Cocktail Party Time!

Well, we’ve made it through another year. Gone are the endless summer days, lazy afternoons on the beach, and barbecuing your breakfast. Get ready for dark. So, so much dark. And cold! All the cold.

I’m going to hibernate this winter in the kitchen. I’ve been cooking up a storm lately, because I’ve decided homemade gifts are so much more thoughtful. And fun. And Instagrammable, because you can be all like, “#DIY #SundayFunday #Homemade #WifeyMaterial,” and such when you are crafting up a storm. People will be jealous of your artsy nature, they will compare themselves to you and feel inadequate, and really, that’s the spirit of the season, oui?

Anyway. You know what’s more fun that making people jealous? The spirits of the season! See what I did there? We’re talking booze now, folks. The other things that is fun is being alone and having everybody leave you be, which hardly ever happens in this season of giving. But you can host a 5 à 7, (Cinq à Sept-French because we’re fancy here) and then you can enjoy cocktails with a few people, for only two hours, and then everyone leaves and you can drink red wine with your sister and watch E.R. on the couch for the rest of the night. And really, THAT’S the spirit of the season.

If you are hosting one of these delightfully time sensitive events, you will need to feed people. But again, only snacks! Because then they’ll go home and eat their own food and you don’t have to spend the entire day in the kitchen slinging fowl from fridge to oven to dinner table.  It’s a win-win, and if I have to hear you tell your saccharine engagement story (“And I was totally not expecting it, it was just this small box under the tree, but he told me it was a guitar pick, and I totally believed him!”) one more effing time, I’m going to do it while guzzling lavender-rosewater syrup cocktails and stuffing my face with homemade pâté.

A cheese plate is essential. You’ve got to show your individuality through a cheese plate. Are you an Edam host? Perhaps you’re more of a Cambozola-type. Is a Baked Brie too #basic now? Can a burrata elevate you to the next level? (Just for the record, absolutely). Join Kelly and I below as we discuss in our very first #GRWM video! Kelly covers the basics of drinks pairing, and I mostly chat about plates.

Whatever your plans are this holiday season, best wishes from the LadyGirls!

Frog Legs With Sauce Piquante

Welcome to our 2nd live blog! Today, we make frog legs in honour of our trip to Charleston next week. This recipe is courtesy of David Link and Sean Brock of Mind of a Chef, which is only the best show ever created. It's on Netflix. You should watch.

We'll be starting at 5:00pm- we look forward to you joining us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using #liveblogdeadfrog.


Kelly here - my pre-blog questions are what Songza playlist should I use, and what type of beer should I crack? Pressing stuff….Follow my updates on Twitter as well @kellllybeth! 

Great question Kelly! I'm having a PBR. You can follow me at @baileymariereid! Let's do this!

I just started my legs. I've got a bowl full of flour and Old Bay seasoning, which is coating those legs before they go in the pan. They're... legs. Very much bringing back to anatomy.

You got Old Bay?! So smart. I have some dried habanero spice and cajun seasoning, but a few of my legs are still frozen (whoopsie) so I'm busy chopping up onions and celery while they thaw. And I've got some Bayou beats on too! 

Ha! I already had Old Bay! I go through it in tubs. What kind of peppers did you get? I've got bell, jalapeño and some other spicy one. I've also chopped my onion, celery, and garlic!

Have you tried any of the meat yet, Kell? I haven't.

Tried the meat yet?! I'm still chopping. I totally should've prepped my mise en place in advance. I got bell peppers, jalapeños, and Hungarian peppers! 

Okay, finally done chopping. Oil is hot and legs are ready to take a dip. Everybody in the pool…..

Also, i feel like a dolt for saying I'm using frozen legs instead of fresh. But try finding fresh frog legs in Kingston, Ontario! It was bad enough trying to find foie gras that one time…..

