Chili Verde

This is a wonderful mexican stew, and no two recipes are the same. My mom taught me hers 25 years ago, and after all the years mine bears no resemblance.

Prep time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 2 to 2 1/2 hours

2 pounds pork loin or chops, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 large sweet onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 chipotle pepper (dried jalapeno), finely chopped

2-3 dried ancho chilies

6-8 fire roasted sweet anaheim chilies, or some combination of anaheims and poblanos, peeled, seeded, and diced

6 quarts good quality chicken broth

2 pounds tomatillos, husked, cored, and quartered

2 Tbs each ground cumin and oregano

Salt and ground pepper

Fire up the charcoal barbeque (or broiler) and roast the anaheim peppers over high heat until charred. Remove from heat and put in a brown paper bag to steam for about 20 minutes. Remove and peel skins. Remove stem and seeds (do not rinse the peppers in water). Chop.

Chop the onions, garlic, and pork. Chop the chipotle, and cut a slit in each of the anchos. Remove the husk from the tomatillos, rinse, remove the core, and quarter.

Saute the onions and chipotle in 2 Tbs olive oil. Add the garlic, ancho chilies and cook for two minutes. Add the pork, turn the heat up to medium high, and brown. Add the stock, roasted chilies, and tomatillos. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer, uncovered, about an hour. Add the spices, and continue to simmer another hour or so. The chili is done when the tomatillos have completely disintegrated and the sauce has reduced and begins to thicken a bit.

Serve in a bowl with a side of warm corn or flour tortillas, sour cream, hot sauce, and cheddar or spanish manchego cheese. You can get more mileage out of the batch by serving it over some steamed jasmine rice. Other options include a chili verde burrito with black beans, rice, avocado, lettuce, and tomato, or a chili verde omelette (great midnight snack).

Quick 'n Easy Marinara

This sauce can be made in an hour or so, and is very tasty.

One onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Red pepper flakes, to taste

1/2 cup white whine :)

2 28-32 ounce cans of roma tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 Tbs each dried oregano, thyme, and basil

1 bay leaf

1 Tbs each salt and sugar, and fresh ground pepper

Saute the onions and pepper flakes for 5 minutes or so in olive oil and butter in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, cook for a minute. Add the whine and cook down by one-half. Add the tomato paste and cook another two minutes.

Here's the fun part. Use your finest kitchen tool, your hand, to crush the tomatoes into the pot. Stick a finger in the tomato, and aim the hole away from you as you squeeze to avoid looking like your dinner. Add all the tomato liquid from the cans and the bay leaf. It will look kinda ugly, no worries. Partially cover and simmer on low heat, stirring frequently, for about 45 minutes.

Add the spices, salt, sugar, and pepper, and simmer another 15 minutes. Let cool (or not, if you don't mind being burned with flaming hot tomato sauce). Remove the bay leaf and puree in the pot with an immersion blender.

Warm the sauce, serve over your favorite pasta, and enjoy!

Perfect Marinara Sauce

This is my marinara sauce "base." I make it every summer. It produces enough sauce for about 8-10 dinners for 4.
We drive over to Yakima and visit one of the many produce farms. I buy one flat of roma tomatoes. Be picky--choose a flat that has nice, red, and ripe tomatoes.
Empty the flat into a sink of cold water. You'll find that a flat is A LOT of tomatoes. Core each tomato, cut into 2-3 pieces, and fill up your cuisanart and blend until smooth. Empty into a very large stock pot. Repeat until all the tomatoes are gone.
Bring the mixture to a light boil, then simmer on low for about 14-16 hours (yes, this is a weekend type project). Do not add any oil, salt or other seasonings. Just the tomatoes. The sauce should reduce by at least half, and have a deep red color.
After the sauce cools (it takes hours), use a ladel and fill a 1 quart pyrex measuring cup with sauce. Carefully empty the sauce into a 1 quart freezer baggie. Seal tightly, trying to remove all air from the bag. Repeat until all sauce is gone. Put the baggies in your freezer.
When you want marinara, defrost a bag of base. Saute onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes to taste in some olive oil and butter. Add a 1/2 cup of white wine and reduce by one half. Add a bay leaf and the base. Then add about 1 Tbs each of dried thyme, oregano, and basil. Add about 1 Tbs salt, 1 Tbs sugar (yes, that's not a typo), and freshly ground black pepper.
Simmer on low heat for an hour or so. Check the sauce for taste. It should be really flavorful, pungent, and tangy. If not, add a pinch of salt and of sugar, stirring, and keep tasting. When the sauce bursts with flavor, you're done.
Serve over your favorite pasta, or over spaghetti squash (also purchased in Yakima). Sprinkle with parmesan or spanish manchego cheese.

The reduction sauce

This is a really easy to make and very tasty sauce for steaks, brisket, and lamb. Ingredients:

3 cups of good quality beef stock
1 cup of red wine
1 shallot, minced
A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Saute the shallots in a medium saucepan in 1 Tbs of olive oil, until lightly golden. Add the stock, wine, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then cook on medium low uncovered until the sauce reduces by half. Strain and return to the saucepan. Reduce for another 10 minutes or so. Mix 1 tsp of cornstarch with a little water, and stir into the sauce. Stir (or whisk) constantly until the sauce starts to thicken. Take it off the heat, add little (or more :) butter, salt and pepper to taste.