Pulled pork baked taquitos

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If it were January, I'd be making some New Year's resolutions.

Work less. Pay more attention to the kids. Stop multitasking. Breathe. Exercise. Cook dinner. Blog more!

But it's June. I can't work less or important things won't get done. My kids are busy themselves, thank goodness, too busy to realize just how distracted I've been. Multitasking feels essential. I'm breathing and occasionally exercising. Cooking dinner? A few times a week, better than nothing.

But hey, at least I'm here writing this post.

On Memorial Day, for the first time in months, we had friends over for dinner. I made pulled pork and (of course) served it with a Not Ketchup bar. Guess what? All four flavors taste great when mixed with slow-cooked shredded pork shoulder. My favorite for pulled pork is Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup, with Spiced Fig Not Ketchup a close second. Blueberry Not Ketchup always has its fans. And Smoky Date Not Ketchup is a good all-around choice too, especially for kids who might not like the spices in the other flavors.

The next day I mixed the leftover pulled pork with shredded Mexican blend cheese and rolled it up in flour tortillas, then baked them until crispy. It was one of those forehead-smacking moments: Why haven't I ever thought to do this before? They were tasty and so much fun to eat - especially when we dipped them into guacamole and more Not Ketchup.

Of course, you can put just about anything inside a tortilla and roll it up. Beans, cooked vegetables, leftover rice, chopped rotisserie chicken. Just mix it with some shredded cheese before rolling and baking. And serve a delicious dip on the side.

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Pulled pork baked taquitos

by Erika Kerekes June-2-2014

Mix pulled pork with shredded cheese, roll it up in flour tortillas, and bake in the oven until crispy. Serve with a fun dip on the side, like guacamole, salsa, or Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup sauce.

Ingredients

• 3 cups pulled pork, cooled
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 8 flour tortillas
• Guacamole and Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup, for dipping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spray the foil lightly with cooking spray.In a medium-sized mixing bowl, blend the pulled pork with the shredded cheese with a large spoon.Lay one tortilla on a cutting board and spoon about 1/4 cup of the filling lengthwise on the bottom third of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla up tightly around the filling. Lay the taquito on the baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.Bake the taquitos until golden brown and crisp, 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately with guacamole and Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup on the side.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 8 taquitos

Grapefruit guacamole - it won't turn brown!

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Last week I made a delicious, miraculous guacamole that will not turn brown.

This guacamole hung around for almost a week in a normal plastic container in the refrigerator and it barely discolored at all. (It lasted because I made a huge batch and we were out of tortilla chips, not because it wasn't good. Just in case you were wondering.)

I assume the secret is the grapefruit flesh. I love grapefruit, so I added the flesh of two beautiful pink grapefruits straight to the guacamole.

You do need to know how to supreme a grapefruit. It's not hard, though: You cut off the ends, carefully cut away the rind, and then slip your knife in along the membranes to loosen the flesh. This video illustrates the process pretty well:


This is a very simple guacamole: avocado, grapefruit, green onions, salt. It's also quite beautiful if you use pink grapefruit because you can see the little pink bits poking out among the light green avocado and darker green onions.

We ate this grapefruit guacamole alongside oven-roasted salmon, with multiple quesadillas, and on sandwiches with smoked salmon and cucumber. Even my grapefruit-wary kids loved it!

Thanks to the California Avocado Commission for sending me a flat of delicious ripe California avocados to play with!

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Grapefruit guacamole

by Erika Kerekes May-15-2013

A simple and delicious guacamole that won't turn brown. The secret ingredient: pink grapefruit.

Ingredients

• 6 ripe avocados
• 2 pink grapefruits
• 2 cups green onions, chopped (1 bunch)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Instructions

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Scoop the avocado flesh into a large bowl and mash it with a fork or a potato masher.Supreme the grapefruits: Cut off the ends, the peel, and the white pith. Hold a grapefruit over the bowl with the avocado, then cut between the membranes, releasing the flesh of the grapefruit segments into the bowl. When you've cut all the grapefruit flesh away from the membrane, squeeze the membranes to extract all the remaining juice. Repeat with the other grapefruit. Mash the grapefruit flesh gently into the avocados; you want to retain some chunks, but most of the grapefruit should break up and mix in with the avocado.Stir in the green onions and salt, then mix to combine. Taste and add more salt if desired.Serve immediately. Note: Can be held in the refrigerator in a plastic container up to 5 days without significant discoloration.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 5 mins Total time: 21 mins Yield: 10+ servings

Salmon salad with avocado for Cinco de Mayo

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Eight-seven million pounds.

That's how many avocados the California Avocado Commission estimates we'll be eating on Cinco de Mayo this year.

I'd bet most of those 87 million pounds of avocados will be consumed in the form of guacamole, scooped up with tortilla chips and washed down with beer and/or margaritas.

