Nachos with Beer-Braised Carnitas

This is a great way of preparing shredded pork to fufill your wildest Mexican food dreams. Real Mexican food takes patience. It takes soul. It takes love. And it takes meat. Tacos and Nachos are incredible when made with beer-braised carnitas. "Braised"...even the word sounds delicious! Enveloping your kitchen in spicy aromas, this recipe ruins you for ever again using those little spice packets in the supermarket. Make it a day ahead for Taco parties or in Nachos for an outstanding appetizer at a SuperBowl party...Originally found and altered from a Bon Appetit.com February 2013 recipe. Yield: 6 cups meat--ennough for two or three huge cookie sheets of Nachos.


Ingredients for Beer-Braised Carnitas:

1 7 oz. can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce (I used Embasa brand)
4 lbs. pork tenderloin or skinless boneless pork shoulder cut into 2" pieces ( I use half of a HUGE 9 lb plus Costco pork tenderloins for this--saving the remainder for other dishes)
4 naked garlic cloves, smashed
12 oz. beer (such as Modelo Especial or Budweiser)
4 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled and chopped
4 t kosher salt
2 C water

Directions:

Note: You can make these 3 days ahead or freeze them for later. In fact, it is BETTER made the day before you need them.  Simply reheat them adding 1/2 C water in a covered pot. Add more water as needed.

Directions:

Remove 2 chilis from the can. Stem chilies (if they aren't already), halve lengthwise and discard seeds. Chop them up. In a large pot bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pork is fork-tender, 60-80 minutes. Uncover pork; simmer until liquid evaporates and pork begins to brown--20-25 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring frequently and scraping bottom of the pot until pork is shredded and browned, 10-15 minutes. Add 1 C water to pork; cook, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, for about 1 minute. Use to fill tacos, enchiladas or as a meat addition for nachos.


Ingredients for Nachos

2 bags (9 oz.) thick, authentic, tortilla chips--salted (if you don't live in the Southwest find the best chips you can)
Beer-Braised Carnitas--sprinkle all over the chips randomly. About 4 cups.
chopped green onions--about 1 1/2 C
shredded sharp cheddar and
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 pts sour cream (optional)
Sliced olives (optional)
Guacamole (optional)
Salsa (NOT optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large-rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray or oil. Divide ingredients evenly between the two sheets, layering ingredients by literally sprinkling them on in the order they are listed above. Bake, one sheet at a time until sheet is melted, 20-25 minutes. Plate as is or with dollops of sour cream and sliced olives on top. Serve with a bowl of salsa and quacamole on the side,

Crispy Won-Ton Appetizers

Ever had fried won-ton skins at a Chinese restaurant? These days, you don't get any meat in them. But back in the day, there was a little splotch of spicy pork in the middle of each wonton. You would dip those crunchy little guys in red sweet and sour sauce....mmmm yumm. The problem is-- through the years, the restaurant won-ton meat splotch got smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely! No matter, make your own instead using this recipe my mom found long ago on the won-ton skin package. This is a WOW appetizer when served at parties.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. 3/4 ground pork
8 water chestnuts, chopped
1/4 C finely chopped green onion
1 T soy sauce
1 t salt
1 t cornstarch
1/2 t grated fresh ginger or 3/4 t ground ginger
2 pkg. won-ton skins, cut into 2-inch squares

Mix ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Wrap a splotch of mixture in won-ton skins as directed on package. You CAN put them together like they do in the restaurants by cutting 12 2-inch squares and laying them all out on a cutting board. Brush with a tiny amount of water around the sides of each square. If you use too much water, it will be a soggy wonton. So, don't.  Place a splotch (about the size of a small gumball) of meat mixture in the middle. Press down a bit so it's no longer round.  Put the same size square of won--ton skin exactly on top of each water-brushed square. Press all the way around the square so each square adheres to the other, except where the meat splotch is. Deep fry no more than 4 at a time in a medium-sized pot of vegetable oil (you can try coconut oil--but I haven't yet) until golden brown. Repeat until you run out of won-ton skins. Serve warm with ready-made sweet and sour sauce (such as Kikkoman).

Chrissie's Hot Crabby Dip

Chrissie was one of my first bosses...and she was a great cook! She was raised the old-fashioned way like I was. That meant she was taught how to entertain from the time she was a child. As children we had to go around and serve hot appetizers to our parents' guests when they came for dinner. Looking adorable if possible. This was hard when your hair had huge tangles in the back, like mine always did. I did my best to comb over the tangles and smiled a lot.
I don't usually like messy dips at parties--but this is a really good one. Serve with water crackers or those amazing little brioche toasts they have at Trader Joe's. Very elegant and delicious.

