strawberry sauce

I made this last night to go on top of ice cream and brownies. It was so good. I got the recipe out of a B&B cookbook - the original intent was to put it on top of fancy French toast.... I can see where that would be good, but it just screamed vanilla ice cream and chocolate brownie to me.

• 1 Qt strawberries
• 2 TBS orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)
• 2 TBS water
  
• 1/3 cup sugar

Slice the strawberries. Put all ingredients into a sauce pan and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir. Let cool before you burn your mouth.... Can be easily reheated in the microwave.

Fresh Cilantro Chutney

We had Mindy and her clan over for dinner last night. We have dinner together at least once or twice each week (it's a leftover reflex from the deployment days). I have to be on my A-game because if I slip a little Mindy will end up cooking everything (which is not as bad as it sounds!). So last night we made Mahi Mahi with Fresh Cilantro Chutney (Bon Appetit, October 2007). There was really nothing special about the mahi - seasoned with adobo (it really called for s&p, but the Puerto Ricanness runs deep!) and some cumin - but the awesome part was the chutney. It was used as liberally as chimichurri and it was just so flavorful, I'm sure Mindy can back me up.

ingredients ::
1 cup (packed) chopped fresh cilantro
1 large kiwi, peeled, cubed
1/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk*
1 large garlic clove, peeled
2 teaspoons chopped jalapeño chili

preparation::
Coarsely puree first 5 ingredients in processor. Season chutney with salt and pepper.

(photo snatched from epicurious.com)

Chimichurri

1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
1 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

Just mix it all up in a blender and drizzle all over chicken, meat, fish... and let some fall on your plate but make sure you have enough fresh bread to clean the plate with!