Sunday, October 18, 2009
REAL Tex-Mex Dip
This post is probably too late for your Sunday football game horse-durvers, but you can remember it next time!
Most of us are familiar with the old cheese dip recipe of a block of Velveeta, a can of Rotel tomatoes all melted and stirred together to ladle over tortilla chips.
Some cooks will add a mess of already cooked and crumbled sausage to it for some extra heft, which is good, too.
For something a little different, here's a couple of Tex Mex recipes that are a terrific alternative to the orange yellow stuff above.
The basis for both of these recipes is the poblano pepper:
This first recipe is a white Tex Mex dipping sauce:
1 small white onion (chopped)
4 tbsp butter
1 and 1/2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream
3 roasted poblano peppers, chopped
(To roast peppers: Spray an oven safe dish/pan with Pam, place whole poblano peppers in, and roast until just brown on edges (or to the roasted level you prefer) in a 475degree oven. Let cool to the touch, then slit on one side and clean out seeds, membrane and remove tops.)
2-3 chopped pickled jalapenos (if desired for a spicier dip)
8 0z shredded Oaxaca Mexican cheese (see photo in second recipe below)
8 0z shredded Monterray jack cheese
Place butter in a large sauce pan and melt on medium low heat. Toss in chopped onion, and both chopped chiles (peppers) to saute until onion is tender-crisp. Remove vegetables with slotted spoon to paper towel covered plate for now. Add flour to remaining butter in sauce pan (adding another pat of butter if needed and stir well, making a nice roux.
Slowly add a cup of milk and whisk well into roux, then add cup of whipping cream. Mix all together well.
Add Oaxaca and jack cheeses to roux and still until all melted. Return peppers and onions to the cheese sauce. Stir well.
Serve with your choice of chips or raw veggies.
The second recipe is not technically a dipping sauce, rather makes a chewy kind of mozzarella-y filling.
Ingredients:
8 medium poblano peppers roasted (see above directions for roasting)
4 tablespoons of butter
1 med onion cut vertical into strips
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh carrots (make fairly thin)
Fresh squeezed lime juice from one lime
salt and pepper
Heat butter till sizzling and saute onions and carrots about 5 min until onion is transparent and carrots begin to soften
Slice poblanos into strips instead of chopping, this time.
Add to onion and carrots - saute 10 more min. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Place an full round (about 8 ounces) of Mexican Queso de Oaxaca (pronounced kind of like "whah-hocka") in a Pam-sprayed cast iron skillet (remove wrapper, of course!)
Spoon poblano strips, onions and carrots on top of cheese round. Pop into 350 degree oven until cheese has soften through and started to bubble and spread in the skillet.
Will look something like this, though this is not from my kitchen, but borrowed from the internet for example:
.JPG)
Remove from oven, sprinkle with the lime juice, and stir a bit to mix together. Spoon a big hunk of melted cheese and poblano/veggie mix into a fresh warm flour tortilla, top with some fresh pico de gallo and fold or roll the tortilla. Yum!
Most of us are familiar with the old cheese dip recipe of a block of Velveeta, a can of Rotel tomatoes all melted and stirred together to ladle over tortilla chips.
Some cooks will add a mess of already cooked and crumbled sausage to it for some extra heft, which is good, too.
For something a little different, here's a couple of Tex Mex recipes that are a terrific alternative to the orange yellow stuff above.
The basis for both of these recipes is the poblano pepper:
This first recipe is a white Tex Mex dipping sauce:
1 small white onion (chopped)
4 tbsp butter
1 and 1/2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream
3 roasted poblano peppers, chopped
(To roast peppers: Spray an oven safe dish/pan with Pam, place whole poblano peppers in, and roast until just brown on edges (or to the roasted level you prefer) in a 475degree oven. Let cool to the touch, then slit on one side and clean out seeds, membrane and remove tops.)
2-3 chopped pickled jalapenos (if desired for a spicier dip)
8 0z shredded Oaxaca Mexican cheese (see photo in second recipe below)
8 0z shredded Monterray jack cheese
Place butter in a large sauce pan and melt on medium low heat. Toss in chopped onion, and both chopped chiles (peppers) to saute until onion is tender-crisp. Remove vegetables with slotted spoon to paper towel covered plate for now. Add flour to remaining butter in sauce pan (adding another pat of butter if needed and stir well, making a nice roux.
Slowly add a cup of milk and whisk well into roux, then add cup of whipping cream. Mix all together well.
Add Oaxaca and jack cheeses to roux and still until all melted. Return peppers and onions to the cheese sauce. Stir well.
Serve with your choice of chips or raw veggies.
The second recipe is not technically a dipping sauce, rather makes a chewy kind of mozzarella-y filling.
Ingredients:
8 medium poblano peppers roasted (see above directions for roasting)
4 tablespoons of butter
1 med onion cut vertical into strips
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh carrots (make fairly thin)
Fresh squeezed lime juice from one lime
salt and pepper
Heat butter till sizzling and saute onions and carrots about 5 min until onion is transparent and carrots begin to soften
Slice poblanos into strips instead of chopping, this time.
Add to onion and carrots - saute 10 more min. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Place an full round (about 8 ounces) of Mexican Queso de Oaxaca (pronounced kind of like "whah-hocka") in a Pam-sprayed cast iron skillet (remove wrapper, of course!)
Spoon poblano strips, onions and carrots on top of cheese round. Pop into 350 degree oven until cheese has soften through and started to bubble and spread in the skillet.
