(Did I capitalize that title correctly? I have no idea...)
I tend to buy most of our meats in family packs. Mass quantities of meat, yes, but cheaper in the long run and I know I'll eventually cook it all.
Last time I bought a large pack of chicken breasts, I cleaned/trimmed them all, filleted them (because honestly a whole chicken breast is too much for Dan and I each to eat and thinner meat cooks faster), and then froze them in freezer bags. It made for much easier cooking–just defrost and use, no trimming required.
A few weeks ago chicken breasts were on sale, so I bought a family pack which I soon cleaned, trimmed, and froze. Brilliant me thought it would be a great idea to freeze my chicken breasts in tupperware separated by two sheets of wax paper rather than using ziploc bags. Personally, I hate throwing away ziploc bags. Each time I do throw one away I (a) know it will take a very long time to biodegrade, and (b) know I will have to pay money to replace it. I usually wash ziploc bags now and reuse them until they can't be reused any more or Dan gets to them first and throws them out. (Arrgh!) And I always question myself a little about reusing a ziploc bag that had raw meat in it, before washing it and reusing it anyway.. So, back to my brilliant decision: Tupperware! This way I can just stick the tub in the dishwasher when I've used all the meat and not worry about cleanliness, etc. Bad idea.
Today I tried to remove a few chicken breasts from said tupperware tub only to find that in spite of all the wax paper layers separating each breast, they were all stuck together in tub-form. Aaaaahhh! So not cool. I had to use a knife to get the first breast out and wound up puncturing both myself and the tub in the process. And then I had to let it sit out for 20 minutes before I could manage to get any more breasts out with a knife (more carefully this time.) Alas, I'll have to go back to ziploc bags. Lesson learned. :(
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Tamale Pie
This is my one rock-solid, go-to recipe. It's easy, fast, and always good. I've made it so many times that my recipe is so far removed from the original that it's not really worth mentioning. I use ground beef, but you could use ground turkey or a couple of cans of beans, and I change the recipe almost every time I make it depending on what I have in the pantry/fridge/freezer. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350-375˚F.
Brown the ground beef. Move beef to the side and cook the onions. Once cooked, add beans, chopped bell pepper, or additional ingredient of your choice and cook as necessary.
Add cumin, chili powder and other spices, mix well. Add spaghetti sauce or tomato-y substitute. Let mixture simmer for a while, roughly 10-20 minutes or until the sauce thickens a little bit.
In a separate bowl, combine corn bread muffin mix, egg, and milk. Mix in diced chilies if you're using them. Mix well and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
Put the meat/sauce in a casserole dish. (I believe mine is roughly 3 qts, but don't quote me on that.) If you're using cheese, sprinkle on top of meat. Then dollop the cornbread mix on top of that, and spread with a spoon to cover the meat.
Place in oven and bake somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes. (I give this range because in Illinois it never took all that long to cook, but for whatever reason, here in Albuquerque I can never get the cornbread mixture to cook all the way through in less than an hour.) Halfway through cooking I drizzle honey on top. You could also put the cheese on top in case you forget to put it under the cornbread, like I have done on at least one occasion.
The pie is done when the cornbread is cooked all the way through. Serve with honey and sour cream!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 onion (red, white, or whatever color of your choosing) chopped
- or 1 small bunch of chopped green onions
- 1 can black beans or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- Tonight I am using 1 chopped yellow bell pepper instead
- 2 tsp or more ground cumin (I like a lot)
- chili powder to taste - I use a good sprinkle
- I've also used ground cayenne and/or ground adobo in the absence of chili powder
- A little ground chipotle may also make a great option
- 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
- Tonight we are out of spaghetti sauce, so I'm hoping that 1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 8oz can of tomato sauce, and 1/2 a 6oz can of tomato paste work as a good substitute. Btw, my mom always says the Italian brands of canned tomatoes are best, and I completely agree.
