Tag Archive for: cooking

Work from Home Recipes: Pork Tinga Tacos & Korean BBQ Beef Tacos by Sara Haas

Working from home doesn’t mean your food needs to be boring. Spice it up with these two great taco recipes from Sara Haas’ cookbook, Taco! Taco! Taco!

Taco! Taco! Taco! features 100 savory and sweet taco recipes that are as easy to prepare as they are to love with options for omnivores as well as vegetarians and vegans alike.

Pork Tinga Slow Cooker Tacos

Servings: 6 to 8 (Makes About 4 Cups Cooked Pork)

Ingredients

For the pork:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 1 (7-ounce) can tomatillo salsa (or about 1 cup tomatillo salsa)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 chipotle chile canned in adobo
  • 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from canned chipotle chiles)
  • ¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
  • 1 (2- to 2½-pound) boneless pork loin roast

For the tacos:

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
Toppings: shredded lettuce, such as romaine, shredded red or green cabbage, thinly sliced radish, crumbled cotija cheese, sliced or diced avocado

Directions

To make the sauce, start by setting a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Once hot, add the onion and tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the tomatillo salsa and garlic, cook 1 more minute. Stir in the chipotle and adobo and remove from the heat. Allow to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender along with the broth or water and carefully puree until smooth (alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to puree). Place pork in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Pour pureed sauce over the pork, then cover with a lid and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. After the pork has been cooked, use two forks to shred the pork (this can be done inside the slow cooker). Toss with the sauce and cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes to meld flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To make the tacos, serve pork in warmed tortillas topped with toppings of your choice such as shredded lettuce, shredded cabbage, thinly sliced radish, and cotija cheese.

 

Korean BBQ Beef Tacos

Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the marinade:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 green onions, light and green parts only, thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup mirin (or ½ teaspoon sugar per tablespoon rice vinegar)
  • ½ cup pear juice or pineapple juice
  • 1 pound sirloin steak or beef tenderloin, thinly sliced against the grain

For the tacos:

  • 8 (6-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
  • Toppings: shredded lettuce or cabbage, shredded carrots, kimchi
  • Special equipment: 10 to 12 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Directions

To make the marinade, add the first 8 ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Reserve ½ cup. Transfer the remaining marinade to a gallon-size, sealable plastic bag. Add the beef, press out any excess air from the bag, then seal and turn to coat. Marinate for at least hours and up to 12 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat or set a grill pan over medium-high heat. If using the grill, clean the grill grates and brush them with oil. If using a grill pan, coat pan lightly with oil. Remove beef from the marinade and pat dry; discard the marinade. Thread beef onto soaked skewers then grill 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until desired degree of doneness. Remove beef from skewers and serve family style with warmed tortillas, shredded lettuce, shredded carrots, and kimchi. Use extra reserved marinade for serving.

Notes: This recipe can also be prepared without using skewers—the skewers simply make it easier to handle the beef while it’s on the hot grill. To make slicing the beef easier, freeze it for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.

 

About the Author: Sara Haas

Sara Haas, RDN, is a food and nutrition expert with formal training in the culinary arts. She works as a freelance writer, recipe developer, media authority, public speaker and consultant dietitian/chef. Sara is a former culinary and nutrition instructor and served as a National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Media Spokesperson. Sara has been featured in Eating Well Magazine, Shape Magazine, Parents Magazine, U.S.A. Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Epicurious, BabyCenter, O Magazine and Today’s Dietitian Magazine. Sara also shares her love of food and nutrition on her website, SaraHaasRDN.com and on Instagram (@cookinRD) where she posts recipes, as well as nutrition and cooking tips.

TACO! TACO! TACO!
Written by Sara Haas
Foreword by Bryan Roof
978-1-57826-752-1, $20.00 paperback
978-1-57826-753-8, $12.99 eBook

Published by Hatherleigh Press.
Distributed through Penguin Random House.
Available wherever books are sold.
www.hatherleighpress.com

 

RECIPE TEST RUN: Meyer Lemon Braised Chicken by Williams Sonoma

TasteTV tested a recipe for Meyer Lemon Braised Chicken using Williams Sonoma Meyer Lemon Braising Sauce. We found that with a few creative tweaks and additions to give it that fresh California style, this recipe became a great 5-star meal.

Read more

Strawberry and Blueberry Fruit Crisp

strawberrycrisp1

This is what you do when you have a lot of fruit around and you don’t want it to spoil before you can eat it all.

This particular recipe was inspired by an article on “Fresh Fruit Crisp “by food writer and chef Jodi Liano, but which we of course made our own by changing quite a bit of it for our own needs and tastes:

 

Recipe for Strawberry and Blueberry crisp:

4-7 cups of fruit (whole or cut into pieces)

strawberrycrisp2

2 T flour or cornstarch

3 T of sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cups of flour

1 T of cinnamon

1/3 cup of butter (cold, cut into pieces)

 

1. Put fruit, cornstarch, regular sugar in a bowl and mix together.

2. Put other dry ingredients in another bowl, then add butter pieces and mix together with your hands until the make crumbs (big and small. don’t worry about having butter lumps)

strawberrycrisp3

3. Put bowl of fruit into a casserole dish (or whatever you bake with) and spread around.

4. Spread the crumbs across the top

 

Bake at 375-385 F degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Make sure at least of the crumble topping is a bit browned, but not all of it.

 

 

 

strawberrycrisp4

You can also make a fruit cobbler very quickly as well with even less ingredients, but you have to use something that is not strawberries, since they have a lot of juices in them.

Let’s say you have some blueberries or cherries:

 

Fruit Cobbler

A bunch of fruit (3-7 cups)

1 stick of butter

1 cup of water

1 cup of milk

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of flour

1 T baking powder

Dash of salt

2 T of cinnamon and/or nutmug

 

0. Heat oven to 375-385 F. Put stick of butter in casserole or baking pan, and place in oven to melt

1. Put flour, brown sugar, salt, baking power and milk in a bowl and mix into a batter. Add spices.

2. In a saucepan add water and sugar and fruit. Bring to boil and let cook on med-high for about 10 minutes (so it reduces a bit)

3. Take casserole from oven, and pour batter into dish over butter. Do not mix, just spread it evenly.

4. Pour fruit and syrup from saucepan over batter. Do not mix, just spread evenly. DO NOT MIX.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes until top is  crust is brown (crust will rise up around the fruit)

 

Done… now you too will look like you can cook anything