Sorta Chipotle Style Instant Pot Shredded Beef Barbacoa

*Here's another post I did to Instagram. It was too big for the description so I am going to also post that here in full*

Recently I did an Instant Pot take on a Chipotle style shredded beef barbacoa. It uses a quick red chile adobo using ancho chile powder based off of one by Rick Bayless. I have only made this once before and would probably add some tweaks next time, but I thought it was good enough to share for anyone that wants to try something like it. Here would be the instructions.

For the adobo I used:
1/2 cup of ancho powder. About 2oz.
8 garlic cloves still in their skin.
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, preferably Mexican canela
1/2 tsp fresh ground cumin.
1 tsp mex oregano
3 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
A scant 1/4 tsp of ground cloves
1/4 tsp of fresh ground black pepper
2 to 3 chipotles in adobo (seeded) and 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce
1 ¼ cups water

Roast the garlic cloves over medium-high heat in a skillet or griddle. Let cool and peel. Add the 1 ¼ cups water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. In a blender, add the chile powder and pour the boiling water over it. Give it a couple wizzes to mix it all together. Let it sit for 5 mins or so to let the chile powder re-hydrate. Then add the garlic and the rest of the adobo ingredients to the blender jar and blend to create a thick but still pourable paste. Add more water if the mixture isn’t moving easily through the blades. That’s the adobo. I didn’t add salt just because we will be salting the meat and there will be salt in the broth and I don't want to risk over seasoning. If I was using it as a marinade, I would have added 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of salt. With this recipe you will have extra adobo leftover for other dishes. Add salt accordingly to account for the amount used for the barbacoa.

Cut a 2 lbs or so chuck roast into 2 inch cubes. I like to generously salt the beef and let rest on a cooling rack for an hour to season the meat. After the hour, grind on some black pepper to the meat, and using the saute function of the instant, add a couple tbsp of vegetable oil and deeply brown the roast chunks in batches only on one side. Remove to a plate. Chop up a medium white onion and saute until starting to turn a golden color. Cancel the saute function. Throw in a splash of water or beef broth in the pot and deglaze the pot, scraping up all the nice brown bits. Add the beef to the pot and pour ½ cup of the adobo over it. Then pour in ½ cup of beef broth over the whole thing and add 1 bay leaf. Cook the whole thing over high pressure for about 30 mins. Let the pressure release naturally. Once the pressure releases, remove the meat and shred it. Discard the bay leaf. Then pour off the liquid from the pot and skim off the fat. Add the shredded meat back to the pot with ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Cook briefly using the saute function stirring to incorporate the liquid into the shredded beef. Taste and see how much salt it needs and if you would like more of the cooking liquid added. This is really to your taste here, but it will get you to a good starting point.

This barbacoa is great for Chipotle style burritos and bowls, but I really like it with a simple smothered burrito or chimichanga. Add the beef, some chopped onions, and shredded cheese to a large flour tortilla and wrap up as a burrito. Bake or fry it if a chimi is your jam. Then smother with the red chile enchilada sauce I recently posted about. Top with more shredded cheese and serve with sour cream, some romaine lettuce and pico. So good!

Baked chimi with beef barbacoa and topped with cheese and red chili enchilada sauce.

Red Chile Enchilada Sauce

*I posted this quick recipe to the Instagram account and thought it would be good to also post it here for now. I might write up a full proper post for it... eventually. *

Here’s a quick(ish) version of my Red Chile Enchilada sauce. Mine’s a bit more chile and garlic forward than most, and skews slightly a bit more Tex-Mex in flavors with the amount of cumin I use. I really like it that way for enchiladas and smothered burritos or chimichangas.

Roast 3 large garlic cloves on a skillet or griddle over medium high heat until soft. Peel them once cool. While those are roasting, heat your oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, toast 1 large (or two small) dried ancho chile(s), with 3 dried guajillo chiles for about 5 mins. Let cool. Stem and seed the chiles and then tear into pieces. Throw the garlic and chiles in a blender with one 15-ounce can of no salt added fire-roasted tomatoes. Also throw in 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano, 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, and generous 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground cumin. Blend that as smooth as you can get it. Add water as needed to keep the mixture running between the blades. Press the chile mixture through a medium mesh strainer into a bowl. Heat about a tblsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat, and once a drop of the chile mixture sizzles loudly when added to the oil,  pour in the whole chile mixture. It will sizzle and splatter all over. Nothing you can do about it. That’s frying down chile sauces kids. A splatter guard might help, but you still have to be stirring it, so there will still be splattering. Cook, stirring constantly until the chile mixture is the consistency of tomato paste. Then add in about a cup of chicken broth and simmer, stirring occasionally, for at least 10 mins. You want the sauce to be the consistency of a cream soup. If it’s too thick add in some more broth or water. Add salt and sugar to taste. I start with about ½ tsp of both salt and sugar to see where it is and then add more if it asks for some more. Usually maybe another pinch or two of each. 

Get yo’ self a rotisserie chicken, some corn tortillas, some Mexican blend cheese and you have some quick easy red chile enchiladas. The sauce also freezes well, and might just need a quick wiz in the blender to get back that original texture. 

More to Come!

