Mexican Mayhem

Went a little overboard on supper today, using up some ingredients we had lying around. Totally worth it though, since it was awesome. Only downside was all the dishes produced, lol.

The guacamole is the result of evolution from my mom telling me about mayo and lemon and salt and pepper. Sometimes I like to add chili powder (blend not ground chili) to it depending on who gets it. The pico, tortillas and fried beans are reworked internet recipes from past meals, so sorry to whoever I borrowed the basis from, but it's been a while since I looked them up.


Guacamole


makes a cereal bowl full

2 ripe avocados
1/2 lemon
1/4 jalapeño, diced
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of cumin
pinch of coriander
salt and pepper to taste

Cut open the avocados, pit and score into medium chunks.
Scoop into large bowl.
Juice the half lemon and add to avocado.
Add the spices and jalapeño.
Using a fork or potato masher (quite handy actually), mash it all together.
Put into a smaller bowl for serving.

Works as a dip for an appetizer on corn chips or plain rippled chips, or as a topping on any Mexican food.


Pico de Gallo


makes a cereal bowl full

3 ripe medium-sized tomatoes, ones with lots of flavour
1 small white onion, diced
1/2 to 1 whole jalapeño, minced
1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp oil (not in some real versions I've seen)
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Boil some water and pour over the onion. Let sit about 5 minutes. (or use your favourite mild onion)
Wash and remove the stems of the tomatoes.
Seed and chop the tomatoes.
Juice the half lemon.
In a large bowl, combine the oil, vinegar and lemon.
Drain the onions and add them to the bowl.
Add the tomatoes and jalapeño.
Sprinkle the spices over top and mix thoroughly.
Transfer to smaller bowl for serving.

Can be used to top tacos or as a fresh salsa with corn chips for an appetizer.


Flour Tortillas


makes 6 to 12

2 cups flour
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup warm water

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl.
Cut in the shortening using a pastry cutter until you have small, even lumps throughout the dough. (Really, really handy thing to own, but you can do the two knives method if it works for you)
Add enough water to make the dough come together but not be too tacky.
Knead for 5 minutes.
Divide dough into even-sized balls for however many you want. If you go for twelve, they end up about 7 inches in diameter.
Heat a large enough pan over medium-high heat. (If you have thick cast iron, you can go for high heat)
Roll out a ball on a lightly floured surface to just fit in the pan, or desired thickness.
Cook at least one minute a side, or until dough looses its raw look and starts browning and puffing.
Put cooked tortilla in a folded lightly damp kitchen towel until ready to serve.
Repeat for each tortilla.

I haven't perfected the "roll dough into a perfect circle" ability, but fresh tortillas are an awesome addition to any Mexican meal if you have the time to make them.


Fried Beans


fills 6 seven-inch tortillas

1 can black beans
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder blend
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put the oil in a medium frying pan.
Chop onion and garlic and lightly fry.
Add the spices and toast a minute.
Drain and slightly rinse the beans.
Add to the frying pan and mash with a potato masher or hand blender.
Add the water to thin it out a bit and then cook until desired consistency, about 5-7 minutes over medium high heat.

Put a spoonful on your tortilla and top with guacamole, pico and any other desired toppings, like sour cream or cheese.

Enjoy!

Baked Macaroni and Cheese I

Yesterday for supper, I was feeling like something uncomplicated and one of the standard "don't think about it" meals is mac'n'cheese. But I didn't know when mom was going to be back from work, so it got some baking time.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese I


serves 4 or 5

400g elbow pasta
250g old cheddar cheese, grated
100g ricotta, extra firm
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp mustard powder
pinch of garlic
2 cups of milk (or more, for a creamier sauce)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large tomato, seeded and cut into slices

In a large pot, cook pasta according to directions and drain.
Preheat oven to 350 F and oil a 9" x 13" baking dish.
In empty pot, melt butter and then sprinkle in flour and spices. Whisk and cook about 1 minute.
Slowly add milk, making sure to whisk out the lumps.
Bring to a boil and add the cheeses.
Stir macaroni back into the sauce and check seasoning.
Pour into baking dish and put tomato slices on top.
Bake at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.

