Arroz Con Pollo

Ah, the quintessential gringo meal... Found at every Mexican-American chain restaurant. Why? It's mild, not overly intimidating, and fills the comfort spot in our souls that demands creamy, cheesy, chicken-y goodness. This particular meal is one of my husband's favorite, and even our 10-month-old loves it. It's not spicy, just nicely spiced, and it keeps the chicken breast meat tender and juicy with this type of cooking. The greatest part? One pot, which means easy clean-up afterwards.

Easy one-pot Arroz Con Pollo
Serves 8 hungry people

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 ½ c Arborio rice
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 serrano chile, seeds and membrane removed, minced
2 ½ c chicken or vegetable stock
2 small cans mushrooms, undrained OR 1 lb quartered fresh mushrooms*
1 ½ lbs diced tomatoes, undrained
3 large chicken breasts, diced
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp cumin
1 pkg enchilada sauce
1 c sour cream
4 c grated Colby jack cheese

• In a 14” non-stick skillet or large sauce pot, melt butter and olive oil together
• Pour rice into pan and start stirring rice occasionally
• Let cook until just turning brown, and add about 4 Tbsp of the stock
• Stir through the rice, and add another 4 Tbsp when the first 4 are absorbed
• Add the onion, chile and garlic, and stir completely, keeping everything moving fairly quickly
• Once a light to medium brown color is achieved on the rice, add the mushrooms (*if using fresh mushrooms, add about ½ c extra of stock) and tomatoes
• Add chicken breast
• Add seasonings (Except the enchilada sauce)
• Add the remaining stock
• Let simmer about 20 minutes, covered, checking rice every so often for tenderness
• If necessary, add extra stock and continue to cook until rice is tender
• Add enchilada sauce and sour cream and stir completely
• Add cheese and mix together completely
• Serve with warm tortillas or tortilla chips

You can kick up the heat on this by leaving the seeds and membrane of the chile intact. Remember, if you are not used to dealing with them, you should use some food-grade gloves and wash your hands, the cutting board and the knife thoroughly after you are finished with it.

Turkey Stock...

Don't throw away the turkey carcass!!! One of the best things in the world is home-made turkey stock...

1 large turkey carcass
2 large onions, rough-chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and rough-chopped
3 large stalks celery, rough-chopped
3 bay leaves
15 cracked peppercorns
6 cloves garlic, cracked
6 fresh parsley fronds and stems
1 4" length of fresh rosemary

Take a LARGE stock-pot or, if you have one, the jam cooker.

Place all ingredients into pot

Fill just to top off ingredients with COLD water.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer

Let simmer at least 8 hours.

Cool and strain into containers.

Use now, or freeze for use later. GREAT for cooking rice, potatoes, veggies, bases for soups, stews and gravies... practically ANYTHING

***Tip: Did you know that freezing stock into ice cubes can make measuring easy? 4-6 ice cubes equals 1 cup! Just freeze the stock into trays, then dump into ziplock bags for easy measuring.

Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes

2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 lbs yellow potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 head garlic, roasted
1 tsp garlic powder
1 stick butter
2/3 c milk
salt
pepper

To roast garlic:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Place topped head of garlic into a large square of tin foil.

Add 2 Tbsp olive oil, sprinkling of pepper sprinkling of salt.

Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hr, or until garlic is tender and lightly browned.

Remove from oven and unwrap completely.

To cook potatoes:
In a 12 qt stock pot, bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil.

Gently place all potatoes into pot and turn heat down to medium-high.

Let cook about 14 minutes, or until yellow potatoes are very tender.

Drain, and place potatoes back into the pot.

Place on extremely low heat (or if an electric stove, turn off heat just prior to draining and don't turn back on).

Stir lightly while potatoes steam dry for a few minutes.

Add butter, garlic, and milk.

Mash completely together, adding pepper and salt for taste.

A meme...

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at Very Good Taste linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (even though I'm allergic, I've had it)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin It’s a texture thing…
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Apparently, there's not much that I won't try... LOL. I guess going to culinary school helped a lot with that, if only because I got the chance to try a lot of things that aren't in the mainstream, and/or that aren't considered "tasty"... I tried them anyway - where else would I have had the opportunity otherwise? I've even eaten chicken feet (phoenix claws)... They were darned tasty.

~M

Tasty Thai Fried Chicken

12 chicken legs, thawed, skin on

marinade:
1/2 c honey mustard
1/2 c sweet chili sauce
2 eggs, beaten

4 c panko bread crumbs (for breading)

vegetable oil for frying

Kosher salt for seasoning

1. Place legs into large ziplock baggie
2. Cover with marinade
3. Let rest in fridge for at least 4 hrs
4. Heat oil to 350 degrees F.
5. Heat oven to 324 degrees F.
6. Remove legs from the baggie and dredge completely in panko
7. Gently place into fully heated oil until golden brown, turning half-way through if necessary
8. Place on cooling rack set above a jelly roll pan
9. Repeat all steps until chicken is all fried
10. Place chicken into oven
11. Cover with aluminum foil
12. Bake for 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Hungarian Goulash with Pearl Barley

This is a great way to use up your zucchini… It's great the first day, and even better the second. I happen to like it served with Italian cheese blend on top.

