Cranberries Simple-Sauce

It's ok for some things to be complicated such as our taxes and modeling real estate deals. Cranberry sauce is not one of these things. It should be easy and simple and compliment the turkey not fight it for attention.

I modified the following recipe from an Alton Brown recipe that I've always really liked. It's easy, simple and so quick to make. The only thing I didn't like about Alton's recipe is the proportions. It makes a TON and unless you're feeding a your entire extended family, you're never going to need that much. Even for leftover sandwiches. So here goes.

Simple Cranberry Sauce

Makes about 2 cups

1/4 cup 100% cranberry juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup honey

1 (12oz) bag of cranberries, get rid of the icky ones

1. Heat the cranberry juice, orange juice, and honey and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling bring the heat down to medium-low and let simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Add cranberries and let them simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. ONLY15 minutes, otherwise the sauce will start to break down and it'll get watery and bleh.

3. Take sauce off heat and smoosh a few of the cranberries with the back of a spoon (only if you want to).

4. Once sauce has cooled a bit you can put it in a mold so that you can slide it out on Thanksgiving day and cut it into pieces or you can stick it in a dish and spoon it out.

Voila! Now just don't stick your finger in it.

So It Begins....

Thanksgiving is upon us!!!

I feel like there are two important food holidays in this country. Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. Thanksgiving is easily my favorite holiday. I know I should say Christmas, but I'm sorry, it's Thanksgiving. There is so much food, so much fun to be had, family and friends are around, it's not that cold, the leaves are pretty. It's awesome.

During this month the magazines at the grocery store are plastered with phrases like, "Thanksgiving? Stress No More!!" Which I thought was weird. If ever there was a time to stress over a meal it's this time. Stop stressing about regular weekday meals and start stressing about Thanksgiving, say I. It's ONE day of the year, let's all save the instant potatoes for any other Thursday and bring out the real Yukons for Thanksgiving. I mean c'mon on people, is that all our assigned day of gratitude means to you? A glob of canned cranberries? No!

Ok, let me calm down. Truth be told, I don't think any meal should be that stressful (nor do I think you should ever use instant potatoes). And to be perfectly fair I think that what those magazines are trying to get at is that "If you plan your Thanksgiving carefully, it will be stressful no more." Which (finally!) brings me to my point.

Thanksgiving planning can be fun! Thanksgiving cooking can be great with family and friends around to help! Thanksgiving is not the time to show off!!!

If you're hosting, chances are that people are coming over to be fed cozy, familiar, real things. Food can be a powerful tool in helping you let people know how much you love them. Make the mashed potatoes from scratch your husband knows and loves. Make that sweet potato casserole that always makes your sister smile. Make the stuffing you know you'll be sneaking out to eat at midnight. If ever there was a time to label a meal as "comfort food," this meal is it.

Fight it, just fight the urge to make the pumpkin souffle. Too many things can go wrong...

Really the key to a stress-free Thanksgiving is to plan early, start early and use paper plates. I have already started and in the next few days I'll be posting the things I've made in hopes that they'll be useful, if not this year, then maybe next. For now, here is Thursday's menu:

Bacon-crusted Turkey

Apple Pomegranate Green Salad

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Yam Casserole

Sausage and Herb Stuffing (gluten-free, no less)

Sauteed Kale with Roasted Veggies

Marinated Tomato Salad

Simple Cranberry Sauce

What are your Thanksgiving faves?

Tacos para el Desayuno

We eat a lot of tacos around here. It's just a fact of life. When in doubt, we put stuff in a corn tortilla. Let it be noted: A CORN tortilla. Flour tortillas are ok, I guess, if you're from Texas, but there isn't anything that compares to a (properly) warm, soft, earthy corn tortilla.

While we're on the topic let's talk about how to properly heat up a corn tortilla. Ideally we would all own a comal (pictured below). A comal is a flat cast-iron pan-thing I keep on my stove at all times. It really does the best job but as a substitute you may use a dry non-stick skillet or griddle. You can put oil in there but then you start getting into different territory and we're just talking about the pure taco tortilla.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT ever microwave a tortilla, corn or otherwise. You might as well eat it from the trash. Harsh but true. You will not find mincing (haha) of words around here.

Ok, now that that's out of the way we can talk about this breakfast recipe. I'm actually loathe to call it a recipe, it's more of a breakfast idea. Still, I will walk you through how I make my eggs just in case some of you have a hard time making scrambled eggs. Don't laugh, it can be hard to make good scrambled eggs.

