Pork Chops with Fried Rice

I love buying pork chops in the Mission District because you can get them cut real thin. The thinness of the cut allows you to cook them fast but without the worry of the center being raw.

I set up the pork chops to fry them. I dip each of them in an egg wash and coat them with breadcrumbs. Then I set them aside and let them dry a bit before frying them.

For a side dish, decide to make an Americanized fried rice with some leftover rice. I also had purchased some small pale - almost white - chiles in the Mission as well. I have used them before and they have a mild flavor. I take three of the peppers; de-seed and de-vein them then cut them into small pieces. I heat two tablespoons of oil in a skillet and saute the peppers with two chopped scallions (including the green tops). When the scallions are a bit wilted, I add the rice (about two cups worth) and when it is heated through I add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of water. Finally, I add a pinch of smoked salt (a Rainbow Grocery find) and 1 cup of frozen corn, cover it, turn the burner very low and then let it steam.

Next, I heat about three tablespoons of oil in a skillet and when it is hot, I fry the pork chops so that they are crisp and brown. When fully cooked, I serve a pork chop with a bit of the fried rice. The grilled frozen corn and smoked salt add the perfect hint of smokiness to the rice. All together it took about forty minutes to cook this dinner.

Chili and Cornbread

Chili fundamentalists wouldn't really classify this as a chili but rather as a ground beef stew. Chili making is really a much higher art but if you want a hearty stew reminiscent of a chili, this is a good "quick" version.

I removed a package of ground beef (about 1.5 to 2 pounds) from the freezer in the morning and let it defrost during the day. Later when it is about time for dinner, I heat a about a 3 tablespoons of olive oil until it is hot - almost smoking - and add the ground beef. I cook it until the meat is mostly brown. As this is cooking, I finely chop 1 medium onion; 2 jalapenos (seeded and de-stemmed); and 2 cloves of garlic. When the meat is brown, I add the chopped vegetables and saute a bit until the onion is a bit translucent. Add one bottle or can of beer and let it cook down a bit. (The beer tenderizes the meat and the alcohol burns off.)

Add a can of tomato sauce and a bit of water just enough to cover everything. Add about 1 tablespoon of chili powder as well as salt and pepper to taste. For a darker sauce and a bit more flavor I also add a tablespoon of instant coffee. I will cook this down for about an hour without a cover on the pot. The sauce will cook down until it is deeper and thicker.

I start with the cornbread and since I happen to be out of cornmeal I use a package of cornbread mix that I like from Trader Joe's. It is a sweet version of cornbread and has kernels of corn mixed into it. It takes 35 to 40 minutes to bake so I mix this per the instructions and place it in the oven. The cornbread and chili will be ready at about the same time.

Dinner Crepes

Crepes are an ideal meal to make in stages; you can start the batter in the morning then cook the crepes when you are ready to make dinner. Alternately, you can cook and freeze crepes for later use; they defrost quickly in room temperate. I have a tendency to make crepes when I have other things going on - in this case I am also making our bi-weekly batch of cat food - so they seem to be very tedious. I have decided that I am overwhelming myself by trying to multitask rather than focusing on the crepes.

Anyway, these crepes were delicious and it was such a large batch that the effort will save me from one night of meal planning. If you are making these for a dinner party, it really is ideal because you can make ahead of time and simply warm up in the oven when the time is right. Alternately, you could even freeze half the batch and stick away for some night when you want a quick meal, home-cooked meal.

Crepe batter is best when it is given the good part of the day to sit; the flour has more time to absorb the liquid. In the morning, I decide that crepes will be good for dinner and make the batter right after breakfast. I take my blender and measure 1 cup of milk, 1/3 cup of water into it then I add two large eggs, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Once all the ingredients are in the blender, I put the lid on the jar, put it on the base and blend until smooth for about 5 seconds. I put the blender jar directly in the refrigerator and leave it there until I am ready to cook later tonight. (At the very least the batter should sit for an hour; two is preferable. It can last for up to 24 hours.)

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MAKING CREPES

Ideally, you do need a crepe pan since you can more easily judge the size and thinness of the crepe with it. I try to avoid buying kitchen gear that serves only one purpose but in this case I find it necessary. Although to make myself feel better I sometimes use it to make pancakes too. I find making the crepes themselves to be the fun part and they bring back memories of my high school French class when we made them for a fundraiser. My teacher brought in her electric crepe maker and showed us how to make them.

To set yourself up, have a plate handy in which to place the crepes once cooked. You want to have your pan on a burner set to medium-high heat. You will need a paper towel lightly coated with butter (you can use any type of oil but butter is preferable to achieve the right browning); you will brush this lightly over the surface of the pan so that the metal is shiny but you don't want any sizzling butter or oil. Pick the pan up off of the burner and pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter for a (6 or 7 inch pan; 1/4 cup for a 9 or 10 inch pan) on the pan while tilting and rotating to spread the batter to the edges of the pan- coating the pan's surface.

