Friday November 27th, 2009
Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle and Pineapple

When I first moved to New York City from Texas, I was struck by how difficult it was to find Ro-Tel in the grocery store. It had been such a pantry staple back home, I couldn’t imagine not having it in my life.

One day, another Texan friend in New York City called me and said she had a surprise. I asked her what it was and she insisted that I come over immediately—I would not be disappointed.

When I arrived at her apartment, gathered in the kitchen was my small group of fellow expatriated Texans. And they were all doing the same thing—staring in awe at a can of Ro-Tel my friend had sitting on the counter.

“I found it at Key Foods in Brooklyn,” she said, “And yes, I bought out the whole store!”

We then made the best-tasting pot of queso I think I’ve ever had. Separation does indeed make the heart grow fonder.

That was a long time ago and the ability to find Ro-Tel has drastically improved over the years. But this isn’t to say that a Texans love for Ro-Tel is any less significant. I know that whenever I mention it there’s always a chorus of happy voices concurring on how vital it is to our lives. Or as one friend has said, “My heart always skips a beat whenever I see a can of Ro-Tel.”

What a testament to Ro-Tel’s importance in people’s lives! And sure, most of us love to use it for queso dip, but I hope that you’ve discovered these past few weeks that it’s also amazing in a host of other dishes—everything from soup to savory cookies, with barbecue ribs, beer-cheese soup and breakfast casserole in between.

For my final recipe, I was completely flummoxed on what to do as there are a ton of ideas rattling around my head. But when I was at my butcher and saw the display of fresh pork tenderloins my question was answered—I knew exactly what I would make.

The tenderloin is a great cut for roasting, braising or grilling—and while it’s as lean as chicken breast I believe it’s filled with so much more flavor. The trick to making tenderloin is to make sure that you don’t cook it very long, otherwise it will be dry and tough.

One of my favorite flavor combinations is pineapple, chipotle and pork, with some tomatoes to hold it all together. For my tenderloin, I made a salsa and then braised the meat in it until it reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees. I then cubed the meat and wrapped it in tortillas, but you could also slice it and serve it alone or on sandwiches or even dice it and plop it into your bowl of queso. But no matter how you serve it, you know it will taste good because it was made with a can of spicy, juicy and flavorful Ro-Tel tomatoes.

Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle and Pineapple

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin
1 can of Ro-Tel
3 chipotles in adobo
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1/4 of medium onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon oilv

Method:

Salt and pepper the tenderloin, and let it come to room temperature.

Mix the Ro-Tel, chipotles, crushed pineapple, onion, garlic, cilantro and cumin in a blender. Add salt to taste.

In a large pot, heat the oil on medium and brown the tenderloin on each side for a couple of minutes. Pour the salsa over the roast into the pot (it should come up to about a third of the roast), bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the tenderloin is 150 degrees. Remove from heat and let it rest for 10 minutes and then slice or cube the tenderloin and serve with the salsa from the pot.

Friday November 20th, 2009
Texas Caviar

Well, let me just tip my hat to Ohio State on clenching their first Rose Bowl berth since 1996. That’s quite an accomplishment! And how thrilling it was watching the stand-in kicker, Devin Barclay, punt the winning field goal in overtime play.

I couldn’t help but get a bit emotional as I watched the Ohio State fans storm the field, waving their roses. The Horseshoe was shaking! The fans’ raucous exuberance was quite a change from the painful silence experienced earlier in the season when I watched the Buckeyes lose to USC on their home turf. How ironic that USC—the team most synonymous with the Rose Bowl—will definitely not be there this year. I wonder if the Buckeyes view USC’s not being there this year as sweet justice or a missed opportunity.

As riveting as the game was, however, as I watched the game my mind kept wandering to black-eyed peas. Yes, I suppose it’s that word, buckeye, which should conjure up images of deer or the ubiquitous tree that gives the Buckeye State its name. But nope, I was thinking of my favorite legume.

