Sometimes I get a grandiose idea and I get all fired up and I spend hours and hours focusing on my goal until the plan reaches fruition. And then there’s all those other days, when the grandiose idea fizzles like a flat soda.
Welcome to Flat Soda Day.
My idea was inspired by a craving for gorditas. Gorditas, which translates to “little chubbies”, are puffy corn tortillas stuffed with meats and sauces, or whatever else you might want to put in them. When made properly, gorditas are wonderfully crispy, warm, corn flavored pockets full of savory bliss. Like so many Mexican dishes, they instantly make me feel at home when I eat them, regardless of where I eat them.
Step number one for gorditas: prepare carnitas. Carnitas, which translates to “little meats”, is typically made with pork shoulder and is slowly roasted and then shredded. I tend to think of carnitas as the little brother of barbacoa. Carnitas are more gentle in flavor than bold, beefy barbacoa but, carnitas are probably more versatile.
In fact, carnitas are so versatile that I completely abandoned the notion of making gorditas and I decided to use them in burritos. That’s ok. I had some carnitas left over and made gorditas a few days later.
I usually roast a pork shoulder when making carnitas. The fat ratio in a pork shoulder is precisely what is needed for good carnitas. This time, I had a pork loin, which is very lean. I also had a few small pieces of leftover beef ribeye in the refrigerator. The fat content of the ribeye was just what the lean pork needed. I added a little lard, to further bump the fat content up, and then I roasted the meat for about 6 hours at low temperature.
Ingredients:
1 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs oregano
2 tsp paprika
2 lbs pork loin
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeño, sliced
1 ½ Tbs lard
¾ lb beef ribeye (cooked to medium rare)
Directions:
Combine the cumin, oregano, paprika and oil in a small bowl. Mix together.
Coat the pork loin with the spices and oil.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a large Dutch oven. Add the pork loin to the Dutch oven. Cover and cook at 250° for 6 hours. Remove from oven. Shred the meat with two forks.
Heat a cast iron skillet. Add shredded meat to the skillet and sear for a few minutes, or until the meat begins to char. Turn the meat and sear for another minute. Remove meat.
Serve in any number of dishes. Burritos, enchiladas, gorditas, flautas, chalupas, tacos…
Hooray! The crawfish are here, the crawfish are here!
Every year, around this time, crawfish and shrimp vendors start popping up at local gas station parking lots. They set up shop on the weekends, with pick up trucks and trailers for about 6 weeks and then they vanish, as quickly and as quietly as they arrived, returning to the bayous. But, while they are here, I have access to the biggest, freshest and most succulent gulf shrimp and wonderful, spicy, hot Cajun crawfish .
Most of these vendors only take cash. I rarely carry cash but, when these guys roll into town I don’t mind making a trip to the nearest ATM and withdrawing money from my bank account. I drive back to the seafood guys waving cash in my hand. Yes, it’s really that good.
I remember a time, just a few years ago, when I saw the crawfish guys boiling their shrimp and cawfish and I panicked, realizing that I was nearing the end of their short season. It was Saturday, around 5:00 pm. I drove the 3 miles to the bank teller machine and withdrew some cash. By the time I returned, they had already packed up and were gone. Gone! Gone for good, at least until the next year.
Never again. Lesson learned. I will not let the moment escape me. Even if all I get is a tiny sample of some briny shrimp or a few scrawny crawfish, I won’t pass up the opportunity to savor some of the finest food this world has to offer.
I am not a creole chef and I wasn’t raised on the bayou. I’m not Cajun…I’m Texan true and true, but I am forever mesmerized and enamored by the lure of fresh gulf seafood and funky, backwater fare.
Something good happens when the shrimp are set to boil. The world is a happier place when hot, red crawfish are pulled from the pot. Mystery and wonder fills the air. Friends are made instantly. Smiles become contagious. Romance is at hand. No struggles, no strife.
I wanted to jump right into this fish taco recipe but I couldn’t resist the urge to discuss the phenomena that is Tilapia.
Tilapia is a freshwater fish that describes dozens of types of fish. If I was an ichthyologist I might be able to go into greater detail about the different types of fish that fall under the umbrella of “tilapia” but my interest lies elsewhere.
