New Covenant

Friday Food Foto (v. 12)

Huevos Rancheros - New Mexico style (again)

Yes, from one of my favorite haunts, Socorro's restaurant, Hwy. 84, Espanola, NM. I can't seem to get away from the Huevos Rancheros which is, indeed, a fantastic breakfast. Fried potatoes, pinto beans, corn tortillas smothered, this time, with New Mexico RED chili, onions, cheese and, in true New Mexico fashion... fried eggs on top.

Enjoy!

Winter Squash

We have some winter squash that sprang up in our garden.

Does anyone know how to prepare these vegetables? What types of recipes are they good for (if any)?

Thanks.

Friday Food Foto (v. 11)

Huevos Rancheros - New Mexico style

From Socorro's restaurant, Hwy. 84, Espanola, NM, comes this fantastic breakfast. Fried potatoes, pinto beans, corn tortillas smothered with New Mexico green chili, onions, cheese and, in true New Mexico fashion... a fried egg on top.

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 10)

Pulled Pork Sandwich

After driving by Big Bubba's Bad BBQ several times over the last few years, we finally decided to give it a try. Good move - tastewise, bad move - pricewise. While the sandwich I had was very tasty, along with their own homemade chips, their prices were... well... bad.

Oh, and in anticipation of the upcoming socialist administration, I think that the pork metaphor here is apropos, don't you?

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 9)

Breakfast Burrito

A la The Filling Station. A hearty breakfast which includes a large flour tortilla, filled with scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, grilled onions, and some cheese. Salsa on the side. Wash it down with many cups of coffee.

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 8)

Coffee

Hoover's Beef Palace is a local "meat & potatoes" food joint in Templeton, CA. There are no frills here. In fact, when you walk out the back door you'll find yourself in the midst of the stockyards!

They only serve breakfast and lunch. The business is mostly local, and it's a hectic time during breakfast. Known for its huge servings, our latest foray to the palace left us a bit underwhelmed. The servings were small and a couple of our dishes were cold.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting meal.

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 7)

Chile Verde

Couldn't let another Friday go by without a Friday Food Foto. This tasty delight is comprised of, as per the menu at Avila's El Ranchito,

Juicy chunks of pork simmered until perfectly tender in a mildly spiced sauce with tangy bell peppers, tomatoes and onions.

Served with rice and refried beans (with melted cheese on top), along with a few homemade corn tortillas (in the red container). Colorful chips, before the meal, are meant to be dipped in the medium spicy salsa.

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 6)

Homemade Wheat Pasta

Thick spaghetti, output from a pasta maker after mixing in regular flour, wheat flour, eggs, and water. Firm texture with hearty substance when bitten into.

The finished product is topped with homemade sauce (at this point, using any bottled or canned variety would be tantamount to an act of gross negligence). Essentially, the sauce is made by browning ground round in red wine, mixing with chopped tomatoes, a little tomato sauce, generously supplemented with herbs (oregano, thyme, pepper, etc.), along with sauteed onions and garlic (LOTS of garlic).

Oh, and add some homemade breadsticks, laced with rosemary and parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 5)

Couldn't let this Friday go by without another food foto.

Tri-Tip (Santa Maria style... of course)

The triangular cut of beef, which used to simply be ground up, found its way onto the grill back in the 1960s in Santa Maria, CA. To do it right, one needs to burn some California Oak logs down to embers, and then place the cut of tri-tip, fat side down, over the embers. The cut is typically only seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (although there are some specialty rubs out there). After about 45 minutes, the cut is flipped over and slow-cooked another 45 minutes. In a kettle bbq, I typically cook the tri-tip using the indirect-heat style, placing oak chunks on the charcoals for added flavor.

The final product should have a nice browned edge, slight smoke ring, tender pink interior, and lots of juices.

Enjoy!

 

Friday Food Foto (v. 5)

Huevos Rancheros (take 2)

Heading to northern New Mexico, last June, I had the pleasure of stopping at the restaurant Las Mananitas (in Albuquerque), and having huevos rancheros (see here). Well I wasn't about to head back through Albuquerque and not stop by for seconds!

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 4)

Pepperoni Pizza on a Whole Wheat crust - Homemade

Okay, so if you want the best, sometimes you've got to do it yourself. The beautiful pie (pictured below) included a crust made from whole wheat and regular flour, which was lightly brushed with olive oil just prior to applying the homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and sliced pepperoni. Baked for about 15 - 20 minutes on a pizza baking stone (oven at around 375).

