Category Archives: General
Let It Snow!
Posole with Pulled Pork and Hominy
Well, the Blizzard of 2010 is over. Supposedly, it was the 10th biggest storm in Boston’s history. Honestly, it didn’t seem that bad. Granted, it was happened on a weekend when we had nowhere we had to be. It snowed a lot and got extremely windy. But, on the whole, I’m not sure it seemed like “Top 10”. We got around 15 inches here in Lexington. That was more than the 7 inches my sister got outside of Philadelphia, and less than the nearly 2 feet my sister-in-law got in Northern New Jersey. The end result was a cozy day spent inside.
2 feet in New Jersey
15 Inches in Lexington
7 inches in Philadelphia
One of Howard’s activities of the day (besides several rounds of shoveling and snowblowing the driveway) was to organize our extra freezer space. We have a full-sized freezer unit in the basement. To quote Howard, “it is way too full”. He contends that, as long as we didn’t lose power, we could probably live off its contents for at least a year. He might be exaggerating, but not by much. Post-organizing, he told me there was almost a full shelf of homemade tomatillo sauce, some of it dating back to 2005.
As a result of his good-natured teasing, it seemed appropriate to make a dinner from the stockpile in my frozen larder, featuring, naturally, some tomatillo sauce.
I made an old favorite, Quick Posole, using a frozen packet of pulled pork from a summertime smoking along with a quart of homemade chicken stock (also frozen). I like this recipe because it’s a sort of mix-and-match deal, depending on what’s at hand. The original recipe used chicken, freshly poached. Black beans or another variety can easily be substituted for the hominy. I’ve also made it with a red cooked salsa instead of the green tomatillo sort.
Pumpkin Seed Flour
I think one of my favorite things about it is that it is thickened with ground toasted pumpkin seeds. I toast the pumpkin seeds in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, then let them cool off. I use a coffee grinder (which I’ve never used for coffee, just spices and other non-coffee items) to transform the seeds into a nut flour. I’m not sure whether the flavor is noticable, but I think it’s a cool ingredient to add.
Here’s how you do it:
Quick Posole
Serves 4
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 cups tomatillo sauce or cooked red salsa
4 cups chicken broth
½ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted and ground
2 (15-16 oz) cans hominy, drained and rinsed
1½ cups shredded chicken or pulled pork
Chopped cilantro
Note: If you start with uncooked chicken (1 breast or 2 thighs should yield the 1½ cups needed), poach the chicken for about 20 minutes in the chicken broth you will use for the posole. Cool the chicken and shred.
Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the sauce. Be careful, it will spatter. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until thickened. Add pumpkin seeds and 1 cup of chicken broth. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Add chicken or pork, hominy, and the remaining 3 cups of broth. Simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Stir in chopped cilantro.
Teacups for the Holidays
Last week I was invited to an event on Affordable Entertaining at the Whole Foods on River Street in Cambridge. There were demos by the cheese guy, tastings with the wine guy, and samples of prepared hot hors d’oeuvres and desserts.
The best part was the cheese table. Most of the display featured goat cheese, one of my favorites.
There were several goat cheese spreads, each prepared by combining a log of goat cheese with a different ingredient. One was mixed with finely chopped peppadews, another with finely chopped mixed olives, and the last with roasted tomatoes. The tomato spread was the most delicious (they were all delicious).
There were also a couple of goat cheese logs that had been rolled in chopped nuts. One was rolled in Marcona almonds; the other was coated in glazed nuts. The cheese guy said he coats the cheese with honey or maple syrup first to help the nuts stick. I’m definitely going to try this out.
The following night I was attending my first holiday party of the season. Each December, my garden club has a potluck dinner followed by a Yankee swap. If you’re not familiar with a Yankee swap, the way it works is that everyone draws a number. In order, each person opens a gift and then decides whether to keep it or to trade it for an already opened gift. At the end, the person with #1 gets to make a final selection. It’s usually hilarious.
This year, everyone brought a teacup (with saucer) to swap. Some time in the spring, we will each make tiny arrangements in our tea cups and have a mini-flower show. There was the usual stealing as we each took our turn. I was happy with the cup I ended up with. It had a sort of Art Deco design.
For dinner, everyone brings a different finger food, savory or sweet, and we graze. I decided the tomato-goat cheese spread I tried would be the perfect thing to bring. Before I left Whole Foods, I purchased some of the roasted tomatoes that are part of the array of offerings on the antipasto bar. The goat cheese I always have on hand. I was too lazy to hand chop the tomatoes, but it came together quickly in the food processor.
Tomato Goat Cheese Spread
4 oz roasted tomatoes from Whole Foods antipasto bar
8 oz goat cheese
Place the roasted tomatoes in the food processor and process until somewhere between finely chopped and pureed. Add the goat cheese and process until well combined. Transfer to a pretty bowl and serve with crackers.
A Plateful of Happiness 