Cleaning Dishes

Here is our simple technique: Wash dishes with HOT water, soak dishes in COLD water.

Why do we do it this way? (Read DISHWASHER USE first!)

• Sometimes the hot water seems to be limited from the water heater tank and our dishwasher does not have an internal water heater so in essence we need all the hot water for it to run and clean its best.
• Most pots and pans do not require hot water to soak and remove stuck on food
• If a pot/pan/dish is extremely greasing but not really dirty we then use the Soap Water (again that Dawn dish detergent cuts grease the best) and hot water to remove the grease or greasiness. But if it needs to soak we can still use the cold water before scrubbing with the hot.

The key to this system is because most starch and protein based foods absorb the water and loosen up over time with faucet temperature water. Hot water tends to re-activate, tighten up, or otherwise continue to cook food in the dish making it even harder to release from the dish.

Even sugar based sauces or food that is soaked with cold water will eventually, given time, absorb the water and loosen its grip. We hardly ever have one dish that JUST has to be washed right away to be used again.

Give it time, let it soak. Don't work hard scrubbing dishes when its not necessary.

Another technique we use is spraying a dish down right away even if we are not going to clean it. This helps keep leftover food and liquid from getting a chance to dry on and make it harder to clean. When you carry a dish over that looks like its going to be hard to clean, spray it quickly, and then leave in sink. DO this when the dish doesn't necessarily need to soak.

The following are a few examples:

Macaroni & Cheese (shells) - fill with cold water.

BBQ Chicken baked with sauce in it. Fill with cold water.

Another view...See the crusty black stuck on residue on sides of pan?

Here both pans have soaked about 15 to 20 minutes.

Cheese and starch sprays off with ease with hand sprayer before using dishwasher.

Crusty black stuck on residue burnt to the sides...

Now wipe of with one swipe of the soapy green pad.

Both wash off quickly and are run through the dishwasher. No need to stand there a long time trying to scrub hard with a more abrasive cleaner.

Sometimes cooking starchy things like potatoes, pasta, and rice can be a hassle to get out of the pans BUT if you don't need to get it out of the pan right away then just cover it and put it into refrigerator and clean it out the next day. The starches then get cold and clump together (to their-self) instead of to the pan and make it easy to clean them out of a pan. Example below. 

I just pulled this pan out of the refrigerator after sitting overnight. The day before the rice was HOT and sticking very hard to the pan.

The rice is now stiff and mostly just stuck to itself.

I use my gloved hand to quickly scrape the rice out and clean the pan. This is what it left to clean. Not much.

And you can still spray or soak this pan with some cold water and let it sit a few minutes and clean it out quickly for the dishwasher.

Dried baked on mashed potato...

Cold water...

Maybe 10 minutes? Everything has loosened up!

This CLEAN after just a quick spray...

Finish up with soft green pad and Soap Water and run it through the dishwasher.

This concludes our illustrations. The technique works!

Once A Week - Drain Refrigerator Condensation

I would suggest Mondays. Every Monday the black refrigerator with 3 glass doors in the Pantry should be drained. In the picture below you see that I already have the louvered vent off of the front. It is held on by two plastic hooks that go over screws and two actual screws you have to take out. Very easy. 

Here is what the screws look like that are taken out of the bottom left and bottom right side of the black louvered vent. The screws are found in the side right over the last vent in the cover.

Underneath we have a catch pan which is basically a plastic Cambro chafing dish. You can see in the picture below how the drain tube/hose comes down from the refrigerator unit. Most models have heat coils that evaporate the water so its usually not an issue in other refrigerators. This one does not have one. It was bought used, runs great, and otherwise has no problems. During the warmer and hot months this unit HAS TO BE DRAINED EVERY WEEK, NO EXCEPTION. 

Here is a link to a printable form you can use to track and also to be a reminder.

Drain Refrigerator Catch Pan Schedule

Use a 5 gallon bucket to pour water into and then drain water in the mop sink in the kitchen.

Make sure you slide the plastic chafing dish back in and position the tube/hose inside so it will drain properly. This holds about 5 gallons of water before it start to overflow.

