All-Fruit Smoothie

My typical breakfast vacillates based on my morning schedule. When I had time in the mornings (as in school) it was Eggo waffles more or less every morning (why it's still one of my favorite food). Lacking time in the morning (such as now, with work) I seek out something quick that I can easily eat while I drive. Also for a time I didn't have a toaster handy, so I never got in any bagel habit.

For a while I had the Pancake & Sausage on a stick that Jon Stewart likes to make fun of, until they suddenly disappeared from store shelves (I actually kind of blame Jon for that). Needing a replacement, it became pop-tarts... cold.

Then I saw an episode of Good Eats where Alton made smoothies and thought, 1) that looks hella good, 2) that looks hella easy, and 3) I probably should have some like, fruit, in my diet anyway. So, a new blender, some frozen fruit and some juice, and a portable tumbler with a proper straw later - I had a tasty new breakfast.

Pork Chops

Pork chops generally kind of suck, right? Apparently they used to be these nice tender cuts of meat, until chicken caught on (for being tender and lean) and breeders started raising pigs who would be leaner as well. The result, pork chops have a proclivity to turn out try as hell at basically all times (such is why I don't care for them much). [History lesson courtesy my Good Eats book]

There is, however, a trick to putting moisture in dry meat -- brining. Give your meat an hour or two in the fridge while soaking in a brine, and it will come out a good deal moister then otherwise. The brine itself is simple too - something like 3 cups water, 1 tablespoon salt & 1 tablespoon sugar (or 4 cups water, 1/4 cup salt & 1/4 cup sugar for larger portions) - mix that up in a pyrex container or something, add your meat, and seal it up in the fridge for a 1-2 hours. Just be sure when you're done to rinse and dry the meat off before cooking.

BBQ Pulled Pork

Got 12 hours and a desire for a weeks worth of pulled pork? Well then I have a recipe for you. All you really need, is a crock-pot.

Let's start with our software -- you can improvise a bit with the spices. At its core, you're going to want a 7-8 pound pork shoulder (a surprisingly cheap cut of meat, by the way). I also consider the cola (I use a 16 oz. bottle of Cherry Coke, NOT diet - you can sub Pepsi, Ginger-ale, whatever), salt (koshering), and brown sugar to be essential parts of the spice rub / cooking liquid (also don't forget the sauce -- any good quality one you like will do). I also like to add 2 diced onions, 7-8 cloves of minced garlic, and paprika, red pepper and lemon pepper to the rub. The final ingredient is time.

Homemade Tortillas & Fajitas

 

So I read online that making tortillas yourself is hella easy... so let's do that.

The ingredients are deceptively simple -- masa de harina (corn flour), water, and salt. Masa itself is corn that has been treated with lime and water (not the fruit, like, chemical lime) then washed (lime is totally not edible) and ground into a flour -- you can't substitute starch or meal for it (look near the tortillas/salsa section for it, or barring that the ethnic foods section).

To actually mix the dough, the flour itself will probably have the ratio you are supposed to use on the bag -- it's going to wind up being like a 2:1 flour/water ratio (again, consult the bag or google it). Also it uses salt, nearly forgot (like a pinch, like all doughs).