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Pulled Pork Walking Tacos {giveaway closed}

April 10, 2013 by 355 Comments

Walking Tacos | www.foodiewithfamily.com

First, I need to get something out of the way. Isn’t my boy adorable? Look at those eyes. That face. That smile. This boy melts my heart. Now, let’s talk about what he’s holding in his hands that’s causing that smile.

It’s that GO GO GO GO time of year.  Everything from buds on trees to school schedules is running at breakneck speed toward an explosion of greenery and excitement. Snow has melted here and whether it stays that way remains to be seen, we ARE in New York State after all. The kids, however, are busy puddle jumping, creek stomping, tree climbing, and biking like it’s their job. I suppose it is.

Busy days and activity filled evenings are the standing order. Sometimes you just gotta meet the challenge with a walking taco.

Right about now, there’s a big part of the Central U.S. saying, “You betcha!” and quite a few other folks scratching their heads. A Walking Taco, as I have known it, is a snack sized bag of Fritos (!) or Doritos (?) that is sliced open down the side and piled high with taco toppings.

Yes, you must slice it down the side instead of popping it open in the usual way. Observe my hand model with the filthy-playing-outside-all-day nails.

Walking Tacos | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Why do it this way? Well, it’s for fittin’ in all the stuff, of course. Just look at this spread.

Walking Tacos | www.foodiewithfamily.com

 

This standard of high school football, baseball, softball, and soccer games, wrestling matches, and community fundraisers is popular both for its ease of preparation and for the lack of additional serviceware needed for it. The chip bag forms the bowl, you pile in all the toppings that you possibly can and a plastic spoon or fork is all you really need to deliver the goods where they’re intended to go.

Since by this point you probably know I’m more than a little fixated on pulled pork (see examples here, here, here, and here) and I’ve waxed on and on about making a ridiculously inexpensive huge amount of pulled pork to keep in the freezer (examples here and here) I’ll spare you that harangue this time around. I’m going to go ahead and assume you have a stash in your freezer or have plans to make some soon. If you don’t, I’m pretty sure you’re aware you can make it easily ~or~ you have a source for purchasing pre-made pulled pork. Any which way you shred that pork shoulder, a Pulled Pork Walking Taco is sure to make your entire crew gleeful.

Heck. It makes ME gleeful. You know how I feel about Fritos.

Can a meal get easier than this? Well, sure… if you call someone to deliver it, but even with the bagged chips, I’m thinking you’re still ahead when you make this at home. With a little creative insulated packaging, you could even take this on a day excursion or a trip to the park for a fast dinner.

What’s your favourite fast meal? Have you indulged in Walking Tacos?

XO

Rebecca

P.S. Here’s a free pro Walking Tacos tip; after you open your bag of chips, but before you start piling in the goodies, slightly crush the chips. This helps them to mix into whatever you add in the bag a little more easily.

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Pulled Pork Walking Tacos

Rating: 51

Pulled Pork Walking Tacos

This is a Midwestern and Central US classic gussied up a bit; Fritos or Doritos in a snack-sized bag topped with Pulled Pork, sour cream, salsa, fresh cilantro, avocado cubes and whatever else your heart desires. These fun, portable meals please kids of all ages and make clean-up beyond snappy!

Ingredients

    For Each Walking Taco:
  • 1 snack sized bag of Fritos or Doritos
  • 1/3 cup fully cooked pulled pork, reheated You can use this recipe, or this recipe, or use purchased pulled pork.
    • Optional Toppings:
  • Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese
  • Shredded lettuce
  • Fresh cilantro leaves
  • sour cream or Greek yogurt
  • salsa
  • chopped tomatoes
  • chopped black olives
  • chopped avocados
  • guacamole
  • barbecue sauce
  • hot sauce

Instructions

Slice the bag of chips open along the side rather than the top. Slightly crush the bag to break up the chips a little bit. Pile the pulled pork in and add as many toppings as you'd like. Pop a fork in there and eat immediately!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/04/10/pulled-pork-walking-tacos-giveaway-le-creuset-anthropologie-and-more/

Giveaway Closed: Congratulations to Jennifer (comment beginning: “Other than fresh bread…”)! Check your email for information on your prize package!

P.P.S. About a month ago, I was invited to take part in a Kitchen Conversations webinar discussing trends in food that was put on by Land O’Lakes. Given my past work with Land O’Lakes, I was thrilled to say yes.

KC_Logo

The webinar featured top bloggers Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman, Julie Deily of The Little Kitchen, Sommer Collier of A Spicy Perspective, Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod, and Brenda Score of A Farmgirl Dabbles. I have to tell you that each of these women is a wizard with butter and nobody does butter better than Land O’Lakes. You should most definitely click on over to their sites and look at the drool-inducing butter-centric recipes they created for the Kitchen Conversations push. I’m just going to say “Butter Chicken Sliders“, “Beef Bahn Mi“, “Meatball Tortilla Soup“, “Garlic Rosemary Parmesan Popcorn“and “Curried Cauliflower with Israeli Couscous and Grains“. Are you drooling yet? I was so hungry by the time our Kitchen Conversation was done. Don’t go until you’ve entered the giveaway, though… Wait ’til you see what Land O’Lakes has in store for you!

