Weekend

Tonight we're having taco night at our house. We're making carne asada on the grill and all kinds of fixings. We're using the same marinade that the Hub's sister used when we went camping Memorial Day weekend, Tyler Florence's Mojo Marinade:
juice of 1 orange
juice of 2 limes, plus their zest
1/2 c olive oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

I tweaked it a little by adding the zest.

For dessert, I made Oreo Pie, from a recipe given to me at my bachelorette party by a college friend.

This morning I went over to the farm to check on the bees. I was going to add another super, and had it all put together and ready to go. But then I checked on the bees and the super we added a couple weeks ago had barely been touched. So I rearranged the supers, to put the empty one below a full one. I think we might harvest honey this year (fingers crossed)!

While at the farm, I also played with Freddy. We played fetch with the tire. I brushed him. I asked him to sit and smile, and he rolled over on his side:

I asked a second time and got this:

He's probably thinking "Mom, just throw the damn tire already!"

He's such a smart dog. Handsome, too. And ornery.

And a kitchen update:

Please excuse the construction equipment beside the food...

We started putting our island together again last weekend. The wall on the backside for the bar was installed, as well as the bar top. We decided to go with butcher block countertops. I've been rubbing them down with a butcher block conditioner that I bought at Menards. Construction is on hold because we're still debating on putting an electric outlet in - which requires chiseling out the floor and connecting the new outlet to the existing outlet by the dishwasher.

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Christmas Cookies

I know, it seems a little early to think about Christmas. But it's less than two months away. I made a big dent in Christmas shopping last week and started thinking about which cookies to make for the men in the family. The last several years, I've made about 3 dozen cookies per man. If I start stockpiling supplies now, my grocery bill won't be so big at one time (this list of cookies will take 5 boxes of butter, and nearly 25 cups of flour...)

Here's the list for this year:
Almond Caramel Swirls
Salted Caramel Thumbprints
Chocolate Crinkles
Key Lime Coins
Chocolate Espresso Coins
Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles
Hazelnut Kisses
Browned Butter Blondies
Cherry Surprise Crinkles
Farmgirl Susan's Ginger Snaps
Farmgirl Susan's Shortbread Chocolate Chip Toffee Bit cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Nigella's Chocolate Chip cookies
Ribbon Cookies
Sugar Cookies

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Meals for week of 10/15

In addition to the below meals, we'll also eat a rooster that Mom, Grandma and I butchered on Saturday.

Leftover chili from the Chili cookoff at the Hub's work
Brown Sugar and Soy Sauce Salmon w/ veggies
Sausage and spinach casserole
Marsala chicken casserole

My lunches:
Spinach, Feta, Brown Rice casserole

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Chorizo Taco Night

Last night for dinner, I tried another recipe out of Bon Appetit magazine. This one was from the June 2012 edition, from an article about several different types of taco fillings.

My recipe is slightly different from the magazine recipe; I didn't find any dried New Mexico chiles, so I used about 1/3 of a chile in adobo sauce.

Homemade Chorizo:
2 lb ground pork
8 garlic cloves, smashed and finely diced
3 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
about 1/3 of a chile in adobo sauce, or more depending on how spicy you want the chorizo (Grandma doesn't like anything hot, so this version of chorizo was VERY mild. This was enough chile to have flavor without the heat.)

Mix all together and cook in a skillet until cooked through. Make sure to keep separating the pork so you don't end up with a big pork patty.

On the side we had fried corn:

5 ears of corn, cut off the cob
1/4 of a yellow onion, diced finely
about 1/4 c cilantro, diced
salt & pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste

Saute the onion  in about 1 Tbsp olive oil until translucent. Add the corn and cook for several minutes, until tender. Then season and eat.

We also had (semi)homemade refried beans:

1 can of pinto beans, including can juice

Smash with a potato masher in a small skillet. Cook on medium heat until sauce reduces. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

And homemade pico de gallo:

2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 of a yellow onion, diced
2 jalapenos, seeded, julienned and diced
1/4 c cilantro, diced

Mix altogether and refrigerate until ready to eat.

The tacos were eaten on storebought corn tortillas (someone convinced me at the last minute not to make those homemade, even though there's a recipe in the magazine and I had masa...) Grandma fried garden zucchini on the side.

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Garden Report & two new recipes!

I took these photos on Sunday, so the tomatoes are a little bigger now. 

 The banana peppers are starting to produce now too!

Now, on to the recipes! Tonight I tried two different ones that have been on the side of the fridge for several weeks now:
Pea and Bacon Risotto, from Food & Wine May 2011
Walnut-Stuffed Chicken Roulades from Martha Stewart Living March 2010

Pea and Bacon Risotto

6 oz lean bacon, diced
2 c frozen peas, thawed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 c arborio rice (I only had jasmine rice so that's what I used, which is a different texture.)
1/2 c dry white wine (I forgot to buy this, so I omitted it)
7 c simmering chicken stock (I used some frozen chicken stock that I made a couple months ago)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 c parmesan
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Drain bacon on a paper towel. Reserve 1 Tbsp of bacon fat.

In a food processor, puree 1 c  peas and 1 c water.

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until tender.

Add the rice, until coated with oil. (Like you would do if you were making Rice A Roni out of a box.)

Add the wine and simmer until evaporated.

Add about 2 c chicken stock and simmer over medium heat, stirring, until absorbed. Continue adding stock and stirring until all stock has been incorporated, about 25 minutes.

Add the pea puree, remaining peas and bacon.

Remove from heat and add butter, bacon fat, cheese and lemon juice.

Note: I also added 5 oz. chopped mushrooms because I had them leftover from the following chicken recipe. I sauteed the mushrooms in olive oil before adding with the bacon.

Walnut-Stuffed Chicken Roulades

10 whole grain crackers, such as Kavli (I used 15 original Wheat Thins)
1 1/4 c chopped walnuts (I used pecans because I don't like walnuts)
2 Tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
3 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
2 oz spinach (I used frozen)
1 Tbsp water
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded evenly

Preheat oven to 375.

Pulse crackers and 3/4 c pecans in food processor until finely ground.

Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic and shallots and cook until soft. Add mushrooms and thyme and cook until mushrooms are golden. If using frozen spinach, add it and the water to the mushroom mixture.

If using fresh spinach, remove the mushroom mixture from the pan and put on a plate, and cook down the spinach with the water before adding the mushroom mix.

Add the remaining 1/2 of pecans.

Lay a half of a chicken breast on a plate and spoon some of the mixture onto it. Roll up the chicken and then roll through the pecan/cracker mix. Place on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 165.

Here's the mushroom/shallot/garlic mixture. I could of eaten it with a spoon!

Dinner!

Definitely glad I switched out the walnuts for pecans. Together with the Wheat Thins, they made the crust a little sweet!

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