Green Chile Stew

Notes on preparation

• The amount of sodium in your chili powder varies. Taste a bit before adding any salt. I like Penzey's Medium Hot Chili Powder which has no added salt. 
• Use Mexican oregano if you have it on hand, regular is fine. 
• I've tried including the liquid from the green chiles and did not like the outcome personally. 
• Pork:You can purchase pork chops (already sliced) or you can purchase a huge pork loin package from Costco and slice them yourself. There is some savings in the latter. Cut it 1/2 inch slices and store in 2 lb (or close enough) portions and freeze. The original recipe called for pork shoulder or butt. It is definitely more flavorful. It also takes longer to cut and trim and contains more animal fat. 
• When I can get them I use Goya White Hominy and Westbrae Great Northern Beans (not pictured above). The beans break down well to become the "gravy" for the stew.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds pork chops, 2 to 2 1/2 pounds boneless, trimmed and cut in to 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 30 ounces hominy, canned, drained (Goya)
• 32 ounces great northern beans, canned, drained (Westbrae)
• 10 ounces tomatoes with green chilies, canned with juices (Rotel)
• 12 ounces green chiles, canned, drained or frozen thawed and drained (Bueno are great if you live in the southwest)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 10 oz lager or pilsner beer
• Salt, to taste
• chopped cilantro and radish slices, to garnish

Directions

1. In a large Dutch oven or deep skillet with lid, brown pork cubes in a little oil. Remove liquid at end of browning to get a little crust on pork if you like.. Add onion and a little more oil to the pot. Cook until soft. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add remaining ingredients except salt and garnishes. Cover and simmer low for one hour. Add 8 oz beer or more as needed. . 
2. Taste and adjust seasonings for salt. Serve hot garnished with cilantro and sliced or julienned radishes. This stew reheats well; cover and refrigerate for up to three days; freeze for longer storage.

Rachael Ray has a terrific Posole recipe I've made a couple of times. I like it. I drain the cans of hominy when making it. 

Beef Stew

This is my favorite version. I prefer baking the bacon and using some of the reserved fat to sauté the onion.  I am leaning towards browning the meat in a skillet and then transferring to the Dutch oven.

 4  slices bacon
 2  cups onion -- chopped
 2 1/2  pounds stew meat -- or cut up your own into 1 inch chunks
 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 1/2 teaspoon black pepper -- freshly ground
 3  cups beef stock -- Better than Bouillon works well
 12  ounces beer -- malty; Nut brown ale is nice
 2 tablespoons tomato paste
 2  teaspoons mustard -- brown or yellow
 2  teaspoons fresh savory -- or teaspoon dried savory or marjoram; more for dried
 1  pinch cayenne
 1 1/2  cups pearl onion -- blanched and peeled (frozen works too)
 6  medium carrot -- cut into chunks
 4  small red potatoes -- peeled and cut into chunks
 3  Medium parsnip -- cut into chunks

1. Fry bacon in a Dutch oven until crisp.
2. Remove bacon w/ slotted spoon, drain and reserve it.
3. Stir the onion into the bacon fat and sauté until soft and transluscent, about 5 minutes.
4. Toss the meat cubes with the flour , salt, and pepper. Add about half the cubes to the Dutch oven and brown. Add remaining cubes and brown.
5. Pour in the stock and beer, tomato paste, mustard, savory, and a pinch or two of cayenne.
6. Simmer for 1 hour, then add the pearl onions, carrots, potatoes, and parsnips.
7. Simmer uncovered for 1 to 1 1/2 additional hours, until the meat and vegetables are very tender and the liquid is thick.
8. Add Bacon back onto pot about 20 minutes before serving

Red Sauce Salsa

Yet another recipe from The Homesick Texan Cookbook. Super easy and super tasty. This recipe uses canned crushed tomatoes which are fine everyday salsa. Great in breakfast tacos, with chips, over eggs, or whatever. I buzz up some of this about every two weeks. It lasts around a week, but it does become more "garlic-y" over time. I've cut the original recipe from two cloves to one. I imagine one could use garlic powder in a pinch. The only fresh ingredients you need are an onion, lemon, garlic and cilantro. Keep the other ingredients on hand and you can make a batch anytime.

Ingredients
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove of garlic peeled and halved
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup cilantro (some stems are okay, but mostly leaves)
1/4 to 1/2 or more pickled jalapeños (you can add a little of the pickling liquid if you want)
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes (Hunt's are good)
Salt to taste

Directions

Add the ingredients in the order listed above to a blender. Blend until pretty smooth but not liquifed. Sample and salt to taste stirring in the salt. Transfer to containers and refrigerate. Stays good for a little over a week. Makes 3 1/2 to 4 cups. 

Shrimp With White Bean Stew

Not sure why I haven't added this before. Make it all the time for weekday dinner. Fast and easy. I like using Better than Bouillon for the clam juice/fish stock ingredient. Easy to keep on hand and relatively inexpensive. It can be hard to find. Thinking of trying Minor's fish stock base from Amazon.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 cups cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed if canned
One 14-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 cups clam broth or fish stock (I use clam base from better than bouillon)
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions
Heat oil in a dutch oven.
Saute onion and garlic for about 5 minutes.
Add cannellini beans, tomatoes, salt, rosemary and pepper.
Add clam broth and bring everything to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add shrimp and simmer till just done, about 2 minutes.
Add chopped parsley when you serve in bowl.

