Tag Archives: Dinner

Christmas Eve Dinner: Verde Chicken Enchiladas

23 Dec

Feliz Navidad!

Growing up in Texas my family (non native Texans) found out early on many families have tamales on Christmas eve, FANTASTIC IDEA. Who doesn’t love tamales? Then I researched the process to make tamales, and while I find them to be extremely delicious they are NOT an easy “make at home” dinner! So, let me introduce you to this winner winner chicken dinner. Not too sure what the actually means, but this EASY and tasty chicken dish is a crowd pleaser (can easily be doubled or if you are really hungry tripled!) and follows the lovely mexicana theme for a spicy Christmas eve!

Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Slightly adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped onion ( 1 medium onion)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (about one bunch of cilantro)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 (7-ounce) bottle salsa verde*
  • 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
  • 8oz 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  • Cooking spray
  • 1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese (really any shredded cheese will work!)
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 4 lime wedges
  • Cilantro sprigs (optional)

*Verde means green en español and salsa verde is a salsa made of tomatillos like this delicious one made by Amanda. To make this dinner, buying a bottled sauce makes it much easier and gives you more time to be drinking peppermint mochas or spiked eggnog!

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 425°.
  2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth. Combine chicken and cream cheese in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup salsa mixture. Reserve remaining salsa mixture.
  3. Bring broth to a simmer in a medium skillet. Working with one tortilla at a time, add tortilla to pan; cook 20 seconds or until moist, turning once. Remove tortilla; drain on paper towels. Spoon about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla; roll up. Place tortilla, seam-side down, in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, broth, and chicken mixture.
  4. Pour remaining salsa mixture over enchiladas; sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese and chili powder. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve with lime wedges. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

I like to serve this with black beans and cilantro lime rice and of course some chips and salsa!

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Penne With Braised Short Ribs

19 Dec

I really enjoy watching the food network. I have mentioned before some of my favorite recipes come from Ina, but I love to watch Giada  and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef because it is fun to see you can make restaurant quality food at home! When I saw Giada make this recipe on her show, I knew I had to try it! I served it when we had Amanda and her husband over for dinner and it was a hit! This dish is relatively easy to put together! It needs to cook for two and a half hours, but that gives you plenty of time to prep everything else for dinner, or paint your nails or have a glass of wine :) The flavors and texture of the dish are FANTASTIC! It is perfect served with a Caesar salad and some garlic bread!

Penne With Braised Short Ribs
Slightly adapted from Giada
Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds beef short ribs (my grocery store only carried Korean style ribs, and that worked out well too!)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
  • 5 Roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
  • 1 cup red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
  • 3 TBS Tomato Paste
  • 1 pound penne pasta
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Trim as much fat as you can from the ribs and then season them with salt and pepper. In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or ovenproof stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In batches, add the ribs and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine and mustard. Bring the mixture to a boil and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Return the ribs to the pan. Add the beef broth, cover the pan and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is fork-tender and falls easily from the bone.

Remove the ribs from the cooking liquid. Using a large spoon, remove any excess fat from the surface of the cooking liquid (this is an important step, although not the most fun, if you have extra time place the sauce in the fridge for a bit and the fat will solidify on the top and become easier to remove). Add the tomato paste to the pan and blend carefully with an immersion blender. If you do not have an immersion blender, using a ladle, transfer the cooking liquid in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones. Using 2 forks or your fingers shred the meat into small pieces. Stir the shredded meat into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and place in a large serving bowl. Pour the meat and sauce over the pasta. Toss well and sprinkle the pasta with Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley before serving.

Enjoy!

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Roasted Kabocha Squash Pasta with Baked Goat Cheese

7 Nov

I was excited to see what I thought were green pumpkins at my local grocery store, but upon closer inspection I realized it was a winter squash called a Kabocha!

I snagged two from the sale section (woo woo!) and could not wait to get home and find some recipes to try with it. I have to warn you cutting these babies and peeling them should qualify as an arm workout.

The first kobocha recipe I found is a fabulous pasta dish! It is a little different because it has no “sauce”, but the baked goat cheese really puts this dish over the top!

Recipe serves 4 and is adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled kabocha or (you can also use butternut squash) about 2lbs
  • 2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 12 peeled garlic cloves
  • Package of pre-sliced mushrooms
  • Package or cherry tomatoes (I used red and yellow)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided $
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper $
  • 1 8 ounce package goat cheese
  • 1/2 cup panko (can substitute bread crumbs)
  • 1 pound uncooked fettuccine $
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Rosemary sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Place squash, bell pepper and 12 peeled cloves of garlic in a large bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil; toss well. Arrange vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt, rosemary, and black pepper. Bake at 425° for 40 minutes, stirring once.