Soap Water

Soap Water is kept next to the sink and is used for actually cleaning the dishes (as well as everything else) because the dishwasher is more of a "good idea". Most dishes still need a basic cleaning before the dishwasher will actually finish cleaning it. Part of this reason is because our dishwasher is a "low temp" dishwasher and doesn't heat its own water. So hot water is coming from the water heater. Most of the time this never tops 120 degrees where other dishwashers have internal water heaters and will scald/clean dirty dishes with 190 degree water!

What you will need is the Dawn dish detergent in a pump (buy commercially at Sam's Club). Please don't buy the other cheap liquid detergents, that's exactly what they are! Cheap in price and cheap on quality. Also we need another disinfecting bucket (just like when we make Bleach Water) and we will fill it about 1/3 of the way with water. Again, we do not need hot water in this bucket. The active ingredient we are using here is the soap and hard work. You will use this Soap Water all day or until it gets nasty and you need to change it.

You will add one full pump of the liquid detergent to the water. DO NOT add the liquid detergent first then try to fill the bucket with water because it will just make a lot of soap suds we do not need and it will be hard to tell how much water is actually in the bucket.

Alright on to the scrubbing equipment. We usually only keep green scrubby pads and steel wool on hand for cleaning. We hardly EVER use the steel wool and when we do its NOT ON plastic dishes like cambro containers and such.

Here we have the setup most of us like. There is nothing different about the green scrubbing pads in the picture except one has been used more than the other. This creates two different style pads to clean with. The more used one (on the far left) is less abrasive and great for generally cleaning everything. The one on the right is newer and more abrasive. Great for stuff stuck on pots and pans. The steel wool / scour pad is mostly for looks and emergency situations like hard to get off items that have already spent time soaking. Not for everyday use.

There is a technique for cleaning and scrubbing dishes and we talk about that HERE. (click the link)

Both the Soap Water and Bleach Water should be part of your start up routine for each day. There is no Health Department point violations for having or not having a Soap Water bucket. That is a creation of experience in the kitchen.

My simple process for cleaning almost EVERYTHING is scrub with Soap Water scrubby and wipe down with Bleach Water towel. (except for dishes, they get run through the dishwasher so they get sanitized that way)

(You can keep the Bleach Water bucket on another counter or sink it does not have to stay close to dishwasher, move the buckets around as you need.)

Bleach Water

Bleach water bucket for sanitizing and disinfecting. Using towels to wipe down and sanitize counters, shelves, tables, equipment, and a variety of things.

Fill the bucket about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way with water. It doesn't need to be hot water because we are going to use this all day or until it gets really nasty. The bleach is the key ingredient not the temperature of the water. 

We will need some bleach, couple of clean towels, and a teaspoon measuring spoon. 

You want to mix in about 2/3 of a teaspoon of bleach. Here in the next couple of pictures you see I actually mixed it to strong. If you look closely at the Precision Chlorine Test Paper (and yes you need to keep a tube of these on hand for the Health Department, they will want to check the dishwasher with it as well). On the side of the container you see 4 shades of gray. We actually want the third darkest one to match the  test paper so we know its at least 100 part per million solution of chlorine, aka bleach.

Add a clean towel or two.

You can get counted off for not having the test papers, not having the bucket of sanitizing water and towel, and for it not testing properly.

If the water gets to nasty, change it out. At the end of the day hang the towels over dividers in sink or on the edges of the dirty laundry hamper/bag till they dry out over night. Then proceed to drop them in the bag dry. 

At this point we get our mats swapped and linens laundered & picked up every two weeks. Keeping wet items out of the bag/hamper helps keep things from stinking and growing molds.

Oven Cooking - Pulled Pork

Technique is simple, 225 degrees Fahrenheit overnight in the oven. In the video we are using a standard Boston Butt...Start it before I go home from VFCA and then pull it from oven first thing in the morning, put on metal table, take foil off of it, and drain fat & liquid. Come back after morning prayer and hopefully it is cooled down enough for you to start "pulling".

