Pepitas sounds so much cooler than pumpkin seeds (and these are just the meaty part of the pumpkin seed).
You have to get these and roast them up. They jump a little and start
to brown up. (They jump kind of like the Mexican jumping beans we had
when we were kids - they were in a little plastic box and when you held
the box in your hand it warmed them up and they jumped. I found out
later there was a little worm or bug in there and when it got warm it
made it uncomfortable and it jumped to get away from your heat---ewww -
bad memory and not terribly PC, eh?)
I first had these at a class at A Thyme for Everything
in LSMO (and if you haven't been there, and you're in this part of the
country - you are missing out on it BIG TIME!) Anyway, it was a Mexican
Christmas cooking class by Chef Nancy Stark. We watched her make
tamales, Queso Fundido with freshly fried tortilla chips, tortillas,
Mole, an amazing rice dish and Churos with a decadent chocolate
pudding-like dip. (Do you remember the Coyote and the RoadRunner? When
Wile E. was thinking of eating that fast little bird he'd start
drooling. I get it now because that is exactly what I'm doing after
writing what we had!) The pepitas changed everything, though.
In a subsequent weekend, we went to the "Mexican Price Chopper" in Kansas City, Kansas. It's true, if you want real Mexican bits for your meal - you have to go where they carry them. Masa (not just cornmeal), New Mexico Peppers, Poblanos, LARD (it's true, you can't find it everywhere), you can even get your tamale masa made up in big old bags in the meat counter. And we had to scour the store for pepitas. You could get them already roasted and salted, but I just wanted the roasted ones. You do it in a frying pan - dry - no oils. They have this smokey, rich, warm flavor. She sprinkled them on the Queso Fundido with goat cheese (that's the Queso below, just out of the oven and with the fantastic pepitas sprinkled over it).
It. Was. Life-Changing. 
Again with the "Mexican Price Chopper" - and that is how it is known around these parts by Anglos and Mexicans alike - you can't just make Anglo foods meld to your will to taste authentic. We made pork tamales with pork butt. I got the dried New Mexico peppers, blackened them, soaked them, scraped them (I get why these are only made in huge batches and once a year!). I made the masa for the outside of the tamales (and in true Cookin'Neen fashion, I tried to imagine what ELSE could go in tamales - what kind of sweet tasty treat or what kind of veggie-stuffed tamale would stand up) and was able to spread that creamy corn paste on the corn husks just right - yes, it impressed the heck out of me. We had a spinach and rice dish that was divine.
But the pepitas have my heart. I put them on salads, on anything with cheese, and just eat them out of the jar. (I roast up about a pint of them at a time.) My problem is finding them. I found SOME at the Price Chopper in Greenwood, Missouri. Bottom Shelf. In a corner. They're so good, they should have their own display like avocados do.
Next year, Christmas at Rancho NeenAnn will be muy festive, and muy delicious!!
When my
boys were little, there were things they thought they wouldn't like to
eat. Broccoli. When he learned that it was tiny trees and the dinosaurs
ate trees - well, he could that, too! (one down) When tuna salad
sounded a little fishy, but chicken salad was delicious, I found
Swimming Chicken Salad.There was even a "Chicken of the Sea" (must have
been a deep water chicken)! Lo and behold...they liked it. What was
next. Quiche. Thank you humorists..."Real men don't eat quiche" -- and
of course, my two little boys were "real men". What do you know - we had
Cheese & Eggie pie. It was delicious, Mom!
Pie. (again with the angels singing in unison)
Well, now that I've thought that word, I have to say that all I can
think now is how good pie is. Fruits, custards, cremes all held in a
crispy, flaky, subtle crust. Warm from the oven with some cold ice cream
melting around the fruits. A wedge of cheese melting over the apples.
Or simply cream, poured over a hearty and substantial slab pie filled
with peaches and plums. The savory aroma of a Chicken Pot Pie, steam
rising from a golden crust, the glorious roping of edging around the pie
plate.
Never
had a great looking pie? Make them all the time, but you just don't get
the flaky crust that is so treasured? Do you use vodka? OK, do you use
vodka in your crust? The folks at Cook's Illustrated and shared by Food 52 discovered (and thankfully shared) is adding vodka in place of part of the water.
The
theory is if you replace half the water with vodka (a good portion of
which evaporates in the oven's heat, thus reducing the liquid in the
crust) you get sizzley, flakey,
glorious crust rather than something that is already becoming a
glutinous mass of "I-wish-I-hadn't-thought-I-could-make-a-pie" regret.
Think
of tossing in vanilla vodka in your apple pie crust or branch out to
some really tasty liquors (honey bourbon?) to kick up the flavor ever so
slightly.
Look at Food 52 for the whole recipe and sciency-technical explanation of how it works as well as the most amazing pictures of the process (snippet above).