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 3)

Ribs

...as in BBQ'd.

I fired up the wood pit barbecue, recently, and slow-cooked some pork spareribs and baby backs. After prepping the ribs the night before, which included rubbing them down with a homemade, semi-spicy rub, I put them into a the wood pit around 9 a.m. I used some charcoal for the heat and some hickory chunks for the smoke. The ribs were mopped with a cider vinegar - whisky - spice concoction a couple of times over the course of the day. Around 3 p.m. I brushed one side of the ribs with a bbq sauce which consisted of ketchup, whisky, grilled onions, cider vinegar, orange juice, brown sugar, and various spices. I typically don't brush the ribs while they're still in the cooker, and I left these guys in a bit too long with the sauce on them (hence, the blackened portions displayed below).

Nevertheless, the interior of the ribs remained tender, moist, and very well flavored (if I do say so myself).

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto (v. 2)

Huevos Rancheros (take 1)

A breakfast staple in the Southwest - Huevos Rancheros ("Ranch-style" eggs), which typically includes a couple of large eggs (scrambled, or over-easy) served with fried potatoes, refried beans and, in New Mexico, some New Mexico chili (this example being green chili). All served on a tortilla.

This particular wonder was the product of Las Mananitas restaurant, in Albuquerque, NM. (note: sorry for the lousy DOF, but I was hungry and not that interested in getting the perfect shot)

Enjoy!

Friday Food Foto

Do you like food? So do I (not at an epicurean level of variety, but certainly a whole lotta liking).

If anyone is planning on visiting California this summer, and you happen to like burgers, then check out the Left Coast's IN-N-OUT BURGER. While they have a basic menu of pretty much burgers, cheeseburgers, fries, soft drinks and shakes, they also have a "secret menu" which provides additional variations on their simple repertoire. For the protein addicts out there, you might wish to order a "4x4" hamburger which is, essentially, a hamburger with 4 beef patties. Or you might want to try ordering "animal style" which includes a mustard-cooked patty, extra sauce (thousand island), pickles, and extra grilled onions. Indeed, you can even order fries "animal style" (pictured below), getting them covered in melted cheese, thousand island sauce, and grilled onions.

Enjoy!

Animal Style burger, Animal Fries, and regular fries (just for grins).

A Turkey for the Thanksgiving & Christmas Season

For those of you planning on cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas - good for you! Here's a link to an interesting recipe (from a couple of years ago) - Doin' Da' Bird, at The Doc Is In blog.

Over the past ten years, or so, we've preferred to use a recipe from Sunset Magazine in which the bird is cooked in a kettle-type grill, with wine-infused wood chips.

Last year I combined The Doc's recipe with the Sunset version, and the results (as shown below) were exquisite.

Darwin of the day...

In Coffee and Darwinism, Paul Spears tells us about how Starbucks just might help usher in a new era in scientific understanding, with its The Way I See It blurb, which is found on the side of their cups. It seems that Discovery Institute fellow Jonathan Wells has a few choice things to say, on the sides of Starbucks coffee cups, with regards to Darwinism. Consider,

Darwinism’s impact on traditional social values has not been as benign as its advocates would like us to believe. Despite the efforts of its modern defenders to distance themselves from its baleful social consequences, Darwinism’s connection with eugenics, abortion and racism is a matter of historical record. And the record is not pretty.

As Spears points out, it is indeed an intriguing state of affairs to find that Starbucks allows such a  scandalous discussion to occur within its midst.

To be sure, it is the Darwinists who have squelched, and continue to squelch, free inquiry (just try to find the book Of Pandas and People in a public school science curriculum). Just what is it that they are afraid of?

For Greg...

at Areopagitica.

Here's the virtual plate of enchiladas you won.

Reality Turkey...

Melting butter, basting and coating, quietly browning a Christmas turkey amidst smoking, wine soaked wood chips. A roasting pan filled with celery, onion, apple, arugula, brocolli, carrots, wine, and water. Two hours in an oven, two hours with the charcoals, and then two hours back in an oven.

Moist, tender, richly flavored delight.

Sometimes - most of the time - good things take time and effort. While such a notion may seem obvious, it also seems to be lost on our society. An elaborate meal, such as the Christmas turkey, can serve to not only bring pleasure to our senses, but to bring a lesson in delayed satisfaction.