*UPDATE TO TECHNIQUE

I use the 4 inch chafing dishes now and put two butts in each pan. I don't season them or cut them down to fit into 2 1/2 inch chafing dishes that I talk about in video. Most seasoning melts right off of the pork anyway and it is wasted sitting in the juice and fat at the bottom of the pan. No need to cut butts down to fit into 2 1/2 inch chafing dishes because these things have just cooked 14 plus hours in a 4 inch chafing dish!

AFTER draining juice, liquid fat, and removing solid jelly type fat we then "pull" it. Now is when I add seasoning and/or some BBQ and Hot Sauce back into it because now seasoning the taste of the pork is most effective without waste.

THIS makes the whole process even faster than it was before when getting it into the oven.

Oven Cooking - Ground Beef

I have worked in some pretty small kitchens from time to time BUT have never failed to figure out how to complete a scheduled meal. A long time ago I developed an easy, simple way to cook bulk ground meat in a commercial oven using little supervision and a potato masher.

Why would this be a useful thing to know? Not all kitchens have large braising pans, electric skillets, or enough pots to cook it on the stove.

I use 4 inch chafing dishes/hotel pans and cook 10 to 15 pounds of meat in each one. Doesn't matter if its ground beef, ground chicken, ground pork, sausage...

Start with about half an inch of water in each pan...here I have 2x10# (2 packs of 10 pounds each) of Ground Beef (80/20 meat fat ratio). See my water pitcher in the background?

Take the meat and spread it out in pan. You can do this quickly it does not have to be "just so".

 I have a commercial convection oven that I set to 375 Fahrenheit (fan on low). You can use 350 or 400 degrees Fahrenheit its not an "exact" type of thing, but the first time you cook it like this keep track of your own times to repeat the process the same way every time. It's easier to teach someone else this way.

This is what it looks like in my oven. I do not cover the meat. The heated air works quicker and allows for some additional coloring and texture of finished meat(besides it looking a light gray from essentially oven steaming it). Yes! I keep a sheet pan in the bottom of my oven at all times for catching drips or mistakes...as you can see some on the pan, black spots.

And another "zoom out" view...

Let the meat cook undisturbed for thirty minutes, no matter what...you can adjust finishing time later. Depending on your oven, the temperature you use, kind of meat, et cetera...the time it takes to cook ground meat to proper internal temperature varies. I believe its 155 Fahrenheit for most ground meats except poultry, which I believe still has to reach 165. See how it looks kind of "meat loaf-ish"? Its time to pour as much juice/fat/water off as you can. Plus if you remove the liquid, its less dangerous using the masher to "ground" the meat! Ok, your thirty minutes has gone by...

Notice now we have most of the liquid and impurities drained off. Please don't feel like you have to drain the pan of liquid till every last drop of liquid is out, that defeats the purpose of this being easy and simple. See how the meat looks like a big loaf?

Time to turn that potato masher into a multi-tasker...Alton Brown would be so proud right now! I usually mash it down with the masher squiggles going one way, then mash the meat again with it going the other way...use the masher as a "rake" to move big chunks around for another mash if needed. This is when I would season the meat. After the first drain and mash. Back in the oven!

Its time to put the meat back in till its done all the way AKA (also known as) being at the proper internal temperature. This could be 15 minutes or more...depends on the meat and how many pounds you started with. But if your using a timer just set another 15 and check it again. NOW we are pretty sure the meat is done...drain it again if you think it has released more liquid than you want to keep in it.

Mash again. This is the second and last time. Once while cooking and again after the meat is done. Your now ready to use your meat, and/or let it cool, label & date, and put in freezer or fridge.

If your commercial kitchen is small like my current one, we do not use a fryer so we also do not have a grease pit that holds oils and fats until a big truck comes and services it(sucks it out). So, I let the fat separate naturally and then I ladle into a +Ziploc bag inside a Cambro pitcher.

Then I throw it in a freezer till its solid, pull it out of the pitcher, and throw it away!

Twice A Year - Grease Catch/Pit

The grease pit should be cleaned twice a year. More if there is an emergency like water backing up into the kitchen and/or horrible smells coming up from the floor drains in kitchen. Observe the photos:

The panel for the grease pit is directly in front of the big windows in the kitchen.

