Wine Tasting

mmmm Wine.

Last night I ditched school and went with my sister (Annie) and stepsister (Julie) to Tina's to their monthly wine tasting.

Basically it's just good food and wine for a set price. This month's theme was South America (Argentina/Chile).

We started off with an Argentina salad with roasted peppers, red onion and a tart dressing.
Next we had Empanadas - the filling was great with green olive, beef and egg
Following that we had a stuffed pasta that was ravioli-like filled with a creamy meat filling that just melted in your mouth. Next was the Gaucho Steak, cooked perfectly medium rare and with a chimichurri sauce - So yummy. Desert was a choice of a lemon cake or cappuccino cake. Eh.

The wine wasn't spectacular. I liked the chardonnay we had with the salad and the malbec we had with the empanadas but I could have done without the others.

Not the best wine tasting I've been to at Tina's but a good effort. The food was worth the pricetag but I'm not sure I'll pick up any of those wines.

Why I love Southern CA...

I'm going to meet my friend who is visiting from Texas tonight and we are going out for margaritas and Mexican food.

Before I ever stepped out of my small town and my Grandma's kitchen, I never knew that other parts of the country and their Mexican food contained GROUND BEEF! Oh the horror! It seriously defies all that I consider to be my Mexican culture but of course... I was sadly sheltered from A LOT!

Anyways... local Mexican restaurants do not, I repeat, DO NOT have any dishes with ground beef unless you order a hamburger (which why for the love of all that is good and holy would you do that at a Mexican restaurant...) . I love my podunk Mexican restaurants here in Southern CA. With my brief stint in Northern CA I can go on and on about the Mexican food I encountered there as well and it is equally delish although I found a few places that served ground beef and those places I just avoided ;)

So tonight I'm looking forward to my lovely margarita with lots of salt, my plate of carnitas with healthy doses of cilantro, tomato, onion and jalapeno w/ rice and beans and if I'm as hungry as I'm making myself... I'll start with a cup of Albondigas (meatball soup) and ask for a side of fresh cilantro and lime.

Sidenote* I need to try and make my own Albondigas, I think a call to Grandma is in order.

What's for lunch today...

So my husband is lame and won't eat cucumber and I had some left over so I decided to make a veggie sandwich to take to work. And I had some pumpernickel bread (which I LOVE and he HATES).

Bear with me... this recipe is all over the place.

Cucumber Dill on Pumpernickel

cucumber, sliced very thin
pumpernickel bread
mix tiny amount of butter, mayo, itsy itsy bit of horseradish, and some dill
fresh ground pepper to taste.

Put sandwich together and enjoy. This made two sandwiches, one I ate for lunch and the other was to sample while I was getting ready for work and I couldn't finish it with Nate hanging onto my leg so I had to let go of the sandwich or the coffee and the coffee and toddler won :)

BBQ

So there's plenty I don't know about cooking. Plenty. One realm I haven't stepped foot in though is BBQ. I love good BBQ but I don't know the first thing about creating it. I know you smoke it, grill it whatever - I actually ORDER it or we just go to a restaurant.

So I am now on a quest. I need a good BBQ recipe whether it be for ribs or brisket... whatever. I need to prove something I guess.

Southwest comfort food...

Cilantro Dressing - great on mixed greens to accompany Chicken Enchilada Casserole

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed/pressed
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Chicken Enchilada Casserole - double the recipe and you can freeze leftovers in smaller containers for a quick dinner another night

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (you can use light sour cream if you want)
1 tsp minced onion
2 chicken breasts (or whatever chicken pieces you have on hand)
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)
1 lg can green chile enchilada sauce (or you can use red enchilada sauce)
12 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or cheddar, or mozzerella...)

First: boil chicken 25-30 minutes until done (I add some garlic powder and chicken boullion to the water before the chicken) - remove, let cool slightly and dice or shred

Second: In a medium size bowl; mix together the soup, sour cream, onion, chicken, cilantro, olives and half of the shredded cheese.

Third: In a 9x13 baking dish put a layer of tortillas (I use 4 for each layer, cut 3 in half, place straight edges along the edges of pan and then 1 whole tortilla in the middle to cover the gap). Then spread some enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Then spread half the chicken mixture over that... repeat and end with tortillas then enchilada sauce then top with the remaining cheese.

Fourth: Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until heated through. When done let it set for 10-15 minutes. When ready - serve with a side of mixed greens and a light dressing.

Tuna Salad?

I've noticed throughout my recipe searches that one of the most varied recipes out there is Tuna Salad. Everyone makes it differently. Some people put apples in it, some put cucumber, some even put sweet pickles (gaw!). My recipe is also not what some would consider normal and I even vary my own recipe from time to time depending on what I have on hand to make it with. Here is the standard recipe I use and a list of various ingredients I change out from time to time. It's great on toast, on regular bread, crackers, on a salad, etc...

Tuna salad

2 cans albacore tuna, drained (I use Star Kist)
1 jar pimiento slices, drained
1 dill pickle, drained and diced fine
1 hard-boiled egg, diced
1 tsp. dried minced onion or fresh grated onion
1 tsp brown mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 Tbsp of mayonnaise to desired consistency

variations: sometimes I add diced red bell pepper, diced celery and maybe a dash of garlic powder.

Makes easy lunch for work wether you put it on some whole wheat bread or on a bed of mixed greens. Nate and Chad like it as tuna melts with sourdough bread and cheddar cheese.

Can you flip eggs?

Who doesn't love breakfast?

I was lucky enough to marry a man that used to be a short-order cook, meaning he flipped pancakes and eggs for a good portion of his life while he went to college - anyways... what does that mean for me? The breakfast food lover in me always gets the BEST breakfasts right in my own home.

I can cook. I have grace. I do not have... the ability to flip eggs and I cannot make them over-medium the way that Chad can... but I found a recipe I can make that doesn't involve flipping the over-medium eggs, it just requires a cover and some patience. Who knew? Amy Did.

Huevos Rancheros:

2 eggs, 2 tortillas, enchilada sauce or salsa (I prefer the green enchilada sauce, Chad prefers the red jarred salsa), butter, garnishes.

Heat a skillet, add butter, add tortillas. Top tortillas with sauce, add one egg on top of each tortilla. Cover. Wait a few minutes... and ta da... eggs cooked. Garnish with green onion or cheese or sour cream or avocado or olives or bacon or black beans or pinto beans... you name it.

Now, I enjoy all breakfast foods regardless of whether or not I can flip an egg. I make great frittatas (see prior post), chorizo breakfast burritos, quiche, stuffed french toast, waffles, pancakes, scrambles... omelets I have a hard time with because of the whole flipping thing - but you get the point... I love breakfast and I finally have a recipe to make with my favorite type of egg without the assistance of my husband. YAY!