As a thank you for a stimulating discussion on what foods are on the rise in popularity this year, Land O’Lakes sent me a gift package to review and will send an identical package to one of you, my readers. Wanna see what’s in it? Of course you do!

Giveaway_KC

The giveaway includes:

-one BEAUTIFUL and seriously serious Le Creuset enamelware sauté and frying pan.

-THREE gorgeous kitchen items from Anthropologie

-one full-value coupon for any Land O Lakes® Butter Half Sticks

-one full-value coupon for Sauté Express® Sauté Starter which includes butter, olive oil and herbs or spices.

How to Enter:

This doesn’t get much easier. Just leave a comment here on the blog telling me what your absolute all-time favourite dish is that’s made with butter! That’s it! The winner will be announced on this post on Friday, April 12, 2013. Good luck everyone!

Disclosure: Land O’Lakes sent me a gift package as a thank you for participating in the webinar and is sponsoring the giveaway of an identical gift package to one Foodie with Family reader. This contest is only open to U.S. Residents. Sorry, international friends! All opinions remain my own.

Butter_ProductImage

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, kid food, Party Food, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Cheesy Spinach Puffs

October 12, 2012 by 17 Comments

 

Today has  been a Monday kind of Friday. I overslept, didn’t get to my tea until ten this morning, then dropped and broke a plate. I started writing this post earlier, got about two-thirds of the way through it and then somehow or another, the internet pixies deleted it. I know I didn’t hit that delete button! So, after standing up, hiding in the bathroom and eating a very large chocolate bar, I’m making another attempt at finishing it because this recipe is just too good not to share. Maybe Popeye snuck in and botched my post while I was cleaning up the broken plate, the greedy Spinach hoarding twerp…

Or maybe I was overcomplicating things -as I am wont to do and this was divine intervention. It was a rather long-winded draft and a rather convoluted morning. Either way, here I am and here you are and here is one of our favourite snacks. Obviously it’s heavy on the spinach (read: Popeye reference above) which TOTALLY cancels out the insane amount of cheese (three different kinds!) and butter in it, right?

Of course it does! Besides, cheese does a body good and it makes spinach an easier sell to my anti-green-veg-contingent. In fact, the first time I made these, my most anti-green-veg of the bunch said, “What’s da green stuff, Mama?” I responded, “Try it and tell me how you like it.” He took a tentative nibble, smiled, and ate the rest while bouncing away from me. “Wait!” I called, “Didn’t you want to know what the green stuff is?” “Don’t care anymore! Dese are tasty!” he called from the other room.

All things considered, at least it is Friday. Around here, that means movie night. At this point in the day, I can’t think of anything I’d like to do better than fire up the wood stove to eleven, pop in a movie, cuddle with my kiddos and eat my weight in these Cheesy Spinach Puffs. The beauty of this is that my kids munch right alongside me, eating scads of spinach without even thinking about it. I call that a win.

Oh, I know I’ve shared more than one cheese plus spinach plus egg combo before… Yes, I clearly have a thing for it. Obviously. Today’s recipe, however, is just about the best thing you can do with that wonderful combination, and that is saying something. It’s just plain crave-able. Moist, spinach-studded, cheese and egg puffs get toasty, crispy bits around the edges and taste great alone, but they really sing when dunked in warm marinara or pizza sauce. It’s enough to turn a Monday-feeling-Friday into a Friday-all-the-way.

I can’t even wait for tonight. Cheesy Spinach Puffs, here I come!

Two important notes:

  1. I emphasize generously greasing the muffin pans for a reason. Eggs like to stick. Melted cheese likes to stick. Put the two together and you’ll be weeping a thousand salty tears unless you have massive amounts of non-stick cooking spray and/or non-stick mini-muffin liners. Trust me. That’ll totally mess up the Friday-all-the-way vibe!
  2. Make extras! These freeze well, reheat beautifully and are great to have on hand for last minute snacks.

 

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Cheesy Spinach Puffs

Rating: 51

Cheesy Spinach Puffs

Moist, spinach-studded, cheese and egg puffs get toasty, crispy bits around the edges and taste great alone, but really sing when dunked in warm marinara or pizza sauce. This is a favourite movie-night snack at our house and has won over even the most ardent anti-green vegetable protesters in our family. The smaller you chop the spinach after squeezing it dry, the easier it is to get it past picky eaters.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped or grated on a cheese grater
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or pressed
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese
  • ½ cup Italian style breadcrumbs
  • 1 pound frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed hard repeatedly to remove as much liquid as possible (*See Note Below Instructions)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Optional: warm marinara or pizza sauce or Ranch dressing for dipping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously -and I DO MEAN GENEROUSLY- spray 48 mini-muffin wells with non-stick cooking spray. Eggs are culinary glue. If you don't grease the tar out of those mini-muffin wells, they will stick!

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan or frying pan. Stir in the grated or finely chopped onion and cook on low, stirring frequently, until the onions are very tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Remove the pan from the burner and set aside.

Put the squeezed-dry spinach on a cutting board and chop a few times with a knife to separate the spinach and make the pieces smaller.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Whisk in the ricotta cheese until smooth. Switch to a wooden spoon, add the remaining ingredients –including the cooked onion mixture and the chopped spinach- and mix until evenly combined.

Divide the mixture between the mini-muffin cups. Bake the puffs until set in the center and lightly browned around the outside edge (begin checking at 20 minutes.)