This is what it looks like after a full 6 months of collecting the grease and waste of the kitchen drains. Preferably you would not let any grease or food waste go down the drains, but as it is with cleaning dishes, more of it gets down the sink than you can imagine. 

[I use the word "dishes" lightly, it mostly reflects pots, pans, trays, utensils...not actual plates.]

It stinks like...well, like real sewage!

To clean it dress yourself with a double apron (front and back) and cover yourself like with the biggest trash bag and then cut holes for your arms and head. Use the good latex gloves and bring a few more sets with you. Also you want to have one of those face masks like at the hospital or when painting. You can buy them cheap at Home Depot and keep a few around. The smell could make you vomit.

I use a slotted spoon or spatula to scrap all the solid chunks of grease and waste off the top and fill up a "tea pitcher" with the waste. I use the hand-truck to carry the second largest pot on it. I line the pot with the largest and thickest garbage bag. This is what I fill up as I scoop waste out...you can scoop it straight to the pot, or fill up the pitcher first and then dump in the pot.

The pitcher you can keep closer to the actual work. And later you may want to use the pitcher for skimming off the top then pouring into the pot. 

When the bag is full close to the top of the pot STOP because you want to tie a knot in the bag and roll the pot up the hill to the trash. When you do this, the pot rolls uphill at a slant so you don't want that stuff bouncing back or pouring out on you or the ground.

Then use the pot handles to pick it up and dump into the trash dumpster. Then repeat this process as many times as necessary. Usually 2 to four times. When I get done I throw everything away: Gloves, pitcher, garbage bags I have used, even the slotted spoon and/or spatula...Everything can be replaced relatively cheap from Sam's Club or Webstaurant.com. Throw the aprons in the bag of dirty laundry.

Doing it yourself is a difference of $20 or $30 dollars in supplies versus $600 a year. Now if cleaning it is not an option then call the local Roto-Rooter Plumbing Service and get a quote. My first quote I got in 2012 was almost $300.00 (Three Hundred Dollars) so I would imagine it would be more than that now. And you need to get it done twice a year.

This is how it should look when your done. Or pretty close to this.

Probably the two best times to do this is end of the school year when VFCA is done and before summer camp has started AND during Fall or Christmas Break when the VFCA is not in session. During the day it's best to do it between 1pm and 230pm so you leave enough time on either side for lunch to be over and before parents start coming regularly to pick up their children from LVA. Because LVA is all year around. Bring a change of work shirt or chef jacket in case of splatter and/or smell permeates clothes.

Low­Fat Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins

INGREDIENTS

○  3 medium very ripe bananas
○  1egg
○  1/3 cup low­fat milk
○  1/2 cup granulated sugar (maybe substitute with honey)
○  1/2 cup brown sugar
○  1 1/2 cups flour (wheat or white)
○  1 teaspoon baking soda
○  1 teaspoon salt
○  2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup chocolate chips (depends on how chocolatey you like it!) Also I like to use mini chips, less chance of them sinking to the bottom of the muffin.
○  2 tablespoons pecans/chopped walnuts (optional)
○  1/2 Cup Applesauce
○  1/2 Cup Rolled Oats (also called old-fashioned or whole oats)

• 
  # The last two ingredients applesauce & oats are also optional, but I wouldn't use one without the other. It messes with the structure of the muffin. Wet & Dry.
• 
  DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Lightly coat 12 muffin tin liners with cooking spray and place in muffin tin.
   
3. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork.
   
4. Whisk in egg, milk, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.
   
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
   
6. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and combine well.
   
7. Fold in chocolate chips and optional pecans/walnuts.
   
8. Spoon equal amounts of batter into 12 muffin cups.
   
9. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
   
10. Allow to cool slightly in pan, then remove to wire rack.
    

# Baking times will vary depending on your oven and size of tin. We like to use the mini muffin tins which take less time.

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Ezra's BATMAN! Chocolate Cupcakes with Reese's Surprise!

Ezra recently had his 4th birthday party and with this came the usual choices like cake, cupcakes, or cookie cake. There's also deciding if I was going to make some spectacular creation like a previous Dinosaur Train Cake, Jake and the Neverland Pirate Cake, or this one I pulled off in Liberia West Africa Estevam Turns ONE! over 8 years ago. I thought the heat alone was going to melt the homemade marshmallow fondant off that cake!

We (wife and I) have had great cupcakes over the years and I thought it was time to go that route again. The theme was BATMAN! And we found some nice cupcake topper rings with the Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman logo. Even if the presentation is not going to be "spectacular" like previously mentioned cakes, we still want it to be special.

People always tell us, "You always bring great food to a party or dinner without being told what to bring! How do you do it?" Really its simple, we cook the food we want to eat! (And we trust our taste buds.)

I decided on a chocolate cupcake with a chocolate buttercream icing and a Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cup surprise in the center! For this recipe I was hunting down something different, or better, when I ran across the Brown Eyed Baker's recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes!

With cooking and recipes I don't try to "re-invent the wheel". I find the "wheel" I like. If I can't find one I like, THEN I invent the "wheel" I want!

I found the "wheel" I wanted with BEB's chocolate cupcake! If you are in this culinary world as a hobby, or a career, hopefully you get to the point where you can just look at a recipe or list of ingredients and KNOW that's what you want. I was looking over BEB's recipe thinking...

• "chocolate & coffee, Mmmm" (good baking flavor combo even if u don't like coffee)
• "I like the technique for...creaming, melting, mixing..."
• "Vinegar? Hmmm...this is looking like a modified Red Velvet Cake recipe (without the food coloring) and I like THAT"

For my son's birthday party I wanted to make the cupcake more my own. Or maybe OUR own. So I tucked a frozen Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cup in each cupcake before baking. Freezing it helps maintain its structure during the baking period.

I was very pleased with this cupcake. Chocolate flavor, moist, held together, baked properly, and it was a hit with both kids and adults. 

I made my own buttercream frosting and skipped the ganache in BEB's recipe. But I would encourage you to try her whole recipe. The only reason I changed other aspects of it was to get the "wheel" I wanted.

Here is the recipe again: Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes -- Brown Eyed Baker has a great site with more than just baking recipes. Go check it out.

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How to MacGyver a broken electric smoker!

I knew a month ago that my smoker was broken but being the Frugal Guru that I am (read: cheap) I couldn't throw it away! Using my culinary MacGyver skills I decided I could still use it to smoke the chicken I was doing for this July 4th weekend.

WOW! My smoker has faded over the years! I wonder if that is from a combination of heat and sun? 

 I realized that I could easily make this usable as a charcoal smoker. The bottom of my smoker has a round electric element with lava rocks. Otherwise there was plenty of room and a metal bowl as a base. I had my wife get a bag of Match Light Charcoal when she was at the store.
I read the directions (because it has been awhile) and piled my charcoal up on the lava rocks like an upside down cone and lit them. Later I spread the coals out and waited for the fire to die down. About ten minutes. Just like the directions said. Funny thing about directions, sometimes they work. I threw a couple handfuls of wood chips on top...time to get started.

You've probably heard, "I don't like using charcoal because I can taste the fuel on my food!". This is because of two things:
1. Not following directions and let the fire die out. And/Or...
2. Using entirely too much lighter fluid and not letting it burn off.

I kind of miss that "old school" smell of cooking with charcoal and wood. Once we started having kids I couldn't give up smoking or grilling so I went for convenience.

• Gas Grill - cooking from start to finish without wasting any time.
• Electric Smoker - set it, and forget it.

The thing about charcoal and wood, it's time consuming manipulating the nuances of fire and air to get the right temperature long term. We (my wife and I) both work and we have small kids...So, "NO!" to the days of finagling smokers and grills with "master techniques". But the smell was nostalgic if only for this weekend!

Wings & Breasts!

You can use a smoker as a grill to smoke meats like chicken wings, chicken breasts, thighs, burgers, hot-dogs...without going"low and slow". Low & Slow is for other cuts of meats like pork butt, ribs, brisket, and larger pieces/cuts of meat. -- Burgers, chicken wings, chicken breasts & thighs, stuff like that can be cooked at high temp over the coals with a handful of wood chips thrown in, it picks up plenty of the smoke flavor and they are done from 30 to 60 minutes start to finish.

