Weekend Laughs

Today seemed like a great day for some good belly laughs! For more hilarious misuses of the English language, pick up your copy of More Chinglish: Speaking in Tongues by Oliver Lutz Radtke.

Tasty Thursday

With the raw food movement becoming stronger, featuring a recipe from Entertaining in the Raw by Matthew Kenney seemed like a great idea. Hope you enjoy this easy and delicious recipe!

Fortune Cookies

1 1/4 cups flax meal

3/4 cup chopped pear

1/2 cup young coconut meat

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup water

Blend all ingredients in a Vita-mix except water until smooth. Add water until batter is pasty but still thick. Spread into 3-inch circles on Teflex sheets and dehydrate 6–8 hours until firm but still pliable. Place a fortune note on top of each cookie with the end of note barely hanging over the edge. Carefully transfer to dehydrator trays and form into fortune cookie shapes, by folding in half, and then folding again to pull down pointed edges. Use paper clips to secure edges if needed. Dehydrate another 18–24 hours until crisp. 

Yields 2 dozen

Tasty Thursday

This recipe, as featured in Santa Fe Flavors: Best Restaurants and Recipes by Anne Hillerman, is from Tomasita's Restaurant. Located in the historic Santa Fe rail yard, Tomasita’s has been serving downtown Santa Fe for nearly thirty years, with three generations of family ownership. This carne adovada is not for the faint of heart. A side of sour cream will tone down the chile’s heat. We hope you enjoy!

Carne Adovada with Chile Caribe
16–20 red chile pods, seeded and with stems removed
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
4 pounds lean pork, cubed

Soak chile pods covered in warm water for 10 minutes to soften. Drain. Place chiles a few at a time in a blender with enough water to create desired consistency and blend until smooth. Add garlic, salt, cumin and oregano to make chile caribe, the sauce for the marinade. Place cubed pork in a baking pan and add the chile caribe. Cover and let stand for 8 to 24 hours in refrigerator. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 60 minutes. 

Servings: 10

Tasty Thursday

Shake up your normal routine by spending a boring afternoon making this totally good for the environment AND good for you snack from Green Princess Cookbook by Barbara Beery.

Vine-Fresh Veggie Queso

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon unbleach flour

2 cups heavy cream

1 cut grated Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup grated mild cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 organic tomato, diced

1 organic jalapeño or serrano chile pepper, diced

1/2 cup diced organic red bell pepper

1/2 cup fresh organic corn, cut from the cob

1 cup coarsely chopped organic zucchini or broccoli

In a medium saucepan over low heat, add butter and slowly melt. Stir in flour until mixture is free of lumps.

Add cream and whisk to combine. Stirring constantly, heat up until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Add cheese and whisk vigorously until completely melted.

Stir in salt, tomato, peppers, corn, and zucchini or broccoli. Cook for 1 minute and transfer to a serving dish. Serve warm with seasonal veggie dippers or tortilla chips. 

Serves 6–8

Green Cuisine Tip: Eat fresh veggies in season. You can add different veggies or leave out others depending on what's growing when you make your dip.

Every girl wants to be a pampered princess!

Barbara Beery, author of the Pink Princess series of cookbooks, was recently on a media tour through Canada. Check out her segment on Spa Princess Cookbook, that aired just in time for Mother's Day.

Tasty Thursday

This week we are sharing a yummy recipe from the very popular cookbook, Great Chefs Cook Vegan by Linda Long. One of the masterful chefs featured in this fantastic book, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, is owner and chef of Jean Georges in NY, NY—the recent recipient of the James Beard award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2009. We hope you enjoy Jean-Georges' mouthwatering recipe as much as we do!

Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms and Avocado Carpaccio with Charred Jalapeño Oil

Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms

1 1/2 pounds King Oyster or portobello mushrooms

Fresh thyme sprigs

1/2 teaspoon mince Thai chile pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Charred Jalapeño Oil

1 tablespoon grilled jalapeños, seeded and stems removed

1/2 cup olive oil

1/8 teaspoon salt

Avocado

Juice of 3 limes

4 firm, ripe avocados, peeled and pitted

Garnish

Salt to taste

Lime juice

8 to 10 fresh sprigs thyme, stripped of leaves

To make the Grilled King Oysters: Place whole mushrooms in a glass casserole and top with a few thyme sprigs, chile, and salt. Drizzle oil over top and cover with plastic wrap. Place dish in a warm place for 30 minutes. Heat a grill pan and grill mushrooms on each side until tender. Remove from grill and cool for 15 minutes. Slice the mushrooms into thin strips.

To make the Charred Jalapeño Oil: Put jalapeños, oil, and salt in a blender. Puree until smooth and strain through a sieve to remove pulp; set aside.

To make the Avocado: Lightly sprinkle lime juice over the avocados to keep from oxidizing while preparing the plating.

How to Plate: Warm oval or oblong serving plates. Thinly slice the avocados. On a piece of parchment paper that is slightly larger than the serving plate, alternate 8 mushroom slices and 7 avocado slices, beginning and ending with a mushroom slice. Note that other amounts can be used if desired. Invert onto the warmed serving plate and further warm briefly in a 250-degree oven for 2 minutes. Remove and brush liberally with the Charred Jalapeño Oil, sprinkle delicately with salt, drizzle with lime juice, and sprinkle thyme leaves evenly over dish.

Serves 4 to 6 

75 Year Mystery Solved?

National Geographic Adventure magazine announced in the April/May 2009 issue that the body of Everett Ruess, the missing adventurer/artist, has been found after his disappearance 75 years ago.

Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty by W.L. Rusho chronicles the life of the young poet and artist who disappeared into the desert canyonlands of Utah in 1934. Everett Ruess, the young poet and artist who disappeared into the desert canyonlands of Utah in 1934, has become widely known posthumously as the spokesman for the spirit of the high desert. Many have been inspired by his intense search for adventure, leaving behind the amenities of a comfortable life. His search for ultimate beauty and oneness with nature is chronicled in this remarkable collection of letters to family and friends.