Chicken Tortilla Soup

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It's been raining here in Northern California. Not really big rain, just some persistent drizzle that's been lasting for several days now. The temperature dropped a little and it feels more like California winter nowadays.

I don't mind it. Parched Bay Area needed the rain badly.

The kids went to school with their coat on this morning. It's such a stark contrast to their usual 't-shirt and shorts' school attire they had been wearing for months. The downside of having rainy days is, at least according to little C who's in 5th grade, that they've been having indoor recesses. He thinks that sitting in the lunch room and playing board game is utterly boring. He wants to play outside and hanging upside down from the monkey bar.

But the principal says no.

Big C is also not liking this cold wet weather very much. 

He's been doing competitive rowing since the beginning of January, and goes to practice 6 days a week. Being on the water in the rain just adds misery to an already gruesome exercise.

But I'm hoping that this rain will alleviate our drought situation, that we'll have plenty of water throughout the summer. And my water bill will stay low.

In the meantime, here is some chicken tortilla soup to help you warm up :)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded and cooked chicken meat (leftover rotisserie chicken works wonderful for this)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon chile powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 can (14-oz) canned diced tomatoes
• 1 can (14-oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 cups chicken stock
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 6 corn tortillas, cut into strips and deep fried until crispy
• 2 avocados, diced
• Lime wedges
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Sour cream
• Grated cheddar
• Hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and peppers into the pot. Cook and stir the vegetables for about 3 minutes, until tender. Add cumin and chile powder, stir to combine. Add shredded chicken, black beans and diced tomatoes into the pot and mix.
• Gently pour chicken stock into the pot and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer soup for about 30-40 minutes, uncovered
• Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the that and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
• Ladle soup into individual bowls. Top with crispy tortilla chips, chopped red onion, and avocado. Garnish with cilantro and a lime wedge. Serve with sour cream, cheddar and hot sauce.

Serves 4 as main dish

Baked Chicken Flautas

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Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (your leftover rotisserie chicken works wonderfully in this recipe)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar/Monterey Jack
• 20 corn tortillas
• Cilantro sprigs
• Lime wedges
• Salsa, Guacamole, sour cream, and hot sauce for serving (optional)

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook, stirring occasionally until onion turns translucent and fragrant. Add shredded chicken into the skillet, season with cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Turn off the heat and remove the skillet from the stove and cool down
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place some very warm water in a large bowl. Dip one corn tortilla into warm water a few second until it turns pliable (don't skip this step as your tortilla will be brittle and will crack when you roll it). Transfer the tortilla to a work plate, place about one heaping tablespoon of chicken on the lower half of the tortilla. Sprinkle about 1/2 tablespoon of cheese on top of the chicken, and roll the tortilla all the way up. Place rolled tortilla on a lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.
• Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until brown and crispy. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. Serve warm with condiment of your choice (salsa, Guacamole, sour cream, hot sauce).

Slow Cooked Pork Tacos and Roasted Salsa Verde

Click here to print the recipe:

I'm tired of cooking. I'm tired of eating.

I'm tired of holiday season!

There! I said it!

I don't like December. Holiday season always puts me in foul mood every year, without fail.

The pressure of keeping up with holiday spirit is killing me. 

Like my normal daily life isn't hectic enough, the universe dictated that I need to make time to do tons of shopping, wrap about 50,000 present and wait in line for an hour at the post office to mail them out (I know, I boxed and pre-stamped, but my house sits on a hill with very steep driveway, the postman would not come up and pick up my boxes. And my 'lovely' local post office would not allow me to drop off the pre-stamped boxes. They need to be brought to the counter! Ha!).

Top it all with secret Santas, remembering to give tips to the service guys, holiday baking, and some freakishly fast depleting money in my bank account. I'm done, man! January can't possible come soon enough for me.

I mean, can't we just be nice to people all year long? Give gifts, cooking, baking, get together anytime we want? Why do we have to cram everything in one lousy month, trying to get things done before the deadline? 

I just want things back to normal.

