Ah! The Spice of Life!

Life, like cooking, has many ingredients and methods to bring out the right taste, textures and aromas of our beautiful surroundings. Last week, I came into some incredibly fresh banana peppers from my friend's greenhouse. They were a surreal fluorescent green, and struck my eye in such a way that I knew what their purpose was as soon as I saw them. The fresh pepper aroma filled my kitchen with late summer spendor. Pickled banana peppers are among the easiest to produce.

As stated in previous blog entries, heat your canner with the jars inside. In this case, I used pint- sized jars. Sterilize the lids in simmering water, and gather your ingredients.

The ingredients are so simple and clean for these peppers. For two ponds of peppers you will need ...

6 Cups, Cider Vinegar

2 Cups, Water

3 Garlic Cloves

Pack the peppers into the pint jars, and bring the above ingredients to a rolling boil. Cook the vinegar and garlic solution for five minutes, and after cooked, pour the hot vinegar to within one quarter inch of the top of the pickling jars. Seal the lids and process for ten minutes in a hot water canner. These are some of my favorite pickles for sandwiches, soups or snack!

The next entry is a very obscure pickle! Years ago, I tried to pickle pineapple on the fly with disastrous results. The recipe in the Ball Blue Book turned out perfect, and even better, they're delicious!! I had two pineapples laying around that needed a new home.

Peel and core the pineapples. Cut them into spears, or just simply chop into one inch squares. As before, prepare your jars, lids and ingredients which are...

3 Cinnamon Sticks, Broken

.5 Teaspoon, Allspice

.25 Teaspoon, Cloves

2 Cups, Brown Sugar

1 Cup, Cider Vinegar

1 Cup, Pineapple Juice

Bring these ingredients to a boil for five minutes. While they are cooking, pack the two quart jars with your prepared pineapple.

As before, pour the hot liquid on top of the pineapple to within one quarter inch from the top. Seal the jars and process for ten minutes. Pineapple pickles are a show-stopper, and their sweet-and-sour spears have just a hint of spice, perfect for a cool fall afternoon!

Prep is finally over! Woo-Hoo!! Now is the time to have a nice glass of wine and begin thinking about dinner.

I have some amazing Coho salmon in the refrigerator. Hmmm..... How about Lentil Salad, Seared Salmon, Apple Fennel Slaw and Tomato Conserva Beurre Blanc! Perfect!!

Dice three carrots and one onion. This doesn't have to be perfect- you can just put them in the processor.

Heat a heavy bottom saute pan and cook until the onions are translucent. If there is any sticking, use a splash of white wine and scrape all the little brown bits from the bottom.

In a separate sauce pan, pour one cup of white wine and bring to a boil. Boil the wine vigorously until reduced to syrup. Be careful not to burn!

Add two tablespoons of tomato conserva. If you don't have any conserva, just use tomato paste. Chop one stick of butter into small pieces. One at a time, wisk the butter until a thick sauce develops. Be sure to keep the heat off for this, or the butter emulsion will break. If it breaks, don't sweat it!

Cook the lentils until they are just about done, about ten minutes or so. When they are done, add them to the carrot onion mix. I used smoked salt and fresh cracked pepper for the seasoning. Feel free to use whatever you think is appropriate! You be the judge!

Heat a heavy bottom saute pan until screaming hot! If you don't trust yourself, please use a non-stick pan to save yourself from any heartache!

Sear the salmon until medium rare! You can plate this however you wish. In your own kitchen, YOU ARE THE CHEF!! Spoon the sauce over the salmon and enjoy an early fall dinner!

Cheers!!