Okay, what this actually is, is a red wine tomato sauce with garlic, shallots, asparagus and Crimini mushrooms, over pasta. Here's the scoop:
-garlic
-2 shallots
-1 28oz can of stewed, whole, San Marzano tomatoes
-1 6oz can of tomato paste
-a small bunch of asparagus
-Crimini mushrooms
-roughly 1 cup red wine (I used a Merlot)
-basil
-parsley
-salt
-black pepper
-nutmeg
-olive oil
-butter
-noodles of choice
So in one big ol' sauce pan, I got the sauce going. I started with 8 cloves of minced garlic sauteing in olive oil, then I added in the asparagus cut into roughly 2 inch pieces (from the top not the stem). When they got going a little bit, and became fragrant, I added in the can of tomatoes, the tomato paste, and the red wine. This went for a little longer, and then I added some salt, pepper, nutmeg (be sparing, but make sure you can taste it), basil, and parsley. Then I set this to simmering for half an hour.
Pretty shortly after the sauce had been simmering, I diced two shallots and threw them into a separate skillet of olive oil and butter with two good-sized handfuls of mushrooms. When the shallots just began to sweat, and the mushrooms just began to get darker, I added them to the sauce, and let it all simmer for another half an hour.
Then I got my noodles boiling, waited for them to become al dente, mixed everything together, and bada bing, bada boom, you have yourself another fine plate of pasta.
This one was pretty good, and I'd recommend you give it a go should you have the ingredients available.
Alright, so the picture is a little blurry because it was taken with a camera phone, but this was some pretty damn fine pasta.
Here's the gist:
-your favorite noodles
-2 handfuls of Chanterelle mushrooms
-1 and a half handfuls of Shiitake mushrooms
-Unsweetened soy milk
-lots and lots of vegan butter
-olive oil
-white wine
-shallots
-garlic
-parsley
-salt and pepper
So I started by sauteing 1 big shallot (about the size of 2 normal shallots) and 2 cloves of garlic in both olive oil and butter. When the shallots get a little translucent, add close to a cup of soy milk, more butter, and probably 3/4 cup of white wine.
In a separate pan, saute both the shiitake's and chanterelle's in butter and olive oil, but not too much. When they look like they're starting to sweat out and change to a darker color, throw them into the sauce.
Now you should start boiling your noodles.
At this point its a waiting/balancing act. You need to watch your sauce (adding more butter or milk as you go along to maintain a really creamy consistency). When you are pretty sure the noodles are about done, throw a handful of fresh parsley into the sauce, along with some salt and black pepper (to taste, of course.)
Drain the pasta, toss it all together, top with a little more fresh parsley and nutritional yeast (or parmesan cheese) and bing, cherry vanilla, you've made yourself some damn fine pasta too. The sauce should be creamy, but also packed full of mushrooms. You want a super earthy, creamy, and buttery flavor.
At some point I will get a smoker, but until then the crockpot will have to do for my BBQ fix.
1 lb pork shoulder
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon mustard
1 teaspoon each of the following:
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
chili powder
black pepper
Bun
BBQ sauce
coleslaw
My crockpot is tiny, so I had to cut down a 3 lb pork shoulder to fit it. If your crockpot can handle it, I recommend increased the proportions.
I mixed up all the seasoning in the crockpot, then tossed the shoulder in. I spun the meat around a couple times to make sure it was covered in juice, then let it sit for about 4 1/2 hours on High. If I would have had more time, I would have tried to let it sit for 10 hours on low. I will likely do that with the rest of the pork shoulder after I finish this stuff up. At the end, I pulled the meat out, took two forks and shredded it all up. If it isn't really easy to shred, then you need to cook it longer.
I like my pulled pork Memphis style with BBQ sauce and coleslaw.
If you make it just right, you'll end up looking like this guy.
