Roasted Salsa Verde

Wow, it has been quite some time since I've posted anything on here, but someone encouraged me to take it up again. Having just moved to a predominately Mexican neighborhood I've taken a renewed interest in Central American cuisine. This is a simple and delicious recipe for fresh salsa verde.

(I'll try and post pictures later, but it looks like delicious green salsa.)

Roasted Salsa Verde
2 jalapeno chiles
2 New Mexico chiles
~8 fresh tomatillos, husks removed and washed
4 cloves garlic
Vegetable oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 yellow onion
1/3 bunch of cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Toss half the chiles and tomatillos as well as all of the garlic in oil and put on a broiler safe pan. Bake the oiled vegetables for 15 minutes or until they start to soften. Move the pan under the broiler until the vegetables start to brown a little.
2. Remove the stem from the roasted chiles.
3. Add the roasted vegetables, remaining tomatillos, and a third of cilantro to a blender and blend until smooth. The roasted tomatillos should be juicy enough to get the blender going.
4. Seed and finely dice the second jalapeno and New Mexico chile. Dice the onion and chop remaining cilantro. Mix everything into the blended salsa. Add the lime juice.
5. Let sit for at least 30 minutes so the flavors can meld together.

Thanksgiving Wraps

This made for a phenomenal fall meal. The flavors of a thanksgiving meal wrapped up into an easy to enjoy package. You could buy every already prepared, except for the tortillas (at least I've never seen them sold). Lunch meat would work fine; I happened to have some leftover chicken that had been roasted with some thyme.


Thanksgiving Wraps
Roast chicken or turkey
Cranberry chutney
Smoked Gouda
Fresh spinach
Cream cheese
Dijon Mustard
Sweet potato tortilla*

1. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese and mustard on the tortilla. Pile on the rest of the fillings and enjoy.


Sweet Potato Tortillas
This is the fun part of the dish. I did this on the fly so I don't have exact measurements, and it will vary per potato anyway. It really helps if you have some experience making bread so you know what dough should feel like. I'll try and update this in the future when I try it out more.

1 medium/small sweet potato, peeled, cubed
Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Add the potato to a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer and cook until it is very tender. Drain, and mash until there are no lumps left at all. A lot of steam will escape, which I think is a good thing.
2. Mix the salt, baking powder, and oil in with the potato mash. Start to mix in flour. Keep mixing thoroughly and kneed in more flour until you have a smooth, slightly tacky dough. I think I used around a cup.
3. When you have a smooth dough, set it aside covered to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into pieces about the size of a golf ball. Roll them out on a floured surface until they are as thin as possible.
4. Heat a large, heavy flat skillet over medium high heat. Place one tortilla on the dry skillet. Cook for 30-45 seconds on each side. These are best served fresh and won't keep very long.

Grilled Potatoes with Blue Cheese

If you are looking for something new to add to a grilled dinner this is pretty easy to do. You get a lovely crispy edge and a bit of smoky flavor.



Grilled Potatoes with Blue Cheese
Red potatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Crumbled blue cheese

1. Wash potatoes, and add them to a pot of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and cook for 12-15 or until they are just done (they can easily be pierced with a sharp knife).
2. Cut potatoes in half, brush with olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
3. Grill, flesh side down, over high heat until the flesh is nicely browned (3-5 minutes).
4. Serve topped with a bit of blue cheese (the heat of the potato should be enough to melt it slightly).

Grilled Marinated Mushrooms

If already have the grill going, why not throw on some more vegetables? These mushrooms have an Asian feel and a bit of spice. I just used simple white button or baby bella mushrooms. You will need skewers to put the mushrooms on when grilling.

Grilled Marinated Mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp vegetable or sesame oil
mushrooms

1. Wash the mushrooms and trim off and woody stems
2. Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl
3. Toss the mushrooms in the marinade and refrigerate for several hours
4. Put the mushrooms on the skewers. It seems to work well if you run the skewer through the base of the stem up through to top. If you make sure the mushrooms touch they don't seem to spin much. Using two skewers to stabilize the mushrooms will probably cause them to split.
5. Grill over high heat for around 5 minutes total. Turn two or three times to try and get grill marks on all sides. They should be soft with a bit of browning when done.

Garlic and Rosemary Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Summer is meant for grilling. This pork is super easy and delicious. The marinade would easily work on other cuts of pork or chicken.

I served it with vegetables (onion, summer squash, and mushrooms) that were brushed with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and grilled on skewers. I also grilled a peach, cut in half and brushed with canola oil.


Garlic and Rosemary Grilled Pork Tenderloin
~10 cloves garlic
1/4 of a small onion (roughly same volume as the garlic)
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil

1. Pulverize the garlic and onion. You could use a blender, food processor, super fine mincing with a knife, or just put it all through a garlic press (it is messy, but it worked). Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Put the pork in a plastic zip-top bag or tight fitting container and coat thoroughly with the marinade. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before you are ready to cook.
4. Grill over direct flame for ~15 minutes turning the meat every few minutes. It is done when the internal temperature hits 155F.
5. Remove from the grill, cover, and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting into 1/2" thick slices.

Gingered Carrots

This is a nice quick side dish.  The measurements needn't be exact at all.

Gingered Carrots

2 cups carrots, sliced

1 tbsp butter

1/2 cup onion, sliced

1" section ginger root, peeled and cut into thin slices

1/4 tsp ground coriander

splash of soy sauce

1/4 cup orange juice

1. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat.  Add the butter and onion.  Cook until the onion just begins to soften.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and raise the heat to medium high.  Cook until the carrots are tender.  Most of the juice should be evaporated by the time they are done, but if it starts to dry out too much before they are done you can add a little water or juice.

3. Serve.

Ginger Tea

I was looking for something a little different to enjoy during the frigid temps this evening and noticed some ginger in the fridge.  That plus a couple other things I had on hand made for a super easy tea.

Ginger Tea

1/4 cup sliced, fresh ginger

1 tbsp lime juice

zest of half an orange (a vegetable peeler works well, but be sure you don't get any of the white pith).

3 cups water

1 tbsp honey or brown sugar

1. In a saucepan add all of the ingredients except the honey/sugar, bring to a simmer, and cook with a lid on for 15-20 minutes depending on how strong you want it.

2. Strain the tea, add the sugar, and serve.