Chorizo Fiesta

Spicy Chorizo Mac N Cheese

Went to the grocery and they had chorizo on sale so I bought a few pounds and yesterday we had a chorizo fiesta.  Will wanted a chorizo con queso dip, so I googled a few recipes and these are the ones I tried.  This recipe from food.com was very easy, but Will didn't like it.  He's not fond of cream cheese, so that would explain it.  The other one I found on food network.  Will liked this one much more and that is the one he proceeded to eat in its entirety.  I also made a spicy macaroni and cheese also from the food network.  Yummy!!  This is one of he best mac and cheese dishes I've had in a long time.

Since Will didn't like the recipe from food.com I took the dip and added an additional pound of cooked chorizo (casing removed), a few TBS of my own mexican spice blend and a blended a can (to eliminate the chunks) of Rotel tomatoes to it and I simmered it for about 20 minutes.  I served it over a pasta with cilantro.  This was a very good use of the dip that wasn't a huge hit and it really tasted good.

All of these dishes were easy to make and not too time consuming.  Give them a try and good eats!!

New Years Peas & Ham

We need all the luck we can get so today I made Black eyed Peas with Ham, mixed greens and  cornbread.  For the peas you will need:

• 1/2 large green bell pepper chopped
• 1/2 large yellow onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 C of cubed ham
• 1 15 oz can of black eyed peas
• 1 C of chicken broth or stock
• To make the pea dish I sauteed 1/2 green bell pepper chopped, 1/2 yellow onion chopped, 3 cloves garlic chopped for about 4 minutes.  I added 1 cup of cubed ham (leftover from Christmas) and cooked an additional 3 minutes just to get the smokiness out of the ham.  I then added 1 15 oz can of black eyed peas, 1/2 C of basmati rice and 1 C of chicken stock.  I stirred to mix it all the ingredients.  I brought it to a boil, covered and reduced heat and simmered for 20 minutes.

I bought Glory canned mixed greens which were ok, but not great.  Not sure what they should taste like, but again they were just ok.

For the corn bread.  I preheated my oven to 450.  I took my cast iron skillet and added 2 tbsp of bacon fat to it and placed it in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes.  Yes, I store leftover bacon fat in a container in my fridge and use it periodically.  Anyway, for the corn bread you will need:

1 C of Martha White Self Rising White Corn Meal Mix

3/4 C of milk

2 tbsp of bacon fat.

Mix the corn meal and milk together and then add the hot melted bacon fat.  Mix together, pour into hot cast iron skillet and bake for about 20 minutes in the oven.  This corn bread is very thin and crunchy, not fluffy at all, so you might not like it if you're used to fluffy cake like corn bread.

Anyway, that's all their was to this meal.  Let's hope it brings us lots of good fortune in 2013.  Good Eats in 2013!!

Still Here!

I'm still here, just having a busy year.  DIY projects, getting my Motorcycle license, and riding alot.  Stay tuned for some Autumn eats!  Be back soon!

Hoppin Jon w/ Andouille & Bacon

I took this recipe from Sunny Anderson and modified it to work w/ what I had on hand. Instead of the Cannelini Beans I used the traditional Blackeyed Peas that I had in the freezer. I also used 1.5 cups of brown basmati rice, this rice only takes about 25-30 minutes to cook. I followed the recipe until I got to the bean part. I added the peas and the rice to the pot and covered with 3 1/4 C of chicken stock, stirred the mixture, brought to a boil, covered and reduced to simmer for 30 minutes. This is a very easy, fairly quick and yummy dish! I will definitely make again. If you would like to try it click HERE for the recipe.

Tilapia w/ Asian Slaw & Noodles

My plan was to make fish tacos w/ slaw but I forgot to get tortillas, so I fried the fish, served it over crunchy Asian slaw with noodles. What you'll need: Slaw-1/2 pkg shredded cabbage mix, 1 garlic clove minced, 1 inch piece ginger peeled & chopped, 3 scallions chopped. Put this in a food processor and pulse 5 times. Place in a large bowl. Add 1 tsp sugar,  2 tbs soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 tbs rice wine vinegar, 1/4 c mayonnaise. Toss this well with the cabbage slaw. Refrigerate until ready to use. Noodles: 1 pkg ramen type noodles cooked, rinsed and drained, 1 c of blanched green beans cut into 1 inc pieces, 2 scallions sliced, 1/4 c cilantro chopped, 2 tbs soy sauce, 1 tbs rice wine vinegar, 1 tbs sesame oil, 1 garlic clove finely minced, 1 inch piece of ginger peeled and minced, 1 tsp chili flakes. Add these ingredients minus the noodles & beans into a medium sizes bowl an mix them well. Toss in the noodles & green beans. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Fish: 1 lb Tilapia cut into 3 inch pieces and set aside, 1 c all purpose flour, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp white pepper add these to a large zip lock bag and shake, place 2 eggs in a small bowl and beat them, place 1-2 c of panko on a large plate, 1 c of canola oil heated to 350 in a large non stick skillet. Add 5 pieces of fish at a time to flour mix and shake. Remove fish and dip into beaten eggs 1 piece at a time. Dredge fish into panko and fry fish pieces in small batches for about 3 minutes. Place fried fish on a plate layered w/ paper towels. Repeat until all fish is fried. Serve the fish over the slaw with the noodles. I drizzled some Siracha sauce over the fish. Next time I will make a Siracha mayo or Siracha sour cream sauce to drizzle over the top. Enjoy!!

How My Garden Grows

Love having a garden.  I wish I could grow more,  but my space is limited.  Love the idea of sustainability, organic, local home grown. My garden this year consists of 4 tomato plants (2 roma's for sauces and salsa, 1 beefsteak for burgers and sandwiches, and 1 grape tomato for salads), lots of pepper plants, (3 jalapeno, 2 habanero, 1 ghost, 1 cayenne, 1 red bell, 1 green bell and 1 poblano) 2 chives,  lots of herbs (3 basil plants, 1 thyme, 2 oregano (spicy and italian), 1 sage, 1 flat leaf parsley, 1 rosemary, 2 dill, 1 celery, 1 tarragon).  That's it.  I also have some marigolds growing in there, supposedly keeps out the furry critters.  Seems to be working or the furry critters just don't like what I grow.  Hope to harvest some grape tomatoes soon, the plant doesn't seem to be very happy, so we'll see.  I'll keep you posted with photos, and recipe as soon as the harvest comes in.
If you have any photos of your garden please share, would love to see what everyone is growing this year.
Keep growing good eats!!

Bacon & Chive Purple Potato Salad

Just returned from a Memorial Day trip to see my brother and sister n law and to visit a few family memorials.  My sis n law surprised me with this really awesome cookbook "Taste of Home" so I decided to try a simple side dish from the book.  I modified the recipe slightly using purple potatoes instead of the redskin and I added 2 boiled eggs and some fresh dill also.  The chives and dill came from my garden.  The only thing that would've made this really awesome is if the bacon would've come from hogs that I raised, but I would have to have livestock and I don't.  Anyway, everything in the dish was organic, local or home grown so that's a  bonus.  The salad is very easy to make and really yummy.  I served it along some organically grown corn that I grilled along with local farmed raised beef tenderloin and chicken.  Can't wait to dig into the cookbook some more, it looks like it has some really great recipes.  I will definitely share how they go and will post how to create,  but for now Good Eats!