Honey Lime Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Today is Cinco de Mayo. No, I'm not Mexican, but I do love me some Mexican food. I especially love tacos. Our fellow blogger, Wormfood, loves herself some tacos, too. So much so that we've created a separate category called Taco to help easily find these yummy recipes. I was going to try her Jerk Chicken tacos in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, but didn't have all the ingredients on hand to make it the appropriate way. So, since I'm on this pineapple kick I decided to find a recipe that utilizes chicken, tacos, and pineapple salsa. I found this recipe from Elle's New England Kitchen. She saute's her chicken, but I decided to grill mine. I utilized this recipe on our blog to make the Pineapple Salsa, but just omitted the mango (they weren't quite ripe enough). This was a yummy recipe. I think I will even use the marinade just for regular ol' grilled chicken. Strawberry Mojitos and Tacos; can it get any better than this? Enjoy!



Ingredients for Chicken and Marinade:
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thinly crosswise
1/2 cup canola oil
juice of 2 limes
1 1/2 tsp adobo pepper
1 1/2 tsp ancho chile pepper (optional)
2 tsp cumin
2 pinches cinnamon
1 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp honey

Ingredients for Pineapple Salsa:
2 cups diced pineapple
1/4 c. diced red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, diced and seeded (if you don't like it spicy)
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
juice of one lime
dash of salt

For assembling:
Cilantro for garnish
Corn or Flour Tortillas

First make the pineapple salsa by combining all the above ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. Cover with a lid and refrigerate for an hour or so. Next, prepare your marinade by taking out a medium sized bowl. Then, add in the oil thru the honey into the bowl. Stir well. Pour the marinade into a large zip lock bag and add in the chicken. Coat well. Let marinate for an hour, or so, turning the bag occasionally. After an hour or so; let's get the grill ready. Once the temperature has reached 350 degrees; take out the chicken from the bag, and toss the marinade in the trash. Grill the chicken till it's cooked thru. Remove the chicken from the grill and set aside. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle; go ahead and slice it up. Next, take out a non-stick skillet and set the heat to medium. Place the tortilla on the skillet and let it heat thru for about 30 seconds or so. Flip the tortilla and let it heat thru for an additional 30 seconds. Remove from the skillet. I used 2 tortillas to make one taco. Then, spread a couple spoonfuls of the pineapple salsa along the tortilla. Add the chicken and additional cilantro if you so desire. I sprinkled some goat cheese on my tacos just because I can. Enjoy!

Iron Chef Grapes Recap

When our lovely hostess, Emily, selected grapes for the secret ingredient in our next Iron Chef, some people had their doubts. It’s understandable because while the grape is a common food, for whatever reason, it’s not the most common ingredient out there in actual recipes. But after tasting the food on Saturday, I think at least a few minds were changed. Most of the grape dishes were things we had never tasted before, and I think that was really exciting. The ingredient pushed us to be creative and try new things, and that’s what these competitions are all about! Well, that and hanging out with good friends. Oh, and wine.

We started the night with Greta’s Grape Sangria, which was packed full of boozy fruit (which was nice to eat after the drink itself was gone). It was a tasty, buzzy way to begin, and we also discovered that Grand Marnier is actually a whiskey and not an orange liqueur like I (adamantly) believed. Who knew?

Next we moved on to appetizers, and our Iron Chef Grapes champion, Kim! She served her Grape Salsa on sweet potato waffle fries and topped them with a sprinkle of goat cheese. They were really surprising! A little heat and some sweet in the salsa, paired with the crunch of the waffle fry made for a really delicious little hors d'oeuvre and earned Kim a well-deserved win!

My appetizer of Pesto Grape Flatbread came next, and I thought it turned out pretty good, although I wish I had put more pesto and a little more feta cheese on it. I had been worried the feta would be too strong but cooking mellowed it out so much that I couldn’t even taste it. I made cilantro-pistachio pesto, which is my favorite, and I think it had some nice zip to it.

We moved onto the sides and mains next, starting with Emily’s Grape Salad. It was packed full of goodies like dried cranberries, sliced pears, pistachios and grapes (of course). She also used Manchego cheese, which is one of my favorites. I loved the mix of flavors and textures in her salad.

