Esquites

This is one of my favorite summertime sides. In the West and Southwest, many of us are familiar with elotes, which generally consists of a whole cob of corn, grilled, then slathered in a mixture of mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic, cotija cheese, chili powder, and cilantro. Esquites is very similar, except that the corn is taken off the cob and it's served as a salad, relish, or side dish. Here is a more complete rundown of the two dishes and their differences. 

Ingredients: 

• 4 cobs of corn. If corn isn't in season, substitute 1 12-16oz bag of frozen corn (preferred) or 1 can of canned corn
• 1/2 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp chili powder or to taste
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup cotija cheese, finely diced or crumbled - if you can't find it, feta is a great substitute
• 1/2 cup, packed, cilantro, chopped

Directions: 

1. Prepare the corn. You can grill or broil it on the cob, but you should cook it until it's pretty charred and then cut the kernels off the cob. I prefer to cut the kernels off the cob first and then saute them in a ripping hot pan. Either way, once the corn is cooked and the kernels removed, place them in a medium bowl. 

2. Mix the crema or sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder together until smooth. Add the mixture to the bowl with the corn. 

3. Top with cotija cheese and cilantro. Serve immediately; can also be served chilled.

Tasting Snapdragon Spicy AF Super Spicy Noodle Soup

Today's tasting doesn't come off the Ramen Rater's lists; rather, I found this while at a regular irregular visit to my local-ish Cost Plus World Market. Snapdragon appears to be a Vietnamese company I'd never heard of. 

As the picture suggests, this is a cup of noodles; the serving size is only 63g. Inside the cup are 3 pouches: a sachet of dried vegetables, a sauce, and a mystery powder that, upon reviewing the ingredients, is cheese. Or, perhaps, "cheese", as the only cheese-like ingredient it contains is "artificial cheese flavor". 

I tried the first set of instructions, for hot water, using water that was nearly but not quite boiling. It did not soften the noodles sufficiently. I then followed the second set - sort of - by heating in the microwave (1100 watt) for 1 minute and then letting stand for 1 minute. The noodles were thin but chewy, and stayed that way over the 10 minutes or so it took me to eat them and write this up.   

There's not really any flavor to these at all - not even the generic "protein" that seems so prevalent. There's also not a ton of heat. There is a bit, and it has a nice linger, but the name is definitely a misnomer. I added some lime juice, sesame oil, and leftover chicken and it was OK enough to finish the cup. 

Nutritional details: 290 calories, 14g of fat, and 5g of protein. 1,230 mg of sodium. 

Verdict: OK. Not amazing, not terrible, just...OK. I'll finish them but won't buy them again. 

Taste: 4/10

Heat: 3/10

Kalua Pork

I was first introduced to this during my first trip to Hawai'i. There, a whole pig is cooked in an underground oven called an imu; you can read a VERY brief description of that process at https://www.paradisecove.com/build-an-imu/. 

Since my homeowner's association frowns on such things. I make mine in a slow cooker. It's very simple, and the smell of the pork cooking throughout the day is heavenly! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 pork shoulder, 3-5 lbs, boneless or bone-in, optionally cut into large chunks
• 1-2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp Hawaiian sea salt, if available, or kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp liquid smoke

Directions: 

1. Place the pork in the slow cooker. Add water, salt, and liquid smoke. 
2. Cook on LOW for 8-12 hours or until very tender. I generally try to get mine as close to 200F as I can. 
3. Turn heat off and let cool until it can be handled by hand. 
4. Shred pork, removing any major fatty chunks and bones.

Serve with/over rice or shredded cabbage. 

Mulligatawny Soup

This is a new recipe to me. A colleague shared it recently and it's already become one of my favorites, especially on a cold, blustery day. As with most soups & stews, it's even better the next day. 

Ingredients:

• 2.25 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs 
• 4 cups water
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 yellow onion, finely diced (1/4" - 1/2")
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced (1/4" - 1/2")
• 1.5 C of carrots, finely diced (1/4" - 1/2")
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp cardamon
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 sweet potato or yellow potato, finely diced (1/4" - 1/2")
• 1 large Granny Smith or other sweet-tart apple, finely diced (1/4" - 1/2")

Accompaniments and garnishes:

• 2 cups cooked basmati rice 
• Greek yogurt for garnishing
• Chopped cilantro for garnishing

Directions: 

1. In a large pot, simmer the chicken thighs in water until fully cooked and temperature reaches 165 F. Remove the chicken thighs, saving the cooking water, and roughly chop them into bite-sized pieces. Add more water or chicken broth/stock to make 4 cups. Return the chicken to the pan. 

2. In a separate pan, melt the butter. Add the onion, celery, and carrots, and sweat them for 5-10 minutes until desired tenderness. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the vegetable mixture to the chicken and stock. 

