When yellow squash, zucchini and sweet corn go on sale at the store, I start craving Calabacitas, (“little squashes” in Spanish). I play pretty fast and loose with the ingredients and seasoning. I don’t think most people put potatoes in their Calabacitas but I love the texture. No good tomatoes at the store? Leave ‘em out. Got a few mushrooms in the produce drawer? Add them with the potatoes. Don’t like spicy? Leave out the green chilies. Like garlic? Go ahead. You get the idea.

Calabacitas are a good vegetarian entree as well as a side dish. My favorite way to eat them is as a veggie taco. Wrapped in a soft flour tortilla with some shredded cheddar, they become a lunch that makes me wish the clock hands would hurry up and move to 12:00 noon so I can eat.

Calabacitas with Potatoes

Ingredients:
3 ears fresh corn, husks and silks removed
1 tablespoon oil
2 medium potatoes, diced (peeled or not)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen chopped onion
3 yellow and/or zucchini squash-large dice
2 small Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup green chilies, chopped (canned or fresh roasted)
1 teaspoon dried or fresh oregano; or 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar or goat cheese (optional)

Directions:
First: Wrap corn ears in plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH 4-5 minutes.

Second: Preheat large skillet. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add diced potatoes. Stir occasionally to brown all sides. Cover and cook until just tender. Add onion and saute until soft but not brown.

Third: Slice squash in quarters longways. Slice quarters crossways 3/4-1 inch thick. Add to skillet, cover and cook until slightly soft, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and green chilies, cover and cook 1 more minute. Season with salt, pepper and your choice of spices.

Fourth: Slice corn off of cob trying to preserve large chunks. Very gently stir into other vegetables in skillet. Remove from heat and add cheese if desired.

Notes:
1. Watching your carbs? Leave the potatoes out or replace them with mushrooms. Yum!
2. I love the look of chunks of corn so it’s worth it to me to use fresh. But frozen corn can be used instead.
3. Sometimes I add about 1 cup of fresh or frozen sliced okra along with the squash. Changes the character a bit but it’s oh so delicious!

Got squash?

Green Chili and Yellow Squash Cornbread Combo

Sausage-stuffed 8-Ball Squash

Is there anything better than biting into a fresh, fragrant, perfectly ripe nectarine or peach in the summertime? The sweet nectar rolling down your chin, your hands, and your arms is a reminder of how wonderfully juicy and messy they can be.

Take that same fresh-as-can-be flavor and put it in a pie crust for this summertime treat. I make it the same way I make fresh strawberry pie–based on my Aunt Marg’s recipe. The glaze is light in texture–not rubbery with too much gelatin. It’s not made with cooked fruit that could detract from the freshness I want to highlight and enjoy. There is just enough sweetness and almond flavoring to enhance the natural flavor of the nectarines, enough gooeyness to hold them together–barely, and enough shine to highlight the gorgeous colors.

Although I actually prefer peaches, not only were the ones at the store hard, but they couldn’t pass the sniff test (as in smells like a real peach) so I went with nectarines. The best thing about nectarines is there’s no need to peel. What a time-saver…plus, it makes the fiber count a little higher. And of course, that’s very important when you’re eating dessert.

Fresh Peach Glaze

Ingredients:
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons (half of 4 oz box) powdered peach jello
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 – 1 1/2 quart sliced nectarines or peaches
Pre-baked 9-inch pie crust (See notes for my choices.)

Directions:
First: Combine water, cornstarch, Jello and corn syrup in that order. Stir or whisk until smooth. Cook until mixture boils and thickens. Add flavoring and allow to cool. (I prefer to cook the filling in my microwave using a 2 qt-glass batter bowl. Takes 4-7 minutes on High, stirring 2-3 times.)

Second: Pour glaze over cleaned and sliced fruit in large bowl. Gently stir to distribute glaze throughout fruit. Pour into pie crust. Arrange fruit in picturesque manner if you care or you could just cover the pie with lots of sweetened whipped cream when you get ready to serve it and nobody will know the difference.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Best eaten the day it’s made.

Notes:
1. My choices for a pie crust would be a traditional pie crust, a cookie crust, or a pat-in-the-pan crust as seen here.
2. If using peaches, I sprinkle a tablespoon of lemon or orange juice over sliced fruit immediately after peeling and slicing to prevent browning.
3. This doesn’t usually slice very pretty. Oh well! Tastes fabulous–especially if you use good quality fruit. This is obviously a summertime recipe to be made when peaches and nectarines are in season.

