Sticky Orange Marmalade Cake, Plum Lamb, and a Savory Tart

Sticky Orange Marmalade Cake

This one is from The Great British Bake Off Cookbook, which our friend Fiona brought me from England back in November. The first recipe I made from there was the Blood Orange Cake I wrote about back then. This one is a real winner too!!

Marmalade

The original recipe calls for a jar of “chunky Seville marmalade” – rather hard to find on this side of the Pond. Make your own, the same way I did:

2 Oranges

Sugar

Chop the oranges into thumb-sized pieces, and throw everything (fruit, pith, skin, seeds, juice) in your food processor and take it for a whirrr until is sorta looks like chunky marmalade.

Measure into a microwave safe bowl and add the same measure of sugar (any kind). Stir to combine. Microwave on High for 5 minutes, stir, and microwave for 5 more minutes. Ladle into screw top jars and let them sit on the counter until cool before lidding and refrigerating.

The Sponge

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, softened

3/4 cup Sugar

3/4 cup Self-Rising Flour, sifted (first time I ever used this)

pinch of Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 large Eggs, at room temp, beaten

Marmalade -- see above

2 Tbsp Whole Milk

....

1/2 cup Confectioner's sugar

1-2 Tbsp warm water

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Put the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Continue beating and slowly add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Continue beating and add the eggs, a bit at a time, and with the last addition toss in an extra tablespoon of flour. Fold in the rest of the flour, the salt and baking powder. When thoroughly combined, add the marmalade and fold until incorporated.

Line an 8” springform pan with parchment, and spray the sides with non-stick. Pour in the batter and spread it evenly. Bake 50-55 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Putting it Together

Cool the cake on a wire rack for 1/2 hour, then remove the pan side.

Brush a layer of marmalade all over the top. 

 Later, when the cake is completely cool, mix up the confectioner's sugar and water to make a simple frosting, and brush the icing over the top of the marmalade and let it run down the sides.

Where I messed up was the icing. I made mine much too thin. Start with just         1 Tbsp of warm water, whisk thoroughly and test the thickness. Add extra water only if absolutely necessary...

Acorn Squash Quickie

Since you made that nice marmalade, use some in Sally's (the Closet Gourmet) version of baked Acorn Squash.

Halve the squash for pole to pole – microwave the whole squash for a couple minutes, to soften, if you don't have the strength to slice the raw squash. Remove the seeds, and fill the cavities with marmalade. Bake as you normally would – I microwave for however long it takes to get the flesh done -- 6-8 minutes.

Savory “Cheese Cake” – The Blood Sugar Diet

Fiona has had great luck with this diet (a Mediteranean style diet  under 1000 calories per day) so we thought we'd try a few of the dishes to see what they're like.  The original did not include the Italian seasoning, just the mint.  The added seasoning really makes this dish come alive!

This is a cheese cake because it has a ton of cheese and is sort of cake-y.

6 Mint leaves, cut chiffonade
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
8 oz Feta Cheese, plain

1/2 lb Zucchini, cut 1/8” thin
3 Eggs

Italian Seasoning

Slice zucchini into rounds and lay out on a baking tray. Drizzle with a little EVOO and dust with Italian Seasoning.  Fire up the Broiler, and grill the zucchini 5-6 minutes until they start to brown. Remove to a bowl, toss with the mint, and cool.

 Turn the oven to Bake and set the temperature to 400F.

Put the cream cheese, feta and eggs in a food processor and whizzz until well combined. Add a splash of EVOO to a 9” oven-proof frying pan. Spoon the cheese/egg mixture into the pan and press the cooked zucchini into the top.

Cook the cheesecake for 5 minutes on the stovetop, on medium high heat. Then bake the skillet 15 minutes until the top is puffed, set, and browned. Serve warm.

According to the Blood Sugar diet, a quarter of this recipe is 450 calories and should be eaten as a complete meal. 

 So Sally and I had it for lunch, and we have to say, this is very rich and filling, and we were only hungry for dinner 6 hours later (not starving early, as we expected). Sally is having a quarter for her lunch today and tomorrow.