What intrigues me is the fact that tilapia have become a predominant food source in a very short period of time. Tilapia have rapidly become one of the most consumed fish in the United States. It is also popular across the globe, due to low production cost.
Tilapia are easily farmed. They are not carnivorous, which make them less expensive to raise than salmon or trout. They mature quickly, which leads to quick harvesting and, they can endure living in close proximity to each other. All of these qualities make them desirable for aquaculture.
I don’t know where I’m going with all of this except to say that I was really curious about the sudden popularity of tilapia and I thought others might be, too. So, before I totally kill the mood and start making allusions to Soylent Green, let’s make some fish tacos…
Ingredients:
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 large, or 2 medium sized jalapeños, thinly sliced or shredded
3 scallions (green onions), green portion diced and white portion thinly sliced
½ cup vinegar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs sugar
1 avocado, sliced
1 tsp lemon juice
Pinch of garlic salt
6 to 8 small russet potatoes
¾ lb fresh tilapia filets
¼ cup flour
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbs cornstarch
12 corn tortillas
1 egg
Directions:
In a large skillet, add 1 cup cooking oil. Set heat to low.
Add the shredded carrot, sliced jalapeño and the sliced scallion root to a mixing bowl. Stir to mix. Add the vinegar, lemon juice and sugar. Set aside for 20 minutes.
Peel and slice the avocado. Squirt some lemon juice over the sliced avocado and sprinkle with a little garlic salt.
Scrub the potatoes under cool running water. Dry the potatoes with a paper towel. Cut potatoes into 1 inch pieces. Add potatoes to the skillet and adjust the heat to medium/high. Stir the potatoes after 1 minute and adjust the heat to medium. Leave the potatoes alone for 15 minutes.
Arrange the fish filets on a paper towel-lined plate.
Spread ¼ cup flour over a large plate. Scatter the cumin, chili powder and garlic powder over the flour.
Dust each side of the fish with a scant amount of cornstarch.
Strain the pickled vegetables and discard the vinegar mixture. Put the shredded vegetables in a bowl and keep handy.
Stir the potatoes a few times and strain the oil, once the potatoes have crisped. Store the potatoes in a bowl, in a warm place.
Return the oil to the pan and set the heat to medium. Soften the corn tortillas in the hot oil. Remove the tortillas and store in a warm place.
Crack an egg over a large plate. Lightly whisk with a fork.
Create a dredging station with the fish, egg and flour. Take a piece of fish and dip both sides in the egg. Lay the fish in the flour mixture and shake off any loose flour. Lay the fish in the hot skillet.
Fry the fish for about two minutes and then turn the fish over, with a large spatula. Fry for another two minutes and turn the fish again. Fry for another minute and remove the fish to a paper towel-lined plate.
Slice the fish in bite sized pieces.
Assemble the tacos. I like to use two tortillas per taco but one is perfectly fine, too. Add avocado slices, pickled vegetables and fish.
Top with cilantro and green onion and serve with home fries.
You know this is going to be good…there’s so many adjectives in the name!
Some recipes produce shy and gentle things and others, like this one, are boisterous and bold. I wanted something that was full of citrus flavors and exotic spices and this definitely fit the bill. This chicken dish is nothing short of a runaway flavor train! I intended on marinating the chicken for a few hours but plans changed and it marinated for about 30 hours. The result was bright, very tangy, lemony chicken. The thick orange glaze had a distinctly Asian taste which complemented the citrus flavor in the chicken. The only thing shy and gentle about this dish was the white rice!
For the marinade:
1 ½ lbs chicken breast, cut into 1” pieces
2 lemons (quartered)
1 orange (quartered)
2 Tbs sliced ginger
½ onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ cup olive oil
For the Glaze:
1 cup orange juice (or juice of 3-4 oranges)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
1 Tbs Sriracha sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Orange zest, about ¼ cup
1 tsp black peppercorns
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, split and broken
2 Tbs cornstarch
For the stir-fry:
1 cup cooking oil
1 ½ lbs marinated chicken, cut into 1” pieces
¼ cup cornstarch
1 Tbs cooking oil
½ yellow bell pepper, chopped
½ orange bell pepper, chopped
3 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
1 green onion, chopped
¼ cup cilantro
Toast sesame seeds in a hot, dry skillet.
