What a pretty salad

This was dinner last night.  Isn’t it pretty?  It has green leaf lettuce, which I chopped up right away after getting my basket home, tomatoes, avocados, boiled egg, bacon and ranch dressing.   Salads don’t have to be made by the bowlful.  It is really easy to put together a quick salad for lunch.  Including the salad dressing, which is Hidden Valley Light, this whole thing has 347 calories.  Almost half of those came from the avocado.  It is filling because of the bulk of the lettuce, the protein in the egg and bacon, and the fat from the avocado.  I’ll probably eat the same thing for lunch tomorrow.

Green Chile with pork, not to be confused with salsa verde

I did a lot of research on how to make good green chile.  I know what it is supposed to taste like, but I had only made it a couple of times before.  What I discovered is that is varies, especially according to what region of the southwest you live in.  Smothered burritos, like you see here, are really common in Colorado, where I live.  One of my husband’s very favorite meals is a beef and bean burrito, smothered in green chile.   This is also known as a “G” at Nino’s, and he orders it every time we are there.  

Colorado green chile is solely green chile based.  A lot of recipes call that call themselves “green chile” should really call themselves “salsa verde”, because they are really tomatillo based.  Tomatillos are not spicy, so those recipes rely on another hot pepper, such as a jalapeno, to give them a kick.  Green chile is also made with pork.  By definition, I suppose you could call it a stew, simply because it is meat and vegetables and you let it simmer for a long time.  It is often used as a gravy, though, like you see in my picture.  Smothered burritos and juevos rancheros are good examples for that.  Some people also eat it like a soup or chili, with tortillas on the side.  

On to the recipe.  This Is more of a method than a recipe.  For the pork, I used a butt roast for two reasons.  One, it was cheap.  Two, it is fatty and gets really tender after simmering it for a couple of hours.  I just trimmed what fat I could as I was cubing it up and relied on the marbled fat to give it good flavor.  The chiles that I used came not only from our last basket, but also from the guacamole pack that I got with my basket two weeks ago.  I think I had a total of about three pounds of chile all together.  Remember how to roast them?  That is the very first step, so do it, if you haven’t already.

Green chile with pork, Colorado style

3 pounds green chile, roasted, peeled and seeded
1 lb pork, cubed into small cubes
1/2 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano (Mexican oregano if you have it.  I didn’t.)
2 tsp salt
6 cups water (approx)
1/4 c. cornstarch
Oil for sautéing

Put your chile in a blender and pulse it a few times.  You don’t want puree, but you want it chopped pretty fine.  Heat up a 4qt stockpot and drizzle enough oil to brown your pork, onions and garlic.  You don’t need to cook the pork all the way through, so stir it around every once in a while.  The onions should turn translucent and it will smell delicious.  Add the water, chiles, spices and salt.  Bring to a simmer and let it simmer for at least an hour, but longer is better.  Add more water, as needed.

Once you are satisfied with how tender the pork is, mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water to dissolve.  Add it to the chile and stir.  If you want it thicker, mix up another couple of tablespoons of cornstarch and water and repeat the process until you are happy with it.

Now you are ready to eat it!  I made breakfast burritos with egg, sausage and hashbrowns and smothered them with the chile.  I put cheddar cheese inside, but you could also sprinkle it on top of the chile.  

Also, a couple of weeks ago, I got the tortilla pack that Bountiful Baskets offers.  They are par-baked (?), meaning that you have to heat them on a griddle to finish cooking them.  This makes them taste homemade and I love them.  The large ones really are large and they are perfect for burritos.  Since the pack contains seven dozen, I keep what I’m not using in the freezer.  They will last for a couple of months that way.

Roasting green chile at home is not so scary

'Round these parts, it is chile roasting season.  Several grocery stores, including Walmart, sell chile by the bushel and then roast it for you with the big, spinning propane roasters outside the store.  Some people even set up stands on the side of the road to sell roasted chiles.  I have bought some on several different occasions.  There are a couple of ways to store it once you get your giant sack of roasted chiles home.  You can either freeze them or can them.

Let’s talk a bit about what the green chiles actually are.  What we got in our baskets are called Hatch Green Chile.  They come from Hatch, New Mexico.  They are also known as Anaheim Peppers.  They are in the same family as bell peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, etc.  They come in different heats, like mild, medium, hot, etc.  I brought my basket home in the green chile box and it said "Medium Hot" on the side.  I usually buy mild, so I knew we were in for a treat.

Obviously, when we get fresh chiles in our baskets, we have to roast them ourselves.  This was a very easy process involving a bbq grill.  All I did was heat it up, put them on and turn them every few minutes.  See how the skin is kind of blistering and blackening?  That’s good.  That is the skin separating from the meat.



I think the whole cooking process took fifteen minutes.
 
I pulled them off the grill and put them in a big pot and covered it with the lid.  I let them sit all night that way.  The steam helps loosen the skin and makes the peeling process easier.  When you buy it already roasted, they put it in a plastic bag and the same steaming process happens.

When I was ready to peel them, all I had to do was separate the peel and the seeds from the meat.  You can leave the seeds in if you want, but they pack a bunch of heat.  I grew up in the southwest, but I am still a white girl.  I remove the seeds.  Also, the oil from the chiles stays on your hands for quite a while.  You do not want to peel chiles and then take your contacts out.  Trust me on that one.  Gloves are a great idea.  I had a box of disposables left over from my microbiology class last year that worked like a champ.

