Chorizo!

I have discovered a new quick meal base.  Last Sunday, I browned a pound of organic ground beef with a pound of chorizo.  That's it.  No other seasonings.  After it all browns together, I drain it (because the sausage has lots of grease) and put it in a container.  I put it in the ice box, where it will patiently wait for an opportunity to save dinner some night during the week.

I used the mixture two different ways.  The first dish I made was a basic taco salad.  I shredded some iceberg lettuce, tossed in some pickled jalapenos, shredded sharp cheddar and pepper jack, chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, salt and pepper.  I put a scoop of the beef/chorizo mixture on top (after warming it in the microwave) and served it with some homemade chipotle ranch dressing.  I put chips and sliced avocado on the side.

The second meal it provided was a taco pizza.  I cheated and used a store-bought thin crust from Pillsbury.  I pre-baked it for about 7 minutes.  I topped the crust with home made enchilada sauce, then used the rest of the beef/chorizo mixture, chopped grape tomatoes, chopped scallions, shredded iceberg (added after it came out of the oven) and shredded cheddar.  I also added a lime crema to the top before I plated it.

I think next time I make the beef mixture, I'll go ahead and brown several pounds and freeze it.  It was so nice having this flavorful, spicy mixture on hand.  My head spins with all the possibilities it presents:  nachos, burritos, tostadas..........

Lamb Sliders

Today's adventure in the freezer produced a pound of ground lamb and a package of Hawaiian rolls.  Hmmmmmm.  What to do...... SLIDERS!

I didn't want anything too difficult because it was during the week.  I mixed the thawed lamb with grated white onion, ginger/lemongrass paste, salt, pepper, feta cheese and a teeny little glass bowl of marinara I found in my ice box.  I made 8 slider patties from one pound of mixture.  I decided to fry them in a cast iron pan.

After the lamb patties were done, I added onions and mushrooms and sauteed them until they were soft.

While they were cooking down I made some Greek sauce out of some homemade plain yogurt, grated cucumber, onion juice, garlic powder, Greek seasoning and about a tablespoon of mayo.

I put some frozen waffle fries on a baking sheet and put them in a 450 degree oven for about 12 minutes.  At the end of the cooking time, I added the Hawaiian rolls and toasted them.

To construct the sliders, I put the bottom roll down, topped it with some Greek sauce, a few spinach leaves, a lamb patty, then some sauteed mushrooms and onions and the top roll.

These were amazing!  The Greek sauce made a great dip for the fries as well!

Dinner!

So tonight's dinner was fairly simple. I made mashed potatoes from one russet and one sweet potato. My veggie was shelled edamame par boiled then sautéed with a bird's eye chili and some lemon grass. The protein was a mahi fillet spiced with blackening seasonings then coated with citrus butter (butter mixed with orange and lemon zest) and topped with toasted bread crumbs baked until flaky.

Roasted Pork- the Zeus of Leftovers

If I ever get around to writing a fiction novel, it will be one of those Greek mythology/fantasy hybrids.  But the twist I'm planning to add is:  I'm going to write it about leftovers. In the pantheon of leftovers, roasted pork has got to be the Zeus; really any kind of roasted meat.  Having leftover roast is like having 3 more instant meals in your ice box.  Plus- it kicks butt over any other kind of leftover, hands down.

On Sunday mornings, my standard operating procedure is to stand in front of my ice box, eyes glazed over, trying to figure out what I can make with the hodgepodge of tasty tidbits I have.  This morning I was staring at a container of leftover roasted pork (BINGO), some assorted roasted veggies, odds and ends of cans of tomatoes (sauce and crushed), one lonely, wilted fresh jalapeno and a huge block of Tillamook Sharp Cheddar.  In my mind, I saw visions of shredded pork tacos with slaw of some kind and home made salsa.

I have several wonderful recipes for salsa, but it seems that I never have all the ingredients on hand for any of them.  So I decided not to let that dissuade me from my task.  I would make a darn good salsa from whatever I had on hand.  So that's what I did.  This recipe is typical of the ones on my blog.  I don't give exact amounts because I was using up little glass dishes of leftovers.  And really, that's what most people are trying to do, right?  So lighten up!  Let go of the tethers to your cookbooks!  Learn to wing it!

Here's what I did- in case anyone happens to have the exact same things lying around as I did.  If you don't- use this as an inspiration to make your own version of salsa!

