Nopalitos con Trocitos de Puerco en Chili Verde

Nopalitos con Trocitos de Puerco en Chile Verde

"Platillo Zacatecano"

One of the gals at work brought "Cactus Soup" for lunch one day and asked if I wanted to try it. I had heard about people eating cactus but had never had the opportunity to taste it so of course I said yes! My main concern though, was....is the soup spicy? (I've said it once and I'll say it again...I'm a whimp!)

It was delicious!!!

When I asked for the recipe...little did I know that she would be giving me the old school version. From her mom! There aren't very many ingredients....and it is labor intensive at one point in particular. But well worth it!!!

Oh...are you wondering what cactus tastes like? Green beans! Imagine that!! I don't know what I expected but plain ole green beans wasn't it.

And where does one find this cactus besides someone's backyard? Most likely, a mexican market, in the produce section. I was able to buy it already scrubbed and de-clawed. They did have it with the thorns, but I'm not that brave. It's also sold in a jar...but I don't recommend it.

Pork Loin, chopped into bite sized chunks
Pork babyback spareribs, separated
1 bag of nopalitos
1/4 onion

handful of cilantro

5 jalapeno peppers

4 light green yellowish, mild peppers

2 big tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 potatoes
1 tsp or more of dried oregano
broth or water
salt to taste

my addition: 12 oz can of beer (I had a 24oz can of coors light and had used 1/2 of it in a drink mix...so I had to use it up, right? and well....it went into the soup)

Now...there are several steps...you don't have to do them in this order.....but I will give you the directions one by one. It all comes together in the end.

Slice and dice your nopalitos.

I don't know if you can see it....but the inside of these nopalitos are slimy. Reminds me of okra.

Cover them with water in a large pot along with the 1/4 onion, whole garlic clove, 1 whole jalapeno and a handful of cilantro. Boil for about 30 minutes.

Drain and rinse....this process gets rid of all that slime :). Discard the onion, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro. (I know....boo hooo. But thats what the lady said...so thats what I did)

Next phase....

Place your whole tomatoes and the rest of the peppers on the "comal to tatemalos" (read: indoor grill or  flat pan to toast).

Once the outer skin of the tomatoes and peppers is burned, remove from the burner and place them in a plastic bag to steam and soften. FYI, I didn't let the tomatoes toast enough. I had a hard time keeping them from rolling around

Ok...once those have steamed themselves silly, it's time to roll up your sleeve and get busy! Let them cool down and peel off the burned skin. (I also removed the core of the tomatoes and the stems and seeds from the peppers.) Place the tomatoes in a large plastic bowl, and using a plastic cup with a flat surfaced bottom....smash away. This is in place of using a tiny mortar and pestle. It would take ages and ages to pull that off. Don't use a food processor. You won't get the same results.

One by one, add the peppers and mash everything together until everything has dissolved into a fine "salsa".

I worked and smashed and the cup slipped and everything splattered (so glad I had a huge bowl!!!) and my arms got tired and it was getting hot....whew. Now thats old school!! But isn't it perty? We have now made chile verde. I think it should be a little greener? Maybe my tomatoes were too big? hmm

Ok, peel your potatoes, slice them in half length wise and then slice them...so they look like half moons. Fry them in a pan until golden brown.

Now, I didn't use the whole pork loin. I cut it in half and saved the rest for the next nights dinner. I don't have exact amounts for the meat....kinda play it by ear.

Pat your meat dry. In a separate large pot, brown the spareribs, remove from pan and then brown your pork loin.

I actually learned something from a movie. Remember Julie and Julia? Well, weren't we all told to pat the meat dry prior to browning? It works wonders!! Only takes a few minutes and is sooo worth it.

Ok...now we're ready for the home stretch. (I feel like I need to stand up and sing...."Take Me Out To The Ball Game" for the 7th inning stretch!!)













Put all the meat back into the pot, add your golden brown potatoes and oregano. Cook while stirring for a few seconds to release the flavors from the oregano. Then add the chile verde to the meat and deglaze the pan....cook and stir for a few minutes. Add your broth or water and maybe cerveza, enough to make it as thick or thin as you'd like. Salt to taste. Let simmer a bit until the meat is nice and tender. Towards the end, add the nopalitos to the soup and heat through.


