- 1/2 c shredded cheese! (I skip this since Dan is currently dairy-free)
- I use whatever we have, but monterey jack always rocks, as does colby jack, and of course good ole cheddar
- 1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
- 1 egg, beaten with a fork
- 1/4 - 1/3 c milk (or soy milk)
- 1 4oz can diced green chilies, optional
- honey, optional
- sour cream, optional
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350-375˚F.
Brown the ground beef. Move beef to the side and cook the onions. Once cooked, add beans, chopped bell pepper, or additional ingredient of your choice and cook as necessary.
Add cumin, chili powder and other spices, mix well. Add spaghetti sauce or tomato-y substitute. Let mixture simmer for a while, roughly 10-20 minutes or until the sauce thickens a little bit.
In a separate bowl, combine corn bread muffin mix, egg, and milk. Mix in diced chilies if you're using them. Mix well and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
Put the meat/sauce in a casserole dish. (I believe mine is roughly 3 qts, but don't quote me on that.) If you're using cheese, sprinkle on top of meat. Then dollop the cornbread mix on top of that, and spread with a spoon to cover the meat.
Place in oven and bake somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes. (I give this range because in Illinois it never took all that long to cook, but for whatever reason, here in Albuquerque I can never get the cornbread mixture to cook all the way through in less than an hour.) Halfway through cooking I drizzle honey on top. You could also put the cheese on top in case you forget to put it under the cornbread, like I have done on at least one occasion.
The pie is done when the cornbread is cooked all the way through. Serve with honey and sour cream!
The Verdict: A Keeper
This recipe is a keeper that I will be making pretty much until we die. Yes, it's that good and that easy.
Monday, April 5, 2010
CrockPot Chicken Chow Mein
I'm not quite sure how I stumbled upon the blog A Year of Slow Cooking, but it looks fabulous and I've been wanting to try some new crock pot recipes for a while now. (Perhaps this blog is where I got "The Verdict" from..?) Using our crock pot is pretty much what got Dan and me through the first 6 months of Auggie's life. It's so easy, and by 5pm when the baby is fussy dinner is already ready without any extra preparation. Although, our crock pot kind of sucks and burns our food in one spot every single time. I recently found out that this is not normal and we probably need a new crock pot. (Which means I'll be waiting until the end of the year bonus or tax return time next year. Haha..)
Back to the recipe, today I am making Chicken Chow Mein for dinner. And according to the blog author, Stephanie O'Dea, you can make it vegetarian or use any other kind of meat. Here's the link to her Chow Mein post: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/07/crockpot-chow-mein-recipe.html. I will repeat ingredients and preparation for my own sake, as I ended up doing it, below.
Ingredients
Put chicken in crock pot, add water, chopped onions, and chopped celery. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4. My actual cooking time winded up being a little less than 3.5 hours on high, and it was plenty sufficient. (Btw, chicken can go in frozen.) After cooking, shred chicken with forks.
In a bowl, mix cornstarch, soy sauce, and molasses until there are no clumps. Add bell pepper, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and sprouts to crock pot. Stir in cornstarch mixture.
Cover and cook on high for approximately 1 hour.
Cook pasta according to directions until al dente. Set aside.
Heat oil on high in frying pan with salt and pepper. Add spaghetti noodles and toss until a little crust appears on some noodles.
Serve chow mein on noodles.
The Verdict: Good, and a Repeat with Adjustments
While it was an easy, healthy meal with whole-grain spaghetti, chicken for protein, and a bunch of veggies, it seemed to lack any real flavor–which is a problem. This may be due to the fact that I was over a tablespoon short of the 1/4 c of soy sauce (and I used a low-sodium soy sauce at that), but I also think that minced garlic and definitely 2 onions as opposed to the 1 that I used would help.
A quick 'chow mein' search on epicurious.com tells me that the following ingredients would likely jazz up the flavor of this recipe to make it worth trying again:
Back to the recipe, today I am making Chicken Chow Mein for dinner. And according to the blog author, Stephanie O'Dea, you can make it vegetarian or use any other kind of meat. Here's the link to her Chow Mein post: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/07/crockpot-chow-mein-recipe.html. I will repeat ingredients and preparation for my own sake, as I ended up doing it, below.
Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs chicken breast (or meat of your choice)
- 2 c water
- 2 chopped onions
- 2-3 c chopped celery
- 1/4 c cornstarch
- 1/4 c soy sauce
- 3 tbsp molasses
- 1 can (16 oz) baby corn, drained
- 1 can (6.5 oz) bamboo shoots, drained
- 1 c bean sprouts
- 1 chopped red bell pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
- spaghetti (we use whole-grain wheat) or chow mein noodles
Put chicken in crock pot, add water, chopped onions, and chopped celery. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4. My actual cooking time winded up being a little less than 3.5 hours on high, and it was plenty sufficient. (Btw, chicken can go in frozen.) After cooking, shred chicken with forks.
In a bowl, mix cornstarch, soy sauce, and molasses until there are no clumps. Add bell pepper, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and sprouts to crock pot. Stir in cornstarch mixture.
Cover and cook on high for approximately 1 hour.
Cook pasta according to directions until al dente. Set aside.
Heat oil on high in frying pan with salt and pepper. Add spaghetti noodles and toss until a little crust appears on some noodles.
Serve chow mein on noodles.
The Verdict: Good, and a Repeat with Adjustments
While it was an easy, healthy meal with whole-grain spaghetti, chicken for protein, and a bunch of veggies, it seemed to lack any real flavor–which is a problem. This may be due to the fact that I was over a tablespoon short of the 1/4 c of soy sauce (and I used a low-sodium soy sauce at that), but I also think that minced garlic and definitely 2 onions as opposed to the 1 that I used would help.
A quick 'chow mein' search on epicurious.com tells me that the following ingredients would likely jazz up the flavor of this recipe to make it worth trying again:
- fresh ginger
- toasted sesame seed oil
- Chinese rice-wine or medium-dry Sherry
- oyster sauce
- scallions
- garlic
- chicken broth instead of water
- and perhaps some shiitake mushrooms, but that's for you readers out there, because Dan would not appreciate the addition of any mushrooms
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Pork Loin with Pears and Onions
From Epicurious, imagine that! Hehe.. Original recipe name: Pork Tenderloin with Pears and Shallots. The recipe looked both delicious and easy, especially with reviewers recommended modifications. No photo because I forgot to photograph the delicious finished product.. Need to get better at that!!
Ingredients
Preheat oven to 425˚ or higher.
Brown pork in cast iron skillet with oil, garlic, onions, thyme. Add some pear nectar to prevent sticking. Add pears once pork is browned, and let cook on cut sides about 1 minute. Place skillet in oven and roast.
Check pork occasionally and add more pear nectar as the juices absorb.
Take out once pork reaches 145˚. I accidentally let it cook to about 160˚. (After about 15 minutes I turned up the oven temperature to 450˚ because I was getting impatient.) You could probably take it out at 140˚ and assume that it will keep heating up as you remove it. Remove pork and pears, place in dish and cover with foil.
Add the remaining nectar, some broth, margarine and flour to skillet and bring to simmer. (You're supposed to make a roux here, but I accidentally did it the wrong way although it turned out perfectly in the end.) Whisk up brown bits from skillet and continue to whisk until it thickens, about 5 minutes total. You could add salt and pepper to taste here, but I found that the pork itself was plenty salty without added salt here. But that's just me.
I served the gravy on the side, but you could just as well put it on the pork and pears to serve. ... And, done!
The Verdict: A Keeper
This recipe was delicious! Sweet, hearty, easy, and all around good. Served it with a salad and brown rice, although I forgot to serve the rice. Ah well..
Dan agrees that it's a keeper, although he's voiced his opinion that he doesn't think the word 'keeper' is valid as I am apparently moving in a forward-only direction with my cooking. And honestly he's right, I don't really like repeating recipes. It bores me. Anyway, that may change with more kids and less time, so it's wise to experiment now, right?
