Pig at its BEST!!

One of my husband's favorite dished is Pork Chile Verde.  I have worked on making the perfect one over the years and I think this one comes really close! I will say that although I didn't mention it in the recipe, I did use a Berkshire Boston Butt Roast from Lobels Butcher shop in New York, which just adds to the lusciousness of the dish, but it is still great no matter what.  The other items I will mention, if you can have that rub on it overnight, it just adds to the flavor and you can add different chiles or sub out the poblanos for anaheims or just eliminate them if you like. I would love it if you would post your comments to let me know if you had success and/or if you liked it!!  Thanks and enjoy!!

Pork Chile Verde

One Pork Boston Butt roast (about 6 pounds) also known as shoulder

Rub – recipe to follow
½ cup flour blended with a tbsp. of both salt and pepper
Oil (preferably avocado, but canola will work)
1 onion, diced
One head of garlic, all cloves diced
3 jalapenos, diced

10-12 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 onion sliced
2 poblano chiles
2-28 oz cans roasted green chiles (you can do it yourself, but this is easier and I like Hatch chiles which are available at Costco)
1 bunch of cilantro
4 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp oregano
2 bay leaves
Juice of limes (1-4)

Rub-

3 tbsp. ground cumin

3 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp salt (I like kosher)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp cayenne

Directions-

Get your butt roast and cover with the rub, making certain the rub is really rubbed into the meat.  Let sit in the refrigerator uncovered, preferably overnight, but try to do it for at least 4 hours.  Take the meat out and cut into bite sized chunks. Toss chunks into the flour mixture, fully covering but shaking off excess. Using a large dutch oven, coat the bottom of the pan with oil and heat to screaming hot! In batches, brown the pork on all sides, careful not to crowd in pan (don’t want to steam them).  Place on baking sheet till all the pork pieces are browned, add oil as needed to keep a nice coat on the bottom.  Bring the heat down to medium and add diced onions, garlic and jalapenos, sauté till soft, not trying for color.  While they are sautéing, place on baking sheet the tomatillos, sliced onions and poblanos and roast in oven at 450 for around 10 – 15 minutes, until they are all soft. (Can be done ahead of time) Once done place them and all the juices in the blender along with the green chiles and cilantro and blend till smooth (may have to do in batches and add chicken stock as needed to keep the blade moving. Also remember that it is hot liquid so be sure to cover the lid with a dish towel to prevent it from exploding)

Lower oven temp to 250. Place pork back into the dutch oven, add in blended chile mixture and add enough chicken stock to make sure all the meat is covered with liquid.  Add oregano and bay leaves, bring to simmer on stove top.  Cover and place in oven for 2 ½ - 3 hours until meat is tender and falls apart.  Check every 45 minutes or so to make sure the liquid is still covering the meat at least half way.  When done, use fresh lime juice for a little acidic kick and it all depends on your taste buds.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve with Queso Fresco, warm flour tortillas, green Tabasco, chopped onions, crema, and fresh lime quarters.  WOW yummy!!

How to Make Meyer Lemon Salt!

Meyer Lemons, Liquid Sunshine!

What is a Meyer Lemon and what makes it so special?  Well from a technical standpoint, a Meyer is thought to be a cross between a ture lemon and a sweet orange.  From a culinary standpoint, it is quiet unique and special.  You get the tang and acidity of a lemon but not with the same punch as a typical lemon, so something you would typically use a lemon for, you can sub in a Meyer lemon and get a terrific brightness, but with a sweetness too.  I have spent alot of time experimenting with this fruit to devise ways to highlight its unique qualities.  Here are some things to try should you come across this hard to find fruit!

Meyer Lemon Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 Meyer Lemon juice

zest from 1 or 2 lemons

Heat over med high heat till sugar is disolved. Strain into a container and store in the fridge.  Use to make a martini, lemonade, or sweeten your tea.

