More Food, Please

When there is nothing to do, there is in fact only one thing to do.  Cook.  Or bake, but I prefer to cook.

I've been on a huge salsa kick lately and today I made another one that included red and white onions, garlic, a can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos, a little bit of leftover crushed tomatoes, cumin and parsley.  It's quite a different taste and the kick kind of gets you right in the middle and finishes with an earthy flavour which I believe is imparted by the parsley.  I would have preferred to use cilantro but didn't want to go to the store just to get it; it's also not cheap at the one place I can find fresh cilantro without having to run all over creation.  So I just blended all these ingredients and, voila!  It was missing something, so I added some basalmic vinegar and simmered for 15 minutes on low heat.

I didn't have any tortilla chips either, so I cut up a bunch of corn tortillas that I don't like the flavour of, put a little olive oil on them, then sprinkled seasoning salt, baked at 350 for 15 minutes.  I think they'll go well with the salsa.

The one thing I made today that I thought had real potential for my imaginary, someday I'll own it deli, was a sandwich.  Not just any sandwich though.  I started with plain ciabatta slices and buttered one side of each.  I slathered the opposite side of one slice with my sundried tomato pesto (STP), layered on some slices of fresh mozzarella and two slices of thickly cut roasted chicken from the deli, another slathering of STP and topped it off with the finishing slice of ciabatta.  I kind of grilled it in the skillet on lowish heat and pressed another, heavier skillet on top of it to press it (I wish I owned a panini press!).  I turned sides twice, letting it sit while slowly getting that crispy, crunchy texture.  I have to say, that crunchy crust with the softer, smoother textures of the mozz, pesto and chicken was amazing.  Nothing short of the best lunch I've had in a while.  It was sooo, sooo good.  

My  next project I think will be batatas bravas con aioli....