Caramel Ice Cream Nirvana

I have been on an inexplicable frozen dessert journey in recent months. Funny thing is I have pretty much given up eating sugar. With 2 kids at home though, it isn't realistic to expect my home to be sugar-free. Happily I am enjoying the process of creating sweet treats as much as ever. I do taste what I make, happy to see how everything is turning out, as any reasonable cook would. The other day I borrowed a couple of ice cream books from my local library. One, entitled Ice Cream with the tag line Delicious ice creams for all occasions by Pippa Cuthbert and Lindsay Cameron Wilson, caught my eye. I barely got a few pages into it when my attention was drawn to the simple recipe title, Caramel Ice Cream. The author tagged it "divine." Besides being ultra simple to make, it came out so beautifully caramel-ly and deliciously divine. It deserves every superlative I could come up with to heap upon it. I think ice cream nirvana is most appropriate. And whereas my resolve to be healthy and not consume sugar intentionally has been tested since I made that decision, this ice cream completely sabotaged me. I enjoyed several generous spoonfuls, every bite a smooth and delicious dream. I'm not sure I have the need for any other recipe.

Caramel Ice Cream

adapted from the book Ice Cream,

by Pippa Cuthbert and Lindsay Cameron Wilson

1 c granulated sugar (200 g)

6 Tbsp water

1 plump vanilla bean, split

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

1 c. 2% milk

6 large egg yolks

In have saucepan combine sugar and water. Scrape the seeds from vanilla bean into sugar mix and add in vanilla pod. Cook over medium heat, washing down sides of pan, as needed until sugar is a dark amber color. Remove from heat and carefully pour in cream, being careful as it will tend to bubble up. Return mixture to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until caramel is completely dissolved. Stir in milk and and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk eggs yolks. Temper egg yolk mixture with some of hot caramel cream, whisking constantly. Whisk yolk mixture back into hot cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Strain into a bowl set in ice. Remove vanilla bean and put it into cream mixture. Cool completely, stirring occasionally, then chill, covered, over-night. Remove vanilla bean, stir ice cream base and churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Transfer mix to a freezer container and freeze.

Snow Day

We are getting our first real snow storm of the season. The kids even got sent home early from school today. Such glee! Colorado weather can be so funny. March is on record as being our snowiest month most years. I was so excited to have a snowy day because I thought that gave me one more chance to have chili! Light spring cooking can wait! I have tweaked this recipe a little here, a little there, and I am as happy as can be with it now. I make it alternately with beef or ground turkey. I like both versions equally well. I had ground turkey in the freezer so that made my choice easy this time. There are a lot of variables you can play with to spice it up or down so it is easy to make it suit your taste. We like it in the mild to medium range if I know my kids will be eating it. Otherwise I prefer it to have a solid medium zip to it if I don't have to be concerned with whom I am sharing it. Sometimes I use the mild green chiles in a can or I might use some fire-roasted Big Jim's or Poblanos for a little more heat that I roast myself or get from the farmer's market (I keep a stash in the freezer). I like to add black beans and corn because the contrasting colors are really pretty in the bowl and the veggies just make it even healthier for you. I cook it for hours but it could cook for as little as 90 minutes and still be great. Of course, the next day's leftover's are even better...if you still have any. Serve it hot, over cooked rice or not, with all the usual toppings- sour cream, cheese, maybe some diced avocado, fresh cilantro or onion and warm, freshly baked corn bread. I can't wait for dinner!

