Mud House Year

Prickly Pear Gin and Tonics

Last night we toasted the Mud House Year Blog's one year anniversary with Prickly Pear Gin and Tonics! You can find the recipe on Mud House Year by clicking here and you can learn how to harvest prickly pears here.  Of course, if harvesting prickly pears is not on your fall agenda, you can always just buy prickly pear syrup here. 

When we moved to Pasadena we knew we would no longer be surrounded by cactus so Allen bought dry ice and packed up our frozen prickly pear juice in a cooler and drove it to Pasadena (we worked hard on that harvest, darnit).  It made the trip just fine and is now being put to very good use.   After thawing some of the juice... I combined it with an equal amount of sugar, and boiled it down to a lovely syrup.  For the complete recipe, and to find out how to create that lovely layered look, click the recipe link I provided above. 

Maybe it's because I haven't had any sugar in awhile or maybe the prickly pear juice is even better now that when we harvested it, but these G&Ts were even better than the ones we made last fall.   Absolutely scrumptious and so pretty. Be sure to use plenty of fresh limes - they set off the sweetness and earthiness of the syrup perfectly

Cheers!

Pinterest Wednesday

This has been an unexpected cold and snowy winter.  We rarely get snow here in the desert, and if we do, it's just a few wet flakes.   When it does snow, even just a few wet flakes, we get so excited that we run outside and dance and race around like crazy people.  I'm not kidding, I actually have a video of this phenomena and if I can figure out how to download it, I will show you.

However, last Wednesday, we actually got more than just a few wet flakes.  If you are a golf fan, then you already know that the first day of the Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain was cancelled due to the snow.   Here is a picture of the trees around the golf course.And here is a picture of the Mud House driveway. To understand how rare this is my mother, who has lived here 66 years, says this is the most snow she has ever seen here. 

So it's soup again!  This week I chose Sweet Potato Soup from the Lunch Box Bunch.  If you prefer a vegan version, be sure to check out the Lunch Box Bunch.  If not, here is my adapted recipe:

Sweet Potato Soup with Chipotle and Avocado

2 large sweet potatoes, baked until very soft and peeled
2 or more cups chicken broth to make soup desired consistency
1/2 - 1 cup milk (whatever percent milk fat you prefer) or cream
1/4 teaspoon orange zest (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 
1 -2 chipotle peppers, chopped,  with a little sauce (more or less to taste)

Garnish:
diced avocado
You can also top the soup with crushed tortilla chips

Place all ingredients into food processor and combine.  Adjust seasonings and add more broth as needed.  Place soup into a pot, reheat, and serve.I've been experimenting with making my own broths and I will share more about that soon!

Enjoy!

This recipe is healthy, fast, easy, delicious and pretty.  I'm giving it 5/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas!
    

Chef Amanda

White Chocolate Strawberry Mousse with Lemon Crumble

I've mentioned Miss Amanda before.  She is a pastry chef who works in the most amazing pastry kitchen at the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain.   This unique Ritz property was designed especially for its location here in the desert and it is located about thirteen miles from the Mud House.  It is truly one of the most enchanting places I have ever been, almost spiritual in its beauty.  This week the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Montain is hosting the annual Accenture Match Play Championship featuring the top 64 players in the world including Tiger Woods.

Recently, Miss Amanda created the most exquisite Valentine's Day pastry event at the Ritz, so I thought I would share!   Although the photos make the desserts look BIG, they were actually delightfully mini sized.  That's Miss Amanda overseeing some final details.  There she is again popping into the photo of the pastry buffet!  She's a tricky one!

And here are some of the amazing works of art Miss Amanda and her staff created... Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Mocha Buttercream

Opera Cake

Oreo Cremeux

Lemon Meringue Tart

Chocolate Mango Mousse

Caramel Chocolate Tart with Caramel Krispies

Chocolate Orange Pot de Creme with a Cocoa Nib Cookie

And, one final photo bomb from Miss Amanda!

Wow!  Miss Amanda is truly an artist.  She and her staff are remarkable.  Be sure to visit this amazing place if you are ever in this part of the world.

 

Pinterest Wednesday

It's cold at the Mud House.  Really cold.  I'm not kidding.This is a rare occurrence and we are freezing.  Those of us who live in the desert aren't prepared to live with such low temperatures.  We are not happy and we complain about it.  A lot.   Fortunately it's not as hard on us as it is on the giant old prickly pears.  

So sad.  The paddles freeze and they become too heavy for the plant to hold so they fall off.  If you've been reading the Mud House Year Blog, you know how important these cactus are to me. Read more about them and find some great recipes here, and here, and here, and here, and here.

For Pinterest Wednesday, the obvious choice was soup.  I selected a split pea soup recipe which you can find here.  However, as soon as I realized the recipe called for a tablespoon of olive oil, but then never added it during the preparation, I struck out on my own.  Here is my recipe:
Mud House Split Pea Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped, plus leafy tops
1 large yellow onion 
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 32-ounce cans low sodium chicken broth
2 pounds green split peas
1 ham hock
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, optional (depending on the size of your ham hock you  may not need additional salt)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
pinch of crushed red pepper, optional
Water to add as needed during cooking 
Tabasco or other pepper sauce to add before serving, optional

Here's How:Heat oil in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add carrots, celery, and onion and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.Add garlic, 1 teaspoon thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon marjoram. Continue to cook and stir occasionally for 5 more minutes.
Add chicken broth, peas, and ham hock.  I got this ham hock/shank from our local butcher.  It is actually much bigger than the hocks you find in the grocery stores.  If you use a large shank like this, you may want to omit the additional kosher salt. 
Add celery tops, cover, and simmer on very low heat for one hour.  Stir frequently and check broth level to prevent scorching.  Add additional broth or water as needed. 
After an hour, discard celery tops and add additional 1 teaspoon of thyme, half a teaspoon of marjoram, salt (if using), back pepper, and crushed red pepper, if using.   Remove ham hock and let cool.  Simmer for another hour, stirring and adding broth or water as needed.While simmering and once hock has cooled, pull tender meat from bone, discarding tough connective tissue and fat, and add to soup.
Serve with hot sauce of your choice.  This is my current favorite. YUM! Note: If you prefer a creamier soup, cook an additional half hour or so and then use an immersion blender to blend peas and vegetable until smooth.

I didn't follow the Pinterest recipe so I can't rate it.  However,  My recipe was delicious so I'm giving it 5/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas!
    

 

 

 

 

Mud House Prickly Pear Margarita Pie

There are many, many versions of margarita pie out there, including this recipe I found in one of my old, regional cookbooks.  It is a 1977 collection of recipes benefiting the Tucson Museum of ArtAmong other things, the recipe requires the addition of four uncooked egg whites which is frowned upon today due to food safety issues.  I chuckled a bit, thinking how much things have changed.  I was getting ready to close the book when I glanced at the facing page and saw a recipe for French-fried diamondback. It took me a minute to believe what I was reading.  For those of you who are neither baseball fans nor familiar with desert creatures, diamondbacks are rattlesnakes and deadly.  The recipe includes directions to use "utmost care and caution to catch a rattlesnake at least two feet in length using a long snare."  Talk about food safety issues!  Shucks, these folks weren't afraid of a lil' ole raw egg!   The author of this recipe was "anonymous" and I can only hope it was written with tongue firmly in cheek.  It is, however, a legitimate recipe.  Yuck and yuck and blech.  Western diamondbacks are not currently considered endangered but they are essential to the eco-system of the desert so nobody out there better be French-frying up a batch of diamondback.   If you want to know more about them (and I don't) check out the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum here.

Anywayyyyy... back to less creepy subjects.  I decided to leave raw eggs and rattlesnakes behind and continue my quest.  I wanted a recipe I could adapt by adding prickly pear syrup.  I wanted prickly pear margarita pie!  You can read about my adventures with prickly pears here and here.   Fortunately I have a nice collection of vintage, regional cookbooks and I found a recipe from the Rancho De La Osa Guest Ranch in Sasabe, Arizona  (it is a mud house, too!).

Here is a little history from their website and I encourage you to visit their website if you would like to learn more.