Toss sesame seeds until browned.
Directions:
Prepare the marinade by cutting the lemons, orange and onion. Slice the ginger. Peeling the ginger is optional, since the ginger will only be used in the marinade.
In a large plastic storage bag, add all of the marinade ingredients, including the chicken. Squeeze the juice from the lemons and orange pieces as you toss them into the bag. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
To prepare the glaze, add all of the ingredients for the glaze, except the cornstarch to a sauce pan. Turn heat to low/medium stir to combine. Simmer and stir occasionally for 20 minutes.
Strain the solids from the sauce and return the sauce to the wok.
Remove a few tablespoons of the sauce and add to a small bowl. Add the cornstarch to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the cornstarch mixture back to the sauce and whisk to incorporate. Simmer for another 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens to a sticky glaze. Remove the glaze to a bowl and keep warm.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. Add the chicken to a mixing bowl. Cover with 1/4 cup cornstarch. Mix thoroughly, to coat the chicken. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before frying in a wok.
Add a cup of cooking oil to a wok and set the heat to high. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and fry the chicken, stirring only occasionally, until the chicken is cooked and golden brown. Remove the chicken to a warm place.
Remove all but about 1 tablespoon of oil from the wok. Add the chopped bell pepper and stir for a few minutes.
Return the chicken to the wok and stir again.
Add the prepared glaze and stir. Finally, add the green onion and stir briefly.
Turn out to a serving bowl and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and cilantro.
There’s really only one thing a good Texas boy can do after committing a sin, like adding beans to chili. Seek redemption! This is a Texas classic: chicken fried steak and gravy with mashed potatoes, turnip greens and Texas toast. As you might recall, I used Shiner Bock beer in that chili and although this recipe doesn’t call for beer, Shiner Bock is the common thread that ties these two posts together.
Any decent diner or restaurant in Texas will serve up a good chicken fried steak. One such restaurant, in Shiner, Texas, was noteworthy. My family and I had just finished taking a guided tour through the Spoetzl brewery, where they make Shiner Bock, and we stopped off at local restaurant for lunch. Any time we go back to Texas to visit we look for good smoked beef brisket and chicken fried steak. As it happened, the restaurant served chicken fried steak. My wife opted for what the menu referred to as the “ladies portion”. It was half the cost of the “regular” chicken fried steak. The server came out with a 14 inch oval platter with mashed potatoes and green beans and a monstrous portion of chicken fried steak that was so large that it hung over the sides of the platter. We all had a good laugh. I asked the waitress what the regular chicken fried steak looked like and she pointed to one that was being made for someone else. It was twice the size of the ladies portion. Insane! But that’s Texas for you. We all shared the chicken fried steak, since the portion was large enough to feed a small army. It was superb…one of the best I’ve ever had.
Chicken Fried Steak
I have to say, the chi-fri I made this time around was really good. The cubed steak was tender and the breading had a good crunch and it clung to steak like a champion! I’ve included some photos, along with some recipes, but I have to admit that I stopped snapping pictures along the way. Sometimes it’s best to cherish the simple, beautiful moments in life.
Ingredients:
2 lbs cubed beef steaks (1/4” thick):
This can be 4 steaks at ½ lb each or 8 steaks at ¼ lb each
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tbs Tabasco sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups cooking oil
For the gravy:
1/4 cup flour
4 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Set up a 3-stage dredging station: steak, flour and buttermilk.
Place the cubed steaks on a plate.
For the dry dredge, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt. Place the mixture in a large, shallow bowl.
For the wet dip, add buttermilk, egg, Tabasco sauce, and garlic to a large shallow bowl. Stir to mix.
Dredge each steak in the flour and pat the steaks, to make sure they are completely covered. Shake off excess flour and dip the steaks in the buttermilk mixture and transfer back to the flour for another coating. Shake off excess flour.
Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet to medium/hot (325°). Gently lay the steaks in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Do not crowd the skillet. Place the finished steaks on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Once all of the steaks are done, drain the oil from the skillet, reserving 1/4 cup of the oil and some of the crunchy bits.