Ingredients:

1 large cream cheese block
1 or 2 T mayonnaise
1 T chopped onion
1 T chopped parsley
1 T horseradish
6 oz. crabmeat (canned is OK, fresh is always better)
2 T sliced almonds

Mix ingredients together and transfer to an oven-proof bowl or mini-casserole. Heat in a 350-degree oven until bubbly. Serve in the middle of a platter surrounded by crackers.

Coconut Rum Black Bottom Pie

My mom used to occasionally make black-bottom pie for her parties. A cool vanilla cream pie with a thin layer of rum-laced chocolate on the bottom and whupped cream on the top, it was irresistible. If I ever would want to be stuck on a deserted island with one food--that would be it. And yes, I would bring my portable refrigerator and plug it in the sand.

 In this recipe, the mild chocolate that makes for the 'black bottom' balances especially well with coconut-flavored cream on top instead of vanilla.  However, if you don't like coconut, just substitute vanilla instead of coconut flavoring...

Directions #1: Make or buy a 9" or !0" pie crust and bake it. Next, make the chocolate-rum bottom layer of your pie.

Quick Chocolate Rum Cream Filling:

Ingredients:

6 oz semi-sweet gold bagged Guittard chocolate chips. Semi-sweet NOT bittersweet.
2 T sugar
1 T rum or 1 t rum extract (I get the little "airplane-sized" bottles at the liquor store)
1 egg
3/4 C milk--heated to just boiling

Directions:

Place chocolate into blender. Pour hot milk into blender and blend until chocolate melts. Then add other ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour 3/4 of the mixture into the cooled pie crust.  Reserve the rest in ramekins or bowls to enjoy later with whipped cream as a snack. Refrigerate all until firm--at least 2 hours or overnight. Next, make your coconut cream filling, put it in your pie shell on top of the chocolate layer and top it with whipped cream.

Coconut Cream Pie Filling:

1 1/3 C sugar
1 C flour
1 t salt
4 C whole milk
6 egg yolks (slightly beaten in a small mixing bowl)
4 T butter
1 t vanilla
1 t coconut extract
1/4 C flaked, sweetened coconut, packed in measuring cup.

Topping:
1 C heavy cream
1 T powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla 

Chocolate shavings from a chocolate bar or toast some leftover coconut.

Directions:

In the top of a double boiler combine sugar flour and salt. Add 2 C milk and cook over (not in) boiling water 10 minutes or until mixture thickens (I would do the whole 10 minutes even if you think it's already thick). Remove from heat and pour 1 C of the mixture into the eggs and mix vigorously. When smooth, return eggs to the rest of the hot mixture and cook until thickened to the point that it coats a spoon and no longer falls off the spoon in a steady stream. Remove from heat, add butter and extracts, mixing thoroughly with a spoon. Finally, sprinkle coconut on top and fold it into the cream. Cool slightly before adding to crust.

Whip cream until it forms soft peaks, add sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. At this point you can either spoon your whupped cream on top of the pie or pipe it on. Sprinkle on chocolate shavings or toasted coconut.

Note: This is a fantastic, show-off dessert. Hang the calories. Go for a long jog afterwards.
  

Stuff I Have In My Freezer...

Common Sense dictates that we are resourceful with what we have. Waste is out, saving money is always in. So I use my freezer a lot! No...I don't have a huge freezer in my garage. But I do use my regular-sized refrigerator freezer it for a lot more than ice. Here are some examples...

