Sound Bytes from my living room - Dodgers Edition
One of my favorite dishes to make, and one of my most requested dishes, is my spicy chicken marsala. Back when I was first on my own at the tender age of 19 I had no idea how to cook. My boyfriends Mother was an AWESOME cook and being Hispanic she cooked food I never ate before. I'd always ask him to call her to get recipes and she'd tell him "I don't cook with recipes, I just cook." So I had to learn the hard way, trial and error with lots of emphasis in the error. One of the dishes I used to make as a Midwest whitey was pork chops with cream of mushroom soup served with minute rice. Yes, really. On one occasion I had bought a can of Golden Mushroom Soup on accident so decided to use it. It was a welcomed flavor to the very bland cream of mushroom. My boyfriend, now husband, always complained about how BLAND my cooking was. So this brings me to this dish I created out of trial, error, living with a Mexican and my love of cooking. Ingredients: (I am pretty vague here since I am now happy to say I don't always follow a recipe, especially when it's one I have created) 3-4 pork chops (I've used many different cuts & thicknesses, bone in, boneless, you choose what you prefer) 1 can of Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup 1 - 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1-2 Fresh Jalapenos (amount depends on your taste and heat tolerance) diced fine 1 Shallot, diced fine Package of fresh sliced mushrooms Marsala cooking wine 1/2 - 1-1/2 cups Chicken stock 1/2 - 1 cup Chef Merito Pollo Seasoning (optional) Extra Spicy Mrs Dash (optional) Directions: In a large skillet heat olive oil on medium high heat. While it is heating up, season your pork chops with the Pollo Seasoning blend (best stuff I've ever used...EVER). Sear the pork chops until they are nice and golden on each side. Remove from the pan and put on a plate for now. They don't have to be cooked through, they will jump in the pool in a bit. While the pan is still hot, add the jalapenos and shallot. Cook until the shallot begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and stir to coat. You'll soon notice the mushrooms will absorb all of the remaining oil left in the pan. Not to worry, because cooking them down will release their own moisture and become wonderfully delicious. I love mushrooms. Once the mushrooms reach their beautiful golden color, add the marsala cooking wine about a half of cup to start, adding more if you need to. This will deglaze the pan getting up all of the cooked on bits left from the pork and veggies. Cook down to reduce to about half. Add the can of golden mushroom soup, chicken stock, a few shakes of the Extra Spicy Mrs Dash and stir until combined. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and invite your chops back into the pool. Turn to coat all of the pork chops then cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes, turning the pork chops over about half way though. Remove the lid, taste for the possible need of salt and pepper (I added fresh cracked black pepper but only because I love it). If your sauce is too thin, leave the lid off and simmer to reduce it. If it is too thick, add a little bit of chicken stock. Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles or rice with a nice ladle of sauce over the top and enjoy! I love comfort food ~ even in 100 degree weather! This next series is going to be an intense one. The Giants are only 2 games back and there are 16 games left in the regular season. Out of those games the Dodgers only have one day off and that's after 10 straight games on the road. I truly believe the Dodgers can win it - and should win it. KEEP CALM AND BEAT SF!!!! FUCK THE GIANTS!!!! (I'm such a lady...lol) On another note, I lost my 1st fantasy football game for week 1. However, I was the BIGGEST LOSER because I lost with 130 pts and I would have beat 9 other teams! So I am optimistic for my team this season. AND at 130 pts that was with one of my WR's not in the game, Alshon Jeffrey out for the 4th Qtr and my DEF getting -2 pts! DOH! I am pumped for Sunday - my opponent has no players on Monday so my one remaining player Monday could be the deciding factor IF I don't beat him Sunday first! First & Girl!!!!!