Now get
out there and make that crust. Make a whole bunch of crusts. I try to
keep one in my fridge for those emergency pies. (dinner, dessert, pie
gift to a friend)
Aren't you glad you dropped by today?
I fell in love with risotto. The first I had was a sweet potato risotto with chicken and asparagus. I swooned. Then, I looked doggedly for the right rice, the best way to roast the sweet potatoes, how big to cut them, whether to roast my own chicken or get the rotisserie chickens at the grocery, do I really need to have Parmigiano Reggiano (yes), is there a short-cut?
Then I had the risotto at Cafe Trio one summer evening - roasted heirloom cherry tomatoes and shallots - I was a gonner. Risotto is what I make when I want to feed an army. It's so hard to believe you can do that with only one cup of Arborio rice - but it doesn't last long - it's so good, it's gone - and that's good because it kind of loses texture overnight.
Then when I was at a cooking class at A Thyme for Everything (the cutest little gourmet kitchen shop near my office), Jasper Mirabile was doing an Italian Thanksgiving class. Another Risotto recipe for me, but he suggested vialone nano rather than arborio because it lasts longer and it's what he uses in his restaurant. I'll have to head over to his restaurant and grocery to get some, apparently, because not even Whole Foods carries it! (A chore for this weekend!)
While we were in class, my friend, Ann, said she had a great recipe for a baked risotto that you can make when you are entertaining and you don't have to stir, stir, stir until table time - I'll share that one, too.
But for now, this Tomato-Basil & Spinach Risotto I found at Iowa Girl Eats
has my heartstrings aflutter. Look at that picture (Iowa Girl Eats has
some of the BEST phood photos!) - don't you just want to dive in?
My only changes are to use olive oil rather than the butter up front with the shallots and garlic and then toss in a tablespoon of butter at the end with the Parmesan cheese. I might even try some panchetta, pepperoni, or even just plain old bacon, crisped up and sprinkled in at the last minute to give it a little smoky flavor kick.
I love this stuff. It can be rich and savory filled with Autumn's bounty of root vegetables (roast up some beets with those sweet potatoes or roasted pumpkin) or it can be light and fresh with summer's fresh tomatoes and basil. I cannot believe that I have to sit through the office today before I can get home to make this.
I mentioned chicken earlier - to roast or not to roast my own - that was the question. When chickens are on sale, I grab two or three and use my trusty Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker. I know there are other pans out there that you can roast a chicken in, but this puppy is pretty and the chicken I get out of it doesn't last long...it's so tender without being cooked to death, and I can season it in different ways and the flavor doesn't linger from one baking to the next.
I'm not paid to tell you about the Baker - I bought my own - but I LOVE it!
My husband knows that he's going to get risotto or the most amazing chicken and noodles you'll ever want to eat when I'm roasting a chicken. Then I cool it, put it in a zip top bag and pop one or two in the freezer (I roast them all when I bring them home - then freeze them - half a chicken per bag) and I'm ready for risotto, the aforementioned chicken and noodles or, if I've Mexi-seasoned one, some to-die-for tacos/enchiladas/burritos just by setting them in the fridge in the morning before I leave so they thaw by the time I get home.
Let me know if you make this and what you do to make it your own. I love to hear your inspirations!
Food - it sticks with you...
I love food. Really love food. And it loves to hang out with me long after I eat it.
My mission with this blog is to share some GOOD for you foods, recipes, methods, and occasionally some decadent treats. I've discovered that if you eat ONLY what is good for you, you start to feel punished (if you have my guilt factor) and a little gratuitous treat eating is preferable to a full on binge.
What is good for you? According to Weight Watchers, doctors, and healthy people, a balanced diet. That means you should have protein, carbs, fiber, and some fat.
Olive oil is best for the fat requirement. There are other oils, too. Canola and flax seed oils are also good.
With that established, let's get to the fun foods.
Protein.
Yep. Steak is my go to protein. (Imagine a choir of angels now as they over over a grill with a sizzling steak basking over hot coals.) I also like chicken and pork. Tofu - not so much, but I have a recipe I can share for a tofu lasagna that will knock your socks off!
Post #1 is sharing a (an?) Hawaiian Marinated Flank Steak posted by The Clever Carrot.
The photos at this blog beat anything I can do right now, so I'm going to share her photo, too. Just seeing how juicy this steak is makes me drool.
Pair this with some roasted vegetables and a crisp and zesty salad and you really have something that can be good for you, delicious, and not make you feel as though you are subsisting on rabbit food.
Other bloggers have some amazing foods out there, too, and I'm going to search and find those that get my creative juices flowing, and keep my appetite sated.
Yes, we will see desserts. And Bacon. And vegetables that will make you want to run to the market and stock up! And Cheese. Looking for vegan or vegetarian...keep scrolling through your options...this isn't the place.