My Favorite Chili

2 1/2 pounds ground turkey or lean ground beef
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cups fresh diced onions

4 teaspoons minced fresh garlic, peeled

1 c. shredded carrot, chopped fine

1 green bell pepper, seeded, stemmed and diced

1-2 tsp. dried red chili flakes, or to taste

1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin

1/4 c. chili powder (doesn't contribute to heat really)

1- 28 oz can diced tomatoes in juice, coarsely pureed

1 -6 oz can tomato paste

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

3 1/2 c. chicken broth (substitute beef broth if using ground beef for meat)

1 -15 oz. can black beans or pinto beans, rinsed and drained (optional)

1/2 c. fire-roasted diced green chiles (from a can or your favorite)

salt and pepper to taste

2/3 c. frozen corn (optional)

Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown turkey or beef in in heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (such as enameled cast iron). Remove meat to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Wipe out fat. In same pot, pour in olive oil. Heat until hot but not smoking. Stir in onion, garlic, bell pepper and carrots. Cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in cumin , chili flakes and chili powder. Cook and stir for an additional 5 minutes, stirring often to prevent seasoning from scorching. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, diced green chiles, broth and beans of your choice. Season lightly with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat and simmer on very low heat for 90 minutes to 3 hours (I prefer the longer cooking time), stirring occasionally. Stir in corn during last 20 minutes of cooking. When chili is thickened and reduced it is just right! Serve straight from the pot with your favorite toppings.

Tuscan White Bean and Rosemary Soup

Looks like the cooler temperatures are here to stay for a bit. I am unearthing a few more cool weather recipes for you. I mentioned this soup in an earlier post. All of us, including the kids, love this soup. We have been eating this one for quite a few years. I adapted it from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I am a BIG Ina Garten fan. I absolutely love her cookbooks. They are beautiful and the recipes in them are very good. I have not tried anything of her's that didn't turn out- always tasty, always well written recipes. This soup is no exception. It is heavenly and scented with just the right amount of rosemary. I have made it in the crock pot and on the stove top with equal success. You can't go wrong. We like to serve it with Parmesan fricos. If you haven't tried fricos, here's your chance to be a kitchen super star. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat mat. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon sized portions of shredded Parmesan cheese (the better the quality the better the frico) onto baking sheet about 2 " apart. Pat the cheese flat. Seeing the mat or paper underneath the cheese is good so you get a more lacey frico, bake for 5-8 minutes until light golden. Remove and let cool. It's like a grown-up cheeze it! Great in place of croutons in salads, too. But now for the soup!

Tuscan White Bean and Rosemary Soup
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

5 c. canned drained and rinsed Great Northern White Beans or Cannellini Beans
1 c. diced fresh onion
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
2 tsp fresh rosemary, stemmed and chopped
6 c. chicken stock or vegetable stock (I always use chicken)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until translucent. Stir in remaining ingredients bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes (alternately you can cook 6-8 hours on low in your crock pot). Right before serving, remove bay leaf and puree soup to a chunky-creamy consistency with an immersion blender, or puree carefully in batches in a regular blender, filling blender no more than half-way in order to avoid a very hot soup explosion. Serve with warm crusty bread and Parmesan fricos.

Beef Stew and Biscuits

Alas, it was too good to be true. Our warm 60 degree plus days of the past couple of weeks were chased away by strong winds and falling temperatures. I guess winter isn't quite through with us afterall. With a chill in the air, I immediately think of tummy-warming comfort food so I got to work making a red wine beef stew I like to call Cabernet Beef along with biscuits from scratch. My kids are crazy about biscuits and love to slather them with butter and drizzle them with honey. It is an occasional treat that makes everyone happy. The beef stew is really simple and can be altered in many ways. Sometimes I put in mushrooms, sometimes potatoes, sometimes carrots. The constants are stew beef and pearl onions. If I don't include potatoes I usually serve it over mashed potatoes infused with garlic and enriched with half and half, cream cheese and sour cream (good doesn't even begin to describe these potatoes. I'll give you that recipe another day. Those are the my good friend the Queen's mashed potatoes). But back to the stew...it cooks all day long in the crock pot, filling the house with a delicious warmth and aroma that is hard to beat. The biscuits, on the other hand, come together at the last minute as long as your oven is already hot. They are cream biscuits which I first discovered thanks to Sara Moulton's long gone "Cooking Live" show on the Food Network (if you never saw that show, she is an amazing teacher. I learned so much about cooking from her). I think, however, that the iconic James Beard is the one usually credited to bringing Cream Biscuits to light. They are light and fluffy. Heavy cream is used as the liquid, and due to the fat content, doubles as the butter, too. You can jazz them up with some fresh herbs if you wish, but I usually make mine plain.

Cabernet Beef

2 lbs stew beef

1 1/4 c. pearl oninons (frozen or blanched and peeled)

1 tsp. concentrated beef base

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 bay leaf

1 tsp minced fresh garlic

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 c. dry red wine, like a Cabernet

1/2 c. low sodium beef broth

12 mini (1 .5" diameter) gold fleshed potatoes, scrubbed clean (optional)

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)

Mix cornstarch together with red wine and beef broth. Set aside. Place all remaining ingredients into your crock pot. Pour in wine-cornstarch mixture. Cover crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until beef is very tender. Serve with warm biscuits.

Cream Biscuits

adapted from Gourmet Magazine

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. cake flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1-2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (optional, dill, thyme, parsley and rosemary are good choices)

1 1/4 c. heavy cream

1 egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Into a medium bowl, sift together, flour salt and baking powder. Stir in fresh herbs, if using. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in cream). Stir the mass just until a dough forms. If mixture appears too dry , you may need to carefully drizzle in some additional cream. Gather dough into a ball and knead gently 4 or 5 times on a lightly floured surface. Pat dough out to 1/2 " thickness. With a 3" floured cookie cutter, cut out biscuits, pressing straight down without twisting. Release biscuit to a parchment covered baking sheet. Gather up scraps and pat down again until you have cut out 8 biscuits. Beat egg with 1 tsp water and pinch of salt. Brush tops only of biscuits lightly with egg wash. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until biscuits are golden. Serve warm or at room temp with butter and honey.

March

March has come and nearly gone, and I haven't posted in a long while. It would seem I haven't been thinking about nor eating any food. Au contraire! I have been on a frenzy of cooking and baking, but then don't get around to writing about it. I have also been reading stacks and stacks of all kinds of cookbooks thanks to a wonderful inter-library loan program we have here in Northern Colorado. I have been sucked in by them and as a result not writing either. My stack is pretty high at this point with more on hold arriving soon! One of the ones I just borrowed is Dessert Fourplay by Johnny Iuzzini. I just made his recipe for invert sugar so I could make his vanilla bean ice cream. It came out divinely....really smooth, great mouth-feel. We topped it with homemade hot fudge, of course. I also made his Chocolate-peanut ganache on p. 152 which I used as a filling for my girlfriend's birthday cake this weekend. It was yummy in a nice moist chocolate cake, typical American birthday cake style. I topped it with a round of chocolate fans for a nice flourish. I made the BBQ beef Brisket from the February/March 2009 issue of Cook's Country magazine in the crock pot and that came out yummy, too. They presented this method of cooking it which was supposed to simulate using a smoker/grill combo. It was interesting to try and fun to taste the final product. It was quite tasty. The left-overs became beef tacos the following night. On a cooler night one evening we had Tuscan White Bean and Rosemary Soup, one of my very favorite stand-bys from my now shuttered business. Warm, crusty bread and Parmesan cheese fricos (my daughter adores these!!) are the only thing it needs to make a nice meal. In the dessert realm, I made one more batch of Cannelle et Vanille's Blood Orange Sorbet with the last of the blood oranges I could find in my market. This has become my kids absolute favorite. And with good reason , it is simply extraordinary in every way. That had me go on a sorbet making frenzy with grapefruit, strawberry-banana and David Lebovitz's Chocolate sorbet from The Perfect Scoop, also getting churn time. All were marvelous except the strawberry-banana one which tasted too much of banana and was too sweet. Back to the drawing board on that one. I just borrowed Frozen Desserts from the library, too by Francisco Migoya of the Culinary Institute of America in hopes of learning how to correct that. I would like to try Green Apple next as I once had it at Julien Restaurant in Paris and it was amazing, like taking a bite from a fresh, juicy Granny Smith apple. Oh, so yummy! Let's not forget all the crepes I have been making. My daughter, S., went to a friend's to spend the night. The friend's mom made crepes for breakfast. S does not like pancakes. She loved the crepes. So off to work I went making batches of them. Since they freeze so well, it is easy to have some to reheat quickly later on. S. liked them best with nothing more than a sprinkling of powdered sugar. My son, A. filled his with sliced strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Too much fun! But alas, it is Spring and it is getting time to lighten things up, so tonight I grilled Citrus Marinated Mahi-Mahi and it hit the spot nicely. Here is the recipe. I think you might like it, too.

