Pork Tamales and Red Chili Sauce

1. Pork Tamales
2. 3 1/2 lbs pork shoulder or 3 1/2 lbs pork butt, trimmed of fat and cut up
3. 10 cups water
4. 1 medium onions, quartered
5. 3 garlic cloves, minced
6. 3 1/2 teaspoons salt
7. 4 cups red chili sauce* 
8. 3/4 cup lard
9. 6 cups masa harina
10. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
11. 50 dried corn husks ( about 8 inches long)
12. *Red Chili Sauce
13. 1. 5 large dried New Mexico chilies 
    2. 4 -5 garlic cloves
    3. 2 teaspoons ground cumin
    4. 1 teaspoon salt
    5. Remove stems and seeds from dried chili peppers.Place peppers in a frying pan over medium low heat until fragrant and pliable and soak in enough hot water to cover for about 30 minutes or until cool.Put peppers and 2 1/2 cups of the soaking water into a blender (save the remaining soaking water).Add garlic, cumin and salt.Cover and blend until smooth.
    6. In a 5 qt Dutch oven, bring pork, water, onion, garlic and 1 1/2 salt to boil. Simmer covered, about 2 1/2 hours or until meat is very tender.Remove meat from broth and allow both meat and broth to cool. (Chilling the broth will allow you to easily remove the fat if you desire to do so).Shred the meat using 2 forks, discarding fat.Strain the broth and reserve 6 cups.In a large sauce pan, heat the red chili sauce and add meat; simmer, covered for 10 minutes.To make masa beat lard on medium speed in a large bowl for 1 minute.In a separate bowl, stir together masa harina, baking powder and 2 teaspoons salt.Alternately add masa harina mixture and broth to shortening, beating well after each addition. (Add just enough broth to make a thick, creamy paste).In the mean time, soak corn husks in warm water for at least 20 minutes; rinse to remove any corn silk and drain well.To assemble each tamale, spread 2 tablespoons of the masa mixture on the center of the corn husk (each husk should be 8 inches long and 6 inches wide at the top. If husks are small, overlap 2 small ones to form one. If it is large, tear a strip from the side).Place about 1 tablespoon meat and sauce mixture in the middle of the masa.Fold in sides of husk and fold up the bottom.Place a mound of extra husks or a foil ball in the center of a steamer basket placed in a Dutch oven.Lean the tamales in the basket, open side up.Add water to Dutch oven just below the basket.Bring water to boil and reduce heat.Cover and steam 40 minutes, adding water when necessary.

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Easy No Knead Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups water

Mix flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Add olive oil and water* and mix. At first it will seem like there is too much liquid, then not enough. Cover and let sit at room temp for 3-5 hours until a little more than doubled in size. Use plenty of flour to form into 2 balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Let rise for 30 minutes and slash each loaf a few times before putting into the oven. Bake in a 450 deg oven for 25-30 minutes or until it reaches a temp of 190 deg. Make sure to put a pan of hot water on a lower rack and spray the oven with water when you place the loves in to bake. This will give you a crisper crust.

*the exact amount of water varies depending on humidity. This is a very wet dough.

The dough will be wet

30 minute rise

cool for 30 minutes

Steamed Littleneck Clams In Garlic And Oil

• 2lbs. littleneck clams
• 2T olive oil
• 1/4c chopped green onion
• 1T minced garlic
• 1/4c water or white wine
• 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes

• Rinse clams in cold water
• In lg pot,heat oil and saute onions and garlic 60 seconds.
• Add water or wine,clams and season to taste.
• Cover,steam till clams open,about 8-10 mins.

No-Knead Ciabatta

Jim Lahey No-Knead Ciabatta
Adapted from Jim Lahey
Makes 2 large loaves 
 4 cups of bread flour 
 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast or active dry yeast 
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt 
 2 cups of warm water (think warm bath water) 
 2 tablespoons olive oil 



1. The night before, mix the flour, yeast and salt. Slowly add the water as you bring the dough together with either your hand or a spatula. The dough will seem too wet, then seem too dry. It should end as a fairly shaggy and wet dough. 
2. Cover the dough with a clean cotton cloth or a piece of plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm room for 12-18 hours (I let mine rise for 16 hours) 
3. When you check the dough the next day after the allotted time has passed, it should be a bubbly wet dough. 
4. Gently slide the dough out onto a silpat lined cookie sheet floured and dusted with cormeal. Split the dough into two and shape the dough into the desired shape of Ciabatta, which is a long slipper like shape. Cover the dough and let rise another 1-2 hours. It will roughly double in size. 
5. Before the dough is done rising, preheat the oven to 425F. Put rack in middle of oven and another rack just below that one. Meanwhile put a large kettle of water to a boil. Put a shallow baking pan on rack below the middle rack. 
6. Remove towel and sprinkle some flour on top of the dough. Open the oven door and throw some ice cubes into the bottom of oven to create a steam bath. Next pour boiling water into the pan then add bread baking sheet into middle rack and quickly close the door. 
7. Cook the bread for about 35 minutes or until nicely colored, when bread is ready it will sound hollow to a gentle knock and register 201F. Let bread cook on a wire rack for one hour. 