More ideas for the fresh fruits of summer…

Fresh Blueberry Coffeecake

Glazed Fresh Strawberry Pie

My friend Larry called these “the best baked beans I ever had.” Perhaps he was extra hungry. Or maybe he was appreciating food he didn’t have to make himself. Nevertheless, he’s a wonderful cook so I’m believing it. Here is the recipe as promised.

Since they contain ground beef and sausage, these beans are a meal in their own right. They’re also a tasty side for steaks, pork chops, burgers, etc. Serve them at your next cook-out. Take them to a potluck. Or fix them for a sick neighbor or friend.

My favorite way to eat them is with potato chips using the beans as a dip.

Hearty Baked Beans

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound sausage (I like the HOT variety)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped (I like the red ones best)
2 16-ounce cans pork and beans
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
5-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:
First: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In large skillet, fry bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and discard grease.

Second: In same skillet, brown ground meat, draining off excess fat. Add onions and bell peppers. Cook until vegetables soften. Add pork and beans, barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar to the meat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Third: Transfer beans to greased 2-quart dish. Crumble bacon over the top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes. Allow to stand an additional 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:
1. Cheap pork and beans work best as they tend to contain more liquid making the beans “juicier” after baked.
2. Baking time will vary according to the depth of the baking dish you choose. Flatter dishes require less time. Beans will thicken some after removing from oven.

Adapted from  Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood.

Other side dishes you might enjoy:

Roasted Eggplant and Potatoes

Green Chili and Yellow Squash Combo

I don’t cook breakfast very often, even for company. That’s why I need my sister, Kay, as a partner in our theoretical bed and breakfast scheme.  She knows how to do breakfast!  It’s also why I like this recipe.  I can make the dough and roll out the biscuits the night before (or weeks ahead of time) and put them in the freezer, then pop them in the oven when I roll out of bed.

My brother-in-law, Phil, makes these biscuits with the same sourdough starter he uses for his  famous pizza,  Unfortunately, I have not mastered the whole sourdough routine yet so I rewrote the recipe using a favorite ingredient I always have on hand–yogurt.

Unflavored yogurt gives these biscuits a wonderful texture and subtly tangy flavor. Their calling card is the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. One bite into the crisp and sugary crust reveals a tender biscuit stuffed with raisins and toasted pecans. I love to eat them with creme fraiche (pictured) or cherry butter but I’m sure your favorite jelly would be delicious too.

They are best eaten warm out of the oven but they taste mighty good the rest of the day too… although that’s pretty much the limit. If you don’t have many hungry mouths to feed,  freeze the raw biscuits and keep them up to two months. Do not defrost before baking. Just add 3-5 extra minutes oven time.

Cinnamon-Raisin Biscuits

Makes 18 mini biscuits

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch fresh grated nutmeg (or out of a can if you must)
5 tablespoons COLD butter
3/4 cup plain yogurt (or 1/4 cup milk + 1/2 cup sour cream if you’re pants are too loose)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup toasted pecans

Directions:
First: Mix flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut butter into dry ingredients using a fork or your fingers until pieces are the size of oatmeal.

Second: Pour yogurt over flour mixture and mix very lightly with a fork. Press dough into a ball and turn out onto floured board.

Third: Quickly and without fuss, press dough into a 6-7-inch square. Dough should be about 1 inch thick. Cut into 9 squares–3 cuts across and 3 cuts down. Cut each square in half diagonally. Paint each biscuit with melted butter and sprinkle with sparkling sugar (The grains are larger than regular sugar).

Fourth: Bake in oven preheated to 425 degrees for 15-17 seventeen minutes. (Add 3 or 4 minutes if biscuits are frozen.

Twisted Cinnamon-Pecan Breakfast Yeast Bread

My Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Traditional mashed potatoes are comfort food for me.  But adding sweet potatoes makes them so much more interesting and breaks the monotony of plain mashed potatoes.

On the other hand, a dish of 100% sweet potatoes can be cloying and somehow seems to end up mixed with lots of butter, sugar and spices. While I like that on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I don’t want it very often.  Adding white potatoes seems to mellow out the sweet potatoes in a nice way.

Don’t save this dish just for fall and winter holidays.  It’s perfect with grilled meats–especially something spicy. My favorite is sausage for a quick weeknight meal.

