a little get together

We recently had some friends over for drinks and dinner later on in the night so I wanted to make a couple of things I knew would be crowd pleasers. Our friends that were visiting have provided us with great hospitality and meals in the past and I wanted to do something special for them.  Two things instantly came to mind: carnitas and ceviche. Its being spring also made me think to make a salad with ramps and fava beans.

Carnitas to me are a fail-proof solution for any gathering.  I mean, who doesn't love crispy fatty pork?  I remember having family get togethers where my uncle would fry up chunks of pork (and other random meats) outside in a huge copper pot with boiling hot lard.  Once it was cooked the meat was perfectly juicy and fatty. When I lived in Mexico, one of my favorite shops sold carnitas stuffed into a bolillo with nothing else but a few slices of pickled jalapeños. I thought it would be a great idea to make mini carnitas tortas with pickled beets and jalapeños.

I've found an easy and equally delicious way to recreate carnitas in my oven at home using everyones favorite: pork belly.  To begin I seasoned pork belly with skin on with garlic, salt and pepper and roasted in the oven first at a low temperature for a couple of hours, then cranking it up for the last half hour to crisp up the skin.

While the pork belly finished cooking, I sliced beets and jalapeños paper-thin and I placed in a bowl with white wine vinegar, salt and pepper.  I let this sit for at least an hour, allowing the vinegar to combine with the beets and jalapeños, softening them up a bit.

Once the pork belly was out of the oven, I chopped up the meat including the skin and begun to construct my tortas.  I sliced the bolillo in half before slicing it open to make smaller , more manageable portions.  I filled each bolillo with pork meat and topped with a few slices of pickled beet and jalapeños.  That's it, the fattiness of the pork provides more than enough moisture for the bread and the vinegar in beets goes well on top of the meat.

For my ceviche I decided to go with cod.  I love making ceviche and it is always good with a crowd of people. The idea behind ceviche is that raw fish basically "cooks" in acid.  For my version I marinated cod in lime and orange juice.  It is important to cut the fish into bite-sized pieces, a bit larger than a dice.  This will allow the acid to fully cook the fish.  There should be enough lime and orange juice to fully cover the fish.  The fish should marinate in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.  This can go longer but you run the risk of the fish being tough. 

Once the fish is done, little needs to be done to complete the ceviche.  I simply added diced onion, diced chile serrano, minced garlic, diced avocado, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper.  I stirred to combine all the ingredients and served with tortilla chips.  Normally this is eaten on a tostada but I felt the chips worked well and were more conducive to beer drinking and hanging out.

To round out our meal, I decided to use a couple of spring vegetables, prepared very simply. I recently went to the store and saw ramps and fava beans for sale.  Admittedly I do not have much experience with either of these but I have heard they are quite delicious and a must-have when they are in season. 

This simple salad was made by sauteing chopped ramps in olive oil with fava beans that have been removed from the pods, blanched and peeled.  I added the zest and juice of one lemon, seasoned with salt and pepper and tossed until all the flavors came together.  These vegetables didn't need much more than just their own natural goodness.

I was very glad to have had the opportunity to cook for our friends.  We have enjoyed such great food at their place that it was really good to hear that they enjoyed it.

picadillo

Picadillo to me is one of those classic dishes that comes together easily and gets better the longer it sits.  There are many variations but typically it is a combination of ground (or chopped) beef with diced veggies.  Sometimes a few raisins and pieces of hard-boiled egg are thrown in as well.

For my picadillo I decided to combine ground beef with carrots, potatoes and green beans.  I chose not to go with raisins but I will be adding an egg later on.  To begin I sauteed onion, garlic and chile serrano until the onion became translucent. 

I then added the ground beef.  After the beef browned, I added the vegetables.  I cut them all relatively small so they could cook more quickly.  I threw the potatoes in a bit early but soon after I added the carrots and green beans.  I lowered the flame and let the beef sit for a bit while i combined a spice mix.

 I wanted to add some additional flavor to the picadillo, so in a small bowl I combined ancho chile, cumin, mexican oregano, salt and pepper.  These spices added warmth and smokiness to the beef.  I allowed everything to cook together for a few more minutes.

I served the picadillo in a bowl with sliced hard boiled egg.  Normally the egg is mixed in with the beef but the egg on top adds a nice touch.  I served with warm tortillas and dinner was ready.  The leftovers the next day were just as good if not better, so it is best to make a large batch!

scones

I made scones last week for Mother's Day and they came out pretty well as a first attempt.  I used a basic biscuit recipe of 3 parts flour to 1 part fat to 2 parts liquid.  I added some sugar to the dry ingredients to sweeten it up and a bit of baking powder.

