Castellon's Kitchen: Comfort Food

I went for a long walk this morning, longer than usual. Maybe it was the fact that is was finally cool with the promise of coming rain that kept me walking. It's Thanksgiving break so my kids were sleeping in and with them now in Middle school and high school, they are pretty self-sufficient now. At least for those 2 hours this morning, time was my own to do what I wanted without any other responsibility tugging at my minutes. As I crunched through fallen leaves, I thought about being thankful. Somewhat fitting with the Thanksgiving holiday where we all take stock in all our blessings. For me it was just happenstance of the timing, but today was the day I really felt thankful for being able to stay at home to raise my kids. Because they are now well on their way to being self sufficient, I've felt a bit lost and I've been feeling the pressure to get back to work. But today, I realized that my work, my job of being a stay-at-home mom was important and is still important. I gave up a career to be home with them. I gave up adult interaction and personal achievement to help guide my kids through, infancy, elementary school, now puberty with the promise into adulthood. I like to think that this time was not wasted. I like to think that my value as a woman, as a mother, and as a human being means something to my kids and to the world at large. Today, I felt proud of all that I gave up to be a good mom to my kids. As I look forward to going back to work and finding my own path outside of motherhood again, I'm excited for what lies ahead but I also feel sad that this time spent with my kids is coming to an end.

Al Pastor Enchiladas

Makes 12

Main Ingredients
Ground Pork Filling (recipe below)
Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce(recipe below)
Pineapple Avocado Salsa (recipe below)
12 corn tortillas
Oaxaca cheese, grated

Cotija cheese, crumbled

Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce

Makes 3 cups

1 T canola oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T Mexican oregano

2 t cumin

1/2 t black pepper

1/4 t ground cloves

4-6 dried Guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed

2 cups water or chicken broth

1- 15oz. can of pineapple chunks with juice (reserve 1/2 of the pineapple for the salsa)

2 T achiote paste

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

salt and cayenne pepper (to taste)

Heat oil over medium heat, then add garlic, oregano, cumin, pepper and ground cloves to a medium saucepan and heat until fragrant ~ 1 minute. Add water or chicken broth, dried chiles, pineapple, achoite paste, cider vinegar and boil 30 minutes. Cool and blend well. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside or it can be made ahead, just refrigerate in an air tight container.

Pineapple Avocado Salsa
Makes ~ 1 cup

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
1/2 reserved pineapple, cubed
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, finely minced
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and pepper
1 avocado, small dice

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pork Filling
1 T canola oil

1/2 red onion, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 lb ground pork

1 cup Al pastor Enchilada sauce

salt and pepper (to taste)

Add oil and onions to a large skillet and saute until translucent ~5 minutes. Add ground pork and 1 cup Al Pastor Enchilada Sauce and cook until liquid is reduced. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Heat tortillas in an oiled skillet and then keep warm in a tortilla warmer until ready to roll.

Pour half of the reserved enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 10 x 14 casserole dish. Spoon about 1/3 cup of meat mixture into tortilla, add a sprinkle of cotija cheese and roll up with seam side down. Repeat.

Top with Oaxaca cheese and bake in a 350 degrees oven for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Top with Pineapple, avocado salsa, additional cotija cheese or sour cream or all the above. Enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Michelada Pops

Albondigas with Chimichurri Pesto

Chilaquiles Corn Bread Stuffing

Corned Beef Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema

It may be the first day of summer, but in my heart and mind it's always fall. I am drawn to warm comforting foods despite the time of year. If I can braise a chicken or short ribs on an unseasonably cool summer day, I will. Hell, I'll fire up the oven and turn on the air conditioning on the hottest day. I look for signs of fall color in fallen leaves all year long. Fall color happens all year long if you look for it. I color my surroundings with browns, oranges and reds in the things I buy for my home. In fact, the garden I planted last week is filled with muted oranges and deep reds. So it's not surprising that I made this gorgeous dish that not only screams fall color, but the comforting flavors of fall as well. This luscious dish of chicken leg and thigh meat braised with vibrant carrots and sweet apricots in a sauce made with warm spices of cumin, cardamom, and turmeric are sure to warm the soul on the darkest of ~~fall~~ ...summer evenings. 🌝Enjoy!

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

(Adapted recipe from Teri Villanueva @ ChefTech Cooking School. The original recipe calls for lamb.)

1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken leg and thigh meat, chopped
2 T olive oil plus 1 T olive oil for browning
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1 tsp. kosher salt

Add chopped chicken to a bowl, add 2 T olive oil and spices and mix to coat chicken. Cover and set aside. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large dutch oven and work in batches to brown chicken over medium-high heat. Set chicken aside.

1 yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger, minced
2 T tomato paste
1 lemon, zested*

1 T honey*
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1- 14oz can of garbanzo beans, drained**
1 1/2 cup couscous **
cilantro, chopped (garnish)

*I substituted 1T of my Meyer Lemon Jam for the lemon zest and honey.
**I used Trader Joe's® Harvest Grains Couscous Blend® that contained mini garbanzo beans and omitted the addition of the can of garbanzo beans. If you can't find Harvest Grains Couscous blend, use regular couscous and add a can of garbanzo beans as written in recipe above.

Add onions and carrots to the dutch oven and sweat for 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste and add chicken back to the pot. Add lemon, honey, chicken stock and apricots. *If using regular couscous and adding garbanzo beans, add the can of garbanzo beans to the pot at this time. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Prepare couscous according to package directions and set aside.

Seasoning Oil
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/ tsp kosher salt

Heat olive oil and all spices over medium high heat in a small skillet until hot and fragrant, stirring constantly. Pour into chicken right before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro.