Spice up the New Year

 I thought I could come up with a new recipe daily ,then January came and almost went. I've been looking through my cookbooks to find something new and decided to be true to my "blog philosophy"-Texas  Healthy or Healthier. So over the next few blogs I would like to cover pantry items. Spices and their shelf-life was one of my concerns, so I did a little research.
 Spices don't spoil, per sey, they loose their flavor over time. Most cookbook writers would have you believe spices hold their flavor  for about 6 months but if stored in an airtight, cool, dry space away from light whole spices (peppercorns, nutmeg,cinnamon sticks,ect.) will last up to 4 years. Ground spices stored properly last  2-3 years but there is no way to know shelf life. Leafy spices(parsley,basil,cilatro,ect.) have a shelf life of 1-3years depending on storage.
 So when dealing with spices apply these  few simple rules and spice up your life. Don't shake spices directly into the food your cooking  because the humidity can break down your spices. Finally look at color, crush in your hand to release the oils and check for a good aroma.

Egg MacMuffins

                                                            
      H.E.B. has been running specials where you get a free dozen of eggs
      lately. I had all the ingredients to make these. Yummy but in the future
      I will add green chiles. These would go well with a red or green sauce.

          EGG MACMUFFINS


                                    8 Eggs
                                    4tsp.Green Onions
                                    6 Sausage Patties
                                    1/2 c. Mexican Cheese-2%
                                    1/4 c.Milk-1%
                                    2tsp. Salt
                                    1tsp. Pepper

        Mix well. Place in Greased Muffin Pan. Bake 350. 30 min.
                                              

Green Chile Tamales

Tamales making has been done a certain way in my home for years.Recently Sylvia@The Hungry Texan and Marcela Valladolid with Food Network each  posted tamale recipes. So I decided after all these years to revamp my recipe to include a smoother,creamier masa and a crock pot meat.

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                                                           Masa
                         5 lb.Masa block
                         1/2cup of fat from cooled down meat
                          2 cups corn

                          2tbs. Agave Nectar or sugar

                          1 cup of meat broth

                          1/2 chile paste*

                  *chile paste is made from blending the onions, chiles and meat broth from crock pot with 5 chipotles in adobo sauce and corn till smooth. Be sure to remove Bay Leaves. 

                    Add fat, Nectar and paste to masa and mix well, May need extra broth to thin. Add salt and pepper to taste.

                   This is a fairly thin mixture and should slide slowly of the spoon.

 

                                                          

                                                                         Pork Mixture

                                                          5-7lb. Pork Picnic

                                                          1 Onion quartered

                                                          2 Bay Leaves

                                                          12 Anaheim Chiles or other mild chile

                                                           1tbs. Salt

                                                           1tbs. Pepper

                  Place pork in crock pot and cover with water. Add rest of ingredients and Cook on low 8 hours. Remove meat. Pull off as much fat and bones and return to crock pot for 4 more hours.

                    Soak Husks in warm water.Place lid on top to keep submerged.

                     Mix meat and left over paste and salt and pepper to taste.Thinly spread masa on3/4 of smooth side of husk. Add3-4 tbs. meat mixture to masa side of tamale and roll and fold up bottom. Place tamales open end up in steamer. Cover and steam for about 1 1/2 hours until masa is firm and cooked through.  Tamales are done when husk pulls away with little resistance.

                                                                                                               Makes about 9 dozen

Cowgirl Spices

This is the label for Cowgirl Spices. It is an exciting line of spices. The only reason they are not out yet is because someone other than myself moved the recipes for safe keeping. These recipes are so safe we can not find where they were placed. And we can get close to the originals but they don't pop like the originals. When we locate the originals they will go into production. The first time I cooked with these spices was like showering with Irish Spring-- it opened up your taste buds and made you sing wow! If your old enough to remember the old Irish Spring commercials.

Writing Recipes

I thought I would  have every thing up and running by Jan. 1. Just bought a cheap Nikon and took pictures of tamales today. I have modified the recipe after the first batch of tamales were all eaten without getting pictures. First round tastes went well-considering they were gone in 2 days. Should be full swing on Monday. I have been reading quite a few blogs lately. Cooking with gooey duck-corn smut-how many of us eat this way. Not me!
What I hope to achieve is good clean as healthy as it can get real food from Texas and near surroundings as I can. I hope not to insult the foodies with just clean food that I have used catering and competition with a few new twists. I know we eat with all our senses but do we to go out of our way to find foods so weird or plates so small and expensive just to say we run with a certain sect. Truffles or Tacos---no brainer for me. A good taco truck and extra money in my pocket.