And playing with the multitude of kittens that always seemed to be around whenever we visited. They always had cats to keep the mouse population in check. I also prowled around in the monstrosity of an old barn, listening intently for mice hiding in the stacks of hay, or scurrying into the bowels of an old abandoned tractor that would no longer run, that was covered with stuff. Wonderful fodder for varmints. And food for cats.

Well, back to pickles. Back in the 1970’s I did make refrigerator dill pickles when the canning cucumber variety were plentiful at the markets. I can’t find my Sunset recipe. I’ve hunted for it, but no luck. Dana remembers when I made them several summers in a row. She adored them, dipping her hand into the icy cold jar of brine and grabbing one to chew on outside on the patio, where the juice could run unhindered down her arm.

That’s what was conjured up in my memory a couple of weeks ago when I was contemplating the menu for our 4th of July barbecue. We grilled turkey burgers (Oprah’s recipe), and traditional burgers too, but all of them were the small slider size. I may never go back to regular size again – I like these smaller ones so much better. They’re easier to handle, even forming the raw meat was easier. And we all liked the rolls (King’s Hawaiian bread rolls). It’s a light, soft bread, and it scrunched down just fine to fit into your mouth.

Our grandchildren and at least one of our adult kids wanted pure, unadulterated burgers. No special relish. Nothing but the bun, lettuce, tomato and red onion slices. But I made this really piquant relish/marmalade stuff that I’d make again anytime. It was relatively simple to prepare – I sautéed a bit of sugar and some onions (I should have used red, but yellow ones were what I grabbed) while bell peppers (supposed to be red only; I used one red and one yellow) charred under the broiler. Once they cooled and the skins were peeled, they were tossed into the onion mixture with balsamic vinegar and some spices. It took about 30 minutes to make, and I thought their flavor on the burgers was sensational.

Pickle making is becoming a lost art, I suppose. We’re all too busy. What a huge loss, since refrigerator pickles are so easy to do, requiring no cooking. I found some recipes on the internet and gave them to my daughter, in hopes that she’d make them for her family. She’s interested, but might be too intimidated to try it without mom around to oversee. In the meantime, for me, this delicious relish/marmalade will have to do!
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There’s a photo of the slider version of Oprah’s Turkey Burgers. Oh my. Oh so good.

And here’s a photo of the delish pear chutney that goes with the turkey burgers. These are a must – don’t make one without the other.

When I started planning, we didn’t know if we were going to have 9 or 15 family members here to celebrate our Independence Day. The group included adults and children, so I needed to find a menu that would appeal to everybody. My DH wasn’t all that thrilled when I said he was going to grill hamburgers. They’re not one of his favorite things – mostly because he doesn’t enjoy eating out of hand – he likes food on a plate with a knife and fork. Weird thing. But he’s not very picky about most things, so I just tried to humor him most times. Told him about the potato salad I was making, about the relishes, the peach dessert we’d have. The big green salad. I knew he wouldn’t go hungry. Indeed he didn’t. He absolutely loved the turkey burgers.

What I decided was this:

Chips & fresh tomato salsa
Hot chile cheese dip with Fritos
Deviled eggs

Beef burger sliders with red onion red bell pepper relish
Oprah’s (Donald Trump’s) Mar-a-Lago turkey burgers (also sliders) with pear chutney
Traditional potato salad (recipe soon)
Green salad with VIP Garlic Dressing

Desserts:
Apple pie and Peach pie
Both served with ice cream or whipped cream

As with most big gatherings, I needed to start cooking the day before. I made the relish, pear chutney and the potato salad. The morning of the 4th I had some help in the kitchen, so between my daughter Dana and me we made the green salad, the dressing and shaped all the burgers. Our daughter in law, Karen, brought the two desserts.

The sliders were all served on King’s Hawaiian bread rolls (both regular white and whole wheat). They’re soft, a bit sweet, and taste better than the soft Styrofoam that comprises most commercially-made hamburger buns. Since we were serving both beef and turkey burgers, I decided we’d have sliders (small burgers) instead of full-size burgers. Easier to eat. And more variety for everyone.