Let them rest in the pans for about 3 minutes before trying to remove. If any of them stick, run a butterknife around the edge to loosen them.

Serve warm or room temperature with marinara or pizza sauce.

*Note: To get the most liquid squeezed from the spinach, put the spinach in a colander over the sink. Grab only as much as you can comfortably fit between your hands, cup your hands around the spinach and squeeze flat repeatedly until almost no more liquid can be squeezed out. Put that handful of spinach on the cutting board and repeat until you've finished squeezing all of it.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/12/cheesy-spinach-puffs/

This post is my contribution to the efforts by Hidden Valley Ranch and the Chef & Child Foundation. According to their website: “The Chef & Child Foundation (CCF) and the makers of Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® dressings & dips are partnering to host the Lunch Break for Kids fundraiser to showcase how simple, good food can make healthier bodies and stronger family connections, as well as support CCF’s national Childhood Nutrition Day in its mission to promote healthier eating to kids and their families through community-based initiatives.” Please take a moment to visit their website and look for opportunities to help in your area!

The Hidden Valley® Original Ranch®, dressings & dips has provided me with free product to help with my review, but anything I receive from Hidden Valley does not affect my thoughts on its company or their product.


Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

October 3, 2012 by 13 Comments

Why did the chicken cross the road? I’ll get to that in a moment.

One thing I absolutely, positively adore about living in Western New York is that I can honestly say I live in the birthplace of the hot wing. If you order ‘wings’ in a nearby restaurant or bar, you’re going to receive that hot, spicy, zippy, deep-fried, buttery tip-of-a-chicken’s-wing that is known the rest of the nation over as Buffalo Wings or hot wings. If you order Buffalo wings here, they’re going to know you’re not a local.

You know the story of how the ubiquitous bar food came to be, right? A hungry Buffalonian and his college buddies piled into the Anchor Bar where his mom was working. They begged for something -ANYTHING- to eat. (Right here is where the story gets me in the heart. I know how boys eat. I feel this story deeply.) Mrs. Bellissimo (the mom in question) threw a bunch of wings into the fry-o-later and tossed them with a special sauce, served them to the hungry boys, and a legend was born. There are other versions of the story, but they too all center around Mrs. Bellissimo and her restaurant. In short, Mrs. Bellissimo is widely acknowledged to be single-handedly responsible for one of the best-loved snack foods in North America. God love her, ’cause chickens fear her very name.

I’m going to go ahead and assume you’ve had real, proper wings before now; you’ve had that magical combination of vinegar based hot sauce and butter tossed on deep-fried chicken wings. Am I right? So you know how a wing is supposed to taste; buttery, spicy, zingy, chickeny, and altogether addictive.

This hot dip is everything that a good wing dunked in blue cheese or Ranch dressing is, but in dip form. You start with a generous portion of cooked, cubed chicken mixed into a concoction of cream cheese, Ranch dressing, and hot sauce and bake it until it’s bubbly and steaming hot. Your brain will scream “WINGS” when you scoop a cracker or celery stick into this dip.

You’re not going to be screaming from the heat. In wing parlance, you’ve got mild, medium and hot, in most cases. This dip is a medium. It’s not going to make your head leap from your neck and run away yelping unless you’re the wussiest of  all wussy eaters. If you are, and you still want to try the dip on for size, reduce the hot sauce but don’t you omit it…. then it would just be creamy chicken dip and that would be sad. Just sad.

…And now for the blue cheese issue, because I know some of you have one. If (sigh) you don’t like blue cheese (sigh again), yes, you can substitute mozzarella or Monterey Jack, but it will not pack that true wing punch. Wings are almost always served with a side of blue cheese dressing (Ranch if you ask for it) and some celery sticks.

Speaking of celery sticks, they would make an admirable conveyance for dip-to-mouth if you have them handy. I, however, did not. This is mainly due to the fact that my children have lately taken a serious fancy to ants-on-a-log for breakfast, lunch and dinner and had cleaned out my crisper drawer of all available celery whilst I was whipping up this dip for them at their request. *Shaking fists toward children.*

Ah well. Lack of celery sticks notwithstanding, this is mega-satisfying and fun. Crackers, tortilla chips, corn chips or breadsticks are all fantastic when dunked into, dolloped with or otherwise spread with Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip.

I guarantee this as man/boy friendly food, given that my man/boys ate up a batch in about ten minutes flat. I can also personally guarantee this as chick food, so long as your fellow chicks like wings as much as I do. Chicks and Wings. For a multitude of reasons, don’t ever let anyone tell you they don’t go together.

So why did that chicken cross the road? To get the heck out of Buffalo!

Buh-KAWK!

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Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Bubbly, cheesy, spicy, and full of chicken, Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip is a snacker's dream. Welcome at parties, on game day, or just for a fun hot snack, this dip is everything you love about Buffalo wings minus the bone.

Instructions for preparing this with a slow-cooker are also included.

Ingredients

  • 8 ounce brick of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dry Ranch dressing mix
  • 1/2 cup hot sauce, preferably Frank's Red Hot or Sriracha
  • 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (or grated mozzarella or Monterey Jack if you dislike blue.)
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced or pressed
  • 2 cups of cooked finely chopped or shredded chicken

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add the softened cream cheese to mixing bowl. Use a fork to break up the cream cheese and smoosh in the milk, mayonnaise and ranch dressing. Switch to a sturdy spoon to continue smashing it and mixing it until smooth. Mix in the hot sauce next, whisking to combine until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients until evenly combined.