Will look something like this, though this is not from my kitchen, but borrowed from the internet for example:
.JPG)
Remove from oven, sprinkle with the lime juice, and stir a bit to mix together. Spoon a big hunk of melted cheese and poblano/veggie mix into a fresh warm flour tortilla, top with some fresh pico de gallo and fold or roll the tortilla. Yum!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Lonestar Lean Times
Bengeman & Priccila
Who knew all those history text books didn't know the proper spelling for that irascable old founding father, Bengeman Franklin?
And to think we've been spelling "Priccila" all wrong, too!!!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Six Degrees Experiment
Posting this as a request from a friend of a friend...already 3 degrees! LOL. And no, it's not me who found the photo NOR got to go to Maui...sniff sniff.
Please repost this photo. Let's see if 6 degrees works. I found a camera while biking just North of Kapalua on Maui at the end of July. I would like these people to get their camera and picture of their child back, if you know them email me at gbpniko@yahoo.com
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
And More Music...
When in a writing fog, always fall back on video from YouTube..so says Will, "The Shakes" Shakespeare.
Yeah, well. You know.
Anyway, I was completely blown away by this operatic offering by an old heartthrob from the 70's - Gino Vannelli. Certainly cheesy then, but that voice! I think the music, Mala Luna, actually starts at about 1:18 ?
Worth the listen.
And this song has stayed on my brain since I first heard it in the mid 70's. Haunting, beautiful. Emerson, Lake and Palmer in a soft mystical place: C'est La Vie
Yeah, well. You know.
Anyway, I was completely blown away by this operatic offering by an old heartthrob from the 70's - Gino Vannelli. Certainly cheesy then, but that voice! I think the music, Mala Luna, actually starts at about 1:18 ?
Worth the listen.
And this song has stayed on my brain since I first heard it in the mid 70's. Haunting, beautiful. Emerson, Lake and Palmer in a soft mystical place: C'est La Vie
Rusty Wier, RIP
Just learned from blogging friend, Paul, that Rusty Wier has passed away. Kman and I have most all his albums, we love his music.
Goodbye, Rusty, you'll be missed but not forgotten.
Goodbye, Rusty, you'll be missed but not forgotten.
Bon Jovi's Newest
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The man always brings it. I actually like his voice better with age. Likewise with The Boss. An older performer's voice has so much more timber, more nuance, don't ya think?
Monday, October 12, 2009
TV Drama Is My New Music DJ
Lately, I've been discovering new music via my favorite night time television dramas. House, especially, features some killer stuff and it's been more than once I've had to resort to Google to ferret out what the exact tune was.
Tonight's episode, "Instant Karma" had a song in the ending credits with a raspy voice that caught my attention. Kman and I were trying to guess who it might have been: Ted Hawkins? Tracy Chapman? Richie Havens?
Wrong on all three accounts. Thanks to my search skills and the ever-lovin' internet, I have found the answer (The game's afoot, Watson!) for solving such mysteries: Heard on TV.
Thus, I now know the artist and tune we were scratching our heads over:
Ray LaMontagne and "Sarah".
Though the video is off putting and not what I personally envision for this next song, YouTube provides the venue for what I want to relate. Here's Ted Hawkins and "Green-Eyed Girl". Now you tell me, doesn't Ray LaMontagne and Hawkins sound a lot alike?
Okay, so no Hawkins or Havens or Chapman. But, what the heck, let's post some of their stuff, too!
Here is yet another rendition of Richie Havens and his forever memorable "Here Comes The Sun", but this clip is an older and mellowed Havens...maybe less angst, but his voice is perfect still...:
While looking for other Havens stuff on YouTube, I couldn't resist adding this jewel - Havens Sings Dylan - too good!
This song by the amazing Tracy Chapman is one of my favorites, "The Promise". Her voice has forever mesmerized me since I first heard her "Fast Car":
Have you found any new and good stuff to listen to via ye olde boob-tube?
Tonight's episode, "Instant Karma" had a song in the ending credits with a raspy voice that caught my attention. Kman and I were trying to guess who it might have been: Ted Hawkins? Tracy Chapman? Richie Havens?
Wrong on all three accounts. Thanks to my search skills and the ever-lovin' internet, I have found the answer (The game's afoot, Watson!) for solving such mysteries: Heard on TV.
Thus, I now know the artist and tune we were scratching our heads over:
Ray LaMontagne and "Sarah".
Though the video is off putting and not what I personally envision for this next song, YouTube provides the venue for what I want to relate. Here's Ted Hawkins and "Green-Eyed Girl". Now you tell me, doesn't Ray LaMontagne and Hawkins sound a lot alike?
Okay, so no Hawkins or Havens or Chapman. But, what the heck, let's post some of their stuff, too!
Here is yet another rendition of Richie Havens and his forever memorable "Here Comes The Sun", but this clip is an older and mellowed Havens...maybe less angst, but his voice is perfect still...:
While looking for other Havens stuff on YouTube, I couldn't resist adding this jewel - Havens Sings Dylan - too good!
This song by the amazing Tracy Chapman is one of my favorites, "The Promise". Her voice has forever mesmerized me since I first heard her "Fast Car":
Have you found any new and good stuff to listen to via ye olde boob-tube?
Thursday, October 08, 2009
New Herd Member
During a little googling on pantheism, I stumbled upon a blog that I am really enjoying. Though he hasn't posted in while (since Frebruary 09), Thomas Moore, blog owner of Humanaturalism, has some terrific ideas to ponder on.
Stop by and give him a howdy and encourage him to write moore! (Bad Pun Police en route...)
Stop by and give him a howdy and encourage him to write moore! (Bad Pun Police en route...)
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Webb Wilder Human Cannonball
Bass player with the long grey hair is an old high school alum, Tom Comet. (Though we knew him as Tom Comer). Played many years ago with a little local band, Brick Window.
Tom...stayed true to his vision.
...The biographical equivalent of 12 hour chili - Sticks to the ribs! -
