Pork Fajitas

 Allow guest to garnish and prepare their own fajitas to taste by offering bowls of garnishes. See text below.

Fajita Sauce (see recipe) Re-warm just before serving

2 ½ pound Pork Boston butt, sliced into thin strips

¼ cup lime juice

2 Tablespoons sweet paprika

2 Green and 2 red bell peppers, sliced into thin strips lengthwise

1 Large white onion, peeled, sliced into wedges

Peanut oil

20 Fajita-size flour tortillas

Salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes:

Crumbled Queso fresco cheese

1 Bunch of cilantro, chopped

6 scallions, chopped

2 Ripe, seeded tomatoes, chopped, topped with

½ Red onion, minced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 Avocadoes, skinned and sliced length-wise (do this last to avoid oxidation)

2~3 Limes, quartered

Small bowl of sour cream

Small bowl of remaining fajita sauce

Cut meat into uniform strips trimming away excess fat. Refrigerate and marinate pork strips several hours (or more) in a plastic Ziploc bag with lime juice and paprika.

Prepare bell peppers and onion slices. Once prepared, set aside until needed.

Prepare garnishes that go into bowls so guest can customize the assembly of their own fajita. Chopped tomatoes; put in bowl mix with minced red onion and mince garlic. Chop scallions and place in their own bowl. Chop cilantro in another bowl. When slicing avocados, do this just before serving to avoid oxidation discoloration. Quarter limes in a bowl. Prepare a bowl of crumble Queso fresco cheese. Prepare a bowl of sour cream. Cover bowls with plastic wrap, then refrigerate until needed. (Cheese is removed from refrigerator at least an hour before serving.)

Slice avocadoes. Set out garnishes on side table.

Heat wok until very hot. Add two tablespoons peanut oil. Cook bell peppers and onion slices until al dente, tossing continuously. Add a tablespoon or two of fajita sauce. Remove from heat and empty wok into a large bowl.

Reheat wok until very hot, add more oil, add ½ the pork. Cook until browned while tossing continuously. When done, turn out into bowl and repeat to cook remaining pork. When done, add back balance of meat and vegetables, Heat in wok with a tablespoon or more of fajita sauce. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, serve remaining fajita sauce aside the garnishes.

Insert tortillas in a fresh and clean folded cotton towel. Place in microwave and heat on high 2 minutes or until these are hot. Allow these to rest a minute before using. Fold towel back over unused shells.

Fajita Sauce

This suace has a mild flavor, the chipotle contribute a slightly smoke undertone. Just enough cumin is added to give fajita's a tradition flavor without being overbearing.

2 Small dried chipotle peppers
2 Dried new Mexico pod
1 Tablespoon flour
1 ½ Tablespoon lard
1 Clove of garlic, minced
½ small onion, minced
1/2 Teaspoon brown sugar
½ Cup chicken stock
Pepper and hot red pepper to taste
Cumin to taste
Pinch of oregano (Optional)

Soak chipotle and New Mexico peppers in hot water until soft. When soft, pull off stems and add to blender glass. Add chicken stock and blend until very well blended. Strain paste through a fine strainer while scrubbing paste with a wooden spoon. Melt lard in a sauce pan then add flour. Cook on medium for 4 minutes while stirring with a wooden spoon. Add sugar, garlic, and onion and cook on low for 20 minutes or more add additional chicken stock if sauce gets too thick. Correct seasoning with a pinch or so of cumin, salt and hot pepper to taste. Set aside until needed.

Vicki’s Potato Salad

This is a delicious potato salad made with russet potatoes or another variety and is perfect for summer outings, camping, the barbecue, or potlucks. It is one of my family's favorites. You can make this one or two days ahead. It is better the second day.

Boil with skin on - Test with fork for doneness

The main star is the potato so getting good ones is the start of a great salad. When selecting potatoes, use ones that are hard, firm, smooth and clean. Avoid those with wrinkled or wilted skins, soft dark areas, discoloration, cut or bruised surfaces, signs of greening or sprouting. Freshly dug new potatoes should be well washed and lightly scrubbed with a bristle brush. Leave the skins on when boiling for less water absorbtion.

The decision to peel the skins is a matter of personal preference. Presentation is improved if they are peeled. Red or new potatoes are often used in salads to avoid peeling as these potatoes have a thinner skin. Russet potatoes are the ideal potato salad maker as they are dense and suck up flavor and liquid substantially better than other potatoes. Because of this tendency, it is important not to over boil these in the least amount, strain them very well in a very large colander. The residual heat will help drive off moisture in the form of steam so do not rinse. If you buy small potatoes, you can easily cook them with their skins on; only peeling them when they are nice and cool. You can buy small potatoes and bake them but just make sure you are testing for doness frequently enough that the potato is not over done. Baking or microwave requires that the potatoes be pierced with a fork. Trying to bake large potatoes is too difficult as the out­side tends to be over cooked while the inside is still excessively hard.

If you have skins on, you can quench the potatoes with water to prevent the potatoes from continuing to cook, which they will do from their own residual heat. Any potatoes not quite done can go into the microwave for a minute at a time, until they are done. A potato is done when it can be just pierced easily with a fork. If the fork runs in with no resistance, a potato is over-done. To make a perfect potato salad the potatoes need to still have a bite to them – no one will like potato mush. If peeling potatoes and boiling them, cut them into large but equal size pieces so they cook at the same rate and will be done at the same time. Larger pieces tend to absorb less water.

