OMG, I haven't made this in so long, but it is so easy and soooooo good.  Seriously, the hardest part of this recipe was getting the umlaut and other accent characters correct in the blog title!

I orginally cut this out from a Bon Appetit magazine.  Perfect for this Texas heat!  Note:  You gotta begin making this a day ahead of time.  

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
6 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk (I found this in the Thai section of Central Market)
2/3 cup flaked sweetened cocont
6 tsp. turbinado sugar
   

Instructions:  Preheat oven to 350°F. Place six 3/4-cup custard cups or ramekins in large roasting pan. Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks and whole egg in large bowl to blend. Combine cream, coconut milk and coconut in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Whisk into yolk mixture. Pour custard into cups, dividing equally.
 
Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cups. Bake until custards are just set in center, about 35 minutes. Remove from water. Cool; chill overnight.

Preheat broiler. Arrange custard cups on baking sheet. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar evenly over each. Broil until sugar browns, rotating baking sheet for even browning and watching closely, about 2 minutes. Chill custards at least 1 hour before serving. (Can be broiled, then chilled up to 6 hours ahead.)

Ingredients:
1 oz. cream cheese
1/2 container pomegranate yogurt
1 tsp. honey
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 pound skirt steak, cut into 4 pieces
1 teaspoon chili powder
Kosher salt and black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 cup corn kernels

Instructions:

Make the pomegranate dollop:  Combine the cream cheese, pomegranate yogurt, honey in a small bowl.  Add salt to taste.  Refrigerate.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the steak with the chili powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Make a well in the center and add the milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Whisk together the wet ingredients, then incorporate the dry ingredients (do not overmix). Mix in the corn.

Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, drop heaping ¼-cup portions of batter into the skillet and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Serve the corn cakes topped with the steak and a dollop of the pomegranate sauce.

I served this dish with a shaved zucchini salad.  http://annacooks.weebly.com/1/post/2011/08/shaved-zucchini-salad-with-parmesan-and-pine-nuts.html

Verde blanco y colorado, la bandera del soldado.

This week's loteria theme is La Bandera - The Flag.  The flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these three colors were adopted by Mexico following independence from Spain during the country's War of Independence, and subsequent First Mexican Empire. Red, white, and green are the colors of the national liberation army in Mexico. The central emblem is the Aztec pictogram for Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), the center of their empire. It recalls the legend that inspired the Aztecs to settle on what was originally a lake-island. The coat of arms has an eagle, holding a serpent in its talon, perched on top of a prickly pear cactus; the cactus is situated on a rock that rises above a lake. The coat of arms is derived from an Aztec legend that their gods told them to build a city where they spot an eagle on a nopal eating a serpent, which is now Mexico City.

So the menu to honor the Mexican flag includes bandera enchiladas -- three kinds of fillings, three kinds of sauces -- and a bandera dessert of green and red fruit.   Keep in mind that I made the enchiladas up from scratch using leftovers from my freezer, so your enchiladas may vary.

Las Enchiladas de La Bandera

Step one:  Make the fillings:
Pork filling: Cooked pork tenderloin pulsified in food processor with cream cheese, basil and honey.
Steak filling:  Grilled rib-eye steak mixed with sauteed yellow squash and shallot.
Chicken filling:  Grilled chicken with red salsa and a bit of asadero cheese (just enough to bind the filling together.)

Step 2: Make the sauces:
White Queso Sauce for the chicken filling:  I microwaved 1 cup of shredded asadero cheese with ¼ cup of heavy cream, a bit of shallot, fresh cilantro, cumin and a bit of serrano pepper.  I put the microwave on 50% power and stirred often.

Chimichurri Sauce for the steak filling:  Process all of these ingredients in a food processor: 1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro, 2 garlic cloves, peeled, 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Cheater’s Roja Sauce for the pork filling:  I had some Mexican corn chowder soup leftover from lunch out with Meredith, so I added a little adobo pepper and paprika to make the sauce red.  

Step 3: Assemble the enchiladas, cover with sauces, and bake. 

Red, Green and White Parfait

Cut up red fruit; I used red plum, strawberries, and raspberries.  Cut up green fruit; I used grapes, kiwi, and green apple.  Make the yogurt cream.  Whip 1/2 a cup of whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Add a container of vanilla yogurt, and blend well.  Form layers of the flag with the green fruit, yogurt blend, and red fruit.

