Sí Cervezas y Carnitas!

Pork carnitas is perhaps one of my favorite Mexican dishes. There are numerous recipes out there for carnitas, and my old standby has always involved using the slow-cooker, which, I have to say, makes it a super easy dish to make. But I recently came across one where a dutch oven (and the actual oven) is used and I decided to try it.

The basic recipe I used, with a few minor adjustments of my own, was found here.  
If you've never made carnitas before, or don't know what it is, basically, it's just spice rubbed pork (usually loin or butt), which is cooked with some liquid until it's tender and easily pulls apart. 

One of the most appealing things about this recipe was that the pork was seared (on the stove top) on each side first, which usually seals in the juices and flavor. It can also give the pork a nice crust on the outside adding texture.

The pork searing in the pan.

After the pork is seared, you remove it from the pot and deglaze the pan with liquid (and then add the pork back in and cook it in the oven for a couple hours). This recipe was also a little different than my usual because it has beer in it (mmm... beer) along with fresh orange juice. I usually make mine with pineapple juice, chicken broth/stock, and fresh orange juice. My favorite beer to have with Mexican (and perhaps my favorite beer) is Negra Modelo, so that's what I choose to use for the beer in the recipe. 
 
Her recipe calls for 12 oz of beer, but I split it with chicken broth (6 oz of beer and 6 oz of broth)... that way I had something to sip on while I was cooking. ;) Also, though her recipe didn't call for it, I added about 3 whole garlic cloves, a roughly chopped onion, and a bay leaf to the pot for a little more flavor.

It was one tasty orange--I almost regretted sacrificing it for its juice.

The recipe says to cook the pork for a half an hour with the lid on at 350°. And then without the lid for an hour and a half--turning the pork every half hour. I didn't have quite as much pork as her recipe called for (3 lbs, I had 1.75). So I cut the total time to just under 1.5 hours, and turned the pork every 20 minutes.

When I took it out of the oven to pull-apart, I struggled a bit. It didn't seem to be as tender as when I cook it in the slow cooker, but I admit, I cut some of the fat off of the pork before cooking it even though her recipe said not to... so that may be partly why (there was not enough fat to melt into the meat and make it more tender).

However, the flavor and texture were still out-of-this-world!

Though usually served as tacos--I figured I could forgo the tortillas and served the carnitas with shredded lettuce, fresh chopped grape tomatoes, diced avocado, salsa verde, sour cream, and lime wedges.

I have to say it was really freaking good. It was one of those things I was so happy to have leftovers from. My taste-tester and friend, Andrea, was even quoted as saying, "the flavor is outrageous!" Well... she might not have said that exactly, but it was close.

So, sooooooo good.

One of the appealing aspects of this recipe was that it is an all-in-one-pot dish, which is usually why I prefer using the slow-cooker. But I am thinking that the next time I try this I could just go through with all the steps (searing the pork and deglazing the pan with beer, etc.), but instead of popping it in the oven, I could just put everything in the crock pot and set it on high for 3 hours. It might make the pork fall apart a little easier, and since my kitchen is relatively small, keep my kitchen from getting to be 100°.  Either way, I'll be making this again.

Tiny Tasty Tomatoes

(or Oven Roasted/Dried Grape Tomatoes)

For the most part, I'm not really a huge fan of sun dried tomatoes, but I have found that sometimes I like roasted or grilled (and marinated) tomatoes. I like to have them with salads or even on a cheese plate.

Recently I found myself with an overabundance of grape tomatoes so I thought I'd give making some of my own a shot. After perusing the web and looking through some of my cookbooks, I came up with my own recipe....

1 lb of grape tomatoes (each sliced lengthwise)
1-2 Tb dried or fresh herbs (or a combo, which is what I did)--I used rosemary,
             basil, oregano, and some parsley
1-2 Tb good olive oil
1 Tb balsamic vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Heavy pinch (or two) of sea salt

I chopped (or crushed if they were dry) the herbs and garlic. I thought that by cutting each of the tomatoes in half, length-wise it would make it easier for the juices to evaporate out of them and also make them look pretty when they were done. I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl to make sure the tomatoes were well marinated. And turned them out on to a baking sheet... making sure there was only a single layer.

To be honest, the tomatoes looked very tasty and perfectly edible before even putting them in the oven. I could see using this recipe (without roasting the tomatoes) on a hot summer day either as a salad on their own (or with fresh mozzarella pearls) or added to fresh cooked pasta with some grated Parmesan Reggiano.... just some ideas I had.

