Thankful ... Roasted Poblanos Stuffed with Pork Chili Verde

I am thankful.

Dinner. Come to mama.

I am thankful to have a loving and wonderful family. Mom. Dad & Margie-Mom. Amy, Randy & little Ruby. Alexis, Lyn & baby boy on the way.

I am thankful for the abundance of amazing friends in my life. The ones who make me laugh until I pee my pants, who pour me another glass of wine when I've probably already had one too many, who give me a hug when they know I need one, who let me find my own way along this road. Thank you for being a part of my life and my journey. I love you.

I am thankful to be spending Thanksgiving week in Colorado with my sister-friends and their family. My goal was to relax ... to really really relax.  It has been a busy semester working full time and taking 3 classes, while trying to maintain some sort of exercise routine, seeing family and friends, and find a moment now and then to breathe ... and to be.

When in Colorado, we eat, we shop and we drink. And we repeat.  This time, I brought my apron because we planned to cook, bake, eat and drink. Eat. And drink.

Roasted Poblanos Stuffed with Pork Chili Verde

Fixin' for corn casserole and poblanos stuffed with deliciousness.

1 Tablespoon of canola oil
3 lbs. of pork shoulder or butt
1 medium brown onion
5 cloves of garlic
16 ozs tomatillo salsa
3 Tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 Tablespoon of cumin
1 Tablespoon of coriander
3 cups low sodium, gluten free chicken broth
15.5 ozs of pinto beans
Juice of 1 lime
Salt & pepper

6 poblano peppers
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
3 Tablespoons of chopped cilantro
2 Tablespoons of chopped red onion
1 Tablespoon of chopped jalapeno
1/2 avocado diced
Sour cream

Directions:
1. To prepare the chili, trim any excess fat from the pork and cut into 2 inch cubes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, chop onion and garlic and set aside. Heat oil in a dutch oven and brown the meat on all sides, then remove from pan and drain oil.  Add onion and garlic and cook until softened.
2. In a large Pyrex measuring cup, mix together tomatillo salsa, chopped chipotle peppers, chicken broth, cumin and coriander and add to dutch oven, stir and add back in pork.
3. Heat oven to 300°.  Bring chili mixture to a boil on the stovetop and then transfer the oven.
4. Cook chili in oven for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, remove from oven then increase oven temperature to 350°.
5. Meanwhile, prepare poblano peppers to roast and chop the toppings.
6. If you are fortunate enough to have a second oven, then turn it to broil and place peppers on a large baking sheet and put in oven, brown peppers on all sides.  When all sides are brown, remove from the oven and put in a plastic bag to steam - this will make it easier to peel the skin. Leave peppers in the bag until they are cool enough to handle.  Remove from bag and peel skins, make an incision from the top to the bottom, remove the stem, ribs and seeds and lie flat.
7.  When pork is done, remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes, then using two forks shred meat. Add shredded meat back to dutch oven, add pinto beans and the juice of one lime.  Reheat over medium heat for 10 minutes.
8. Put a hearty 1/2 cup of chili in the middle of the poblano pepper, sprinkle with cheese and use a toothpick to close the pepper. 
9. Place stuffed peppers in a baking dish and heat in the oven for 15 minutes or the cheese bubbles, melts and browns a little.
10. Plate up a pepper, top with some creamy things, and dish up some corn casserole. Enjoy!

My sister-friend Tane and me.  XO

Love Me Some Frittata & Slab City

#7. Write more.

Number 7 on my New Year's resolution list is to write more.  This past spring, I wrote.  I wrote very passionately about my food philosophy and metabolism for Human Physiology class, and I wrote about personality, emotion, social issues and a variety of other topics for Psychology class. However, I have not written one thing for this blog since January.

Time flies.

The semester is over, and for the first time in 5 years, I am not teaching an exercise class, I am not taking an academic class, nor do I have a second job, therefore I have time to write and more importantly to play ...

I love a good road trip, so when asked if I wanted to check out Slab City, the infamous off-the-grid-spot, naturally I said YES!

Salvation Mountain

Salvation Mountain is the first stop along the road to Slab City and is Leonard Knight's tribute to love is everywhere.  While walking through Salvation Mountain, we met a man who works in nearby Niland and he shared with us the highlights of "The Slabs" - the gardens of East Jesus, weekend concerts at The Range amphitheater, and the natural hot springs.  

Entrance to East Jesus' art garden

As we walked through the entrance to the East Jesus art garden, we met Frank, the "curator." He gave us a tour of the garden, sharing the story of how each sculpture was created and how East Jesus operates.  I was impressed and inspired by the powerful messages of the sculptures, but also by the sleek set up of the place.  They had several sleeping quarters for artists in residence and friends - cozy old trailers, partially sunken buses, and converted shipping containers.  Since we didn't have a "reservation," we camped nearby in one of their tent style spots and spent the weekend with the residents and visitors of East Jesus.  EJ runs on solar and wind power and a storage container with a/c and large batteries to store excess power and they have a FULL kitchen.  That is right folks.  If you wanted to bake bread or churn some ice cream you could. EJ also had Wifi.  While I happily left my cell phone off in the car, the residents of EJ were on Facebook getting the news on the happenings of "The Slab." The philosophy of EJ is to contribute to the camp by either tapping into your creativity and make something to display in the garden, or to help improve the living quarters by building more shade structures or planting more vegetables in the food garden, for example.  As we left on Sunday, Frank standing tall at 6'7" leaned way down to give this 4'12" inch girl a hug goodbye.  I held on tight and thanked him as I left Slab City feeling very alive.

Tire Wooly Mammoth

Everyone loves frittatas-eggy, fluffy yumminess and they are super easy to make and versatile.  All you need is a few eggs or liquid eggs or egg whites, some milk, heavy cream, water, any kind of cheese, meat or no meat, assortment of diced vegetables, salt and pepper, and a deep pie dish and you're set. 

I made mini frittatas using a muffin tin to take to Slab City.  These little bite size gems were made with pancetta, garlic, parsley and Parmesan cheese.  Frank, the "curator" and professional chef, said pretty tasty although they could use a little bit more garlic.  

Favorite Everyday Frittata
6 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack/Guyere cheese from Trader Joe's
1/2 cup diced/chopped Canadian bacon or deli ham
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Using a whisk, beat 6 eggs until yolks are broken and eggs are frothy, then add liquid and whisk again.
2. If you desire, add cheese, meat and diced vegetables, s/p, and whisk again.
3. Pour into a greased deep pie dish and bake in a 350° until browned at the edges and the middle is "set," approximately 20 minutes.

Mini frittatas with egg whites, spinach, garlic, and Parmesan cheese.

Homemade Mozzarella and Da' Club

Me: Cheese Dick and Lady Julie, I'm ready to make more cheese, what about y'all? A blue perhaps?


Fred: CheeseBeeoch, I've been a little late replying, sorry. Was dealing with a raging cold all weekend and otha shee-ot.  I'm down to make some cheese m'lady.  Blue cheese would be rad.  I have some gouda doses in the freezer too.  No recipe, tho. CheeseDickie


CheeseDickie: yo yo YO CB, I've been in touch with the owner of Alesmith (he be makin cheese too) who told me about these foo-s.  I think we should branch out and make our own damn club just so we name our members.  String-cheese, Cheese-whiz, Queso-what?, etc. Then have meetings at different brewpubs-wine joints every month and sample our damn sheet-ot.  We gonna need a name and t-shirts. Cheese Dick out.


CheeseBeeoch:  Love it!  Our own club!! Let's do it!!  I'm already thinking that my Friday nights are cheese making nights since I'm a singleton. ... Re: Beer Week ... let's get something on the books so y'all can get a sitter, etc.  xoxoxo Cheese Beeoch out.


CD: Alright! Well we're going to need a name fo' Shawna fo' Da Club.  At some point we're going to need a Louise to join the club so that we can also have a Cheese Louise.  I see the names as being a driving force, if not the very reason, for Da Club.  #2 is cheese. #3 is beverage. ... I think we should plan our meetings to correspond with one of the thousands of beer and wine events going on each month ... if the tasks grow too large I will have to change my name to Big Cheese Dick and take on a Little Dick as as assistant.  Right now we only have a Dick and Bitch, so let's get crackin'. CD


CB: I'm peeing my pants right now. ... Re: Beer Week, my vote is for PPOB on Friday.  


Shawna: CD & CB, Friday night we could do the PP one and then Urge [later on..].  Cheesy Pleasy


CD: Cheese Dick and Baby Swiss are down with PPOB on Friday night.  What time are you making like toilet paper (& rolling out).  We were thinking about hitting it early 5:30pm or whatever ... easy cheesy .... I'm going to bring a lil' slice of homemade parm and my gray-ta to supplement that pizza pie. CD

Insalata caprese with homemade mozzarella and home grown basil.

My first venture into cheese making with Fred (aka Cheese Dick) was this easy 30 minute mozzarella, which is the perfect mate to home grown basil and tomatoes.  We convened on a summer Sunday afternoon and in no time had made not only mozzarella, but a sharp cheddar that would need to age a few months before we could taste it.

Fred aka Cheese Dick cutting the curd.

Curds after draining the whey.

"Processing" the mozzarella.

Quick 30 Minute Mozzarella
by The Greening of Gavin

1 gallon and a splash (4 litres) of whole milk 
1 1/2 teaspoon citric acid
1/4 teaspoon de-ionized salt (if you can find cheese salt - use that)
1/4 teaspoon rennet (where to buy cheese supplies in San Diego)
1 1/2 cup bottled water 


Tools:
Stainless stock or soup pot
Colander 
Microwave safe bowl
Slotted spoon
Thermometer


Step by step instructions here.


The original recipe and steps with pictures from Ricki Carroll here.


I encourage you to read Gavin's post and review both sets of instructions before beginning. Not because this is a difficult recipe or takes a long time to make, but because between the two of us - Cheese Dick and Cheese Bitch - we were a bit excited and our steps got out of sync a little bit.  The mozzarella still tasted better than anything store bought.


Enjoy! 

Me and "Cheese Dick" goofing around.

Best summer foods.