Carnitas Feast

April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 | Julie Yates

The photo above was snapped when we hosted our friends Gabe and Dory for dinner while we were in Florida this winter. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing and I was so glad I had some frozen carnitas meat in the freezer. In fact, I was able to throw this whole meal together with things I already had on hand.

Making carnitas is one of my most favorite ways to feed a crowd; the meat is so easy to make and all I need to do is put out some warm corn tortillas and savory accompaniments. I’ve cooked a lot of roasts over the years and this recipe is my favorite one for carnitas type meat. It doesn’t include orange juice – gasp – but the end result is a deep, rich flavor. A chuck roast could be substituted for the pork if beef is preferred. Or, you could use a whole chicken if the switch beef broth is switched out for chicken broth and cut the cooking time in half.

Pulled Pork Carnitas – enough for at least 6 people

Ingredients:

2 pound pork shoulder or picnic roast

1 (15 oz.) can beef broth

4 cloves garlic, put through a press

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons lemon pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit or get out your crock pot and set it on high. Pour the beef broth into a deep baking pan or into the crock pot.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, lime juice, olive oil, lemon pepper, chili powder and smoked paprika. Trim any excess fat and remove any string from the roast. Rub the garlic mixture into the roast.

Lower the spice rubbed roast into the baking pan or the crock pot. Cover the baking pan with foil or put the lid on the crock pot. Allow the roast to cook for 4 to 5 hours or until the meat is easily shredded with a fork.

Remove the roast from the pan or pot and place on serving platter. Scrape away any excess fat. Using two forks, shred the meat. Spoon some of the cooking liquid onto meat.

This is totally optional, but if you want to go an extra step, warm 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. In batches, put the shredded pork and some of the cooking liquid in the skillet. Allow the surface of the meat to crisp up. Remove from pan and serve.

Serve with salad below and plenty of warm corn tortillas.

Lettuce and Cabbage Salad to Dress the Carnitas – enough for at least 6 people

Ingredients:

1/2 red onion, sliced

1/4 cup plain white vinegar

1/2 head of lettuce, washed, dried and shredded

1/4 green cabbage, washed, dried and shredded

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, washed, dried and chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Place the red onion slices in a shallow bowl and pour white vinegar over them. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In a large salad bowl, add lettuce, cabbage, avocado, tomatoes and cilantro.

Being careful to reserve the vinegar, lift the red onions out of the bowl and add to the lettuce mixture.

Add the oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder to the reserved vinegar and whisk together.

Pour the oil and vinegar mixture over the salad – enough to coat but not have the salad swimming in dressing – and gently toss.

Serve to stuff in tacos alongside the carnitas.

Fajitas Style Bell Peppers and Onions

Ingredients – enough for at least 6 people

Any color bell peppers of your choice, enough to total 2 peppers, sliced

1 yellow or white onion, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup plain white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon oregano

Directions

Place in a peppers and onions in a microwave safe dish. Whisk together oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano. Pour olive oil mixture over peppers and onions.

Cook pepper mixture in microwave for 5 minutes.

Serve with the carnitas as something just a bit extra to put in the corn tortilla…

And just for fun…

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San Francisco Salmon Salad

November 14, 2017June 17, 2018 | Julie Yates

As part of our three and a half month motor home trip this summer, Roy and I took about four weeks to travel the western side of California from top to bottom. We loved it all -from the giant redwood trees to the southern beaches- but found San Francisco an especially fun experience. We actually stayed about an hour north, in Santa Rosa and used the Jeep we tow to explore the area. On the first full day, we went to Muir Woods and then decided to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. After the trill of arriving on the other side, we just kept on going. We ended up on the corner of Franklin and Oak where we saw a paid parking lot. We definitely weren’t in the touristy part; some of the buildings didn’t look too well kept, but there were plenty of people walking around and lots of cute looking restaurants. The parking lot attendant told us we had until 7 pm – that’s when he left – and he warned us that if he wasn’t around, when we returned to the car, the bikes we had attached to the back wouldn’t be around either. So we ducked into a place called RT Rotisserie, thinking it would be quick and easy enough to grab a bite to eat. It turned out the place was a spin off of another, fancier eatery called Rich Table – the kind of establishment where one must have a reservation. We lucked out because Roy had an absolutely delicious pork sandwich and I had one of the best salads of my life – and we made it back to the car on time! I began duplicating the salad again and again; it’s lemony, crunchy and filled with colorful greens and herbs. RT Rotisserie only serves pork and chicken but topping this salad with a piece of salmon baked with a smear of the salad dressing makes it a meal. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If you would like a printable recipe, click on the recipe archive button at the bottom of the post.

Ingredients and Directions for Four Servings:

Suggestions for the greens:

5 oz. spring mix

5 oz. spinach leaves

1 cup washed,torn radicchio leaves

1/4 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh mint roughly chopped

1 cucumber, sliced

Place all ingredients in a large bowl.

Suggestions for the crunch:

1/4 cup raw pepitas

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

12 radishes, washed and sliced

Set aside the crunchy things until time to assemble the salad.

