Black Truffle Oil

A while ago Joanne over at Eats Well With Others and Marx Food got together and had a caption contest. I didn't win, but I was a runner up! It was a fun contest and my fabulous prize was a bottle of truffle oil. It's very exciting for me, since I've never used it before, but frankly I have no idea what to do with it. So how about some advice kids? What should I do with black truffle oil?

Shredded Pork Tamales

Wow, I've been wicked bad about getting recipes for stuff up here lately, haven't I? Sorry about that kids. And I'm afraid this post is recipe free as well, I just didn't really pay much attention to proportions, it was all done by taste.

Oh, except the masa. I used the recipe here for that, but I subbed out the corn oil for shortening. Most of the recipes I saw wanted lard, but that's really hard to find. Next time I make them I want to use chicken fat, I bet that would be wicked good.

So I've been wanting to make tamales for ages, but I hadn't been able to find corn husks anywhere. I was whining about this to Girlichef when she posted about tamales and since she is such a wonderful human being she sent me some! How awesome is that? Not to mention the extra treats she sent which I didn't manage to get any pics of... heh. Thanks, Girli! There's a lesson here kids, if you complain enough people will buy you things.

What, that's not a good lesson? Hm. Well, forget it then.

Anyway, corn husks finally obtained, we call up a couple friends and make ourselves some tamales. I'm not going to go into a big how-to in this post since I'll be making them again sometime in the near future and will just do a whole series for it. But I did get a bunch of pics, so I figured I might as well do a post about it.

They came out wicked good, although I hadn't realized quite how dense they would be. Apparently that's normal, although Alton Brown adds some baking powder to his masa which would lighten up the texture a bit. They came together pretty easy, it's mostly just time consuming, not hard.

So I'll be making these again soon, I'll write stuff down and have a good recipe to post. That's the plan anyway. Heh.

Mini Leek and Asparagus Quiches

So my brother calls me up the other day and says "Hey, I'm making mini quiches, want to come take pictures?" To which I responded "Of course!"

I mean not only is cooking with my brother a good time in general, but I would be able to use both hands to hold the camera and I wouldn't even have to do the dishes (I'd get to eat some too, of course). How could I not? Heh. So I head over to his house and he has everything all set to go. He was making them lightish, so we have a couple eggs, but also some egg substitute, half and half, a little milk, Gruyere and Parmesan. First he prepped and roasted the leeks and asparagus. These leeks were extra sandy and wound up coming apart when he washed them, but it worked out fine in the end. Then it was just grating the cheese, whipping up the egg mixture and prepping the phyllo. He made little cups of the dough in muffin tins, filled them with the veggies and cheese and then the egg mixture. Then he cooked them up. A little spillage, but that's no big deal. There was a minor issue getting them out of the tin (and into, but that's phyllo for you), but nothing a little perseverance couldn't fix. Again, no big deal. But the bottom line, how did they taste? They were fantastic, you couldn't tell they weren't full fat. Plus they reheat well, which makes them perfect for a quick breakfast or snack.

And because I think so highly of you all I'll even ask my brother for the recipe that I forgot to write down while I was there. Heh.

Sunday Cats #52

This was one of the happiest moments of the real Bob's life. Heh. I know I've posted this picture before, but I just came across it and wanted to post it again. This is Noodles with her kittens. She was a very good mother, even if she was barely old enough to be one.

Sort of Shakshuka

Have you heard of shakshuka? I hadn't until I read this post over at Smitten Kitchen, after which I went and read a bit about it over at Wikipedia. Seriously though, what did we do before that endless font of dubious information? It's priceless, if somewhat unreliable.

Anyway, shakshuka is like the Italian eggs in purgatory, eggs poached in tomato sauce (Michele at My Italian Grandmother has a recipe for that that looks wicked good), but spicy and with a more Mid-East/Northern Africa kind of thing to it.

I didn't have all the stuff that Deb had, like fresh anaheims or jalapenos, but I did have some of those jarred roasted green chilies that I've been enjoying so much lately. So I decided to Mexicanize it. I didn't take a single measurement I'm afraid, but if anyone wants I can try to figure it out. It's really a to taste thing anyway. Yeah, that's what we'll go with this time.

Anyway, I started by sauteing up some chopped onion. I had thought I had fresh garlic, but I didn't and wasn't about to run out to get some. This caused me some angst, but then I got over it and just used garlic powder. It was fine, but fresh would clearly be better. You would add it after the onions were lightly browned and saute it for around thirty seconds. Then I added the green chilies and the spices. That's garlic powder, chili powder, dried cilantro, cayenne, cumin and black pepper. It was wicked spicy. Anyway then I just tossed in one of those little cans of tomato sauce, since this was a single serving, and let it simmer over very low heat for about fifteen minutes or so.

While that was going I realized I needed something to eat this with. And since I've just gotta be me, I crisped up some leftover steak fries in the oven and plated them up. Then I cracked an egg in in sauce and forgot to take a picture. Sorry about that. Anyway, since I was being true to myself already I put some cheese on there to melt after the egg was mostly done. And that's it kids, other than plating. Mexicanized shakshuka. It was wicked good. I was a little leery of eggs and red sauce, but the creamy richness of the eggs balanced out the spicy and fairly acidic sauce really well. And the steak fries were perfect as the bottom layer, they soaked up juices but stayed crispy around the edges. I will definitely be making this again.

Oh and I had some of the cheesy sauce leftover the next day. So I heated it up and dipped some store-bought taquitos in it for lunch. Also wicked good.

Grape and Rosemary Focaccia

Just a quickie today kids, something I saw over at Noble Pig and had to make for my girlfriend since she loves grapes. I made a few minor changes, mostly due to stuff I didn't have. Like Romano, so I used a little mozzarella. It's really not the same, but it gave the focaccia some of that crispy, browned cheese texture. Plus I didn't have fresh rosemary, so I made a quick infused oil to use instead. I figured dried wouldn't work, too crunchy. It came out well, my girlfriend loved it. Turns out I'm not a big fan of roasted grapes, but you don't know until you try, right? Heh. So, looking for a different focaccia and like roasted grapes? Give this a shot.

Sunday Cats #51

I have no idea what's going on here.None at all.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, I'm a bad blogger. I had a post all ready, albeit in my head, for these cookies. It was moderately witty, had an anecdote involving children and/or animals, the whole nine yards. But I forgot it. All of it. I don't even remember the anecdote and I was there when it happened!

But, I'm still going to post the cookie pictures. They were delicious after all, but they're just my go to recipe that I tossed some hazelnuts in.
That's why I had had the story and all the interesting stuff, because I don't have much to say about the cookies other than they're good.
Hm. Well, I should do something to entertain you all. I could dance, but you would ever know. Also me + dance = disaster. Same with singing, you guys don't want that, I assure you.

And since I'm going to go help a buddy move some furniture and tear up his carpet so he can install new flooring I don't have any time to think of something new and amusing. So that's it, I guess. Apparently the bullet point of my little speech here is hazelnut chocolate chip cookies are good and not writing things down is bad. Thank you for your time.

Something Else to Do With Leftover French Fries

Just a quickie today kids. Ever find yourself with just a handful of fries leftover, either just a couple left in the bag of frozen ones or a few left after a meal? Well, keep them, there's tons of stuff you can do with them. You could mix them up with some egg and make a fry patty. They're also good in omelets (or scrambles). Or you could do this.

Crisp them up a bit in the oven, unless you like soggy fries. Don't scoff, I know people who do. Make a couple small piles, depending on how many you have. Top them with some stuff. This is some chunks of chicken that were braised in Mexican spices, leftover from the green chili chicken and bean enchiladas I made a while ago, some red onion, some more of those roasted green chilies and some cheese. But really, anything would work. Sloppy joe meat, jalapenos and cheese or chunks of sausage, peppers and onions. And cheese. Chunks of hamburger, tomato, onion, bacon and bbq sauce. And cheese. Whatever you can think of and fit on top. Although I do suggest cheese, it kind of holds everything together.

Toss it in a hot oven until the cheese is melted and it's all heated through (having the fries already hot speeds this up).
Hopefully you have a big spatula like this. If not, you can just use two or cut the pile in half. Then just roll it up in a tortilla and eat it. There you go, two different chunks of leftovers gone, the fridge a little cleaner and an awesome meal made, all in less than a half an hour. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Heh.

So, what would you put in one of these?

Blogger Burger Club: Green Chile & Cream Cheese Burgers

Hamburgers are quite possibly my all time favorite food, I've probably eaten more of them than anything else. I used to eat one at least three or four times a week when I was a teenager and always had access to a grill. I can remember days when I would eat a burger for every meal of the day. Not the healthiest of diets to be sure, but it does remind me that I need to post my breakfast burger. Heh.

Anyway, burgers are awesome, so when Reeni over at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice announced she was starting a Blogger Burger Club I was all about it. The way it works is she's going to announce a burger every few weeks and then people will make and rate it. This time it's green chilies and cream cheese and I just so happened to have all the ingredients on hand. So I made them. And they're wicked good.

The recipe is in the link above, but they're pretty simple. You saute up some onion and green chili or jalapenos and put that and some cream cheese on a burger. The cream cheese balances out the heat of the peppers and the flavors go really well together. Reeni had used green chilies and wished they had had a bit more heat. I used the same jarred, roasted green chilies I used in the green chili, chicken and bean enchiladas I made recently and they're fairly hot, but I would have liked a bit more oomph myself. Next time I'm going to do half and half green chilies and jalapenos, I bet that would be a good time.

To rate it, I give it three stars.
It probably could have had four with bacon. Heh.

Sunday Cats #50

Well, this pretty much sums up Noodles in one picture. And I just love this shot of the real Bob.He looks so peaceful, Noodles must be somewhere else. Heh.