Irish Breakfast

You know what happens when you mix Jameson and gingers, jello shots, green beer, and Irish car bombs? Not wanting to blog is what happens.

I shall persevere, however, because in the midst of drinking myself into a bumbling green mess, I made a traditional Irish breakfast that would make my ancestors rejoice and my arteries shudder. The only things missing were sausage (decided to just go with bacon. So. Much. Food) and the beans in tomato sauce. I went with pinto beans. California style. We got our breads and white pudding at John Campbells in SF. LEGIT place.

I fried up the bacon first, then fried everything else up in the bacon grease. Perhaps not exactly diet friendly, but it's SO GOOD. Made me want to go back to Ireland. Immediately. Like, now.







White pudding
Bacon
Eggs
Fried tomato
Scones
Potato bread
Soda bread

RAGING success!!

Lomo Saltado

Along with pisco sours, an almost daily staple during our time in Peru was lomo saltado. It's like THE dish down there. Uh...steak AND french fries?! ALL ROLLED INTO ONE?! Count my fat ass in! (not my pic. too lazy to take one)

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen French fries
• vegetable oil as needed
• 1 pound beef tri tip, sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large onion, sliced into strips
• 3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and sliced into strips (I didn't seed mine. Should have. They got kinda mushy)
  
• 1 yellow chili pepper (preferably Peruvian aji amarillo)(have yet to see one of THOSE stateside. I bought a 'yellow chili pepper'. Close enough, right? It was super mild, though. My Peruvian sister in law bought the closest thing she could find when she made it for us, being unfamiliar with gringo peppers, and picked up a habenero. DO NOT DO THIS. You will cry fire.)
  
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 dash soy sauce to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Prepare the bag of French fries according to package directions.
2. While the French fries are cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Season the sliced meat with salt and pepper to taste. Fry the meat until just cooked, and the juices begin to release. Remove the meat from the frying pan, then cook the onions, with additional oil if needed, until they are transparent. Stir in the tomato and aji amarillo; cook until the tomato softens. Pour in the vinegar and soy sauce, add the French fries, cover, and cook until the beef is done, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.

TADA!!!!! Total success. Wasn't as good as is was in Peru (duh), but totally tasty.

Pisco Sour

When I went to Peru for my brother's wedding to his Peruvian princess, one of my favorite things was Pisco Sours. Pisco is Peru's national booze. Sweet! When they recently brought me back a bottle, I was determined to make them myself.

2oz Pisco Brandy
1oz lime juice
1/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 egg white
dash of bitters

Throw all but the bitters in a shaker and shake the snot out of it. The egg white's froth up and make a rad foam, which you sprinkle a couple drops of bitter on. I think if I had stuck all the liquid in a blender, it probably would have frothed up better (like in that pic, which was taken in Peru). Obvious you-might-die warning: RAW EGG WHITES. Basically, you're taking your chances. Risky risky!!

Nuevo Coquito

At our house, we always have a 'holiday drink'. One year it was appletinis, another year it was mojitos, etc. While flipping through my favorite cookbook (duh), Isabel's Cantina (link to the right), I found a recipe for Nuevo Coquitos. The cookbook says that "like eggnog, a coquito is a traditional Puerto Rican drink served during the holidays". Sold!! We decided to whip up a test batch last night to see if it would fly as the cocktail of the season in the Haines house, and it certainly did! I have a feeling that these are going to be preeeeetty dangerous this week...

(makes about 7 cups)
2-14 oz cans coconut milk
1-14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1.5 cups white rum
ice cubes

Throw it all in a blender!! Add the ice a little at a time until it's the consistency that you want it. I like it pretty slushy, so I put a good amount in there. It tastes kind of like a pina colada, but not quite as fruity. I served it over ice, as suggested in the recipe, but a lot of it glommed onto the ice. For maximum intake, I'm probably going to just serve it straight next time. The ice that's blended with it makes it plenty frothy and cool. It's a pretty white, so you can garnish it with a whole plethora of crap: cranberries, candy canes, etc etc...