Wrapping it up

Okay, I feel guilty about culture schilling for Kraft so I figure I ought to push some homemade food. Tonight I felt a bit lazy so I made wraps. I had been thinking about the 1988 film, The Milagro Beanfield War, (which is actually on the idiot box as I type - great film) and got in the mood for some Hispanic flavours. I used some pork shoulder that I had steamed for four hours last night and proceeded thusly:

- Sauteed steamed pork in olive oil on medium/low heat with two cloves of garlic, diced onion and chilis - including chipolte.
- As they cook together, I added 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, 1/8 a cup of parsley and a pinch of hot paprika.
- I added a small amount of 5 year old English cheddar.
- Lastly, I added in some brown rice and black beans and sauteed it with the rest of the ingredients for about five minutes.
- I rolled it all in white flour tortillas and consumed.

Gotta say, it was damned tasty. Geo - learn to love the cilantro.

A Sort of Spanish Rice Dish

The past year has seen me become rather obsessed with paprika. At one time I was rather non-plused by paprika and only thought of it as that spice you have to add to make chili. However, my Dad's wife introduced me to good quality paprika and especially smoked paprika. Yesterday, I made a simple rice and bean dish with chicken.

1 cup of rice and 1 cup of Great Northern Beans. Cook ahead of time and mix together.

Add olive oil to a pan, heat it up and add 2 cloves of garlic and 1/4 diced white onion. (my preference) As you sautee, add 1 mildly heaping tsp of smoked paprika and a couple of dashes of saffron. I also added 7 pepper pods - these small dried pods containing seeds - and a dash of nutmeg. (I have to grind whole nuts)
I cooked this for a about 35 minutes in the pan and served with a chicked thigh that I had stripped and spooned green salso over. I garnished this with fresh cilantro. I would have served it with a beer of some sort, but didn't have any. Oh well. ¡Arriba!

- Magnus