going up around the bend

well I think that after yet another week of crappy march-like weather in April/May we might have finally turned the corner.

Saturday ended up being a pretty great day and Sunday was better. the only down part of the weekend was not getting out on the road bike Saturday. I did make it out Sunday morning for a short ride though. I only had about an hour so I went here:


The rest of the weekend included getting ready to have Jennifer and Monte over for dinner Sat evening, so lots of cleaning and errands to pick up supplies.

We got a couple of awesome desserts from Bellaria Bakery. a dark chocolate mousse torte and a petite chocolate cream cake (kind of like a really fancy hoho). both were fabulous. I also picked up a key lime tart for teh next day and I was less enthused about that. The key lime filling was right on but it was in a regular pastry tart crust vs. a graham cracker crust.

For dinner we made simple quesadillas for apps and our entree was Chicken in Escabeche with onions, carrots, and roasted poblano peppers. We also made a great side dish of Braised Fennel with a Guajillo Chile dressing.



During our errand running we stopped at the Fetus so I could pick up the new Nick Cave which is awesome. I have never been a big Nick Cave fan, liking a few songs here and there, but the new album is great from beginning to end.


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Weekly Total - 30
Season Total - 144
Miles to Goal - 1356

Chorizo and Black Beans in a Chipotle Salsa

Made this the other night from ingredients around the house and it was pretty tasty as well as quick and easy.

Chorizo and Black Beans in a Chipotle Salsa

Ingredients:
12 oz. Chorizo, preferably ground or casing removed
1 can Black Beans drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cup home cooked beans is even better)
1 can Diced Tomatoes (fire roasted would be good)
1 can Chipotles en Adobo
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp Cumin

Garnish:
White Onion sliced
Cilantro (optional)
Queso Fresco (optional)

Corn Tortillas (if you want tacos)

Making the salsa:
In a blender puree the tomatoes, garlic, cumin, 2-3 chipotles and 1 Tb of the adobo sauce.[to add even more flavor you can pan roast the garlic as well as the cumin seeds]

Making the rest:
Brown the Chorizo in a large saute pan, breaking apart the pieces as much as you can.
Once Chorizo is browned, add beans and saute together for a few minutes.
Add approx 1 cup of the salsa and simmer for 7-10 minutes stirring occasionally until the sauce reduces and just coats the chorizo and beans.

Serve as taco filling, tostada topping, over rice, or however you would like it garnished with any combination of onion, cilantro, and queso fresco.