Ingredients:
1 package of breakfast sausage
1 small onion, diced
1 cup white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can navy or cannellini beans, rinsed
¼ of a head of a large Savoy cabbage, or ½ of a head of a small one, shredded
Handful of diced carrots
2 small or 1 large Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup milk (or ½ cup buttermilk and 1 T. sugar)
Pepper and salt to taste

Instructions:  Brown the breakfast sausage with the onions in a skillet.  Transfer the sausage and onion to a heavy stock pot.  Deglaze the skillet with the white wine over medium high heat, scraping all the brown bits.  Add wine and brown bits to the stock pot, along with the garlic, beans, and cabbage.  Turn on the heat under the stock pot, medium high.  The cabbage will start to wilt a little, and while it is, add the potatoes and carrots.  Add the chicken broth and the milk, and season with pepper and salt to taste.   Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Serve with bacon cheddar and chive biscuits. 

Martha Stewart has a GREAT meat loaf recipe.  I’ve altered the recipe slightly so that I can have individual sized meat loaves in the freezer to pop in the oven on those days I work late or am returning from a day trip. 

You can find the recipe here:  http://www.marthastewart.com/315282/all-american-meatloaf

Tips I’ve found useful:

I don’t top with onions or the remaining ketchup mix; rather, I use BBQ sauce.

If I don’t have any celery on hand, I’ll substitute half a yellow squash.

Don't pack the meatloaf tightly into the cups. They will be more tender if only loosely packed.

This will make 18 standard size muffins --OR-- 12 muffins and one mini-loaf.

These sometimes spill over the muffin tin. Place muffin tins on a lined cookie sheet for easy clean-up.

To freeze, remove from muffin tin and place on a baking sheet in the freezer until frozen.  Then wrap each in plastic wrap and place in freezer bag. 

If you make these, let me know how they turned out for you, or if you made them even better!  :)  

Oh happy day!   This morning I tried a new thing - making Eggs Beneditine, which combines the best of Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine. 
 

Eggs:  Drop a 1/2 Tablespoon of butter in as many ramekins as you need eggs, and then put the ramekins in a skillet.  Add 1/2 inch water to the skillet and bring to a gentle simmer.  Crack an egg in each ramekin once the butter is melted, and cover with foil or a lid.  Cook for 4-7 minutes, until desired yolk doneness.

Canadian Bacon and Spinach:  Put a pat of butter in a small non-stick skillet.  Place Canadian bacon in skillet with a handful of fresh spinach on top.  Cook gently until the spinach wilts a bit. 

Adobo Hollandaise Sauce

¼ cup butter
¼ cup cream (sweet or sour)
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 T. lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 T. adobo sauce (from canned chipotles in adobo)
Dash cayenne

Melt butter in top of double boiler; add cream and beaten egg yolks, stirring well. Add lemon juice and salt, and cook over boiling water, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and beat until light. Stir in cayenne and adobo.

To assemble, warm an English muffin or your favorite bread (I used 1/2 of a Central Market cheddar scone.)  Place Canadian bacon and spinach on the bread, followed by the poached egg and sauce. 

If you try this, send me a picture so we can share the love of this yummo breakfast!

This bite is on its way to its final reward. 

This week's Loteria-themed meal is for El Catrin - The Gentleman.  And the gentleman in my life loves lemons, so this meal is inspired by and for him.  

Lemony Chicken with Brown Rice (recipe below)
Lemon Shortbread with Raspberries and Cream (link to recipe here) 

This is a made-from-scratch recipe!   My friend, Melissa, and I were at a shall-not-be-named restaurant in Brenham and she had the Lemony Chicken and Rice lunch special.  It was good, not too strong of a lemon taste.  We asked for the recipe and they pronounced it a secret.  Okay, sure....so here's my version which I think was even better.  (Cue sound of evil villian laugh.)


Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 T. olive oil
1 T. flour
1 T. butter
1 c. chicken broth or stock
Juice of 1 lemon
1 to 3 tsp. of sugar (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bag boil-in-the-bag brown rice, cooked
1/4 c. cooked, minced carrots for garnish
1/8 c. minced chives for garnish

Instructions:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and cook the chicken pieces until nicely browned.  Remove to a plate and set aside.  Add the flour and butter to the pan bits and drippings to make a roux.  Slowly add the chicken stock and lemon juice.  Reduce until nicely thickened, stirring often. 

Once the sauce is reduced, salt and pepper the sauce to taste, and then decide if the sauce is too lemony (sour) for your taste.  At this point, you could add sugar to balance the lemon (I added 2 tsp.) 

Add the cooked chicken and the rice back to the skillet to incorporate, then serve with carrots and chives as garnish.

This recipe is so super easy and de-lish. 

Ingredients:
1.5 lb. pork tenderloin
12 oz root beer
Your favorite BBQ sauce
Your favorite bun or roll

Instructions:
Place tenderloin in crock pot and cover with root beer.  Cook on low for 7 hours.  Drain well, and allow meat to sit under foil for 5 minutes.  Pull apart the pork with two forks or your fingers.  Add warmed BBQ sauce and serve as sandwich.