Pork Chile Verde

Oh my goodness – a huge thank you to Branden for finding AND making this recipe this week as it was FABULOUS!  The favors and textures were just incredible!  The meat was tender and the broth was thick – I mean like thick enough that you could probably repurpose the leftovers into enchiladas.  I kid you not, this is probably one of the better soup recipes we have tried this winter!

Branden poured his soup over white rice.  We also tried eating it with tortillas and that was just plain messy!  Personally, I liked it Plain Jane – nothing else needed!

Enjoy!

• 1 1/2 lbs. tomatillos
• 5 garlic cloves, not peeled
• 2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
• 2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped
• 3 1/2 to 4 lbs. pork shoulder (also called pork butt), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 to 2-inch cubes
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 TBS of chopped fresh oregano or 1 Tbsp of dried oregano
• 2 1/2 c. chicken stock
• Pinch of ground cloves

Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut in half and place cut side down, along with 5 unpeeled garlic cloves, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. Remove from oven, let cool enough to handle.

Roast fresh chilies over a gas flame or under the broiler until blackened all around. Let cool in a bag, remove the skin, seeds, and stem.

Place tomatillos, skins included, into blender. Remove the now roasted garlic cloves from their skins, add them to the blender. Add chopped Jalapeño peppers, other chilies (if you are using them), and cilantro to the blender. Pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.

Season the pork cubes generously with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and brown pork chunks well on all sides. Work in batches so that the pork is not crowded in the pan and has a better chance to brown well. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, lift pork out of pan and place in bowl, set aside.

Pour off excess fat, anything beyond a tablespoon, and place the onions and garlic in the same skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. If your skillet is large enough to cook the entire batch of chile verde, with the sauce and meat, then add the pork back to the pan. If not, get a large soup pot and add the onion mixture and the pork to it. Add the oregano to the pan. Add the tomatillo chile verde sauce to the pork and onions. Add the chicken stock (enough to cover the meat). Add a pinch of ground cloves. Add a little salt and pepper. (Not too much as the chile verde will continue to cook down and concentrate a bit.)

Bring to a boil and reduce to a slight simmer. Cook for 2-3 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender. Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

– Courtesy of SimplyRecipes.com

 

Chipotle Burrito Bowl

I was hungry for Chipotle the other night, but 1,200 calories for dinner didn’t sound like a good idea, so I decided to make my own version of that wonderul goodness (unfortunately sans that delicious tortilla).  Enter: Burrito Bowl.

This was a pretty simple meal and used a lot of staples that I already had in the house; beans, rice, onion, shrimp (in the freezer).  I also used one of those Frontera sauce packets I’ve talked about before to save some time and add a quick pop of spicy flavor.  Even though this one said it was for chicken, I wanted the smoky tomato and chile flavors without having to add roasted tomatoes and chiles to the dish, so this worked out well.  By the way, you can totaly make this with grilled chicken…I only used shrimp because I knew I could thaw it quicker and quite frankly, it sounded good.

Had I not lost my marbles, I had bought some Mexican queso to sprinkle over the top too.  Alas, its still still in my fridge, forgotten about.  Oh well, this was still yummy in my tummy.

Enjoy!

• 2 c. cooked rice (I used basmati, but a regular long-grain white will do just fine)
• Juice of one lime
• 1 c. fresh chopped cilantro, divided
• 1 can black beans
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground curry
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 jalepeno, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 lb. fresh shrimp
• 1 Frontera simmer sauce package
• 1/2 avocado, thinkly sliced
• 1/4 cup Mexican queso (optional)

Stir the juice of the lime and 1/2 c. of cilantro into cooked rice.  Set aside.

Mix black beans, curry, and cumin in a small saucepan and heat over low until beginning to simmer.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and saute garlic for one minute.  Add all peppers and onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add shrimp and continue stirring until pink.  Add simmer sauce and bring to a simmer for three minutes.

To serve, place 1/2 c. of rice in bottom of bowl and layer with black beans and sauce mixture.  Top with cilantro, avocado slices, and cheese.

