Pre February Fiesta!

Sorry I was lacking in the creative title department... Today at work I was dreaming about some fish tacos (since I had some awesome beer battered fish pieces) then I thought ...well I couldn't have fish tacos without pico de gallo... ...then I thought well I have to make chips, then my mind wandered to guacamole and chips - my brain is a food driven disaster sometimes... well all the time I guess...

Now I am under the impression that I make the best pico de gallo in the entire world and you know what? It's true... I am just waiting to be discovered and whisked away from my hum drum life to make it non stop for salsa lovers everywhere...

How do I do it you ask? ...this baby - an industrial vegetable chopper:

Its a pain in the neck to clean but it makes the most awesome, perfectly uniformed, chopped veggies.

For pico de gallo or salsa as I call it... I use the basics: Onion, tomato, serrano chilies, cilantro and LOTS OF LIME & SALT:

I place most of the ingredients into the chopper after a slice to two and pound them through - on the other end you get beautiful uniform chunks:

I squeeze numerous limes over an ungodly amount of salt and there you have it: The best pico de gallo in the world...

As for my guacamole - it too is the best in the world... At the company pot luck this year it didn't last 10 min - so... I start with a cup or two of salsa and about 8 medium avocados with my secret ingredient: mayo (don't tell K?) ... yes good old mayonnaise hides the blemishes of the sometimes not so perfect avocados you might find...

I start with the salsa in a pan and shell the avocados over the salsa

Then I put a nice glob of mayo over the top

Then have your Carmen salt the guac to her taste (she knows best) and you have the best guacamole ever.

I serve the guac and salsa with freshly fried, ultra crunchy and way over salted chips for maximum crowdpleasingness...

Back to the fish tacos that inspired the whole fiesta... I took the most amazing pieces of beer battered fish and fried them to a golden brown. I placed them inside a freshly grilled corn tortilla

Then I slathered them with this... mmmmm Crema Centroamericana from your local Cardenas...

Finally I topped them with crunchy cabbage, and salsa - they were amazing... just amazing...

One of the guys at work said "man you should open a restaurant" hmmm I wish... My life is pretty darn good as it is right now and as much as I love to cook - its better being a hobby for me

It's not burnt...

OK maybe a little, but this colossal sandwich was so good... oh so good...

3 Peri Peri marinated chicken strips on a crusty (slightly over toasted) ciabatta bun with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickle, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and swiss cheese... I made it before bowling and gave it about an hour for the flavors to meld before I devoured it... I could eat ciabatta every stinking day man...

Night Skiing...

I just love Mt. High at night... the snow coverage was pretty decent and I had a relaxing night this week just me and my iPod on the slopes...

Snuggie!

After seeing the commercial a dozen times I finally ordered my snuggie today. In 2-4 weeks I will be so warm...

Love notes...

Dear Santoku -





I love you... so much... you slice so nice -

Yours forever -





me

Crunchy Ciabatta with Mushrooms...

This week I made an amazing sandwich with a buttered and caramelized ciabatta. I placed a succulent chicken breast and savory buttered mushrooms inside... OMG it was awesome - I love butter and bread and mushrooms...

Marinating...

Chicken can be so bland. I really don't like beef or pork and Shel puts us such a fuss when I cook fish. So; I have accepted being a chicken guy... so while perusing the 122 sauces in my fridge I decided to marinate an entire 10 pound bag of chicken strips.

I made a variety of marinade baggies:

Then I cooked these three - Chile Lime, Franks Red Hot Sauce, and Italian Dressing:

Amazing how much more tender and better tasting chicken is when marinated..

The Lord Says...

I fasted yesterday and prayed constantly... at the end of the day I got a song... it's by MercyMe - "God with us"...I'm sure you know it... the line I got stuck in my head was:

"All that is within me cries for you alone be glorified; Emmanuel, God with us"

So I could take a sweet vacation to mammoth for skiing but that really does little to glorify the Lord, however blessing missionary kids with some cool retreat time - that would bring my Father glory... Support letters goin out this week - and I need to book the airfare... wow man... Japan...

If you have never tried fasting; go for it - God is waiting... here is an awesome story about prayer and fasting by some peeps I love - the Hays family...

Japan?!?!

I have the opportunity to go to Japan for a week and work with some great missionary kids. Wow Japan... I'm very apprehensive, but seeking the Lord by prayer and fasting... I will fast until tomorrow at sunset and inquire of the Lord then....

hmmmm Japan...

Mt High...

I got the chance to go up to Mt High this week and ski East... It was wonderful... I started my morning with some blurry grapefruit and a venti nonfat 1 pump sugar free vanilla latte with 2 sweet n lows.

The slopes were practically deserted on this day.

The sky was so blue and the views so clear - I had a wonderful day...

Back to cooking...

This week actually was normal for me - nice when juxtaposed to the last month of holiday running around and such... I had bible study, went to the gym, AND AND AND - got to cook some stuff...

I made two fantastic meals this weekend - The first was kung pao pork; I used crimini mushrooms, bean sprouts, baby bok choi, a leek, water chestnuts, a serrano chile, a pack of kung pao seasoning and some nice lean pork.

I chopped up the pork and tossed it on the grill while I washed and prepared the veggies.

I like big crunchy chunks of vegetables in my Chinese food (the veggies are always mushy at panda express)

The end product was awesome - I made enough to share, but it was so good I ate the whole thing myself, right down to drinking the juices at the end...

The second dish I made for Carmen this weekend; Carnitas tacos with fresh salsa verde. I made the carnitas by throwing big chunks of cheap pork into the crock pot with some salt, pepper, and some green enchilada sauce from a can.

The salsa verde to top the tacos, I made from scratch; for my first time it came out amazingly tangy and wonderful. I peeled about 15 tomatillos - they are so pretty and fresh, though gross if eaten uncooked (I am told)

I threw them into a boiling pot with a serrano chile till they became soft and pale green. (please ignore that strange foam)

Then I tossed them into the blender and flipped the switch.

In the background I had chopped up a bunch of cilantro and an onion which I threw in after the blending.

The tacos; outstanding... It makes me happy to cook for people, even happier when they like what I have made... or at least politely lie and say they liked it... ;-)

Skiing in Santa Fe

So while I was in Albuquerque I quickly zipped up to Santa Fe, NM one morning. The drive was about an hour and a half from where I was staying to the local ski resort. The drive up to the city was so lovely...

The hotel made me a bagel with over easy egg dip and a fruit platter. I nibbled as I drove.

Once in town there was snow everywhere and the road got more picturesque as my mini van climbed the mountain.

I finally reached the resort with just enough time to get my lift ticket and be one of the first people in line up the lift - there was plenty of action at the resort but the place was not very crowded at all.

The snow coverage was perfect...

The views from the top of the mountain breathtaking...

I really enjoyed myself...

After 11 long runs my legs were pooped, so I raced back to Albuquerque and got to work before anyone realized I was gone... times like this make me praise God that I have such a cool job...

Albuquerque New Years...

So my trip to ABQ was pretty uneventful - it was cold there... I stepped out of the airport and felt the 25 degree icy chill that would become familiar by the end of the week. I grabbed my junk and headed to the rental car pavilion. When I told the guy at the Thrifty counter I would be going up to Santa Fe for skiing he recommended a "rear wheel drive - cross over vehicle" I responded with "oh? ok..." so he gave me the keys to a shiny new Dodge Journey (I had no idea what that was) So rather than be a jerk and take it back I got to cruise around town in a mini van all week - not cool...

I stayed at the Marriott which for an older hotel was pretty nice. The room was small but nicely appointed and I had a pretty sweet view from the 16th floor.

One awesome feature was the connector for the TV. The room had a 40" flat screen TV with a port for your laptop. So I did my work on the huge TV... it was really cool!

I worked like a dog the whole week and finally on new years eve treated myself and Amy (the poor trainer I dragged along with me) to a nice dinner at Landry's Seafood... The price was high but the meal and service were exquisite... it was really nice... I wish we had one back home...