Gardener's Mint Salsa

For any of you that have abundant vegetable gardens and all those veggies coming in all at once, this is a nice light meal. With our varied seafood selection I make this often..my favorite is over grilled swordfish, or lobster tails, but many tell me they serve this over chicken or pork as well.




1 cucumber
1 yellow summer squash or cousa squash
1 zucchini
1 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
3 garlic cloves
2 shallots
8 sprigs of fresh mint (any mints that grow in your garden)
3 TBLS olive oil
2 TBLS white wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 TBLS butter
cayenne pepper or tobasco sauce and ground cinnamon
4 swordfish steaks
fresh lemon
2 tsp spice brown mustard
3 tsp mayonaise

Peel the cucumber and dice it up.. put these pieces into a small collander & sprinkle with a bit of salt and allow to drain for 15 minutes. Wash, clean and dice up all the other vegetables and tear the mint leaves.

In a large saute pan warm the olive oil and add shallots and garlic and sautee until lightly browned. Now add the peppers and squash, zucchini and drained cucumber pieces and sautee 5 minutes more. Add in the vinegar, sugar, tobasco sauce or cayenne to taste and a few good shakes of ground cinnamon and just a sprinkling of salt if you must. Continue cooking this until the liquids in your pan have evaporated.. 3-5 minutes. Add your chopped mint leaves now & toss all well together. Put into a bowl & set aside.covered.



In the same frying pan melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the swordfish with white pepper, a smidgeon of salt and squeeze of half a fresh lemon. Cook each side until browned and basted with a bit of diijon mustard and mayaonaise mixture. After it's cooked, place your fish on a plate. Take the already pre-cooked veggie salsa and put it into the pan you cooked your fish into.. warm it up quickly absorbing any leftover fish juices in the pan. Spoon the mint medley over your fish with a few fresh mint leaves and serve with a large Caesars's salad. Enjoy!

Lamb on a stick

Lamb on a stick aka Shish-ka-bob




This is a dish we make for Memorial Day weekend.. You must be a lamb lover to enjoy this wonderfully stewy dish! You'll need to make this two prior to cooking it.

At your grocer get a leg of lamb.. fresh New Zealand spring lamb and have the butcher bone it for you & cube. Once you get it home..cube it even smaller into 1 inch cubes.

Chop up 5 good sized onions... at least 5 garlic cloves... & a few shallots. In a large bowl add your cubed fresh lamb.. and this mixture. Sprinkle with a bit of pepper.. NO SALT!! Then cover all with vegetable oil.. yes cover all the mixture in oil. Cover tightly and give a good shake. Refrigerate it for two days. Twice a day.. take it out of frig & shake again.







The day you will be serving this.. skewer up the lamb pieces on skewers... alone. On separate skewers put quartered tomatoes... and on yet another skewer put cut up green peppers. Cook all on grill.. slowly cooked. I cook my meat first.. then the peppers.. then the tomatoes lastly.. they cook the fastest. As the meats are cooked.. slide them off the skewer & into a large pot.. do the same with the peppers..& tomatoes.. add all to the pot. Now.. the reserved oil & onions you had the lamb marinating in for two days.. toss also into the pot. Put the pot on the grill.. or cooktop... & slowly cook on lowered heat. It will become a thick stew in no time.

Now for some some rice pilaf:

Simmer 2 pads of butter.. add some Orzo or chopped up spaghetti.. not much.. a handful of Orzo... lightly brown. Once browned.. add 2 cans chicken broth.. & 1 1/2 cups Uncle Bens long grained rice ( NOT minute rice).. bring to rapid boil & then turn down very low & just simmer..covered..til all juices are gone.. don't overcook this rice.. leave a bit of juice in bottom of pan.. it'll absorb lastly & keep the pilaf nice and moist. Sprinkle with a bit of fresh parsley.. Serve rice.. & ladle on Lamb on the stick.. Scrumptious meal!! Serve with Syrian bread.. or some folks can get pita bread & a hearty tossed green salad. Enjoy and Happy Memorial Day!