Pork Picadillo Tacos

Do you ever use ground pork?  Sometimes I buy it to mix with ground beef and ground veal to make meatballs or meatloaf, and it's the protein of choice for Chinese dumplings, but it's also really tasty in Mexican dishes!  Now days you can buy very lean ground pork and it's economical also.  I like to use it as a change to ground beef or ground turkey.  The flavor is very mild, so it takes well to lots of spices and herbs.
This pork picadillo taco filling is super easy and comes together in one pan.  Serve it in soft, whole wheat or crispy, corn tortillas, or put it over tortilla chips as the beginning of delicious nachos!
This is an quick, simple recipe.  The secret to it's delicious-ness is to allow everything to brown well at the beginning!

Pork Picadillo Tacos (makes 6 generous tacos)
1-1.5 lb. lean ground pork (or turkey)
1 rather large jalapeno pepper, chopped (keep the seeds if you want it super spicy!)
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 large clove garlic, sliced thinly
6 medium sized mushrooms, chopped coarsely
2 Tbl. sliced almonds
1 Tbl. golden raisins (regular are fine)
1 Tbl. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt 
Baby greens
tortillas

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil.  Add the pork, mushrooms, garlic, and almonds, stirring to break up the pork.  After it's broken up, let it cook without stirring much, to let things brown nicely. 
Add the tomatoes, jalapeno and raisins.  Stir and cook about 3 minutes.  Add the salt and about 1/2 cup water.  Let the mixture cook down until the water is almost evaporated.  Taste for seasoning.
Heat the tortillas in the oven a few minutes.  Place a few baby greens on a tortilla and top with some picadillo.  Fold over and eat!  Repeat!

Maple Cream Pie: For Canadians Only!

Okay, well, you know I LOVE pies and making pies, but this was a new one for me!

There was one more event to commemorate at my friend, Jane's, house.  She got a new job as an art teacher!  Since Jane is very creative and loves children, this was a terrific opportunity for her and for her new students!  Being a new teacher is wonderful, but hectic, so I told Jane I'd love to bring over a meal for her family during her first teaching days.

Jane is Canadian, so I was thrilled to find a recipe in "Canadian Living" for something called "French Canadian Maple Cream Pie"!  It looked so innocent and simple in the photograph!  When I looked at the recipe, I was surprised at how simple it was, but I knew Canadian cooking tended to be "no frills", so I thought this would be just the thing!  It was super easy too!

Oh, my gosh.  I have never tasted anything so rich, creamy, decadent, sweet, did I mention rich? in my life!!  Obviously, this pie is meant only for those northern people that will be shoveling snow and playing hockey, and tapping more maple trees right after dinner!!  

I'm giving the recipe for curiosity's sake, but if you're not living in a place where there will soon be temperatures at minus something, I'm not sure I'd recommend making it!  However, it would be a good pie for a crowd because this thing could probably feed, oh, say, 100 ? :)

French Canadian Maple Cream Pie

12 oz. Grade B Maple Syrup (not a misprint!)

1 cup heavy cream (again....not a misprint!)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

1, pre-baked, 9-inch pie shell

Whisk together the syrup and cream.  In a separate bowl, whisk the cornstarch and water.  Combine the two, whisking well, in a heavy saucepan.  Heat over medium-high, stirring well, until the mixture comes to a boil.  Boil softly for 2 minutes, stirring.  The mixture will be thick.

Pour into the pie shell.  

Refrigerate until set, 4 hours or more.  

Note:  I got the fun pastry cutters at Williams-Sonoma!

Four Layer Mini-Devil's Food Cake

School has started up again in South Texas.  My friend, Jane's, daughter is a senior this year, so I wanted to make her a little something special to celebrate the day!  Plus, as you know, I'm looking for any reason these days to bake for other people! :)
I saw this 4 layer, mini-cake in Bon Appetit awhile back and thought it was SO CUTE!  It looks just like one of those cakes we made with the "Easy Bake Oven" only on steroids.  Jane's daughter is a real chocolate lover, so I thought this would be the perfect treat!
It was so easy to make this cake!  I thought the layers would be tricky, but the "trick" is to use two bamboo skewers (the kind you use for kabobs on the grill)!  Just push them in through the top of the cake and it stabilizes all four layers while you frost the sides.  When everything is frosted, just pull the skewers out and frost over the holes-- Yay!  No "leaning tower"!
I'm not sure how many people this cake will serve.  Maybe four if the recipient is generous.  Maybe one if you feel like just digging in all by yourself :)

4 Layer Mini Devil's Food Cake (adapted from Cook's Illustrated)
1 stick unsalted butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 Tbl. cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cake flour-- Sift to remove lumps-- I didn't do that and you can detect small white bits in     the baked cake-- live and learn:(
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
5 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, melted
milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups or so of powdered sugar
2 thin skewers (The bamboo type for grilled meats work great!)

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Spray 4 mini-layer cake pans (5" diameter, 2" deep-- they are usually springform-- like for mini-cheesecakes) with Pam.
Put the chocolate in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over.  Allow to sit awhile and then whisk to combine well.
Cream the butter and brown sugar about 3 minutes in a stand mixer.  Add the eggs and beat until fluffy.  Add the buttermilk and the vanilla and mix well.  Add the flours, baking soda, and salt and beat just a bit, then pour in the chocolate mixture.  Beat everything together until smooth, but don't overbeat.  Pour into the prepared pans.  Set them on a baking sheet and place in the oven.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they test done with a toothpick.  Don't underbake them though because they need to be firm enough to stack up!
Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out on a rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting by beating the butter until fluffy.  Add about 3 cups powdered sugar, the vanilla, melted chocolate, and 2 Tbl. milk.  Beat well, adding milk and / or powdered sugar to make a smooth, fluffy frosting.  
Put one cake layer top side down, on a small plate.  Frost the top generously, then put the next layer, on the same way.  Repeat with the third layer, then put the fourth layer top side up.  
Push two skewers through the whole cake, each a little to the right or left of center.  This will keep the cake layers straight.  Hold the skewer tops while you gently frost the sides of the cake with a thin layer of frosting.  Refrigerate the cake about 15 minutes to set the frosting.  Now you can frost the whole cake generously without getting things all "crumb-y".  Frost the top of the cake with the skewers still in it.  Refrigerate the cake again about 15 minutes.  Remove the skewers and frost over the holes with little dabs of frosting.  Refrigerate the cake at least an hour to set the frosting well, but it tastes better if you leave it out awhile before serving so it's not super cold.
Present to the nearest chocoholic!

ASB

Farro and Tuna Salad with Fresh Herbs + Okra!

August is HOT in south Texas!  Day after day of 100+ weather can wear on anyone, but the good news is that we still get to enjoy ripe, red tomatoes and fresh green herbs from the garden-- well, those that haven't burned up in the heat yet :)

Anyway, so have you tried farro yet?  It is a very ancient grain originally from Italy.  It's a "whole grain" with all the nutritional good stuff associated with that; plus, it tastes terrific!  I buy the quick-cooking type and it's ready in 10 minutes.  Farro is good served hot as a side dish or cold as a salad so when I cook it, I make a lot and freeze it in baggies.  It thaws in no time and still tastes freshly made.

This salad uses cold farro and canned tuna, so it comes together easily and quickly.  The fresh herbs and avocado give it a wonderful summer taste that goes great served on a sliced red tomato!  The dressing is super easy and light.

Some people say they lose their appetite in hot weather, but that's never been my problem:)  However, I think this salad will perk up any appetite-- even in the "dog days" of summer (why do they call it that?) !

Farro and Tuna Salad with Fresh Herbs (serves 2)

1 cup of cooked farro

1- 5 oz. can good quality tuna, drained

2 Tbl. sliced red onion

1 Tbl. chopped fresh chives

1 Tbl. chopped fresh oregano

1 Tbl. chopped fresh mint

1/2 avocado, cubed

1/3  cup chopped cauliflower

2 Tbl. capers

1 large tomato, cut into thin wedges

Salt and pepper

Dressing:  2 Tbl. fresh lemon juice mixed with 3 Tbl. olive oil and 1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all the salad ingredients together except the tomato.  Taste for seasoning.  If you have time, cover and allow to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes, but if not, it will still taste yummy!

Put the tomato wedges on two plates.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.  Divide onto the tomato wedges and serve!

Baked "Fried" Okra

So here's a little extra recipe you might enjoy!  I LOVE fried okra, but now that I need some alternatives to fried foods, I developed this recipe and it tastes great!  The coating is fat-free and high in fiber, so it doesn't take anything away from the veggie nutrition.

Unfried Okra (serves 2, but I could eat the whole recipe myself)

2 Tbl. ground flax seed (not as hard to find as you would think-- I found it in the baking aisle)

2 Tbl. whole wheat bread crumbs

1/2 tsp. granulated garlic

1/4 tsp. salt

few grinds of pepper

1 egg white, beaten to a froth with a fork

16 or so, small, fresh okra, washed and dried

 

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Put a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray it with PAM.

Combine the ground flax seed, bread crumbs, garlic, pepper,and salt.

Roll the okra in the egg white, then in the seasoned crumbs.  Put on the wire rack.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the okra is tender and the crumbs are dry and crisp.

Sweet-Sour Lime Shortbread Cookies: Baking for Friends!

What a fun afternoon I've had!  It's been awhile since I've gotten to bake anything due to our new healthy eating plans (!), but today was all about baking for friends!  Sweets for the sweet as they say!  
I made a buttermilk pie for one of Ben's godsons today.  Jack is one of my biggest pie fans and I guess no matter how much I have to cut back on making pies for Ben, Jack will probably be willing to consume my "projects"!  Buttermilk pie is already on one of my posts though, so today I'll tell you about "Sweet-Sour Lime Shortbread Cookies"!  
Wow!  These are so yummy and a bit different because they have a sweet / sour taste that is very intriguing!  The secret is something called "sour salt" or citric acid, which is the same stuff in "SweetTarts"-- remember those?!  Citric acid is also used to prevent peaches, apples, etc. from getting brown once you've cut them.  It's a natural product that is in all citrus fruits.  You'll use only a total of 1/2 teaspoon or so.  I buy it in the "bulk foods" section of my grocery store so I can just buy a little bit. 
I adapted this recipe from one on the "King Arthur Flour" website.  It called for lime oil and I'm not sure where to get that, so I substituted grated lime zest (contains natural lime oil) and I think it was probably an adequate substitute!  
Anyway, these cookies are wonderful for showers or "ladies' parties", but they are also fun for anytime because of their unexpected ZIP!

Sweet-Sour Lime Shortbread Cookies (makes 4 doz. small cookies)
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbl. fresh lime juice
grated zest of 1 lime
1/4 tsp. citric acid (sour salt)
1 large egg
2.5 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the salt, baking powder, lime juice, zest, and citric acid and blend well.  Beat in the egg.  Add the flour and slowly combine to make a smooth dough.
Use a 1-inch scoop to portion out the dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets or roll the dough into 1-inch balls.  The cookies won't spread much, so they can be rather close together.
Bake the cookies for 15-16 minutes, or until they are browned on the bottom.  Allow them to cool for 10 minutes on the sheets, then shake them around in a bag that contains:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. citric acid (you can add more-- depends how strong a sour taste you want!)

Then place them on a rack to cool completely.  Before serving, shake the cookies in the bag again to coat with the sour-sugar.  
These cookies freeze well.  Freeze after the first coating of sugar, then coat again right before serving.

ASB

Almond Crusted Sea Trout

I guess it's not coming as a surprise to anyone that lately, Ben and I have both been trying to eat a little healthier.  Have you noticed an absence of sweet treat posts?  This doesn't please me, but I know it's a blessing to be able to maintain health by eating right, so I'm trying to have a good (or accepting) attitude! 

Sometimes though, eating healthy can be a pleasure and this was one of those times!  Our friend and neighbor brought over his latest catch of the day, Texas Gulf sea trout.  Really fresh fish is one of those lovely things that tastes great AND is good for us, so I was happy to come up with a recipe that showcased this local delicacy!

Of course, around here, FRIED fish is the cooking method of choice, but baking, broiling, and grilling are wonderful!  I wanted to do something different and I LOVE trout almondine, but somehow, pan sauteeing the fish in browned butter with loads of almonds and MORE butter just didn't seem the way to go under the circumstances.  Still, I knew almonds, in moderation, were very good for us, so what could I do....?

Here's a recipe I came up with that uses a small amount of almonds, and a TINY bit of butter to make a delicious, nut crusted fish that's tasty, light, and healthy!  Hope you like it!  It will work with any type of mild filet.  Happy and healthy eating!

