It’s tamales part 2 with pork and red chile, which are probably considered a more traditional tamale. They are a New Mexico tradition that you can find almost anytime but especially around Christmas. I would have waited to make them closer to the holidays except I’m traveling home to NM soon and wanted to share them with family back home. And I’m saving back a dozen or so in the freezer to have for the holidays.
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For years I’ve wanted to make tamales but was intimidated by the process and work that goes into it. I’ve always heard it’s a job that works best with several people to help prep, assemble and package. Since I don’t have extended family around to help me with this mission, I asked Joe if he would give up a weekend to help me. He was happy to help since he loves tamales. I went all out and made three different kinds of tamales, just in case Joe never wanted to do this again. This labor took 3 days to complete but I can now say I have home made tamales in the freezer. I think if I give Joe some time he may come around and help me again someday. We’ve been considering some sweet filled tamales next time around, but for now let me tell you about the first batch made with Pork and a Verde sauce with Hatch green chiles and cheese.
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One of my favorite destinations is Charleston, SC, partly because of the charm and hospitality of the city and people, but also because of their cuisine. One of my favorites is Shrimp and Grits. I love the creaminess of the grits paired with the spicy shrimp and gravy. I’m not sure if they call it sauce or gravy, either way it sure is good. I rarely come across grits here in the Midwest other than the instant grits packets you find in the local grocery stores but recently I was in Trader Joe’s and came across a package of stone ground grits. I picked up a package envisioning what I would do and came up with this. . .
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All summer I’ve been thinking about a fresh salsa with heirloom tomatoes. We were a bit late to the farmers market this week and the best heirloom tomatoes had been picked over but I found a vendor who let me pick out all I wanted. They were blemished but firm and I thought these would be great for my salsa. I picked up a few green tomatoes as well to experiment and see how they would taste roasted. I decided if they were a bust, I’d leave them out but they were fantastic and not at all what I thought they would be like. So I blended the red, the yellow, and the green tomatoes to make a beautiful fiesta salsa that was fresh and tangy. I have a major weakness for salsa and could sit with a bag of chips and eat the whole bowl by myself but this salsa would be great alongside several dishes. I keep thinking how that would taste over a piece of grilled Margarita chicken. Ooh the possibilities . . .
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In just a few short month’s fall will be here and it’s time to get ready for fall baking. I’ve always been a fan of Vanilla Sugar but always hated paying for it. Recently I watched “Kelsey’s Essentials” on The Cooking Channel. She was getting ready for holiday baking and making some holiday treats that she used homemade vanilla extract and vanilla sugar in her recipes. So I started researching and found with just a little prep work I could make my own in about 2 month’s. That would put me at about the middle of October which is perfect, so I set off for Penzey’s to get some vanilla beans. The only other ingredients I needed was some sugar and some Vodka. So simple!
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Here’s a little cucumber salad I tossed together with some leftover cucumber and tomatoes to go with our Dan Dan Noodles. I went a little bit Greek with the addition of Kalamata olives and Feta cheese. Going for simple, I added a splash of lemon juice and lemon infused olive oil to top it off. It was the perfect little side salad that tasted fresh and crisp alongside our meal.
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I came across an old recipe from Cooking Light that I have been wanting to try for awhile. Being unfamiliar with Dan Dan Noodles, I was a little skeptical on how it would turn out but to my surprise it was quite good. There are a lot of flavors going on in the cooked pork and the cucumbers provide a crunch and flavor that compliments this dish. Paired with a side salad this was an easy tasty meal.
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Here’s a heads up for those of you with kids, you love them, you teach them, you send them off into the world, but sometimes they come back. As in my case with my oldest son Josh who spent his first year away from home while going to college. He’s back for a few weeks until he has a new place lined up and in the meantime he’s showing me a few things he’s incorporated into his daily life. He’s become quite the breakfast maker, getting up early to make a big breakfast to start his day. Well, I’m impressed, this kid of mine actually did listen to a thing or two I taught him about food and nutrition. “So what can I pick up for you at the grocery store” I asked him He rattled off several things he wanted including lots of bananas. So I picked up 2 big bunches of bananas and guess what, they turned ripe in a hurry and he didn’t eat them like he thought he would. So what to do with all those ripe bananas, well . . . make muffins, that’s what I do. And in the fridge I remembered some semi sweet chocolate bars and chocolate chips that I had leftover from another recipe so I decided to throw them into the mix too.
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It’s been a long hot summer and hard to start up the grill when it’s this hot. But today I’m going to brave the heat and grill my favorite flank steak and veggie kabobs. I marinated the steak overnight in a ginger and soy marinade which smells and tastes so good. This marinated flank steak was cooked over high heat just to medium rare and will almost melt in your mouth. I set aside just enough marinade to brush over the veggie kabobs and sliced onions.
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An Inspired Cook 