I started this concoction with a craving. I saw bagels sitting on the counter and thought about how appropriate bagels were for breakfast and that, now, it was breakfast time. How auspicious. I needed something more than just a bagel, though. A bagel with grilled onions sounded just divine. Then maybe I should spice it up a bit and use some Tapatio hot sauce. I thought to myself, cheese could really tie together the hot sauce and the grilled onions. While I’m at it, I really like a mix of grilled onions and fresh onions, so I may as well have fresh onions on the sandwich, too.

While grilling the onions, I found some pineapple in the fridge. “Pineapples?”, you ask. Yes, pineapples. Let’s grill those. You know what would go great with pineapple? Green peppers. I sliced them into neat little circles. And you know what else would go great with pineapple? Mole.

That’s right. I made a breakfast sandwich with cheese, grilled onion, fresh onion, green pepper, pineapple and mole with a splash of Tapatio. It was amazingly delicious.

• cheese blend mozzarella, provolone, asiago (italian blend)
• cheddar
• onions
• green pepper
• pineapple
• butter
• mole
• Tapatio hot sauce
• Bagel

This went on for several minutes with links to images of “biscuits” and wikipedia articles about Arnott’s Shapes when he decided that I must try them.

Because they are baked, the texture resembles that of cardboard. However, the fact that you can actually see the “flavour” attracts me. This doesn’t taste anything like that nasty MSG-hotness laden BBQ flavor we have on potato chips here in the states. Once you get past the cardboard texture, they are actually quite delicious.

I’ll try and save some if anybody local would like to try them.

Slightly spicy

I still don’t have a food photographer but I hope these pictures are better than nothing.

This is just a quick snack that takes more manual dexterity and patience than usual but it’s worth it in the end.

• Triscuit thin crisps quattro formaggio
• fresh jalapeno
• diced tomatoes
• sliced onion
• Tapatío hot sauce
• sour cream

Spread approximately 1/2 to 1 full teaspoon on each triangle and for presentation purposes, only cover a part of the thin crisp leaving the rest exposed. Slice your jalapeno into rings and then slice each of those into half. Since these are fresh jalapenos, there really will be no need to remove the seeds. The bite will not be as strong as a pickled jalapeno.

Place each jalapeno half-slice onto the exposed part of the Triscuit, gluing it in place by pushing one edge into the sour cream. Next, place two or three tomato pieces along the top edge of the jalapeno, also gluing into place with the sour cream. Your onion slices should be about one quarter inch to one half inch long. We will be stabbing these into the remaining edge of sour cream leaning in towards the middle. Finally, top with a drop or two of Tapatio hot sauce and serve.

• 1/2 package of cream cheese
• 1 c lemon juice
• 2 c powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Melt the cream cheese slowly over a medium-low heat. Add lemon juice, powdered sugar, lemon zest and vanilla then whisk until smooth.

Serve over waffles, pancakes, crepes or anything else yummy!

• 1 loaf Italian sourdough bread, sliced and toasted
• 1 package dehydrated sun-dried tomatoes
• pear juice (or any kind of juice, wine or water)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• sliced onion (we did it raw, but I would try sauteing or caramelizing as well)
• sliced roast beef (leave out if vegetarian)
• cottage cheese
• thyme, oregano, cumin

Rehydrate the tomatoes by adding enough pear juice (or whatever) to barely cover them and microwaving 30 seconds or until soft. Mince the tomatoes with the garlic and add this back to any remaining juice. Mix in the olive oil and salt and pepper. Garnish the toast with the tomato mixture and the remaining ingredients and enjoy!

As a side note, I would maybe put this back in the oven under the broiler for a minuted to melt and brown the cheese. Also, I would suggest trying a variation with prosciutto and mozzarella cheese for the roast beef and cottage cheese, if you happen to have any lying around.

• 1/4 cup cooked rice
• 1 splash soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons crushed pineapple
• smidgen of cock sauce

This snack took a total of two minutes prep time. This included twenty seconds in the microwave for the rice while retrieving the other ingredients from the fridge. Top the rice with your soy sauce then your pineapple and dress with thin strands of Sriracha sauce, be careful this stuff is hot. You can double this recipe twice to feed four people a quick snack.

If you want to get really fancy you can take the scrapings and debris from left over chicken and mix it in with the rice. Put that extra chicken fat and skin to use, don’t throw it away. You can accomplish this quickly with some boiling water by using just barely enough water to cover your chicken thigh or chicken leg (you’ll be amazed at how much meat comes off once you get into the practice of doing this with all your meat) and simmer for five minutes or so. Drain the broth through a mesh type cloth to save for later and use the leftover meat for your serving of rice.

Toss cukes and onion with salt in a colander and place over a bowl and let drain 20-30 minutes. You will get quite a bit of water out, at least a few tablespoons. DO NOT skip this step, or you will get a soggy salad.

Drain the water and move the salad to a clean bowl. Add remaining ingredients and toss to serve.

Using some of the vegetables I obtained from the farm, I decided to roast them. I had some fresh carrots that were still tiny so I just rinsed them and tossed them into a quart pan with some celery sliced into one inch strips and some oil. After everything is covered in oil toss in your oregano, salt, pepper and cashews then bake at 425 degrees for about fifteen to twenty minutes. That should be all. If you try this, let me know what you think.

The carrots end up just slightly soft and firm while the celery gives them a good structure. I used oil instead of butter because it just tastes better that way for some reason. I was going to garnish with parsley but I couldn’t find my parsley so I was a bit disappointed. I may even try it with a couple tablespoons of half-and-half spooned on top.

Prep time on this is, like, five minutes. Slice your tomato, arrange on three leaves of rinsed romaine lettuce, sprinkle generously with salt and sprinkle with garlic. Sprinkle some capers, whole. Top with fine parsley and then drizzle with oil then a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar.

My guest was so antsy to eat tomatoes tonight that he kept peeking over my shoulder. He only ate maybe two hours before hand and he ate almost the whole plate and then asked for seconds.

A variation could include some lime juice in place of the balsamic with just a pinch of lime zest. Or you could sprinkle some hard boiled egg yolks on top with a pinch of cayenne. You could even dash some a hard cheese such as parmesan on there if you wanted. Let me know how the variations taste because I think they sound awesome. Rock on.

This was just an appetizer for our Tony’s pizza. We had some pictures to share, but my dinner guest didn’t know how to save the pictures to his phone. Just now we went up to pick up my Community Supported Agriculture produce from East Farms here in Utah. I’ll have to tell you all about the loot that I got. Some good stuff including rhubarb and fresh celery. I’m quite excited to tell you about it. Oh how I wish I had pictures to share.