Scrape the mixture into a casserole dish or oven safe bowl and bake* for 20-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

*This mixture can also be prepared in a slow-cooker on low (2-3 hours) and kept warm for a couple hours afterward.

Serve hot with crackers, corn or tortilla chips, celery sticks, or bread sticks.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/03/hot-buffalo-chicken-dip/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Comfort Food, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting and Apple Cider Caramel

September 18, 2012 by 23 Comments

Fall.

Autumn.

It’s just around the corner. As in, it’s four days away. Could you pardon me for a moment?

(FALLFALLFALLFALLFALLFALLFALL YAY! WAHOO! WHOOPWHOOPWHOOP! Zippity hippity hoppity doo dah! YEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!AU-TUMN! Uh huh, uh huh, uh huhuhhuhuhhuh. Happy DANCE! )

Um, thank you. I kind of needed to get that out of my system. I wait from February fifteenth (there’s something so romantic about snow on Valentine’s Day) to -oh, say- September twenty first of every year to get to fall. I love pumpkins and apples and squash and brightly coloured leaves and crisp air and apple crisps and oh my gosh… I just love everything about it.

I love drizzly, cold days and grey skies. I love driving down the road and seeing all the pumpkins for sale. I am passionately insane over winter squash. Butternut squash makes me swoon. Pumpkin. Pumpkin makes me flip my lid. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin custard, little bitty pumpkins stuffed with rice and sausage, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin soup. I’m like the Benjamin Buford Blue (a.k.a.the Bubba in Bubba Gump) of pumpkin.

I could eat pumpkin in just about any form, but my favourite is dessert. There’s something about pumpkin desserts that bridge that savoury/sweet line with such ease. It’s a vegetable so it almost feels like desserts made from it are health food. Hoo-yeah.And this cake I’m about to show you today… It has a vegetable and a fruit. That’s so healthy it’s almost disgusting.

It’s everything autumn; super moist pumpkin spice cake with a maple sugar glaze and apple cider caramel. Rawrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Just look at this.

 

Can you guess how long that cake lasted at our house? I can’t give you an exact time, but I can tell you it was less than twelve hours and probably less than eight. Time is a little fuzzy. We were kind of on a bit of a pumpkin high…

There’s a bonus -as if the cake wasn’t good enough by itself- the apple cider caramel portion of the recipe makes more than enough for the cake. In other words, you have some apple cider caramel leftover. In other other words, EXTRA CARAMEL for more cakes later or for drizzling on oatmeal or stirring into coffee or tea or hot cider or over ice cream or just plain on a spoon.

Oh gosh, I so love fall.

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Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting and Apple Cider Caramel

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting and Apple Cider Caramel

Super moist pumpkin spice cake -redolent with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves- topped with a silky smooth maple sugar frosting and drizzled with tangy, sweet apple cider caramel. This is pure fall!

Ingredients

    For the Cake:
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) or homemade pureed pumpkin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
    • For the Maple Frosting:
  • *Note: If maple sugar is not available, substitute dark brown sugar for a brown sugar frosting.)
  • 1/2 cup maple sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 3 tablespoons milk (preferably whole milk)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
    • For the Apple Cider Caramel:
  • 1/2 cup Boiled Cider Syrup also available through Amazon.com or King Arthur Flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 4 tablespoons of butter, cut into four pats

Instructions

To Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Grease a bundt pan with oil or non-stick cooking spray then flour the pan. Tap out the excess and set the pan aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the batter blade (or in a bowl with an electric mixer) cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and add the eggs, one at a time, blending and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. When the eggs are fully incorporated, blend in the pumpkin and vanilla. It may look curdly and horrid, but that's okay! Keep going!

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour with the rest of the dry ingredients. Add about 1/3 of the flour to the butter mixture and blend until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and blend in completely. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour and blend. Finish mixing the batter by adding the final 1/2 of buttermilk, mixing, then adding the final 1/3 of flour.

Spoon the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan, gently smooth the top and bake the cake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly with your finger.

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes before carefully turning out onto the rack to cool completely. While the cake cools, make the caramel...

To Make the Apple Cider Caramel:

Bring the boiled cider syrup and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 3 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream and return to a boil. Boil for 2 more minutes then drop the heat to low. Add the butter one pat at a time, whisking it in until it's fully incorporated. When all of the pats of butter have been added and incorporated, pour the hot caramel into a clean pint jar, reserving any excess for drizzling over the cake. Let cool completely before drizzling on the cake.

To Make the Maple Frosting and Assemble the Cake:

Bring the maple sugar, butter, and milk to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil for 1 minute, still whisking constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Be careful, it will boil up!

Gradually whisk in the powdered sugar. Continue whisking it gently until smooth, cooled slightly and thick, about 3-5 minutes.

Place the cooled cake on a cake plate or serving platter and immediately pour warm maple frosting over the cake. Let the frosting rest for 5 minutes, then drizzle with the apple cider caramel.

