West by Midwest

Recipes and thoughts from the West by Midwest kitchen

Artichoke Lemon Orzo Salad

I use artichokes in a few recipes I create and decided to make this in the morning to serve in the evening. It can be served warm or cold and would be a nice salad to take along to a potluck. I didn't use much orzo since I wanted the vegetables to do the talking. Everything I used in this recipe can be purchased at Trader Joe's if you are lucky enough to live by one. With only 2 people living in our house right now, the big stores aren't for me as often. Artichoke Orzo Salad 1/4 Cup Orzo 1 14 oz. Can Artichokes, drained, cut in half and patted dry 4 Tbls. Olive Oil (separated) 1 8 oz. package Mushrooms, sliced 1/4 Red Onion, thinly sliced 16-20 cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in ... read more

October(fest) Sauerbraten

Fall weather (all 2 days of it so far) means German food at our haus. We both have some German heritage and crave German food occasionally. We don’t have a good German restaurant nearby, so I make my own. When I first found this recipe in an old German cookbook of my great uncles, I laughed when it said marinate for three days, five if using a refrigerator! Joe loved it, so here is a marinated beef dinner that’s easy to make, but keeps you waiting a while. Since it’s just the two of us, you get some bonus leftover recipes. Sauerbraten Marinade: 3 1/2 lbs. Beef, chuck roast or rump roast 1 Cup Vinegar 1 Cup Water 1 Small Onion, cut in wedges and separated 1 Carrot, cut in thin ... read more

Pluot Granita and Granita Sangria

Pluots /ˈpluːɒt/  hybrid that are genetically one-fourth (25%) apricot and three-fourths (75%) plum. Granita \grə-ˈnē-tə\:  a coarse-textured ice confection typically made from fruit Sangria /san'grí a/ is an alcoholic beverage of Spanish origin, traditionally consists of red wine and chopped fruit, often with other ingredients such as orange juice or brandy Now that you know what it is, here is how to make it and enjoy it! I got a VERY large bag of pluots at our farmers' market as they were packing up. Then I had to figure out what to do with them. It's summer and it's warm so Granita was one of my first thoughts. It's easy to make, but you do need to be around for a few hours to make sure ... read more

Warm Day? Cold Brew.

When you know the heat wave is coming and hot coffee might not be in the mix, cold brew and you. What is it? Cold Brew is coffee made 12 hours ahead of time using a cold extraction resulting in the same good taste and caffeine, with a lot less acid. Tastes the same later in the week too, so you can plan ahead and get your day started faster. Philz is my hot coffee of choice lately so I asked the barista which makes the best cold brew. Both that were recommended (Jacob's Wonderbar and Julie's Ultimate) are of the darker roast variety. I had them grind it to the "French Press" grind, a little coarser so you can strain it easier, and not so chewy! The benefits are that it's not heated then ... read more

Chimichurri Sauce

There are a lot of recipes out in the blogosphere for Chimichurri Sauce. It's traditionally a parsley based Argentinian sauce used to accent their grass fed grilled beef. I like mine with cilantro too so after scouring a number of recipes, I came up with my own. You can experiment with the acids, some recipes call for red wine vinegar, some for white. I used white and some lime juice. Nearly all recipes call for red pepper flakes, I used those along with a jalapeño pepper (without the seeds). Some recipes call for shallots, but I had just used mine up so I used red onion. Serve as a sauce for grilled beef or shrimp, use it as a marinade, top deviled eggs with a little...possibilities ... read more

Chicken, Chicken, Duck

It's BBQ season so I've been finding new, rediscovering old and revising recipes for summer evenings. Two I've recently made are Professor Baker's Barbeque Sauce (great for chicken or ribs) and Beer Can Chicken. Professor Baker's is a vinegar, non-tomato, based sauce that makes the skin very crispy and flavorful. Instead of the poultry seasoning called for in the original recipe, I used Cavender's Greek Seasoning on this batch and it's almost as good as the original. My mom used this recipe for years, but I recently found out it was/is a favorite at Cornell University. Professor Baker's Bar-B-Que Sauce 1 egg 1 Cup Vegetable Oil (can use olive oil) 2 Cup Vinegar (I've used white ... read more

Plum Torte

I found this NYT recipe after buying a big bag of plums at the farmers market. It is simple, looks pretty and tastes wonderful.  I added some blueberries from my garden as well. It can be made with other stone fruit so I'm going to try it with tart cherries when I'm back in the Midwest. Plum Torte 3/4-1 Cup Sugar (depends on how sweet your fruit is) 1/2 Cup Butter, softened 1 Cup Flour 1 tsp. Baking Powder pinch of salt 2 eggs 20 halves of ripe, pitted plums course sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice for topping Preheat oven to 350° Cream the sugar and butter together. Beat the eggs into the butter mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder and pinch of salt together and mix in with the ... read more

Quick Pickled Cucumbers

My husband loves pickles, they're a regular snack for him, right out of the jar. These are similar to my relish, dill pickles with a hint of sweetness. They are easy to make, crunchy and ready to eat the next day. I make a BIG jar of them for mid summer BBQs. Quick Dill Pickles 1 cup White Vinegar 2 rounded Tbls. Sugar 2 tsp. Mustard Seeds 2 tsp. Salt (I use Kosher for pickling) 2 tsp. Dill Seeds 4 Tbls. fresh Dill Weed, chopped (or 2 tsp. dry Dill) 1/2 tsp. Turmeric (optional) 2 Bay Leaves 3 cracked Garlic cloves 6-8 Kirby Cucumbers, use mandolin for a wavy cut or cut 1/2 inch on a diagonal Pack the cucumber slices in a 1 Quart Ball/Mason Jar or put into a Pyrex or other ... read more

Dill Pickled Relish

Why make your own relish? Store bought relish tends to be way too sweet. I like a little sweetness but like the dill flavor too. With my Farmers' Market bounty of Kirby cucumbers, I made another batch of Dill Pickled Relish. This was a hit for my family (and my daughter's boyfriend) so I'll distribute some more jars for summer BBQ time.   Dill Pickle Relish 8 Kirby Cucumbers, finely diced 1 Onion, finely diced (I use sweet onions, yellow if fine too) 1 Green Pepper, finely diced 1 Red Pepper, finely diced 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced 1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely minced (Totally Optional!) 1/4 Cup Salt (I use Kosher, but table salt should be fine) Mix the ... read more

Plethora of Plums are Jammin’

From my big bag of Farmers Market purple plums, I made an easy, tasty Plum Torte one day and 4 jars of plum jam the next. I can hear the lids popping now, meaning they are ready to eat safely for the next year, if they last that long! Fresh Plum Jam 6 cups Pitted Purple Plums (large chunks are fine) 2 1/2 cups Sugar 1 lemon, finely grate the rind and juice the lemon 1/2 inch of Ginger, grated 1/2 package of plain Gelatin (can be made without) 1/4 cup cold water In a medium to large saucepan, add the plums, sugar, lemon rind and juice, and the grated ginger. Over medium heat, cook the mixture, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Mix the gelatin with 1/4 ... read more