Did you guess CARNITAS?

I have been wanting to make Carnitas for a long time...we are talking YEARS...but I have been too afraid to make them...until NOW!

I searched high and low for an easy recipe for carnitas because that was part of what dissuaded me all these years. All the recipes I had seen called for cooking all freaking day long and I am not that patient...even if it means pure melt in your mouth taste. While searching, I found a recipe that caught my eye from the Homesick Texan, but it required minimum cooking for 4-5 hours. The next recipe I found had a footnote saying to use a pressure cooker to reduce cook time to 35 minutes! I HAVE A PRESSURE COOKER! And from my pulled pork sandwiches and red beans and rice, you know I'm not afraid to use it.

Alex and I bought a 5 pound pork shoulder...well, pork butt...but it really is a shoulder. I learned from Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs that a pork shoulder is referred to as the butt, and the actual butt of a pig is a ham. Butt, back to the pork shoulder. :) Because it was just the two of us, I cut the shoulder in half and froze the left over meat. This cut of meat has a lot of fat on it. You should try to trim back as much as you can...but not all of it. There is a LOT of flavor in that fat!

Carnitas (adapted from Diana Kennedy) - from the Homesick Texan blog.

3 pounds of pork butt

1 cup of orange juice

3 cups of water

2 teaspoons of salt

Like I said...pretty simple. The only part of the recipe I followed after the ingredients was to cut the pork into strips, well 3 inches chunks and salted and peppered the crap out of it. I then seared the cubed pork until each side was nicely browned in the pressure cooker. I emptied the pork into a separate dish so I could put the metal part into the bottom of the pressure cooker. The metal piece has holes in it to keep the meat (or whatever you are cooking in it) from touching the bottom of the pan. I suspect because you keep the heat on close to high or medium high the whole time it is cooking. I put the pork back in with the orange juice and water...I also added two chicken bullion cubes for my entertainment. :) I sealed the pressure cooker and cooked it for 35 minutes at the first line. My pressure cooker has two lines to indicate how much pressure there is in the pan. I had to release a little bit of pressure a couple of times while it was cooking so it maintained the pressure at the first line.

You can't tell very well from this picture, but the pork was shredding just by touching it with the tongs.Homesick Texans Directions:

1. Cut pork into strips (three inches by one inch), bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered on low for 2 hours. Do not touch the meat.2. After two hours, turn heat up to medium high, and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the pork fat has rendered (about 45 minutes). Stir a few times, to keep pork from sticking to bottom of pan.3. When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready (there will be liquid fat in the pan). Serve either cubed or shredded (pork will be tender enough that just touching it will cause it to fall apart).Goes very well with a green salsas such as Ninfa's green sauce or this tomatillo salsa or this salsa verde with avocados and tomatillos.Serves 4-6

I dig the fact that the Homesick Texan included the suggestion for salsa verde, but again, I am not patient enough to make salsa when I am making a meal like carnitas...even if it is in the pressure cooker. I bought a bottle of Herdez salsa verde and kicked it up a bit.

Sarah's FREAKING AWESOME Salsa Verde:

1 - 16 oz. bottle of Herdez salsa verde

1 medium white onion, chopped

1 splash of lime juice

1/2 a serrano pepper with or without seeds

2 handfuls of cilantro, chopped

Mix all together and savor. You can really add any combination of the ingredients listed above. Warning...this salsa is FABULOUS!!!!

I warmed up some corn tortillas and served the pork with the salsa. You're going to love me for this one!!! The fact that I don't have a picture of the final product goes to show how amazing these babies turned out.

Spicy Corn Bread

I have been craving corn bread for some time and decided tonight was the night. Continuing with the Mexican theme Alex and I started this week, I shook up the corn bread with some cheese, onions and jalapeno. WHOOHOOO!!!!!!

This was the side dish to my ultimate, FANTASTIC, Mexican, main course. But the main course is a SECRET...until tomorrow. It is killing me not to tell you what our main course was tonight...but, I have to hold you in suspense! Your mouth should be watering now...In the meantime, you're going to have to settle with my spicy corn bread. :)

The best part about this corn bread is it is easy as all get out to make even better! I followed the directions on the side of the Quaker Corn Meal box:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Quaker Corn Meal

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 cup skim milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 egg whites or 1 egg beaten

I and added 3/4 cup of cheddar cheese, half a jalapeno...which I later realized was a MONSTER sized serrano - HOLY SPICINESS!!!!- and three green onions chopped. Mix it all up and follow the directions on the side of the cornmeal box. Heat oven to 400 F. Grease 8 or 9 inch pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm. 9 Servings.Now, note that the recipe on the side of the Quaker Corn Meal box says '9 Servings'. Now look at what Alex did before I could stop him. When I asked him why he cut it into such small pieces he said he likes them small because they taste yummier that way. I beg to differ...I think they taste better when they are HUGE Texas sized pieces...but I guess I will have to continue to crave a big bite into a BIG piece of corn bread.

