Oh boy! I’ve been waiting (who knows why) to make this for a long time. Without further ado; carne asada.

I ended up doing a ton of research before making this dish. I wanted a reasonably authentic taste (Safeway-brand taco seasoning? No thanks), and it is surprisingly hard to find authentic Mexican recipes. I synthesized about 5 recipes to get the ingredient list I have here.

Carne Asada (literally translated “roasted meat”) is a very popular dish in Northern Mexico (and in the Southwestern USA). Carne Asada is synonymous with a social BBQ here in the USA. Check out the Wikipedia entry for it here.

Ingredients:

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (chopped, remove large stems)
1 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. Cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp. ground clove
4-8 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 bottle of dark beer
1 orange sliced latitudinally
1 lime quartered into wedges

3 lbs. skirt steak

Preparation

This one is pretty easy. Combine everything but the steak, orange, and lime slices above, in a bowl. Slice the steak thin (or if it is already less then about 1/2 thick, skip this step) and then put it into your marinade in your ziplock. As you can see in the photo, I sliced my larger steak (1.84 lbs) into strips about 1″ x 0.5″ strips. The thinner steak (0.37 lbs) was thin enough that it did not need to be sliced at all.

The steak the the marinade.

Grab your oranges squeeze them into the bag, then drop them in. Do the same with the limes. I am adding this section in from a wise comment posted by Buster. If you leave the top of your bag open and submerge it in water you will force the air out. This helps the marinade break down the enzymes in the meat, which improves flavor penetration and makes the meat more tender! Put the bag into your fridge and let it sit for between four and eight hours.

Everything in the bag marinating!

After marinating for several hours its time to fire up the grill. I got mine as hot as I possibly could and grilled the sliced pieces for about 5 minutes each. Your temps and times will vary, so keep a close eye on it as you cook. I left the larger steak on for about 5 minutes per side. Carne asada is typically served well done, even a little charred.

Carne asada fresh off the grill!

After I took the meat off the grill, I shredded some mozzarella sprinkled it over a couple of flour tortillas and threw them on the grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese. After that it is as simple as applying meat and any other toppings you like (we had avocado and salsa verde) and consuming it.

All done! Excuse the messy range.

My Thoughts

This was amazing. Next time I would consider marinating it for the full eight hours, but regardless it turned out great. I will definitely be making this again. The only real change I would make is to prepare some sides (pica de gallo, and grilled onions, anyone?) to enhance the meal.

Have a good night!

From Ezra Moore

Just a quick preview of tonight’s dinner: Carne Asada!

The steak the the marinade.

Everything in the bag marinating!

I had better take a few more pictures tonight, or this preview may be the only view you get.

See you later!

From Ezra Moore

Phanaeng Curry. Another food photo that is pretty terrible, but the dish is delicious!

I love the way a recipe can get passed a long, it leads to foods sweeping an entire region (sometimes an entire country) in the blink of an eye.

This recipe came to my by way of my little sister, Hannah.

Phanaeng curry originates from the Phanaeng Islands which are part of Malaysia.

I won’t be posting the recipe here, you’ll have to click the link above and visit Hannah’s blog to find it.

When Hannah passed the recipe on to me, she recommend Aroy D curry paste and canned coconut milk of the same brand.

My Thoughts:

This was a great dish, and my first attempt at making my own Thai food (which I love to eat). I think that I could clean up my methods, now that I know how to make it, and end up with something a little more refined. Overall I loved it, but I would warn that if you have a sensitivity to spicy food the Aroy D paste is a little bit on the spicy side. Make sure you prescribe a tall glass of milk! Thanks HANNAH!

From Ezra Moore

Margherita Pizza. I know, I know, it is a truly terrible picture. My excuses: it was late, the fluorescent lighting in my kitchen does nothing for photos, and I am committed to showing you guys exactly what I made.

Once in a while I have a good idea. This pizza was definitely a golden moment for me. When I was younger my family travelled abroad and I ordered this pizza in a lot of different countries. Rarely have I seen it in the United States. I know California Pizza Kitchen makes a Margherita pizza, but its not on the menu a lot of places I would expect to find it.

Pizza Margherita has a pretty illustrious history, as far as pizzas go. In 1889, Queen Margherita was taking a tour of the Italian Kingdom with her husband Umberto I, and she noticed the people eating a large flat bread with toppings. The curious queen ordered her guards to bring her a pizza. She loved it, and caused quite a stir in the court by going out to eat it amongst the peasants. To resolve the issue of her social faux pax, Queen Margherita summoned Chef Raffaele Esposito to the royal kitchen, and had him bake for her, a variety of pizzas. The chef chose to make Queen Margherita a special pizza, with all the same colors as the Italian flag. Green basil, white mozzarella, and red tomatoes. He called is Pizza Margherita.

