the unequivocal notion

Achiote shrimp tacos

A simple and easy weeknight dish that turned out rather delectable. Eaten along side some habas negras topped with cotija, some guacamole and washed down with Pacifico Clara. That is a quick summertime dinner I can get behind any night of the week.

Let me just clarify that life doesn't get much better then any sort of protein fire roasted and placed on a toasted corn tortilla. There are just somethings that you can eat every day and never tire of them.

 

Recipe is of course down below...

Grilled pasilla pork loin w/ corn and eggplant salad

What can I say? I was on a kick this week.

Simple grilled pork loin that was rubbed with a pasilla, poblano, red pepper rub served up with a grilled corn and eggplant salad that had a lime vinaigrette and some cilantro.

 

Recipe if ya want it.

Tilapia w/ green chili tomato sauce and poblano roasted potatoes

Ah, dinner on the patio with a cool summertime breeze, some good wine and Alejandro Escovedo in the background. Sometimes the quick ones turn out just right when all the angles randomly come together and meet right smack in the center.

It was tilapia served on top of a red sauce with green chilies and some freshly ground poblano powder coated red potatoes. An acidic and slightly sweet Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley '05 Riesling rounded out the rest of this simple summer dinner.

 

Recipe is down below.

Cooking with Robert Rodriguez

I thought this was pretty cool seeing how it was a dish that I really enjoyed in Mexico. I tried my hand at it here, but it didn't turn out how I wanted it to - but that's ok, it was the first time, not the last.

My main mistake was using pork loin instead of pork butt or pork shoulder which lead to the pork being more dry than I'd like. Although I don't think it is as traditional (probably depending on which region of the Yucatan you're in) I'd also add habanero like Rodriguez does to give it a bit more kick, cause everything is better with more kick.

There is also another Rodriguez clip here apparently from the Sin City DVD on how to make his Breakfast Tacos.

Achiote pork loin in banana leaves

I actually cooked this a couple of weeks ago, but forgot to put the recipe together until now. The pictures are lacking because I was pretty short on time and I cooked it at someone else's house. Also the next time I put this together (which I definitely will!) I'll try and work up the presentation a little bit more. This time we all just sat around the island in the kitchen and munched off of the dishes. I don't think we even ate until around 9pm or so, we were having too good of a time with the margaritas!

Oh, and if you decide to make this dish, ensure that you have a pair a latex gloves handy (you do have a box of latex gloves in your kitchen arsenal? Right?), the achiote paste will dye your hands red for a couple of days. And if you get it on any clothes - it won't come out. So you've been forewarned. You'll need gloves, an apron and a margarita to complete this dish cleanly.

Anyway, this is my achiote pork loin (chopped and and tossed in the serving dish)

And my black beans and corn

As always, recipes and more pics are down below.

Spare Ribs 101

And no, this isn't a lesson for you; this is a lesson for me.

I've cooked ribs once before - about 6 years ago on the advice of an Alton Brown recipe off of the Food Network (for the life of me I can't find the recipe). Seemed simple enough I thought, Alton broke the recipe down, explained it just as AB always does. Heck.. why can I do that? I like ribs (I was living in Georgia at the time, so I was on quite the rib binge). I gave it a shot. I toiled away at my oven for a couple of hours and then disaster struck. It ended in a putrid burnt smoky mess. Ribs that were unfit for a canine to nibble on, ribs I wouldn't give my worst enemy. The ribs were burnt beyond repair, my homemade sauce was an unrecognizable flavor not of this world. The whole thing just bombed. 5 hours of my early 20's wasted on a rib recipe I saw on the TV. I was bummed, let down and disappointed.

After enduring the scold of my unimpressed wife (she finally offered up sympathy after much berating and ridicule) I gave up, relegating ribs to a dish I would just buy from someone else. I thought why? I'm down here in rib country, why should I put myself through such a horrid experience again?

6 years have passed since that fateful and traumatizing day. My wife and I are back in Idaho and I've takin' a certain liking to Steven Raichlen's BBQ-U show on PBS. So I decided after watching one of his shows on ribs I thought what the heck, I have more cooking experience now then I did then as a young soldier in Georgia, let's give it a shot. So, I got all of my knick-nacky things done around the house on Saturday and set aside today for Ribs - Part Deux. The second coming. The prequel. What ever you want to call it, it's rib day again. Come rain, wind (and it seems to be a bit of both) or sunshine - today is the day. Tonight we feast on BBQ Pork Spare Ribs.

I'll update this post down below as I go along - post my ideas, suggestions, ramblings and random thoughts as I traverse this unknown culinary creation. I've got my Corona flip-flops on, a fridge full of decent beer, a 1.5 MB wireless attachment to the internet and I'm ready to cook. No; not cook. I'm ready to Barbecue.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with avocado rice

This really came about as one of those "hmm, I really need to use that up before it goes bad" kind of dishes. It actually did turn out pretty well too, it is one that I will be making again.

It worked out to be a nice Sunday dinner to eat while my wife and I watched The U.S. vs. John Lennon.

Roasted cherry tomatoes with balsamic glaze

This kind of came out as one of those; "hmm, my those cherry tomatoes look pretty good, I wonder what I can do with them?"

"Ah, yes, that sounds tasty." And so it was...

Grilled Sweet & Sour Pork Loin for 4

 

Quick, simple and a crowd pleaser.

Balsamic Chicken Burgers with Goat Cheese Red Potatoes

After having to work late, it called for one of those times to whip up a quick no hassle (little fuss) dinner. Enter stage right: frozen chicken from Costco, the remnants of a 2lb bag of baby red potatoes, some asparagus and a little bit of creamy Fontina cheese left over from some previous meal.

I quickly scoured Google with said ingredients looking for a quick dinner and I happened upon this recipe for a balsamic marinade for chicken; from there came inspiration.

The Menu:

Chicken burgers with a balsamic marinade, Fontina cheese w/ a roasted red pepper mayonnaise
Rosemary and goat cheese baby red smashed potatoes
Grilled asparagus

The Wine:

2003 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Recipes are down below.

Steak & potatoes

Yeah, just steak and potatoes, not some analogy for a greater thought, dinner was quite simply steak & potatoes (oh, with a side of grilled tomato). The steak was as simple as it gets; a ribeye from Costco seasoned merely with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. The potatoes born out of a necessity of needing to use up some aged smoked Gouda cheese that had been calling my name from my cheese drawer for the last couple of days.

 

The menu for the night:

Choice Ribeye - cooked the way you want it
Chipotle smashed potatoes with smoked Gouda
Grilled tomato slices marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fresh rosemary

The wine:

Indian Creek’s 2005 Pinot Noir

Recipes are down below.

Simple blue cheese burger

Just a blue cheese burger with a healthy dose of fresh cracked black pepper and an Idaho Blue Cheese. The fries are grilled yams with a quick lemon aioli; it was my first time grilling yams and they turned out surprisingly good. The wine is a 2003 Ste. Chappelle Cabernet Sauvignon.

Yeah, yeah, I have the same reservations to Ste. Chappelle's wines as the rest of you but I hadn't actually had their cab for about 2 years and thought I'd give it another shot. Frankly at about 6 bucks a bottle it wasn't too bad, I don't think I'll be picking a case up anytime soon but tonight it did the trick. Speaking of cases of Ste. Chappelle wines - I will be heading out to take advantage of 30% off all cases on April 2nd to pick up one or two of their Sauvignon Blanc (it's a summer time favorite for my wife and I).

Anyway, back to the food; I'd put up a recipe for the two dishes but I think they are pretty self-explanatory (besides the yams I guess; grill them using indirect heat on a makeshift foil pan for about 45 minutes at about 400-425 degrees).

Dos Pizza

Tonight was pizza night, Mexican style. My wife got me a pizza stone and peel for Christmas and I’ve been addicted ever since, it’s a sad addiction really, one that infects your psyche while looking at random foods. You find yourself looking at asparagus and broccoli in whole new lights, you contemplate how any range of flavors would taste on dough. 

I like to think of pizza dough as a blank canvas of yeasty chewy goodness, one that just craves the attention of fresh veggies, meats and cheeses in any combination or portion deemed likable. Screw the technicalities; it’s all about making something that you love, picking flavors that sound good for that morning, evening, or late night intoxicated craving.

Pizza is the ultimate dish, a dish that begs creativity, lack of diligence and a linear focus on all things delicious. Technique? Ha! There’s none needed, get some dough, find something that sounds good, execute whilst consuming your favorite beverage and enjoy the chewy goodness that is pizza.

Anyway (click images for larger versions)…

My first pizza of the night was what I like to call Pollo Magnifíco, a fresh and light chicken pizza served on a bed of diced tomato and white onion topped with queso fresco, Tapatío and fresh cilantro. Simple and delicious this pizza will satisfy any craving that a pitcher of margaritas can conjure.

The second pizza was one that I call Carne con Chipotle, a slightly more complex pizza served with both cheddar and queso fresco cheeses and beef chorizo. This pizza is considerably spicier and serves well with any Mexican style beer or… of course the always implicit limey margarita.  While cheddar isn’t a customary cheese used in true Mexican cuisine it serves its purpose well in this pizza.

Recipes are down below the fold if you so desire.