Chicken citrus slaw tostada 002

There are many things in life that I adore the idea of - for example: getting a puppy, having a 8-5 workday where I can wear stilettos and carry a briefcase, quilting, natural childbirth, and camping - but if ever faced with these situations, I would doubt my ability to like or even survive them.  It's the idea that appeals to me.   Husband knows me well, and so when I declare things like, "Let's buy a ranch and start riding horses," he smiles and says, "ok."  Both of us knowing full well that I really don't want to buy a ranch.  Riding horses?  Are you kidding me?

So, when Food and Wine's Best of the Best Cookbook came in the mail, I was especially excited to see that Cowgirl Cuisine was one of the cookbooks that recipes were featured from.  Real life recipes from a real life ranch.  The only difference between this ranch and the ranch of my dreams is location.  I dream of a ranch in Montana.  These recipes are featured from the chef at Hart & Hind Fitness Ranch in Rio Frio, Texas.  Close enough. 

I was immediately drawn to Chicken & Citrus Slaw Tostadas.  Husband, not a fan of raw citrus in his food, wasn't wild about these.  I loved them.  They were so fresh and clean tasting.  The chipotle made them quite spicy, so if you don't want your lips tingling from the burn like ours were, scale down a bit on the amount of chipotle you add.

Chicken & Citrus Slaw Tostadas
adapted from Cowgirl Cuisine by Paula Disbrowe

tostada shells
3 oz. firm tofu
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T. honey
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo
2 t. finely grated orange zest
1 t. finely grated lime zest
kosher salt and ground black pepper
1/2 small green cabbage, finely shredded (3 cups)
1/4  small red cabbage, finely shredded (1 1/2 c.)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
3 T. finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 1/2 cups shredded roast chicken

In a food processor, combine tofu, lime juice, vinegar, honey, mustard and chopotle and process utnil smooth.  Add 1/4 c. oil in a thin stream and process until creamy.  Transfer toa bowl.  Stir in the zests and season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, toss the cabbages, onion, carrot and cilantro; season to taste.  Add all but 3 T. of the dressing and toss. Set the tostada shells on plates and mound the slaw on top.  Add the chicken to the bowl, toss with the reserved 3 T. of dressing, and mound on the slaw.  Garnish and serve.
Lime wedges, for garnish

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Granola bars take two

I may be flattering myself to believe that many (not few or none) of you have followed the thread of comments on granola bars: my attempt at mailing food.  If you haven't, well I can quickly get you up to speed by admitting that I mailed them to the wrong address. 

Honestly, now that I see how the packaging turned out on the second batch of bars, I'm glad the first never made it, as I simply wrapped them in parchment paper.  These are much cuter. 

I collect various treat bags and boxes when I see them on sale at Target (which seems to be quite often), so I have a little bit of a stash.  The opportunity to use them is not great, so I was thrilled with this one.  Why I didn't think of it the first time, who knows?  Obviously, my brain was elswhere the first time around.  The assortment of "relative" stickers were from an old craft project a couple of years ago.  Being a pack rat pays off eventually.

I made two changes to the recipe this time, which you can find by clicking on the link above.  Swapped out applesauce for oil, and replaced 1/2 c. of the oats for oat bran.  Husband, who didn't get to sample the first batch, gave these his approval.

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Tomatillo-braised pork loin 002

I had a birthday last week.  I'm not trying to get sympathy, but as far as birthdays are concerned it was below average.  I was "out of town" working, so no husband, no family, and no presents on the actual day.  I even bought myself a cake from the grocery store to share with co-workers...needless to say it wasn't anything special.  The true icing on the cake is that I've finally hit an age I've never imagined would ever happen.  Unlike when I was a young teenager imagining my life at 25, this age I have not even considered, and yet it's here.  How did this happen...really?

I guess the good news is that I don't feel any different, I haven't noticed any immediate signs of my body deteriorating, and I think in most crowds I can still pass for a good 5 years younger.

Why am I telling you this, and how does it fit in to the above meal?  I received a new cookbook for my b-day: Rick Bayless' Mexico One Plate at a Time.  Husband and I have drooled over Bayless' books, but had never made the purchase.  (I guess getting older is good for something).  Husband picked the first recipe to try: Tomatillo-Braised Pork Loin.  Husband loves himself a good braise.  I've not worked with tomatillos before.  Honestly, I think there was a time that I thought they were the equivalent of green tomatoes.  Not so, they are their own fruit, or is it a vegetable?  Who knows, anyway, they are delicious!  The sauce alone is worth making this dish,  Husband and I lapped it up with a spoon!  I will be looking for more tomatillo recipes.

I've got leftovers, so stay tuned.  There may be tomatillo pork enchiladas late in the week.

Tomatillo-Braised Pork Loin (Lomo de Puerco en Salsa Verde)
adapted from Mexico One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless

How exciting!  I've found the recipe elsewhere online, and I don't have to type it out.  Find it here.