Gravy
Return the skillet to stove at medium/low heat and add the reserved oil. Whisk the ¼ cup flour into the oil. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to break the solids and mix into the gravy. Stir in the milk and raise the heat to medium. Whisk the gravy while it simmers and thickens. This should take about 5 minutes. Season the gravy with a little salt and pepper. Pour the finished gravy into a serving bowl and yes, you may lick the spoon!
Turnip Greens
Turnip greens are simply the leafy green tops and stems of turnips. They are extremely rich in vitamins and minerals. Giving them a quick sauté will remove much of their bitterness. Once cooked, they are similar to cooked spinach in texture and taste. Many people add salt to greens but it’s really not necessary since they are high in sodium.
Ingredients:
1 Tbs olive oil
½ cup onion, julienne cut
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup chicken stock (I used ½ cup ham stock and ½ cup water)
1 Tbs sugar
½ tsp Cajun seasoning
2 slices of thin cut bacon
1 bunch of turnip greens
Directions:
Soak the turnip greens in lots of cold water. Swish the greens around to remove any sand or dirt. Rinse the greens and set aside.
Fry the bacon just long enough to produce a little bacon fat. Don’t overcook the bacon. Remove the bacon and set aside to cool. Leave the bacon fat in the pan.
Add the olive oil, onions and garlic to the pan and sauté over medium heat, in a large skillet. Sauté until the onions are soft.
Chop the bacon into small pieces and add to the skillet
Add the chicken stock, sugar and Cajun seasoning. Stir for minute to dissolve the sugar.
Rough-chop the greens and add them to the hot skillet.
Stir and cook for a minute or two. The greens will wilt quickly. Turn the greens out to a serving bowl.
Serve with hot pepper sauce (green Tabasco peppers in vinegar)
Texas Toast
Texas toast means thick, sliced white bread. Yes, white bread; none of that healthy whole-grain stuff! If you want the real Texas chicken fried steak experience you have to do it right! If you’re particularly health-conscious, eat a bunch of salads and fruit during the week after your Chi Fri and you’ll be OK.
Ingredients:
10 slices of thick-cut white bread
1/2 cup butter, melted
Garlic salt, about 2 Tbs
Directions:
Melt the butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Butter melts very quickly in a microwave so be careful!
Lay the slices of bread on a work surface, such as a cutting board.
Liberally brush the melted butter on both sides of the bread. Sprinkle garlic salt on one side of each slice.
Grill the bread in a hot skillet. After about one minute, rotate the bread in the skillet to brown the bread evenly. Turn the bread over and grill the other side. Remove and serve warm.
I know that if I go to heaven I’ll have to answer for my sins. I’m just hoping that the good Lord will forgive me for occasionally putting beans in my chili.
I hope that adding this excellent Texas beer to the mix will tip the scale in my favor.
But, if I’m not accepted in heaven, I’m sure I’ll fit in just fine with the fiery fiends of hell. I’ve spent years and years eating spicy chiles and I’m confident that I can take the heat!
It seems like every time I make chili I make it a little bit differently than the last time I made it. If you know me, that’s to be expected. I rarely replicate a recipe. I like the unexpected twists and turns of the path, unexplored. This time around, I added some dark chocolate and cinnamon. I’ve added cocoa powder in past recipes but I wasn’t impressed. This time I used an actual piece of good dark chocolate and the result was amazing! The flavor was deep and rich and not too spicy. I have to confess, the beans added a heartwarming earthiness to the overall dish. This ranks near the top of my chili making experiences.
Chili doesn’t take very long to prepare, unless you plan on adding uncooked beans to it. I soaked kidney beans and simmered them in a large pot for 4 or 5 hours, until they were fully cooked and soft. Once the beans were cooked the rest of the process only took about one hour.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked kidney beans
6 or 7 guajillo chiles
2 Tbs sugar
½ cup water (water from the steamed chiles works)
1 oz dark chocolate bar
2 or 3 cinnamon sticks
2 lbs ground beef
15 oz stewed tomatoes
8 oz tomato paste (1 and ½ cans)
8 oz tomato sauce
2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs dried oregano
1 ½ Tbs cumin powder
1 ½ Tbs garlic powder
¼ cup cilantro
2 cups water
1 beer (12 oz)
¼ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Saltine crackers
Directions:
Steam the chiles. Remove the stems from the chilies and slice them open. Remove the pith and seeds. Steam the chilies in a little water in a large, covered skillet for 20 to 30 minutes.
