Mexican Baked Eggs

We're all in favor of 20 minute dinners. Let's face it, when you only have 20 minutes it's easy to opt for heating chicken nuggets or microwaving something from Trader Joe's. But I'd much rather have this. Eggs always save the day.

2 tbsp olive oil
3 thinly sliced poblanos (seeded and deveined)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups tomato sauce or crushed tomato
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
4 large eggs
1 cup crumbled queso fresco or chedder, jack, whatever
Cilantro and jalapeno - pinch of each

1. Preheat oven to 425. Heat olive oil in a large cast iron plan. Add the poblanos and garlic and cook for five minutes.

2. Stir in tomatoes and oregano and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

3. Crack eggs into the sauce and top with cheese.

4. Bake for 12 minutes.

Thai Pulled Pork

You all know I love me some slow Sunday cooking. Afterall, slow cooking is for long, slow days which are wonderful...and which absolutely do not exist in my life anymore so please don't be fooled by this post. In fact, the idea of even being in the house for the 3.5 hrs that it takes to roast this pork is unimaginable. In full disclosure, I made this one day recently when I was working from home. The prep actually only takes a matter of minutes. It's the roasting that takes all afternoon. So it's not like you're slaving over the stove, but you do need to be INSIDE.

I don't stand a chance at making this on a weekend with a toddler who, when inside, spends all of his time at the door holding his shoes in his hands saying, "outside? outside? outside? outside?" You get the idea. Anyway, do whatever you have to do to make this but puhlease don't use a slow cooker, ok? Not allowed here and it just won't work. Period. But it IS an absolutely delicious recipe with lots of leftovers that can be used in a few hundred ways.

1/3 cup Thai red curry paste
1/4 cup fish sauce
6 tbsp brown sugar
4-lb pork shoulder (I used bone in)
2 cups chopped cilantro
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 large shallots, halved
1 stalk of lemongrass - inner part only, cut into three pieces
1/3 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp tumeric
1 1.2-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
1 15-oz can coconut milk (not shaken!)
1/3 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped basil and mint leaves

1. Preheat oven to 325. In small pan, simmer curry paste, fish sauce, and 1/4 cup of sugar over moderate heat until sugar is dissolved and smooth paste forms. Let cool slightly.

2. Place pork in a dutch oven and season with salt and rub all over with curry paste. Cover and roast, basting every hour with juices, until very tender and falls off bone...at least 3.5 hrs. Uncover and roast for 15 more minutes until crusty. Remove from oven and let cook. Pull apart and shred with a fork.

3. Combine cilantro, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, cardamom, tumeric, ginger and pulse in a food processor. Add remaining sugar and process until smooth.

4. Open can of coconut and scoop the creamy top into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat and whisk in cilantro paste. Whisk in the rest of the coconut milk and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.

5. Stir the pork into the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Serve with rice.

Refried Beans

Ok, not that exciting especially for the first post in about three months but I keep forgetting exactly how to do these and need to put them somewhere where I can find the recipe again... Also, this is not really a recipe and I'm embarrassed that I even need to write this down so please refrain from judging.

2 cans of pinto or kidney beans
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp butter

Drain and rinse the beans. Simmer with broth for 10 mins. Puree in a food processor with the butter.

(See what I mean? Nevermind, don't answer that.)

Chicken Tacos with Creamy Chipotle Slaw

See what I mean? Tacos. The best part is that this was the leftover chicken from two nights earlier and the rest of the cabbage from the Vietnamese Pork Salad. This isn't a recipe but we loved it so I'm putting it in to remind myself. Lazy dinner and emptying out the fridge...yessss.

Spice rubbed chicken thighs (or any leftover chicken)
Handful of shredded cheese (mexican blend or cheddar or jack)
1 cup cole slaw mix
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tbsp sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce (or more if you like it spicier)
Avocados, sliced if you have them

1. Combine the slaw, sour cream, and adobo. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat the chicken and set aside. Heat the tortillas and melt the cheese in them. Add chicken, slaw, and avocado. That's it!!