Just chilling here on a Sunday afternoon with a "hey, I pretty much have the basic ingredients for a Michelada", Michelada. Realized I hadn't posted in a sec and thought I'd check in. There's going to be more recipes to come, but I've been thinking about how I want to change some stuff up with the blog. Not sure if I want to wait to post some stuff until I get that all figured out. We'll see. In the meantime, I'll post more dishes here to the inster-gram account with kinda of a brief run through of what I did to put it together. Not a full recipe, but maybe enough to inspire you to make your own version. Please follow at @socialdistantkitchen

Vegan Cashew "Cheese" Sauce or "Queso"

A couple times a year or so, I like to do my version of a less restrictive Whole 30 type of deal (That’s for another post). Just to reset things. One thing I do during that time is cut out all dairy. This is a recipe I like to go to during that time. Also, maybe for times when I’m just trying to pump the breaks on my cheese game. Everything in moderation right? I really can get after some cheese if given the chance. (“Workin’ on my night cheese!”). The original recipe this was based on was for a vegan “queso”, but I found that the first half of it could make for a really tasty "cheese" sauce with a tweak. Like one you would do for a broccoli cheese sauce to put over a potato for example. Below I specify in the recipe how to do it both ways, and you can take whatever fork in the road you fancy. I also have another recipe I use the base for. “Vegan Broccoli Mac and ‘Green Stuff’ Cashew “Cheese” Casserole.” It's kinda out there, but so good.

Ingredients: 
For the "cheese" sauce base:

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1 medium carrot, cut in large chunks (about 3/4 cup)
• 1-1/2 cups unsweetened cashew or almond milk
• 1-1/2 cups cold water
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast seasoning
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon of of kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar.
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

To make it “Queso"

• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 15 oz can Fire-Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 large jalapeno, diced.
• 1 teaspoon (or more) hot sauce to taste. (I like Valentina or the Organic Jalapeno Hot Sauce from Whole Foods.)
• Chopped Cilantro 
• Lime wedges
• Pico de gallo (optional)

Equipment:

• Medium sized saucepan
• Large spoon
• Blender
• Chef’s knife

Directions:

1. Add the cashews and carrot to a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook until the carrot is tender. About 15 mins. 
2. Drain and add the cashews and carrot to the blender. 
3. Add the nut milk, cold water, nutritional yeast, white wine vinegar, and cornstarch. 
4. Blend until smooth. 
5. In the same sauce pan you cooked the cashews and carrot in, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. 
6. If making just the cheese sauce skip to step 10.
7. Add the onion and cook for a couple mins, occasionally stirring to keep it from burning. 
8. Add the chopped jalapeno and cook for another min. 
9. Stir in the garlic, cumin, smoked paprika and cook for 30 seconds until the garlic and spices are aromatic. 
10. Add the cheese sauce and salt to the pot. (If making Queso, also add in the fire roasted tomatoes and hot sauce)
11. Cook, stirring regularly until thickened. It should be about 10 mins. If it’s still not thick, turn up the heat a little. Make sure to continuously stir to keep it from getting stuck to the bottom of the pot. 
12. Remove from the heat. If using as a cheese sauce it’s ready to go. If making queso, stir in the cilantro, and the juice from a couple squirts of lime. Top with the pico for an extra touch of freshness. Serve with tortilla chips, corn or flour tortillas, or in any way you would use queso.

Vegan Broccoli Mac and ‘Green Stuff’ Cashew “Cheese” Casserole.

Sometimes I like to smash recipes together like a food ‘Large Hadron Collider’ and see what comes out of it. While looking at recipes on the interwebs, I came across a recipe for a vegan cashew "cheese" sauce mac and cheese casserole. I thought that the cheese sauce base from my Vegan Cashew "Cheese" Sauce or "Queso" recipe might be good for something like that. Then I thought, maybe I could throw some broccoli in with that since the cheese sauce goes so well with it. I had also seen a chili mac casserole recipe using queso, and thought, maybe going the “queso” route would be interesting. But, then the broccoli might be a little weird.... Then I asked myself, what if instead of using the regular queso ingredients, I used the roasted jalapeno and garlic hot sauce (The Green Stuff) from my Instant Pot Chicken “Carnitas” Tacos with ”The Green Stuff” post to spice it up? Thinking about it, those flavors would go great with the broccoli, and this crazy ass thing was born. It is way better than it should be allowed to. I made my own bread crumbs because I didn’t have any, but panko would be excellent with this. I also used a lentil rotini I found at Whole Foods, because I had that on hand, but you can use any appropriate macaroni or pasta for a mac and cheese type dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 full recipe of the "Cheese" Sauce base from the "Vegan Cashew "Cheese" Sauce or "Queso" recipe, here. 
• 1 box of elbow macaroni or any pasta good for mac and cheese.
• 1 bag of frozen broccoli. 
• 1 cup (or more if you like more) breadcrumbs, store bought or homemade
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the roasted jalapeno and garlic "Green Stuff" hot sauce from my post here.
• Vegetable or olive oil

Equipment:

• 13 x 9 baking dish
• Large spoon or rubber spatula
• Pot for cooking pasta
• Strainer