Drain the chilies and add them to the blender with a little water. Pulse until the chilies form a sauce.
Add the chili sauce to a large skillet and simmer at low heat. Add the sugar and allow the sauce to reduce by one half.
Grate the chocolate and add it to the sauce. Stir the sauce as the chocolate melts.
Add the cinnamon sticks to the sauce and continue simmering. Simmer the sauce until it reduces by one third.
Remove the cinnamon sticks and reserve the thickened sauce in a bowl.
Brown the beef in a skillet. Keep warm.
In a large pot, add the stewed tomatoes.
Break the tomatoes into bite sized chunks with a spatula and add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Simmer for a few minutes, while stirring.
Add the onion and jalapeño. Simmer for another 10 minutes and the add the oregano, cumin powder and garlic powder. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cilantro.
Add the browned beef and cooked beans.
Add 2 cups of water and the beer. Simmer and stir occasionally for 45 minutes at low heat.
Serve in bowls, topped with shredded cheese and saltine crackers, on the side.
I have to admit, I sometimes feel like Marco Polo when I visit an international food market. I imagine that I am a gallant adventurer, in search of spices and treasures from distant lands. There are so many strange and wonderful things to see, most of which I know little or nothing about. Fortunately, I almost always find a friendly proprietor that is happy to answer my questions and will guide me through the store, politely pointing out interesting things.
“Tell me about ghee,” I might ask. “Is it like clarified butter?” And then I might ask about the several different varieties of rice on a shelf and ask what properties they have that make them appropriate for some dishes but not suitable for others. Invariably, during my visit, I will reach a point where I run out of intelligent questions or the proprietor will begin to fidget and will look for a way to carry on with whatever they were doing before I captivated so much of their time.
It’s usually around that moment that I feel a sudden desire to return to my homeland, to share my stories and show my new treasures. I gather a few exotic wonders and pack them away in my sack, bid a fond farewell to my congenial friend, clasp my cloak about my neck and prepare for the arduous journey back home.
Ok, it’s really just a fifteen minute drive through a light drizzle that dampens the city streets but I like to believe that I am hoisting the sails of my sea bound schooner and that I am preparing to batten down the hatches, at a moment’s notice, in case the stormy seas start to surge.
I know the trade routes like the back of my hand and, in due time, I return to the happy harbor of my home. And that’s when the fun really begins…
Coconut Chicken Curry with Pesto Sauce
Ingredients:
1 ½ tsp salt
1 Japanese eggplant
1 Tbs olive oil
5 garlic cloves
1 lb chicken tenders (tendons removed)
¼ cup basil pesto sauce
juice of 3 limes
juice of 1 lemon
1 ½ Tbs fresh ginger, sliced
1 Thai chili, sliced lengthwise
1 ½ Tbs chili powder
1 carrot
1 Roma tomato, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
2 tsp Garam Masala
13.5 oz Thai coconut milk
3 green onions
Directions:
Using a sharp kitchen knife, remove the white tendon that runs down the length of the chicken tender.
Cut the chicken into 1” pieces and place them in a bowl.
Add the pesto sauce, lime and lemon juice, sliced ginger, Thai chili and chili powder to the bowl and mix by hand. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Cut the eggplant into 1” pieces and add them to a mixing bowl. Mince one clove of garlic and add it to the bowl, along with a tablespoon of olive oil.
Spread the eggplant out on a parchment lined baking tray and roast in the oven at 400° for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant has browned a little. Remove and set aside in a bowl.
In a large skillet, sauté the onion and the remaining garlic for one minute, over low heat.
Add the marinated chicken and turn the heat up to medium. Stir the chicken while it cooks.
Once the chicken has firmed and turned white, add the sliced jalapeños and carrots. Stir frequently.
When the carrots begin to soften, add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan.
Add the Garam Masala, ginger, lime and lemon zest, lime and lemon juice. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato and eggplant and stir.
Cover the skillet and simmer at low heat for 15 minutes.
At this point, I tasted the broth and determined that the jalapeños were spicier than I had expected. I removed them and used them as a side dish, for anyone that wanted a little extra heat.
Add the coconut milk and mix with a spatula. Simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes.
Remove to a serving bowl and keep warm until serving time. Serve in bowls, over basmati rice.
Spicy Shrimp Noodles
Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp (I used frozen shrimp, in the shell, de-veined)
2 Tbs basil pesto sauce
1 Tbs chili powder
2 Tbs fresh ginger, minced
1 lime
1 Tbs cooking oil
12 Thai chiles
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
¼ cup Asian stir fry sauce (I used General Tso sauce, but any kind will do)
1 Tbs Hoisin sauce
1 ½ Tbs oyster sauce
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs Vietnamese fish sauce
1 tsp Sriracha (or more, if you want it to be spicier!)
½ lb Vietnamese rice sticks
Directions:
Put the shrimp in a large bowl. Add just enough water to cover the shrimp. Add the pesto sauce, chili powder and minced ginger. Quarter the lime and squeeze the juice over the bowl. Add the rest of the lime to the bowl. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Since I started with frozen shrimp, I marinated for one hour.
The rice sticks will need to soak in warm water for about 30 minutes, to soften. Vietnamese rice sticks tend to be very long so I broke them in half before soaking.
Heat a wok at high heat. Add the cooking oil and the chilies. Sear the chilies for about one minute, or until the outer skins begin to blister. Remove the chiles and set aside. I put them in a small dish to serve at the table.
Add the whole, unpeeled shrimp to the wok and stir-fry for one to two minutes. Remove the shrimp and allow them to cool before removing the shells and tails.
Set the shrimp aside and return the shells and tails to the wok. Stir the shells over high heat for about one minute, to extract their juices. Remove the shells and tails and discard.
Add the garlic to the wok and stir for about 30 seconds.
Add the Asian sauce, Hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and Sriracha. Turn the heat to low and stir to mix.
Drain the rice sticks in a colander and add the rice sticks to the wok. Stir to coat the rice sticks. Return the shrimp and mix briefly. Turn out to a serving bowl.
I’m on a Tex-Mex kick again…who would have guessed!
Technically, this wasn’t carne asada because I didn’t grill the meat. I seared the meat in a cast iron skillet at high heat, which is close enough for me. Secondly, carne asada usually is prepared with a dry rub on the meat. I marinated the beef in guajillo and ancho chile sauce for a few hours. It might be more correct to say that I made bistec en salsa guajillo. “Pero,“Carne asada” suena más emocionante!” Which is to say, Carne asada sounds more exciting!
The potatoes used in this recipe came from my favorite grocery store, ALDI. The 24 ounce bag contains a variety of bite sized potatoes, ranging from white, yellow, red, brown and purple. They bake quickly in the oven and they come out of the oven crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
Ingredients for the carne asada:
1 ¼ lbs top round beef steak (thinly sliced)
16 oz enchilada sauce (guajillo and ancho chiles this time, but canned is perfectly fine!)
1 Tbs cooking oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 large jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 ripe tomato, diced
3 large flour tortillas (burrito sized)
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Ingredients for the potatoes:
24 oz bite sized whole potatoes
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Directions:
Slice the raw steak, thinly.
Marinate the steak in the chile guajillo sauce for 30 minutes, or longer.
In a large skillet at medium/low heat, add the onion and jalapeño until the onions begin to turn translucent.
Add the garlic powder, cumin and diced tomato. Simmer at low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, prepare the potatoes.
Wash, rinse and drain the potatoes.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the potatoes with olive oil, garlic powder, chile powder, paprika, cumin, salt and black pepper.
Scatter the potatoes across a parchment paper lined baking tray and bake at 350° for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes can be cut easily with a knife. Keep warm until serving.
Remove the cooked sauce to a bowl.
Add the marinated beef to the skillet and sauté at very high heat for 2 minutes. Reserve the marinade.