I took out my trusty blender and my spice grinder.  In the blender I dumped about half a large can of crushed tomatoes and a small glass dish of tomato sauce.  To that I added a can of diced green chiles, half a baggie of frozen chopped cilantro, a roughly chopped fresh jalapeno, salt, a dash of ground coriander, some ground dried chile de arbol, and some freshly ground cumin seed.  After whirring it around in the blender, I added a tad more salt and some red wine vinegar- for tang.  It made enough to fill a glass dish for tonight's pork tacos, and filled another quarter ziplock baggie that landed in the freezer for some day in the future when I need something to pour over smothered burritos, or just for chips after school.

Once again, leftovers have come through for me in a pinch!  I was the damsel in culinary distress, and Zeus came down from Mount Olympus, lightning bolt in hand, to save me from frozen pizza!

I'm looking at the title for this post, and I'm thinking it's really about salsa, not leftover roasted pork.  Hmmmmmm.  I can't really think of anything better, though.  So I guess I'll tag it as salsa and get on with my life!

Snowy Day Potato Soup

We're getting more snow today.  I hope it keeps snowing- all day today and tomorrow!

I had left over mashed potatoes from the Bangers and Mash experiment earlier this week (post coming).

As I have discussed before- one of the best things to do with leftover mashed potatoes is to make mashed potato soup!

I won't go into the procedure again, but I'll link you to the original post.

This afternoon, I'm on to homemade Rugelach!  I can't wait to see how it all turns out.  I'll be sure to post  the results.

Quick Tamale Dinner

There are quite a few good cooks in my building.  One of the things I love about living around here is the plethora of ladies selling tamales by the dozen.  Every time an email surfaces advertising tamales in the lounge- Dev and I always jump on it.

Dev scored 1/2 a dozen fresh tamales yesterday, so I knew dinner that night would be super quick and tasty!  Our favorite way to celebrate Friday is by having a quiet dinner at home with a movie.  This week's selection was "Doom."

I decided to make some red rice and pico de gallo to go with our tamales.

When we got home, I threw the red rice in the steamer.  I used one scoop of regular long grain rice, and for liquid, I went with one scoop of organic tomato sauce and one and a half scoops of beef stock.  I gave it all a stir and closed the lid on the rice steamer.  Done!

Next I seeded and chopped 4 roma tomatoes, and one fresh jalapeno.  I added 1 whole scallion, chopped (white and green parts), the juice of one lime, a little salt and a little pepper.  Done.

I nuked the tamales, then stirred a chopped scallion and a handful of sharp cheddar into the rice when it was done.

I plated the tamales with a spoonful of pico and a scoop of rice.  I garnished Dev's plate with some shredded cheddar.  My plate got cheddar and sliced avocado.

Dinner was amazing.  The movie?  Not so much.  I rented it because it has one of my favorite British actors in it- Ben Daniels.  In the movie he plays a Marine under the command of The Rock.  Yeah- pretty stupid from the get-go, huh?  Ben Daniels is a wonderful actor, who has done more theatre than film.  He is very handsome and dignified.  He also happens to be very strong and gay.  And he doesn't live in the closet- he's out and proud and challenges people's pre-conceived notions about sexuality and box office draw.  To see him in this movie- using a fake American accent- was sickening.  It was an unholy fusion of those dystopian-futuristic flicks with alien gore-fests.  Apparently he figured the exposure he'd get, coupled with the stretch of genre, would give his career a lift.  Yeah- didn't work out.  I still love him to pieces, but I hope he sticks to more intellectual fare.  "Doom" just sucked.

Breakfast on a Snowy Morning

We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland!  This is quite a change from the weather back home in GA.

Because I haven't cooked breakfast in over a month, I was anxious to get in my kitchen.

I decided to go with some kind of breakfast sandwich and hashbrowns.  I even juiced some oranges to top everything off.

I wanted to boost the hashbrowns with some veggies, so I added chopped fresh mushrooms, about a cup of fresh spinach leaves and some scallions.

The sandwiches were built on whole grain English muffins.  Dev's had egg, bacon and cheddar.  Mine had egg, bacon, avocado and cheddar (with a little mayo to moisten things up).  It was a very good winter breakfast.

Next time I think adding some roasted tomato slices would make the sandwiches even better!

I think tomorrow will be garlic cheddar grits.....