food glorious food :)

My dad was in town this weekend, so we went and stayed at my Aunt and Uncle's house up in Draper for a couple nights. It was so nice to see him, especially because I really only ever get to be home a couple weeks out of the year now. The weekend was filled with hysterical kids, interesting movies and lots of yummy food.

Me and my daddy

We made Scott jump in for a picture as well

my cute cousin Will acting 'gangsta' :) haha

We went and saw "Fame" on Saturday night and were impressed with the level of talent in the film. The only issue I had with the movie was that there seemed to be too much going on so none of the plots were really developed enough. Other than that though, it's a pretty good show. You'll like it if you enjoy music and the arts :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRPca0Lvp1w

One thing you should know about the Frogley Family is that we love food and the culinary arts. My dad is one of ten kids, and almost all of them love to cook. You get any of the siblings together and you're pretty much looking at a gourmet feast. Let's just say we live for our family reunions :) This saturday, my dad and his brother Scott decided that the theme for the night would be "Everything Pablano." I was able to assist as my dad refined his homemade recipe for Pablano Soup and as Scott created a delicious filling for what would soon become Stuffed Roasted Pablanos. The end product was AMAZING...seriously, so delicious. I made my dad give me a play-by-play of how he was making the soup so that I could write it down, and I've attached the recipe below. Make sure you read through the whole thing before you start so that you understand everything. Most things can be done simultaneously to speed up the process--otherwise it could potentially take you a lot longer than it needs to. I also attached Scott's homemade recipe for Cilantro-Lime Tomatillo Ranch (pretty much the same dressing you get on your Cafe Rio salads). It's super easy and SO delicious!

Scott stuffing the peppers--He made homemade toothpicks out of carrots :)

The end product:

Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup

About 4 servings

Ingredients:

•          3 poblano peppers (cut down to 2 if you aren’t a fan of spicy)
•            2 red bell peppers
•           2 yellow bell peppers
•           1 ear of corn
•           1 whole yellow onion
•           1 whole head of garlic
•           3-4 c chicken stock (or broth)
•            ¾ c white wine (cooking wine can be used)
•           1 c light cream
•           1 T sugar
•           salt and pepper to taste
•           1 avocado
•           a little fresh cilantro
•           heavy duty aluminum foil
•           a little bit of olive oil

Directions:

•             Start reducing your chicken broth and white wine mixture on the stove until it’s down about ¼ (this just means let it simmer until it looks like it has reduced down to about ¾ of what you started with)
•            Meanwhile, you need to be roasting your peppers, onion, garlic and corn. The peppers need to be roasted until they are completely blackened all over (this can be done over any open stove-top flame, really close under a broiler, or preferably on a grill). The corn should also be roasted over an open flame (once again, grill works best, but the broiler is probably the best second option).
•            The garlic and onion can be roasted together in a 375 degree oven. For the garlic, you need to take the entire head and cut off the tips so that all the individual cloves are exposed, leaving the root and skin connected. Put the head inside a piece of aluminum foil and sprinkle it lightly with olive oil, kosher salt and a teaspoon of water. Crimp up the foil and place on an oven pan. The onion just needs to be peeled and cut into quarters (leaving root attached), then placed on the sheet with a little olive oil and salt. Leave them in the oven for about 30 minutes.
•            VERY IMPORTANT: As each pepper finishes roasting, place them in a covered pot, and let them steam for about 15 minutes.
•          Once the peppers are done steaming, take them out of the pot one by one and remove the blackened layer. Water can be used to assist you, as it is sometimes hard to remove. It’s important to keep the other peppers you aren’t peeling yet inside the covered pot until you’re ready for them because they get harder to peel as they cool. Also remove the seeds and stem, and then place the cleaned peppers in a blender.
•         Once the onions and garlic are done, add them to the blender with the peppers. Make sure you cut off the root end of the onions. The garlic cloves should squeeze right out of the outside layer. Blend these all together with a little bit of your chicken broth reduction to help it blend more easily.
•         Put your blended mixture into a pot, then first add your white wine/chicken broth reduction followed by the light cream, and sugar until it looks like a good consistency (not too watery, but not too thick). Heat on medium low until warm.
•         Finally, top off the soup with some fresh cilantro, finely chopped avocado and some of your roasted corn kernels. Enjoy!

Cilantro-Lime Tomatillo Ranch

           

Ingredients:

•        Powdered Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch packet (enough to make 2 cups)
•         4 washed tomatillos (they sort of look like little green tomatoes with a weird papery skin)
•         1 jalapeño pepper, seeded
•         2 cloves garlic
•         1 lime
•        A bunch of cilantro (remove stems)

Directions:

•            Follow directions on buttermilk ranch packet
•        -Cut tomatillos into quarters and roast on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (you can roast your jalapeño as well if you want)
•          Blend tomatillos in a blender with the garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, and the juice of the lime. 
•         Add blended mixture to the 2 cups of ranch