Saturday, April 27, 2013

Chilaquiles for dinner

Tonight Cupcake and I made chilaquiles for dinner. I have made them in the past, but it has been a while. They are quick, relatively inexpensive, and tasty. They remind me of chicken enchiladas, without all the work of rolling enchiladas.

I don't remember where I found the recipe I made in the past. My inspiration for tonight was from Rick Bayless' chilaquiles for a crowd. Obviously, I was not feeding a crowd, so I modified it. I also made mine red rather than green, based on Cupcake's choice.

Chilaquiles

2 10oz cans enchilada sauce (we use mild)
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon oregano, crushed
2 cooked chicken breasts, diced (we used left over rotisserie)
1 15oz bag corn tortilla chips
cheese (cheddar for red sauce, jack for green sauce) and sour cream for garnish

Bring enchilada sauce, chicken broth and oregano to a simmer in a large pot. Stir in chicken, and turn off heat. Quickly stir in all the chips, making sure they are all covered. Place lid on pot and let sit 4 or 5 minutes. Serve into bowls and top with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Harvest in April

Even tho I haven't finished turning over the grass in my garden plot, I had my first harvest of the season today.

There is a perennial and herb garden at my community garden. In this garden are two giant rhubarb plants. One is starting to flower, which our coordinator has never seen rhubarb do. While one of the gardeners doesn't think we should let it go to seed, we are considering letting it flower just to see what they look like, then cutting them off before they seed. Anyway, the other rhubarb was crying out to have some stalks harvested. So I did. I plucked seven fat stalks off, with the intention of bringing them home, cutting them all up and freezing them.

So I did just that. But I remembered that last year I made a rhubarb relish/chutney/sauce to go with pork chops. But I couldn't find the recipe (haha...didn't try looking here...wonder if it is here?). So I looked for a new one. Pinterest to the rescue! The recipe, from marthastewart.com, was for four. I am solo tonight as Cupcake is at her dads. So I kind of halved the recipe and cooked one chop (I sprinkled some ground coriander on my chop as another recipe did). My only gripe is that the recipe called for "2 large stalks of rhubarb." Most rhubarb at the store is half the size of the ones I picked. Wish the recipe included a measurement rather than a quantity. Moving on. The recipe has shallots, garlic, ginger, fresh thyme (also from the herb garden), red wine, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, and chicken stock. And rhubarb, of course. It was yum. Some other recipes mentioned their sauce would be good with sharp cheese or goat cheese. So I made mashed potatoes with goat cheese, and sprinkled some goat cheese on the chop. Mmmmmmmm.....

Pork Chops with Rhubarb Compote
(From marthastewart.com)

4 boneless pork loin chops (1-inch-thick)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 shallots, halved and thinly sliced (I finely chopped mine)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 large stalks rhubarb, diced in 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup Brown Chicken Stock (I used regular)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Pat pork chops dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat; add pork chops and cook, turning once, until nicely browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to oven and roast until just cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork chops to a plate and keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a medium skillet. Add shallots, garlic, ginger, and thyme and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until softened, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook until reduced by half; add balsamic, maple syrup, chicken stock, and rhubarb. Cook until rhubarb has softened, 7 to 8 minutes. Add butter and swirl until melted and well combined; season with salt and pepper.

4. Divide pork chops evenly between 4 plates and top with compote; serve immediately.



Thursday, April 4, 2013

Regency reading challenge entry 3

An Affair of Honor by Candice Hern

About a man who, after a curricle accident, thinks he has visions of a red haired angel. In actuality, it is Meg, a beautiful young woman who, as a gangly debutante, had a miserable season in London six years ago. Viscount Sedgewick, the one man who had shown her kindness and danced with her - twice! - was now laying in a heap near her family's country home. They take him in and nurse him back to health. But while he is recovering, they develop feelings for each other. But as a known rake, Sedge is not expected to offer for Meg, although her Gram is ever hopeful. There is then a Big Misunderstanding, as well as Sedge's sudden accident prone existence to worry about, before everyone has a HEA.

This book was a fun read. The misunderstanding is amusing in its origins. However, the reason for Sedge's accidents seems a bit obvious early on. My Kindle copy had some typos in it (I only noticed them in the last third of the book) that became distracting. But over all, I would recommend it. 4/5 stars