I had to get frozen too! There was nothing fresh in Ottawa, either. But! I've fried up my legs. Next, I added about a tablespoon of butter into the hot pan with the frog grease (that is not appetizing... I mean the liquid gold!) Next I added the mirepoix (onions, garlic and celery.) Finally, in went the peppers, and about a half cup of flour. I'm about to add some tomatoes now.

My tester leg fried up a beautiful golden brown but subsequent legs are looking pasty. Cranking my oil temp. For visuals, check in with me at @kellllybeth on twitter or @kellyelizreid on Insta. 

Good call, sister. My roux has my gravy mad thick. I'm ready to simmer after adding some stock! They are going to simmer for about 15-20 min. Time to make some rice. Remember how in Mind Of A Chef they serve it with grits? But then Sean Brock says that's sacrilege, so I'll do rice. How is that oil coming along?

i've got a serious roux going, but I think I burned the bejesus out of my garlic!

Oh no! Burned garlic is the worst. I tried one of my mystery peppers to see what it was like... I'm sweating, my tongue has no sensation, and I'm now terrified of touching my face. But it smells like the bayou in here!

Hahahaha! My mystery Hungarian peppers turned out to be pretty mild but it smells like the Bayou in my kitchen too! Debating dumping half a beer in to augment my stock just for the hell of it…..

That sounds like a fabulous beer. Let's shoutout your brewer? Who did you go with?

Went with Sleeman Honey Brown! A total delight. My stock is in, simmering away on top of my mire, tomatoes, and peppers. What stock did you end up going with? I assume you didn't have frog stock. I used chicken. 

You're right. No frog stock here... although now I know what to do with my bones? I went with a homemade vegetable stock, because that's just what I had on hand. I wonder if fish stock would work too?

Taking this lull while my stock simmers and my rice water boils to add a few photos, in case you haven't been following Twitter or insta! 

Your photos look awesome Kell! My phone seems to be uninterested in syncing. I'll get there, but you can find my finished product at @baileymariereid on Twitter or @baileyreid85 on Insta!

Well, apparently brown rice takes FORTY FIVE MINUTES to cook, so my finished product shot will be up in approximately 41 minutes. 

Bahahahahahhahahahahahah Mummy would be so mad that you didn't prep this all in advance! Bad girls Kelly. PSA- frog bones are LITTLE. Like, LITTLE. So be careful with that, everyone. Go easy on the bourbon until after dinner.


Okay everyone! Thank you so much for joining us for this blog! Next week, we head out on a road trip to Savannah. Travel with us by following #SouthOf49!

Pre-fry. Looking beautiful!

Sacrificial lamb. He looks good!

Ready to go

Simmering the goods.

Chicken Piccata

Hello my dear friends. It's been a long time since I wrote up a recipe. My life fell apart into forty million sharp and jagged pieces and I lost sight of my joy. I'm that meme that says "In the process of getting my groove back. Please standby." Nobody expects to be washed ashore in a wave of shit at the age of 55 and have to start all over again. You don't see that coming. But nor can you have people at your funeral saying "Yeah, but what about her self pity years?" So it's time to Sally Forth and at least I've started to shave my legs on a regular basis again!

So I hadn't cooked a thing in months when my beautiful sister-in-law asked if The LadyGirls would cater my brother's 50th birthday party. I was so honoured and excited to be asked, and we jumped at the chance! I've posted our menu for the party here. We really enjoyed every bit of the planning and the shopping, but oh my - I can't even describe how good it felt to be standing at a stove again! Oh and by the way, in my excitement to see that my sexy new basement apartment had a marble bathroom, I failed to notice that it had no stove. So I think catering will be the way to go from now on so I can use other people's stoves as my test kitchen. Although it does have a hot plate and I could always write a series on camp cooking such as how to heat up a can of beans and what have you.

But the hit of the buffet was the Chicken Piccata by far. Now you should note that I've also made this recipe with veal and it's every bit as delicious. This is a fast and easy way to feed a crowd.

You'll need:
boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I used 8 breasts sliced vertically into 4 slices per breast and pounded out flat. This made 32 pieces, but 2 breasts, sliced and pounded will yield 8 pieces to feed 4 people
salt, pepper and flour to dredge
olive oil to fry the meat
And for the sauce:
1 sliced lemon
1 cup or more of chicken broth depending how many you serve
a splash of white wine if you life, but it's not necessary
2 tablespoons or more of capers
1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley

Slice each breast into 4 thin slices vertically and pound them flat between 2 pieces of plastic wrap using a meat tenderizer, or a rolling pin. Don't touch any surfaces in the kitchen until you're finished with this and then thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water and sanitize all your surfaces that came in contact with the chicken. Heat about 1 inch of olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour shaking off any excess. Using tongs, fry each piece in the oil until golden and flip and do the other side. Remove them to paper towel to drain off the excess oil. Drain any oil left in the skillet and deglaze with a splash of white wine if you like. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes to cook off the alcohol and add the chicken broth and lemon. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes until it thickens and add the capers. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce over it. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. So fast and easy and amazing! You'll make this one often. And I do recommend you try it with veal sometime too. For sides, I used green beans and potatoes, but use whatever you like. Pasta goes perfect with it and a nice arugula salad. Enjoy friends! It's so good to be back!

Savannah Red Rice

I know that I have confessed my love for Anthony Bourdain on this blog before. In fact, I think we all have. All the LadyGirls love Bourdain. What’s not to love? He’s a mega-babe, right? Plus, he cooks. AND drinks. AND tells Rachel Ray to f*ck off. So, I’m down with his style in life.

 

But, now I am also in love with David Chang and Sean Brock. Because they ALSO cook. And drink (bourbon, specifically). AND probably also find Rachel Ray as offensive as I do. And they are all on the best show to ever come on television, Mind of a Chef. If you haven’t watched it yet, you should. It’s on Netflix. You can spend all your free time this weekend watching the genius that is Bourdain narration and Chang/Brock hosting. It’s also on PBS. So, you can support your public broadcaster while you do it. (I realize these last two paragraphs were borderline obsessive, so I kind of don’t want any of these men to read this blog because I won’t look cool, I’ll just look thirsty. But on the other hand, call me, David Chang).

The second season is really amazing, because it focuses specifically on Lowcountry cooking. One episode in particular features a giant pig barbecue and a dinner outside, which basically sounds like the most fun party to ever happen. Chef Steven Satterfield is featured in this episode for his Savannah Red Rice, which made my mouth water the first time I watched it (and maybe every time subsequently).

This brings me to my other current excitement, a challenge I set for myself for the month of May. Last year, several people I know, including one of the LadyGirls, bought into a community farm box to receive fresh produce for the summer. Super great idea, but slightly overwhelming in terms of cooking, particularly if you aren’t familiar with some of the vegetables you’re getting in the box. I was hashing out this particular challenge with a friend of mine, who had lived in Sweden for a while. He said that when he received his box in Sweden, it also came with a recipe book and meal plan for the week to utilize everything in the box. This was brilliant, in my mind. So, building on that, I decided to challenge myself to use something I’ve never cooked with each week in May. How exciting is that for a spring eating challenge? So fun, right?

As I was inspired by the Mind of a Chef episode, and because my condo neighbours don’t seem like the types to want to roast a whole pig in the courtyard, I decided to use okra as this week’s vegetable. I love eating okra, but I’ve never cooked with it. Now that I’ve used it though, I’ll be incorporating it in regularly. This red rice was amazing. My house has never smelled so good! But, be warned- this is probably not a weeknight dinner, unless you do a lot of prep ahead of time. It requires a fair amount of flavour-layering, and therefore there are a lot of steps. Find the full recipe here, but here’s what I did.