1. Frozen ice trays of Meyer lemon juice (because it goes our of season so fast).
2. Freeze egg whites individually in ice trays or mini-containers for future smoothies or meringues. One white per container. Take out the "egg-white cube"and refrigerate in a cup to defrost overnight. Use the same way you would use non-frozen whites.
3. Meat from Costco--divided individually in plastic freezer bags in family meal-sized or individual portions.
4. Put chicken breasts from Costco in individually plastic- wrapped servings in freezer bags.
5. Frozen Shrimp (I rarely pay for fresh--good quality frozen is fine and dandy)
6. Large quantities of salted and unsalted butter from a BBS.
7. Casseroles--in meal-sized servings (I use plastic containers or individual casseroles for this)
8. Nuts--they keep forever when frozen--just use the bags they came in and seal the top securely
9. Dried fruit (who really uses dried fruit that often?--freeze the leftovers after Christmas is over)
10. Breads of all kinds (especially French bread)--I cut it up and put it in bags so I don't have to defrost a whole loaf for a dinner for two. Freeze gluten free and French breads right away after you get them home from the store--they go stale very quickly.
11. Sauces: Pesto sauce...Marinara...Chocolate sauce...Make 'em fresh and freeze 'em.
12. Bundt Cakes...coffee cakes and unfrosted cake layers--this is a great way to prepare desserts way ahead! Wrap them very very well in plastic then in foil! If you have a small family--wrap individual servings in plastic and place in a freezer bag before freezing.
13. Turkey (buy a frozen one for an extra low price at Christmas or Thanksgiving and eat it in February)
14. Vegetable and fruit pies--preferably uncooked. Wrap in plastic then foil.
15. Apples --if you buy a huge tray at Costco--and can't eat them all--peel and slice apples first, then load in freezer bags for when you have time to make apple pie or applesauce!
16. Soups--oh gosh this is the best use of a freezer of all! To avoid using an ice-pick and stabbing yourself..do freeze soup in meal-sized portions in plastic freezer containers.
17. Berries... these freeze well in plastic freezer bags--but don't look as good as fresh when defrosted. Use them for pies or cobblers...fruit sauces or smoothies. Not for salads or strawberry shortcake.
18.  Pasta--a friend of mine always has Spaghetti Bolognese always at the ready in her freezer. Lasagna and Ravioli works well too! Freeze any pasta with a good thick red sauce. My friend uses plastic freezer bags--I use freezer containers because I like to stack 'em.
19. Grated Parmesan cheese--not the best thing for the cheese--but it does work if you have too much to use.
20. Salmon--or whatever else Uncle Si catches for you. Prepare and freeze individual portions in plastic wrap AND foil.
21. Cookie or Pie dough--fabulous! Drop cookie dough is frozen best in balls. Pie dough should be in a large"round scone" type disc ready to roll out when thawed. Wrap well in plastic and foil against "freezer taste". 
22. Bacon bits or cooked bacon. Whenever I make bacon I make the whole package. If we don't eat it I freeze it to add to scrambled eggs or braised vegetables later. I also save the "Hormel" or "Kirkland" already prepared real bacon bits in the freezer instead of the fridge. It just makes sense.
23. Chicken or Turkey stock--whenever I buy a rotiserie chicken I use the carcass to make stock. Freeze it for later use in soups and sauces or what -have- you. I use 2-C sized freezer containers. 
24. Crepes--yes French Pancakes. They freeze well for a week or so. I have a great hi-protein recipe for-a them in my blog. See "Trader Vic's Crepes" on "Being Erma.blogspot.com. Stack them with parchment or waxed paper in between each crepe. Put in a freezer-proof bag or container. To thaw-- unstack and leave them on the counter for 20 minutes.  Heat them up in the microwave for 30 seconds and fill with jam or other fillings. Nom-nom! 
25. Ice--we have an over-achiever ice-maker. It is "The Little Ice-Maker That Could". I don't know why, but it always makes so much ice that it makes it impossible for anyone but my hubby to pull the ice-drawer out. So when we have large parties--we just keep bagging ice for a few days instead of buying it.

Caramel Latte Cupcakes--Oooh!....

I'm a frosting person. Yep...that's why I go to weddings--for the frosting.  It can't be too sweet, and it should perfectly balance with the cake. Most of the time I go for light and airy cakes and frostings. I don't know why--maybe it's a throwback to a childhood miserably spent without Twinkies?  I make a lot of cakes that are light--like Twinkies but with better ingredients. Here's one with an incredible caramel latte filling that I just love!

This incredible filling is balanced by plain butter cupcakes. But in order to make the whole thing light and airy...I used whipped cream frosting to balance it all out. It worked!! Decoration? --an easy little squiggle of caramel on the top.  Almost as good as kissing my husband! 

Butter Cake:

Ingredients:

16 T unsalted butter...softened
3 C cake flour...sifted
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 C milk
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 C sugar
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 24 cupcake liners in cupcake pans. Set aside. Whisk together in a bowl: flour. baking powder and set aside. Combine milk and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl fitted with a paddle or with a hand mixer...cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs...one at a time...beating well after each addition. On low speed... add dry ingredients in 3 batches and wet ingredients in 2 batches. Increase speed to high and beat until batter is smooth...about 5 seconds. Divide batter among cupcake pans. Bake about 15 minutes until center springs back when touched with a finger. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in pans then invert onto wire racks to cool thoroughly before filling and frosting.