Cook until almost dry on top and lightly browned on the edges; about a minute. Loosen the edges of the crepe from the pan with a metal spatula and then flip the crepe over and cook for another 15 seconds or so. Turn the crepe onto the clean plate and continue the process until all the batter is used; continue stacking the crepes.

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CREPE FILLING

I used a filling from this cookbook called Crepes; Sweet and Savory Recipes for the Home Cook. The filling is chicken, sweet corn and red pepper - I have almost all the ingredients except fresh ginger, fresh corn on the cob and Monterey jack cheese but I decided to try it out. I have frozen, sweet corn and a four cheese blend of shredded cheese from my lasagna last week; close enough.

I start by poaching 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts in about an inch of water with half of an onion and some salt. I simmer this over low heat for about 10-15 minutes. I then remove the chicken and let cool so that I can dice it a bit later. I also place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of frozen corn in enough water to cover it, bring it to a boil and then drain.

Simultaneously, as the chicken and corn are cooking I start assembling the rest of the filling. I dice half of a red pepper (about 1/2 cup) and one green onion (an alternate ingredient is to use a shallot). In a small skillet, I add a scant 1 tablespoon of olive oil, heat it over medium heat and saute the pepper and green onion for about 2-3 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, I mix 1 large egg, 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of dried sage. I will add the diced chicken, corn, peppers and green onions to this mixture and blend it all. Finally, I will add salt and pepper to taste. (I tend to under salt when I cook because I prefer salty foods and don't want to go overboard.)

I preheat my oven to 350 degrees and prep a 10 x 13 baking dish by spraying it with a bit of olive oil spray. Then I assemble the crepes; I put in one to two heaping tablespoons of filling for each crepe and fold it like an envelope to completely enclose the filling. I arrange them in the baking dish as I go, spray the whole thing with a bit more olive oil spray, sprinkle the whole pan with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. I simply served these crepes with no side dish - a bit of salad would be a nice accompaniment.

Tamale Making on Mother's Day

For years, my mother-in-law and I have been making tamales around Christmas time; just the two of us would spend a whole day making hundreds of them. Friends always expressed interest in learning how to make them but the timing of doing them in the midst of the holidays was always bad. Last year I decided to see if Mother's Day might be a better time and it was so successful that we decided to make it an annual event.

A few weeks in advance I send out an Evite so that I can get a sense of how many people will be able to attend and then estimate how much of the ingredients need to be purchased. Gathering all the ingredients is a big project but living in San Francisco makes life a bit easier. La Palma Mexicatessen is a great source for masa (the primary ingredient) and the corn husks that we use to wrap our tamales. You can purchase masa that has been pre-mixed with lard, broth and baking powder but we prefer to mix these ingredients in ourselves. In the past we have purchased the pre-mixed masa and still spent a lot of time working the masa with our hands to get it aerated enough. The secret to light and fluffy tamales is aerating the dough until a small lump floats in a glass of water.

I spent over a week gathering ingredients; first for the green mole which will be used to flavor the meat fillings and gradually gathering other items that will be needed. I would prefer to stick to one type of meat - pork - but over the years there have been requests for other fillings and even for sweet tamales. La Palma sells a sweet tamale dough; it is fully mixed with all the ingredients as well as raisins and flecks of cinnamon. Unfortunately, I have been spoiled by strawberry and pineapple tamales we found during our travels in Mexico and don't find this sweet mix to be up to par at all. Trinidad, my mother-in-law, has tried jam and even dried fruit or candy but I still have dreams about perfectly flavored, light and fluffy strawberry tamales.

This year I have made it my mission to achieve that sweet tamale as well as make seven other fillings: red and green chicken; red and green pork (carnitas); beef; picadillo; grilled corn and cheese; and rajas (poblano chili and cheese). It will be quite a feat but I have 20 estimated helpers and I am going to cheat - I purchase three roasted chickens from Costco and six packages of Pork Carnitas from Trader Joe's - this saves significant time on cooking meat fillings. I purchase 70 pounds of masa quebrada simple (that is rough ground hominy and unmixed), 4 pounds of lard (you can substitute solid vegetable shortening), 2 cups of baking powder, six bags of pre-washed corn husks, a flat of strawberries, two pineapples, and 4 pounds of ground beef.

My reference for ingredient measurements is Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless. His recipe for tamales using 1 pound (approximately 2 cups) of masa, 1/2 cup lard, 2/3 cup broth, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt (depending how salty the broth is). This recipe estimates it will make 16 medium-sized tamales; therefore 70 pounds of masa should yield over 1,100 tamales and each helper will leave with over 50 tamales each. This is exactly why this is a full, day; fully staffed function.