"In the late 17th Century, the fertile Altar Valley was settled by Spanish Jesuits. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and his followers built a mission outpost on the ranch. This building was used for more than a century as an outpost to trade with the local Indians and Mexicans. This rare and historic adobe structure is reputed to be the oldest building in Arizona and still serves as a peaceful gathering place for our guests to mingle and relax.

Rancho De La Osa is part of the original three million acre land grant from the King of Spain to the Ortiz brothers of Mexico in 1812. When the Gadsden Purchase was signed in 1854 settling the border dispute between Mexico and the United States, the ranch fell within the US boundaries. Shortly afterward cattle baron and Civil War hero Colonel William Sturgis began renovations on the main house and made the structure the center of his massive ranching empire.

The Mexican Revolution brought history to our doors when revolution leader Pancho Villa fired on the hacienda. A Mexican cannonball from the era was found embedded in the stucco walls of the main house. Today the cannonball sits on display in the structure for all to see.

In 1921, Louisa Wade Wetherill, who is still considered one of the foremost Navajo historians, came south looking for a lost tribe of Navajos. She never found them, but she started "Hacienda De La Osa (She Bear) Guest Ranch" in 1924, and the ranch began its transformation into one of America's premier guest ranches, beginning an enviable tradition that continues to this day."

 

This is a pretty cool, historical place.

I am copying their recipe with my changes and additions in parenthesis.  This recipe is delicious without the addition of prickly pear syrup so don't let that stop you.  If you want to try it with syrup you can find it here.  Just boil it down so it is thickened and you have approximately 3 tablespoons.

Rancho De La Osa Margarita Pie

 For the Pretzel Crust:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed pretzel  (I used 1 cup pretzels and 1/2 cup graham crackers.  If you want a saltier contrast with the pie filling, use all pretzels.)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter melted

Pulse the pretzel and sugar is a food processor several times to combine. Add the butter in a steady stream and process until well mixed.

Spray 9 inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray and press pretzels evenly over the bottom and up the sides of plate

For the Pie Filling:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (use Mexican or key limes if available)
1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons gold tequila
2 tablespoons Triple Sec (I use Cointreau - much yummier!)
Green food color (Or pink if you are going with prickly pear pie.  The syrup gives a light pink color to the pie but I wanted my pink to pop so I used two drops of magenta.)
(3 tablespoons reduced prickly pear syrup)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped

Combine the lime juice, condensed milk, tequila, and Triple Sec (Cointreau), food color, and prickly pear syrup, if using, in a large bowl and mix well.   That's the prickly pear syrup in the center, so pretty!Gently fold in whipped cream and fill pie crust.

Freeze for four hours or overnight.

Garnish with whipped cream and lime slices.

Notes:

Don't use non-fat or low-fat pretzels.  The crust will not hold together.
You may substitute graham crackers for all or part of the crust.
The pie definitely tastes better the next day so try to plan ahead with preparation.
This pie is delicious with or without the prickly pear syrup.  It tastes just like a creamy, frozen margarita. 

Enjoy!

What's Blooming Around the Mud House?

                                  
                                   Bougainvillea                                 Honeysuckle                                       Cosmos

 

This morning I was greeted by this lovely prickly pear bloom on our back patio.  This is unusual because prickly pears usually bloom in the early spring.  I wanted to share this with you because this is where our prickly pear syrup begins.  Those wonderful prickly/purply/pinky pears begin as waxy yellow blooms on top of the paddles of the cactus.   The blooms only last one day so I snapped this photo quickly to share with you.

In our little secret cutting garden we have our first bloom.  I planted zinnia, cosmos, snapdragon and sunflower seeds about six weeks ago and, this morning, I found our first zinnia.  
So cheerful!

I also planted  a few cosmos seedlings.  They are doing well and look so charming in our rustic little garden.

We've also repotted or transplanted nine rose bushes.  They are currently resting under sun-shade cloth while they become accustomed to their new homes.  I will post pictures soon!

 

Prickly Pear White Chocolate Ganache

In a small saucepan, I brought an 1/8 cup of my frozen prickly pear juice and 1/8 cup sugar to a boil.  I turned down the heat and simmered it for 10 minutes, reducing to a thick syrup.

I realize most of you don't have prickly pear juice in your freezer so just buy the syrup, already made, by clicking here.

