Pozole & Cheese Enchiladas

I decided to make a nice Mexican dinner with the focus on Pozole, a fresh and hearty Mexican soup that dates back to the Aztecs. While I did riff on it a bit, I made sure to stay true using hominy and pork shoulder.

I started with a base of red pepper, onion, kale, garlic and jalapenos.

I added the onions, peppers and garlic to the pot to sweat and then added the kale along with 2 cans of crushed tomatoes and 1 can of diced tomatoes. From there, I let it simmer and cook down for about 2 hours.

During that time I started roasting the pork shoulder at about 250 degrees.

I chopped the pork and added lime to add some citrus flavor and freshness.

Just before serving I tossed in radishes and additional jalapenos.

I made onion and cheese enchiladas with sprouted corn tortillas, which really hit the spot as a side dish instead of the main course .

To make the enchiladas, I warmed the tortillas in some corn oil and then added enchilada sauce to them and stuffed each one with a fair share of onions and cheese, while also adding a piece of kale to each one. I then topped with more cheese and baked at 350.

BLT's and Borsht

I thought that soup and salad sounded good this weekend so I decided to go outside of the traditional comfort zone and create a nice soup.

Traditional borsht has a lot more ingredients than I wanted in my soup, so I just decided to keep the flavors simple. I roasted red beets at 350 for a while and added some whole carrots and a part of an onion to the pan after about 15 minutes of roasting. After they were done roasting I blended them up individually. For the beets, I blended them with a little beef stock and a touch of cream to ensure they were smooth. I wanted the carrots to be a different texture so I didn't blend them as long but still added a touch of stock and cream to them. As you can see in the picture they are a rougher chop.

The colors were even brighter in person and the soup was warm and delicious. Because of the amount of roasting, the sugars came out in the beets and it didn't taste overwhelmingly earthy.

For the BLT, I just kept it traditional, except for replacing the lettuce with Arugula.

Kale to the Chef

I recently made a dish that I couldn't get out of my head. I kept boring my friends about it and so I decided to make enough of it that I would become sick of it and be left with no choice other than to give it a rest. The dish? Braised Kale with Pancetta.

I browned the Pancetta and Danish Bacon with the shallots and half of a white onion. To that I added the chanterelles and cooked until they browned. I then added a little chicken stock to scrape the fond off of the bottom of the dutch oven. I then added the Kale and hot peppers and covered with chicken stock. I cranked it up to high for about 10 minutes and added the cannelinni's at the end to finish.