But I'm planning something a little more delicate for Cinco de Mayo this year. Something with protein and some more vegetables. And I'm skipping the deep-fried chips.

A little health scare chased me back to the straight and narrow this week. I'd gotten lazy, let my eating habits slip. Numbers don't lie. It's time to regroup.

California avocados are back in season, and I know they'll be a big part of my healthy eating efforts. Avocados provide more than a dozen essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B vitamins, and folic acid. The monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are heart-healthy. And, of course, they're delicious.

This simple fish salad can be made with any leftover cooked fish, or even with canned salmon. Including the zest of the lemon as well as the juice brightens the flavor considerably, so don't leave it out.

Have a happy and healthy Cinco de Mayo!

More avocado recipes from my kitchen: Truffled avocado mousse on toast * Avocado-cucumber soup * Scrambled eggs with avocado * Avocado tacos with chipotle * Green garlic guacamole * Weston's guacamole * Celebrity chef Robert Irvine talks about avocados (exclusive interview!) 

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Salmon salad with avocado and cucumber

by Erika Kerekes May-4-2013

A light chilled salad with heart-healthy ingredients like salmon, avocado and greens. Serve in a scooped-out avocado shell.

Ingredients

• 6 ounces salmon, cooked (use leftovers, or substitute canned salmon)
• 1/2 cup cucumber, seeded and cut into small cubes (about 1/2 a large cucumber; measure after cutting)
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juice and zest
• 2 avocados, cut in half lengthwise, pit removed, flesh scooped from shells and roughly diced; reserve shells for serving
• 2 cups mixed salad greens, for serving

Instructions

Put the salmon in a medium-sized bowl and flake it with a fork. Add the cucumber, green onions, lemon juice, and lemon zest; mix gently until combined. Add the avocado chunks and toss gently once more. Divide the salmon salad evenly among the four avocado shells. Divide the salad greens between two plates and nestle the filled avocado shells on top of the greens, allowing two per person. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 5 mins Total time: 15 mins Yield: 2 servings

Truffled avocado mousse on toast

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Avocado mousse with fresh truffles on toast (Photo: Lynne Hemer, Cook and Be Merry)

When you're planning the menu for a big party, always include one or two truly simple dishes.

That's how this truffled avocado mousse was born. Every summer I throw a themed foodgasm party called Trufflepalooza. Last year I made 20 different truffle-laced dishes for 200 people. Of the 20, a few were very complicated. A few were easy but labor-intensive. I needed a no-brainer.

Ripe avocados. Creme fraiche. A splash of truffle oil. A pinch of truffle salt. A squeeze of lemon. Pureed, piped onto toast rounds, garnished with Italian black summer truffles from my connection at Sabatino Tartufi.  A perfect combination.

Serve these with a fruity white wine or a sparkling Prosecco before your next dinner party. If you don't feel like breaking out the cookie cutters to make the rounds of bread, pipe the truffled avocado mousse onto crackers or slices of cucumber.

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Truffled avocado mousse

by Erika Kerekes February-20-2013

A simple puree of ripe avocados laced with black truffles. Pipe a swirl of this creamy mousse onto toast rounds, crackers or cucumber slices.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados, any variety
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• 1 Tablespoon black truffle oil (I prefer Sabatino Tartufi black truffle oil)
• 1 generous pinch truffle salt (I prefer Sabatino Truffle Sea Salt)
• 4 dozen 2-inch rounds white bread, toasted (cut with a cookie cutter from 1 loaf soft white bread)
• 1 fresh or canned black truffle

Instructions

Put the avocado flesh, lemon juice, creme fraiche, truffle oil, and truffle salt into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz until the ingredients are completely combined and the mousse is smooth as silk. Taste and add more salt if necessary.Transfer the truffled avocado mousse to a zip-top plastic bag fitted with a small star tip. Carefully pipe a swirl of the avocado mousse onto each round of toast. Garnish with grated or minced fresh truffle. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 20 mins Yield: approximately 4 dozen pieces

Chef Robert Irvine talks avocados

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Food Network celebrity chef Robert Irvine with a fellow avocado lover in Universal City, CA

When I get an opportunity to chat with a celebrity chef, I grab it.

Yesterday Chef Robert Irvine, who stars in Food Network's completely addictive show Restaurant: Impossible, kicked off an 85-day "Add-vocado" campaign with Subway here in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the Subway where he was slinging subs was clear across town from my office. I couldn't get there on a work day, much as I would have liked to check out his legendary biceps in person.

But a polite request to Subway's public relations group got me an early morning phone call with the chef. I was bleary, but Chef Irvine, who had already finished his morning workout, was wide awake and firing on all cylinders. I asked him a slew of avocado-related questions, which I'd brainstormed the night before with Emery, my 13-year-old son and a huge Robert Irvine fan. Read on for Chef Irvine's answers, including off-the cuff recipes for an avocado martini and an avocado panna cotta.

