Improvisational Traditions

 

Every family has certain things that they cook and enjoy for holidays, birthdays, and specific days of the week. My family always had Friday popcorn nights, Christmas green chile stew, and annual mac and cheese. When I first started high school, my Dad and I would spend the week at a house close to the school while my mom worked on the farm an hour away. It was a new experience for all of us and it forced my Dad to expand his culinary horizons and Cook for the Teenager. One of my favorite weekly Dad meals was canned corned beef hash with an egg and ketchup. Best. Dinner. Ever. Sadly, I am now jaded enough to pay attention to the nutritional value on the cans. In other words, eating corned beef hash weekly is no longer on option. But on this fine day, I am going to embrace my wacky Irish family traditions and improvise corned beef and cabbage!

Unfortunately I almost forgot it was St. Patrick’s Day and by the time I remembered, all the stores were out of uncooked corned beef. But I did not let that stop me.  One quick stop at a deli and I have ¾ lb of sliced corned beef. Step two was making the spice mix to cook the cabbage, corn, and potatoes. Hopefully bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard seed, whole cloves, garlic, and coriander seed will do the trick.  Step three: warming the corned beef without overcooking it. I believe that thirty seconds in with the potatoes and cabbage should do the trick.

It might not taste exactly like St. Patrick’s Day dinner with the family, but my corned beef and cabbage turned out nicely. Sometimes traditions change. People move, families spread apart, and new life experiences take hold. Today I may not be having a "normal" holiday meal, but I am wearing green, eating my corned beef and drinking a Guinness. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

 

Home for the Holidays

There is something eternal about the holiday season. New traditions and old come together without conflict. Every day there are delicious smells in the air along with an indescribable excitement. Some families may roast an annual turkey or decorate the tree with tinsel and golden balls. In my family we eat macaroni and cheese, green chile stew, and spicy caramelized bacon. Our family tree is a hodgepodge of ornaments from around the world, childhood arts and crafts, and antique plastic apples. The New Mexican idea of “decoration” is paper bags with sand and a lit candle in the front yard. Home is where you feel loved, but seeing those farolitos truly helps.

This was a difficult year for me. I moved to a new country, began an education in a new career, left behind many friends and a comfortable job, and I did it all without any certainty about the future. The holidays were all a bit disastrous since I had to learn to celebrate a different Thanksgiving and live without snow or ice on Christmas, but I am extremely lucky to have an amazing family who has stood by me as I try to create a new career for myself out of nothing. Problems are more difficult to bear when one is alone and it took true effort for me to share my problems with my family. In the end though, it was a happy Christmas and a nice vacation away from my life in Vancouver. I know that there is always love and support coming towards me from Salt Spring Island.

Hartwell Family Green Chile Stew
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped roasted New Mexico chiles - skins and seeds removed (roasted anaheims or poblanos can give similar flavor)
1 lbs cubed pork shoulder (ask butcher to cube it (1 inch/small cubes) and to give you the bone from the shoulder
3 Tbsp masa flour (or all purpose if masa cannot be found)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
2 Tbsp butter
32 oz chicken stock
3-4 Yukon Gold potatoes (small cubes)
4-5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 Tbsp oregano (chopped)
1 Tbsp thyme (chopped)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup hominy/posole (optional)
Salt/Pepper

Method:

• Dredge pork cubes in masa flour

• Brown pork in oil in large pot - set aside

• Add butter to same pan, sweat onion until translucent, add garlic and lightly saute

• Add 1 tsp of masa and a small amount of chicken stock to browned bottom of pot - as stock warms, scrape browned bits off of the pan to create a roux. Add remaining stock to pot

• Add all remaining ingredients to same pan except green chiles. Bring to slow boil, then cover, reduce to simmer for about 30 minutes. Add green chile and cook at simmer until pork and hominy are tender (about 1 hour).

• Add salt/pepper to taste