My Irish Grandma’s Enchiladas

There are so many things I should be doing right now instead of writing this blog, like editing the family cookbook that I’m supposed to have ready for this weekend.  It’s been a year since our first annual ladies weekend at the beach where all the women from my mom’s side of the family got together to write a cookbook.  But all I can think about is my Irish Grandma’s Enchiladas. 

This dish has been a family favorite for years.  I can remember our annual fourth of July Potluck at the Sol Duc hot springs when I was a kid and my  6 year old cousin crying while eating them.  I can still smell the sulfur and chlorine, still see the green mountains before a blue sky, still hear the teen girl screeches and shouts from the pools and my cousins sniffles as he ate.

Alarmed my Aunt Sharron sat down on the cabin steps beside him and told him that he didn’t have to eat them if he didn’t want to.  “I love them but I’m crying because they’re spicy but so good that I can’t stop eating,” he’d sobbed.

I think she toned down the spice after that because I don’t remember them ever being cry-your-eyes-out spicy.  What I do remember is the tender crunch of onions, the piquant bite of olives, the creaminess of loads of melted cheese.  My Great-grandma, the daughter of Irish immigrants, grew up speaking Spanish in a small  California town just north of the Mexican border and this recipe reflects that upbringing.

They’re on my mind right now because I know that’s what Aunt Sharron is making for dinner on Saturday night.  Grandma’s making her salsa fresca and my cousin Kelli’s bringing her Texas caviar.  Lisa’s on deck with her well loved bruschetta and we’re all bringing dessert. 

To say I’m excited doesn’t really describe my feelings.  Perhaps I’m aiming too high but I hope we’re making memories and connections we’ll treasure for the rest of our lives.  We’re spread out; my family resides mostly in Western Washington, my mom’s sisters, my cousin and my grandma in Oregon.  But all of us value these connections enough to make the trip for each other…or maybe it’s just the promise of good food.

My Irish Grandma’s Enchiladas

Sharron Farrell: This came from Grandmother Pursley. The family really loves it.

black olives, sliced

onions, chopped

sharp Cheddar Cheese (small cubes)

Flour tortillas

Red Chile sauce, medium

Depending on how much you want to make use equal amounts of olives, onions and cheese.

Soak one tortilla at a time in heated red chile sauce. Mix together olives, onions and cheese. Place a very large spoon full of the mixture in soaked tortilla, fold in half. When the bottom of the pan is full layer a mixture and some of the red chile sauce before starting the next layer, until the pan is full. Use a fork to poke holes through the layers of tortillas and pour more red chile sauce over it. Cook in a 350 degree oven until the onions are done and the cheese is melted.

Fast Food: Mustard Caper Pork Chops

This is one of my favorite fast food dinners and a nice way to end a blustery autumn day.  Start to finish, this takes about thirty minutes but looks much fancier.  Sear the pork while the vegetables steam and you set the table.   Dress the squash with a pat of butter and brown sugar.   Enjoy.

Tomorrow night Skogen Lane comes alive with ghost and ghoulies.  Our neighbors host a soup and bread dinner and off we go as witches (2) and a skeleton and Ariel.  I suspect folks will wonder if we’ve kidnapped the little mermaid.  We’ll pillage and trick, prowl and treat and end the night at a bonfire with champagne for the grown ups and a candy free-for-all for the kiddies.

Happy Halloween!

 

Pork Chops with Mustard Caper Sauce

From: Food and Wine magazine. This is a fast and easy weeknight dinner that is impressive enough for company.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 -9 ounce pork loin chops

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 ½ cups chicken stock

1/3 cup drained capers

½ teaspoon finely chopped rosemary

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, add them to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until well browned, 5 minutes per each side. Transfer the pork chops to a large late and cover loosely with foil.

Add the stock, capers and chopped rosemary to the skillet and boil until reduced to 3/4 cup, about five minutes. Return the pork chops to the pan and simmer until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer the chops to 4 plates. Whisk the mustard and butter into the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Pour the mustard-caper sauce over the chops and serve.

Most Amazing Ginger Molasses Cookies

Crisp and crinkly on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside.  These are the cookies I’ve been seeking to duplicate since the day I discovered them in a tiny (long gone) French bakery cafe in Seattle.

 

 

 

It was one of those perfect spring days with fresh new buds on all the trees, blue skies and a ticklish wind from Elliot Bay.  Had there been a musical soundtrack an accordion would be playing.  I wore a skirt and boots and a sweater, walking along Western Avenue to Pike Place Market.  This was long before the Harbor Steps, before the high rise apartments. 

A scent, spicy and sweet flooded the street. Helpless to resist, I followed.   I’d never tasted molasses cookies before and that day was a revelation.  Layers of flavor; the initial heat from the ginger, followed by plush sweetness of brown sugar and then the dark richness of molasses.   It seemed exotic as Morocco as comforting as home.  A heady combination.

It took me a long time to find this recipe because I thought I was looking for a molasses cookie when what I really wanted was a ginger cookie.  I present to you the Most Amazing Ginger Molasses cookies.

 

The Most Amazing Ginger Cookie

2 ¼ cups All-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup molasses

1 egg

3 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped.

granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients (flour-salt) in a large bowl. Whisk until well mixed.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine brown sugar and butter, mix well then add the oil and molasses. Mix well then add the egg and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fold in the crystallized ginger.

Scoop mixture and shape into a ball then roll in the granulated sugar. Place on the baking sheet and flatten slightly with your finger. Bake for 10-12 minutes depending on how soft you like the interior. Let cool. These keep well in a sealed jar and taste even better the second day. Enjoy.

