Grill

Avocado Experience in Honduras

April 26, 2012 By Fran 4 Comments

How do you feel about Avocados? If you’re a fan you probably want to go dig up your passport, pack your bags and hop a plane down to Honduras. Avocados are plentiful and cheap. I don’t like that word, but at 8 for $4.30 it’s the best adjective I can come up with. Right now in the US at Wegman’s Supermarket, you can buy two avocados for $4 or four for the bargain price of just $5.99. I know one person who would probably go nuts if she were to visit Honduras. Gaby, of What’sGabyCooking is an admitted avocado lover and at these prices, it would be hard not to jump up and down. I met Gaby during my first FoodBlogCamp experience in Mexico and remember her talking about how much she loves avocados. If you check out her blog, you’ll see that she has in excess of 50 posts about the green orbs. It’s a bit like my obsession with corn tortillas. The funny thing is that before I headed out to Gaby’s site to grab her link for you, I came up with the idea of grilling my avocado for a hot, stuffed avocado salad and right there, on her beautiful blog was a post about grilled avocado guacamole.

Just when I thought I was being so creative …

Anyway, one of the best avocado experiences I’ve had was at a small Japanese restaurant in Southern California.

I was attending my first BlogHerFood conference in San Francisco a couple of years ago and flew down to Irvine to spend a couple of nights to visit with my son and his girlfriend. I reached out to my friends Todd and Diane of WhiteonRiceCouple.com to get their recommendations for restaurants since they live in the same area and we chose Todd’s recommendation of Izakaya Honda Ya. It’s a small place with an authentic Japanese feel and the food was fabulous! Lots of variety and creativity. We ate a dinner of mostly sushi, but the one dish that blew me aways was the “Avocado Volcano.”

At this point, two years later, I can’t remember what was in the avocado, but I remember it came to the table on a bed of flames, piping hot.

I’m pretty sure it was filled with fresh crab meat, but what was so good was the hot creaminess of the avocado. I hadn’t ever experienced warm avocado. So smooth, so rich and full of flavor.

I’ve got one more avocado in the fridge to be used this week and am going to pick up a few shrimp. I’ll put that avocado on the grill that’s been heated to 700° and stuff it with freshly grilled shrimp salad. It will be a kind of Avocado Parrillada. Sounds good doesn’t it?

Filed Under: All Tagged With: Avocado, BBQ, Cook, Food, Grill, Honduras, Parrillada

Picture Perfect

April 15, 2012 By Fran Leave a Comment

This may seem a sacrilege in the food blog world, but sometimes it’s not about the beauty of a food shot. I took most of these pictures with my iPhone and as we all know, although there are apps galore to help enhance your photos, available light is not a friend of iPhoneography.

But I’m not unhappy. There is beauty in these shots without the pixels being exactly as we’d like them to be.

Great photography is said to be about movement and feeling and while these photos may be dark and grainy, the movement is clear and I hope the feeling is as well.

What I took away from another fun night at la Casa de Fran is fun and friendship and the ability to blow off steam from a long workweek without talking about it all night.

We cooked. We ate. We listened to Fran make a valiant attempt to speak Spanish. We laughed. We cleaned up. And this makes for a great night.

Thankfully the table is large and sharing chairs with the other condo means most of us get to sit at the table while others (Mario!) stand and do a little salsa dancing while picking the bones of a rack of baby back ribs clean.

Everyone was into the meal. It was hard not to be. Everything was so good — I’m craving more ribs!

Emy was up to her chimol-making self and she added to the party with a perfectly made Michelada. I wonder if my friend Maggie from Loaded Kitchen makes these? I am going to whip up a batch at dinner when I get home from work tomorrow night and I’ll put the recipe together and let you in on this “Beer Cocktail” once I get it right.

Ribs-on-a-Platter

The ribs were a big hit. We’re doing this again on Saturday to welcome our new Operations Manager and I think ribs will make a reappearance.

