Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Holy Guacamole!


After recently having some Mexican food in San Diego, I had a craving to recreate one of those culinary experiences. Specifically, I wanted to make some burritos that we picked up at Chipotle Mexican Grill. They were fantastic! I would definitely recommend eating there if you’re a Mexican fan.

So I found myself with a problem. There was no guacamole at the supermarket where we are staying for the summer. So I had to make it.

My favourite recipe database is at food.com. There you can search for anything and choose based upon a recipe’s popularity. The user feedback really helps you tweak each recipe based upon your tastebuds.

Here is a link to the guacamole recipe I tried out and the recipe itself:

Ingredients:
6 avocados (soft, but not mushy)
2 -4 garlic cloves, minced (depends on how much you like garlic)
1 lime, cut in half
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
salt
chopped cilantro (optional)
1 diced jalapeno peppers (optional) or 1 diced serrano pepper (optional)

Directions:

1.     Cut avocados in half, remove pit, and spoon avocado into a mixing bowl.
2.     Add minced garlic and squeeze the juice from one-half of the lime into the bowl of avocado.
3.     Mash the ingredients together to desired consistency using the back of a large spoon or a potato masher (some like the avocado chunky, some like it smoother).
4.     Fold in diced tomato and diced onion, a couple pinches of salt, and the juice from the remaining lime half (Also add cilantro or peppers at this time).
5.     Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.
6.     Uncover and taste.
7.     Add salt as needed.
8.     If you don't give the resulting guacamole at least 4 stars, then you ain't making it right.
9.     NOTE: The purpose of the lime is to allow any leftover guacamole to retain its "avocado" color as it sits in the fridge.
10.  Some folks use lemon, but it's been my experience that if you accidentally add too much lemon, it seriously affects the guacamole's flavor; if you happen to add too much lime, the guacamole just gets a little more tangy. If you find the leftover guacamole has darkened, simply stir it before eating and use more fresh lime juice next time. 



The only changes I made were to leave out the cilantro (because it is nasty), add in one big jalapeno (bam!) and double the garlic (which just about quadrupled after a day in the fridge).




It was really easy to make and turned out so delicious that we never even made burritos! It ended up being scooped up with some salsa and sour cream. You can’t miss with this one and it is easy to tweak. If you don’t like spicy and love cilantro, go for no jalapeno and the right amount of cilantro (don’t ever use too much cilantro – you can’t go back). If you like chunky guacamole, don’t mash your avocados too much and cut your ingredients into larger chunks. For you smooth fans, do the opposite. Use it in any dish or simply by itself. You’ll love it either way. Enjoy!

NOTE: I strongly recommend making sure that your avocados are ripe. I tried making it a second time and it was a complete disaster because they hadn’t ripened enough. Absolutely no taste!

Friday, August 10, 2012

The Breakfast Club


Having one of those nights where you feel like breakfast for dinner? Well, here is a simple little recipe that my family enjoys.

Ingredients to prep
(approx. measurements add as much or little as you wish)
1 Cup mixed Peppers
¼ Cup Onion (red or yellow)
4 Cups Hash browns
½ Cup Cheddar cheese & Mozzarella cheese
3-4 slices Bacon (I used Costco ready made)
4-5 eggs
2 tbsp. milk

The first thing I did was brown the hash browns in a frying pan with a bit of oil (vegetable oil is great for higher heat). Once the hash browns are browned turn down the heat to low.


 In another pan add the peppers and onion, cook until tender.(if you want you can just add the vegetables into the same pan as the hash browns but I like my hash browns crunchy) 


While peppers were cooking I microwaved the bacon. When the peppers and onion are ready add them into the pan with the hash browns.


In a cup crack your eggs, add milk and sprinkle in some pepper then whisk. Turn heat back up on the pan with the hash browns then add in your egg mixture.


Stir ingredients like scrambled egg, so all of the egg gets cooked with out turning into an omelet.  


Once the egg is cooked add the cheese. (Cover with a lid if you have one that fits to help cheese melt) 


When the cheese is almost done melting stir in the already cooked bacon. Plate! Eat! Enjoy!


This breakfast can easily be adjusted to your own taste. Add or subtract whatever kind of ingredients you like for breakfast. If you like sausage add sausage. If you like spicy add hot sauce into your eggs or add your favorite seasonings into your hash browns.  

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Homemade Pizza Pops! (Or Calzones, whichever you prefer)


So I had some left over pizza dough (see my last blog post for the dough recipe) and figured I could try to make some calzone. The trick was going to be how to cook the dough on the inside of the pocket.

I stretched out my leftover dough (after 2 days in the fridge it responded pretty well) on an oiled counter top, then threw in whatever ingredients I had laying around (pizza sauce, onions, green peppers, pepperoni and some taco meat). I folded over the dough and pinched the edges to keep it closed.

To cook it, I turned on the oven to 425 degrees, while heating up a frying pan on medium-high heat. Once hot, I threw in some olive oil and placed my calzone into the hot pan to cook the bottom. After 3-4 minutes the bottom was light brown in colour, so I flipped it over carefully and did the same on the other side. Once the top was light brown, I put the calzone into the oven for about 12 minutes.

They were fantastic! Crispy on the outside and cooked to perfection on the inside. Just like a pizza pop, the contents on the inside were incredibly hot. I would recommend cutting them in half to let the contents cool down before attempting to eat them.

You could really customize this dish with any types of food that you like. Chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian – they would all work. I’m even thinking of trying a chicken curry calzone the next time…

Below are some pictures from my first time experimenting with this dish. It is sure to become a favourite in our household.