Add these little babies to freshly cooked pasta with some grated parm... yum!

However, I decided to go with my initial plan and popped them in the oven to roast on 400° for about 15 minutes (my house smelled fantastic after making these). After that, I took them out, shook the pan a bit and then put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes, but this time I lowered the temperature to 300° more to let them dry out some more. Sadly, I think that was a little too hot because many of them seemed to be a little too "dried" (aka a little burnt). Next time I'll probably try lowering it to 250° or 200° and keep them in the oven for 20-30 minutes after the initial roasting, nevertheless they were still really very tasty.

I enjoyed these guys for the next couple of days. As I mentioned before, they were perfect on a salad and great with a cheese plate, but I think they could also add a little something to almost any dish that calls for chopped tomatoes.

There are several recipes out there that just oven dry the tomatoes (no roasting) and those usually bake the tomatoes for up to six hours (for regular tomatoes though, not grape ones) on 225° and other recipes that roast the tomatoes for 20 minutes at 450° and that's it. My goal was to try and get somewhere in between the roasted and dried. They may not have come out perfectly, but they were still pretty yummy.

Warm Comfort

Though I'm trying to stick to making mostly healthful foods, winter time and the cold temperature often makes me crave comfort foods. A little while back I had a real hankering for homemade mac and cheese. I knew that if I made anything else it probably wouldn't be as satisfying and then I'd just end up eating more of whatever else, so I decided to just make some and try my hand at making a lighter, healthier version.

I started with about 1/2 lb of Barilla Plus elbow macaroni--Barilla Plus is high in protein and fiber and also has some omega-3. The taste and texture of their Plus line is almost identical to regular semolina pasta, so its totally worth using that instead.

For the sauce I first melted a pat of butter (approximately a tablespoon) in a small sauce nonstick pan and then added a teaspoon of dry mustard, half a teaspoon of sweet paprika, half a cup of light sour cream, half a cup of 1% milk, salt, pepper, and just under a tablespoon of corn starch to thicken it and stirred it together on low-medium heat until it was warmed through and well combined.

Once the pasta was done cooking, I drained it and put it back in the pot I cooked it in. Then I added the warm sauce,  3/4 cup of shredded 2% cheddar and about 1/4 cup of shredded regular extra sharp cheddar. Mixed it briefly the pasta, cheese, and sauce together until the pasta was coated.

First the sauce..

Then the cheese...

At this point, I probably could have just eaten the pasta, but I like the homemade stuff, where it's baked in the oven with some breadcrumbs (or cherry tomatoes, which I sometimes use) on top. So I sprayed a casserole dish with cooking spray and then poured the mac and cheese mixture in the bowl and sprinkled a mixture of parsley, garlic powder, a little bit of olive oil, and bread crumbs on top.

Before it went into the oven

I stuck it in the oven on 350° for about a half an hour (or once the top was mostly brown) and then took it out.

It turned out pretty darn yummy for a lighter version. I invited my friend, Andrea, over for some, and she said one reason she liked it was because it wasn't greasy or very heavy, but still had a lot of flavor and good texture. I agreed with her, but I think I could have used about a 1/2 cup more of milk because it was a little drier than I usually prefer my mac and cheese. Nevertheless, it definitely satisfied my comfort food craving and I will probably make it again at some point (maybe with the addition of some veggies like cauliflower or broccoli to make it even healthier).

Here's the breakdown of ingredients for my recipe, it makes about 4 servings:

Mac:
.5 lb (or half a box) of Barilla Plus elbows (cook as directed)*

Sauce:
1 Tb butter
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 cup of light or fat free sour cream
1 cup of light or fat free milk (if you want it drier you can use less)
scant Tb of corn starch (flour can be used as well, but use more if you do)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Cheese:
3/4 cup shredded sharp 2% cheddar
1/4 cup shredded sharp regular cheddar

Crust:
1/2 cup of dried bread crumbs**
1 tsp olive oil (melted butter or other fat could be used)
1 to 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder

*any other pasta could be easily used including gluten free
**corn flakes or gluten free bread crumbs could also be used, and/or you could also place halved grape or cherry tomatoes on top and they will roast slightly adding nice acidity and flavor

Of course, if you aren't looking for a lighter version, you can make this with all the full-fat dairy you please. Additionally, you can use other cheeses instead of just cheddar. Consider experimenting with gruyere or other swiss (though I find some of those a bit too sharp, so I would probably balance them out with cheddar).