There’s quite a story behind the turkey burgers. In case you missed watching Oprah’s show that day (last month), she told the story about when she and her friend Gail went to the Mar-a-Lago (a Donald Trump resort) in Palm Beach, Florida for a couple of days. It’s a private club, apparently. Don’t know anything about how you get to stay there. Am sure it’s pricey. But anyway, Oprah decided to order the turkey burger on the menu there. She fell in love. Craved it the next meal too. And the next. And the next. Gail tried to get the recipe. Nope, they wouldn’t reveal it. So, when Oprah got back to Chicago she phoned her friend Donald Trump and asked if he’d ever had the turkey burgers at Mar-a-Lago? He scoffed. Of course not, he said. He doesn’t eat anything even related to turkey burgers. She wanted the recipe. Some negotiations later, he agreed and appeared on the show where the burgers were prepared and passed out to the audience. Oprah was in heaven since she now has the recipe. And so do we!

What’s unique about these burgers is chutney. Not just any old chutney. Major Grey’s chutney. Now we need to have a little history lesson here (thanks to Wikipedia).

• The original chutney of India was usually a relish made from fresh fruits and spices. During the colonial era the British took it home and the recipe evolved, until the commercially made mango chutney (“Major Grey’s chutney”) became the British standard chutney. Commercially made cooked chutneys are still popular in Great Britain, and are usually made of fruit (usually mangos, apples or pears), onions and raisins simmered with vinegar, brown sugar and spices for about two hours.
• Chutneys are served with almost every meal in India, especially as relishes with curries, but also as sauces for hot dishes (especially meats). They can be fresh or cooked, and are made from a wide variety of ingredients, ranging in flavor from sweet or sour, spicy or mild, or any combination; they can be thin or chunky and can be made with fruits or vegetables or both.

According to Wikipedia, Sun Brand chutney is the best (contains more fruit than others; can be found online). I bought Crosse & Blackwell’s version (quite pricey at $5.49 for 9 ounces). If you have mangoes, there are recipes all over the internet for Major Grey’s version. I got a kick out of reading somewhere that this Major Grey is also the same “Earl” Grey of tea fame. Who knew! The turkey burgers were a big hit. I loved them. Absolutely loved them. Will make them again, no question. The beef burgers were also wonderful on the small buns, and the onion pepper marmalade I’ll post in the next day or so.
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Wow, is that not a gorgeous photo? If I do say so myself. Must be the colors, the mango, and the strawberry against the black bowl!

Sometimes recipes bear repeating. And sometimes when you change a part of a recipe it makes it different enough that you, my readers, need to know about it. Originally this recipe was for pineapple salsa, but one time years ago I didn’t have pineapple, and I did have mango, so made it that way instead. It was the same recipe, just different fruit.

The Pineapple Salsa was posted last year. However, I didn’t have a photo because that was just after I’d fractured my foot. Now we’ve got a photo, at least of this version! The other night I had some super thick pork chops from Niman Ranch (ordered online, and on sale some months ago). I brined them for a couple of hours, DH grilled them with our tried and true method (mark them over direct fire, then off to the side, reduced heat, until they reached 150 in the center) and served this salsa on the side. I didn’t have red bell pepper, so substituted strawberries. Delish.

If you click on this link for the Pineapple Salsa, just substitute mango and strawberry for the pineapple and red bell pepper.
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In our local area, we happen to frequent a Mexican restaurant called Jalapeno’s. Now, my DH isn’t all that crazy about Mexican food (he was raised in Ocean City, New Jersey, so what does that tell you – New Jerseyites don’t know from Mexican food – at least not the ones born prior to about 1980), but since I am a native Californian, Mexican cuisine feels like part of my DNA. I know it’s not, because I’m blond and blue-eyed, but tacos and enchiladas were part of my growing up, so at least in cuisine, I’ll claim it as part of my DNA. My parents and I craved Mexican food at least once a week, without fail. When we’d go camping every summer for two weeks, we were deprived of our favorite out-to-dinner menu, and usually the very next night back home, we were over at our favorite restaurant in San Diego, called Aztec Dining Room (it’s been closed for about 6-7 years now), enjoying our regular stuff. I still crave Mexican food on a regular basis.

