cook: chile rellenos

I snapped these pics off an IG reel because I like that the recipe calls for much less oil.

I watched the making in her video, and the cook did all the usual that I do when preparing Chile Rellenos. Roast or broil the peppers and steam in a covered bowl before peeling the skin and removing the seeds. Lightly dust with flour and then fill the peeled and de-seeded peppers with cheese of your choice--you bet I'm going to buy Mexican cheese when I pick up the Pasilla peppers. Then separate the whites from the yolk and whip the whites before gently folding the yolks into the stiff peaks. But she added just a tablespoon of oil into the pan and put the batter down first before laying the prepared pepper into the egg cloud. Next she maneuvered spatulas to cover the pepper like you would a quesadilla before lightly browning.

 

Oh wow. This preparation and method looks so much easier and less oily.

Look Ma! No rack needed, nor are the fried egg-battered peppers pooling in grease on the baking pan.

I could do this. I make my own chile/enchilada sauce to enrobe the egg-covered peppers before baking in the oven for a few minutes to further heat and melt cheese. But first I had to go to the grocery store after work to pick up an American panini for lunch the next day, and there was Pliny the Elder beer there. My friend, Bob raves about this beer, and so I picked up a bottle to drink with cooking and dining.  I broiled the peppers and put them in a bowl and covered with a plate to steam and then peeled and removed the seeds. I also sliced planks of Oaxaca cheese to tuck inside the peppers. 

I dusted the cheese-filled peppers with flour, but in retrospect, I don't think that was necessary and could make this recipe gluten-free if necessary. What takes the longest is the separating of yolks from whites, whipping the egg whites and then folding in the yolks. And then the excitement began. I put a tablespoon of oil on to the cast iron and poured the batter onto the hot oil and pan and let it set in the heat. I then laid the pepper on one side as if filling an omelet.

And then folded the whole caboodle as if it were an omelet. Next pepper....

And cooking each individual Chile Relleno instead of pan frying all four in the pan took longer. However, the outcome is superior. I didn't bother with draining and instead laid and squished all 4 peppers into my homemade chile sauce.

While cooking the peppers, I was also refrying frijoles with onion and garlic in bacon grease and then adding chopped cilantro. When the peppers were in the oven and the beans were simmering in the pot, I cooked buttered corn but added chopped jalapeno, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Yep, definitely can make a gluten-free Mexican meal.

Patrick declared the Chile "Rellanos" (his pronunciation and why do non-Spanish speaking Americans do that?) restaurant quality, better than the raw Chile Rellenos he was once served at a fancy Mexican restaurant. That was a crazy dining experience at Flores San Mateo, and that is why I do so much home cooking.

clay: decal fire dish

Clay Body: Bmix

Glazes: Blushing Pink overglaze

Method/Firing: Hand built slab/Cone 5-6;decal firing of commercial gold luster waterslide-release decal

The pictures here unfortunately don't do justice as I just discovered that the outline of the pink flowers and green leaves are gold luster.

Love it, but it'll be for sale at a pop-up sale on May 3rd.

clay: strange-colored fruit

Clay Body: Speckled Buff

Glazes: Blushing Pink (dipped), Mayco Stroke 'n Coat Fruit of the Vine

Methods/Firing: Hand built, Cone 5-6

The end effects don't replicate the colors of a pomegranate. 

I think I wanted to replicate in some way the Cone 10 of Flambe or Coleman Red, but I'm not unhappy with this lower fire temperature of Blushing Pink and Fruit of the Vine. I wish I'd used some kind of red underglaze or overglaze--which sometimes burn out. More glaze play needed.

clay: air plant pots

Clay Body: Reclaimed (BMix, Speckled Buff, B3, Red Velvet) 

Glazes: Majolica

Methods/Firing: wheel thrown, Cone 5-6

 

These pots are only 2.5" to 4.5" high; and throwing tiny vases are perfect for playing with shapes.

clay: sea mug in celadons

Clay Body: Laguna Frost porcelain

Glazes: Amaco Deep Sea Celadon, Amaco Seaweed Celadon, Amaco Sky Celadon, Amaco Aqua Celadon

Methods/Firing: Hand built, texture roller, Cone 5-6

cook: chicken & sausage gumbo

I had a chicken and sausage gumbo at Empty Bowls, and so I knew for the Lenten season, I wanted to make a seafood gumbo and even bought the Holy Trinity ingredients. However, I also had two thigh and drumstick, bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces and decided instead to buy a package of Andouille sausage and more chicken wings while at the grocery outlet. The gumbo all starts with the roux: equal parts butter and flour, which at the beginning starts as a thick paste, but gets a bit liquid as it slowly heats. While my roux slowly got dark and which I kept whisking to prevent it from scorching, I diced onions, a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, celery and carrots.