Garnish with avocados, a dollop of sour cream and cilantro and enjoy the flavor of an authentic mexican soup.

Breakfast Burrito with a Mexican Flair

I've had some Mexican Beef Chorizo in the fridge for a couple of weeks now (it's ok...the package says to use or freeze my Jan 11th, 2010. not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing). I bought it with the intent of making it for breakfast. A while ago, one of the gals at work had told me how her mom does it and it sounded wonderful. It was so simple and easy.

When I went to finally make it this morning, I discovered that my memory is as bad as I suspected.

I couldn't remember what to do....for sure. And what I did remember....how would I know I'm remembering everything?!

Oh well...I had my mind set. I was going to make this even if it came out totally wrong. Which could only mean that it's right in a different way.

As long as it tastes good....thats all that matters

I started going through the fridge and the pantry and pulling everything out that sounded good...

1 potato sliced (could increase to 2)
1 sweet potato peeled and sliced
1/2 onion diced
6 oz mexican chorizo (its really soft...crumbles when you cook it) (might want to use only 4 oz)
1 can of beans heated and smashed
1 jalapeno chopped
5 eggs (or more or less)
flour tortillas
cilantro to garnish
Ranchero Queso Fresco, crumbled, to garnish

I browned the potato and sweet potato and removed from the pan. Add the onions and chorizo to the pan and cook until onions are soft and chorizo has released its oil and crumbled. Toss the beans, potatoes and jalapenos into the mix...stir it all up.

Crack open a few eggs - however many you need and that will "comfortably" fit into the pan. (as if the eggs comfort is of any concern)

Now...turn the heat down as looooooow as you can without the heat turning off....and cover the pan. Cook until the eggs are done to your specific tastes. It takes several minutes. Mine came out soft but not runny. I wish they had been a little runny...but it was still ok

Now...prepare a tortilla. I like to heat it over an open flame and spread butter all over it. Scoop up an egg along with all that chorizo and beans and stuff and place onto your tortilla. Garnish with cilantro and cheese. If I had tomatoes and avocado, I would've added those too but I ran out... it's Saturday and I haven't gone grocery shopping yet.

Anyways...roll that baby up and enjoy!!

It was a bit on the spicy side so you can omit the jalapeno if you'd like. I really like the sweet potato in it.

According to Sir Sportsalot, this isn't anything like what he's seen his mexican buddys from work eat. But could he give me any clue as to what it should look like? Noooooooo. He shut up when I told him that I had no idea what I made...I didn't have a recipe...and I just through it together. Just be quiet and eat your Big Mac. (have I ever mentioned that he's a fast food junkie?)

Pomegranate Freezer Jelly

Remember the Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice I received a couple of weeks ago? And I made that Persian recipe for an "interesting looking" yet very tasty Pomegranate Chicken Stew?

Well, you don't think I used all my Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice at once do you?

Oh haaaaaaaalle no.

I've got plans.

BIIIIIIIG plans. Well, considering the size of the little bottles....my plans are big.

And this happens to be Plan B. You see, the first recipe was Plan A.

And yes, there will also be a Plan C. (I'm keeping the family away from the juice within an inch of their lives. They've all  had it before and know what it tastes like and totally love it)

I've been dying to make Pomegranate Jelly ever since I saw Spryte make her Pomegranate Jelly. The first thing I saw was how beautiful it was!!! (although my version isn't as pretty but then again, it's a different recipe)

Then....DD had to go and make HER version of Pomegranate Jelly. Beautiful and wonderful stuff...and again, a different recipe.

Well....as soon as I knew I was getting some Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice...I knew, without a doubt that I was going to make Pomegranate Jelly.

So how is mine different? DD made the tried and true jelly that all our grandma's made....cooked, and sealed in the jar by boiling. Spryte made refrigerator jelly...that was also cooked but made to store in the fridge or freezer. Very similar to my recipe....

But...mine isn't cooked. I made freezer jelly. I just prefer the flavor of freezer jams and jellies (and my grandmother always made freezer jams). I would LOVE to be able to taste DD's and Spryte's version....just to see if there is much of a difference between all the versions, ya know?

Anyways...The only trouble was....I couldn't find a recipe for Pomegranate Freezer Jelly. I looked and searched and hunted. What I did find was Sure-Jells recipes for Apple Freezer Jelly and Grape Freezer Jelly. Both made with the juice rather than the fruit. Perfect!! Except the measurements of juice vs sugar was different in each recipe.