 

Jamaican Chicken Stew

For those of you who haven’t noticed, I am all about a quick weeknight dinner that tastes like I slaved over it for hours.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook  so I don’t mind spending hours on end in the kitchen, but sometimes I’m just whooped by the time I get home from work and errands at 6:30 on most weeknights.  Since I don’t exactly want to be eating dinner at 10 p.m., I rely heavily on easy weeknight dinners that taste great…like this one.  This was a major hit with Branden, too (who said we “definitely are making this again”).  Now that I moved away from “diet” recipes and have been focusing on more well rounded, high protein and high fiber recipes (packed with lots of flavor), I’ve had a much happier husband.  Lesson learned.

This recipe is delicious and a tad spicy which is nice.  I served it over jasmine rice (mostly because I like the flavor and texture better than plain white rice), but use whatever you’d like.  Other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Enjoy!

• 1 cup uncooked Jasmine rice (or other long-grained rice)
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 tsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
• 1/2 c. dry red wine
• 2 TBS. capers (drained)
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can fire roasted tomatoes, undrained

1. Prepare rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
2. While rice cooks, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and garlic, saute 3 minutes or until tender.  Combine chicken and the next 5 ingredients (through black pepper) in a bowl.  Add chicken mixture to skillet; saute 4 minutes.  Stir in wine, capers, beans, and tomatoes.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender.  Serve over rice.

Branden’s Birthday Dinner a.k.a. Mexican Fiesta Part I

This year for Branden’s birthday, we decided to stay in since we’ve been traveling a LOT during the month of April.  Between the two of us (sometimes together, sometimes apart) we’ve been to Pennsylvania, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida.  Although we’ve enjoyed all the food adventures along the way, we liked the idea of not eating in a restaurant over the weekend.  Besides, Branden had found this awesome “Ultimate Mexican” cookbook/magazine thing on the magazine rack at the grocery store last week that we were dying to test out.

With the exception of the appetizer that I got out of one of my Latin cookbooks, the menu came entirely from Ultimate Mexican, a Better Homes and Gardens Special Publication.  I’ll be posting one of the recipes from the below menu over several posts this week because quite frankly, I have so much to say that I think it would be overwhelming in one post.  I also made Branden a birthday cake that is most definitely NOT Mexican, so I’ll address that later as well because its worth sharing!

Now for the menu:

• Yellowfin Tuna & Coconut Poblano Ceviche
• Roasted Red Pepper Guacamole
• Enchiladas Suizas
• Classic Margaritas on the Rocks

Today’s recipe comes from Fiesta Latina by Rafael Palomino.  My Mom gave me this cookbook years ago, but because of the “exotic” (a.k.a. not found in Wayne County) ingredients, I’ve often pushed it aside after drooling over the pictures.  Now that I’m no longer on a college student budget, I’m able to work a little harder to track down hard-to-find and high-end ingredients.  Thank goodness!

• 12 oz. sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna, cut into 1/4″ dice
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Juice of 2 limes
• Juice of 2 oranges
• 1 medium-sized red onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 2 TBS coarsely chopped cilantro
• One 14 oz. can coconut milk
• 3 TBS cream of coconut
• 1 TBS honey
• Kosher sale and freshly ground pepper

Put the tuna in a large glass or ceramic bowl.  Add the citrus juices, mix well, and cover tightly.  Refridgerate until tuna is turning opaque on the outside but is still rare on the inside, about 15 minutes.  Combine the remaining ingredients with the tuna mixture.  Serve chilled.

Thoughts on the recipe: First of all, YUM!  I love ceviche and this recipe did not disappoint!  Branden and I both agreed that half of the called-for onion would be sufficient, especially because the raw onion becomes really potent the longer it sits.  I did double the honey as well, just for good measure.  I really loved the smoky flavors of the roasted poblano peppers combined with the sweet and sour of citrus and coconut.  One word of advice: do NOT use reduced fat or fat free coconut milk.  I didn’t make the mistake with this recipe, but I have with other recipes in the past and I just don’t even want to talk about the lack of flavor that resulted.  I know that its not as healthy to use “full fat,” but I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.  There are just some ingredients that weren’t meant to be messed with in my mind and coconut milk is one of them.  Trust me.

Don’t be overwhelmed by this recipe- I honestly think it would be hard to mess up, but I definitely understand why the thought of cooking raw fish in citrus juices is intimidating.  As long as you use sashimi or sushi-grade fish, you really have nothing to worry about.  And since the fish is will continue cooking since its still in the acid, leftovers can be kept for a day without fear.  Might I suggest treating it like salsa on day two?  Very yummy with tortilla chips!