Creature of Habit; Or the Most Important Meal of the Day

When it comes to breakfast, I’m a creature of habit. Oatmeal with honey and cinnamon Mondays through Thursdays and Huevos a la Mexicana at La Reyna after the farmers market on Saturdays. Then, I make breakfast tacos on Sunday mornings.

The ingredients change, but almost never the ritual of Sunday morning tacos itself. So, I certainly wasn’t going to let a little thing like staying in a cabin and roughing it change anything. Luckily for me, we had a full kitchen. But we did forget the onions.

Rough Sunday Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients:

4-6 eggs depending on your hunger level (Ottmers Family Farms)

4-6 tortillas (the ones from Margarita’s that you have to cook yourself)

(Onions if you don’t forget them- Ottmers Family Farms)

Mushrooms (Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farms)

Wild Boar Chorizo, as much or as little as you’d like (Dai Due- I also suggest the Verde Chorizo from Kocurek Family Charcuterie)

Olive Oil, if needed (Texas Olive Ranch)

Cheese (whatever you have on hand; I like the caraway cheddar from Veldhuizen Farm)

Hot Sauce (May I suggest Extra-Terrestrial IV by the W. Ross Pepper Company out of Albuquerque?)

Brown the tortillas and put them in a tortilla warmer. Set aside.

Put the chorizo in the skillet. I use a large serving fork to break it up for crumbles.

As the chorizo cooks, add the sliced onions. Cook all until almost done, then add the sliced mushrooms.

When you’re happy with the cooking results, add the mixed eggs. Cook until done.

Split the ingredients up on your tortillas. Using a microplane, shred the cheese over the top.

Add a bit of the hot sauce of your choice, and you’re good to go.

If you’re able, enjoy scenery like as this while eating your tacos.

Porkandcheese Soup

The inspiration for this dish came from a recipe entitled Portuguese Soup. A few years back Lisa and I visited Portugal. We never encountered a national soup or any soup like this particular one, but then there was a lot of Portugal we didn’t sample. Anyway, it’s important to know: I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this dish and I would not posit that this soup describes Portugal with the same colorful detail that American Cheese describes America.

This soup is a favorite with the family during the holidays. We have a cousin that has a hard time with the word “Portuguese” so she refers to it as “pork-and-cheese soup.” This recipe contains no cheese, and a lot of times we don’t use pork; however, I contend Pork-and-cheese Soup is a better name than Portuguese Soup. It’s certainly no less descriptive or deceptive, and I don’t want to be responsible for tying all the fine people, the culture and the history of Portugal to this soup.

However in the interest of avoiding confusion and because we have to name it something, we’ll call it Porkandcheese Soup. If you prefer confusion, you may inform your dinner guests that this soup recipe is ancient, first crafted by the Porkandcheese Indians: nomads who once roamed North America hunting the wild herds of smoked sausages.

You will need:

Extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup of chopped onion

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1-1/2 cups cubed turnip

1-1/2 cups cubed potatoes

2 cups diced cauliflower

1 pound chopped kale, turnip tops, or any other green

1 1/2  pounds smoked sausage sliced

2 cups diced tomatoes

2 quarts of simmering bird or vegetable broth

6 shakes of W. Ross Pepper Company’s Extraterrestrial IV hot sauce (Tabasco works in a pinch)

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp paprika

Salt and pepper to taste (and whenever you feel like it)

Heat your kettle up (medium high) toss in the sausage and a little olive oil.  Cook until browned. Remove the sausage and put into a bowl. Dust the chili powder and paprika in and let it warm up for a moment. Add the onion, garlic, turnips, and cauliflower and mix around until everything has chili and paprika on it. Add a few drizzles of olive oil and sauté over medium heat. Stir in the greens (a little at a time) and let the whole thing sauté for another 10 minutes adding olive oil when needed.

Add the smoked sausage and all the juices that have pooled at the bottom of the bowl. Add the tomatoes. Mix that all together. Add the broth and hot sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer with a low flame for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes, simmer for 15 more minutes, then serve 4 or 5 hungry people.

–boo