Persian Plum Lamb

For Easter luncheon, I used a double batch of last week's Plum Sauce test, plus 2+ pounds of trimmed boneless leg of lamb cut into bite sized pieces, and a peeled, sliced yam to replicate the Plum Lamb dish which I had at a Persian restaurant a couple weeks back.

I browned the lamb with the cumin and a bit of S&P, then removed it (leaving the lamb juices) from the pot.  I cooked the sauce ingredients and pureed them, then added everything back to the pot and simmered the dish for about an hour at
300 F. Tender and oh so tasty! One of the best dishes I've created in a loooong time!

Served with rosemary roasted potatoes and green beans with slivered almonds.

Zucchini-Goat Cheese Tomato Tart

My own version of this savory dinner tart, taking the best from several “out there” recipes.

1 Recipe No Fail Tart Crust (March 13^th blog)

1-2 large Beefsteak Tomato, sliced thin

2 medium Zucchini slice into 1/8” rounds

3 oz Goat cheese, softened

Italian Seasoning

1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan (not that canned stuff)

Make the crust and pre-bake it. Spread the softened goat cheese on the warm crust and then lay down a layer of tomato slices. Follow this with overlapping rings of zucchini rounds (see photo). Dust with Italian seasoning, then top with the shredded Parmesan. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the zucchini browning.

Bison, Quinoa, Plum Sauce, and First Flan

Bison Meatloaf

Awhile back Sally's Mum brought us two 20 oz packages of ground bison. The first one went into a Bison Pot Pie that I reported to you six weeks or so back. This package will make Bison Meatloaf, my own recipe.

Bison Meatloaf with fresh green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy

20 oz Ground Bison

1 large Shallot, diced

1/4= Sweet Onion, diced

1 can Ro*Teltm, Chili Fixins

8 0z Mushrooms chopped/sliced

1 cup uncooked Steel Cut Oatmeal

2 strips uncooked Bacon, cut to fit

S&P TT

Optional – Sweet Chili Sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl, and transfer to a loaf pan and shape the meatloaf. As a kid, I thought that that deep rectangular pan was called a “loaf pan” because that's what my Mom made meatloaf in. Imagine my surprise when I saw someone bake a loaf of bread in the meatloaf pan!!

Like my Mom, I still press a groove into the top of the meatloaf and pour some sweet chili sauce into the groove. Mom's chili sauce was home made, and I've lost the recipe. These days I use Frank's Red Hot brand Sweet Chili Sauce.

Bake the meatloaf 45-60 minutes; do not overcook, or you'll have a rectangular hockey puck!

The beauty of a bison meatloaf is that it is 97% fat free, and you won't find your finished loaf floating in a pool of grease. The disadvantage of a bison meatloaf is that it may not contain enough fat to cook properly. I compromised by topping the loaf with bacon which, as it cooks, will work its way into the ground meat and add just a hint of flavor as well as some fat to keep things from being too dry.

Quinoa with Spinach & Goat Cheese

Is this a salad? Or a side dish? You decide! Either way this is pretty tasty stuff!

3/4cup Quinoa

1-1/2 cup Water

4 cups Baby Spinach

4 cloves Garlic, minced

4 Tbsp Goat Cheese

1 Tbsp EVOO

1/2tsp Cracked Black Pepper

Boil the water, add the pepper and quinoa. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook 16 minutes. Fluff with a fork, re-cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.

In a large pan, saute the garlic with the oil – don't let it burn! Add the spinach to the garlic and saute a minute or three until wilted. Toss everything together in a large mixing bowl, divide between plates, and top with the goat cheese.

I served this with “Greek” Chicken – breasts spiced with Cavendar'stm and Ultimate Garlic Insanitytm, a salt-free spice blend from Auntie Arwen's Spices www. auntiearwenspices.com.

Plum Sauce Test

I had a fabulous lamb dish called Plum Lamb at the Persian restaurant Bha Bha in Naples last weekend, when we went to see The Merchant of Venice, and I want to try re-creating the dish for Easter. This was my first attempt to re-create the sauce, which is the critical ingredient for the dish – anyone can slow roast lamb!

