Bandwagons

This week we had a little soiree to ring in the last season of LOST. I hate that I watch this show. You see for some reason I don't like reading books or watching shows that it seems everyone is watching. I don't know what this is about. It's not a serious disorder, I'll live, but I'm sure it's annoying to those around me. I know these muses are probably great, or why would all these people be reading or watching them? I just don't like it. For instance the Harry Potters seem like wonderfully written, exciting books, but I just couldn't bring myself to pick one up. Maybe in a few years.

I worked with a girl who was like this with music. She liked the most underground undiscovered bands. Her condition seemed worse though because if she came across another individual who happened to have heard of that gem of a band or singer, that poor album was tossed under the bus, undeserving of her love.

So why was I watching and celebrating such a popular show? Because of my husband. He decided to check out the show on Netflix one day. Just to see what the hub bub was about. I was determined to not get sucked in and was reading one of my books (sure to not be found on Oprah's list). I couldn't not watch it. It's a plane wreck, try and not watch that. Then the next episode was coming on and I wasn't going to let it suck me in. Well, 4 DVD's later I was all caught up and waiting like the rest of the world for answers to my many questions.



I can find any excuse to turn an event all about the food, so why not Lost? I so wanted to share my wings I made with you, but they are in need of tweaking. I'll wait until they are just perfect. So with only one day left until the big game I'm going to round up some extremely quick last minutes bites for game day.

I was waiting for the perfect moment to try this fondue dip of sorts. I found it in the Rachel Ray magazine. Peanut-Butterscotch Fondue. Now I know it doesn't scream "man food" or even football, but with a pile of bacon on the side to dip in no one will question why it's on the table. This stuff is good. I did only make half the recipe and that was plenty. It makes a lot. I still have some that I'm going to put on top of cupcakes. Do not miss the bacon! Apples are good in it, but bacon is better.



Don't forget about Pioneer Woman's jalapeno bites. These are quick, minimal ingredients and everyone loves them.



Speaking of the Pioneer Woman, I tried her Restaurant Style Salsa the other day. I will never buy jarred salsa again. I may take this salsa with me to restaurants from now on too. Very easy and very tasty.

If you are looking for some Cajun treats you can never go wrong with First Make a Roux. She knows her stuff! Check out her Superbowl menu!

How about cilantro bacon deviled eggs, Tamari almonds, for the fancy guests - figgy blue cheese puffs, or the one that's always a winner - hummus.

What's on your Superbowl plate? Or are you ditching the game for a movie and some other tasty treats?


p.s. If you are looking for a bandwagon to hop on I have 2 good ones to catch. This book is worth all of the hype. I checked it out from the library and have made 3 regular recipes and 2 gluten free. So far I am hooked. I haven't bought a loaf of bread in weeks. I'm rushing out to buy the book before I turn this one in. Also Kale Chips are for sure worth all that has been said of them. I first saw them on The Kitchn and since have seen them on the likes of Steamy Kitchen and other places. These are so good for snacking and the other night I tried them on lentil stew - better than a crouton!

Miraculous Roots

I really love my little farmer's market. I have not been very faithful in going lately. I've been pouring over frantic food books, but yet resorted to the big chain stores. Life sometimes fools you into thinking you need these.



Last week I made plans with a friend I haven't seen in awhile. She had the ingenious idea of meeting at the market because we both have great intentions of making it a habit, but sometimes fall short. I'm so glad I was able to finally catch up with a friend and market finds.



My favorite booth had orbs of black jewels piled in a basket. Now radishes aren't my favorite thing on the planet, but I'm always optimistic about foods that people swoon over. I hear people speak of fresh radishes as if they were chocolate. This radish was intriguing to me. No chain supermarket ever has these nestled in their abundance.

The farmer selling these beauties gave us so much information. He told us that many health food store concoctions for immune boosting, lists black radish as a number one ingredient. Turns out these black roots are a powerhouse of medicinal properties. This house is in dire need of immune boosting so at his ridiculously cheap rate of 5 cents per radish I was game.

The farmer informed us that the outer part is where it's spice is held. He said he never peels this off. The internet told me that it would be much better to peel it. Sorry internet, friendly farmer won. There is no need to peel away the flavor from these.

I threw together a coleslaw that is nice and spicy from the radish, and cooling with the yogurt. It would be a perfect Superbowl burger accompaniment.



Black Radish Slaw

1 large black radish washed and grated SKIN AND ALL
1/4 red cabbage grated
1/4 regular cabbage grated for a total of about 4-5 cups slaw radish mix
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain yogurt
juice of half a lemon
1 1/2 Tablespoons agave nectar (more if you like your slaw on the sweet side)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon celery salt

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. I like to make this the day before so everything wilts every so slightly and the flavor deepens.



I almost wish these were available at every major market so everyone has the opportunity. Then again it makes my little market and my favorite booth even that much more of a diamond in the desert.

All Roads Lead to the Super Bowl.

All this week I'm going to be posting things that may be of the utmost importance to your Superbowl Sunday. Sure some of the posts may have such predominate tones such as miracle root, or eggs. I assure you that all of these recipes found this week will be functional as part of your Superbowl deliciousness. Anything found this week would go great with a couch and the big game.

We'll start off with eggs. Wonderful ever useful and versatile eggs. Foodbuzz, once again in their awesomeness, sent me a coupon as part of their Tastemaker program for free eggs. Yes the post you are about to read is about a free item given to me to try. I am making a disclaimer here, these eggs were free (thank you again Foodbuzz!).

The coupon was for Eggland's best eggs. I've honestly never tried them before. We have local Hickman's eggs here, which I usually buy figuring that at least it's supporting local and perhaps fresher. If I have the money I buy their cage free. Or if I'm really in the position to splurge I buy them fresh from the farmers market. I will admit that the farmer's market are my favorite and there absolutely is a difference with those in taste and look. However the Eggland's best eggs were very similar to the local Hickman's. I am impressed with the added nutritional boost in the Eggland's. I am a bit of a skeptic and I don't know if it really has that many more benefits over a regular egg. I haven't done that much research either. If anyone out there has please let me know. I'm feeling lazy.

However with my free eggs I was imagining all the original egg favorites of our family. Frittatas, fried eggs and bacon, deviled eggs (of course), even a good custard. But I was leaning to a more basic level. Something minimal, sturdy and useful in so many ways. Mayo. Home style mayonnaise. Then, I popped on over to the Gluten Free Girl and the Chef and knew it was destiny.



They have a great video and post up about making mayonnaise. I make mine pretty much the same, but follow more of what I read in Julia Child's book Kitchen Wisdom. I add one whole egg and 2 yolks and almost 2 cups of oil. More often than not I use olive oil (be warned it does taste very olive oily so use olive oil you adore). Also I'm usually out of Dijon so I use about 1 teaspoon of dried mustard powder. I think I prefer it over the Dijon.



Rest assured this post isn't merely about eggs, and mayonnaise. It's about how to use them. Deliciously and simply. Mayonnaise and eggs are those humble ingredients that can be overlooked. But when you have the best ingredients the simplest of meals are taken beyond normal and become comfortable treasures. Homemade mayo is why other countries eat mayonnaise with their fries.



A bacon sandwich is dream like with homemade mayo and fresh from the oven bread. Another truly simple and soul satisfying dish - potato salad. I think potato salad was invented simply because of homemade mayonnaise.



Homemade Potato Salad

4-5 cups peeled potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
1 bunch green onions chopped
1 1/2 - 2 cups homemade mayonnaise
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons sweet relish

Add peeled and cut potatoes to water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain off the water and add potatoes back to the pot. Place the pot back on the burner (turned off). Salt the potatoes liberally and let the water evaporate off. After the potatoes have cooled add the rest of the ingredients. Stir gently so the potatoes don't break apart. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Minimal ingredients, timeless foods. Eggs are the superheros of my kitchen.

Out of the Box

It's been 9 years. 9 years have flown by since I had my first baby. We've grown together and his resiliency through it has been a treasure to say the least. That isn't his only quality. He's sweet, sensitive, funny, energetic and a bit of an out of the box thinker. Not in every area either, but he does have a knack for the unusual.



Take for instance his penchant for shrimp. This was acquired by age 2 and has only grown with him. I find it extremely unusual for a child to adore fish the way he does. In fact all of my kids. Not only does the kid like shrimp, but he finds exotic ways to include shrimp into a dinner. About 2 or 3 years ago I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner, knowing full well he would say shrimp. When I then asked how he would like it he paused for about 3 seconds and answered very confidently "shrimp enchiladas".

This was not a usual around here. Shrimp tacos yes, shrimp and pasta yes, orange peel shrimp yes. We have never had an encounter with shrimp and enchilada. I have no idea where this idea entered his head. For sure something he found outside of the box. I thought for a moment to wave it off and go for the safe and always good orange peel shrimp. But if one doesn't follow sometimes, even if it's somewhere unknown, what fun would it be?