3. Add the remaining ingredients (turmeric through apple) to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer until lentils are cooked to desired tenderness, 5-10 minutes. 

4. Serve over basmati rice. Add a dollop of Greek yogurt and sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro. 

Superbowl LVII - The Much Smaller One

As I've posted on lots of occasions on this blog, my house was generally the host for large family events like Thanksgiving and the Superbowl. At the peak I was cooking for around 18 people. For Superbowl in particular, the festivities would start around noon, with everyone grazing on chips & homemade salsa, wings, and finger foods, before loading up heavy appetizers from the two Superbowl teams and, sometimes, the host city. 

But everyone has moved East. So the Superbowl "party" is now down to just the three of us. Nevertheless, I still cook, and I still try to honor the teams playing. So here's my menu for Superbowl 57 in Glendale, AZ. 

Kansas City Chiefs: 

• Burnt ends. No recipe because I couldn't find actual brisket, so I made do with store-boughten. 
• Cheesy corn. I used this recipe: https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/kansas-city-style-cheesy-corn/

Philadelphia Eagles: 

• Philly cheesesteaks. Two separate choices for my huge party: Provolone or Whiz? and beef or chicken - I have shaved cheesesteak-type meat for both.  

Arizona (host site): 

• Green chile - though mine is Colorado style! https://fullcontactcooking.blogspot.com/2019/03/colorado-porktastic-green-chili.html

Other: 

• Amy's Cilantro Cream Sauce - the link I use keeps moving around but the recipe is consistent. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20446/amys-cilantro-cream-sauce/

Thanksgiving 2022 - The Much Smaller One

Thanksgiving has always been a huge thing here; for most of the last 15 years, I've been the organizer, host, and main cook. (And main house cleaner and dish washer. Story for another day.)  Over the course of the last several years, though, the entire family has moved away to a couple of states east of here. So we'll probably do a big thing over there sometime in December. 

But that means that this year's Thanksgiving is a much, much smaller affair, with just the three of us. At the same time, I stumbled across a 27-lb turkey, which is all but unheard of these days and especially this year. So, because the risk is smaller, I'm going to cook it as my first bird, the one I use for leftovers and stock, FROM FROZEN. At 15 min per lb for a thawed bird, I'd be looking at 7.25 hours; most of the sites suggest to increase that by 50%, so I'm looking at 11 hours minimum.

Finally, due to some health issues, I'm trying to trim down the menu calorically as well. So vegetables will be baked, roasted, or steamed, in very little fat. The one exception is my stuffing, because shut up. 

So. This year's slimmed down menu: 

Turkey 1, from frozen. Verdict: The bird was just too big - by the time the internal breast meat hit 165F, the thighs were nearly 200F, and even the outer breast meat was 180F+. I think it could work with a much smaller bird; might try again next year. 

Turkey 2, bone-in turkey breast with herb gravy. 

Stuffing: Cornbread Stuffing with Apples and Sausage, but replacing the sausage with bacon. 

Sweet potatoes: Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Vegetable: Honey-glazed carrots - no recipe, this came from the store

Green vegetable: Green salad - no recipe, this came from the store

Cranberry sauce: Cranberry Sauce with Port and Cinnamon

Dessert: Store-bought pumpkin pie with Reddi-Wip. 

Up next: Turkey soup with egg noodles, fresh carrots & celery, and leftover sweet potatoes. 

Pickle Soup

This is a basic recipe for black bean soup, with the addition of diced dill pickles. I don't know when or why I first made it this way, but it is an absolute go-to year-round and I make it every couple of weeks in the winter. Use whatever salsa you like as long as it's a savory flavor profile. You can use pre-made salad-style tortilla strips, but I find homemade ones to be thicker & therefore crunchier. 

Ingredients: 

• 3 15-oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 4 cups water, plus more if necessary to maintain desired thickness
• 1 14-16 oz jar salsa, any savory flavor or heat level
• 2 medium flour or corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
• 1 tbsp spices (cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, etc. I like 1 tsp of each of those.)
• 1/2 lb ham, diced
• 3-4 whole dill pickles, finely diced (about 3/4 cup)
• Juice of 1 large lime

Accompaniments and garnishes: 

• Hot cooked rice
• Shredded cheese, such as Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or cotija
• Cilantro

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large pot, combine black beans, chicken stock, water, and salsa. Place 4 cups of the mixture in a blender or foot processor and blend until smooth, then return to pot. Bring soup to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. 

2. While the soup simmers, place tortilla strips in a single layer on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle with the spice mixture. Place baking sheet in preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes or until crisp, turning once or twice. Remove and let cool. 

3. Add diced ham and diced pickles to soup and mix well. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add lime juice. If using rice, add 1/2 cup cooked rice to individual bowls. Add soup. Sprinkle with tortilla strips, and cheese and/or cilantro if using. Refrigerate any leftovers promptly.