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.

a great dinner with friends

This weekend our dear friends Justin and Amy came over for dinner and I wanted to prepare something special.  I was wracking my brain for a few days trying to come up with an idea, then one day on the drive home from work I heard a piece on NPR about a recipe for stuffed pumpkin.  The original recipe called for pumpkin stuffed with breadcrumbs, bacon, and cheese, topped with heavy cream and nutmeg and baked in the oven.  This sounded pretty amazing so I wanted to make my own interpretation.  For my version I utilized acorn squash, they were the perfect size for individual servings.  Since in my last post I did a recipe for stuffed calabacita, I decided to use this as the stuffing for my squash, along with rice and manchego cheese.  To serve along with the pumpkin I prepared an arugula salad with roasted beets, roasted fresh chick peas and goat cheese.

To prepare the squash I first took 4 fresh acorn squash and sliced a tiny bit off the bottom, making sure not to cut through to the cavity of the squash, so that they can stand upright.  I then proceeded to cut the tops off the squash to create an opening to the inner cavity. Using a spoon I gutted the squash, taking out all the seeds and fibrous material to prepare it for the stuffing.

The stuffing consisted of diced calabacita, rice, manchego cheese, knob onions and garlic.  I tossed all these ingredients in a bowl with salt and pepper and stuffed into the squash.  I filled the squash with a combination of heavy cream, vegetable broth that I reduced by half and nutmeg.  This serves as the liquid base which will cook through the rice as well as make for a rich flavorful stuffing.

I covered the squash with their respective tops in the oven for 3 hours until the squash cooked through and the majority of the liquid was absorbed.  I removed from the oven, sprinkled shredded manchego cheese over the top and placed back in the oven for another 15 minutes until the cheese was melted and golden brown.  

For the arugula salad, I began by preparing the vegetables.  At my local produce market, I found some fresh chick peas.  I never worked with these before but I had heard that you can roast them and they that they have a rich nutty flavor, somewhat similar to edamame.  I also purchased some beets which I peeled and chopped before placing on a baking sheet with the chick peas (shell on) to roast.  I roasted both vegetables in the oven for about 45minutes, occasionally moving the chick peas to make sure they don’t burn on one end.

chickpeas and beets, together at last!

Once the vegetables cooled, I shelled the chick peas and I combined them along with the beets in a large bowl.  I added a few handfuls of arugula and I tossed the salad in a simple vinaigrette I prepared with lemon, honey and olive oil.  I served the salad on individual plates and topped with goat cheese.

The squash was the perfect warming, comforting dish for our cozy dinner together.  The stuffing was rich, creamy and the rice cooked through quite nicely.  The squash went well with stuffing and the nutmeg tied all the flavors together.  Despite the 3 hours in the oven, the dish overall is fairly easy to make and the results are well worth the wait.  The salad was a nice addition to break up the richness of the squash dish.  The chickpeas added a bit of texture and nuttiness that went well with the beets and goat cheese while the arugula and lemon vinaigrette added a bit of freshness and bite. 

We had a great night with our friends filled with interesting conversation and plenty of laughter.  I feel truly honored to be able to cook for my friends, have a few beers and spend a wonderful evening together.