Remember this? This is our starting block. I made this sauce specifically for shrimp enchiladas but found it works great with other things. But if you haven't whipped this up yet you may want to for the rest of the recipe. A can of green enchilada sauce is ok, but I find it a little bland with the shrimp. Also some are not gluten free so watch out.

I think I'll break this up into photo steps. Good ideas are not always easy either.

Step One: Marinate the shrimp


We want to get a little time on these so I start marinating the shrimp while I get everything else ready.

I used half of the bag of frozen shrimp from Costco. I think it's about 1 1/2lbs. I buy the raw tail on and just remove the tail.

Add 2 Tablespoons olive oil
juice from half of a lime
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
and 2 cloves garlic minced

set this aside while we continue on.

Step 2: Enchilada sauce kick


Now this sauce is just fine as is, but one time I added a little something extra to it and found it to be above and beyond. I know I know I'm not supposed to eat much dairy and I have no excuse why that is in my house. It's just yummy. It's Mexican crema and if you haven't tried it yet I encourage you to. That is if you can take dairy. If you have it put about 1/2 cup of crema into 4 cups of your enchilada sauce. More often I just use yogurt because that is one thing my stomach can take. It adds a bit of weight to the sauce and probably your rear but who cares it's a birthday.

Step 3: Fry the tortillas


This step is optional. You don't have to fry tortillas for making enchiladas and I often do not to save time. You can easily wrap them in a wet towel and throw them in the microwave for 30 seconds to steam them. My family prefers them fried so I try to fry them if I can.

I have a pretty strict ritual for my frying that I will share with you now. I set up "zones" if you will, on my paper towel lined plate. I heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a small frying pan. I only leave the tortilla in the oil for about 20 seconds on each side. Then I move it to my plate and blot off the extra oil.



Then it gets moved to a separate zone that is for the degreased tortillas leaving room for the next one. And the upper left hand corner is for any that tear and I fry them until crisp to eat with guacamole or sauce. That is my obsessive frying ritual. Feel free to create your own.

Step 4 with no picture: semi cook your shrimp

I have no photo of my shrimp sort of cooking, but I'm sure you can follow. I just added a small amount of oil to a frying pan and toss in the shrimp marinade and all. Now this part seems odd, but you aren't going to cook them all the way. They will be going back into the oven and one time I cooked them all the way through and they became tiny rubber eraser things. So I under cook them a bit and it's much better. About 1 minutes per side. They will still be raw in the center. Remove them from the pan and cut them up into smaller pieces (this just makes it much easier to eat the enchilada).

Step 5: Prepare ingredients for assembly line


Now I get all my ingredients in order. Fried tortillas - check. Cut up semi cooked shrimp - check. Queso fresco crumbled - check (this can be found with the other cheeses and with the Mexican Crema). One bunch of diced green onions mixed with 1 cup diced cilantro - check (save some to sprinkle over the top). Enchilada sauce - check.

Step 6: Put it all together


I think I'll let the pictures do the talking, I'm sure you get the idea.









Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the assembled enchiladas and sprinkle the remaining queso fresco over the top.

Bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cilantro and green onion.

Step 7: Serve and enjoy


I highly recommend some good beans and spanish rice with these.



Oh, and a little smothering of the Mexican crema is also a good idea if it doesn't cause you distress. Oh, I wish it didn't cause distress.



This one is so inspiring with his wandering imagination. I'm so glad he's taken me places I've never thought of. I'm so glad I've grown up enough to learn to follow. Happy birthday sweet pea!

p.s. For a great list of cookbooks for children with great taste check out this post on The Kitchn. My Amazon wish list is getting out of control!

Part One

Sometimes things need to separated. They need to be taken apart and pieced back together to make a whole larger then it's parts. I've decided that resolutions fit into this category. That when a life needs some lifting, tweaking and changing it needs a plan. A slow steady plan. I haven't made any sort of New Year's resolutions in a few years. Not because I feel I am a human in perfect order, not even close. It's just that resolutions sound well and fine for the first week, then get tossed aside like the previous year.

However change is long overdue and the beginning of the year is as good a time as any. There are steps in place and forward motion happening. I broke down my goals and am starting slow. From scratch.

I like from scratch. It's comforting to know what's going in there isn't it? It's humbling and gratifying to take your time and build something from the bottom up.



Enchilada sauce is fine from the can. In fact I quite like it and have used it many times. But I was certain there was something to be learned just from the process. I also wanted to be positive it was gluten free.