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon dry thyme (real recipe calls for fresh chopped, but dry worked just fine)
- 1 1 1/4-pound pork loin (calls for tenderloin, but I had regular already in freezer)
- 1/2 onion cut into wedges (or 3 large shallots, each cut into 6 wedges through stem end)
- 3 unpeeled small pears, quartered, cored - ours were fairly hard which worked out well
- 2 Tbsp margarine (I'd have used butter but Dan's off dairy)
- 2 Tbsp whole-wheat flour
- 1 12oz can pear nectar
- 1/2 c broth of some kind
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 425˚ or higher.
Brown pork in cast iron skillet with oil, garlic, onions, thyme. Add some pear nectar to prevent sticking. Add pears once pork is browned, and let cook on cut sides about 1 minute. Place skillet in oven and roast.
Check pork occasionally and add more pear nectar as the juices absorb.
Take out once pork reaches 145˚. I accidentally let it cook to about 160˚. (After about 15 minutes I turned up the oven temperature to 450˚ because I was getting impatient.) You could probably take it out at 140˚ and assume that it will keep heating up as you remove it. Remove pork and pears, place in dish and cover with foil.
Add the remaining nectar, some broth, margarine and flour to skillet and bring to simmer. (You're supposed to make a roux here, but I accidentally did it the wrong way although it turned out perfectly in the end.) Whisk up brown bits from skillet and continue to whisk until it thickens, about 5 minutes total. You could add salt and pepper to taste here, but I found that the pork itself was plenty salty without added salt here. But that's just me.
I served the gravy on the side, but you could just as well put it on the pork and pears to serve. ... And, done!
The Verdict: A Keeper
This recipe was delicious! Sweet, hearty, easy, and all around good. Served it with a salad and brown rice, although I forgot to serve the rice. Ah well..
Dan agrees that it's a keeper, although he's voiced his opinion that he doesn't think the word 'keeper' is valid as I am apparently moving in a forward-only direction with my cooking. And honestly he's right, I don't really like repeating recipes. It bores me. Anyway, that may change with more kids and less time, so it's wise to experiment now, right?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
Dan and I were craving the buffalo chicken sandwiches that we used to eat at Crane Alley in Urbana just about weekly. Mmmmmm.... But on a budget, in Albuquerque, and with strange dietary restrictions it seemed best to give it a go and make our own. So I found this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Buffalo-Chicken-Strips-with-Celery-and-Watercress-Slaw-237297 ... I didn't bother with the sauce or slaw, nor did I make the chicken into strips:
Ingredients
Mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise and hot sauce in bowl. Sprinkle chicken with salt. Coat each side with 1 tablespoon mayonnaise-hot sauce mixture, then 2 tablespoons panko. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sauté chicken until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side.
I placed each chicken breast (actually, they were filleted, so half breasts), on buns with mayo, fresh spinach leaves and thinly sliced cucumbers. I had mine with bottled Blue Cheese dressing, Dan had his with Ranch and extra hot sauce. We also had celery, carrot, and cucumber sticks on the side.
The Verdict: A Keeper
This recipe was great. I followed a reviewer's advice and touched the chicken as little as possible. My process involved covering only one side of each chicken breast with mayo/panko at a time, and then placing it coating-down in the pan. After it was in the pan, I put the remaining mayo/panko on the other side and found that by doing this the coating didn't get messy and everything seemed to stay exactly where it was supposed to.
Dan and I both agree, to have the 'real' buffalo chicken flavor, you really need more hot sauce. We used Louisiana Red Dot Roasted Pepper flavor hot sauce (what we had in the pantry), and it just didn't seem hot enough. It was almost as if the mayo neutralized the hotness. I will probably double the sauce next time. But make no mistake, there will definitely be a next time. It turned out great!
Also, a quick note: This wouldn't have worked without the nonstick skillet. Oil would have soaked into the panko had I used a regular pan, so the nonstick skillet is key to this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonaise
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 1/4 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- Hamburger buns
- Condiments/fixings: Fresh spinach leaves and thinly sliced cucumber
Mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise and hot sauce in bowl. Sprinkle chicken with salt. Coat each side with 1 tablespoon mayonnaise-hot sauce mixture, then 2 tablespoons panko. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sauté chicken until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side.