Homemade Bisquick Mix

Ingredients

1. 6 cups all-purpose flour
2. 3 tablespoons baking powder
3. 1 tablespoon salt
4. 1 cup vegetable shortening
1. 1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt three times into a large bowl.
   2. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
   3. Store mixture in airtight container in the refrigerator up to 4 months.
   4. Use whenever your recipe calls for "Bisquick mix".
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Cheez Its

Prep Time 1 Hour Cook Time 25 Minutes

Servings 10

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

·         8 ounces, weight Sharp Cheddar Cheese

·         3 Tablespoons Butter

·         1 Tablespoon Vegetable Shortening

·         ½ teaspoons Salt

·         1 pinch Cayenne Pepper

·         1 cup Flour

·         2 Tablespoons Ice Water

·         4 teaspoons Kosher Salt For Sprinkling (use More Or Less As Desired)

Preparation Instructions

In a food processor, combine cheese, butter, shortening, salt, and cayenne pepper. Pulse until combined and add flour. Pulse until everything is broken down and looks like crumbs. Add in water and pulse until combined into a dough. (You may have to add a little more water but don’t add too much. You don’t want to the dough to be too wet.) Divide dough into 2 pieces, and wrap each in wax paper. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Roll the dough out on the wax paper until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Using a ruler and a pastry or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1-inch squares (the ruler helps ensure that all crackers are the same size). Use a toothpick or skewer to punch a hole in the middle of the square. In addition to making it look like an authentic Cheez It, this also keeps the cracker from puffing up too much. Separate the squares and transfer to a baking sheet. You can put the crackers pretty close to each other as they don’t spread very much during baking.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. The more color they have, the more they will taste like a true Cheez It. Cool completely. The recipe makes about 100 crackers

Garlic and Herb Cream Cheese Spread

Ingredients
1 ½ teaspoons garlic, finely minced
¾ teaspoon italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons milk
8 oz light cream cheese

Mix and enjoy!

Shellfish Risotto Recipe
(serves 4)

1 1/2 c Acquerello Carnaroli rice
8 tbs extra virgin olive oil
4 tbs butter
1 small onion -diced
1 1/2 c white wine
1 1/2 c grape or cherry tomatoes -quartered
5 garlic cloves -grated
3/4 lb medium size shrimp -cleaned & reserve the shells
1/2 lb littleneck clams or baby clams -scrubbed clean
1/2 lb mussels -cleaned & bears removed
meat from 1 crab leg -cooked & reserve the shell
5 tbs flat leaf Italian parsley -minced
1 lemon
sea salt to taste

Seafood Stock
(makes 2 qt )

2 qt purified water
Shells from 3/4 lb of shrimp
The shell from the crab leg
1 carrot -cut into chunks
1 celery stalks – cut into chunks
5 parsley sprigs
1/4 of a small onion
5 peppercorns
1/2 tsp sea salt + more to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes

1. Start making the seafood stock by combining all the stock ingredients in a large pot and simmering on low flame for 1 hour. Remove from the flame and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Stir in the saffron and keep warm.

2. In a heavy bottom sauce pan heat up 3 tbs of butter and tbs of extra virgin olive oil. Add the minced onion with a pinch of sea salt and sweat it on low heat for about 10 minutes until translucent. Stir in your Acquerello carnaroli rice and allow it to toast for a few minutes until no longer opaque.

3. Add the wine to the pan and stir until almost all is absorbed but do not let the rice dry out completely. Continue by adding the saffron infused stock a ladle at the time waiting for the rice to absorb it before adding more. Make sure to maintain a constant ripple and never let the rice dry out.

4. Continue cooking for about 20 minutes or until the rice grains are tender but have a little bite, al dente. Remove from the heat while it has the consistency of cream and stir in 1 tbs of butter for a silky finish .

5. About 10 minutes before your risotto is done start cooking the seafood. Heat up a stainless steel skillet with 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil over medium flame. Pat dry the shrimp with paper towels and drizzle it with 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil. Season with a pinch of sea salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Mix together with the grated garlic and add it to the hot skillet. Toss it around a couple of times and only cook it for a minute or two until it curls up and turns pink. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with a little freshly squeezed lemon juice.

6. Add the tomatoes to the pan with a pinch of sea salt and hit it with the 1/4 c of the white wine. Using a silicone spatula make sure to scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until the tomatoes start releasing their juices and they form a nice sauce with the wine. Add the cooked shrimp with the juices back to the pan together with the crab meat and 3 tbs of the minced parsley. Gently toss to coat and drizzle with a little more lemon juice and olive oil. Adjust seasoning and set aside.

7. In a different skillet heat up the remaining 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil over medium flame and add your clams and mussels. Hit it with a splash of stock or wine and cover with a lid. Cook until they open, about 3-5 minutes and discard all the unopened ones.

Divide your risotto between 4 plates and top each with 5 shrimps, 4 clams, 3 mussels and 2 pieces of the crab meat. Drizzle the entire plate with a spoon fool of the tomato and wine sauce from the shrimp and crab. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the top and sprinkle with some parsley. ( you may also drizzle the risotto with little bit of the juices from the clams and mussels if you prefer )

Homemade Dog Treat Recipe

Homemade Dog Treat Recipe 
Milk Bone Dog Biscuits

3/4 cup hot water 
1/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour

Variation: increase margarine to 1/2 cup and add 2 teaspoons sugar
In large bowl pour hot water over the margarine. Stir in powdered milk, salt, and egg. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Knead for a few minutes to form stiff dough. Pat or roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into bone shapes. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool. They will dry out quite hard. Makes about 1 1/4 pounds of biscuits. Costs around 30 cents per pound.

Piggy Biscuits!!

Piggy Biscuits!!

Ingredients list:
1 container of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
1/2 cup of chopped bacon
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 Teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1 egg

Prep and baking instructions:
Preheat oven for 400

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray

Open Italian bread dough and roll out on counter-top.

Cut the biscuits in half so you have 16 rounds
Place one biscuit on the cookie sheet. Top with a teaspoon sized portion of bacon and cheddar cheese. Cover with a second biscuit and crimp the edges together tightly.

Cut out small triangles from the left over dough and position on dough circles to form the pig ears.

Using a bottle cap, cut out small dough circles and place in center of pig's head to form the nose.

Using a knife, press slits in the nose portion to create nostrils. Chop rosemary sprigs into short lengths and press into nostril slits to give them more definition.

Use two peppercorns and press into place to create the eyes.

Crack egg into a bowl and mix together briskly to make an egg wash. Using a pastry brush, coat each piggy face with egg wash.
Repeat so that all the dough is used up.

Place cookie sheet in oven for about 10 minutes or until they start to brown.

Remove cookie sheet and using a spatula transfer each pig biscuit to a plate. Serve immediately.

Mango Crab Towers

Mango Crab Towers with Mean Green Vinaigrette

Servings: Serves 4

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

ingredients

1/2 cup Mango, peeled and diced (Salad)

1 each Jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined, and diced (Salad)

1/4 cup Red onion, diced (Salad)

1 each avocado, diced (Salad)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (Salad)

4 oz lump crabmeat (Salad)

1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest (Vinaigrette)

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (Vinaigrette)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (Vinaigrette)

2 tablespoons Fresh lemon juice (Vinaigrette)

1/4 cup minced cilantro (Vinaigrette)

1 each Jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined, and minced (Vinaigrette)

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste (Vinaigrette)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (Vinaigrette)

directions

1. Prepare the salad. In a medium bowl, stir together mango, diced jalape?o, and onion.

2. In a small bowl, use a fork to mash avocado with lime juice to combine.

3. Prepare the vinaigrette. In another small bowl, combine all vinaigrette ingredients and whisk to combine.

4. Have ready 4 salad plates. Place a clean mold in the center of a plate to use in forming the towers. Spoon out 1/4 of the avocado mixture into the mold, spreading to the sides. Top that with 1/4 of the crabmeat. Top that with 1/4of the mango mixture. Gently lift the mold and repeat until you have 4 towers.

5. Drizzle each tower with vinaigrette and serve immediately.

soft white dinner rolls

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• 1 packet "highly active" active dry yeast; or 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast; or 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 7/8 to 1 1/8 cups lukewarm water*
• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes
• *Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.
• ) If you're using active dry yeast, dissolve it with a pinch of sugar in 2 tablespoons of the lukewarm water. Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, until the mixture has bubbled and expanded. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step.
  2) Combine the dissolved yeast (or instant yeast) with the remainder of the ingredients. Mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—till you've made a smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 5 to 7 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. In a bread machine (or by hand), it should form a smooth ball.
  3) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise, at room temperature, until it's nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Rising may take longer, especially if you've kneaded by hand. Give it enough time to become quite puffy.
  4) While the dough is rising, lightly grease two 9" round cake pans, or a 9" x 13" pan.
  5) Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Divide it into 16 pieces.
  6) Shape each piece into a rough ball by pulling the dough into a very small knot at the bottom, then rolling it under the palm of your hand into a smooth ball.
  7) Place eight rolls in each of the round cake pans (or all 16 rolls in the 9" x 13" pan), spacing them evenly; they won't touch one another.
  8) Cover the pan(s) with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the rolls to rise till they're very puffy, and have reached out and touched one another, about 1 hour. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
  9) Bake the rolls until they're a deep golden brown on top, and lighter on the sides, about 25 minutes.
  10) Remove the rolls from the oven, and after 2 or 3 minutes, carefully transfer them to a rack. They'll be hot and delicate, so be careful. Serve warm, or at room temperature.