Fresh Tomato Salsa

Another treat we enjoyed at the harvest luncheon that I mentioned yesterday is Julie Tschida’s fresh tomato salsa. She’s been experimenting with this recipe for about two years and I can vouch that she has definitely come up with “a winning combination.”

When Julie makes it, almost all the ingredients are from her own garden. Not only does she tend two big vegetable gardens, three raspberry plots (black, red, golden), two strawberry beds and nine apple trees, this “Queen of Gardening” also has nine flower gardens! She raises 250 varieties of hostas and many other perennials as well as a few annuals.

Julie likely first inherited her “green thumb” from her mother, Martha Kutter, as she helped her every year with vegetable gardening while growing up in Grey Eagle, Minnesota.  She credits her late aunt, LaVonne Heffron, for getting her interested in flower gardening after her mom passed away 23 years ago. Surely, they are both smiling down from above on Julie and all the plant life she cultivates and loves. CJK

Fresh Tomato Salsa

(Julie Tschida)

3 cups grape or Roma tomatoes, ground or finely chopped

1/2 cup onion, finely diced

1 large bell pepper, finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

Juice of 1/2 lime

1-3 jalapeño peppers, deseeded and finely chopped

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

Combine the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, garlic, cilantro and lime juice in a mixing bowl. Add one finely chopped jalapeño pepper, sugar, salt and black pepper to the mixture. Mix well and taste. If you would like more heat in the salsa, add one or two more jalapeños. (Also, adjust the lime juice, sugar, salt, and black pepper to your taste.)

Cover the mixture and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with tortilla chips or on Mexican-style dishes.

Yield: 6 servings

A note from Julie: It’s hard to give exact measurements for this recipe. I taste it all along when I’m preparing it.

Sometimes I turn it into a Corn and Black Bean Salsa by adding freshly cooked corn (or 3/4 to1 can corn) and 3/4 to1 can black beans. Again, cooks should create it to suit their own taste. Often I’ve felt that adding a full can of beans may be too much for this particular recipe.

A note from Carol: During growing seasons Julie is busy canning sauerkraut, pickles, salsa, tomatoes and beans, freezing corn and, occasionally, baking apple pies and crisps. And, as one would expect from a “gardening angel,” she’s also very generous with the fruits of her harvest and plants to get others started with growing their own.

The secretary/receptionist for 10 years at Catholic Education Ministries in the Diocese of St. Cloud (Minnesota), Julie and her husband, Dave, are members of St. Stephen Parish in St. Stephen, Minnesota. They are the parents of three grown children and grandparents to eight-month-old Ella.

Julie is also quite a photographer! She took these photos — a close-up of an “Essence of Summer” hosta that she raised this year and a glimpse of her extensive hosta garden.

Harvest Bruschetta

Recently St. Cloud Diocesan Pastoral Center and Chancery employees were treated to a luncheon celebrating the end of the garden season.

It was Steve Gessell’s idea. He and his wife, Wendy, prepared this delicious bruschetta with tomatoes and basil from the Pastoral Center garden, which he grows to share with diocesan employees and also to donate to Place of Hope, an outreach ministry for the homeless in St. Cloud, Minnesota. CJK

Harvest Bruschetta

(Steve and Wendy Gessell)

3 lbs. plum tomatoes

2/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

2 tbsp. chopped garlic

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

12 thick slices of crusty bread

Olive oil, for brushing on bread

2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese or finely shredded Italian-style cheese

Chop the tomatoes with a knife or food processor and then spin in a salad spinner to remove most of the moisture.

Mix tomatoes with basil, garlic, vinegar and oil. Season with salt and pepper. The mixture may be prepared for up to two hours ahead of serving. Hold at room temperature.

Toast bread slices, cool and brush with olive oil. Spoon tomato mixture onto toasted bread and top with a sprinkling of with cheese.

Yield: 12 servings

A note from Steve: I’ve found that plum tomatoes often have more flavor than “Romas” — “Juliet” is one of my favorite varieties.

While some cooks prefer making bruschetta with plain French or herb bread, Wendy and I have found a Garlic Parmesan French bread that we like to use. If we make it for just the two of us, we toast the slices in our toaster; otherwise, we follow the directions on the recipe and toast the bread in the oven at 375°F for seven to nine minutes.

A note from Carol: The maintenance worker for properties of the St. Cloud Diocese, Steve formerly worked (for 10 seasons) as the rose gardener at the Clemens Rose Garden in St. Cloud.

