Food Photo Roundup

A few pictures of random things I've cooked in the couple months.

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese with
Roasted Broccoli

Dill and Lemon Salmon with Kale Chips
and Roasted Butternut Squash

Chicken Pot Pie

Weekend Cooking Part 2: Clam Chowder

Last weekend, I also made clam chowder. I was hoping to put it in bread bowls, but the Safeway near me doesn't have a bakery and is therefore very lacking in the fresh bread department. Instead, I served it with a sourdough baguette and it was almost as delicious.

My clam chowder was loosely based on this recipe, but I used 3 cans of minced clams plus a small bottle of clam juice. Instead of milk and cream I mixed in half & half for the creaminess.

Yummy Bowl of Clam Chowder!

Weekend Cooking Part 1: Tacos

Over the weekend, I made steak tacos and clam chowder for Ryan and myself. Both recipes came out well, and I would make them again. 

First, the tacos were based on a recipe from Tyler Florence. I used his recipe for mojo as a base and tweaked it a little bit to my preferences and what I had on hand. I wish I had skirt steak instead of flank, but I was happy with the final product. Next time, I will add more chipotles because, while the marinade had good flavor I want it to have a little more of a kick.

Ryan's Plate of Tacos with Side of Mexican Rice

Mojo Steak Tacos

adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 lb skirt or flank steak

Marinade:

5 garlic cloves

1 chipotle in adobo plus some adobo sauce

1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 limes, juiced

1 orange, juiced

2 tbs red wine vinegar

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

For Tacos:

Corn or flour tortillas

Guacamole

Tomatoes

Salsa

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Cheese

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients for the marinade into a food processor and pulse together until it forms a paste.
2. Place the steak into a resealable bag and pour in the marinade. Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
3. Take the steak out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking.
4. Cook on a grill or cast iron pan to desired doneness.
5. Serve on tortillas with any toppings you like. I think that guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream make the perfect taco!

Baked Not Fried

Trying to find healthier alternatives to fried food can be a difficult feat. Some things are just meant to be fried. While baked alternatives may not ever be able to emulate the deliciousness of their fried counterparts, I've been trying out some recipes in hopes of finding some suitable substitutes.

In the past, I've tried baking buffalo wings, fries/sweet potato fries, zucchini, many attempts in vain, but some more successful. The most recent and most successful attempt was buffalo wings. Using Alton Brown's method of steaming the wings before baking produced a tasty result that was *this* close to fried buffalo wings.

Tonight for dinner, I attempted making a baked version of chicken taquitos. Taquitos are a celebrated fried snack food, making them an ideal target for the "baked not fried" challenge. The results weren’t exactly amazing, but at least they tasted good. The corn tortillas split open while baking, something that happened when I tried baked taquitos before. I think it has to do with the tortillas drying out in the oven because there is no oil (just non-stick spray) to keep them moist.

For the chicken, I baked off a chicken breast then mixed in the adobo sauce from canned chipotles, leftover yogurt dip (greek yogurt, chipotles, garlic, lime), mozzarella cheese, and spices including cumin, coriander, garlic and smoked paprika. I wrapped them up in corn tortillas that I got from a Mexican grocery store in Oakland. After spraying them with non-stick spray I baked them at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

I added a side of homemade refried pinto beans. To make these I just sauteed half a jalapeno, one shallot and one clove of garlic in a little bit of olive oil in a small pot. I drained half the liquid from a can of pinto beans and then using a fork smashed and mashed them up in a bowl. I added the beans to the pot along with a little salt and pepper plus a bit of cumin. The beans cooked for 10-15 minutes on low until some of the moisture had evaporated. Before serving I added some cheese to the pot and put the lid on so it would melt. Even though I was trying to cook healthier I ended up with a meal lacking in vegetables besides onion and jalapeno so I added some tomato on top of the beans.

Here's a picture of the result.

Overall, it was a tasty and satisfying alternative to the fried snack, but I want to play around with ways to make the taquitos so they don't split open during baking.

Taking a Break from Baking - Green Chile Pork Stew

Green Chile Pork Stew with All the Sides

I saw that New Mexico green chiles were going to be coming to Berkeley Bowl as a special. Apparently, New Mexico is famous for these green chiles and it is hard to find them outside of New Mexico except for this time a year when some stores have them shipped in. I decided that I wanted to make something with these chiles even though I had never used them before. After doing some research I decided on Green Chile Pork Stew. I found that there are few variations including New Mexico as well as Mexican versions. I chose the New Mexican style because they were New Mexico chiles. The main difference I found in the recipes was the inclusion of tomatillos in most Mexican variations of green chile stew/chile verde.

Here is the recipe I came up with. I combined a couple of recipes' ingredients and procedures and this was the result:

New Mexico Green Chile Pork Stew

Ingredients:

18 New Mexico green chile peppers (I used 8 Anaheim, 5 Big Jim, and 5 Sandia peppers) 

3 jalapenos 

2 tbs vegetable oil 

2 1/2 lbs boneless pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1 inch cubes 

salt 

1 medium onion, chopped 

5 cloves garlic 

1 tbs minced, seeded jalapeno 

1 tsp oregano 

1 1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp ground cumin 

2 tbs all-purpose flour 

3 cups low sodium chicken stock 

Directions: 

1. Roast the peppers by placing them on a baking sheet and putting them under the broiler. Turn them frequently to get an even char all over the peppers. Alternately, roast on an open gas flame, turning them frequently with tongs until all sides are charred black, about 7 to 10 minutes (you can also roast peppers on an outside grill).
2. Place the blackened peppers in a large bowl or plastic bag (s), and let rest until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. This will loosen the skins.
3. Peel the skin off the peppers, and remove most of the seeds and the stems. Chop the peppers and set aside.
4. In a dutch oven or large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
5. Lightly season the cubes of pork with salt and, in batches, add them to the pot, cooking until browned, about 8-10 minutes. Once browned, remove pork from the pot and set aside. If there is a lot of fat left in the pot, pour off excess and leave about1/4 cup.
6. Lower the heat slightly, and add the onions, garlic and jalapenos to the pot and cook, stirring, until tender, about 3 minutes.
7. Add the oregano, salt, and cumin, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
8. Add the flour and cook, stirring, without allowing to color, for 2 minutes.
9. Add the reserved, chopped peppers, and stir well to combine. Add the chicken stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 to 60 minutes or until the pork is tender.

*We made cilantro-lime rice to eat with the Green Chile Pork Stew. Cook white rice as directed and mix in handful of chopped cilantro, juice of 1-2 limes and salt to taste.

Store bought tortillas, homemade guacamole and canned refried beans rounded out the meal.