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Make the recipe for the cheese sauce if you don't already have it. Or warm up the "cheese" sauce if it was pre-made. Add 1/4 cup of the hot sauce to the "cheese" and taste to see if it's to your liking. Add more if you want more of that flavor or if you like the spicy. Remove from the heat and cover it with a lid to keep it warm.
3. Cook the macaroni or pasta to al dente per the instructions on the package. 
4. Drain and briefly rinse with cold water quickly to stop the cooking. 
5. Lightly grease the baking dish with oil.
6. Combine the pasta, frozen broccoli, "cheese" sauce base in the baking dish. Stir to incorporate using the rubber spatula or spoon. You might not need the whole recipe of the cheese sauce. Add enough until everything is well covered but not to the point that it's soupy. Smooth out with the rubber spatula in a uniform layer. 
7. Toss the bread crumbs in a bit of vegetable or olive oil to lightly coat them. Sprinkle a generous layer of the bread crumbs over the top of everything. 
8. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 - 30 mins until the top is brown and you can see the sauce bubbling. Check it about 15 - 20 mins in and make sure it's not browning too quickly. If so, reduce the heat to 375. 
9. If it's bubbling after the 25 or so, and the top is not browned to your liking, broil it briefly on the second from the top rack position. Watch it carefully so it doesn't brown too much or burn. 
10. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 mins before serving.

Finished casserole. Careful.. Hot dish!

Instant Pot Chicken “Carnitas” Tacos with ”The Green Stuff”

 

OK... These aren’t really carnitas in process. Or really in flavor, if you want to be traditional... but the final product has that rich, tender, yet a bit crispy from frying in it’s own fat texture that real carnitas have. I couldn’t think of anything better to call them. Plus the recipe this one is based off of called them chicken “carnitas”... so I’m sticking to it! This recipe starts off very similar to the Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipe with few extra steps to get that final “carnitas” love that makes them so decadently awesome. First chicken thighs are seared with a flavorful spice rub. Next, saute up some onion and garlic. Then all that does a quick round in the instant pot with citrus, bay leaf, cilantro, and chicken stock. The chicken is roughly shredded, tossed in vegetable oil, and crisped up under the broiler in it’s own cooking juices. These are probably my favorite tacos to make at home. I used bone-in chicken thighs in this recipe because that's all I had, but you can use boneless, skinless thighs as well. Though, I think bone-in might add more flavor to the chicken and the final cooking liquid. I haven't done a side by side, so that could be a bunch of malarkey. (That's a word the kids are using right?)  The amount of chicken doesn't matter too much as there will be plenty of cooking liquid leftover. Just as long as you can fit it all in the pot to cook evenly. The carnitas can also be done up in a slow cooker*. I will provide notes on that below.

Also included with this recipe is my play on a creamy jalapeno hot sauce that I think is perfect with these tacos. Many who have tasted this type of sauce think it has some sort of cream or avocado in it, but it’s just an emulsification of chilies, garlic and oil. The traditional recipe calls for the ingredients to be boiled. For mine I roast the chilies and garlic instead of boiling them. It adds an extra dimension of flavor I really love.

Ingredients:

• 2 to 4 bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed if you want). 2 should be enough for 3 to 4 tacos, so pick accordingly depending on how many people you are feeding... or use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. 1.5 to 2 lbs. This does reheat very well for leftovers. Just sayin'
• 1 medium white onion (divided use. ½ thinly sliced, and ½ diced and deflamed**, for topping the tacos. See note about deflaming the onions)
• 4 cloves of garlic. Gently smashed.
• 1 cup of chicken stock.
• 1 tbsp of cumin.
• ½ tsp of ancho or guajillo chile powder*** (see note on how to make your own) Or a mix of both if you have it. 
• ½ tsp of Mexican Oregano.
• ¼ tsp of smoked paprika.
• Salt.
• Black pepper.
• ¼ cup of orange juice.
• Chipotle Tabasco sauce or the adobo from a can of chipotles (optional).
• Juice from 2 limes plus some lime wedges for squirting on the tacos.
• 1 bay leaf.
• A handful of cilantro for cooking and for garnish. Keep a few springs intact and chop the rest.
• Vegetable oil.

Equipment:

• Instant Pot
• Large Spoon
• Tongs 
• Sheet Pan
• Skillet for roasting garlic
• Chef's knife
• Blender

Directions:

1. Before prepping and getting the other ingredients ready, generously salt and pepper both sides of the chicken, and let it sit to come up to room temp while you work on prepping the other ingredients. 
2. Mix together the cumin, chile powder, Mexican oregano, and smoked paprika.
3. Once everything is prepped, rub on the spice mixture all over both sides of the chicken. Set the instant pot to the highest saute setting and add enough vegetable oil to film the bottom of the pot. 
4. If doing more than 2 thighs, work in 2 batches. Deeply brown the chicken on each side. About 3 to 4 mins per side. 
5. Remove the chicken to a plate and add the sliced onions to the pot and cook until they start to brown. 
6. Add in the garlic and stir around in the oil for a min till aromatic.
7. Turn off the saute function and deglaze the pot with a splash of the chicken broth, scraping up all the those tasty browned bits. 
8. Add the OJ, lime juice, and the optional chipotle hot sauce or adobo to the remaining chicken broth, and then add all of that to the pot. 
9. Add the bay leaf and a few sprigs of cilantro. 
10. Nestle the chicken into the liquid in the pot, and with the tongs toss everything around together to coat the chicken. 
11. Place the lid on the pot, set it to sealing and cook for 13 mins at normal pressure. Release naturally or at least wait 15 mins before manually releasing. 
12. Remove the chicken to a plate to cool. 
13. While the chicken is cooling, strain the solids out of the remaining liquid left in the pot. Skim off some of the fat if you like, but a little left will add more flavor to the finished product. Taste and salt the cooking juices if needed. It should be slightly salty, but not too much. Remember there was salt on the chicken.
14. Remove the skin from the chicken if you left it on and coarsely shred the chicken. 
15. Toss the shredded chicken with enough vegetable oil to coat, and spread out a bit on a foil lined sheet pan in a place where it will be directly below the broiler heat. 
16. Drizzle about ¼ to ½ cup of the cooking liquid all over the chicken and broil on a rack about 6 inches from the broiler. Broil 6 to 8 mins. Watch it carefully, and once it starts to get brown and crisp up, remove the pan from the oven. 
17. With the tongs toss the chicken to expose the un-browned surfaces to be crisped up, then drizzle another ¼ cup of the cooking liquid all over the chicken. Place the pan back under the broiler and again cook until it’s brown and crispy. 6 to 8 mins. Remove from the oven. 
18. If it’s crisped up to your liking, give it a taste and see if you think it needs some more of the cooking liquid drizzled on or salt. If it does, add it, toss with the chicken and it’s ready to serve. 
19. If you would like it to be a little more crispy. Taste it as well and see if you think it needs more of the cooking liquid flavor. If it does, toss to expose any un-browned surfaces and drizzle on some more of the liquid. 
20. Broil some more until it’s browned to your liking. (In my experience at this point adding any more liquid or browning too much longer, takes it too far off the balance we’re looking for.) Remove from the oven and taste to see if it needs any more salt and you're ready to serve. 

Serve the tacos with some of the some of the chopped onions and cilantro, a nice drizzle of the green stuff and a squirt from a lime wedge. Super simple and soooo good!

Everything in the Instant Pot before cooking.

Fresh from the oven!

*To cook this in a slow cooker. Follow the instructions like above, but brown the chicken in a separate pan and remove to a plate. Also saute the onions and garlic in that same pan. Deglaze it there and pour that all to the slow cooker. Add in the chicken and the rest of the ingredients as instructed above. Cook 6 to 8 hours on low or 4 to 5 hours on high. Continue following the instructions as written above for broiling.

**If you rinse the chopped onions under cold water in a medium mesh strainer, it will remove that onion bite and what I like to call "onion reverb" that many don't like about onions.

The Green Stuff

Ingredients:

• 5 medium jalapeno peppers stems removed. 
• 1 large poblano pepper stem removed.
• 4 large garlic cloves. Unpeeled.
• Juice from 1 large lime.
• Salt
• A few sprigs of cilantro. 
• 1 cup of vegetable oil. 

Directions:

1. Roast the Jalapenos and Poblano under the broiler until blackened on all sides. Remove to a bowl and cover with plastic or a towel to steam in the residual heat. About 30 mins. 
2. While the chiles are roasting, also roast the garlic still in their papery skins in a small skillet over medium heat until soft and brown in spots. About 10 - 15 mins. 
3. Once the chiles are cool. Peel off the charred skin. Cut off the tops of the chilies, then seed and devein the poblano chile and 4 of the jalapenos. Leave one with the seeds and veins for some of the spicy. 
4. Roughly chop the chiles and add them to the blender. 
5. Also once the garlic has cooled, peel it and add to the blender.
6. Start blending the chile and garlic mixture at a medium speed. If it’s not catching and seems too thick to blend, add in some water a couple tablespoons at a time until it catches and blends. We don’t want it to thin too much since we’ll be adding in the oil. While the blender is running, slowly add in the oil until it’s barely a pourable consistency. It will be about a cup. 
7. Add in the lime juice, a few sprigs of cilantro, and about ½ teaspoon salt and then blend it all together. The sauce will be good for a few days in the refrigerator.

Sometimes I will add a tablespoon or so of green tomatillo salsa when blending this up if I have it on hand. It adds nice little extra zing I really like.

***Homemade chile powder. 

Ingredients:

• 3 ancho or 4 guajillo chile pods. 

Directions:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees
• Cut up the chiles with kitchen shears to remove the stems, veins and seeds. 
• Bake the chile pods on a baking sheet for 5 to 8 mins until the chile smell fills your kitchen. Make sure they don’t start to burn. 
• Remove from the oven to cool. They will be soft and pliable for a few mins until they cool a bit.  If they still seem pliable after 5 mins, cool a min or two longer. If they seem completely dry, crumble into a spice grinder (or a molcajete ) to grind it into a powder. 

