No Soup For You!

I have been absent entirely too long.  I started a facebook page for my blog and I confess that I would much rather post recipes and pictures there instead of here.  Although I've been a little lazy at that as well.  I must admit that I've been having a rough go of it.  I just have not been trying that hard to stay with Paleo and I can certain feel the inflammation back in my joints and see the pounds back on the scale.  I know what the problem is...my own nature.  I'm one of those that starts a bunch of projects and as soon as the new wears off then it all collects dust.  So, I have to try real hard to keep myself from becoming one of my abandoned projects.  I thought I better get back to blogging as one way of getting the train headed in the right direction.  So tonight I'm going to post some soup recipes although I don't have pictures.  I'll try to get a picture of each one before they're gone and add it at a later date.  Now, I like to puree my soups but you could leave them chunky if you like. 

Zucchini-Chipotle Soup

6 zucchini, cut into large chunks
2 onions, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, diced
1 quart chicken stock
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes
1T mexican oregano
2t cumin
2 chipotle peppers with adobo sauce
2 oz. sherry

1. Heat some lard in a pot and add the onions.  When they become soft add the garlic and cook for a couple minutes.
2.  Add the cumin and oregano cooking for about a minute.
3.  Add the sherry to deglaze the pot and let cook for a minute.
4.  Add the zucchini, chicken stock, tomatoes, and chipotles. (If you do not have enough liquid to adequately cover the zucchini then add more stock or water until you do.)
5.  Simmer until the zucchini are soft.  Puree if you want.



Cauliflower Bacon Soup

1 large head of cauliflower, broke into florets
1 onion, diced
2 garlic, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 oz white wine
1-2 t of Bell's Seasoning
1 quart of chicken stock
1 apple, diced
1T butter
nutmeg
4 strips of bacon

1.  Cook the bacon in a large pot or dutch oven.  Remove when done and reserve for later.  If you had fatty bacon remove some of the grease but keep enough to cook the veggies in step 2.
2.  Add the onion, garlic, bell pepper and celery to the bacon grease and cook until it begins to soften.  Add the wine and cook for a minute.
3.  Add the Bell's seasoning (I got this in New Orleans but I'm sure it's available nationwide, it's a blend rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, and marjoram).
4. Add the cauliflower and chicken stock.  Bring to a simmer.
5.  Add the butter to a skillet and melt.  Add the apple and cook until it's soft. Grate some nutmeg over the apples.  Cook for another minute or two..
6.  When the cauliflower is soft, remove from the heat and add to a blender.  Add the apple and the four strips of bacon and puree.

Chile Verde Chili

Tonight's dinner started brewing in my noggin about a week ago when the weather turned of chilly and everyone began talking about chili, pumpkin bread, Honeycrisp apples and squashes.  Fall could very well be the best time of the year, I know I certainly think it is.  I had decided to make a white chili but since I wanted to use pork my sister kindly told me that it wouldn't be white chili because that is made with chicken.  Who knew?!  Well, I wanted pork and that was about all I was going to say about that.  I then realized that what I was thinking of was a chile verde and not white chili. So I was back on track and the ingredients I wanted to use were popping up in my head and I started scribbling things onto a shopping list.  After looking in the cupboard and the freezer I discovered I had everything I needed except one ingredient which some how did not make my shopping list.  Anyway, after running around all day and going to the retirement home to have dinner with my Grandma I got started on my "chile verde chili".  Why the extra "chili" in the title?  Well, I wanted something super meaty, like the way I make a standard beef-tomato chili, and not a straight up chile verde.  It's the kitchen after all and the cook can do whatever they want.

Chile Verde Chili

1 pound of pork roast/steak, cubed
1 pound ground pork
4-5 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 poblano peppers; skinned, seeded and chopped
2 jalepenos, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1T mexican oregano
2-3 t. cumin
1/8 c. tequila
1 can Herdez salsa verde (or better yet get some tomatillos and make your own)
2-3 c. chicken broth
3 T. coconut cream

1.  Fry the bacon in a dutch oven and remove when crispy.
2.  Working in batches, brown the pork chunks.  Remove from pot when done.
3.  Brown the ground pork and remove from the skillet.
4.  Add the onion and cook until starting to soften.
5.  Add the garlic and let cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
6.  Add the tequila and deglaze the pot.
7.  Add the poblano and jalepeno, stirr to incorporate.
8.  Add the cumin and mexican oregano, mix well.
9.  Add the salsa verde, coconut cream and the chicken broth.  Stir well.
10. Add the meat and mix well to incorporate.  Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes.  Add some fresh cilantro before serving.

So what ingredient did I forget?  A plantain.  I wanted to add a mashed up green plantain for the starchy flavor and because I thought it would thicken the chili.  But I had it in my head that I had all the ingredients for this dish and I forgot all about wanting to add a plantain.  Maybe next time or perhaps I'll go the store tomorrow and add it in to the big pot of leftovers that I have.  Then again perhaps I'll just make tostones and scoop up the chili with those.