Vera was so kind to model her husband’s invention — the JaCo. A Jalapeño Popper Taco with Beans. No one here had ever tried the American bar food classic — a Jalapeño Popper and they were a huge hit. I was addicted to them a couple of summers ago and could not pass up the opportunity to grill a tray for the team.

We’re talking heat right here. The ribs and seeds are vehicles of fire.

Thankfully Gearling and Emy made their way to the jalapeño station and lent a hand. I am going to return from my upcoming trip to Virginia with my trusted jalapeño corer to make quick work of this chore.

You can almost feel the heat coming from the grill full of ribs and poppers. The only thing missing is that beautiful aroma of grilled food. There’s nothing still or boring about it.

And whomever owns this plate is about to dig in.

And check this out. You couldn’t stop these four women from making quick work of the dishes and the floor.

Just look at all that garbage. For just 12 people.

Somehow, I’m reminded of the iconic American painting by Grant Wood when I look at this shot. Not sure what it is about it, but I’m seeing a pitchfork in Carlos’ hand instead of a hot bottle of tobasco.

Filed Under: All Tagged With: BBQ, Birthday, Cook, Dinner, Eat, Food, Grill, Honduras, Jalapeño Poppers, Parrillada, Party, San Pedro Sula, Work

Grill Obsession

April 8, 2012 By Fran 1 Comment

I am obsessed with this grill, and I’m ok with it, because what comes off the grill is wonderful. It’s been a month of eating with such complexity that sometimes it’s easier not to eat dinner than to go through the effort of going out or planning and preparing and deciding and waiting and ordering and paying and eating late and going home to go to bed and start all over again.

This grill has breathed new life into my eating experience in Honduras. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some amazing food here. What’s not to like — it’s all corn tortillas, all the time, for crying out loud, but sometimes I crave something more familiar.

And that’s what I’ve been doing. firing up the grill and cooking with flavors and textures I have come to expect. I don’t do it everyday. I didn’t move almost 3000 miles away from home to keep living the status quo, but sometimes my body asks for something simple, something familiar.

I cleaned and trimmed the asparagus, put it in the microwave for 90 seconds with a splash of water and a squeeze of lime to create a bit of tenderness before heading for the grill after rolling the spears in a couple of teaspoons of olive oil.

Just a few minutes on the grill so hot I now understand why those long, thick grilling mitts were created. Scorching hot is an understatement.

Nothing complicated here. Finished with freshly cracked pepper and a sprinkle of salt. This asparagus is full of bright, fresh flavor.

Filed Under: All Tagged With: Asparagus, Cook, Food, Grill, Honduras

My First Parrillada in Honduras

April 1, 2012 By Fran 4 Comments

It started out being all about the grill, but quickly became more about breaking bread with good people.

Months ago, four, to be specific, an idea of a grill and outdoor furniture for this condo was formulated. It wasn’t my idea. Props have to go to Brian (you know who you are) for the suggestion and direction and to Emy for her tireless efforts to get it done — not always an easy prospect around these parts. But enough of the logistics of a killer grill getting to my house, let’s talk people and food and a general all around fun and delicious Friday night.

Actually, there isn’t much “talking” needed here, other than this …

This grill came into my life on Friday. It’s a thing of beauty and once I heard the purhase was going to be made it didn’t take a New York minute for me to realize I’d be cooking with gas and I announced I was going to host a spontaneous Parrillada! We were going to break bread and break in that grill together. A Friday night Parrillada at my house! My first!

I loved that there was no hesitation, that although it was a very last minute invitation, all but 2 people were able to drop everything and come over to share in the fun of breaking in a brand-spanking new grill with me! We were missing two team members, but we’ll do it again — very soon.

After going to the market and coming home with enough groceries to feed most of San Pedro Sula we prepared for hungry guests to arrive.

Emy proclaimed, “I don’t know how to cook!” and was put right to work preparing the Chimol. She did a great job! Everyone loved the tangy salsa with a kick.

