Quick & Easy Pozole

July 9th, 2014

Yes, summer soup might seem a bit silly, but let me make my argument:
It’s delicious. It’s delicious. It’s delicious.

Okay, if mere repetition doesn’t convince you, then I offer these three (perhaps more) salient points:

1. It’s practically no-cook and can be ready in 20 minutes. Maybe less if you’re quick.
2. It’s refreshing. Spritzed with fresh lime juice, this is practically a chicken margarita.
3. Food for days. For 20 minutes worth of work.

Are you convinced now?
Because I do have a few more arguments in my back pocket…

Or I can just let all that delicious garnish speak for itself.
Avocado. Radish. Lime. Cilantro. Tostadas.
Get. in. my. mouth.

I would also like to mention that this soup made a believer out of my friend Dana who usually hates the stuff.
Sure she was on post-surgery painkillers and my ~~captive prisoner~~ lunch guest, but I’m pretty sure she actually
loved this pozole.

And while I’m in a confessional mood, I should probably mention that I stole this recipe from my unassuming boyfriend. Okay, okay, I might have asked nicely what all went in it, and he might have given me a vagueatbest list.

That’s the beauty of this recipe-
it’s pretty libertarian…

You like spicy? Awesome, chuck in some peppers. You’re veggie? Leave out the chicken. And the spices?
I’m pretty sure cumin is the only constant in our kitchen.

And while this recipe is comprised of what I would call wholesome convenience foods (rotisserie chicken, tomatillo salsa), feel free to start from scratch. It’ll just take a bit longer. In other words, please don’t eat raw chicken.

Regardless of how you make it (we do it differently nearly every time) this is quickly becoming one of my favorite weeknight dinners! And I wouldn’t feel the least bit bad serving up a vat of the stuff to some last-minute company either.

Summer soup,
it’s what’s for dinner.

Fast & Easy Pozole

This recipe is fast, easy, and adaptable- feel free to change up the ingredients to suit your time constraints and taste!

Ingredients

For the Pozole:

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded/ripped in chunks
1 onion, sliced in rings
1 large can hominy, drained + rinsed (29 oz)
1 jar tomatillo salsa (12 oz)
1 quart veggie or chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon Chesapeake Bay (or Old Bay, or similar)
½ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ Spike (or salt)

To Garnish:

avocado
cilantro
radish
lime
tostadas

Instructions

In a stock pot or dutch oven, saute onions until translucent.
Add garlic and spices to onions and continue to saute until garlic is fragrant (1 minute)
Add stock, salsa, hominy, and chicken and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or longer if you like.
Enjoy your soup garnished with avocado, radish, cilantro and a healthy squeeze of lime!

Horse Thief BBQ Birthday Decorations

July 5th, 2014

I was really excited to throw together some last minute first birthday decorations for the guys over at Horse Thief BBQ yesterday. Yep, that’d be the 4th of July! USA and Horse Thief share a delicious birthday. BBQ. Yum.
But I digress…

With just a day to throw together a few fun, high-impact decorations, I decided to shoot for the stars
(oh man, i love puns) and stick with classic red, white, and blue.

I made some custom bunting to hang in the trees, along with a few geometric signs and a couple bright and wild floral arrangements to decorate the bar. And balloons. A starry bunch of balloons tied to gate.

Horse Thief is a total dream to decorate. They have an awesome outdoor space, hip B&W branding, delicious BBQ, and that cute bartender(Ean). So cheers to your first birthday guys, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to run around DTLA with a giant bunch of starry balloons!

And now I want BBQ.
Lucky for me, this place is right up the street:

Horse Thief BBQ
324 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

How was your 4th of July?
And most importantly what did you eat?

Piña Colada Pulled Pork Tacos

July 2nd, 2014

Would you believe that I just started using a slow-cooker (ergo crock-pot) about a year ago? And not for lack of having one. Oh no. I had a perfectly good (brand new in fact) one sitting in my kitchen for years before my great pork conversion of 2013.

I think I thought it turned food to mush. Or required (demanded) cream of mushroom soup to function. I don’t know what I thought, but I eat my words.

In the form of tacos.

Sweet, delicious, juicy, piña-colada pulled pork tacos with just the right pickly crunch of cabbage and creme fraiche. I actually coined the term “pork-face” after seeing the look of ecstasy (really I don’t think it’s too strong a word) on my boyfriend’s face the first time I made these.

I now liberally use it to describe the look of satisfaction that good food spreads across your face like naughty errant condiments.

Happiness on a tortilla my friends. And perfect to share with a crowd on the fourth,
because not all of us have yards.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Pina Colada Pulled Pork Tacos

So easy. So tasty. This recipe will feed you for days (depending on your piggy ways) 🙂

Ingredients

The Pork:

3-5 lbs pork butt/shoulder
1 onion sliced
1 can of coconut milk
½ pineapple, chopped
2 inches fresh ginger, chopped
6 whole cloves garlic
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

The Cabbage:

½ green cabbage chopped + piece of beet
OR ½ red cabbage chopped
½ onion, chopped in rings
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
10-12 peppercorns
2 bay leaves

The Garnish:

tiny tortillas
creme fraiche
hot sauce
avocado
lime
cilantro

Instructions

Heat the apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, peppercorns and bay leaves until honey is dissolved, then let mixture come to room temperature.
Pour vinegar mixture over cabbage, beet and ½ onion, stir, cover and refrigerate for 7-8 hours.
Mix the salt, pepper, cumin and coriander together and rub all over pork.
Add pork, onion, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk to slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours.
Using two forks, shred pork in slow-cooker, and allow to cook for another hour.
Place pork on baking sheet, squeeze pineapple over the meat and toss pineapple chunks with meat, then cook at 400 degrees until pork is caramelized and crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside. 10-15 minutes depending on your oven.
Place pork, cabbage and your choice of garnish on tiny tortillas and eat up!

Notes

If you throw together the pickled cabbage in the AM when you put the pork on to cook, you'll have an amazing meal practically jumping in your mouth when you get home from work!