My personal favorite is smoked wings, flash fried and buffalo sauced! (butter & hot sauce mixture, add garlic)

My "trick" worked out great for the weekend. Look, I know, I KNOW, that you have some experiences and stories like that yourself! Share them with us in the comments! Please, we would love to hear them!

PS. In my early college days we did this to a Gas Grill as well. We added an additional grate (read: food cooling rack) to help keep the charcoal in place where the gas burners used to be.

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Chile Coban Pecans (Pecan Crack)

This recipe, as most of my recipes, has a story behind it...

A Chef friend came to stay with me last summer for a few days because we both were attending the same conference in my town. We could catch up, show him around town, hang out...and of course attend the conference together. It just so happened that he brought me some gifts. One gift was several pounds of pecans.

A short time later another friend came back from a trip to Guatemala and gave me a package of Chile Coban, a very specific tasting dried pepper with a bit of smoke flavor. 

[Fast Forward a bit in time...]

Around the Fall holidays I was using a spiced nut recipe because I wanted to create some Christmas gifts and snacks that had a personal touch. But I was very unhappy with the results I was getting from a highly rated internet recipe. BAM! I had a stroke of genius, "Tyrone, why don't you just create your own recipe and use what you have on hand?!". [You won't ever convince me talking to yourself doesn't have its benefits!] And that's how this recipe came to be! 

A personal "Thanks!" goes out to Gary H. and PW. (aka - Pastor Will). This recipe has been tested by hundreds of palates by now with great reviews. The "heat" in this recipe is only noted in taste, not burn.

PS. To all my food service friends, this makes a full sheet pan (2 or 3 of the home cookie/sheet pans) These are best a couple days after making, they get a little crunchier and taste seems to "mature".

Ingredients

3 egg white
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1 1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Chile Coban

Or use cayenne, chipotle powder, something with some heat you like.

3 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 pounds pecan halves

Or walnuts, mixed nuts, BUT pecan is my favorite for this.

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper.

In a large bowl beat egg white until foamy. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt, Chile Coban, (or substitute), and vanilla.

Whip to "melted marshmallow consistency" Add nuts, and stir to coat. Spread evenly onto prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, until well toasted and golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

The end result...

And it's delicious!

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Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup

On the Anastasis & Africa Mercy we served chicken tortilla soup with fresh chips (corn tortillas cut in wedges, fried, & salted) and salsa, often serving rice as well. On the Caribbean Mercy we bought the chips, there were no fryers on board. This recipe tastes so much better just grilling the chicken but I have a few other options I think you should try as well.

I won't bore you with the bulk preparations from the galley but walk you thru a recipe that's close to mine (for home use) that is from allrecipes.com: chicken tortilla soup -->

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chili powder

I omitted the chili powder and use chipotle peppers or roasted cumin instead -- much better taste. Chipotle peppers are smoked & dried Jalapeno peppers, not as hot and adds great smoky taste. Next, use a dry non-stick for toasting some cumin seeds. Then grind up(electric coffee grinder, mortar and pestle, or ziploc bag and hammer! LOL)...this develops a greater, more complex taste to the soup than chili powder.

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

Here I would suggest a good brand of Fire Roasted Tomatoes.

• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
• 1 cup white hominy

If you are not a hominy person, leave it out

• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces

Let's grill these chickens, its going to add another dimension of flavor that will make your soup stand-out. Or another good fast option is buying the rotisserie chicken at the grocery store or Sam's/Costco Club and picking the meat off. ***Or if your in California Bay Area Mi Pueblo has an awesome grilled chicken done in front of the store on certain days! (I think the one close to San Jose on Story Road or maybe Capitol) If anybody can get that marinade/rub they are using for THAT chicken I would love it! Been trying for years!

• Fresh tortilla chips

If you can't make fresh chips Chili's chips are a good pickup option without costing much and being 'same day' fresh. Order them to-go.

• sliced avocado
• shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
• chopped green onions

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Stir in corn, hominy, chilies, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, and chopped green onion.

The way I like to eat it is to put some chips in the bottom of the bowl, put the soup on top, a little cheese, slice of avocado, then (if you have limes) a fresh squeeze of lime juice over the top.

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