Warm Chorizo and Cabbage Salad

I was at the laundromat with Justin when I came up with this idea.  I'm not sure where it came from... I knew we had a pound of chorizo in the freezer and I think I was just trying to come up with some sort of "different" salad idea.

It came out really tasty!  I'd describe it as a Mexican-style mushu... or a warm slaw?  One of Justin's coworkers had gifted us with a huge zucchini, so I just scooped that out (I actually sauteed the scooped zucchini filling with my onion and poblano), rubbed some olive oil on the inside and outside, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked in a preheated 425 oven for about 17 minutes, until tender.  Then stuffed it with the chorizo and cabbage salad.  Very good!  But the next day, I just ate it in a bowl by itself like a salad.

I don't think we've used any Good Riddance with our recipes yet - "There's No 'I' In Team".  -jen

WARM CHORIZO AND CABBAGE SALAD
Time:  about 30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:   about 8 cups

• 1/2 pound chorizo sausage (the meaty kind, not the melty kind)
• 3/4 cup onion, julienned
• 1/2 cup poblano pepper, julienned
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup Restaurant Style Salsa
• 3 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
• 8oz (half a 14oz can) corn, drained
• 8oz (half a 14oz can) garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup green onion, diced
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown chorizo until cooked through.  Remove with a slotted spoon, place in a large bowl and set aside.  Using 2 tablespoons of the sausage grease, saute onion, poblano and oregano until softened and onion is translucent.  Remove with slotted spoon and set aside in same bowl as sausage.

Delicious brown bits!

While pan is still hot, add white wine and salsa, scraping up the browned bits from the pan.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5-7 minutes, until reduced to half.  Add cabbage, carrots, corn and beans, stirring to coat with sauce.  Cook for just a few minutes so that cabbage is still crunchy and not cooked all the way through.  Toss with cilantro and green onion.  Add a little salt and pepper if necessary.

Can be served as just a salad.  Can be put into zucchini boats (I halved my large zucchini, scooped it out, salt, pepper and olive oil on inside and baked for 15-20 minutes at 425 on a greased cookie sheet until tender), then stuffed with cabbage salad.  Could be rolled into a burrito, served as a taco, rolled in an egg roll wrapper and fried.  Served with rice or pasta.  Whatever!

Pozole Verde de Puerco (Green Hominy Soup with Pork)

Maiz blanco (white maize/hominy)

Pozole... a Mexican soup with a history of human sacrifice.  If that doesn't make you want to eat it, I don't know what will! 

According to Wiki, "...pozole was made to be consumed on special occasions...on these special occasions, the meat used in the pozole was human.   After the prisoners were killed by having their hearts torn out in a ritual sacrifice, the rest of the body was chopped and cooked with maize. The meal was shared among the whole community as an act of religious communion. After the Conquest, when cannibalism was banned, pork became the staple meat as it 'tasted very similar', according to a Spanish priest."

Pozole garnish

Pozole is made with corn (maiz) that is treated in an alkaline solution, a process called nixtamalization.  Wiki also says, "Maize subjected to the nixtamalization process has several benefits over unprocessed grain: it is more easily ground; its nutritional value is increased; flavor and aroma are improved; and mycotoxins are reduced.

Justin decided to go with pork instead of long pig for this recipe and it was delicious!  Garnishes for pozole vary - we used cabbage, radishes, green onion, cilantro and lime.  I've also had it with salsa and/or sliced avocado.

Sticking with the theme of eating people, let's listen to this cover of a song I knew growing up - The Meteors covering "Little Red Riding Hood" (originally done by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs, and I think it was titled "Li'l Red Riding Hood"?)  Anyway, I dig this cover.  Eat pork, not people.  Unless you really want to - I'm not the boss of you.  -jen

POZOLE VERDE DE PUERCO (GREEN HOMINY SOUP WITH PORK)
Prep Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  about an hour, including simmering
Difficulty: Medium
Makes: about 2.5 quarts

• 1 pound country-style pork ribs, cubed to bite size
• 1 teaspoon salt 

  

  Pozole ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 3 tablespoons butter 
• 3/4 cup onion, diced (half of a large onion)
• 1/2 cup celery, diced (about 2 large ribs)
• 3 large fresh tomatillos, diced
• 1 large jalapeño, seeded, de-veined and diced
• 1 large green onion, diced
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tbsp)
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 12 cups (1.5 quarts) pork broth (or chicken broth if pork isn't available)
• 28oz can pozole (hominy), drained
• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

Garnishes:

• shredded cabbage
• thinly sliced radishes
• green or white onion, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• lime wedges

Country-style pork ribs

Put cubed pork in a large Ziplock bag and add salt, black pepper, paprika and cinnamon.  Massage bag to distribute seasonings evenly over meat.

In a large stock pot, heat butter over medium-high and add seasoned pork, browning on all sides.  Remove and set aside. 

In the same pan, using the pork drippings, add onion, celery, tomatillos, jalapeños, green onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper.  Saute until vegetables are tender and translucent, 3-5 minutes.  Once vegetables are cooked, add broth and hominy and the browned pork.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer about 40 minutes.  Turn off heat and stir in 1/3 cup cilantro.