I prepped the steaks. They were labeled as Rib Eye and I couldn’t see into the packaging because … well, they had clearly been previously frozen and the defrosted liquid kept me from getting a good view of the meat until I opened the package at home. There was no marbling and the texture of Rib Eye just wasn’t there. I’m going to guess it was a lesser cut of beef, but see all of that up there? It’s not all of the steak I picked up. There was over 5 lbs. of meat and it cost me just $20 and the best part … it was grilled! Almost everything tastes great on a grill, right?

Carlos helped us out in the kitchen with a few straightening up details and he looked a little surprised about it.

Why does it not surprise me that “The IT Guy,” Jonathan, who we all rely on to keep us connected at work was a wizard at lighting the Fundido thingy (my tech word for traditional clay fondue pot — Anafre) and as the photo shows, he didn’t spare anything to get the fire going.

I think it was a personal challenge, but after a little while he struck pyrotechnic success and we had flames with a method of fire-starting I hadn’t seen before.

The fundido was a success.

Gearling stepped right into multitasking by prepping and chopping the celery and onions for the Celery Salad and then moved onto the fundido, frying beans, cooking chorizo and adding the flair needed for a treat that was scarfed up quickly.

So good! A tortilla chip, chimol and fundido fixin’s! I sure wish I had some of that right now. I have to say, it beats nachos from a restaurant.

Ana is another team member that doesn’t get into cooking, but she was all about showing us she can cook corn if need be, and with a smile on her face to boot! I made the mistake of leaving the cobs on the grill far too long so it was more like cow corn, but the char on the kernels make me happy and while we had a lot leftover, I have big plans for that corn tonight. Think corn bread with Jalapeño peppers.

Once again, Emy is at it. I whipped up a quick barbecue sauce with Molasses, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, Sriracha sauce, and a splash of hoisin sauce. Nothing difficult — it just adds the right amount of sweet and salty to the chicken with a hint of Asian flavor.

As usual, the kitchen is a big meeting place — until the food is ready, that is. Vanesa looks ready to eat and Mario appears to see something that makes him either scared or anxious. Not sure which. Carlos, on the other hand is all about the food. You can see it in his face.

I’m pretty sure I was a bit too eager with the corn purchase. Emy tried to contain me, but my stubborn side won — this time. Lesson learned.

Herman got into grilling duties, once Jerry figured out how to get all of the burners turned on and get the heat back to grilling temperature so we could eat cooked, rather than raw carne. Thanks Jerry!

Not sure was this debate was all about, but food soon cured all.

There was no ensalada caprese left at the end of the night even though you could barely see the tomatoes. Tomatoes are always refrigerated here which makes me nuts but they keep some of the Romas out on the other tables. They’ve been refrigerated as well, but even though the bag I picked up was cold, there is some measure of confidence in the tomatoes I put in the cart. I knew that the oil and vinegar I would be putting on the stacks would help with the texture and lack of taste of a formerly refrigerated tomato. Hmmm… can you tell I have issues with refrigerating tomatoes?

Ana, Emy and Gearling helped finish the set up and were ready to eat with the rest of us. I can’t wait to do this again!

Finally. Food time. Buen Provecho! Thanks guys, you made it a fun night and I finally feel like I’m home.

And really, can we have a casual BBQ without Red Solo Cups?! No, these aren’t the actual brand. The store only had Blue Solo Cups and, well, it just didn’t seem right.

(Warning, this is not the edited version. What fun would that be?)

Filed Under: All Tagged With: Chicken, Chorizo, Cook, Corn, Food, Fundido, Grill, Honduras, Kitchen, Nachos, Parrillada, Queso, StarTek, Steak

Hot Summer Night Chicken Dinner

July 17, 2011 By Fran 3 Comments

Putting together dinner at the end of a workday is not something most people enjoy. As a matter of fact, many of my friends dread it. As a result, dinner in a restaurant, delivery or take out are the answer for them. It’s rare for me to go out to eat on a weeknight. Actually, I don’t often go out to eat on weekends either.

