Cooking With Madjon: Spring Time Are You Ready For Lemon Asparagus Sal...

Cooking With Madjon: Spring Time Are You Ready For Lemon Asparagus Sal...: Hello to all my foodie friends out there in Web land its MadJon again writing to say Happy spring to you all.  There is nothing better to ...

Spring Time Are You Ready For Lemon Asparagus Salad

Hello to all my foodie friends out there in Web land its MadJon again writing to say Happy spring to you all.  There is nothing better to eat in the Spring then Asparagus and with my Lemon Salad Dressing that will light up your taste buds with the freshness of spring.  I know I've been off of here for a while and am sorry for that.  I've been busy with catering jobs and this week I've been with the sickness of that thing called sinus, head, and nose problems not to mention my chest!!!  Love it.  I have not had this problem for years and now it seems to want to take me over and now is not a good time because I have a wedding to cater on May 3rd so no rest for the wary as they say.  I made this recipe up while I was cooking for the D.C. hoodies as they are called!  The Lemon dressing I used in my restuarant and my customers loved it.  I will now pass that formula on to you all to enjoy.  Asparagus is not only a healty and tasty vegetable to devore but there are lots of different ways for you to prepare it.  It may be roasted, steamed, fried with batter, B.B.Q.pickled in a jar  and eaten raw. Any who I like to eat it anyway you cook it.  You do know to snap the bottom ends off to take away the tough parts of the stems.  Leaving that soft and tasty part of the vegetable.  It is also a vegetable that does not take a whole lot of cooking time or prep time.  As to the greens you may mix any fresh and raw vegetables with your greens or even fruits thrown in there.  I have read that if you mix fruits with greens it may cause you that gas feeling, oh well take a pill if you wish or just pass it along sort of speak.  I also tossed in some raosted Pine Nuts in this mix very tasty a I may add.  I also use  alot of taosted Sunflower seeds in my salads.  Hey, I also like to add salt to my Salad dressings and did you know that Salt is a noun, the means needed to support life. Salt also brings out the flavors in foods, sometimes when you make a dish, all it needs is a litel more Salt to bring out the flavors.  No to much please and I liek Sea Salts and Himalayan Salts.  Any who are you ready for some good eats with greens and the wonderful vegeable that is called Asparagus.  Please let me know if you liek this recipe at madjon51@aol.com and come like my fan page on Face Book https://www.facebook.com/CookingwithMadjon you just gotta love social media.  Also please share my cooking blog and join me on LinkedIn Eileen Hutson.

Lemon Aparagus Salad

Dressing:

1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1 tsp. Onion Powder
2 TBSP Sugar
1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
Black Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Olive Oil

Mix the first 6 ingredients together and then add your oil and shake like crazy.

1 Bunch Asparagus
Salt and Pepper to taste
Onion and Garlic Powders, for dusting
Dried Rosemary, maybe 2 tsp.
Olive Oil, about 3 TBSP
Salad Greens, mixed
Whatever frutis and vegetables of your choice

Remove the stem bottoms on the asparagus and wash it.  Then dust the asparagus with, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and Rosemary, give it a toss.  Then toss it with the olive oil.  Then steam the asparaus for about 3 minutes, cool it down and its ready to place on top of your greens and vegetables.  Pour some of your salad dressing on top of the greens and toss it lightly and you are ready to serve.

Please enjoy this salad and if you want to take out the sugar just add 2 Slenda packets to the mix.  Happy trails to you until we meet again.  Bona Y'all.

Cooking With Madjon: Washington D.C. Tidel Basin 2013 Cherry Blossom Fe...

Cooking With Madjon: Washington D.C. Tidel Basin 2013 Cherry Blossom Fe...: Well hello to all you foodie friends out there in Web land I hope all is well.  I've been like on a small vacation and now its time to g...

Washington D.C. Tidel Basin 2013 Cherry Blossom Festival and Cherry Pie

Well hello to all you foodie friends out there in Web land I hope all is well.  I've been like on a small vacation and now its time to get back to work.  I was going to do some writing yesterday but with the bombing in Boston I just didn't feel like it.  I send my prayers to all the victims in Boston and I hope they all recover very fast without much pain.  I also am so sorry for the loss of life's and my heart goes out to the ones that died and their families.  I hope that they soon find out who caused such a cowardly act and take care of them and expose them as the cowards that they are.  Any who that said, we are here to talk about the Cherry Blossoms in D.C.  Did you know that people come from all over the world to see the beauty that I got to witness last week.  We were there at the peak of the blooms.  They were just breathtaking to view.  People were taking so many photographs and everyone enjoying the beauty around them..I will be sharing some of the pictures I took while I was there.  This year marks the 101st anniversary for the gift of trees from Japan to the Untied States.  In 1912 Japan sent us about 3,020 Cherry Trees of several different varieties, which were planted in different areas of Washington DC and some of the trees that are there are from these plantings.  I also noticed that they have panted new trees to replace the older ones for feature generations.  I hope you get a chance to visit D.C. while the festival is going on.  It felt like a fresh start and welcome to spring.  You know the trees do not bear fruit , only the blooms.

I stayed with our son there and I was asked to cook with my Pasta Gravy so I made Turkey Meatballs for them and then we also made the Cherry Pie.  That was an ordeal because there were no Cherries to be found at their store.  So I used dried Cherries and they seemed to work out just fine and  I had help from a couple friends who live in the the Hood as they call it. So I hope you enjoy this recipe and please give it a try,.

Cherry Blossom Pie

Crust:  Makes 2 crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick Butter plus 2 TBSP shortening, softened
1 tsp. Salt
3 TBSP Sugar
4-6 TBSP iced Water

Blend the sugar and salt with the flour.  Soften the butter and blend it with the flour and blend in the shortening.  Slowly add the water a tablespoon at a time until the dough foams a ball.  Cut it in half and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.  Place one crust into a pie pan and bake for about 8 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees.

Cherry Pie Filling:

2 packages dried Cherries
1 cup Sugar
3 TBSP Corn Starch
1 small box Cherry Jello
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 TBSP Butter
1 TBSP Lemon Juice
2 Cups Water

Mix the sugar, cherries, and cornstarch in a pan.  Then pour in the box of jello, cinnamon,  and mix until well blended. Slowly add the water.  Then add the lemon juice.  Cook slowly until thickened.  Add the butter and mix.  Cool a little before pouring the filling onto the crust.  Top the pie with the other crust and brush with some egg white.  Bakes until golden brown on about 375 degrees in a pre-heated oven.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and go see the Cherry Blossoms when in bloom.  Please go and like my fan page on Face Book, Cooking With MadJon and Friends.  visit our show on the web, www.aikenstandard.com ASTV 95. Write me at madjon51@aol.com with any questions about any reicpes.  Happy trails to you until we meet again., MadJon.