Citrus-Marinated Mahi-Mahi

4- 6 oz. Mahi Mahi filets, boneless, skinless

1/4 c. Extra virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1/2 orange

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 c. orange juice

1/2 tsp Tamari or low-sodium soy sauce

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine everthing except fish in a non-reactive bowl. Pour marinade over fish in a ziploc bag. Marinate for 20-30 minutes while pre-heating grill. Clean and oil grates of grill to prevent sticking. Remove fish from marinade and grill over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes a side until cooked through.

Valentine's Day

We don't really celebrate Valentine's day. Well, my kids certainly do. Every year we go out to the store and pick the just right box of valentine's and some accompanying candy for them to share with their classmates. This year, however, my son is in junior high, and well, it's just not done anymore....not cool. We also give our kids a little Valentine, something small that they are really fond of, a book, a webkinz, a CD.....that kind of thing. I always wrap them, decorate the breakfast table the night before with Valentine finery (i.e. themed paper plates and napkins) and place the small gift at their place. I love how excited they get about seeing something in the morning. It is a very little ritual, but fun nonetheless. We don't really go for the romantic version of Valentine's day though. But seems to me it can serve as an excuse to celebrate something in one form or another, so this year we invited another family to join us for dinner. I decided to make the Pappardelle with Bolognese out of Mario Batali's Babbo cookbook. It looked delicious, and I love Bolognese sauces! Mario Batali's version is the meatiest and least saucy version I have ever made. It calls for pork, veal and bacon (how bad can that be?!!), and I made it as the recipe suggested. However, I really have a hard time consuming veal for all the possible reasons. Next time I think I will try it with ground turkey instead. I also added chicken stock to the dish because the liquid called for didn't seem like nearly enough to me for the length of cooking time. It was really very yummy. The pappardelle I used I bought, but you can make your own if you want to. I love pappardelle because it is so silky in texture. It is a really nice change from regular pasta and the light yellow hue to it from the egg is pretty on the plate.

As is always the case with me, I put a lot more effort into dessert than I do the main course. For this meal, I was inspired to make a double mousse concotion with a base of chocolate cake. The first layer is a milk chocolate mousse that I lifted from Cannelle et Vanille (thanks Aran!), and the second is a caramel mousse that I used in my pastry shop years ago in Southern California. I don't make it very often anymore because when I make it I want to eat it all. Turns out that now holds true for this milk chocolate mousse, too. Heavenly doesn't even begin to describe it. Eating all the mousse by myself is not such a good idea after 40. Luckily I had some help for Valentine's day which my hips will thank me for later! I made individual desserts because it's like having your own little present. I covered them with ganache and decorated each one with a diminutive caramel-bittersweet chocolate truffle, a chocolate shard/fan-ish decoration and a tiny piece of edible gold leaf. I took a picture of my sample and it will hopefully appear here soon (I am technologically challenged, I'm afraid)! Everything was really scrumptious and I enjoyed making all of it. I told my guests there was so much love in everything that there was no room left for any calories! One can wish......

