Category Archives: Cooking

Salsa Roja a la Moña

February 12, 2011 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

**AMENDMENT**
This recipe totally doesn’t work with American ingredients (at least Alaskan). So be wary of this recipe. I think I can only replicate it in Mexico

Another simple recipe from a Mexican kitchen. This is a thin salsa — not too chunky. Kind of like house salsa at a Mexican restaurant.

Ingredients:
3 Roma tomatoes
3 small hot green chilies (or two small jalapeños)
1/2 cup minced sweet onion
1/2 cup minced English cucumber
A couple of tablespoons of chopped cilantro
1 garlic clove
A couple of tablespoons of water

Place tomatoes and chilies in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Take off the heat and let cool in the water till you’re able to handle them. Slip the tomato skins off and discard. Discard the stem of the peppers as well. Place tomatoes, peppers, garlic and a couple of tablespoons of water in a blender and combine. If it’s too thick add a little more water. Combine this mixture with the onion, cucumber and cilantro. Serve with corn chips.

Cooking, mexican

Guacamole a la Moña

February 10, 2011 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

This is one of the recipes that our housekeeper, Moña, makes. I’m not sure of all the proportions since the ingredients back home are slightly different. I will try and provide the U.S. equivalents.

2 roma tomatoes
1/3 English cucumber, peeled
1/4 sweet onion
2 green chili peppers (smaller than jalapeños, but 1 jalapeño could work)
3 ripe avocados
a couple of tablespoons of cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/4 lime
dash of apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Chop the sides of the tomatoes off, leaving the juicy core. Discard the core and mince the sides. Mince the cucumber, onion and pepper (choose to remove the seeds for less spiciness). The tomato, cucumber and onions should all be about the same quantity when minced. Add the cilantro and mix up with your hands. Add the avocados to a bowl and mash up with a potato masher. Add all of the other ingredients to the bowl. Serve with chips!

asian, Cooking

Gyoza with lemon ginger sauce

January 31, 2011 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

This is home cooking at its finest.

Click here for my homemade gyoza recipe. The following is a lemon ginger sauce I made.

Ingredients:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
a few tablespoons of Ponzu (orange-infused soy sauce)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
a couple of teaspoons of rice wine vinegar
2 scallions, chopped finely
several dashes of chili sesame oil

Comine all the ingredients. Serve alongside gyoza. SO GOOD. Here is a picture of Stephen full of gyoza:

Cooking

Orange Honey Pork Chops with Green Beans and Israeli Cous Cous

January 29, 2011 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

This is a modified recipe from this month’s Bon Appetit magazine.

Serves 2 really hungry people

Ingredients:
2 thick pork chops
3 Tbs. honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon orange juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup white wine (I used Chateau Ste. Michelle dry riesling)
Herbes de Provence (or thyme and rosemary)
1 cup dried whole wheat Israeli cous cous
2.5 cups chicken stock
1 tbs. Wondra flour (or regular flour)

Directions:
In a pie pan, combine the honey, OJ and garlic. Add the chops to pan and flip over a couple of times till they are coated. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chops, cover, and marinate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat an ovenproof frying pan with olive oil and turn to medium-high heat. Add the chops (reserve the marinade) and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Move pan to the oven and cook for 20 minutes, flipping chops once halfway through.
When 10 minutes remain, heat 2 cups of chicken stock in a small saucepan till boiling. Add 1 Tbs. olive oil to another small saucepan and place over med-high heat. Add the cous cous and stir for two minutes. Add the boiling chicken stock, turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Steam the green beans.
When chops are done, remove them from the pan and add the flour to the juices over medium heat. Stir and cook for one minute, then add the rest of the chicken stock, herbes de Provence and the white wine. Stir till sauce is thickened.
Top the chops, cous cous and green beans with the sauce. Serve with the bottle of white wine.

appetizers, Cooking

Shrimp Cocktail with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

January 29, 2011 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

This was really easy and totally satisfying.