Morgan made an Orange and Grape Pasta Salad, which sounds a little strange (grapes and pasta are not a traditional Italian combo) but turned out to be really tasty. She used tortellini, which are so good in a cold salad, plus red and green grapes, onions, and mandarin oranges with white balsamic. Definitely a great pasta salad for summer.

Chelyen made chicken cutlets with a sort of Grape and Shallot Sauce that was a little like gravy. I admit, it was not the prettiest looking dish. But its homely looks didn’t affect the taste. It was very savory with little pops of slight sweetness when you bit into a grape.

Our second main was Cara’s Grape Pizza (not to be confused with flatbread!). We were a little worried that the flatbread and pizza would be too alike, but Cara used really different flavors so they didn’t feel too similar. Hers was crispy and cheesy, and the grapes worked really nicely with the romano cheese. I also liked the hint of rosemary in the combination.

The last dish of the night turned out to be our Iron Chef Grapes runner up: Shu’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream with a warm Grape Compote. She served it between two waffles as a play on peanut butter and jelly! It was a tried and true combination, but with a playful twist that made it really innovative. And crazy delicious too. The peanut butter ice cream was so good I went back for seconds. This was Shu’s first time placing in an Iron Chef competition, so congratulations!

We haven’t picked our next ingredient yet, but I am already looking forward to another night of fun with these crazy ladies!

Spicy Chicken with Grilled Pineapple

For a long time I've said that I don't like Pineapple. Eh. It just didn't do it for me. However, as my palate has evolved over the years; I've decided that I really enjoy it. And, I'm really loving this Mango and Pineapple Salsa. Hint. Hint. Try it!! Anyway, I knew that I was making chicken tonight, and I wanted to try a new recipe. So, I went searching on trusty Google trying to find a chicken with pineapple recipe. I came across this one from Ladies' Home Journal, and decided to give it a shot especially since I had all the ingredients save for the scallions. Only when I got home and started preparing the marinade did I realize you are supposed to marinate the chicken for 8+ hours. Whoops. Well, I certainly wasn't going to wait 8 hours before eating dinner. So, I let it sit for about an hour and a half. And, I thought it was very tasty for only that short period of time. I bet if it sat for 8+ hours it would have even more flavor. I really liked this grilled chicken recipe, and the grilled pineapple made it even tastier. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
8 scallions, chopped, plus 1/4 cup dark-green 2-inch-long thin strips for garnish
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for grill
1 habanero or jalapeno chile, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 1/2 pounds chicken parts (thighs and drumsticks)
1 fresh pineapple, about 4 pounds
2 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

Combine the first 12 ingredients into a Food Processor and puree until smooth. Mine had some chunky pieces...just go with it. Place half the puree into a small bowl and cover and refrigerate. Take the other half of the puree and pour it into a plastic zip lock bag and add the chicken to the bag as well. Marinate for 8 hours or overnight in the fridge and turn the chicken occasionally. Again, I only marinaded mine for about an hour and a half and it was still quite tasty. When you are about ready to start grilling your chicken; take it out of the fridge and let sit for 30 minutes on your counter. Meanwhile, take out your pineapple and cut it crosswise 1/4 inches thick. Sprinkle brown sugar over it. When your grill is ready; grill the pineapple with the brown sugar facing down on the for 3 to 4 minutes and be sure to turn the pineapple half way thru to give the other side some nice grill marks. Set the pineapple aside. Now, grill your chicken till it is cooked through. Take out the puree that you set aside in the bowl and spoon on top of the chicken. Serve with the pineapple and enjoy.

Grilled Swordfish

Leave it to humans to be competitive enough to see a giant fish with a WEAPON attached to its face, and think, “Hmmm. I bet I could kill that and eat it.” I don’t know who was the first person on Earth to take on that challenge and prevail, but I have to admit that I’m pretty glad they did. Swordfish is a meaty fish. There’s a reason why they call it swordfish steak. But even though it’s really meaty, it also has a delicate flavor. It takes on marinades well, and I really love it with citrus. The few times we had it when I was a child, my mom just made it with lemon juice, salt and pepper and it was excellent. I found this simple lime-based marinade on The Stay at Home Chef and wanted to try it out. We only left our swordfish in the marinade for about 20 minutes, and I do wish we had gone the whole recommended hour. Even so, it was really good, it just could have imparted more flavor given a little more time. I served it with a great side of Spicy Corn Salad (you can get the recipe here) and it made a really delicious dinner that felt somewhat light, yet filling.