My family has long grown this Southern staple. And we eat them often as they’re inexpensive, nutritious and very delicious. Not to mention that it’s common wisdom where I’m from that you must eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day to ensure good fortune. As the Rose Bowl is played on New Year’s Day, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to celebrate the Buckeye’s victory.

There are countless ways to serve black-eyed peas, but one of my favorite preparations is something called Texas Caviar. You toss cooked black-eyed peas with jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, some Ro-Tel tomatoes and then dowse it all with a hearty squirt of lime juice. Some people like to eat it as a side salad, but I find that it makes for a wonderful dip for your tortilla or corn chips.

So congratulations Ohio State on your victory! And if you’re looking for a little bit of extra luck come New Year’s Day, why not try a bowl of Texas Caviar—a tasty way to ensure good fortune!

Texas Caviar

Ingredients:
4 cups of cooked black-eyed peas (or 2 15-oz cans), drained and rinsed of all juice
8 scallions, thinly sliced, green part only
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
3 fresh jalapeño chiles, finely diced
1 can of Ro-tel tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice from one lime
1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Salt and black pepper to taste


Method:

Mix everything together, chill for four hours. Serve with tortilla or corn chips

Friday November 13th, 2009
Beer cheese soup with sausage

I work in an office where there are a large number of Northwestern alumni. I chalk that up to my working at a magazine and Northwestern’s fine journalism program.

Last Friday, as we discussed the weekend’s line up of football games, my colleagues claimed that Iowa was overrated and boasted that their boys in purple were just the team to reveal the Hawkeyes’ weaknesses. But on the eve of the match up between the two schools, I felt confident that Iowa would prevail.

There’s always talk about the Sports Illustrated curse but after what happened on Saturday in Iowa City, I’m starting to believe that it could be true. As we watched the early minutes of the game when Iowa immediately put ten points on the scoreboard, I felt confident about the outcome of the game. So I turned my attention toward more important tasks—such as seeing the Longhorns shine against Central Florida and making some soup.

Earlier this fall I had tackled making homemade sausages. And because nothing says autumn more than bratwurst, that’s what I made. My attempt was flavorful but a bit too lean, so in order for them to be more succulent I felt they should be served in a hearty liquid.

Enter that Midwestern favorite—beer cheese soup. This rich, smooth concoction is delicious, but I have to admit that after a few bites it can get a bit boring. So I decided to spice it up with some Ro-Tel tomatoes and my sausages, which was just what the soup needed to stay interesting throughout the whole bowl.

When I was done whipping up a pot of soup, I returned to watching the Northwestern-Iowa game. Was I in for a surprise--I realized that Northwestern had decided to spice up its game as well. Wow! I certainly didn’t see that one coming.

Fortunately, for those of us expecting a different outcome, the beer cheese soup was a much-needed bowl of liquid comfort. And even if I’m disappointed that Iowa lost the game and is no longer undefeated, at least this beer cheese soup with sausages produced a big win.

Beer cheese soup with sausage

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of butter (half a stick)
1/4 cup of flour
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of Ro-Tel
3 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of half and half
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 cooked sausages, such as smoked bratwurst, sliced
Salt, black pepper and cayenne to taste
1 cup of dark beer

Method:

In a large pot, heat the butter on medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Whisk in the flour and cook for another one minute and then add the chicken broth. Turn up the heat to medium, and keep stirring until soup starts to thicken.

Turn the heat back down to medium low and stir in the Ro-Tel tomatoes and half and half. Slowly add the cheese, a few tablespoons at a time. And do not add more cheese until the previous addition has completely melted into the broth, otherwise you’ll just have a big ol’ lump on your hands!

Once cheese is incorporated, add the sliced smoked bratwurst and the beer and let soup simmer for ten minutes.

Serves four-six

Note: I like my soup a little on the thin side, but if you want to make it thicker, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of beer and slowly stir this into the soup.

Friday November 6th, 2009
Ro-Tel Ribs

I was a dork in high school. While many girls dreamed of being a cheerleader, I aimed to be on the newspaper staff. And while my friends hoped to date a guy with a letter jacket, I was more attracted to those destined to be future legal scholars of America.