Cheesy, creamy and with a hint of freshness from the tomato on top. Yummy!

Enjoy!

Mushroom Ricotta Tartlets

Yes, it should be homemade pastry, but there are times when you crave the semi-fake stuff. Plus we don't have a mini fluted tart pan and those foil shells the pastry comes in are cute. So, the pastry was on sale and we scored some discount-produce portobello mushrooms; presto chango we got some tarts going on.

Mushroom Ricotta Tartlets


makes 12

1 box frozen mini tart shells
1 lb portobello mushrooms, cleaned and diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste
100g ricotta
1 egg, well beaten

Heat oil in a skillet and lightly brown garlic and onion.
Add the mushrooms and cook until all liquid reduced, about 30 minutes over medium-low. Season halfway through.
Cool.
Follow tart shell packaging directions for thawing.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a medium bowl, mix egg and ricotta until smooth.
Add mushrooms and stir well. Add extra seasoning if needed.
Spoon a heaping teaspoon into each tart shell and then top up if needed.
Bake on top rack oven until shells are brown and filling is set, about 20 minutes.

A crisp pastry filled with an earthy, creamy filling; delicious!

Enjoy!

Sweet and Spicy Minced Pork

I was in an Asian mood today after planning out what I would do with some of the sale items from last week. It's kinda extravagant, but we had pork tenderloin getting freezer burn, so I thawed it and googled minced pork recipes. Some were sweet only, some were spicy only, so hello another amalgamation to get what I wanted.

Sweet and Spicy Minced Pork


serves 3

1 lb pork tenderloin, chopped into little pieces
1 small onion chopped
1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Add the plain oil to a skillet or wok over high heat.
In a small bowl, mix spices, sugar and cornstarch.
Add water and soy sauce and stir well.
Add the meat and onion to the pan and flash fry, 2-3 minutes.
Add the sauce to pan and let thicken, about 1- 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and drizzle sesame oil over top.
Serve on a bed of your favourite rice.

A nice sweet and spicy dish in a golden sauce. Yum!

Pear Upside-Down Chocolate Cake

Yay! Mom took care of cooking supper today since it was her day off, so I got to play with baking! Since I ground the almonds a few days ago, I've been wanting this cake, so I went for it. I found the original recipe in the Food Network Kitchens Cookbook and tried it last year. It didn't turn out quite to spec due to my impatience and I've been itching to take another crack at it for awhile.

Pear Upside-Down Chocolate Cake


makes 6-8 generous servings

Pears:
 2 Tbsp butter
 2 Tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
 1/4 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
4 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered

Cake:
 1/2 cup milk
 1 cup flour
 1 cup ground almonds, toasted
 1/2 tsp baking soda
 1/2 tsp baking powder
 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
 1 tsp  fine salt
 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
 3/4 cup sugar
 1/2 cup cocoa
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 2 large eggs

Lightly butter a 9" round cake pan, line bottom with parchment and then butter the parchment. (Makes it waaay easier to get the cake out if you do it!)
Combine butter, sugar, and lemon in a saucepan and melt together over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Add the pears, cover and simmer, turning once, until pears are soft and juicy, about 4 minutes.
Strain pears into another saucepan.
Set 1 pear quarter and the syrup aside.
Arrange pear slices in the cake pan, tips facing inward and cored side up.
Chop reserved quarter and pile in the center of the pan.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
Sift in the cocoa powder and stir to combine carefully (to avoid cocoa everywhere, lol).
Add the ground almonds and stir.
Add the milk and mix in well.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir to just combine, trying not to overbeat.
Spoon batter over the pears and then tap on counter to settle it.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan for about 20 mins and then flip out.
Cool another 30 mins then remove parchment and cool completely.
Reduce reserved syrup until it coats the back of a spoon and then brush over the cake.

