Homemade Tortillas with Chorizo/Shrimp & Mango Salsa

The idea for this came from a post on Culinate. You'll see why it caught my eye: "How 10 Tortillas Helped Me Believe in Myself: Yes, We Can."

The writer begins in complete unconfidence ("Someone is telling you 'no.' It’s a little voice in your head. It has been there for so long it’s indistinguishable from your true voice. No, you can’t do it.") And by the end she's twirling tortillas with one hand and babies with the other. The starting point I can definitely relate to - the ending, not so much.

But it did inspire me to give tortillas a try. Jack was a bit puzzled. You're going to make the tortillas? (Subtext: You're a total lunatic?)

It turned out to be a truly spectacular meal. We had some shrimp in the freezer, and Jack had brought some chorizo back from MA, and I decided that mango salsa couldn't be too hard (it wasn't).

The Recipe: Homemade Flour Tortillas
From the Homesick Texan. So much nicer than store-bought: light and poofy, with a lovely simple fresh taste. And really fun to make. (Would be good to do with kids, if you have them, and the time/energy.)

The Recipe: Mango Salsa
Adapted from How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman

• 2 cups firm but ripe mango [his was papaya], cut into 0.5-inch cubes
• 0.5 cup diced red onion
• 0.5 cup diced cucumber [he used red, yellow, or green bell pepper, or a combination]
• 2 tbspn minced fresh chile, or hot red pepper flakes, to taste [I forgot this part]
• 0.25 cup or more chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tbspn olive oil
• 3 tbspn freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste [i.e. 1.5-2 limes]
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4.

1) Put all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Let sit for about 5 mins, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more chile, lime, or salt, as needed.

2) Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a couple of hours [we actually saved half for the next day, it was fine]. (Bring back to room temperature before serving.)

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

I was so sure that everything would go wrong that I actually got Jack to buy a packet of wraps from the store as a standby. But they weren't required.

Both the bloggers fell in love with their tortillas, and I know what they mean. You'll find your heart swelling with pride as the little things puff up in the pan.

We served them with sauteed shrimp and chorizo, some shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, sour cream, and the mango salsa of course.

We put the leftover tortillas in the fridge, wrapped tightly in plastic, and reheated next day as instructed, and they were almost as perfect.

Pix

Dough resting for first time:















Dough balls:















A tortilla:















In the pan:















On the plate - pretty, right?

Technique: Microwaving Bacon

Why would one want to do that, you ask? Well, Mr. B. says that it's the best way to cook 3-6 slices of bacon, so we thought we'd give it a go.

His instructions:

• Put the bacon on a triple layer of paper towels on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a double layer of towels.
• Microwave on High for 2 mins, then check; move the pieces around a little and continue to microwave for 1-min intervals until done.
• Total time will depend on the power of your microwave but will be less than 5 mins even in a small oven.

Jack did his for a total of 5 mins and they were fine. I like mine well done, so did one more minute and they looked good. But... they were chewy rather than crispy (actually a bit like a dog chew).

The conclusion: A good method if you fancy a quick hit of bacon without all the stinking and splatting that goes with frying. But not if you like your bacon crispy or want an authentic bacon experience.

Easy Paella-ish (with Scary Shrimp)

Turns out I'm as scared of cooking shrimp as I am about chicken. And here was dealing with frozen shrimp, which made it even scarier. What if they weren't defrosted properly, so didn't cook right? And we both got horribly sick and were found in the bathroom ten days later, with our heads in the toilet and our pants round our ankles, half-eaten by the cats?

The Technique: Defrosting Shrimp
The interwebs, as always, provided the answer on this. The consensus was that you just soak them in ice cold water (not hot, you don't want to start the cooking process) for about 15-20 mins, changing the water a few times. What's Cooking America has some useful tips on shrimp in general.

The Recipe: Easy Paella-ish

http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood/recipes/easy_paella.html

I'm no expert, clearly, but this really seems like a fake paella to me (it was more like a risotto). And I hadn't realized that Everyday Food is a Martha Stewart thing - gack! (Apologies to any Martha fans.) But it tasted fine and, after all that panicking, the shrimp came out perfectly.

Will try a more authentic paella recipe at some point, though.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

I used Portuguese linguica instead of the chicken sausage, because Jack is Portuguese-American and brought some home when we last visited his family. It has a pretty strong taste, so probably overpowered the rest of the flavors a bit.

Halved the recipe (it serves 8) and only did a few shrimp as we were going to have leftovers the next day, and didn't think the shrimp would reheat very well (would probably get chewy).

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Step 3.












Almost done.

Pork Chops with Apple & Red Onion Chutney

Well, it's March 1, the clocks go forward next week, and some migrating geese came over our house today. So even though it's actually snowing right now it suddenly feels as though there maybe won't be too much time left for hearty winter dishes. This is a lovely one.

I first made it last year, so it isn't part of the resolution thing. It's from a book called Quick Food: Easy Everyday Ideas for Busy Cooks that I picked up because it looked pretty, but turns out to have some great recipes.

They serve it with sauteed green cabbage, which sounds nice, but we did roasted veggies instead as we had some parsnips and squash to use up. I've provided info for both here.

The Recipe: Pork Chops with Apple & Red Onion Chutney

• Quarter cup butter
• 2 small red onions, sliced
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, then cut into quarters and sliced
• Quarter tsp ground cloves
• Third cup honey
• 4 8 oz. pork loin chops

• For cabbage: 1.5 lbs green cabbage, thinly shredded; 1 tbsp butter; half tsp caraway seeds

• For roasted veggies: 2 parsnips; quarter butternut squash; 2 carrots; 1 large potato; 1 tbsp dried rosemary. [This is a guess; I think I did about half this amount tonight for us.]

Serves 4

1) If you're making roast veggies: Peel and cut into pieces about an inch square, put into a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. Season with plenty of salt, ground black pepper, and dried rosemary, and toss to make sure they're covered with the oil. Roast in oven at 425F, turning occasionally, for about 45 mins, or until tender and browned to your taste.

2) To make the chutney: Melt butter in a saucepan, then add the onions, apples, cloves, and honey. Simmer, covered for 10 mins over low heat. Increase the heat to medium, cover, and cook for another 20 mins until the liquid is reduced to a thick chutney.

3) Season chops well on both sides with salt and ground black pepper. Saute the chops over medium-high heat for 6-8 mins on each side, or until browned and cooked through. Remove pan from the heat and allow chops to rest for 2 mins.

4) For cabbage: Melt butter in large saucepan, add caraway seeds and cabbage, and cook, covered, over medium-low heat, tossing a few times with tongs, for 12 mins or until tender.

5) Serve, with spoonful of chutney on each pork chop.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

The recipe makes up into a lot of chutney, as you can see from the pics. I made half the recipe for the two of us, but it could be enough for 4 people (my red onion was a little large, though).

Pix

The chutney











The pork chops (Jack's handiwork)







The veggies (cooked a little long, but that was fine by us - we like them a bit blackened)


A rather murky picture of the finished product, with a huge amount of chutney, and some peas for color

Sausage, Squash & Root Vegetable Stew

So, it’s been a week, and no new recipe :(

But will make up for it in the coming days, hope that’ll be OK. And last night we had something that I first made last year – it’s from another of those Dairy cookbooks, called “Hearty & Healthy.” More comfort food, with a lovely sweet taste. You don’t need to serve it with anything except some nice crusty bread to mop up the juices.

The Recipe: Sausage, Squash & Root Vegetable Stew
(Adapted from the Hearty & Healthy Dairy Cookbook)

• 1 large onion, peeled & chopped
• 2 sticks celery, trimmed & sliced [not a cooked celery fan, so left this out]
• 1 large parsnip, peeled & cut into small chunks
• 1 large carrot, peeled & cut into small chunks
• Half a small butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, & cut into small chunks
• 20 fl. oz. stock [they say beef, but I used chicken; low sodium is best (see below)]
• 1 pack pork sausages, cut into pieces [I use Italian sweet sausages]
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes [they say with garlic; again no salt is best]
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs [didn’t have mixed herbs so used qtr tsp rosemary, qtr tsp thyme, half tsp tarragon]

Serves 4; suitable for freezing

1) Heat olive oil in large saucepan and fry onion for a couple of minutes till softened.

2) Add celery, parsnip, carrot, and squash to saucepan and pour in stock. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 10 mins.

