Monthly Archives: December 2011
Breakfast Pr0n
This Tex-Mex favorite is a classic in its own right. Huevos rancheros are a breakfast staple of the Southwestern states out of Mexico. This plate features chorizo sausage, spicy refried beans, and deep fried tortilla wedges along and atop the fried eggs. Garnishes today are shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, pickled jalapenos, and a tomato salsa. Sprinkled with a nice ground dried chili pepper/salt seasoning mix. Mmm..mm…
I had a few wedges left over so I made a snack plate up with them and some of the beans. The tortillas only take a minute to fry up in a deep fryer and they are well worth the warm-up time for the oil.
Mmm… Rocking the Classics
Carrots, potatoes, celery, and nice chunks of beef. The beef simmered for hours, uncovered, in some beef stock and white wine with the usual herbs – this had bay leaves, oregano, and thyme. About 20 minutes or so before serving the veggies went in. Put the lid on and tweak the flame a little higher. Last thing I poured off the liquid into another pan and quickly thickened the gravy with corn starch. It would have worked with everything still in the pot but it was a small one and I didn’t want to break up the veggies. The rolls were leftovers from this batch, they froze well and weren’t hurt a bit by reheating them in a foil package.
Mmm… roast pork
I mentioned that we roasted a small chunk of lamb for our big holiday dinner. The size of the roast made me realize that we didn’t have a proper sized roasting pan. We have a couple that are huge, big enough for the largest turkey and they’ve seen a lot of use over the years. What we didn’t have was a pan sized for the smaller cuts like the 3 pound leg of lamb. I remedied that.
This one is by Chicago Metallic and measures 13″x9″ and is just over 2″ deep. Pressed and formed from steel with a non stick coating that I hope holds up. It wasn’t very expensive but I didn’t want to spend a lot on an occasional item. I did try it out right away.
That pork butt has been in the freezer for a good while, bought during a pretty good sale on pork. I think I paid twice as much for the lamb and only got half the meat. I knew that a good sandwich would have to be the first thing so I made some buns from the same recipe I used on those hot rolls.
Worked out great. Made a super lunch when paired with some french fries. I used the BBQ sauce from this recipe.
Tropical Menu
Let’s start the new year right. Give the winter blahs the old heave-ho with something a bit tropical.
Chicken in Plum Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 boneless breasts
- 4 boneless thighs
- 4 green onions, chopped
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (opt)**
- 2 tbsp plum sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp pineapple juice, (reserve pineapple chunks for pilaf)
skillet or wok
Heat oil in wok, quickly stir fry chicken until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion and sauté quickly (I know, backwards, but keeps the onion from scorching). Reduce heat, mix together plum sauce, soy sauce, pineapple juice, red pepper flakes and add to chicken, let simmer 15 minutes. Serve immediately.
**This is very sweet, so I like to add some heat to it. You can add it to individual servings if preferred.
Pineapple Pilaf
- 1 cup rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp butter
- 6 sliced green onions
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup raisins
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 8 oz pineapple chunks, drained
saucepan, skillet
In saucepan, add rice & water, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer until water is absorbed about 20 minutes.
Heat butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, walnuts, raisins, salt and ginger; cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until onions are tender. Add rice and pineapple; stir and heat thoroughly.
Winter Sunset
Something about winter sunsets that capture my imagination. Cool with lots of blues and pinks, and just at touch of desolation.
I get a little antsy (read: cranky) when I can’t get out and ride much. And between the wind, cold and ice, I haven’t been out on my bike since about Thanksgiving. I make do with walks and hikes. Tonight I was lucky enough to be out at sunset. Got some nice shots as it went on, including a flock of geese:
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By the way, I can’t even look at my kitchen right now, so it may be awhile before I get around to cooking again.
Mmm… leftovers
We braised the bone in portion of the left over lamb roast in white wine and chicken stock with onions and fresh rosemary and thyme. That’s the best way to get meat off the bone. I diced the lamb up and added it back to the pot with some tomatoes from a can. That all simmered a good while uncovered and the sauce reduced itself nicely. Roasted some baby carrots and the rest of the frozen pearl onions left from the braised beef we had a few days ago and served everything over some wide egg noodles. Yummy
Some post-holiday snow
Not quite in time for the holiday, and it looks like it will melt soon enough to not be a bother.
I don’t think I bothered to turn the clock in the camera back at the end of DST, so the time is an hour ahead of the clocks here in the house.
Looks like an entire holiday meal has gone by and I haven’t mentioned it here. Just this one photo:
I roasted a small chunk of lamb (~3lbs) after an overnight marinade in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. A couple of tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary were rubbed over it and it cooked at 350 for just over an hour, to an internal temp of ~150. It sat out with a loose tent of foil as it rested and I did my last minute flurry of table setting. There was enough well done to satisfy Mrs J and the rest was rare enough to suit me.
I cooked some white potatoes with a diced parsnip in cream and butter and a couple of cloves of garlic. They were great. The gravy was made from turkey necks and chicken giblets with some home made chicken stock and with lamb drippings stirred in. Also on the plate are some sprouts roasted with garlic and olive oil. Serious good veggies even if you don’t care for steamed or boiled sprouts – these are just not the same thing. Let them brown a bit, you will love them.
The little bowl in the background is a dipping sauce for the lamb, and it was good on the sprouts too. I reduced the juice of half a lemon and a quarter cup of white wine with some minced onion and garlic and chopped fresh rosemary, then stirred in a stick of cold butter a pat at a time. A final touch was a good squirt of Dijon mustard. Yummy
Colorado Christmas
Some shots from this afternoon.
Click any photo to see full size.
I have no idea. It popped up this week. I find it utterly charming.
This Great Blue Heron hates me. Anyone and their dog can walk by him, but I get within 100 feet, just walking by and he flies away. Every time. I must’ve said something to offend.
Self-portrait
You Know What This Christmas Needs?
More James Brown.
Now get up offa that thing and work off that Christmas dinner. :-)
TaMara
jeffreyww
LFern7
indylib