Asparagus and Scallion Frittata

Just made this and loved it. Might add some pimento's or chopped roasted red peppers for some color. No need to peel the bottoms if you are using pencil thin asparagus,


1 lb asparagus bottoms cut, lower portion peeled, tops cut, the stalk cut into 1 to 3/4-inch pieces
1 bunch scallions white parts trimmed away and cut into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces
3 tbsp butter
2 pinches crushed red pepper
6 eggs
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
fresh herb leaves for garnish: chives, parsley, (tarragon?)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F
In a medium (10") skillet, get some water boiling, add some salt. Prep asparagus while this is coming to a boil.
Add the asparagus and cook for about 2 minutes or until just getting tender. Drain and maybe rinse in cool water.
Clean skillet and melt butter over medium-low heat. Add scallions once melted and cook for about 4 or 5 minutes. Whisk eggs with a tbsp of water and a pinch of salt.
Add the asparagus in a single later and pinches of crushed red pepper.
Pour whisked eggs over asparagus and scallions. Give the skillet the ol' tapa-tapa to ensure eggs are distributed.
Grate the cheese onto the top of the egg mixture in the skillet and cook over heat for about 5 minutes or until edges are set.
Move skillet to the oven and bake for about 7 to 10 minutes until top is set.
Remove skillet from the oven, loosen fritatta from pan and slide onto a cutting board. If you like you can take another cutting board, lay it on top, and invert the fritatta. Looks nicer.
Garnish away.

Rustic No-Knead Bread

Huge thank you to my brother for introducing me to this bread making method and where it has taken me. It yields a thick crusted bread with a firm open crumb. The options for add-ins such as rosemary-thyme are endless. Big thank you to Flavors of Spain in the Southwest for their Rustic Bread video which is invaluable for learning the techniques to make this bread. One last nod to Ken Forkish for his book on bread baking. I've linked to an Amazon list for equipment below.

The directions below are the best I could do to describe the process. The video is probably a better way to convey the steps. Here's the link to the video.
Also, here is a link to an Amazon List that contains items I use (roughly) when baking bread. For tons of easier and less equipment intensive no-knead recipes, I highly recommend Artisan Bread With Steve. His no nonsense approach is awesome.


Ingredients for two loaves
1 kg flour (King Arthur AP 11.7% gluten)
20 g salt (table not kosher/ 1.1 tablespoons)
1 g  (1/4 teaspoon) yeast
780 ml water at about 85°F (+/- 5° degrees)

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large container (12 qt cambro) and add water. Mix by hand until all the flour is combined. Set timer for 20 minutes. Cover and set aside. 
2. Fold dough over four times at 20 minute intervals for a total of four foldings. 
3. Set the timer for 12 hours. 
4. After 12 hours, turn out dough onto a floured work surface. Divide in half and form each half into a ball as shown in the video. 
5. Place balls into floured proofing baskets or glass bowl with floured towel. Place baskets with dough into large plastic bags and twist opening to hold air and moisture. Start preheating oven with baking vessel(s) inside to 475°F. Set timer to 1 hour. 
6. Remove vessel from oven.  Turn out dough of one basket onto floured surface and transfer this to the baking vessel. Cover and return it to the oven. Set timer for 30 minutes. Place the 2nd proofing basked with dough into refrigerator to retard the proofing. If you have two vessels, put it in the 2nd one and bake alongside the first.
7. After 30 minutes, uncover the baking vessel(s) and bake for 10-15 more minutes. You can take loaf out of vessel(s) and place directly on oven rack if you want crisper crust and drier crumb. Loaf should make hollow sound when the bottom is "thumped".
8. Turn out baked loaf onto cooling rack. Cool for about 2 hours. 

Once you've made a basic white you can start adding other ingredients to enhance your loaves. Here are some I've done with success. 

Rosemary-Thyme: add one tablespoon Rosemary and about one teaspoon thyme to the just before adding the water to make the dough. 

Cheddar-jalapeño: 10 ounces of grated sharp cheddar and about 1/2 cup sliced jalapeños seeds and membranes removed. 

Savory Seeds: Add 1 teaspoon each caraway, fennel and anise seed. Toast in advance if you like. 

Olives: add a mix of coarsely sliced or chopped Kalamata and black olives. Include some rosemary if that suits your taste. 

Autumn in New England Cocktail

Great cocktail for fall when apple cider is available. Cider shows up here late October. Apple juice can be substituted. I tried adjusting the amounts and this is perfectly balanced. I think a little more bourbon helps it taste more like a real cocktail and less like something listed under Cocktails on a restaurant menu. Musical accompaniment while making and drinking: Moonlight in Vermont by Willie Nelson

Ingredients

3-4 fresh sage leaves, plus a small one for garnish

1/4 oz maple syrup

2 oz bourbon (maybe a splash more)

1 oz apple cider or apple juice

1/4 oz apple cider vinegar

Muddle the sage leaves with syrup in a shaker bottom.

Add the other ingredients and shake with ice. 

Double-strain into an old-fashioned glass with ice and garnish with small sage leaf. 

I also served this up in a Nick and Nora glass which looked great with a single sage leaf floating on top.