Mitch-in-the-Kitchen

This Thanksgiving I’m honoring my Sister Jayne by posting her Sausage Apple Stuffing recipe.  I made it for our family Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and it was big hit!  Last Thanksgiving was the first time I made it.  It was so good,  I’ve decided to make it again every year in honor of my Sister.

She passed away a few yeas ago.  I miss her.  She had a very colorful personality.  But most of all, she was an excellent cook.  Just about everyone in our family can cook pretty well,  but Jayne was definitely the best

To my Sister Jayne, Happy Thanksgiving!  I love you and miss you!

The other day I was having a debate with my wife and some friends over exactly how a burrito should be folded.  It seems that those who have worked in fast food believe a burrito should be folded at both ends.  Those of us that haven’t worked fast food argue that a burrito should only be folded at one end.  After all, once you bite into the burrito, one end is no longer folded anyway.

It seems to me that this isn’t the only debate surrounding the mysterious burrito.  I remember as a kid asking my dad about the history of burritos.  He told me, in Mexico if you ask for a burrito they will bring you a small burro.  Apparently, burritos, like nachos, are an American invention.  Exactly how the burrito came into being is a mystery to me; I’m just glad they did.

Now, the great debate about burritos, at least in my mind, is what exactly is a burrito?  Well, for starters, it must be made with a flour, not a corn, tortilla, otherwise it would be a taco.  My burning question is, why is it a “soft taco,” if it’s simply folded over rather than rolled?  If a taco is rolled rather than folded, it is still a taco.  So, I am of the belief that there is no such thing as a “soft taco,” at least not one made from a flour tortilla.  After all, what’s good for the taco is good for the burrito.

The next big question is does it matter what you put in your flour tortilla for it to be a burrito?  I think the original burrito was a rolled-up flour tortilla with beans and cheese on the inside.  In fact, my dad insists that there is only one kind of burrito, beans rolled-up in a flour tortilla (he is even more of a purest than I am).  He is also of the belief that there is only one kind of enchilada, cheese and onion.  After a while, people, including myself, started putting all kinds of things inside of a flour tortilla and calling it a burrito (even peanut butter and jelly).  In recent years, restaurants started serving “breakfast burritos.”  Are you kidding me!  I’ve been putting scrambled eggs, potatoes (rice is even better), and breakfast meat inside of flour tortillas since I was old enough to stand up to the stove.  Therefore, I would argue that you can put anything inside of a rolled up flour tortilla and call it a burrito (sorry, dad).

Now, for those of you that don’t know much about burritos, there is a technique, requiring great skill and practice, to properly roll a burrito.  First, the flour tortilla must be warmed up.  Otherwise they will crack.  You can simply use a skillet, but preferably a cast iron griddle, to warm your tortillas.  I wasn’t going to give away our family secret, because most people think this is really weird, but when I was growing up we used to heat our tortillas right on the heating element.  Obviously, if you have a gas stove, that won’t work.  It also doesn’t work well if you have large tortillas, but it can still be done.  Once the tortilla is heated, you add whatever goodness you plan to put in your burrito.  Then you fold one end – yes Janet, one end – about ¼ of the way over the filling.  Next, fold the long side of the tortilla (not the other end) over the filling and pull back so the tortilla is tight over the filling.  Lastly, you simply roll the tortilla, keeping it tight the rest of the way.

If you pick up your tortilla, begin eating and some type of juice or grease starts coming out of the bottom and dripping down your arm, you haven’t done a poor job rolling your burrito.  Rather, you’ve done a great job picking filling for it.

Oh, one other thing before I forget.  If you use anything other than a flour tortilla, it isn’t a burrito.  In my mind there is no such thing as a whole wheat tortilla.  If it’s a whole wheat round piece of bread, it isn’t a tortilla, it’s a…well, round piece of bread made with whole wheat.  Same thing applies if it’s made from spinach or any other fancy substance.  Remember flour tortilla = burrito and corn tortilla = taco.  That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

What do you think of when you think of cooking?  Do you think of it as a chore?  Do you merely look at it as a way to feed and nurture your family or loved ones?  Have you ever thought of cooking as something that is good for the soul?  I would like to propose that the act of cooking is good for the soul.  Likewise, cooking, in and of itself, is a soulful act.