I wasn't planning on posting this dinner when I first started cooking it, but when it was almost done, it looked to good, and once eaten, tasted too good not to post. I had a bunch of vegetables from the farmers market that I needed to use and figured that a salad was the best use of those veggies. This is what I came up with.
Romain lettuce, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
Carrot, chopped into disks.
Fire roasted corn
Fire roasted green bell pepper, sliced
2 chicken tenders
1 chipotle pepper
Black pepper
Salt
Cesar salad dressing
Parrano cheese, grated
Lemon juice
I found some of the cheapest per pound chicken was the frozen chicken tenders. While I would prefer fresh chicken, I can't really afford it and these aren't too bad. After defrosting these, I chopped up a single chipotle pepper and rubbed it onto the chicken with some salt and black pepper. I cooked these on a cask iron skillet that I had, though grilling them would have been preferred.
I recently am a big fan of roasting fresh corn over my gas range. I first rub some butter onto the husked corn, then slowly rotate the corn over the flame making sure there is just a tiny bit of black all over. While doing these the butter melts, starts to dip and ignites making the corn flame broiled, all the while some kernels are popping and cracking. I roasted a green bell pepper as well. I used a fork as a spit and to turn it.
All of these was tossed together and covered with some cesar salad dressing and some amazing freshly grated Parrano cheese, and lemon juice. I ended up making and eating two plates.
Alright, I think it is about time for some crazy Vittles and Mangia posting time. To start us off, I'm challenging all y'all in making either a soup or stew and posting it. It's the Soup Stew Challenge. So come on, lets see what you got. Soups are easy to make, or at least some are. Put your veggies and meats together and try to beat this stew that I just made last night.
I made this not really having a plan ahead of time. I just started chopping and ended up making really too much. The largest pot in my house was filled to within a half inch of the rim.
Here are my ingredients.
1 onion
2 potatoes
1 large zucchini
4 cloves garlic
1 green bell pepper
2 ear corn, fire roasted
1 whole chicken
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 inch cube fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon Pho paste
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon black pepper
salt
water
cilantro
1 lemon, juiced and zested
oil or butter
I had all these ingredients at home before starting except the chicken. I ran out to the store, grabbed the chicken and was ready. I wanted to give the chicken a little more flavor, so I put it on a baking sheet, greased up the skin with oil, and rubbed on a healthy dose of kosher salt. I put this in the oven at 400 degree. My aim was to get the skin all crispy and golden before tossing into the soup. While the chicken baked, I prepared all the veggies. With the corn, I have a gas burner and so I was able to slowly turn the corn over the flame and get it nice and roasted. I chopped everything up, and sauteed them in a couple tablespoons of butter with some salt to help them along. All in all this took about 30 minutes. The chicken was just about done so I pulled it out and let it cool. I added enough water to make it soupy, rather than stewy. I added the seasoning as the soup heated up. I didn't add any more salt because I knew the chicken would be pretty salty. If you need more salt, you can always add it right before it is served. Once the chicken cooled, I sliced off the breasts and chopped them into cubes. I removed the wings and drumsticks and put them in the soup, bone in. I would have added the thighs and the rest of the meat but the soup pot was too full, so I just put them back in the oven to finish cooking and then pulled it and put it in tupperware.
The soup stayed on the heat for another 30 minutes. Right before serving, I juiced a lemon and added the zest. I also chopped some cilantro and put that in my own bowl. Cilantro looses a lot of it's flavor when it cooks so it is best to put it on right before eating.
So yeah, that's my soup contribution to The Soup Stew Challenge. I don't expect people to try to replicate this exactly. And there isn't really a way to taste all the soups and judge them to see who's is best. There will be no contest. This is just a challenge. Make some soup or stew. Ring the Bell.
I tried my hand at a new dish, and though I made some major changes to the original recipe, it turned out really good. And yes, I know I am a king at plate presentations.