Technically you're supposed to sprinkle the top with an even cocoa powder-icing sugar mix, but I don't think it needs it.

And if you're pressed for time, like I kinda was today, or you don't want to peel pears, a 19oz can of pear quarters works and they keep their shape. To make up for not poaching them, since canned pears are already soft, I added a couple tablespoons of the syrup from the can to the butter-lemon-sugar mix to make my brushing topping.

A chocolately, nutty take on an upside-down cake and an awesome combination.

Enjoy!

BBQ Rubbed Steak and Home Fries

Another simple supper today, after another lazy day. The constant defrost cycle of the freezer makes things get freezer burn faster, so it was the sirloin steak's time to be eaten. It was still fine to eat plain with the normal salt and pepper fried in a butter-oil mix, but mom and I were craving something different.

BBQ Rubbed Steak


makes enough rub for 3lbs of steak

Rub:
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/8 tsp ground cayenne

Rub the steaks and let sit for at least half an hour in the fridge, up to twelve hours.
If you want to let it sit overnight, you should add a couple Tbsp of oil and some water so they don't get too salty.

Fry:
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp butter

Take steaks out of fridge just before you want to cook.
Heat a large enough pan over medium-high and melt the butter into the oil.
Depending on the thickness, cook them 3-5 minutes a side for medium-rare.

Home Fries


serves 3

6-7 medium potatoes, any kind, peeled or scrubbed clean and chopped uniformly
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put chopped potatoes in a microwavable bowl.
Sprinkle with a little salt and stir.
Cover with saran wrap and microwave 6-8 minutes. (gives them a head start on softening).
Heat oil in a extra large frying pan and give the onion a couple minutes head start.
Add the potatoes to the pan, gently stir to coat with oil, especially if the potatoes are really soft.
Let sit and brown on the first side, about 7 minutes.
Flip and brown the second side, about 5 minutes, or to desired doneness.

If the potatoes can't be in a single layer on the pan bottom, stir gently while browning to avoid breaking them.

These are good plain or with sour cream.

A meat and potatoes meal sure to please anyone whose adventurous enough to try.

Enjoy!

Jazzed Tuna Casserole

Felt lazy today, and I got my early Christmas present of Sims 3 for Wii, so really didn't want to put too much effort into my supper. Kept saying for ages that I wanted tuna casserole, but it always turns into mac'n'cheese weekends instead, so I put my lazy butt in gear and did it.

Jazzed Tuna Casserole


makes 4-6 servings depending on the appetite

400g pasta, usually go with elbows
2 cans tuna. drained (if you use raw tuna, you are nuts, cuz this sooo ain't worth it)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
3 1/2 soup cans of milk (more or less depending on how creamy you like it)
2 shots Worcestershire sauce
diced green pepper
chopped mushroom pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the pasta according to directions/preference, but in a large pot is a must, for easier stirring.
Drain.
Melt butter in pot and sweat veggies for a couple minutes.
Mix in flour, salt and pepper.
Stir in the mushroom soup.
Gradually add the milk to lessen the amount of lumps.
Add the tuna and pasta back in.
Heat through.
Serve with favourite toppings.

It's fine on its own, but extra shots of Worcestershire sauce and plain chips add to the yumminess if you want it richer. Can be heated in the oven for up to an hour, but I'd add extra milk to the recipe since it could dry out. Greasing whatever baking dish you put it in would also be a good idea, since it can stick fierce.

Enjoy!

Almond Shortbread

Ha, a reason to use the ground almonds. Mom wanted almond shortbread...well, almond cookies, but it turned into just wanting a butter-flour-sugar-ground almond thing. It didn't take all the ground almonds I made though, since 2/3 lb turned into almost 4 cups.

