Corn Pico de Gallo

It's that time of year - in late summer/early fall fresh sweet corn starts making an appearance at the farmer's markets.  There is simply no better way to cook it than roasting it on the grill.  One of my favorite ways to use fresh corn (other than slathering with butter and eating it right off the cob) is to make a pico.  It's not the pico we commonly know, but the ingredients are pretty much the same except I use roasted sweet corn instead of tomato.  We use this pico to top our tacos and fajitas... and it's even good on a chip!

To roast corn: Soak corn (with husks and silks intact) in salted water for as long as possible, but no less than 1 hour.  We started soaking the corn this morning.  Grill on high heat for approx 20-30 minutes until the husks are dark brown or blackened on all sides, turning every 8-10 minutes.  Remove from heat, let sit about 10 minutes, remove husks and silks, let sit until cool enough to handle.

I don't have a recipe with measurements, so I will describe the amounts I used today, but you'll want to adjust to taste and preferences.  We like garlic and spice, you may want to use less and add more as needed.

6 ears corn, roasted
1 red bell pepper
6 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1/3 large red onion, diced
3 jalapeno, diced
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
juice and zest of one lime
salt and pepper to taste

Cut corn off the cob and place in a large mixing bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.  Taste with tortilla chips and make adjustments as necessary.

** Be careful when handling jalapeno or any hot pepper.  Even after washing your hands numerous times, the capsacin (the stuff that makes peppers hot) will still be on your hands.  Use gloves if your skin is sensitive or if you wear contacts.


~ Enjoy ~

Barbacoa Beef Burrito

It's the first food post of my new blog.  I've spent the last week sick with a cold and stomach bug so I haven't eaten a real meal in awhile.  Now that I'm feeling better I was anxious for a good dinner.  I should start by saying that I rarely make a recipe as written.  Sometimes I make pretty minor changes and other times I change so much you could call it my very own.  Anytime I use someone's recipe I'll either link to the original or give credit and then talk about what I did different.  In this case, I'm using a recipe from thekitchn.com (which is a great cooking blog). 

This recipe calls for brisket... I went to the butcher and told them what I was making and they suggested I use a nice select beef roast instead... so I had them cut me a 5 pounder.  The first thing I did was slice it in half, then sear each piece on both sides in a skillet.  While it was searing, I put together the sauce.  I combined the chipotles (and sauce), onion, garlic, cloves, cilantro, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the food processor.  I pulsed it until combined, added it to the crock pot and put the meat on top, then added 4 cups of beef broth.  I let it cook for 8 hours on low then shredded the meat.

Here's a little side note: I knew I was making pico de gallo and didn't buy enough limes for it, so before squeezing the juice from the limes for the barbacoa, I zested a few of them for use later in the pico.

A few hours before the meat was done I started on the pico.  I used equal parts tomato, white onion, and cilantro.  I added half of the fresh zest then some lime juice from one of those squeezer bottles.  Since I also forgot to buy jalapenos, I added a half diced red bell pepper.  For a little heat I added a few drops of Spontaneous Combustion hot sauce.  The pico was finished off with a bit of sea salt and oh my it was delicious!

Earlier in the day, I was cleaning out the garden beds - getting ready for spring planting.  I ended up pulling 10 pounds of carrots (and there's still more out there!).  As a snack while waiting for the main event, my husband suggested a carrot salsa... so here's what we came up with:

4 medium to large carrots, diced (we had 3 different colors)
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped (could use more, but it's all I had left)
1/2 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced/minced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 to 1 teaspoon lime zest
juice from one lime (or equivalent from a squeeze bottle)
couple drops Spontaneous Combustion (or 2 jalapenos)
Salt, to taste

For the burritos: Flour tortilla, plain greek yogurt (instead of sour cream), shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, barbacoa meat, pico.  It was FABULOUS!

Changes I would make: next time I will use a little less ground clove and less broth.  I will stick with the roast instead of brisket and 5 chipotle peppers instead of 4.