Tuna Omelet From Leftovers And The Local Bite

While Madison was here, we went to Lakeside Tavern where we have eaten a few times and I had the Ahi Tuna Salad which was greens topped with rare tuna slices and I had most of the salad and three pieces of tuna leftover.  I didn’t get around to eating the salad before it went bad but the tuna was still in fine shape so I decided to have it in a breakfast omelet along with some Tillamook Cheddar.

It was very good but I added the tuna to the eggs too soon which allowed it to cook too much and toughen a little.

Madison Visits And We Made Chorizo Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes and Eggs And Posole

Madison was camping in the Smokies with her new puppy Clover (a Samoyed breed – Spitz family) so she swung by here from Gatlinburg to visit with us for a couple of days and as always it was great to see her.  Hard to believe she will be 29 in December – our oldest grandchild.  Here are a couple of shots of her with her Meme, Aunt Pat, and Grandpop.

When Chef Lea Ann posted her recipe Chorizo Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes and Eggs I knew I had to make it for my favorite meal of the day.  The chorizo I had in the freezer was too old so rather than make a store trip I decided to make my own (pics here and recipe below),  I left out the spicy items, used the recently made fresh tomato salsa in lieu of the red chile sauce and doubled the recipe.  Rather than reproduce Lea Ann's recipe here, you can get it by clicking on the first link above.  It made four well stuffed burritos.

Homemade Chorizo

I had planned to use the package of chorizo that had been in the freezer for a while, but after thawing, I discovered it was no longer useable.  Since I had a package of ground pork in the freezer and didn’t want to make a store trip, I decided to try making my own chorizo.  I went on line and found the recipe for Best Mexican Chorizo on “The Daring Gourmet” blog that looked good so I opted to give it a try.  I omitted the extra fat and anything with heat to get the recipe below and rather than mix the spice into the meat it a bowl, I just added them to it in the pan as it cooked.

Best Mexican Chorizo Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork

6 oz coarsely ground pork fat (ask your butcher)

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

Instructions:

I didn’t do the below.

Place the meat in a large bowl and all remaining ingredients. Use your hands to thoroughly combine the mixture. Place the it in a colander or sieve over a bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 days, daily squeezing out and discarding any liquid (this isn't absolutely necessary but it will more closely resemble the texture of store-bought chorizo). After 3 days, divide the meat up into 6 little 4 oz loaves, wrap each one in plastic wrap and place the loaves in a freezer bag or wrap again in aluminum foil. You can also use wax or freezer paper.

The chorizo will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months. Storing it longer doesn't really pose a safety concern, but the taste will suffer.

The Verdict:

The burritos were very good but a little salty so I’ll one use just one tsp. next time if I make my own chorizo.  Making the chorizo (sorta) worked well but without a few days for the meat to marry with the spices, I could pick out individual flavors, such as the cinnamon.  Since it’s hard to find no-heat chorizo in a store, making the meat this way worked well for Cindy and Bev.  I will definitely make this dish again but with purchased chorizo.

Easy Pork Pozole Verde Recipe

This recipe for Easy Pork Pozole Verde came from Capri on her “Good Food Baddie” blog and since I’ve used it before, I’ll just provide a link to my previous post rather than reproducing the recipe on here.  I used a 2½ lb. Iberico pork roast and pork broth from the freezer and could not get small cans of hominy at either Walmart or the Mexican store and we had to buy a 110oz one – sent the extra home with Madison. 

Look at all of the fat on the right.

The Verdict:

The posole turned out very good and Madison said it was one of the best soups she’s ever eaten – we sent the leftovers home with her.  It is frequently said that fat is flavor and so this pork should be the best meat on the planet - can't imagine why the Spanish want all of that fat.   After removing the fat before and after cooking it, I had about half the meat that the soup needed – this is a pic from a previous version.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/15/26 event date

Home From Townsend For Cindy’s Special Birthday Meal For Us

I’d mentioned in an earlier post that Bev, Pat and I were all celebrating BD’s with our trip to Townsend and Cindy's friend, Ernie, also had a Sep BD so Cindy wanted to make a special meal for all of us when we got home from our short trip.

Takeout-Style Kung Pao Chicken And Such A Simple Shower Fix

Since everyone here but Pat is trying to lose weight, we’ve been trying to cook healthier and lower calorie and this dish seemed to fit the bill.  We rarely make stir-fry but I’ve become a fan of “Serious Eats” and decided to use their recipe for Kung Pao Chicken  and Cindy wanted to cook so she followed the recipe as shown below which we adapted a little but the original can be found by clicking on the above link.

Mashed Potato Pancakes And Oven Baked Ribs

Mashed Potato Pancakes

After our baked steak and gravy meal, we had four cups of mashed potatoes and I decided to turn them into one of my favorite things – mashed potato pancakes.  I looked around the web and found several similar recipes which I combined into the one below.  Since Cindy wanted to cook she took over and followed the recipe.

Baked Steak in Brown Gravy, German Christmas Sausage, and Mexican Out

Whether you call it baked steak, country steak, or steak and gravy, it’s beef comfort food at it’s best especially when served with mashed potatoes and it was a good meal for Pat on her first day home.  She had a knee replaced on Apr 27^th and after a few days in the hospital, she went to a step-down unit until May 8.  She has been doing very well and in much less pain than I was. 

