The Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon fresh mint (minced, AKA yerba buena)
1 tablespoon cilantro (minced)
1 tablespoon white onion (minced)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs
The Soup
2 ancho chilies
6 guajillo chilies
1 roma tomato
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 white onion (thinly sliced)
6 cups water
1/4 teaspoon cumin (ground)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 beef bouillon cube
2 carrots (sliced in half lengthwise and then in bite size pieces)
1 chayote (chopped into bite size pieces)
1 red potatoes (diced in bite size pieces)
1/2 cup green beans (ends snapped, then broken into bite size pieces)
salt
cilantro (to garnish)
lime wedge (to garnish)
Directions:

1
Mix the meatball ingredients together in a bowl until combined. Shape the meatballs into walnut sized balls. Place the meatballs on a clean plate, cover with plastic and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them.
2
Place the dry chilies, garlic cloves and tomato into a small sauce pan. Fill with water until the chilies are completely covered. Boil the chilies and tomato on medium high heat for 15 minutes. Cover and set aside.
3
In a large stock pot, heat the oil. Saute the onions for 2 minutes. Add in the carrots and stir. Pour in the water, cumin, bouillon cubes, chayote, potatoes and green beans.
4
While the soup is heating up, place the tomato, chilies and garlic in the blender with 2 cups of fresh water. Blend on high or 5 minutes.
5
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the blended chile into the stock pot scraping the bottom with a spoon. This may require two or three times (seeds and skins will get stuck so you may have to do this in two or so batches rinsing the sieve clean after each time.) Once you have strained all of the chile into the stock pot, stir and bring to a boil. Once the soup is boiling taste the soup and add salt if needed. Cook the soup for 15 minutes.
6
Next, turn the heat down to medium low. Add in the meatballs one at a time until they are all in the pot. Gently stir the soup to make sure the meatballs are incorporated in with the broth and vegetables. Cover the soup and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
7
Serve the soup in bowls garnished with chopped cilantro and lime wedges.
8
Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 (3 pound) boneless pork loin roast, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chile peppers
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chipotle sauce
3 1/4 cups water, divided
1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Directions
Place the roast in a slow cooker, and season with salt. Place chile peppers and garlic on top of roast. Pour in the chipotle sauce and 1/2 cup water.
Cover, and cook 7 hours on Low.
In a pot, bring remaining 2 3/4 cups water and rice to a boil. Mix in the lime juice and cilantro. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
Remove roast from the slow cooker, and use two forks to shred. Return pork to the slow cooker, and allow to sit 15 minutes to absorb some of the liquid. Serve over the cooked rice.

Ingredients

Directions

Servings

     
                                                                                         


Wines For Summer Barbecues
Summer is in full swing, school's out, and the temperatures are sizzling. It must be barbecue time! As you do your shopping for the weekend's big cookout, you should be adding wine to that supermarket cart.
Why wine, instead of the more familiar beer? Well of course, you should be offering your guests a choice, but don't shy away from serving wine, just because it maybe seems a bit upscale for a meal you're going to eat with your fingers.
One of the best barbecues I ever attended was in the south of France, right near the border with Italy. We sat in our host's garden, which was bursting with flowers, fruit and vegetables. In the distance, the blue Mediterranean shimmered. We feasted on spicy sausages and chicken, hot from the grill and flavored with rosemary picked from the mountains. Along with this came chunks of home made bread, a huge salad bursting with savory sweet tomatoes and basil, dressed with olive oil and lemon,all washed down with young red wine made by our host from his own grapes, young purple red and loaded with fruit flavors. For desert, peaches, picked warm from the garden wall, bursting with sweetness. Everything had been grown, raised and made on the farm, and that memory as constituted my ideal for a barbecue ever since.
The keynote is, whatever you cook, if it's going to be for special guests, rather than just a slung together treat for the kids, you should make sure that the ingredients are of the very best. Go to your farmers' market and buy squeaky fresh salad greens, flavorsome tomatoes, and a variety of home made bread – plus some interesting cheeses for nibbling. Find a Greek deli to offer you the best of olives, dripping and delicious, note to mention extra virgin cold pressed olive oil and fresh lemons for your salad dressing. Think of a country feast for your summer entertaining, and you won't go far wrong.
Barbecues offer robust flavors – burgers, steaks, ribs, oily fish like tuna, often accompanied by rich and spicy sauces. So, contrary to the advice often given for summertime wine drinking, you should turn your back on light florals and fizzes, and instead, wines for barbecues should be big strong reds and hugely oaky whites with a touch of sweetness. The king of summer outdoor drinking is Shiraz, and the queen is Chardonnay. In both cases, look for New World offerings – wines from Chile, Australia and of course, California are amongst the best.
For a particular treat with your barbecue this year, seek out Edna Valley Chardonnay; although not heavily oaked this is a delightfully complex wine with cinnamon notes which I love to pair with grilled chicken. For a very special, expensive treat, look no further than 1999 Noon Reserve Shiraz, with its berry and coffee notes, a massive wine, coming into its best around now, but with room to grow if you care to lay a few bottles down. This wine can stand up to anything, and works brilliantly well with a first class home made hamburger.

Would you believe this is a Crock-Pot recipe? 

what you need

• 1 medium banana, peeled and trimmed
• 12 tablespoons Market Pantry® Ice Cream
• 1 bottle chocolate shell topping
• 1 tablespoon sprinkles
• 12 toothpicks

here's how

1. Cut the banana crosswise into 12 (1/2-inch-thick) rounds. Use a mini ice cream scoop the same diameter as the banana slices or a tablespoon to press a scoop of ice cream on top of each slice.
2. Squirt the chocolate shell topping over each ice cream scoop, then immediately top with the sprinkles. Spear each bon bon with a toothpick and serve immediately.