Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

The posted RECIPE is an Award WINNER and officially named Chilled Tomato and Cucumber Gazpacho.  It’s not a Mexican Shrimp Cocktail silly — Duly advised, but it reminds me of one.  Either way, it may be the best I’ve had.  It’s fresh tasting, flavorful and super easy to make.

Chilled Tomato and Cucumber Gazpacho

3 ripe Tomatoes, cored and cut into large cubes [I seeded them]

1 Cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into large cubes [I didn't seed it; used an English Cucumber]

1/2 Green, Yellow or Orange Pepper (or tricolor combo), diced [I used half a Green, half an Orange]

1/2 Shallot, or 1 Tablespoon Red Onion, diced [Shallot]

1/2 cup Scallions, chopped

Juice of 1 Lime

1 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 T. Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 t. Tabasco [or other hot pepper sauce, like Red Rooster, which I now like better--use 1 T.]

1/2 cup V-8 Juice [buy one small bottle at a liquor store; grocery stores only sell it by the case!]

Lemon Pepper to taste

Seasoned Salt to taste

Instructions

Combine all Soup ingredients in blender until well blended (ingredients will retain some pulp, which is great).  Pour into chilled bowls and garnish as desired.  Makes 1/2 gallon–6 appetizer servings or 3 main dish servings.  Tastes better if you make it the night before.

Garnish (with one or more)

1/2 lb. chilled, cooked Shrimp [buy the fresh $10 Shrimp tray from Costco; scarf the leftovers with the Cocktail Sauce]

1 chilled, sliced Avocado

1 T. fresh Cilantro, chopped

Follow and vary the RECIPE to your taste — Above [brackets] indicate specifics by Arlene T., 2011 Best Appetizer Winner.  She agreed to share all on Nibbles of Tidbits and we thank her.

I recently made the same for a Holiday Party and everyone loved it well chilled in a cup.

Stopped by to learn more and will be donating time to Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in November and December when it’s needed most.  How about you?  Come do it too.

Read more and watch a video about the volunteer experience here.  Also appreciate the Rosemary bursting through the fence at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen — We’re always on the lookout for Herbs planted around the city.  An abundant find saves money and inspires new dishes.  In this case, a Rosemary sprig will come in handy for Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts.

New or long-standing, all restaurants have high hopes.  It’s sad when one has to close, and more job loss isn’t good either.  I just walked by Marie Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery in Costa Mesa, an old faithful to many and learned it’s no mas – No more Soup for me there.  At least with this restaurant there are other locations to obtain whatever you’re going to miss.

Aetna wants you to join their Healthy Food Fight – FOOD Competitions are taking place at County Fairs and Festivals across the states.  Aetna is actively in search of the most nutritious and best tasting recipe.  All officially got cooking at the Los Angeles County Fair last week. 

Semi-finalists (48) in LA, Dallas, Atlanta and Philadelphia prepared/will prepare their recipe LIVE to hopefully be chosen ”the one” to represent their city at the final competition that’ll take place in New York in December. Anyway, look it up, I don’t need to know all that.  I’m interested because my childhood friend, Denise Davidson Coulombe was a Semi-finalist.

Denise is the one prominently featured throughout and she made Turkey Vegetable Soup.

She chose an apron, was assigned a stove top, collected her ingredients and got cooking.

Judges and LA County Fair goers stopped by to watch and ask questions.

Presentation to the Judges…

More Semi-finalists presenting dishes to the Judges and Bloggers — All did a great job.

Check out the Aetna Healthy Food Fight website to view Semi-finalists’ recipes.

Denise did famously, but another was picked to represent LA — The Aetna crew will resurface at the Texas State Fair October 15 – 16, 2011.  After our healthy competition was over, we shared Pink’s Chili Cheese Fries and a Chuckwagon Beef Brisket Sandwich, and did some wine tasting to celebrate healthiness and D’s win.  Her family is proud.  Cheers and congrats!

Off Scenic Avenue literally and figuratively is Cafe Rose Express, my favorite lunch spot of all time.  I call it Little Oregon to honor its peaceful Northern looking beauty and for the special people I know from Oregon.  The photos are momentous for a few reasons.  It’s also been a while since I had Lobster Bisque with generous amounts of Lobster in it and true to form Cafe Rose Express serves generous everything.  I’m consistently and pleasantly amazed by their top-notch food offerings.  I’d eat here every day if I could.  It’s a satisfying weekday escape.

And I’m now a Zucchini Bread lover, at least of theirs.

Every picture tells a story – It has all been said before, not really though.  Appreciate all.

Chili at the Beach benefiting CHOC Children’s Hospital appeared to be a success today.

It seemed like everyone was having a good time.

$15 got us a taste of twenty-one different Chili’s — Good for us and CHOC.

After that, we kicked it with Zimzala’s 7-Day a week Happy Hour and beautiful view.

More will be reported about both separately soon.

06/20/11 Update:  The link to more about the Chili at the Beach event is here.

Zucchini Potato Soup is the first recipe we made from Southern Living’s Farmer’s Market Cookbook.  We got all ingredients (except Bacon) from the Corona Del Mar Farmer’s Market, since that’s what it’s all about.

We made Chicken Stock from a leftover Rotisserie Chicken, a leftover piece of El Pollo Loco Chicken and a leftover piece of Boston Market Chicken – We just so happened to have all on hand, ha.  It turned out great and made the Zucchini Potato Soup more flavorful.

Overall, the Soup was good and easy to make.  The recipe is pictured below, if you can see it.  We added a little Lemon Juice to the Soup, and Sour Cream as a garnish to go with the yummy Bacon on top.  Since the recipe was inspired by Vichyssoise, it’s to be served cold.  My friend loves it that way, but I prefer it warm.  This Soup is flexible that way.

The recipe is well written, like many we’ve read in this Cookbook — In other words, the order of instructions make sense for optimum freshness and flavor.  However, whenever sauteing Onions with Garlic, we always caramelize the Onions and add the Garlic at the very end, no matter what the recipe states, because we think it ultimately creates the best flavor.

We posted a few Hanukkah tips on Examiner.com.  This year Hanukkah is celebrated on December 11th through December 19th.  Happy Hanukkah to my wonderful Jewish friends and joy to the world.  We love Matzo Ball Soup.

So far, Diho Siam has the best Wor Wonton Soup in Costa Mesa.  The broth is amazing!  Due to the weather and being under the weather, I’ve had a lot of Soup lately.  This is the second day in a row I’ve had the Wor Wonton Soup Bowl from Diho Siam — (949) 645-3259.  Too bad I didn’t photograph it yesterday, the Broth was crystal clear like the best Consomme ever seen, and the Shrimp was on top.  It would’ve made for a better photo.  Consistently both, and all previous bowls, were flavorful, convenient and satisfying.  If local and under the weather too, you’ve got to try it.  And if searching for other cold comforts read here or to view more Diho Siam meals click here.

I love my Quick From Scratch Food & Wine Cookbooks — They seem to have the best recipes.  Today I made the Corn and Cod Chowder with Orange Roughy instead of Cod, since it was the freshest Fish at the market.  I like Cod in this recipe too, but Orange Roughy is a tasty substitution.  All other ingredients are the same, except I used Chicken Stock in place of the Clam Juice.  It’s usually a seamless replacement I prefer in recipes.  I like Clams, but have a mental problem adding Clam Juice to a recipe.  When called for, I’ll generally substitute Chicken, Vegetable, Shrimp or Lobster Stock.

As you can see from the cookbook stains, I’ve had Food & Wine’s Quick From Scratch Fish & Shellfish for quite sometime and everything I’ve made from it has turned out great.  That can’t be said about all cookbooks, thus I highly recommend this one and Food & Wine’s Quick From Scratch Pasta.  I’ve made many fabulous meals from both.

It’s Soup season and time to make comfort dishes that fragrant the house.  They’re cozy, convenient and ready to be warmed up for lunch or dinner throughout the week.  All I need tonight is a piece of Sourdough with (real) Butter, a bowl of this New England style Chowder and a blankie.  The work is done and now it’s pure enjoyment time.

I made this Poblano, Pasilla, Anaheim, Tomatillo, Red & Green Jalapeno Chili Chili by roasting the Peppers and Tomatillos in the oven, then peeling and chopping all to be combined with seared Beef Cubes.

This Chili was improvised, but happily turned out great with the addition of Crushed Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, Water, pressed Garlic, Chili Powder, Cumin, Garbanzo Beans, Kidney Beans and Black Beans, fresh chopped Cilantro, Salt and Pepper (Black & Cheyenne).  All was simmered covered on the stove for about 2 1/2 Hours, until the Beef would fall apart.

As usual with Chili, this Chili Chili got better as the days went on.  It became more tasty and spicy.  Measurements aren’t needed when you prepare it based on desired taste and consistency.

Manischewitz Matzo Ball Mix is a good start to a satisfying Matzo Ball Soup.  The Matzo Balls couldn’t be easier to make and they’ve got a nice flavor to them.  I prefer to use my own Stock/Broth if made and on hand, if not I’ve been using Wolfgang Puck’s Free Range Roasted Chicken Stock lately – It’s pretty good.  And sometimes I’ll boil a few onions with a canned/boxed Stock to add more flavor.