Poulet de Jacques Pepin

One of my favorite celebrity chefs (if not, the favorite since there aren't really any from the Food Network I like) is Jacques Pepin. I have learned a lot from watching his cooking (for one that you can wash mushrooms--he explained if you're going to cook them right away it's fine to rinse them). He used to have a show on PBS on Saturdays called the Essential Pepin, which they still run occasionally. Anytime I've watched any of his shows they've always been both educational and enjoyable.

My sister recently gave me some of his cookbooks (Thanks Lisa!), and there are several recipes he has that I look forward to trying at some point--but most of them seem to involve some planning ahead of time on my part--something I'm not always great at when making a meal. However, the other night when I was trying to decide what to do with a full (bone-in) chicken breast, I flipped through one of his books and happened upon...

So even though I didn't have a full chicken, the recipe was perfect, I had all the ingredients for the Dijon crust and I figured I'd just alter the cook time a little.

"Mustard Crust" ingredients...

Since I was dealing with raw chicken I didn't really get the chance to take a lot of photos of the process, but I will say, other than it being a little messy it was super easy and pretty quick to make. The prep time was probably a total of 10 minutes and the cook time was 35 minutes (it's seared skin-side up in a heavy pan for five minutes, then cooked in the oven on high heat for 30 minutes).

This is what Pepin's looks like in his book:

Pepin's final product

Mine

So it doesn't look quite as good as his, but I have to say it came out cooked perfectly and tasted delicious! I will definitely make this again, and perhaps with the whole chicken if I have company coming over for dinner.

I served the chicken with some brown rice (which crumbled smoked sea salt kale chips on top) and sauteed cabbage with bacon.

It was a very tasty dinner.

This recipe was from Pepin's More Fast Food My Way.

Chips! (...not really)

I love snacks. So much so I can't really have them in my house. If I buy something like potato chips or pretzels or other starchy (non-vegetable) snack, it's almost always a guarantee that bag of snacks will become a meal instead of a snack. Therefore, I almost never allow myself to buy them (at least not in a size other than actual snack size).

So in an effort to have something healthy, but salty and crunchy, as a snack I decided to make kale chips (also because I had kale that was starting to wilt and I didn't feel like a juice).

Kale chips are beyond easy to make.

After ripping it into medium-sized pieces (once the stems were removed, that is), I washed and dried (well) the kale:

 

While the kale was drying, I poured about 2 tablespoons of good olive oil into a bowl and added about 2 teaspoons of smoked sea salt. And I heated the oven to 275°.

Then I added the dry kale and tossed it all to be sure the kale was well coated (but not saturated).

I lined a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up since sometimes the kale can stick to the pan. And then laid the kale in a single layer on the sheet.

After 20 minutes in the oven, the kale was crispy and salty. (Hint: if you make these you can check the texture with your hands--the kale won't be hot, but the pan will--if it's still a little soft, put it back in the oven for 5 more minutes)

These are best stored in something not air tight, in order to keep them crisp. I tend to keep them in a storage container with the top off or with it laid on it (and not closed). If, however, you have stored them in a way that they soften, you can just throw them on a cookie sheet again and stick them in the oven on 200° for about 10 minutes.

Now there's some healthy (and pretty tasty) chips!

I admit, these don't exactly serve as the best substitute for potato or tortilla chips (for one they aren't "dippable"), but they are a nice salty, crunchy snack. If you wanted to you could use a flavored oil (pepper or truffle comes to mind) and seasoned salt (I used smoked sea salt and it was tasty) to add some more flavor. 

Coffee Conundrum

A couple years ago I exchanged my drip coffee maker for a French press. I hardly ever used the coffee maker, and thought the French press would be a good space-saving alternative. Plus, I knew I liked the taste of coffee made with one and since I was rarely making coffee at home at the time, I figured I wouldn't mind the process (and subsequent mess) of using the press.

Of course this decision was made while I was still working and when I usually ended up buying a cup of coffee on my way to or while at work. But now that I've been home for about six months, the French press is getting more use than I honestly ever expected it to. It's also allowed me to develop a more fine tuned process of brewing and serving my coffee, which honestly has left me wondering if there isn't a better way (i.e., maybe I should have hung on to that drip coffee maker?).

