HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL FUN FILLED FOOD FANTASTIC DAY!

What's in your oven?

News from around the world!

Sometimes Charlie and I like to go hang out at Margaritaville on our Friday nights out, we have dinner at one of the restaurants at the Linq, then walk up to Margaritaville where they have an outside bar that sits right up along the sidewalk. We have so much fun sitting there drinking beer and wine and watching all the tourists go by, some stop and talk, some just high five you as they go by. It is just a fun happy place to hang out.

One night during the summer we sat next to a young couple, Rasmus and Linda, they were on holiday from Sweden. They were traveling all over and we told them a lot about Las Vegas and places to visit. They said they were headed to New Zealand, we said if you get near Hamilton stop by and say Hi to Charlie's sister, Violet, who runs  "Violets Coffee@Pit Lane" in Hamilton, New Zealand. We gave them the info and said goodbye.

Linda, Violet and Rasmus!

Well, guess what???
They made it to Violet's Cafe!!

Here is the message we got.....

Almost two months since we saw each other in Las Vegas, and today we met your sister her in Hamilton, New Zealand. We went to her coffee shop and drank tasty coffee and ate pie. We actually are going to sleep in their house tonight She is so lovely, and we don't regret a second that we took a little detour to see her. I attach one photo of us three Hope you are doing well!

HOW FLIPPING COOL IS THAT!!!

Travel the world and meet new friends!! We hope the rest of their journey finds them more new friends, happy travels Rasmus and Linda!!!

Chili Verde, this will be great in the winter!

I got the day off today, so I decide to tackle a big recipe. We love to have Mexican food on Sundays, so I have been making tacos or carnitas and we have been staying in and not going out.
I have been wanting to try chili verde so I searched online and found Juanita's Cocina blog had a nice one. Please go visit her at www.jcocina.com
I followed her recipe and this was so so good!! My husband came home and ate it for lunch and will eat it again for dinner! He loved it!!
I started at 9:00 in the morning and had it in the pot and stewing by 11:00. I just cooked it on the stove and did not put in the oven.
It was fun roasting the chile's, everything went well, I served it with cheese, avocado's, chips and some Mexican rice and heated flour tortillas.
This morning was cold and I thought we were going to get a cold spell in but it is now 80 something degrees out. This is going to be so good to eat in the dead of winter!! I can't wait to make it again!!

 

My dish!

 

CHILE VERDE WITH PORK

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. pork butt, cut into bite-size chunks and trimmed of fat (you can also use pork stew meat)
• Kosher salt
• 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped ( only used 1/4- hubby hates onions!)
• 1 Tbs. cumin
• 5 poblano pappers
• 5 Hatch green chile peppers (you can also use Anaheim peppers)
• 13-15 medium-size tomatillos, removed from their husks
• 2 jalapenos, stems removed, and cut in half lengthwise
• 1 Tbs. minced garlic
• 1 bunch of cilantro, divided
• 2 cups chicken stock (plus more to thin as needed)

Instructions

In a large bowl, stir the pork with 2 Tbs. of Kosher salt, mixing so that everything is well-coated. Let sit for one hour.

While pork is marinating, roast the other ingredients:

Place the poblanos and Hatch chiles on a baking sheet underneath the broiler of the oven. Blacken on one side, flip, and blacken on the other side (about 5-6 minutes per side). Put the charred peppers in a bowl with a lid (or a plastic Ziploc bag) and cover for 15 minutes. After the peppers have steamed, remove the skins, stems, and seeds from the peppers. Roughly chop the peppers and place them in the bowl of a food processor.

Place the tomatillos and the jalapenos (cut-side down) on the baking sheet. Place them underneath the broiler and blacken the skins of the jalapenos and both sides of the tomatillos (turning the tomatillos after they blacken on one side). Once veggies are blackened, transfer the tomatillos, jalapenos, and any juice from the baking sheet to the food processor with the chiles.

Add the garlic and one handful of cilantro to the food processor. Pulse all ingredients together until the texture is mostly smooth with a few small chunks.

Preheat the oven to 300.

While oven is preheating, heat a large Dutch oven with the oil over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Add half of the marinated pork, browning well on all sides. Add the rest of the pork and the chopped onions, cooking until the onions have softened. Add the cumin, stir well, and cook for one more minute.

Add the chile mixture and the chicken stock to the pot. Bring all ingredients to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pot with a lid that you leave slightly ajar, and place the pot into the oven.

Cook the chile verde for 3-3 1/2 hours, or until the pork meat is fork-tender, and can be shredded easily with a fork.

If you’d like to thin the stew, you can add more chicken stock as needed and bring to a boil on the stovetop. Taste the stew for seasoning and season as needed with salt. Before serving, stir in another small handful of chopped cilantro.

Serve with desired toppings (ex: cheese, sour cream, onions, cilantro) and fresh tortillas.

 

ENJOY!! AND THANK YOU JUANITA FOR THE FABULOUS RECIPE, WE LOVED IT!!

So Busy...

Been real busy around here. Not much time to do anything but work.
I am hoping to get some cooking in, I have so many things I want to try to cook.
I think I will attempt this Pumpkin bread for my husband, he loves banana bread and pumpkin pie, maybe this will be the best of both worlds?
Pumpkin Bread

The tempertures are dropping and the mornings are getting colder and colder....

Time for sweaters and boots and knitted scarves!
And lots of Baking!!

be back soon, hopefully with a recipe or two...enjoy your fall!