Meyer Lemon Herb Vinagrette

1 Shallot, minced

1 tblsp Dijon Mustard

1 tblsp Honey

1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice

zest from 1-2 Meyer lemons

1 tblsp finely chopped, each of Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, and Flat Leaf Italian Parsely (any combo of those would work)

1/2 -1 cup oil, I prefer avocado oil but canola or Olive oil will work too

Salt & Pepper

In a bowl, whisk together the shallot, mustard, honey and lemon juice.  Let stand for about 5 minutes. I do this to allow the shallots to mellow out.  Now add in the zest and finely chopped herbs, blend well.  Begin to whisk and slowly add in 1/2 cup of oil till blended and emulsified.  Check for taste and consitancy.  Everyone likes their salad dressings a bit different, I am usually fine right here since it makes for a lighter calorie choice, but at this point you can also adjust your sweet/sour levels.  Sometimes your Meyers will be sweeter then others so this is the time to check, adjust, salt and pepper, a pinch of each and serve or store in a jar in the fridge. The obvious use is for salad, but try this, roast potatoes in the oven and when they are nice and crispy and ready to take out, pour some of the vinagrette over them, about 1/4 cup and toss well, put back in the over for about 5 minutes to heat thru, and serve.  DELICIOUS!

Tangy Garbanzo Bean Salad AKA Fiber Bomb Salad

Salad

3-14 oz cans Garbanzo Beans drained and rinsed

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalepeno pepper,seeded and minced

1 each yellow and red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Zest from 1 or 2 Meyer lemons and one lime

Dressing

1 shallot, minced

1 tblsp Dijon Mustard

1 tblsp honey

1 tblsp Cumin

1/4 Meyer lemon juice

juice of one lime

1/2 cup vegetable oil, (again I prefer avocado oil)

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the salad ingredients.  Combine all the dressing ingredients except for oil then slowly whisk in the oil.  Add the dressing to the salad and toss well.  Referigerate for about 1 hour to let all the flavors marry. 

OPTIONS- Sometimes I add one or all of the following ingredients.

1-28 oz  can of green beans.

1 fennel bulb, diced

3 chopped roma tomatoes

1 lb package of whole grain pasta, cooked

Make it your own!  It is loaded with fiber and vitamins and it feels so fresh and bright with all the citrus, it is a perfect addtion to any meal!

Well I hope that you try some of these recipes, you can also sub in a regular lemon in any of these applications, but you will probably need more sugar or honey to mellow it out.  Just remember these lemon tips.

• Anytime a recipe calls for vinegar, sub in lemon juice and taste the difference
• When making chicken soup, add a squeeze of lemon juice to add brightness without the sourness, (TRY IT YOU WILL BE SURPRISED)
• Clean your copper pots. Sprinkle with salt and then squeeze with the juice. Clean gently and you will be amazed
• Clean your cutting boards.  Lemon juice is a natural antibactierial agent. I sprinkle some salt on my board and take a cut half of lemon and rub my board.  The salt just makes for an abrasive to get into the nooks and crannies.  Rinse your board and if wood, oil lightly to keep the wood moist.

Remember when life gives you lemons, make MEYER LEMONADE!!

PS Meyer lemons will be available on our company website soon.  Visit us at http://www.spfarminc.com/!

Seasonal Fuel

I am a firm believer in seasonal and fresh ingredients, the challenge is to find the ones that are truly fresh.  Many of the items in your produce section may look pretty and shiny, and yet a bite or cut into it and you will see that this is not the case.  Many of our produce items have been specifically developed to be as resistant to the elements as possible, that way they can handle the cold storage for months at a time they might go through.  An apple you buy today, may have sat in a cold storage room for months.  I understand the economics of this, but the basic truth is food is the fuel our bodies require in order to live.  The way we create unique dishes, exciting tastes and eye pleasing plates, is the icing on the cake.  If we can for a minute just deal with the stripped down version of this and the fact that it is fuel for us, it will be clear that fresh and seasonal is in everyone's best interest. Once a fruit or vegetable is removed from its life source, its vitamin punch begins to degrade and of course the quality begins to degrade as well. If we are looking for the best case of fuel for us, then we would want to eat something that gives us the most nutrition as possible.  Use your computer to find out what fruits and veggies are being harvested in your local area and search them out, or ask your produce manager in the grocery store, although I am not certain you will get the help you really want because their job is to move product, not tell you that the apples you just put in your cart are a year old.