6 chicken drumsticks
1 large onion
2 potatoes
3 carrots
(1 red and 1 green bell pepper, but only if you have room in your pot, which I did not)
1 and 1/2 cups basmati or long grain rice
3 cups water
14 oz can diced or chopped or whatever Tomatoes
3 Tbsp Canola oil (or really any type of cooking oil is fine)
chopped Cilantro
1 jar Patak's Biryani curry paste. (the most difficult but most essential ingredient)
You will want to use the largest pot you have a top for, or cut the portions down. I started by chopping up all the veggies into similar size pieces. I put the oil in the pot and tossed in all the veggies and the chicken drumsticks setting the burner on high. I let these cook for a bit while stirring it down. I also added some salt to help it cook down. After about 10 mins, I added the can of tomatoes, rice, water and the whole jar or Biryani paste. I mixed that up and turned the heat down to medium. I put the top on and and let it do it's thing. I still opened it and stirred it every once and a while, once every 5-10 minutes so the rice on the bottom didn't burn. Once it all got real hot and bubbly, I turned down the heat. Essentially it is like making a jambalaya. It seems pretty wet at first but the rice ends up absorbing it all and it thickens up. This all cooked for about 30-45 more minutes. Now at this point it was probably done, but I had to go do some other stuff. To keep it hot and just to make sure the chicken was cooked all the way through, I turned on the oven, let it heat up, then turned it off and put the pot, with the top on into the oven. I left it here for about an hour and a half. When I took it out it was really hot still. Actually after it sat out for another hour, the rice was still steaming when I dug through it with the spoon. Who'da thunk rice with all it's starch held onto heat all that well. The final step is to add some chopped cilantro to the top.
So I don't really know if the last 2 hours of being in the warm oven did much, but it turned out really good. The rice was nice and sticky, the veggies were all soft, and the chicken was tender and moist. I would probably do things different next time however. I would decrease the portion size, by a lot. I might increase the veggie ratio to get more of that flavor, specifically on the onion. And finally, the chicken, while having perfect texture didn't really have a lot of flavor. I might try grilling it up first, or maybe marinating it in plain yogurt and tandoori paste.
So my roommate, Michelle, bought some stuff for spaghetti puttanesca, but she has been working a lot recently so I asked if I could make it. It is a real simple recipe. If you ever find yourself with a tin (or two) of anchovies, capers, and olives, this is the dish you want to make.
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic
1 tin anchovies (or two if you want it to be rich and salty), drained
1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
Small can of black olives, diced
3 Tablespoons capers
32 oz Marinara, or crushed/diced tomatoes (maybe more if you want more sauce)
Black pepper
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (optional if you have it. I didn't.)
1 lbs Angel Hair pasta
salt
In a large saute pan, saute the garlic, anchovies and red peppers in the olive oil. Make sure the garlic is all soft, the anchovies should become a past (if not mash them around with a spoon or spatula), and use enough red pepper to make sure you can get some heat. Puttanesca is suppose to be spicy, yeah. Then just dump in the olives, capers, tomatoes, and black pepper. I let this simmer for about an hour with a top on it so it didn't reduce too far down. If you don't have a top, just add water to keep the consistency nice.
With the pasta, I put a good 1/2 cup of salt in the water before it started to boil. This makes some damn good pasta. Give it a shot.
If you have the parsley, put it in right before mixing it with the pasta. I mixed this all up and put some good Parmesan on top to serve.
In the pic above, you can also see some nice crusty bread. I was pretty pleased with this so I'm including it in the post. The bread was a small loaf of artisan bread from the store. I took a few Tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and sauteed up some garlic. I then spread that garlic oil on the bread and put it out on a pan. I topped it with a good bit of fresh ground black pepper, Parmesan, and baked it in the oven at 400 for 5 minutes. I then topped with some fresh chopped basil. Good stuff.
So this is my first meal I made after moving to Portland. It is fairly simple because we didn't have many supplies to use and pretty much all of the utensils were still packed up.