3) Meanwhile, fry the sausage pieces in frying pan until golden, then remove from pan and drain on paper towels. [They said to fry for just 3 or 4 mins, but I cooked it for the whole time the veggies were simmering, so that more fat would come out.]

4) Add the sausages to the vegetables and stir in the chopped tomatoes and herbs. Bring back to the boil and simmer for about 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until tender, cooked through, and thickened. [They said to simmer uncovered, but didn’t want it to get too dry, so did 10 mins covered, and 10 mins uncovered.]

5) Serve immediately while hot.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

I actually used regular stock, not reduced sodium, but even though the tomatoes were salt-free, it almost tasted a bit too salty (presumably there’s some in the sausages). So, it’s another recipe where you need to watch the salt. But I have a bee in my bonnet re sodium at the moment; it was probably fine.

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The finished product.

The First New Recipe (of this blog)

I thought we’d start with an English recipe, me being English and all.

Beans on toast.

Just kidding. That’s for anyone reading who knows me from the not-so-old days.
(There are actually some finer points to successful beans-on-toast preparation, but we can cover those another time.)

For real this time: Cottage Pie

This breaks the healthy rule bigtime, but never mind. This is classic comfort food from my childhood, and we all need comfort right about now.

The recipe is from a book my mum gave me a couple of years ago, till now unused. It’s called the “Around Britain Dairy Cookbook” – in the UK you can order these Dairy cookbooks from the milkman (quaintly enough), but they ship to the US too (see http://www.dairydiary.co.uk/cookbook.html). All the books seem to have plenty of entry-level recipes, and they’re beautifully photographed too.

I had to make some adjustments because UK and US measures are different (discovered the hard way!), and to use US terminology (tell me if I got anything wrong).

Also, the recipe was actually for Shepherd's Pie, which uses ground lamb rather than beef. But apart from that the ingredients are the same.

The Recipe: Cottage Pie

• 1lb ground beef (or lamb for Shepherd's Pie)
• 1 onion, peeled & chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled & chopped
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 10 fl. oz. vegetable (or lamb) stock
• 1 bay leaf
• rosemary or thyme sprig, or pinch of dried thyme
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 tbsp tomato paste (or ketchup)
• 2lb potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
• 5 fl. oz. milk
• 1 oz. butter [they said 2 oz., but that's a helluva lot of butter]
• 1 oz. grated mature cheddar cheese, grated [maybe a bit more]

Serves 4; can be frozen.

1. Heat a large frying pan and add the ground beef (or lamb) in one layer. Let it brown for a few minutes over a high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, then turn it over and cook another few minutes. [I drained the fat off at this point.]

2. Add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

3. Sprinkle in the flour and cook for a minute, then pour in the stock, add the bay leaf & herbs, seasoning, and sauces. Simmer for approx. 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the carrots are softened. [They said "uncovered," but my sauce thickened too much that way, so I kept it covered and it seemed better.] Remove bay leaf & herb sprigs (if applicable).

4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F, and put a 2 quart dish in the oven to heat up for 5 minutes.

5. Cook the potatoes in boiling salt water for about 15 minutes until tender, drain well. Return the potatoes to the pan over the heat, and let them dry out for half a minute then take the pan off the heat, add milk, butter, salt & pepper, and mash well. The mash should be soft enough to spread, but not so soft that it will sink into the meat mixture.

6. Spoon the beef mixture into the dish. Place spoonfuls of potato on top and spread carefully with a fork to cover the meat. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned on top and piping hot. [This took a lot longer than they said - but that could be because our oven door doesn't shut properly. They also said that you could put it under the broiler for 5-8 minutes instead, but the pie doesn't "meld together" as well that way. But I think it would be worth a try.]

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Well, I have to say, it was pretty tasty!

The cooking time at the end was the main problem - by the time it was brown I felt like it had been in the oven waaaaaaay too long. I'd definitely do a combination of baking and broiling another time.

Also, they mention that you could add a can of chopped tomatoes, which might be good to try - I remember my mum's version being a bit more juicy. Will have to ask for her recipe.

They also say you could add crushed garlic if you like (presumably in step 2).

But not bad!

Pix

Beef mixture at end of step 3.












Pie before going into oven.

The finished item!