Sweet and White Mashed Potato Swirl

Makes 5-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds white potatoes, peeled and diced in 2-inch pieces
1 1/2 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in 2-inch pieces
4 Tablespoons butter (divided)
1/2 + cup warmed milk  (divided)
Salt
Pepper (I use white pepper)

Directions:
First: Place white potatoes in bottom of saucepan, then sweet potatoes on top.  Barely cover potatoes with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer until potatoes are fork tender but not falling apart.

Second: Drain potatoes.  Remove sweet potatoes from the pan and place in another bowl.  Mash white potatoes your favorite way. I normally use a masher–sometimes a portable mixer. Add 2 tablespoons (or more) butter and 1/3 cup (+ more as necessary) milk until desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Third: Repeat step two with sweet potatoes. Start with about 2 tablespoons of milk, adding until consistency matches white potatoes.

Fourth: Plop mashed sweet potatoes back into pan with mashed white potatoes and take a couple folds with a spoon to barely mix.  Move to serving dish being careful not to mix too much.

Sweet potato lover??

Skinny Sweet Potato Chips

Streusel-Crusted Sweet Potato Balls

These peppermint patty-studded brownies are sure to send your sweet tooth into nirvana. They are minty, dense and very chocolaty.

Perhaps you’ve heard me talk about the TWD blog before.  It’s fun and educational to read through my fellow bloggers’ baking experiences.  Every week I learn new things.  For example, I read that these brownies can cause you to have a baby.  Holly said so here although she retracted her amazing assertion later. Mary used Reese’s peanut butter cups instead of peppermint patties.  Can’t wait to see how those turned out.  Some people had trouble with the patties melting into glue (delicious glue they claimed) with major stickage problems.  I say thank goodness for non-stick aluminum foil.

Meanwhile, if you are a self-described peppermint patty fiend like Ms. Kate, get the recipe from Karen of Welcome to our Crazy Blessed Life.

If you are a brownie recipe collector you might want to take a look at these variations…

White Chocolate Brownies

Rick Katz's Brownies

Wait until you smell these homemade rolls baking in your kitchen! Not only is the heady fragrance of yeast going to make your mouth water but the oatmeal topping gives the slightest suggestion of cookies as the rolls bake. I think you’ll love these rolls–soft, light and fluffy with just enough oatmeal to give a little chew and make them interesting. Although they have some honey in them, they aren’t overly sweet so my husband insists they be eaten dripping with honey and I agree.

For the record, I tried substituting 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of white flour. The result was not so good, producing rolls that were somewhat heavy and dry. If you go this route and it turns out well, let me know the proportions you used. I think there are possibilities, I just haven’t figured them out yet.

The directions given are for a bread machine because it produces the best bread in my opinion. But you can make it with a stand mixer (general directions here) or by hand if you prefer.

Honey-Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

Makes 16 rolls.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk (I don’t keep whole milk in the house so use 1 tablespoon whipping cream and add skim milk for the rest)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon shortening (may sub butter if preferred, but a little shortening makes them fluffier)
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 -3/4 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1/2 cup quick oats + extra for sprinkling on top of rolls
2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast or instant yeast

Glaze:
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Directions:
First: Combine milk, water, butter and shortening in glass cup and microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Add to bowl of bread machine followed by remainder of ingredients in order listed. (Regarding the flour: start with the smaller amount. Add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary, after machine has started to bring dough to right consistency.) Set machine on dough cycle and start. If you are new to using bread machines see this post for a quick picture tutorial on getting your dough to the right consistency.

Second: When dough cycle is complete, turn dough out onto a floured surface. Divide dough in half. Divide each half into 8 rolls for a total of 16. Use fingers to make each portion into a smooth ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Allow to rise until almost double.

Third: Turn on oven about 15 minutes before you are anticipating rolls will be ready to bake. Use the dull side of a thin knife or a wooden skewer to gently press down in the middle of each roll.  Dipping your knife or wooden stick in flour  makes it easier.

For glaze: Whisk eggs and water together and gently coat rolls. Sprinkle a few quick oats on top of each roll before the glaze dries.

Fourth: Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes. Allow to cool on a rack for a few minutes or eat as soon as they are cool enough to eat.

If you enjoy making or eating dinner rolls…

Yogurt Fantans

Seeded Twirly Buns

Whether you eat this simple but fabulous bittersweet chocolate tart during the day…

or at night…

it’s guaranteed to satisfy every chocolate-loving tastebud in your mouth.

You can get the recipe from Dharmagirl of bliss: towards a delicious life.