Almond Crusted Sea Trout (serves 2)

2 filets of sea trout, about 1 inch at the thickest end, each cut in two cross-wise

1/4 cup sliced almonds, chopped up and put on a piece of waxed paper or a dish

1 egg white

salt and pepper

celery salt

cayenne

powdered or granulated garlic

a baking sheet and baking rack

1 T. butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Dry the filets well with paper towels.  Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, celery salt, cayenne and garlic to taste.  Press the seasonings into the fish.  

Put the egg white in a shallow bowl, add just a few drops of water and beat with a fork until foamy.

Put just the fleshy side of the fish down into the egg white.  Allow the excess to drip back into the dish and press the filet down into the almonds.  The egg white will cause the almonds to stick well.  Put the filet on the baking rack and repeat with the other ones.  Drizzle each filet with the melted butter.  It will be just a few drops, but it will help the almonds to brown and they will taste great!

Bake the fish for 10 minutes, or until the almonds are slightly browned and the fish is cooked through.  Serve immediately.  Yum!

ASB

Perfect Poached Eggs / Smoked Avocados

Hi!  This title might seem a little random...and it is!  But I thought you might enjoy a few tips on making poached eggs (there actually are some tricks!) and I had to let you in on the most delicious, easy, new (to me!) way to eat avocados!
While we were in Park City, we enjoyed a delicious guacamole made with smoked avocados.  This sounded very exotic and difficult to me, but I asked the waitress about it and she made it sound very simple!  And guess what?  She was right!  It literally is a 5 minute process and the result is scrumptious!  The next time you're grilling, be sure to try this because it is SO worth it.  You can make guacamole, or you can just serve the smoked avocado slices-- either way, they are definitely yummy!
Now, about poached eggs........do you like them?  I do!  There is something elegant about a beautiful poached egg, but at the same time, they are simple and just tasty!  If you've ever tried making them and they ended up being a ragged mess, please try again using this method!  I think you'll be successful and your family will be SO impressed at your next brunch! :)  In the photo, I've placed them atop a grilled veggie ratatouille.  Along with the smoked avocado, this made a tasty, healthy lunch!  Poached eggs are very healthy by themselves, but of course, there's delicious hollandaise, buttery English muffins, fried Canadian bacon.........well, you get the idea! :)

Smoked Avocados
2 (or more) ripe (but not over-ripe) avocados, room temperature
lemon juice
olive oil
salt and pepper

Cut the avocados in half length-wise and remove the seed.  Brush the cut sides with lemon juice and olive oil.  Place cut-side down on a hot grill for 2-3 minutes (just until there are definite grill marks).  Remove the avocados and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Serve sliced or mash up with your favorite guacamole fixings!  Really good!

Perfect Poached Eggs (makes 2)
*2 super fresh, large eggs (Like from the Farmer's Market if you can get them.)
1 T. white vinegar, depending on the size of your saucepan
a medium saucepan (2-qt is good) filled about 1/2 way with water
salt and pepper

First, the eggs must be room temperature, so if they're straight from the fridge, microwave them (yes, in the shell is okay!) for 10 seconds on high, or until they don't feel cold.
Heat the water and vinegar until the water is almost boiling.  Crack one egg in a small cup like a custard cup or tea cup.  
Hold the cup close to the surface of the water and pour the egg in quickly.  It will set almost immediately into an oval shape.  Keep the water just below the boiling point.  Repeat with the other egg, slipping it in far enough from the other egg to not crowd them.  Poach the eggs for 3 minutes if you want a runny yolk.
Use a slotted spoon to lift an egg out of the water.  Hold a folded piece of paper toweling under the spoon to blot the excess water, then touch it lightly on the egg surface to remove the moisture there.  Put the egg on whatever you're serving.  Repeat with the other one.  Serve immediately!

OR:  You can make the eggs ahead and keep them in a warm water bath for a short time (30 minutes).  I've heard you can even put them in cold water and keep in the fridge for longer (re-warming carefully when needed), but I haven't tried that yet!  Be sure to blot them well before serving.

*Using the freshest eggs you can find is very important.  A really fresh egg stays together in the water a LOT better than a not-so-fresh one.  The vinegar helps to coagulate the white also.