Cornmeal Biscuits with Chorizo Gravy

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/8 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/8 cup buttermilk
• 
  

• Preheat oven to 425°. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Using your hands, work butter into flour until pieces are chickpea-size. Add buttermilk and mix just to blend.
• Drop dough by heaping ¼-cupfuls into an 8" cast-iron skillet, spacing about 1" apart. Bake at 425 for 6 minutes, 400 for 6 minutes, 350 for 4 minutes, then turn oven off for 6 minutes. Rotate skillet once through. Cook until biscuits are puffed and golden brown. 
• Notes: Seemed like too much butter in the mix. It melted quickly at 425. Next time, I would start at 400 and use maybe 1-2 T less butter.

Chorizo Gravy

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 oz. pound fresh chorizo, casings removed
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups milk (I used cashew and almond)
• 
  

• While biscuits are baking, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add chorizo, breaking up any large pieces with a spatula. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chorizo is browned and crisp, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Whisk flour into drippings in skillet and cook, whisking constantly, until roux is very smooth and starting to turn a light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly until incorporated. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook gravy, whisking constantly, until thickened, 5–8 minutes. Stir chorizo into gravy.
• Top biscuits with gravy, fried over easy egg, avocado, cilantro, and cotija cheese.

• Original source: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/cornmeal-biscuits-with-chorizo-gravy-and-scallions

Marinated Mushrooms

2/3 c. white vinegar
1/3 c. red wine (Fiesta Heart of Texas)
2 T. orange olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 T. scilian herb mix
1 T. tuscan sun herb mix

Simmer

Add 2# mushrooms, quartered on cut in to sixths. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

Pour into half gallon jar. Top off with 1/6 c. red wine, 1/6 c. vinegar, and 2T fig balsamic vinegar.

Brisket Chili

2 small onions, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
Saute in grapeseed oil.

4 cloves garlic, chopped
Sautee.

2 spoonfuls of tomato paste
Stir in and cook for 1 minute.

1 pound brisket, fully cooked
3 Tbls New Mexico Chile Powder
2 Tbls Ancho Chile Powder
1 Tbls Smoked Sweet Paprika
3 Tbls Fancy Cumin
1.5 Tsp crushed mexican oregano

Stir spices until thoroughly mixed into brisket. Cook for 1 minute.

1/2 bottle nitro milk stout
Deglaze pan with beer.

2 10oz cans rotel
2 cups water
Add and simmer.

Break apart if you have and add 1 hatch green chile sausage patty.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups buttermilk (or 2 tablespoons vinegar + enough whole milk or 2% milk to equal 2 cups)
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly + more for cooking, if desired
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice blend* or (1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves)
½ teaspoon salt

To a large bowl, add the buttermilk. If using the vinegar plus milk option, let sit for about 10 minutes to allow the milk to turn to buttermilk.

Add the pumpkin, eggs, butter, and vanilla and stir with a whisk to combine.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Pour the dry ingredients over the wet and mix just until incorporated. Do not overmix.
Let batter rest for about 5 minutes.

Heat a non-stick griddle to 325 degrees or set large frying pan over medium heat. Melt a little butter on the cooking surface, spreading it evenly, if desired (if the surface is non-stick, you may not need to do this). Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour the batter onto the griddle or into the frying pan. The pancakes are ready to flip when they look a little dry around the edges and start to form little bubbles, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until golden brown and completely cooked through, 1 to 2 more minutes.

Serve topped with butter and maple syrup, if desired.

Jalapeno Beer Bread

12.6 oz flour
3 T baking powder
1t. salt
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. coarsely chopped jalapenos
Mix all ingredients together briefly.

1/4 c. salted butter
Pour melted butter over the top.

Pour in loaf pan and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes then remove.

Beer Cheese Soup

1 c. onions, frenched (1 medium onion)
6.4 oz bacon
1 c celerey, 2 stalks
1 c carrots, 2 skinny, 1 med.
1 jalapeno
3 cloves garlic
Saute until onions are translucent and veggies are soft.

2 T. butter
1/4 c. flour + 1tsp.
Add butter and sprinkle flour over veggies. Cook 3mins until flour smells nutty.

2 c. chicken stock
12oz beer
Add and simmer 10 mins.

8 oz cheese
12 oz evaporated milk
cayene
1 tsp jalapeno sauce
Add cheese in small amounts until melted and add remaining ingredients.

Leftover Veggie Frittata

1/4c. onion
1/2 red bell pepper
3 green onions
1 extra large garlic clove
1 tomato
green beans
squash, zuchinni, mushroom blend

6 large eggs
1/2 c. sour cream

Sautee onions, add garlic. Add tomatoes. Warm green beans and squash mixture.

Mix eggs and sour cream.

Pour over veggies.

Bake 350 for 10 mins. Sprinkle with cheese, bake additional 3 mins.

Spicy Refrigerator Pickled Okra

1 pint

Okra
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig dill
1 t. mustard seed
2 chile de arbol
1 t. sugar

1 c. apple cider vinegar
1 c. water
2 T. salt

Green Onion and Wine Jam

10 bunches of green onions
2 T. butter
750 ml white wine
1 package powder pectin
4 c. sugar

Finely dice white ends of onions, rough chop green ends. Saute in butter until soft. Add wine and pectin. When boiling, add sugar and bring to hard boil for 1 min. Can and process in hot water bath. Makes 2.5 pints.

Sweet Jalapeno Relish

Lots of peppers
A few bell peppers
2 T granulated garlic
1.5 T mustard seed
1 T celery seed

Ratio of 1 c. vinegar to 2 c. sugar

Remove seeds from larger peppers. Finely chop peppers (I pulsed for 27 times in food processor). Add peppers to large heavy pot, add enough vinegar and sugar to make it have a pourable consistency. Cook for 10-15 minutes until peppers become soft. Can and process in water bath. Makes 2.5 pints.

Relish That Green Sauce Dip

1/2 jar HEB Relish That Corn
1/2 jar That Green Sauce, mild or medium
1 (8oz) package HEB Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 package HEB Bacon Pieces

Mix all 4 ingredients and serve chilled with crackers of choice. Garnish with green onions of extra zip.

Taqueria-Style Green Sauce

20 serranos
12 jalapenos
6 garlic cloves, quartered

Remove stems and boil for 10-15 minutes COVERED (unless you want to die from coughing) or until soft. Transfer peppers and garlic to blender and puree. Add 3 T olive oil and boiling water until desired consistency is reached. If too hot when serving, a a few tablespoons of sour cream to lessen heat. Eat with reckless abandon.

Cranberry Pepper Jelly

1 red bell pepper (~1 c.)
2 jalapenos, finely chopped with seeds (~1/2 c.)

1 c. apple cider vinegar
1 c. white vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 bag fresh cranberries
6 c. sugar
1 packet liquid pectin

Simmer peppers and vinegar together until peppers are soft. Add sugar until melted. Add cranberries, cook until all have popped, about 10 minutes. Follow directions on pectin packet.

Seafood Corn Chowder

3 slices bacon
1 onion, finely diced
1# potato (1 lg potato)
1 can white corn
2 Tbsp. floor

Box of chicken stock
Can of creamed corn 
Small can of clams in their own juice, juice separated from clams

Shrimp
Crabmeat

Slice bacon into small chunks. Render fat. Leave bacon in pot, drain fat except 1Tbsp. Add the onion and saute until onion is brown. Add potatoes and corn. Cook until potatoes and corn have color on them. Add more bacon fat if needed. Cover veggies in 2 Tbsp. of flour and cook for 4 minutes.

Add box of chicken stock,  creamed corn, and juice of clams to taste. Don't add all at once because it can be too salty. Bring to boil for 10 minutes or until potatoes cooked. Once potatoes are fork tender, add shrimp and drained clams and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until shrimp turn pink.

Add crabmeat to individual soup bowls. The heat from the soup will warm the crabmeat, but that way you can ensure that there's plenty in each bowl. :) Serve with crusty bread.

Italian Crock Pot Roast

3# beef roast
Salt and pepper

1 small bag baby carrots
5 potatoes, medium cubed (about 1")
1 large onion, sliced vertically in large wedges
1 can diced tomatoes, Italian style
1/2 can dry red wine
Package of Italian salad dressing mix
Italian seasoning


6 ounces red wine
2 tsp. flour

Buy any type of roast that suits your fancy, usually I buy whatever is on sale. Cheaper cuts of meats do especially well cooking low and slow so it won't matter. Trim the roast of any excess fat, some fat at this point is okay, just gristle and large amounts hanging on the meat need to be removed. Once the roast is prepped, heat a skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle a little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan, salt and pepper the roast. Sear all sides of the roast until a nice brown crust develops. The roast doesn't need to be cooked all the way, you are just trying to brown the outside.

Put potatoes in the bottom of a LARGE crock pot. Then layer carrots and onions. Nestle the seared roast in the vegetables, leaving the potatoes touching the bottom of crock pot. Vegetables should be touching the sides of the crock pot and the roast should be surrounded by vegetables. Pour can of tomatoes over the roast and vegetables. In tomato can, pour in wine, add Italian salad dressing mix and stir. Pour into crock pot. (At this point, it's also okay to add a little water or wine back to the can to make sure you get all the seasonings out).

Cook on high for 6-8 hours or low overnight. About halfway through, taste gravy and add Italian seasoning to taste. You may need to add more liquid depending on the size of your pot and how much liquid develops. I did not need to add any, but I certainly would not have complained with more gravy.

Thirty minutes before serving, pour wine into a coffee cup (that's how I estimated 6 ounces, clever, no?) and add flour. Whisk until no flour lumps are present. Add to crock pot and turn heat to high. Gravy will thicken and be ready to serve with roast and veggies.

Roast should fall apart when you are ready to eat. Serve in a bowl with some nice hearty multi-grain bread. It's a meal in a bowl!

**Forgive me for the lack of pictures. There wasn't really any time for pictures before it got eaten up. I would assume that roast really doesn't photograph that well. But I guess that just means I'll have to make it again to test that theory!

Chile Rellenos Casserole

My mom and I used to be Mexican food connoisseurs while I was growing. I mean, we used to frequent Casa Ole AT LEAST once a week. ;) My mom used to always order chile rellenos, I could practically bet money on it that she would order them. I attempted to eat one once and thoroughly did not enjoy it. It was mushy and peppery and soggy and just plain gross. Since that day, I had never tried once again.


The dish that started it all. It's the little dude on the right.

UNTIL, I went to New Mexico this summer. I inadvertently ordered one. It came on the New Mexico special plate. A green hatch chile stuffed with white cheese and fried. Ohmygosh, it was delicious, I couldn't believe I had missed out on this for so long. Since July, chile rellenos have been my weakness at Mexican food restaurants. But on Friday, I had my first bad chile rellenos incident. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it just didn't live up to my standards. I decided to take the task of making chile rellenos myself but I decided to try and bake them in a casserole style so I don't have to worry about frying. My results was TASTY but not too pretty. I'll keep working on it though. I had an odd amount of chiles so you can either go down to four for two layers or up to six/seven for three layers. Your choice. And once again, I'm using some regional ingredients, so I don't have a substitution suggestion...yet. I'll keep working on that for you.



Serves 4

1 14 oz. can Hatch 5 Pepper Enchilada Sauce
8 poblano chiles
1 round sliced queso asadero cheese
6 eggs
1/3 c. crushed tortilla chips
Splash of milk
Salt/Pepper to taste

Turn over to broil and move rack to top shelf. Place chiles directly on oven rack. Blacken chiles on each side (just be warned, they will pop and hiss at you). Once chiles are thoroughly blackened, remove and place in a plastic sack (an old HEB one works fine) and tie the bag to let steam for 15 minutes or so. Go ahead and change the oven to 375 degrees. After 15 minutes, remove chiles from bag, (and it works best if you work over said bag), remove skin from chiles. It will be a thin layer that should have blackened. It should come off relatively easy. Then, seed chiles, remove stem and spilt in halves. Do with all remaining chiles.

Pour half of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Place chile halves down to cover the sauce. Think about putting them in a single layer, much like you would lasagna noodles. You might need to tear some of the chiles to fit. Next, tear your queso asadero cheese slices with your hands and place them on top of the chiles. You don't want them next to each other because they will melt (and oh so nicely I might add) and spread. Repeat chile/cheese/chile.

In a bowl, mix/whisk eggs, splash of milk, crushed tortilla chips and salt and pepper throughly. (Here, I made the mistake of not whipping the eggs thoroughly and I had some patchy areas in my casserole.) Pour this layer over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.

When eggs are set, but not browned, place remaining slices of cheese on top. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. This next step is VERY important, but will be very hard to do. Remove from oven and let it set for ten minutes! If not, you'll end up with a short layer casserole with cheese sauce in your dish that you'll have to spoon over tortilla chips, and while tasty, it would be much better in between the chiles. Queso Asadero is a very melty cheese. It WILL run out of the layers if you don't give it time to set. That's why my picture looks short and small. Slice into pieces and spoon remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Serve with some refried black beans and you are done!

Cold Brewed Coffee

I've been hearing all the rage about cold brewed coffee. It's supposed to be "all the rage." Benefits boasted are that the coffee is less acidic, more caffeinated and less bitter than conventional coffee. You also preserve the oils like you would in a french press. What I'm banking on is the convenience of it, you make a concentrate and then you can either use it for iced coffee or heat it up and have traditional warm coffee.

This is fairly easy to make. The hardest part for me was straining it. I only had a normal plastic colander. I think a metal sieve lined with a coffee filter would work MUCH better. As for the coffee, make sure you pick something you like. I went to the bulk aisle in my local HEB, picked out my favorite whole bean and then grounded it in the store on the coarsest ground they had. For those of you with bulk aisles in your local HEB, I'd recommend the Houston blend. It turned out so nicely and I didn't even need any sweetener! This will be one of those no recipe recipes. The ratio of coffee to water should be about 1 parts coffee to 4 parts water, but I fudged a little bit and it turned out great. Then this will make you concentrate and you theoretically should add 1 part water to 1 part concentrate, but who has time for measuring these days? I mean, really? So do as your hearts content, if you concentrate ends up weak, add less water when you make or if it ends up too strong, add more water. It's your coffee! Drink it how you like it!


Sorry, pictures of coffee aren't that exciting.

1 c. coarsely ground coffee
4 c. filtered water (yes, this will make it taste better, promise!)

Mix coffee grounds and water in a sealable container. I used a 1 qt. mason jar. (Yes if you do the math, I fudged a little bit on the coffee.) Steep the grounds over night. In the morning, strain coffee through a coffee filter lined sieve. After initial filtering is done, strain through a double lined coffee filter, just to remove any last bit of grounds. Store in the refrigerator. When you are ready to drink coffee, add 1 part concentrate to 1 part water. Either warm in microwave or serve over ice with cream, my personal favorite. It really does taste different from your traditional brewed coffee. You'll definitely be happy you don't have to deal with coffee breath afterwards!

Dos Leches Pan Dulce Bread Pudding

I've been in Harlingen for 5 weeks now. I must admit I'm a HUGE fan of Mexican cuisine. I've become addicted to the Mexican bakeries around here. Each of them sells the same thing for the most part; various kinds of cookies, empanadas and pan dulce which is a round loaf of bread that has a slightly sweet flavor. At a few of the bakeries, they have day old pan dulce loaves 5 for $1.00. Since I love bread pudding and it's a great deal, I decided this would be a good medium to try it with. I'm also in love with the different items you see in the grocery stores down here that generally aren't found in the rest of Texas. One such is Media Crema. It's in the baking aisle with sweetened condensed and evaporated milk. It's a thick cream in a can basically. It's even thicker than half and half and probably heavy whipping cream. If you can't find Media Crema, whipping cream would probably do the trick though.

Most Mexican desserts aren't sweet by American taste buds. This dessert hits it's right on the spot. Since the bread is slightly sweet you don't need to add any additional sugar to the custard mix. The end result is delicious, sweet enough to qualify as dessert but not overwhelming. If I had to do it again, I might add a little bit of piloncillo to the dos leches that goes on top just to make it an wee bit sweeter and add some depth to it. The neat thing about this dessert is that the colors from the icing on the bread stay intact while baking so you end up with colorful bursts as you slice into it.