Prickly Pear White Chocolate Ganache

 This is what you will need:

 Makes about 3/4 cup

5 oz  good-quality white chocolate,  finely chopped 
1/3 cup heavy cream
3/4 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature and cut in half
1 tablespoon reduced prickly pear syrup
1 drop magenta gel food color

1.  Put chopped chocolate in heat-proof bowl
2.  Bring heavy cream to a bowl, then pour it over the chocolate.  Let it sit for two minute to soften the chocolate.  With a spatula, slowly stir the cream and chocolate until it is smooth.  Add the butter and stir gently until combined.

3.  Add 1 tablespoon syrup and one drop magenta food color.  Stir gently until smooth.

4.  Ganache will thicken as it sits.  You may keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.  Bring it to room temperature and use a pastry bag to pipe ganache onto macarons.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

A Prickly Situation

Ok.  So, harvesting cactus?  Actually, harvesting the fruit of the cactus known as "pears." Usually I limit my cactus exposure to drinking prickly pear margaritas at El Charro.     

But, if you have this in your front yard...

and this...

and this...  

Whatchagonnado?

Well, first you get some gloves.  Then some metal tongs.  And then a torch.  I'm not kidding.  These are prickly little guys.  They may look all pink and innocent but they have tiny, almost invisible thorns that will drive you nuts.The pears are easily removed with tongs by a little tug and turn.   Wear gloves and DO NOT TOUCH THEM, really.

Collect about 50 pears in a double paper bag.  That may sound like a lot, but collecting them is easy and goes quickly.  DO NOT TAKE THEM IN YOUR HOUSE YET, seriously.

Pour the pears from the bag into a large colander and rinse them with a hose for several minutes.   

So pretty.  Let them drain for a little while, then...

Use a small torch to burn off the little thorns.   Do this in a fire-safe, outside area with a garden hose at the ready. 

NOW YOU CAN TAKE THEM TO YOUR KITCHEN!

Some people skip the torch step, but I found that once I burned the prickles off, I could handle the pears with my bare hands.  This made the next step much easier.  I was able to hold the pears and slice them into quarters without using the tongs.  I decided to put my gloves back on, just in case, but once we used the torch we did not encounter any more thorns.

Once they are quartered, put them in a large pot with enough water to cover the pears.  

Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for 20 minutes.   While the pears are cooking, line a colander with four layers of cheesecloth and place over a large bowl.

After simmering for 20 minutes, gently pour pears and water into the cheesecloth and let drain several hours or overnight.  

This recipe results in about 8 cups of prickly pear juice.  I used one cup of juice to make prickly pear simple syrup  and I froze the rest in individual 8oz portions to use later.

Prickly Pear Simple Syrup

1 cup prickly pear juice
1 cup sugar

Bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Cool syrup, keep refrigerated and use the same day.

Upcoming posts will highlight some fun prickly pear syrup recipes.  No worries if there are no prickly pears in your yard.  I will tell you where to buy prepared prickly pear syrup.

                                                
Oh yum!

The final step...

                       

Burn that bag that held the pears!  It's full of thorns!

For more information and recipes, click here.

Mud House Fall

When we lived in New England, autumn was my favorite time of year.  Real or imagined, the atmosphere changed on September 1st.  Things are different here in the desert southwest.  It is almost October, and the temperatures remain firmly in the 90s. Granted, this is a relief from the 110s of midsummer, but the seasons pass here with almost imperceptible change.  No changing of green to gold, russet and red.  Here the changes are as subtle as slight shifts in the light as the sun's path moves slowly to the south.   At first, you notice cooler mornings and evenings and find yourself outside more and more during these hours.  In colder climates, gardeners are settling inside for the long winter. Here at the Mud House we are outside creating container gardens of peppers, herbs and annuals and planting a small cutting garden.  We are tackling the big job of transplanting and repotting rose bushes into the "rose garden."    We eagerly anticipate the first ripe pomegranate and we may even attempt to harvest those beautiful prickly pears.   Please stay tuned.  I will be posting pictures over the next few months which will hopefully reflect an abundance of roses, vases of colorful flowers, and herbs, peppers, and pomegranates flavoring delicious regional dishes.