Puerco Cubano (Spicy Pork Loin with Black Beans)

I think was inspired by my trip to Fiesta in San Antonio, Texas last weekend to bring some Latin flavor to everything I cook this week. Gour-maybes love all flavors and are always trying to add new types of dishes to their recipe collections. This super simple, colorful and tastes amazing. It's basically a seared pork tenderloin, on spiced mashed black beans with pickled red onions and avocado. For a quick dessert, try sliced strawberries or blackberries with lime juice and honey (good way to use up any remaining lime wedges). Get the full recipe after the jump.

To Bake Or Broil? That Is The Question

Don't roll your eyes, this is a post about broiled chicken, and hopefully it will make you a believer. Chicken is a great, healthy protein - so why does it always get a bad rap in the gourmet world? Chicken seems to automatically conjure up images of bad wedding buffets and cafeteria food. I admit, when I am out, I rarely order chicken, and never really served it, until I stumbled upon this trick: broiling. It will result in delicious, tender, moist chicken every time, while baking tends to dry out the bird.

Gour-Maybe trick - please, please save yourself some seasoning and herb-chopping time and start with the pre-marinated chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) at Central Market. My personal faves are the Orange Honey Habanero, and the Dijon Herb varieties, but use whatever you like. 

Full instructions after the jump.

Pickled Red Onions

This recipe is from page 99 of the  Fried Chicken & Champagne cookbook by Lisa Dupar which you should already own or buy immediately. I have tried several pickled onion recipes and this is the one that I like the most. It's so easy: store the pickled onions in an airtight container and use them on sandwiches, salads, dinners (my upcoming Puerco Cubano post will use them as well). Read how this Gour-Maybe side gets made, after the jump.

Cookbooks A Gour-Maybe Can't Live Without: Fried Chicken & Champagne

Fried Chicken & Champagne by Lisa Dupar (Pomegranate Bistro) is a recent edition to the cookbook library and was a gift. I can be very skeptical of new cookbooks but after a quick flip through, I was in love. It's got great recipes - breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails (bonus) - which are all approachable, as well as basics to make and store like dressings and other condiments. My favorites so far are the Pickled Red Onions (see next blog post), Grain Mustard Drizzle, and Roasted Chicken with Smashed German Butterball Potatoes, Pancetta and Sage leaves. I can tell you just by looking at the desserts, that I will be making at least several of them shortly. Go buy this today!

Ridiculously Good, Occasionally Truffled, Scrambled Eggs

yes, please

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, but most scrambled eggs leave lots to be desired - and then some are "good" but why waste a meal on good? These are the eggs that will change your mind. It started like most Gour-Maybe? moments do --as an accident, with a Bloody Mary. I didn't realize how low my heat was one Christmas Day morning and didn't really mind that my eggs were taking a little longer to cook because of the buzz. Thank God for accidents. I started adding cheese as is my way. The eggs came out so well, that they became a holiday tradition and now I can't make them any other way! If you want to really just push it over the edge, sprinkle some Truffle Oil on top. But at that point, be prepared to never eat eggs anywhere else and please invite me over. Read how to make these easy eggs and how to serve them after the jump!

Things I Love: Cypress Grove Chevre - Truffle Tremor

it's made with bits of real truffle, so you know it's good..

truffle tremor and its friend humbolt fog (notice the major dents I have made - this stuff doesn't last long!)

If you read Gour-Maybe? at all, you've probably learned that I am in love with cheese. You might also have guessed from a post or two that I love truffles. Most people get their truffle flavor from truffle oil, although usually that oil is not made from actual truffles, but additives which create the same aroma and flavor as truffles. I personally prefer Black (Perigord) winter truffles to white (Alba) truffles, but to each their own - it's a truffle. You could buy $100.00 worth of canned truffles from D'Artagnan (and there would be nothing wrong with that) or you can spend $18.99 on their truffle oil, which is delicious, and creates the same flavor profile for a fraction of the cost. Or to soothe your truffle-deprived taste buds, why don't you do none of the above, and buy some Cypress Grove Chevre Truffle Tremor for $5-10.00 per slice depending on how much you get. 

The first time I brought this to a party, it was done in 10 minutes. I would rip it from a baby's hands and not feel guilty. I would eat it even if it had 1000 calories per ounce. It's amazing goat cheese meets amazing truffle flavor. You can thank me later! 

Spicy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't like to wait. Not an hour, not a day, and certainly not three days. However, I will make a BIG exception for the cookies that come from this recipe, my favorite and I think, the best chocolate chip cookies ever. This recipe came from experimenting with the one-and-only Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (the one on the bag of the semi-sweet chocolate chips), adding some wisdom from The New York Times and then changing up the recipe to fit my personal taste (usually this means adding more salt and spice. The cookies are simple, the key is time. Jump for the recipe and more details!