This was how he served them up on our plates. :)

Fajita's!

When Alex and I went to the grocery store yesterday we were on a Mexican food kick...you'll see why later in the week. :) Alex scored a pretty sweet flank steak this week and decided to make fajitas with it tonight! Fajitas are so simple and pure yum!

Alex put the flank steak in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 F to 'tenderize it'. Does that work or is he talking silliness? You tell me. Afterwards he grilled it for a couple of minutes on the stove top until there were grill marks. In the mean time he cut up and cooked a white onion, half a red pepper, half an orange pepper, a couple of jalapenos in olive oil along with a lot of love. <--- Alex's words :) He seasoned the peppers with cayenne and cummin...just a pinch or two of each. He cooked them perfectly. They were a little crunchy and a little soft. I hate soft and squishy peppers on fajitas.

Combine the meat and peppers in a tortilla and eat!

I made some yummy guacamole to go with the fajitas! PERFECT!!!

Montreal!

Phew, I'm back! I had to go to Montreal for work this last week. It was a whirlwind trip. I traveled all day Wednesday, arriving in Montreal at Midnight. I was up at 7am to head off to meetings 6 blocks from my hotel. I was in meetings all day Thursday without wireless access so I spent a couple of hours back in my room catching up on what I was missing at the office. I got out for dinner at a local restaurant and snuck into a touristy shop for souvenirs. The next morning I was off to meetings until noon and then ran to the airport to catch a flight back to the US. I had three connections and didn't arrive in Utah until Midnight. DANG! I'm tired!

I had little time to see Montreal, but I LOVED it! I love that everyone speaks fluent French and English. That is so impressive. Each time I head to Canada I HAVE to get anything Maple I can get my hands on. Here are the yummy items I found at the airport...how unique is that? :(

I love this bottle of syrup...it looks like Canadian Whiskey!

These cookies KICK ASS! You can find these cookies online at Maple Grove Farms...of Vermont...What the....?

My best find was this Maple Tea. It is so smooth! It is great with or without sweetener...but never fear...it isn't like drinking straight up Maple Syrup. It is mildly sweet all on it's own. My favorite part is the wood box it comes in! It is so cute!

I feel bad I didn't get to see more of the city...I mean...I feel bad I didn't get to see the city at all! I was so busy I just saw the 6 blocks to and from the office and the restaurant. I NEED to get back and spend some serious tourist time.

Blood, Sweat, but no tears.

Alex is on board with the pumpkin fury going on. We bought a pumpkin this weekend so Alex could make Pumpkin Risotto. WHOOHOO!!! He was so determined to make the pumpkin risotto that he inadvertently cut himself! He was peeling the skin off the pumpkin to cook it up and sliced into his hand. My poor Sweetie!

This really is Alex's post. He took ALL the pictures...but left it up to me to post it. :) He is so funny...look at the way he took the first picture...see our ceramic pumpkin with the Hershey's kiss in the mouth? The pumpkin was hungry.

Pumpkin Risotto:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 (3/4 to 1 pound) pumpkin, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 fresh bay leaves
3 cups vegetable stock, plus 1 cup vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pumpkin Puree:
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil and then add the onions. Gently fry until soft and translucent. Add the pumpkin, bay leaves and 1 cup of the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and cover. Steam over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Add a tablespoon of remaining stock to the pumpkin base and mash it down into a puree using the back of a wooden spoon or spatula.

Risotto:
In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat some olive oil and add the rice. Add the remaining stock and cook for 12 minutes with the lid on until the stock has been absorbed, the rice is al dente, and has a lovely creamy consistency. Add the pumpkin puree into the risotto pan and stir together.

Finally, add freshly grated Parmesan and butter to the pan and stir well. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Serve the risotto on individual plates and spoon the Amarone Wine Sauce over top.

This recipe is a Tyler Florence recipe that includes a recipe for Amarone Sauce...from past experience, DON'T MAKE IT WITH THE AMARONE SAUCE. We made this same pumpkin risotto recipe last year with the amarone sauce and it wasn't too yummy. You can find the whole recipe at Food Network.

This is a GREAT recipe for Pumpkin Risotto. It is a little involved with cooking the pumpkin down, but it is worth the effort.

Orange Chicken

Here's a news flash for some of you...I used to be a vegan. Seriously. I dated this vegan guy for a while and thought I would see what it was all about. I hated to give up my favorite foods so I went out of my way to create vegan meals I loved. I even posted a couple of recipes on a vegan website called vegweb. My favorite was a recipe for General Taos Tofu. It was pretty decent for a vegan recipe.

I wanted something asian this weekend, but not General Taos...fortunately I happened on a recipe for Orange Chicken on Annie's Eats site.