He spent 16 years developing the “Honeybelle Honeysuckle Vine” (Lonicera x brownii ‘Bailelle’), which was introduced to the market in 2009. It’s beautiful — the waterfall of deep golden trumpet-like blossoms are striking against the background of green round foliage. Winter-hardy to zone three, it continues to flourish into autumn until the hard frosts of October.

In addition to the “employee garden” we appreciate so much, Steve keeps the grounds of the Pastoral Center, Bishop Kinney’s residence and the priests’ retirement home blooming with lovely flowers and succulent raspberries. It’s no surprise that the Gessell’s yard is filled with flora of all kinds — flowers, vegetables, grapes, berries — and some fauna, too — chickens, bunnies and Swiss Toggenburg goats. He can be found at the farmers’ market in St. Cloud on Saturdays from spring through fall selling produce and plants.

Steve and Wendy and their teenage children, Amanda and Adam, are members of St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud.

Make your life count

“You don’t have to walk into a burning building or wear a badge to rescue someone. You don’t have to go to medical school to help a person feel better, or walk on the moon to change this earth. You simply have to care about what happens in our country. To me, we can all honor the lives lost on September 11 by making our lives count even more.”

— Laura Bush

(From an essay the former First Lady wrote for “Woman’s Day” magazine in 2002, marking the first anniversary of the 9/11 events.)

Chicken Crepes

Mary Bannick adapted this simple crepe recipe from a French cookbook about 30 years ago. While she’s made this family favorite for dinner many times over the years, Mary called to mind that crepes might be served for any meal of the day, depending upon the filling that is chosen.

Her chicken crepes are one of the 325 recipes in Wahkon’s “Sacred Heart Church Centennial Cookbook: Celebrating 100 Years of Growing in Faith.” Mary is the chairperson of the cookbook committee. She and her husband, Jim, have been members of the parish for nine years. CJK

Chicken Crepes

(Mary Bannick)

Crepes

1 1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp. sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Filling
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3/4 cup mushrooms, chopped fine (optional)                  

Sauce

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice

Dash of cayenne pepper

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter

Heat oven to 250°F to 275°F.

Mix flour, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, lemon juice and salt into a thin batter. Mix chicken and mushrooms together in separate bowl.

Heat a small skillet or crepe pan to high heat. Lightly grease with no-stick cooking spray. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into heated pan to make a 5- to 5 1/ 2-inch pancake. Brown both sides of crepe, turning and removing from pan with spatula. (Lightly re-spray pan, as needed, before adding batter for each crepe.)

Fill each crepe with a scant 1/3 cup of chicken and mushroom mixture, roll and place in a shallow baking pan (seam side down) in the oven. Cover the pan with a damp terrycloth towel to keep the crepes moist.

In a small bowl, blend egg yolks, lemon juice, pepper and salt with a mixer on low speed. Heat the butter to bubbling. With mixer on high speed, slowly add the butter in a stream until mixture thickens.

Remove crepes from oven and pour the sauce over them. Serve immediately.

Yield: 10 to 12 crepes

A note from Mary: I usually use an electric crepe pan to prepare the crepes. This pan makes the process so easy. The Teflon-coated pan is dipped into the batter and the crepes bake on top.

If you would prefer not to use raw egg yolks in the sauce, stir them together and try adding them to the butter after it has melted. Allow them to lightly cook in the butter and then add this mixture to the other ingredients in the sauce as described above.

A note from Carol: Mary’s recipe inspired my friend Nikki to create her own version of crepes this past week. Nikki thought back to her trip to France a couple of years ago and began dreaming of crepes she had tasted there. Then, she asked to borrow my electric crepe pan. Mary’s rich and creamy hollandaise-like sauce brought “Benedicts” to her mind and she experimented with pieces of chopped ham, freshly cooked asparagus, shredded cheese, finely chopped onion and herbs besides the chicken and mushroom filling.

I thank both Mary and Nikki for inviting me back into the world of crepes again. I’m all geared up to experiment with “crepe creations” of my own — as soon as Nikki returns my pan.

Blueberry French Toast

Phyllis Ketchmark recalls getting this Blueberry French Toast recipe from her daughter, Vickie Hollenback, five or six years ago.

“We love it,” she said. “Often when we have company, I prepare this one and a traditional egg and sausage bake, too. The original recipe calls for serving it with blueberry syrup. I like to put both maple and blueberry syrups on the table when I make it.”

Phyllis and her husband, Frank, have been members of Sacred Heart Parish in Wahkon, Minn., since 1982. This recipe is from Sacred Heart’s centennial cookbook. CJK

Blueberry French Toast

(Phyllis Ketchmark)

Photo courtesy of Nikki Rajala

1 loaf French bread

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 cup blueberries

10 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 cups milk

Coat 9 x 13-inch pan with no-stick cooking spray.

Cut French bread into 1-inch cubes and place half in the prepared pan. Cube cream cheese and place evenly on top of the bread. Sprinkle with blueberries and then layer remaining bread on top. In a medium-sized bowl, beat eggs with syrup and milk. Pour evenly over ingredients in pan. Lightly grease a sheet of foil with no-stick cooking spray and cover the pan with it. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake covered (with foil) for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.  

Yield: 8 servings

A note from Phyllis: French bread is the secret to this recipe. It’s important to use it rather than another kind of bread. The original recipe called for a pound of French bread — I always use a large loaf.

A note from Carol: Preparing a “breakfast bake” makes so much sense for serving a larger number of overnight guests or friends and family who come for brunch. I like Phyllis’ idea of making both sweet and savory “bakes” for a feeding a crowd. It could help to make the hostess’ morning a lot less stressful…

Also on FFF: Kristi Anderson a shared a Chocolate-Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast recipe February 26, 2011.

Spinach Balls

Photo courtesy of Nikki Rajala

Looking for a delicious, make-ahead recipe to add to your appetizer repertoire?

The spinach balls Kathy Martinson has been making for more than 25 years are easy to create ahead of time, freeze and then bake when your company arrives. (At times, she has prepared and baked them right away but she feels they hold their shape better if they are frozen before they go into the oven.)

Kathy and her husband, Bud, are longtime members of Sacred Heart Church in Wahkon. Her spinach balls recipe was recently published in “Sacred Heart Church Centennial Cookbook: Celebrating 100 Years of Growing in Faith.” CJK 

Spinach Balls

(Kathy Martinson)

2 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed           

2 cups Pepperidge Farms bread crumbs (dressing)

6 eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 onion, chopped finely

3/4 cup melted butter

3/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Drain spinach thoroughly. 

Finely crush breadcrumbs. 

Mix all ingredients. 

Shape into walnut-sized balls and freeze.

When needed for appetizer, bake frozen balls for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 350°F. (If you choose to bake the spinach balls without freezing them, check them after 10 minutes.) 

Yield: About 5 dozen walnut-size balls

A note from Kathy: I drain the spinach by putting it in a colander, placing a layer of paper towels over it and gently pushing the excess moisture out.

A note from Carol: Consider using a smaller-size ice cream scoop to form the balls.

Mediterranean Watermelon Salad with Vinaigrette

Kathy Chlebecek, a member of Sacred Heart Parish in Wahkon for the past five years, shares this unique recipe for watermelon salad in the church’s centennial cookbook featured in FFF yesterday. The juice from the watermelon is a primary ingredient in the dressing.

“People often think there are tomatoes in the salad at first glance,” Kathy said, “and are surprised when they taste it, that it’s sweet. The feta cheese, onion and pepper add a layer of sharpness.” CJK

Mediterranean Watermelon Salad with Vinaigrette

(Kathy Chlebecek)

Vinaigrette

2 tbsp. currant jelly

1/4 cup watermelon, pureed

2 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. garlic pepper*

1 tsp. vegetable oil

Salad

6 cups mixed salad greens, torn

3 cups watermelon, cubed and seeded

1/2 cup onion, sliced

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Freshly ground black pepper

In small saucepan, heat jelly just until melted; cool. Add remaining vinaigrette ingredients. Stir until blended. Refrigerate.

In large bowl mix all salad ingredients. Just before serving, shake vinaigrette well, toss salad mixture and drizzle with dressing. Top with freshly ground pepper to taste.

Yield: 8 servings

A note from Kathy: I consider it a great party salad — a hit whenever I’ve prepared it! I’ve made primarily it for potlucks and for bigger crowds after I found it in a magazine about 5 years ago.

A note from Carol: *Garlic pepper is a combination of ground black pepper and finely ground dried garlic. Look for it in the spice section at your grocery store.

Also on FFF: Nikki Rajala shared a Watermelon Tomato Salad recipe June 30, 2011.