Babbo's Bolognese Sauce

adapted from the Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali

1/4 c. olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

3 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, sliced

1 pound ground veal

1 pound ground pork

4 oz. slab bacon, ground

1 can tomato paste (6 oz)

1 c. milk

1 c. dry white wine

1 c . chicken stock

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, stemmed

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a heavy duty Dutch oven or stock pot. Stir in carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until transluscent, about 5-10 minutes.

2. Crumble veal, pork and bacon into stock pot and cook over high heat, stirring to prevent sticking and to break up large lumps, until browned.

3. Reduce heat to medium and add in all liquids, tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until done. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve tossed with cooked and drained pappardelle, passing grated parmesan on the side.

Chocolate Cake

This is a very moist and easy cake. You'll use it again and again.

2 c + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. + 1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

2 eggs

1 c. milk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 c. canola oil

1 c. boiling water

1/8 tsp instant espresso powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a half sheet pan (12 x18") with parchment paper. Spray with PAM.

3. Into the bowl of your mixer, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and soda.

4. Whisk together eggs, oil and vanilla.

5. Turn mixer on low speed and mix dry ingredients for 30 seconds.

6. With mixer still on low, pour wet ingredients into dry. Mix for 30 seconds on low. Scrape down bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes.

7. Dissolve espresso powder into boiling water. Pour into batter. Stir gently with a rubber spatula until just combined.

8. Pour batter into shalf sheet pan.

9. Bake about 15 -17 minutes or just until a few moist crumbs cling to a skewer inserted into middle of cake. Do not over-bake.

10. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Milk Chocolate Mousse

This recipe is from Cannelle et Vanille.

I doubled the pate a bombe recipe and 5x'd the recipe for the milk chocolate mousse to make about 12 individual desserts

Caramel Mousse

1 Tbsp gelatin Powder

3 oz. water

10 ounces granulated sugar

3 pinches kosher salt

4 ounces water

12 oz. heavy cream, heated to hot, but not boiling

6 ounces sour cream

28 oz. heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Bloom gelatin powder in 3 ounces of water. Set aside.

2. Combine 10 oz. sugar with 4 oz water in a medium saucepan. Stir once or twice to moisten sugar.

3.Place pan over medium heat and cook until sugar is medium amber in color, wiping down sides of pan with wet pastry brush as needed and swirling pan gently to "Stir".

4. When sugar is caramelized to right color, remove from heat and slowly pour in hot cream. It will bubble up like mad, so be safe. Return pan to low heat until caramel and cream are smooth and well combined,

5. Remove pan from heat and stir in salt, vanilla, and gelatin mixture. Whisk smooth. Pour into a heat proof bowl to cool completely, stirring from time to time.

6. Meanwhile whip remaining cream and sour cream to medium peaks.

7. Fold 1/3 of whipped cream into cooled caramel mixture. Fold in remaining cream.

Chocolate Caramel Ganache

You'll want to make this a day or 2 before you need it.

3 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 Tbsp water

6 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

tiny pinch salt

4 ounces heavy cream

1. Combine sugar and water in small saucepan and caramelize mixture to a medium amber.

2. Heat cream to boiling. pour half of cream carefully into caramelized sugar. Return pan to low heat until caramel is completely melted and smooth; add salt.

3. Pour hot caramel mixture over chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Pour in rest of hot cream. Let sit a few minutes and then gently stir until smooth.

4. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of ganache and let sit at room temp over night.

5. The next day, pipe small balls of ganache onto parchment -lined tray (it will make a lot more than you'll need....not a bad thing). Refrigerate to firm up.

6. Before using, roll balls by hand into more uniform ball shape, roll in cocoa powder, shaking off excess.

Ganache for coating

Finely chop 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate. Place in heat-proof bowl. Bring 16 oz heavy cream to a boil. pour boiling cream over chocolate. Let sit 1 minute, then gently stir with a rubber spatula until completely blended. Let cool somewhat before using.

