Green Chile, Pork and Potato Stew

One of the last times my Dad and I went to Santa Fe, we stopped at a little strip shopping center restaurant and had some stew similar to this. It was so good that I had to keep trying until I got something a lot like the original. That was 1999.

You will need to cook this 5 or 6 hours in a crock pot on high. If you cook on the stove, simmer until the pork is tender and the potatoes haven't fallen apart.

• 1 lb pork cut in 1" cubes. (Use discount pork chops if you don't mind the bones but cut them in pieces.)

Brown this meat (and bones, perhaps) in a skillet, over a gas grill or the broiler in your oven. Turn once to get some caramelization on both sides.

Add the meat and the following to a crock pot. Small is better.

• 2 large potatoes. 1" cubes. Peeling is optional. (About 2 cups)
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (NOT garlic salt)
• 1/2 tsp beef bouillon (1/2 cube)
• chicken broth and/or water to cover
• 1/2 c chopped green chile (This is about one 7oz can or two 3 oz cans. But try to get  frozen or fresh roasted.)

Cook together until done.

Serve with a sprinkling of

• white pepper
• oregano (preferably ground mexican oregano)

Note that to make this perfect, you would add the meat, spices, bouillon, and broth first. Simmer until the meat is tender. Add the potatoes and simmer until barely done. Add the green chiles and simmer 5 more minutes before serving. (But adding everything and cooking is really good too.)

Parker County Peach Pie

I spent last Saturday afternoon in Weatherford, TX at the First Monday shindig. Also stopped at the Hutton Peach Farm and the Farmer's Market downtown. Parker County has some of the tastiest peaches in the world. And I came home with a 1/2 bushel. That's a lot when you live by yourself.

They say heaven is better than a fresh peach pie, as well as everything else. But you have to wonder if that is possible.

You are gonna need a crust. I used the one I found by Googling "America's Test Kitchen Pie Crust Vodka" and replacing the vodka with inexpensive bourbon. (Since Peach and Bourbon have complimentary tastes.)

This makes a 9" deep dish (a bit over 1" deep) pie. It also leaves the kitchen a mess and uses lots of utensils and pans and such, leaving them all dirty.

Skip this part if you are using a pre-made pie crust.

The basic ingredients for the crust are put together several hours ahead of time (or overnight) so they have time to cool properly. I am listing them here in case I want to drop by the grocery store and pick up whatever I need for a pie crust.

• 2 1/2 c flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 T sugar

• 3/4 c unsalted butter (1.5 sticks/12 T)

• 1/4 c Crisco all-vegetable shortening

• 1/4 c cold 80 proof bourbon (this cooks off leaving flakey places in the crust)

• 1/4 c cold water

Mix according to the directions you find when you search. The actual recipe is behind a paywall and I suggest you sign up. Divide in half, one for the bottom, one for the lattice on top, wrap each half in plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. (Note: You can make this work without cooling but its really hard. You have to spread the 1st half onto the pie pan sort of like icing.

Make the bottom half of the pie crust in a 9" deep dish pie plate. Mine is glass.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

I saw this peach baking procedure on some cooking show in a hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas. It evaporates some of the peach juice leaving the flavor. It also carmelizes some of the juices and sugar, adding a rich taste. The pie will be less watery if you do this.

• 8-10 med-large peaches

Peel. Cut the peaches in half and remove the seeds. Place peach halves face up on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with

• granulated sugar.

Put the peels and seeds in a saucepan. (Back to those in a minute.)

Put the pie crust on a rack in the bottom half of the oven and the cookie sheet on a rack in the top half. If the oven isn't preheated, the pie crust may burn.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Don't let it burn.
Turn the peach halves over. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Again, don't let it burn.(Watch the crust and remove it if it starts to brown.)
Remove both the peaches and crust from the oven.

Change the temperature to 450 degrees for the cooking the pie.

Cut the peach halves into 3 or 4 slices each and put them in a bowl.

Back to that saucepan with the peels and seeds in it. Pour the juice out of the cookie sheet, any juice that collects in the bowl of peaches and 1/3 cup white wine (or white grape juice) in the saucepan. Heat low-medium with a lid until the peels begin to surrender their juice.
Strain the peels out and return the juice to the pan. Add the following to create a tangy, tasty, fruity, thickened syrupy sauce.

• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 14 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 T butter
• 1/4 c bourbon (again, the alcohol will evaporate leaving that bourbon flavor)

Heat on high stirring heartily to reduce by 1/2. Do not leave unattended and do not burn. (These mean the same thing.)

Add

• 3 T powdered fruit pectin (about 1/2 package of Sure-Jell)

Boil for 1 minute and remove from the heat.

Assemble the pie starting with the crust.
Add the peach slices without any of the juice that leaked out at the last minute.
Pour in the thickened, spiced and lemoned sauce that you prepared in the saucepan. Do not overfill.
If there is room in the shell without overflowing, add some of the extra juice you didn't add a moment ago.
Add the lattice crust on top. (Roll it out and cut 1 inch strips. Put them on top of the pie in alternating directions.)
Sprinkle liberally with

• granulated sugar.

Cook the pie for 10 minutes in the preheated 450 degree oven.
Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for 25-30 more minutes.
If the rim of the crust starts to overbrown, add strips of aluminum foil around the edge when half cooked.
Remove from the heat and cool 15 minutes before eating.

Mango Habanero BBQ Sauce

This stuff is good over ribs or brisket (but I also like it over good aged cheddar or brie cheese, too). You can use it as a glaze on the meat or let people use it as a different kind of BBQ sauce.

Habanero Pepper

This makes about a pint.

Add these to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat.

• 1 large ripe mango, peeled, seed removed and diced.
• 1/2 c white wine (use a drinking wine)
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 6 fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1/2 habanero, stem and seeds removed - roasted over a gas flame, gas grill or in a hot skillet. (Habanero peppers are also called Scotch Bonnet peppers.)
• pinch salt

bring to a boil and simmer until the mango is soft. This doesn't take very long if the mango is ripe.

Use an immersion blender to blend the whole thing until smooth. Note that its easy to splash some really hot, sticky stuff on you this way. Don't rub it on your eye.

Put it back on the heat and add

• 2-3 T dry fruit pectin (eg. Sure-Jell)

Bring back to a rolling boil, stirring constantly and let it boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof jar. A pint mason jar with a self sealing lid and ring works great.

Let it cool on the counter-top. I let mine set for a day before using it. I don't know if that is important.

Variation

You can make this with fresh raspberries instead of mango. The flavor is totally different but good over meat or cheese. Replace the mango with about a cup of ripe raspberries and make it exactly the same.

Tequila Lime Salad Dressing

No comment.

This makes about 1/2 cup of dressing. That should serve as dressing for dinner size salads for 4.

• 4 T rice wine vinegar (1/4 c) {white wine vinegar will work too)
• 4 T olive oil (1.4 c)
• 1 T tequila (I like Azul Reposado for this.)
• 3 T lime juice (juice of one large, juicy lime)
• 1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
• 1 tsp sugar (or a bit more honey but I prefer the sugar)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix together in a bowl, glass, measuring cup or zip-top bag.

Stir or shake well. Serve over salad greens or similar salad.

Salmon Burger

I was going to cook the salmon my regular way but it was broken in a few pieces so I put together the things I like to make these.

Mix these things together and form two patties from the mixture:

• 8 oz fresh salmon. Chopped into 1/4 inch cubes.
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp wasabi sauce (grocery store variety a little thinner than mustard)
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

In a plate stir the following together:

• 1/4 c pistachios (salted and shelled), crushed to a rough powder
• 1/4 c panko bread crumbs

Salt and pepper the patties and coat them in the bread/pistachio mixture.

Heat a skillet to hot. Add a little oil. Fry the patties quickly. Leave the center pink.

Serve on 

• toasted bread or hamburger buns 

with

• lettuce 
• sliced tomato.

Grandma's Turkey Dressing

Whether you call it dressing or stuffing, everyone in the United States has a different recipe for it. Some cook it in the bird. Some outside (as I do).

Over the last couple of years I have moved twice. In the course of moving, I lost my Grandmother's recipe for Turkey Dressing.

This is what we ate all the while I was growing up at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's the taste I associate with those holidays. I got it the first year my wife and I were away from family for the holidays. I called Grandma and she told me the recipe and I wrote it down on a 3x5 card and put it in my recipe box. And now its lost.

What's funny is that just a few years ago I invited my sister for Christmas and she arrived with her copy of Grandma's recipe. She got it when she visited Grandma years before that.

Her version was different than mine. So we talked to our brothers and found another version of the recipe. Different again.And received directly from Grandma. Evidently, she didn't have a written recipe and sort of cooked up something on the fly depending on what she had and how she felt. And, being a grandmother, it was always good.

Well, what could I do with the "real" recipe lost. I texted those pretenders and got their recipes and came up with the recipe I have here combining my memory (altogether imperfect) with the two other versions.

First you boil the 3 eggs.

Preheat over to 375 degrees F.

Next you make the bread mixture:

• Prepare one pan of canned biscuits according to label directions. A can has 8 biscuits.
• Prepare one pan of cornbread using your own recipe or a dry mix. I have a 9 inch diameter round pan and it comes out about 3/4 inch thick.
• Use one 16 oz package (bag) of Pepperidge Farms Herb Stuffing. This has the right combination of spices and herbs for that "Grandma" taste. (Your Grandma May Vary.)

Break up the biscuits and cornbread. (You can toast them some after breaking them up if you like.) Add the stuffing mix and stir together thoroughly.

This is the weird part. You pick out a casserole or baking pan that you will use for the dressing and use it to measure out one full pan of the bread crumb mixture. (I used to keep the rest in my freezer until they get covered with frost and then throw them away. Nowdays I throw the rest away sooner having realized its going to be another year before I make it again.)

I usually pour the crumbs out of the baking pan into a large mixing bowl because its easier to mix in the rest of the ingredients. But you can mix them in the baking pan. It just always seems to overflow and make a mess.

Add the following and stir well:

• 1 very large yellow onion, chopped medium to fine.
• 5 sticks of celery chopped
• 3 boiled eggs chopped (these are the ones I said to boil ahead of time)
• (optional) 1 carrot chopped
• (optional) 3 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley. Italian or curly both work. Dried will work too.

Put the mixture back into the baking pan and pour the following over the top, one by one:

• 1 stick (1/4 pound) of salted butter, melted
• About 2 cups warm chicken broth. (You can use your own pre-prepared broth, or use the canned or boxed version from the grocery, or boil water and add boullion of some sort. If the broth has salt, you will need less or no salt with the pepper. As you pour this over the bread, try to get all the crumbs wet.

Now test the consistency.

If the top is dry and the bottom really soggy, you are going to want to stir it up to get a more consistent wetness.

If the top is dry and the bottom damp, add some more water or chicken broth.

It should be wet -- more than damp and less than soggy -- through and through. It is ok if the bottom part is wetter but you don't want liquid pooling in the bottom if you can help it.

Top with:

• Sprinkles of dried parsley
• Salt (unless the butter and broth/bouillon have added too much already.
• Fresh ground pepper sprinkled.

Cover the dish with foil (or use a lid). Bake for 45 minutes in a 375 degree F oven. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes. (Alternatively, you can freeze it at this point. You may need to cook longer if you don't let it fully thaw before you begin baking.)

It will be done when it is hot through the middle and the top is crisped up.

Alternatives:

My brother has these differences:

• Use 1 cup of chopped celery instead of 5 stalks.
• Giblets are chopped up and boiled in the broth. They can be added to the mixture.
• An additional 16 oz package of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing is added to the bread mixture.
• Two raw eggs are beaten and added with the liquid. This is easy if the broth is cool. If not stir with some additional water and sprinkle over the top.
• 1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup concentrate is added to the broth. (This soup typically mixes with 1 can of water to make soup for eating. Don't dilute it for this recipe.)

My sister has these differences:

• Substitute a 16 oz package of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing for the Herb Stuffing in my version.
• Use a whole bunch of celery instead of 5 stalks.
• Add 1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup (as above)
• Add 1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup (mixed just like the Cream of Chicken)
• Cook at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes instead of 375.

A vegetarian version is tasty too:

• Replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth
• Don't include in turkey parts.

There you go. Who says family isn't fun?