Remove the beef and keep warm.
Reduce the beef juices by stirring at high heat for a few minutes.
Add the sauce back to the skillet, with the reduced beef juices. Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
Chop the beef and return the beef to the skillet.
Divide the beef in the skillet evenly, according to the number of burritos that you are preparing. I am making three burritos.
On a clean work surface, assemble the burritos. Add the beef and roll the tortillas.
Add the guajillo marinade to the skillet and cook at high heat for a few minutes to thicken the sauce (and to kill any bacteria).
Reduce the heat to low and add the burritos to the skillet. Roll the burritos in the sauce to cover all sides.
Top with cheese.
Move the skillet from the stove top to the oven and bake at 350° for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Remove the burritos from the oven and keep warm.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and turn out to a serving dish.
The inspiration for my most recent post came from a brunch dish I made recently. I was expecting early morning visitors but I didn’t know how many (or if any) would show. I took a page from one of my wife’s recipes and changed it a little. She uses crescent roll dough to make a delicious breakfast sausage and cream cheese casserole. Her recipe makes enough to feed a small army, which is perfect for large, holiday breakfasts. Since I didn’t know how many people would actually show up, I decided to alter the recipe to make individual pastry cups. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for several days and they are can be pulled out and reheated in a microwave oven for a quick and easy breakfast, or a light snack.
Breakfast Sausage and Cream Cheese Pastry Shells
Ingredients:
2 8-count crescent roll tubes
1 lb bulk breakfast sausage (mild)
8 oz cream cheese (1 pack)
Directions:
Cook the sausage in a skillet and remove, to cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, crumble the sausage by hand to break down any large clumps.
Add the cream cheese to the sausage and mix thoroughly with a spatula.
Unroll the crescent roll dough on a clean and lightly floured surface.
Form the dough into a rectangle and press the edges together with your fingers. Press the perforated parts of the dough together, lightly, with your fingers.
Using a pastry cutter, or a clean credit card, if you don’t have a pastry cutter, slice the dough into 4” squares, to make 12 squares. The squares don’t have to be perfectly square.
Lay the squares over the holes of a non-stick muffin pan. Press the squares down to conform to the pan.
Drop the sausage and cream cheese mixture in the pastry shells by spoon.
Bake at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges of the pastry are golden brown.
Between our New Year’s Day celebration and last weekend’s bridal shower party we amassed a lot of inexplicable leftovers. How we wound up with Camembert cheese left over, I’ll never know. That’s fancy French cheese from Normandy, for goodness sake! As I recall, we Americans fought our tails of to liberate that cheese! And the gouda! For pity’s sake everyone ignored the gouda! Other than tulips, legalized prostitution and hash bars gouda is the Netherland’s #1 attraction!
The leftover cauliflower and broccoli is easier to understand. They’re always the last stragglers on a veggie tray. The Kalamata olives went first and then the carrots. By the time the carrots were gone, so was the creamy ranch dressing dip. Poor cauliflower and broccoli always get left behind, like a scrawny kid who gets picked last during recess, when teams are chosen.
So, now it’s time to scrape together all of the those party leftovers and make a meal.
Rustic Chicken with Winter Vegetables and Whipped Potatoes
My first step was to make the puff pastry for the chicken dish. From there I prepped much of the rest of the meal in advance and kept it cool until nearly service time. I finished by roasting the vegetables and frying some matchstick onions.
Ingredients for the puff pastry:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cup cold butter (2 and a half sticks)
½ cup ice cold water
Directions:
Puff pastry is really not too difficult to make at home as long as you adhere to a few rules. There are only a few ingredients but the important thing to remember while making the pastry is to keep all of the ingredients very cold during preparation. I chilled the flour, in addition to chilling the butter, and I put the water in the freezer, just prior to using it.
Since hands are warm, and warmth is a pastry killer, I added the flour, salt and butter to a food processor. I pulsed the food processor several times until the flour and butter combined to make a grainy mixture.
I added the ice cold water and pulse again, until the dough began to form a ball. I turned out the dough ball to a clean work surface and formed the dough into a 12” x 6” rectangle. I worked quickly, using the rolling pin.
