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Posole Verde with Roasted Chicken

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Posole Verde Full View

Posole Verde with Avocado Close Up

How is it when harvesting during the fall there is a “sure” feeling that come winter all this deliciousness will run out? Yet after the holiday indulgence there seems to be PLENTLY left to fold out into winter recipes and carry us into the beginnings of growing season again. Life is so good.

A favorite New Year’s resolution for me is to make a conscious effort to cook most of our meals with ALL the yummy goodies we spent hours putting up, either by freezing or by canning. Funny, when we are going through the harvesting process we are absolutely SURE we will never forget the labor of love put in but as the months pass, somehow the time spent fades in our memory….

It was a Sunday afternoon and I went out to refresh my memory on what treasures were hidden away. As I hung over the side of my deep freezer digging away, I saw an entire box of frozen roasted tomatillo sauce I had completely forgotten about! For us, this is one of the easiest things to grow and if I didn’t figure a use, I could easily see filling another 20 jars next year….

Since we are a soup lovin family, I decided I wanted to make posole. I LOVE traditional posole but this time I wanted a bit of a change and these frozen tomatillos would be perfect! I would make posole verde and add some shredded roasted chicken and then pile on a bunch of fresh crunchies such as radish, cabbage, tomato, and avocado! I was starting to drool….it sounded so fresh and delish!

In I went and prepped the chicken to roast. While it was roasting, I pulled out some poblano chiles, jalapenos, onion, and garlic; these were the perfect sofrito for the posole. I love to get that “char” on the skins of the chile and infiltrate the broth with that flavor…ooohhhhh I was getting jazzed!

Once those flavors melded, I added the oregano and cilantro and seasoned with salt and pepper. Then came the chicken stock and hominy. It was looking awesome! Now for the star of the show, straight from our garden, the roasted tomatillo sauce, the smell brought me right back to harvest, right back to the memories of those long days preserving our garden treasures…

Lastly I put in the shredded chicken, you could leave this out and add it along with the garnishing’s on top, but I decided to marry all the flavors and fold it in. I seasoned a bit more and heated it through.

I hadn’t told Enrique what I had made so when dinnertime came, I served it up in big bowls and topped it with the fresh goodies and toasted up some fresh corn tortillas. I brought it to him and his eyes got as big as saucers, this is his soul food and when I shared that the base was all of our tomatillos, he grinned from ear to ear…….

It’s nights like this, many months later that I easily see the circle of life……

Posole Verde Close Up

Posole Verde Frontal View

Posole Verde with Roasted Chicken
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 1 whole chicken, roasted
  • 1 T butter
  • 8 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
  • 2 pounds tomatillos, husked and halved
  • 1 small onion, quartered
  • 2 poblano chiles—cored, seeded and diced
  • 2 jalapeños, seeded and diced
  • 4 large garlic cloves, smashed
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon oregano leaves
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • Three 15-ounce cans of white hominy, drained
  • Finely shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, chopped onion, diced avocado, queso fresco, corn tortillas, and lime wedges, for serving
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse chicken and throughly dry. Melt 1 T of butter and coat chicken and brush all over and cover with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour and 30 min. Remove and allow to cool and shred meat into separate bowl, discard bones and skin.
  2. Put husked tomatillos on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast in oven for 30 minutes or until soft. Put into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.
  3. In a large, dutch oven, heat 1 T of vegetable oil until hot. Add onion, poblanos, and jalapeños. Add oregano, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Cook until soft and chiles have a little "char" on skin.
  4. Add the tomatillo puree and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce turns a deep green, about 12 minutes, Add chicken broth and hominy. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Add the shredded chicken to the stew and cook just until heated through.
  6. Serve the posole in deep bowls, passing the cabbage, radishes, onion, avocado, queso fresco, corn tortillas and lime wedges at the table.

 

Pork Loin Pasties with Caramelized Onions, Potatoes and Roasted Garlic

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These pockets of deliciousness are called pasties. They are Cornish and are traditionally filled with beef, potato, and onion and topped with a rich gravy but I fondly remember them as being called “love letters from home”, wondering why?

My parents grew up in Butte Montana and if you know anything or have heard anything about Butte, it is a copper mining town. People from ALL over the world migrated there at the turn of the century to get a piece of the action of the booming mining industry. All of the influxes of ethnicities is what made Butte the “melting pot” of the west and with that came all the wonderful cuisines.

It was and still is very very shall I say colorful? Oh let me be honest, it is a total trip to be there, total. Its worth a visit just for the experience, trust me. Maybe in another post I will fill you in on some Butte stories….

