I just recently returned from a lovely trip back home, where I spent most of my time either teaching my niece bad habits like sticking your tongue out for pictures or attempting to save the family's cats from said niece's grabby little toddler hands, which just so happen to be perfectly sized for pulling tails. Upon our return to the desert, we have been greeted by both good and bad news.
First, the good news: my micropoultry done growed up!
Yes, what was once just eggs and then featherless blobs has turned into two proper chicklets.
Now, the bad news: the chicklets are gone.
The optimist in me points out that they were pretty close to fledging time, and they obviously couldn't stay forever. But then the realist in me points out that a certain cat was caught pawing at the window just before the birds vanished. And that the adult doves have been sitting in the planter and puttering around and making really sad sounds. So I've taken to calling the cat a birderer (a bird murderer) and feeling generally bummed about the whole affair, especially because it was my fault he was in the bedroom unattended.
Ok, now, before I get too depressed thinking about this, back to the good news: The Husband is on an extended chemo break! We returned from our trip back east to promptly wake at the crack of dawn to make the drive down to the TUX (thank goodness for time changes) and were told by the oncologist that, given the good results from the most recent scans/procedures, it made most sense to keep The Husband off of chemo until a followup scan next month. That's right: six weeks of not having to drive to TUX and not being drugged up make for GOOD TIMES.
To mark the occasion, we had celebratory taco and beer night and cracked open a couple of the many beers that The Husband and I had been squirreling away for when he could drink again.
Because these were celebratory tacos, they naturally had to be fancier than our usual tacos. I jazzed them up with some pickled watermelon radishes and some sauteed mushrooms and homegrown chard and what were probably the best beans I've ever made. Recipes below!
And speaking of homegrown, check out our garden!
I am seriously pleased with the little fella. There have certainly been problems, mostly in the bean category (I think there might have been some watering issues). But the chard, cavolo nero, and cilantro are already harvestable, there are tomatoes on the vine (and my two little from-seed plants are chugging along), and the radishes have gone blooming mad.
Check out those sweet pods on the radish plants. Little did I know that each plant makes about one bazillion pods, and we have seven or eight plants, so by my math we'll have about eleventy gazillion radishes to eat.
All in all, I consider this a win.
*EDIT: The Husband insists that I also inform you all that I added some corn (canned, because I'm one of those weirdos who eats the remainder of the corn straight from the can while everything else is cooking) to the beans near the end. And that the chard went into an onion-pepper-chard saute (thinly sliced up one red onion, half a jar of roasted red peppers, and some chard or other green, heat up in a pan with a little oil and Aleppo pepper, add adobo seasoning and a little cumin powder to taste, and cook until tender).
RECIPES!
Quick pickled radishes
Thinly slice (a mandoline is probably your best bet) a couple of radishes (I used watermelon radishes, but any would work). In a bowl with some semblance of a cover, mix up 1/2 c. white wine vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, and a pinch of salt. Add the radishes, making sure they are submerged, and leave to sit for at least 30 minutes.
Lazy sauteed mushrooms
Thinly slice up a portobello mushroom. In a frying pan, heat up a little oil, then add the mushroom and let cook on medium for about one minute. Add a couple of shakes of adobo seasoning (I use this blend) or your preferred fajita/taco spices and several glugs of Worcestershire sauce or vegetarian substitute. Let simmer until the mushrooms are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated (note that the mushrooms will release A LOT of liquid, so keep them uncovered).
Possibly my best beans ever. (For tacos, I prefer black beans over pinto, but any good meaty bean should work.)
If you're smart, soak about 1 cup of your preferred bean overnight. Drain, then put in a pressure cooker. Add to the beans 1 or 2 dried chipotle peppers, 3 or 4 bay leaves, and 1 tsp. each of cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Cook according to your pressure cooker's directions until just done. Once cooked, throw in a stick of cinnamon and let it infuse with the hot beans for about 1 hour, then remove. Drain out the beans, reserving the cooking liquid and the chipotle.
In a saute pan, heat up some chocolate olive oil (I get mine from an awesome AZ mill). De-stem and de-seed the now reconstituted chipotle, chop finely, then add to the pan. Mix well, and once the chile has cooked for 30 seconds or so, add in the beans. Mix in a large pinch each of Mexican oregano and epazote, then salt to taste (it can take a lot, so be generous). Stir in about 1/2 c. of the cooking liquid and let simmer on low for 30 minutes to 1 hour, adding liquid as necessary to keep the beans from drying out. I prefer my final bean product to be on the dry side, so I let most of the liquid cook off before serving, but if you like a soupier bean, then add the bean juice accordingly.
