Sorry, I really don't know what else to call it. Maybe "really big nacho"? Mexican thin-crust pizza?
I made a chile sauce today from some aji mirasol chiles. Guajillos, pasillas, or cascabels would work too. Sear 4 chiles in a hot pan, then plunge in water to soften. Cook 2 cloves of garlic in their skins over a medium-hot skillet. Drain the chiles, and remove most of the seeds. Chop and mash the chiles until you get a very fine paste (or use a blender), add the de-skinned garlic, some oregano, salt, tomato paste (or sauce), and water. If it's too spicy, add more tomato/water.
Spread a corn tortilla with a thin layer of the sauce. Place in the oven to crisp up. When the bottom is crispy, throw on some shredded cheese (I used cheddar) and a little more chile sauce, and put back in the oven to melt the cheese.
When the cheese is melted, remove from the oven, let cool a little, then fold in half, and eat.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Time Out
Hello?
Hello? Is this thing on?
I apologize for the unexplained absence. My Youngest took my camera to LA for an extended trip. She's currently galavanting around Los Angeles and its surrounding 'burbs. I hope my baby makes it back ok. (I'm sure the kid will be fine, it's the camera I'm concerned about.) (Wait, "about which I am concerned". Stupid grammar.)
As for cooking....I made some beautiful lamb, onion, and bell pepper skewers on the grill. Also some bigass steaks, and corn with chili-lime butter. Some dehydrated and microwaved crispy asparagus and mushrooms. A chestnut risotto drizzled with honey. A coconut cherry macaroon-type dessert (needle-nose pliers make great cherry-pitters). Spicy "Chinese-style" green beans. Asparagus quick-sauteed with oyster and soy sauce and garlic. Today I was going to make kung pao chicken with white rice and a cold cucumber salad, but I was asked not to cook, because it's just too damn hot.
Because I hate a post without a picture, here's my baby, sleeping on her Raider monkey.
And this is probably more suited to Twitter, but whatever, I'm already typing here - something just exploded, probably at Pendleton, and it made my windows rattle.
Kid and camera should be back in a week or so. Hope to see you then.
Hello? Is this thing on?
I apologize for the unexplained absence. My Youngest took my camera to LA for an extended trip. She's currently galavanting around Los Angeles and its surrounding 'burbs. I hope my baby makes it back ok. (I'm sure the kid will be fine, it's the camera I'm concerned about.) (Wait, "about which I am concerned". Stupid grammar.)
As for cooking....I made some beautiful lamb, onion, and bell pepper skewers on the grill. Also some bigass steaks, and corn with chili-lime butter. Some dehydrated and microwaved crispy asparagus and mushrooms. A chestnut risotto drizzled with honey. A coconut cherry macaroon-type dessert (needle-nose pliers make great cherry-pitters). Spicy "Chinese-style" green beans. Asparagus quick-sauteed with oyster and soy sauce and garlic. Today I was going to make kung pao chicken with white rice and a cold cucumber salad, but I was asked not to cook, because it's just too damn hot.
Because I hate a post without a picture, here's my baby, sleeping on her Raider monkey.
And this is probably more suited to Twitter, but whatever, I'm already typing here - something just exploded, probably at Pendleton, and it made my windows rattle.
Kid and camera should be back in a week or so. Hope to see you then.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thai Beef Salad
I guess you'd call this a guest post, because I received instructions from my brother in my inbox to "blog this".
So here you go.
Thai Beef Salad
"Dressing consists of lime juice, fish sauce, dark sesame oil, sriracha, lime zest, garlic, cilantro, thai chili flakes, sugar.
I love getting it when I go to Thai restaurants, and I finally got brave enough to try it on my own. Now I gotta try making the lemon grass soup 'cause the GF and I love that too."
Question to my brother: any marinade for the beef?
So here you go.
Thai Beef Salad
"Dressing consists of lime juice, fish sauce, dark sesame oil, sriracha, lime zest, garlic, cilantro, thai chili flakes, sugar.
I love getting it when I go to Thai restaurants, and I finally got brave enough to try it on my own. Now I gotta try making the lemon grass soup 'cause the GF and I love that too."
Question to my brother: any marinade for the beef?
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Pecan Pie
I received a free sample of whole pecans from The Green Valley Pecan Company a little while back, and decided to make a pecan pie.
Why pecan pie? Because I wanted to be able to really taste the pecans, but can't eat them uncooked. Itchy mouth and swollen throat isn't fun. Banana nut bread would've been good, but do you really taste the pecans? Pecan pie it was, then.
I used the recipe on the bag of pecans, which seems very similar to every other pecan pie recipe out there. It seemed rather gloopy, so I threw in a handful more nuts for good measure. When it came out of the oven, I let it cool until it was almost room temperature, the cut a slice. Runny still. WTF? Is it supposed to be like that? So I threw it back in the oven for a little longer, thinking that I could bake out some of the moisture. It worked, a little, but it was still liquidy.
But that didn't stop everybody at work from devouring it, gloopy or not. It was pretty tasty, and extremely sweet, which I think is the point of pecan pie.
With the partial bag I have left, I think I'm going to make some sort of spiced nuts, the kind that you fold into beaten egg whites, add spices, and bake. That's always good.
So are the nuts worth the price? Well, they're $4 for a 1/2lb bag, which looks to be in the mid-range of other online pecan stores. Would I buy them? Probably not, I'd just pick up the bag with the quadrilateral logo at the market (whose price I don't know). The Green Valley ones were slightly fresher tasting, however. If you're really into your nuts (heh), give these a shot.
