A Reason to Eat Pears

I like pears, but only on occasion. They are a fruit that have about a 2 hour window of perfection, beyond that they become a bit mushy for me. Maybe I'm being picky, but it's a strange fruit to me. I enjoy the flavor, I even had pear ice cream when I was in Sweden (let me tell you, that was crazy). Due to this hesitation, I have very infrequently cooked with pears. But no more! I decided to give it a go with poaching pears, based off a recipe I saw in Bon Apetit. I made this salad for Christmas dinner, then made it again a week later for company, and then made it once more for Valentine's Day. Success! Not only was it fairly simple, but it could also be made way ahead of time, easing my preparation for a dinner.

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The Chile Relleño Omelet

During my recent trip to Vegas, I discovered a restaurant serving what I consider to be one of the better breakfasts I have eaten, a chile relleño omelet. Never one to simply have something once, I decided to give them a go at home.
There are some obvious differences when cooking at home compared to what you are served at a restaurant. For example, I never cook omelets with four eggs, but that (or three) is pretty much the standard at a restaurant. Big deal? Not usually, but I was planning on stuffing a pretty good amount of stuff into this omelet. I'll be honest, my first one completely fell apart (I ate that one and gave the nice one to my wife). I believe this is more about patience than anything, having the omelet set up really helps you manipulate it as needed.

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My Time in Vegas (or That Time I Got Married) Part 2

More on the Vegas trip-

Freed's Bakery

Vegas seems to be all about deception. Go on the strip, see the glitz, and be overwhelmed. Go off the strip and see another simple desert city. But while the strip is hiding price gouging and mediocre food, the area off the strip is hiding some just plain amazing restaurants (like The Egg and I or Donna Maria's). Well, we went for the wedding cake off the strip for this occasion. Rachel Ray had visited Freed's a long time ago for wedding cake by the slice, and I figured it was worth a shot. What a deceptive décor though! Located in a strip mall, the sign is simply a banner hung from screws flapping in the wind. No fanfare, nothing. But this place has been Zagat rated and mentioned in all kinds of publications all over the world. Their pastry counter looked amazing, and the éclair my mom tried was outstanding. The wedding cake, as you can see in the picture, was just stunning. A "Mad Hatter" cake with angled layers, beautiful decorating, and so much detail I cannot even begin to explain it all. It was quite tasty too, if a bit heavy on the filling. If you ever have a sweet tooth, I strongly recommend stopping by.

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My Time in Vegas (or That Time I Got Married) Part I

I finally did it. Em and I got hitched last weekend (on Pi Day!) in Las Vegas. I highly recommend it. We even took our parents with us and they had a great time. And of course, as with all of my travels, there was a lot of emphasis placed on food. This is my second trip to Vegas in about 4 years, and I am very happy to say I fared much better this time around. Word of advice, next time you travel, take some time and do a little bit of research. I plowed through a lot of sites, including Frommers and TripAdvisor, and I found a lot of useful information, not to mention ways to save money.

But before I get to talking about food, a wedding picture :)

Yes, we had a lot of fun. It's so easy to get married in Vegas. Now on to the food!

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Egg Tostadas with Black Beans and Salsa

Again with the leftovers! Well, when you buy tostadas, you usually have some leftover. If you don’t want to make chips with them, I would suggest breakfast. Yep, pick up and eat breakfast tostadas. It reminds me of the days I used to eat huge breakfast burritos at Viva Burrito in Tucson, a warm, spicy breakfast that kept me full well into the day.

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Enchiladas from Leftovers

With the pork tostadas I made the other night, I certainly had leftovers. And I was feeling something a bit different. Emily suggested enchiladas. Now, I have to give a small amount of background here. I always have ingredients for enchiladas at hand (the same goes for a chocolate cake, you can never be too careful). Why? Because enchiladas offer a lot of versatility and can easily be made into dinner. Take some tortillas, wrap it around a nice warm filling, place it in a pan, pour sauce and/or cheese over it, and bake until bubbly. Boom, dinner. And you can put so much into an enchilada, that's why I like them so much. I put leftover shredded meats, rice, beans, whatever I can find that sounds good together. You could even make them for breakfast.

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Tamale Pie Redux

I had some interesting comments on my aforementioned post. So while I was making this dish last night for dinner, I did alter a few things as well as clarify. Plus, this gives me a great oppurtunity to put another picture of Molly (almost a year!) on my blog. A few points.

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Tinga Tinga

I'm certainly on a Mexican kick at the moment. Between discovering Rick Bayless' fantastic show on PBS and a Mexican market down the road, I have been all over this. Tacos, enchiladas, meats, beans, you name it, I'm into it. And I plan to continue that path. It's the food I truly miss from Arizona, the pure, unadulterated foods of Mexico. I'm not saying that the Midwest does not have some good food, because they do, but there is so much culture and passion behind Mexican food that I just love.

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Back in the Kitchen Again

Writing is difficult. There, I said it. Finding time to write in addition to the job, planning a pseudo-wedding (more on that later), working, taking care of a puppy, and the holidays is just not easy. And I know, some people work 3 jobs, have kids, and read this and go "you sir, are weak". Well, its not just about time with this, its about motivation. Have I been cooking? Of course, but writing about it just kind of took a back seat. I needed to ask myself what my goals where for writing a food blog and if I really wanted to keep jotting everything down I did and having people stare at me when I took pictures of my food in restaurants. But I digress, I have found my voice, and while sometimes I may be more inspired than others, I hope you enjoy the collection of rambling and recipes to come. Back tomorrow with some fun stuff.

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Back soon...

I realize I have taken quite the hiatus from blogging lately. With holidays, sickness, and getting married happening right now, I just have not felt the urge to write about food. My motivation will return, and I will be back with lots of new recipes, posts and thoughts. Thanks for your support. Stay tuned

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