Ingredients

2 limes, juiced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ tsp basil

½ tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

2 swordfish fillets

Simply whisk all the marinade ingredients together and pour it into a Ziploc bag with your swordfish. Marinate it for an hour (don’t be impatient like me!). And then grill it! It should take about 5-7 minutes a side, depending on how thick your cut is. When it’s done, it should flake easily with a fork. And there you have it. Here’s hoping that you conquer the swordfish yourself someday soon. 

Beef and Broccolini Hash

I’m generally an egg traditionalist. I like eggs for breakfast. I like them paired with the usual suspects (bacon, cheese, sausage). Outside of that, I pretty much only use eggs in baking. I’ve never been a big eggs for dinner person (although I used to make pre-basketball game omelets fairly often). And I don’t often pair it with unexpected ingredients. But after trying this Beef and Broccolini Hash, I might just change my tune. It was really flavorful, with crisp broccolini and the yolk kind of brought it all together. I found this recipe on Finger, Fork & Knife, but I made a few changes. I didn’t go on a hunt for coriander roots, which are pretty hard to find. I read that you can substitute cilantro, but ours had gone bad before I made this recipe, so we skipped it. When I make it again, I’ll definitely add it. Also, our beef was a tad chewy, being slightly overdone. I think that the order of the recipe was a little off, so I fixed it below. I also used tomato sauce instead of tomato chutney. It could have used a little more spice as well, so in the future I might choose a spicier pepper.

Ingredients

1.5 pounds flank, skirt, or flat iron steak, sliced very thinly

Juice of 1 lime

4 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp mirin

Peanut or Canola oil

2 tbsp tomato chutney – or tomato sauce

4 coriander roots, roughly chopped (or a handful of cilantro)

1 large red chili, sliced thinly

1 bunch broccolini, sliced into 2cm pieces

3 spring onions, sliced into 2cm pieces

2-4 eggs

Make sure you prep everything in advance because the cooking process happens very quickly. Mix together the tomato sauce (or chutney), soy sauce and mirin together in a small bowl. Set it aside, and heat your wok over high heat. Add just a little bit of your oil. Toss in the chili and coriander roots if you have them. If you are using cilantro, wait until later in the process (with the onions) to add it. Cook for about a minute. Next the original recipe wants you to add just the beef, but I think it would be good to add the broccolini and beef together. The broccolini needed just a touch more cooking, I thought. Cook this for about 2 minutes and then add in the sauce and the onions and cook for a minute or two more. Remove from heat and portion out onto plates.

In another small pan heat a little more oil and fry your eggs sunny-side up (set whites, runny yolk). Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top. Carefully place one egg on top of each of your beef and broccolini servings. Squeeze some lime juice over top and add a little pinch of sea salt. The sauce is the most flavorful part so make sure to get plenty. I hope this changes your views on eggs as well! 

Jerk Chicken Tacos

We do already have a couple jerk chicken recipes up on the blog, but since everyone’s tastes vary, and this one is a little different, I thought I’d add another. Besides, this is a taco recipe, and we all know that I have a bit of a thing for tacos. Just a bit. I found this recipe on Nutritionist in the Kitch, and she also included a slaw with kale and healthy stuff. Even though I’m a somewhat adventurous eater, I just am not ready for kale. Sorry. It often looks good to me, but I can’t take the risk of the kale coming in here and ruining my tasty tacos. Just can’t do it. So I went with my tried and true southwest slaw recipe (using broccoli slaw instead of cabbage this time). But hey, if you want to dance with the kale, by all means follow the recipe link and try it. The chicken turned out pretty good, although I thought it could have used a bit of salt. The Hubs was really happy, but I have to caveat that he had just flown in from Milwaukee and was quite hungry. So he might have been a little skewed.

Ingredients

4 6oz chicken breasts

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of sea salt

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

So this is pretty simple. Just mix up all the jerk seasoning ingredients in a small bowl (everything but the chicken). Remove the seeds and ribs of the jalapeno if you’re a big baby about spice. In a baking dish, rub the seasoning mix into the chicken, making sure it’s all covered and using all the marinade. Make sure to thoroughly wash your hands after this step and avoid touching your eyes! Let that marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake your chicken for 20-25 minutes. I actually had to go to 30 because the breasts I used were pretty thick. Then remove the chicken and carefully shred it in the baking dish. It’s important to keep it in the dish so you get all the extra marinade and spices into the chicken. Once it’s all shredded, serve in a tortilla with some slaw (kale or not) and sour cream. Boom. Jerk chicken taco.  

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp and Grits

One of my all time favorite meals growing up was Fried Fish and Grits. We had wonderful neighbors across the street who would go fishing, and bring my parents back some of the fish they caught. This made me so happy, because I knew my mother would be making that dish. Well, as an adult one of my favorite dinners is Shrimp and Grits. I remember the first time I had Shrimp and Grits. I was working at a golf course in Charleston, South Carolina. After a late day at the clubhouse; my co-workers and I went out to dinner at a local restaurant. Everything on the menu sounded delicious, but I decided to give Shrimp and Grits a try. I remember my first bite: I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was so delicious. Now, I'm unsure why I've never tried making this at home until now. But, this recipe was easy to make and very good. I wouldn't say this is restaurant gourmet delicious, but it's a solid recipe and I urge you to give it a try. I mean a 5 star recipe on The Food Network has to mean something, right? Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup instant grits (I used Quaker Oats Instant Grits)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (I omitted this step)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp Cajun season (optional)
Zest of a lemon (optional)
Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus wedges for serving
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley

Follow the directions on the Quaker Instant Grits box. If you have parmesan cheese on hand add this at the end. I also added a tablespoon of butter once the grits finished cooking. Set aside and keep warm.

Pat dry the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. I also seasoned the shrimp with Cajun Seasoning and the Cayenne pepper.  Take out a non-stick skillet and add two tablespoons of butter. Set the burner to medium heat. Sprinkle in the lemon zest. Add the garlic and shrimp. Cook until the shrimp is pink about 4 to 5 minutes. Next, add in the lemon zest and parsley. Spoon the grits into a bowl and add in the shrimp with some of the juice. Enjoy.

Asian Grilled Salmon and Pineapple

First off, can we all just agree that grilled pineapple is kind of amazing? There’s just something magical about pineapple when it’s warmed up and maybe even a little caramelized. Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about salmon and pineapple together. I’ll admit it sounds a little weird. I’m not a big fruit and fish person, although I know it’s been done many times, and a lot of people really love it, it’s just not my jam. But this actually turned out to be good. The Hubs really liked it, I thought it was just fine. It was pretty sweet, but the touch of char and the sesame oil kept it from being too cloying. I think it could have used a touch more soy sauce because it felt like it needed that pop of salt. Especially the rice. I found the recipe on Half Baked Harvest and she actually served it as lettuce wraps, which we did not do. I’m sure that would be fine, but we thought it was an extra step that wasn’t really needed. She also had a honey glaze that we skipped. Maybe that would have made it better, but I worry that it might have taken the sweetness over the top. If you’re interested in that, follow the link to the original recipe above. Anyway, if you are into fruit on your fish, I definitely think you should try this.

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 teaspoon wasabi powder (optional)

4 green onions, sliced, plus more for garnish

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1/2 of a medium size pineapple

In a small bowl mix the honey, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, ginger, garlic and wasabi powder together, whisking until the wasabi powder has dissolved. Then stir in the green onions and sesame seeds. Put your salmon into a large Ziploc bag and then pour about ¼ of the marinade over it and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime slice your pineapple into long spears (remove the rind and the core, of course) and toss half of it with about two tablespoons of the marinade. The other half is yours to do with what you will! Heat up your grill and start with the pineapple. Grill it about 3-4 minutes a side. Put your salmon on the grill, skin side up, and grill for 3-4 minutes (depending on the thickness of your salmon). Flip it and baste with the reserved marinade and cook another 2-3 minutes.

While you’re grilling also make your rice. When it’s done you’ll want to mix in about 4 tablespoons of the reserved marinade. Personally, we thought the rice was rather blah. It could have used a little salt, or maybe it was because it was brown rice instead of white and we are terrible white rice people. Not sure. Anyway, once it’s all done, cut your pineapple into cubes. Serve the salmon over your rice and spoon some pineapple on top! 