It makes for a decent story, I guess.

Here is what I did for dough:

Trader Joe’s sells pizza dough. I bought their herb/garlic offering. It turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:

1/4 pound smoked mozzarella, shredded
1/2 pound low moisture mozzerella, sliced to medium thickness
10 – 15 whole basil leaves (the more the better, in my opinion)
1 Roma tomato
4 – 6 cloves of garlic (diced medium/small)
olive oil
salt

Directions (prep):

1. Thinly slice your tomatos (seriously, thin!)
2. Chop your garlic.
3. Add your garlic, salt and olive oil in a large bowl, stir and add your tomatoes to coat them. Remove the tomatoes.

Directions (assembly): Preheat your oven to 500+ degrees F

1. Follow the directions to make your dough (or if you bought the Trader Joe’s dough, follow their directions).
2. Spread your dough into whatever shape you desire, this is a thin crust pizza, so spread it out thin.
3. Pour (and then brush evenly) your garlic/olive oil/salt mixture over the dough, making sure to cover the entire surface.
4. Spread your grated (unsmoked) mozzarella over the crust.
5. Lay your tomatoes over the mozzarella.
6. Alternate tomatoes with medallions of your smoked mozzarella.
7. Spread your basil out over your pizza.
8. Put your pizza into the oven, allow it to cook until the cheese is fully melted and the crust is beginning to brown. Let it cool and then consume it voraciously!

My Thoughts

I love this pizza. Its light and it is delicious! I need to get a pizza stone, in lieu of building a pizza oven in my apartment complex. I will definitely be making this pizza again soon. As you can tell by my picture, I overcooked it just a tad this time. I would also use thicker slices of the smoked mozzarella, mostly for decorative effect.

Tonight I am making chicken caprese sandwiches. Yum!

From Ezra Moore

I hate canned food. It is all well and good when you’re on a boat at sea for 28 days, at that point canned food is even good, but day-to-day it sucks.

I love to make pasta with tomato sauce, but I always bought canned tomatos in order to make it.

That changed today!

I took four pounds of fresh tomatos and blanched, de-seeded, sliced, diced, and reduced them into a delicious red sauce.

While I was waiting for the tomato sauce to simmer down, I decided to try my hand at making a simple pasta.

I may put the recipe up later, if people are interested.

Here are some pictures:

Fresh pasta simmers with the sauce!

In the bowl

I am excited to try my hand at more pasta-making.

Yum!

From Ezra Moore

Slow Cooker Balsamic Ribs

Recipe By: Ezra Moore

Ingredients:

For marinade:
8 cloves Garlic
1 teaspoon Salt
3 tablespoons Rosemary, fresh, finely chopped
2 additional sprigs Rosemary
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar, packed
3/4 teaspoon Cayenne
2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 – 1 whole rack Baby-back Pork Ribs, with bottom layer of membrane removed
1/2 cup Water

For glaze:
2 cups Hot Water
1 1/2 cups Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
2 teaspoons prepared BBQ Sauce

Directions:

1. Finely mince garlic, then mash to a fine paste with 1 teaspoon salt.

2. Mix garlic paste with rosemary, brown sugar, vinegar, cayenne (add a little more for extra heat!)

3. Remove the membrane from the bottom of the ribs. Rinse and pat dry. Add marinade mixture and ribs to ziplock and allow them to marinate in the fried for up to 24 hours.

4. Put marinaded ribs and water into your slow cooker and set it to high. Place to rosemary sprigs alongside the ribs in the slow cooker. Allow the ribs to cook for approximately 1 hours (or until nearly cooked).

5. While the ribs cook prepare your glaze by combining the hot water, vinegar, brown sugar, liquid smoke, and BBQ sauce in a skillet. Reduce to approximately 1 1/2 cups by boiling the mixture until it becomes thick, like a glaze.

6. After the ribs have cooked for one hour remove them from the slow cooked to a cutting board. Discard the liquid remaining in the slow cooker.

7. Return the ribs to the slow cooker. Pour half of the glaze over the ribs and brush it over the top until they are cover completely. Retain the remainder of the glaze.

8. Cook the ribs an additional 30 minutes (or until done). Remove them from the slow cooker and allow them to cool slightly before cutting them and brushing them with the retained glaze.