I'll elaborate on the wonders of Sriracha some other day. For now, just go find it in the Asian aisle.

Scrambled Egg Tacos with Bacon and Sriracha

Makes 2 tacos

2 eggs

splash of milk

salt

pepper

oil spray (such as Pam)

3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

1. Heat a small non-stick pan on medium heat. Lightly cover pan with oil spray. Also, heat the skillet you will be using for your tortillas

2.. Thoroughly beat eggs in a small bowl with a fork. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Add a small splash of milk (I like to use milk because it will lighten your eggs without making them mushy, like water would).

3. Add eggs to heated pan and swirl around with your fork. Let them sit and cook for about 30 seconds and swirl around again. Repeat a couple more times until eggs are just barely set and springy.

4. Depending on the size of your skillet, place one or two tortillas in skillet and heat until tortillas are soft and pliable.

5. Place about half of the egg in one tortilla, then the other half in the other, sprinkle Sriracha and bacon and enjoy. There might be some leftover eggs, but that's what dogs are for.

I know that breakfasts can be a little stressful and even worse, boring, when we take into account everything else we have to do during the day. I hope this simple idea can open up your mind to many more breakfast taco variations. Please share your awesome ideas!

Aaaannnndd we're back...

...with salmon, no less. I'm a mom, no other explanation needed for my

long absence.

We eat a lot of salmon around these parts. It has become our go-to meal. Because it's fish it defrosts super fast, it cooks super fast and it's super good for you. Oh, and it is super versatile.

I forget why we even eat other things....

Let's break it down. Salmon is high in protein, omega-3s, and Vitamin D (winter food anyone?). Also, because salmon is so popular, its harvesting is a bit of a sensitive subject for the planet. Farming salmon causes a great deal of underwater deforestation which endangers other species of fish. This is the very reason that buying wild-caught salmon is the best way to go. Believe it or not super Targets carry wild-caught salmon for a good price. Go get it now.

Ok, so you have your earth-friendly-good-for-you salmon, now what?

Wicked Easy Salmon

Serves 3

3 fillets of salmon

salt and pepper to taste

Pam Oil spray

1. Spray non-stick pan with Pam. Place salmon in pan then salt and pepper to taste. Place a lid on the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Turn salmon over and continue cooking salmon with cover on pan for another 5 minutes.

Ok you've found me out. This isn't a recipe so much as a technique but it's a good one to have in your back pocket when you're in a pinch. Add any sauce whatsoever to this fish and you've got a fancy meal.

Poor Man's Cakes

I think that the best part of writing a cookbook would be coming up with awesome dish names.

This dish is a mix of a lot of different recipes. It came about because I love crab cakes but can't really afford crab, nor is good fresh crab easy to find. So I developed tuna cakes or rather tuna cakes developed themselves.

I don't know if the same holds true for crab cakes, but I've found tuna cakes to be a great vehicle for leftover things. You just chop them your leftover vegetable in little pieces (or if it's corn, not so much) and stick it in your tuna cake. I realize not everyone loves tuna, but if you are a tuna fan, this is a great inexpensive dish. If I do say so myself.

Sorry about the not-so-awesome picture, but it was this or a half-eaten one.

Tuna Cakes

Makes about 8 patties (about 2.5 in. in diameter)

1 cup onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup red pepper, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tblsp parsley, minced

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3 pinches cayanne pepper

half a lemon or lime, juiced

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 cans tuna, drained

2 cups panko bread crumbs*

canola oil

1. Heat up a little of the canola oil, about 1 tblsp, over medium-high heat in a medium non-stick pan and add the onion and red-pepper. Cook until soft. Add the garlic and continue cooking for about 1 minute until garlic is fragrant a little soft. Set aside and let cool.

2. In a large bowl gently mix the parsley, dijon, mayonnaise, cayanne, lime and tuna. Add the onion/pepper mixture to their bowl. Then add 1/3 a cup of the panko crumbs. Mix gently again.

3. Place a good amount of canola oil in a non-stick pan and heat over medium heat. There should be enough oil so that the pan is easily coated and your patties don't get all blackened, but make sure they also aren't swimming in oil.

4. Place the remaining 1 2/3 cups of panko crumbs on a plate. With your hands, shape your patties so that they're between 2-3 inches in diameter and about 1/2 an inch thick. Lightly coat the patties with the panko crumbs and place in the hot oil.