But for my family, especially my offsprings who clearly enjoy the season just like any child would, I grin and bear it. Just like any good person, I keep my coffee (sometimes vodka) induced sanity in place. At the end of the day, who am I to ruin their happiest and most exhilarating season of the year?

Forget the fact that I can't stand the sight of eggnog in my fridge anymore, or the smell of pumpkin cinnamon ginger whatever spice that filled my house, I promise I'll be good and in my best behavior.

Just give me whatever non-Christmas related food for dinner. Something simple, utterly comforting, but ultimately delicious. 

And if you're kind enough, please include some heavy alcoholic beverage with it. 

Cheers! Salute! Gānbēi

Slow Cooked Pork Taco
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork shoulder/butt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Ancho chili powder
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2-3 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• Salt and pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 cup packed cilantro leaves, chopped
• 20 6-inch soft corn tortillas
• Salsa verde (recipe below)
• Lime wedges and hot sauce to serve (optional)

Directions:

• Rinse pork and pat dry with paper towel. Combine olive oil, chili powder, garlic, cumin, lime juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Mix to blend. Rub the spice mix all over the pork until completely covered.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork and brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Flip the pork over, and brown the other side. Remove pork from the skillet and transfer to a slow cooker. Cook pork in low setting for 6-8 hours. When the pork is done and tender, shred the meat using 2 forks.
• To serve, place corn tortilla in a hot pan over medium heat, flip over to heat the other side. Place  a teaspoon of chopped onion, chopped cilantro, and a heaping spoonful of shredded pork in the center of tortilla. Top with salsa verde. Serve with lime wedge and hot sauce, if desired.

Roasted Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

• 1 pound tomatillos (about 5 large), husks removed and washed
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 Jalapeños, stems removed
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 cup pack cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• Salt to taste

Directions:

• Move the oven rack to the top position, turn on the oven to broil. Place tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic and onion in a oven-safe dish. Broil in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and nicely charred. Move and rotate the vegetables if necessary, to ensure that they're cooked evenly. Remove from the oven and let sit to cool down.
• Transfer tomatillos, garlic, onion, and peppers to a food processor. Add chicken stock, lime juice, and cilantro into the mix. Pulse 4-5 time until salsa turn smooth. Season with salt.

Churros

Click here to print the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder for dusting
• oil for frying

Directions:

• Place water, butter, and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a heavy saucepan, cook over medium heat and bring to boil. Add flour into the saucepan, stir with wooden spatula until the mixture clumps together into a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat.
• Transfer dough into a mixing bowl, add vanilla extract and 3 eggs (one at the time) while stirring with spatula. The dough should look soft and shiny but still sticking to the spatula. If not, add one more egg. Place dough in a pastry bag with star tip. Pipe lines of dough onto cookie sheet lined with wax paper, about 5 inches each. Store the cookie sheet in a freezer for about 10-15 minutes, or until the dough turn firm.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan to 375 degrees F. Work in batches, fry the churros in the oil, about 2 minutes for each side, until they are golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.
• Mix sugar and cinnamon powder in a large plate. Roll warm churros in the sugar mixture until completely coated.

Makes about 20 5-inch Churros

Pork Chile Verde

Serve with Mexican rice and red + green pepper + onion stir fry.

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds pork butt or shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Flour for dredging
• 1/4 vegetable oil
• 3 yellow onions
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 green bell peppers, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2-3 Jalapeños, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 1 1/2 Tomatillos, roasted, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried Oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, crushed and soaked in a scant amount of water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped
• 4 cup chicken stock

Directions:

• Season the pork meat generously with salt and pepper, lightly flour. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and brown pork chunks well in small batches, on all sides. Lift pork out of the pan and place in a wide soup pot. Discard fat and place the onions and peppers in the same skillet and sweat over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until limp, about 5 minutes. Add all of the chiles and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes more.
• Add the sautéed vegetables, chopped tomatillos, dried herbs and cilantro to the meat, cover with chicken stock and bring up to a boil and reduce to slight simmer. Cook 2-3 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender.
• Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

Note: Recipe's taken from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pork-chile-verde-recipe/index.html