Category: This & That

I almost skipped writing this post, because it’s so simple. But, if you’re like me, during the dog days of summer, I don’t want to cook and I certainly don’t want to go out into the heat to go to the grocery store, unless I absolutely have to. So I get creative, and when that creativity is successful I write it down.

A few days ago, it was humid and hot and I had NO desire to cook, or go to the grocery store, even though I knew my cupboards were pretty bare. I was gonna have to use what I had. I started pulling random things out of the refrigerator and cabinets – a serving of cooked frozen broccoli, a bag of petite carrots, half a red bell pepper, kalamata olives, parmesan cheese, sundried tomatoes, and about 2 servings worth of dry pasta. It came to me – pasta salad! Very little work or cooking involved, and the payoff would be a cool and refreshing side dish. Perfect! I added a little zesty italian dressing, and it was AWESOME! It was so good in fact, that I decided to make it again. A larger batch this time. And since I really did need to go to the store, I added a few things. The recipe below is the latest version that I made. It’s delicious and so easy!

Open up your refrigerator and get creative! The ingredient combinations are endless. You can serve this as a side dish or add a meat or another protein and serve it as a main dish. I jotted down some other ingredient ideas, and have shared them at the end of this post. I think I’ll be making versions of this salad often this summer.

Enjoy!

½ box Radiatore pasta

½ c. chopped sundried tomatoes that have been soaked in hot water to soften

⅓ c. parmesan cheese

1 bag of broccoli slaw

½ c. sliced kalamata olives

½ red bell pepper, chopped

¼ c. finely diced red onion

½ c. chunky sliced petite carrots

2 c. chopped fresh cauliflower

garlic powder

zesty italian dressing

Chop and combine all the vegetables, parmesan cheese, garlic powder in a large bowl. Add  the dressing of your choice and mix. Continue to add dressing until vegetables are coated. Stir, and set aside to let veggies marinate. Cook pasta. Drain and let pasta cool. DO NOT RINSE. Once the pasta is cool, add to the vegetables and mix.  Add additional dressing until salad is is coated. Amount of dressing is to your taste. Chill and serve.

NOTES:

• The amounts of ingredients are based on your tastes. I tend to add more vegetables than pasta in my salads.
• If you make a large batch, you may have to continue to add additional dressing the longer it sits.
• If you decide to add cubed cheese, I would not mix it in, but add it as the salad is served, so that it doesn’t get soggy.
• I like crunchy vegetables, so when using frozen, I would either defrost and add them or only cook them for a minute or so in boiling water, and cool them down quickly in an ice bath.
• Try adding nuts or seeds before serving. I added a sprinkling of sunflower seeds when I served this.
• You can substitute pasta with cooked quinoa, barley or rice

Additional Ingredient Ideas:

frozen peas

frozen corn

frozen broccoli

rainbow slaw

cubes of salami or pepperoni

cubes of cheese (leave on the side)

crumbled feta cheese, bleu cheese, or goat cheese

choice of dressing – even creamy dressings

fresh herbs like basil, parsley

canned tuna or chicken

cucumbers (seeded)

fresh zucchini or summer squash

green and/or black olives

celery

capers

snow peas, fresh or frozen

fresh mushrooms

bean sprouts

green beans, fresh or frozen

kidney or black beans

barley, quinoa, rice

It’s times like these, when I’m craving authentic, Mexican food that I especially miss my days in Tucson, Arizona. Massachusetts, for the most part, has not mastered the art of real Mexican food.

Tucson, is situated about an hours drive north of the Sonoran border of Mexico. It’s full of fantastic little, sometimes hole-in-the-wall restaurants AND food trucks that would put to shame any Mexican cuisine found around here. Sure, we have the chain restaurants, but they are in no way, shape or form, real Mexican food. In my eight years here, I’ve come across only 2 independently owned restaurants that served any thing close to authentic Mexican food. So, I find myself researching recipes and experimenting to try and recreate the flavors, as I remember them, of some of my favorites. Carnitas would be on that list.

Carnitas are essentially Mexican pulled pork. In researching how to make them, I found that there are several different methods to prepare them, including my pick, which is using a crockpot. My motto is: USE WHAT YOU HAVE. Other methods, which are probably closer to the authentic version, involve boiling the meat in lard, or in water, and then finishing it in the oven. The goal is always the same though – to produce a moist, tender meat that easily pulls apart.

I also noticed when researching, that a wide variety of ingredients are used, some of which I’ve never heard of. My thought is that the ingredients may vary by regional preference.  None of them sounded like they would taste the way I remember them from Tucson though. What I remember about carnitas is that they have a very subtle citrus and spice taste that doesn’t overpower the flavor of the meat, but enhances it. I think the following recipe does just that. 

A couple of notes about this recipe: The ingredient amounts for the dry rub are more of a guideline than a must. Feel free to adjust amount of spices based on your own personal  taste.  For the purposes of this post, I used what I had on hand, which were limes and a 2.5lb pork loin roast. The limes gave a nice hint of citrus, but my preference would have been to use oranges. Instead of pork loin, I would have preferred using a pork butt or shoulder roast. The meat is more marbled, and with slow cooking, holds more moisture and flavor than a loin cut. 

I would also suggest browning the meat well.  This helps produce some crispy bits that hold a lot of flavor. 

Serving suggestions:

One of my favorite parts about carnitas are the crispy bits. To do this, after the meat is cooled, pull off serving size pieces. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a little oil or bacon grease. Add the chunks of meat to the hot skillet and quickly heat them through, allowing parts of the outside to brown and get crispy.

Serve with corn tortillas, Spanish rice, limes and your favorite salsa or pico de gallo

This recipe is based on approximately a 2.5lb to 4lb roast, so please adjust amounts accordingly.

Dry Rub:

1 T. kosher salt

2 T. chili powder

2 T. garlic powder

1/2 t. ground black pepper

1 t. dried oregano

1 t. cumin powder

Marinade:

1/3 c. vegetable oil

Citrus: Juice of 2 medium oranges (2/3 c. or 1 c. of orange juice from concentrate)  OR Juice of 4 or 5 small limes (4 – 5 T.)

2 T. cider vinegar

Crockpot:

1 can of chicken broth OR approximately 12 oz of beer –

1/2 large onion cut into chunks

Skillet:

1 T. bacon grease

Directions:

Using a small, sharp, pointy knife, press the point of the blade in to make several deep slits on all sides of the roast. Start with the salt by itself. Press liberal amounts of salt firmly into the meat on all sides. For the rest of the dry ingredients, you can combine them, or apply them inidividually. You want to press firmly so that you create a crust with the dry rub.

In a small bowl whisk together orange or lime juice, vinegar and oil. Place roast in a ziploc bag or a container that can be sealed. You don’t want to lose any flavor, so make sure to add any dry rub that falls of the roast into the bag or container as well. Pour in liquid. Let meat marinate for at least a couple hours, or overnight. Turn meat every couple hours so that all sides get to steep in the marinade.

Heat bacon grease in a skillet on medium heat. Brown roast on all sides. DO NOT DISCARD MARINADE. Place roast in crockpot. Pour in marinade. Add broth or beer, and onion. Cook on low until meat begins to fall apart. Pull apart and serve.

This roast cooked about 7 hours on low.

I have used this recipe several times, most recently to make a wedding cake and cupcakes – see Picture Today entry: Tips for Constructing & Decorating a Cake When You’re Not a Cake Boss.

This recipe will make a half sheet cake, 2 – 9 inch rounds, or 22 jumbo cupcakes. This cake has a great buttery taste and is moist and a little dense. It’s the perfect consistency for large or tiered cakes.

Here are some tips that are helpful for successful baking:

• To ensure ingredients combine properly, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature before using.
• Use shortening and flour to grease pans, rather than cooking spray or butter. It’s been my experience that using shortening and flour to coat pans makes it easier to remove the cake from the pans, and keeps the crust intact making it easier to frost.
• Oil can be substituted for butter. Butter provides a great flavor, but makes a denser cake than when baking with cooking oil. I have experimented with using half butter which still provides a great flavor, and half oil which makes the consistency of the cake a little lighter.
• Once you have filled the baking pans with batter, gently tap the pans a couple of times on a flat surface to distribute and even batter out, and release any large air bubbles.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter or oil (see note above about using butter vs. oil)

2 cups white sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups milk + 2T white vinegar

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350° Grease and flour pans.

In a small bowl combine milk and vinegar, stir and let sit for approx. 5 minutes. Set aside

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Work butter into dry ingredients until you have a sandy consistency.

• I find that this is easier if you slice the butter up into chunks and then add it to the dry ingredients. Use a fork, pastry blender or, if using a mixer, the paddle attachment seems to work the best.

Add slightly beaten eggs to milk mixture and stir to combine.

Add approximately half of the liquid mixture to the butter / dry ingredients and mix on low to combine, scraping bowl to ensure all ingredients are combined. Add the rest of the liquid and beat until thoroughly combined – approximately 1 minute.

• Be careful not to over mix. Over mixing will produce a denser, rubbery consistency, rather than a light and fluffy consistency. Mix until the ingredients are combined and the batter has an over all even consistency, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl, to ensure that all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Time for baking will depend on the size pan you are using. It’s been my experience that a 9” cake generally takes about 20 minutes, though I check it at 15 minutes and adjust the time appropriately. For jumbo cupcakes, I would start with 10 minutes and then test by inserting a toothpick into the center. Cake is done when toothpick inserted into the center of cake / cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

• For cakes, I generally let them cool on racks in their pans for about 10 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Okay, now that you have your fabulous cake baked, are you ready to decorate it? If you’re a fan of buttercream icing, I have just the recipe for you. Check it out HERE

If you read my blog post: Tips for Constructing and Decorating a Cake When You’re Not a Cake Boss, this is the icing I used to decorate the wedding cake and cupcakes, and it was a big success! I did a lot of research to find just the right decorating icing that I hoped would taste good and hold up in uncertain weather. You never know what kind of weather April will bring to Tucson. I lived there for ten years and remembered that early Spring can run the gamut for temperatures. I needed an icing that I could count on to hold up even if the weather was warmer than anticipated. I was not disappointed. As usual, I cobbled a few recipes together and came up with this recipe that did not fail me. This creamy, great tasting icing can be used to simply frost a cake or to decorate with. It holds it’s shape beautifully!

Ingredients:

1 c of salted butter (room temperature)

1 c of vegetable shortening

• 2 c of butter or shortening is needed for the amount of confectioners sugar. I found that, in the environment I was working in,  equal amounts of butter and shortening had just the right amount of creaminess and firmness to use to both cover the cake and decorate it. Experiment with different amounts. More butter will create a more flavorful creamy texture, but it might not hold up for decorating purposes. The more shortening you use the less likely the icing is likely to melt. If you use all shortening, I would suggest adding a butter flavor extract, or using butter flavored shortening to enhance the overall icing taste.

2lb bag of confectioners sugar

2 t of vanilla extract

1/3 c very hot water + 2T of powdered coffee creamer dissolved and cooled

Mix 1/3 c of hot (almost boiling water) with 2 T of powdered coffee creamer. Stir until creamer is completely dissolved. Cool and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, using paddle attachment (if you have it) combine butter, shortening and vanilla. Beat on medium until combined. Add 1 c of sugar and mix on low until combined. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Continue to add 1 c at a time until mixture is stiff, mixing on low only until combined. Be sure to scrape bowl often to ensure all sugar is incorporated. By now you should have added close to half the sugar. Add 2T of creamer mixture and beat on low just until combined. Continue adding the rest of the sugar and more creamer liquid until you get the desired consistency. Scrape bowl, and beat mixture on medium high or high until smooth and creamy.