Where are thee cheeps?

I love mexican food.  REAL Mexican food.  Not stuff like tasteless meat jammed into a crappy, flavorless tortilla, or dishes topped with piles of shredded cheese.  I like the good stuff, the real stuff that layers flavors so expertly that it makes you feel like there's a symphony in your mouth and your tongue and teeth are conducting it.  That's where Cochinitas (or "puerco")  Pibil comes in.  It's a dish from the yucatan combining pork with very pungent spices and an acidic marinade and slow roasted in banana leaves.  It's face meltingly good.  Serve it up with some homemade mexican rice and tortillas, garnish with cilantch and call it good.  Here's your do:

5 T annato seeds

2t cumin seeds

.5 t cloves

8 allspice berries

1 T peppercorns

grind all of these in a coffee grinder until fine and set aside.

2 habaneros, de-veined and seeded

1/2 C oj

1/2 C white vinegar

8 cloves garlic

2 T kosher salt

juice of 5 lemons (around 1-1.25 cups)

splash of the best tequila you can afford

put all this stuff in a blender, add your powder and whizz on high until combined

cut up around 5 pounds of pork butt(  only pork butt, everything else is too lean, and leave the fat on!  you can take it off later if it's not your style)

put the pork in a big ziploc (or a big pan would work, ziploc is preferred)

pour marinade over and let sit 4 hours or up to overnight.

roast, in a foil- covered baking dish at 325F for four hours.

tip:  if you want to be old school, and you know I'm all about being old school, you'll pick up some banana leaves and layer them on the bottom of your baking dish, hanging over the edges.  pour the pork mixture in, and fold the edges back over the pork, covering the entire thing with foil, tightly.

I'm so livid with you turkeys...you're like a cool bunch of idiots!

I made some cornish hens the other night.  I really like the texture of these little guys.  It's kind of like chicken but a bit stringier, for lack of a better word. Not in a bad way though, more like the texture of goose.  I actually ended up "spatchcocking" or cutting the bird down the spine and flattening it out so it would cook faster and more evenly.  It seems kind of horrific when you are doing it, like maybe it should be in one of those lame saw movies, SAW 6 1/3...you'll never believe what he does to the chicken.

  I was looking for some white wine to use in this dish when I stumbled onto a little four pack of wine "boxes."  I bought them, they're about the size of a juice box, and actually perfect for using in recipes if you don't want to open a whole bottle.  So, while they may not be the best quality (they are not too bad though), they work pretty well for recipes.  I think that it's a good idea to have a few of them on hand.  (Steve pauses to go make some coffee)  In other news, markets are almost over, vacation is almost here, I sold my mountain bike and am going to use the money to get a sweet new camera, and I had 101 hours on my last paycheck.  Lots of information...too much maybe?  I'll give you a while to let it all sink in...

I made a huge pot of beef vegetable soup over the weekend to take to my pals house and watch the nebraska game.  ( I don't want to talk about it...the game) It was very spicy and very good.  I hadn't made or eaten that soup in a long time.  It is a recipe that everyone in my family makes, everyone having their different variation.  So, naturally, every time that I make it it reminds of growing up.  It was always my favorite thing that my mom made.  There was a stretch when I was living alone that my friend lance and I made that soup like every other weekend.  So, I guess if I need someone to be an accurate judge of the outcome, he is probably the one to do it.  that's where I took the soup to watch the game and he and my friend riley said it was tasty, so I was glad that I hadn't lost my touch.  well, I need to split, more posts.

The picture of "Durian" Grey

No food stuff today, just thought that I would post a picture of gus when he was a puppy.  Man, he was cute.  I can't even believe that we are almost done with the market season.  Only two left.  It seems like it went so slow at the beginning, but now they (weekends) seem to be flying by.  

Wife and I went to dinner last night, Thai Food.  I had this idea that when I went out to restaurants that I would start trying new things, but it is so hard to branch out when you have found something delicious (like panang curry!).  However, I did live a little and had a nice glass of pinot noir.  Although I don't condone going out on a regular basis, I do enjoy it if the food is something that I can't or don't have the tools to make at home.  Otherwise, what's the point.  Most of the time, that is the basis of us (amy and I) going out or staying in.  with some careful planning and basic knowledge/skills you save yourself a lot of money and develop some decent cooking chops along the way.  Always think about ways to increase your kitchen prowess.  We are tigers, lurking through the pantry, ready to pounce!  

(Anyone who makes the connection between the title and last sentence is super savvy)

The reitz stuff

that's what wifeshow calls this "german" meal.  It is basically a braise of onion, cabbage, potatoes, sausages, and beer.  How could that even come close to being bad???  It is a very comforting, soothing meal (at least for those of us with european backgrounds) that never disappoints.  Here's how you do:

In a heavy casserole or dutch oven, brown some brats or kielbasa or any other mild garlicky sausage on all sides.  Once browned, remove from the pot and set aside.  add a little more oil to your pot and saute a very thinly sliced onion and some minced garlic until just getting color.  Add a small, shredded head of cabbage and cook for about 5-7 minutes until starting to become soft, translucent.  Season all of this with a generous amount of pepper, and salt to taste.  Pour in a bottle of beer and add your sausages back on top.  Cover and set in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until the potatoes are quite done. Tasty.  I like to take the leftovers and make a sandwich with the sausage and top it with the cabbage/onion mixture.  

I made a spur of the moment bread at work today.  Martha and I were doing ciabatta and we forgot to stop making tiny rolls.  We had made four extra, accidental "whole rolls" (100 g of dough folded over once on itself and sealed, ready to be cut in half to make a tiny roll.) and instead of throwing them away, I stretched them out and braided them into a nice braid and we spritzed it with water and sprinkled it with sesame seeds.  It was pretty delicious and looked quite nice.  I wish that I would have had a camera with me.  All I had was my phone, so I took a picture with that, but haven't figured out how to post those yet.  If anyone wants to see it let me know I'll send you a pic.  Tastewise, it was really nice and nutty, perfectly complimented with a simple topping of fresh tomato, sea salt, and black pepper.  I hope that we get to a place where we make them available at the shop.  Maybe a bread of the month or something.  peace

"You're getting flour on the dog."

So, I thought that it would be fun to make some fresh pasta the other day.  I hadn't done it in a long time.  Either I was feeling very rushed, or it had slipped my mind how "in the moment" you have to be when you make something like this.  While I am very fond of fresh pasta, I will admit it is not an average weeknight dinner.  I think that is what spoiled it for me, the fact that I had to go to work that night.  I ended up making raviolis with a creamy acorn squash filling (roasted acorn squash, roasted garlic, olive oil, thyme, sage) and topped with a red pepper alfredo sauce.  I think, as my wife pointed out, that I like this dish better using butternut squash as the filling.  It seems to be more rich and the texture is a little smoother.  Still, it was a pretty tasty dish, nonetheless.