I am commencing my first blog today, September 30, 2010. I will be blogging, "what's for dinner tonight", menu ideas, recipees, helpful hints and much, much more!
Let me start my saying that I love to cook. No, not just the "cooking part", but everything it entails! From going to the market to see what is seasonally out there, to preparing menus, to prepping, to final cooking and best of all, to serving it beautifully! We eat with every sense. We start with sound when you hear the first sizzle of the first ingrediant, (usually onions!), going into the frying pan. We then move on to smell with the fragrant scent of the ingredients in the pan, we then move on to eyes, which to me is the most important sense to eating. The food MUST be pleasing to our eyes to get the utmost experiance of what we are eating, so plating the food artisically is crucial! The sense of touch is even important when eating finger foods! So as you can see, it's not all about the taste! We truly do use every single sense when eating. The importance of knowing this is that if you make it a point to experience every sense, you will eat slower, you will savor your food more, and you will tend to not over eat. If you are truly enjoying every sense, you will sense when you are 80% full...your ultimate stopping point. If you go beyond that sense to a full 100% full, you will then sense the uncomfortable feeling of feeling over stuffed. Why end such a pleasant experience like that? It makes NO "sense"!!
On the menu for tonight is Chile Rellano's on a bed of Roasted Tomatillo Sauce, topped with Avacado and a dollop of Sour Cream, alongside Organic Black Beans with Farmer's Market Tomatoes....yum......
Recipe:
Roasted Tomatillo Sauce:
8 Tomatillos, "paper" skins removed, wash and quarter
1 onion, quartered
1 Jalepeno pepper, halved, seeds removed
1/2 Canola Oil + some for tossing in pan
4 cloves garlic
1 fresh lime-squeezed
2 tlbs. honey
S & P to taste
Preheat oven to 400. Put tomatillos, onions, pepper and garlic on cooking sheet, sprinkle oil over all and toss with you hands. Sprinkle with s & p. Roast about 25 min or until soft and lightly browned. Place in food processor and puree until smooth. With motor running, add 1/2 C. Canola Oil. Add lime juice, honey..taste again for s & p addition if needed.
Black Beans
1 Can Organic Black Beans
1 tomato
1/2 red onion-chopped
Saute onions in frying pan. Add tomato and beans and saute until hot.
Chile Relleno
4 Poblano Chiles
8 oz. Pepperjack Cheese
1/3 C. Flour
Canola Oil for deep frying
4 Eggs
salt
1 Avacado sliced
Sour Cream-couple of dollops
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro-lightly chopped
Roast chiles either directly on gas burners on stove, on grill, or under broiler. When charred on all sides, but in a paper bag and close up so they can steam for at least 15 minutes. Take out and with your hands gently peel off black skin. Make a slit in each chile about 3/4 down and gently pull out ribs and seeds, leaving stem intact. Cut cheese into thick slices and insert a piece into each chile. Roll chiles in flour. Set aside. Meanwhile, prepare the egg coating for dipping as follows: Separate 4 eggs, Whip whites with 1 tsp. salt until firm peaks form. Beat yolks separately, then quickly fold into whites. This cannot be made in advance as it must be used right away! Heat oil in a frying pan until very hot. Dip floured chiles into egg mixture and put into hot oil. Cook until golden on each side.
Plating:
Place a couple ladles of Tomatillo sauce on plate, top with rellanos, top rellanos with avacado, a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro. Place alongside the hot bean mixture.
Let me start my saying that I love to cook. No, not just the "cooking part", but everything it entails! From going to the market to see what is seasonally out there, to preparing menus, to prepping, to final cooking and best of all, to serving it beautifully! We eat with every sense. We start with sound when you hear the first sizzle of the first ingrediant, (usually onions!), going into the frying pan. We then move on to smell with the fragrant scent of the ingredients in the pan, we then move on to eyes, which to me is the most important sense to eating. The food MUST be pleasing to our eyes to get the utmost experiance of what we are eating, so plating the food artisically is crucial! The sense of touch is even important when eating finger foods! So as you can see, it's not all about the taste! We truly do use every single sense when eating. The importance of knowing this is that if you make it a point to experience every sense, you will eat slower, you will savor your food more, and you will tend to not over eat. If you are truly enjoying every sense, you will sense when you are 80% full...your ultimate stopping point. If you go beyond that sense to a full 100% full, you will then sense the uncomfortable feeling of feeling over stuffed. Why end such a pleasant experience like that? It makes NO "sense"!!
On the menu for tonight is Chile Rellano's on a bed of Roasted Tomatillo Sauce, topped with Avacado and a dollop of Sour Cream, alongside Organic Black Beans with Farmer's Market Tomatoes....yum......
Recipe:
Roasted Tomatillo Sauce:
8 Tomatillos, "paper" skins removed, wash and quarter
1 onion, quartered
1 Jalepeno pepper, halved, seeds removed
1/2 Canola Oil + some for tossing in pan
4 cloves garlic
1 fresh lime-squeezed
2 tlbs. honey
S & P to taste
Preheat oven to 400. Put tomatillos, onions, pepper and garlic on cooking sheet, sprinkle oil over all and toss with you hands. Sprinkle with s & p. Roast about 25 min or until soft and lightly browned. Place in food processor and puree until smooth. With motor running, add 1/2 C. Canola Oil. Add lime juice, honey..taste again for s & p addition if needed.
Black Beans
1 Can Organic Black Beans
1 tomato
1/2 red onion-chopped
Saute onions in frying pan. Add tomato and beans and saute until hot.
Chile Relleno
4 Poblano Chiles
8 oz. Pepperjack Cheese
1/3 C. Flour
Canola Oil for deep frying
4 Eggs
salt
1 Avacado sliced
Sour Cream-couple of dollops
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro-lightly chopped
Roast chiles either directly on gas burners on stove, on grill, or under broiler. When charred on all sides, but in a paper bag and close up so they can steam for at least 15 minutes. Take out and with your hands gently peel off black skin. Make a slit in each chile about 3/4 down and gently pull out ribs and seeds, leaving stem intact. Cut cheese into thick slices and insert a piece into each chile. Roll chiles in flour. Set aside. Meanwhile, prepare the egg coating for dipping as follows: Separate 4 eggs, Whip whites with 1 tsp. salt until firm peaks form. Beat yolks separately, then quickly fold into whites. This cannot be made in advance as it must be used right away! Heat oil in a frying pan until very hot. Dip floured chiles into egg mixture and put into hot oil. Cook until golden on each side.
Plating:
Place a couple ladles of Tomatillo sauce on plate, top with rellanos, top rellanos with avacado, a dollop of sour cream and fresh cilantro. Place alongside the hot bean mixture.
