When is this guy going to run out of tortillas?

Never, I'm afraid. They're just too convenient. Pictured above are tacos with a classic combination of blanched green beans and potatoes--the beans from the garden and the potatoes, Yukon Golds, from the Market. The mix is normally found in enchiladas or tamales, but I just didn't have the patience to defrost some of the wonderful Sonoran style enchilada sauce my (soon to be ex) next door neighbor made for me almost a year ago. And tamales, despite a deep curiosity and love of Mexican cooking, the ones available at Orale in the West Side Market are just too good to justify me bumbling through making them myself (although I have been looking for an excuse to buy a tub of lard at one of the local Mexican grocery stores).

In addition to the potatoes and beans I included some blanched and chopped early cabbage and sliced green serrano pepper, both also from the garden, grated raw cheddar from the Market, a few splashes of Tapatio, and some creme fraiche. Not much visible color contrast, but it was delicious nonetheless.

And the cucumber salad--my take on sunomono I've enjoyed at Japanese restaurants. Here it's just a diced, seeded garden cucumber (marketmore), salt, pepper, and white wine vinegar. It marinated for a few minutes and was refreshing in its simplicity.

Chili Cookoff 2007

Just part of what went into my chili entry for tomorrow's event (No basil though, that's just there.). It would have been better if it sat for a day, but what are you going to do? Because of my lack of planning I was limited to my pantry and a barely-better-than-mediocre grocery store. The slow cooker is courtesy of an old roommate and friend, Jim Hassert (Click here and then on "Featured Artist: Jim"--he would have made a great teacher, but he's doing well for himself and works at a great company. Despite his credentials, he wasn't much of a chicken coop builder back then.). The rough recipe came from living out West, where it's a rare potluck that you'll be able to satisfy everyone if your dish has meat in it (or even if it doesn't). Those were the days when friends kept bags of roasted Hatch Chilies in their freezers, ready to share with anyone who asked. I don't know anyone with chilies in their freezers out here, but at least there's more than the occasional sun break during the winter. . . not much more though.

If I place anywhere near the top in the cookoff I'll post the recipe. There's no meat, and while I work with a quite a few vegetarians, it's a meat and potato city, so we'll see what happens.