But you know what? None of this really mattered, at least at my school. Sure, there were some kids who lived up to the stereotype of their classification—be it jock, punk, beauty or brain—but I found this to be the exception not the norm. Especially when it came to the football players.

We had strict rules that said a football player couldn’t play unless they maintained at least a C average. So instead of the stereotypical “dumb jock,” you’d find that most of our players were some of the school’s best students. This wasn’t to say, however, that football players weren’t a bit intimidating—especially to a strange kid like me.

I was good in many subjects, but advanced math was not one of them. My junior year, I took Algebra II. Coming off a brutal year of trying to wrap my head around geometry, I was not thrilled about another year of numbers and equations.

I sat next to a football player named Trey. He was a Normal Rockwell painting with his broad shoulders, red hair and freckles. He wasn’t the star of the team, but was still considered an important player, so key in fact, that in the second game of the season, an opposing tackle knocked Trey down so hard he fractured two ribs. It was an injury that kept him on the bench for the remainder of the season.

This was, of course, a big disappointment for him. But he took it in stride and instead focused his energy on math. It turned out he was a whiz at the subject and he was soon helping those of us who were less gifted with numbers. And for the first time in over two years I finally made an A in math, which I attributed to his help.

His ribs healed by the next fall and he was back on the field, catching passes and making touchdowns. And even though I didn’t exactly fit in with the football and cheerleader crowd, he still remained a friend.

Football is a rough game, and I always cringe when I hear about dislocated shoulders, concussions and pulled hamstrings. Bruised and broken ribs also get my sympathy, but I have to admit that I also recall how my friend’s broken ribs helped some of us achieve a certain glory off the field.

And, well, perhaps it’s a bit gruesome to say that baked ribs in barbecue sauce also remind me of my football friend, but if you’re looking for glory off the field—these spicy, sticky ribs will definitely be a hit at your next tailgate.

Ro-Tel Ribs

Ingredients:
For the sauce:
1/2 onion diced
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
Black pepper
Salt
Cayenne
1 teaspoon canola oil


Ingredients:
For the ribs:
Salt, black pepper and cayenne
2 two-pound racks of St. Louis ribs
1/4 cup of beer or coffee


Method:

Take the racks of ribs and remove back membrane if that hasn’t been done. Season liberally with salt, black pepper and cayenne and let sit until room temperature. Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a foil-lined large baking or roasting pan, arrange the ribs with the meat side up, pour in 1/4 cup of beer or coffee, cover pan tightly with foil and place in the oven.

While the ribs are cooking, it’s time to make your sauce. In a skillet on medium heat, pour in the canola oil and cook the onions for five minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.

In a blender, add the cooked onions and garlic and the Ro-Tel tomatoes. Blend until smooth.

Put the tomato blend into a pot and add the ketchup, mustard, apple cider vinegar and molasses. Cook on high until it boils and then simmer for half an hour. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne.

After an hour and a half, remove foil from roasting pan and coat ribs with sauce. Cook for another half an hour or until they’re your desired tenderness. At this point, turn on the broiler and place the racks underneath for a few minutes so they’ll get crisp.

Comments:


Friday October 30th, 2009
Tex-Mex Cheese Wontons

I was called for jury duty this week. Actually, I wasn’t just called, I was subpoenaed. This summer, I failed to fill out a questionnaire that let the courts know important things such as if I’m a convicted felon or if I’d been on a jury before. Don’t they already have this information on file—why do I have to fill out a piece of paper? But it’s hard to ignore a notice stating you will be fined $1,000 and/or imprisoned if you fail to show up in court the next day. So I made the trek downtown to the halls of justice.

While I was in the juror’s room, I took up conversation with a guy from Wisconsin. We talked about cheese curds, Leinenkugel’s and, inevitably, the Badgers. I’ve noticed that people from Wisconsin are very laid back and upbeat (perhaps it has something to do with said cheese curds and Leinenkugel’s), and my new friend was no different. Even though the Badgers have lost to both Ohio State and Iowa, he believed that Wisconsin was still bowl bound.