16 Dried Plums (with stones) soaked overnight in water

1/2 tsp Cumin

Water

1/2 tsp Turmeric

5 Black Cardamon pods

1 Beefsteak tomato, chopped

½ white Onion, diced

Balsamic Vinegar

Worchestershire Sauce

Dried plums are the hard to find ingredient. These are not your average “American” prunes, but a “sour plum” which has been dried/salted. I found them, not at the local Mediterranean market, but at the Chinese market next door.

Simmer everything in a couple cups of the soaking liquid for 30 minutes, remove pits from plums and remove the cardamon pods. Puree everything else, and return it to the pot. Adjust the sweet/tart ratio with balsamic vinegar and Worchestershire sauce. I discovered that too much balsamic will leave a harsh vinegar-y taste which you don't want. If you need to thicken the sauce, add a dusting of Wondratm as desired.

Plum Meatballs and Yam Coins with Rice

The test turned out really successful, except for a slight excess of vinegar. Silky smooth, rich and just plain unctuous! More Worchestershire next Sunday!

Flan

I've eaten my share of Flan over the years, but never made it. Now I wonder whyWe were gifted with all these wonderful eggs, and I needed to use a good number of them. Flan is/was the perfect solution.

This looks like a long complicated recipe, but it isn't. Trust me it's worth the effort to read ahead!

The quintessential Latin dessert, this alternative to cheesecake is not only creamy and oh so tasty, but it's pretty darn simple to make too. I scouted a bunch of recipes and came to my own recipe and techniques that make this a snap!

Caramel Topping

Flan invariably has a caramel upsidedown topping that needs to be made, applied to the baking vessel (mold), and allowed to cool before the eggy custard is poured into the pan prior to baking. It's a critical facet of the dessert, and if you make it the older way and don't pay attention – remarkably easy to burn and ruin.

The old way was a pan, some sugar, some water and boil until the sugar melts and caramelizes without burning. The easy way is a microwave safe container:

Put 1 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of water in the container – a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup is the perfect size. Stir things up a bit, and start microwaving for 5 minutes. When you pass the 4 minute mark keep a real close eye on the color of the liquid and stop immediately when the “right” color is reached. Depending on your microwave, you may have to go longer – in 30 second increments, to get the right color. Mine took about 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Watch closely and stop the second you get that dark amber color!

When you've got the magic color, pour the caramel into your mold pan and swirl it around to coat the bottom. The caramel has to harden before you can proceed further – plan on at least half an hour in the fridge for that to happen.

Looking at a bunch of recipes it's really hard to tell what size pan you need. I used a 1.5 quart Pyrex “pie” dish, and 5 silicon ramekins (I had to make a second batch of caramel for the ramekins). One site had the perfect solution – use a bundt pan. It's deep enough for the most massive flan, and will yield a much more decorative final product. Make sure you get that caramel up on the bundt pan's stem as well! That's what I'm using next time! Don't try to use springform pans for this – they just aren't made to be leakproof!

The Custard

We've been blessed with a bunch of eggs from one of Sally's work friends, but they are smaller than the average Large commercial egg – more like a medium. The Puerto Rican version of flan is much denser than flan from other Latin countries. Where others use 6 eggs, the folks from PR used 8 or even 10 eggs, and I did likewise. Here's my basic recipe for the custard:

1 cup Sugar
8 large Eggs
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 13-oz cans evaporated milk
1 Tbsp Vanilla extract

1 Tbsp Lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a bain-marie (large, deep pan to hold a water bath around the mold dish). The hot water will go only half way up the side of the mold dish. Don't put the water in yet. 

Put the custard ingredients in a blender and process until well blended, but don't over mix. Pour the custard into the caramelized mold, cover with foil, and sit in the baño de María (Spanish for  bain-marie or water bath). Then pour hot water into the baño and carefully place in the oven for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until and a toothpick comes out clean.

When it came time to serve, I ran a knife around the edge, inverted the Flan onto a plate, as per directions, and removed the mold. Perfection!

The extra mini's that I made were slightly overcooked (I cooked the pan of those for 45 minutes during the same hour as the main flan). I ended up with a hardened disk of caramel on top of each mini, and not much runny sauce, so be warned to lessen the cooking time if you plan on making a batch of mini-Flan.

Tortilla Sandwich? Chiffonade, Pakoras and a Salad

Tortilla Sandwich

Take a breakfast dish and turn it into lunch. That's what the Spanish do. Well, we think of eggs and fried potatoes as breakfast, but in Spain it can be lunch, dinner, or a sandwich.

Tortilla de Patata

I'm talking about the Tortilla de Patata, which I've chronicled here before – slices of pan fried potato smothered in beaten eggs and a handful of onion, slide on the broiler to finish. In Spain the dish is eaten hot, or at room temperature, or in this case, as a sandwich.

Sunday I ended up with a “spare” tortilla de patata, so we decided to make a dinner sandwich with this 'leftover' and some nice Cuban bread.

For the Tortilla:

1 largish Red Potato, cut into slices 3/4” thick, and par-cooked for 6-8 minutes in the microwave

2 Eggs, beaten

3 Green Onions, chopped

Fresh ground Black Pepper, to taste

In a 9” oven-capable skillet, heat a splash of olive oil and then fry one side of the potato slices. You can, of course make a large tortilla in, say, a 12" skillet with more potatoes and 3 eggs.  

When nice and brown, flip the potato slices over, pour the beaten eggs overall, toss on the green onions and add a few cracks of black pepper. Turn the broiler on high, and transfer the pans to a top level rack. Broil for 1-3 minutes, until the tortilla is puffy and nicely browned. Transfer the cooked tortilla to a plate.

For The Sandwich:

Bread – a French or Cuban loaf will do since you probably won't find Spanish bread in your megamart

1 beefsteak type Tomato, halved

Optional - a large clove of garlic (or an entire head which has been roasted) with the end sliced off, for rubbing

Once the tortilla has cooled, halve it, and slice open a 9” length of good bread. Rub the cut face of the tomato all over both sides of the bread. This is a very Catalonian technique. Bread served this way with cut garlic for rubbing too, is called Pa amb Tomàquet – Bread and Tomato – a Catalan appetizer.

Lay a half of the tortilla in the bread, and serve.

Americans will probably want to add a schmear or salsa and/or slices of tomato to the sandwich.

Technique – Chiffonade

This one is for our English friend Fiona.

Chiffonade is a fancy French cooking term for rolling up leaves of herbs and slicing them very thin, into strings. Last week I made a chiffonade of mint; here's how:

Stack some herb (mint, basil, etc) leaves.

Roll them tightly around the central stem.

Slice at right angles to the roll.

Use as a garnish or in dishes.

Pakoras

These Indian fritters are a great accompaniment to any Indian style dinner. I served them with Channa Dal - a dish of cooked, spiced chickpeas with diced onion and tomato added at the end. Next time I'll serve them with Butter Chicken, a dish we both love.

1 cup Besan (lentil or chickpea flour) from your Indian Market

3/4cup Water

1/2Onion, diced fine

1 tsp minced fresh Ginger

1/2tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1/4tsp each ground Coriander and Cumin

1 cup fresh spinach leaves chiffonade and then chopped (or 1/2cup thawed frozen chopped spinach)

Salt to taste

1 quart Vegetable Oil for frying

Mix the flour and water, then add everything else except the oil; stir well to combine into a sort of lumpy pancake batter.

In a heavy-bottom pan, bring the oil up to 350F on your thermometer. Drop the batter by spoonfuls into the hot oil, two or three at a time. Turn over when one side is GB&D, and remove when both sides are golden. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and serve hot; with chutney on the side. I found a fablous Mango Chutney at my neighborhood Indian market that will also make a great glaze for Salmon or other fish.

Green Bean, Tomato & Corn Potato Salad

Had a bunch of these ingredients in our Co-Op box last week, and needed to do something with them. This Potato Salad variant isn't as heavy in the spud department, making this a bit on the healthier side.

2 ears of Corn

1 medium Beefsteak Tomato

1 lb Green Beans

3 Medium White Potatoes

Salt & Pepper to taste

Dressing:

White Wine Vinegar

Dijon Mustard

EVOO – I used a special Basil-infused EVOO which I was gifted at the holidays

Peel and boil the potatoes, until done but firm. Tip & tail the green beans and blanche them for 5 minutes in the microwave with 1/4cup water added to the bowl. Slice the corn off the cob onto a plate, and chop of the tomato.

In a bowl or measuring cup, combine 3-4 Tbsp of mustard with about the same amount of vinegar. Whisk in the EVOO until things are emulsified and the oil/vinegar stays together as a viniagrette.

Toss to combine all the veggies, then pour the viniagrette over and toss again. Salt & pepper if necessary. Can be eaten warm, but I prefer to chill things for an hour before serving.

I liked the corn raw; but Sally would have preferred it cooked. She also wanted more potatoes that I had included. The viniagrette was really good, but use it sparingly.

I served the salad with Mango Chutney Glazed Salmon, and it was a great accompaniment.

"Green, green, it's green they say..."

..."On the far side of the hill."  ~~ New Christy Minstrels

Both dishes today are green and I even threw in a green plate!  

Minted Frozen Pea Soup

I am definitely NOT fond of split peas soup, canned peas, or English Mushy Peas.

But...

 I have always liked frozen green peas.  This fabulous soup changed my mind forever about pea soup! 

2 lbs frozen Green Peas  -- the giant bag!

2 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp EVOO

1 Onion, diced

2 cloves Garlic,chopped

1/2 tsp Nutmeg, fresh grated is always best

1 quart Low Sodium Chicken or Vegetable Broth, or waer n low-sodium bouillion

3-4 Tbsp Mint chiffonade

2/3 cup Half & Half

Kosher Salt and White Pepper to taste

In a stock pot, saute the onion in the butter and olive oil until it turns translucent. Add the garlic and nutmeg, and saute another couple minutes. Add the frozen peas and broth and simmer for 10-15 minutes to let the peas thaw and cook. Add half the mint.

Transfer soup to a blender and puree (or use an immersion blender). Return soup to the pot, stir in the half & half and add salt & white pepper to taste. Cook another few minutes, then ladle into bowls and garnish with more mint.

I served this with Sweet Italian spiced Chicken sausages on the side.

Crunchy Salmon with Apple & Baby Kale Salad

I'm not particularly fond of Kale, but Sally wanted to try this combination. The Crunchy Salmon is great; the salad, IMHO was OK, but the dressing needed at least twice the acid/lemon shown, but “your mileage may vary” as they say.

Crunchy Salmon

2 Salmon fillets, 4-6 oz each

1 Green onion, diced

1/2 cup Panko

2 tsp Lemon peel, minced fine

S&P TT

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a baking tray with non-stick.

Lay the salmon on the tray and dust with salt and pepper. Combine the green onion, panko and lemon peel. Divide the panko mixture onto the tops of the salmon fillets and pack it down. Add a single spritz of non-stick spray to each pile of panko mix. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 

We also tried the crunchy topping on Mahi Mahi, and it was just as fabulous;  adjust the amount of zest to your taste, we like ours Lemony Snicket.

Apple & Baby Kale Salad

Juice of a Lemon (two would be better)

3 Green Onions, diced

2 tsp Dijon or similar mustard

3 Tbsp EVOO

1 thin sliced Apple* (I used a Fuji; Sally thinks a Granny Smith would be better)

3 cups stemmed Baby Kale (stemming is a major pain, but majorly necessary).

3/4 cup cooked, rinsed & drained Quinoa (I didn't have any on hand, so I used orzo instead).

* use the blog's Search function to find my technique on how to fillet an apple. Then cut the thin slices into smaller pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, Dijon, and lemon juice. Add the kale and apple and toss/stir to coat/combine. Add the quinoa and toss again. Serve alongside the Crunchy Salmon.

March came in like a lion and seems to be going out like a lamb. 

Hmmmm... lamb... roast lamb.... mint sauce....    

Anybody hungry?

Wind In The Willows, Minted-Honey Glazed Chicken & Corn Pone

Toad In The Hole

Mister Toad is the fascinating character from Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind In The Willows; whether the wily amphibian had anything to do with naming of this dish is beside the point!