Crap....(sigh). Which one do I use? Eenie Meenie Miney Moe....I hmmmm'd and haaaaa'd and thought. Finally I took a sip of the pomegranate juice to see if the consistency was similar to apple juice or grape juice. You know how grape juice almost has a "thickness" to it...very different texture than apple juice. (or am I totally crazy?.....never mind.....don't answer that!!)

I decided it was more like the grape juice...so, here goes

Prepare your jars and lids (I just wash and then boil them so they're sterilized)....

Get the ingredients together...

Not a whole of ingredients and not very difficult to make...at all. I promise.

3 cups Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice
5 1/4 cups Sugar
1 box of Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin (1.75 oz)
3/4 cup water

Combine the sugar and juice (make sure you use exact measurements) and stir well.

Let it sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then follow the Sure Jell packet instructions for preparing the pectin....which is to basically heat the pectin and water over high heat, stirring constantly....bringing to a boil and then letting it boil for a minute...while continuing to stir....then remove from heat

Stir the pectin mixture into the pomegranate mixture. Stir well, until sugar has dissolved...about 3 minutes.

Then fill up your jars...

Leave some room at the top of the jar for "expansion" during freezing. Wipe the edges and any spills with a clean, damp cloth and put on the lids.

Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Then stick some in the freezer and at least one in your fridge...and maybe hand out a few for gifts.

This is a soft set. It did say that the grape version could take up to a week to set (I assume thats in the fridge after the 24 hrs). It's been almost a week and the jar I have in the fridge is still soft. Not runny...but not super firm.

Oh, and ya....while this was doing its 24 hr thang....I was making me some bread in anticipation

These are just mini No-Knead Breads...I divided the dough into thirds and just plopped it on my cooking stone and cut the cooking time down a little bit.

So...how was it? I'm loving the combo of the sweet and the tart of this jam.

and totally lovin my free Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice!!

Keep an eye out for Plan C

Grandma Sally's Marinated Mushrooms

There's actually a short story behind this recipe.

You see....the house we live in is the same house my husband grew up in.

The cute little old lady next door that goes grocery shopping with me every weekend, use to change my Sir Sportsalot's diapers (baaaaaaaaaahhhahahahahaaaa). I don't know why that cracks me up.

Anyways.....I got this recipe from my neighbor. Who happened to get it from the mother in-law that I never got to meet.

How cool is that?

And now I'm going to share it with you :)

It's so simple that even a newly married, not very experienced cook, young gal (like myself some 20 yrs ago) can make.

And it tastes really good! It makes a bunch. And if you let it sit in the fridge a day or two...why it just gets even better.

1 1/2 lbs. mushrooms (I used crimini)
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp basil
6 - 10 pepper corns
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove

Gently wash your mushrooms and cut the dry ends off the...stub? stem? trunk? Whatever it is...cut it off!

In a good sized deep skillet or large sauce pan, combine everything except for the mushrooms. Simmer for about 10 mins

Loooook....they're making friends

Add your mushrooms and stir until nicely coated. You'll know when they're all coated cuz they get all shiny and pretty

Cover and cook. Now...depending on the size of your mushrooms, you'll want to cook them for about 5 - 10 minutes. The original recipe said 3 - 5 minutes but my mushrooms were pretty good sized and I ended up cooking them for 10 minutes. You don't want them soggy...wilted or soft. You want them....mmm...I dunno....kinda al dente.

Once they've cooked and cooled off, put them in a storage container and keep in the fridge until you're ready to eat.

Of course I had to eat a few while they were still warm.....

Just to make sure they were ok. Ya...thats why.

I figure this would be a nice easy appetizer to serve at any of the parties or get togethers you'll be hosting or attending for the upcoming holidays. I hope you get a chance to enjoy them.

Yummy Apple Coffee Cake

Not long ago I saw this wonderful coffee cake on Michele's blog, My Italian Grandmother, and I was intrigued. So much so that every weekend I'd buy apples and then get too busy to make it, someone would eat the apples during the week and the cycle would begin again the following weekend.

Finally I got down to business this morning. I even had time to wrap my head around this marvelous coffee cake and come up with a little alteration.

