Food is a family affair

Our lives revolve around food. Some of the best times we have are in the kitchen, preparing everything from simple lunches to all-out feasts - with the freshest ingredients we can find.


Special occasions usually find us with several generations in the kitchen together and various extended family members contributing to a fabulous feast.


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

CHILE VERDE from Scratch

Tender pork, tangy tomatillos and fiery peppers combine to make this dish one of my family's favorites.

This is yet another example of a cheap cut of meat being simmered in a savory sauce until it is tender and flavorful.  I use whatever pork I find on sale, from a boneless leg, to shoulder or cushion meat.  I even once used the leftover shoulder bone we cut up for sausage (we just made sure to leave plenty of meat on it).

This recipe makes a good-sized potful, anywhere from 10-15 servings, depending on appetites!


3-5 lbs of cut-up pork chunks

2 Tablespoons oil

1 large onion, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons cumin
2-3 lbs tomatillos, husked, washed and quartered.
4-5 poblano peppers, seeded and diced
1 bunch cilantro, large stems removed, chopped
Any other hot pepper (Jalapeno, Serrano, Anaheim, etc) of your liking.
- how hot you make it is all about choice.
  MY rule of thumb is that you can always add heat later, but once you make it really hot, you're stuck with it!

Low sodium chicken broth/ chicken stock/ water

I rough chop all my veggies, and use my immersion blender later to smooth it out.  If you don't have one of the handy little gadgets, just be sure to chop your onions, peppers and cilantro as fine as you want to eat them.

Saute the onions and garlic in the oil until transparent, add cumin, stirring to coat the veggies.

Add tomatillos, peppers and cilantro then add just enough chicken broth or water to cover the veggies. Put a lid on this and simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.  This is the point I use the blender.

Add the pork chunks and simmer for 2 more hours, till the meat is falling apart.


Serve with rice, beans, tortillas, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, etc. for a big wet burrito.
Pour over scrambled eggs.  Make nachos with it.  The possibilities are what you make them.

You can also substitute chicken- boneless, skinless breast meat works just as well.






AMAZING CHOCOLATE CAKE

Another of my multi-bowl recipes - WAY more involved than a box mix, but absolutely worth the trouble!!


Measure 1-1/8 cups of unsweetened cocoa into a heat proof bowl and add 1-1/2 cups boiling water and whisk till smooth, set aside.

Measure 1-1/2 cups WHOLE milk, add 1 tablespoon of good vanilla, set aside.

Measure 2-2/3 cups all purpose flour into bowl, add 2-1/4 teaspoons EACH baking soda and baking powder.  You can add 1 teaspoon of salt. but I don't.  Mix together. Sift, if you are into that kind of thing.

Now for the main bowl, the big one! Get out your mixer, measure 3 cups of brown sugar, packed. (YES! Brown sugar)
then 3/4 cup canola oil  (Not soybean or olive or even corn oil), and 3 eggs. Beat this for a minute or so, scraping the bowl often.

Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture, beating and scraping constantly.
Finally, beat in the cocoa mixture and blend completely.

This recipe makes 3 - 10in layer cakes or about 4 doz cupcakes.

Bake at 350 - about 13-15 minutes for cupcakes, about 35 minutes for layer cakes.

Start with this delicious cake batter and make this pretty Black Forest Cupcake.
Test with toothpick, when it comes out clean, its done!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Pork, sausage, and the benefits of being frugal

 First, if you are a vegetarian, please be warned, the pictures are quite graphic!

Anytime we find pork roast on sale, we snatch up a few and grind it! We purchased our meat grinder years ago, and it has more than paid for itself in the long run.  We've made many different kinds of sausage, from Spicy Italian to Brats to Chicken Sausage, but our favorite is plain breakfast sausage.  The stuff you buy in the store is tasty, but it's high in sodium, has lots of preservatives and added ingredients that we don't believe should be in our food.  And this just ends up cheaper!



Take the roast, and trim away as much meat as you can, cutting it into workable chunks that will fit into the grinder. Whenever we find a boneless roast on sale, well, BONUS!



 This is the meat grinder we bought years ago.  It's been through alot!!


 Grind up the pork, either once for a chunkier grind, or grind twice for a finer texture. We like chunks.


We trim away most of the fat, but not too much, because that fat helps keep your meat moist.
 Now that you have some beautiful ground pork, you can freeze it just like this:

 Or you can make sausage.

Breakfast sausage

For each pound of ground pork, use
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes. (as hot or mild as you like!)
2-4 TABLESPOONS rubbed sage
Salt and/or pepper to taste

1/4 cup vegetable oil (optional, but if you trimmed your pork of its fat, this vegetable oil will help moisten your finished product)

Mix this all together. I mix all my spices into the vegetable oil first, then mix into the meat, it seems to mix easier that way.  Cook up a small sample to test but keep in mind that the flavors will blend and mellow a bit if this is frozen.


We make 5-10 pounds at a time, depending on what we find on sale, and freeze them in packages.
Which brings me to our other nifty gadget, our FoodSaver.  We purchased this years ago. and it has paid paid for itself several times, allowing us to buy in bulk, freeze and not worry about waste. 
 
You can also freeze these in regular zippered freezer bags, just be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible.



Hot off the grill!



 A casual, simple, and yet tasty meal can be cooked up on your outdoor grill, no matter what size!  Shrimp and vegetables, seasoned very lightly so their flavors shine.  Start with the Artichokes, as they take the longest. Trim the stem, if it looks dry, then use kitchen shears to trim the points of the leaves. After grilling, wrap in foil to keep warm while grilling everything else.  You can make as much or as little of the marinade as you like, so that you may brush the other vegetables with it, and use it as a dip when you eat the artichoke.