Tzatziki Sauce
Small container of Greek Plain Yogurt
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3-5 inch chunk of cucumber, chopped
Dill weed
olive oil
tsp. vinegar
salt pepper
I would have used a medium/fine grater on the cucumber but couldn't because I didn't have one. So I chopped the cuc up until it was really fine. I then squeezed as much liquid out as I could using a paper towel. Everything else I just mixed up in the yogurt until it tasted good
Salad
Lettuce
Spinach
Green Beans
Caesar dressing
We went to the Farmers Market to pick up some produce. I found a small head of unspecified lettuce, a bunch of spinach, and green beans. There was a bunch of other stuff as well but I'll save that for other Vittles And Mangia posts. I briefly boiled the Green Beans and chopped the rest.
The steak was seasoned by Tarrin using various spices we found in my roommate Michelle's spice rack.
I didn't have any spatulas or tongs and only one fork in the whole house, so that is what I used to flip the steaks and pull the green beans out of the water. While eating, Tarrin and I had to pass the fork back and forth to eat our salads and steaks. Good times.
These were my contributions to the slider party.
1 pack chicken breasts
1 box Japanese style Panko bread crumbs
4 Tablespoons flour
milk
baking soda
salt
pepper
oil
1 pack Hawaiian Sweet King rolls
Hamburger style dill pickles
A handful of stolen Polynesian Sauce packets from Chick-fil-A
With the chicken breasts, I cut each into 4 chunks; however, this made for very large sliders. I would recommend slicing some of the thicker cuts in half horizontally to make them more manageable. I then salted the chicken and made the dredge and breading
For the dredge, I mixed about 4 Tablespoons of flour with about a Tablespoon of baking soda in a bowl. I then added milk while stirring briskly until it was the right consistency. Just enough to coat a dipped finger.
I poured the box of panko into a bowl and added some more salt and a good dose of black pepper.
I dipped the chicken in the dredge, then sat them in panko. In order to get as much breading on as possible, I let them set covered in panko for about a minute before pulling them out of the second bowl.
I only had vegetable oil on hand to cook with, but peanut oil is always best for frying. I used a smallish put with about 3 inches of oil heated until it was about 350 F. This is a hard number to hit when you don't have a thermometer or stand alone deep fryer. The first few pieces I tossed in got too brown on the outside while the inside was still raw. Once I got the temp right, it took about 3 minutes to cook the chicken all the way through and at 350 F, the panko was just able to get nice and golden.
To keep the chicken crispy, it is important to not but them in an air tight container. Just set them on some paper towel to let the oil drain off and as they cool they will stay crispy.
I split the Hawaiian King rolls in half, placed a single dill pickle slice on each, set down the chicken, and drizzled on some Polynesian sauce. I found that each packet would cover about 2 1/2 sliders.
So I'm doing a restaurant review here.
For my birthday, my family and I went to The Breadfruit in downtown phoenix.
For my birthday, my family and I went to The Breadfruit in downtown phoenix.
The place is a pretty modern upscale tiny restaurant. There were about 5 tables when we walked in and they had to push two of them together to fit out party of five. One thing they promote is that they get all their ingredients from a local farm down on 24th st and Baseline. The prices weren't absurd. Most entrees were 10 dollars and some were 13 to 14. We didn't try any of the desserts because they each ran close to full entree prices. The portion sizes for a few of the dishes were a little small but others weren't. I want to go back to check out a few of the dishes we didn't get, namely the Curried Chicken and Dumplings.
I got the Escovitch Fish and Festival which is pictured above. Before going in I knew this is what I wanted to get to compare it to Jeremy's Island party fish escovitch. The fish was talapia and the festival in the name referred to the sweet bread stick sitting on the cabbage and carrots. Right above that in the picture you can see a small bowl that contained the escovitch sauce. This was quite a few degrees hotter than Jeremy's sauce. It didn't have bell peppers, only onions, habenero and whole all spice berries. I actually preferred Jeremy's escovitch over this one, which isn't to say this one was bad. The talapia was just a lot thinner so you didn't get that good full bite feeling from it, and the fish itself wasn't as full bodied as the red snapper. In Jeremy's, he had enough veggies to eat with the fish, while this, the onions on top only added a slight seasoning to each bite of fish. But enough about the comparisons. Now we talk about the other good stuff here.