The majority of restaurants around me are chains operated by big conglomerates with pre-portioned, often partially cooked, salty, not necessarily fresh ingredients. Sure, I go because the fun of it for me is spending time with my friends and once in a while a jewel is found, but I’d much rather play around in my kitchen and cook something I know I’ll like without all the extraneous stuff going on around me.

My answer is cooking at home. Sure, I’m often tired and once I come in and sit down to relax for a few minutes, getting up off the couch and into the kitchen can take a little push, but I’ve yet to not make dinner. Missing a meal is just not something that’s in my DNA, even if it’s a small bite.

I like that I can control the ingredients that go into my meal and I know just how many Weight Watchers points or calories I’m going to consume. I’m not leaving it to someone behind a door in a kitchen I can’t see. I like the control. And if you think making dinner has to be a time consuming activity, that’s not the case with a dish like this. You can do some planning to ensure you have the ingredients you need to make a meal that won’t soon be forgotten.

Having a few key ingredients in the kitchen at all times gives me the variety to whip up something like these chicken burgers in no time and using the grill is a bonus. Who wants to heat up the kitchen on those days that top 100º?

I grind the chicken myself in my food processor and reach for a jalapeño pepper, a bottle of cumin seeds, the last of a fresh bunch of cilantro and onions and a fabulously flavorful, low in calories and points burger is on my plate in short order. I’m not sure why, but once I began to grind my own chicken, I found that the packages of ground chicken or turkey are not quite the right texture. It seems “mushy” to me.

The inspiration for this meal came from my weekly stroll through Trader Joe’s after my Sunday morning weigh in where I spotted the mini buns in the bread department. As soon as I saw them and checked the nutritional values so that I could calculate the Weight Watchers Points I knew I’d make a chicken burger ,although I didn’t know what flavor profile I’d feel like having that night. It wasn’t until I pulled into the kitchen and put the chicken breast into the food processor that I knew what I wanted to reach for.

So, flip through the site and find some recipes you like that will get you through a weeknight meal. In the meantime, get a chicken breast and pull out your food processor and get to grinding some burger meat.

Grilled Chicken Burgers

Chicken makes a much lighter, yet flavorful burger for a those hot summer nights. Fresh cilantro and ginger add a bright flavor to the burger.

Ingredients

1 Chicken Breast, cut into chunks
1 clove Garlic
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
2 tablespoons Onion, coarsely chopped
Jalapeño Pepper, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup fresh Cilantro
Salt & Pepper
1/3 cup shredded low fat Cheddar Cheese or 1 slice for each burger or any cheese you prefer
2 mini Burger Buns

Instructions

Heat the grill or grill pan
Put the chicken in a food processor and pulse until just ground. Do not over process.
Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño and cumin seeds and process until well combined.
Add the cilantro, salt and pepper and pulse until just combined.
Form into patties and put on a hot grill or grill pan. Cook for 3 minutes and turn. Cook for another 3 minutes, or until done.
Serve with your favorite topping

Serving size: 1 Burger Calories: 108.3 Fat: 1.4 Carbohydrates: 1.9 Fiber: 0.3 Protein: 18.1

Notes

These chicken burgerswill cost you 3 Weight Watchers Points a piece, inclusive of the cheese. The mini buns, which I picked up at Trader Joe’s cost just 2 points. I topped my burgers with my home made Aji Verde, but you can use mustard, ketchup, salsa … the options are endless.

Have you ever ground your own meat, pork or poultry? I highly recommend it. There’s nothing like a burger made with home ground brisket. You’re sure to love it and find yourself grinding your own meat often.

Filed Under: All Posts, Chicken Tagged With: Burger, Chicken, Grill

Thin Recipes and a BlogHer Food Conference; The Ultimate Oxymoron?

May 29, 2011 By Fran 8 Comments

As you know, I was on vacation recently. As a result, I missed two Weight Watchers Weigh-ins. Was I worried. No, not really. I knew I hadn’t gone crazy and that once I got home, a week ago, I’d get right on track and back to my usual routine, but what I wasn’t looking forward to was either a gain or no loss at all. And I did just that. Got right back to it and this toasted tortilla is just one of the things I did this week to cut back a little bit more. Toasting my favorite vehicle for pork or shrimp and cheese and veggies is one way to make things even more Weight Watchers Points Plus friendly.