“Sure, they could be doing better,” he said. “But they’re still a very good football team.”

And with that, we broke for lunch.

Our courts are in Chinatown, which is always the highlight of jury duty—the promise of delicious food. We made a beeline for a favorite hole in the wall that has the best fried wontons. I ordered a bag while my friend stood looking at the menu.

“Where are the cheese wontons?” he asked.

Cheese wontons? I’d never heard of these before. He explained that there was a Chinese restaurant in Madison that had wontons stuffed with crab and cream cheese that were called crab Rangoon but he preferred to call them cheese wontons because in essence that’s what they were.

The restaurant didn’t have his cheese wontons, but they sounded so intriguing that I decided to make some of my own. I took wonton wrappers—and deciding to make them Tex-Mex wontons—I stuffed them with spicy cream cheese, pepper bacon and cilantro. And instead of frying, I brushed oil on the wontons and baked them instead.

I dipped my fried cheese wonton into a bowl of tomato salsa and understood what my new friend was talking about. Sure, these wontons might not be authentic Chinese food, but they are still very, very good. And even if the Badgers aren’t having the best year, these cheese wontons my Wisconsin friend introduced me to are a definite winner.

Tex-Mex Cheese Wontons

Ingredients:
36 wonton wrappers (can be found in the cold section of your grocer or at an Asian market)
1 8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, well drained
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
2 slices of pepper bacon, fried and diced
Canola oil

Method:
Mix well the cream cheese, Ro-Tel tomatoes, cilantro and bacon.

Take a wonton wrapper and in the center place about a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture. Fold the wonton into a triangle and seal the edges with water. Be sure to squeeze out any air bubbles.

To cook, you can either heat up an inch of oil in a skillet and fry or brush each side of the wonton with oil and bake at 375 for 10 minutes on each side.

Comments:


Friday October 23th, 2009
Queso Cookies

Now that we’re midseason, the bowl predictions are starting to be made. And it’s assumed that if Iowa holds on to its current streak it will probably take the Big 10 title and go to the Rose Bowl. But what about Penn State, a team that is also having a good year? For the Nittany Lions, some pundits believe it could be Fiesta time.

The Fiesta Bowl has long been a favorite of mine, based solely on the name. Who doesn’t love a fiesta? And for a team that hails from a place called Happy Valley, I can’t think of a more appropriate venue to strut their stuff on the national stage.

I admit, I haven’t spent much time in central Pennsylvania, but when I asked around about what people like to eat, the word scrapple came up more often then not. I have not had scrapple, but I reckon I would enjoy it as random pig parts fried and doused in syrup sounds like a mighty fine dish. But alas, I couldn’t find any scrapple at my neighborhood grocer—I suppose I’m just a bit too far from Pennsylvania for this treat.

But there are plenty of other foods that connote happiness, such as cookies. Yes, when you think of cookies you are probably thinking something sweet, but where I’m from we also make savory cookies with cheese, butter and flour.

So what if you took this celebratory classic and spiced it up with some Ro-Tel? Yep, suddenly you have the essence of queso delivered in a buttery, crisp vehicle. These queso cookies are definitely a happy fiesta for your mouth. And I dare you to eat just one.

Queso cookies

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups of grated white cheddar cheese
2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 can of Ro-Tel, drained


Method:
Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the cheese and butter together. Add the flour, salt, cayenne and tomatoes and stir until it becomes a ball.
For cookies, form the dough into marbles and press with a fork.

For straws, roll out the dough into a rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick, and using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into rectangles 2"x1" rectangles. Poke four holes in the top of each cheese straw with a fork.

Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Cool and then serve. Makes three dozen.

Comments:


Friday October 16th, 2009
Tex-Mex Cornbread

How about those Hawkeyes? OK, if you’re not an Iowa fan, please feel free to throw things at me. But even if you hate them you have to give them some respect—even if it’s begrudgingly—as they are the last undefeated Big 10 team as we move into week seven of the season.

Winning season aside, I have to admit that Iowa is probably my favorite Big 10 school because I actually lived in Iowa City many years ago. Do I bleed yellow and black? No, but having lived within squinting distance of University of Iowa and Kinnick Stadium, I feel that I’m allowed to show them at least a little bit of love.

Now why don’t more people feel like I do? I’m not very good at statistics, but I have a hard time understanding why the Hawkeyes have not cracked the top 10 in both the AP and the USA Today polls. What gives? Especially since a couple of teams ranked higher have lost a game while the University of Iowa remains undefeated. I’m sure there’s some complex algorithm that goes into these rankings, but it’s about as clear as a cloud to me.

Iowa is corn country. And in late July, nothing is more beautiful than those rippling stalks of corn that blanket the Iowa countryside. Those lazy summer days, however, are a distant memory. If you dragged out your snow shovel last week, you know what I’m talking about. But we can still have corn—especially when it’s found in the form of a warm, hearty slice of cornbread. Heck, nothing is better for sopping up those last drops found in your chili bowl.

Being a Texan, I have strict rules about cornbread—namely you can’t put sugar into it. (That’s corn cake not cornbread.) But there’s no reason why you can’t liven it up a bit with some cheese, jalapenos and Ro-Tel tomatoes. And so in honor of the Hawkeyes, I present to you this Tex-Mex cornbread, a perfect way for this Texan to honor Iowa.

Tex-Mex Cornbread

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 1/2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk or buttermilk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Pour oil into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, and place skillet in oven while oven preheats.

Mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Beat together the egg and milk.

Add egg and milk mixture to cornmeal mixture. Stir together. Take skillet out of the oven and pour oil into batter. Stir in tomatoes, the diced jalapeno and cheese.

Pour batter into skillet and bake for 30 minutes.

Serves eight.

Friday October 9th, 2009
Macaroni Con Queso

Perhaps it’s because I’m female, but sometimes when watching football I begin to feel sorry for the players. Every time I see a quarterback get sacked, a receiver gets pounced or a pile of players scramble for a ball, I cringe a little. That must be painful, I say to myself.

Well, yes. Of course it’s painful! Football is a contact sport and would be as boring as bowling if it weren’t for players being aggressive with each other in their quest for the ball. Where’s the drama if a quarterback can take his sweet time in throwing and the receiver can take his sweet time in running with nary an obstacle in sight? Nope, you need a little conflict. Without it you have no game.

But this doesn’t mean that after all that beating up on each other, the players aren’t due a little comfort. And when I’m not feeling my best, one of my favorite ways to soothe myself is with a warm, satisfying bowl of macaroni and cheese.

A few years ago, I learned a unique method of making macaroni and cheese in which you cooked the dry pasta in the oven with the cheese and after an hour, you had a creamy, rich dish that required little effort besides time.

Now take this concept and add a little Ro-Tel to it, and you suddenly have more than macaroni and cheese. Yep, you now have macaroni con queso!

This bowl of warm comfort on a cold day is sure to provide any solace needed not to mention it’s a lively addition to those plates of hot dogs and burgers. But I also enjoy eating it on its own. And as I tuck into a comforting bowl, it makes watching the players get hurt just a little less painful.

Macaroni Con Queso

Ingredients:
2 cups macaroni or other tubular pasta
1 cup cottage cheese
2 1/2 cups whole milk or half & half
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp granulated garlic
Salt, black pepper and cayenne to taste
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place dry macaroni in bottom of greased 10-inch pan.

In a blender, mix together the cottage cheese and milk with mustard powder, garlic, salt and peppers.

Pour over macaroni. Stir in tomatoes and cilantro.

Stir in 1/2 cup each of cheddar and Monterey Jack. Cover pan tightly with foil, and bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes take the pan out of the oven. Remove the foil and gently stir the macaroni once. Top with remaining shredded cheese and continue to bake uncovered for 30 more minutes. Let it cool and the serve. Makes 8-10 servings.



