Sometimes dinner comes from within, a desire for a flavor.
A tomatillo or five sitting on the counter. You touch the husk and think about what you’ve read. And how to deal with them by removing the husk and rinsing the sticky green fruit.
Roasting those tomatillos, til they blacken, pureeing them in blender with half a chopped sweet red onion, a spoonful of garlic confit, one small fresh jalapeno, a small handful of fresh cilantro and a bit of coarse salt and pepper til blended ..then putting it in a hot skillet and cooking it in a bit of roasted garlic oil til it thickens a bit and covering it with homemade roasted chicken stock and cooking it down for twenty minutes til it coats the back of the spoon.
It’s a smooth motion. Seems to come from somewhere inside of you.
In the meantime, you’ve cut up some corn tortillas and stuck them in a 325 degree oven for twenty minutes to get crunchy. Of course you have swiftly sautéed a few big ole shrimp with a bit of coarse salt and pepper in a swirl of extra virgin olive oil ….worlds collide and everything is ready…you stir the crunchy corn tortillas into the tomatillo sauce…and the shrimp is thrown in with style grated Manchego cheese is sprinkled on top and chopped cilantro on the top of that and you say, “ thank you Martha Rose for the inspiration from Mexican Light Cooking” and you bring the skillet to the table with big napkins and forks and candles and have a sip of a great Shiraz from a dear friend and Teddy Pendergrass sings…Wake Up Everybody.
It’s a good night.
One Year Ago on Feeding Groom
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Green Chilaquiles with Shrimp
Monday, February 23, 2009
Braised Pork Loin in Tomatillo-Chipotle Sauce
Before....
After...
One thing leads to another.
Always.
This beautiful braised pork loin in a tomatillo chipotle sauce led to a black bean and pork stew over twice cooked new potatoes topped with a cool salad of mixed greens, campari tomatoes finished with fresh avocado, a squeeze of lime, a splat of sour cream and fresh cilantro.
Two entirely different approaches to one main dish.
Too good.
Braised Pork Loin in Tomatillo Chipotle Sauce
Adapted from Rick Bayless Mexico One Plate at a Time
2 pounds pork loin roast
10 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
5 plum tomatoes, rinsed
1 chipotle en adobo sauce
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Big spoonful garlic confit
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 large sweet yellow onion, sliced thin
5 medium Yukon gold potatoes, washed and halved
Do a good swirl extra virgin olive oil in a Dutch oven large enough to hold the pork roast. Heat medium high. Add the pork roast…brown about five minutes on both sides. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from the Dutch oven and set aside.
Add the sliced onion to the Dutch oven and cook til caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic confit and smush into the onions.
Preheat broiler and roast tomatoes and tomatillos til blackened in oven, whirl in a blender and add with 1-1.2 cups chicken broth to caramelized onion and garlic. Add the fresh cilantro. Lower oven to 325 degrees put the pork in onion tomatillo sauce, cover it and put in the oven for 30 minutes.
Boil the Yukon gold potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes. When the pork has cooked for 30 minutes add the potatoes to the pork. Let cook 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for five minutes before slicing. Sprinkle with a bit of fresh cilantro before serving.
Serves 4 generously.
Click here for a printable recipe!
Black Bean and Braised Pork Stew on Twice Cooked Potatoes
I had leftover sauce, potatoes and pork.
Slice the leftover pork. Put in a sauce pan.
Add one can black beans, drained and set over medium heat.
Slice the leftover cooked potatoes.
Heat a medium skillet add a bit of olive oil and put sliced potatoes in the skillet.
Cook, pressing down til hot and then turning several times til golden brown.
Add 1/3 cup chopped cilantro to stew.
Serve potato with stew over. Top with fresh mixed greens, sliced avocado, quartered tomatoes, a splat of sour cream and a squeeze of fresh lime and cilantro.
Serves 3 generously.
One Year Ago on Feeding Groom
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tomatillo Guacamole
I don't know about you but usually I’ll buy tomatillos in their papery husks and put them in a bowl with lemons and limes and wonder why, four months later when I decide I want to use them, there’s nothing there but hard little round sticky things.
So after years of mistreating the tomatillo, I decided to treat it right. Taking note from Martha Rose Shulman’s fabulous Mexican Light cookbook, I tried her Tomatillo Guacamole.
I will be nice to tomatillos from now on. This is a wonderful take on guacamole. The sharp taste of the tomatillos, a bit of garlic, fresh cilantro, jalapeno slices and a big squeeze of lemon juice provides a wonderful spread for homemade corn tortilla chips, a great dip for fresh veggies and a wondrous blop of goodness on top of a special quesadilla. Like the one I cooked for dinner tonight, for example. Sauteed shrimp with a bit of olive oil and hot Spanish paprika on top of refried black beans flavored with ground cumin and ground chipotle pepper topped with caramelized onions, flipped back and forth on a hot griddle, served with a bit of sour cream.
Hey, it’s Monday. You need to start the week off with a bang, right?
Tomatillo Guacamole
Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman’s Mexican Light
4 large fresh tomatillos, roasted in the oven until they blacken, cooled and peeled
1 large spoonful garlic confit
Fresh cilantro to taste
4-5 sliced pickled jalapeno slices
A good squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large ripe avocado, peeled and diced
Put the roasted tomatillos, garlic confit, cilantro, and jalapeno slices in blender and combine til smooth.
Add to diced guacamole in bowl and season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then squeeze the lemon (half a large lemon) over. Stir gently.
Makes about 1-/1-2 cups.
Click here for a printable recipe!
One Year Ago on Feeding Groom
