Oh Yes, It's Burrito Night!

Burrito night has come again! Woo hoo! It's burrito time! It's our second burrito night. I could say 2nd annual Burrito night, because the last one was probably a year ago.

What's great about this burrito night, is that we used leftover food from the night before. Leftover Prime Rib and extra Pork we had from the Tamales. Our neighbor Chris came over to enjoy the feast. It was a great meal! Everyone was stuffed, we even had breakfast burritos the next day! LOL

So let's take a look at the menu...





The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is the leftover Prime Rib. We fried it in a pan with a bit of Olive Oil, Cumin, and Carne Asada Seasoning.


Some sauteed boneless chicken fried in a pan with Olive Oil, Cumin, Chili Powder, Black Pepper, Carne Asada Seasoning, Fresh Garlic, onion, and tiny bit of Salt.



These are Pork Tamales. These are the best Tamales ever! Yum yum! My Mom made these.

Black Beans. These were simmering in a pot with onion, cumin, black pepper, garlic salt, and a squeeze of lime.


Mexican Rice. This was Long Grain Rice, that was browned with a bit of oil and onion. Cumin, Beef Bouillon, Tomato Sauce, and some other seasonings. Simmered to perfection.



My famous guacamole. It doesn't look so famous right here. Sorry bad lighting. But, it was still tasty!


These were killer too! Fresh refried pinto beans. They were boiled. Then fried with bacon fat and other seasonings. I can't say enough how much I loved these!


This was the leftover pork from the Tamales. This was already seasoned with chili's and spices. I fried it in a pan with a tiny bit of Cumin and Carne Asada Season.

This is fresh Salsa my Moms made. It has diced onion, tomatoes, cilantro, pickled carrots and jalapenos. Spicy!


Here's a closer look at some of the dishes. This was the Mexican rice. It was very flavorful.


Pork Tamale with a dash of Mrs. Renfros Green Salsa!



Pork Tamale with Guacamole and Cheese on top. This was freaking onolicious!

Chicken Burrito with all the fixings.


Here is JP's "Prime-Ritto" lol He gave it that name.



And of course a little Cerveza to accompany the festivities! We also had Jarritos Mexican sodas, that Chris brought. I love the Tamarind flavor.




Burrito night was a hit! Hopefully we'll have a third. Burritos were enjoyed by all. Thanks to my Mom who has now gone back home, helped make our 2nd Burrito Night a success!

~Feather


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Mom's Home Cooking

Hi everyone! I must apologize for the lack of posts. We have been really busy! With that said, my Mom is in town for the holidays! So I haven't done much cooking! LOL

My Mom is visiting from San Diego, CA where she is the Food Service Director for the YMCA. She cooks for hundreds of people on a daily basis and is an excellent chef. Since she's been here she has been whipping up tasty meals for the family! The kids really enjoy her cooking. She and the kids have been doing Christmas cookies. She even made some for Nya's class to decorate. I'll have to feature those on another post. There is so much food in this house, I haven't had time to snap shots of everything.

Tonight we had a nice big dinner! My Mom started preparing food yesterday! She cooked everything by herself. All that hard work paid off, because the meal was soooo good! I'll give a quick break down of each dish so you can see what was on the menu.


She did a whole Roasted Chicken. She put herbs and butter under and on top of the skin. Then poured fresh squeezed lemon juice all over, and roasted in the oven.


There was a roasted Prime Rib seasoned with herbs and spices. It was delicious! Very tender!


Roasted Herb Finger Potatoes, which were also very tasty.


Brusell Sprouts with bacon and onion. These were good, she used the bacon with the Maple syrup in it. Yum!


Red Rice. This is Guamanian dish. This rice is made with rice, peas and Achuete Annatto Powder. Then you top it with fresh Green Onion and Bacon!

Then the labor of love! She had to prepare these the night before. She did Pork, Cheese, and Fruit Tamales. These were soooooo good! Just thinking about them, makes me want some more! lol Topped with Mrs. Renfros green salsa, these were excellent.


We also had Hawaiian Sweet bread, Asparagus, and a Green Salad. This was a great meal! We ate it up. Hopefully I can feature one more dish before she leaves. I'll have to get the recipes too. It's always nice to get a break from cooking once in a while. Especially to enjoy some good eats!





~Feather


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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Banginfood.com! Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Holiday!

JP and Feather

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Salsarita's Fresh Cantina

Over this past weekend JP and I had the opportunity to have some much needed time away. We felt it was a good time to go and try out some food spots we've been meaning to get to in the past few months. On the agenda, Salsarita's Cantina!

Unfortunately I left the camera in the car, so we didn't get any shots of our meal. JP and I, always love a good dose of Mexican cuisine. This place has come highly recommended by a few of our friends. We were out and about cruising the town, and decided to stop in. Before we arrived, JP checked with a friend for some suggestions on what we should order. We were told the Beef Burritos and Taco Salad were good choices.

Salsarita's is located at 5135 Sunset Blvd Suite H Lexington, SC 29072. Right in the shopping plaza were Target is. Walking into Salsarita's isn't like the hip and ultra modern Chipotle. It has a more rustic appeal to it. The place was packed, but there was plenty of seating. Glancing over the menu, they offer Tacos, Taco Salads, Burritos, Quesadillas, Nachos, Salads, Enchiladas, and even pizzas! We were told for the burritos we could just pick a tortilla size and then start choosing our ingredients. There are two sizes for the burrito regular and large. Regular is a normal sized burrito and large is just ridiculous! LOL We chose the regular because we wanted dessert afterward. We chose the shredded beef burrito. We filled our burritos with shredded beef,rice, black beans, hot salsa, cheese, flavored sour cream (not sure what is was flavored with), and gauc. We also ordered a side of chips and warm queso. The price was pretty reasonable with the addition of drinks. Speaking of drinks, they also offer Margaritas and Non-Alcoholic Margaritas.

Okay so here is the moment of truth. We got our goods, it's tasting time! The chips and queso were pretty tasty. Tasted like most of the chips and queso we've had at other places. So moving on to the burrito. My first bite seemed okay. I thought it tasted pretty good. I think JP felt otherwise about his. As I got deeper into mine, I noticed that the beef was extremely salty. JP and I both agreed it was very salty! We both had to throw on extra dashes of hot sauce to make it through. LOL If it weren't for the over saltiness I would have given the burrito a decent rating. Because it was so salty I can only give it a 5.5. JP gave it a flat 5.0. Overall the meal was just okay for us. I think we need to come again and try something else before we can really say we either love or hate the place. I will say we did like it better than Moe's!

~Feather

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Recipe of The Day: Pot Roast Stew

Hi all! Today is a rainy foggy day. I wanted to cook some comfort food today. I figure stew and rain go great together! So here we go...


I had a bunch fresh produce in my fridge I knew I wanted to throw together and make some kind of stew or soup. I bought a nice medium sized pot roast and cut it in half. I like to split up all my meat so I can have more to utilize. Anyhow, I pretty much just improvised this and had no real recipe. This dish is good, because you pretty much just let it do it's thing for a few hours. So it's not to labor intensive. lol You can add or subtract any vegetable you want. You can get creative with it!

Pot Roast Stew

Prep Time: 20-30 Minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Serving Size: 4-6 People

Ingredients:

1 half of a medium sized pot roast (you can use a whole one if you like)
2 stalks of celery
4 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
1 large carrot
4 medium red new potatoes
a nice handful of small white mushrooms
salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste
Olive Oil for browning

I did not get a picture of the potatoes in there. You can use Russet potatoes if you like.
Start off by giving your piece of meat a nice coat of seasoning. Cover the entire piece. You can also trim any fat off. I like to keep the fat, it gives the meat nice flavor.