So, it’s time to ‘fess up. I GAINED ONE QUARTER OF A POUND. Why am I shouting and why no exclamation marks after that blast? Because after 9 days of being away from home, without my usual 7 point breakfast, container of fruit, salad bar for lunch and inspired dinners during most of the trip, and being exposed to food all day, every day from Tuesday through late Saturday night, at the conference, I ONLY GAINED ONE QUARTER OF A POUND!

And that’s good news. Very, very good news, so I shouldn’t complain.

But it has to be noted — I have lost weight EVERY SINGLE WEEK, without fail, since I began this journey on February 2 this past winter. Through thick and thin, rain, sleet or snow, I’ve made it to the coveted weigh-ins with my friend Kerri. I’ve had success written all over my face and in my cherished Weight Record each week. So, this week I got up, showered, dressed and took a deep breath when I walked up to the scale. But really, I knew how things were going to turn out. I get on the scale every day in the privacy of my own bathroom and I smile and fist pump the air when no one’s looking. Really, I do and I’ll be fort those of you that come here for help and support in your own weight loss efforts, you do very same thing in your own way. I’ll bet you do and I’d love to hear about it — I have to know I’m not alone, ya know.

View from the room and from the table

We need to chat about what went on during the weekend I spent in Atlanta at BlogHerFood ’11. What is BlogHerFood, you ask? That’s a good question. BlogHer is a community of bloggers from all across the globe that write about all kinds of topics and I’m involved with the food community.

I learned about the BlogHer organization during my first-ever food blogging event; Food Blogger Camp, Club Med in January, 2010. The experience was so incredible I went back in January of this year, but that’s old news by now with words, photos and videos for you to look at if you want to see just how much fun camp, as an adult can be. The fun is not much different than 8 weeks at sleep away camp in the Adirondacks was when I was growing up and that’s probably why I enjoy these trips so much. What’s not old news is that the friends I’ve made at each of these events have carried over to the next. People I met at Club Med have attended other get togethers and conferences and it’s so much fun to see each other again in person, rather than just catching up with what’s going on in their lives through their blogs.

But back to the real purpose of this post… being on a weight loss journey and attending a food conference. Would it be possible, or was attending a food conference with a focus on ThinRecipes the Ultimate Oxymoron?

Maybe it was the fact that the conference was held in an enormous hotel with over 60 floors and long, wide hallways with colossal ballrooms to navigate, or that my mom is, and has always been, a proponent of healthy eating and the fact that I began my vacation at my parent’s house where the food is extraordinary, but lean that contributed to such a small gain, but I think it was something different.

It was all of this plus the fact that I have a fabulous family and amazing friends combined with the fact that I am laser focused on the goal. I’ve said this all along when people have tried to push me to eat something that I know I shouldn’t — “I’m not going to sacrifice all the good I’ve done for a momentary taste experience.” And I didn’t. Sure, I had some food that was far from plan, but I expected that.

Watch for upcoming giveaways for the Tongs and Knives by subscribing to the feed or following ThinRecipes on Twitter!

Hell, when Sharfenberger and Masterbuilt, Barilla and Pom Wonderful are sponsors with Quaker and Starkist, Oxo and more, it’s ridiculous to think all will be well in the 29 Weight Watchers points a day category. But I didn’t have to eat it all. As a matter of fact, I found myself gravitating to the Bog’s Red Mill stand to pick up a little cup of Moroccan Couscous and to gawk at the little sample bags of quinoa.

I took just one packet home and probably should have gone back for more. When I landed and made it home I unpacked, threw my clothes in the washing machine and immediately ran to the kitchen to cook up that sample of quinoa with a little chicken for a quick dinner.

