gulfporter

Our new fave delivery restaurant sends dinner rolls with our order (even if we only order appys). We normally don't eat a lot of carbs, but these rolls are quite good (herbs mixed into dough). If we order a 'wet' dish like a birria (stew) or chamorro (falling apart pork shank braised in a chile liquid) having a roll for sopping is quite welcome. Problem is, they send a lot....as in 7 to 10 each time. Before you suggest I ask them to send fewer.....well, you've probably never lived in MX. If I were to ask for less, I will get none. That's just the way it is here. The other day I used some in a 'lite' stuffing for portobellos. Today i used as slider rolls. I still have 17 left in the freezer.

My vinaigrettes never have vinegar in them. I use standard Kirkland olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, fresh garlic, Dijon mustard, s&p. I beat it with a fork. Ta da! I don't store it, just make enough for the salad we are having. I buy MXN extravirgin olive oil and use it for drizzles, etc. This one. Mexico's Olivo del Cielo is pressed only once and only at night. Truly artisanal product grown in the perfect soil and weather of southern Tamaulipas, near Tula.

Grilled portobellos with stuffing from leftover dinner rolls, corn off cob, black beans, onion, red pepper, jalapenos, poblanos, cilantro. I served them with chipotle mayo.

Chicharrones de pavo. I saved the turkey skin from the thighs and crisped up for a snack last night.

@robirdstx Tres elegante! We ate in front of the TV watching last night's Jeopardy.

Well, I managed to get a photo of the turkey thighs resting after they came out of the instant pot. I plated them sliced and smothered in the shiny mole' sauce, along with camote (baked MX sweet potatoes), pickled onions, cilantro and tortillas, but before I could get a photo, everyone ran out of the kitchen with their plates. And by 'everyone' I mean me and my DH.

Holy Mole'.....finally! It will go in the instant pot with turkey thighs later today. You can see the recipe(s)---don't try to follow! I used the ingredients (mostly) from one, but it didn't like their instructions (way too much oil and frying). So based on prior mole's I have made (but not for years), I culled directions from a few other recipes. Happy with the results, so that's all that matters 🦃

@SmithyYes that's the one and I've made it every year since 1995, either for 🦃Day or Christmas. I substitute vanilla for the almond extract, always have.

DH made cranberry squares from decades' old Bon Appetit recipe. He increased recipe to use all of the bag of cranberries and ended up with two tins of cranberry 'rounds.'

Step 6 of the mole', toasting nuts and seeds. Almonds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, black and white sesame seeds.

I am lucky to have a DH who is my sous chef and (more importantly) my dishwasher! I am sure this is a farmed turkey.....the thighs (only part I am using) are quite large. 4 thighs that average over 3/4 kilo each (or 1.7 pounds each). I've made mole's before (though never turkey, and never in an instant pot). I'm dragging it out over 4 days because I can (retired) and due to pandemic we aren't doing much else 🙃

I have finished Step 5 of the 8 steps for the mole' sauce. Today was an easy one, charing tomatillos and jitomates. Yesterday was rough---toasting, soaking, blending and finally sieving a combo of 30 chiles, ancho, guajillo and pasilla. Even with all the windows open and my exhaust fan on high, the smoke from the toasting still lingers in the house today.

We are celebrating "Thanksgiving USA" here in Mexico. I am already on Step 4 of my 8 Step Turkey Mole' which I will attempt in an instant pot. Today must be my lucky day. The 4 frozen turkey thighs I ordered were ready for pickup (total weight 3 kilos). Then I walked by a local fruteria where I had seen camotes al horno (baked MXN sweet potato) for sale a few weeks ago, but not since. A new wooden crate of them had just arrived! For the photo I split one open to show the inside of it.

If you look hard enough you can see our light dinner of shrimp in a corn and black bean salad, spread over some avocado.

Lunch today was a new potato hash with bacon, onions, sweet peppers, poblanos and (mostly) runny eggs. Sadly, there's always one bad egg in the group 🍳

Korean pork tenderloin (marinated in gojuchang bbq sauce) with a Brussels sprouts Asian slaw.

Huitlacoche crepes; filling of huitlacoche, bacon, fresh corn off cob, shallots, caramelized onions and peppers. With a poblano cream sauce.

Grilled merguez lamb sausage, with a couscous salad with dried cranberries, green onions with lemon-garlic vinaigrette. Dipping sauce of harissa yogurt.

@BonVivant Love that bucatini!!

EZ lunch today. Kimchi pork burger with gojuchang sauce.

Had half a tuna steak leftover from last night's poke'. Seared it. Sliced it into soft fusion tacos with pickled red onion, cilantro, gojuchang sauce. Schmear of wasabi mayo on the side.

For my birthday dinner last night, I requested a pasta, with no red or cream sauce. Mi esposo made penne with cauliflower, bacon and toasted bread crumbs.

For his birthday dinner last night mi esposo requested duck confit. Served with Brussels sprouts in a butter-garlic sauce and a berry-morita chile dipping sauce.

One of the big buying points for this house in 2017, was the 4 foot wide, double-door, walk in pantry at one end of the kitchen. After we bought the house, we rented nearby for a month while we had some renovations done. During that time we stocked up on hard-to-find items we knew we'd need having owned a Mexican home before, mostly hardware-type supplies. Since we came into the house from the garage next to the kitchen, and to stay out of the workers' way, we stashed these supplies in the pantry. Well, here's what the "pantry" still looks like. You won't find a lick of food in it, but if you need to borrow an extension cord just give us a call.