Quick “pickled” red onion:

1 red onion

1 cup vinegar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Mix the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar together. Peel and thinly slice the onion. Pour vinegar mixture over the onion slices and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Set aside until time to assemble the salad.

For the dressing:

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, finely minced or put through a press

2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

1 teaspoon soy sauce (regular, low sodium, Tamari, or Maggi – your choice)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Place 1/2 cup of dressing in a separate container to brush on the salmon. Set the rest aside for the salad.

For the Salmon:

4 salmon fillets, each about 4 to 6 oz.

1/2 cup of lemon tahini dressing from above recipe

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

2 teaspoons black sesame seeds

2 teaspoons dried dill

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix sesame seeds, dill, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Liberally brush the salmon fillets with the dressing to coat well. Discard any unused dressing that has come into contact with the brush. Sprinkle the seed mixture evenly over the salmon. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until fish flakes up with a fork and looks a solid, lighter pink – not a gelatinous red.

When the salmon is done, toss the greens with enough dressing to coat well. Divide the dressed salad onto four serving plates or one huge platter. Place drained pickled red onions, sliced radishes and seeds on top of the greens. Nestle the salmon fillets on top the salad and dig in.

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Big Plate Super Salad

July 13, 2017May 20, 2018 | Julie Yates

Summer is the time for salads and with all the options of fresh seasonal vegetables at hand, the combinations are endless. But – what’s the secret to building one that satisfies me until dinner instead of feeling like snacking at 3 pm? I think the answer is a combination of textures, flavors, protein and a tiny bit of fat. If each ingredient is seasoned enough to stand on its own, then every bite is an explosion of deliciousness.

This post is sort of blueprint for a salad that satiates. I love spinach, hard boiled eggs and red wine vinegrette together. Of course any item can be switched out to whatever is at hand or individual tastes; just make sure to use a nice big plate!

Steps to a Big Plate Super Salad

The Base:

Greens- about two cups – pick just one variety such as spinach as I did here or mix it up with a combination of several.

Dressing – to drizzle on the greens – choose the vinaigrette I used or go for a flavored oil with an acid such as lemon or any kind of vinegar.

Simple Red Wine Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic clove, minced or put through a press

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together.

Layer of Density:

Roasted or grilled vegetables – try broccoli, cauliflower, even cherry tomatoes. It’s easy to oven roast any veggie at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes but here I used eggplant and zucchini cooked on the grill to acquire a wonderful smokiness.

Grill Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini

1 medium sized eggplant

1 medium sized zucchini

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon marjoram

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Wash off and dry the eggplant and zucchini. Cut off the ends and slice into 1/2 inch rounds.

Place cut vegetables on a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil. Crimp up the edges. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables.

Put salt, thyme, marjoram, garlic, and pepper in a small bowl and whisk together. Sprinkle over the vegetables and with clean hands, gently toss to distribute seasoning.

Heat up grill to medium high heat and place the vegetables on their foil sheet on the grids. Close the grill cover and cook for 20 minutes, turning the vegetables over at the 10 minute mark.

Allow to cool before placing on top of salad greens.

Flavor Punch:

A legume spread – I used 1/4 cup hummus here, but any rinsed and drained bean such as black or great northern beans could be processed into something yummy.

Hummus from True Food by Andrew Weil, MD:

2 (15 oz.) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 large garlic clove, put through a press

1 small jalapeno chile, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons tahini

1/4 cup lemon juice

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the beans, garlic, jalapeno, chili, tahini, lemon juice, lime juice, agave nectar, cilantro, cumin, cayenne, and salt in a food processor and blend well. Slowly pour in the olive oil as the mixture is processing until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

A little something extra – pour a little good olive oil over the hummus and then sprinkle with Aleppo pepper.

A Delicious Swoosh:

A great sauce – 1/4 cup of savory yogurt- optimizes the chance that a salad will satisfy. People with a dairy intolerance could substitute something wonderful like the jarred artichoke red pepper bruscetta that at Trader Joe’s.

Savory Yogurt Sauce- yields 1/2 cup

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon za’tar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Dash or two turmeric powder

Blend all ingredients except turmeric in small bowl. After spooning on serving platter, sprinkle a dusting of turmeric powder on top.

Important Ingredient:

Protein – any choice – keeps hunger away. I love the combination of spinach, eggs, and red wine vinegar but shredded chicken, beef, or pork would work as well. Shrimp would be amazing too.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Gently place large eggs in a pan of enough cool water to cover them. Place on burner set to high and immediately set timer for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, run cook water over the eggs. Peel when the eggs have cooled down enough to touch.

The Finale:

Pickled vegetables – The cheating way- are so quick and easy to make. Since they crown the salad plate and are the last layer to be put on, they have plenty of time to soak up tangy vinegar.

Pickled Vegetable Cheat

1 cup sliced vegetables such as cucumber, beet, carrots, bell pepper, red onion, etc.

1/2 cup vinegar, plain or any kind

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Place vegetables in a small bowl. If using, mix the salt and sugar into the vinegar. Pour the vinegar over the vegetables and allow to sit at least five minutes before using.

So I’m curious- what other great combinations are there out there? Please tell – I’d love to try them!

