The Pioneer Woman Cooks (7 page)

8. Sprinkle with salt, and stir together until combined. Be sure to taste the pico de gallo and adjust the seasonings, adding salt or more diced jalapeño if needed. (I always taste it with chips so the salt quantity is factored in.)

Then, do what I do: Repeat this process every day. Soon, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Pico de gallo won’t keep very long in the fridge—probably 24 hours or so. After that, the sugars start to break down and it turns into a soupy mess. So it’s best to make it the same day you’ll want to serve it, though you certainly could do so several hours before.

’MATERS

The best thing ever to happen to my vegetable garden has been my two boys, who approach harvesting and picking with all the intensity and gusto they use to take apart the lawn mower: they don’t stop until it’s all done. And so, toward the end of the summer I’m gifted every few days with a large box of ripe tomatoes…or jalapeños…or green peppers…or whatever vegetable has reached its peak. I haven’t picked a vegetable myself in ages. My fingernails are cleaner than they’ve been in years.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take much training to get my youngsters to understand that you actually have to leave the fruit on the vine longer than two days for it to be of use to anybody. And aside from the occasional inch-long zucchini and a few handfuls of green tomatoes the size of peas, they practice an unexpected amount of patience.

THE GREAT TEARDROP TOMATO CATASTROPHE

A few years ago, my tomato garden ambition had reached an all-time high. I had a few years of semi-successful vegetable gardening under my belt, and was ready to take it all the way. I envisioned rows and rows of huge beefsteak tomatoes, enormous heirlooms, flavorful cherry tomatoes, and of course, Roma tomatoes for an endless supply of pico de gallo. I’d be the envy of all my neighbors, if I had neighbors, and I’d be the ranch lady who was always bringing baskets of tomatoes to her friends…if I had friends.

I primed my garden late that spring and set off to buy my tomato plants at my favorite local nursery. By late afternoon I returned home with no fewer than thirty tomato plants representing eight different varieties. I couldn’t wait for my bounty to bear fruit.

It would bear fruit, all right—tiny, yellow teardrop-shaped fruit. Evidently, due to a massive error at the regional supplier, an entire truckload of tomato plants had been mis-marked. The result was a garden full of tomato plants bearing nothing but small yellow teardrop tomatoes. I watched in horror every day as more and more yellow teardrops appeared. And it figured that these particular plants would wind up being the healthiest, most prolific ones I’d ever seen. I went to bed at night and dreamed of drowning in teardrop tomatoes. I wouldn’t see a single red tomato all season.

From that day forward, I learned to spread myself out more, collecting different tomato plants from a handful of different nurseries. A girl can only think of so many uses for yellow tomatoes the size of grapes.

GUACAMOLE

Makes ½ cup per avocado used

If you have my favorite condiment, pico de gallo, lying around, all you need is an avocado and you have the makings of my second favorite condiment: guacamole.

Don’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you: for the longest time, when I made pico de gallo (Starters) and guacamole, I treated them as two entirely separate dishes, meaning I’d chop all the tomatoes, onions, and cilantro for the pico de gallo. Then I’d turn around and do the same thing for the guacamole. And then the lights went on.

Sometimes it takes me a while.

One day I had the brilliant idea to mash up several avocados and sprinkle them with salt, then simply dump on a big mound of freshly made pico de gallo and mix it in. It was a culinary revelation of epic proportions, and I’ve made it that way ever since. And you can make it as smooth or as lumpy—as plain or as chunky—as you like. I happen to like my guacamole loaded—with lots and lots of bites of tomato and onion, and big cilantro flavor.

Begin with as many avocados as you’d like. Because I’m an avocado freak, I like to allow three-quarters to one whole avocado per person. But I’m a little excessive that way.

1. Halve the avocados lengthwise. Remove the pit and scoop out all the deliciousness onto a large plate.

2. Next, sprinkle on some salt and mash away with a fork until you get the avocado to the consistency you want. Don’t be afraid to leave lots of lumps and chunks; nobody wants perfectly smooth guacamole. At least, nobody this side of the Mississippi.

3. Now throw on a big pile of pico de gallo.

4. And stir together gently.

5. Always test guacamole with tortilla chips so you’ll get a more accurate gauge of the salt content. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Serve with tortilla chips, atop quesadillas, spooned over grilled chicken, over taco salad, or on Mexican pizza. Or, if you’re like me, just eat it by the spoonful. I promise I won’t tell anyone.

HELPFUL HINT: To avoid browning, gently press plastic wrap against the surface of the guacamole until serving. Guacamole will keep in the fridge less than 24 hours.

PW’S POTATO SKINS

Makes 16 potato skins

Who doesn’t love crispy, baked potato skins stuffed with all the goodness of life? That goodness, of course, is cheese, bacon, and sour cream. Stuff I want to eat in heaven. These classic appetizers, circa 1982, are incredibly easy and always a crowd pleaser. Most circa 1982 appetizers are!