My dad and I both got a mango mint lemonade that was really tasty. There were quite a few chunks of mint and mango pulp but the flavor was awesome.
My mom got the Jerk Chicken off the Grill. It was maybe my favorite thing I tasted. The chicken had a mango chutney stuffed into the crevices of the breast and on top that was killer. My dad got the Jerk Shrimp off the Grill that I didn't get to try because he ate it fairly quickly. I did try his corn on the cob that came with it. It tasted like are really nice fresh grilled corn but had another layer that tasted like it had been marinating in coconut milk before being cooked up.
My sister and Tarrin both got the Brown Stew Chicken which was pretty good. The serving size on this dish was much larger. It was filled out with basmati rice and red beans which I finished off both of their plates when they couldn't eat any more. It was seriously good, especially when it mixed into the Brown chicken sauce. The chicken was really soft and fell apart, and the stew sauce was dark and tasted like a beef stew that had been cooked down to a much richer gravy. Super good.
So yeah we didn't get any desserts but on the way home we stopped at the Churro Station and got like 6 churros filled with a variety of sweet stuff and since they were closing for the night, they tossed in like 4 extra regular churros for free. So I guess this is also a Churro Station review.
More chicken? Yeah, yeah I guess so. So this one was all off the cuff. Turned out purdy darn good, so I'm posting it. I figure this should make up for using the Tyler Florence recipe.
I can't give you exact measurements for anything but here were the basic ingredients:
-4 chicken breasts
-turkey ham
-basil
-garlic
-parmesan
-1 can tomato sauce
-onion powder
-white cooking wine
-oregano
-salt
-pepper
-olive oil
-milk
I started off by seasoning the chicken breasts and then searing them in a skillet with some olive oil. Took the breasts, sliced them open, stuffed them with pieces of the ham, and a mixture of basil, garlic, parmesan, oregano, and onion powder. I also covered them on the outsides with the same filling. Then I popped them in the oven at 350. Hit the hot pan with the seared chicken bits with some white wine, popped in the tomato sauce, and some milk. Brought it to a boil, reduced it, started to stir in parmesan, basil, garlic, and a little bit of onion powder. I let that simmer basically the whole time the chicken cooked. Amber made some mashed potatoes. I pulled the chicken out when it was about 150 internally, let it rest for 10 minutes and it rose to about 165 when it was done. It ended up being cooked perfectly. Super moist, super tender. It was good, especially for being completely on the fly.
Here are some pretty good slow cooked chicken tacos I made last night.
3 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 chopped jalapeno
1 can chopped Serrano peppers
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp brown sugar
corn tortillas
chopped lettuce
chopped onions
chopped cilantro
salsa
refried beans
cheese
I put the chicken into a pot that was just big enough for them each to have their own spot. I poured in the canned tomatoes and peppers and the sugar and cumin. It came most of the way up the side of the chicken breasts. I put a lid on this and heated it on low for 3 hours. I had just enough heat for it so be right on the verge of boiling the whole time. You will know they are done when they fall apart really easily. I pulled them out of the sauce they cooked in, ripped it all up, and then put them in a bowl with whatever was still chunky from the sauce. I then poured some of the sauce onto the chicken just to the point where it coated everything and added a little moisture.
I then heated the corn tortillas on a cast iron skillet for about 10 seconds on each side. After the meat, I topped it with lettuce, onions, cilantro and salsa. There was a side of beans with cheese as you can see in the picture.
My mom made this Beef Marsala tonight, but had me post it.
2 Bottom Round Steaks
1 can Beef broth
1/4 cup red wine
8oz fresh chopped mushrooms
1/2 onion
1 tsp garlic
3 T butter
Brown Gravy Mix package
1 package egg noodles
We had a salad for a side, but it wasn't anything special.