Delicious Dukkah Roasted Cauliflower Salad

January 3, 2017May 20, 2018 | Julie Yates

Is this a salad? Or is it a side? It doesn’t matter because it is delicious! In fact, it could be a main dish and I would be happy. What makes it so good is that the cauliflower is roasted with an addictive seasoning from Egypt called Dukkah. I had been seeing it mentioned in foodie magazines and then I stumbled on it in a spice blend shop in Melbourne, Australia.

Of course I had to try it. We all loved it with crusty bread dipped in olive oil, and then the Dukkah. It was even good sprinkled on our breakfast of hard boiled eggs in our Airbnb. Earlier in the trip we had eaten roasted cauliflower atop a salad with yogurt sauce; I wondered how cauliflower would taste if it was sprinkled with Dukkah before it was roasted… It turned out to be a winner! Below is a recipe for basic Dukkah. As you can see, there are options listed to make variations. Following that is the cauliflower salad recipe. The lemon & oil salad dressing and yogurt sauce take the whole thing over the top – enjoy!

Basic Dukkah Recipe

1 cup chopped nuts (Australian tend to use hazelnuts, others use pistachios and/or almonds)

1/2 cup sesame seeds

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Other possible additions:

1 teaspoons turmeric powder

1 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

dukkah-collage

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the nuts out on it. Bake the nuts for five minutes, watching them carefully so they get brown around the edges but don’t burn. Set them aside and let them cool.

Place the seeds in a skillet and over medium heat, stir them until they start to brown. They may pop! Set them aside and let them cool.

Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times until crumbly. Do not let it become a paste. Place in a mixing bowl. Process the coriander and cumin seeds until ground. Add them to the mixing bowl, along with the sesame seeds, salt, pepper and any additional spices and stir to combine.

Serve with olive oil and crusty bread. Use as a breading for chicken or fish. Or make the tasty cauliflower dish below:

Dukkah Roasted Cauliflower Salad – Serves Four

Ingredients:

For the roasted cauliflower:

1 head cauliflower

3 tablespoons Dukkah – recipe above

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Wash and cut the cauliflower into florets. Place them in a single layer on the parchment paper. Sprinkle the florets with the olive oil and Dukkah. Bake for 30 minutes. Cauliflower should be tender, easily pierced with a fork, and browned on the edges.

For the yogurt sauce:

1/2 Greek yogurt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk all ingredients together.

For the salad:

6 cups arugula

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place the arugula in a large bowl. Whisk the rest of the ingredients together. Pour enough dressing over the arugula to coat it, but not drench it. Reserve the rest of the dressing. (It’s great drizzled over vegetables or as a dressing on any kind of salad.)

For Garnish:

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

To assemble the dish, place the dressed arugula salad on a serving platter. Place the roasted cauliflower on top. Drizzle some of the yogurt sauce on top. Scatter the chopped cilantro and cherry tomatoes over the top. Serve immediately and pass the remaining yogurt sauce at the table.

How to Make Preserved Lemons

October 10, 2014March 12, 2015 | Julie Yates

My quest to learn how to preserve lemons came this summer after eating a fabulous salad at Black Star Farms Winery near Suttons Bay, Michigan. We had rented bikes and stopped at the winery for lunch. Of course we were starving and everything tasted so, so wonderful! I asked the waitress about the salad dressing and she told me it was made with verjus, which is very young green grape juice. I bought a bottle and tried to duplicate the dressing. What a disappointment! Something was definitely missing. Adam, my daughter’s boyfriend, thought the winery salad was more lemony but adding lemon juice still didn’t make it stellar. I googled the menu and looked at the description of the salad. One of the ingredients listed was preserved lemon – something I had been stumbling across in several cookbooks. I had seen it in Yotam Ottolenghi’s iconic vegetarian cookbook, Plenty, and in Sarah Raven’s cookbook, In Season. I had just sort of written that ingredient off as too hard to get and something that wouldn’t make that much of a difference anyway. Then I saw it on an episode of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa. My interest was piqued. I found a jar of preserved lemons at a Middle Eastern grocery store near my house but they didn’t have the same fresh lemony flavor I remembered from that special salad. I knew I was going to have to find out how to make them at home. Sarah Raven included a recipe in the book mentioned above, but the biggest help was from an August 2013 post on http://www.bonappetit.com. The following post is the result of my experimenting. For the salad recipe where preserved lemons were the secret ingredient that added a “wow” factor click HERE .

Gather Together:

1 quart jar with some kind of lid

4 to 6 lemons depending on size

2/3 cup sugar

7 tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 whole clove

Place the lemons in a pan and cover with plenty of water. Boil them for about 15 minutes or until skin softens.

Place the lemons into a bowl of ice water and permit them to cool down.

Without going all the way through, cut them lengthwise in four places.

Measure out 3 cups of the cooking liquid and bring it up to a boil again. Turn it down and stir in the sugar, salt, coriander, and clove. Place the lemons in the jar. Don’t smoosh them down, just put in as many as there is room for. Pour a bit of the water/spice mixture in the jar and wait 1 minute before pouring more liquid in up to about an inch to the top.