Now back to why they are called “love letters from home”. The underground miners worked long days in very dangerous conditions and they each carried a lunch bucket because when they went underground, they didn’t come back up until their shift was over, typically 10-12 hours. During their shift work, labor was really intense and they needed a substantial meal to get them through the long hours. The pasty was one of the staples in their lunch buckets for a couple of reasons, it was hearty but more importantly, every time a miner left for work there was a chance he wouldn’t come home so their wives or mothers sent these as a reminder they were loved and to return home at the end of each day.

I adored that story and when my mother and grandmother made these for us I always knew they were “love letters from home” and I like to pass that same feeling on when I make them for the ones I love.

I remember we always made them during the fall and winter because they are the ultimate comfort food. It took a small army of helpers for the prep work. We were enlisted to peel the potatoes, cut the onions or dice the meat while my mom or grandmother made that perfect crust.

As they baked, which felt like eternity, we anxiously stood near the oven. The smell was out of this world yummy and when they came out, we each chose the one we wanted, the more crust the better, slathered on a ton of gravy and mix all of it together with the homemade coleslaw.

Here is my personal version, filled with pork loin, roasted garlic, potatoes, and caramelized onions topped with a home made pork gravy. It is totally WORTH it to make them from scratch, I promise, after all, you are sending a “love letter from home” and those take time..

Pork Loin Pasties with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Garlic
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Cornish
Serves: 28
Ingredients
  • 10 lb Pork loin roast, diced to ¼ inch
  • 3 onion, halved and thinly sliced and caramelized
  • 1 Bunch garlic cloves, roasted
  • 10 Medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters
  • 12 Cups Flour
  • 12 Sticks Butter
  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 4 Cups ice water, plus more if needed
  • 1 Onion (Chopped)
  • 4 Pork loin ribs
  • 1 cup white wine, preferably pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
  • Ham rue, I use "better than bullion brand"
  • Chicken rue, I use "better than bullion brand"
  • ½ Cup Flour
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Early in morning, measure 6 cups flour in a bowl and cut up cold butter, salt and work together flour and butter until mealy. Add water slowly and just squeeze to bring together. Don't work dough or it will get too hard. Once it comes together, put into 4 small balls and put in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Repeat with other 6 cups flour.
  2. On stove top, heat medium sauté pan and add 2-3 T butter and melt. Add onion and cook down until caramelized.
  3. Heat oven to 350. In a sheet of foil, add a bunch of garlic cloves. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper and dot with a little butter. Roast until golden brown but shake foil packet 2-3 times while cooking.
  4. Cut up pork loin into small dice, ¼ inch. With a tabletop grinder or kitchen aide grinder attachment, grind potatoes. Put out 3 bowls and divide pork evenly. Add ⅓ potatoes without water and incorporate into meat. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in ⅓ onion and garlic. Repeat with other 2 bowls.
  5. Take 2 dough balls out and divide into 3 or 4 slices and start to roll out into individual rounds. Put a full scoop of meat plus a bit more. Brush with water. Top with butter and fold over. Trim extra dough and fold over and pinch together. Put on parchment lined baking sheet. Sheet should hold 5 pasties and each bowl should make about 9 pasties.
  6. Turn oven to 350 and brush top of pasties with milk. Cook for 45 min then switch for another 45 min.
  7. While making pasties, cook pork ribs with salt and pepper for 45 min to 1 hour.
  8. While pasties are cooking, put 1 stick of buttering Dutch oven over med heat.
  9. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add drippings from ribs and ½ cup flour. Stir until rue. Add 1 cup wine and fill with water. Add ham rue to taste and a little chicken rue. Boil until thick and season as needed. Strain and return to pot.
  10. Serve pasties immediately with gravy and coleslaw.
  11. Can cut recipe down if wanting to make less but they freeze beautifully.
  12. If freezing, individually wrap each pasty in foil and place in a ziplock bag. Reheat at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until heated through.

 

Beef Oxtail and Short Rib Soup with Root Vegetables and Barley

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Oh the memories are pouring in! I completely ADORE homemade beef oxtail and short rib soup. It is SUCH a soul-filled meal for me and during these cold months, I CRAVE it!!

My grandmother, Mau (that’s what we called her), ALWAYS had a pot of her oxtail soup cooking on the stove every Sunday. Back then, I didn’t understand why she started this soup at 10 am but now as I have perfected it over the years, if you plan on eating it the same day, you have to start it early……the broth needs to build for AT LEAST 5 hours and there is a great deal of time spent skimming the foam off the top to get that clear, yummy broth.

THE SMELL of that soup cooking all day is permanently LOCKED into my senses! It filled the air with all the root veggies and barley she added in. It didn’t hurt that she had a homemade loaf of bread baking at the same time…what a coincidence….oh the simple things!!!!