Since the Bottom Rounds are a really tough cut of beef, we braised the steaks in about a 1/2 of a can of the beef broth and the 1/4 cup of red wine, keeping it on a low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
We pulled the meat out and set it aside and using the braising liquid we made the brown gravy.
In another pan we sauteed the onion, garlic, and mushrooms in the butter. Once soft, we put them into the gravy. My mom added the rest of the can of beef broth to spread the gravy out some to feed all of us. She sliced the steaks into strips perpendicular to the grain. After the braising, they were already pretty soft, but just to make sure, the perpendicular cuts helped it to break apart easily.
We cooked up the noodles and served it all up.
The red wine and mushrooms were the main flavoring agents. Without either it would have been pretty off.
This is one of my favorite lasagnas. You can always change the filling to match whatever you interest is for the evening. The real prize is the sauce.
Sauce:
1 lb. Ground beef (higher quality)
3/4 Pork sausage
2 garlic cloves
3 6oz. cans of tomato sauce
2 6oz. cans of tomato paste
2 tsp. sugar (you can also use honey as a sweetener)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Cheese filling:
3 eggs
3 Tbsp parsley ( I use dried)
3 C. small curd cottage cheese (4% milk fat is the best)
8 Oz ricotta
1/2 Parmesan
6 slices of provolone
9 cooked lasagna noodles
In a large pot cook the ground beef and sausage. Drain grease. Add remaining sauce ingredients. simmer at least one hour.
Combine eggs, parsley, ricotta, Parmesan and cottage cheeses.
preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a 13x9 pan spread 1 cup of sauce, layer 3 noodles, then provolone, 2cups cottage cheese and 1 cup mozzarella. Next layer 3 more noodles 2 cups of sauce and remaining cheese mixture, and 1 cup of mozzarella.
Top with remaining noodles, sauce and mozzarella.
bake for 50 minutes covered. uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes.
let stand for 10-15 Minutes and enjoy!
This next portion my own additions to the original recipe
- use and extra can of tomato sauce and paste, with extra sweetener and Italian seasoning
- Use fresh ground Italian sausage, or spicy sausage for a more of a pepper taste
- Use a disposable extra large lasagna pan
- add a handful of mozzarella to your cheese mixture
- I use around 8 cups of mozzarella ( I like cheese lasagna)
Well if you try this I hope you enjoy it
~T
My Kitchen My Country - An Ecuadorian restaurant on 43rd Ave. and Bell.
For my birthday dinner, my family and I went to this small restaurant that I have been to a few times before. There are only about 5 tables, and I have only ever seen working there the one waiter who is also maybe the owner. There are other people in the kitchen, but I have never seen them. The food is really cheap, less than $10 for most plates, with healthy portions.
Everything I have eaten there has been delicious. Most of the meats are semi-sweet and seem to have been slowly braised until they are tender and full of flavor. They serve complimentary chips and salsa before the meal, and the salsa is hottest thing I have eaten there. That is not to say that it is super hot; it is only warm with lots of flavor.
Here are a few of the dished we ordered:
This is my plate: ceviche de pescado. Fish cold cooked in lemon and lime juice with spices. It was a massive plate with onions, cilantro, and lettuce. Instead of a main dish, I would next time get this as an appetizer between a few people.
Our actual appetizer: tamales combination plate. 3 different tamales, all yummy. The lightest colored one on the top had cheese, egg, and a large pepper in it. The middle was the official ecuadorian tamale with tomato, peppers and pork wrapped in a banana leaf. The reddish one on the bottom tasted more like a traditional mexican tamale. NOM!
