January 6, 2012: Hot and Spicy Pumpkin Dip Recipe

The Wednesday edition of the Arizona Republic newspaper contains the weekly food section and I always eagerly await it to see what kind of new recipes it might contain. Usually I’m not impressed but this week I took notice of a recipe for a sweet potato dip I wanted to try. I only had pumpkin so I did a bit of my own makeover magic in the way of substitutions and less fat to come up with this very tasty recipe.

Hot and Spicy Pumpkin Dip

1 cup cooked pumpkin (or canned pureed)

1 T. roasted pumpkin seeds

½ chipotle pepper in adobo sauce + about ½ teaspoon sauce

2 cloves garlic

½ t. paprika

½ t. cumin

½ t. sesame oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a small food processor and process until smooth. (I just got a stick blender with attachments, which worked wonderfully for this application!)

Serves 2 with calories of approximately112 (1/2 cup serving size)

Serve this Hot and Spicy Pumpkin Dip with a 10” flour tortilla torn into strips and sprayed on both sides with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle them with kosher salt. Bake the strips in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes, turning them over once, for guilt-less chips (total calories about 220).

August 20, 2011: Short Ribs in Molé Sauce Recipe

Okay, I have to admit it – I watch the Food Network and shows about food (absolutely anything with Gordon Ramsey) in order to get new ideas for dishes I make. Sure I’m pretty good at putting ingredients together but sometimes even I need a little something to stir my creative juices.

Such is the case with the following recipe. I watched the finale of Master Chef Tuesday night and Adrien made a similar dish. It sounded really good so I pulled out my The Spicy Food Lover’s Bible cookbook to get a general idea of how to make the molé sauce and went from there. I made some pretty big changes but I think it came out really tasty. Try it and tell me what you think!

Pork Short Ribs in Molé Sauce

2 pounds pork short ribs

1 T. vegetable oil

Heat a slow cooker to high. Add the oil and the ribs. Brown on both sides (or use a saucepan on the stove if your slow cooker doesn’t have a high enough temperature).

My mortar and pestle (it has a puppy face on the front!) made out of volcanic rock from Mexico.

Molé Sauce

1 T. Especias Mixtas (this is a Mexican spice blend that contains mustard seed, cumin seed, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cloves, allspice, bay leaves and dried red chiles)

1 T. sesame seeds

2 T. roasted pumpkin seeds

½ t. cinnamon

2 cloves garlic

½ medium-sized white or yellow onion

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

2 T. craisins

¼ cup hot red chile powder

2 canned chiles in adobo sauce + 1 t. adobo sauce

1 (14.5 ouce) tomatoes with green chiles

1/3 cup chicken stock

1 bay leaf

Combine the Especias Mixtas, sesame seeds, and pumpkins seeds in a mortar or spice grinder; crush into a coarse powder. Add this to the bowl of a food processor and process by itself, if necessary, to break up any remaining large chunks. Add the cinnamon, garlic, onion, and chocolate and process until crumbled. Add the chile powder, adobo chiles, adobo sauce, tomatoes, and chicken stock. Process until fairly smooth. Pass through a sieve, if desired, for a smoother sauce.

Pour half the sauce over the ribs in the slow cooker and add the bay leaf. Cook on low to medium-low heat for six hours, until pork is tender.

Serves 3 – 4

Tip: Use the leftover molé sauce to make enchiladas, thinning with a bit of chicken stock, if necessary.