Once you have them peeled to your satisfaction, it is time to either use them, freeze them, or can them.  I can’t tell you how to can them because I have never done it.  Freezing them is easy.  Just portion them into whatever size freezer bags you want and toss them in the freezer.  I know for a fact that they will last for quite awhile.  I still have some from a batch two years ago and they are fine.

I used mine right away.  I made what is known around here as green chile.  Imagine that.  The recipe is coming right up.

Basket Breakdown 9/1/12

That looks good, eh?  I think so, too.

Here is the breakdown against prices from our local Jack’s Market, which is an Affiliated Food type store.  It typically has some pretty good produce prices, especially this time of year.

Tomatoes – 1 lb 12 ox – $1.89/lb = $3.31
Grapefruit – 4 – $0.59 each = $2.36
Green leaf lettuce (my favorite) – 2 – $0.99 each = $1.98
Hatch green chile – 2 lb 4 oz – $1.89/lb = $4.25
Limes – 8 – $0.17/each = $1.36
Bartlett pears – 1 lb 1 oz – $1.49/lb = $1.58
Purple plums – 1 lb 2 oz – $2.00/lb = $2.25
Black grapes – 2 lb 7 oz – $2.49/lb = $6.07
Corn – 5 – $0.20/each = $1.00
Red potatoes – 5 lb bag – $3.29 = $3.29
Avocados – 2 – $1.59 each = $3.18

Grand total: $30.63
Contribution: $15 + $1.50 handling fee = $16.50
Savings: $14.13

Do you know what to do with green chile?  If you live in the southwest, you probably at least have an idea.  If you either don't live here or don't know what to do with them, stay tuned.  I have already roasted them and am going to prepare them tonight. 

Pico de Gallo

I have decided that I am a big fan of pico.  It is basically a fresh version of salsa.  It is light, crunchy and can have a nice kick to it, depending on what you put in it.  It is also super easy.  Everything just gets chopped up and put in a bowl.  We ate this with tacos tonight. 

Pico de Gallo

2 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced finely
1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
1 green onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced (three out of the inside of big garlic.  Are those cloves, or is the whole thing a clove?)
juice from 1/2 lime
salt, to taste

Combine everything in a bowl and serve. 

100% of the contents of this recipe came from my baskets last week.  I got the tomatoes from the conventional basket and the rest from the guacamole pack.  Actually, it is more like 99% because I already had the salt.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts are actually good!

I remember eating brussels sprouts a few times in my childhood and I think the end result was always a spanking.  Needless to say, they were not on my list of foods that I ever planned on eating again. 
Having children of my own, however, was enough to make me willing to give them another go when we got them in our baskets last week.  You just can’t trust a kid’s opinion of a food until you have tried it as an adult.

I was talking to my Uncle Curtis tonight about brussels sprouts and he told me that he hated them.  He served a church mission in Ireland and ate them just about twice a day.  They were always boiled, which might have been how I ate (or didn’t eat them) as a kid.  I found this recipe for roasted sprouts on Allrecipes.com.  My whole opinion of them has changed.  You might say that I’m converted, even.  Two of my children asked for seconds.  Did you hear what I said? Two of them asked for seconds.

I wasn’t sure how to prep them.  They had a lot of extra leaves and were a lot bigger than I remembered them being.  I peeled off the outer leaves and cut off of the stalk.  That made them look more like I thought they should look.  It seemed like there was a lot of waste.  I also cut them in half, which reduced the cooking time.  There were a bunch of the inner leaves that kept falling off and I just threw them away.  I wish I would have just cooked them as well, because those blackened leaves were the best ones.  I cooked them in the oven, but now I wish I would have used the grill.  My house is stinking hot now. 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Preheat oven to 425.

1 pound (or so) brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed and bottoms trimmed
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Kosher salt (be sure to use Kosher because it is chunky.  See it in the picture?)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Place everything in a gallon-sized bag and knead it around to coat it all evenly.  Let it sit for an hour or two.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Stir every 5 minutes or so to help them brown evenly.  Serve immediately.

If you think you hate brussels sprouts, I recommend giving this recipe a try.  You just might change your mind.

Basket Breakdown 8/18/12

Long story short, I didn't do the breakdown because I ended up giving away some of my baskets this week, plus I was just plain busy after we were done.  This is the basic run-down that we got.  Remember, your results may vary, depending on how the case-ends were distributed.

4 peaches
3 pears
9 plums
3 onions
1 bag red grapes
7 bananas
1 head romaine lettuce
1 bunch kale
4 tomatoes
3 crowns broccoli
1 bag of brussels sprouts

Going off of previous weeks, I would guess that this basket is in the $30 range, when compared to Walmart pricing.  The contibution amount, including fees, is $16.50, so that would still be a savings of almost 50%.  Not bad.

Did I ever tell you about the specials that you can add to your baskets each time?  There is usually a case of fruit that is offered.  This week it was 20 pounds of tomatoes for $12.00.  Previous weeks have had cases of pineapples, mangoes, plums, peaches, and strawberries.  There are also 5-packs of bread available.  Each week, there is also a different veggie pack, based on a theme.  There has been asian packs, italian packs, mexican packs, and this week, we had a guacomole pack, which I got.  It had:

6 avocados
2 bunches green onions
2 yellow onions
1 bunch cilantro
4 jalapenos
4 green chiles
1 clove garlic
6 limes

The contribution for it was $8.50.   I  know that avocados are usually at least $1 a piece, so that would have also been a significant savings.