Tostadas con Pollo en Escabeche {"Pickled" Chicken Tostadas}

There's something about tostadas that just equals fun.  I mean, balancing a pile of tasty toppings that are battling you with every bite.  The food tastes so darn good that you can't wait to close your lips around it, yet certain toppings seem to yearn to jump kamikaze to the floor...the table...your plate...your shirt...before they make it to your mouth.  Well, I for one am willing to coax tangy, juicy chicken, spiced black beans, and a warm, crispy shell in the right direction.  I'm even ready to use my already messy fingers to pick up stragglers.  Believe me, it's all worth it.

Pollo En Escabeche
Pickled Chicken
slightly adapted from Fiesta at Rick's by Rick Bayless
serves ~4

6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
¼ c. olive oil
¼ c. apple cider vinegar
⅔ c. chicken broth
pinch ground cloves
pinch granulated sugar
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp. freshly ground canela (Mexican cinnamon)
½ tsp. dried Mexican oregano
~1¼ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 medium onion, sliced ¼" thick

for serving:
12 tostadas
~2 c. refried black beans
4 hardboiled eggs, sliced
cilantro, chopped

Dry-roast the unpeeled garlic cloves on a skillet over medium heat until soft and blotchy-black in places, ~15 minutes.  Peel and add to blender jar along with oil, vinegar, broth, cloves, sugar,  spices, oregano and ½ tsp. salt.  Puree until smooth.  Pour mixture into a large skillet (~10") and bring to a simmer.  Nestle the chicken inside the simmering broth and cook gently until chicken is cooked, ~18 minutes.  Scoop the sliced onion into a bowl, then pour the hot cooked chicken mixture over it.  Cool, remove chicken and coarsely shred.  Stir back into mixture, then taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

To serve, heat the beans and spread a layer on top of the tostada shells.  Lay a few slices of hard-boiled egg over the beans, then spoon some of the chicken (hot or at room temp.) on top and sprinkle with cilantro.

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Easy Refrigerator Pickles

My absolute favorite types of pickles (cucumber pickles) are the In-Your-Face-Garlic-Breath kind of pickles.  These are not those kind...but I hope to make some soon.  These are simple refrigerator pickles...in other words, not "canned".  Make them in small batches to eat over the summer.  Those weeks when you know you'll be cooking out a lot are the perfect excuse to turn a few cucumbers into no-hassle pickles.  Quick pickles are also the perfect time to experiment with flavors.  Test out different herbs, spices and add-ins...that way, when it comes time for preserving large batches for canning, you can make new varieties with the flavor combos you like best!  Last weekend at the Farmer's Market I bought three long and lovely seedless cucumbers.  I did not buy dill.  I could have sworn there was some growing in our community garden, or at the very least that I still had some dried.  Nope...on both counts.  Therefore, my pickles were not dill pickles...but they were still delicious!  We grilled up some burgers, bbq chicken and hotdogs...these were a fabulous accompaniment to all of them.  Slightly sweet with a little lingering heat.  I cut each cucumber a different way, for different textures and jarred them separately.  One was thin and flat.  Another was slightly thicker and wavy (cool cutter from Pampered Chef). And the third was cut on the bias, thick and wavy (big 'uns). The thin ones tucked nicely into hotdog buns...the slightly thicker, wavy slices rocked with tangy bbq chicken...and the big 'uns were perfect for stacking a burger! 

Sweet and Spicy Refrigerator Pickles
for one small batch...depending on how you slice your cucumber, it'll fill a quart jar 1/2 full to all-the-way-full!

1 seedless cucumber (~6-8" long), sliced as you wish
3 Tbs. cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
few grinds of black pepper

a few big pinches of each:
crushed red pepper flakes
yellow mustard seed
celery seed
dehydrated garlic

Combine everything in a clean 1 qt. jar and shake it up until the cucumber slices are well-coated with everything.  Store in the refrigerator.  Use as needed, turning/shaking gently the jar occasionally (because the liquid does not cover the cukes completely).  Will keep for at least a few weeks.

This post is linked to Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade and Wholesome Whole Foods at Health Food Lover.

Farmer's Market Treasures & Pickled Currants!

While at the farmer's market this past weekend, I ran into some wonderful treasures!! We arrived home with the scent of fresh, warm, soft pretzels still lingering on our breath and our bags stuffed with abundance- peaches...strawberries...green onions...purple, red and white fingerlings...prosciutto, smoked swiss and freshly baked red pepper focaccia from the Italian deli tucked inside the market...apples...fragrant basil, rosemary and thyme...and the fabulous little treasures that I don't find often- FIGS and Ruby Red CURRANTS! 

