WONDER BOX HAM & BEANS

I tried making pinto beans in the wonder box today.  Last time I lost track of time and they set there for 8 hours. . . . too long!!

1.  Cook ham bone in crock pot from morning to afternoon.
2.  Drain the broth into a container and put it in the fridge to chill.
3.  Clean beans and put on to soak overnight.  Reminder is HERE
4.  Next morning, drain and rinse beans.
5.  Pull meat off the ham bone and add to beans.

6.  Scoop fat off the top of the broth.

7.  Add broth to beans, making sure the pan is good and full.  The level of the liquid is very important.  Always have the pot very full for using the wonder box! 

8.  Boil the beans for half hour with the lid on.  This is longer than I usually do, but I am finding that it will help to get the beans soft enough.  

9.  As soon  as you take the pot off the burner, get it into the WB.  

10.  Since this pot has a long handle, I made sure the bag wrapped up around it for a tighter fit. 

11.  As soon as you have it nestled into the bag, get the cover on it.  speed is important.  Every second that it is exposed, you are losing heat!

12.  After 4 hours, the temperature was 180 degrees.  The beans were very tasty but still had just a little "crunch".  At 5 hours, it was 175 degrees and still had that little "crunch".  At this point, I took the pot out and simmered them for awhile until they were completely soft, all the way through.

13.  I happened on this great box that is just the right size.  It is a definant improvement.  It has kept the little critters of all kinds off of the WB.    It gives me something to grab if I need to move it.  It holds the hear in even better.

The dimensions are 19" X 19" and 17.5" tall.  It could be just 14" tall and be fine.  Wal-mart carries these baskets, so if you wanted to get one, they could probably help you out.  They usually are pretty good about saving boxes for customers.

GUACOMALE - - - - - - BUDGET STRETCHER PANTRY STYLE

GUACAMOLE- - Pantry Substitutes in Red

1 - avocado, frozen (this one was about 6 " long)  of course a fresh one is even better
2 -  medium tomatoes (or canned diced tomatoes)
1/2 t. crushed red chili pepper (or red chili powder)
1 t. minced garlic (1/2 t. garlic powder)
2 T.  minced onion  or  1/4 c. chopped gr. onion
(1. t. onion powder)
3 T. lime juice (lemon juice is OK, just not as tasty)
1/2 t. salt
**2 oz. cream cheese, softened (If using an avocado that was in the freezer, it will have the translucent appearance like you see in the next picture.  The cream cheese give is a creamier consistency and more normal appearance)


1.   I took this picture and then almost immediately changed it into a better shaped spaghetti bowl. I mash the avocado and cream cheese with a fork, stirring and mashing until it is very small chunks.  You can use a food processor if you would prefer a smoother consistency.






2.  Dice the tomatoes.  These are about 1/2"  - 3/4" in size.  Closer to 1/4" will disperse through the mixture better than this did.  :-)


Now is the time to add your garlic, onion, lime juice, salt and crushed red
chili peppers.

  Mix it really well.  Before you add more salt, try it on a chip.  Most have a lot of salt on them which will make a difference in the taste as you are munching!

1. Now put the kids to bed or send them home with their parents.
2. Find a good movie.
3. Put your feet up.
4. Enjoy!!

Little side note:  When I was growing up Guacamole was smash an avocado and mix it with some Mt. Pass Taco Sauce, the whole 4 oz.  can.  Salsa hadn't been thought of, especially in the big old jars like it comes now.  Mom loved it when I grew up and started to get serious with kitchen experimentation! 

RED ENCHILADA SAUCE . . . . the actual sauce, not just the red chili . . .

Guess who forgot to take a picture of all the ingredients!  I'll do that in a bit and add it.  For now, here we go!

• First get out your favorite chunk of lard from your fridge.  Hmm, did you read that right?  Yes, you did.  You can store lard in the cold or just on the shelf, since we live in such hot country, I choose to keep it in the cold., in that little compartment in the door that is kind of worthless, now it isn't!  My mom always used shortening and I also have been known to use bacon grease.
• Back to business, melt about 1/4 cup in your 2-3 quart pan.  Just melt it, don't need to make any smoke  . . .  that was for my benefit.

• Next add 4 T. flour and mix it with a whisk, or whatever is handy.  I never used a whisk until a college roomie how great they were.  I usually keep mixing and cooking it until the mixture has started to brown a little.  It adds a nice little toasty flavor.  

• Next it is time to add the 4 cups of liquid.  It can be beef broth, water (kind of bland), or if you are planning to make it very mild, you can use some tomato juice (small can of tomato sauce + water) to give it more color.  Mix and cook until it has made a lovely smooth creamy sauce.  If you need, add more liquid. 
• Add your seasonings:  red chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, pinch of each  cumin and oregano, salt.   You can also add browned ground beef at this point if you would like a quick easy way to make a large amount of enchiladas.

• Start layering in your casserole or baking pan.

1. Coat the bottom of the pan with sauce.
2. Add a layer of tortillas or if you want to use them up, all those annoying little crumbs in the bottom of your corn chip bag.  Sprinkle grated cheese (ground beef if you want and haven't added it to the sauce).
3. Add some more sauce and continue to layer ending with sauce and grated cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  It may vary, depending on how deep they are in the pan.

TOMATILLO SALSA . . . under the tutelage of a really great cook!

To make the Salsa Verde, you will need:

• Tomatillos (Ihappened to have 3/4 pounds, so Maria gave me amounts according to that)
  
• 3 Garlic cloves
• 6-7 Tepin chiles
• Salt, to taste, I used 1/4 teaspoon

All of the recipes I found on the internet didn't seem quite right. I went to my friend Maria and found out why! The ingredients needed to be roasted! She grew up in Sonora, Mexico and knows the real thing. I have never tasted anything that she has cooked, Mexican or American, that wasn't out of this world. She has agreed to let me document her making the best tortillas in the world for the blog. You will see that she is a beautiful person, through and through!

