Beef Carnitas, A Family Favorite

Everyone knows our family loves any food with a Latin or Spanish flare. This recipe is a staple for us and can be used to make so many great dishes. Tonight we're having Beef Carnitas Tacos for dinner but like I said the Beef Carnitas can be used to make various dishes including: empanadas, enchilada casseroles, and beef salad.

I found this recipe almost a year and a half ago in Cooking Light Magazine. It's such a stellar recipe that I've never found a reason to alter it. Give it a try, your tummies and waistline won't be sorry!

p.s. The timing of Beef Carnitas on our menu for the week is no coincidence...I'm having some serious physical cravings for red meat. It must be all the protein and iron! Not too worry--I'm doing my best not to over due it. :D

Another Stellar Recipe

Once again, Cooking Light Magazine comes through. I found this recipe as I was browsing the latest edition of the Cooking Light Cookbook in Costco the other day. The cookbook itself is only $20 bucks and it's huge! Our family loves salmon and ever since we've moved to the Northwest we eat more and more of it. I picked up some very fresh wild catch salmon at Costco the other day and used it to make this recipe. It was to die for...and once again, my husband paid me the "Stormy, I wish you couldn't cook so well, then I wouldn't have to eat everything," compliment. I was grinning from ear to ear. It's simple and easy to make, enjoy!



Lime-Marinated Broiled Salmon

Ingredients

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
Cooking spray
4 lime wedges

Preparation

Place first 5 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Pour into a large zip-top plastic bag. Add salmon, and seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning bag occasionally.

Preheat broiler.

Remove salmon from bag, discarding marinade. Place salmon on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 8 minutes. Turn, and broil an additional 4 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with lime wedges.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and 1 lime wedge)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 281(42% from fat); FAT 13.1g (sat 3.1g,mono 5.7g,poly 3.2g); PROTEIN 36.8g; CHOLESTEROL 87mg; CALCIUM 25mg; SODIUM 414mg; FIBER 0.1g; IRON 0.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 7.9g

Cooking Light, MAY 2003

My notes:

1. One whole lime will squeeze 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, of course you could subsitute from lime juice concentrate--I just prefer this ingredient to be fresh;

2. Ground ginger and chopped thyme from your spice collection works just as well as fresh ginger and thyme;

3. Minced garlic from a jar works just the same as fresh chopped garlic; and

4. You can marinate more than 24 ounces of salmon using this recipe. I marinated 37 ounces for three hours and the flavor was absolutely scrumptious.

Fresh Berry-Peach Cobbler

The following recipe is absolutely to die for and a perfect summer dessert. I made this recipe the same night the July edition of Cooking Light magazine arrived in my mail box. I'll post it exactly as published, however please note a few of my own changes and comments. They are identified by the asterisks noted below. Details about the changes follow the nutrition facts.

FRESH BERRY-PEACH COBBLER

Filling:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped peeled peaches*
(about 2 pounds)
2 cups fresh blueberries**
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled butter (cut into small pieces)
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar***

PREHEAT oven to 400º.

To prepare filling:
COMBINE first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
ADD peaches, blueberries, and juice.
SPOON mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coted with cooking spray.
BAKE at 400º for 15 minutes.

To prepare topping:
LIGHTLY SPOON 1 1/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.
COMBINE 1 1/3 cups flour, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring with a whisk.
CUT IN butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.
ADD buttermilk; stir just until moist.

Remove dish from oven; drop dough onto peach mixture to form 8 rounds.**** Sprinkle dough evenly with turbinado sugar. Bake at 400º for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size 1/2 cup cobbler and 1 biscuit) Best served hot, a 'la mode.


Nutrition Facts:
CALORIES 259; FAT 4.9g (sat 2.9, mono 1.2, poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 3.9g; CARB 52.1g; FIBER 2.4g; CHOL 12mg; IRON 1.3mg; SODIUM 230mg; CALC 52mg.

