One of my joys on Sunday night is to listen to Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Splendid Table on the radio. She always has very interesting topics related to food. But I most enjoy her Stump the Cook segment.
The idea behind the segment is that a caller provides her with a limited list of five ingredients in the caller's refrigerator. Lynne must then fashion a palatable recipe out of the ingredients.
I had my own stump the cook moment this weekend. There was plenty of food in the refrigerator, but the ingredients just did not seem to match up. I had a bit of pork roast, two stale tortillas, and an assortment of peppers. If the tortillas had been fresh, I would have whipped up a pork-vegetable filling. Instead, I decided to take a different tack.
I started with the colors of the Mexican flag: a white onion, a red bell pepper, and three jalapeño peppers. I chopped them up and briefly stir fried them. I added the shredded pork only enough to warm it, and then added six tablespoons of my favorite salsa. The last step was to sprinkle in strips of the stale tortilla -- being careful to prevent the strips from clumping together. When the tortillas were softened, I had my dinner.
It was delicious -- and was enough for three separate meals. What I really liked was that the dish retained the basic colors of the Mexican flag.
I just realized that it would have been great with some of my mango soup.
Maybe next time.
The idea behind the segment is that a caller provides her with a limited list of five ingredients in the caller's refrigerator. Lynne must then fashion a palatable recipe out of the ingredients.
I had my own stump the cook moment this weekend. There was plenty of food in the refrigerator, but the ingredients just did not seem to match up. I had a bit of pork roast, two stale tortillas, and an assortment of peppers. If the tortillas had been fresh, I would have whipped up a pork-vegetable filling. Instead, I decided to take a different tack.
I started with the colors of the Mexican flag: a white onion, a red bell pepper, and three jalapeño peppers. I chopped them up and briefly stir fried them. I added the shredded pork only enough to warm it, and then added six tablespoons of my favorite salsa. The last step was to sprinkle in strips of the stale tortilla -- being careful to prevent the strips from clumping together. When the tortillas were softened, I had my dinner.
It was delicious -- and was enough for three separate meals. What I really liked was that the dish retained the basic colors of the Mexican flag.
I just realized that it would have been great with some of my mango soup.
Maybe next time.
Being married now 20 years I don't do much cooking - the wife doesn't like me in the cocina.
ReplyDeleteBut I was a single guy for a lot of years and got to be a pretty good cook - sometimes I miss it - coming up with concoctions like your report (sans the carne ;-)
One thing you have to look forward to here is the mothering instinct which I believe remains a strong Mexican mujere character.
Whenever and for whatever reason mi esposa is not around or under the weather the ladies in the Hood bring me food. They worry as to whether I am getting fed like mother hens.
Even when I do get fed at home - occasionally a lady in the Hood will bring me something special they have made or that they know I especially like. Maybe they think I don't get enough to eat being a thin vegetarian guy - whatever the reason it is muy bueno!
You are going to love that facet of Mexican life hombre!
Juan Calypso
sounds like a delicious dinner steve. of course you probably know you could put the stale tortillas in the oven or microwave to make them taste fresher. it sounds like you're a great cook! i just looked up the mango soup recipe and it sounds delicious! i will try it soon.
ReplyDeleteteresa
Sounds good. I agree with Juan, as a single guy I am sure that you will be getting lots of "care" packages from the local cooks. Our landlady still brings us things occasionally that she thinks we may like or have not yet tried; although to be honest we could have done without the fish head soup lol.
ReplyDeleteWell, the very promise of a veritable cornucopia of food is certainly enough to make me think about speeding up my move to Mexico.
ReplyDelete