Home Style Mexican Dinner

Almost like clockwork, Mexican food beckons......weekly at a bare minimum around here.  Usually, that is the all the reason needed to head off to the nearest authentic Mexican restaurant and dig into some hot  salty chips and fresh spicy salsa, slow-simmered mashed and smokey pinto beans and something wrapped inside a tortilla.  You know what I'm talking about.  It's just so easy, and so tasty.  The thing is, its not so hard to whip up a decent south-of-the-border type dinner at home, it just takes a little bit pre-planning.

My favorite dish to order when I see it on the menu is  Carnitas.  For those uninitiated, this is a delicious, fall-apart pork dish, crispy on the outside, unbelievable tender inside, flavorful chunks of porky-ness served with flour or corn tortillas and toppings to create your own little wraps.  Turns out, it's an easy one to make at home as long as you have a crock pot, and a little time on your hands.   Since pork is the star here, it makes sense to find a great quality piece of meat.  We are lucky to have some local producers of pork here in the 'burgh, and that's where I'd start if I were you.  And don't forget, its the shoulder or butt that you want.  That's the piece with all of the flavor, imbedded with pork fat, that allows this cut to melt so beautifully.  Even a bone in the cut is OK.  It will be easy to pull out after you slow cook it.

So first, you slow cook the well seasoned (salt and pepper) pork shoulder on bed of raw onions until the meat melts into tender chunks.  Then, you take the entire contents of the crock pot - fat, slumpy onions, and pork, and toss into a hot saute pan, searing at high heat to create the crispy finish that defines a good batch of carnitas.  Be sure it is well done, crispy, and seasoned.

What I love about the result is that you can create the wrap of your dreams with that delicious pork.  My favorite things to dress it with are homemade guacamole and salsa, lettuce, diced red onion, and a drizzle of sour cream mixed with a little milk (a home version of mexican crema).  But you can top yours entirely differently!  One thing it really does NOT need is cheese, the calling card of many mexican dishes.  I think it's due to the richness of the pork that makes cheese an unnecessary afterthought.  In fact, I imagine it would do more to mask the flavor of the pork than accent it.   But you cheese-heads out there may disagree, and can go ahead and give it a try!  Myself, I am thinking of those smokey beans, and hoping some may come my way soon.  

Secrets of a great chocolate chunk cookie.

Do you know what the best way is to smash up a big hunk of dark chocolate?  It's  probably fortunate that I don't.  Otherwise, these cookies might become a nightly feature around here, and that can only lead to trouble.  But, if you figure it out, and want to share your method with me, post it here and we can all try to resist making these little lovelies too often.

You don't really HAVE to mess with the standard chocolate chip cookie recipe too much in my estimation.   But there are several little secrets held amongst those who bake them most often (hello to my sister's family), and somehow their cookies just come out better than mine.  Though I don't know all the secrets that they have, I'm going to share a few secrets that I encountered when I tried out this new recipe.  Shhhh. Don't tell anyone, or they will no longer be secrets.

First, a really interesting technique that tests your willpower right up front.  Age the dough.  Yes, that means to make it a day or two in advance, put in the fridge, and forget about it for a while.  It really does amazing things to the flavor complexity of the dough.   Second use some whole grain flour.  Try just subbing out a small part of the flour.  It gives the dough some "teeth", which I think improves the taste.  Third, don't overbake them.  Really don't overbake them.  Keep an eagle eye on them, and take them out of the oven just before you think you should.  Fourth, put away the bagged chocolate chips.  You won't need them here.  Find a big dark chocolate bar (here's secret #5:  Trader Joe's has pound plus belgian dark chocolate bars for cheap!).

Here's the tricky part:  Figure out a way to smash it into various sized shards, which will inevitably be the key to making a really awesome multi-dimensional cookie.  I'm sparing you the photography of my smashing event.  It's nothing I'm proud of.  I started innocently enough, on the solid-surface countertop, while still wrapped in its package, banging away at the bar using various instruments.  No luck.  It split open the package into gaping paper wounds spilling out chocolate dust everywhere, but no shards.  I pulled out my meat mallet, ready to do some real business, but decided I needed a way to "capture" the shards that would otherwise fly.  An "ahah" moment:  a kitchen towel!!  Wrapping the naked bar in the towel, I started by whacking at it on the counter.  Moments later I realized that was a bad idea for the longevity of my counter, so quickly moved to the tile floor.  Bashing meat hammer to cloth towel to chocolate bar to tile floor was great way to release pent up emotions, and gather the dogs to the chaos that was ensuing in the hallway.

The end result was questionable.  Yes, shards of chocolate, varying sizes from dust to quite large.  Towel?  Torn to shreds, imbedded deeply with chocolate, worthless.  Floor?  Unbroken, thankfully.  Dogs?  Puzzled, but happy with chocolate dust smell.  Cookies?  Priceless.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Perfect Chocolate Chunk Cookies


3 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
    Stir these together in a separate bowl
2 sticks of butter
1 cup white sugar
1.5 cups brown sugar
   Cream these together in mixer, for about 3 minutes
3 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
   Add these to creamed butter/sugar mixture


Gradually mix in flour mixture on low speed, mixing just to combine and no longer.  
Add 14 oz. dark chocolate shards.


Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour, but 1-2 days is even better.
Form cookies into  approx. 2" balls.  Roughly a big handful.  Don't worry about packing it into perfect balls.  I loosely structured mine, and they turned out fine. 
*Bake at 350 degrees, for 11-13 minutes, on trays lined with parchment paper.  Halfway through baking, switch around trays on racks (up to down, front to back).  At this point, you are also assessing how much more baking time.  Check them often after this halfway point.  


*note:  I finally bought an oven thermometer...highly recommended.