Ingredients:
1 lemon, halved
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2-3/4 pounds of raw unpeeled shrimp
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine (I used Chateau Ste. Michelle dry riesling)
2 cups water
salt and pepper
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 green onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon horseradish sauce

Directions:
Combine water, wine, 1/2 lemon, bay leaf and a pinch of salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile fill a medium bowl with ice water. When water is boiling, add the shrimp and immediately turn heat to low and poach for 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to ice water. To the poaching liquid, add the juice of the other half of lemon and bring to a roaring boil. Boil for about 20 minutes till there’s only a couple of tablespoons of liquid left. Meanwhile, peel the shrimp leaving the tails intact. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, horseradish, salt and pepper, zest, green onion and 1 tablespoon of the shrimp reduction. Hang the shrimp on the edge of the bowl and serve.

appetizers, Cooking

Packers vs. Steelers — how to feed a hungry crowd

January 24, 2011 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

It was a good six hours of football today. Both Packers and Steelers fans had a good day. Good thing we had provisions!

Speedy Guacamole

Ingredients:
Two ripe avocados, smashed
Two small tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup salsa
dash of white wine vinegar or a squeeze of lime
salt and pepper
a couple of dashes of hot sauce

Toss together all of the ingredients. Serve with corn chips

Gotta-have-it Cheese Dip

Ingredients:
1/2 block of velveeta
1/2 cup salsa
1 small can of diced green chiles
2 tbs chopped jalapeños (from the jar)
a few dashes of hot sauce
1/2 lb. ground pork
smoked paprika
chili powder
salt and pepper

Season the pork with a couple of shakes of paprika and chili powder. Add salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Brown the meat and break into small pieces. Add pork and all the other ingredients to a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat till the cheese is melted. Serve with corn chips.

Cooking, South Beach

Zesty Black Bean Salad

January 7, 2011 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained but not rinsed
1/4 block of extra firm tofu, cubed
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced
1/4 cup feta
1-2 green onions, chopped
3 Tbs cilantro, chopped
1-2 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lime
dash cayenne powder
salt and pepper
dash Cholula

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together. Eat right away or refridgerate (that way the salad will marinate a little more and get tastier).

Cooking, mexican

South Beach Taco Salad

January 7, 2011 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Stephen and I need to shape up and changing our diet is of the upmost importance. After devouring a half pound of mac and cheese in bed the other night, we decided to try phase 1 of the South Beach Diet for a week or so. This is how we trained ourselves to be healthy in the first place, but the holidays took their toll….

Here’s a recipe for taco salad that uses no rice or tortillas. Black beans are super good for you and ground pork isn’t super fatty.

Ingredients:
Baconated Black Beans
1 bell pepper, color of your choice, sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
1 pound ground meat (beef, turkey or pork)
romaine lettuce
sour cream
salsa (optional, since South Beach doesn’t recommend it)
shredded cheese (low fat preferred)
cilantro, chopped
1 lime
1 taco seasoning packet

Brown the meat and add the taco seasoning according to package. Meanwhile, slowly cook the pepper and onions in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. When beans, meat and veggies are ready, combine on a plate and top with cheese, lettuce, sour cream, cilantro, and squeeze on some lime juice. Top with Cholula!

Cooking

Manyghetti and cheese

January 7, 2011 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

My family makes most everything from scratch. That means as a kid we never had Kraft macaroni and cheese. My dad would make a big batch of “manyghetti” — that is, all the leftover pasta shapes in the cabinet with sharp cheddar cheese, garlic, parsley, and maybe some parmesan. I’d top my mac with Tabasco sauce to ward off any little siblings who might want a bite.

To this day, manyghetti remains my favorite comfort food, but I also like to make my own version.

Since Stephen and I are going to do the South Beach Diet until Mexico next month, I wanted to say a big “GOODBYE PASTA” and make something cheesy, peppery and gosh darn delicious.

Ingredients:
About 1 pound of whatever pasta you have lying around. In this case, bowties, little O’s and elbows
about 1/2 cup milk
about 2 Tbs butter
about 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar
1 clove of garlic, smashed
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
about 1-2 Tbs Wondra flour
salt and pepper
dash of Tabasco sauce

Directions:
In a salted pot of water, boil the pasta in order of longest to shortest cooking time. While pasta cooks, place the milk, garlic and butter in a big serving bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Mix in the flour and microwave another 30 seconds. If sauce is too thick, stir in a little more milk. If too thin, stir in a little more flour and microwave another 30 seconds. Stir in the dijon, salt, pepper, Tabasco and half the cheese. Drain the pasta. Add pasta to the bowl and combine. Stir in the rest of the cheese.