More tarts…

Chocolate-Crunch Caramel Tart

Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart

Last weekend, my husband and I flew to Colorado for a mini-vacation. The primary purpose was for me to attend the Food and Light Workshop in Boulder. More about that in a minute. (Disclaimer: All of these pictures are SOOC as in straight out of the camera. I am taking a temporary break from my addiction to Photoshop.)

Over the weekend, we stayed with my sister and her husband in Denver where we were treated to some of Phil’s fantastic cooking. Saturday for lunch, he served his famous sourdough pizza (pictured above) which we ate in the backyard with a view of the mountains. Because “when in Rome, we try to do as the Romans,” we drank grape juice with our pizza. It’s the way Phil and Bonnie always do it. Not sure why that reminds me of our family tradition (as in back home on the farm) of drinking home-canned tomato juice with popcorn. Hm-m-m-m.

After lunch, we all hopped in the car for a quick trip to Rocky Mountain National park. I have no pictures because I spent most of the time in the car with my eyes closed. The cliffs and the altitude combined to give me a bad feeling. All was well when we got back to the bottom of the mountain. I was even better after eating Phil’s Crawfish Etoufee’ for dinner.

The next morning, Bonnie made some biscuits out of the same sourdough bucket the pizza came from. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good picture of the cook.

My husband made an unusual move and grabbed my camera while we enjoyed the lattes Phil is famous for.

Sunday afternoon, the four of us went to Boulder where Billy and I checked into the Boulderado Hotel. The place is so old, they still have an elevator that requires a specially trained human operator. The rooms, however, have been renovated and were quite modern and comfortable.

Monday morning, I walked across the street to attend the Food and Light Workshop organized by Jenny Yu of Use Real Butter.

Also instructing us were Helen of Tartlette

and Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of Todd but he helped me with lighting on this simple cluster of grapes as well as many other issues I was concerned about. The workshop was designed with lots of “hands-on” time so we could put our new knowledge into practice immediately.

We took pictures of all kinds of fruit and vegetables from the local Farmer’s Market.

I took pictures of my breakfast…

and even  lunch at a restaurant. (That’s Croque’ Madame made famous by Julia Child or so I’m told).

It was a fabulous learning experience that included a chance to meet and learn from 23 other participants, most with their own food blogs. As one person so aptly stated, it was great fun to attend a workshop full of over-achievers!

I’m just hoping my pictures will someday be as good as many I saw last weekend from both the instructors and my fellow food bloggers.  A big thank-you to Jen, Helen, Todd and Diane for putting on a terrific workshop. I highly recommend taking time to check out their blogs for more pictures and details of the event. I know you will enjoy their incredible and unique styles of food photography.

Add bacon to anything and it will fly off the table.  That’s what a caterer once told me and I believe it. Certainly applies here.

Whether you’re planning a cookout this weekend or cooking indoors (rain predicted here in Texas), grill up a few of these sizzling treats for a quick appetizer or serve as an entree.  I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than with a big plate of  these spicy and cheesy, smoky and crispy chicken nuggets.

If  you don’t like hot,  leave out the jalapenos or skimp a bit.  I definitely prefer fresh jalapenos over the canned or pickled ones traditionally used with nachos.  They are milder and prettier too.

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Chicken Bites

Makes 16 bite-size appetizers.

Ingredients:
8  chicken tenders, flattened and cut in two
3-ounce package softened cream cheese
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
8 slices bacon, cut in half

Directions:
First: Dab 1/2 teaspoon (more or less) of cream cheese on top of each chicken tender.  Sprinkle a scant 1/4 teaspoon of peppers over cream cheese.  Fold or roll chicken to enclose cream cheese mixture.  Wrap each roll with one piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Second: Grill until bacon is brown and crispy on both sides.

Notes:

1. Be sure to wear plastic gloves when handling fresh jalapenos. The oil will attach itself to your hands and is not easily washed away. An inadvertent swipe of the hand close to your eyes could be an unforgettable experience.
2. For reference, if you are substituting for the chicken tenders (i.e. dark meat, large pieces of chicken breast, game meat), the size of the tenders I used were 5-6 inches long and 2-3 inches wide before flattening and cutting in half.
3. Try flattening meat inside a zip-lock bag as pictured above. No flying pieces, no contamination on your cutting board from the chicken, and cleanup is super easy.

Recipe adapted from Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood.

Other ideas for the Fourth of July…

Kay's Potato Salad

Candy-Covered Ice Cream Balls