8 Large or 16 small Russet potatoes or another variety

3 Ribs of chopped celery

Good Season’s Zesty Italian Salad Dressing, 6-Ounce Packet

Olive oil (per directions on Salad Dressing packet)

Fine red wine vinegar (per directions on Salad Dressing packet)

Water (per directions on Salad Dressing packet)

1 Chopped red onion

6 Scallions, chopped

8 Hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped

4 Chopped dill pickles

4 Tablespoons dill pickle juice

Best Foods (Hellmann’s) mayonnaise as required, see instructions

3~4 tablespoons yellow mustard

1 Tablespoon dill

1 Small can chopped black olives (optional)

Salt

Ground black pepper

Prepare the Good Season’s Zesty Italian Salad Dressing per directions.

Cook unpeeled potatoes until pierced easily with a fork. When cool, peel them and cut them into bite sized pieces with a small pairing knife. Put potatoes in a large non–reactive bowl. Pour in the salad dressing mix, toss and refrigerate for an hour or 24 hours.

Dressed for a marinate in the refrigerator

Remove from refrigerator and combine all ingredients with the marinated potatoes adding enough mayonnaise to make sure the salad is well lubricated, adding salt and a generous amount of black pepper to taste and stir gently to combine.

Refrigerate several hours before serving.

An Afternoon with Winemaker Dennis Johns

Round Two on Red Lake

Dennis Johns, extraordinaire winemaker in the Napa Valley for over 30 years is the founder of White Cottage Ranch wines. Dennis sold the White Cottage Ranch (WCR) in 2008. and bought acerage adjacent to the Howell Mountain Winery. His new winery is called Round Two  (or here we go again) and is located on the famous Howell Mountain. On our recent visit to California, we visited Round Two and tasted his latest wines under the willow trees against the estates’ placid Red Lake. This delightful afternoon proved once again that when in comes to making wine, Dennis Johns is a genius. Dennis is not only a great wine maker but has become a good friend over the years. I was first introduced by Alan and Leslie Baribeault in 1993 at the original old Deer Park winery on Howell Mountain, where Dennis aged his early WCR in oak in the Ivy covered Deer Park stone building. 

In person, you would never meet a more modest man despite being famous in the Napa valley as one the regions best winemakers. As the winemaker at St. Clement Vineyards for twenty years, Dennis established his early reputation as an innovative and highly respected winemaker. Dennis first started growing grapes on Howell Mountain in 1990. Dennis and his wife Adele’s steadfast belief that fine wines are ‘grown’ is certainly a proven fact as demonstrated on Howell Mountain at his Vineyard WCR. As a man driven and full of energy, Dennis has also mentored fellow winemakers in Napa.

Dennis Johns - the Little Big Man

His supply of handcrafted-small run wines at WCR were largely snatched up by friends and wine club members. Since nobody can quite keep a secret about great wines in the Napa Valley, WCR soon found they needed to expand to keep up with demand. Which is what they did, however, in 2008, the downturn in our economy forced the over extended Dennis Johns to sell the WCR to the Adams Wine Group, a privately held collection of premium wineries. Dennis new 68 acres  estate is called Round Two Wines.

We tasted the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, 2010 Chardonnay, 2007 Syrah, 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Lake County) and the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa). We missed the 2010 Rose from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape (see note below). Every one of these wines was uniquely a Dennis Johns wine, delightful on the palate, full of character, and a full value wine when compared to would be contenders. To get their wines on line, see http://www.roundtwowines.com/WINES.html

Wine Tasting among the Wilows

Sipping wine with Dennis is a lesson about tasting and wine making. I brought my son Robert and his wife Leslie, her brother Ed. Larry a wine merchant and his two guests from New York joined us. The day was a bit cool but Dennis kept us comfortable with a gas heater. Adele had provided great bread and olive oil from the Napa Valley Olive Oil Company to cleanse the pallet. Larry pointed out that the Napa Valley Olive Oil Company was also selling a 30 year old balsamic. (We stopped there later)

A promise of days past. A wine I first tasted of WCR was a blend that became the wine Dennis called Ezivese (pronounced "EE-zee-vay-zee") made from perfectly ripe Sangiovese and Zinfandel. The wine was discontinued by WCR but will be coming back under the label of  ROUND TWO soon. This is my favorite red wine but also one of the largest, fruit forward wines I ever had. If complex and large (think super Tuscan on steroids) is your bag, this is the ONE!

Dennis never enters his wine in competition nor allows critics on his property. Although all of his wines are a real pleasure to drink, the wines get far less attention that they deserve. This does not bother Dennis at all. Dennis and Adele “make the wines we love to drink and what’s left over, we sell.”

How great a day we had

For more on Adele and Dennis Johns see

http://wine-people.com/dennisjohns.htm

http://napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/wine/columnists/wine-tales/article_9bf08da2-7212-11e0-b1cc-001cc4c03286.html

Email Dennis at info@roundtwowines.com 

Note:
We ordered wines from California including the Rose from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape and it was wonderful and refreshing.