The past few months have been crazy busy for us. Our sons moved to Nicaragua, I started a new job, we've been inundated with home repairs, and we went on a family trip to Nicaragua to visit our sons and our daughter in-law!! Whew, no wonder I'm tired!!
I really wanted to write about the Nicaraguan cuisine, but unfortunately, all of my photos were destroyed when my phone went for a swim in the pool!!!
Now that things have settled down, I wanted to get together and catch up with friend over dinner. One of the things I decided to make was bruschetta. It's fresh and simple.
Bruschetta is basically four ingredients: Fresh Basil, Tomatoes, Garlic & Olive Oil
As well as a sprinkle of salt and pepper!
In just a few minutes, it's done. I recommend chilling it for an hour or so before serving. In the meantime, take a nice loaf of French bread and slice into thin pieces. Dab with olive oil on each side and bake until golden.
They taste wonderful with the bruschetta alone, but if you really want to kick it up a notch, add FRESH mozzarella the last five minutes of the toasting the bread. So delicious!
I also made mini beef wellington with puff pastry. I'll post about those another time, but I did want to share the best way to caramelize onions. They add much flavor to many dishes. It took me a while to figure out what I was doing wrong: I wasn't cooking them long enough!!! It takes a solid 35 -45 minutes!! With that in mind, make a huge batch that you can store in the fridge!!
First, take 1/2 stick of butter (not margarine) and melt in a fry pan. Next, slice onions into thin strips and add to the pan.
Stir over medium heat for approximately 20 minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.
Continue to sauté another 10 minutes and then add 2 tablespoons of honey!
Continue to sauté until the onions turn a deep amber.
Worth all the wait!
I served them, along with mushrooms, for mini beef wellingtons.
Now, let me take a few minutes to share my few pictures of our trip!
First, I want to say I love Nicaraguan hospitality!! We were welcomed with open arms and they threw us a party. Our son, Sam, made their signature meal, Gallo Pinto, along with some friends.
Our daughter, Kayla, took the spoon over for a bit.
We want to return because we only scratched the surface , so to speak, and then we left.
David was a proud dad to work in the ministry alongside Ben.
We caught up with a great brother, Jefte, who visited us in Maine.
The rest of the time was spent enjoying the house we rented.
Yes, I believe my phone was in the pool with me in this picture!!!!
Vacation is over and back to the reality of a Maine winter. It's a good time to cook and stay warm!!
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