This is a perfect recipe to adapt to the vegetables you happen to have on hand.  Our CSA box came loaded with corn on the cob and mushrooms, so I modified a recipe from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday to use the fresh vegetables of the day.  As the book suggests, one of the great things about this soup is that once you master the base broth, the variations are limited only by your imagination.

Lisa says:

Wahoo! I love walking in the door to a meal that’s ready to go!

Chris says:

I like not feeling rushed on nights that you’re home late.

Lisa says:

Nice. Is it spicy?

Chris says:

Shouldn’t be — ancho powder is relatively mild; it has a slightly smokey flavor.

Lisa says:

Mmmmm… the masa harina really gives it a nice consistency.

Chris says:

Totally — and the flavor goes really well with the fresh corn kernels. The starch from juicing the cobs also helps thicken it.

Lisa says:

I like how thin you cut the chicken.

Chris says:

Yep — it cooks pretty quickly that way.

Lisa says:

Well this soup is disappearing pretty quickly this way.

Red Chileatole with Mushrooms, Corn, Peppers, and Chicken
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, halved and sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tbsp ancho chile powder
1 1/2 tbsp masa harina
4 cups chicken broth, divided
6 oz cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 ears of corn
1/2 poblano pepper, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 large sprig fresh flat-leaf parsley
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
salt, to taste

Husk the corn. In a shallow bowl, hold ears of corn upright and, with a sharp knife, cut kernels from the cobs. Then with blunt edge of the knife, scrape juice from cobs. Discard the cobs.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring until golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer the onion and garlic to a food processor or blender. Add chile powder, masa harina, and 1 1/2 cups broth; process until smooth.

Return the puree to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups broth, mushrooms, corn kernels and juices, poblano pepper, and parsley and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in chicken and continue to simmer until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes more. Taste and add salt if needed. Remove parsley and ladle into soup bowls.

3-4 Servings

Our first post after our almost three weeks in Italy (w00t honeymoon!) is this chicken dish from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday. The original recipe calls to prepare it in a slow-cooker, but, not owning one, we went with the oven-bake method instead. This was a perfect recipe match to our CSA box, which this week included tomatillos and red-skinned potatoes.

Chris says:

Yum, I love this!

Lisa says:

Me too — I was taking bites while you were taking pictures.

Chris says:

This is like your dream dinner — there’s no oil, and there’s salt between each layer.

Lisa says:

That doesn’t mean I can’t add even more salt, though…

Chris says:

I bet the flavors would be even more intense if this was done in a slow-cooker. And I really like the little crispy edges of cilantro and tomatillo from the lid-free finish.

Lisa says:

Too bad I have lunch plans tomorrow, this would make a great lunch.

Chris says:

Guess what we’re having for dinner tomorrow night, then?

Lisa says:

Wahoo!

Pollo Pulquero
1 medium white onion, sliced into 1/4″ thick rings
salt
1 lb red-skin potatoes, sliced 1/4″ thick
8 skinless chicken thighs
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 1/4 lbs tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and sliced 1/4″ thick
1/4 cup roasted hatch chilis, chopped

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a 6-qt Dutch Oven, spread the onion in a layer, and sprinkle with salt. Continue with the potato slices, chicken, cilantro, and tomatillos, sprinkling with salt over each layer. Scatter the roasted chilis over the top. Set the lid in place and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and bake 15-20 minutes longer to reduce the juices. Spoon directly onto plates, and top with additional cilantro.

4 Servings

Wow. Just, wow. I’ve been meaning to make carnitas tacos for at least a year now, and can’t believe how wonderfully they turned out. I started with a recipe from Elise’s site and made some modifications based on some of the comments, and changed the toppings to suit our tastes. Moist, spicy, fall-apart pork, crisped up in the oven and placed in a tortilla with homemade pico de gallo, crunchy cabbage, and sweet-tangy pickled red onions. This might be my favorite dish we’ve made this year.

Chris says:

Wow; do you smell that kitchen?

Lisa says:

The kitchen? Try the whole house! I’ve been drooling for the last three hours!

Chris says:

This is awesome — and amazingly simple for the results. It’s somewhat time-consuming, but most of it is unattended. The most complicated part was carving up the pork and trimming off most of the fat!

Lisa says:

Seriously? That rules — I think this is one of the best meals we’ve had in a while. Home-cooked or at a restaurant.

Chris says:

Everything works so well together: the savory pork, the freshness of the pico, and the tartness of the onions… I love it.

Lisa says:

You go ahead and keep talking about how good it is — I’m going to shut up and eat.

Chris says:

Actually, I think I’ll join you.

