Friday, March 4, 2011

Who knew you could do so much with salsa?

Okay, so remember those grocery store checkout stand cookbooks I mentioned last week? Well, we have three of them and, as I said before, we’ve been eating very well out of them for several weeks now.

One of the most surprising things about the recipes we’ve read and tried is the unexpected use of ingredients like salsa. Before this, I thought salsa was just for chips (with or without the Velveeta. But that’s an entry for another day ;o)) But I’d never thought of using it to cook meat in a crock pot. Until now.

My favorite recipe is still one of the first we tried. Beef carnitas. I loaned the book out, so I don’t have exact recipe handy, but I do remember most of it. Two pounds of stew meat, some salsa, beef broth, cumin and chili powder in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. No browning or chopping. Just dump it all in and turn it on low. Fabulous!

When I got home that night, the house smelled glorious. The beef and salsa and spices filled the place with a dark, rich aroma. I couldn’t wait to taste it!

Serving suggestion was corn tortillas, sliced avocado and cheddar cheese. Wanting to make this as easy as possible, I purchased some premade guacamole from Trader Joe’s (Avocado’s Number, which makes me giggle every time I see it!) along with the tortillas and got some pre-shredded cheese.

The result was succulent morsels of spicy beef with a delicious, brothy sauce, wrapped in slightly chewy tortilla and creamy, cool guac. The beef was lean and flavorful, thanks to the hours stewing in the slow cooker. And thanks to the pre-packaged accoutrements, it was easy to put together. A little messy to eat, but neither of us minded.

Fast forward to about a month later. We were now contemplating a chicken chili verde. This time, the only liquid in the recipe was a 16 oz. jar of salsa verde. About two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast, the salsa, a little cumin and oregano, and some chopping. I was mildly annoyed that I had to actually use some kitchen skills to make this dinner happen, but really, only mildly. I was intrigued by the prospect of cooking meat in nothing but a jar of salsa.

I chopped and diced the onion, yellow pepper and garlic the night before so I could do what I love to do the next morning, throw everything in the pot, turn it on and let it do its magic. The last hour, you add beans, which for this recipe were shelled edamame. Interesting. Not sure I would do that bit again. If I thought it needed beans (which I’m not convinced it does), I’d probably add cannellini or Great Northerns. The edamame were a little toothsome for my taste and didn’t really seem to go with the rest of the dish.

While admittedly not as surprisingly delicious as the carnitas, it was very tasty and satisfying in its own right. I added the cilantro the recipe called for right before serving and also squeezed over a little fresh lime juice to brighten things up. That was my own afterthought. But really, would you do all that and not want to squeeze some lime on top? (Hmmm…suddenly I want a shot of tequila.)

The recipe got a little fancy and gave instructions on how to bake one’s own fresh tortilla chips. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray (I used canola oil spray), arrange fresh corn tortilla wedges in a single layer, spray the wedges with more oil, then bake them at 400 degrees for around 4-6 minutes. Watch them, carefully, though, because they go south very fast! Sprinkle a little salt on when they’re still hot, and presto! Fresh chips! Add a little shredded cheese on top of the chili and you’ve got a rather yummy meal.

Both recipes stretched at least three nights. I think the chili verde actually lasted for four, which was just about the time I get tired of leftovers.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about the use of salsa in these dishes. I mean, they’re essentially variations on Mexican food. But the next recipe we try that has salsa in it truly had me doing a double take.

When I saw the Thai Chicken title, I thought, “Oooh! What makes it Thai? And how can you do it in a crock pot?”

Honestly, I’m a little skeptical. The recipe calls for hot salsa and peanut butter (along with some lime juice and cilantro). That doesn’t sound good at all. In fact, it sounds a little scary. And yet, I’m going to try making it. So far those little cookbooks haven’t steered me wrong!

I want to say thank you to everyone who commented on Facebook last week. Thank you for reading!

But the biggest thanks goes to my partner, Nancy, who declared Friday night Blog Night. She closes bedtime with our son and I get to skip cleaning the kitchen so I can exercise my writing muscles. Thanks, Baby. You rock!

Next Week: It made how much?

3 comments:

Ian said...

I'm seriously thinking about finally buying a crockpot. We don't have the little one, but still don't seem to have enough time most of the time. I'll be intrigued to hear how the "Thai" dish turns out.

Anonymous said...

SJ tried the beef carnitas and really liked it.

Maia Strong said...

I did a crockpot chili a while back into which I dumped a jar of roasted tomato salsa just because I had it. Damn, it was good! You can ask Ian and Zanne, too, since they joined us for dinner that night. :)