Mexican Meatballs

Ok, so I already have a fantastic Italian meatball recipe (seriously, they are pretty amazing, and what’s this? Oh, a handy link to the recipe!) But the idea of a Mexican meatball was intriguing to me and anyway, can you really have too many great meatball recipes? I think not. I found this recipe on Cook Smarts, and it looked very tasty, very unique and not too incredibly difficult. It turns out that these meatballs are all of those things. They really pack a big aggressive punch of flavor with nice level of spiciness. I served these with some cilantro-lime rice, and I will say it was a little strange at first to eat meatballs and tomato sauce with rice, but you get over that pretty quickly. It also got a little salty by the end so I’d leave the salt out of the meatballs next time. 

Meatball Ingredients

2 Jalapenos, diced small

½ cup Red Onion, diced small

Handful of Cilantro, chopped

2 Garlic cloves, minced

1 lb Ground Pork

1/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs

2 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Coriander

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

1 tsp Kosher Salt (I would recommend omitting this or cutting in half)

1 tbsp Canola Oil

Crumbled Cotja cheese (I used Queso Fresco)

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1 tbsp Canola oil

28 oz can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes, diced

1 cup Coconut Milk

2 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Salt

Start by making your meatballs. Mix all the meatball ingredients except the canola oil and cheese together by hand. If you don’t already have cooking gloves, you can make your life immensely better by getting some. It makes jobs like this so easy, trust me. Roll your meatballs to be about an inch or so in diameter. Or however big you want them. I don’t judge. Just remember that adjusting the size will mean adjusting the cook times.

Preheat your oven to 375. In a saucepan, heat up your canola oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook for just about a minute, making sure not to burn the garlic, and then add in the rest of the ingredients. Stir well and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, you can cook your meatballs. Heat the canola oil over medium high heat and brown the meatballs for about 2 minutes each. You don’t need to cook them through, just get a nice sear on the outside. Don’t overcrowd the pan; do them in batches if you need to. Then move the meatballs to a baking dish and pour the tomato sauce over the top. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, and then crumble your cheese over the top and serve over rice. I made cilantro-lime rice by just adding some cilantro, lime juice, and salt to the rice to taste. I think these were a great option for a meatball, if you aren’t craving the typical Italian version. Hope you like them! 

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

OMG! Finally! I finally found a tomato soup recipe that is incredibly, deliciously, scrumptiously good!! Barefoot Contessa really knows how to put a recipe together. There's layers of flavor in this soup from the garlic to the hint of spice to the tomato flavor, of course. Heaven! That's what this soup is! It's also really simple to make and it's oh so good! Please do yourself a favor and make this soup ASAP! Forget the tomato soup I made a couple years ago. Make THIS one!! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise (I used 7 tomatoes on a vine and didn't cut them)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock or water

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Next, take your tomatoes and smother them with 1/4 cup of olive oil, the salt, and the pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. 

Take a large stock pot, and add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the butter, onions, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Sautee for 10 minutes until the onions turn a slight brown color. Then, add in the canned tomatoes and the basil. Next, pour in the roasted tomatoes along with the juice from the pan. Bring this to a boil and then simmer uncovered for an additional 40 minutes. Next, use an Immersion Blender or carefully transfer a little at a time into a blender and puree the soup. Serve warm and garnish with additional basil leaves if desired. Enjoy!

Spicy Honey Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Last Memorial Day, our lives changed forever. We had gone back home to Indiana to visit my family, and my chef brother casually mentioned that he’d be smoking some ribs for dinner. Well, if you know anything about smoking, you know that there’s nothing casual about it. It was an involved, 8 hour process, and the results were delicious enough that we decided on the spot that we needed to own a smoker and produce such delectable meats at home. Since then we’ve smoked ribs and chicken wings with mouth-watering success, but we’d never tried a whole pork butt. That’s a 12 hour deal, with injecting and rubbing beforehand, so maybe the whole thing intimidated us. Well, we decided to step up to the plate and smoke some Boston butt. And it was worth it. Our house still smells of smoke and delicious pig. Worth it. And I’ve eaten pork every night for the last few nights (and will in the next few). Worth it.

