Masitas de Puerco

Okay I didn't take a picture. Sorry. But this is so easy and delicious I had to share.

2 pounds of boneless pork butt cut into 1 inch cubes.
1 large onion sliced.
1 1/2 cups of Goya Mojo Criollo
For my Evansvillians this is available at Aihua. Second to last aisle on the right hand side. (Away from the freezers.) This is the same aisle where you'll find the Adobo. The mojo is about halfway down on the Latin side of the aisle. Non EVV if you cant find it in a regular grocery store try Asian or Latin markets. There also loads of recipes for it. Just google it, although that does take the ridiculously easy aspect away.

Marinate the pork in the mojo for three hours. Drain off the marinade and reserve half a cup.(If you are a crazy germaphobe you can just use more from the bottle but seriously it's gonna cook for 20 minutes or so. So try not to be a nutter, ok?) Add the drained pork to a heavy bottomed pan and cover with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Water should be mostly evaporated. If it's not turn up the heat and watch carefully until water is gone. Add the onions and the reserved marinade. Cook and stir until the marinade has evaporated. Continue sauteing the pork chunks int their own rendered fat until slightly crispy and brown.

Now build yourself a soft taco or stuff into a masa cake or serve with rice an plantains just eat the stuff. YUM!

Cumin Seared Tuna with Lime Teriyaki Glaze and Chunky Guacamole

Cumin Seared Tuna with Lime Teriyaki Glaze and Chunky Guacamole. 

Tuna:
2 7-8 oz sashimi grade tuna steaks
2 Tablespoons of whole cumin seeds ground in a spice grinder or blender (reserve a pinch for the guacamole)
2 teaspoons salt

Lime Teriyaki Glaze:
1/4 cup Soy Vay or Trader Joe's Very Teriyaki Sauce
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3 packets True Lime (or 1/4 cup lime juice)

Chunky Guacamole:
One Envelope of pressurised guacamole (like Wholly Guacamole) or two avocados roughly mashed
1 small tomato chopped
1 green onion sliced
2 Tablespoons cilantro or parsley minced
Pinch of freshly ground cumin
(salt if using fresh avocados)

Wonton Chips (Optional):
Wonton skins or egg roll wrappers cut into triangles
Oil for frying.

About 30 minutes before you want to cook the tuna place the steaks in the freezer. Mix the freshly ground cumin and salt together in a shallow dish and set aside.

Fry your wonton chips. (if you plan on using them) If you don't know how to fry things this is not the recipe for you.

Meanwhile prepare the Lime teriyaki by mixing the lime, ginger and teriyaki together.

Combine all the guacamole ingredients and chill in the fridge.

Remove the tuna steaks from the freezer and coat with the cumin/salt mixture.

Heat a heavy skillet preferably cast iron over  high heat until smoking hot. Turn on your vent fan if you've got one. Place one tuna steak in the center of the pan and cook for 1 minute. flip and cook for 1 minute more. Remove from pan and set aside. Let pan reheat before repeating with the second tuna steak.

Slice the tuna into thin strips and fan out on a plate, (Or over a bed of Teriyaki Noodle Salad, recipe follows.) drizzle with the Lime Teriyaki and top with a scoop of the guacamole. Serve the remaining guacamole on the side.

Teriyaki Noodle Salad

8 oz fettucini or linguine noodle
4 oz button mushrooms sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 medium carrot grated
2 green onions finely sliced
3/4 cup Soy Vay or Trader Joe's Very Teriyaki Sauce
2 Tablespoons Golden Mountain Seasoning or soy sauce
1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 7-8 oz package baby salad greens preferably asian style or arugula

Cook fettucini according to pack age directions except throw your  sliced button mushrooms into the water to cook with the pasta.

Mix all the other ingredients except the salad green together in a large bowl. Add the hot freshly drained pasta and mushrooms to the dressing/veggie mix stir to combine then fold in the salad greens.

Old lamp, new trick.

I saw this on Ikea Hackers and have been wanting to try it for years.

Make sure you are using compact flourescent  or LED bulb. I used  a lamp we bought from IKEA about seven years ago. You can use any uplighted lamp you want just make sure you are using a cool temperature bulb in it..  Starting at the top place super sticky post it notes all around rim. Curl the notes downward slightly. Add a second layer slightly below and offset by half the width. Repeat until you reach the bottom of the shade. In my case I stuck one more layer around the base to further camouflage the light shining through. Pretty awesome for a $10.00 lamp and a $1.00 package of sticky notes. 

I think this would be pretty in light pink sticky notes cut into a rounded shape ate the top and the finished  with green notes to make it even more flowery. I may do that in Wub's room with the gooseneck lamp that came with this. Ooooooh!

Summer at it's sweetest.

Ah, summertime. Gorgeous weather and a bounty of nature's delights. When life gives you lemons you're supposed to make lemonade, right? Well, what if it gives you a basket of perfectly ripe nectarines? or peaches? or stawberries? or some other delectable fruit?
  Jam? That's a lot of work. Cobbler? For me that's too much sugar on top of something that is already damn near perfect. Crumble? Less sweet, and you can almost convince yourself that it's almost healthy with the oats and nuts and fruit. But again that's a lot of sugar for something so naturally sweet. Plus who wants to turn on the oven in the heat of July?