Drizzle Olive Oil in your pot. Then on medium high heat brown the meat on all sides. You want to do this quickly. You are not going to cook the meat all the way. So, your meat should come out looking something like this. Place on a plate and put it to the side for now. I am using my Technique Enamel Cast Iron 4 qt Chef's Pot for this dish. This pot is very heavy duty and is perfect for stews.

After I removed the meat from the pot I added in about a cup of water. I turned the heat up a little high. I started scraping around the pot to get all the nice bits left from the meat. I took that and placed it in a bowl to save for later.

I roughly chopped up my veggies.

Turn your heat back down to medium. Drizzle a little bit of Olive Oil in the pot. Throw in your vegetables and cook the veggies until they are tender. Do not overcook them.

Once vegetables are tender, place your roast back in the pot. Also, take that bowl of juices and bits and put into pot.


Add in 3 cups of water. Place a tight lid on pot. Cook for 3 1/2-4 hours. Try not to lift the lid to often. I maybe check on it once or twice just to give it a stir.


The last step is to throw in your potatoes. So in the last 20 minutes is when you want to throw them in. Some of the stock may be cooked down. So you can just add in another cup of or so of water if it is low. You need to have enough to cook your taters. Be sure to taste your stew. Add in any more seasoning if necessary. Once potatoes are tender you are ready to eat! You could eat this by itself or have some rice along with it. This is a nice hearty meal. Perfect for any rainy day. Enjoy!

~Feather
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Recipe of The Day: Chicken Katsu Revisited

I have posted this recipe before, but have never did a step by step picture post of it. I happen to be making it today, so I decided to go ahead and take some pics.


If you can fry chicken, then you can most definitely make this recipe. It's very simple. You can also use a pork cutlet, and then you'd have Tonkatsu. I like to eat Katsu with raw shredded cabbage with Japanese Mayo and Japanese Salad oil seasoning. A nice side of hot rice is good too.

Chicken Katsu

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 20-30 Minutes
Serving Feeds: Family of 4


Ingredients:
4-5 boneless thighs (it's best to use thighs, because they are juicy)
1 package Panko Japanese bread crumbs (you can find these in some grocery stores or Asian markets)
2 eggs
flour for dredging
salt, pepper and garlic salt ( season as much as you want. I keep it light, because I like to dip in the sauce)
oil for frying



Give chicken a nice light coat of salt, pepper, and garlic. Put it to the side. Get three bowls. Crack your eggs and add a bit of water and lightly beat. The other bowls, fill them with a generous amount of flour and panko.



Okay, dip the chicken in the egg first. Now you can use your hand or a fork. If you use your hands, be sure to keep one dry hand. After you dip in the egg dip into the flour. Then go back and dip in the egg again. Finish it off by dipping in panko. Make sure you coat the chicken well.

Now, you can also fry these in a deep fryer if you have one. I do own one, but I'm to lazy to pull that thing out. LOL So I chose to fry on the stove. Put your stove on medium heat. You do not want the chicken to cook to fast on the outside. If your oil starts to get a little dirty turn the heat down a bit. You can also get a strainer and just strain out the dark parts. Fry the chicken until it is a nice golden brown color.

You should end up with something that looks like this. I let them drain on a paper towel and rest for a few minutes.


Once I have all of my chicken cooked. I cut them into strips and place them on a nice plate. If you won't be serving these right away. You can place them in a warm oven.


And that's it! You can serve with some hot gohan (rice) and some nice veggies. This is a great way to try something different.

Here is a Tonkatsu sauce recipe if you wish to dip the chicken in a sauce.
Tonkatsu Sauce:

1/4 cup ketchup
4 teaspoons rice wine
4 teaspoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons applesauce
4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
4 teaspoons yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder


JP Note: These are delicious. The chicken is really tender and the breading isn't overpowering.
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Happy Election Day

Happy Election Day from Banginfood! Be sure to exercise your right to vote today. We got up at 4Am, and are happy to say we were first in line. The line quickly grew, and luckily JP had the great idea to get there early. Our kids even did mock voting at school yesterday. This is an historic day. Don't miss out. Happy Voting!

~JP and Feather
Banginfood.com

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