Peanut Pork

Manu models the dragon costume
for all of us.

Dominique came over with her sous chef, Marylu to make Thai food.  Dominique is the only person I know who can rock a Wonder Woman Halloween costume and not look silly.  Marylu is just sort of generally silly and likes to yell, "I love it, rasta!" whenever the urge strikes her.  So they make a good team.

the finished product

They brought so many ingredients with them that they wouldn't all fit in the pot.  We left some out and still had too much to eat.  AND they brought desert.  AND Dominique brought an awesome dragon Halloween costume for the baby that she found in New York.

Pork in Peanut Sauce

2 tsp grated ginger                                            1 1/2 lbs. pork loin cut in strips

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced                                  2 Tbsp. peanut oil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes                                         1 red onion, chopped 

1/4 c. soy sauce                                                       1/2 c. chopped mushrooms

1/4 c. Thai fish sauce                                                1/2 c. sliced zucchini

1/2 c. chicken broth                                                 1 c. chopped broccoli

4 Tbsp. peanut butter                                               3/4 c. cashews

2 Tbsp. minced cilantro

rice stick noodles

**  Stir together all the ingredients on the left side in a bowl.  Put the pork in there to marinate.  Set aside.

**  Heat oil in a wok or stockpot.  Saute the onions for about a minute.  Add in the mixed vegetables and cook until slightly soft.  Add in the por and marinade.  Cook about 10 minutes, til pork is done.  Mix in the cashews.

**  Soak rice sticks in hot water for about 3 minutes.  Drain.  Serve pork on top of rice noodles.



Coconut Bananas in Sweetened Condensed Milk

4 large bananas, cut in half and then sliced down the middle

1 c. coconut milk

1 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk

**  Put the coconut in a small pot and bring to a boil.  Add the bananas and cook about 15 minutes.  Stir in the sugar and salt.  Add the sweetened condensed milk.  Remove from heat and serve warm.

Dragon Acrostic

Dungeons dank and dim produce
Roars!
A hungry dragon lurks below, 
Groaning for his dinner.
Ohhhhh! If only someone would make some peanut pork!
Nobody comes over to cook for a dragon.



Claw Soup/Sopa de Apretadores

My father-in-law does Man Cooking.  Man Cooking = barbecue, weekend projects, and the occasional breakfast (see El Chancho entry from 9/25/10 for another example).  A recent trip to the market got my suegro interested in the fresh seafood vendor.  He invented this recipe himself although people do eat something called Sopa de Apretadores along the Pacific coast here in Honduras.  For the broth he loosely followed the ingredient list in a seafood recipe he found in a old 1950's cookbook printed by "the wives of Honduran architects and engineers." Although I got a laugh out of the cookbook I suppose I'm their modern reincarnation.

My in-laws live on a small dairy farm. We went for a visit and got to eat this delicious soup.




The chef contemplates
his creation.

Claw Soup

1 1/2 lbs. king crab                                                     

1 1/2 lbs. squid                                                           

1 1/2 lbs. small lobster tails                                           

1 1/2 lbs. whole fish, like bass                                     

1 lb. shrimp
1 minced onion
1 minced green pepper
8 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 minced garlic cloves
1 c. white wine
rosemary
parsley
2 bay leaves                                                       

shrimp broth or bullion                                                 

cooked rice                                                                 

yup, that's a squid eye

** Clean the seafood. 

** Finely chop the veggies and garlic.  Saute the onion, garlic, and green pepper in a large stockpot in olive oil.  Add in the tomatoes and herbs, then the white wine and a liter of shrimp broth or water with bullion.  Bring to a boil and let this cook up about 15 min.

the love of my life becomes
a crab crushing machine

** Throw in the crab and the squid.  About 10 minutes later throw in the rest of the seafood.  You could add the fish into the broth in a strainer so it doesn't come apart and get bones in the soup.  Simmer for another 10 minutes and serve with rice.

                                                                     

Claw Soup Cinquain

Claw Soup

Pincers stick out

A tentacle unfurls

Crustaceans never tasted so good

Snap! Snap!