Spice Rubbed Chicken Thighs with Jalapeno Guac

We eat tacos all. the. time. What else would I do with all of that leftover chicken? But because we have them, ahem, at least once a week, I try to change them up as much as possible...which includes serving them tortilla-less.

1 package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper
Enough kale or other greens for a salad
1 cup or more of black beans
1 cup or more of corn
1 cup or more of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1/8 tsp dijon mustard
2 avocados
2 - 3 jalapenos, seeds and veins removed, finely diced
Juice of one lime
2 tablespoons of sour cream or plain yogurt (if you have it)

1. Combine the chili powder through the salt and pepper and rub thoroughly into the chicken thighs. Given them 30 mins if you have it, otherwise, do everything else before you grill them.

2. To make the salad dressing, combine the olive oil thorugh the mustard to make your dressing, or use store bought dressing if you have it.

3. To make the salad, combine the kale, beans, corn, tomatoes and dress salad.

4. To make the guacamole, combine avocados, jalapenos, lime juice, and sour cream/yogurt and salt & pepper.

5. Grill the chicken and serve over the salad with guac on the side.

Vietnamese Style Pork Chops with Kale and Cabbage Salad

I don't usually get excited about pork chops. Tenderloin - yes. Chops? Not so much. And Paddy [usually] tries to hide his disappointment when I make pork in general. But we eat A LOT of chicken and sometimes you gotta change up the routine a little. I made this a few weeks ago and we were both blown away. I used boneless chops and marinated the hell out of them. The sugar caramelized when these were on the grill and they were incredibly tasty over this salad. Adapted from Food and Wine.

1 large shallot or a small onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup fish sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp black pepper

4 pork chops - bone in or out

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Salad greens (I preferred kale for this)

1/2 English cucumber, sliced

1 cup cabbage or cole slaw mix
Fresh basil and mint if you have it (or either)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp lime juice

1/2 tsp honey

Salt & pepper

1. Mix the ingredients through the black pepper (blend or put in food processor if you can). Transfer to a ziplock, add pork, and marinate for 1 - 12 hrs. I highly recommend doing this first thing in the morning for dinner.

2. Heat grill to medium high. Remove chops from marinade and season with salt and pepper. Grill the chops turning once until lightly charred, about two mins per side.

3. Combine your greens and cabbage with the scallions and cucumber. Make the dressing by mixing the olive oil, lime juice, honey and S&P. Toss salad with dressing and serve the pork, sliced, on top.

Crunchy Vegetable Salad with Warm Peanut Dressing and 7-Minute Egg

Jack's been on a peanut butter and toast breakfast kick lately so peanut butter's back on my radar. It's some pretty messy stuff when you mix it with a 1.5 year old. No matter how well I wash his face and hands after breakfast, I swear I still smell peanut butter on him at the end of the day. Where is he saving it??  In his hair and behind his ears. Anyway, the weather's warming up and my dutch oven is going into summer hibernation. It's time for salads and the grill! This is from Bon Appetit. There are a lot of peanut sauce recipes out there but this is the best one I've had in a long time. The salad is delicious and can keep for days - it's also really filling and makes a great dinner. You could easily add chicken or shrimp to this.

Sauce

2 green Thai chilis or jalapenos, seeded, cored, minced
1 clove of garlic
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce

Salad

4 eggs (or as many people you're serving)
1/4 head of Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 seedless cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/3 cup peanuts, chopped
4 cups cooked brown rice

1. Add all sauce ingredients to a small sauce pan with 1/4 cup of water. Heat over medium-low, whisking often until hot, about 5 minutes. If it gets to thick, add a little more water.

2. Add eggs to a pot of boiling water and cook for 7 minutes. Transfer eggs to bowl of ice water until cooled. Gently peel and set aside.

3. Toss the cabbage, scallions celery, cucumber, cilantro, mint in a large bowl. Serve over warm or chilled brown rice with peanut sauce on top and halved eggs on the side.