I folded the dough over into a tri-fold and squared the dough by pushing the edges with the rolling pin. I added a little more flour to the work surface to keep the dough from sticking to the surface.
I rolled the dough out again to a 12” x 6” rectangle and folded it in thirds again. I repeated this process three more times. Rolling the dough multiple times increases the amount of flakiness of the finished puff pastry.
I wrapped the rectangle of dough in plastic wrap and kept it refrigerated until I was ready to use it.
This recipe makes enough dough for 24 pastry cups.
Ingredients for the rest of the meal:
Infused blueberries:
1 ½ cup water
2 tsp dried rosemary
½ cup blueberries
1 Tbs sugar
Roasted chicken:
4 chicken thighs (bone–in)
5 cloves fresh garlic, sliced thin
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 Tbs rendered bacon fat
½ cup roasted red bell peppers
4 oz sliced mushrooms (I used canned mushrooms)
1 Tbs olive oil
6 oz Camembert cheese (rind removed)
Whipped potatoes:
6 small russet potatoes
2 Tbs butter
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup milk
5 cloves roasted garlic
Matchstick onions:
1 yellow onion, sliced into very thin rings
1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 cup milk and 1 tsp vinegar)
1 cup flour
1 tsp seasoning salt
Winter vegetables:
1 ½ cup carrots, sliced and chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 Tbs olive oil
½ cup gouda cheese, shredded
Directions:
Fill a small bowl with 1 ½ cups of boiling water. Add the rosemary and sugar. When the water has reached room temperature, remove the rosemary and reserve for later.
Add the blueberries to the fragrant water and allow them to soak at room temperature for a few hours.
Remove the skin from the chicken thighs and discard. Using a small, sharp knife, make several incisions in the chicken and insert the slices of garlic.
Add bacon grease and olive oil to a baking dish. Smear the chicken with the grease and oil and nestle the chicken in the baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved rosemary onto the chicken.
Roast the chicken, uncovered, in an oven at 350° for 90 minutes. Baste the chicken occasionally. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down to room temperature.
Once the chicken has cooled, shred by hand.
Dice the roasted peppers and add to the shredded chicken. Add the mushrooms to the chicken and mix to incorporate. Set aside.
Wash and scrub the potatoes. Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Cover the pot with a lid and boil the potatoes at low heat for about one hour, or until the potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork.
Using a hand-held mixer, blend the potatoes, including the potato skins, with the butter, sour cream, milk and roasted garlic. Store in warm place.
Drain the blueberries and set aside.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and place on a clean work surface. Divide the dough in half. Use one half for the chicken dish and reserve the other half for a dessert dish. Roll the dough out to about ¼” thick. Slice the pastry into 4” squares. Form fit the pastry into the muffin pan.
Slice dough into 4″ squares
Place the squares in muffing pan and fill the pastry with the chicken mixture. Top with a teaspoon of Camembert cheese and a 3 or 4 blueberries.
Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry puffs and turns golden brown.
Roasted Winter Vegetables
Toss carrots, broccoli and cauliflower in olive oil. Spread the vegetables out on parchment lined backing tray. Roast in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove and keep warm.
Or, if you want to burn them, leave them in a 400° oven for 45 minutes, like I did. There I was trying to salvage leftover vegetable tray fodder and I incinerated the whole lot. Oh well, that’s the way things roll in my kitchen, sometimes.
Matchstick Onions
Slice the onion very thin and set aside.
Mix the milk and vinegar together in a large bowl (this is a decent substitute for buttermilk). Soak the onions in the buttermilk for several minutes.
Heat a pot of oil on the stove at medium/high heat (325° to 350° works well.
Add the flour and seasoning salt to a large mixing bowl.
Toss the onions in the flour mixture to coat.
Add the onions to the oil and fry until golden brown and crispy. Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and keep warm.
Serve two stuffed pastry shells with mashed potatoes, topped with turkey gravy and fried onions.
Dessert: Cherry and Cream Cheese Tarts
Assemble 12 pastry cups using the same method as before. Fill each one with 2 teaspoons of cream cheese and top with cherry pie filling. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry puffs and turns golden brown.
Toothpick Tales 