A note to blogger friends about interviewing celebrities: You're only going to get a few minutes. Go in prepared. Know what you want to talk about and move the conversation there. Otherwise you'll get the prepared promotional comments from the press release - and that's boring for you, your audience and the celebrity.

(Interested in more of my celebrity chef encounters? Here you go: Giada De Laurentiis, Alice Waters, Curtis Stone, Scott Conant, Claire Robinson, Lucinda Scala Quinn)

That's one big avocado - almost as big as Robert Irvine's biceps

Erika: Why avocados?


Robert Irvine: Avocados are a great healthy food, with lots of vitamins and good fats. Why use mayonnaise on a sandwich when you can cream avocado with yogurt and spices and use that instead? Add avocado to a boring BLT and it's creamy and delicious.

Erika: You've pledged to eat avocado every day for 85 days. Do you have your menu planned out?

Robert Irvine: I don't. I travel 330 days a year and eat every two and a half hours - I'm a big guy. I always carry a fork, little bottles of spices, and Sriracha [hot sauce]. I eat what I feel like eating. I'll be documenting my 85 days of avocado on Twitter and recipes will be posted on the Subway Facebook page.

Chef Robert Irvine making "Add-vocado" sandwiches at Subway in Universal City, CA

Erika: You grew up in England. Did you ever have avocados as a boy?

Robert Irvine: No, never. I had my first avocado on a cruise ship; I was 14, traveling with the Sea Cadets, and I'd been raised on steak and kidney pie and fish and chips. I thought, what is this? The chef taught me about avocados and told me to add lime juice.

Erika: Have you ever climbed an avocado tree?

Robert Irvine: No.

Erika: Feel free to stop by my house and climb mine. My 10-year-old climbs it all the time. That's how we get the avocados at the top.

Robert Irvine: [Laughs] I'd love to!

Erika: What's your favorite way to eat an avocado?

Robert Irvine: Blend vanilla yogurt, mustard, sriracha, lime juice and paprika with avocado and layer it on bread. [I expressed skepticism about the vanilla yogurt.] Yes, vanilla yogurt. I make a sweet potato bread pudding with cinnamon Tabasco ice cream at my restaurant, and when people hear that they make the same noises you just did. Trust me. It's delicious.

Erika: What's the most gourmet avocado dish you've had?

Robert Irvine: Avocado souffle, served with onion chutney. It's the best thing I've ever had.

Erika: Where did you have that avocado souffle?

Robert Irvine: In my restaurant, of course.

Erika: Name your three favorite sandwiches with avocado.

Robert Irvine: BLT; chipotle steak; turkey with bacon. They're all on the Subway menu.

Erika: Any ideas for avocados in cocktails?

Robert Irvine: I'd make a cucumber avocado martini. Juice the cucumber and puree the avocado. Mix those together and make a martini. Add a little tabasco. Garnish with diced seedless cucumber and little Parisian balls of avocado.

Erika: If you were going to open a restaurant that served avocados in every dish, what would you call it?

Robert Irvine: Let's see....The Add-Vocado Pit. I think it would work! Someone asked me once about a restaurant that only does eggs - turns out there's one in Chicago that does $3 million a year in eggs. As long as you're creative and consistent, I truly believe you can succeed with a restaurant like that.

Erika: If you were competing on Chopped and got avocado in your dessert basket, what would you make?  
Robert Irvine: I'd do avocado panna cotta. Pureed avocado with eggs, cream and sugar, with gelatin added to form a mousse. I'd make a cold salad with diced avocados, fresh mint, kiwi, strawberries or cherries, and I'd serve that on top of the panna cotta sprinkled with a little black pepper. That's pretty good for off the cuff, hey? That actually sounds amazing. I'm going to make that next week for sure.

Erika: When you do, be sure to reference this conversation.

Robert Irvine: You know I will.

Erika: You were married last month [to professional wrestler Gail Kim]. Were avocados on the menu at your wedding reception?

Robert Irvine: Yes! There was avocado on Chef Morimoto's sushi and Michael Chiarello's salad. And also avocado with oysters: a blanched lettuce leaf wrapped around a raw oyster with avocado, onion and mignonette.

Erika: Guacamole: How do you make yours?

Robert Irvine: I score the avocado flesh and put in bowl. Then I add fresh tomatoes, skinned and seeded; red onion; cilantro; lime juice; Tabasco or Sriracha; and salt and pepper. That's it.

Erika: I have to ask. Do you read any food blogs?

Robert Irvine: I read anything where my name pops up. Even when someone says I'm mean, I like to respond - I like to educate people about what I do. There's a lot of great writing on blogs. I think a lot of blog writers should be syndicating and writing for bigger audiences.