Beef Bone Broth, Gourmet Scrambled Eggs, And Cuban Sandwiches

As in the past, when our neighbors had their beef processed, I ended up with tail pieces (ox tails) and bones which I like to use to make broth and this was the day.  I had 7½ lbs. of bones and I began by roasting them at 400F for an hour.

Then I added them to my 16 qt. pot and added water to about ¾ full.

I cooked them on very low for 21 hours to get this very rich broth.  I had planned to add onion, carrot, and celery to the pot but forgot until too late.

Then I removed the bones and meat (separated it for the dogs) and let it set until the fat hardened on top and removed it.

Finally, it was strained and water added to get enough for 8 quart plastic bags.  But as we bagged it, two of the bags had a pin hole leak we could see and a third one leaked out in the sheet pan that I was about to freeze them on.  I don’t need this frustration so I’ll be buying beef broth from now on.  Since we cook chicken regularly for the dogs, I may still bag up and freeze these small batches of chicken broth.

Gourmet Scrambled Eggs

Recently, we had Creamy Lemon Garlic Salmon & Shrimp And Creamed Asparagus and we had both of the creamed sauces leftover which I used to top scrambled eggs for a delicious breakfast on two separate mornings.

Cuban Sandwiches

Remember our recent Mojo Pork meal, well we had plenty of leftover pork and opted to invite our neighbors down for Cuban Sandwiches.  I made the sandwiches as I had done previously using my yet-to-be-patented panni press.

We served it with the mojo broth from cooking and we thought they were better than the local Cuban restaurant - the mojo pork made a big difference.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/25-5/2/25 event dates

Cindy And I Eat Plenty Of Seafood - Part 1 - Lots Of Pics

As mentioned in the last post, Bev is gone so Cindy and I are having our twice/year seafood-a-thon and it began with the Greek Salmon in the previous post.  We had 1½ lbs. of fish left over and she turned them into Salmon patties using the recipe from “Natasha’s Kitchen”  while we had mid-March snow showers when a cold front went through.

Tuscan White Beans

When Pam posted the recipe for Tuscan Gigante Beans on her “For The Love Of Cooking” blog I new I wanted to make it, but I also know that Bev doesn’t like lima beans in any form – it’s the texture and also applies to chickpeas.  However, she does like white beans so I decided to just make the dish with Great Northern Beans.  Since I was sure we would like the beans, I made a double recipe as shown below.  Click on the link above to check out Pam's site for the original recipe and some great pics.

Delicious Corned Beef Hash For Breakfast

During a recent market trip, Bev picked up two packages of corned beef and I froze the smaller one and cooked the larger one.  I decided it was large enough to eat some for supper with still plenty left over for corned beef hash.  The size of the ingredients is a matter of personal preference but after eating some Neuske’s Corned Beef Hash, I think I like the smaller pieces better even though they take more time to prepare.

Delicious and Easy Vegetable Cheese Sausage Breakfast Casserole And Christmas Tree

I’ve always enjoyed breakfast casseroles and have made, and posted about, many of them over the years and lately I decided I really, really like them as they can be made then eaten on for several days.  For this one, I used the recipe for Easy Vegetable Cheese Sausage Breakfast Casserole from Serious Eats and I made it as shown below.

Birthday Lunch For Cindy At Chesapeake's

Cindy had a birthday while Bev was in Florida so we finally were able to take her out to lunch this day and as a seafood lover, we took her to Chesapeake’s Seafood House in West Knoxville.  They are one of the Copper Cellar Family of Restaurants, which is a local chain that, in addition to Chesapeake’s, includes Calhoun’s, Copper Cellar, Cappuccino’s, Cherokee Grill, Corner 16, and Smoky Mountain Brewery with locations around the Knoxville area and in Gatlinburg.

The Last Of The Delicious Brisket

Since most of the trees around here are oak, hickory, and poplar, we don't get much bright color but our burning bushes and providing us with some late fall beauty.

When I was growing up, my mom would get at least three meals from a Sunday pot roast and I’m having some similar results with my brisket.  You’ve seen my first two brisket meals (brisket and burnt ends), then my neighbors and Eliza’s dad each got a meals worth of it and then I got a couple more final meals.  Following the burnt ends and burnt ends hash, we had brisket sandwiches where the sliced brisket was reheated in the broth then I had mine open faced on a burger bun with each half topped with broth, then a slice of smoked gouda, the brisket, more broth, and pickled red onions - it was delicious.

My First Try At Making Burnt Ends

One of the things I was looking forward to from the brisket cook was making burnt ends for the first time.  Normally they are made as soon as the brisket is done cooking but since that happened at 7:30pm, I was not inclined to make them for a 11pm meal, so I waited until the next day.

Eating Out More, Great Breakfast Leftovers, And RV Cleanout

My desire to cook seems to be waning and both of us have long since pasted the desire to clean up the kitchen so we have decided to eat more meals out and we started with a Sunday visit to the Dockside Grill at Tellico Marina which is less than a 10 minute drive from home.  After a 10am BLT for breakfast, we made it to the restaurant a little before 3pm to find just a small crowd, which was perfect.  This is the view of the main dining area and the harbor from our table with lots of boats going in and out to just look around.  

The Greenbrier Hotel And Resort Wrap-Up & Cindy Knee

On Friday Morning we again ate breakfast in the main dining room as our final meal at the Greenbrier and again we ordered from the menu (link above).  This is a shot about 2/3 of the room, the drapes and a chandelier.