My Favorite Recipes

Of all the mexican style meats, Carnitas is by far my favorite. Its great to serve in simple tacos or as a main course. Made of flavorful pork with minimal seasonings, its the two step cooking process that puts carnitas over the top. First its braised, or slowly roasted until its fork tender. Then its fried until a fine crust adds a little crispness and more flavor to the meat.

Ingredients

• 5 lbs boneless country style pork ribs
• 1 cup Tomatillo Salsa
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tbl salt

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the pork in a large roasting pan. Make sure the roasting pan can go in the oven and on the stove or on an outdoor grill (I use my metal roasting pan that I use for Thanksgiving turkey dinner). Sprinkle all the salt over the meat (all sides). Scatter the sliced onions and garlic over the pork. Pour the salsa over the pork. Cover the roasting pan with foil. Place in the oven and roast for 3 hours or until the the pork is fork tender. The pan will have lots of juice. Once removed from the oven, remove the foil and place the roasting pan over two burners on your stove or on an outdoor grill over high heat. Occasionally stir the pork. We are trying to evaporate all the liquid and ultimately fry the meat in the rendered fat from the pork. Continue frying until the meat looks like the picture, about 30 minutes. Eat right away, or place in a oven proof dish, cover with foil, and keep in a warm oven.

In my quest for more simple and healthy dinners, I ran across a recipe for a Ruben sandwich that replaces the pastrami with spinach. Combined with quality rye bread, good swiss cheese and some sauerkraut, this sandwich has so much flavor going on, that you don’t miss the fatty but tasty pastrami. The original recipe in Eating Well, calls for low fat cheese, and less of it, but this is a Ruben without pastrami, so live a little. I would double, triple or quadruple the dressing and save some for later.

Russian dressing

• 1/8 Cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons ketchup
• 2 teaspoons chopped capers
• 1 teaspoon chopped pickle or relish

Sandwiches

• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced or 3 shallots finely diced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 bunch spinach, cleaned and stemmed
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground
• 4 slices rye bread
• 4 thin slices Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup sauerkraut

1. To prepare Russian dressing: Whisk mayonnaise and ketchup in a small bowl until smooth. Stir in capers and pickle (or relish).
2. To prepare sandwiches: Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion or shallots and mushrooms; cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 4 minutes. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until it has wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Transfer the mixture to a plate.
3. Coat the pan with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and return to medium heat. Add the bread; divide cheese equally among the slices. Divide sauerkraut between 2 slices and divide the spinach mixture between the other 2 slices; cook until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer sandwich halves to a cutting board. Divide the dressing between the spinach halves. Carefully place the sauerkraut halves on top. Cut sandwiches in half and serve.

This one is from Rick Bayless. Serve with white rice and some fresh avocado, and you have a wonderful meal in minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 Can (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted), drained
• 3 chipotle chiles, canned en adobo
• 1 Tbs chipotle canning sauce
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 3 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped OR crushed through a garlic press
• 1½ Cups Fish OR chicken broth OR water
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 lbs medium-large shrimp (21 to 25 shrimp per pound), peeled and deveined, tail left on if desired
• ¼ cup loosely packed,roughly chopped cilantro, for garnish

Procedure

Pour drained tomatoes into a blender or food processor.  Add chipotle chiles and chipotle canning sauce. Process until smooth.  In a very large (12-inch) skillet, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add garlic and stir until fragrant and golden, about 1 minute. Pour in tomato mixture.  Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes to allow flavors to meld and reduce to the consistency of tomato paste.  Add enough broth or water to achieve a light tomato sauce consistency. Taste and season highly with salt, usually about 1 teaspoon. Add shrimp to pan. Cook, stirring nearly constantly, until shrimp are cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in a little more broth or water if sauce has thickened too much. Scoop onto dinner plates and sprinkle with cilantro.

Servings: 3