Orange Chicken:
For the marinade and sauce:
1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1 ½” pieces
¾ cup low sodium chicken broth
¾ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 ½ tsp. grated orange zest
8 thin strips orange peel (optional)
6 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water

For coating and frying:
3 large egg whites - I used Egg Replacer
1 cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups peanut oil (or canola oil)

For the marinade and sauce, place the chicken in a Ziploc bag; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the chicken broth, orange juice, zest, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and cayenne pepper; whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved. Measure out ¾ cup of the mixture and pour it into the bag with the chicken; press out as much air as possible and seal the bag, making sure that all pieces are coated with the marinade. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes, but no longer. Bring the remaining mixture in the saucepan to a boil over high heat. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water; whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and translucent, about 1 minute. Off the heat, stir in the orange peel (if using); set the sauce aside.

For the coating, place the egg whites in a pie plate and beat with a fork until frothy. In a second pie plate, whisk together the cornstarch, baking soda and cayenne until combined. Drain the chicken in a colander or large mesh strainer; thoroughly pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place half of the chicken pieces in the egg whites and turn to coat. Transfer the pieces to cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the dredged chicken pieces on another plate or a baking sheet. To fry the chicken, heat the oil in an 11- to 12-inch dutch oven or straight sided sauté pan with at least 3 qt. capacity over high heat until the oil reaches 350° on an instant read or deep fry thermometer. Carefully place half of the chicken in the oil; fry to golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning each piece with tongs halfway through cooking. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Return the oil to 350° and repeat with the remaining chicken.

To serve, reheat the sauce over medium heat until simmering, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and gently toss until evenly coated and heated through. Serve immediately.

I realized when I got to the breading part that I didn't have any eggs. CRAP! I didn't want to run to the store so I used the vegan egg replacer I used for my General Tao's tofu. This recipe turned out so much better than my tofu version of General Tao's. It was a better than the orange chicken at Panda Express because it wasn't thickly coated in breading. I also only used a 1/2 cup of canola oil for frying so they didn't soak up all the oil. It was GREAT!

What do you have dessert when you eat yummy Orange Chicken? A fortune cookie! Yep. Alex and I keep a box of fortune cookies around just in case we have yummy asian food.

What did my fortune say?

Pumpkin Muffins!

Remember when I told you I don't follow directions well? Yeah, well it hit again in a BIG way today. I'm going to walk you through my post as my morning happened.

I was looking for a yummy recipe for pumpkin muffins that wasn't full of fat and sugar and it was hard to find a healthy recipe. Fortunately I stumbled up on a recipe by Ellie Kreiger that didn't just limit the sugar and fat, but it added whole wheat flour. SWEET!

The recipe calls for butter milk, which I didn't have, but I saw another recipe while I was looking for pumpkin muffin recipes that said I could substitute plain yogurt for buttermilk. I always have plain yogurt on hand for cooking.

Pumpkin Muffins:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk - I used 3/4 cup of yogurt along with a tablespoon of water.
1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds - I omitted these since I haven't gutted a pumpkin lately.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. - I used my mondo large bowl for this and found that I had to transfer the dry ingredients to a medium bowl like the recipe called for.

In a large bowl, (Notice the bowl in this picture...it is the mondo bowl I put the dry ingredients in. Notice what is missing from the ingredients list?) whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. - Now I actual thought...how does one over mix a batter? I'm going to make sure I don't over mix this one because the batter looks so fluffy...I wonder if it is because I used yogurt instead of buttermilk.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. (Now as I was walking the mondo bowl to the sink, I happened to lick the spoon...I know...I'm an adult and really shouldn't do that because of the uncooked eggs and I might get salmonella...but I do it anyway. But the batter didn't taste very sweet. WAIT, what the....I don't remember putting any sugar in this recipe. Could it really be that healthy that Ellie Kreiger didn't put sugar in it? No. I didn't follow the directions very well. RAH!!!!!)

Let's see how well the cooking spray works. I had to spoon the batter back into the mondo bowl, add the sugar and over mix the batter to incorporate the sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.
Fortunately my faux pas didn't screw up my pumpkin muffins. They turned out PERFECT! This is a GREAT recipe for a healthy pumpkin muffin. Ellie knows healthy muffins!

But that wasn't the end of my not following the directions morning. I got my coffee going so it would be ready when I pulled out my yummy pumpkin muffins. I even bought myself some pumpkin creamer to go with my coffee. My coffee maker started making that coffee percolating sound it makes when it has processed all the water through the filter...I grabbed my coffee cup, went to the coffee maker only to see a clear pot of water in the carafe. What the...? Good CRAP! Did I even put a filter in there? Yes, I, did. It's Saturday morning and you wouldn't think I was functioning on a Monday morning. :) I'm worried about what Monday has in store for me.