Bundt sounded good. And of course when I think of Bundt, I think of Monkey Bread...and that oowie gooowie pecan, brown sugar glaze....and a light bulb went off in my head. It didn't take long for the bulb to blow a fuse, but luckily it was in working order long enough for me to put this baby together.

Cake batter:
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped up (I used macintosh and jonathan)
1 3/4 cup a.p. flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla (I probably spilled....oops, gee darn, a tad bit more in the dish)
2 eggs
1 cup ricotta cheese

Streusel:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup a.p. flour
1/4 cup oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup pecan pieces
3 tbsp butter, diced

Glaze:
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 340' F (nope...not 350....340). Spray your Bundt pan with some cooking spray...

Combine all of the streusel ingredients, except for the butter, in a food processor. Then add the butter, pulse a few times (maybe 10?) and then process for about 5 - 10 seconds until there are no butter lumps.

Set aside

Combine the dry ingredients for the cake batter (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt), in a medium sized bowl.

In a larger bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well.

Then....add the flour and ricotta cheese, alternating between the two, mixing until well combined

Now...this next step is what I did, but probably not what I'll do next time.

In a small sauce pan, combine the glaze ingredients, and heat until bubbly and all the butter has melted and sugar has dissolved...stirring constantly. Pour into the bundt pan

Theeeeeen....spoon 1/2 of the cake batter onto the glaze, carefully. I think its easiest to use small amounts and dab it around....and kinda pushing it to spread. You'll see what I'm talking about. Next sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Now (this is when I peeled and chopped my apple so it wouldn't discolor) it's time to scatter the apple chunks over the streusel and last but not least.....carefully spread the remaining cake batter over the apples....

Pop that baby into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes.

Being that this was an experiment (with the glaze and all) I wasn't sure what to expect. I removed the pan from the over and tried to gently run a knife around the edges....just in case (may have not been a real good idea). I put an upside down plate over the top of the cake and flipped it over....and veeeeeeeeeery carefully removed the pan....

ooooooh....crap.

Some of that glaze was left in the pan. Thank God it's sticky stuff. I scooped it out of the pan and slapped it back onto that baby.....Voila!!!

Not bad. 

Could've been worse, right?

I think next time, I'll put the glaze over the cake after it's already cooked. 

But I do like the Bundt look :)


And it tastes incredibly good.


So good that I must take this to work with me.


The whole thing


Otherwise I'll eat it.

All!

(ya, it's that good!)

Teriyaki Sliders

These babies are slidin' right into home plate.

Grand Slam!!

Out of the park!

Ok, I'm seriously not a baseball fan. Sir Sportsalot burned me out on that...yeeeeears ago. Once upon a time, 2 expansion teams were drafting into the leagues....The Rockies and The Mariners or was it the Marlins? crap, I think it was the Marlins. Anyways... just to irk Sir Sportsalot, I decided to be fan of The Rockies...just so I could say I've liked them since they began. And ya, being a Dodger fan himself...it irked.

But I couldn't tell ya how they did this past season...or even a name of a single player on the team.

Some fan, right?

But....when I think of sliders....what comes to mind is "sliding" onto base oooor....those little water turtles....red eared sliders.

So...thats where my head is. If it doesn't make sense to you, don't worry. You're not alone.

Now for these Teriyaki Sliders....

I got the recipe from my sister who got it from a magazine (have no clue which one...sorry).

I did make a few slight changes. Not enough to call it my own...just enough to make it a little extra mmmm mmmm good.

I did borrow a couple of ideas from Spryte. She has 2 recipes for Sliders. One is the White Castle Style Slider where I borrowed the cooking method....BRILLANT!!! Sooooo would not want to be flipping 24 mini patties.

The other recipe is her Teriyaki Turkey Sliders with Ponzu Sauce where I borrowed her pineapple addition to the slider. Totally YUM!

Ok...lets move on already.

why does wine make me so chatty?

Teriyaki Patties:
1 1/2 lbs ground chicken (or pork...actually, beef would be fine too)
3 scallions, chopped
4 oz chopped mushrooms, sauteed
2 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1/3 - 2/3 cup panko
1 teaspoon sesame oil

I ground up a couple of chicken breasts. It was a bit moist so I ended up adding 2/3 cup of panko. Start with the 1/3 cup and see how it all feels before adding more (or not)

Tip: I keep my ginger in a zip lock baggy in the freezer. It keeps for a long time and when you grate ginger, frozen...its a snap!! Just take a knife and scrape off the skin and "zest" away. No messy stringy stuff....just fine little crystal like ginger.