But enough about butts! My husband handled the butt (teehee) from start to finish, so it’s all his deal, not mine. I handled the sauces. I made four sauces: Spicy Honey Chipotle, Hot Vinegar, Sweet Original and Kahlua Coffee. They were all pretty good, but the Spicy Honey Chipotle was a clear favorite (with vinegar coming in second for the fans of that style). I found it on a site called Little B Cooks, and it’s good enough to make even if you’re just having regular old pulled pork and not fantastically amazing smoked pork. It's definitely very spicy, but I find that the fat of the pork and some nice creamy slaw balances it out nicely. 

Ingredients

Olive Oil

1 cup onion, minced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

3/4 cup ketsup

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced

1 tsp dry mustard

1tsp chipotle chili pepper powder

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan over medium low heat, and add the onion and garlic, sautéing for about ten minutes until the onions are translucent. Stir to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Then add in the rest of the ingredients and stir. I found that it helped to have all the ingredients out and ready to go before hand so I could just toss them in on cue. Simmer on low for 20 minutes, giving it a stir every once in awhile. The instructions said to puree it with an immersion blender, but I found that there wasn’t enough liquid to do so without splattering it all over myself and the kitchen. I would recommend putting it in the blender or food processor to get it smooth. And that’s it! This sauce plus some amazing smoked pork butt and you’ve got something magical, friend.  

Fried Plantains

I love cuban food. It's probably a result of growing up in Tampa, Florida. But, I'll take plantains, cuban sandwiches, black beans, yellow rice, Picadillo, etc any day of the week. Unfortunately, I can't always get Cuban Sandwiches (well, the real deal) unless I go to Florida. But, I can get plantains at the grocery store (when they're in season) any day of the week. Recently, Kroger had some plantains for sale. They were that nice dark color that usually indicates a ripe plantain. Trust me you don't want green plantains that's when you know they're not ripe. Try to find dark brown to even black plantains. They're the best. This is a really simple recipe and the result is delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 plantain (dark in color)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt

Simply remove the peel off the plantain. You can slice the plantain however you want. I sliced it down the middle once and then turned it over and sliced it length-wise again. Then, I cut it in half. Take a medium-sized skillet and add in your oil. You may add in more oil if needed. Let the oil heat up over medium-high. Sprinkle some water over the oil and when it sizzles you know it's ready. Add in the plantains and cook for a couple minutes on each side. Once cooked thru remove from the oil and place on paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher. Serve warm and enjoy!

Ginger Stir Fry with Soba Noodles

At Iron Chef Ginger, there were a lot of really good dishes. In fact, I’d go as far as to say they were all good. Still, Doan’s was my favorite because it was nice and spicy, and I’m totally a sucker for noodle dishes. So after the competition was over, I made sure to get the recipe from her, and here it is! When I made it, I don’t think it tasted quite as good as when Doan made it, but it was still delicious. I love that it has so many veggies in it, and a ton of flavor. We even got a ton of ginger flavor! I’m going to include Doan’s recipe exactly, even though it’s easy to customize to your personal likes. I left out the fried tofu and snow peas, and used an orange bell pepper instead of the red bell pepper. I also used Simply Orange orange juice instead of fresh which may have made mine a little sweeter than Doan’s, so I recommend using fresh squeezed juice.

Ingredients

6 oz Soba Noodles

2 Tbsps grated ginger
2 chicken breasts cut into thin strips

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

2 Tbsps grated ginger
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Peanut Oil
4 oz fried tofu
4 Scallions (white parts and 3 inches of the green, sliced on the diagonal into ½-inch slices)
4 cloves Garlic (thinly sliced on the diagonal)
1 large Carrot (grated)
¼ pound Snow Peas (sliced lengthwise into thirds)
½ Red Bell Pepper (seeded and thinly sliced)
4 oz Mushrooms (sliced) baby portabella or shitake
4 oz Bean Sprouts
¼ cup fresh Cilantro (chopped)
Lime Wedges (for garnishing)

Sweet Ginger Sauce:
½ cup fresh Orange Juice
2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 tsp reduced-sodium Soy Sauce
2 tbsp fresh Ginger (minced)
2 tsp Thai Chili Sauce

Start by marinating your chicken in the salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp grated ginger. We also added a little olive oil to the mix just to help it get all over the chicken. Marinate it for about an hour. Use that time to prep all of your veggies since the cooking process happens pretty quickly. In a small saucepan over medium heat mix orange juice, hoisin, soy sauce, ginger and Thai Chili Sauce. We actually used Chili Garlic Sauce instead. Mix this well and bring it to a simmer. Cook one minute and then set aside.

Next cook the soba noodles for one minute less than the directions call for. Also add two tablespoons of ginger into the water for extra ginger flavor. When they are done, set them aside. Stir fry the chicken in a wok or nonstick pan. We used a nonstick pan so we could cook everything in the same pan. Set the chicken aside (lots of setting aside in this recipe!)

Now, in your nonstick skillet, heat up the sesame and peanut oil over high heat. Add in the tofu, scallions, garlic, carrots, snow peas, bell pepper and mushrooms and stir fry this for two minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add in the chicken, noodles, bean sprouts and sweet ginger sauce and stir fry for another 30 seconds or so. Add in cilantro and stir well and then serve immediately! Garnish with lime wedges. It’s spicy, it’s gingery, and it tastes great cold too! Thank you, Doan for such a great recipe. 

Pork Carnitas

I have recently come to a startling realization. I freaking LOVE tacos. Love them. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, considering the volume of taco recipes I’ve already posted. But damn! Aren’t they just the perfect little delivery systems for delicious meat and some kind of slaw or salsa or cheese? I mean, I’m hard pressed (unless we’re talking beans) to find something that wouldn’t be delicious in a taco. And here I go again with yet another taco recipe. The photo on Jo Cooks of this beautiful pork made my mouth water, and made my brain say, “Tacos!” To be honest, the pork itself, while deliciously porky, did not have as deep a flavor as I would have liked. I wish it was a little more spicy, a little more salty, a little more… something. But, it was still damn good, and more than worthy of hopping up in a tasty taco. I served this one with my Southwest Slaw which never fails to put a smile on my taco-loving face.

4 lb pork shoulder or pork butt, trim fat if too much fat

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

2 bay leaves

1 tsp chili pepper flakes

1 tsp dried oregano

1 onion, peeled and halved

Juice of one lime

1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

2 cups water

Start by butchering your meat, trimming off excess fat and cutting it up into 2 inch chunks. Put the meat into a dutch oven or cast iron pot along with all the spices, onion halves, lime juice, orange juice, and spent orange halves. Then pour the water over everything and bring to a boil. Once it boils, move the pot to your oven at 300 degrees for about 2 hours. It should be extremely fork tender.

After the two hours, remove the meat from the pot and set it aside. Also remove the onion, orange halves and bay leaves from the pot and discard them. Cook the liquid in the pot over medium high heat until it reduces to about a cup of liquid. I don’t think we reduced ours long enough which may have affected the flavor.

While that reduces, shred your meat, and then place it on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Don’t do this step in reverse or you’ll end up shredding your foil. Once the liquid has reduced, pour it all over your meat. Then broil the meat for about 5 to 10 minutes, until it gets nice and browned and maybe even a little crispy. Use a spatula to flip it over and broil the other side for another 5 minutes. Once it’s looking nice and tasty, pop it out of the oven and pop it right into a taco! You could always use the meat for a sandwich or burrito if you want, but in my book, the taco is your best bet. 

Baked Brie

Baked Brie is one of those appetizers that are sure to be a hit at your next party. One of my friend's made this recipe at a Volleyball party and it was gobbled up by everyone. I asked her for the recipe, and I've made it several times since. It's a really simple recipe, but tastes like you put a ton of effort into making it. If you like brie, apples, cranberries, brown sugar, and pastry dough then you will love this recipe. Give it a try and you will be a big hit at the next party. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1/2 of a red apple, diced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 brie wedge (okay to keep the rind on)
1 Pillsbury Crescent dough sheet

Simply roll out the crescent dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the brie on the crescent sheet. Then, sprinkle the brown sugar, diced apples, and cranberries on top of the brie. Gently fold up the dough and twist to seal. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 30 minutes or until the dough is a pretty golden brown color.