A Busy Week

It has actually been a very busy week or so since last we spoke.

I suppose I should update the Squid Ink Risotto incident. It was only fabulous. Actually, the squid ink adds a very subtle flavor, but the color is unmistakeable. I'm not sure I'll get the black out of my cutting board anytime soon. And really, the surprising thing was that the Green Onion Vinaigrette was probably the highlight of the dish. We made potato salad the other night and dressed it with the leftover vinaigrette and it was very good. If you are interested it's on The Food Network's web site.

The downside of my Spanish food order was the anchovie stuffed olives. Eeeww! I was expecting something significantly less fishy. Now I have to figure something to do with the two cans I ordered. Maybe they'll work OK in some Putanesca sauce.

I had thought earlier in the week that we may have had a death in the family, but my resuscitatory skills seem to have saved the day. Back about the time of Jake's accident I had been baking up sourdough goodies on a regular basis. My Mom had brought the starter home from her trip to Alaska and I had been feeding it ever since. Sometime around the accident I put the starter in the fridge and hadn't thought about it in months. When I finally took it out this week it had a leathery sort of skin developed on the top and looked like it was dead. Not wanting to give up on it I pried off the nasty bit of skin, gave it a good feeding and it started to come around. This morning I was able to fire up some pretty decent sourdough biscuits (which I of course smothered in sausage gravy).

The biscuit making reminded me of making biscuits when the boys were little. I would make penguin shaped biscuits, painting their beaks and tuxedos with yellow and black food coloring. The boys liked the biscuits, but were not too hot on the gravy. The first time I tried to serve it to Nick he was about 4 years old and said "If I ate that it would kill me." I had to agree that it eventually probably would, but it would take quite a few servings and a general lack of cardiac fitness.

I was sort of bummed about Jake not visiting, but it turns out that he will be coming home next weekend. Flying into LAX on Friday night and out the following Tuesday morning, with an orthodontist visit on Monday. I am not looking forward to venturing into the jaws of the beast that is the LA freeway system on a Friday night, but worst case scenario I will find a bar to kill time until the traffic thins out. Maybe by midnight. Of course, then Jake will need to be the designated driver. While he is home, perhaps I can persuade him to do a guest blog entry so that everyone can hear how the horse is doing straight from his mou...keyboard.

Leo continues to entertain in the absence of any children to keep us occupied. The other night he made a new friend...

Actually, hearing Leo you'd have thought he was planning to eat the guy. Of course, if he had actually gotten the thing off the fence he would have had his paws full. Nasty looking little possum. I guess technically it's an opossum.

For some reason, Leo has lately taken to disemboweling his squeaky toys, systematically sorting through his toy box and ripping the stuffing out of anything that squeaks.

This morning, having exhausted his supply of squeaky toys, he had to console himself by ripping the skin off a tennis balll.
This weekend brought more efforts to process all the stuff from our garden. I was cooking up the last of our pumpkins on Saturday morning when I decided to try something I thought to be truly original. It turned out following a Google search that the idea was not entirely original, but I think my particular approach is unique. Denise claimed they were delicious, but she has to humor me so I don't know for sure.

Pumpkin Enchiladas

For the Sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp chipotle chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup chicken broth
1-1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Saute garlic in olive oil, add remaining ingredients, simmer 15 minutes. Thin with chicken broth if sauce is too thick.

Filling
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup roasted corn kernels
1/2 cup diced green chili
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 cup grated Oaxaca cheese
1/4 cup grated Cotija cheese

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add corn, green chiles, pumpkin and spices. Cook 5 minutes, longer to thicken sauce if necessary. Stir in cheeses.

Assembly

8 corn tortillas

Cover bottom of baking dish with a couple spoons of the sauce. Dip a tortilla in simmering sauce to soften. Place tortilla in dish, cover with some filling, roll seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Top with more Oaxaca and Cotija cheese. Bake at 350 (Fahrenheit) for about 20 minutes.

You could substitute canned chipotles for the chipotle powder and Monterey Jack for the Mexican cheeses. I'm thinking that, just for kicks, next time I might try some grilled chicken instead of the corn and green chiles in the filling.