Store leftovers, well covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/18/pumpkin-cake-with-maple-frosting-and-apple-cider-caramel/

 

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Corn Stock plus Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder | Make Ahead Mondays

September 10, 2012 by 9 Comments

Soup and sweater weather…

There simply isn’t any weather I like better than those first days of fall -REAL FALL- where the skies are gunmetal grey and leaves are just starting to turn. It’s a mighty wind, and it’s brisk, and it wants to blow right through you. It makes you understand why those leaves finally give up and flutter around. We, thankfully, have sweaters and comfy socks.

And soup.

First, you may have been around here long enough to know I’m a huge fan of movies. My most favourite movies are usually absurd comedies. Squarely in that category falls the movie  ‘Best In Show’ by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy. It’s a mockumentary where a bizarre group of characters competes to win a national dog show. The entire movie is weird, wonderful and hysterical from start to finish, but there is one exchange that has always stuck with my husband and I.

Jennifer Coolidge’s gold-digging, much younger trophy wife character, Sherri Ann Cabot, is talking about how very in love she is with her MUCH older, senile, immobile, uncommunicative, wealthy husband.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9jxSOxtYHs[/youtube]

“We have so much in common, we both love soup and snow peas, we love the outdoors, and talking and not talking. We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about.”

In short, since seeing that movie, my husband and I quote that one passage every. single. time. we have soup. Given that we also love soup, that quote gets pretty solid play in our house. And I’ll tell you this, unlike Leslie Ward Cabot, it hasn’t gotten old yet.

Let’s make like Sherri Ann and Leslie and talk about soup for a moment, shall we?

This chowder is not for the low-fat crowd. Not only does it use bacon -and a lot of it!-, not only does it have butter, not only does it have cream cheese, but it has all three in abundance. Glory hallelujah! Don’t spend your days waiting for Guffman, it’s time to bust out the comfort food.

While you can certainly make this chowder with a store-bought chicken or vegetable stock, it really sings up a storm when made with the simplest stock you can ever make; Corn Stock. If you’ve been with me long enough to know I’m a movie nut, you’ll also know that I’m firmly in the waste not/want not camp as well. Corn Stock is what I like to call a three-fer.

  1. You prepare the corn the way you  normally would (I vastly prefer roasting it because it’s easier to do large amounts than boiling.) Cut the corn from the cob and freeze it or use it immediately.
  2. Boil the cobs for stock.
  3. Give the boiled cobs to the chickens who will get whatever is left that is edible and use it as energy to make eggs.

If that isn’t a frugal gal’s dream, I don’t know what is. Most importantly, though, the corn stock gives your chowder something that no other stock can. It gives it an essence of summer sweet corn that simply is not available in any other way mid-autumn or winter. If that doesn’t send a shiver of anticipation up your spine (unlike a spinal tap), then you’ve never lived in the snow belt.

Just imagine a bowl of rich chowder resplendent with roasted corn (that which you cut from the cob and froze, you frugal cook you!), cubes of potato with a hint of red skin still on, and hints of orange carrot in a fragrant broth that smells just like fresh sweet corn and is made thicker and velvety with the addition of cream cheese. Does that warm you up yet?

Don’t just talk about it: slurp that soup like Leslie!

 

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Corn Stock plus Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder | Make Ahead Mondays

Corn Stock plus Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder | Make Ahead Mondays

Make as much of the Corn Stock as you can while corn is still in season. You'll be so glad to have the essence of summery corn available to you in the winter. Use in stews, risottos, and soups.

This luscious, hearty, rich chowder is resplendent with roasted corn (that which you cut from the cob and froze, you frugal cook you!), cubes of potato with a hint of red skin still on, and hints of orange carrot in a fragrant broth that smells just like fresh sweet corn and is made thicker and velvety with the addition of cream cheese.

Ingredients

    For the Corn Stock:
  • 2 dozen ears of corn, roasted and shucked (preferably) or shucked and boiled
  • 2 cooking onions
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 1 handful fresh or frozen parsley stems
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs fresh time or 2 teaspoons of dried thyme leaves
  • 2 gallons fresh cold water
    • For the Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder:
  • 1 pound of bacon (Omit the bacon and add another 4 tablespoons of butter for a vegetarian version.)
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 2 medium sized cooking onions, peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 1 tablespoon minced or pressed garlic
  • 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 8 cups corn stock (or chicken stock)
  • 6 medium sized red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into small cubes
  • 1 carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 4 cups frozen or fresh roasted corn, cut from the cob
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • sliced green onions and minced fresh parsley, if desired, for serving

Instructions

To Make the Corn Stock:

Stand an ear of corn up on its flat end on a cutting board. Using a gentle sawing motion with a very sharp knife, cut down the ears, removing the kernels from the cobs as you go. Transfer the corn kernels to a parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet and stick in the freezer until solid. Transfer those corn kernels to zipper top freezer bags and store for use in soups or salads.

Put the cleaned cobs along with the remaining stock ingredients into a large stockpot or electric countertop roaster oven. Cover the pot and bring up to a boil. Drop the heat and let it cook at a low simmer for 1-4 hours. Use tongs to remove the boiled cobs from the stock. (I give those to my chickens after they've cooled.) Pour the remaining liquid through a fine mesh sieve over a pitcher or other deep pot. You can use the stock immediately,

~or you can pressure can it (leaving 1-inch of headspace) at 15 pounds of pressure for 75 minutes. The jars can be stored on the shelf for up to two years.

