Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

Tamale Sauce  Deglazing the Seared Pork  I am a day away from stuffing my first tamales. One of the things that I have learned in this very short span of a few days is not that tamales are labor intensive-but that it's important to create the individual components in good order! Far from being an expert, I received advice years ago from a Mexican friend who made the most delicious tamales. Her voice is inside my head and I am hopeful that I will create a great first batch! My friend regularly made two types of tamales; a delicious pork tamale with a fiery sauce and a second type that was sweet and stuffed with bits of corn. I intend to tackle both. I started my sauce with the final green tomatoes from the garden, added a bunch of garlic, cilantro, my own dried poblanos and dried fingerhot peppers. The tender pork butt chunks were simmered for two hours in the flavorful sauce and added another great dimension to the sauce.  Cooled Pork Ready to be Shredded  I hav...

    The night before a production job demands hours of gathering video equipment, batteries, tape and cameras. Each piece of equipment must be inspected thoroughly-ensuring a worry-free job. You can imagine that process doesn't leave much time for dinner but with our renewed commitment to dine-in I made one of our favorite quick meals. Soft tacos with fresh avacado, cilantro, chiles and nicely-ripened tomatoes. Normally, I would top these with fresh Asadero cheese but it's becoming increasingly difficult to find in the gringo supermarkets-so I used a very fine Amish cheddar! I sprinkle the avacado with fig balsamic-a delicate sweet contrast to the fiery flavors of the Chef Boy Hidy Habenaro sauce providing some nice heat! The lettuce is spiked with fresh chopped cilantro-another aromatic contrast to the chiles and cumin for the nose-stimulating all the senses before this heavenly pouch ever hits the mouth! The magic bullet for the recipe is a flavor packet from GOYA-full of...