My kitchen musings!

So did July sneak up on anyone else besides me? I can’t believe we’re already 7 months into 2015. And it’s been amazing watching Gabriela grow and development right before our very eyes. It truly is an amazing experience. 
 

 
I was thinking about the last 7 months and how I wanted to simplify things: our routine, belongings. Mental hang ups, etc. and I realized I haven’t really done much of anything. I really do think of reorganizing our master bedroom because I’ve read over and over again to make that your sanctuary, your place to relax, free of clutter. But then I think I’m too tired/flustered/unmotivated to start. 

But not anymore! And what better way to start off the month of July!  So I’m going to tackle one area/room/project a week – did I also mention I have a list of projects that I’ve wanted to do??  I’m hoping that this will spur me on to maybe do two a week. An ongoing project is our garden that is in a bit disarray due to this drought and NOTHING wanting to grow (other than my herbs and peppers). So that’s my ongoing project. 

  

  
Along with that is my kitchen. I need to try to streamline it better; my herbs are all scattered around in different places; and I’m sure I can make it more efficient. Or at least try. 

Happy organizing!

in case you’re new here (or have been following and wondering where the heck I went), here’s a tiny recap of goings on. 

I live in Puerto Rico. Isla del encanto. Of white sand and beautiful turquoise waters. Of perpetual sunshine (and humidity) and afternoon showers. And really no real farmer’s markets. 

I mean, come on. It’s an island. Wouldn’t you think we’d need to grow something. For us?! I’ve lived in myriad places where there were abundant markets (St. Louis) and few and far between (Phoenix and Dothan). Going into this relocation I figured we’d have some. One. Maybe?

Food at the supermercados are expensive (can you say $6 for a pint of blueberries) so I’m sad to say I’ve been neglecting my fruits. Solace has come in going to Sam’s but that’s a 35 minute drive. I want my fruits and veggies!

Enter in the San Sebastián farmers market. Part market. Part flea market. Part livestock market. It’s a trip. With over 200 vendors you’re bound to find something. Granted, the fruits were sparse but we totally made out on veggies. And just the experience of it all is pretty cool. 

So I’m still branching out. Asking around. And hopefully soon I’ll be growing our own berries and other things. I do need to mention we’re in a drought so my garden has be quite lackluster. Saving that for another post. 

In the meantime, we have our guy Abby for greats tomates y limons and the occasional aguacate and we’ll venture out for more exotic fare at the San Sebastián market. The Moca market is next. Here’s a look at little cherry toms we bought (for 2$ a bag) that I roasted for a homemade pizza and some guava (that my father used to eat). And a cutie of my cutie! 

Always an adventure!  

       

So the roast- the utter baffling roast made by turning the oven OFF- was going according to plan.

That was until….our electricity went out. Well, actually, HALF of our electricity went out. Don’t ask. So in trying to scramble to get our fans to blow a little air and eventually deciding to fire up the generator, the roast spent a little extra time in the oven. A little too much extra time in the oven. Like an hour and a half extra time in the oven. Ugh.

I think whatever chemical magical hocus pocus that happened in the 2.5 hrs was totally lost 4 hours later. Bummer.

But we still ate it. And it smelled amazing. And looked amazing wen I cut into it (albeit a bit chilled) but darn it- it was hard. And chewy. And not yummy as I thought it would be.

Don’t get me wrong; it was flavorful. But I was looking forward to a nice, tender, juicy roast.

My husband sent me a link to marinate the meats in kiwi. Apparently the tenderness/how cattle is butchered in PR varies so you need a little extra something something to make things tender. I was hoping for the unconventional cooking method.

Needless to say, I’ll be having to try this again.

We are under a tropical storm warning right now. Gonzalo, the tropical storm with potential to become a hurricane, is currently making his way toward our fair island. To look out the window right now you really couldn’t tell there’s a storm brewing a few hundred miles from us. Especially if you were to look in on my husband and lil one snoozing away on this Columbus Day holiday.

The wind has definitely kicked up and they say by tomorrow we should be getting the rain. Hopefully it’ll keep heading northeastward and there won’t be too much damage or danger.

So what to cook to commemorate our first hurricane party experience? I’ve told you about my plight in trying to find roasts and other larger cuts of beef; yesterday I found lechon de machera. And yes, I did have to look it up. It’s an eye of round. Woohoo! While making a roast in 90 degree weather and 90% humidity may not be on the top of your list, it’s been forever some time since I cooked up a roast.

But eye of round?? I gotta admit this is not a cut I’m familiar with. So off to the internet I go and I keep coming across this cooking method that, frankly, just baffles the hell out of me. I’ve seen it multiple places and this is the one I’m using as a reference but I can’t be sure if this was the originator.

Basically you roast the piece of meat at a high high temp (500 degrees) for a designated amount based on the weight and then you TURN. OFF. THE. HEAT. and keep the roast in the oven for 2.5 hours. That’s right. No fire for 2.5 hours. And no peeking. Thank goodness for an oven window and light!

Apparently the residual heat is supposed to cook the crap out of this sucker. So the story goes.

I browned mine before sticking it in there. I figured the more cooking time the better, right? I also rolled mine in kosher salt (lots…this is a big piece of meat), black pepper, and rosemary. I so wish I had fresh but I have to settle for dried.

So the roast is on the oven, roasting at a balmy 500 degrees for 25 minutes, while I make my kitchen a virtual inferno. Needless to say the rest of my family has retreated far far away from the kitchen during this initial process.