My moms plate: Mi bandera, my flag. This one has a little bit of everything on it and is one of my favorites. Fried plantanes, roasted pork, a potato pancake with a cheese and peanut sauce, hominy, pickled onions, avocado, fried empanada with a creamy filling, and a spicy pico de gallo made from aji chillies which is the same source of heat as the salsa
My Dad's: Sobrebarriga Bogotana. A big ole plate of slow cooked beef brisket with carrots and onions with a side of potatoes and cream sauce. This is half way through eating. It is super tender and rich as hell. The potato side is mild and gives a good palate cleansing between bites of the beef.My sister ordered the pollo de seco, a chicken stew, that we didn't get a picture of. It comes out in a large bowl with an island of yellow rice sitting in the middle of a flavorful stew with pieces of slow cooked chicken. I've had this before and when I ate it I first eroded the island away with my spoon. The rice then soaked up most of the liquid of the stew and it was like eating a delicious paella.
Another thing we didn't get a picture of was my drink. I ordered the chicha morada. A unfermented, and so non-alcoholic, black corn juice tea thing with some spices. It tastes like sweat pineapple-grape juice with some mild spices. Spices that might be found in an eggnog. This recipe here might be accurate.
I have also found, online, one of my favorite dishes from the place: sango de camarones. A shrimp stew in a spicy sweet peanut sauce.And as I said, this place is cheap, filling and most importantly delicious. GO THERE!
Whenever I go out to a Latin American restaurant I always find myself hoping to find Maduros, or fried plantains, on the menu. These slightly sweet banana/potato fruits are one of my favorite things to eat. I have seen them in the grocery store before, yet I've been afraid to cook any up because I was sure to cook them the way I've had them in restaurants would require some secret recipe that I did not posses. But I finally bit the bullet and made the suckers.
For the full meal, we had rice-a-roni and my families grilled shish kabobs.
The plantain were extremely easy to make:
1 fully ripe plantain (brown to black peel, using green plantains is called Platanos and that requires some mashing and extra stuff)
1/4 cup oil
Salt
Just heat the oil up in a frying pan. Peel and cut the plantain diagonally. On medium to medium high heat, fry the plantains on each side for 1-3 mins. Apply salt immediately after taking them off the heat. After cooking lay them on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
The shish kabobs are also pretty easy:
1 large red onion
1 8oz packet whole mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 sack of cherry tomatoes
2 large boneless stake
garlic powder
oil
salt
pepper
Cut the mushroom into small wedges, bell peppers into equal sized bits, and the stake into wedges, and leave the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes whole. Using 10 inch rods, skewer ingredients randomly. Mixing them all up allows for the flavors to mix and mingle when you cook them. If you put each ingredient on each skewer separately it might not come out as nice. Once they are all prepped, drizzle or brush on a little oil and add the salt, garlic, and pepper (or other seasonings if you want). The oil will help the seasoning to stick. Grill on high heat for 10 mins, rotating half way.
The rice-a-roni is just from the box, but it rounded out this dish just right in my opinion.
Rosemary Lamb Chops -
2 teaspoons crushed rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 loin lamb chops, approx. 1 inch thick
1. Mix crushed rosemary, thyme, black pepper, garlic powder, and salt in a bowl. Add onion, orange juice, white wine, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Whisk together and reserve 1/2 cup marinade mixture for later use.
2. Place lamb chops in a zip-top plastic bag; add marinade. Make sure they're well coated on both sides. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes. Remove lamb from marinade and pat dry with a paper towel. (Do not remove onion pieces from chops.)
3. Heat remaining oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Place lamb in skillet. Sear one side of lamb approximately 4 minutes or until well browned. Turn chops over and cook 4 more minutes or until desired doneness. Add reserved marinade and simmer 2 minutes. Remove lamb to a serving plate. Pour reduced marinade over lamb.
Mashed Potatoes -
1 pounds red skinned potatoes, washed and quartered
2 1/2 cups water
3 cubes chicken flavored bouillon
6 to 8 cloves roasted garlic
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan. Add water and bouillon cubes. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Mash potatoes. Add roasted garlic and cream cheese. Gradually beat in enough reserved cooking liquid to make potatoes light and fluffy. Stir in parsley and serve immediately.