This recipe started from Joy of Cooking again, since the internet failed me. It's based on their Almond Crescents, which I stumbled across last year when looking up ground almond recipes, but last year I ended up going with Fanny Farmer's version. It calls for sifting things, and usually I'm not that big on sifting, since lumps come out if you beat it long enough, but since shortbread is delicate, I totally recommend it because it just makes everything easier.

Flaky, icing sugar dusted almondy goodness!

Almond Shortbread


makes 24 medium pieces, or however you want to cut it due to richness

1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 c icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 to 1 1/2 cups ground almonds
1/4 tsp cinnamon (more if you want, but then it just drowns out the almonds...)
2 1/2 cups flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 F. Get out a glass 9" x 13" pan.
In a large bowl (really large, cuz it's messy), cream butter and icing sugar.
Mix in vanilla and almond extract and ground almonds.
Sift first cup of flour and cinnamon on the mix and combine.
Sift and stir each remaining half cup of flour in separately.
Use your hands to lightly kneed out any dry spots if it's too hard to stir gently.
Pour into pan and lightly press out evenly.
Cook about 30 mins, or until not raw looking, brown on bottom and lightly brown on top.

Important!!! Score or cut while still warm with a sharp knife, or else it shatters instead of cutting cleanly (as I learned this time around since I wasn't following a shortbread recipe...)

If you are going to treat it like a shortbread, you technically need to leave it sit a week, but it's good right away once cool.

Enjoy!

"Leftover Rice" Balls

What do you do with leftover rice? Well. whatever you want, but I usually get around to making rice balls with it! Now, I don't really have a recipe, but I have a minor guideline for doing it. This time around, since I was using the leftover rice from the Turmeric "Chicken" recipe, I didn't add my usual spices. Of course, you could make rice to just make these, but it's up to you.

"Leftover Rice" Balls


makes 14 medium balls, depending on how big you want them and how much dough you make

leftover cooked rice
1 egg for every two cups of rice, more or less depending on how sticky or dry your rice is
salt and pepper to taste
spice for every two cups of rice: (pick and choose to your taste/mood)
   -1/2 tsp garlic powder
   -1 tsp oregano
   -1/2 tsp paprika
   -pinch of cayenne powder
   -1 tsp chili powder blend
1/3 to 1/2 cup of flour, depending on how dry it is already, again for every two cups of rices
oil for frying

Put rice in a big bowl (need the room for stirring).
Mix in the egg(s) with a fork.
Sprinkle spices evenly over the rice and then mix again.
Switch to a spoon and stir in the flour.

If you want to be exact, you can heat the oil in a medium to large frying pan (depending on recipe size and ultimate ball size) while making the balls and putting them on a plate. I just make them into the cold oil and then let them all cook evenly. Don't put in the pan while heating the oil since it leads to uneven cooking times and sometimes burning.

With constantly wet hands, take a heaping teaspoon to max a heaping tablespoon of rice and roll into balls. You can get 3 to 4 balls done before your hands get too sticky depending on end dough consistency.

Today I was feeling more authentic, even though the rice was Indian, and went with a small cube of mozzarella in each ball. You take the cheese, put it in a flat bit of rice and fold the ball around it.

Put completed balls in the pan (whatever you chose to do), and put a lid on to help steam through the middle, or leave uncovered over a lower heat so they cook and don't burn. Takes about 5-10 minutes a side depending on how big they are and how brown you want at a medium-high heat.

 Yummy little golden balls with the melted mozza peeking out of the middle.

Enjoy!

Turmeric "Chicken"

So, we haven't had a chest freezer for over a year, not since it just died randomly one day...around the same time the fridge died. Now we just have the freezer over the new fridge, so we have to go through periods of eating through the freezer and just pulling things out to thaw if we need to put other stuff in (...like a bunch of on-sale ice cream, lol). So we had chicken drums in the fridge and I had to come up with a way to cook them.