Friday October 2nd, 2009
Spicy Chickpea Dip

At a party recently, a group of us were hovering over a large bowl of queso. I noticed, however, that one of my friends wasn’t participating in the dipping of the chips.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her. “Don’t you like queso?”

She replied that she absolutely adored queso, but it didn’t adore her back. In short, she was lactose intolerant and unless she planned on spending the day feeling uncomfortable, she preferred to abstain from joining us as we ate our chips and queso.

I am not lactose intolerant, so I can’t imagine how it feels to not be able to eat dairy products. But I do know how awful it to be unable to participate in a group activity and I felt bad for my friend—I wanted her to be able to join us as we ate.

I asked the host if I could make something for our friend and he gave me carte blanche to raid his pantry. The pickings were slim, but I did find two cans of chickpeas, a can of Ro-Tel and some garlic.

I threw all of these ingredients in the blender along with some olive oil and in no time I had a creamy chickpea dip, which, if you squinted in the dark, could maybe even pass for a bowl of queso.

I passed the bag of chips to my lactose-intolerant friend and asked her to taste my creation. She dipped her chip and smiled.

“Wow!” she said, “It’s so spicy and creamy!”

And indeed it was. So if you have friends that can’t eat dairy or if you’re just looking for a change of pace, I highly recommend this spicy chickpea dip. And while it will never replace queso, it is indeed perhaps the next best thing for those that can’t eat cheese.

Spicy Chickpea Dip

Ingredients:
2 15 oz. cans of chickpeas
1 can of Ro-Tel
2 cloves of garlic
Juice from two lemons
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Method:
Drain the can of Ro-Tel and set aside one tablespoon of the tomatoes. Place the rest of the tomatoes and the other ingredients in a blender.

Puree until creamy and thick.

Transfer chickpea mixture to a pot. Cook on medium-low heat until warm—about five minutes—stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the pot.

Place chickpea dip into a bowl and stir in the remaining tomatoes.

Serve with tortilla or pita chips.

Comments:


Friday September 25th, 2009
Tex-Mex Sloppy Joes

In football, being sloppy can get you into trouble. High passes, blown coverages, turnovers, holding penalties—all of these things can change the outcome of a game.

In cooking, however, being sloppy can often lead to glorious victory. Not in baking so much, where precision is key—baking is a science, after all. But when creating savory food, sometimes making a sloppy mistake can create a winning dish.

Take my Tex-Mex sloppy joes. When I grabbed a four-pound chuck roast on sale at the market, my initial plan was to make a beef stew—thick and hearty with lots of potatoes and carrots.

As I was browning my meat, a visiting friend spied in my blender a mix of Ro-Tel tomatoes and chipotles that I had pureed for a quick salsa. And before I had time to think, he grabbed the blender and started to pour the salsa into the pot.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m being helpful, isn’t this for the stew?” he said.

I was about to get angry when I realized that I should just go with it. So I decided to ditch the root vegetables and instead threw in some brown sugar, added more spices and hoped for the best.

A couple of hours into cooking, we dipped spoons into the pot and tasted the creation. The meat was soft, with a rich flavor that was a mix of spicy, smoky and sweet. It was delicious, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what this beef dish was. It definitely wasn’t a chili and it definitely wasn’t a stew.

But my friend, who had inadvertently led me down this cooking path in the first place, was quick to define it: “I think it tastes like a big batch of Tex-Mex sloppy Joes.” And he was right.

I could easily see the meat either nestled inside a bun or wrapped in a flour tortilla. Which is just what we did as we ate our Tex-Mex sloppy joes while indulging in a slate of Saturday games. And whenever we saw a pass miss its mark or a receiver drop the ball, we were thankful that at least our sloppiness had led to success.

Tex-Mex Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:
4 pound chuck roast, cut into four large chunks
6 cloves of garlic
2 cans of Ro-Tel tomatoes
3 canned chipotle peppers
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of water

Method:
Puree in a blender the tomatoes, garlic and chipotle peppers.