~or you can cool the stock and pour it into zipper top freezer bags in single use portions then freeze it for up to 6 months.

~or you can refrigerate it and use it within 2 weeks.

To Make the Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder:

Cut across the slices of bacon to make 1/2-inch strips. In a soup pot over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until it is crisp. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the crispy bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Set it aside -no snitching!- until the soup is almost done.

Drain all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease. You can eyeball it: you don't need to be precise. Add the butter to the bacon grease and place the pan over medium low heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic in and stir, cooking for an additional minute.

Sprinkle the flour over the onion/garlic/butter mixture and whisk it in thoroughly. Raise the heat to medium and cook for 2 minutse, stirring often. It should be bubbly. Add the corn stock, whisking to combine, then the potatoes and carrots. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and carrots are super tender.

In a heat-proof bowl, lightly smash the softened cream cheese with a fork. Using a ladle, add a little of the hot corn stock to the cream cheese, working it in with a fork or a whisk until smooth. After you've added enough hot stock to it to create a thick but pourable liquid, add it back into the pan of soup, stirring to combine. Add the corn in and stir, cooking only until the corn is heated all the way through. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a handful of sliced green onions and chopped fresh parsley, if desired. Don't forget a big chunk of bread to sop up the irresistible broth!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/10/corn-stock-plus-roasted-corn-and-potato-chowder-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Component Foods, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Pork and Fig Molletes | Mexican Open-Faced Toasted Sandwich

September 6, 2012 by 12 Comments

In one of those funny bits of irony that comes your way in life, my husband -who dislikes travel- has had to fling himself thither and yon regularly for his job. And I -the former exchange student gal who loved to go anywhere for any reason- found myself, for all intents and purposes, firmly rooted at home.

He refers to hotels as beds-in-a-box. He *gasp* doesn’t pack for a trip until he’s about to walk out the door. He dawdles as long as he possibly can before he leaves.

I think hotels are fun (provided they’re clean and quiet.) I make lists, double check them and pack my stuff the night before I leave. Sometimes, I even put my bags in the car the night before. I am ready to go because fifteen minutes early is on time.

And still we love each other madly.

I found myself at the Chicago O’Hare airport this summer* with a good sized layover and a better sized appetite. I glanced at the airport key to see what was available and saw “Frontera”. As in Chef Rick Bayless? No way. I had to check that out. I figured if it WAS indeed a Bayless operation, it would be too expensive, but I had to see it with my own eyes.

*It’s funny how things happen, isn’t it? Shortly after becoming okay with being the one who was home most of the time, opportunities started popping up for me to see more of the country. Its something for which I’m very grateful even though I’ve been pretty content to stay home wearing ripped jeans with my hair in a ponytail for the past few years.

I know I haven’t done as much travel as many people (read: my husband) in the past few years, but somehow I was under the impression that all food in airport was, well, airport food. As in gross and on par with hospital food. It turns out that in the nearly a decade of travel-less-ness I’ve had, some airports have really upped the ante in the food department.

Not all of them, mind you. I’m looking at you Terminal F. (You know who you are.)

I walked down through Terminal 1 and lo-and-behold, it actually WAS a restaurant opened by Chef Bayless in Chicago’s O’Hare. Furthermore it was affordable and further-furthermore, the food looked outstanding. I stood in the sizable line, placed my order for a Pork and Fig Mollete (warm open faced sandwich) and took my pager (at an airport?!?) to wait while they made my sandwich to order.

It was more than worth the little walk and the short wait. That sandwich was perfection. Doubt me? Read the Yelp reviews. I thought about that sandwich not only for the rest of that trip, but also during the other two trips I was on this summer. I kept hoping I’d have to be re-routed through Chicago so I could get another sandwich.

I am a bit of a sandwich snob. I think there is an art to the perfect sandwich; a perfect ratio that exists between bread and fillings and condiments. Torta Frontera’s ratio was flawless. The bread was soft, but the crust was chewy (without yanking your teeth out of your head). The fig preserves were there, but didn’t scream at you. The melted Chihuahua cheese on top? Swoon! A scattered handful of chopped cilantro made the whole thing taste fresh and the duo of salsas -red and verde- on the side were just spicy enough to remind you what salsa should be without being so pungent that you’d horrify your seat mate on the next plane. And this? This is why I had to recreate the sandwich.

I knew my two existing pulled pork recipes on Foodie With Family – Slow-Cooker Cuban Pork and Slow-Cooker Cola Pulled Pork- would work equally well for the meat on my recreated sandwich. This is one of the reasons I try to keep some of the pulled pork on hand at all times. The only thing that threw me for a bit of a loop in terms of ingredient sourcing was the cheese. There was nowhere around me that sold Chihuahua cheese. I made an executive decision like a boss and subbed in Queso Blanco.

Oh mommy.

It was exactly what I’d been hoping for; sweet figs just barely there under a coating of flavour-packed pulled pork, melted cheese and cilantro all perched on top of yielding yet chewy bread. I declared it a success. My husband declared it delicious and said -much to my surprise- that maybe he had something to look forward to on his next time through Chicago if the food in the airport was like this. Then he said something much more in character, “But why should I go there if you can make it for me here? I love home.”

Aw, that’s my honey.

He is right, after all… I’ll continue enjoying this sandwich every time I get the hankering and I won’t even have to brush my hair to do so.