Mix mushrooms and tomatoes in the same bowl used earlier (the less dirty dishes, the better!). Add 1 tablespoon of oil, toss well. Arrange on another baking sheet coated with cooking spray, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt and place in oven for 20 minutes (place in oven after the squash and bell pepper has been in for 20 minutes)

Place goat cheese in freezer 10 minutes. Cut cheese crosswise into 8 equal rounds (ar at least try to, mine were not pretty). Place panko in a shallow bowl and press the panko into the goat cheese rounds. Then, place on a baking sheet and carefully spray with cooking spray (this will make them crispier). Bake at 425° for 6 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Return pasta to pan; add reserved pasta cooking water, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, red pepper, and garlic, tossing to coat. Divide the pasta into 4 bowls; top each serving with about 1/2 to 1 cup squash mixture and 2 goat cheese rounds. If you are feeling extra fancy, you can garnish with rosemary sprigs!

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Ina Garten is a Genius

1 Nov

Sorry for the lack of regular posts lately! Lots of excitement here at my house! I wrote about the anticipation of finding out my husband’s next duty station…. we found out!! We are staying here in Lemoore, CA! So, we decided to buy a house – we are in the process of purchasing it right now! It makes me feel excited and nauseated at the same time and maybe a little old?! So naturally to deal with the “stress” of buying a home we took a week long vacation! But fear not, I have been busy making things I am excited to share! Many of those recipes are form a NEW cookbook that sweet Amelia gave me!

I have made three recipes so far from this cookbook and have been extremely pleased with them all! You cannot ask for much more from a cookbook that for it to offer up some great tips and easy and very tasty recipes!

1. Greek Panzanella salad

This salad is SO good I could have just eaten this for my meal. But, because serving a meal without meat causes the same reaction from my husband as telling him his fantasy football quarterback was just injured… meat it is. I recommend serving this salad with some grilled chicken!

2. Weeknight Bolognese

Photo from Food Network

I added substituted Italian spicy sausage for the ground sirloin because I had some in the freezer! This is really tasty, and MUCH easier than many of the homemade pasta sauce recipes I have tried.

3. Panko Crusted Salmon

You can have this meal on the table with some instant rice and veggies on the side in 30 minutes!  I served this with roasted broccoli.

When Amelia gave me this cookbook, she put post it notes on her favorite recipes (many of the ones above) I thought that was a great way to make the gift even more special! So, next time you give someone a cook book for a gift (Christmas is coming faster than you think) tag some of your favorite recipes!

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Back to Reality, Menu Plan

8 Aug

I have to revert my back from my bad habits over the past week and kick into productive wife mode ;)

The laundry is done, the floors are mopped and vacuumed, I have put away all of my cooking magazines, empty rocky road ice cream pints, pink nail polish, and princess movies (who doesn’t want to watch Princess Diaries and Enchanted, or any movie with Jennifer Lopez in it when they are home alone!?). Anyway, I cant just serve noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese or go out to eat when my husband returns so I picked some EASY crowd pleasing meals for his return!

Monday: Shrimp Cobb Salad (adding bacon and blue cheese, because lets face it every salad needs at least a little bit of those ingredients!)

Tuesday: Hungarian Goulash (My parents visited Hungary and brought me back authentic ingredients to make a true goulash! I will share the results and recipe after I make it!)

Wednesday: Flank Steak with Lemon Sauce (marinate the flank steak with a little olive oil, 1 tbs lemon juice and a dash of paprika- then grill it! so much better flavor than cooking it inside (plus it is too hot!) Serve with grilled asparagus (coat asparagus lightly with olive oil grill 1-2 minutes per side remove from heat and squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on them! Bon Appetit!

Thursday: Leftover day! Re heat the goulash and have steak sandwiches with that tasty lemon sauce to replace the Mayo!

Friday: PIZZA. We like all kinds! use this crust and get creative with toppings!

Feels good getting back into the swing of things. I don’t know how much longer I could have survived on ice cream and chips for dinner!

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Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

14 Jun

Buffalo wing sauce should be its own food group.

Buffalo wing sauce makes everything better.  We like things spicy in our neck of The Triple Dish woods.

Ask my husband about his favorite food item that I make.  He will most likely say buffalo wing sauce.  It’s quite convenient that it has all of about three ingredients in it and takes all of about a minute to make.

I actually like to attribute our marriage to buffalo wing sauce.  In college my roomies and I had some friends over for dinner.  We made fried chicken and the biggest mess ever in our tiny apartment kitchen.  The chicken was served with buffalo wing sauce and my hubs was hooked.  I was only mildly embarrassed that I did not really do much to make it, but nonetheless I soaked up his praise every time he ever mentioned the buffalo wing sauce that he loved so much.

Nowadays, if I want to win big in the kitchen, I’ll just make something with buffalo wing sauce.

In walks the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich.  I love this sandwich.  I dream about it.

I could have fried the chicken, but being the healthy chef that I am…just kidding.  Grilling makes less mess, lets face it.