Spaghetti with Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

I really love the bold roasted flavors of some of the Mexican food I cook. I like to apply those techniques to non Mexican recipes as well. It makes for interesting twists on classic dishes. This recipe is for a simple pasta sauce using roasted garlic, fire roasted tomatoes and caramelized onions. I bet it would be good over anything you would use a red sauce for.

Ingredients:

• ½ small onion. Sliced ¼ thick
• 3 cloves of garlic still in their papery skin
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 15 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes 
• 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp smoked Paprika
• 1 8 oz box of spaghetti.
• 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil.
• Salt
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Chopped fresh parsley
• Parmesan cheese. 

Equipment:

• Large pot for cooking the pasta. 
• Small skillet for roasting the garlic.
• Large skillet for cooking the sauce with lid.
• Colander to drain the pasta.
• Large spoon. 
• Chef’s knife.
• Blender
  
  
  
  

  

  Roasting the garlic

  

  Caramelized onions

  
  
  
  

Directions:

1. Put a small skillet over medium heat, roast the unpeeled garlic until it is soft and blackened in spots. About 10 to 15 minutes or so. Let cool a bit before peeling. 
2. While the garlic is roasting, Set the pot on the stove over high heat to start boiling the water per the instructions on whatever pasta you are using. 
3. Put a large skillet over just barley medium-high heat and film with olive oil. Add the onions to the pan and stir to coat in the oil. Then let them sit for a min or two without stirring. Watch for them to start to brown around the edges but do not let them burn. Stir a couple more times to make sure they are all starting to brown. With the lid in hand, add about an ⅛ cup of water to the pan and immediately put the lid on the skillet. It will spatter loudly. Turn the heat down to medium low. Once the splattering has subsided, remove the lid and deglaze the pan with what water is left. The goal is to get all the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan up and to coat the onions. Put the lid back on and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the onions are all a nice golden brown. 
4. While the onions are cooking. Add the tomato sauce, roasted garlic, basil, the smoked paprika and about ½ tsp of salt to a blender jar and blend until smooth. 
5. Add the fire roasted tomatoes to the sauce but do not blend. 
6. Return the skillet with the onions to medium heat and add the sauce. Once it starts to simmer turn down the heat a bit and cook the sauce down until it thickens a bit. 
7. Add the balsamic vinegar to the sauce.
8. While the sauce is cooking your water should be at a boil. Generously salt the water and cook the pasta to just barely done. It will be soft but still have some chew to it. Ladle about a cup of the water the pasta was cooking in, into the sauce. Turn the heat back up to medium high. 
9. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Stir it in well to finish cooking. Try not to let the sauce come to a hard boil. 
10. Remove the sauce from the heat. I like to stir in some of the Parmesan at this point and sprinkle on some crushed red pepper. Taste to see if it needs more salt. 
11. Serve topping with more Parmesan and some chopped parsley. (I forgot to add it in the picture above)

This spaghetti pairs nicely with some rustic garlic bread.

-Patrick

Falafel Chickpea Flatbread (not) Pizza

Even though I will post a number of meat based recipes here at The Social Distant Kitchen, I am trying to eat less meat for various reasons. Though lately, with all the virus stuff, I have been indulging a little more often. It’s all about the comfort food! Normally in my regular day to day, I have been trying (I said trying!) to eat simplish, clean, plant based, whole food meals. With the occasional healthy-ish indulgence meal featuring chicken, fish, and less often, pork or beef. Let’s just say I am an aspiring flexitarian. So, with that, I am always looking for interesting plant based recipes to make to keep me interested, and mix it up a little. I happened to stumble on a recipe for a chickpea flour flatbread called Socca. I guess it really is kinda more like a pancake than a flatbread. But a “chickpea flour pancake” sounds kinda odd. It goes by other names elsewhere, but Socca itself is a specialty of southeastern French cuisine often served as a street food. It is made by mixing chickpea flour with an equal part of water and a bit of olive oil to form a loose batter. Then it's poured it into a pan to make a pancake typically 4mm thick. (1) They are very tasty on their own, but I wondered how it would be if I topped it with ingredients to make it sort of like a flatbread pizza. I had been making a flour tortilla “Greek wrap", filled with roasted red pepper hummus, red onion, red bell pepper, tomato, tzatziki and lettuce, that I really enjoy for a light lunch. I got curious how it would taste if I added the spices you would use to make falafel to the chickpea batter. Then top the bread with a ”schmear” of the roasted red pepper hummus. Sprinkle on some chopped red onion, red bell pepper, and tomato, and then drizzle the whole thing with some thinned out tzatziki. Kinda like a cold “salad” flatbread pizza. Well… Ok, it’s nothing like a pizza... but it was inspired by it. How did it come out?... Pretty feckin’ awesome if I do say so myself. It makes for a nice light meal or even as an appetizer. Below is how I all threw it together.

Ingredients:

For the Socca:

• ½ cup chickpea/garbanzo flour
• 1 tsp ground cumin. 
• A generous 3/4 tsp coriander (want just a bit less than the cumin. So somewhere like 1/2 tsp plus ¼ tsp)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• A scant 1/8 tsp of cayenne
• A few grinds of black pepper.
• 1 tsp olive oil (plus some extra for cooking the flat bread)
• ¼ tsp of toasted sesame seed oil (optional)
• ½ cup lukewarm water.

Toppings:

• ¼ small red onion, chopped into ¼ inch pieces. (Run under cold water in a strainer to “de-flame” it. 
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped into ¼ inch pieces
• 4 - 6 grape tomatoes, quartered, and then chop the quarters to make pieces the size of the onion and bell pepper. 
• Roasted red pepper hummus
• Tzatziki. (store bought or homemade. There are plenty of recipes online. Occasionally I like to make mine with Forager brand cashew yogurt to make this vegan.)
• Chopped parsley for garnish. 

Equipment:

• 10-inch cast iron skillet
• Flat spatula
• Knife
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Whisk

Directions:

For the Socca:

1. Place the oven rack to a position about 6 inches from the broiler. Then place the cast iron pan on the rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Add the water and stir until smooth. 
4. Thoroughly mix in the olive oil and toasted sesame seed oil if you are using it.  
5. Let sit for 30 mins for the flour to absorb the water while the oven heats. 
6. Once the oven is heated, turn on the broiler and let it heat the pan for 5 mins. 
7. Using an oven mitt remove the pan from the oven.
8. Add enough olive oil to the pan to cover the whole bottom. 
9. With an oven mitt on one hand holding the pan, use the other to very quickly add the batter to the pan, swirling it with the other hand to spread out the batter. I will start to set up very quickly.
10. Place back in the oven under the broiler and bake for 5 to 8 mins. 
11. Once the top starts to darken, remove from the oven and let sit for a few seconds. Don’t worry about the “burnt” bits on the edge. That’s the best part. 
12. Carefully slide the spatula under the flat bread. If it easily releases from the pan it’s cooked through. If it does not. Place back in the oven for another min. Keep doing this until it releases. If the top is very brown, you could also put the pan on the stove over a medium high heat to finish cooking the bottom. However, you have to be careful not to burn it. 
13. Move the socca to a wire rack for a min to finish cooking.
    
    
    

Before going in the oven. 

Done!

Assembling the dish:

While the socca is still hot, cut it up or break it off into big pieces (I usually cut it in half with a pizza cutter). Spread on a layer of the roasted red pepper hummus. Top with the red onion, red bell pepper and tomato. If the tzatziki is thick, thin it with a bit of water to make it drizzle-able.  Drizzle on the tzatziki and garnish with some of the chopped parsley. Enjoy!

-Patrick

(1.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farinata

Getting the D!

You gotta get you some vitamin D! What?.. What did you think I was talking about?

Every once and awhile I will also post some health/nutrition related posts because it can be food/cooking adjacent and it’s also important to me. Many of us are in a stay at home situation either because it’s been ordered by your local leaders, or you are just doing the right thing. They keep needing to remind people that they CAN go outside to get some fresh air, walk, exercise, etc, as long as it’s a solitary activity, and we continue to practice social distancing. For many obvious reasons everyone should get outside if they can, but first and foremost, to get some Vitamin D.

You can get the D from many sources, but the best source is from regular exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D is essential for many bodily functions and one important thing that it is known, is that a vitamin D deficiency can take a huge hit on your immune response. However, one thing many people don’t know about is how Vitamin D or a lack thereof affects your mood and just your general state of mind.

From this article:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-breakthrough-depression-solution/201111/psychological-consequences-vitamin-d-deficiency

“In addition to its well-known role in calcium absorption, vitamin D activates genes that regulate the immune system and release neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, serotonin) that affect brain function and development. Researchers have found vitamin D receptors on a handful of cells located in regions in the brain-the same regions that are linked with depression. 

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a mood disorder featuring depressive symptoms, occurs during the dark times of the year when there is relatively little sunshine, coinciding with the sudden drop in vitamin D levels in the body. Several studies have suggested that the symptoms of SAD may be due to changing levels of vitamin D3, which may affect serotonin levels in the brain.”

I recommend reading the article if you want to learn more.

We are going to be spending a lot of time indoors for a bit, and aren’t getting whatever dose of sunlight we normally get. The deficiency will add up. Right now many of us are in a headspace we are not usually in, and/or are used to being there for such a prolonged period. We need anything we can get that will help us keep our spirits up, and to keep us from going to very dark places. So that we can better take care of ourselves and each other. Let mother nature help you out a little, and get your ass outside. Legend of Zelda BOTW will still be there when you get back in.

-Patrick

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken for Tacos, Burritos, Enchiladas, Sandwiches, or Anything. You're an Adult, You Can Do Whatever You Want!

As I admitted here, I am a huge fan of Mexican and Mexican, Southwest, Tex-Mex, etc, inspired food. I’ve spent hours at a time in the kitchen making moles or even my chili, but I also like to put together quick and easy tasty Mexican dishes using pre-packaged ingredients when I am crunched for time (or feeling lazy). In particular, using jarred salsa to build from. More particularly, the Frontera brand of products. No they aren’t giving me any money to say that (I wouldn’t hate that though. Hey Rick!). I like to use them because they are pretty damn close to the flavors I would use if doing these recipes from scratch. In some cases I use them as is, and others I will use them as a base to tweak for whatever I am trying to make.

This recipe is going to be one of the easiest to put together if you have an Instant Pot. If you don’t I will also give directions on how to do it in a slow cooker and in the oven. This shredded chicken can be used in tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tortas, or making kinda like pulled chicken sandwiches. All kinds of things. Use your imagination. Down the road I will also post more recipes you can make with this chicken. Ok. Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup or half of a 16oz jar of tomato based salsa. (I like to use Frontera’s chipotle, guajillo, or double roasted salsa for this particular recipe.)
• About 1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs. (Usually the amount in the packs you find in most grocery stores.)
• ½ of a medium white onion. Sliced ¼ inch thick lengthwise. 

Directions:

1. Spread the sliced onions over the bottom of the pot. (I like to also splash in about an ⅛ cup of water here to prevent a burn error at the beginning. The chicken is going to release a lot of liquid, so you don’t really need to add much.)
2. Place the chicken thighs on top of the onions. 
3. Add 1 cup salsa. 
4. Place the lid and set to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 13 mins. Do a natural release for at least 15 mins. 
5. Remove the lid and if there seems to be a lot of fat, skim some of it off. 
6. Turn on the saute function using the middle setting to cook down the liquid. 
7. Break up the chicken with a wooden spoon, heat resistant spatula, or I like to use a potato masher. Break up till it’s “shredded” to the way you like it. I like mine super fine . 
8. Keep stirring until all the liquid has cooked down and as soon as you hear it start to fry, turn off the heat and remove the chicken. 

The finished product.

This chicken is great for quick impromptu tacos. I threw the one together in the pic at the top after recently making this chicken. I topped it with the leftover salsa, a slice of avocado, some parmesan cheese (in place of queso anejo) and some cilantro. Super tasty.

Shredded chicken in the oven or slow cooker:

1. If using the oven, preheat to 325 degrees.
2. In an dutch oven or slow cooker, follow steps 1 - 3 above. Add 1 additional cup of water or chicken broth. 
3. Cook for 2 hours in the oven and about 4 hours on low in the slow cooker. 
4. If cooking in the oven. Remove the pan from the oven and skim off any fat if you like. Pull out the chicken to let cool a bit. If cooking in the slow cooker, pull out the chicken to cool and move the sauce to a pot or pan to finish cooking over the stovetop. 
5. Coarsely shred the chicken with your hands or forks. Or if you have those BBQ “Wolverine” claws, have at it, bub! 
6. Place the pan over medium-high heat and cook down the sauce by half.
7. Add the chicken back in, stirring regularly (and breaking up the chicken more if you like), until the liquid is absorbed and reduced.

Variations:

• You can add in some cooked cubed potatoes to the chicken at the end to make a sort of chicken tinga type of thing. Especially if you use a chipotle salsa.
• You can also replace the salsa with any sauce you think would make for tasty chicken. Like an enchilada or any red chile sauce.
• You can also use a tomatillo green chile salsa for something with a much different flavor but just as tasty.

-Patrick

An Admission

Ok. I’m just going to come right out with it. Most of the recipes I post about will be Mexican or Mexican, Southwest, Tex-Mex, etc, inspired. I love those flavors and I am a huge fan of Rick Bayless. His TV show and cookbooks are what got me into cooking. A lot of what I do comes from what I learned from his recipes and TV show.

I will be posting non Mex inspired recipes for sure, but to start off I am going to do a few that are. I think they are particularly good for the situation we are all in right now. The great thing about Mexican food is it can be extremely complex or super simple. So if you’re bored and want to tackle something that can keep you busy in the kitchen for a while (sometimes for many hours/days, like if you are making a mole), or if you just need to throw something together quickly... There’s something for you. In many cases too, you can use pantry, frozen, or long storing foodstuffs to throw something together. It also can be very healthy, which is also a good thing right now.

So with that, here is my recipe for Instant Pot shredded chicken for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, sandwiches, or anything. You're an adult, you can do whatever you want!

-Patrick

On the Twitters

I am sharing links on Twitter to food and cooking related things I find that could be useful for everyone during this time. 

Please follow The Social Distant Kitchen @distantkitchen.

-Patrick

Simple, Easy to Remember One Pot Rice & Beans Dinner w/ Variations for 2 (or 1 with Leftovers)

The first recipe is going to be one I think will be super useful to most of you. Rice and beans are going to be a staple over the next few weeks. This is the rice I like to make as a side or I'll add beans to make it a dinner. I adapted this from a Rick Bayless recipe for pilaf style rice. Mine is based off only using one cup of broth or stock at a time. You can double this recipe, however you would need about 1 ⅔ cups of stock. I know! Cooking rice is weird isn't it?

Ingredients:

• 1/2 small white or red onion. Roughly diced. No need for your best knife skills here.
  Keep it rustic. (you can use yellow but it will be sweeter.)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (2 if you really like garlic)
• 1/2 cup white rice. I use long grain because I always have it on hand.
• 1 cup chicken or veggie broth/stock. (if you are using a strong stock, dilute it a little) If I don’t have my own stock. I like to buy the 'Pacific' brand organic low sodium chicken broth that comes in the 1 cup containers 4 packs.
• 1 can beans, (pinto, black, kidney, or there are "chili beans" cans with all 3) rinsed. 
• Olive or vegetable oil. 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp
• Salt

Optional:

• Frozen veggies like peas, carrots and corn. 1 to 1 1/2 cups. Whatever amount looks good. 
• Hot sauce
• Salsa 
• Fresh parsley and/or cilantro. Chopped. About 2 to 3 Tbsp. Again, whatever amount looks good to you. 

Equipment:

A 4 to 6 qt pot that can go in the oven at 350 degrees.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 with the rack in the middle.
2. Rinse and dry the rice in a colander as much as you can.
3. Heat the oil over a medium heat (I usually do a touch higher than medium here) add the onion and cook just a bit to give it a head start. 30 secs to a min. I usually add a pinch of salt here.
4. Add in the rice and cook, stirring frequently until it goes from translucent to milky white. Make sure nothing browns.
5. Add the garlic and stir just a bit till fragrant.
6. Add in the broth, and bring to a hard simmer.
7. Add optional items if you want them (Excluding the fresh herbs)*, and salt to taste**. (see note about add ins and seasoning below)
8. Cover pot and place on the center rack of the oven and bake for 25mins.
9. Remove the pot from the oven with oven mitts (careful, HOT PAN!) and if you decided to add the beans now instead of earlier, add them to the top of the rice to steam. Re-cover the pot and let it finish cooking in it's own steam for 5 to 10 mins.
   (you could probably add some cooked chicken or shrimp here as well if you have it) 
10. Add chopped parsley, cilantro, or both if using.
11. Fluff and serve. 

*Now here’s where your variations can start. You can leave it as is and go to the next
step or you can do up some add-ins for more flavor.  You can add in a few dabs of hot
sauce. By a few, I mean a lot…  if you like the spicy. You could also add in a few
spoonfuls of your favorite salsa to taste. Or, both hot sauce and salsa. You know I do. Sometimes I add in a bit of the bean canning liquid for more bean-tastic flavor.

For the beans, you can do two things. You can add them in now. They will be a bit more blown out, but there will be a nice melding of flavors in the final dish. Or you can add them later to have a more intact beans that stand out a bit more. This would also be when you add in the frozen veggies. Bring everything back to a simmer before covering the pot and putting it in the oven.

**So, for seasoning everything. This is where you have to taste and use your better judgement. Let's say you picked a normal sodium broth. Then you also put in a few dabs of hot sauce and/or some salsa. Then your canned beans are also higher in sodium (rinsing helps)... that's already a good amount of salt in the whole dish. I find I don't have to add much at all even with low sodium products. If you are watching your sodium intake, then really pay attention to the salt content of your broth and beans when you purchase them and keep that all in mind. There are low sodium broths out there and if you look at the labels for the canned beans, the sodium content can be all over the place. There are a few brands that don't add salt. Worst case and you under season. You can always salt later. You can't really fix it if you over season.

-Patrick

Flavor Un-distancing.

Hello, My name is Patrick. I'm just a guy living in Denver that loves to cook, and loves to cook for other people. For a bit now, I have been wanting to make some sort of blog to share some of the recipes and things that I have been coming up with over the past few years. I've realized a number of them are relatively quick recipes that you can throw together on a weeknight. Many that can use mostly non-perishable pantry or frozen foodstuffs if need be. With the possibility of everyone needing to hunker down at home for some time with this dang ol' coroner-virus, I figured there’s no better time than now. So, I decided to start my project off by doing something that can help us all get through this. Hey! I've got the time.

For some of the recipes, they will be kind of a... "just throw some things together" type of deal that I feel are worth sharing. For those, I’m going to keep things kinda loose, so you can add your own tweaks. I will suggest variations, substitute items, or I might even keep things vague so you can find your own way (Or, maybe I'm too lazy to figure out the exact amounts.). The goal with these recipes will be so you can easily memorize them, add your own special touches, and hopefully have them be one of your go to recipes.

Down the road, I will also post some of my more involved dishes that I’ve come up with. They would be the meals you would want put together when you have extra time to cook and mess around in the kitchen. These recipes would be for all of you out there that like to experiment, or don't mind standing over a pot for more than a few mins as something cooks. Or, in possibly many cases, if you're really bored and want to try something new.

I’m not sure how regularly I will be posting, as I just got a wild hair up my arse this morning to do put this blog together. I'm hoping to keep it going after we get through this virus situation. This blog will morph and change as I do it. Hopefully it will become something that will last even after all this crazy is a tiny speck in our rearview mirror. I will also try to add cooking photos when I can. But for now I’m going to keep it simple so I can post more often.

Feel free to leave comments or questions. If you don't have all the ingredients on hand for a recipe, maybe you might have something else to pull off something just as tasty. Hit me up in the comments and I'll give you my suggestions.

Please subscribe and share this with anyone you think would get some use out of it. Please also follow me on Twitter (@distantkitchen) and Instagram (@socialdistantkitchen) for updates on posts, photos, and anything else I find worth sharing.

The first recipe is going to be one I think will be super useful to most of you. Rice and Beans are going to be a staple over the next few weeks. So I present to you my simple, easy to remember, one pot rice & beans dinner w/ variations for 2 (or 1 with leftovers)

-Patrick