We also have turmeric and fenugreek kicking around in our spice cupboard, so I went for an Indian themed supper. A brief internet search and I came up with another recipe to tweak.

Turmeric "Chicken"

serves 4 supposedly, lol

2 Tbsp oil
8 chicken drums
1 chopped onion
2 c basmati rice (or jasmine, which is what we had on hand)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or chopped, depending on how you like your seasoning)
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (or fresh if you have it)
1 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fenugreek
1/4 tsp cayenne powder (or if you have it, powdered chili)
4 c chicken stock
3 Tbsp tomato passata (or 1 Tbsp paste or original recipe called for a chopped tomato finish)
salt! to taste (not in the original and I totally forgot to add it...so my rice wasn't over-salted as it can be, but the dish needed it)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Season chicken with whatever you want (I used a buffalo chicken spice blend) and fry until golden on all sides.
While chicken is cooking, preheat oven to 350 F and lightly warm stock and passata.
Remove chicken from pan and saute the onion until light brown.
Mix all the spices in a small bowl so it evenly distributes when adding to the pan. (Don't want a lump of cayenne now, do you?)
Add the rice, garlic and spices and lightly toast.
Transfer to a large oven dish. (Original recipe said 4 L casserole, I went with a high 9" x 13" dish).
Put the chicken on top of dry rice.
Pour stock/tomato mix over the dish and put in oven for about 40 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and the chicken is cooked, but not dry.

Luckily, there was some leftover rice for me to remember to photograph, lol. The nuttiness from the browning of the rice and the browned onion and garlic made it awesome, along with mixing my own curry powder essentially. The chicken had some seasoning from the spice on the underside (I didn't flip it, just set and forget) and it was a good idea to season before browning.

Enjoy!

Blanching Almonds

Not really a recipe, but we had some almonds sitting around and my mom wanted them ground for a recipe. They didn't need to be blanched, but I thought it would make the cookies look prettier...Big mistake to do it without research, lol!

Good old Joy of Cooking came through with the how-to. I was surprised it worked!

Blanched Almonds


Put however many almonds you have in a big enough bowl. Cover with boiling water for a minute (I didn't boil enough water, so I did 4 minutes with stirring). Drain and peel.

I was...let's say silly enough...to do it all by hand. At first one by one, but eventually by rubbing handfuls between my hands since it was 2/3 lb of almonds.

I took this to remind me why it's a bad idea to ever do it again, lol, such a big pile of skins!

Then when my mom wakes up, she tells me most people do them in batches between a folded towel...yeah, really should have done more research than yanking open one cookbook! Live and learn. Aside from being tedious, it's not so bad though.

At least I looked up how to grind almonds properly though. Best method is a hand grinder? I'm not even sure we own one! Food processor is good though; just need to lightly pulse in intervals to not release the nut butter if you want a dry grind. :)

Matzo Ball Soup

So, been craving this for awhile now, and finally got around to making it since we had a jug of homemade broth in the fridge. Recipes aren't all that common on the internet, but I found a few and compared them. This is the amalgamation of my findings and what I ended up doing.

Matzo Balls 


makes 9 big ones


3 Tbsp good schmaltz (can use oil if you don't have any around, might want to add spices if going for oil though)
2 eggs, beaten
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed semi-fine (food processor is awesome for it)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
3 Tbsp water (or chicken stock if you have enough or skipped schmaltz)

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the schmaltz (or oil).
Sprinkle the cracker crumbs, ginger and salt (and spices) and then stir.
Add the water (or stock) and stir to just mix.
Cover and fridge for 20 minutes.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. (Make sure it's quite big, since the balls poof!)
Reduce to a light boil and add the balls. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes or until desired doneness.

To serve, simmer 5 minutes in the broth or soup you're eating with them.

A big serving of soup. To my homemade broth, I added chopped onions, carrots, mushrooms and chicken breasts. It was yummy!

Good eats!