 

An hour later after vegetables were chopped, the roux was chocolate colored, and so I started browning the chicken and dagnabit, I scorched a little bit of the chicken. Since I had already turned off the heat of my roux in order to not let that scorch and ruin the taste of the gumbo, I removed the chicken and scraped off bits that were burnt as well as washed my Dutch oven. I then resumed frying and there was now a lovely brown fond on the bottom of my pot.

 

In went the vegetables to which I added bay leaves, fresh thyme, sprinklings of Old Bay seasoning and salt and then water to prevent scorching again of the Dutch oven and to de-glaze it. Once the vegetables were softened, I added more water, chicken broth, the roux and the chicken (not pictured) and more sprinklings of salt since I didn't season the chicken, and oh shoot! I forgot to brown the Andouille sausage and so squirted olive oil into the bottom of that sauce pan, which I had cleaned after scraping all the roux into the bigger pot. I sliced the Andouille sausage and browned over medium high heat.

 

I likewise de-glazed the bottom of my sauce pot with water after frying the sausage, which also had a nice fond and which I de-glazed and then dumped the water into the Dutch oven. People who ask me my recipes say I am always not telling them a key ingredient because their dish didn't turn out the same. And yes, I forget sometimes to mention a key ingredient. In this instance or blog, I failed to mention the 8 cloves of garlic I almost forgot, but mashed in my mortar with a pestle and added much later to the vegetables. Since I didn't have the gumbo file powder, I used Old Bay. And then I let the pot simmer covered for 35 minutes and then left the lid aside to simmer another 10 minutes.

  

For the last 5 minutes, I added sliced okra to further thicken it and just because I loved its bright green color.

I did not add cayenne powder to the gumbo because of Patrick and a neighbor like him who can't handle too much spice. However, the Crystal hot sauce remedied that.

In the same pot in which I had cooked the roux and the sausage, I lastly cooked rice. Atop the rice, the gumbo soup was perfect. The weather is not too cold, nor too warm, ideal for Louisiana cooking. Gumbo is a dish I would make again for the Hawaiian potlucks as I can toss it in a crock pot to keep hot and there is always steamed rice to go with all the mains at their parties. But I think for the next Lenten Friday, I want to cook shrimp étouffée, which will likely elicit a complaint of stew again?

cook: spring harvest + fridge clean out

Before leaving for spring break, I traded my fancy nonstick pans from Food 52 for a friend's wok, which no longer worked on a new stove. I also came away from the food pantry at school with a whole head of cauliflower and lots of heads of broccoli. I cut up the cauliflower and used my "new" wok by cleaning out my fridge and frying rice. I diced cauliflower, onions, carrots, celery and minced garlic. I also sliced medallions of Japanese spicy sausage and Chinese sweet sausage as well as added frozen corn and peas.

 

For the stir fry sauce, I broke out my bottles of oyster and soy and Maggi seasoning. I guess I don't care much for a dry rice or for it sticking to the bottom of the wok because I added chicken broth and then water to de-glaze the pan and steam the rice.

Not bad.

Healthy. From the broccoli as well as leeks and spring onions from a harvest, I made a quiche AND a soup. I deviated from Gordon Ramsay's recipe with the alliums and by not adding goat cheese and walnuts and drizzling with olive oil before serving though I did use heavy whipping cream and a bit of chicken Better than Bouillon.

My quiche seemed overcooked to me though gorgeous and not as high and fluffy as I wanted, BUT the soup was the hit for the neighbor gathering and potluck called a spring fling.

A few neighbors asked for my leftover jars of broccoli soup, but I do have one left for me and Patrick in the fridge. From the public library, I checked out this promising book about how Banksy has saved art history. The book has so far been a good read.

My spring break had a promising start. A great outrigger canoe practice UNTIL I hyperextended (my erector spinae) on a stroke which HURT. When I should've rested, I instead swam a mile instead of the recommended rest, ice, and compression. And break is now Friday or almost over, and so I think I can now lengthen and strengthen that muscle with double knees to chest stretch and some side bends where I stand with my feet shoulder-width apart and gently bend to the side, holding for a few seconds plus some cat cow stretches on my hands and knees. I canceled going to paddling practice this Saturday and will do plank and wall squats when the pain completely disappears. I should not have swam that mile Tuesday night, but afterward, I did go to Gourmet Haus Staudt with my friend Cybil and drank a lovely winterberry cider and ate pork schnitzel with fries and salad. 

We were gonna stay, so she could do calligraphy and I stitch, but I forgot my reading glasses AND my side was stiff and hurting. My side still hurt yesterday when I and Cybil and her friend, Lyra went to the new Korean market and emporium called Jagalchi. My side still was pained like the dickens when I swam a half mile later. I was more comfortable just crouched at the end of the pool like Spider-Man. My side still hurts, but I'm going to the ceramics studio this morning and tomorrow. Maybe I'll cook a couple more dishes like a gumbo and a Bolognese after I get back from Costco tonight. Maybe I'll even do some laundry and some linoleum carving too.