Before the event, I set most of the corn husks in a large pan full of hot water and weigh the lid down to keep the husks fully submerged. (Unfortunately, I will have to do this in two or even three batches because I don't have a large enough pan to accommodate all the corn husks). I cook the picadillo and make sure all my ingredients are handy and ready.

When everyone arrives, I give them a moment to grab a bagel, some coffee and even champagne before I set them up kneading masa. We separate the 70 pounds of masa dough into four, 20 quart bowls and add the requisite amounts of shortening/lard and baking powder. Kneading the masa is the longest part of this process so the bulk of the work will be there.

My first helper, Danielle gets to work cutting up some pineapple and strawberries. The fruit tamales require the addition of a cup of fruit puree per pound of masa rather than broth. I plan to set aside about 10 pounds of the masa (five pounds per flavor) and for the moment I am going to add sugar and shortening to this 10 pounds then separate it again to add the respective purees.

When I have enough people working on the masa, I set the next batch of helpers to shredding the meat. Since both the chickens and pork carnitas are pre-cooked the meat just needs to be shredded and seasoned to be ready as a filling for tamales. When all the meat is shredded, I separate it into batches and season some of the pork and chicken with green mole and the rest I season with a bit of mole poblano and a can of spicy tomato sauce (El Pato Sauce). Additionally, I add a lot of salt - you want the flavoring to be pretty intense (spicy, flavorful and/or salty) to offset the blandness of the masa dough.

Rajas are a "vegetarian" tamale (fully vegetarian if you use solid vegetable shortening and vegetable broth). It is made by placing thin strips of slightly grilled, poblano chilis and queso fresco on the bed of masa. The cheese melts when the tamales get steamed and it is a really delicious filling - especially if you are a fan of chili rellenos (poblanos stuffed with cheese; battered; fried and covered with light tomato sauce), which is one of my favorite dishes. Another vegetarian tamale we created last year was to use a bag of frozen, roasted corn - a Trader Joe's item - and mixing it with shredded cheese; approximately two cups.

I spend the whole day funneling ingredients to the workers and checking the masa for float worthy status, plus setting up the tamales to cook. I have a large, 30 quart pan which I placed a steamer at the bottom with about 2 inches of water. I then take some of the wet corn husks and made a bed in which to place the tamales. I place enough tamales in the pan so that they can stand up so that the open part of the husk is pointing toward the lid of the pan. At around 6:00 pm (we started at 11:00 am) the first batch of tamales is fully cooked.

The tamales that are taken home will be uncooked and I tell everyone to freeze them when they get home. By freezing the tamales uncooked, you get a much fresher tasting tamal. You can remove tamales right from the freezer and steam for about 90 minutes. (If they are unfrozen or fresh they only take about 60 minutes.) It is easy to tell if a tamal is fully cooked because the masa goes from a soft mush to a spongy dough. You can just open the corn husk to confirm doneness.

Everyone worked tirelessly to knead the masa and fill tamales. Luis kept the workers hydrated by refreshing champagne, beers, sodas, agua frescas, etc. He also took the vacuum out numerous times to clean up masa from the floor. His justification is he wanted us all to impress any random arrival with our ability to keep the floor clean during such a massive project.

So next year, I will purchase masa fina, mixta (finely ground, masa mixed with everything) and just knead it to aerate it better. We spent too long kneading the masa again and it wasn't salty enough. Unfortunately, I totally forgot that the puree replaced the broth in the sweet tamales so my quest for the perfect sweet tamal is as yet unfulfilled.

Pork with Green Mole

Since I cooked green mole in the afternoon, I am going to take advantage of that for dinner and make something quick. I have some pork tenderloin spears (the package is a bit over a pound) in the freezer so I defrost those and slice them into smaller pieces; almost bite-sized.

I want to brown the pork prior to adding the mole for better flavor. (This method of browning and then finishing the cooking in a moist heat is referred to as braising.) I heat some oil in a medium-sized skillet on medium-high heat and just as it starts smoking I add the pork a batch at a time but work quickly to avoid overcooking the meat. When all the meat is a browned (few signs of raw, pink meat) I add a ladle of green mole (approximately 1/2 cup); cover and let cook for about 5 minutes.

I serve the pork with steamed rice, corn and some quesadillas or just plain tortillas. In this case, we have enough leftover oven-baked rice (recipe from Fish for Dinner) that I will reheat that. However, if you have to cook the rice start it in advance since it takes about 20 minutes; 1 cup of raw, long grain rice to two cups of water or broth and bring to a boil over medium to high heat; reduce to medium low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.