In a large pot, at medium-low heat, add the canola oil and then brown the meat on all sides, a couple of minutes per side. Remove the meat. Add the diced onion and red bell pepper to the pot and cook for ten minutes.

Place the meat back in the pot and add the tomato blend and the rest of the ingredients. Turn the heat up to high. When pot comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer, uncovered.

Stir the pot occasionally (and add more water if liquid gets too low), cook the meat for four hours or until it is soft and starts to shred when touched.

Remove the meat and shred it with two forks. Place shredded beef back in the pot and combine the meat with pot juices.

Serve on buns or in flour tortillas. Makes 8-10 servings.



Friday September 18th, 2009
Fired-up Drumsticks

There are many things that set college ball apart from pro ball, but I believe that the presence of a marching band is one of my favorite things about the college-football experience.

When I’m watching a game live, nothing gets me more into the moment then listening to the bright brass, the warm woodwinds and the propelling percussion. Marching-band music is vital and loud, and the fact that it’s being played right there in the stands gives it a power and immediacy that pre-recorded music can never achieve. Not to mention with the band comes those fight songs we love to sing when our team enters the field, when they’ve scored or just when they may need an extra boost while playing in enemy territory.

Take the USC-Ohio State game last weekend. Did you watch it? If so, even if you were sitting in your living room hundreds of miles away, you could feel the Horseshoe vibrating as the Ohio State fans cheered for their team.

But whenever the USC defense took to the field, if you listened you could hear the OSC marching band play its fight song—a cheerful, rousing melody that sliced through the roar of the home-team crowd. Was it the marching band’s presence that drove the visiting Trojans to victory? I doubt it, but that said, it probably was soothing to the team’s morale to hear some friendly sounds.

So in honor of the band, which is an important component of the complete college-football experience, I’ve made some drumsticks. The percussion section is my favorite—I could listen to the snappy snares and booming bass drums thump all day long—and so I felt these pieces of chicken were perfect for my tangy, spicy yogurt and Ro-Tel marinade. But I also like the portability that drumsticks offer as you can eat them with your hands with little muss and fuss.

Fired-up drumsticks

Ingredients:
8 drumsticks with skin
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes
1/2 cup of Greek-style yogurt
Juice from one lime
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of Cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

For the marinade, mix together the tomatoes, the yogurt, the lime juice, the garlic, the herbs and the spices. Wash the drumsticks and place them in the marinade. Can let sit at room temperature for one hour or in the fridge for a few hours, just be sure to bring the drumsticks back to room temperature before baking.

Preheat the oven to 350. Take the drumsticks out of the marinade (but some of it can still be left on the drumsticks), and place chicken in a greased pan. Cook for 40 minutes or until internal temperature is 160 degrees. (You can also cook them on the grill). For crisp skin, place drumsticks under the broiler for two minutes on each side.

Friday September 11th, 2009
Are you hungover from last weekend?

Are you hungover from last weekend? And no, silly, I’m not talking about alcohol. I’m talking about trying to recover from that four-day bender of non-stop college football.

Raise your hand if you went on a game-watching tear this weekend, which started on Thursday and lasted all the way through Monday night. Yep, my hand is raised. But I’m not complaining. There’s nothing like opening weekend and cooler temperatures to signal that it is indeed my favorite time of year.

Since we have a couple of days off before the games return, I’m going to take this time to tend to clear my head and try to regain my strength for the next round. And how do I regain my equilibrium and clarity? By eating a big bowl of spicy, fiery meat.

A while ago, I was a judge at a chili cook-off, and most of the entries were just awful. Now, granted, this cook-off was in New York City and not Texas, where chili recipes are passed down in families like a cherished heirloom. But still, it made me sad that so few people knew how to put together a decent chili.

After the cook-off, when my fellow judges and I were discussing how to improve the event the following year, one man conceded that to get the bad taste out of his mouth, he’d gone home and whipped up a batch of his favorite hangover cure. And indeed, it did the trick.