Serves about 12-14 people

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
3 Tbsp garlic, minced
2 pkgs quartered mushrooms
2 cans (6 oz ea) tomato paste
2 cans (12 oz ea) diced tomatoes
4 cups water
2 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 lb beef stew meat, chopped into bite-sized pieces
½ lb ground turkey, browned
½ lb ground pork, browned
2 cups uncooked pearl barley
3 cups chopped zucchini
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in a large, thick-bottomed stockpot.

Sauté onions until glassy, then add garlic and mushrooms.

Cook until mushrooms are tender

Add tomato paste, let sauté, and stir completely into mix.

Add canned tomatoes and seasonings.

Add the water and meat.

Stir to combine, and add the pearl barley.

Stir again, and cover for about 15 minutes on low.

Add zucchini, stir, and cover for another 5-7 minutes.

Serve.

Zucchini Bread

Heaven knows, I'm a cook... I don't bake. In fact, practically everything I stick in the oven normally either under- or over-cooks, and usually in about half the time that the recipe calls for.

Imagine my surprise and delight to be zucchini-ditched AND find a recipe on All Recipes.Com that worked for me!! So, without further adieu, here's the recipe. Enjoy!

3 Eggs
1 c vegetable oil
2 c sugar
2 c grated zucchini
3 c all purpose flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 325.

Grease and flour two 8x4 pans

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Add oil and sugar, then add zucchini and vanilla.

In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients thoroughly, then fold gently into the wet mix until just barely combined.

Divide mix between the two pans.

Bake 60-70 mins or until done.

Mediterranean pasta salad

3 cups orzo pasta, cooked, drained and cooled
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 small jars marinated artichoke hearts (with marinade)
1 cup kalamata olives
3 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
4 oz feta cheese
2 Tbsp lemon zest
salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients together and let sit covered in fridge about 4 hrs. Serve chilled.

Grilled Pork Flatbread Sandwiches

Serves 10 people, or 5 very hungry people.

1-1.5 lb pork shoulder roast, trimmed
1 head romaine lettuce
Small box of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Cucumber dill dip OR tzitziki sauce
Feta cheese crumbles
2 pkgs whole wheat Mediterranean flatbread packages
Olive oil

Marinade:
½ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp crushed dried rosemary
1 Tbsp crushed dried thyme
1 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
3 Tbsp fresh minced garlic
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp cracked black pepper

Combine all ingredients into a ziploc bag and place roast into it.

Let sit in fridge for at LEAST 4 hours, if not overnight.

Pre-heat grill to 360 degrees.

Remove roast from Ziploc and shake off excess juice.

Place onto middle of grill and let cook 5 mins.

Turn 30 degrees and grill again another 5 mins.

Flip over and grill another 5 mins.

Turn 30 degrees and grill again another 5 mins.

Turn down heat in middle of the grill and place heat-resistant meat thermometer into meat.

Place meat into middle of grill and let cook 20 mins.

Turn over, check thermometer, and let cook another 20 mins, or until thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Let meat rest, covered, for 10 minutes.

Brush both sides of the flatbread with olive oil

Grill for 3 minutes each side, turning gently.

Build your sandwich with sauce, then layer with lettuce, tomatoes, pork and feta cheese.

Shrimp-stuffed Tilapia

Serves 2

4 sides of Tilapia
½ lb cocktail shrimp (cooked)
1 lemon, half zested (reserve zest)
Kosher salt
Cracked black pepper
Dried dill
4 sheets of cling-wrap, roughly 13” long, and 12” wide

1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp butter


For each serving do the following:

Mix lemon zest, ½ the juice of the lemon, and salt and pepper with the shrimp meat.

Lay one layer of cling-wrap down.

Season the outside of one tilapia filet with salt, pepper and dill.

Lay seasoned side down at the top of the cling-wrap, about 1” from the edge.

Layer on ¼ of the shrimp mix, and place another tilapia filet onto the top.

Season with salt, pepper and dill.

Roll the layered filets into a tube, twisting the ends.

Tie each end into a knot, then wrap with another layer of cling-wrap and knot again.

Let sit in the fridge for about an hour.

When you are ready to cook…

Pre-heat a pot of water large enough to float your fish in.

Once it is gently boiling, place the fish into the water and let cook for about 7-10 minutes, or until fish is firm to the touch and opaque.

When you are ready to serve…

Melt butter into a sauté pan, and heat garlic in the pan at medium heat.

Add shrimp, and the rest of the lemon juice. Stir to heat.

Remove fish from water, and cut from cling-wrap.

Place fish on the serving plate, and layer shrimp sauce over the top.

Serve with anything you like as a side and a veggie.

A nice white pino grigio would be a great addition to this meal