Happy Friday the 13th!
I was bracing for the worst, but nothing bad happened to me today. In fact, our developer sent us the latest build of our iPad cooking app first thing this morning, and it looks like we’re on track to submit it for Apple’s approval early next week. And if all goes smoothly, the app should be available in the App Store before the end of the month. Yippee!
For breakfast this morning, I fried up some super-juicy Let’s Be Frank bratwursts.
They were well-spiced and had a nice snap to ‘em. I served the sausages with leftover roasted kabocha squash and some roasted broccoli and bacon.
I spent the rest of the morning running errands with Lil-O to pick up auction items from Bay Area businesses for his preschool. One of the places we visited was my favorite local chocolate factory, Guittard. As soon as we exited the car, it smelled like we were inside a warm chocolate chip cookie. I wanted to eat the air. It was heavenly.
When we got home, I tossed some beef stew meat in a bowl along with a liberal dose of Penzeys Arizona Dreaming spice blend and kosher salt.
Then, I sauteed onions, garlic, and tomato paste in my big Dutch oven…
…and combined everything with some store-bought salsa.
Lastly, I added chicken broth and a splash of Red Boat Fish Sauce, and then brought everything to a simmer before popping the covered pot in the oven to braise for a few hours.
While the Oven-Braised Mexican Beef simmered, I threw together a simple salad of greens, sous vide chicken breast, assorted carrots, radishes, and avocado for lunch.
I added a healthy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar before I devoured it. (By the way, if you listen to Diane and Liz here on the Balanced Bites podcast, you’ll get a 25%-off coupon code for Kasandrinos Imports, makers of Phileos Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil.)
By dinnertime, the braised beef was fork-tender and ready to eat.
I sauteed some Asian greens with onions, Red Boat Fish Sauce and coconut aminos.
Dinner was quick and simple: Lettuce tacos plus stir-fried Asian greens.
Ta-da! Mexican-Chinese food! It’s my tribute to Cheech and Chong.