Some cubed chayote squash or zucchini would have been pretty tasty in this as well.  Next time because there's always another supper to cook for!

Tostones filled with Cuban Pork Roast

Every now and then I make something that knocks my socks off. Maybe it's because I sometimes just wing it in the kitchen and perhaps it's because I'm trying new ingredients and don't know what to expect. But I just love it when it happens.

A few days ago I was checking out the new post at Modern Paleo Warfare and was completely inspired to try out a new ingredient, plantains.  Now, I think that I have tried a plantain before but since I can't really remember what I did with it, I'm not going to count it.  So for all intents and purposes I'm saying that this is the first time I've used a plantain.

I had decided that I wanted to pair the plantains with pork and I wanted to do something a little Cuban or Caribbean inspired.  I also had come across a site selling tostones (fried plantains) presses.  One of the presses would make little cups and I found these totally cute so I had to try!

I'm pretty sure that tostones are my new favorite thing.  I can't get over the chip like quality they had after frying.  These will take care of a chip craving if you are having one.  They would be perfect for salsa if you want chips and dip.  Plantains aren't sweet like bananas are and are quite starchy.  Perfect for chips, right?!  The green plantains (which are unripe plantains) aren't sweet at all and are perfect for frying.  Heck, for all I know the black (ripe) ones may fry up well too.  A few days ago I had read about soaking the green plantains in salt water and then peeling them and slicing but I had forgot all of that by the time I went out today and purchase them.  I got home and sliced them in about 1 inch chunks and then scored the peel and pulled it off.  I didn't have any problem at all with removing the peel.  I'm not sure why those recipes said to soak them first.  Perhaps it was for flavor and not ease of peeling.  Anyway, I did not soak them because I was really wanting to get started.  To make the plantain chunks into cups I just put each chunk (after frying it first) into a well of a mini muffin pan and using a tart shaper I pressed down until I formed a little cup.  I took them out and put them back in the oil for the second fry.  *Note: I found it easier to press the plantain chunks into cup form while the chunks were still hot from frying.*  Alright, enough babbling!!  Let's get on with a photo and the recipe!

 
Tostones filled with Cuban Pork Roast

For the pork:
1-2 pounds of pork roast cut into chunks
1 small onion, diced
1T of garlic, diced
1/2 of a tiny bottle of white wine (93 mL)
2t. cumin
1t  mexican oregano, crush it in your palms when you add it to the pot
1/2t. smoked paprika
1/2 C orange juice
juice from half a lime
juice from half a lemon
zest of one lime
zest of one lemon
1/2 C chicken stock
1/2 can of coconut milk (I used the cream and not the watery part of my can)
salt and pepper to taste
1T. chopped cilantro
1-2T of FOC (I prefer bacon grease or lard)

1. Heat the fat of your choice in a dutch oven.  Once hot add the pork in batches and sear until browned.  Remove from the pot to a plate with a slotted spoon.
2.  Add the onion and garlic to the pot and saute until it starts to soften.  Add the wine to deglaze the pot.
3.  Add the pork back to the pot with the onion and garlic.  Add the cumin, mexican oregano and smoked paprika to the pot and stir.
4.  Add the orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, chicken stock and the zest to the pot.  Bring to boil and cover.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.
5.  Add the coconut cream and mix well.  Add salt and pepper. Cover and simmer another 10 minutes.
6.  Remove the lid and allow the mixture to cook at a fast simmer until most of the liquid evaporates and a thick sauce remains.
7.  Remove the chunks of meat with a slotted spoon to a cutting board.  Roughly chop the chunks to get a small bites of meat.  Add back to the sauce in the pot, add the cilantro and mix well to coat.

For the tostones:

3 unripe (green) plantains
FOC

1. Cut the plantains into 1 inch chunks (they should fit in the mini muffin well without sticking out the top).
2. When the fat/oil is hot, add the plantain chunks and fry until lightly golden.  Remove from grease to a paper towel.
3.  Place the fried plantain chunk into the muffin well and press down firmly with a tart shaper.  Remove the plantain cup and place it back in the oil for the second fry.
4.  Fry until they are a deep golden/lightly browned color and remove.
5.  Fill the tostones cups with the meat mixture and sprinkle with some extra cilantro and maybe a dab of fresh salsa or guacamole.

*I had plenty of meat leftover so you could buy a couple more plantains.
*Don't forget to press the plantain chunks while they are hot.  I found they pressed easier while hot.
*If you don't have Mexican Oregano don't worry about it.  However, please do not replace it with the old standard oregano.  They are completely different and you wouldn't want your Cuban feast to taste Italian would you?