Basic Pico de Gallo a la Emily

Pico de gallo. That wonderful, wonderful condiment. I'm not a huge fan of dipping in pico, there are other homemade salsas I like better for that application, but I AM a huge fan of using it as my mexican food topping of choice. Chicken tacos x's 2, enchiladas, you name it if it's latin american inspired-I'm heaping pico de gallo on top every single time. (My taste buds say ground meat mexican dishes aren't good candidates for pico-but shredded pork, beef, or chicken numbers definitely are.) I'm sharing this in conjunction with this amazing white chicken chili because it's an absolutely necessary addition in my humble opinion.

It can seem a tad time-consuming what with the chopping, and seeding, and chopping some more. But it's oh so worth it.

Basic Pico de Gallo

A word to the wise-this is more a list of ingredients and less a use this exact amount recipe. Personalize to your tastes and taste plenty as you go to direct what you add more of. The real key with pico is to use LOTS of the non-tomato items. Most people use onions and cilantro as a minor addition to tomatoes. Don't do it! Shoot for an equal amount of onions to tomato ratio. And plenty of cilantro is a must. Lastly, removing the juicy seedy pulp from the tomatoes before chopping and adding them to the bowl is crucial in my opinion. More time consuming, but crucial.

6+ roma tomatoes, halved, seeds and extra juice removed, and chopped into itty bitty pieces

1 large white onion, chopped into pieces similar in size to tomatoes

3-4 cloves garlic, finely minced

juice of one lime or lemon

1 T white vinegar, give or take

plenty of kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1 jalapeno, mostly seeded and very finely minced

garlic powder to taste if desired

generous handful of cilantro, chopped

Optional: red pepper flakes for added heat

Combine all ingredients, taste and adjust. Best if you let sit a bit before serving so flavors can meld. Keeps for about a day, but really not any longer. Best served the same day.

Oven Baked Jo-Jo Potatoes w/ BBQ Fry Sauce

I hope I'm not the only one guilty of an unhealthy addiction to the jo-jo potatoes at the grocery store deli? We don't get them often, but when we do it's all I can do to share them with my poor children. But now I can make them at home! These aren't a sure-fire replication by any means but they were super tasty and I imagine a bit more healthy than their deli counterparts, being oven baked with minimal oil. As for the bbq fry sauce, holy smokes I wanted to drink it! So gross I know, but it was delightfully yummy and a nice detour from the more traditional ketchup. Plus it's a total no-brainer just 2 basic ingredients and you're on your way to dipping heaven. These are a great side dish to be sure!

Oven Baked Jo-Jo Potatoes

{Recipe source: Real Mom Kitchen}

4-5 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled

4 T olive oil

1 tsp season-all or other favorite seasoning

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 475. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Then slice each half into wedges end to end. Should get about 8-12 wedges from each potato. Place wedges on cookie sheet and drizzle with oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with seasonings and toss again. Make sure potatoes are in a single layer on sheet and baking at 475 for 12 minutes, turn or toss potatoes as well as you can and then bake another 12 of so minutes until fork tender.

BBQ Fry Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup favorite bbq sauce (we do Sweet Baby Ray's)

Mix mayo and bbq sauce together in bowl until smooth. Serve!

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Ahhh Ranch, America's dressing of choice. We buy enough of this stuff I thought it high time I tested the homemade version and was delighted to find that homemade is definitely all it's cracked up to be! It has found a permanent home in my arsenal. It was surprisingly tasty and easy to make with ingredients that aren't so secret after all and we loved it. That's not to say I won't still have a bottle of store-bought in my fridge door for pure convenience. But it's nice to know if I want to take things up a notch that it doesn't take long to whip up a batch, plus it keeps in the fridge for a week or so. However, ours won't last that long I'm sure.

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch

{I found the spice amounts a bit lacking when following this recipe to a T. I don't think I would be amiss in saying that you can double the amount of spices but still leave the wet ingredients amounts as called for, with some possible tempering as needed, and find great success. I'll leave it up to you and your tastes, but just know that's my game plan from here on out! Original non-doubled spice amounts recipe follows...source: Our Best Bites}

1 cup+ mayo

2/3 cup buttermilk

~If you find the flavor level lacking, I recommend doubling the following spice list~

1/4 tsp white vinegar

1 t parsley

1/8 t dill

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp chives

1/8 t black pepper

1/4 t seasoned salt

1/8 t dry mustard

optional-fresh lemon juice

Combine mayo and buttermilk and whisk till smooth. Add vinegar and spices and stir to combine. Taste and adjust as needed. Recommend that this be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge so flavors have a chance to meld. Keeps for a week or more in airtight container in fridge.

Scrumptious Honey Buttered Scones

If you haven't eaten hot scones particularly with melt-y honey butter than you haven't lived! We don't eat much deep-fried fare in our house, but I make an exception with these scones. And it's so worth it! As for the honey butter, for those of us who've had the out of this world experience of fresh Lion House rolls slathered with their amazing honey butter-let me just tell you this honey butter easily gives theirs a run for it's money. It's that good. Plus it doesn't have anything weird and, let's be serious, kind of gross like egg whites in it-as I've heard some honey butters do. 3 simple ingredients whipped together and you're in heaven! Sweet, fluffy, honey-filled heaven!

PS Watch for the next post featuring a savory way to enjoy these scones, so versatile right?!

Scrumptious Honey Buttered Scones

{Honey butter recipe source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe}

4 cups flour

1 cup dried milk (sweet! a food storage item use!)

2 cups warm water

8 t baking powder

2 t salt

Large amount of oil for frying

Mix warm water and milk together in small bowl. In bowl of electric mixer with paddle attachment, mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly add warm "milk" until dough comes together and isn't ridiculously sticky. Roll a golf ball sized amount of dough into a thin circle, using some flour to help with sticking. Slash 3 slits into dough with knife-this helps to alleviate some serious bubbling air pockets during frying. Heat oil in fryer or deep-ish pan/pot over med-high heat. To test if it's ready, drop a pea size amount of dough into hot oil. If it immediately sizzles and quickly floats to the surface the oil is ready for frying. Fry scones one or two at time, but don't crowd the pot, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with honey butter, jam, etc.

Honey Butter

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup marshmallow creme

In electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add marshmallow creme and honey and mix until well blended. Serve at room temp. May keep in fridge or freezer.

Black Bean & Orange Salad

At first glance this combination of black beans and oranges might seem a little strange. But the taste could not be farther from it! Spoon this onto Rotisserie Chicken Tacos and it's a match made in heaven! And it couldn't be easier to make with only 6 ingredients...

Black Bean Salad

{Recipe adapted from my friend Sharon}

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4-1/3 red onion, thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lime

1 large orange, segmented and cut into small pieces

2 T olive oil

Chopped cilantro, to taste

Sprinkling of kosher salt

Toss ingredients together. Taste and adjust accordingly. Best to let marinate about an hour before serving. Use on top of Rotisserie Chicken Tacos or any other chicken or pork tacos you love.

And if you've never segmented an orange here are a few photos that show the process, it couldn't be easier:

First cut off both ends...

Then use a knife to carefully cut down the orange, trying only to the remove the pith (bitter white part) and not much fruit.

Keep making your way all around the orange and then clean-up where necessary.

Next, use knife to slice down on the inside of either natural segment divider.

Once cut, each orange segment should just slide right out.

This is also a nice and deceivingly fancy way way to add fresh oranges to fruit salad.

YUM!