Now if you are lucky to find something fresh, but you can't use it right away, then, if this is a viable option, you should blanch it and freeze.  For instance, every year we plant English peas, a lot of them.  I harvest them about 3 or 4 times during the early spring and if I ate them all while they were fresh picked, I would turn into a giant pea.  What I do is I pick, shell, heat water to boiling and add a hand full of salt.  Throw the shelled peas into the boiling water, bring back to a boil and within a minute or two drain them and shock them in a bowl of ice water. Get a sheet tray and lightly spray with cooking spray and put the drained, cold peas on the sheet tray in a single layer.  Put it in the freezer overnight then the next day, put the frozen peas in a ziplock bag and throughout the year, you will have fresh peas.  AND the bonus point part of this is, the blanching process, then freezing helps to keep the enzymes from breaking down and allows it to keep more of its nutrients in tact. This is also a great thing to know when shopping for unseasonable fruit or veggies.  Buying frozen is typically a better way to be assured that the nutrients have been preserved.  Obviously not all items can be frozen, so be sure to not overbuy. It may mean better planning and more trips to the market, but your body will thank you for it!!

Time flies when your having fun?

WOW, I cannot believe it has been this long since my last entry, close to 2 months.  I so look forward to the holidays every year, and then just as quickly as I was looking forward to them beginning, I begin to wait anxiously for them to be over. This year, in particular, was more eventful then usual but completely self imposed!

We begin with Thanksgiving. Every year for as long as I can remember, we head to a sleepy little town called Bass Lake, California.  There we are eventually met up with the rest of my husband's brothers, wives, kids, friends, and parents.  We typically have around 20 or so total, so it is active and fun.  I elected myself chief cook in charge of the Thanksgiving meal.  I am getting quite organized, which is some times worse then being scattered, because I constantly do not trust that I am on top of everything.  Needless to say, I have lists, time tables, and do my best to prep ahead of time.  Here are some of my examples.

This shows my mise en place(basically prepped foods), all ready for their prospective applications.  I do this prep work the day before, label and place in the ziplock bags and use as needed. I make my mac and cheese the day before and the cranberry sauce ahead of time too. I like to unwrap, clean and leave my turkey open in the refrigerator the night before to dry the skin out abit (makes for a crispier skin).You can use fresh bread as well for stuffing, cut up and leave out overnight in roasting pan to dry out a bit, perfect for stuffing the bird.

The day of I like to use fresh veggies as the base for the bird rather then using a rack.  It keeps the bird from sitting in the fat and drippings, and adds such fabulous flavor to the drippings to make a really terrific gravy.  My vegetable base consists of carrots, celery, onion, garlic clove, a couple of shallots, bay leaves, and the crowning touch, fennel, which adds such a great sweetness and full flavor. I stuff my bird ALWAYS! I find this is a very midwestern thing, and being from Illinois I fit the bill. Stuffing is best in the bird because of the internal juices just add so much flavor. I do season the inside of the bird first before adding the stuffing, which is very a very traditional sage, butter, celery, chicken stock, onion and bread crumb stuffing  I chop fresh sage and blend with softened butter to put between the skin and flesh of the turkey then get ready to prepare the bird.

The actual recipe for the bird is a take off of a Martha recipe. Preheat the oven to 450F. You melt a stick of butter and about a half to full bottle of white wine and warm in a sauce pan till butter is melted.  Take cheesecloth and fully soak in the liquid. then cover the turkey with the cheesecloth, trying your best to cover the drumsticks and thighs.You roast the bird for a half an hour at the high heat and then lower to 350F for another 2 1/2 hours then remove the cheesecloth.  Cook for another hour or so, looking for 165F internal temperature. While cooking I do baste maybe every 45 minutes or so, and if I am short on liquid I use a bit of chicken stock.  I also use the neck of the turkey and usually purchase addtional necks, wings or turkey legs and place in a pot with onion, garlic, celery, carrot and water to let simmer for the day to make a flavorful stock for the gravy.

Once the turkey is done, I try to get out the stuffing right away and put into a oven safe dish. Cover the turkey lightly with foil to rest for about a half and hour and while that is happening use some of the pan drippings to moisten the stuffing and then put in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes to heat thru completely. As soon as possible I move the turkey to a cutting surface and cover and then I strain off the pan drippings so I can make the gravy, which I do in a seperate skillet.  I draw a couple of tablespoons off the top of the pan drippings, which is the fat and use that with a couple of tablespoons of flour and heat in a pan till blended and just coloring. Whisk in the  rest of the pan drippings, less as much of that fat as possible, the stock that you have been simmering all day- to total about 2 cups and bring to a boil which will cause it to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste, you will be pleased with that extra something special that fennel adds.

