My Palate is Pleased

It is two weeks into summer vacation and, well, I am  bored. There is only so many job applications one can fill out and I made a trip last week to Phoenix to let schools know who I am. Right now I check every morning if something new has posted and I wait. In the mean time I scour the internet looking for delicious food to make. (Note that I am living all by myself because my roommates left and I can only really cook two or three times a week because otherwise I am left with an immense amount of left overs)

Last week:
Alfredo the Dark x2
Cuban Pulled Pork Tacos with Guava Glaze, Sour Orange Red Cabbage-Jicama Slaw and Chipotle Mayonnaise on the Food Network
Bananas Foster Ice Cream and Homemade Waffle Cones

I apologize for the lack of pictures, Mom I will get out my camara next time-because all of these are worth making again and again.

A little commentary:
Alfredo the Dark is my absolute favorite dish from Oreganos. Mmm, I salivate just thinking about it. It is half alfredo/half white mac and cheese. About a week ago I decided I was going to clone it. Last night my friend Clary and I worked round three. It still needs some work but here are the basics. Toast 3/4 of a pablano pepper and 3 cloves of garlic in a skillet with some EVOO. Wait for a delicious smell to overcome your senses and then pour in 1/4 cup of stock. Proceed to pour in 2.5 cups of heavy cream and let it simmer until it reduces and becomes half of what it once was. Meanwhile boil some spiral macaroni noodles. Once your cream sauce is reduced add a soup bowl full of freshly grated "southwest cheeses" (I developed this recipe based on a menu description hence the quotations).*** I interpreted southwest cheeses to be Monterrey Jack, Queso Fresco, and a little parmigiana. I am still trying to figure out if it is the correct blend.*** When your noodles are perfect and drained add your sauce to them. Plate the meal by adding some shaved grilled chicken, roma tomatoes, and cilantro on top and serving with a really crisp and crunchy southwest garlic toast.
To create the full meal it is required to immediatly after indulge in a Pizzookie. When I have perfected this recipe I will clean everything up, add an ingredient list, and give you a picture. Right now it is a work in progress.

The Pulled Pork tacos were honestly the most beautifully grouped combination of flavors anyone could ever ask for. Bobbly Flay is my favorite food network chef and I love his recipes. The recipe is linked above. A few notes about this, I do not have a fancy roasting box, I have a grill, a disposable foil pan and  heavy duty aluminum foil. Set one burner of the grill on low and let it cook. Also I just used Simply Orange instead of Fresh Orange Juice. Oh and I used a loin instead of a butt, the loin was on sale. Yes the prep says 13 hours but 1. Most of the time you are not doing anything 2. IT IS WORTH IT. I would not eat slaw on its own, but on the taco it is dynamite. I can not express the explosion of flavor you will experience. If you will not make it your self, let me know and I will make sure you come to my house and eat it.

I fed the missionaries the tacos on Saturday and on Sunday I was talking to my friend at church about how great it was. I told her she could ask the Elders if she wanted another witness, she did. While discussing the tacos and all of the beauty of the combinations of flavors Elder B was pretty much drooling. He then stopped and said, "But is was nothing compared to the alcohol ice cream she served us." Tsk tsk, serving the missionaries alcohol. Absolutely not! I had made Bananas Foster Ice Cream earlier that week and asked if they wanted some. Then everyone asks, whats Bananas Foster. Answer: Bananas caramelized in a Rum syrup, aka delicious. For this I used Our Best Bites Caramelized Banana Ice Cream but added some rum extract to the butter when making the bananas and replaced part of the vanilla extract for rum extract in the ice cream part. When using rum extract it is important to remember that you only need a little. 1 TBSP of rum is equal in flavor to 1/2 tsp of extract. (I am also all about justifying the use of alcohol in cooking. Just so you know 1Tbsp of Vanilla Extract has about the same alcohol content as 1 Tbsp of a Premium Rum--yet for some reason nobody calls Vanilla Ice Cream, alcohol ice cream). It was really great.

This week I am smoking a ham (I have to clean out my freezer before I move) and probably grilling some salmon. For dessert I want to make a coconut cake I found on foodnetwork.com. If anyone has a great labor intensive recipe they want me to try because they are just to busy let me know. If you are in the Tucson area I will even invite you over to eat it.