You won’t miss the “fried” I promise.  This is just too good.  The spiciness of the chicken pairs beautifully with the tang of the blue cheese spread.  It’s a messy, wonderful, satisfying lunch or dinner.

In case you needed to see it again.

Serve with lots of napkins and an ice cold beverage.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 cup hot sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles, at room temperature

2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt

dash of salt and pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 3/4 inch thick throughout

4 whole wheat buns, toasted

4 large iceberg lettuce leaves

1 thinly sliced tomato

8 large white onion slices

Instructions:

1.   Make hot sauce.  Heat a medium saucepan to medium high heat.  Heat hot sauce, butter and garlic powder until combined.  Set aside.

2.  Make blue cheese spread.  In a small bowl, combine blue cheese crumbles, yogurt and salt and pepper.  Mix to combine, smashing blue cheese until mixture is mostly smooth.

3.  Prepare chicken.  Pat chicken dry and evenly sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.  Remove about 3 tablespoons hot sauce from the saucepan and put into a small bowl.  Paint chicken with hot sauce on both sides until evenly covered.  Heat a grill pan over medium high heat.  Cook chicken until golden brown and cooked through, about 5-6 minutes per side.  Before assembling each sandwich, place each chicken breast into the saucepan with the hot sauce.  Spoon hot sauce over the chicken to cover.

4.  Assemble sandwich.  On to the lower half of the bun, place a spoonful of blue cheese spread so the lettuce will not slide around.  On top of the blue cheese spread, layer a lettuce leaf, chicken breast that has been covered in hot sauce, tomato slice, and onion slices.  Spread more blue cheese spread onto the upper bun half and place bun on top of sandwich.

Voila!  Then you’re a hero in the kitchen.

For printable recipe, click here.

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My San Franciscan Food Journey

5 Apr

I am one of those crazy people that like to take photos of their food out at restaurants.

Therefore, I have many food photos from the two trips I have taken to San Francisco since having moved to California and I wanted to share one, two, lots of them with you!

This is a cute bear shaped out of bread at the Boudin Bakery in Fisherman’s wharf.  I wanted to bottle the bread aroma to take home with me!

In Chinatown, I ordered Pho at the Golden Flower Vietnamese Restaurant.  I had never tried Pho before, but it is one of my new favorites!

At Pulcinella Pizzeria & Ristorante in North Beach, I got a sausage and broccoli rabe pizza that was amazing.  However, I could not eat the whole thing, but believe me, I tried.

I had to be a tourist and order the Clam Chowder in a bread bowl from Boudin Bakery.  They are known for their sourdough bread and it was awesome!

The “world famous” ice cream at Ghirardelli Square was a must for me both times I visited San Francisco.

Ghirardelli Square also had another great food stop to offer at The Pub.  Oh my yumminess, we ordered Tommy Tots (sorry for the bad pic) as an appetizer, tater tots with a sweet and sour sauce.  I am currently working on trying to perfect my own similar tots.  I also ordered Buffalo Blue Mac and Cheese, that I was kind of obsessed with and also made myself when I got home!  That recipe will be up shortly.

My parents and I went to an Italian restaurant, Firenze By Night in the North Beach area of town.  I ordered the Gnocchi Firenze, which they are known for, and it was so delicious!  That and the Italian wine we were drinking took me back to Rome.  Now if only I could get some of that Italian gelato!

If these made you drool, I apologize.

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Beef Rendang, It’s What’s for Dinner

24 Mar

I had never heard of Beef Rendang until recently and decided to try it (despite the labor intensive cooking process). This meal is spicy and sweet with flavors of coconut and is very delicious.This meal will take about 3 hours to make it to the table… thirty minutes of prep time and about 2.5 hours of cooking time. I would recommend making this on a weekend or a weeknight you know you will have enough time and not get stuck eating a spicy dinner at 9pm (heartburn anyone?). The long cook time is definitely worth it.  The dish originated in Indonesia and was typically made for a celebration or to honor an individual… so use that as an excuse to treat yourself to this unique and delicious dinner!

Make sure the beef mixture cooks at a low simmer so the sauce doesn’t scorch and the meat slowly becomes tender.
Recipe Modified from Cooking Light
  • 1/2  cup  chopped shallots
  • 1/3  cup  thinly sliced peeled ginger
  • 1 1/2  tablespoons  minced garlic (about 5 cloves)
  • 1  tablespoons  chili garlic sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee)
  • 1 1/2  teaspoons  ground turmeric
  • 1 1/4  teaspoons  salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
  • 6  whole cloves
  • 1  serrano chile, chopped
  • 1  (14-ounce) can coconut milk, divided (wanna make this healthier? Use light coconut milk)
  • 2/3  cup  flaked coconut, toasted
  • 1  teaspoon  grated lime rind
  • 2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice ( approximately half of a medium lime)
  • 2  pounds  boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1  (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth ( I used my homemade chicken stock)
  • 4  cups  hot cooked rice ( I used Jasmin rice, I love the way it tastes and it takes only about 30 minutes to cook!)

