Little Mama's Lowdown

Last week I finally received my Horn of the Moon cookbook after what seemed to be an eternity, although it was only a couple days.  All the recipies make me salivate, and its one of the few cookbooks that I can actually see myself fixin up 90% of the dishes!  It even has a meal planning suggestion section in the back of the book, which I LOOOVE.  Um hmm.

So I started with somethin’ easy… Chalupas.  Now, these are super-duper easy if you buy guacamole, salsa & refried beans at the store, but they wont taste as good, and they wont hold as much love.  So I’m gonna share with you the more complex/tasty way…. (a slightly modified version of Horn of the Moon’s)

Make salsa & guacamole first:

SALSA:
(Makes 3 cups)

• 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes in juice (or 6 finely diced medium-sized fresh garden tomatoes)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or more!)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp olive oil (or sunflower oil)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 1 green pepper, very finely chopped
• 4 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more)
• 1 jalapeño, minced (or not)
• 1/4 c cilantro, chopped (or more!)

Crush tomatoes & chop finely or run through food processor.  Combine with all the ingredients & chill it, baby!  Tan rrrrrrico!!

GUACAMOLE:
I first made a half batch of this.  DUMB!  Do not make the same mistake as me!  You’ll regret it!!  Makes about 2 cups.

• 2 ripe avocados
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1.5 c tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• A dash of cayenne pepper

Peel & pit avocados.  Mash well & add the rest of the ingredients – stir well.

Now… try not to eat all the guacamole before you finish making dinner.

HAVE READY:

1. Home-made Guacamole
2. Home-made Salsa
3. Shredded Lettuce
4. Green & Red Pepper Rings (or not)
5. Onion Rings (or not)
6. Diced Tomatoes
7. Sour Cream
8. Minced Olives (or not)

CHALUPAS:
(makes 4 servings)

• 8 8in. flour tortillas
• Oil for frying tortillas
• 2 cans pinto beans
• 2 TBS olive oil (or sunflower oil)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1.25 c grated cheddar cheese
• 1.25 c grated pepper jack cheese

Fry tortillas individually in a fry pan in enough hot oil to cover the bottom of the pan.  The tortillas should sizzle & bubble up.  When the tortilla has become golden on one size, flip.  Drain & set on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Start making refried beans… heat beans in a small pot on med.  When heated, drain water & add oil.  Turn stove down to low & season beans with garlic, salt, cayenne pepper, & cumin – mash with a potato masher.

Lay out 4 tortillas on 2 cookie sheets, spread beans over them, and sprinkle with cheese.  Stick them in the oven, open-faced, for about 5 minutes or just enough time to melt the cheese.  Spread salsa on top of the beans, 2-4 TBS each. Put the other 4 tortillas on top and put back in the over.. heat through another 2-3 minutes.  When chalupas come out of the oven, top with lettuce, then peppers, onions, tomatoes & big dollops of guacamole & sour cream.  Yummmmmmie!

These muffins son tan rico. I made half of them without chocolate chips for the Kitty (a.k.a the Papa who doesn’t like too much sweet), and half of them with chocolate for myself. Aside from the fact that I always over-mix my batter because I haven’t learned to accept lumps yet, they turned out better than I’d hoped. I thought I’d share my recipe…

Position rack in center of oven, preheat to 375ºF with pan in the oven. When pan is warm, pull out & grease with butter.

Whisk together thoroughly:

• 1.25 c. white flour
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. flax seed
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon (I usually replace cinnamon with Pumpkin Spice!)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg (omit if using Pumpkin Spice)

Stir in chocolate chips, amount depending on your sweet tooth.

Whisk in large bowl:

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 c. packed brown sugar
• 2 ripe bananas
• 6 TBS vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

Add mixtures together until dry ingredients are moist.  The batter should not be smooth.  Divide batter among muffin cups & bake about 18 minutes.  Knock off a few minutes for mini-muffins.

My sister and I were laughing about how our parents’ eating habits have changed since they split up.  My dad eats stir-fry for almost every meal, and my mom usually eats granola.  I came to the conclusion that my mom only cooked when they were together because I couldn’t stand stir-fry and she didn’t want me to starve.  Sometimes she’d wake up early in the morning and make me breakfast, like pop-overs or German apple pancakes.  Often, I’d be a snot and tell her I didn’t have time to eat breakfast, so she’d warm it up for me when I got back from school.  Memories made go searching for a recipe online, then I modified it so it wasn’t so damn sugary.

•  2 Tbsp. butter
•  2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
•  2 Tbsp. maple syrup
•  1/4 tsp cinnamon
•  pink nutmeg
•  1 lemon wedge
Preheat oven to 450ºF.  Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, then add the apples and splash the maple syrup on top.  Sauté until apples are tender, & add the cinnamon and nutmeg.  Remove from heat & add the lemon juice.

While the apples are sautéing, mix up the batter with a whisk or in the blender:
•  1/2 c. flour
•  1/2 tsp. salt
•  2 eggs
•  2/3 c. milk or half & half
•  2 Tbsp. brown sugar (optional)

Cover the bottom of a greased pie pan with the apple sliced & pour the batter on top.  Bake in preheated oven until puffy & brown on the edges, about 15-20 minutes.

Serve with maple syrup or a squirt of lemon juice sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Mmmm!

Not that I really care, but it’s Shirley Manson’s birthday, along with Adrien Young’s of No Doubt, and I needed a reason to bake something cause I couldn’t find anything that looked appealing to eat in this kitchen I got here.  It is actually mildly exciting that it’s Adrien’s birthday, because his name is pretty damn similar to my best friend’s name, Adrienne Young, who used to be dangerously obsessed with No Doubt… see how that could be exciting?

Now this bread is actually bread, and not sweet, and not a “cake”, but every day is someone’s birthday, and I can call it cake if I want.  Just put some icecream next to it and drizzle agave ontop.  It called for regular, original flavor cultured yogurt, but I went with Horizon’s strawberry and it is just tasty as can be.

Gâteau au Yaourt

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup agave (or honey, or just use 1 full cup sugar)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp immitation rum flavoring

Preheat oven to 350?.  Line 10″ round cake pan with parchment paper and grease that baby up.  In a large mixing bowl combine: yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, rum flavoring, and oil.  In another bowl combine flour & baking powder, mix that up, and add it to the liquid mixture.  Blend it all together, but don’t overwork the dough.  Plop the batter in the repared pan and level out.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.