We do have lots and LOTS of Mexican restaurants in our area, but not many that I consider fabulous. This little place, Jalapeno’s, is family-run, and you have to stand in line to order at a counter, then they deliver the piping hot food to your table.

Once in awhile I can get my DH to go there, but really not very often. So, when he spends a night on our boat in San Diego, unless I have other plans, I zip down to Jalapeno’s for dinner. I order a chile relleno, or maybe their delicious shredded beef tacos, or a cheese enchilada. They make their own chips and fresh tomato salsa. And, they also make a fabulous marinated carrot relish. It’s made in huge vats, it’s that popular, and all I’ve ever known was that it contained what you can see in it: carrot coins, garlic, onions, bay leaf and hot chiles. Oh yes, vinegar. We know the recipe is the family matriarch’s prized recipe. They won’t share it. Even our local paper requested it, and they refused. They sell the carrots, but they’re gosh-darned expensive, so I’ve been trying to figure out how to make them. Since I don’t cook Mexican food much, I’ve had a hard time finding any recipes for them, but then I’ve always been looking for a CARROT relish.

So, when I read an article by Steven Raichlen in Bon Appetit Magazine (May 2008 issue), it mentioned this pickled ONION relish, from the Yucatan. So, I definitely had to try it. It’s not difficult – you simmer the onions, garlic and salt in water for just ONE minute. Drain off the water, then add some white vinegar, bay leaf, allspice, pepper, oregano, cumin and water, then bring that to a boil, turn off the heat, cool and serve.

Nearly a year ago I posted a recipe for stacked enchiladas (a vegetarian casserole type dish with black beans) with an onion relish on the side. I’ve made it a couple of times because I love the onions as a garnish on sandwiches, but since this new recipe contains some of the ingredients I know are in Jalapeno’s carrots, I needed to try this.

They’re good – not by themselves, of course – but they didn’t taste like what I expected. They’re great on a sandwich and as a relish, but they’re quite piquant, tart, by themselves. I did sprinkle in some Splenda to the vinegar solution (after they were cooked), and I like them better. Perhaps when Jalapeno’s makes it with carrots – because they’re so sweet – they lend a general sweetness to the mixture on their own. I didn’t have any carrots, otherwise I would have added some to the onions, just to see how they would work. Because these are so easy to make, I’d definitely make them again, probably adding more garlic and perhaps sugar. Or, I may go to my previous recipe and add some spices to it, and see what that tastes like.
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We  had our friends, Bud & Cherrie, over for dinner the other night, and I pulled out some old favorites to serve as part of the meal. First, I wanted to serve them some of the Kurobuta Ham that I wrote up last week. Since I’m now a big fan of the David Rosengarten specialty ham, I wanted Cherrie to taste it. I had some of the mustard sauce leftover, which I included in the post about the ham. I’d stored it in a heavy-duty glass container, so I plunked it into a pan of water and brought it up to a simmer until the sauce just warmed through and thinned out.

I made a new cauliflower dish, which I posted a day or so ago, and a big green salad with some dressing I’d made a week ago. And I had a tube of Pillsbury biscuits in the refrigerator. Now I must tell you, I don’t use package mixes or ready-made food much. In fact, very rarely! But these biscuits I’ve been making for about 35 years are an exception. I posted about them last summer, but I didn’t have a photo. Now I do. I won’t re-write the post here, but will just tell you that these are so awfully good. They’re slathered with an herb and lemon butter before baking. Cinchy easy. If you want to read the post and try them, just click on the link above. The recipe was given to my by a friend named Zelda, in Oklahoma, eons ago.

I didn’t want to make a dessert, but my standby in that department is a chocolate sauce I’ve been making also, for about 35 years, to drizzle over vanilla ice cream. It was also given to me by a friend, and even after trying at least a dozen other combinations of chocolate, cream, butter, etc. I revert to this one as my favorite. It’s made with German’s sweet chocolate, and keeps in the refrigerator for ages (you just have to reheat it whenever you want to use it). Here’s photo of that one. I posted the recipe last year HERE. It’s so very easy to make and blows away the competition, even Hershey’s Syrup, which is pretty darned good considering that it’s a bulk-produced sauce.