1. Place first 9 ingredients in a food processor or mini chopper. Add 1/4 cup coconut milk; process until smooth. Spoon mixture into a bowl; set aside. (warning this mixture will stain surfaces (aka my wooden cutting board and  my fingernails)

2. Rinse the food processor used in step one, Place 3 tablespoons coconut milk and flaked coconut in food processor; process until a smooth paste forms. (this took a while for me 2-3 minutes)

3. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallot mixture; cook 1 minute or until fragrant, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining coconut milk, rind, and next 5 ingredients (through broth); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally.  Stir in flaked coconut mixture; simmer 25 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates ( I felt mine was runny so I mixed 2 tablespoons of the liquid with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl, then whisked that into the saucepan). Serve over rice.

I could not wait to eat this. Maybe something to do with the three-hour cooking process? Sorry this is not the prettiest picture, but it was VERY Tasty! Save some for leftovers, this dish tastes even better the next day!!

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How to Roast a Chicken

4 Mar

I was initially intimidated by the thought of cooking a whole chicken. But, it’s cheap, easy and can make enough meat for two meals, so I had to try! It is now one of my go to weeknight meals! You can change the flavor combinations and even cooking method to keep this fresh! It is EASY (emphasizing the easiness to squelch your fears of a whole chicken)!

  • Pre-heat the oven to 350°
  • Unwrap the chicken and make sure the neck and other chicken bits are no longer inside of the cavity (you can buy it without this “stuff” in there).
  • Pat the chicken dry and  stuff the cavity with 2 lemon halves, 3-4 garlic cloves and your herbs of choice. I used a few sprigs of rosemary- Feel free to use whatever fresh herbs or spices you have on hand!
  • Combine 3-4 cloves of chopped garlic (Garlic peeling trick: shake them vigorously in a metal bowl!), chopped rosemary, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Rub this mixture underneath and over the skin. Then, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • Bake the chicken for 60 minutes. 30 minutes in, throw in the veggies! I used a combination of broccoli, cauliflower, sliced onion and carrots. Drizzle  1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over the veggies and top with lemon slices.
  • While your dinner is cooking enjoy a good book, time with your family and a glass of wine!
  • Remove the chicken from the oven, it should be 160°, and let it rest 10 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute!

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Shrimp and Tomato Bake

18 Feb

Happy FRIDAY! Last night, I whipped up this easy little dish and it was a big hit! However, I recommend this for maybe a girls dinner where Hors d’oeuvre are served, or serving it with a side of pasta with a tomato and basil sauce; because the portions are small . My Hub said he could have eaten four of them…

This meal took me about 30 minutes total; to prep and Bake and take the photos (which is a learning process in itself, please ignore the 90 year old woman hands, I clearly need to moisturize)!

Ingredients:

1 chunk of french bread (I keep a loaf in my freezer to make bread crumbs and croutons! Buy a loaf from the bakery on quick sale, slice it up and freeze it!)

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

2 garlic Cloves, minced

1 tablespoon butter, divided (I used salted, but unsalted would work too)

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

1/8 teaspoon of salt, divided

1/8 teaspoon of pepper, divided

2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

1/2  pound of large shrimp ( we only had small shrimp, so I put 12-15 shrimp in each dish)

1 medium tomato, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Steps

Step 1: Preheat over to 450

Step 2: Place the bread into the food processor, and process until the bread becomes fine crumbs (you should have about 1 cup of crumbs), combine the breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic.

Step 3: Heat 1/2 tablespoon of butter and 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the breadcrumb mixture once the butter is melted, and cook for three minutes, or until the breadcrumbs begin to brown and you start to smell the garlic

Step 4: Coat the 2 individual gratin dishes with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Then, place the shrimp in a single layer in the dishes and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Next, layer each dish with 1/4 cup of the breadcrumb mixture then top with the tomato slices. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a pinch of salt and pepper and a tablespoon each of the fresh basil.

Tip: To chop basil, stack the leaves, roll them till they look like a cigar, then slice (slice like you are cutting the cigar into little circular pieces) with a sharp knife to make pretty ribbons of basil and avoid bruising them. Since they are a delicate herb, slicing them in this way helps them from bruising and browning! (Fancy name for this: Chiffonade)

Divide the remaining breadcrumbs and layer on top of the tomato and basil. Then, sprinkle each with a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. Lastly, dot with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter.

Step 5: Bake for 12 minutes at 450, remove from oven and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Source: adapted from Cooking Light

For a hungry husband satisfying portion, I would double the recipe and bake it in a 9×9 baking dish! Have a wonderful weekend!

 

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