Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients: 3 tablespoons of olive oil,1 purple onion, 4 strips of thick cut bacon, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 rings of beef polska kielbasa, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 4 cans of kidney beans, chili powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, white rice.

I start out in a deep skillet with about 4 strips of thick sliced bacon cut into squares, get that frying under medium heat in a little olive oil (about 3T). Then I add 1 purple onion chopped along with 4 cloves of garlic pressed.

Then chop 2  ring beef polska kielbasa and add it to your skillet, turn up the heat and stir until onions are clear. This is also a good time to add 1 heaping tablespoon of chili powder and a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. (you might not want to put this much if you aren’t into spicy, because a little cayenne pepper goes a long way) also a little black pepper to taste. There is plenty of salt in these ingredients so there is no sense adding extra.

Add 1 regular can of diced tomatoes. (any flavor or brand is fine, it’s up to you) add 3 cans of kidney beans, light or dark or both. COVER on med/low heat stirring occasionally for 25 minutes. (when 25 minutes are up I like to take a potato masher and mash my beans and sausage up a little)

This is when you should put your white rice on to cook. I do plain ole white rice in the microwave.

In a thick plastic bowl I add 2 cups of white rice to 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoon of butter. Pop it into the microwave for 20 minutes. When finished, add to red beans and sausage, stir and enjoy.

Homemade Salsa

Store bought salsa is always so salty and full of crap you shouldn’t put in your body. So I’ve been making my own salsa and it’s really really easy and doesn’t take much time at all.

Start by boiling about 5 or 6 tomatoes.. doesn’t matter what kind or what color  you could make this salsa with peaches if you wanted. ( if you do it with peaches make sure that the peaches are really firm and please remove the skin)

Boil your tomatoes in salty water for about 15 minutes or until they start busting open.

While they are boiling

de-vein and de-seed 2 jalapeno peppers. (they give all the perfect amount of heat and flavor.. I think… use what you want… this is YOUR homemade salsa.

Cut up 1 med white onion, it doesn’t have to be chopped into bits,  it’s all going into the blender.

about a cup of cilantro (it’s a matter of taste and I want to TASTE IT), try not to use the stems.

Once the tomatoes are  “busted open” remove from water with slotted spoon and put them into your blender with the onion, pepper, cilantro.

Add the juice from one lime, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.

Blend for about 30 seconds, no big lumps.

Serve hot or cold. It’s delicious.

Chess Squares

We used to make these at our coffee shop and everyone loved them so much I had to make a new batch every day, sometimes I would have to make 4 batches a day.

This recipe was given to me, by my very first employee Kelly, we called them Kelly’s Chess Squares. They are rich and delicious and are the perfect companion to your coffee break with a friend.

Kelly’s Chess Squares

These are a dessert bar that are made in 2 parts.

You will need:

2 8×8 metal pans

Baker’s Joy non stick baking spray

1 stick of unsalted butter

(optional) 1 cap full of vanilla extract or you can scrape a vanilla bean

1 box of Duncan Hinds Classic Yellow Cake Mix

3 eggs, room temp

1 80z block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)

1 lb of confectioners sugar

Spray both pans well with Bakers Joy and preheat convection oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl combine Cake Mix, 1 stick of softened butter, 1 cap of vanilla (optional… a friend tells me they are better with a little vanilla.. I can’t tell) 1 egg. Mix with pastry blender until completely mixed. Make into a ball and split in half. Put a half in each pan and press into the bottom. This is the first layer.

In a large bowl combine (use the same one you used to make the bottom layer) softened cream cheese, 2 eggs, and powdered sugar, and the optional cap full of vanilla extract.  Then beat it, like it owes you money. I use an electric mixer.

When smooth, pour over your first layer. (of course half the mixture in one half in the other.

Put in the oven immediately for 35 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

When they are baked, let them cool til the pans are cold, run a plastic spatula around the sides and flip out of the pan. Cut into squares and enjoy.

Coffee

I could probably write a book on this subject… well actually I have once.          (……COMPLAINING ALERT PLEASE IGNORE…….)

My husband and I used to own a coffee shop where we insisted on the highest quality and freshest ingredients. We have since closed due our personal lives being too overwhelming to justify keeping a second priority alive.  So we closed and I sold all of our equipment to a lady hoping to make a living off of it. FAIL! She didn’t want to put the work in. Being a barista takes a lot of practice… it takes a lot of bad shots to pull a perfect one, it takes a lot of gallons of milk to learn to make a cappuccino  or a latte. I wrote a book detailing this and it must have all been lost in translation because I stopped by for a drink and it was HORRIBLE!!! It wouldn’t have made it past the sink at my shop. The shots pulled in about 10 seconds, there were grinds all in the bottom, not to mention to portafilter wasn’t even locked in place which caused water to pour from the top. It was bad. It’s also a shame because I had introduced her to my roaster so she should have had wonderful fresh espresso.  Ahhhh what a waste.

Owning a coffee shop takes a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of patience and no matter how long you’ve been doing it, it is an ever changing ever evolving business and one must pay close attention to the world around them to be able to keep up. It’s certainly not a turn key operation. I don’t believe the owners of the equipment will be in the coffee business much longer.

I said all that to say, I will be hitting on this subject quite a lot. There is nothing more enjoyable to me that a perfect cup of coffee.

>> >>RANT OVER<<<<<<

Let me suggest in you are a coffee drinker, even if it’s a social thing and you aren’t an every morning drinker like myself. (every morning, 1pm…and sometimes at night and every time I have company no matter what time, it’s always a good time for a good cup)

You must not buy cheap crap. I will go a little further and say, you shouldn’t drink the stuff at the grocery store.  A couple of reasons.

- there is no telling when it was roasted. Coffee goes stale a lot faster than you would think.

- you should support your local coffee shops.

Go to a local coffee shop and ask them, who roasted their coffee, when it was roasted, and if they have answers Buy it from them give it a whirl. But if they don’t know, buy a cup of water and get the heck out of there! Them not knowing, means it came to them in a big truck with sysco on the side.

Always buy whole bean

WHY!? Because it’s BETTER.

What kind of roast do I get? Light or medium are the best I think to actually taste the coffee the way God intended. Dark roasts are BURNT. But if that’s what you are into go for it.

What origin do I get?? Try different one til you find what you like. I get all kinds of coffee.

What do they mean by Blends??? It means just what it says… it will be different roasts and different origins mixed into one tasty brew. JUST TRY IT!

What about flavored coffee? If you want flavored coffee, you should buy flavored syrups or creamers to flavor your coffee. Because if you grind chocolate covered raspberry hazelnut surprise in your grinder… and you decide that is the foulest tasting bullcrap… then you go and grind some regular non flavored coffee it will still taste like chocolate covered raspberry hazelnut surprise… FOREVER.

Get a BURR grinder. Cuisinart makes a burr grinder and it’s wonderful. The typical 9 dollar blade grinders slice up the bean… I’m sure there is something scientific I could say here, but it makes for a bitter butt nasty cup.

There are several ways you could brew your freshly ground coffee.

Conventional Coffee Brewer, Peculator, Press pot, Vacuum pot, espresso machine- that’s a whole ‘nother blog…and etc. One could always just BOIL IT ALL and POUR IT THROUGH A STOCKING! I’ve done that before.

Try your fresh coffee several ways until you find what works the best for you.

Also dress your coffee up the best ways that work for you. I like to serve mine in 6oz plain jane white ceramic cups with matching saucer.

If black coffee aint your thing, let me suggest simple half and half and white sugar.