Assembling the Dessert:

1. Place ring molds into cake (I used washed and dried 7 oz.canned mushroom cans)

2. Fill each ring halfway with milk chocolate mousse

3. Freeze tray while making caramel mousse

4. Top off each ring mold with caramel mousse; smooth tops and freeze.

5. Early in the day, remove dessert from ring molds; coat with regular ganache, covering all exposed areas evenly. Make sure ganache is able to flow easily but it shouldn't be so hot that it melts dessert and fall off.

6. Decorate desserts as you wish.

What's for Dinner?

I love to cook. It is really one of my most favorite things to do, and yet, I still struggle regularly to come up with or plan for something good to have for dinner. Today it was more about not planning because my freezer and cupboards are full of possibilities. As 3:30 approached and I realized I had to take my kids to piano lessons and have something ready for us when we got home, I went into panic mode! I started to rummage through the freezer to see what I could pair with what and have it be done really quickly. I wanted to simply re-heat it when we got home. My first useful find was some ground beef. I could thaw that quickly enough, but then the real treasure appeared...stewed zucchini! My friend, and the best cook I know, HRH the Queen, made that for me. I thought I'd already used it all up, but there it was, one quart bag full of her amazing creation! HRH worked with me for almost all of my 5 years in business. Then she upped and moved to Michigan last spring and now I don't get any of her good cooking anymore. So sad for me. Even my daughter refers to her as THE best cooker! So to discover the stewed zucchini was a great surprise. I had to now think of something to make that would combine these two frozen pucks of food . My first thought was to make a soup using the zucchini as the vegetables and adding seasoned ground beef for a little more heft. I thawed everything using the microwave, which surprisingly worked out well. I usually end up with partially cooked meat when I try this, but today the microwave god was on my side. As the zucchini was thawing I browned the ground beef in my Dutch oven and seasoned it with Emerils' essence to taste. It has cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and more in it. It is pretty savory and kind of brought in the flavor of the Queen's zucchini (which we actually refer to as Zippy Zucchini because she has quite the hand when it comes to spicing things up). HRH has been making this as long as I have known her, and I have been trying to get the recipe just as long. She told me most of it, but being the intuitive cook that she is, she never measures and never makes it the same way twice!

Once the beef was browned and the zucchini thawed, I stirred it all together in my pot. At this point I debated going the next step of making it into soup. I tasted it and it was pretty fine, which made me think maybe I should just serve it over noodles or rice as is. I brought in a second opinion, my pre-teen son, and he liked it as is, too. So we decided to serve it over fat egg noodles. The end result was like a latin-inspired Bolognese and it really hit the spot.

In the summer, I would eat the Queen's Zippy Zucchini as a meal in itself. If it didn't turn out too spicy my kids would also gobble it up. It has onions, tomatoes, yellow summer squash and green zucchini in it. Sometimes it has corn, sometimes it has stewed tomatoes, sometimes it has diced tomatoes. It always has fire-roasted chili peppers in it and a little chicken broth. The Queen likes it pretty spicy. Big Jim's work well, but so would any. Sometimes she sprinkles in shredded parm which I love. Armed with that information I tried to duplicate what I had tasted of her's. The results were mediocre. About a year after my effort, I discovered she had some secret ingredients. I only discovered them because she was making a batch at work in my kitchen one day. Her arsenal contained el Pato jalapeno salsa and Tabasco seasoning salt. Well, the tabasco seasoning salt isn't even made anymore, but somehow she has bottles of it in her stash. The El pato salsa might not be readily available everywhere. I don't even know if she can get her hands on it in Michigan anymore! I'd love to give you the recipe, but it just doesn't exist. The best I could tell you is to think ratatouille with a latin twist! Oh, but don't use any eggplant. Forget the bell peppers, too. Use corn or don't.....You just have to wing it, but whatever you do, try to include the el Pato Jalapeno salsa.