Sauce:
1/4 mayonnaise
1 tsp teriyaki sauce
1/4 tsp sesame oil (optional)
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch wasabi powder (optional)

24 pineapple slices
24 dinner rolls  (I used Kings Hawaiian Rolls)

Wasabi Powder.....hmmm.

I added the "pinch" and let it sit for a minute...nothing. No heat, no nothing. So I added more. Still nothing. I ended up adding a good teaspoon or more and still nothing!! No heat. Just a weird flavor that I wasn't sure I liked. What happened? Anyone out there experienced with this stuff? Wasabi is hot stuff. I don't get it.

O'well...let's move on

Preheat the oven to 400' F.

Combine all the teriyaki patty ingredients. Spray a 13 x 9 casserole dish with cooking spray and spread the chicken mixture into the pan, as evenly as you can...

Cook for about 30 minutes. You want to make sure its thoroughly cooked of course....no pink in the middle

Meanwhile, grill your pineapple slices. It was too cold for the "man" of the house to BBQ outside so I got out my waaaaaay old, indoor grill pan (when is it ever too cold in SoCal to BBQ???)

 

At least it gets the grill marks done good.

Then mix up your sauce ingredients

When the chicken is done, cut into 24 patties, about the size of the dinner rolls

And put your sliders together....

Soo...how many of these babies can you put away?

Btw...I happened to serve them with sweet potato fries. It was my first experience with those.

Not bad. not bad at all.

I did make regular fries for Sir Sportsalot cuz I didn't think he'd be real thrilled with the sweet potatoes. I walked out of the kitchen for a minute and when I returned, he had loaded up his plate with them.

Now, if I had told him...."instead of regular fries, I thought I'd make them out of sweet potatoes" I wouldn't gotten "the look"

Go figure.

French Toast Sammy

There's a commercial for Kaiser Permanente that sings a song that goes something like this

When I grow up, I wanna be an old woman....

Well, here....lemme just show ya....

I don't know why, but I just love that commercial. When I first saw it, I thought...."it's so obvious that it's brilliant". When you were a little girl (sorry to the guys who are reading...but change the nouns accordingly) and someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up...did any of you ever think to say...an old woman? Of course not. Who wants to be old, right? But of course we all want to live long enough to be old. I remember thinking how cool it will be to someday be a grandmother. I know...thats probably a strange thing for a child to think about...but I've always looked forward to it. Maybe it's a testament to my wonderful grandmothers.

Anyways....where am I going with this?

Not very far....

I just wanna live a really long time

So I can enjoy this wonderful version of French Toast for a really long time!


and be a grandmother someday....but not too soon. I can totally wait for my girls to grow up 

Soooooo....when my youngest daughter asked me to cook breakfast and I had this on hand:

Potato Bread (store bought)
eggs
milk
vanilla
sugar
cream cheese
homemade strawberry jam
butter (for the pan)
powdered sugar

French Toast Sammys is what I made.

Mix a couple eggs, the milk, a bit of sugar and vanilla in a shallow dish (I used a pie tin)

Get some cream cheese and mix it with your favorite jam or jelly

Mix it together reeeeeeal good (might have to break out the hand mixer to get it all nice and smooth)

YUM!!!!

Dip your bread in the egg mixture and fry em up in a medium hot, buttered pan

Cook for a couple of minutes on each side

Heat your oven to 350' F. Place the cooked french toast on a cookie sheet and spread the cream cheese mixture over 1 slice....then place the other slice on top...

Heat in the oven for about 5 minutes. Just enough time for that cream cheese to get really creamy

Garnish with powdered sugar and a strawberry if you have one...I'm bummed that I didn't :(

This was one seriously good breakfast!

Oh and that commercial? Yep...it has a whooole other message to it that has to do with October and Pink...and it was a totally awesome coincidence that brought this whole post together.

Funny how that happens sometimes.

So I s'pose it would be fitting if I dedicated this post to the grandmother my girls never met and the mother-in-law I never met.

In loving memory of Grandma Sally