1. Pan roast the 3/4# tomatillos, for the best flavor, roast them on the BBQ. I have never BBQ 'ed tomatillos, but it sure makes green chiles fantastic! It's easier if the tomatillos about the same size. Mine were very different and it made it a little tricky to get them all done without burning any of them.

2. Pan roast the 2-3 garlic cloves, sliced and 6-7 tepins for mild (Maria uses 10-12!). 3. Cut the little cores from the tomatillos. 4. Put everything you have toasted into the food processor or blender and give a good whirl! ( I used the highest speed) It made 2 full cups of salsa. 5. Time to do the "QC" (quality control) test! 6. Salt to taste, I used 1/4 t. Most would want more than that.

For the Love of Beans . . . WITH Pictures!

PINTO BEANS   ala  6-QT CROCK POT STYLE

You will need:

•  6 cups beans
  
• 1 t. salt
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2-3 T. lard or bacon grease

1.  Pick through 6 cups of beans.  2.  Pull out the funny looking beans, rocks, dirt clods.  3.  Rinse in colander. 

1.  Pour the rinsed beans in the crock, fill with water, stir around to allow the floating beans and any debris to rise to the top.  2.  Scoop out the "undesirables".  3.  Strain and rinse several times until the water is clear.

When the water is clear, place the beans in the crock. Add: 

• one medium, chopped onion 
• one minced garlic clove
  
• one teaspoon of salt
• 1 good scoop (2-3 T.) of lard  
  

Fill with water. Cover, with the lid and a towel folded in half.  Set to high and go find something to do for a couple of hours.   Check to see if it needs more water, mine usually does.  Add water, stir the bottom beans up to the top.  Cover again and check again in another 2 hours.

REFRIED BEANS

1.  Melt enough bacon grease or lard in your skillet to make it about 1/8 inch depth.    Pour in the drained beans and stir them around to fry them.  2.  I try to brown them a little before mashing them with the good old fashioned potato masher for nice chunky texture.  You can also use a mixer if you want, for a little smoother texture.  Be careful, they can be flung out and they are hot!! This method usually keeps some of the beans whole or at least not as smooth as if you did it in a blender or food processor.  3.  Getting a little browned.  Time to add some liquid.

1.  Add some bean juice if they are too dry.  2.  Some milk instead of bean juice can make them so nice and creamy while adding some more calcium.  Another way to get that powdered milk down your family if they don't want to drink it!!  3.  Don't forget the VERY critical step, quality control, AKA as "QC".   This is good to do with a salty chip so that you can judge if you need to add any salt while adding the other seasonings you decide to add . . . it's time to do that!

IN A HURRY?  

Here is the way to make them.  You can use a mixer, for a little more texture, a blender or food processor for very smooth texture.

1.  Drain the beans the same way that you do for refrying them.   2.  After whirling them, add bean juice, a little milk or salsa to make them the consistency you would like. This will make very smooth dish that will have no whole beans left unless you add a few.   3.  And then don't forget . . .   the big "QC".   Now decide what seasonings you would like to add, and of course, QC again . . . to make sure you have it just right!

Seasonings For Beans and other Mexican Foods

As I said in my original post about beans, falling on financially tight times taught me a lot.  I would cook 6 qts of beans each week.  The first night would have just plain beans with a little cheese.  I would split the rest into half and make refried beans with some and chile beans with the rest.  Oops, I forgot the liquid smoke and canned diced tomatoes.

Since I put the directions above for refried beans, I will just give some tips for chile beans.  This will depend on your taste, so I won't really give exact amounts.  It usually changes from week to week for me, depending on my cravings and how much ground beef,  I have on hand.

• Cooked beans--If you don't have some left-over, get a #10 can of the ranch style beans from Costco or Wally world.  These already have the red chile powder in them.
• Ground beef--cook  while scrambling it up.  ***Chorizo-- I almost forgot to mention this!  If you don't know what it is, try Mexican sausage.  It has actually become fairly common and not too hard to find, at least in the western US.  It can add quite a bite and really lots of flavor.  Use it instead of ground beef.
• Onion--I will usually add medium, diced onion
• Garlic--yes I cheat, I keep the minced garlic in a jar in the fridge.  BUT, if I was using fresh garlic, I would use 1 clove, minced
• Canned green chile--I always buy the big #401 cans (27 oz.)  I use about 1/4 can, diced.  Sometimes I go wild and use about half a can.  they are very mild and don't add much bite to the mix, just a nice peppery taste.
• Bay leaf-- I just like the taste of them and it seems to bring out the beefy flavor of the ground beef.   If someone gets in their bowl at the table, they get to wish for something.  My 4 yr. old grandson is waiting for his rhinoceros
• Canned petite, diced tomatoes--I use a #401 can
• Red chile powder-- I use about 1 t. of the mild kind.  Sometimes, I use the crushed red chile flakes.  Since there are seeds, they usually add more "zest".
• Tomato paste--This will make the "broth" thicker.  I have found that those of you in the colder climates seem to prefer this style ;-) 
• Liquid smoke--1/4-1/2 t.--I do love a little bit of a smokey flavor.  Some left-over home smoked salmon I snagged out of my brother's fridge years ago had me hooked.  I love to smoke my own meats, etc. now.  This is a quick "fix" when I can't afford to do that for lack of time or good ribs, chicken . . . Nuts! . . . now I'm hungry!!
• Cumin--This can add such a nice subtle flavor.  Just use a sprinkle.  I have had a fair number of dishes that got overdosed on cumin ,  takes all the fun out of it!