Have a great weekend all! I am one lucky Mama, my Son is grilling some fish tonight and making Anchos perfect Ranchero Sauce. I think it calls for some Patrón Silver with Patrón Citrónage Margaritas! Today when I got home from work my youngest son (15) tells me he watched a documentary on 9/11 today at school. He said "Mom, I never saw footage from that day. it was so disturbing." My heart broke at that moment. It brought me back to that somber morning. On 9/11/2001 my boys were 7 & 2. My husband went into work at 4:30 am and I was usually up by 5:30 to get myself ready for work and the boys ready for school & grandmas. I got a call around 5:50 am from my husband telling me to put on the news because an airplane hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. At the time we both thought it must have been a terrible accident. I had the TV on and sat on the floor inches from the television in shock at the sight of the gaping hole the plane had left. I had no idea I'd be watching a second plane hit the next tower. I called my husband back and told him what I just saw. We both knew then it was no accident. Our main concern, at that moment, was our family in Manhattan. His Sister, her husband & our Nephew live in Manhattan. We both tried to call her to be sure they were safe but all lines were busy for the hours to follow. About a half hour later which felt like seconds, another hijacked plane hits the Pentagon. I called my husband again crying. I've never been so scared in my life. For all I knew there were hijacked planes all over the country heading to all of the major cities. I decided to call work and tell them I wasn't coming in and to keep my oldest son home from school. I didn't want to be away from my boys if the country as a whole was under attack. As I continue to watch the burning towers in disbelief, I see a person throw themselves from one of the towers over 80 feet above the ground. Eerily the person capturing this on film follows the body as it flails until its demise. Am I really watching this live? Is this a movie with a very brave stunt person? I wish it was the latter. I would come to learn over 200 people jumped to their deaths that day. Mayor Giuliani has said "You may think you would know what a body hitting the ground from that high might sound like, but until you hear it, you can't even begin to imagine the actual sound." My hands were covering most of my face as tears continued to stream down. How can one wrap their minds around these planes striking the two towers, watching people throw themselves to their deaths, let alone watching the two 110 story buildings collapse one after the next. I couldn't believe what I was watching. My eyes were out of focus from the tears and my mind was reeling with worry for my Sister-in-law and her family. Seeing the brown debris filled clouds attack the civilians on the ground was like watching an end of days sort of movie, but this was reality. All I could do was cry. In between the two towers collapsing, I later learned that after passengers and crew members aboard the hijacked Flight 93 contact friends and family and learn about the attacks in New York and Washington, they mount an attempt to retake the plane. In response, hijackers deliberately crash the plane into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all 40 passengers and crew aboard. That day a lot of lives were lost, a nation mourned together. Many years later there is One World Trade Center in its place that reaches iconicaly, 1776 feet. It brings back hope, pride, remembrance and gratitude to this great Country. Kyle asked me tonight; "Mom, why does everybody hate the USA?" I simply said; "Because we're free." I'll never forget September 11th, 2001. Since I was a little girl I could not stand the smell of unwashed hair. I have to admit I have a very sensitive nose and can smell things most don't even notice. But for me, it's unwashed hair. I am not talking the kind of person who skips a day of washing to preserve the delicate hair follicles. I am talking the ones who walk by and a waft of indescribable stench permeates the air. It's indescribable but so very unpleasant. I used to sit next to a girl in my class in elementary school who seemed to not wash her hair for weeks. Maybe this is where I got the sensitivity to it but dear me, I cannot deal with it. Today a group of college students walked by me and someone had the stinky unwashed hair smell. Just about ruined my day.
Just sayin. I love Bobby Flay. I love how he takes grilling to the extreme and grills just about anything and everything. I know nothing about grilling except for the smell of charcoal and some times the occasional wood chips thrown in. I know I love the flavor it brings to foods and I know I loathe gas grilling. To me, why BBQ when it's with gas? You have a stove and an oven for that. Nothing beats charcoal or wood grilling in my opinion. My oldest Son Jacob is an aspiring Chef and currently a line cook at Anchos. Anchos is a Southwestern restaurant and they pride themselves on cooking all of their fresh seafood, steaks and chicken on mesquite wood. My Son is really good at it. He comes home smelling like heaven after a long day over the grill. They even mesquite grill their vegetables for their homemade salsa. It's a nice smoky flavor and sometimes very hot and other times not so much. As we know how unpredictable jalapeno heat can be, it's a gamble. We get salsa to go by the quart. I love this stuff. Back to the Flay. We own a couple of his cook books, one of them being my favorite; Boy Gets Grill. In it are so many amazing recipes. One of my favorite parts of the cook book are the sauces he makes. There is a honey mustard vinaigrette he makes to spoon over rib-eyes that is to DIE FOR. I never imagined something like that on a steak, but it is wonderfully tangy and delicious. Another sauce, which I will showcase here, is his Avocado-Tomatillo Sauce. I made this once to bring to a friends for dinner. He had gone to Alaska fishing and brought back a ton of fish. He invited a bunch of us and had a fish taco BBQ so I figured I'd bring something to accompany the many types of fish he was serving. It makes a large bowl full and when I set it on the counter next to some tortilla chips, the guests thought it was a dip and couldn't stop eating it. There was barely enough left to spoon over the fish tacos by the time it was ready! I guess that's the beauty of this sauce. It's versatile! Bobby mentions in this recipe that you can blend all of the ingredients together to make a smooth sauce, or add the avocado, cilantro and red onion at the end as I did. It makes more of a chunky sauce. Perhaps that's why people thought it was a dip. Our friend Shawn had given us some Yellow Tail so we had decided to grill it up this past weekend along with some shrimp and corn on the cob. I made a batch of the Avocado-Tomatillo Sauce to go with the fish. It's a winner every time. Bobby Flay's Avocado-Tomatillo Sauce (or Dip!)INGREDIENTS 8 tomatillos, husked and rinsed 2 jalapeno chiles 1/2 cup canola oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons of honey 4 ripe Haas avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice 1 small red onion, finely diced 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves |
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