CROCK POT PULLED CHICKEN TACOS

 I have never been much of a crock pot aficionado but I have 2 here.  One I bought and one I inherited from the previous missionaries. (Crock pots are a miracle find here.)*  Cooking so many meals every week has made me try some easier ways of fixing meat.  At home I just go to Costo and get a roasted chicken if I want some quick cooked meat but I don’t have that option here. (Although I did find some hot roasted chickens at the African Market, that we discovered this week, and I plan to order some for Thanksgiving.  I have no way to cook a turkey, even if I could find one.  The chickens are 7 euros each, which is about $9.00 US) 

I can get flour tortillas here but corn is a hunt.  I made this Pulled Chicken for tacos for the Elders and it was very easy and delicious. They loved it.   I will do it again.  I also made it with Bar-b-q sauce, (which I found at the British Market) and served it on buns.  It was very good. 

1.  Cut up 4 large chicken breasts in 3-4 pieces, (could use some thighs as part) – put in the crock pot.

2.  Blend one 14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes to desired smoothness.  ( Mi Esposo no le gusta ver chunks)

3.  Grate in 2-3 large cloves of garlic. 

4.  Add 2 tsp. ground cumin, 1 T. oregano leaves, 2 T. oil and some salt.

5.  Cook on low for 3-5 hours.  It might vary with your crock pot.  When it started to break up I quit.

6.  Broil 3 large green chiles on both sides until charred. (can use the bar-b-que grill but watch carefully)  Drop into a plastic bag and let sweat for 10 minutes.  Remove from the bag, slit open down the middle and remove the membrane and seeds.  This will control the heat.  Some chilies are quite hot.  The ones here are not hot at all.  Remove the charred peel and chop small.  Add to the chicken.  You could use a small can but they are not as good. 

Shred up the chicken, leaving some larger pieces.  Use for tacos or burritos with all the fixings or with a taco salad. 

*  I have also discovered that I can cook pumpkin easily in the crock pot.  There is no canned pumpkin here but something that looks like pumpkin fresh.  I leave the skin on and cut it up into large chunks that fit in and put the lid on high for 3-4 hours and then scrape off the skin after it is cooked and put in a colander to drain off some water and blend with an immersion blender.  I couldn't live without pumpkin in the fall. Some Pumpkin Recipes

THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BARS

I constantly need a quick treat for something here.  I have pretty much given up baking individual cookies.  I have made these cookie bars several times and tweaked them a little here and there until I think they are just about perfect...at least for the Canary Islands.
The recipe makes about 3 dozen bars.  They are always a hit.

Remove 2 T. of butter from a cube of butter (6 T.) and melt a little in a glass mixing bowl.

Add and beat with a hand beater:
2 T. Vegetable oil (it makes a moister cookie with the butter).
2 eggs
1/2 C. Brown sugar
1 C. White sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Stir In and mix well:
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 C. Flour
2 T. Cornstarch

Add and stir:
1 C. Chocolate Chips or chopped chocolate if you are in Europe
1 C. chopped walnuts, if desired

Spread into a sprayed 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 min. A glass pan will bake hotter so turn the oven to 325.  Don't overbake.

DOCTOR THORNE - Book Review

My Spanish is indeed in very dangerous territory with me and Anthony Trollope's 57 novels  and my i-pad with free downloads.  We have been in limbo the last 2 weeks with our JAS activities finished in the South and moving to the North so I took a break and read my second Trollop novel.  We are installed in our new Piso and Sunday we will begin our mission on a different scene.  It would have been nice to stay with the familiar but we look forward to the new experiences here. 

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This is my second Anthony Trollop (The Warden).  He has written 57 novels, so they could keep me busy for a very long time.  I like his language and writing style and I dearly love old English drama.  I do have one objection to his writing, which I will talk about later.  This one was published in 1858.  After reading several Novels by George Elliot and Vilette by Charlotte Bronte, who were both writing at the same time as Anthony Trollop, I see a common element that must have been popular at the time.  They all narrated parts of their stories as an onlooker that seemed to know all characters and events.  Trollop actually apologizes for his writing at times:

“II quite feel that an apology is due for beginning a novel with two long dull chapters full of description.  I am perfectly aware of the danger of such a course.”

I didn’t mind it in any of their stories.  In some ways it made the story feel more authentic.  Trollop also likes to tell you who the hero and or heroine of the story is at the beginning.  It caused me to watch them closely.

“Doctor Thorne” is about what happens when English aristocracy land owners mismanage their money and get in debt jeopardizing the inheritance of the heir.   The heir is then forced to marry for money, not for love.  This is the thesis of the story.  Then of course the superiority of the “blood” of the aristocracy also comes into play in marriage decisions.  But there is an interesting element to the story as money trumps blood.

“What is the inner reality, the spiritualized quintessence of that privilege in the world which men call rank, which forces the thousands and hundreds of thousands to bow down before the few elect?  What gives, or can give it, or should give it?  (No page numbers in the quotes because they were skewed in the i-pad.)

“She said to herself, proudly, that God’s handiwork was the inner man, the inner woman, the naked creature animated by a living soul; that all other adjuncts were but man’s clothing for the creature; all others, whether stitched by tailors or contrived by Kings.  Was it not within her capacity to do so nobly, to love as truly, to worship her God in heaven with as perfect a faith, and her god on earth with as leal  a troth, as though blood had descended to her purely through scores of purely born progenitors?”

“Sell yourself for money!  Why, if I were a man I would not sell one jot of liberty for mountains of gold,  What!  Tie myself in the heyday of my youth to a person I could never love, for a price!  Perjure myself, destroy myself—and not only myself, but her also, in order that I might live idly!  Mr. Gresham!  Can it be that the words of such a woman as your aunt have sunk so deeply in your heart; have blackened you so foully as to make you think of such vile folly as this?  Have your forgotten your soul, your spirit, your man’s energy, the treasure of your heart?  And you, so young! For shame, Mr Gresham! For shame—for shame.”

This is a love story.  The characters are endearing but their stories are told perhaps a little too well.  Trollop is known for his long novels.  I read it on my i-pad and the smallest writing is over 650 pages.  I always pump up the letter size to the largest so I don’t think about how long the book is. Trollop set up the ending of the story too soon for me.  I think it could have been a surprise, closer to the end, and left a little suspense, especially since he took so long to wrap it up.  I liked it.  I would read it again.  It is not for everyone.  I love the detail of his character development. I just don’t think he needs to detail every player quite so thoroughly. His writing is lovely to me.  4 stars.  I am going to read "Castle Richmond" now, which is a story of the potato famine in Ireland. 

OATMEAL CAKE WITH BROILED FUDGE NUT TOPPING

Today in Relief Society the lesson was on unity and at the end of the lesson they went around around the room and the teacher had the person next to us say something nice that they know about us.  My lady said I "puede hacer los postres buenos, especialmente  brownies"  (she can make good desserts) They call my chocolate cake brownies and they love it.  I get asked for the recipe all the time and must give American measuring cups with the recipe (translated into Spanish).  This week I made this Oatmeal Cake for the missionaries and then again for the baptism we had on Saturday.  They loved it.  No one bakes here and the stuff you buy is not good so they are always excited for some home made desserts.  I have always loved oatmeal cake with broiled coconut frosting but coconut is not good here.  It is dry frizzled little shreds, besides Mike doesn't care for coconut so I got the idea to add some cocoa to the  topping with nuts to see if it was good and WOW, it is, especially warm, and I can taste a scoop of ice cream on it.   But it is still good room temperature.  I used walnuts because I can't find pecans here but chopped  toasted almonds would be good also.  My pan bakes the cake thin and it makes nice little bar cookies to pick up easily.

Oatmeal Cake
1 Cup of quick oatmeal stirred into 
1 1/2 C. boiling water, let sit for 5 minutes
Add:
1/2 C. butter
1 C. white sugar
1 C. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Bake at 350 until set, depending on the size of your pan.  A 9x13 will work for a thicker cake or if you want bar thickens use a bigger one.