We went over every Sunday, about 5, and my grandpa was always lounging in his recliner chair, watching some silly TV show, I think probably Archie Bunker, but we RAN through the front door and straight to the kitchen and up to the stove where that old pot was stock full of this soup! Like a bunch of hungry cats, we pounced to the table and sat, acting so ravished as if we hadn’t eaten in 3 days….she complained how we were driving her a bit crazy but looking back, she couldn’t have gotten a better complement and she knew it, but she still had to fret.

I have a copy of her handwritten recipe but I think on purpose she left a few things off, mostly the “secret” of cooking the oxtails and short ribs for hours. There is just some scribbles about veggies and a few instructions but I treasure that recipe and have called on her to fill me with the cooking tricks only she knew. I think after several years, I got it, finally.

So here’s to you Mau, I think you would be proud.

Beef Oxtail and Short Rib Soup with Root Vegetables and Barley
 
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This is sincerely my favorite soup of ALL time! I promise it is worth the time to leave it simmer to create that delicious broth.
Author:
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: American
Serves: 8-10 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs of beef oxtails
  • 2 lbs of beef short ribs, ask butcher to cut in half
  • 2 lbs of beef stew meat
  • 1 sweet onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, diced
  • 6 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 6 celery stocks, peeled and sliced
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed, ½ inch
  • 1 celery root, peeled and cubed, ½ inch
  • 2 rutabagas, peeled and cubed, ½ inch
  • 2 turnips, peeled and cubed, ½ inch
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed, ½ inch
  • 3 bay leaves
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • olive oil
Instructions
  1. In a large dutch oven over medium heat, add about 2 T olive oil. In batches sear the oxtail until browned on all sides, remove and put on plate. Repeat with short ribs. Salt and pepper during searing.
  2. Add another 2 T olive oil and add beef stew meat. Sear and season with salt and pepper, remove and put on plate.
  3. Add another 2 T olive oil and add onion, garlic, celery, and carrots, Season with salt and pepper and cook until just getting soft. Add back ALL meats and bay leaves and fill pot with water about ⅔ full. Turn up to get to a rolling boil and put on cover (but leave a crack so that water doesn't boil over). Simmer for 5-6 hours skimming top of foam frequently.
  4. About 45 minutes before wanting to eat, cook barley as per directions
  5. About 30 minutes before wanting to eat, add in all the root vegetables and simmer until just soft. Taste broth and add salt and pepper if needed.
  6. Spoon in a little barley into bottom of bowl and top with soup. Serve immediately with homemade bread!
  7. *This makes a lot of soup so can cut down recipe but we LOVE leftovers and gets better with time! Can freeze but just don't add barley to soup as it will thicken it.

 

Spaghetti Squash Boat with Roasted Tomato Sauce

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I do have to confess that the idea of eating spaghetti squash vs real pasta didn’t excite my universe too much. My mom tried to pass it off as the same but when you are a kid, pasta is pasta, right? You know, gooey goodness of mac and cheese or lasagna, it’s the best taste in the world, ever. How I am supposed to pretend that a stringy squash is gonna give me similar excitement and pleasure…NOT.

It didn’t stop her tenacity and she was Italian so I pretty much had to hush up and eat it and like it. There wasn’t a separate menu for those of us on the picket line, just a pass to our room on an empty stomach. She didn’t worry too much if our tummy’s growled or we dramatically entered out of our room before bed crying with hunger pains. Back then we either ate what was at dinner or waited until breakfast to see if we still were picketing or back into the land of the living. Anyone relate?

I do have to thank her diligence, no doubt because now I completely adore spaghetti squash. It’s a weekly staple at our house for dinner and my favorite prep is a simple roasted tomato sauce with onions, garlic, and basil. All sourced out of our garden and canned…..savoring goodness all year long.

Thanks mom, tenacity pays…..

Spaghetti Squash Boat with Roasted Tomato Sauce
 
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This is a simple weeknight delight that is both delicious and healthy. If you don't have fresh tomatoes, canned will work
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Farm to Table
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and placed face down on a cookie sheet
  • 6 large tomatoes, placed on a cookie sheet lined with parchment to roast (can substitute 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, preferably San Marzano or Pomi)
  • 1 medium sweet onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 T olive oil
  • Bunch of basil
  • Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
  • Grated pecorino cheese for serving
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 and put in spaghetti squash and tomatoes, roast until done, about 30 min for tomatoes and 45 min for squash
  2. When tomatoes are finished, place in blender or food processor and pulse until smooth
  3. In a medium saucepan, put in 3 T olive oil and heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent and add garlic, cook for 1 minute.
  4. Add tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Add basil and cook for another 5-10 minutes
  6. When squash is done, turn over and scoop out seeds. Add marinara sauce and top with pecorino.
  7. Serve immediately