Caramel-Latte Filling or Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C unsalted butter... soft but still cool and cut in cubes
1/4 t salt
4 oz. cream cheese.... soft but cool and cut in cubes
3 C powdered sugar
3/4 C caramel sauce (use leftover sauce for caramel squiggle decoration)
1 T warm water mixed with 1/2 t instant espresso (such as Medaglio D'Oro or Starbucks VIA)
Optional Topping: crunched-up toffee (Heath Bar has this out in bags in the chocolate chip section of your grocery)

Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand-mixer and beat butter and salt until fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until fully incorporated and smooth. Reduce the speed and add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Mix until fully incorporated. Add the caramel sauce and then the warm water mixed in a tablespoon with powdered espresso.

Whipped Cream Frosting: Whip 1 pint whipping cream in a chilled (preferably metal or ceramic) bowl with chilled beaters until frothy. Gradually add 1/2 C powdered sugar...then vanilla. Beat until stiff enough to pipe on top of cupcakes (at the last moment stiff peaks form).

Assembly:  Bake the cupcakes. While cakes are baking make the Caramel Espresso Filling... whip the Whipped Cream Frosting and put in the refrigerator until cupcakes are cool. Core cupcakes with a paring knife...carving a cone-shape into the cupcake with the large end at the top --about 1-inch wide. This is so there is enough room for the filling to be piped inside each little cake. Whip the heavy cream and pipe a swirl on top.  Drizzle leftover caramel sauce over the cupcakes by swinging a fork dipped in sauce over the tops of the cakes lined up on a baking tray or clear counter space covered with parchment or paper towels. Alternative: use Heath Bars, crushed and sprinkled on top.

Huckleberry Buckle with Lemon Sauce

Catagory: Desserts
Difficulty: Easy

I remember picking huckleberries in the early morning light near my grandmother's vacation cabin. It was in Northern California redwood country--where the air is as soft as the branch-strewn loam under your feet.  Behind the cabin were bushes plump with huckleberries, growing all silver and blue in the morning sun.  A tiny berry, they are perfect for childish fingers to gather. My sister and I would fill empty coffee cans with them, enjoying the occasional tangy handful until  juice ran in purple streaks down our faces. Then we would run to the cabin (bringing what we hadn't eaten), and beg our mother to make a rare dessert called "Huckleberry Buckle".

A "Buckle" is kind of like a "Crisp" as well as being first cousin to a "Cobbler". They're similar; all being some kind of yummy, sticky cake baked with fruit , spices and sugar. The "buckle" refers to how the top of this struesel-clad cake looks like after it bakes. Bumpy and uneven...  buckled, like an old wood floor.

This is my great-grandmother, Sarah Robinson's, recipe.  Her family came over the Oregon trail in covered wagons. But you don't need a covered wagon to make Huckleberry Buckle. You just need huckleberries or ollaliberries or blackberries or mixed berries. Serve it warm from the oven...with whupped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

Buckle:
1/2 C shortening
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
2 t baking powder 
1 C flour
4 1/2 t baking powder
1/3 C milk
1 pint huckleberries (or other slightly sour berries)
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C butter
1/3 C flour
1 t cinnamon

Lemon Sauce:
1/2 C sugar
1 C hot water
1 T cornstarch
pinch salt
1 egg yolk (separated from white)
3 T lemon juice
2 T butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8"X 8" pan. Cream shortening, and sugar then add 1 egg and combine. Sift 1 C flour and 2 t baking powder together and add to the creamed sugar mixture with 1/3 C milk. Put in pan. Sprinkle 1 pt. (2 cups) berries over the top. Crumble together and put over this: 1/2 C sugar, 1/4 C butter, 1/3 C flour, 1 t. cinnamon. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

For Sauce: In a saucepan combine 1/2 C sugar, 1 C hot water, 1 T constarch and a pinch of salt. Bring to boil, for 15 minutes. Put over boiling water in the top of a double boiler. Add 1 egg yolk, 3 T lemon juice and 2 T butter. Stir well till thick and serve over the top of large helpings of warm Buckle. Total comfort food heaven!