If you are planning to serve this later and want it hot wait until you are ready to serve to broil the topping and it will heat up the cake again.
  
Broiled Fudge Nut Topping 
Melt 6 T. butter in a small saucepan
Add: 
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. white sugar
1/4 C. whipping cream or evaporated milk
2 T. Cocoa 
Bring to a slow boil stirring constantly and then when it is boiling full let it boil without stirring for 1 minute.  Remove from heat
Add:
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. chopped nuts of your choice.

Spread on the top of the cake and broil until bubbly.  It took about 10 minutes in my little oven but it probably depends how close you are to the broiler units.   Watch carefully, don't burn or over brown.  

  

PARMESAN DUMPLINGS IN BASIL TOMATO SAUCE

I saw something like this on Tasty Kitchen and knew it had possibilities.  This is my version and I like it a lot.  I have always liked dumplings.  I have made this twice for my lunch.  The second time I used semolina flour and wow!  that made the difference.  It would serve 2 as a vegetarian main dish or 3 or 4 as a side.  I can see it with some grilled chicken or meatloaf and a green salad.  One recipe served me 3 awesome lunches.  It is quick to make with pantry ingredients.

Parmesan Semolina Dumplings

in Tomato Basil Sauce

Tomato Basil Sauce

Make these in a Dutch oven size pan with a tight fitting lid. 

Lightly brown 2 cloves of grated garlic in 2 T. olive oil

Add:

1 Large Can and 1 small can of whole tomatoes chopped to desired smoothness

½ large carrot grated or diced small

½ stalk of celery grated or diced small

1 T. onion flakes

¼ C. fresh chopped basil or dried to taste, about 1 T.

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 - ½ tsp. black pepper

Salt to taste

Simmer covered for 15 minutes while making the dumplings.

Parmesan , Semolina Dumplings

In medium mixing bowl add:

½ C. Semolina flour

½ C. all purpose flour (or 1 cup of flour if you don't have semolina but get some for next time)

1/3 C. Parmesan Cheese

¼ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

¼ tsp. Baking Soda

Cut in 2 T. butter

Add 2/3 C. of buttermilk or 1/3 C. Greek yogurt and 1/3 C. milk 
New addition:  1 egg white lightly beaten.  Keeps the dumpling together better.

Stir the simmering sauce well and drop large tablespoons of the dumplings onto the sauce.  Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes.  Carefully scoop the dumplings into a serving dish and stir the sauce and pour over the dumplings.  Sprinkle with more Parmesan if desired.  Or if you have a cute ceramic Dutch Oven size pot.  Bring it straight to the table.  

With Spinich

I

 
I wanted to try the dumplings with spinich.  They are wonderful!  Add  a generous 1/4 C. lightly steamed chopped spinach, measure after cooking (I think grated fresh zucchini would be good also).  I increased the Parmesan cheese to 1/2 C. otherwise the recipe is the same.  Add the egg white also.   I also like the idea of serving them in the cooking pot so the dumplings show more.  (I made these dumplings for a chicken stew recently and they were very good)

THE WARDEN - Book Review

Skip if you hate whining

 I am going to murmur about learning Spanish before I give this book review  because I have guilt that I have spent time reading anything frivolous. I should be studying Spanish in every spare minute, but sometimes I just can’t face it.  I know many Spanish words and phrases  and can throw them out here and there with reckless abandon.  All the while Mike is telling me I did something wrong.  Most words have masculine and feminine and I usually forget to include that and if something is plural all the words around it are plural and I usually forget to do that.  Then there are the verb conjugations.  The Spanish verb “to be” has two versions, ser and estar.  You must remember which one to say according to what you are talking about and then each of these have about 100 different words or word combinations depending on who it concerns.  Every verb has more than 50 parts.  You have to memorize them all and then remember to say them at the right time.  This is a very left brained endeavor, but my very right brain gets crazy after a while.  I can actually memorize the conjugations in a string, but I can’t remember which to say when.  When I am in church I recognize lots of words when people are talking but they usually talk faster than I can translate.  You must come to a point where you don’t need to translate.  Mike is getting so he understands most things at church but he still struggles with speaking, mostly because he wants to speak perfectly as he is a grammar aficionado.  I keep a journal in Spanish every day.  I can write better than I can speak.  I don’t think I will ever be a proficient. I am in awe of the young missionaries but they are talking in the streets every day and we speak English to each other all day. Sorry about this distraction.

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The Warden by Anthony Trollop
I have a “free books” app on my i-pad.  My Goodreads friend Rebecca Bateman posted a review of “The Warden” and gave it 4 stars.  I found it on the app so decided I would read it a little on those days when I just needed to check out a bit and rest my brain from studying Spanish.  I adore old English literature.  Language is important to me when I read a novel.  Anthony Trollop’s style pleases me.  (Me gusta el estilo de Anthony Trollop.) A little Spanish for you.

This is the story of Septimus Harding a sweet and gentle elderly man who for 10 years has been the Warden of the Barchester Hospital. There are 12 old men living in the hospital who would probably starve without this charity.  About 400 years ago a rich man, in his will, set up this hospital from lands he owned, to house 12 men at a time, to be cared for in their old age.   Over the years interest on the value of the land has grown to a substantial sum and the Warden is now living in a nice house on the premises with a salary of 800 pounds a year, which is nice, but not an extravagant sum.  The old men get all of their needs cared for plus a little stipend every month.  Mr. Harding has become an attentive friend to them and is dearly loved by them all. 

Mr. Harding has a daughter who is romantically attached to a young man, John Bold, who becomes involved in a lawsuit questioning the Warden’s right to the money he receives for the care of the old men. Bold believes that the will meant for the old men to get all of the money and the men are convinced by Bold and others that they are entitled to 100 pounds a year each. All but one sign a petition to move the lawsuit forward.  Bold is determined to pursue the suit , even though he knows this will put a strain on the relationship with the love of his life.   He is convinced that it is the honorable thing to do, regardless of the consequences.    Mr. Harding has one ally in the group of old men, Bunce.  He says bitterly at one point, “Did you ever know a poor man made better by law or a lawyer? “  (True today)

Mr. Harding has another daughter married to the archdeacon of Barchester and rector of Plumstead Episcopi, Dr. Grantly.  Grantly’s father is the Bishop there.  John Bold ends up involving the powerful newspaper and several articles are published with scathing indictments of the Warden’s undeserved salary.   Mr. Harding is the kind of honest gentle soul who is injured to the very core over the things that were misrepresented in the newspaper.  Dr. Gantly and the Bishop put pressure on him to fight, when all he wants to do is resign his post if there is any doubt that he is indeed not entitled to the money. 

A large theme of the book for me was the power of the press:  “I know he wrote those articles,” said Bold to himself.  “I know he got his information from me.  He was ready enough to take my word for gospel when it suited his own views, and to set Mr. Harding up before the public as an impostor on no other testimony than my chance conversation; but when I offer him real evidence opposed to his own views, he tells me that private motives are detrimental to public justice!  Confound his arrogance!  What is any public question but a conglomeration of private interests?  What is any newspaper article but an expression of the views taken by one side?  Truth!  It takes an age to ascertain the truth of any question!  The idea of Tom Towers talking of public motives and purity of purpose!  Why, it wouldn’t give him a moment’s uneasiness to change his politics tomorrow, if the paper required it.”   (Some things never change.)

The Warden is an honest man of character, who refuses to be pushed or influenced to do anything that he doesn’t believe is right.  He faces living the rest of his life in near poverty rather than have others believe he is doing wrong, even as the Attorney General absolves him of any wrongdoing. 

This is a nice little read, with good human insights.  The relationship of Mr. Harding and his younger daughter is sweet.  The little romance between this daughter and John Bold is pivotal.  I will give it 4 out of 5 stars.   This book is a quick read, compared to some of Trollops other books.  I have downloaded “Doctor Thorne.”  I will definitely read more of Trollops books.