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Mikey’s this and that

So….it’s freaking hot outside. It’s a great time of year once again for my “Guy Gazpacho,” which I’ve already made three or four times including this past week. It’s 90-plus in most parts of the country, and yeah–we sit in air conditioning most of the time. But there is something about a cold tomato based soup that just hits the spot in summer. And I’ve been doctoring up my own recipe lately–adding lemon juice and spicy olives/olive juice.

Speaking of cold soup, I picked up the new issue of Bon Appetit, a mag that my mom still has stacks of, like from the ’80s, never read. So while I associate the magazine with my mom and foo-foo French cooking and cooking that takes all day, I saw the issue on the newsstand and there was this kickass chicken skewer with a sriracha sauce. Oh man. I grabbed it and never looked back, reading that thing cover to cover. My mouth is watering now as I write that there was a page on cantaloupe, now in season. I made prosciutto and melon risotto, and plan on making their cantaloupe gazpacho. Damn. That risotto was freaking insane.

Speaking of cooking magazines, we’ve gotten hooked on Cooking Light lately, as their recipes are (mostly) easy, interesting and tasty. There were a couple of smoked meat recipes–a BBQ pork shoulder that was crispy, spicy, and tender. And a smoked chicken cobb salad with creamy avocado dressing. Yeah, maybe a bit foo foo but not over the top foo.

Do you ever watch shows like Chopped and Masterchef and think that you could be a contestant? Me, I watch those shows and know for a fact I would have zero chance of even creating something edible from whatever they put in front of me–not in 20 or 30 minutes anyway, and certainly not with ingredients I’ve never used befoe. I need time to cultivate the ideas in my head. Anyway, if you are watching Masterchef as Mrs. Mike and I are, let me offer something to hope for–a Krissi vs. Natasha finale. Man, those two would claw each others’ eyes out.

This is the best month of the year for produce–corn, tomatoes, peaches, melon. You can have the 11 other months, I will take July.

Great article the other day about bagged lettuce. However, the article didn’t answer the one question we all have–why does bagged lettuce have that weird chemical aftertaste? Blech. It’s one of the reasons to join a CSA–your lettuce is organic and has no weird stuff sprayed on it or washed with. And it actually tastes good.

  

Spring Ahead Sandwich

I’m not sure what prompted me to call this sandwich “Spring Ahead Sandwich,” but I think it has something to do with the fact that it has a hard boiled egg on it–something that may often be associated with Easter or Passover. Anyway, I intended to make this a vegetarian sandwich, until I fed my son some slices of delicious-looking salami for lunch.

So that was that. I picked up some nice long sub rolls, and sliced one open. I piled it with lettuce, salami, sliced hard boiled egg (Trader Joe’s sells them pre-peeled in a bag), sliced kalamata olives, sliced sweet/hot peppers (again, thank you Trader Joe’s for this amazing new treat!). I sprinkled some olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and dried oregano, and closed it up. And it tasted as good as it looked in this photo. Okay, so maybe I’m not the best food photog, but it still looks good for a Blackberry shot!

Anyway, give this one a shot or some variation of it. It was filling, but I did have to stop myself short of eating two of them. At least on that day I did.

  

Taco baked potato

Sometimes you have no idea what to make for dinner, and it’s getting late in the day. Lately, that’s happened a lot to me. I work from home and do most of the cooking in our house, so I’m usually planning and cooking, and trying to time things for when my wife gets home from work. Recently I had some ground turkey and didn’t know what to do with it, and had to think something up. We had some nice baking potatoes, and I’m one of those people who does not believe in microwaving potatoes–blech. So I popped two potatoes in the oven, and using some taco mix we had on hand, made taco meat with the ground turkey. And what was born? A combo that I’m surely not the first person to think of–a taco baked potato. This combines two awesome food items and it’s pretty healthy, so long as you’re not counting carbs.

Here is what to do–rinse the potatoes, and pierce them a few times with a fork. Bake at 450 degrees for an hour or so. Meanwhile, with about 15 minutes left on the potato cooking time, make the taco meat according to package directions. Shred some cheddar cheese (or used pre-shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese), and gather taco items such as chopped tomatoes, olives, jalapenos, sour cream and either salsa or taco sauce. You can also add chopped avocado as I did, and/or cilantro. Really, you can use your imagination or anything you have on hand. The only item that goes in tacos that might not be good here would be lettuce, since it would wilt when added to a piping hot potato.

So cut the potatoes in half, mash them a bit and then top with the meat and other toppings. Dinner is served!

  

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