The shrimp is very simply seasoned, although you can add salt and/or pepper as you like.  Whenever you use wood skewers, be sure to pre-soak them so they don't burn.


Grilled Artichokes
2 large artichokes
Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
pepper to taste
Trim and wash artichokes, boil for 15 minutes,cut in half lengthwise, then place on hot grill, brush with olive oil mixture, turn a few times until artichokes are nicely charred, a total of about 10 minutes.


 Grilled Shrimp
1-2 lbs medium-sized shrimp, peeled and de-veined
Cayenne Pepper or Mild Chili Powder
 Juice of 1 lemon

Sprinkle shrimp with cayenne, as liberally (or not) as you like.  Thread onto skewers,place on hot grill, squeezing lemon juice as they cook, 3-5 minutes each side.



Grilled Veggies
Grape tomatoes, sweet onion, mushrooms, (or bell peppers or zucchini, use your imagination) threaded onto skewers and grilled over hot coals are a simple, tasty way to enjoy fresh veggies.  Use some of the marinade from the artichokes above, or bottled Italian Salad Dressing, or just a light brush with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and/or pepper. 



Let everyone pile their plates with the sticks of their choosing! 
It's almost all finger food! 


The Aftermath

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sweet and Sour Pork (with attitude)

I haven't made Sweet and Sour Pork in years, probably decades, and the last time I did I am sure I used a jarred sauce for it.  So, in researching Sweet and Sour sauces, I was surprised (and a bit disgusted) that every recipe used KETCHUP.
Blech!!
I can't do it!
Had to be Sriracha, and it turned out to be Sweet, Sour and SPICY Pork. YUM!!

As far as the veggies go, all of the recipes agreed on bell peppers (we like red around here), onion and occasionally celery.
My recipe included all three.

Here goes:


Marinate Pork

1-1/2 lb lean pork (boneless sirloin, leg or shoulder), cut in 1" cubes
1/2 tsp soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
(garlic and ginger can be powdered- 1 tsp each)
black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Toss this all together, refrigerate for at least an hour.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Sriracha (or ketchup, if you must)
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Bring this to a simmer, then mix:

1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, then stir into sauce.

When sauce thickens, add 1 cup pineapple chunks, remove from heat.

Veggies

4 or 5 green onions, sliced thin
1 small white onion, cut in 1" chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut in 1" chunks
3 stalks celery, sliced on a diagonal

Any stir-fry vegetables will work in this!!

Put it all together

Heat 2-3 inches oil (peanut is best)
Scramble an egg, pour over the pork chunks, toss together.
Mix 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup flour and black pepper (to taste)
Dredge the pork chunks in the flour mixture, and deep fry 4-5 minutes or until golden brown,
drain on paper towels.

Discard all but  2 tablespoons of oil, mince two cloves of garlic and saute in the oil, till slightly brown.
Add vegetables, saute for 1 minute,
add pork chunks, saute for another minute,
then add the sweet and sour sauce, stirring until it is all bubbly.

Serve over steamed rice or noodles.
Garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds, if you wish.



Sweet Cream Pancakes

This recipe is my homage to the Sweet Cream Pancakes at the Black Bear Diner in Bullhead City, Arizona.   I had them for the first time last year, and fell in love.  They are so good, they need no syrup, like a fluffy, slightly sweet cloud that smells and tastes of vanilla.

So I went home and did what I usually do, which is to scour the internet for a recipe.  I found a few more people like me, looking for answers, but only one recipe that even sounded close.
So I went to work, with my husband and son as my guinea pigs (such a tough job), toying with the right balance of creamy, sweet and fluffy.

I don't eat out at restaurants as a regular thing, since I have a hard time handing over my hard-earned money eating food that is just better from my kitchen. Yes, I am a conceited Food Snob, but I also know when to bow down to someone of superior cooking skill.  So, upon this year's trip to Bullhead, I look forward to visiting the Black Bear Diner and humbling myself.

In the meantime, this isn't a bad alternative!

These pancakes are much like most of my recipes.... not difficult to make, just a bit time (and bowl) consuming.

1 - 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar (you can use as little as 1 tablespoon, or even better, use Agave Nectar)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2-4 large eggs, separated.

Start with a 2 cup measuring cup, measure 1- 1/2 cups of milk. When I say milk, you can use anything from low-fat all the way to cream, depending on how rich (and fattening) you'd like your pancakes to be. I like using half and half. Stay away from fat free milk, AND I have no idea if soy, almond, or any other substitute will work To the milk, add 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1/4 cup sugar.

In a medium-sized bowl, measure 2 cups all purpose flour and 2 teaspoons baking powder, mix together. Now you will separate eggs. The yolks will go in the milk mixture, and the whites will go in a small mixing bowl. I use 4 eggs- 2 yolks go in the milk and all four whites go in my mixing bowl.
Use a small whisk to scramble the egg yolks into the milk mixture, then pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until large lumps are gone.

Beat the egg whites till soft peaks form, then fold into the batter.

Heat griddle to 300 degrees, then pour spoonfuls of batter onto hot griddle.
Presto Cool Touch Electric Griddle
(My griddle used to be non-stick, but it needs a wipe with vegetable oil or butter once in a while)

Cook pancakes till bubbles on the surface start breaking open, flip, then cook till the other side is golden brown. I make pancakes about 6" in diameter, this recipe makes 9 pancakes that size. Serve with your favorite pancake toppings.... butter, syrup, powdered sugar, fruit preserves, etc.

* more explanation about the eggs-
 I use the remaining egg yolks another way, they don't get wasted. You can put all four egg yolks in your pancakes, they will still be good, just very "eggy". If you only use two eggs, the pancakes will also be just fine....I just like the extra egg white to make them extra-fluffy!
Also, this same recipe, using all four eggs makes an OUTSTANDING waffle batter.