Hatch Chile Tortilla Soup

Hatch Chile Tortilla Soup

4 large summer tomatoes
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 frozen package corn
4 hatch chiles, roasted, stemmed and seeded, then diced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Slice the tomatoes in half, place cut side down onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Broil for 5 minutes.

Add the remaining olive oil to a dutch oven and heat over medium. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Add the garlic, cumin and salt, cook for 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes and their juices to the pan. Stir in the broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Blend with a hand blender. Stir in the black beans, corn, hatch chiles and chicken breasts. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred with two forks, return the shredded chicken to the pot. Serve, topped with tortilla chips, cheese and avocado slices.

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Houston

I had a recipe set to post today, but in light of the last few days, I decided against it.  Houston and the surrounding areas have suffered massive losses.  We have been incredibly lucky to only have to deal with a leaking roof and fireplace.  So many of my dear friends have suffered so much through the rains of Hurricane Harvey.  Many people have been forced to evacuate, leaving their homes and all their possessions behind, not knowing what they will be coming home to or even when they will be allowed to return home.  I have a friend who's neighborhood was overwhelmed with rising flood waters and her amazing husband got in his canoe and rescued hundreds of people.  The devastation and sadness is immense.  The life changing decisions that are having to be made right now in our city breaks my heart.  I didn't grow up here, but for the last 22 years I have been proud to call Houston my home.  I love this city and the people in it.  And I hope the rains stop so that we all can get a chance to collect ourselves.  

A friend texted me a picture of a fresh baked loaf of bread she had just made from a recipe on the blog.  Most grocery stores aren't open and the ones that are certainly don't have bread, that was sold out last week.  I know it's a silly thing, especially in such a dark time, but I got a little smile this morning knowing that bread was being baked through all this mess.  We baked  my grandmother's Lazy Daisy cake on Saturday, having a slice of cake each day has brought a tiny bit of joy to us.  Cooking and baking is part of my family life and I am so grateful to be able to share that with you.  I hope that all my neighbors are safe, warm and enjoying a good meal through this storm.  The rescues continue and Houston's strength is showing. #HoustonStrong

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Peach Lemonade

Miss F's school participates in the program, One School, One Book, every summer. The whole school reads the same book and activities are planned around it during the start of school. This summer, they read The Lemonade War.  The kids were encouraged to have a lemonade stand over the summer.  Miss F wanted to incorporate the fresh Palisade peaches we were loving in Colorado in her lemonade and the results were fantastic.  As a side note, our house in Colorado came furnished, complete with a peach and lemon breakfast table.  I despise it and hope to replace it soon, but it was the perfect backdrop for fresh peach lemonade.  Miss F made some pocket money after purchasing her supplies and had a great time with the lemonade stand.

Peach Lemonade

8 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 large peaches, pitted and chopped
1 cup lemon juice, from about 5 large lemons

In a small saucepan, combine 2 cups of water with the sugar and the peaches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Place a sieve over a bowl and pour the peach liquid from the saucepan through it. Press to extract all the juice from the peach pieces. Stir together the remaining 6 cups water, the lemon juice and the strained peach juice. Refrigerate and serve over ice.

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Rainbow Trout with Green Bean Succotash

City Market finally had trout! It was cause for much celebration.  We decided to take our favorite farm stand's vegetables and combine them with Miss F's favorite ever fish.  She did eat her corn raw, because she prefers it that way, but she inhaled her most favorite fish.  This was the first meal we enjoyed on our new patio set, that I triumphantly put together all by myself.  It was a true feat.  We only have a few days left of patio dining and then it is back to Houston where patio dining won't be an option for months to come.

Rainbow Trout with Green Bean Succotash

2 rainbow trout filets
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 ears corn, shucked and kernels cut from cob
¾ cup chopped green beans
½ cup grape tomatoes, cut into halves
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend

Coat the trout filets with the flour and sprinkle with the salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the trout skin side down, sauté for 5 minutes. Flip and sauté for 3 minutes more. Remove the trout to a plate, cover to keep warm. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan. Add the corn, green beans, tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Sauté for 4 minutes, stirring often. Plate the succotash and top with a fish filet.

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Fish Tacos with Tomatillo Cream Sauce

Miss F and I are loving our summer of seafood.  She is mildly obsessed with the green sauce at Pappasitos and I make a quick version of equal parts tomatillo salsa and sour cream to appease her.  I have been wanting to use it on fish tacos forever, just never got around to it.  I do miss our seafood selections in Houston, the seafood counter is much more limited here in the mountains of Colorado.  I am still a little bitter that trout is so hard to come by.  These tacos are the perfect summer meal and couldn't be any easier.

Fish Tacos with Tomatillo Cream Sauce

¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup tomatillo salsa
pinch of salt

For the Baja Fish Tacos:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound mild fish, I used cod, but would prefer red snapper
½ teaspoon salt
8 small corn or flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cabbage (I used a cole slaw bag, so it had some carrots as well)
1 avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
1-2 limes, cut into wedges

Whisk together the sour cream, salsa and salt. Set aside.

Add butter and oil to a large non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the garlic to the pan for 30 seconds. Season the fish on both sides with the salt. Sauté the fish 2 to 4 minutes a side until cooked through.

Take a tortilla and add a small amount of the cabbage, squeeze a little lime over it (this helps flavor it a bit), then add the fish pieces and top with the avocado. Top with a drizzle of tomatillo cream and a squeeze of lime juice.

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Palisade Peach Pie

I had never heard of Palisade Peaches before, but my BFF raved about them when we were talking about peaches (like you do) and so when I saw a pick up truck with a giant "Palisade Peaches" sign, I knew I had to stop.  I got a huge bag of peaches for $8, one of which was eaten by Miss F straight away, and knew pie was in my future.  I used refrigerate pie crusts because I didn't want to try and deal with making pie crust in a kitchen with out air conditioning.  We are hosting Thanksgiving in Colorado and I will attempt homemade crust then, when there will hopefully be snow on the ground.  C loved the filling, but was meh on the crust.  I guess he much prefers homemade, who doesn't?

Palisade Peach Pie

3 ½ pounds peaches
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup flour
2 refrigerated prepared pie crusts

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and make a large bowl of ice water. Score an “X” into the bottom of each of the peaches. Boil each peach for a minute, then put straight into the bowl of ice water. Peel the peaches, then slice into wedges.

In a large bowl, stir together the peaches, lemon juice, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Place the one of the pie crusts into a pie pan. Add the peach mixture to the pan, mounding high in the center. Top with the second pie crust and crimp the edges to seal. Make three cuts in the center of the crust to vent the pie.

Place the pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and cover the edges of the pie with foil, bake for 30 to 40 minutes more. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Summer Shrimp Stir Fry

I have had this recipe from Pioneer Woman pinned for years.  I finally got around to making it for Miss F and I, but I made a bunch of changes from the original.  We don't have air conditioning in Colorado, even though we are at nearly 9000 feet, it gets hot in the evening.  I prefer to spend as little time in front of the stove as possible, so I decided to cook everything at once instead of in phases.  The tomatoes melted into the butter providing the most delicious sauce which was really brightened up with the squeeze of lemon at the end.  You could easily toss a half pound of angel hair with this dish for an even more substantial meal.  But cooking angel hair means more heat in my kitchen, so that wasn't happening.

Summer Shrimp Stir Fry

3 tablespoons butter
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, sliced
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Juice of ½ lemon

Melt the butter in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, garlic, zucchini, corn, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Squeeze the lemon half all over the shrimp and vegetables, toss well to coat, serve.

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