I placed each chicken breast (actually, they were filleted, so half breasts), on buns with mayo, fresh spinach leaves and thinly sliced cucumbers. I had mine with bottled Blue Cheese dressing, Dan had his with Ranch and extra hot sauce. We also had celery, carrot, and cucumber sticks on the side.
The Verdict: A Keeper
This recipe was great. I followed a reviewer's advice and touched the chicken as little as possible. My process involved covering only one side of each chicken breast with mayo/panko at a time, and then placing it coating-down in the pan. After it was in the pan, I put the remaining mayo/panko on the other side and found that by doing this the coating didn't get messy and everything seemed to stay exactly where it was supposed to.
Dan and I both agree, to have the 'real' buffalo chicken flavor, you really need more hot sauce. We used Louisiana Red Dot Roasted Pepper flavor hot sauce (what we had in the pantry), and it just didn't seem hot enough. It was almost as if the mayo neutralized the hotness. I will probably double the sauce next time. But make no mistake, there will definitely be a next time. It turned out great!
Also, a quick note: This wouldn't have worked without the nonstick skillet. Oil would have soaked into the panko had I used a regular pan, so the nonstick skillet is key to this recipe.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Umbrian Fish Soup..
Will be dinner tonight: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Umbrian-Fish-Soup-242000
Except that I'm only defrosting 1 lb of perch, because that's what we have, and I'm substituting green bell pepper for celery. Not sure if Dan will love it, but the reviews are surprisingly good. I may add some uncured Polish sausage to balance out the lack of adequate fish.
Verdict: More on the bust side.
It was good but I wasn't able to follow the recipe completely. I used perch, which we found to be a bit too fishy flavor-wise. And since I only used 1 lb of perch, while the recipe called for 2, I added an extra pound of the uncured sausage. Dan and I think the soup would have been great if it was sausage-only, perhaps with potatoes or something else to thicken it up. Another down-side is that I had forgotten that Dan is avoiding all fermented ingredients right now, so the wine got pitched and I replaced it with beef broth. (Couldn't really think of anything else.) That said, the recipe got rave reviews, and even with all of my modifications it was good, it just wasn't great. I imagine it's great if you follow the recipe, but we may never find out.
No repeat.
Except that I'm only defrosting 1 lb of perch, because that's what we have, and I'm substituting green bell pepper for celery. Not sure if Dan will love it, but the reviews are surprisingly good. I may add some uncured Polish sausage to balance out the lack of adequate fish.
Verdict: More on the bust side.
It was good but I wasn't able to follow the recipe completely. I used perch, which we found to be a bit too fishy flavor-wise. And since I only used 1 lb of perch, while the recipe called for 2, I added an extra pound of the uncured sausage. Dan and I think the soup would have been great if it was sausage-only, perhaps with potatoes or something else to thicken it up. Another down-side is that I had forgotten that Dan is avoiding all fermented ingredients right now, so the wine got pitched and I replaced it with beef broth. (Couldn't really think of anything else.) That said, the recipe got rave reviews, and even with all of my modifications it was good, it just wasn't great. I imagine it's great if you follow the recipe, but we may never find out.
No repeat.
Apple Chips
I attempted this recipe today: http://weelicious.com/2010/02/22/pear-and-apple-chips/ ... And in anticipation of wax paper not working so well as a replacement for parchment paper, I bought a Silpat. I'm generally against involving plastics (does silicone count at a plastic?) in baking or microwaving of any kind, but considering what a disaster making beet chips on wax paper was, I thought I might as well give it a go. $20 later, I have some pretty wicked-awesome apple chips, but sadly not enough to make it worth the effort. I may need to shell out another $20 for another Silpat, but we are badly in need of a diaper sprayer and I think that may beat out Silpat number two for now. Ah well...
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