Murphy's Menu
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
It was a hot one for the annual Salsa cook-off last week. But that didn’t deter Carol Strickland and Tracey Graham.
These two women braved heat and the critical palates of market shoppers by entering a salsa into competition. And they were both fabulous!
Tracey Graham was the winner—by one vote. Both salsas were that good, and many voters went back for seconds.
Carol’s salsa was finely chopped, sweet with a little kick at the end, and displayed in a delightful red basket shaped like a chili pepper. Tracey’s salsa was a little warmer, with a strong tomato flavor, and nice and thick.
Thanks to both ladies for participating! We were down on previous years’ entries--I’m going to blame the salmonella scare. But you don’t have to be nearly as worried when you buy from the Farmer’s Market! The growers are right there, looking you in the eye, and the last thing they are going to want is for you to get sick off their produce. Now is the time to get down there and buy locally! Seventh Avenue and Merchant Street, Saturdays at 8 a.m. or Wednesdays at 5 p.m.
Here’s Carol’s recipe.
CAROL’S SWEET AND SPICY SALSA
8 roma tomatoes
6 green onions
1/2 to a whole jalapeno, seeded
1/2 bell or anaheim pepper
5 sprigs cilantro
3 packets Equal sweetener
Mix everything in a chopper until finely chopped and blended, then chill before serving. Carols says the spiciness can be increased to your taste by using more jalapenos or leaving in the seeds. Or, if you’re like my Andy, just dice up a Scotch Bonnet and toss it in there.
Tracey has entered many cook-offs over the past four years, but has never won one, so today is her day! A perennial fair competitor, and the woman in charge this summer at the Learning Connection and Farmer’s market, Tracey has many talents. I wasn’t able to get her recipe in time (entirely my fault) so here’s a nice one that Marilyn Lake, a student at ESU this summer, sent to me.
MARILYN’S ESU BLACK BEAN AND CORN SALSA
1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-oz.) can yellow corn, drained and rinsed
1 cup chopped, seeded cucumber
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 fresh lime juice
1/4 cup oil
2 - 3 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 serrano chili pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
Cover and refrigerate for several hours to blend flavors. Serve with grilled meats or as a dip.
Marilyn also sent this one that is slow cooked half the day for a roasted flavor.
MARILYN’S CROCK POT SALSA
10 plum or roma tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
1 small onion, cut into wedges
1 jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
Core the tomatoes. Cut a small slit into three of the tomatoes and insert one garlic clove into each. Place the tomatoes and onions in a 3-quart slow-cooker. Cut stems off the jalapenos and seed them for a milder salsa. Place these into the crock pot as well, cover, and cook on high for two and a half to three hours. The vegetables will be softened, and some may brown slightly. Cool.
In a food processor or blender, combine the roasted vegetables, cilantro and salt. Cover, and process until smooth for a pureed salsa, or pulse for a chunkier salsa. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
So, what’s on sale this week at the stores? Abundant Harvest and the Salvation Army are counting on us. Walgreen’s has some useful food items this week: Butterball chicken broth for 50 cents, Hunts tomato sauce at three for one dollar, and Star-Kist tuna for 69 cents a can.
Dillon’s “10 Item Mega Event” continues, with Kellogg’s cereals, Del Monte fruit bowls, Krusteaz baking mixes and 12-ounce cans of Star-Kist tuna at $1.50. Tyson bacon, Nutrigrain cereal bars and Dole and Tropicana fruit juice blends at $2. And in the fabulous one dollar category you could get 64-ounce Kroger apple juice or Sunny D, Kroger instant oatmeal (sticks to your ribs), 16 ounce Daisy sour cream and six huge Lender’s bagels.
I was particularly excited to see in the Dillon’s flyer cases -- cases -- of Kroger vegetables or tomatoes for $5.99. That’s just 50 cents a can! The pantries have green beans out the wazoo, but would really love some different vegetables and a ton of tomatoes. Tomatoes can make anything from pizza to pasta to pot roast.
The Country Mart/Price Chopper crews have Libby’s vegetables at 50-cents each, and best choice large eggs for 89 cents (Abundant harvest has a very big cooler that could hold them.) Kellogg’s cereals are going for $2, Lipton noodles and sauce packets are at $1.25 and Hiland butter is $1.89 and at Country Mart North, dry pinto beans are still at 89 cents a pound. Those dry beans and rice go a long, long way in meal stretching, so please grab a couple of those if you can. Salvation Army and Abundant Harvest really do need to cover this next month, especially with things that will make multiple meals, and powdered milk for the kids.
When I last visited the pantry, things were looking better. They are working on a two or three day margin now, instead one. Great job, Emporia!
Next week I have a special column on Marcia Hermesch, food canner extraordinaire. Let’s get cooking!