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Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been planning the Thanksgiving menu the last couple of days. We’re excited that we’ll have all three of our children here, with all 5 grandchildren too, who range in age from one infant up to age 13. Plus some other extended family too. That will make a table for 16, which is two more than our table can accommodate, so we’ll probably have to set up a small table for the children nearby.

Everyone is bringing something, so that makes my job easier. I’m grateful for the help. I’ve always thought that Thanksgiving dinner is one of the most labor intensive there is, of the entire year. So much of it has to be done at the last minute – the potatoes, the gravy, the salad, etc. But I heard a suggestion the other day – potatoes hold real well in a crock pot. Just make them several hours ahead, preheat the crock pot and throw the entire batch in, cover, and it will hold for many hours. Sounds like a plan to me.

So, listen up . . . that’s the phrase I seem to use when I’m about to share something important. I’m going to give you my prized (well, no, I haven’t really won a prize for it, it’s just prized by me!) recipe for cranberry relish. My mother introduced cranberry relish to our family’s Thanksgiving table back in the late 1950’s I think. It was just the chopped cranberries (and I was often the one who had to sit and hand chop the cranberries – very tedious, I might add), and minced orange, including some of the peel, with sugar. I made it that way for years. Until one year I saw a recipe in a magazine, I think, that mentioned adding apple and ground ginger. I love ginger and what it does for baked goods and other things too. I tried it, and it’s become the regular on my Thanksgiving table ever since. Over the years I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit – reduced the sugar a tad, and added more ginger. And I think the original recipe called for 2 apples, but I preferred the single one. So that’s why I call this a Carolyn original. I have no recollection where I first saw the recipe including the apple and ginger, so I can’t given any credit for it.

This keeps for about a month, and is wonderful added to a turkey sandwich, or as a chutney type side with grilled meat. But it seems to have its strongest affinity to poultry. I can eat this straight out of the container, I like it so much. Just remember to make this a day ahead, if at all possible. It takes several hours for the flavors to blend AND for the sugar to do its magic with the fruit, drawing out the juices.
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Files: MasterCook 5+ and MasterCook 14 (click link to open in MC – 14 contains photo)

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My love affair with salsa goes way back to my childhood. Growing up in San Diego, my parents and I frequented on a weekly basis, without fail, a Mexican restaurant in Old Town dating to the early 1950’s. It was called the Aztec Dining Room. When the matriarch of the family died in about 1985, the family closed the restaurant down. Although I didn’t live there anymore, I was very sad to hear it. Their family recipes were kept very close to the chest, as the saying goes, but were better than most. My Dad used to order their chile verde con queso, #6 on the menu, which is not what is currently served by that name in countless Mexican restaurants (it’s pork and green chiles). This was a tomato and green chile-based sauce with a large layer of cheese melted on the plate. My Dad would place a flour tortilla in the middle of this steaming dish and scoop the tomato cheese sauce up and over the tortilla, adding a layer of their good home made refried beans, another tortilla, more beans, then the rest of the sauce scooped around and over the top. My Dad rarely ordered anything other than that item. It was muy delicioso as he’d often tell the waitresses every time he ordered it, or the owner, Mrs. Sandoval.

The restaurant made their own salsa, though it was not the salsa fresca served most places now. I suppose it was made with canned tomato sauce. Good nevertheless. I remember dipping hundreds of crisp tortilla chips into their sauce over the years.

Then about 20 years ago I visited Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since I’d read up on what to do in Santa Fe, I knew a meal at the Coyote Cafe was high on my list. And it was there, watching Mark Miller (now fairly famous in restaurant circles with multiple restaurants to his name – that night he was making cocktails in the bar), that I came to know about fruit salsa. This Pineapple Salsa recipe comes from his book, The Coyote Cafe Cookbook. Salsas are a regular part of my summer repertoire now. I make both a pineapple one, and a mango one, but use the same recipe. I love it served on grilled fish, grilled chicken and even steak. It’s quite versatile, really. The lime juice makes a difference, so don’t be tempted to use lemon juice. And I always add more cilantro, because I like it.
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