Let me begin by explaining my current process of coffee making. First, I should say that I almost always buy whole beans (already roasted... I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment) and I prefer a dark rich-flavored roast, like French roast. I grind the beans when I'm ready to make the coffee... or I used to, I've started grinding about 12 cups worth at time these days, just to save myself a step on occasion. So as most people do with a FP:

I boil the water:

Then I add the coffee to the press...

While waiting for the water to boil I set up the filtering process I've developed... You see, I really don't like a mouth full of coffee grounds or sludge when I take my last (or any other) sip of coffee. And the press definitely lends itself to that happening since the grinds often get through the metal mesh meant to keep them out. This is where things start to get kind of ridiculous or, rather, where I begin to wonder if I should have just kept the drip maker. But, I must say, I often struggled to make a cup of coffee I really liked with a drip maker, and with this process I almost always make an enjoyable cup (or two). So this is what I have to help filter the coffee...

It's a yogurt strainer with a cone coffee filter on top of
a 2-cup Pyrex class measuring cup.

Now, I could probably just find one of those mesh filters meant for use in an electric drip maker, but I actually find that this works well. The yogurt strainer is short enough that there is plenty of room at the bottom of the measuring cup to let the liquid trip through and not have the filtered part soaking in the coffee. I also use the paper filter because it prevents a lot of the sludge from seeping through.

I've also taken to warming the milk before adding it to my coffee...

But it adds to the warm deliciousness of a perfect cup of coffee:

So it's a four (perhaps 5-6 depending on the day) step process (which also leads to a lot more clean-up), but I think it's worth it. I'm probably a bit of a wacko, and I admit, some days I just opt for tea because I don't feel like going through the whole process (and subsequent clean-up). But other days I make a cup of coffee I love so much, I think about marrying it. ;)

Italian Senza-Wedding Soup

Senza means "without" in Italian... this Italian wedding soup is without the pasta or the egg that is sometimes used. It's also without a wedding.

It's really pretty cold outside and there's nothing quite as warming as soup. but I recently bought some bison meat (which is typically leaner and "beefier" than regular ground beef... the bison are also grass fed and not given any antibiotics) and I wanted to use it for dinner. I had considered making chili, but I have something of a love/hate relationship with beans and lately I've had some issues with GERD so I've been avoiding tomatoes. This soup seemed like a happy compromise, and it is something I've never made, so I thought I'd give it go.

To begin with I sauteed onions, carrots, and celery in some olive oil and added a small amount of homemade beef broth.

While the veggies were sauteing, I mixed the meatballs. I used some chopped onion, smashed garlic, garlic powder, salt and pepper, a couple tablespoons of breadcrumbs, dried parsley, grated parm, an egg, and the ground bison meat.

Then I combined the ingredients all together, and rolled them into small meatballs....

(The eggs in the background are my favorite local eggs.)

In the meantime I added more broth to the veggies... this time I used some organic vegetable broth I had on hand (but I believe chicken broth is usually used).

I think it's traditional to cook the meatballs in the soup, but a few recipes I found cook the the meatballs before adding them to the soup (probably a good way to reduce the amount of fat in the soup when using less lean meat). I wasn't looking to be traditional, but I was looking to make less dishes for myself, so I went for it and just added the meatballs into the broth.

 

I gave the meatballs about 10 minutes to cook through (they started floating to the top when they were done), and then I added some fresh baby spinach to the broth for the greens.

About two minutes later the soup was ready. I served it with some grated parmesan reggianito on top.

This was an incredibly easy meal to make. That's one of the things I like about making most soups--their ease. The meatballs were really tasty, but the broth seemed a bit bland to me--maybe it was because I used low-sodium broth figuring with the cheese and meatballs there wouldn't be a lack of salt, I guess I was wrong. Nevertheless, I really liked the meatballs and, ultimately, the soup was tasty and warming. It was also pretty darn easy.

Some crusty bread would be a nice accompaniment, and pastina or other small pasta could always be added to it, too (I'd probably cook it separately and add it at the end to each separate bowl to keep it from absorbing too much of the broth). I also think, for an even healthier option, ground turkey could be used to make the meatballs.

From the Mouths of Nanas

Most of my family and friends know that I like to cook and bake. Some of them also know that my grandmother, who was known for cooking and baking as well, often used to say I was "a good little cook." Though my grandma passed away a couple years ago, it is not unusual for many of my friends and family to still refer to me as a good little cook anytime I make something to eat. So, after deciding to create a blog about the food I make, the drinks I mix (or just drink), the products I use to make food and drinks, and other cooking/eating related items, what to name it seemed kind of obvious.