This may not be the most authentic enchilada sauce out there, but it's good. It started out with a specific purpose - shrimp enchiladas, but I use it for almost any kind of enchiladas you could think of. I like it with shredded chicken, cheese, veggie, whatever you can imagine. The tomatillos give it a little tang that I needed to offset the sweet shrimp, and it's spice can easily be modified.

Tomatillo Enchilada Sauce

5-6 peeled, rinsed and halved tomatillos
salt and pepper

Roast tomatillos in a roasting pan in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until they are browned and squishy. I added a couple of green tomatoes here just because I had them and needed to use them, I don't think it's necessary at all but if you would like to try it I think it gave a bit more tang to the recipe.

Add roasted tomatillos to:
2 cans whole green chiles
1 jalepeno (seeded if you want to tone down the heat) roughly chopped

Place all of these ingredients into a food processor and let her rip until it is relatively smooth.

In a sauce pan:
Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons cumin powder

Add tomatillo mixture to the sauce pan. Whisk 1 Tablespoon cornstarch into one cup chicken stock and add to the sauce pan. Add another 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock and raise temperature until the mixture begins to boil. Lower the temperature and let the sauce simmer until it slightly thick (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside or store int he fridge to use fro enchiladas.




This is only the first step. The end result may appear a bit lacking, but when added to the next post this step is well worth your patience. I'm hoping that is also the case with my deconstructed life. Resolutions or none, life seems much easier taken in steps.

Up next - shrimp enchiladas with our from scratch sauce.

Adios Amigo

Everyone was so quick to throw out 2009. It's over as soon as it was here and people just want it to go away. However the optimism for 2010 is contagious and I think I'll jump on the band wagon.

I must say that just as 2009 seemed to be rough at times, I cannot mistake the invaluable lessons that we must all glean from it. Alas it is time to say goodbye.

Another thing I am saying goodbye to - dairy. It's about as good a friend to me as this past year of recession. I cannot deny the hardships of lactose as I can the fact that the price of my beloved friend can cost nearly $4 a gallon.



Let's get one thing straight here, I adore the rich creamy wonderful stuff. I like it whipped to perfection atop a good pie. I like the simple effect that cream and Parmesan have over pasta cooked to the tender al dente. There is no denying the pleasure that a nice brie on bread can bring. However, all of this wonderful richness does not love me back.

Sure it's not all the time, and it's not with small portions, but I never know when my friend is going to become my foe. It's just become a nuisance, you know like 2009. I cannot take another stomach cramp from cream as much as I feel like tolerating another corporate bailout plan.

Now I must be honest I am not completely swearing off the stuff. I will give myself one day. One day in the week with one meal containing dairy. I am being realistic here. My symptoms do not convey a complete restructuring of the system. I just cannot pretend that I don't have a problem. See how much 2009 has taught us? It is just better to simply call it what it is.

I could think of no better way to say goodbye to my friend then to make some creme brulee. Also, I received a creme brulee kit for Christmas and I really wanted to use the torch.



Au Revoir Creme Brulee

1 cup heavy cream
3 Tbspns sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 vanilla split
4 tablespoons sugar

Set a pot of water to bowl in a kettle. In a saucepan over medium heat combine the milk, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Scrape the vanilla bean down the center and add it to the milk. I throw in the whole bean too to extract more flavor. Cook stirring frequently until small bubbles appear. Set this aside while you mix together the yolks and the other tablespoon of sugar. Slowly pour in the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks beating continuously. Strain this mixture through a fine mesh strainer into something that lets your pour nicely. Arrange ramekins in a large baking dish and pour your mixture into them. Fill the baking dish with the boiling water until it reaches at least half way up the dishes. Bake in 300º oven for 25 minutes until the custard is set. Be careful removing the ramekins out of the hot water. Let them cool at least 3 hours. These can be made a day ahead and then you can burn the sugar before serving.

To make the crispy tops sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of sugar on the top of each custard. If you use a torch make gentle circles all around the sugar until it is browned. If you do not have a torch you can place the sugar topped ramekins under the broiler. I haven't had the best of luck with this method but that could be my broiler. I felt like the custard got too hot and before the tops browned. However you could always try it. Let's face it cream and sugar never taste that bad.



So here's to the empty dish of 2009! May whatever fills your 2010 be delicious!

How fun

I kept getting some friend requests from Tasty Kitchen and I couldn't figure out why. Well I'm one of the featured recipes for today. Hurray! Check me out.