By Bill Dwyer 

This traditional Mexican dish is a favorite at our house. Tostadas can be made using meats other than chorizo, of course –or no meat at all. One tostada makes a good lunch, Two tostadas make dinner. 

Ingredients: 

• 4                      small corn tortillas
• 1                      small tin of refried beans
• 6-8 oz            chorizo con chili
• 1 cup             grated jack cheese, such as Monte Rico
• 4 tbsp           natilla
• 4-5                 lettuce leaves, washed, dried, and shredded
•                         vegetable oil 

For the salsa:

• ½                    medium-size tomato, finely diced
• ½                    medium-size onion, finely diced
• ½                    avocado, finely diced (optional)
• ½ cup           minced fresh cilantro
• ¼ tsp            ground cumin
• ¼ tsp            ground coriander seed (culantro)
•                         juice of ¼ lime
•                         salt, to taste
•                         hot sauce or minced chipotle peppers, to taste (may be omitted if your chorizo is spicy)

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Filed under: Cooking Corner on January 27th, 2012
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This recipe is adapted for ingredients available in Quepos  from Alton Brown’s & is one of my favourites.

Ingredients

• 1 whole egg
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 Tbs butter
• 30 gm dried apple rings or apricots
• 1 whole pork tenderloin, 450 gm
• 100 gm thinly slice prosciutto ham
• 2” chorizo or Italian sausage, casing removed and chopped into small pieces
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
• ½ tsp chopped fresh sage leaves
• ¼ C chopped fresh parsley
• 4 or 5 mushrooms, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
• 2 large cloves garlic, pureed
• ½ c red wine or port
• Table salt & fresh pepper
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed completely
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
• 1/4 tsp  kosher salt

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Filed under: Cooking Corner on December 19th, 2011
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By Bill Dwyer

The soup that evolved into Gazpacho originated in medieval Andalusia, Spain’s southernmost province, when it was ruled by Moorish caliphs. The original dish bore hardly any resemblance to the soup we now know as Gazpacho. It consisted of a loaf of bread that had been soaked in water and wrung out, then ground with garlic in a mortar and pestle. Olive oil vinegar and water were then added to complete the soup. No doubt this filled the belly, but it doesn’t sound very palatable to me! I’m not surprised that, after Spain re-conquered Andalusia and Columbus brought new fruits and vegetables from the new world, Spaniards soon replaced the water with tomato juice and started adding other ingredients. Read More…

Filed under: Cooking Corner on November 27th, 2011
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By Bill Dwyer
In last month’s column I referred to Vichyssoise as originating in France. Turns out I was mistaken. While researching for this month’s column I found out that, according to no less an authority than Julia Child, this delicious soup is “an American invention” – but one she approves. Further research revealed that Vichyssoise was first served to diners at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York in 1950 by the hotel’s French chef, Louis Diat. So France should get some credit for its creation, even though it originated in the U.S.

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Filed under: Cooking Corner on October 17th, 2011
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By Bill Dwyer

What could be more fitting for a hot climate like ours than flavorful cold soups? They make a great accompaniment to a sandwich for a light meal, or a nice change from fruit drinks as a refreshing snack.  Over the next few months I’ll be presenting three classic cold soups: vichyssoise from France via USA, gazpacho from Spain and Latin America, and this month’s recipe, beet borscht, from central Europe.

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Filed under: Cooking Corner on August 31st, 2011
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By Bill Dwyer

Melts are open-face sandwiches, with melted cheese as the common denominator. They are usually made with a meat or seafood salad mixed with cheese. Here is my version of a favourite of ours – the crab melt.

I don’t follow a recipe when I make these, but to write this column and tell you how to make crab melts, I did some measuring as I added ingredient after ingredient. I put each ingredient into a measuring cup without packing them down – just left loose; so keep that in mind as you build your own crab melts. And don’t feel you have to match my measurements exactly – just fairly closely. By the second or third time you make crab melts you probably won’t need to do any measuring.

You can use this recipe to make shrimp, chicken, or even hot-dog melts by substituting the crabmeat.

Ingredients

• 1 six-oz can   crabmeat (Roland white crabmeat is available at Supermas)
• 1 cup               grated radishes
• 1 cup               green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
• ½ cup            celery, finely chopped
• ½ cup            cucumber, finely chopped (seeds and pulp removed, but unpeeled)
• 12                    green olives, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp            fresh parsley, finely chopped
• ¼ cup           mayonnaise
• ¼ cup           Dijon mustard
• salt and white pepper, to taste
• 6 oz                Emmenthal cheese, grated
• 8                      English muffin halves, toasted

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Filed under: Cooking Corner on May 21st, 2011
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I’m not fond of store-bought crackers, so I learned to make my own. Serve these easy to make Sesame Crackers with Roasted Garlic-Red Pepper dip while partying by the pool, as munchies before dinner, or for a snack while watching video-of-the-week.

Roasted Garlic–Red Pepper Dip (1 ½ – 2cups)

Ingredients

• 1 head of garlic
• 4 large red peppers
• spray vegetable oil
• ½ C cream cheese
• ½ C plain yogurt
• 2 Tbs fresh lime juice
• 3 Tbs fresh basil
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

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Filed under: Cooking Corner on April 26th, 2011
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