They're like sparkling little jewels...I was soooooo overjoyed!  The kiddos didn't remember ever having currants before.  So, they poised themselves...held a little bubble of exploding warmth...and popped it in!  Reaction....POW!  Tart, yet sweet.  I don't know if you can see it on their faces or not, but they liked them.  We ate about half of them straight-up!

The other half I decided to pickle and can.  I'm not sure if I actually did it right or not, because this was my first time trying to do anything with them besides make a jelly.  I used a recipe I found in Chez Panisse Fruit by Alice Waters.  She actually says to pack the fruit into jars with self-sealing lids.  Are these different from normal canning jars (I'm still just getting comfortable with canning at home...branching out)?  Well, I used the normal method of canning and the currants puffed up...from the heat, I'm sure...which is what makes me wonder if self-sealing is different? Either way, they're gorgeous and I can hardly believe I have to wait 6 weeks to find out how it actually worked.  I'll keep you posted.  If nothing else, I'll have some fabulous currant vinegar!

Pickled Currants

from Chez Panisse Fruit by Alice Waters

I just did a small batch, ~1/4 of a recipe

4 c. red currants

3 c. white or red wine vinegar I used red wine vinegar

1/4 c. sugar

1 allspice berry didn't quarter it, still used a whole one

2 cloves used one

Strip the currants off their stems-or leave them be; unstemmed, they make a pretty garnish as little branches of fruit.  Bring the vinegar, sugar, allspice, and cloves to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Let cool.  Pack the fruit into canning jarss with self-sealing lids prepared according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Pour the cooled vinegar over the fruit and seal.  Let sit in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks before serving.

My other treasures I simply wanted eat warm and seedy and wrapped in salty prosciutto...with a little mint from my yard.  Perfection.

Have you run into anything unexpected and wonderful at your Farmer's Market or through a CSA or community garden lately?  What was it and what did you do with it....create or simply enjoy?
 


*If you missed the Two for Tuesdays announcement and wonder what it's all about, just click on the badge or HERE and it'll take you to the explanation page!!

Lacto-Fermented Asparagus

I went a little crazy with the asparagus this Spring.  Each trip to the Farmer's Market yielded at least one bundle of beautiful spears...be it long, thin and green...or thick and purple...or ghostly white...I was really feeling the asparagus this year.  Luckily everybody around our place adores it.  When my pal Diana shared her recipe for lacto-fermenting asparagus, I knew that was a must on my list!  With all the cheesemaking I do successfully or not, I have plenty of whey on hand to use for the process of lacto-fermenting...talk about fate.  Fermentation is a chemical reaction in which sugars are broken down into smaller molecules that can be used in living systems, according to Dictionary dot com.  To read a little more about it, check out Diana's lacto-ferment post!  Okay, I am totally tootin' Diana's horn here, aren't I!? That's okay, she totally deserves it...she's such an inspiration.

Lacto-Fermented Asparagus
adapted slightly from this recipe from Diana of A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa...using what I had on hand

•1 bunch asparagus, cut in half...or even thirds if it is long and thin and rinsed
•2 long stalks of spring onions, sliced
•a few sprigs fresh parsley, rinsed
•1/2 TBS. black peppercorns
•1/2 TBS. coriander seeds
•1 TBS. sea salt
•1/4 c. whey (If you do not have whey, feel free to add 1 tbls extra sea salt)
• filtered water (must be filtered as chlorine will disrupt the fermentation process)

1.In a quart sized mason jar, add the asparagus, spears down.
2.Add the parsley in between the asparagus spears.
3.Add the onion, peppercorn and coriander seeds.
4.Add the filtered water, sea salt and whey. Make sure you add enough water to cover and 1" from the top of the jar.
5.Cover and shake it up, making sure everything is underneath the liquid.
6.Allow to ferment in a dark cool place for 3 days up to two weeks (or more).
7. Store in refrigerator after initial ferment. It will continue to ferment once in fridge, but at a much slower rate.

Pack everything into jar

Leave an inch of headroom...I didn't, even though I knew I should have...I just put it inside a container to catch the bit of overflow I knew would come from the fermentation process.

Ready to set aside in a cool, dark place for fermentation

After fermentation...that fade to army green...num, num

Delicious served with farm fresh poached eggs (sprinkled w/ a little Wild Porcini sea salt) and Kashi 7 Whole Grain Pilaf.

I think fermenting this way tastes a bit different than if it were pickled in vinegar...milder, sweeter... Give it a try!  If you want some whey and don't have any on hand, you can always join us over at Forging Fromage where we make our own cheese every month...you're guaranteed to have some whey in no time!