P.S. He loves me even though I’m lollygagging around with messy hair and unkempt clothes. I think I can put up with his travel quirks.

 

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Pork and Fig Molletes | Mexican Open-Faced Warm Sandwich

Pork and Fig Molletes | Mexican Open-Faced Warm Sandwich

Succulent pulled pork pairs with sweet fig preserves and melted queso blanco cheese on soft Italian bread in this fabulously simple warm Mexican open face sandwich and homage to Chef Rick Bayless.

Serve as a quick weeknight meal or on game day. Instructions for cooking on the grill are included in the recipe making this a perfect tailgating option.

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf Italian bread (16 ounces, by weight)
  • 1/2 cup fig preserves
  • 3 cups shredded fully cooked pork like this, or this.
  • 1/2 cup crumbled queso blanco or grated Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
    • For Serving:
  • Chopped cilantro
  • Your favourite salsa(s)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F. (Or grill to medium high.)

Halve the loaf of Italian bread horizontally from end to end like you're going to make a giant submarine sandwich. Open the bread and lay, cut side up, on a baking sheet or a piece of foil. Divide the fig preserves between the two halves and spread evenly and thinly. Divide the pork evenly between the two halves of bread and distribute the pork to cover all of the bread.

Put the baking sheet or foil into the oven or grill and bake for 6-8 minutes, or just until the pork is hot through and through. Scatter half of the crumbled or grated cheese evenly over one sandwich and the other half over the other sandwich. Continue to bake for an additional 2-4 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted. Remove the sandwiches from the oven and cut each loaf in half. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro and the salsa of your choice.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/06/pork-and-fig-molletes-mexican-open-face-toasted-sandwich/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Comfort Food, Main Dish, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fresh Tomato Salad with Smoked Blue Cheese | Five Minute Recipe

September 4, 2012 by 4 Comments

 

This weekend, my mom embarked on an adventure. She decided to live a little more simply. Okay. A lot more simply. She decided to try giving up running water and most electricity a couple months ago and move into a building on our property where she could do that without committing to a piece of real estate. This weekend was the big move.

My kids have always called her Nana and in the last month we’ve tagged “Free Range” onto the front of that. She is to be known, henceforth, as Free Range Nana. As part of the move, she plundered her own garden at her old rental property and brought down a goodly bowl of beautiful salad tomatoes. In order to properly welcome her to our little corner of paradise, I decided to whip up a salad of epic proportions on the flavour scale but negligible proportions on the effort scale.

Everyone knows that a good tomato doesn’t need much tinkering, and this salad takes advantage of that trait. Free Range Nana loves a good salad. I simply sliced those gorgeous, ruby-red orbs, fanned them out on a platter and hit them with a little nice aged balsamic vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, and some cracked black pepper and sea salt. Here, however, is where the big bang really happened: I tossed a bunch of crumbled smoked blue cheese and parsley over the whole thing.

Smoked. Blue. Cheese.

Have you had this yet? If you haven’t, and you like regular ole blue cheese, I cannot encourage you to try it strongly enough. Let me ‘splain. My little sister, Jessamine, lived her whole life thinking she didn’t like blue cheese. She came to my house and I exerted my inimitable big sister skills and shamed her into trying my stash of smoked blue cheese. She relented, sprinkled some on her pizza and was instantly and irrevocably hooked. In fact, she was asking me the other day whether I’d be down for splitting an entire wheel of the stuff. (I am down.) It’s true. Ask her!

My favourite comes from Rogue Creamery: Smokey Blue by Rogue Creamery . If you’ve never had this let me explain a little why it’s so transcendent. It’s sharp and creamy blue cheese, that’s for sure, but it’s also cold smoked for sixteen HOURS over Oregon hazelnut shells.

THUD.

That’s me falling to the floor thinking about just how amazing this cheese is.

My second favourite smoked blue cheese (Yes. I have a second favourite.) is Moody Blue from RothKäse, USA. Dear goodness, it’s amazing. This one is smoked over fruit woods.

It’s just that Rogue Smokey Blue. I just can’t. I just.

Just get some.

Then sprinkle it over this tomato salad and sit down with a fork and a knife and a bib and warn everyone that conversation will die when they start eating this salad.

Don’t fret. It’ll pick up as soon as everyone realizes it’s gone. It’ll mostly consist of things like, “My word. That salad.” and “Smoked blue cheese completes me.” or “How late did you say that cheese shoppe was open?”

Whatever you do, make this salad soon. Summer tomatoes are almost gone, and I don’t think I need to tell you that all the smoked blue cheese in the world isn’t going to save a January tomato. Right?

 

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Fresh Tomato Salad with Smoked Blue Cheese | Five Minute Recipe

Fresh Tomato Salad with Smoked Blue Cheese | Five Minute Recipe

This five minute dinner salad is easy enough for every night and elegant enough for company.

Make it while the tomatoes are still magnificent. A great fresh tomato needs nothing more than the simple dressing of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, and smoked blue cheese.