Choose Your Own Cheesecake

The only way you can go wrong with this one is if you're health-conscious.  Pam and I discussed our options via cell phone while I was grocery shopping and she gave me many, many varieties of cheesecake to choose from.  We decided to go for the ultimate chocolate mint cheesecake with Oreo crust.  When we baked the crust, butter ran out of the springform pan and dripped into my oven.  I actually reduced the butter in the recipe below.  We licked the spoons and the bowls as we cooked.  We didn't even wait for the cheesecake to cool completely before digging in.  

  

Cheesecake

Crust:

30 Oreos or wafer cookies or graham crackers

3/4 stick of butter, melted

Filling:

24 oz. cream cheese

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. sugar

3 eggs

2 Tbsp. milk or cream or mantequilla (if you're Honduran)

10 oz. chocolate chips or peanut butter chips or mint chocolates or butterscotch chips or fruit preserves

** Squish your choice of cookies into bits.  Or put them in the blender and pulse until coarse crumbs form.

Pour into a bowl and add in the melted butter.  Pat mixture into the bottom of a springform pan, squishing it up the sides a bit.  Stick the crust in the oven while the oven preheats to 350 degrees.  Then take it out.

** Combine the filling in a bowl and beat with a handmixer.  If you're using a variety of "chip" melt it in the microwave before you add it in.  If you're using fruit preserves don't put them in yet.

** When the filling is mixed pour it into the springform on top of the crust.  Stick the pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  When the cheesecake is done the outside will have set but the middle may be a bit jiggly.  If you are using fruit preserves spread them over the top now.

**  Wait for the cake to cool.  Refridgerate before eating.

Make mint chocolate cheesecake

if that will please you.

If you like strawberries

make that one, too!

Make one with blueberries.

Make one with white chocolate.

Make one with caramel.

Then make some more-

make one with peanut butter

one with Nilla wafers.

Make so many cheesecakes

they explode out your door.

Your neighbors won't hate you

if the street's full of cheesecake

they'll hug you and kiss you and make you cook more

they'll choose their own cheesecake

and you'll keep cooking cheesecake

til cheesecake reigns

and takes over the world.



Pastel de Cebolla/Onion Pie

My husband says I'm the only person in history to get along with my mother-in-law.  But look at what she can do! She can cook onion pies, make curtains, lend out chicken cages, and whip my dog into shape.  This is a recipe she got from her mother-in-law, who got it from her mother, who got it from a Guatemalan woman.  I'm back at work now, so I'm stockpiling food over the weekends.  This is a good lunch to take to work.  It's sort of like a double-crust quiche and it fills the kitchen with goodbad smells.  Like onions and bacon fat.  Yeah.

If you don't like savory stuff, you can leave the sugar out of the crust. 

Onion Pie

Crust:                                                                            Filling:

2 1/2 c. flour                                                                 3 eggs

1 tsp. salt                                                                      salt and pepper

2 eggs                                                                           1 c. cream

1/2 c. sugar                                                                   4 oz. parmesan cheese

1/2 c. milk                                                                     1 lb. onions, cut in thin half circles

1/4 c. shortening                                                            1/2 lb. bacon

1/4 c. butter

**  Boil the onions in water for half an hour.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.



the filling



**  Combine crust ingredients.  Divide dough into 2 lumps, one slightly larger than the other.  Roll the lumps out into circles.  Put the larger circle in the bottom of a pie pan, crimping the edges.  Cut the second circle into strips and set aside. 


 

**  Fry the bacon.  Strain off the fat.  Take the onions from the boiling water and add them to the bacon.  Continue to fry until the onions are nicely fried.  Strain off any extra fat. 



Nana started telling us how to
do it so she was put to work!



**  Add the eggs, cream, salt and pepper, and parmesan to the onion mixture.  Stir to combine.

**  Pour mixture into pie crust.  Weave the crust strips over the top.

**  Cook at 350 degrees for one hour.

Goodbad Smells and Other Confusion

Sometimes

life gets confusing.

Is something funny

like hahaha

or funny like weird?

If the quiche got funny

it's funny bad.

Bacon smells good

but it's bad.

Broccoli smells bad

but it's good.

Inhaling gasoline fumes = bad

but they smell good.

Whip-its are funny hahaha

but they smell funny bad.

Not that I know anything about that.

I have friends

at Dairy Queen.