The Dog Ate My Homework

Guilty!

Note to self: When preparing a plate of food to photograph, never leave it unattended. Especially if you have a dog! After spending 15 minutes carefully putting the plate together, I left for a brief moment to get the camera, you can guess the rest. Annabelle helped herself to a pork taco! Lesson learned.
                           Cilantro Rice and Pork Tacos
The first recipe came to me from my friend, Michelle. A few families met one evening a couple of summers ago, at The Huntington Library and Gardens for a evening concert and picnic. Since we were going to be listening to music from South America, I thought we should all bring something to fit that theme. Michelle brought this green rice. One bite just knocked my socks off. The "green" was cilantro. She got the recipe from Epicurious. But I got it from her, so I call it, "Michelle's Rice".

OK, a couple of notes on both cilantro and cumin, I think there are two camps on these flavors. You either love them or hate them...there is no in between. My daughter, Emma, does not like cumin. She can smell it at 300 feet. But for some reason, she loves this Cilantro Rice so much, she requests it often!

Cilantro Rice

1 tbl. olive oil

1 large white onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbl. minced seeded serrano chiles (if you don't like too much heat, use canned green chilies. I use both!)

2 cups long-grain white rice

3 1/4 cups chicken broth

3/4 tsp. salt

Heat oil on medium heat, add onions, garlic and chile a saute' about 8-10 minutes. Add rice, stir. Mix in broth and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice tender and broth is absorbed. about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 5 min.

Transfer rice to bowl, cool, stirring occasionaly, about 1 1/2 hours. Toss with Cilantro dressing.

Cilantro Dressing

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 cup olive oil

2 1/2 tbl. white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. minced, seeded serrano chili (same thing, if you don't like too much heat, use canned green chiles)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until almost smooth. Season dressing with salt and pepper to taste.

You're suppose to serve this chilled, but nobody can ever really wait that long, so we usually end up eating it warm.

 8 servings

I use the crock pot just as much in the summer as I do in the winter. Sometimes I don't feel like heating up the kitchen and sometimes we're out playing and I don't feel like rushing home early to cook.

Green Chile Pork
2 lb. (approx) pork butt or shoulder, (not a loin...too lean)
1 28oz can of green enchilada sauce
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 TBL. cumin
a couple of teaspoons of chili powder
2 tsp. salt

Throw everything in the crock pot. Put it on low. Leave it alone for 8 hours. Discard green sauce and shred. Season with salt and pepper. I serve it with just a little chopped onion, fresh salsa and cilantro and hot sauce.