Adventure 224: Hotel Kralzona/Tucson, AZ/Post B

Thin Gruel Simmering

We're suffering through some pretty thin gruel down here in the desert. Pretty soon we'll be so thin we'll look like a couple of ocotillo cactus sticks. Our entire adventure today surrounded the purchase, preparation, and partaking of deliciously delectable decidedly desirable definitely digestible and terribly terrific thin gruel. Ginny, who I have lovingly labeled the female Euell Gibbons-author of the best seller, Searching for the Wild Asparagus- started us off in the morning with fresh coffee followed by a smoothy of raspberries, blueberries, protein powder, banana, milk, and yogurt blended to a fresh milkshake consistency. From there we walked to the local Albertson's store, which is a little over a mile away, following a couple of washes and a javelina path. It was a bright not yet warm morning in Tucson, so the walk was pleasant enough. We bought the supplies to fix a recipe of Chili Verde, which was inspired by our visit to the St. Francis Cafe whose version of the dish was simply the best restaurant offering I've eaten in quite some time. We Googled to try and find the recipe St. Francis uses, but all we could find were rave reviews of both the cafe and the dish. After some searching, we finally decided to use a combination of a Five Star Food Network recipe and a nice version from Pinterest. The dish is somewhat labor intensive for my taste, but the flavor merited the effort. To start, I boned the pork shoulder, trimmed the fat, and cubed the meat into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile, Judy and Ginny roasted the tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeños, and garlic. By then I had moved onto dicing the yellow onions and red peppers (The recipe called for green peppers, but we chose to alter it somewhat (I wouldn't do that again because it detracted from the verde part of the recipe). Then we took a break to eat lunch, which was an incredibly delicious beet soup that Ginny, Ewell Gibbons, Kral made, which she augmented with a plate of fresh carrots, thin slices of red pepper, sweet garden snap peas, slices of a ripe pear, and a few slices of Cabot cheddar from Vermont. Thin gruel for certain. After lunch, we began putting the chili together. I browned the pork while Judy coarsely blended the roasted vegetables. I then sautéed the onions and pepper. Ginny ground and added the herbs. We then added the blended vegetables, four cups of chicken stock, and the meat. Then let the chili simmer for three hours. Of course, by then it was time to go swimming because a watched pot never cooks (Or something like that). We ate the feast about six, and now we're cheering for the Zags who re playing for the WCC championship against the dastardly dervishes from BYU. It's been a full day of fellowship, sharing what we do well with good friends. Clearly, life is good especially today.

 Beet soup simmering

 Peppers roasting.

 Tomatillos roasted.

 Beet soup served, garnished with yogurt and parsley.

 Veggie plate.

 Cheese plate.

 A walk around the Kral residence is just as pleasant as the company and the food. Frac looks restful.

 Cactus art shot of the day.

 Barrel cactus in bloom.

 Another in bloom at another stage.

 I love the way they bunch up.

 Hey there, Saguaro.

   Chile Verde served, garnished with an over easy egg. Simply on par with the St. Francis, if I do say so myself.