This is one of the best meals Amber and I have thrown together since the move. It is defnitely a winner, and it has definitely made it into the repeat pile. Ring the bell!
Like one of those beer can chickens you read about but using a can of chicken broth instead. Oh, also it was smoked.
First I started off with a dry rub that I applied the night before.
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T salt
1 T black pepper
1 T chili powder
1 T paprika
1 T garlic powder
1 T crushed rosemary
I dried off the chicken with a paper towel and then applied all the rub all over, under the arms, around the legs, but not inside the chicken. I let that sit in the Frigidaire till about 2:30pm the next day.
At that time, I turned on one side of my grill on to low and placed a few dry mesquite chips on the grill.
I then peeled off all the paper off a can of chicken broth. I opened the can almost all the way but left a the cap still attached. To increase the flavor of the broth, I poured 1/4 out and filled it back up with cider vinegar. I cut off some rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage from my garden and placed these in the can. Then I carefully inserted the chicken on top of the can onto a pan where I left the chicken innards to cook.
I then placed an 1/8 of an orange into the neck hole.
Here is a list of those ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1 can chicken broth
1/4 cup vinegar
rosemary sprig
thyme sprig
oregano sprig
sage sprig
1 orange
I then placed the chicken on the non-heat side of the grill. Every 45 mins or so, I added some more mesquite to the grill and squeezed the remainder of the orange to add some moisture to the out side.
After about 2 1/2 hours the internal temp was between 180 and 190 degrees. I let this sit for about 15 minutes while I roasted some corn, unhusked, on full heat for the same time. To access the meat, I just used a set of tongs. The meat and bones just fell apart which I took as a good sign.
On my plate here, I was sampling a BBQ sauce I made in the lowest right corner, and then one of my favorite sauces, Sweet Baby Ray's, in the top right corner, and a plain leg behind the corn.
Two in a row! These chops are delicious, enough said.
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 thick-cut pork chops, about 1 pound total
1-1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup picante salsa
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons sour cream
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
1. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Sprinkle both sides of chops evenly with mixture, pressing down to adhere. Let stand 15 minutes.
2. In large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil until hot. Add pork. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Reduce heat to medium. Cover tightly and cook 4 minutes more on each side or until barely pink in the center. Remove from skillet; set aside on plate.
3. Increase heat to medium-high. Add picante and water. Bring to a boil, scraping bottom and sides of pan. Boil 3 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup and thickened slightly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons oil. To serve, spoon sauce over pork. Top with cilantro, sour cream, and shredded jack cheese.
Next time I do these, I think I am going to cook the pork the same way, but then chop it off the bone and shred it, put it in a warm buttered tortilla, and then hit it with the sauce, cheese, and sour cream. And this is definitely one that I'll do again. Ring the bell!
Alright, I admit it. The picture for this one ain't exactly flattering to the dish. In fact, I wouldn't even be posting this if it weren't for the fact that this thing was so freaking good. I'm not new to
squash in general, but this was my first time with acorn squash. I don't know what anyone else's experience has been with it, but I found the flavor of baked, unseasoned acorn squash to be exactly like pumpkin mixed with roasted corn. Hell yeah. As soon as this casserole starts cooking, the whole house starts positively reeking of goodness. Even Amber thought it smelled great, and she's not exactly one for meals full of vegetables.
So without further ado:
2 large acorn squash (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons butter, or margarine
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) plain yogurt
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup sunflower kernels (I used roasted vegetable Ritz crackers)
Cut squash in half; discard seeds. Place squash cut side down in a greased baking pan. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until tender; cool slightly. Carefully scoop out squash; place in a bowl and mash.
In a skillet, saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Add peppers; saute until crisp-tender. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and yogurt until blended. Stir in squash, onion mixture, feta cheese, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Transfer to a greased 11 in. x 7 in. x 2 in. baking dish. Sprinkle with sunflower kernels.
Cover and bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