 

Start with a pot and sauté a mirepoix (that’s just French for celery, onions, and carrots, but we’re fancy here) in a good amount of butter and bacon fat (you do drain your bacon fat into a cup in your freezer, right?) But you’re actually not going to add carrots; you’re going to add two cloves of chopped garlic instead. Let that get soft, and then add a can of diced tomatoes, not drained. Also add a splash of apple cider vinegar, chilli flakes, 2 cups of chicken stock, salt, pepper, two bay leaves, and a spoonful of dried thyme. Let that simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Sometimes you have to improvise.

Get out your best cast iron pan. Add more bacon fat and butter to that, then toast two cups of a long grain rice (a southern one, if you don’t live in Canada and shop at Food Basics, in which case you’ll just use rice). Once it’s opaque, add four cups of the tomato mixture, and cover. As with any cooking rice, don’t peek. Don’t lift the lid. (YOU’LL RUIN EVERYTHING). Just time it for 25 minutes. Then turn of the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. STILL do not lift the lid. 

When the rice just starts to simmer, get another pan out. (I told you this was many steps). Add the remaining tomato mixture to your pan, and then add your sausage. I used a nice dried hot salami, but Andouille would be more authentic. That can simmer gently until those five minutes that the rice stands. Add your okra and raw shrimp in at that moment, and let them cook until just pink. (Never overcook your shrimp- they’ll be like Pink Pearl erasers in your dish if you do that.)

Finally, mix it all together. Top with chopped parsley leaves and chives. Barbecued pig and southern beer optional but strongly advised.

Want to take the new veggie a week challenge with us? Let us know in the comments!

Harissa Leg of Lamb

Well I guess if it's Tuesday, it must be Bedlam(b)! So lame right? And you'd have to be 55 or older to even get that one! I made the lamb curry last Tuesday and that's my day off to cook. I always troll for meat bargains when I shop and with $12.00 for a small pack of stewing beef and $11.00 for a small pack of hamburger meat, a boneless leg of fresh lamb at $20.00 seemed like the bargain of the century today. So not to be Tuesday lamb obsessed, I was looking for a flavour vehicle for a Harissa sauce that I wanted to try out. And my God, I'm not sorry I did. Harissa flavour is native to Northern Africa. Tunisia to be precise. And I am so fascinated with all African inspired dishes lately. And a Harissa sauce is one of those sauces that probably has a thousand variations on it, so you don't have to be precise like a French sauce where you have to nail it every single time. And you can use this on a shoulder cut as well. Just slow cook it for 7 hours to where it has the texture of pulled pork. But since I got the bargain on the leg today, we'll do it traditional roast style. But you can use this sauce as a condiment as well. Use it in place of ketchup or HP Sauce. This is flavour town baby!

So let's make the sauce first. You'll need:
6 dried chilies of any kind. I used 2 of each of Ancho, Arbol and Guajillo (Side note - This is why it pays to stock your pantry since I had these chilies in the cupboard from my Posole Rojo recipe)
1 Teaspoon of Caraway Seed
1 Teaspoon of Coriander Seed
1 Teaspoon of Cumin Seed
1/4 teaspoon of chili flakes
4 peeled garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of salt or kosher salt
2 generous tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. And more. I'll explain
That's the basic sauce and you can add some options. This is damn spicy, so you want might to add
Zest and juice of a lemon (which I did)
1 tablespoon of chopped mint or cilantro. I used mint, but cilantro would be awesome too. Or even parsley
Some sundried tomatoes or yogurt. Suit yourself. I was happy without it.

Start by hydrating your chili peppers. Cover with boiling water and let them rehydrate for 30 minutes.
Toast your spices in a dry skillet just until they give fragrance and bash them up in a mortar and pestle. Drain your chili peppers and stem and discard the seeds. (Wear gloves for this unless you thrive on danger and pain). Save the remaining water for a minute. Put your spices and peppers and garlic and salt and everything but the olive oil into a food processer and start it up. Slowly drizzle in your olive oil until you have a paste. You basically want ketchup consistency here. Thin it down with your chili water if it's too thick. Taste for salt. But you need to put this in fridge overnight, so better to taste for seasoning when you serve since the flavours will develop. Put it in a Mason Jar and cover the top with a thin layer of olive oil and refrigerate.