Green Valley also sells a variety of other products - jellies, mustards, honeys, syrups, breads, cookies, soups, etc. Quite a collection, wish I had the capital to invest.
Why pecan pie? Because I wanted to be able to really taste the pecans, but can't eat them uncooked. Itchy mouth and swollen throat isn't fun. Banana nut bread would've been good, but do you really taste the pecans? Pecan pie it was, then.
I used the recipe on the bag of pecans, which seems very similar to every other pecan pie recipe out there. It seemed rather gloopy, so I threw in a handful more nuts for good measure. When it came out of the oven, I let it cool until it was almost room temperature, the cut a slice. Runny still. WTF? Is it supposed to be like that? So I threw it back in the oven for a little longer, thinking that I could bake out some of the moisture. It worked, a little, but it was still liquidy.
But that didn't stop everybody at work from devouring it, gloopy or not. It was pretty tasty, and extremely sweet, which I think is the point of pecan pie.
With the partial bag I have left, I think I'm going to make some sort of spiced nuts, the kind that you fold into beaten egg whites, add spices, and bake. That's always good.
So are the nuts worth the price? Well, they're $4 for a 1/2lb bag, which looks to be in the mid-range of other online pecan stores. Would I buy them? Probably not, I'd just pick up the bag with the quadrilateral logo at the market (whose price I don't know). The Green Valley ones were slightly fresher tasting, however. If you're really into your nuts (heh), give these a shot.
Green Valley also sells a variety of other products - jellies, mustards, honeys, syrups, breads, cookies, soups, etc. Quite a collection, wish I had the capital to invest.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Stuffed Mushrooms
I've just recently discovered that I don't hate mushrooms. I grew up in a household where one of our mushroom-loving friends used to bring her own shrooms to get-togethers, because my parents wouldn't deliberately purchase that nasty fungus.
I saw some beautiful baby portobellos at Trader Joe's - they looked more like really large crimini, but whatever. They were pretty. Into the basket they went.
I minced up some veggies, sauteed, added some bread crumbs and cheese, stuffed, and baked. Yum. So yum that I did it again less than a week later. And again last night. But this time I added in some chopped smoked oysters (do you have any idea how hard it is to find smoked oysters that aren't a product of China?). Next time I might try adding some cooked sausage instead of oysters.
Delicious.
<recipe>
Stuffed Mushrooms
olive oil or butter
6 large crimini (or 'bello) mushrooms, stems disconnected & chopped fine
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 carrot, diced fine
1 large clove garlic, diced fine
a handful of fine bread crumbs
a handful of grated parmesan (or Gruyere, or pecorino, etc.)
chopped parsley (or other herb)
2 smoked oysters, chopped fine (yes, only 2, they're really potent) (optional)
Heat the oven to 350. Pre-bake the mushrooms caps (no need to wait for the oven to come to temp) until their liquid starts pooling in the caps.
Saute the veggies in your fat of choice until soft. Let cool slightly, then add the bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, and oysters. Add a little more fat to moisten if you'd like, and season with a little salt (depending on the saltiness of your cheese) and pepper.
Stuff the mushroom caps with the mix, and top with a little more grated cheese. Bake until the caps are as soft as you'd like, or your kitchen smells too delicious to wait any longer.
</recipe>
I saw some beautiful baby portobellos at Trader Joe's - they looked more like really large crimini, but whatever. They were pretty. Into the basket they went.
I minced up some veggies, sauteed, added some bread crumbs and cheese, stuffed, and baked. Yum. So yum that I did it again less than a week later. And again last night. But this time I added in some chopped smoked oysters (do you have any idea how hard it is to find smoked oysters that aren't a product of China?). Next time I might try adding some cooked sausage instead of oysters.
Delicious.
<recipe>
Stuffed Mushrooms
olive oil or butter
6 large crimini (or 'bello) mushrooms, stems disconnected & chopped fine
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 carrot, diced fine
1 large clove garlic, diced fine
a handful of fine bread crumbs
a handful of grated parmesan (or Gruyere, or pecorino, etc.)
chopped parsley (or other herb)
2 smoked oysters, chopped fine (yes, only 2, they're really potent) (optional)
Heat the oven to 350. Pre-bake the mushrooms caps (no need to wait for the oven to come to temp) until their liquid starts pooling in the caps.
Saute the veggies in your fat of choice until soft. Let cool slightly, then add the bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, and oysters. Add a little more fat to moisten if you'd like, and season with a little salt (depending on the saltiness of your cheese) and pepper.
Stuff the mushroom caps with the mix, and top with a little more grated cheese. Bake until the caps are as soft as you'd like, or your kitchen smells too delicious to wait any longer.
</recipe>
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Asparagus Popover Frittata
I felt like cooking, but didn't feel like going to the store (happens a lot, really). I found a bunch of asparagus in the fridge, so I searched my recipe files, and discovered that I could make this Asparagus Popover Frittata from Cathy at Noble Pig.
I added some paprika, garlic powder, and Vegeta to the batter, and used my Calphalon skillet because I don't have a cast iron one that's small enough.
Interesting - popovery dough, kind of chewy and eggy. It reminds me a little of a German apple pancake. But with asparagus instead of apples. But still very frittata-like at the same time. Great with some hot sauce on top.
I added some paprika, garlic powder, and Vegeta to the batter, and used my Calphalon skillet because I don't have a cast iron one that's small enough.
Interesting - popovery dough, kind of chewy and eggy. It reminds me a little of a German apple pancake. But with asparagus instead of apples. But still very frittata-like at the same time. Great with some hot sauce on top.
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