First, the good news: my micropoultry done growed up!
Yes, what was once just eggs and then featherless blobs has turned into two proper chicklets.
Now, the bad news: the chicklets are gone.
The optimist in me points out that they were pretty close to fledging time, and they obviously couldn't stay forever. But then the realist in me points out that a certain cat was caught pawing at the window just before the birds vanished. And that the adult doves have been sitting in the planter and puttering around and making really sad sounds. So I've taken to calling the cat a birderer (a bird murderer) and feeling generally bummed about the whole affair, especially because it was my fault he was in the bedroom unattended.
Ok, now, before I get too depressed thinking about this, back to the good news: The Husband is on an extended chemo break! We returned from our trip back east to promptly wake at the crack of dawn to make the drive down to the TUX (thank goodness for time changes) and were told by the oncologist that, given the good results from the most recent scans/procedures, it made most sense to keep The Husband off of chemo until a followup scan next month. That's right: six weeks of not having to drive to TUX and not being drugged up make for GOOD TIMES.
To mark the occasion, we had celebratory taco and beer night and cracked open a couple of the many beers that The Husband and I had been squirreling away for when he could drink again.
Because these were celebratory tacos, they naturally had to be fancier than our usual tacos. I jazzed them up with some pickled watermelon radishes and some sauteed mushrooms and homegrown chard and what were probably the best beans I've ever made. Recipes below!
And speaking of homegrown, check out our garden!
I am seriously pleased with the little fella. There have certainly been problems, mostly in the bean category (I think there might have been some watering issues). But the chard, cavolo nero, and cilantro are already harvestable, there are tomatoes on the vine (and my two little from-seed plants are chugging along), and the radishes have gone blooming mad.
Check out those sweet pods on the radish plants. Little did I know that each plant makes about one bazillion pods, and we have seven or eight plants, so by my math we'll have about eleventy gazillion radishes to eat.
All in all, I consider this a win.
*EDIT: The Husband insists that I also inform you all that I added some corn (canned, because I'm one of those weirdos who eats the remainder of the corn straight from the can while everything else is cooking) to the beans near the end. And that the chard went into an onion-pepper-chard saute (thinly sliced up one red onion, half a jar of roasted red peppers, and some chard or other green, heat up in a pan with a little oil and Aleppo pepper, add adobo seasoning and a little cumin powder to taste, and cook until tender).
RECIPES!
Quick pickled radishes
Thinly slice (a mandoline is probably your best bet) a couple of radishes (I used watermelon radishes, but any would work). In a bowl with some semblance of a cover, mix up 1/2 c. white wine vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, and a pinch of salt. Add the radishes, making sure they are submerged, and leave to sit for at least 30 minutes.
Lazy sauteed mushrooms
Thinly slice up a portobello mushroom. In a frying pan, heat up a little oil, then add the mushroom and let cook on medium for about one minute. Add a couple of shakes of adobo seasoning (I use this blend) or your preferred fajita/taco spices and several glugs of Worcestershire sauce or vegetarian substitute. Let simmer until the mushrooms are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated (note that the mushrooms will release A LOT of liquid, so keep them uncovered).
Possibly my best beans ever. (For tacos, I prefer black beans over pinto, but any good meaty bean should work.)
If you're smart, soak about 1 cup of your preferred bean overnight. Drain, then put in a pressure cooker. Add to the beans 1 or 2 dried chipotle peppers, 3 or 4 bay leaves, and 1 tsp. each of cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Cook according to your pressure cooker's directions until just done. Once cooked, throw in a stick of cinnamon and let it infuse with the hot beans for about 1 hour, then remove. Drain out the beans, reserving the cooking liquid and the chipotle.
In a saute pan, heat up some chocolate olive oil (I get mine from an awesome AZ mill). De-stem and de-seed the now reconstituted chipotle, chop finely, then add to the pan. Mix well, and once the chile has cooked for 30 seconds or so, add in the beans. Mix in a large pinch each of Mexican oregano and epazote, then salt to taste (it can take a lot, so be generous). Stir in about 1/2 c. of the cooking liquid and let simmer on low for 30 minutes to 1 hour, adding liquid as necessary to keep the beans from drying out. I prefer my final bean product to be on the dry side, so I let most of the liquid cook off before serving, but if you like a soupier bean, then add the bean juice accordingly.
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