For the roast:
I used a boneless leg of lamb, but a shoulder of pork or lamb would be awesome too. Same technique. Rub the sauce onto the meat and cover and refrigerate overnight. If you use a shoulder of anything, place the meat in a roast pan and bake at 285 degrees F for 6 or 7 hours. Covered and with 2 cups of water in the pan. For a boneless leg, I preheated to 450 degrees and roasted for 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 25-30 minutes per pound. Uncovered the whole time. Let rest for 10 minutes under tin foil before you serve it.

Just of note, you can use this sauce as a condiment. It will keep in your fridge for up to a month. Put a new layer of olive oil on it each time you use it. But you can put it on burgers or eggs or sandwiches or even if you make a hummus, throw a few spoonfuls on top. So delish! I could eat it from the jar actually. God Bless Africa and thank you for the flavour you give us! You can serve this with any side you like. But if you do the slow roasted method, it's recommended that you shred it and serve with Naan bread or lettuce to wrap it in. Enjoy friends!

Tagliatelle with Meatballs in Red Wine

I've decided this blog doesn't give enough attention to date food. Possibly because two of the three LadyGirls are in live-in relationships, and the third (me) is a jaded serial First-Dater, we don’t consider how many people in this world are actually out there and meeting other humans in hopes that some sort of functioning relationship will blossom.

I’ve had so many first dates that I have a script that I essentially recite. My first date monologue is one of pre-crafted and charmingly quirky anecdotes, dotted with perfectly timed self-deprecating witticisms, which only work because nothing I'm self-deprecating about is an actually personality flaw, which both the date and I know. To break through my carefully fashioned exterior of a mix between Gillian Flynn's Cool Girl and Nathan Rabin’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl, you need to make it to at least a fourth cocktail on Date Three.

 

The monologue is necessary, particularly in the ADD-age of Tinder. Spending time with strangers is rarely fun, and when you are spending time with a stranger who only stood out because in the swath of gym-selfies, gun-selfies, and Unabomber lookalikes, he had a profile without any dead animals or dick pics. This in no way means they will be interesting, or funny, or even a functioning human being. It only means they realize that a picture of their nethers should not be treated as a valentine.

Rather than playing 20 Questions with men who ration their sentences, I will just start chattering to fill the void. As Pulp Fiction puts it, you have to be pretty familiar to share a comfortable silence with someone. What does a silence with a stranger feel like? It feels like the doctor’s office calling you back two weeks after those tests, and then the receptionist being on lunch break for the next hour. It feels like standing in line at Ikea with only three light bulbs to purchase during on the last weekend in August in a college town.  It feels like the moment of dread at 4:52 a.m. when you wake up and have to pee and you know that if you get out of bed, you’ll finally fall back asleep at precisely 6:57 a.m. In short, it is excruciating. The answer is to have a pre-prepared soliloquy of sorts, which you can deliver over a drink (or two, depending on how much you like the sounds of your own voice) and you’ll never have to have a real conversation with a stranger ever again.

So anyway. All that being said, after a few dates with someone, you may actually like them enough to share a meal with them. This needs to be carefully considered as well. It can’t be too slurpy (no pho or ramen), but it can’t be boring or cheap (please, please, never Kelsey’s).  

Once you’ve shared enough meals in public with someone, you then may want to spend time with them in the privacy of your own home. This is great if you actually truly enjoy someone’s company, but be warned- there is much more pressure in your home, because you lack the ability to people watch and base conversations on your observations. A helpful option? Making a great meal.

These meatballs are a great date meal. They are quick, your house will smell amazing, and they’re quite easy to make, without looking like you made some Kraft Dinner. The trick is to use fancy pasta, no basic fettuccine for this. If you use pappardelle or tagliatelle, it looks like an extra special effort. As my mother always told me, “It’s all smoke and mirrors baby,” (as I type this, I realize I really took that advice to heart since my first date monologue is essentially smoke and mirrors.)

I based the meal on this recipe, which I found on Pinterest. I changed a few things, but one thing I absolutely recommend staying with is the integration of ricotta. It keeps the meatballs wonderfully moist.

I wasn’t able to find veal, and also had a lengthy discussion with my best friend on the phone about the ethics of veal while trying to find it in the Loblaws, and was guilted out of even looking very hard by the end of the conversation. You could use ground beef, like I did, but it would probably be fine with really any ground meat you wanted.

For the meatballs, you’ll need:

• 1 lb of ground meat
• 3 tbsp ricotta
• lemon zest
• about a handful of breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• chopped fresh parsley
• a few cloves of minced garlic
• parmesan
• chili flakes

For the sauce, you’ll need:

• ½ cup chicken stock
• ½ cup red wine (or more, whatever)
• knob of butter
• 3 bay leaves
• squeeze of lemon juice

I didn’t use white wine, as the recipe suggests, because I think red meat is better with red wine. You can use whatever you like though. I also put the lemon zest in the meatballs instead of the sauce and then squeezed the lemon into the sauce.

Mix your meatball ingredients together with your hands, there’s no other way. Form into balls; you’ll get about 12-14 depending on how big they are. Let chill for half an hour. Heat up a tbsp. of oil in large frying pan and brown the meatballs on each side. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and simmer for a minute or two. Then add your chicken stock, bay leaves, and lemon juice. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let cook uncovered for 15 minutes, turning the balls occasionally.

Cook your pasta in boiling, salted water. Just before serving, stir in the knob of butter to your sauce. Top pasta with meatballs, sauce, freshly grated parmesan, and maybe some fresh basil or parsley. (That’s optional, but you’re the type of person who puts effort into things.)

 Happy dating!

Baked Tacos

Here I go again contradicting myself. I found a recipe on facebook that I shared to my sister's wall since she doesn't like to cook or fuss around with food. But I know her family loves food. So when I spot a really easy one that has potential for flavour, I share it over to her. But even I wanted to try this one out. It's literally the easiest weekday meal you will ever make. I'm all about cooking all day long since it relaxes me and I enjoy it. So speedy recipes aren't my thing. But this took less than 30 minutes and it was full of flavour, and has the flavours of my beloved Mexico, where I'm headed to in 7 days. So a Joy! And let's do this!

You'll need:
1 package of lean ground beef (about a pound.)
1 finely chopped onion
1 package of Taco seasoning (cringing now, but it works)
1 can of refried Pinto beans
1/2 can of tomato sauce
6 small tortillas

And to garnish:
Lettuce, chopped tomato, salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, chopped cilantro

Preheat your oven to 375. Brown the hamburger meat and add the chopped onion and saute until soft. If you didn't use lean ground beef, drain the fat. If you did, let's forge ahead. There will be a bit of fat, but we're down with that. This is life. Add the can of refried beans and the taco seasoning and stir it all around for a few minutes until it all bubbles up and blends in. Add the tomato sauce. Taste and add some salt and pepper if you like.

In a 9 x 9" pan, fill each soft tortilla with the beef and spread it into 6 shells equally. Top with shredded Mexican blend cheese. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes then broil just until the cheese bubbles and remove from the oven. Let sit for about 10 minutes and serve with garnishes. Easier than making a peanut butter sandwich. You'll be making this one every week. Cheers friends! Always trying to save you time during the Holiday crunch!

Chicken Chilaquiles

Anybody getting sick and tired of me raving about how much I love Mexican cuisine yet? Well brace yourself because this one is a barn burner. So awesome and easy and delicious. And I made it for snack today for my football friends and it took no effort at all. Nobody even noticed I disappeared to the kitchen and came back with lunch. But they expect that of me anyway. This is a recipe I have been wanting to try for so long just and only for its sexy name. Chilaquiles. Can you even say it without smiling and thinking of joy and happiness and sexiness and flavour? Didn't think so. So let's light up the joint and buck up a sexy meal!

You'll need:
3 tablespoons of paprika
3 tablespoons of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
That's your flavour base.
Also:
3 tablespoons of Canola oil or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of flour
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 box of chicken broth. You may want to use low sodium since we're going to throw a bag of Frito chips into this later
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I used 2 to feed 4 people. So use 4 breasts if you're feeding more than that.
Salt and pepper to season
A bag of Frito chips
1 cup of crumbled Feta cheese. Or use Mexican cheese if you can get your hands on it
Sour Cream to garnish
Thinly sliced red onion to garnish
Chopped Cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice to garnish

Combine your paprika, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, sugar and salt in a bowl, whisking it all up and set aside.
Chop your garlic
Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
Heat the oil on medium heat and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Whisk for 3 or 4 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and the spice mixture. Keep on whisking and slowly whisk in the broth, and keep on whisking until it's smooth and be sure to scrape the sides and incorporate it all. Cover and let it simmer for about half an hour until it is thick enough to coat a spoon. We're looking for gravy texture here.
Slice your onion and organize your garnishes while that simmers.
Slice your chicken horizontally.
Throw a bag of Fritos into the sauce 3 minutes before you plan to serve. And stir it all up.

To plate:
Add the Frito and sauce mixture onto a plate. Top with the chicken, cheese, red onion, cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Drizzle some sour cream over it. And that's it! And my piece of crap, virus infected laptop won't let me post a photo. And that's a shame because this is a very beautiful dish. So photo to come soon and cheers my friends!

Cuban Sandwiches

Have I ever told you how much my family loves to take a concept and run wild with it until it's been exaggerated to death? And of course you know we love NFL football and betting and eating snack and drinking beer. So imagine the fun we had combining the two this week! So my sister and I were discussing our football tickets for this week. And then from there - and I don't know quite how it evolved, we got to talking about the different cities that have NFL teams. And which cities we liked the most and which ones we'd like to visit some day. And being as we are, we decided to do a Sexy City ticket. That's right. We chose what we decided were the 6 sexiest cities in the NFL and bet on them. And since Miami was deemed to be one of those sexy cities, and won the Thursday Nighter, I was inspired to make Cuban Sandwiches for snack this week. That is one sexy snack for two sexy sisters, and a sexy city 6 pick ticket! So let's have some fun with that.

You'll need:
A 1 or 2 pound pork shoulder roast, depending on how many sandwiches you want to make. I used a 2 pound to make about 10 sandwiches. The roast is really the key to give your sandwiches good flavour and I slow cooked mine the day before.
Salt and pepper to season
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of smashed garlic
1/2 teaspoon of dried red chili flakes
1 sliced onion
1 cup of orange juice
zest and juice of a lime
1 cup of chicken broth
2 bay leaves
Bread. Not a baguette. If you can't find a Cuban roll, I used Portuguese buns
10 slices of Swiss Cheese
Bread and butter pickles
10 slices of Black Forest ham.
Salt and Pepper and olive oil to brush on the bread
A Panini or sandwich grill if you have one. Otherwise use a skillet and smash the sandwich down with a plate with a brick on it. And flip after 3 or 4 minutes on medium heat. Just to golden and your cheese is melted.

So let's get at that pork roast. Just of note, this is an amazingly delicious way to cook a pork roast and I would use it as main if I wasn't in the mood for Cuban Sandwiches.
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat and add the garlic and chili flakes. Season the roast with the salt and pepper and rub in the cumin and oregano. Brown it in the oil on all sides and add the onion, bay leaves, lime juice and zest and orange juice and broth. Cover and place in a preheated 300 degree oven and cook for about 3 1/2 hours. Remove the meat and set aside. Boil down the remaining juices in the pan until they're reduced by half or a bit more. You want it to be like a gravy consistency. Press it through a sieve and let it cool down. Put it in a squeeze bottle and refrigerate it. And you just made you own homemade sub sauce! Imagine that! Let it come back down to room temperature before you make your sandwiches.