Recipe by Mary Simpson Creel, MS, RD, Cooking Light projects editor. July 2007.


My Notes:

* Peaches: I was in a pinch for time so I did not peel the peaches. The peel did not adversely affect the cobbler and in my opinion, added to the overall texture of the cobbler.

** Blueberries: I didn't have any blueberries on hand and a separate trip to the store to purchase some was not in the cards. I did however, have on hand some fresh raspberries and strawberries. I used a cup of each and it turned out beautifully. Peaches, raspberries, and strawberries are a dynamic combination.

*** Turbinado sugar: For those of you who aren't familiar with turbinado sugar it's basically, steamed unrefined raw sugar. It can be found in the bakery section of the grocery store and is most often sold under the brand name: "Sugar in the raw." Turbinado sugar is similar in appearance to brown sugar but paler, and in general the two can be exchanged freely in recipes. This is exactly what I did by sprinkling brown sugar over the cobbler just before baking it.

****8 rounds of topping: I didn't separate the rounds and instead spread them over the cobbler until it was evenly distributed throughout. It's still easy to gauge the size of the 8 portions the recipe makes.

Cooking Light Magazine

Thanks to the Rubin family of Salt Lake City, Utah, I am the proud subscriber to Cooking Light magazine. This magazine is by far the best cooking magazine out there. Okay, so perhaps I'm not taking into consideration the other cooking magazines on the market, which I haven't yet read, BUT this magazine kicks butt! Every single recipe I have made from this magazine has turned out beautifully. Of course, being the cook that I am, I always change the recipes up a little or a lot and the dishes never fail to turn out perfectly. The recipes are a "light" version which means you can be confident they are as healthy as possible. Just because they're light doesn't mean you can eat it all at once which is why the nutrition facts for each recipe are always published alongside each recipe so you know just how much you can eat without overdoing it!

My Passion for Cooking

This section of our blog is inspired by one of the best compliments I've ever received. We were eating breakfast yesterday morning, and my dear husband, Ryan, says to me: "Stormy, I wish you couldn't cook so well, then I wouldn't have to eat everything." It was a very proud moment for me and in turn prompted an entire cooking and recipe section of our blog. I'm happy to share with you my passion for cooking and some of my favorite recipes!

Cooking for me is a way to dip into my creative side, relieve stress, spend time with Sofia, and put smiles on the faces of those I cook for--especially when they taste my food. My cooking training began way back when I was just a little girl. My mom would bake and cook dishes all the time and it never failed that she would allow me to stir batter or test taste the final product. During the summertime each Sunday afternoon we would walk down a block to an alley which was abundant in blackberry bushes. We would pick and pick and pick and then take them home to my mom where she would make the most unbelievably delicious blackberry cobbler.

As my sister and I got older, my mom enrolled us in the 4-H program. My mom teamed up with another mom named Jan, and started a 4-H cooking class for us and Jan's daughters. Each week we would pick out new recipes and they would teach us how to make them. We went on to learn recipes so well to enter the county fair competitions. We even entered cooking competitions where we had to make a full recipe in front of a panel of judges. They not only judged the final product but also our techniques and sanitary practices throughout the cooking demonstration. It was so much fun and one of my most fond memories of spending time with my little sister Darci, and my Mom. It became the big thing of the year. My paternal grandmother who could cook like you would not believe began scheduling her month-long annual visits around county fair time. Ma-maw would love to accompany us, give us advice, and sit in the audience to cheer us on as we participated.

So that is where my passion and training for cooking was born and it continues today. Now that I am home with Sofia, I have more and more time to cook healthy and yummy meals. Sofia often cooks with me and we have so much fun doing it. I'm proud to pass on this essential skill to my daughter Sofia and future children which, thankfully, my mom passed on to me. Thanks, mommy!

In this section of my blog under "Recipes," I'm going to post some of my favorite recipes and even new ones I find and fall in love with. You can be certain that if it's posted here--it's no doubt a delicious recipe to try.

Bon Appétit!