I’m still pretty apprehensive about this method but stay tuned tomorrow as I post the results. It’ll either be yummy roast for dinner… or scrambled eggs.

With a side of tropical storm Gonzalo!

So last night, in the midst of making a spectacular grilled tuna steak with a lemon, wine, and caper sauce, our gas ran out (ok- so it was going to be spectacular in my mind, but that’s half the battle, right?). Our stove runs on gas and being that I’ve never cooked with gas I am not accustomed to checking it so it doesn’t run out.

Or at least checking it would be the ideal situation. Apparently there are no gauges on Puerto Rican gas tanks. And it’s weird having a gas tank. Just sayin.

So the gas folks are quite efficient. It’s the next day and we have fire a’blazin.

Dinner tonight: that spectacular tuna steak with the lemon, wine, and caper sauce.

Dinner last night was a fabulous sandwich from El Criollo. Yuuuuum.

While I willingly and happily take on the full responsibility of cooking, it is always nice to have a break, other than eating out. So my father took over the reigns on Monday and made a soup inspired by the fresh coconut he got by the beach on Sunday.

This recipe was courtesy of my uncle Armando, who is currently residing in Ecuador, where my father is from. His wife, Martita, is a fabulous cook and knows all things Ecuadorian when it comes to cooking.

So my went to work to make Sopa de pescado con coco with platanos verdes and yucca. The trick is making your own coconut water. So my dad dug into it, grated it, and then passed it through a sieve with some water and BAM– coconut water!

I’m really not that daring when it comes to fish. Give me simple and not fishy and I’m a happy camper so I was a little leary– I’m sure it was going to be good, but perhaps just not so right for me.

WOW! i was pleasantly pleased! It was AMAZING! And so simple to make!

Wow! Can you believe it’s already Sunday! This was a pretty good week here on the island. But really (and this may be a humble brag) is there ever really a BAD week on the island?

We were carless for a few days (we are a one car familia so I drive the husband if we want the car) so my father and I got lots done in the house. Everything is pretty much set-up but there’s of things that need hanging and it’s not as simple as one may think. The house here are made of concrete. Concrete. So if you want to hang anything, say a calendar on the wall? You have to drill a hole using a masonry drill. Oh yea. So what may take less than 5 minutes stateside to hang something could take about 20-30 mins here on the island. But at least it gives my dad a chance to use power tools.

Speaking of power tools…we got a coco friiiiiiiiio from the back of a guys pickup truck today and my father decided we should crack it open and get the flesh out. Mind you, we do not own a machete (yet) so he whipped out the trusty ole dremmel. It took some persistence (and coconut flying everywhere) but alas, he cracked it open. Only in PR, right?

We also checked out a new restaurant that opened the other day, TBC. It’s a husband and wife duo from DC and yea, this may definitely become a regular breakfast (and perhaps lunch) spot for us. The colors of the place were bright and lively and the atmosphere was kicked back and relaxed. Oh, and the food was oh-so-good! Gabriela even got dolled up for the occasion of her first brunch out!

My cooking plan during the week kinda went off without a hitch. I was making pork chops with an apple and onion sauté and unfortunately the apples were not as sweet as I was hoping. It was from Lucinda Scala Quinn’s cookbook and while it wasn’t what I thought it should taste like, it was still pretty good (recipe to follow shortly). I also tackled a _50 shades of chicken_ recipe that I had to alter because of course I didn’t read throughout the whole thing (read through the WHOLE recipe before you start, people). So while the recipe called for a whole chicken, I used chicken thighs and it still turned out well. Delectable. Scrumptious. Ok- I’m just trying to fit the whole 50 Shades word usage here. Friday was pizza Friday from a pizza joint by the hubby’s work that we absolutely LOVE! Next Friday we’ll be trying out a food truck (aka as a guaguita in PR) so stay tuned for that review!

We capped off the week with a beach visit that I had read about from a fellow blogger at Island Canes, Mar Chiquita. We took the scenic way out there via Route 2 and went through many a small towns. It was quite interesting checking out the different little bits of Northern Puerto Rico. The beach was perfect. A clear blue water “pool” surrounded by rocks gave the feel of being out far in the water (the floor drops way deep pretty quickly) complete with medium waves and rock formations under the water, but you’re in the safety of the enclosure. The husband was much braver than me and snorkeled out close to the opening to the ocean and he said it was pretty cool.

With the baby we didn’t stay too terribly long but long enough to try out the guaguita “el saber del norte”. We indulged in some pina coladas, alcapurrias, and empanadillas. A small chunk of change for some huge yummy flavors!

oh! and probably the BIGGEST share of the week was my drastic need for a new hairdo! I have naturally curly hair that is thick and long (well, shoulder length is pretty long for me) and takes FOREVER to dry. Recently i’ve been wearing a ponytail because 1. it’s too hard to blow dry my hair for 15+mins with a sleeping baby in the next room and 2. I no longer own a blowdryer, that I knew I needed a change. So to go along with the “new chapter” in our lives, I thought I’d start fresh and hack off the hair. WOW! how incredibly light and freeing this new do feels! I’ll be posting some better pics of it soon but I’m still working out the whole “holy crap my hair is short” phase of things.

Meal planning for next week. Trying out a different grocery store for hopefully a better selection of meats. That might actually help with the quality of this FOOD blog if I actually COOK something!

What’s for dinner tonight? Chicken wings with a soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, red pepper flake, and a garlic sorta marinade. Happy sunday night football!

(Reblogged from http://vabonvivant.com/2013/10/10/an-homage-to-julia/)