Dos Leches Pan Dulce Bread Pudding

8 Pan Dulce (day old), torn in about 1" pieces by hand
raisins (to taste)

6 eggs
4 c. milk
1/2 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 can (7.6 oz.) NESTLÉ Media Crema (can be found in Mexican Grocery Food Store)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 9x13 baking dish.

Place about half pan dulce pieces on bottom of baking dish in one single layer. Let bread sit for about ten minutes to dry out. Sprinkle with half the raisins (I used about 1/3 cup here). Repeat process with remaining bread slices and raisins.

Combine milk, butter, cinnamon, first half of sweetened condensed milk and eggs either by whisk or by blender. Mix until smooth. Pour over pan dulce layers in dish. Let stand for 10 minutes, pressing down on bread so that bread is soaked in liquid.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake.

While bread pudding is baking, combine remaining sweetened condensed milk and media crema. After pudding has come out of oven, pour the two milks (dos leches) over the cake. It will not absorb fully, but you will have a layer of sweet cream sitting on the top. Serve warm (although it's not too bad cold either)!

Heavily adapted from Nestle Meals

No Leftovers Cake

I made this for a family gathering on Labor Day. I was looking for something easy and that would fit in a cake pan and not have to roll out or scoop out cookies. This is a take on a cake that my mom used to make, but I just changed it ever so slightly due to my recent obsession with Tres Leches Cake. Seriously, in less than 24 hours, this cake was gone. I had to fight for the last piece. This takes no longer than a normal cake to prepare and it will win over everyone!

I didn't even get a picture of a slice because it was gone so quickly!

1 chocolate box cake mix, to be prepared as directed
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar of caramel topping (can be found in the ice cream aisle)
1 large container cool whip
2 large Heath bars, crushed

Prepare chocolate cake as directed on box. While cake is warm, poke holes in cake with straws or end of a wooden spoon. Pour can of sweetened condensed milk over warm cake. After milk has soaked in, pour caramel topping over cake. Let cake cool. Right before serving, top with Cool Whip and sprinkle with Heath bars. At first, you might want to serve smaller pieces, but I found people came back for seconds anyways. ;)

BBQ Stuffed Peppers

I had been eyeing dishes to make for Labor Day at my grandparent's house. I had found a stuffed pepper recipe online but decided it was too much work so I didn't pick up the ingredients. When I got there, my grandfather must have been thinking the same thing because he bought almost exactly what I needed. I made a few adjustments to suit the ingredients we had on hand. Also, I had problems with the bacon sticking to the outside AND the stuffing falling out. To remedy that, I changed the recipe below to what I think will work. So the pictures won't match and if the changes don't work, don't sue me. ;) I plan to make these again when I have a crowd, so I'll be sure and post an update. Even if you make them as pictured (which would be saving the bacon for the outside), they'll still be delicious, just a little messy. I can say these went quicker than the No Leftovers Cake. They even beat out the crab stuffed jalepenos that my aunt is famous for! They smokey flavor of the peppers melds together with the meats and make for a delicious savory treat which can even work as a full meal because the peppers are so big.



15 large evenly shaped poblano peppers
16 slices of bacon
2# ground beef
2# ground sausage
2-4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 c. ranch dressing
BBQ sauce

Wash, remove tops from peppers (carefully, you will use them later) and remove seeds and membrane while leaving peppers whole.

In a skillet, fry bacon until cooked but not crisp. Brown beef and sausage in a skillet until brown but not crisp. Drain off all fat. Crumble bacon into meat mixture. Let cool. Add cheddar cheese to your liking and ranch dressing to meat mixture until mixture is coated but not runny. Loosely stuff mixture into peppers Replace tops on peppers to hold everything in and secure with a toothpick.

Either on a grill or under a broiler, place peppers. Cook until peppers are soft and begin to char on the outside. Rotate peppers on all sides until thoroughly cooked. After peppers are cooked, brush on BBQ sauce and continue cooking until sauce is warm and acts as a glaze on the peppers.

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen