Mexican Pork Mole

Mexican Pork Mole

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

Do the Lambada if you like Mexican food. I love everything about the culture. – The dances, music, arts, and especially, the food. I tried my hand at a pork mole. Mole simply means sauce; a number of sauces.

Put on Santana, grab a Dos Equis and let’s get started…

You’ll Need:

1 Pork Tenderloin roast (cubed and unseasoned)

2 cups of onion, diced

2 Tablespoons of chili powder

1 Tablespoon of ground cumin

1 Tablespoon of cinnamon

1/2 cup of Dos Equis (drink the rest)

2 (14 oz.) cans of diced tomatoes

2 (4.5 oz.) cans of green chillies (fresh is best, but this will do)

1/2 cup of dark chocolate morsels

Splash of lime juice (fresh is best)

Cilantro, diced (garnish)

In a large pot, over medium heat spray in some olive oil. I use a Misto, or you can use PAM cooking spray. Brown your pork evenly for 10 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.

In the same pot, add in your chopped onion and cook until slightly tender. Add in your chili powder, cumin and cinnamon. Let the ingredients do the Rumba for about a minute or two. Join in the dance by stirring often.

Time for the Salsa. Add in your diced tomatoes, beer, dark chocolate and chilies. Once those simmer for a minute or two, bring it to a slow grind over medium-low heat. Let the pork join the party and simmer until hot and tender.

Serve it over rice, or by itself. Finish it with a squirt of lime and sprinkle with cilantro to garnish. The next time I make this, I will use fresh chillies.

What’s your favorite Mexican Mole? Please share with us because this girl likes to eat.

Cha Cha!

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

This is a continuation to our Mother’s Day dinner. This scrumptious pasta accompanied the beer braised baby back ribs.

The recipe is simple. My version was inspired by the Food Network Kitchens. Only, I added more garlic and lemon. I also bought already-cooked jumbo shrimp, and served it over Linguini. Because I served it over pasta, I increased the recipe.

Let’s get started…

Ingredients

31-40 count frozen cooked jumbo shrimp

1 pound of Linguini

1 stick of unsalted butter

2 garlic bulbs

1 1/2 cups of extra dry vermouth

2 lemons

1/4 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Lemon zest from one lemon

Sea salt and group black pepper

Directions

Thaw shrimp overnight in the refrigerator.

Cook pasta according to packaged instructions. I like it al dente; firm but not hard. It depends on how much pasta you are cooking, but for one pound, I cook it for about 10 minutes. After eight minutes, I start checking the pasta by removing a piece and taking a bite. When the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water and set aside.

Melt unsalted butter in a pan. Meanwhile, start to chop up your garlic and parsley leaves, and zest your lemon. Once the butter is melted, add garlic and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to brown.

Pour in your vermouth and squeezed lemon juice. Bring to a boil.

Food Network says to use a wooden spoon to help scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. I’ve found this works the best.

Stir in the lemon zest and parsley. The sauce is done.

Toss the pasta, shrimp and sauce all together right before you are ready to serve. If you do it too soon, the pasta will suck up all the juice and become dry.

Grate fresh Parmesan over the pasta and garnish with parsley.

Cooking the pasta takes longer than the sauce, and it’s amazing. I really enjoy this dish, especially, with a crusty bread.

Next up, the dessert. Stay hungry.

Cream Cheese Chicken Pasta

Posted on by Jenny MacBeth

Discovery! I was cleaning out my refrigerator and found a brick of cream cheese. The expiration date was approaching next week, so I thought, “I need to use this up. But, er, how?”

I opened a bottle of beer and by the time I finished, I thought, “Let’s melt it down and pour it over pasta.” Since I have 20, 10 for $10, boxes of pasta.

You’ll Need:

Whatever you like. Seriously. I pulled out a few items, tossed it in a pot and Voilà ! Fantastico ! (I’m starting to make up my own words). Hungry, I didn’t think that this was going to be a blog post. I didn’t measure out the ingredients, and there are no photos of the preparation. However, when I was finished, I realized that it was really good and kicked myself in the arse.

I Used:

1 pound of pasta, cooked to taste.

A bag of frozen broccoli

Oil cured black olives, pitted

Shredded Chicken, precooked. I had two breasts leftover. Or, use canned chicken. Why not?

A handful of cherry tomatoes

Some diced parsley

About 5 cloves, squished or chopped – whichever you prefer.

A bunch of green onions, chopped, and included some of the green stems

Balsamic glaze

Salt and Pepa

How I prepared it…

I cooked and drained the pasta. In the same pasta pot, I put in the green onions, garlic and cream cheese over a medium heat until the cheese melted. I added in the pasta and all other ingredients, minus the balsamic glaze. I used the glaze as a garnish by drizzling a little over the pasta. I served it up warm with a crusty bread and beer.

All good things can only come from cleaning out your refrig.

Have you put everything-but-the-kitchen-sink in a pot and it turn out Fantastico? Please share because this girl likes to eat.