Chopped salad

August 23rd, 2010
by: Sue

This is a basic iceberg salad with a little update.

1 head iceberg lettuce, sliced in 1/2 inch strips, then rough diced by chopping crossways
4-5 green onions, sliced thin on the diagonal
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped roughly
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (may serve separately for those who don’t eat tomatoes)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
1/2 lemon, juiced over the salad

Chop and combine in a salad bowl. Serve with homemade bleu cheese dressing or dressing of your choice. Fresh salsa is good!

If you have leftovers this will keep for a day or so especially if the tomatoes are kept separate.

Sue’s Spectacular Spaghetti Sauce

August 14th, 2010
by: Dude

When Dude and Dude’s sister visited Sue during summer 2010, they thought it would be a wonderful experience to make some incredible spaghetti sauce. Thanks to Sue for leading the way for a new generation of cooks!

Ingredients:
1 medium/large onion (diced)
2 carrots (peeled and grated)
2 stalks of celery (diced)
4 cloves of minced garlic
2  cans of crushed tomatoes (26 oz/can)
1 can of tomato puree (6 oz)
1 lb Italian link sausage
4 slices bacon (diced and browned)
3 stems rosemary (diced)
1/2 box chicken broth (around 16 oz)
salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning to taste
wine to taste

Directions:
Brown the bacon and the sausage in a skillet. Sauté vegetables in the big stock pot, using olive oil. Salt and pepper the vegetables as you sauté them. Once they are wilted and translucent, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, and cooked meat. Simmer on medium low for 2-3 hours. Add wine to taste midway through simmer. Make sure to check the pot and stir it occasionally. Serve over al dente spaghetti. On top of that spaghetti, you can put grated cheese of choice to taste.

(Note: you can substitue browned hamburger for the Italian sausage, but if you do, make sure to add red pepper flakes to the hamburger)

Calabacitas con Elote

August 9th, 2010
by: Blue

I love to make this dish after visiting the farmers market for locally grown, fresh produce.

Ingredients:
3 ears of fresh corn
3-4 yellow or zucchini squash (or a mix)
2 roasted Anaheim peppers, peeled and chopped (or substitute 1 can of green chiles)
1-2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
Queso Fresco (can substitute mozzerella or monterey jack for queso fresco)
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil

Directions:
Cut corn from the cobs.  Dice the squash.  In a skillet, saute the onions in the butter or oil until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the squash, garlic, and corn, and saute until the squash is tender.  Add the chiles and top with the queso fresco (or cheese of your choice).

How simple is THAT!

Ancho Sweet Potatoes

August 9th, 2010
by: Blue

I made this on Saturday for my sweetie and his dear friend.  It accompanied a Texas-flair dinner of fish tacos and and calabacitas con elote(squash and corn).  The sweet potatoes were the bomb!  I used two ancho chiles to keep the heat level low – use more if you want it little spicier.

Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes
2-3 dried ancho chiles
1/2 cup heavy cream, half and half, or milk
1 tablespoon butter
salt to taste

Directions:
Bake the sweet potatoes until soft and let them sit until cool enough to handle.  Tear the ancho chiles open and remove/discard seeds and stem.  Cut or tear the chiles into pieces.  Bring the heavy cream and anchos to a boil and immediately remove from heat.  Let this mixture stand at least 1/2 an hour; stir occasionally to make sure that the anchos are somewhat immersed in the cream.  Puree the mixture in a blender – this results in a delicious, creamy, ancho paste.

Peel the sweet potatoes and lightly mix with the ancho cream and salt.  Place into a casserole dish, top with dabs of butter, and bake at 350 until hot (about 20 minutes).

Posole

August 6th, 2010
by: Blue

I made this for Mitchell while he was home last week – he loved it and asked for me to post the recipe.  So here it is :-D   Posole is SO cussing delicious.  And it’s very forgiving.  Feel free to make substitutions or throw some other things in (black beans or some sweet corn would be yummy).

Red chile sauce:
1 1/2 cups boiling-hot water
1/4 large white onion
about 5 ounces (around 8 dried chiles), ancho, or guajillo, or new mexico red chiles
2 cloves garlic (from whole head; the rest will go into the posole)

Posole:
1 large head garlic
2 quarts chicken broth, beef broth, or water
3-4 pounds pork shoulder or butt roast, fat trimmed, and cut into chunks
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
Prepared Red chile sauce, or substitute 2-3 cans of red enchilada sauce
2 can green chiles (optional); or substitute Hatch chiles or roasted anaheim chiles)
3 teaspoons salt
2 30-ounce cans hominy, drained, or dried hominy that has been soaked overnight
1 can Rotel tomatoes (optional)

Soak dried hominy, unless you are using canned hominy (dried is better though!):
The day/night before you plan on making posole, start soaking the dried hominy in water.  You will need to use ALOT of water as the posole will soak it up and swell up big.  That’s what she said.  Generally I add enough water to the container with the posole in it so that the posole takes up 1/3 and water 2/3 of the total level…

Red chile sauce instructions:
Tear the chiles apart by hand; remove and discard the seeds and and stems.  Place the chiles in a bowl and cover completely with boiling-hot water. Soak chiles, turning them occasionally, for 30 minutes. Cut onion into large pieces and in a blender purée with chiles and soaking liquid (do not drain the chiles before pureeing), 2 cloves of garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt until smooth. For a shortcut on the red chile – simply substitute 2-3 cans of red enchilada sauce.

Posole instructions:

Thinly slice remaining garlic. In a heavy skillet over high heat, preheat a couple of tablespoons of oil and brown the chunks of pork with sliced garlic. High heat results in nice crusty brown bits on the pork.  This is what you want. Remove from heat.

In a big soup pot – add chicken broth, pork, oregano, cumin, red chili sauce, green chilis (optional), salt, homony, and Rotel tomatoes (optional). Gently simmer the posole, uncovered, until tender, at least 1 1/2 hours.  Your cooking time will be longer if you started with dried hominy – taking at least an additional hour.  But this is not rocket science – simmer it until the hominy is tender and the house is fragrant with the wonderful spicy smell….and adjust seasonings to your own tastes.

Optional Accompaniments:
diced avocado
chopped white onion
cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips or strips