Like any chore, cooking is still good for the soul.  Feeding and nurturing our loved ones and ourselves is a soulful act.  You may have heard people ask others “What makes your food taste so good?”  Many times you may get the response “I just add lots of love.”  When we cook and pour ourselves, our heart and soul, into the cooking, it makes the food so much more savory.

Have you ever been cooking a meal and thought, “hmmm, this would taste so much better if I added…”  Could this be your soul telling you what to add, what to leave out, how to do things slightly different to add that special something to your meal?

Why do you think we call comfort food, “comfort food?”  Comfort food, I think we would agree is food that not only tastes really good, but is also good for the soul.  But what about cooking your comfort food?  What makes a meal “comfort food?”  I believe it is food that is prepared soulfully.  By sharing our cooking with others, we are sharing ourselves.  Our soul touches the soul of the one we are sharing with.  This is a very soulful and sacred act, whether we realize it or not.

So, how do we pour our heart and soul into our cooking?  To me, the very act of dicing onions or mincing garlic can be a soulful act.  What about cutting pieces of meat into smaller pieces?  Do you ever stop and think about, or maybe even give thanks for, the animal that sacrificed itself for the meat you are preparing?  Or, did you ever stop to think about the back-breaking labor some migrant farm worker put into picking the lettuce for your salad or those onions you are dicing?  To me, being mindful of such things adds soul to the act of cooking.

Cooking is also a way of reconnecting to our roots.  Who taught you to cook?  Was it your mother, grandmother, an aunt, your father, an older sibling?  Do you stop to think about those people and give thanks for the recipes and the techniques that were handed down to you?  Are you passing along those same things to your children, nieces, nephews, younger siblings?  By being mindful of these things, we are connecting our soul with the souls of our ancestors.  Similarly, by passing along our knowledge of cooking to the next generations, we are connecting our souls with theirs.

When we’ve passed on, our soul remains in the cooking we’ve passed on.

I found a wonderful way to make Carnitas using my Carne Asada marinade and pork, instead of beef.  Once you have the marinade mixture ready, the rest is easy.

• 3 to 4 lb Pork Loin Roast or Pork Tender Loin with large pieces of fat trimmed from the roast
• Slice roast into smaller pieces – bigger than bit-size – about 1 to 2 inches thick and about 3 inches wide.
• Place pieces of pork in the marinade and refrigerate for 1 to 6 hours
• Using a large deep skillet, coat the bottom of the pan with oil (I use olive oil).
• Heat pan until oil shimmers
• Place marinaded pork pieces in the skillet (they should sizzle).  Discard remaining marinade.
• Brown pork on all sides
• Add enough water to cover the pork pieces.
• Turn heat to high and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat to medium so the water is at a low boil
• Let all of the water cook off
• Remove pork from pan and place on a plate or platter to rest for about 10 minutes
• The Carnitas can be served in large pieces with rice, beans, and tortillas
• Or, you can chop the larger pieces into smaller pieces to serve in tacos or burritos

Carne Asada Marinade:

• 3 large (or 4 medium) cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno chili, stem removed, seeded, and minced
• 1 tsp freshly ground cumin (or prepared ground cumin from a jar or packet)
• 1 bunch cilantro (about 1 cup), including leaves and stems, finely chopped
• A pinch (or two) of Kosher salt
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• Juice from two (2) fresh limes (or 1/4 cup bottled lime juice)
• 1/2 cup Orange Juice
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar1/2 cup olive oil

Add all ingredients to a one-gallon freezer bag.  Place meat in the marinade.  Close bag and move meat around inside the bag to make sure liquid coats the meat.  Place bag in a bowl or baking dish (in case the bag leaks) and place in refrigerator for 1 to 4 hours, turning bag over at least once.

“A Family is a Circle of Love”

This past week, the daughter of a friend from work was killed in an automobile accident.  Angie, you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Tomorrow is Easter.  To me, Easter is a time for us to remember Christ and celebrate his resurrection from the dead.  The resurrection gives us hope that we will be joined together again with our loved ones in the next life.

With that in mind, I decided to post a couple of my sister’s Easter recipes.

Comments on recipes are always appreciated.  If you decide to modify a recipe, let us know what you did and how it turned out.  Other readers may be interested in your versions of my sister’s recipe.

May all of you have a very happy Easter.