Now what might that hangover cure be, we asked. He said it’s simple: take a pound of ground beef, throw in a can of Ro-Tel, heat it up and serve on tortillas or over tortilla chips.

He wouldn’t deign to call it chili and nor would I, as my batch of chili is a long, drawn-out affair that involves many ingredients but never, ever any tomatoes. But I had to admit, he was on to something and so I whipped up a batch of this proven cure for myself to see just how good it would taste.

Well, thanks to the spicy nature of the Ro-Tel and the good flavor of the beef, I was sold. This was indeed an excellent restorative that cleared my head and rejuvenated my spirits. And yet, it’s so simple that it takes hardly any time or effort at all. Just what you need when you’re not feeling your best.

So if you’re still hungover from too much football, I recommend giving this a try. You’ll thank me later.

Morning After Spicy Meat

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground beef
1 can of Ro-Tel
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 medium onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons corn meal
Juice from one lime
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

Crumble the ground beef into a lightly greased skillet set on medium. Add the onions. Stirring occasionally, cook meat until it starts to brown and onions become translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 10 more minutes. Slowly stir in the cornmeal until it’s completely incorporated, and cook for five more minutes.

Top with lime juice and adjust seasonings to taste.

Goes well over corn chips, wrapped in tortillas, on top of eggs or even plopped into a bowl of queso.

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Friday September 4th, 2009
Tex-Mex breakfast casserole

For some people, January or spring signifies a fresh start. But for me, shorter days, cooling temperatures and those first days of a new school year feel like a new beginning.

OK, I have to admit it’s been a while since I’ve been a student, but even if you’re on the periphery of academic life it’s hard to ignore the signs that the school year is starting. All around you see new clothes, new pencils, new dorm decorations, new roommates and new teachers. And when you think about all these changes happening in a student’s life, it’s easy to see why the school year signifies the dawn of something new.

Of course, every morning is also a chance for a new beginning and that’s why breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day. What’s not to love? Creamy eggs, smoky bacon, fragrant orange juice and crisp buttered toast! But like a lot of people, I don’t usually make the time for this important meal—opting instead for a quick cup of coffee and a roll, if I’m lucky. But there’s really no excuse for this, especially if you have on hand a breakfast casserole.

Breakfast casseroles come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. While all share eggs as a key ingredient, from that base there are many variations. Some are layered with day-old bread and sausage patties. Some are made with cheese and grits. And then there is my breakfast casserole, which is a riff on migas, a Tex-Mex breakfast dish made eggs, peppers and crisp tortillas.

I like to make my breakfast casserole have a bit of heat with Serrano peppers and Ro-Tel tomatoes. I throw in a ton of cheese to make it gooey and creamy. And I top it with blue corn tortilla chips for color and texture. There’s hardly any prep time with this casserole, you just throw all the ingredients in a dish and then bake it. Heck, you can even make it the night before and either heat it in the morning or even it cold (which I sometimes do because I have a thing for cold food in the morning.)

This is perfect game-day food as it feeds a crowd and transports well. And if you have a long day of eating and drinking ahead of you, there’s nothing better to prime your stomach for the day’s debauchery.

Tex-Mex breakfast casserole

Ingredients:
12 eggs
1/2 cup half and half
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 small onion, diced (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup cilantro, diced
1 Serrano chile, diced
1 cup of crushed blue-corn tortilla chips
2 cups shredded cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Preheat oven to 350.

Beat together the eggs with the half and half. Stir in the tomatoes, onion, garlic cilantro and Serrano chile. Add salt and pepper.

In a greased 9x13 pan, layer the bottom with the crushed chips. Pour over the chips the egg mixture and then sprinkle the cheese on top. Cook uncovered for 35 minutes or until eggs are set. Let cool and then cut into squares and serve.

Note: Feel free to add more protein, such as bacon, sausage or beans. And I like to use Ro-Tel Hot tomatoes, as that extra spice is a great way to wake up in the morning.

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