Sure, the lovely Sharfenberger rep (oh dear, I can’t remember her name!) offered dark chocolate tarts with graham cracker crust and a smile each time we stopped by, but I didn’t date take one in my hand. I had two bites and that was it. I knew there would be other food opportunities during the weekend and I didn’t want to pass up any unknown opportunities because the vendors, especially Sharfenberger are all very generous with their samples and I have plans for all of it starting with either a molé or chili using one of those packets of chocolate. Be on the lookout for a recipe soon.

A few of us went to Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s upscale Spice Market at the W Hotel for dinner on Saturday and with all the incredible things on offer, more than half of us decided to order the tasting menu — 5 courses of 10 flavors for just $48, I was in heaven. Southeast Asian food is another one of my addictions and while some people were not as thrilled I, everything I tasted, even the shrimp that could have used more pop, hit the spot and was just what I wanted to hit my Asian food cravings. The food and the conversation with “old” and new friends like Rebecca from Kitchen Preserve and Cindy from Land O’ Lakes made me happy.

Click on the photo for the post with the recipe, but be warned, they're addictive!

Was it all low in fat, carbs and calories? Ummm… NO! But it was worth passing on multiple chocolate tarts. I know I can have something chocolaty again, whenever I want because I was sent home with almost THREE POUNDS of chocolate and some secrets which I swore I wouldn’t divulge. And I came home with a jar of organic peanut butter. Just think of the possibilities! I am putting the Buckeye thought waaaay to the back of my mind right now.

And when I got home, aside from quinoa and salads of all kinds, I dove right into my tortilla addiction. And this is really what I wanted to talk to you about today … the corn tortilla.

You’ve seen me eat them soft and pliable from the microwave and most often, heated in a pan with a few pumps of Beroli Olive Oil Spray, but I decided to knock out any of the added fat, no matter now negligible, and heat them to a crispy crunch over the flame of my gas stove.

Call me crazy, but I like the charred bits. I suppose with my crazy imagination I see myself squatting over a portable fire, hand forming tortillas and holding them over the flame for dinner with other women who are doing the same for their families each day somewhere in the interior of Mexico.

And that’s how I got back on track. Getting back to the things I like best and know how to fit into my 29 Weight Watchers Points Plus values each day. And that’s how I managed to go on a food-centric vacation and get on the scale and register only a quarter of a pound weight gain.

Tacos I made with toasted tortillas

So, there you have it. The answer to the question is a resounding NO! BlogHerFood and Weight Watchers are NOT an oxymoron. It’s all about planning and focus and a few tricks I had up my sleeve: Before we got on the highway and headed from Augusta to Atlanta, I asked that we stop at a supermarket. I picked up a container of chunked pineapple and a box of grapes along with a bag of deli flats and packages of salami and provolone, just like I have at home for my 7 point breakfast so I could avoid the dismal conference breakfasts. Last but not least was the bag of Weight Watchers Mini Bar dessert snacks I carried from home.

This, and the fact that throughout the 9 days I spent away from home, not one single person pushed me to eat food I was visibly attempting to avoid. From my mom, who planned for my needs to Maggie who thought of me when planning our welcome snack, and dinner and the extraordinary 8 hour food crawl, to my room mate and friends at the conference who politely offered treats, but quietly backed away when I politely declined, I had unending and unspoken support. And back at home was a Weight Watchers community who continued on their journey and was there when I returned this morning.

All in all, this has been a rewarding and fun weight loss journey and although I may not be a svelte celebrity on TV, I am an active Weight Watchers participant.

So, what about you? Do you have vacation plans? Are you concerned about the food situation? Or have you planned and gotten yourself all ready and you’re confident it will be no big deal? Let me know. I’d love to hear how you plan to handle it as I scribble plans for my next vacation — a VERY food oriented Culinary Expedition to the Philippines. I can’t wait to tell you more!!

Filed Under: All Posts, Side Dishes Tagged With: Cook, Corn Tortillas, Flame, Food, Gas Range, Grill, Pernil, Pork Butt, Weight Watchers

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