Toad in The Hole is a classic English lunch/dinner dish, that is not the same as the American breakfast with the same name. The American dish has an egg fried in a hole cut from the middle of a slice of toast. The English dish is fried sausages in pastry similar to Yorkshire puddings.  Here's how:

2 cups AP Flour, sifted

2 cups Whole Milk or Half & Half or just plain water

1/ 4 tsp Kosher Salt

3 Eggs

1/8 cup Lard

6 Banger Sausage – about a pound – can't find Bangers, any good, non-Italian sausage would do (Kielbasa,Bratwurst, Linguica, etc)

Put the lard in an 8x12 baking dish in a pre-heated-to-450F oven. Let things get very hot – say 15-20 minutes.

While that's going on, beat the eggs and milk together in a container. In a bowl, combine the sifted flour and salt, then slowly pour in the liquid while stirring to avoid lumps. Beat with a whisk to completely combine things and add more liquid as necessary make a thin crepe-like batter. Rest the batter in the fridge while the pan continues to heat.

When the pan is “disfiguringly hot”, carefully lay in the sausages and bake them for 5 minutes on each side.

Now that the sausage are partially cooked, carefully pour the batter over everything, and return the pan to the oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes and don't peek!   At the 20 minute mark, check the Toad to see if the batter is now GB&D. You may need another few minutes to get a nice crusty all-over brown.

Cut the Toad into portions and plate with mashed potatoes and peas, the two classic English accompaniments. Some nice Bistotm gravy goes good here, as does a bit of nice sharp mustard.

Corn Pone

Ask six people their recipe for corn pone and, if they understand the question, you'll get at least seven answers!  

Corn Pone is an old fashioned dish, similar to, but not the same as corn bread. Cornbread can approach corn “cake” in thickness and richness. Corn pone is pancake thin, and fairly stiff (chewy), except when hot. A couple of corn pones was considered 'travel food' for a day in the woods by our pioneer forefathers.

Pone is simpler than cornbread but still has a number of variables. Some combine corn meal and wheat flower; some add eggs, some add sugar, or both. People argue over whether the corn meal should be yellow or white; should you use baking powder or baking soda or both, and on and on.

We had a guest stay with us who was doing the gluten-free thing.  I wanted to do some sort bread – thing for her, and decided to do a very simple corn pone – meal, water, salt and baking powder; cooked in a skillet in the oven. So I did a test – regular southern white corn meal versus the special PAN flour used to make Arepas. Which would cook up better, and taste better?

I made two batches of dough, each with 1 cup of flour, 1-1/4 cup water, 1/4 tsp Kosher salt and 1 tsp of baking powder. Each batch was stirred together and rested for 15 minutes to allow the flours to re-hydrate to the fullest. They were then cooked in identical pans for 15 minutes in a 450F oven.

The regular white corn meal pone was OK. Not great, or particularly tasty, but hey! what do you want from cornmeal and water? Crispy on the outside and rather dry on the inside.

On the other hand, the pone made from the PAN flour was pretty tasty! Crisp on the outside and soft inside, with the distinctive “corn tortilla” flavor of Latin masa flour. 

 Even a day later, this pone was still nice and soft on the inside, although the outside had lost its crispness.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Minted Honey Glazed Chicken

This one is Sally's idea. We had fresh mint and chicken breasts, and Sally was jonesing to use some of the goat cheese we had recently gotten at Costco. So I made this up as I went along...

2 Chicken Breasts

2 Tbsp minced fresh Mint

1/4 cup Honey

2 oz Goat Cheese

Cavender's Greek Seasoning

Stir the minced mint into the honey and reserve.

Saute the breasts in a splash of EVOO 5-6 minutes per side, basting each side with the minted honey.

Remove the meat from the pan and butterfly the breasts by slicing nearly in half through the thickness. Lay the cut side of each butterfly back in the pan for a minute or two while you glaze the top and bottom.

Remove the breasts again, and place 2 or 3 coins of goat cheese between the cut faces as you close the butterfly's wings and press lightly. 

 The heat will slightly melt the goat cheese as you plate and serve. Brush with any remaining honey as you serve.  I served ours with a saute of bell peppers, shallot, and chopped tomatoes, spiced with Cavender's.