I feel after all these years I have the turkey thing down ok,  I have all sorts of things to try, brining, low temp cooking, frying, the usual suspects, but this method seems to do ok and produce a moist turkey.  HOWEVER, if you find your turkey to be a bit dry(it is very difficult to get cooked dark meat without drying out the white meat) then take your roasting pan, now empty and put enough chicken stock or remaining turkey stock to cover the bottom of the pan.  Place the cut turkey in the roasting pan and cover with foil.  If you are worried that it is getting to cold, the oven should be off but still warm , put the roasting pan in there, keep the door cracked.  You don't want to cook the meat more, but you do want to keep it warm. The addtional moisture really does help to plump up a turkey that may have gone a bit past, and no one is the wiser. 

The best advice I can give is don't give up.  Every year you learn more, you see what worked and what didn't.  AND I feel more important then the turkey is the cranberry sauce, gravy and mashed potatoes, because no matter how dry or flavorless your turkey may or may not be, if you succeeded with the sides, no one will be the wiser.  TRUST ME! 

BALANCE and the Zig Zag Workout

This is a post that is not a recipe or about food, well maybe not about but because of it. Balance is a very important thing in life, and it has only taken me 46 years to realize it. If you love to cook as much as I do, you must balance that with activity.  Sounds obvious doesn't it?  All things great in theory, don't always equate the actions they intend, but this year I have made conscience efforts in this area, ACTIVITY.  I though I would share my journey, my thoughts and my ideas thus far.


So you can go out and spend thousands of dollars on the equipment, like my elyptical trainer and my treadmill. I think I spent less on my first car then I did on those two pieces of equipment! Don't get me wrong, the are terrific , but the realization hit when I went for a walk with my husband and after months of 5 or 6 days a week, 45 - 60 minute workouts, HIGH impact, and the first hill I took I thought I would DIE! And the moral of that story is there is no replacement for the ACTUAL thing, and bonus points, vitamin D, fresh air and commune with nature a bit. Think of this this way, our bodies are a well manufactured machine, and if you think about all the investments we have made into them, food, clothing, shelter alone, we could have bought enough machinery to fill 100 gyms, so why not work on that investment, our own machine using our own machine to improve it! 

I am very fortunate, I live on a 90 acre avocado and citrus ranch.  There are endless grove roads and combinations of trails to take, hills and flat areas. And yet it still becomes a bit monotonous so I started to experiment and I think I came up with something fun that anyone can do anywhere.  I call it the zig zag. The zig zag is really just that, instead of walking a straight line you zig zag your walk, for every step you would have taken forward, depending on the width of your path, you take extra steps by zig zagging.  There are some advantages to this, first of all you can have a shorter distance of a walk and still get the steps in, you work different muscles by the pivots you make, if you are going up or down hills you can cut down on the grade, which for me and not so terrific knees, is a bit of a relief.  I also do a zig zag that is like a side step, which causes you to push off and work your inner thighs too. Now the downside, people think you have been nipping at the eggnog, but I don't care, it makes it a little more interesting.  


In any case, finding balance in my life is a never ending quest, as I am sure there are many who join me in it. Juggling family, business, and whatever else gets thrown in our direction tends to make me feel like a baseball player waiting for the perfect pitch, wishing I had someone giving me signals to give the heads up, but then again, sometimes the fun is more in the quest then in the destination!


So get out there, find some balance in your life with the zig zag!

Good ole Cheesy Mac n Cheese

This one is for Kim, my other lobe! I do a mac and cheese for Thanksgiving every year and it truly satisfies all walks, meat eaters, ketchup lovers and vegetarians! I have been doing it for so long by taste, touch and site, I had never really written it down, but my family will be thankful today, since I decided it was time to write the recipe and the best way is to make it and measure as I go along, So here goes!

