Feliz Cinco de Mayo

I didn't exactly go traditional this Cinco de Mayo.  Not a taco shell in sight.  But I did take some traditional flavors and have fun with them!

Starting with the chicken... I marinated it in the Mojo marinade I picked up at Aldi yesterday.  Nice and citrusy...  I pan-fried the breasts to brown and then stuck them under the broiler to finish.  The sauce has a really nice South of the Border flavor without the typical Southwestern spices.  I'll be back for more!  (Well, not right away...  Victor kinda reminded me that we now have enough sauces, marinades, tapenades, and relishes to open an International Grocery...)

The potatoes are what I was craving all day.  I steamed a few red creamers and sliced them in half and scooped them out.  I mixed cheddar cheese and half a chipotle pepper with adobo with the potato and then stuffed them and put them back into the oven.  Oh yeah.  Creamy, smoky, spicy.

Zucchini, onions, and tomatoes with cumin and Mexican oregano finished the plate.

We have lots of brownies left for dessert, but I bought some chocolate today so I can finish them off with a ganache as they are supposed to be served.

But not right away.  I'm stuffed.

(Two hours later...)

This is what happens when you take decadent and add to it...

Now I'm really stuffed!

by Tim Dineen

Island Time

It started with a Papaya Lime sauce and ended with pineapple and coconut.

I had to use one of the new sauces I picked up today, and the Papaya Lime seemed the way to go.  I've been looking at a 3-year old Bon Appetit magazine all about the Caribbean and have been feeling the island call.

Tonight, I started off with a pork tenderloin that I marinated in the Papaya Lime sauce and a bit of boonie pepper.  I wanted some heat on the pork because I wanted pineapples on top.

Pineapple Relish

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 can pineapple chunks, drained
• 1/4 cup dried apricot, chopped
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Melt butter in saute pan.  Add everything but balsamic vinegar and cook about 5 minutes or until pineapple begins to brown a bit and caramelize.  Add balsamic and stir until nicely thickened.  Serve over pork (or chicken, fish...)

And with papaya, lime, and pineapple, the only thing missing was coconut.  Coconut Rice to the rescue.

Coconut Rice

• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup white rice
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup dried coconut

Cook wild rice separately, drain, and set aside.

Melt 1 tbsp butter in sauce pan.  Add white rice and stir to coat.  Add coconut milk, water, dried coconut and a pinch of salt.  Cook about 20 minutes or until done.

Stir in reserved wild rice and serve.

I grilled the pork loin and topped it with the pineapple relish.  The coconut rice was really good - the addition of the wild rice kept it from being a coconut rice pudding!  And who doesn't like green beans?!?

And for dessert...

Jamaican Coffee Brownies

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cubes butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons very finely ground coffee beans
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 13x9x2-inch pan. Combine sugar, butter, cocoa, ground coffee, and salt in large bowl. Place bowl over saucepan of simmering water and whisk until butter melts and ingredients are blended (texture will be grainy). Remove bowl from over water; cool mixture to lukewarm if necessary. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Sift flour over and fold in. Mix in pecans.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake brownies until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool brownies in pan.

Methinks we'll have to have chicken tomorrow.....

by Tim Dineen

High End/Low End Shopping

Today was grocery shopping at opposite ends of the spectrum - $1.99 Mojo Marinade and $7.95 Papaya Lime Grilling Sauce.  $1.39 Pickles and $7.95 Black Olive Spread.   Gift Certificate buying and Debit Card (my own) buying.

A while back I did a web design for a friend.  She has a great business doing equine massages.  I just gave her the design (another reason why I will never have money - I keep giving it away...) and her husband put the site together.  She offered to pay me several times but I just said don't worry about it.  So Saturday, she gave me a $50.00 Harry and David's Gift Certificate along with another certificate good for $10.00 off a $20.00 purchase.  $60.00 worth of free food!  See Tim Smile.

In the meantime, I've been hearing a lot about a grocery store named Aldi.  There's one about 6 miles from us, so I thought I'd start out at the mall and then head up and see what all the fuss is about.

First stop was Harry and David's.  I'll admit that I haven't been in a Harry & David's store before.  I've seen their catalogues and have even been the recipient of a Fruit of the Month Club, but I've never really shopped one of their stores.  They are not inexpensive.

They had a lot of stuff that looked interesting, but had I not been armed with free money, I definitely would not have been shopping there.  It's amazing how fast things can end up in your basket when someone else is paying the bill!  I really had fun!  Papaya Lime Grilling Sauce!  Just the thing for the new BBQ grill. Relishes at three for $14.50?!?  Why, three, of course!  Love mustard.  Need a new flavor.  Chipotle and Bacon in a BBQ sauce?!?  Add it to the bag!  A couple of fruit spreads, a caramel sauce and a Black Olive Spread ate up my card, and I quickly exited The Mall in search of Aldi's.

The store is decidedly different.  Not a lot of shelves - aisles made of pallets stacked high with products.  Very inexpensive products.  Tomato sauce for 25¢, saltine crackers (without partially hydrogenated fats or high fructose corn syrup) for 89¢ and vanilla extract for $1.99.  Everything in the picture above came to $38.86.  You bring your own bags and bag your own groceries.  And you have to put a quarter in the little slot to get a shopping cart.  But the place was clean, well-lit, well-stocked - and almost devoid of any customers.

I couldn't see myself shopping there weekly, because they really didn't have a lot of the things we usually eat, and the staples I picked up should last a while.  But I'm sure I'll be back in a month or so to see what new things are available.

Tonight's dinner is going to start with a Papaya Lime Pork Tenderloin on the grill.  So what if it's wet and rainy outside?  Time for some Island Fun!

by Tim Dineen

Some Assembly Required

Okay...  a LOT of assembly required.  But I do think it's going to be worth the effort.

I didn't buy THE cheapest grill, but I did come close.   Nothing at all assembled in any way, shape, or form.  Lots of itty-bitty little parts.  It seemed reasonably sturdy in the store, and has an ash-catcher.  Plus the two little side-wings mean I don't have to find a table.  Cheap and functional.  If I get ONE year out of it, it will be less expensive per year  than the damn gas grill we just dumped.

I decided to assemble it in the kitchen because 1) it was raining outside and 2) well... it is a cooking appliance, after all.  Sort of.

So... I have all the parts out of the box and properly lined up just as the instructions state I should, and I begin.  Step one, Lid assembled in a minute.  Step two, Bottom base assembled and wheels attached.  Step 3, Attach braces for bottom kettle.  Uh... The illustration for Step three clearly shows that I have assembled Step two incorrectly.  Step two, of course, does not show that bracket holes need to be on the INSIDE when assembling.

At this moment, Victor comes into the kitchen to cook us lunch.

Victor wisely gives me a wide berth, but in a few minutes I'm snickering and reassembling the damn thing, glad that the instructions actually said "Do not tighten at this point".  They knew the assembler would have to take it apart, I'm sure.

Luncheon consumed, grill assembled, life is good.

And I have a couple of ribeye steaks to grill tonight, with potatoes cooling for potato salad, and baked beans getting ready to go into the oven.

Life is REALLY good!

by Tim Dineen

Sunday Breakfast

Yes, we're still cooking.  It's been a bit of a crazy week with a new website being launched and working on a couple of others.  My time in front of the computer has been more business than pleasure.  But... It's Sunday, and that always means stopping for a bit to relax and regroup.

This morning, Victor was rummaging around the kitchen looking for breakfast ideas.  There was less than a cup of pancake mix, no breakfast meats, plenty of eggs and potatoes...  I was explaining an easy way to stretch the pancake mix and next thing I knew, I was making breakfast (his clever ruse worked)!

I just added a bit of self-rising flour, 2 eggs, a splash of heavy cream, a teaspoon of sugar, vanilla, and a handful of walnuts, and pancakes were on the griddle.

Maple syrup and lingonberry preserves and a good cuppa coffee.....

And in just a while, we're off to see Victor's mom and then stop off and get a new grill. A charcoal grill.  I'm going for closer to bottom of the line than top of the line.  I'm not finding a lot of reason to spend a lot of money on one of these things - regardless of how much we grill during the summer.  I think my main criterion right now is stability.  I don't want it to collapse under the weight of a couple of hot dogs.

Otherwise, bare-bones is good.

Film at 11.

by Tim Dineen