Serve hot with cabbage, radishes, green onion, cilantro and lime juice on top of each serving, or serve on the side for folks to add their own.

Enchilada Casserole

Enchiladas are one of our favourite dishes to make and it took us a few years of trial and error
with technique and ingredients before we got it right where we want it.  We really didn't think we could make it better...until a few weeks ago.  We had left over shredded pork that we'd made in the slow cooker, and I decided to go the "lazy" route and try an enchilada casserole.  I'd never had one, never made one, only heard of 'em.

Shockingly... we liked it better than our enchiladas.  Justin nailed it when he said it's like a lasagna.  The ratios were great.  We loved the way all the flavours came together.   And it took a lot less time to make than enchiladas because there wasn't the frying process or the rolling process.  Just layer up the dish and go.

For this round, we decided to try ground beef instead of the shredded pork.  I think we liked the shredded pork better, but the ground beef was still great (and we figured we'd go with it for the recipe because it seemed more accessible and quicker).  Shredded chicken would probably be bomb, too!  I think the corn and beans really make the dish - corn adds a nice crunch, beans add a great creaminess.  We made our salsa verde extra spicy, so we didn't add jalapeños to it, but they would also be great amongst the layers.  And since it heats up so well as a leftover, we made the recipe huge so we could have lunches to take to work for the next few days. 

We were thinking we hadn't pulled out much old punk in a while.  So Justin suggested some Suicidal Tendencies, and one he said he liked.  "Memories of Tomorrow".  -jen

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE
Prep Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  45 minutes

Poblano chiles

Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  10-12 large portions

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 poblano chile, diced
• 2 packets taco seasoning
• non-stick cooking spray
• 4 cups salsa verde (make your own quick and easy with CTDF's recipe here)
• about 15 corn tortillas
• 1 can (14oz) black beans, rinsed
• 1 can (14oz) corn, rinsed
• 1 cup chopped cilantro 
• 4 cups shredded cheese of your choice (go for 6 cups if you like it cheesy!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add diced onion, diced chile and ground beef to pan.  Cook until vegetables are soft and meat is thoroughly cooked, stirring intermittently.  Drain grease from pan, add about 2 tablespoons of water and taco seasoning.  Cook until water has cooked off.  Set aside.

Coat a 3-quart rectangular baking dish with non-stick spray.  Spread a thin layer of salsa verde on the bottom of the dish.  Lay out two layers of corn tortillas over the salsa verde.  (I found I could get two whole tortillas in, and then broke up a 3rd one to fill in the holes for a single layer.)  Sprinkle half of the seasoned meat over the tortillas.  Add half of the beans and corn.  Spoon another thin layer of salsa verde on top.  Add half of the cilantro and one third of the shredded cheese.  Repeat another double layer of tortillas, followed by a repeat of meat, beans, corn, salsa verde, cilantro and cheese.   Finish with a single layer of tortillas.  Top tortillas with a thin layer of salsa verde and then add the remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, uncovered.  Remove and let rest 5-10 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve. 

Hushpuppies

I'm stoked about this recipe, not so much because they were good (and they were!), but because I feel like this has gotten me one step closer to a different recipe!  We grew up outside of Chicago and there's a renaissance fair that's just over the Wisconsin border called the Bristol Renaissance Faire.  They serve the regular ren-fair food, but there's always been a stand there that serves beer and cheese fritters.  These cheese fritters have got to be on my Top 5 Best Things I Ever Ate list.  My aunt has had a booth up there for years and I even tried to get my cousin to get the recipe from the guys there, but no such luck.  These hushpuppies were way good... and now I have a little bit more of an idea on how to go about making those ultimate cheese fritters.

I heard the Riverdales the other day and hadn't thought of them in a LONG time.  I had a friend in college who loved these guys... hometown boys from Chicago!  What does "Prince of Space" have to do with hushpuppies?  Absolutely nothing.  But it does make me think that's exactly what Lumpy Space Princess needs.  It makes Justin think of MST3K.  As you can see, we lead very uninteresting lives.  -jen

HUSHPUPPIES
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Fridge Time: 1 hour, Cook Time: 2.5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Makes: 20 hushpuppies

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup corn flour (or grind cornmeal in food processor)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon KFC copycat seasoning (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 green onions, finely diced
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon jalapeños, diced fine
• 1/2 cup fresh sweet corn 
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add green onions, garlic, jalapeños, and corn.  Mix in beaten eggs until combined.

In a small sauce pan, bring milk and butter just to a boil, remove from heat.  Mix the milk into the dry ingredients, half at a time.  Add shredded cheese and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat deep fryer or 4" of vegetable oil in a skillet to 350 degrees.  In heaping tablespoons increments, drop refrigerated dough carefully into heated oil.  Cook for 2.5 minutes, turning once to cook evenly.  Serve hot.  We dipped ours in tzatziki, which was a nice refreshing dip that went well with the slightly spicy hushpuppies!

Note:  I thought I might like a little sweetness to the batter, so with the leftover batter that I didn't use (maybe about 1/2 the batter), I put a heaping tablespoon of honey in.  It lent just a touch of sweetness and I think I'd probably use it in my next batch... or maybe a tablespoon of sugar.