5. Cook the patties for about 5 minutes or until a deep golden brown on each side. Mine got a little darker than that but they tasted perfectly fine. Repeat with all the patties and place on a plate with a paper towel to drain excess oil. And... you're set!

We usually eat these with whatever sauce is hanging around the house, more than likely salsa. Go ahead and try your own garnishes.

*Panko crumbs are Japanese style crumbs (they are used on tempura) that are starting to get easy to find. Their texture is so much more crunchy and satisfying than the regular kind. Go get them and use them on everything.

Reflections with a Side of Regret

Five things I've learned from writing a food blog - so far:

1. When developing/tweaking a recipe, it is handy to have a pen and paper at the ready so that you can take notes and not get the difference between tsp and tbsp all wrong.

2. Pen and papers will combust when placed too close to the stove.

3. Do not let a toddler add salt to anything.

4. When letting a toddler "help" you cook, they will inevitably attempt to brush their teeth with a steak knife.

5. The FedEx guy carrying your husband's birthday present DOES NOT take precedent over the meat you are browning.

Learn from my mistakes, friends, learn from my mistakes.

Enjitomatadas

This is a dish I remembered from my youth and the memory of it made my mouth salivate. The name of it literally means, "tomatoed." A vegetarian dish is rare in Mexican cuisine but this is a delicious and filling veggie-friendly treat. If a bit involved. Don't worry, we'll hold hands through the whole thing.

One thing to add about Mexicans is that we like our garnishes. I know, it's not enough that you already made kind of an involved dish, now you have to make garnishes for it. But trust me, the garnishes really make a dish, and you'll be left with something a little hollow if you skip them. Something to think about.

Now, there are easier ways to make this sauce (don't worry this isn't so complicated), but I wanted to layer flavors and it worked out pretty well. The sauce is supposed to be simple and just add a refreshing tomatoey flavor to the tacos.

To the tomato sauce!

Maybe someday I'll remember to take a picture BEFORE I start eating.

Enjitomatadas (Filled with Beans)

Serves 2 -with leftovers

Canola Oil

Corn tortillas

2 cans of black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

1tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or veggie broth)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Tomato Sauce (recipe to follow)

Garnishes:

Crumbled Queso Fresco

Thinly sliced onion

Sour Cream

1. Start my making the beans. Heat about a tablespoon of canola oil in a 3 quart pot over medium-high heat. Sautee onions until soft and translucent then add garlic, cumin, oregano and coriander and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add beans and broth, stir to combine all ingredients. Lower heat to medium and simmer for about 20 mins, until beans start to soften and are easy to mash with the back of a spoon.

3. Mash beans vigorously with a potato masher until fairly smooth. Sometimes when I'm lazy they don't turn out so smooth...Keep beans on the heat if you want them a little thick if not take off the heat and set aside.

4. Heat about 5 tablespoons oil in a medium non-stick pan for the tortillas on medium high heat. You want your tortillas to be coated but not dripping in oil. Check to see if oil is ready by placing a small portion of a tortilla in the oil, if it sizzles it's good to go. If not, then keep waiting.

5. With tongs carefully place a tortilla in the oil and cook for about 30 seconds or until it starts to become just golden. Then flip and repeat with other side of tortilla. Tortilla needs to still be soft in the middle but a bit crispy on the edges. It's ok. It takes practice.

6. Once your tortilla is ready, shake off the excess oil then put on a plate. Scoop a spoonful of beans onto half of your tortilla then fold tortilla in half. Repeat with as many tortillas as your beans will let you, adding more oil when necessary. We eat about 4 or 5 per person.

7. When finished with the tortilla/bean tacos cover your tacos with the Tomato Sauce and garnishes and enjoy immediately.

Tomato Sauce

Makes about 2 cups

Canola Oil

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tblsp tomato paste

1 can of tomato sauce

1 large tomato, roughly chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 cup chicken broth (or veggie broth)

1. Heat about 1 tblsp of canola oil on medium in a small saucepan and add onion. Cook until translucent.

2. Add garlic and cook for about 30 sec then add tomato paste, cook for another 30 seconds.

3. Add chopped tomato and tomato sauce and make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to pick up all the nice brown bits. Bring to a boil and boil for about 1-2 minutes.

4. Remove sauce from heat and place in a blender and blend until smooth.

5. Return sauce to heat then add broth, cumin and oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes then take off heat and you're ready to ladle it on top of the tortillas.

You'll have leftover sauce but with if you can make a delicious alphabet soup. Stay tuned!