Tacos de Carnitas
4 lbs boneless pork butt (shoulder), cut into large cubes (remove as much fat as possible)
1 quart beef broth
2 cups chunky salsa, medium-hot

corn tortillas
pico de gallo (diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeño, and lime juice)
pickled red onions (recipe below)
cabbage, shredded
creme fraiche (or sour cream)

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine pork, broth, and salsa. Add water to completely cover the meat, if needed. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 3 to 4 hours, until meat pulls apart easily.
Remove the meat from the liquid in the pot, set aside, and shred. (I use “shred” lightly, the pork will be so tender that just pressing it with the back of a fork will make it fall apart.) Pour the liquid through a colander to filter out solids, then return a third of the liquid to the saucepan. Heat over high heat for 12-15 minutes until it reduces to a gravy-like consistency. Add the reduced liquid to the pork and mix thoroughly.
Turn on the broiler in your oven. Place the shredded pork in a shallow layer in a roasting pan, or a wire rack over a cookie sheet, on the bottom rack of the oven. Broil for 5-7 minutes, until pork starts to crisp up. Use a spatula to flip the pork, and broil for an additional 5-7 minutes until crisp.
Serve the carnitas in warm corn tortillas with homemade pico de gallo, marinated red onions, and shredded cabbage. Drizzle with a little creme fraiche.

6-8 Servings

Pickled Red Onions
1 red onion, cut into 1-4″ half-rings
rice wine vinegar (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp sugar
orange juice
oregano
peppercorns
coriander seeds

Blanch the red onions in boiling water for 15 seconds, then drain, rinse, and pat dry. Dissolve the sugar into the rice wine vinegar. Place onions in a shallow dish, then add rice wine vinegar to just about cover the onions. Add about 1/4 cup of orange juice (enough to totally cover), the oregano, a few peppercorns, and a few coriander seeds. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. These will keep for about a week in the fridge.

Lisa wanted to make dinner tonight, and we had a ton of vegetables to use up from our CSA box, so we came up with these vegetarian enchiladas, filled with summer squash, spinach, and mushrooms, and topped with a green chile enchilada sauce.  Photogenic?  Not so much.  Healthy, full of veggies, and quick?  Absolutely!

Lisa says:

How come all the food I make is ugly?

Chris says:

Hey! All the food you make isn’t ugly; and I think the biggest reason this one isn’t exactly photogenic is because of the blue tortillas.

Lisa says:

Hmm… maybe… I love that enchilada sauce, it’s got a really nice flavor.

Chris says:

I like the creaminess from the creme fraiche.

Lisa says:

The filling is awesome — I don’t miss not having meat in there.

Chris says:

Totally — and I like using up all our CSA veggies from the fridge.

Lisa says:

I can’t wait to have ugly but delicious leftovers tomorrow.

UBD Summer Squash Veggie Enchiladas

1 14-oz can green chile enchilada sauce
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 tbsp creme fraiche
1 1/2 cups mixed summer squash, cubed
8 oz mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 red salad onions, bulbs and stems thinly sliced OR 1 large red onion, sliced
10 oz spinach
10 corn tortillas
pepper-jack cheese for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the summer squash and mushrooms; cook for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms start to brown.  Add the garlic, about three quarters of the red onion and continue cooking until the onions turn translucent and the squash is crisp-tender.  Add the spinach and red salad onion stems, stirring constantly, until the spinach is wilted.  Season with a teaspoon of salt, and cover to keep warm.
Lay out the tortillas on a baking sheet and spray on both sides with cooking oil, then stack in twos. Bake for 3 minutes or until soft and pliable. Remove and stack in a single pile; cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm.
In a small pot, heat the enchilada sauce to boiling, then lower the heat.  Stir in cilantro and the creme fraiche into the sauce.  Taste and season with salt, if desired.  Hold a tortilla by one edge and dip into the sauce.  Fill the center with 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling, then roll and lay seam side down in a 9×13 baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and remaining red onion, and bake for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Garnish with additional salad onions.

Makes 10 enchiladas.

Lisa and I are both big potato salad fans, as long as they’re not super-mayo affairs.  We needed to come up with a side dish to bring to a BBQ this weekend, and this recipe from The Border Cookbook seemed like a nice twist on the standard summer potato salad.  A vinegar and oil dressing replaces the usual mayonnaise, and  onions, tomatillos, and carrots provide an interesting flavor and texture combination.

Lisa says:

It’s sweet!

Chris says:

Yeah I like it, too.

Lisa says:

No, I mean — it’s sweet. As in, the dressing.

Chris says:

Ah! Yep, you’re right. The tomatillos seem to add some sweetness, and the vinegar gives it a nice tangy flavor.

Lisa says:

It’s definitely different. I like all the carrots.

Chris says:

The flavors seemed to intensify as it chilled — the recipe calls for you to refrigerate it for at least a couple of hours.

Lisa says:

So *that’s* why you wouldn’t let me taste it earlier…

Baja Potato Salad
1/2 cup rice vinegar
10 peppercorns
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, minced
3 oz tomatillos, husked and chopped
4 carrots, grated
4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled in salted water until tender, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded, minced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
3/4 tsp oregano
salt and fresh ground pepper

In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaf to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep.
In a deep skillet, warm the oil over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the tomatillos and cook an additional 5 minutes. Finally, add the carrots and cook an additional minute, or until the carrot wilts.
Place the potatoes in a bowl and spoon the carrot mixture over the top. Strain the vinegar and pour over the mixture. Add the jalapeño, parsley, and oregano, and mix again. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Refrigerate, covered, for at least two hours.
Serve chilled.

6-8 Servings