To assemble your sandwiches, slice open the bun and add some of your sub sauce to each side. Layer the sliced pork, then cheese, then pickle and the ham. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Brush each side of the bun with olive oil and heat in the sandwich press for about 5 minutes. Let all of your ingredients come down to room temperature before you assemble them. That way they'll be warm from the grill, but your bun won't scorch. And that's a sexy tip right there! Mustard or Dijon is an option to serve on the side. But not traditional to the sandwich. So that's your call. And that, my friends is the way to enjoy a Sunday in the sexiest possible way. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Bacon Frittata

I guess I can tell you that my biggest pet peeve in life for the past decade (or 2, because where do the years go?) has been the price of gasoline. As it goes steadily up, my nerves go steadily down. To the point where I started driving a 4 cylinder car to save on gas. And I watch the websites like a hawk, driving on fumes to fill up on the next cheap gas day. I will literally buy 2 dollars worth to hold me off till then. So now, instead of spending a full days pay on gasoline, I only spend a half days pay per week. And I thought I was winning. But oh no my friends. As the cartels have been slowly loosening that noose off my neck, the bastard pig farmers have been quietly gaining momentum.

Canadians more than love bacon. It courses through our veins. It is the very mainstay of our lives other than hockey and maple syrup. And when hockey is over for the season and the maple trees are not in sap, it's all we have to sustain us. We count on bacon. It is our trusted and dear friend. A friend when nobody else seems to care. And knowing this, the pig farmers or the government, or some other sinister blood lusty thieves started sneaking the price slowly up to the point where less than a pound of bacon (because those same blood lusty thieves put us to the metric system) raised it to $7.99 a package. More than the price of a steak or chicken or a really good cut of pork roast.

So I went on bacon strike. I didn't think I needed it that badly. I just decided bacon and I were through for good. I stopped buying it altogether. But it wasn't too long before I started lingering in bacon the way I used to lust for new shoes. I would just stand there with my cart and eyeball it, hoping for a brand on sale. Stand there and savour the good memories of a long lost love. Relish in those precious memories and wonder what I did so wrong to break us up. Often times I would just softly caress that plastic and resolve myself to be content in the good memories we had and move on. Sometimes I would put it in my cart, only to throw it back down in chicken. Strength and resolve. But then one day, I ordered a BLT for lunch from a local deli. And I realized I was back at square one. The addiction was strengthened by that toasted sandwich. I think my joy possibly frightened the office staff from ever dining in the same room as me again. It was shameful. So I relapsed. I bought some bacon on the way home that night and went on an ever loving bacon bender the likes of which you've never seen.

And I cook the whole not full pound of it because I can't know when I've had enough. And so last night I had some left over bacon because I'm normalized again after the withdrawal. And this frittata is the very best way to enjoy leftover bacon.

You'll need:
bread slices, about 5 to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. I use light rye. Just use enough full slices to cover the bottom of the pan and tear up another piece to fill in the holes so it's all covered
8-10 eggs
a splash of milk
a goodly few sploshes of hot sauce of your choice
2 chopped tomatoes
also anything else you like. Chopped onion or green or red pepper or jalapeno. Just whatever you have on hand or like
2 cups of grated cheese. Again, use what you like. I like old white cheddar and gruyere
salt and pepper to season
6 or 7 slices of crisp bacon which you will crumble over the top

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of the casserole dish with the bread
Whisk the eggs, hot sauce, salt and pepper and milk
Add the cheese and tomatoes and whatever else vegetable you like
Pour it over the bread and crumble the bacon over the top and season with more salt and pepper
Bake for about 45 minutes
Let it rest for 10 minutes before you serve it

So easy and you can have this for brunch or lunch or dinner or breakfast. I like asparagus very much, so I serve with a side of roasted asparagus. But a salad would be just the dandy too. Enjoy friends!