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How adventurous are your eating habits?  Do you stick to the same old menu items time and time again?  Here's a fun little game to test your tastebuds. 

The Very Good Taste Blog posted a a list of the top 100 foods every omnivore should try.  I thought I was doing pretty well in the beginning but there are quite a few towards middle and end that I've never tasted.  I'll have to get on that.  There isn't anything on the list that I wouldn't try given certain circumstances.  For instance, roadkill could be ok if you cook it right after you hit it.  However, roadkill that's been laying there for a few days, not so much.

Here’s what you do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (in salsa, does that count)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (tasted but could never drink that glass of "gasoline")
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

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Peach-blackberry crisp & peach icecream 006

Last weekend I visited an orchard and picked blackberries and peaches.  While I snuck a few juicy plump bites of blackberries, the mosquitos snuck a few juicy bites of me.  It's been an itchy week.

Excited about the berries, I wanted a dessert that combined dark chocolate and blackberries.  September's issue of Food and Wine came through for me again, with their recipe for dark chocolate molten cakes with three fillings.  Blackberry filling wasn't an option, but I thought I could adapt their raspberry filling without problems.  The cakes turned out delicious, but not pretty.  I couldn't get them to come out of the ramekins without disaster, so no photo, no blog entry.  Sorry.  However, I've found that I'm not the only one with love for this issue of Food and Wine.  Food blogger, Dine and Dish , also shares the love and happened to make these exact molten chocolate cakes.  She filled hers with caramel filling.  Please drool over her photo.

With one dessert disaster down, I turned to husband, and he came through with the above peach-blackberry crisp.  He is a good crisp maker.  Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe for the crisp for you.  Husband loosely follows a recipe, I think modeled after one from the Joy of Cooking.  (At this time I wasn't in the kitchen...I was at the table with my bowl and spoon ready). 

The crisp paired well with the peach ice cream I made a week or so ago.  Yes, it's hard for us to believe that homemade ice cream had lasted at least a week in our refrigerator, but it had.  The ice cream was very good, but had a bit of an icy texture.  I guess we like our ice cream a little more creamy in texture.  Evaporated milk replaced the cream in the recipe, so the taste was creamy, but the texture didn't follow through.  I think this recipe would be great as ice cream pops, so that's what I recommending it for. Or if texture isn't a problem and you want a tasty ice cream with out cream's fat content, this is a recipe for you.

Fresh Peach Ice Cream
adapted from Saveur Magazine, June/July 2006
makes 1 quart

1 c. sugar
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. whole milk
2 eggs
1 large peach, pitted, skinned and pureed
1/2 c. peach soda
pinch of salt

Put sugar, evaporated milk, 1/2 c. of whole milk and eggs into a medium saucepan and whisk until well combined.  cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 30 minutes.  Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl and set aside to let cool.

Once mixture has cooled, add pureed peach, peach soda, remaining whole milk, and a pinch of salt and stir well to combine.

Pour mixture into an ice cream make and process according to the manufacturer's directions.

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Granola bars 002

When I received a comment requesting granola bars, I was happy to oblige.  I like granola bars myself, specifically Kashi's Dark Chocolate Cherry, but have never made them.  With a specific requirement of chewiness, I started my search there, and decided on Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bars as the inspiration.  They actually turned out pretty good...almost like a cookie, and in my mouth that isn't a bad thing.  We'll see if the commenter agrees.  I made the bars on Monday afternoon, and mailed them on Tuesday morning (he is a family member, I will not mail food to random strangers).  With the postal service, who knows when they will arrive at their final destination.  Hopefully, he'll find them chewy and not stale, fresh and not moldy.

MG's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cherry Granola Bars

1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. peanut butter
2 1/2 T. honey
1/4 c. applesauce
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. chocolate chips
2 T. chopped dried cherries
2 T. chopped peanuts
1/4 c. cheerios
1/3 c. whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 8 x 8 inch baking pan.

In a bowl, stir together the brown sugar, peanut butter, honey, applesauce, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, stir together the oats, chocolate chips, cherries, peanuts, cheerios, and flour.  Stir the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture until evenly coated.  Press in the prepared pan.  (I used a meat mallet to pack it in tightly).

Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

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Crisp Tomato, Squash, & Bread Gratin 005

We've eaten out a lot this week, and not on purpose.  It just happened.  So it was only natural that we felt like we needed to have a healthy meal last night.  Why is it we stuff our bellies at restaurants, but not so much at home?  Anyway, thanks to my Mom and Dad's garden (shame on us, we did not even attempt to grow our own food this summer), we were able to have a meal with six, yes six different vegetables.

I was lucky enough to find Crisp Tomato, Zucchini, and Eggplant Bread Gratin in the Sept. '08 Food and Wine Magazine (This month's issue is full of great recipes.  I've already made three of them this past week).  With this recipe, I'd use up some vegetables and the inside of the bread from the salami sandwich.  When I was making the sandwich, I couldn't bring myself to throw out the extra bread taken from it's middle.  Here was my solution.

