Petah's Pineapple Peach Salsa

Pineapple Peach Salsa - Dutch Oven Detour (recipes that should have been in the Dutch Oven)

 So for years now, Peter has been obsessed with Pineapple Peach Salsa – found only at Target (or Tar-jay as it’s known to its biggest fans).  Target sure hit the bullseye with this one!  It takes everything that is great about regular salsa – fresh tomatoes, a little burn from jalapeños and then BAM!  - They hit ya with the taste bud tingling sweetness of peaches and pineapple.  A flavor sensation - a party in your mouth – fruit and vegetables unite in celebration of salsa lovers around the world!

On shopping excursions to the US of A, Peter regularly stocks up; it’s not uncommon to come home with a half dozen jars of this liquid gold (ok – a dozen, but who’s counting!).  He also enlists the help of many other willing cross border shoppers to keep his pantry stocked.  With Target’s impending arrival in Canada – one can only hope that they will carry what is surely on its way to becoming known as the best salsa evah – and likely world salsa domination.  In the meantime however, we’ve come up with our own version made with all locally sourced ingredients – except for the pineapples of course (if anyone has Nova Scotia grown pineapples, surely let us know!   - Don’t call me Shirley! (HaHa!  Airplane fans unite!).  We digress…

Here’s how we did it…

Ingredients:

4 cups chopped tomatoes (peeled and seeded – see tip below)

2 cups chopped peaches (peeled – again, see tip below)

2 cups chopped pineapple (see tip below already!  Just kidding, we have no tip for this one)

1 red pepper finely chopped

1 cup chopped red onion

3-4 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (we’re wimps so only used three and definitely removed all seeds!)

Juice of one lemon

¼ cup white balsamic vinegar

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup tomato sauce

¼ Cilantro (optional)

Directions:

TIP!!!  Blanch your tomatoes and peaches to easily remove the skins.  Boil a big ol’pot of water; throw your tomatoes and peaches in (not all at the same time silly) for 30 to 60 seconds (until skin begins to wrinkle).  Remove and immediately place in ice bath.  Skins should be easily removed (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – when it doesn’t; expletives are permitted - but oh when it does…well, it can only truly be described as a foodie “A-ha moment – eat your heart out Oprah – when you know better you do better – beam us all up to the mother ship” kinda moment!).  Like turkey bacon changed Oprah’s life – blanching your tomatoes and peaches will change yours!

 Place all your prepared ingredients in a large pot and boil gently bently for 5 minutes.

Ladle into sterilized jars and process for 15 minutes (250 ml jars) or 20 minutes (500 ml jars).

Yields approximately six 500 ml jars.

This Little Piggy…

Pigs in a Blanket (PIB) – Beverages & Canapés, Pg. 40 – Verna D. Smith (Mrs. Russell A. Smith)


A few weeks ago was National Pigs in a Blanket Day…yep, there really is a day to recognize these bit-size delights. A bit of a guilty pleasure but oh sooo yummy! The Dutch Oven Cookbook is full of retro recipes from the 50s and we can’t wait to bring’m all back!

The Dutch Oven doesn’t provide much of a recipe for Pigs in a blanket other than offering instructions to wrap sausages in pastry and bake in a hot oven until pastry is done. This certainly gives a little creative license. We decided to keep it simple using some prepared ingredients compliments of President’s Choice. You could go all gourmet and make your own pastry…and even your own sausages – but that seems like a lot of work for pigs in a blanket – ya know what we’re sayin’? We consulted with Martha, and even she isn’t that hardcore. We did take a couple of suggestions from her to kick them up a notch though with the addition of cheese and caramelized onion.


Pigs in a Blanket (PIB)

Ingredients:

1 Pkg. mini sausages or hotdogs
1 Pkg. frozen puff pastry (thawed)
1 egg
Caramelized onion (optional)
Cheese (optional – cut in small pieces)
Flour

Instructions:


Slice sausages (3/4 of the way through). Fill with caramelized onions or cheese.

Roll thawed puff pastry on floured surface to 14x11 rectangle. Cut into 1.5x3.5 inch strips. Roll sausages in pastry using beaten egg to seal ends.

Brush with beaten egg, chill for 15 minutes and bake at 450°F for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.

We like them best served with honey mustard. These will be a hit with kids for sure, but even the most discerning foodie will have difficulty turing down these little piggies!

These little piggies went yum, yum, yum all the way to our tums!