I’m finally learning how to use a calendar and on Thursday I noticed that the next day would be my parents’ anniversary. Man, what a party we would be having if Dad was still with us. I called Mom.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“My schedule is open.”
“It’s your anniversary.”
“I know.”
“Your 50th anniversary.”
“I know.”
“You’re coming over for dinner.”
“Okay.”
I called my sisters and Mom’s best friend Carol Sue and we had ourselves a little party.
Since I had made some tortilla soup, we decided to have the soup and some carne asada. I simply made it easy and grilled some from Vallarta. It turned out that we didn’t even need it . . . the soup was that good.
I base my cooking on recipes and always tweak them to my taste, which I think is good for all of us to do. Here is the recipe:
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
2 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomato (pureed)
1 bay leaf
6-10 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
Teaspoon ground cumin
Teaspoon crushed red pepper
Half a bundle of cilantro (chopped)
Combine the above in large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer. Add chicken and a few handfuls of crushed corn tortillas and simmer until you think the flavors have melded. I let it go a half an hour at least. Most of the time I make the soup in the afternoon then serve it a few hours later for dinner. It just sits on the stove and melds away.
Chicken Marinade -- this time. I always change it up.
Tequila
milk
dry white wine
thyme
pepper
oregano
cayenne pepper
smoked paprika
This time I did a quick marinade with the above. I simply dumped differing amounts into a gallon zip-lock and mixed it about. I normally do about a tablespoon of the spices. I used the dry white wine because I had a little left over from a recipe. I used a double dose of the smoke paprika (I have so much left over from a recipe), but I think the marinade and the grill really mellowed it giving the soup a nice depth.
I grilled the chicken and then jerked it, using two forks to pull the meat apart into nice stringy chunks.
I’ll add more water, tomato, broth, chips, depending on taste and thickness—that’s how I cook. It is more about feeling than following steadfast rules.
I eat the soup with a dollop of sour cream, chopped green onion, chopped cilantro, and some extra chips.
It's good. I know Dad would love it . . . miss you Dad.
My son and I made a cake for my wife's birthday. We had a bag of Ghirardelli’s dark chocolate with raspberry squares leftover from some get-together, and we were not going to eat them by themselves, so we crushed them and put them as the center layer of the cake. Turned out really well; even looks good as a topping. We did the same with the cacao dark chocolate with caramel on another cake. Now I wonder what else we will think to put as filler . . . is it too late to use the Halloween candy?
