Not quite a hoedown...

Grilled Chipotle Lime Pork, Loaded Hoecake, 

Cucumber Salad, and lightly dressed bibb lettuce

Yesterday's morning dig through the freezer found some nice boneless pork, and since it was a sunny (if not particularly warm) day, I decided to grill them.  Not in the mood to barbecue them, I concocted a simple marinade from pantry staples, and it turned out very tasty indeed (the little guy didn't even complain about the bit of heat).  I love to eat cornbread with grilled (esp. BBQ) pork, but Ben complains if I make it too often.  Undeterred (yes, I can be a bit stubborn), I decided to make hoecakes, but not any hoecake, a loaded, savory one.  For those who may be unfamiliar, a hoecake is merely a pancake made with cornmeal, but a favorite of the south, as well as the northeast, where they call they johnny cakes.  To finish out the meal, we had a simple cucumber salad and torn bibb lettuce dressed in the same vinegar as the cukes.

I needed to go to the grocery...

Sauteed Edamane with Bell Pepper

I was making Ranch Breaded Chicken for dinner and needed some veg for the side.  I unfortunately had not been to the grocery for a while (shocking, I know), and was just about out of fresh produce, except for some orange and yellow bell peppers (I keep finding these on sale).  A dig through the freezer only uncovered okra and edamame, and well,, the okra was out.  I gave the frozen edamame pods a cook in the microwave before popping the beans out of the pod; this was easy, but it did take a bit of time to get through two pounds.  I diced up one of the bell peppers and sauteed that with the beans in some butter at a fairly high heat.  The veggies got a nice caramelization while retaining their crispness, and the butter itself browned, giving a nice nuttiness to the dish.

Sauteed Edamame with Bell Pepper

2 lbs. frozen edamame (you'll need this much to feed four)

1 bell red, orange, or yello bell pepper, diced

3 tbs. butter (do not substitute margarine)

coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Place the frozen pods in a large microwave safe bowl and cover with a microwave safe plate.  Cook on high for 15 minutes, giving a good stir halfway.  Squeeze the pods and the beans will pop right out.  Saute in butter with the diced bell pepper over medium high heat until nicely browned, but still crisp, about 10 minutes.  Season to taste and serve.

Now back to business...

Hot Capicola and Spicy Asian Subs

Now that the excitement over my first award has subsided a bit, I can do the post that I intended for yesterday :)  This past weekend it was just Ben and I home, and while we did not get much accomplished (as planned), it was a relaxing weekend (despite, or maybe because of, the rain).  When it is just the two of us we like to eat all those spicy things that we adore, but the kids can't handle.  For lunch on Saturday I pulled out two 12-inch sweet Italian rolls and made subs (beat these Subway!!).

While the oven was preheating to 350, I split the rolls.  I layered the bottom of one with a generous amount of sliced red onion, the other with fresh jalapeno slices (they were HUGE chilies).

On top of the onion went 8 ounces of spicy capicola; on the jalapenos went the leftover Sesame Ginger Pork from a few nights before, complete with the leftover scallions and toasted sesame seeds.

About two tablespoons light mayo to one tablespoon siracha, although I could have safely done equal quantities (for us anyway).

The capicola was topped with pepperjack, and the pork with Swiss, before going into the oven for about 10-12 minutes.  The meat warmed through, the cheese melted, and the tops of the rolls crisped up nicely.  The capicola got a spread of regular light mayo, while the pork got the siracha and mayo mix.  I also sprinkled fresh cilantro leaves on the pork.

I cut these toasty babies and Ben and I took a half of each.  The verdict:  the capicola wasn't bad, but would have been better served by some sort of garlicky and buttery roll, rather than the sweet Italian.  For the pork, however, the slightly sweet roll was the perfect foil for the spiciness of the sandwich.  Ben declared that the sandwich rivaled any that he had had before, and thought that I should develop the recipe for entry to next season's Ultimate Recipe Showdown.  Interesting proposition. 

My first award...

This is too cool...I opened up  my blog this morning to do a new post and found that I had won my first blog award!  This is the Happy 101 award given to me by Sandi at A New York Foodie.  I want to send a big thank you Sandi's way :)  The purpose of these awards is to show appreciation for our fellow bloggers, and recognize the blogs that we keep coming back to; as such, this award comes with a few stipulations:

The rules of accepting this award are as follows:
-Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
-Pass the award onto 10 bloggers.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
-Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.
-Lists things that make you happy.

Things that make me happy

1. My husband and children, they mean the world to me...

2. My friends, the good ones are hard to come by and truly precious...

3. Good food...making it, and most importantly, eating it...

4. Good books of all sorts...

5. My little corgi girl Shelby...

6.Making a meaningful contribution to the world, however small...

Now for the Happy 101 Award, I congratulate the following sites:

1.  Chris at Ponderings of a Well Preserved Beauty Queen

2   Kristy at Cakes by Kristy

3.  Ron at Inspire!

4. Dana at Fleur de Sel

5.  Katerina at Daily Adventures in Cooking

6.  Memoria at Mangio de Sola

7.  Elly at elly says ropa!

8.  Bridgette at La Bella Cook

9.  Madelyn at Karma-Free Cooking

10.  Teauna at Tips & Recipes of a Country Housewife

Thanks again Sandi, and I hope everyone takes a moment to check out these blogs, I think you will find the time spent well worth it.

Not our regular cube steak...

Sesame Ginger Pork with Pickled Ginger and White Rice

I found pork cube steaks on sale at Kroger this week at such a great price that I couldn't pass them by.  I've never cooked with the pork steaks before, but with the beef cube steaks I really love to make a Cuban dish called Bistec de Palomilla made with lime juice and lots of sauteed onions (I promise I'll share that one some time), but with the pork I felt like going in an Asian flavor direction.  A few pantry staples later and we had a very tasty pork dish for dinner.  When Chris saw the jar of pickled ginger on the counter, he wanted to know where the sushi was...I assured him it would taste good with what we were having, and it did.  A romaine and cucumber salad dressed in a ginger vinaigrette was all we needed to complete this meal.

Joining the crowd...

Image courtesy of the Food Network

Everywhere it seems lately, I am seeing the baked shrimp scamp recipe from Ina Garten's latest book, Back to Basics.  I even saw it in last month's issue of Real Simple magazine (without credit given to Ina), and most recently in Sandi's A New York Foodie blog.  If you are looking for more great cooking, plus beautiful food photography, be sure to pay Sandi a visit.

I decided that I needed to make this dish, because, not only did I not want to be left out, but I love shrimp and this looked really, really good.  When I was looking at the recipe, I decided to add some pasta to the mix, but not in the traditional way.  I had a box of DaVinci ravioletti (teeny, tiny cheese ravioli), and thought they would make a fine bed for the scampi.  I only used one pound of shrimp, but left the topping the same (enough for 2 lbs.), figuring that the excess could serve as the sauce for the pasta.  Oh my gosh, was this ever good- I will do this one again, pasta and all!! 

Now, to admit to my scatter brainness- the picture above is from the Food Network site...when I went to upload my beautiful pictures for this post, I found that I had somehow taken them on the video setting (big sigh here).  Not being very techno savvy, I have been unable to figure out how to get screen shots of the pics (I originally wanted to do this post on Monday), hence the borrowed photo.  Just imagine parting that crispy topping the reveal, first the shrimp, then the little pasta pillows bathed in the buttery, lemony goodness...that is what we had, umm, umm, umm!!

A lot of pesto...

Rotini with Arugula Pesto, 

Lemon Baked Salmon, and Stuffed Clams

This has been a busy, busy week, and while I have still been cooking, I haven't been writing about it (sorry).  One of the dishes we had this week was an adaptation (but, of course) of a recipe I found at Mama Jan's Kitchen, another of my regular food blog reads.  This recipe, originally from Giada DeLaurentis, called for spinach and Asiago cheese, neither of which I had on hand.  I did however have an unopened package of baby arugula and a wedge of Parmesan cheese, so I went with it.  I also added more garlic than called for (love it),some lemon juice to brighten it (and help keep that beautiful color), and I tossed the rotini with a bit of cream before mixing in the pesto to enrich the dish.  Served with some shaved Parmesan, this was a truly satisfying dish, and went especially well with the Lemon Baked Salmon and stuffed clams that we had with it.

This recipe made a LOT of pesto.  After tossing some of the pesto with the 12oz. of whole wheat pasta I had cooked, I still had a lot left in the food processor.  Out can a brick of cream cheese to mix with a couple tablespoons of the pesto (yum), and I still had about a half cup left.  This last bit I spooned into a small container and stashed it away in the freezer after giving it a thin coating of extra virgin olive oil.  I love when a simple recipe can serve so many purposes.

A weekend breakfast...

tacos de huevos con chorizo

I still had leftovers from our dinner of al pastor the other night, as well as a pound of loose Mexican chorizo in the fridge, so yesterday I made one of my favorite weekend breakfasts.  This is a simple breakfast to put together, and can be as simple as just the eggs and chorizo in a tortilla, to offering all sorts of "toppings" and a side of frijoles (beans).  This makes a lot of food, so feed a crowd, or stash the leftovers in the fridge, they are still fantastic after a gentle (low power) reheating in the microwave.

Tacos de Huevos con Chorizo

1 lb. Mexican chorizo, loose, or removed from casings

10-12 eggs (I only had 10)

To serve: corn or flour tortillas and anything your heart desires

In a large bowl, whip the eggs until frothy, set aside.  In a large non-stick skillet, cook the chorizo, breaking it up into small pieces.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain (very important), wiping the excess fat from the pan if it is more than a light coating.  Add the eggs to the pan and scramble over medium heat until about 1/2 cooked.  Sprinkle on the cooked chorizo and finish cooking, folding the chorizo lightly into the eggs.  Spoon into a serving bowl and take to the table with whatever you are having with the eggs.

Ready to go to the table.

We had fresh pineapple, guacamole, chopped cilantro and onions, salsa ranchera, fresh jalapeno slices, crumbled queso cotija, and flour tortillas.  The little guy had mild taco sauce on his, and don't feel that you have to use a Mexican cheese, shredded cheddar or monterey jack are good as well.We usually have beans with this as well, and I prefer corn to flour tortillas, but hey, you use what you have. 

This is why it is important to drain the chorizo.

I love reading food blogs...

 Roast Pork with Baked Chickpeas and Steamed Broccoli

It wasn't until I started writing my own back in October that I really started reading food blogs, but I am hooked.  I have my list of favorites that I check for new posts, but also look at a random 10 new ones daily from the Foodie Blog Roll.  One of my favorites is One Perfect Bite, written by Mary.  A few days ago she had a recipe for a Black Eyed Pea Casserole that sounded quite delicious.  I thought I would give it a try, but a search of the pantry did not uncover any black eyed peas (I really thought I had some), but I did find chickpeas (which I actually like better anyway).  I was also lacking the fresh herbs, the orange, and the molasses (I used the last of that in the Cincinnati Chili).  Undeterred in my quest for a different kind of "baked bean," I substituted and riffed and made it my own. isn't that what cooking is about anyway?  Take the time to give Mary's lovely blog a read and make one or both of these recipes, you won't be disappointed.

A Cincinnati favorite...

A 3-Way with Frank's Red Hot

In the Cincinnati area we like to eat a Greek inspired chili quite unlike the Tex-Mex chili that most people think of.  For a brief history of this chili and an alternate recipe click here.  I have made this chili for years using ground turkey (not traditional, I know), but I have made it before with beef, and with all the flavoring going into it I did not notice much (if any) taste difference, so I'll stick with the healthier (and usually cheaper) ground turkey.  

When I was looking in the freezer for inspiration the other morning, I unearthed a package of ground turkey and asked Chris if he wanted chili spaghetti (what we call it) for dinner.  His reply..."Yes!!  Chili spaghetti!"  So that decided that.  We eat this with just shredded cheese (not as much as you would get in a local chili parlor), known as a 3-way, and hot sauce for Ben and I.  Add chopped onions and make it a 4-way, add kidney beans and make it a 5-way.  However you choose to eat it, it will be good.  Also try using it to make a chili dog- steamed hot dog, mustard, chopped onion, and cheese, or not, in a bun, again with hot sauce if desired.  Another use for the chili is what  is known locally as Skyline Dip, after Skyline Chili, one of the most famous of the Cincinnati chili parlors.  The name refers to the Cincinnati skyline, which is a pretty cool view crossing the river from Kentucky.