Slow Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Slow roasted tomatillos provide a tasty variation to my standard salsa verde recipe. This tomatillo salsa has a deep, rich flavor, a creamy texture and a tangy bite that makes it perfect for dipping salty chips and smothering your favorite burro.

ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA RECIPE

6 Tomatillos – split in half across the poles

1 Poblano chile – seeded and split in half

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of black pepper

1 cup vegetable stock

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place the tomatillos and poblano on the sheet. Carefully drizzle or brush the olive oil over the surface of the tomatillos and chile. Sprinkle the garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper over the tomatillos and chile, and place them in the oven.

Bake them for two to three hours until they have dried up a bit.

Combine all of the tomatillos, chile, and vegetable stock in the bowl of a food processor or blender, and puree until smooth.

Eat your roasted tomatillo salsa with a chip!

The slow roasted tomatillos also make great pizza toppings along with slow roasted tomatoes!

Big Ass Sandwich

Smoked turkey. Candied bacon. Steak. Caramelized onions. Fried eggs.
Every great sandwich has a great filling. Only one sandwich has them all!

I don’t mess around when it comes to making sandwiches, and a great sandwich recipe is useful to have in your arsenal if you need to bribe friends for a favor:

“If you come help me, I will make sandwiches!”

“Big ass sandwiches?”

“I only know how to make one size!”

“Done!”

After all, what could be better than having an assortment of your favorite things, snuggled neatly together, between two slices of crispy baguette? Nothing, amigos. And if you think of something, just add it to the sandwich.

In fact, this post is more of a guideline for sandwich making. Sure, if you copy this recipe exactly you will undoubtedly delight your mouth with a glorious explosion of flavor. But don’t limit yourself to the ingredients I’ve listed. Find your own Way of the sandwich with the flavors you crave.

BIG ASS SANDWICH RECIPE

2 eight-inch slices of toasted baguette

¼ pound ounces of sliced smoked turkey

¼ pound of sliced steak

2 slices of candied bacon

2 ounces of caramelized onions

2 fried eggs - salted and peppered

2 ounces of Colby-jack cheese

METHOD

1. Add the turkey to the baguette.

2. Layer the steak on the turkey.

3. Layer the bacon on the steak.

4. Place the eggs on the bacon.

6. Sprinkle the cheese on the eggs.

7. Top with the caramelized onions.

8. Slice in half and admire its majesty.

9. Take a big ol' bite!

Candied Bacon - Three Ways

What’s better than crispy, salty, bacon? SUGAR COATED, crispy, salty bacon! OMG! Candied bacon is the perfect way to remind your tongue that you guys are still best buds! I can pretty much eat this stuff all day long, which is why I make it rarely and sparingly. In my most recent bacon candying exploit, I experimented with three kinds of coating: white sugar, brown sugar, and teriyaki sauce. Although the white sugar yielded the best results, with the crispest texture, brown sugar had a deeper candy flavor, and the teriyaki sauce was also excellent. Try them all and decide which version you prefer!

CANDIED BACON RECIPE

10 strips of thick-cut bacon

1 tablespoon of sugar, brown sugar, or homemade teriyaki sauce (recipe found here).

METHOD

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and lining a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Then, put two metal drying racks on cookie sheet, and place the bacon on the racks.

Sprinkle half of the sugar of your choice or the teriyaki sauce on the bacon, ensuring that each piece is evenly coated.

Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven, flip the bacon, and using the remaining sugar or sauce, coat the other side of each piece of bacon. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes – keeping an eye on it to make sure the bacon does not burn.

Consume with gusto!

Dad’s Pancakes

When I moved to Tucson, AZ in 2000 for my first round of college, I asked my dad to provide me with a collection of my favorite recipes of his. He jotted a few of his classics down on a notepad, which I keep to this day. Among these gems is my dad’s recipe for the best pancakes!

This is, by far, my favorite recipe for pancakes. They have a chewy texture with a crispy exterior that, in my opinion, cannot be beat! And do you know what the secret to this magic is? Tofu! This is one instance where vegetarianizing up a standard recipe really results in a superior product. Try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed! And if you are disappointed, well, I’m afraid that’s just a YOU problem.

TOFU PANCAKES RECIPE

2 ¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ cup sugar

4 ounces of soft/silken tofu

5 tablespoons of melted butter (can substitute olive oil for vegan recipe)

2 cups of milk (can substitute water for vegan recipe)

½ to ¾ cup water

Special Equipment: Blender/food processor, griddle or pancake pan

METHOD

Preheat your griddle over a medium-high heat burner.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer.

Place the tofu, butter, and milk into a blender and blend until smooth.

Add the blended ingredients and additional water to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.

PANCAKE MAKING SECRETS

Now, spoon the mixture, 1/3 cup per pancake, onto your hot griddle. Here is the trick to perfect pancakes: wait until the top of the pancake has started to dry and has become porous. When the cakes look like this:

Flip them. Wait 2 minutes, and remove them from the griddle.

Eat them while they’re hot!

Now that you have the basic batter and technique down, you can make pancake variations by either folding additional ingredients into the batter or by sprinkling them on individual cakes while they are on the griddle. Popular options include blueberries or chocolate chips, but I’m also a big fan of bacon and chocolate chip: