Gobble, HO HO, happpyyy new year!.. it’s that time of year again folks. Extravagance, decadence.. Mistletoe, hangovers and extra strength alka seltzer. Traditions rich with goose fat, turkey legs, yams, cranberries, sticky toffee and black eye peas.

Hate to say it folks but I’m really not such a big fan of holiday foods. Not because I don’t like them, it’s just that I’m not fond of eating the same thing at the same time of year over and over again. I even tried to forgo the turkey on Thanksgiving but an honest to goodness beat down was promised. Soooo I did as I was commanded by the loyalists. Its certainly not the end of the world and I hate to be a bah humbug.. I’d just like to have more variety in my holiday foods…When you get tired and bloated with tatters and ham hocks, go out and find something simple and light to eat. Take a break from thick eggnogs, deep fried turkeys and pumpkin pies. It’s just nice to satisfy the old taste buds with foods that have more acid and fresh herbs…

For me, it could be a falafel at a truly Mediterranean, a bowl of pho in the tenderloin or a street taco on 24th street in the Mission. Simple, satisfying food! Here is a recipe for one of my favorite foods of all, a homemade tortilla with grilled beef and salsa. Oh, and thats me in the photo scoring one of MY favorite traditional food.. hehehhhoohoohooooo

Happy holidays from myself and every one at Hands On Gourmet!

Carne Asada Tacos

For the Tortillas
2 cups masa harina (Mexican corn flour)
1 ¼ cup warm water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons oil or butter (optional)

Mix together the ingredients to form a soft dough – about two minutes. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Break off small pieces of dough and roll it between your hands to form small balls. Flatten in a plastic lined tortilla press, The tortilla should be thin and round. Then cook over medium heat on a comal or non-stick skillet for 2-3 minutes per side. Keep warm in the tortilla basket.

For the Carne Asada
3 ½ pounds beef loin flap
1 ¾ cup corn oil
5 tablespoons chile powder
4 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 red onions, sliced thick

Mix together all the ingredients and marinate the beef for at least one hour. Overnight in the refrigerator would be best. Grill the beef to medium rare and keep warm.

For the Tomatillo Salsa
12 tomatillos, peeled
4 cloves of garlic
1 onion
4 jalapenos
juice of 1 lime
1 bunch cilantro
salt and pepper
2 avocados, chopped

Roast the tomatillos, onions, garlic and jalapenos with a little water at 400 degrees until dark brown. Remove from oven and cool. Process in a blender with the cilantro and lime juice. Remove from blender and mix in chopped avocado.To ServeSlice the beef and wrap in the tortillas. Serve with the tomatillo salsa, minced onions, lime wedges, sour cream and cilantro.

Please welcome our first ever guest contributor on the H.O.G. Food Blog. Our friend, Liz Lance, brought these amazing greens to our recent Thanksgiving potluck dinner:

The dinner table at the Lance home represented a melding of regional American cuisine – the hearty German meat and potatoes of my mother’s St. Louis upbringing and the fried seafood and overcooked green vegetables of my father’s Southern Georgia ancestry. Collard greens, spinach and green beans were boiled into oblivion with salt pork, and they became dishes to be endured rather than enjoyed. It was years before I learned that these green vegetables were so named because they were actually green. I only ever knew them as brown, mushy and utterly tasteless. Blech.

But, when I moved to Nepal in my early 20s and fell in love with Nepali food, I discovered the wonder of greens. Nepalis eat the same traditional meal of dal bhat – rice, lentil soup and a vegetable curry – twice a day, every day, and always with greens, or saag. Saag is cheap, plentiful and nutritious, providing iron, calcium, folic acid and vitamin C. Most Nepali cooks will quickly fry up saag with some combination of spices and chili pepper, cooking them just long enough to wilt and so they retain their dark green color.

I took my cues for cooking saag from two Newari families from Patan, the city just south of Kathmandu. The Newars are famous for their spicy varieties of food incorporating garlic, ginger, red pepper and cumin seed, and they have an amazing ability to use the same few spices in multiple dishes without everything tasting the same. In both the Bajracharya and Khadki homes where I have enjoyed countless meals, the simple and delicious preparation of saag always kept me asking for more. Newari saag has also become my signature dish at gatherings that call for traditional greens – Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day dinners. The best part is that my favorite greens, collards, kale and mustard greens, are at their best during the winter season!

When Chef Stephen asked me to bring a low-fat, non-starchy vegetable to his and Molly’s Thanksgiving table, I jumped right in with my Newari greens. They looked beautiful plated up next to a beet salad and bright yellow delicata squash, and they even reappeared on turkey sandwiches in the days after the holiday. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Newari Greens
3 bunches dark leafy greens (kale, collards or mustard greens are the tastiest!)
6 cloves garlic
3-inch long piece of ginger
3 tablespoon whole cumin seed
crushed red pepper to taste (a teaspoon to a tablespoon)
2 tablespoon canola oil
salt to taste

Grind the ginger and garlic together in a food processor, adding a pinch of salt or a splash of lemon juice to aid in the blending.
After washing (well!) and rinsing the greens, cut off the thick stems. Stack ten or so leaves up, roll them up and cut them cross-wise every inch or so in a chiffonade. Repeat until all greens are chopped. Heat the canola oil over a medium-high flame until oil is hot. Add the cumin seed and fry until seeds are dark brown. Add the salt and the garlic-ginger mixture. Lower the flame to medium and add the crushed red pepper. Quickly follow with the greens, adding them in batches until they are all just wilted, but still bright green.

I know, I know.. after all that huffing and puffing about the “best thanksgiving tip ever” I ended up going down comfort highway. Instead of making the Bloody Mary I made this carefree simple soup. Oh man oh man, it was some good down home chow if I do say so myself. I made rich stock with the carcass and loose meat, added some carrot, celery, onions and some Texas long grain rice at the end. Tons of fresh pepper, crackers and tobasaco..hmm hmm good… to the very last drop..

Turkey and Rice Soup
Serves 10 people

For the stock
1 abandoned turkey carcass with meat left on the bones, chopped into 4 parts
1 yellow onion rough chopped
2 stalks of celery, ends and ribs removed and chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns
Cold water to cover

Put all of the ingredients in a big stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and lower it to a gentle simmer. Let simmer for 2 hours. When the water dissipates then simply add more fresh water. Take off heat and pour into 2nd pot through the china cap or sieve. Clean out stock pot and pour stock back into it. Set aside. When the bones cool pick out the shredded meat and set to the side. Discard the bones.

For the soup
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
2 yellow onions, medium dice
2 stalks celery, cleaned and medium chopped
2 carrots, peeled and medium chopped
1 teaspoon fresh Mexican oregano, chopped
Any leftover turkey, chopped
Salt and black pepper
*we want all the vegetables to be roughly the same size to achieve even cooking
2 cups cooked white rice. Preferably a good variety like Texas long grain.

Make the rice.Place the 2nd pot on medium heat. Let heat for a minute and then add the oil. Add the onions, celery, carrots and oregano. Sautéed for 5 minutes and then add 2 to 3 quarts of the stock. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 20 minutes or until the veggies soften up a bit. We DON’T want them mushy like Uncle Al’s. When ready, add the turkey and heat through; about 3 minutes is all that’s needed. To ServeLadle some soup into a bowl and add some rice. Not too much though as it will puff up and make it too mushy. Season with some fresh pepper and a shot of hot sauce. Some people like to add crackers too! Gobble gobble.