Dirty Laundry

  I am SO open to the power of suggestion! 

Back when I was learning Spanish my profesora would say something in English and we'd have to repeat it in Spanish.  I've forgotten most of what I learned but sometimes the old habit of repeating a phrase in Spanish still creeps up.  I was watching TV one night and someone said something about "dirty laundry". In my head I automatically translated:  "ropa vieja".

Then I got the craving.  Ropa vieja is the name of a delicous Cuban dish that I've only eaten in restaurants.  Beef is brasied and the liquid is then cooked down to a concentrated sauce that the beef is cooked in again.  It's awesome!  So I invited The Conductor over for a meal and, man, did we eat!

The Menu

Ropa Vieja - I used this exact recipe from Epicurious 

If a food looks a mess of dirty clothes, this sure does, no? 

I followed the recipe exactly except for the braising liquid which is just spiced water.  I kept the spice but used a jar of thick tomatoe juice - one of the first things I ever canned.  The tomato added a nicer depth to the beef than the water would have done. 

Doesn't it look pretty in that jar?

The recipe included a side of delicious Yellow Rice.  I altered it only to add two teaspoons of turmeric which doesn't change the flavor but makes it really yellow.

We also had homemade cornbread muffins

I didn't link to the recipe because I didn't like how they turned out.  I'm still on the hunt for the perfect cornbread.  These were too chalky, even with the addition of jalapeno.

The tastiest thing for me was the Pineapple Salsa:

 I basically made it up:

Cut all of these into same sized bits:

One FRESH orange - peel with a knife to remove the pith

About a cup of FRESH pineapple

About a cup of fresh melon (I used cantaloupe)

1/3 cup sliced green onion

1/3 cup sliced red onion

1 jalapeno pepper

One big handful of FRESH shrimp, pre-cooked

1.  Cut the orange over a bowl to save the juice

2.  Supplement the shortage of orange juice with lime juice

3.  To one part juices add 2 parts olive oil.  I ended up with about 3 Tablespoons total liquid.  Whisk together and toss with salsa.  Chill to meld the flavors.

(Steps onto soapbox)  So why FRESH?  Because there's no point in making things from scratch if they're just going to taste like crap.  I could have used canned mandarin oranges and canned pineapple and (shivvers!!!) canned shrimp.  But I like fruit that tastes like fruit.  I like seafood that tastes like the sea.  I don't like food that tastes like a roll of Reynold's Wrap.

Incidentally, a tunafish sized can of shrimp costs $2.79 for the cheapest brand and you get half a cup.  I went to the deli counter and asked the guy for one man-sized handful of shrimp at $4.99 a pound.  His one handful totaled a full cup of shrimp and only ran me $1.55.  FRESH not only made my salsa taste better, but it was actually cheaper.  So there!  (Steps off soapbox)

Back to the  menu, the most adventurous thing for me was the Fried Plaintains.  I never attempted them before because they seemed so exotic and complicated.  Actually, they couldn't be easier.  Just look for plaintains that are about half covered in brown spots (the point of freshness that's best for frying them).  Slice them into disks while you heat veggie oil to 350 degrees.  Fry them til brown and either lightly salt or lightly sugar them.  They were delicious! 

I stuck with the Cuban theme and made a rum cake for dessert from my 1963 edition of Good Housekeeping's cookbook.  It's faintly rummy - not overly boozy like some cakes can get. 

The Conductor ate three big platefuls and took a pile of leftovers home so I think this whole menu is a keeper.

!Que delicioso! 

Seeing Red

Yippee!  Tax time is over with.  I "got" refunds for all the people I did taxes for.  The last one is sealed up and on its way to Uncle Sam which means it's time to get back to more important things.  Like crafty stuff.  I sat at my kitchen table to do all this income tax nonsense.  And right next to me was this:

Is that nasty or what? 

I can't believe the Conductor continues to come over for my cooking with that thing lurking about. 

I've tried cleaning it millions of times with every product under the sun and the stains just don't come off.  So I decided to buy a new one.  Tarjay had similar ones for $8.  Call me cheap, but I think $8 is too much to spend on somthing that holds garbage.  What to do?  Well, I've seen lots of bloggers spray painting on plastic so I decided to give it a go:

Much better!  It matches my red kitchen walls and you can't see the stains.  Added bonus, I used a 50% off Coupon from Michaels so the paint only cost $3 with about half a can left for something else.  So $1.50 for a "new" garbage can is pretty darn good.  I just love how it looks.

But I love THIS view even better:

In other red events, the Conductor and I had dinner out the other night and came back for dessert.   I'm so itchy for my garden so this was a welcome sight:

Those are NOT fake strawberries with sugar on them.  And by fake I mean the storebought ones that are stiff as a board, and taste like nothing.  These are REAL strawberries grown in my yard that I froze from last year with some ice clinging to them.

Anyone that eschews fresh food and says that frozen foods or canned foods are "just as good" needs to come by and open up my container of frozen strawberries.  The first thing you'll notice is the BOLD RED color.   Real strawberries are supposed to be RED all the way through.  When was the last time you saw a completely red strawberry from the store?   Grocery store strawberries literally pale in comparison.  The second thing you'll notice is the smell.  Frozen since July, and still frozen as I worked with them, these berries gave off the most luscious smell - like I just picked them. 

You can't get real color and real odor out of a can. 

And you can't get REAL strawberry shortcake in April using frozen berries.  No sir.  I used the shortcake biscuit recipe from the 1963 edition of The New Good Housekeeping Cookbook.  I halved the recipe which gave just enough for two decent sized shortcakes. 

I threw the strawberries in a saucepan and sprinkled a handful of sugar over them and heated them up since they were still icy.  The sugar brought out the juices really nicely.  And it smelled delicous.  I also used REAL whipping cream with a bit of powdered sugar to make a chantilly cream.  I cut the biscuits in half, stuffed 'em with red and white.  And ended up with this:

Divine! 

Tax Time

I'm going to call this mix of stuff my 1040 mix.  Because preparing it was a lovely way to put off dealing with taxes.  Isn't that terrible?  I'm an accountant.  I should embrace tax time.  But I don't.  I'm dealing with peoples' money and a government mandate that scares people that don't understand it.  (Everytime I hear someone say "they should just have everyone pay the same percentage of their income.  It would be so much simpler!!" I just want to SCREAM!). 

Anyway, this time of year brings stress I'd rather just not deal with.  So taking the time to make a salad, with the washing and chopping and mixing, is a great way to put off the inevitable.  Celery, scallions, radish, and carrot are always on hand in my kitchen.  To this mix I also add a nut (toasted cashews or sesame seed, usually) and a fruit (dried cranberries or canned mandarin oranges). 

That's my basic mix.  From there I might toss it with chopped cabbage and a homemade vinaigrette for a coleslaw.

Or toss them with cubed leftover chicken and fold it into some dill-loaded Hellman's for an awesome chicken salad.

I actually have BOTH cabbage and chicken leftovers so I'm going with option #3.  I made a dressing of Hellman's, honey, lime juice, and white wine vinegar and added some iceburg lettuce and enjoyed one awesome 1040 Salad. 

I had enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Ugh.  And now....it's officially tax time.