Ingredients

    Per Serving:
  • 1 medium to large sized salad or beefsteak type tomato
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon smoked blue cheese crumbles
  • chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Core and slice the tomato. Arrange the slices on a plate, fanning them out slightly. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the tomato slices and then sprinkle them with salt and freshly ground pepper. Scatter the smoked blue cheese crumbles over the top and add chopped parsley, if desired. Serve immediately.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/04/fresh-tomato-salad-with-smoked-blue-cheese-five-minute-recipe/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Party Food, Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Grilled Summer Salad

August 31, 2012 by 2 Comments

 

There are few things I like better on a hot day than a cold salad. If it happens to be one that I was able to whip up when the day was still cool or -better yet- the day before, I’m even happier. When that salad takes advantage of the best parts of summer produce I’m ecstatic.

I am grateful to have something to love about all four seasons. My affection for summer is entirely wrapped up in the fresh vegetables. Well, alright. It is kind of nice not to trip over snow boots in the mudroom for a couple of months. But the produce. Oh, the produce!

While the variety available to us in stores is nothing short of remarkable, there simply is nothing that compares to produce grown nearby and eaten in season. Everyone knows a frozen ear of sweet corn from a grocery store just can’t hold a candle to an ear that was picked from the field earlier that day.

I used to be a corn boiler. Everyone I knew was a corn boiler. It was just how we did things. Then -nearly a decade ago- I picked up the Nero Wolfe detective books by Rex Stout. I identified with Nero’s obsession with food and when -in one book- he  frantically pursues the perfect sweet corn while the police inspector wants him to pursue a killer. I totally got it. I mean really. If you gave me the options of tracking down the perfect sweet corn vs. a cold blooded killer? I’d go with the corn every day. I’m a scaredy cat.

At one point, though, Nero Wolfe said something that made me question my lifelong corn boiling habits:

“Boiled in water, sweet corn is.. edible, and nutritious.  But roasted in an oven, at the hottest possible temperature for 40 minutes. Shucked at the table. Buttered. Salted. Nothing else! Ambrosia.”

Well, shoot. Ambrosia? I had to give that a whirl. The first time I made Nero Wolfe’s corn, I did indeed use my oven. And it was absolutely ambrosia, but the smell of burning husks in the house was less than wonderful and it was bloomin’ hot out to be firing up the oven to the hottest possible temperature. I moved my endeavours outside to the grill, adjusted the heat (because hottest possible temperatures in grills and home ovens are vastly different), and in the process learned what the entire southwest has known for I-don’t-know-how-long: fire roasted corn is incomparably delicious.

 

From that day on, there was simply no other way to cook corn (with one sad foray into cooler corn.)  I almost always deliberately cook more corn than we can possibly eat in one setting. Believe me, that takes work… we can eat a lot of corn.

One of our favourite ways to use the extra grilled corn (with its extra boost of concentrated corn flavour) is in a Grilled Summer Salad. We change the salad up, depending on what is most readily available from our garden or the local farmers’ market, but the backbone of the salad is always grilled corn and zucchini. Everything else is negotiable.

Grilled zucchini is in the same category as grilled corn. It is just plain better. There’s something about the time on that hot grill that turns a vegetable that has a reputation for insipidity into a flavour explosion. I prefer the texture of grilled zucchini, too. There’s nothing complicated about it. Slice the zucchini into half-inch slabs, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper or Montreal Steak Seasoning (my preference) then pop on a hot grill. When they’re marked by the grill, they’re done enough. How simple is that?

I usually fill out the salad with roasted red pepper, garden tomatoes, garlic, parsley and a little squeeze of lemon juice… not too much… just a bit. If I’m feeling particularly peckish, I’ll crumble a little feta cheese in there. With the feta, it’s a stand-alone vegetarian meal in a bowl, but it does do a marvelous job of accompanying grilled meats or fishes. I almost always make as large a batch of this as my refrigerator can accommodate. I have been known to walk past the refrigerator with a fork just to dip into a bowl of this. I suppose that’s not a bad thing. I could be snacking on much, much worse things. (Ahem. Frito habit.)

Get out there and make this while the getting’s still good. Fresh veggies won’t be around that much longer!

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Grilled Summer Salad

Grilled Summer Salad

Summer vegetables take center stage in this seasonal salad that takes advantage of grilling sweet corn and zucchini to bring out the best of both. Serve this at your Labor Day festivities to guarantee praise!

A light lemon dressing and a little feta cheese (optional) round out this refreshing and healthy-habit forming dish that can be a stand-alone vegetarian meal or accompany grilled meats of fishes with equal aplomb.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium to large zucchinis
  • olive oil
  • Montreal Steak Seasoning or salt and pepper
  • 2 large beefsteak type tomatoes
  • 2 ears leftover grilled corn , cut from the cob.
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • a fistful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat a clean gas grill to HIGH (or build a hot bed of coals on a charcoal grill.)

Slice the zucchini into 1/2-inch thick slabs. Brush both sides of each slab with olive oil and sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the zucchini directly on the grill. With the lid open on the grill, leave the zucchini slices in place until there are grill marks on the zucchini, carefully lifting the corner with tongs to check occasionally. This should not take more than 3 minutes. Flip the zucchini and cook until the other side has grill marks, about 2 minutes. Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the grilled zucchini to a rimmed pan.

Put the rimmed pan, uncovered, in the refrigerator until the zucchini is cool to the touch, about 30 minutes to an hour.

Dice the chilled, grilled zucchini and the tomatoes. Toss them together with the remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Transfer to a container with an airtight lid and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/08/31/grilled-summer-salad/

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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