  Enter the Rumble. Perfectly ripe, lightly sweetened fresh fruit forms it's own sauce, topped with rich, vanilla bean ice cream and a halo of fluffy whipped cream.. It's finished off with a crisp and buttery "Rumble" topping made from crunchy nuts and crispy Japanese bread crumbs. No oven needed. The perfect finish to any summertime meal.

Fresh Fruit Rumble
The Fruit Bit:
2 cups of ripe fruit such as nectarines, plums, berries, cherries,  even very ripe melon would work.
2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it) depending on the tartness of the fruit you are working with and your own sweet tooth.
(When we made it we used nectarines and black velvet apricots and barely 2 tablespoons of sugar if we'd used raspberries or blackberries or tart cherries we probably would have gotten closer to the 1/2 cup side)

  Prepare the fruit by removing stems, pits, seeds etc, and cutting into bite size pieces then sprinkling with sugar to taste. Let sit for at least half an hour to as long as overnight in the fridge.

Spoon into four dessert bowls.

The Creamy Bit:
1 pint premium vanilla bean ice cream (We used this, which we know is ridiculous but in our defense it was on sale at the Fresh Market.)
1 cup lightly sweetened whipped cream (We used this, which is yes, Aldi brand)

Top each bowl of fruit with a half cup of ice cream and a generous dollop/squirt of whipped cream.

The Crunchy Bit or Let's Get Ready to Rumble!:
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons chopped nuts (We used walnuts but pecans, cashews, almonds even coconut would be spectacular depending on your fruit choice.)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
Dash of salt

Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium low heat. Add the panko, the nuts and a dash of salt. Cook stirring constantly until bead crumbs begin to color. Stir in the teaspoon of sugar  and continue to cook until crumbs are beautifully golden and crisp. Pour into a glass or ceramic bowl to stop the cooking.

Sprinkle evenly between the four dessert bowls.

Serves four.

Note:
MHM said this was better than bread pudding which is probably the highest dessert compliment he can give.

Sew little..

Amber from Crazy Little Projects is have a Learn to Sew: Kids Edition. I thought it would be a good opportunity to get Wub started on the sewing machine. We started off practicing straight and zig zag stitches. Since Wub picked out a pretty large scrap to practice on we made it into a doll blanket.

I have to admit that the process is a we bit stressful. Wub is mildly flighty and I am not the most patient of teachers. But no sewn over fingers and I am just taking deep breaths and trying to be as patient as possible while stressing the importance of paying attention where the needle is, where the fabric is and where your fingers are. 

I want her to enjoy sewing, not equate it with Mommy being a meanie. 

Tomorrow we're going to try out the Covered Notebook project. I'm kind of excited because she is doing so well. Let's hope I can continue to Keep Calm and Keep Her Sewing On.

For Free! For Real!

I have to warn you that this may be addictive...

Ever wanted to turn your handwriting into a font that you can use on your computer?

Just go to MyScriptFont.com Print out a template. Fill it out, scan it and upload it. Instant font in your handwriting.

Bread Pudding Waffles

In what appears to be an ongoing series, here is yet another use for your waffle iron. I was inspired to make these after attempting (quite succesfully) Stuffing Waffles. (as seen on TV) My brain just made the leap from a common way to use up leftover bread (stuffing) to another way. (bread pudding)

I made  these for Father's Day because I just wasn't up to the task of a Full English Breakfast. I did wish that I had had some whipped cream to top them off but all in all they were pretty perfect. 

Bread Pudding Waffles

• 1 lb dry bread cut into cubes
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 3 eggs, 
• 2/3 cup sugar (vanilla if you got it)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• few grates of fresh nutmeg or a pinch of preground
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup raisins (or not)
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces (or not)
• Oil or pan spray for waffle maker.

  Preheat oven to 350.

Place your bread cubes on a baking sheet and lightly toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes. (Even if your bread is stale don't skip this step. The more moisture you get of the bread the more yummy custardy stuff it can soak up.) Allow to cool.

 Meanwhile combine the milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt im a large bowl and wisk to combine. Add the toasted bread and raisins and pecans if using. Allow to sit for 10 minutes then mix again. You are wanting the custard to soak in and no crunchy bits of bread left. If mixture seems too thick and dry you can add up to 3/4 cup of milk one 1/4 cup at a time. Let sit at least an hour (You can make it all the night before and stick it in the fridge. It will be ready to go in the morning.)

 Preheat you waffle iron according to manufaturer's diractions. Even if your waffle iron is "nonstick" give it a liberal shot of pan spray or oil. Spoon about 1 cup bread pudding onto waffle maker in a thick layer. Close waffle maker (flip if you've got that kind) and cook for 5-10 minutes. 

 Remove waffle from machine and keep warm in oven or serve immediately with whipped cream and:

Vanilla (Bourbon) Sauce

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cream
• Hefty pinch of salt

Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat ans stir in:

• 1 Tablespoon unslated butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• (1 Tablespoon Bourbon) 

and then maybe a dollop or spritz of whipped cream. 

Makes 4

Note: This recipe actually makes excellent regular bread pudding. Just bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 for 45 minutes.