Mexican Week!

Jason and I continue with our theme week trend with Mexican Week. This is our dinner time in review.

Black bean soup topped with onion, cilantro and queso fresco.

Chicken mole on rice.

Mahi-mahi fish tacos topped with cabbage, cilantro, tomato, mango and chipotle-lime dressing. Refried beans and lime slices on the side

Chile rellenos and Mexican rice.

Mexican corn on the cob.

Bite size strawberry empanadas.

Fried plantains

Shrimp enchiladas verdes with pineapple salsa.

Chipotle-lime sauce and guacamole dip.

Quesadilla with queso fresco, cotija, green onions, black olives, green chilies,
tomato and sprinkled with more cotija.

Horchata.

Chilaquiles with chipotle.

Praising the Potato: Day 6

Day 6 and the grand finale of potato week arrives on Easter. The meal required about five hours of cooking but it was worth it. In a first for Easter or anytime, Indian food. Spicy potato samosas and homemade naan. For dessert I prepared a sweet potato pie - another new experience. I don't know where to begin about this meal. I became giddy making the naan. I blended, toasted and ground the spices to make the 

garam masala myself. In the end I took a bite and realized, I positively love this food.The flavor is so

 different from the typical American palate. 

Sweet potato pie - it's better than candy.

Praising the Potato: Day 5

In my research to find different potato recipes, I came across the potato knish. It's a Jewish dish where the potato mixture is wrapped in a pastry and baked. While it might have been nice to have a little more seasoning, overall I was very please with the results. They were also adorably cute when finished.

Praising the Potato: Day 4

These potatoes were referred to in-house as Voldemort potatoes and the potatoes that shall not be named or cheesy potatoes. You may know them as au gratin or scalloped potatoes. The name change was for the benefit of someone with a particular bias against the word "scalloped" being combined with potatoes. These particular potatoes were also made with a hint of chipotle pepper, which provided a nice spice. We also had meatloaf and cornbread topped with Kerrygold Irish butter.

Praising the Potato: Day 3

You're not confused, that is a pizza. More correctly, it is a deep dish pizza which has potato in the crust! This is a dish in which the potato acts as a secret agent and helps achieve the height we want. Topping the pizza is: fresh pineapple, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, onions, green pepper and tomato slices designating a "meat free" zone. This pizza was a surprise last minute addition to potato week and I'm glad it got included.

Praising the Potato: Day 2

Tonight we visit a classic upon request and have fried chicken, cornbread and mashed potatoes with gravy. In an attempt to go with antibiotic free chicken I ended up with boneless chicken thighs which were good. I would have preferred bone-in, but they weren't available in our local store.

For dessert, we have a flourless chocolate cake. No potatoes.

Praising the Potato: Potato Week Day 1

Potato week is going to be slightly abbreviated due to all the pancakes in the previous week. This should not by any means reflect poorly on potatoes. First up we have a twice baked bleu cheese and thyme baked potato and coleslaw prepared by Jason. I'm not normally a fan of bleu cheese and most twice baked potatoes taste the same. But, if you put the bleu cheese in the potato then, why then, you have something a little unanticipated and you may just find yourself eating two of them.

Pancake Week: Day 8

The eighth and final day of pancake week - Banh Xeo (Vietnamese crepes). These crepes were filled with bean sprouts and tofu. Pieces of the crepe and filling could then be wrapped in lettuce and dipped in a sauce made largely of lime and soy sauce. The dipping sauce was so intensely flavored that it really

 brought the rest of the ingredients together as a unit. Overall, pancake week really inspired us to try cooking meals a little more out of the ordinary and I enjoyed the challenge.

Pancake Week: Day 7

I absolutely loved this meal Jason prepared. We had Injera (Ethiopian pancake) with zigni (beef stew) and sauteed cabbage. Something about the spices in the zigni was just incredible - a blend of flavors I couldn't quite figure out. It balanced perfectly with the cabbage and injera so that each bite tasted like a new experience. I could eat this on a regular basis. 

Pancake Week: Day 6

I had two issues with this German apple pancake. First, I think I had a few too many apples which prevented the batter from properly distributing. Secondly, I was supposed to use a non-stick skillet. I wasn't 100% sure my skillet was oven approved so I used cast iron instead. This caused a slight sticking situation. Even with those two issues, I was very please with the taste which was similar to an apple pie.

Pancake Week: Day 5

Tonight, Jason prepares a Georgian cheese pancake, salad topped with kalamata olives and eggplant walnut dip. The pancake was composed of feta and fresh mozzarella cheese with eggs and a little flour and then fried. I liked to eat mine by spreading a little of the dip on the pancake and topping it with some salad.

Pancake Week: Day 4

Heading down to Mexico for day 4 brings us to sopes! First topped with ground beef, green onions, lettuce, tomato, cilantro and crema Mexicana (table cream). We also discovered they're quite tasty with a layer of jam as recommended by Jason. He's the international man and has lived in Mexico as well.

Pancake Week: Day 3

Changing countries yet again, we arrive at Russian pancakes (blinis) with sour cream, apple slices, green onion and dill. I also tried a more dessert version based on Jason's recommendation and added a hint of orange marmalade. Jason enjoyed eating these when he was in Russia and wanted to share the experience.

I got a little too excited and started eating before I photographed it.

Pancake Week: Day 2

We can't have pancake week without what is the traditional American view of the pancake. Behold! Buttermilk pancakes with homemade blueberry sauce dusted with powdered sugar.

Pancake Week: 7 Days + 1

I know that technically there are only seven days in a week, but we had too many pancake ideas and found all the ingredients we needed. So, this week will officially have eight days in it.

Jason starts us off with a Japanese pancake called okonomiyaki. A friend of his took him out to try this several years ago when Jason was in Japan. He was curious to see if he could duplicate it. I've never had anything that tasted similar to these before and thought it was wonderful. It's a blend of flavors that just dance in your mouth. The pancake is basically fried cabbage topped with mayo, bacon, red onion and a few shots of Worcestershire sauce.

Sandwich Week! Day 7

Last sandwich of the week is breakfast for dinner. We have provolone cheese, 

egg and bacon on a square cream biscuit.

With so many more wonderful sandwiches to explore, I think a "Sandwich Week" 

revisited will certainly be in our future. Don't you agree?

Sandwich Week! Day 6

Tonight's meal was a joint effort by Jason and myself. He created a lovely coleslaw 

side dish. Main course for the evening is a catfish po'boy with cabbage and a thin 

spread of mayo on French bread. I loved how this turned out.

Sandwich Week! Day 5

This sandwich I actually tried both hot and cold. Pictured is the grilled fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil on ciabatta bread. Grilling the sandwich gave the cheese a nice gooey quality, but having it cold made all the ingredients taste that much fresher. I'm torn on which one I like the best.

Sandwich Week! Day 4

Not out of ideas yet - chicken with pineapple, mozzarella, purple onion, lettuce 

and chipotle pepper sauce on ciabatta bread.

Sandwich Week! Day 3

Tonight was the tale of two sandwiches. We had dainty cucumber sandwiches 

with cream cheese on wheat bread and tea. 

Then followed that up with a grilled provolone and sharp chedder on the same 

wheat bread because we were a little hungrier than a typical tea time event.

Sandwich Week! Day 2

The second night of sandwich week brings us turkey with avocado and purple onion on a homemade pretzel bun. I've made homemade soft pretzels before and the bun process was very similar and equally delicious. 

Sandwich Week! Day 1

I can admit, I got really excited about the idea of a week of sandwiches on homemade bread. First up - and open face eggplant Parmesan on Italian bread created by Jason.