CHEESY MAC 'N CHEESE
1 1/2 pound of macaroni noodles (6 cups dry)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup flour
4 cups liquid, I like 1 heavy cream and 3 of whole milk
1/4 tsp pepper ( I prefer white pepper only because it doesn't show in the sauce)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp nutmeg preferably fresh grated
pinch cayenne
8 cups cheese of your choice
optional bread crumbs (or toasted bread cut up in small croutons)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Prepare the macaroni according to the package directions, but be sure to err on the side of al dente or just under fully done, it will be recooked when the mac and cheese is baked and you don't want it to be a mushy noodle.  Strain and set aside.  In a large pot, I like to use a small stock pot, melt the butter over med high heat, when it is just about melted , add the flour and turn down to medium and use a whisk to mix together, it should be a bit more liquid then a paste.  The key is to cook the floury taste out of the flour and get a little color, the technical term here is we are making a roux, a light one.  It should be the color of lightly toasted white bread.  At this point I add one cup of the liquid, whisking the whole time.  It will start to thicken and as soon as that one cup is incorporated, add the rest of the liquid and whisk, whisk, whisk.  You know the thing I think that is missing in cook books are instructions that we can relate to if we have never done anything like this in our life, or the "why" of what we are asked to do.  So I am trying to make sure I give those explanations.  Why you whisk is you don't want it to burn on the bottom of the pan, and milk products will scald and it is not an attractive flavor for mac and cheese, BUT you must bring the mixture to a boil or it won't thicken properly, so it is important to give this mixture your full attention. The technical term of this sauce is a bechamel and it is a mother sauce, used often as a base to create other sauces just like the one we are making.  Once it is bubbly and thickened, turn the heat to low, keep that whisk handy, and add in the spices, whisking after each addition.  Make sure it is fully mixed and turn off the heat.  Add your cheese and now you want to stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula works well.   Stir to make sure everything is incorporated.  It will be thick and cheesy.

I like to add the noodles to my pot, but if your pot isn't large enough, put your noodles in your casserole dish and pour the cheese sauce over. Either way, mix the noodles with the sauce well and get into your casserole dish.

Now here is where you can get creative.  You can sprinkle the Parmesan on top that simple or you can do the cheese and breadcrumbs, or breadcrumbs and the cheese, either way dot with a bit of butter or drizzle with a vegetable oil before baking.  The other way to go is to cut the crusts off of half a loaf of white bread.  Toast and then cut into small crouton shape.  Spread Parmesan cheese, spread croutons and then dot with some butter or drizzle oil before baking. You can also add a couple tblsps of truffle oil to the mac and stir well before toppings.
As far as the baking process goes, it is 375 degrees for about 40 minutes, covered with foil for 20 minutes and uncover for that last 20.   Cook until bubbly and lightly browned.
Lets chat about cheese.  There are many choices you can make. and 8 cups can give you so many choices of combinations.  My combination of choice goes like this.  I like a Gruyère for its nutty flavor, fontina for its creaminess, monterey jack for the melty, sharpness, a sharp cheddar for its nutty, sharp flavor, romano for the sweetness and the Parmesan for the salty nutty flavor.  I use the first 5 for the cheese sauce and the last for the top.  However, I have done many different cheeses.  When I am doing this for a kid party, I use cheddar, mozzarella and Velveeta cheese.  Sometimes I do a lower calorie version so I use the shredded lowfat cheeses.
A couple of notes. You notice I added no salt in this recipe.  I am a firm believer in tasting, the problem is you can taste this thing all along, but the Parmesan is pretty salty so I am concerned about telling anyone to salt, but here is the thing, I salt the bechamel before adding the cheese.  I add about a tsp of kosher salt.  If you taste the sauce before the salt and then after, you will see how the salt accentuates all the spices you added, however, it is really easy to over salt so IF you decide to try to add salt at this point, maybe go 1/2 tsp or even a 1/4 and as you go along and make this recipe again you will know it was too much or not enough.
My final note is the additions you could make if you really wanted to.  To the point that the sauce is the cheese sauce, you could add green chiles, bell pepper and/or some of your favorite salsa for a spicy southwestern kick, also sub in some pepper jack cheese for some or all of the cheese..  You could saute ham or pancetta and add that to the cheese sauce for really unique flavor.   You can really cut back on calories and substitute some of the liquids for chicken stock.  Add some fresh herbs to the bread crumbs for a really fresh take.  The bottom line is don't be afraid of trying new things. It is only food, doesn't work out, do it a different way next time.  No one is perfect and no one does it perfect every time, so trust you instincts, and make sure you are tasting as you go.  Remember, strong flavors, like salt, pepper, mustard, they can all get a little stronger with heat, so be sparing, you can always add after cooking.
Give it a try and let me know how it is goes!  Good eating!