 

BBA Challenge #6 Casateillo

It rained so hard yesterday that I, a Pacific Northwest Native, had to actually USE an umbrella.  No swinging it along beside as I stroll jauntily along…this was unrelenting, pounding, bounce off the pavement rain.  And I loved it. 

I love the sound of rain, especially in the woods where it changes from pavement's strident ping to a soft, gentle patter.  The woods come alive with sound and I can almost feel the trees rejoicing and whispering thanks. 

Another thing I love about rain is that it’s an excuse…can’t garden; too rainy.  Was going to make a Costco run…too rainy.  Better just sit here in front of the fire with a good book until the rain stops.

So I grabbed Peter Reinhardt's Bread Baker’s Apprentice and got comfy.  One can only sit so long in front of the fire when thumbing through a gloriously photographed baking book before they leap from the couch, toss off the blanket and head for the kitchen to make bread.

Casateillo, BBA Challenge #6 is an Italian version of brioche.  Traditionally it’s made in panettone wrappers and studded with meat and cheese.  It’s often seen at Easter in Italy and on rainy days here in the Pacific Northwest.  I filled mine with salami and provolone—Mr. Reinhardt says to let it cool for an hour before slicing  (like that’s going to happen?!) but I risked his displeasure and cut it open after about 6 minutes and was rewarded with a steamy cloud of fresh bread goodness and shiny bits of provolone melting on the knife.

If rain brings you down the smell of baking bread will cheer you up.   I tell you this because I just checked the weather and it’s going to rain for the next ten days and we all might want to make some plans.  Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.

 

Pots of Peppers

Pressing Concord Grapes

One of the great things about this island is the way people make room for you in their lives. With a new school come new friendships and  I’ve been so fortunate to meet some wonderful women, two of whom invited me to come watch grape pressing last week. 

These are organic Concord grapes grown in Eastern Washington.  My hostess, Rhonda made grape pressing look easy.  When I arrived the pressing pot was already steaming away as she dropped in the washed grapes.

Then she made lunch and tea for us, all the while looking like a million bucks in a kitchen apron.  It’s hard to like a gal like Rhonda but she’s so very nice that we have to overlook her stunning looks and kitchen cool and be friends.  I decided this before she gave me three bars of freshly made soap—yes; the woman makes her own soap and it looks and smells like something you’d be happy to pay a fortune for at a pricey boutique. 

The grapes have steamed for about 15 minutes and are beginning to sweat and split.  Juice has appeared in the spigot at the base of the pressing pot. 

The final product is midnight purple, so dark it’s almost black.  Rhonda poured the hot juice into hot jars, fitted with hot lids.  She inverted the jar for 15 seconds to seal.

We tasted the juice fresh from the steamer.  Rich and deeply concentrated it tasted just like a grape warmed by the sun.  I have three jars of this precious stuff and I’m making grand plans for grape jelly, grape popsicles and grape sorbet.  Thank you Rhonda and Carlyn for including me in your afternoon.  Cheers!

Foolproof Pie Crust with Vodka

Is there anything more stressful in baking than pie crust?  After years of making truly awful pie crust I decided to take the bull by the horns and learn from an expert. 

I realized, after being barked at by the drill sergeant of an instructor who, by the way, hadn’t ever heard of a food processor and made us cut the fat and flour together with table knives!,(which may be useful if I become a contestant on some sort of reality show set in a 1950’s kitchen), where my problem(s) lay (or lie…or lies?):

1.  Your ingredients must be stone cold.
2.  You must work fast! (lest your cold ingredients get too cozy and melt together like two starlets in a bad film).

Doesn’t that seem a teensy bit stressful?

Now, I’m not one to embrace stress and pressure while I bake and you shouldn’t either so take my advice and try this:

Measure all of your dry ingredients, including the fat into the bowl of a food processor.  Then put the whole thing, bowl and all into the fridge.  Make yourself a cup of tea, browse the internet…update your Facebook…relax.  Baking pie should not be stressful.  When a good half hour has passed pour yourself a shot of vodka and a glass of ice water and get your chilled ingredients out of the fridge and back onto the food processor. 

Now, I know you think I’m taking the relaxing too far with the booze and you’d be wrong; I heartily believe in cooking with booze but sometimes, like now,  it’s not for me…It’s for the crust.  Vodka adds liquid without adding water, making your crust supple and then it bakes up flaky as a redhead at the beach, when all that alcohol evaporates.  I learned this from Cooks Illustrated magazine and if you want all the scientific hoo-ha that explains this miracle of baking then read this.

Anyhow…Put the lid on and pulse 9 times.  Toss in the water and the vodka and pulse four times or until a ball forms,  Do not overwork!  We want to see fat pearls in the dough; if it is all one uniform color it’s been processed too long.


Lay some plastic wrap on the counter, plop the dough onto the wrap, form into a ball, wrap and return to the fridge.  I like to split the dough into two balls, press each into a 5 inch circle and then wrap and chill.  This will give you a head start on rolling nice circles later.  Total time out of the fridge…about thirty seconds. 
Take that Sergeant Major.

The dough can rest thirty minutes to a week depending on your schedule.  Now, does it get any more relaxing than that?

Foolproof Pie Dough

Adapted from:  Cooks Illustrated Magazine
2 1/2 cup flour
1 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 cup  shortening, cut into 6 pieces
1/4 cup vodka, chilled. Extra for you if needed.
1/4 cup ice water

Measure flour, salt and sugar into food processor bowl and whirl once or twice to blend.  Add butter and shortening but do not process.  Place in fridge for minimum 30 minutes.  You can leave it as long as you want or until you can’t stand working around the humongous food processor bowl in your fridge.  Then follow the instructions above.(feel free to pour a shot for yourself if you’re having a bad day.)