To make the Matzo Balls, you’ll just stir Eggs and Oil into the Matzo Ball Mix, set mixture aside in the fridge for 15 minutes, then shape it into small balls and drop all into hot Stock/Broth, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes – And that’s it.  This time I added Broccoli and Cauliflower.

MORE INFO about the Matzo Ball Mix I usually use:
http://www.manischewitz.com/products/sides_mixes/mixes.php

FYI - Pete Schweddy didn’t make these.  He makes Balls for NPR’s Delicious Dish, as you’ll see HERE:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4156/saturday-night-live-nprs-delicious-dish-schweddy-balls

Since I had a bunch of washed, fresh cut/peeled Celery leftover from a Vegetable Platter, I made this impromptu Cream of Celery Soup.  Homemade is way better than any canned version.  Sorry there’s no measurements here, but YOU CAN DO IT – Be generous with the Onion, Herb and Garlic for optimum taste.

Sauté chopped Onion and Celery with S & P in Olive Oil until almost caramelized, then add minced Garlic, fresh Thyme Leaves and cook a couple minutes longer.  Add enough Chicken Stock/Broth to cover all ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, cool and purée in a blender. 

Return the puréed mixture to a saucepan, reheat and add a little Cream, not much, none is really needed if that’s preferred.  And to nicely combine the flavors, add fresh Lemon Juice and S & P to taste at the end.  It’s a quick, easy, much better than canned copycat Cream of Celery Soup if in need, or due to an abundance of Celery.

Another Mystery Shop at The Cheesecake Factory.  It appears the company really cares about customer satisfaction.  That’s a very good thing.  This lunch visit I had Renee’s Special.  I’m not sure who Renee is, but the Baked Potato Soup was amazing.  I’ll go back just for it.  The Cheesecake Factory possibly offers the most menu items I’ve ever seen.  I could eat there every day for a month!  I’d bet that all would be good too.  Renee’s Special includes the choice of two Sandwiches and comes all together with Soup of the Day and a Salad.  It’s a good combination for some, but there’s too many other options to get it again.

Related Links:

http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1304

http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1185

http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/default.asp

After my Christmas Party this year I ended up with leftovers from two generous Vegetable Platters.  I love having washed pre-cut vegetables on hand.  They’re a great snack, but you can only eat so many Celery and Carrot sticks with Ranch Dip.  Since I had so many, I tried a few recipes.  Before that I did eat the Red, Yellow and (most) Green Peppers, and there were no Cucumbers after the party – I made a few dishes with the remaining Cherry Tomatoes, Celery, Carrots, Broccoli, Bell Peppers and Sugar Snap Peas.

White Bean & Celery Soup - This may not look like much, but it’s good.  The recipe (linked below) is a combination of Celery, Onion, Garlic, Cannellini Beans, Vegetable Stock and S & P.  I substituted Chicken Stock and added some fresh squeezed Lemon Juice at the end, plus Scallions on top.  It hit the spot after that.  http://www.opensourcefood.com/people/netwalker/recipes/white-bean-and-celery-soup

Creamy Vegetable Soup - I roasted Broccoli, Carrots, Bell Peppers and Sugar Snap Peas in the oven.  After all were a little charred, I removed the vegetables from the oven and added hot Chicken Stock.  I mixed some Milk with a little Cornstarch and poured it in, then brought all to a quick boil, simmered a bit and served this Soup within a short time.  It was easy and flavorful.

 Baked Cherry Tomatoes – I stumbled across this recipe (linked below) which seemed easy and a little different.  I had all ingredients, Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic, Chives, Lemon Juice, Olive Oil and S & P.  I followed the recipe exactly, but next time I might add less Lemon Juice, or add the Peel/Rind instead.  I’ve found that the Rind imparts a Lemon flavor without making a dish too tart.  Or Lemon Juice added at the end is sometimes best.  http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0896/cherryto.html

Roasted Carrots - I roasted Carrots in the oven with a little Olive Oil and Salt.  I ate several, then mashed the rest and incorporated them into an easy Carrot Souffle recipe.  It didn’t turn out like I hoped, mostly because I didn’t have all ingredients.  I tried to improvise, but the final was too dense, not fluffy and light how I want.

Cafeteria Carrot Souffle – Here’s the wannabe Souffle photo and recipe (linked below).  I mickey-moused this one, but you might want to give it a try.  It has potential.  After making all the above, I’m down to a small bag of Cherry Tomatoes, Carrots and Broccoli.  Any suggestions?  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cafeteria-Carrot-Souffle/Detail.aspx