I followed the techinique of the recipe, but not so much the ingredients to the letter, so I guess I should write out my version instead of theirs.  You may get a different product with their recipe...although I'm sure it would be very good, maybe even better.  I didn't have eggplant and I used summer squash instead of zucchini.  I also used dried herbs instead of fresh.  (Oh, the horror). 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a colander, toss 1-2 small-medium sliced yellow squash with 1/2 t. salt and let stand for 20 minutes.  Drain well and gently squeeze out any excess liquid.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together 2-3 T olive oil with 2-3 smashed cloves of garlic.  Brush a bit of the garlic oil into an 8x8 inch square baking dish.  Tear one 7-oz loaf or rustic bread with crusts removed into 2-inch pieces and line the bottom of the baking dish with bread, fitting the pieces tightly together.  Brush the bread with more of the garlic oil. and season with salt and pepper.  Crush some dried basil over the bread.

In a medium bowl toss the squash with some of the garlic oil and season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle 2 small-medium tomatoes, sliced, with salt and pepper.  Arrange squash and tomatoes over bread, overlapping if necessary.  Sprinkly with dried thyme and basil.  Drizzle with remaining garlic oil.

Bake the gratin for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables begin to brown and the bottom of the bread is golden brown.  Remove the gratin from the oven and let stand until colled slightly, about 10 minutes.  Serve.

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Pressed salami sandwich

I'll admit it, I'm a Food Network watcher.  Maybe I'm paranoid but I've noticed that Food Network is slowly dumbing down their cooking shows. (Jamie Oliver and Duff Goldman excluded.  I love those two). The network's programming seems to be more and more about hair extensions, nail polish (ooh, have you seen Giada's manicure, I do like her color), and overall perkiness and less and less about the food.  Also, where's the snobbery?...I used to love the snobbery.  I haven't watched one of their new shows, Cooking for Real, but the name is precisely why.  What does that mean?  Are there people that don't cook for real?  I thought "play" food was for toddlers. 

To get my Saturday morning fix, I started flipping right when semi-homemade Sandra started in.  (I can read the back of boxes, so I don't need her to tell me how).  I now have Sandra to thank for renewing my interest in PBS cooking shows.  Thank you, Aunt Sandy!  Everyday Food, America's Test Kitchen, and Lidia's Italy are favorites.  These shows are a little light on flash and bling, but heavy on food.  That's what it's about, right?

I'm back home, at least for a few days.  And after a week of LEAN CUISINE, I am ready for real food, but who can cook in this 115 degree heat index?

A wonderful sandwich from PBS' Everyday Food fit the bill.  Pressed Salami Sandwich.  I imagine you can use the technique and substitute/add ingredients to your liking.

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Meatloaf & mash muffins 006

I'm traveling for work this week, so this will be the last post for a bit.  (I know, I've been slacking this summer on posting, so you've come to expect a few days between posts.  Thought I'd warn you anyway).

When I leave for a trip (FYI-never anywhere exciting), I always try to make a few different dinners for Husband that he can easily pull out of the freezer, reheat, and eat.  He has a tiring daily commute and coming home to no wife (especially no wife) and no food has to be depressing.  So, I do what I can.  :)

Unfortunately for you, I don't measure when I make meatloaf or mashed potatoes, so I have no recipe to provide you with.  They are cute.  Aren't they?

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Beets 001

I love beets!  I always have.  It wasn't one of those foods I had to grow into, like sour cream.  Honestly, I'm quite surprised how many people don't love this vegetable.  Compared to most vegetables, I believe they have a much higher natural sugar content.  Who doesn't like sweets?  I'm not a dietician, so I'm basing this knowledge on two things:

1.  My zone-diet friend will not eat these.

2.  Jessica Seinfeld, author of Deceptively Delicious, gets away with adding beet puree to many of her desserts.

Unlike zucchini, beets so delicious, you don't have to try to hide their flavor.  Add a bit of of vinaigrette and DELISH!

I ROASTED the BEETS according to the Joy of Cooking:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Leaving the rootlets, trim all but 1 inch of the stems, then wash:

1 lb. beets

Place them in an 8x8 baking pan and add 1/2 cup. water.  Seal the pan tightly with foil and bake utnil the beets are easily pierced with a thin skewer or knife tip, about 45 mintues for small, 1 hour for medium, and 1 1/4 hours for large beets.  Slip off the skins when ready to serve.  Leave the beets whole or slice into rounds or wedges.

Vinaigrette

Whisk together and toss with sliced (still warm) beets:

1/4 c. sherry vinegar
1/4 c. oil (typically, vinaigrettes have 2-3 parts oil to vinegar, but I love vinegar, so I use the 1 to 1 ratio)
1 t. dijon mustard
snipped chives
salt and pepper

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