I made two different types of scones.  The beauty of scones is that the basic dough recipe is the same and you can simply mix in the flavors you want to incorporate.  First up: apricot ginger scones. I combined flour and butter until there was a coarse grainy consistency.  I then poured in the milk and mixed and stop right when it all came together.  I then folded in a combination of chopped dried apricots and candied ginger.

I rolled up the dough and placed it on a baking sheet.  I cut the dough into large triangles, I kept them close together on the baking sheet.  Not too sure of the technique hear but I'm always told that it is best to have them touch a bit.

The scones came out great, not bad for a first attempt.  Keeping the ratio consistent seems to be the key.  I rather enjoyed this scone but I wish I had sweetened it up a bit more.

I followed a similar process for pecan and salted caramel scones.  I made a caramel sauce by first boiling sugar and a bit of water until the sugar darkened a little.  I added some canela during the process to add an additional cinnamon flavor.

Once the sugar was at the appropriate temperature, I took it off the burner and added a few nubs of butter and some cream.  I added some ground sea salt to the mix.  I followed the same dough recipe as the apricot scones except with pecans and a bit of the caramel sauce mixed in. I initally had hope to get solid bits of caramel, but I added too much liquid leaving me more with a sauce.  It was still rather tasty so along with incorporating a bit into the dough I drizzled over the finished scones for additional sweetness.

It was pretty fun to put together the scones.  The process went along more smoothly than I had first anticipated, I will definitely be trying out different varieties of this.  These scones were a crowd pleaser making my mom and two sisters-in-law more than happy to enjoy them on their special day.

taco night

No matter how many new dishes there are to try, no matter how many different styles and recipes I come across, I always have to go back to doing taco night every once in a while. The beauty about tacos for dinner is that they are simple yet full of so much flavor. Simple as in easy to make but also that you get pure simple ingredients at their best. I mean what is more perfect that grilled meat wrapped in a soft corn tortilla, brought to life with cilantro, onion and lime juice? A little spicy guacamole to top it off? Yes please. Add some beans, rice, salad on the side and you’ve got yourself a dinner.

You can use any type of meat (or veg) as a filling for a taco. For this particular version I marinated thinly sliced ribeye steak and pork shoulder pieces both in a combination of lime, cumin, ancho chili powder, salt and pepper for just about a half hour as to not “cook” the meat in lime juice. I wanted to impart some additional flavors but both of these meats, especially when we’re talking tacos, are just as delicious simply seasoned with salt and pepper before throwing on the grill.

Thanks to this lovely spring we’re having, I used a grill pan indoors for my ribeye while I used a cast iron skillet to roast the chunks of pork meat. For the ribeye, it only took a matter of minutes on each side. For the pork I wanted to get a carnitas feel so I roasted them at 400 degrees for 45 to an hour, making sure to turn them so they brown evenly so they get a bit crispy.

While the pork roasted I prepared guacamole. The key to guacamole are good avocados, they pretty much do all the work since they are so delicious on their own. It is extremely difficult to get good avocados at a standard supermarket, I highly recommend shopping at a fruit market or a Mexican grocery store. It might not seem like a big deal but the difference is extremely significant in my opinion. Whenever I pick up an avocado I try to gauge the texture that it is going to have by squeezing it. A good avocado will be easy to smash for guacamole or to smear on a piece of bread. You can feel this consistency through the peel in my opinion. You want an avocado that looks plump and gives a little. If they aren’t quite mature enough, give them a couple of days to ripen.

To make the guacamole I started by taking a couple of cloves of garlic and turning it into a paste using a bit of kosher salt and a mortar a pestle. I added a few avocados to a large bowl along with the garlic paste and began to mash them together using a potato masher. I like my guacamole a bit chunky, something about perfectly smooth guacamole creeps me out but everyone has a different consistency that they enjoy. I then add diced onion, cilantro and diced chile serrano. I like guacamole spicy so I usually add one serrano for every two avocados. I add the juice of a couple limes and stir it all together adding salt and pepper as needed. It can take less than 15minutes to make a guacamole that can be used on anything and is consistently delicious.

I also prepared a quick salad of thinly sliced cucumber, lime juice, ground guajillo flakes, salt and pepper. The acidity of the lime and the crispness of the cucumber really work well as a side for a taco.

 

Once the meat was cooked, I chopped it into pieces, served along with warm tortillas, chopped onion and cilantro, lime wedges and guacamole to top it off. I served the cucumber salad on the side and dinner was done. When you look at the spread of food, the individual items don’t look like much, but once they’re all put together they make an awesome taco. This is a meal that will never get old to me though it is something I’ve had since I was a child.