A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck

At any given time I usually have 3-5 hot sauces going in my fridge/cupboard -- a sriracha, a vinegary one (Frank's right now), a non-vinegary one (Cholula right now), and then whatever else is interesting. At the moment, the interesting category is occupied by several different delicious hot sauces from Bushel & Peck's, a fermenting operation in Beloit Wisconsin that frequents our farmers market.

Their "cherry bomb hot sauce" has been my favorite hot sauce for over a year. I think it's the garlic and fermentation that give it a rich unctuousness that matches the heat. I use it as a steak sauce, sandwich condiment, dressing, salsa . . . really just about anything.

I was also recently charmed by their "way better sriracha," (see left) which had a sweet brightness at the farmers market that knocked my socks off. Also it had an eye-catching color that I just had to have. But is it a bad thing when your favorite thing about a hot sauce is its beautiful color? Somehow the bottle at home has not lived up to my memory of its taste, but I have still nearly finished it in less than a month.


The "tomatillo hot sauce" is delicious too. Green hot sauces aren't my favorites, but this is one of my favorite green hot sauces. If you are the kind of person who prefers green salsa to red salsa you might prefer this one even to the cherry bomb. Can also be substituted as a salsa if you, like me, eat hot sauce by the spoonful.

To order their hot sauces you have to use their Etsy store, which is a little cumbersome but worth it.

Simple-Not-Simple Italian Wedding Soup

I haven't been eating out as much lately, which means (happily) that I have been cooking more. Tonight was a simple-not-simple Italian Wedding Soup. It was simple in that tonight all I did was boil some chicken stock with some raw meatballs, broken pieces of pasta, and two bunches of sorrel. It was not-simple in that I had made the meatballs several days earlier and made the stock several days before that. I love it when a soup comes together.

[Two asides about ingredients: 

1, I'm not sure I've ever eaten sorrel before, but I snacked on some raw leaves while making the soup, and it is delicious! With a surprisingly strong citrusy edge, this really makes the soup. 

2, This is the first major dish I made with the bounty from our Mint Creek Farm meat CSA and it may have single-handedly converted me. The meat-flavored elements (broth, meatballs) are fairly simple, but they were surprisingly rich and flavorful -- especially the meatballs, which might be some of the best meatballs I've made, even on this year's meatball-making streak.]

Italian Wedding Soup 

Day 0: Make stock, inspired by Deb. One pound chicken wings, two quarts water, half an old onion sitting in my fridge, one garlic clove, one heaping tablespoon of salt -- all in the crockpot for about 12 hours. Strain, put in snapware, put in fridge.

Day 2: Make meatballs, again inspired by Deb. Half pound ground turkey, half pound ground pork, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup panko, 1/3 cup milk, 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder (I used 1 tsp Penzey's Adobo seasoning, because I was out of onion powder), crushed garlic -- all mixed together in a bowl with a fork. Shape into small balls with a big table spoon, and then refrigerate or freeze until souptime.

Day 5: Make soup. Come home, pour stock (and some boiling water) into pot, start heating. Once it's bubbling, add meatballs, cover and simmer. After about ten minutes, add some pasta (I used the remaining 1/4 box of rotini in the cupboard). After about ten more minutes, test a meatball. Stir in the sorrel and eat.

I wish I could just make soups all winter.

Chili Mac & Cheese

For the past 6-9 months I have been vaguely obsessed with a dish I have never actually had, called "chili mac." The name combines two of my favorite comfort foods, but when I actually learned from online recipes what this dish entailed, it didn't seem nearly so enticing. Another member of my household was very disappointed to learn that it's chili plus macaroni, not chili plus macaroni AND CHEESE. But that naturally prompted the question ... what would chili mac & cheese look like?

The experiment: Brown some ground beef in a big, heavy skillet. Get it really brown -- if the bits start getting a little crunchy, you're doing it right. Add 4 tsp mild chile powder (I use New Mexico for chili) and some garlic and some salt and keep browning. Set aside.

Meanwhile, make your favorite macaroni and cheese. (Mine involves a rough and ready mornay, but you could probably do this from a box too if you prefer. I made the roux in the ground beef skillet.) Then fold the browned bits of ground beef into the pasta.

I didn't get my ground beef brown enough and my cheese sauce was thicker than I wanted, but still the results were really satisfying -- the best macaroni and cheese hack I've had in a long time. I used a ratio of 1 pound ground beef to 6 oz. dry pasta and associated cheese, which seemed about right.

I'll be trying this again.

Enchiladas

Topping: Take one pound dried beans (I like Rancho Gordo), three minced onions, and 1/2 CUP (8 tablespoons!) of chili powder -- in this case I used about 1/4 cup New Mexico chili, which was all I had, and 1/4 cup ancho chili -- add water, and put them in your slowcooker, or a pot, and cook until done.

Filling: Take one big block (16 oz.) cheddar cheese, two 10 oz. packages of frozen spinach, and one diced red onion -- grate the cheese, thaw the spinach in a colander in your sink with hot water running over it (let it drain!) and dice the onion, and put them all in a bowl. Add some salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

Assembling: Grease a baking pan. Take a stack of 12 tortillas, microwave them for 30 seconds, and then start rolling: Take each tortilla, dip it in the bean mix, take a handful of spinach/cheese mix, and roll the tortilla around the mix. Stick it up against the side of the pan, then repeat. I usually fill 14 stuffed tortillas in a pan.

Baking: 350 degrees, 15 minutes. You can put grated cheese on top if you want, but these are already full of cheese so I wouldn't.