Notes:

So far, this is the most delicious thing I have made. I paired it with baked asparagus. For desert we had lavender and red velvet ice cream. 10/10

From Ezra Moore

Alright, that’s it Washington. We headed out for Montana this morning at about 10:30 AM from our sweet campsite in Chelan. We are stopped right now at a roadside dinner called The Viking. Haven’t received our food yet, but the air has a slight vinegary smell to it. Regardless, I am looking forward to my Viking burger and Ashley is looking forward to her (in her own words, sexist) Lady Viking burger. Mom and Dad ordered mushroom swiss and grilled chicken burgers.

UPDATE: Turns out the burgers were quite delicious. Despite the looks of the joint it was pretty awesome. The young guy that waited on us was a great host.

Before we stopped for lunch we explored the city of Sprague. Not what you call bustling, but we did find a dirt parking lot full of old trucks (from the 1930s through the 1950s) which made for a cool photo opportunity. My road trip flip flops (purchased in Missoula in 2007) finally gave up the ghost in Chelan last night, so I am on the hunt for a new pair.

Antique trucks in Sprague, WA.

Montana ho!

From Ezra Moore

Yesterday I made BBQ Beef Brisket in our new slow-cooker. Hannah and RJ came up for a visit to see our new place. Ashley and I went shopping early in the day so that I could get the brisket in the slow-cooker before it got to late. With an eight hour cook time, I was shooting for a late dinner, so that Ash could be home from work around the time it was ready.

We spent about $80 on all the spices (we didn’t have any, since we just moved) required to (mostly) stock the spice cupboard. I discovered the recipe on Rachel Rappaport’s blog Coconut & Lime.

The components required to assemble this meal are very easy to find. I was able to get everything at our local supermarket. The dish is made up of two parts, a sauce and a dry rub.

Slow-cooked BBQ Beef Brisket

Rub:
1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon minced (dried) onion
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika (smoked)
1 teaspoon mustard (powder)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme (fresh, preferably)
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon chipotle (dry ground)

Mix the ingredients for the rub together. Score both sides of your brisket with a sharp knife, and apply the rub to the meat. Put your meat in a container (I used a gallon ZipLock bag) and put it in the fridge for a few hours, overnight if you are preparing the night before.

Sauce:
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons ketchup
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons of liquid smoke

Final preparation:

Line the bottom of your slow cooker with a couple large onions sliced into quarter-inch thick rings. Pull the meat out of the fridge and sear both sides of it in a pan with a little oil. Drop it in your slow cooker on top of your onions, and pour the sauce over it. Cook for 8 – 10 hours on low. Enjoy it!

Post-dinner assessment:

Everyone enjoyed the brisket. We had planned to have asparagus in a garlic soy sauce, but the supermarket was out of asparagus that cost less than a new kidney. The brisket ended up being tender and flavorful.

Thanks to Rachel Rappaport for the recipe. Please visit her blog Coconut & Lime, here is her recipe (without my minor changes).

From Ezra Moore

Yum! Mom and Dad brought a whole box of peaches home from Chelan. Of course, they all got ripe around the same time that I decided ice cream was a good idea. Overall it was delicious, the base was a little light, but I will have to experiment with that in depth, so here is a tentative recipe.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream Base (Standard Ben and Jerry’s Base#1)
2 – Large Eggs
3/4 Cup – Sugar
2 Cups – Heavy Cream
1 Cup – Milk

Flavor:
2 – Ripe and delicious peaches!
1 TBSP – Sugar
A few drops of vanilla extract.

Whisk eggs together for 1 – 2 minutes in a medium bowl, until fluffy. Slowly beat in ice cream base sugar. Once all the sugar has been added continue to beat the mixture for about 1 minute. Mix in heavy cream and milk.

At this point I put the mixture in the freezer and prepared the peaches.

Run hot/warm water from the tap, and rub/tear/peel the skin from the peaches. There is probably an approved method for this, but I was in a hurry. One way or the other, peel those peaches! Since our peaches were not ‘free-stone’, in other words, the pits remain attached to the flesh, even when ripe, I simply cut slabs off the fruit since it will be mashed in the end anyway.

In a bowl add the fruit and the sugar for the flavoring. Using a potato masher (or a similar, possibly more appropriate tool) I mashed the fruit into small pieces with the sugar. This allowed a lot of the juice to mix with the sugar. This is one thing I would change, I would have mashed the peaches into almost a paste, to better distribute the flavor. Add a few drops of vanilla extract and mix it all up.

Now you’ve got your two components. Follow the directions supplied by the manufacturer of your ice cream maker. For ours I started the machine, poured in the base, then the flavor, and let it run for around thirty minutes.

I hope you enjoy. I’ll see if I can get a picture of the finished product tomorrow. Feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed the recipe.

From Ezra Moore