Mofongo

Pork Stirfry, the best one yet

Tropical Chicken Strew

This is the troubling stew from my "Ode to My Large Stockpot" post. It came out a bit bland for my tastes but my family devoured it like the hungry pack they are, seconds and all. It's chicken thighs, yucca, plantains, yautia, and potato simmered in a broth made from herbs, bitter orange juice, and sofrito. Served with a side of white rice and avocado.

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Black Bean Chili

For recipe, click here

Homemade Burgers

These babies came out LARGE but oh so good. I really should make burgers more often. My family liked these better than Five Guys.

Two Meals (I'm Late!)

Beef Stir Fry




Black bean Chili with Cheddar Cheese and Garlic Biscuit

Udon Soup

Soup and Salad

There's been a lot of cooking but not a lot of plating or preparing for pictures. What that means is that everytime I turn around to take a picture, the food is already gone or (if I manage to take a pic) the plating looks horrible. So much is going on at home I've been lacking. But I'm getting back into the groove. Here are two chicken meals I served recently:

Chicken soup with udon (Japanese wheat noodles)

Romaine, grape tomatoes, croutons and chicken breast with homemade dressing.

ChocaNana Bread

I should market the word ChocaNana. I think it could be the new big thing; last year it was cupcakes, this year it's ChocaNana! Actually I think this is the year blondies are big. Seriously. Look for my Blondie Madness Week coming soon.

But back to the topic at hand...I'm convinced one of the loveliest aromas in the world is the smell of my Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread. Something about it just makes everything in the world seems okay. It's thick, dense, not too chewy, not too melty, and has a rich taste of bananas, just like a good nana bread should.


Too bad the loaf I baked today is gone already. Sigh. I should have made several loaves.

You can mash the bananas with a fork (my preferred method) or process very lightly in the food processor. I think you'll find the fork method much better though. I like leaving a few chunks but you're welcome to mash into more of a pudding texture. Also feel free to add more chocolate chips and nuts if you wish. Just remember this is a very thick, heavy bread.

You'll need a loaf pan (9x5), lightly greased, and a few bowls.

ChocoNana Bread

6-7 overripe bananas, mashed (you want about 2 cups)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 brown sugar
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, add in flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In another bowl, add the brown sugar and butter and mix together until just incorporated. Add in the eggs and whisk together until they are beaten and everything is creamy. Add in the mashed bananas, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Stir a few times.

Add the banana mixture to the flour and stir until everything is well moistened; you want to make sure there are no "pockets" of flour.

Add the mix into the loaf pan and bake for one hour. let the loaf cool in pan for fifteen minutes, then turn out into cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy.

Tuna Salad (Sandwich)

I don't normally like tuna salad: Most times I taste it, it's made with bad tuna, too much mayonnaise, and not much else. I made some today, on a whim, to have on a sandwich. Paired with romaine lettuce, fresh tomato, and lightly toasted whole-grain bread, this makes a great lunch.

Feel free to add in more mayonnaise and a tablespoon of sweet relish if you want. You can also add in grape tomatoes and chopped lettuce to make it more of a salad.

Tuna Salad (makes four sandwiches or 2 servings of salad)

12 oz water packed solid white albacore

2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp onion, minced
1/4 cup celery, minced
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise, light or regular
1/4 tsp brown mustard
1 tbsp parsley, minced

In a colander, drain the can of tuna. (I know you're all tempted to use the lid, but this makes for mushy salad). Lightly break up the mass of tuna, and put it in a medium bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until incorporated. Season to taste.

Notes: This kept overnight fine in an airtight container. You may wish to leave the mayonnaise out until the next day if you make it ahead of time.

Lunch

Scrambled eggs with cheese on half a whole wheat bagel. Served with turkey sausage and grape tomatoes.

Dinner Gone Wrong

Ribs broiled with sweet and sour sauce served with broccoli and white rice.

I didn't like this meal at all. My family did though so I suppose that's alright.
Back to the drawing board.

We're Going to Play A Game Called "Catch-up"

Boy, it feels like forever since I've posted here. What's that? It's only been a couple of days? Oh...I see. Well, on to the food then!

Kyle requested chili a few days ago and since he made Dean's List, how could I say no to him?



This is Red & Black Bean Beef Chili. Wow, that's a mouthful, ain't it? I sprinkled a bit of parmesan cheese on top and served with crackers. It was the right amount of spicy for the family (of course it was too mild for me but what I consider mild, some people consider deadly). Some day I'll post the recipe here. I just need to tweak it a bit more.

I finally booked my tickets to NYC! I will be arriving at my lovely hometown June 24th and will be staying until the 17th of July. I'm going to be staying with my father, mostly, but have every intention of crashing on random couches throughout my stay. So if you're a friend, get that sleeping bag ready for me.

In other news, I went food shopping today. I'll post my receipt/total tomorrow (like I have done in the past) but I have to admit, I went over budget on this one. Way WAY over budget. I'm almost embarrassed. Ah, well. The food will be tasty, that's for sure.

Also, I decided to post pictures of what my fridge and pantry look like. It was very spontaneous so do excuse the messes.

Tomorrow's dinner will be BBQ ribs with a side of cornbread and coleslaw or some other cabbage dish.

Until next time,
<3 Jess

Fried Rice for Two

My family wanted fried pork chop and I didn't so I whipped this up for myself. Here's a recipe. Essentially most of my fried rices are made by throwing meat, veggies, rice, an egg, and soy sauce in a skillet. Follow that basic pattern and you're bound to come up with something tasty.

In my version I fried a center cut pork chop separately and then pulled the meat off the bone. The version below is easier (and made in one pot).

I'm also doing the low-carb thing; you can add in more rice and pork to make it family sized. Just adjust the seasonings (soy sauce, hoisin sauce, etc) to taste.

Fried Rice for Two

6oz pork chop, boneless and cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup celery diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 shelled edamame
1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup cold rice (white or brown)
1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Salt and pepper to taste.

1 tbsp oil

In large skillet or wok, heat oil. Add in the pork and cook until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Add in celery, carrots, onions, garlic and edamame. Saute until onions become translucent.

Add in rice and stir to mix thoroughly. While stirring, pour in egg. The constant mixing ensures it coats the rice and pork; you want it to hold everything together, not become scrambled eggs with rice.

Add in soy sauce, hoisin, ginger, salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve hot.

PS: This tastes really good with Sriracha too (is there anything that doesn't??)

Chorizo, Pepperjack, and Spinach Omelet

1/2 cup ground chorizo
1 cup baby spinach
1oz pepper jack cheese
2 eggs, beaten

In large skillet brown chorizo. Add in cup of spinach and saute until wilted. Put spinach/chorizo aside.

In small frying/omelet pan, pour in beaten eggs. Turn over when bottom side is fully cooked (about one minute). Place pepper jack cheese and chorizo/spinach mixture onto half of egg. Fold over and serve while hot.

Beef Stew

Kidney beans, beef, celery, carrots, garlic, spinach, and a few egg noodles in one delicious stew

Low Carb? Aw Geez...

Yes, it's true. I'm doing the low carb thing. Not as extreme as most people, I might add. I recognize that carbohydrates are a very important part of any diet. I've just been eating the wrong kind and for someone who is insulin resistant, the wrong kind could make me sick. So, today was my first real foray into the low carb world.

It was tougher than I thought. On Sunday (yesterday) I decided to have a last meal of sorts. I baked my usual lasagna recipe and it was fantastic (see picture above). Too bad it had enough calories to sustain three small children.

Dinner tonight was a bit better, calorie and carbohydrate wise. I made chicken according to my empanada recipe except I added in two (2) cups of chicken broth, four (4) cut carrots, and two (2) cups of egg noodles. The green beans I steamed separately. The meal wasn't soupy at all, it was just a good, tender meal. I call it "Sticky Chicken and Pasta".



It was the best new meal I've made in a while. I can't wait to make it again.

Until next time,
<3 Jess

Salmon w/ Spaghetti Tossed in Pesto

Empanadas de Pollo (Con Huevo)

Quite some time ago a friend told me about these empanadas she had been craving. They were made by a Chilean woman and were filled with chicken, hard-boiled eggs, raisins, and olives. The combination sounded intriguing and I went about finding and altering empanadas to come close to what my friend used to have. I am not sure if these are The Ones, but they sure are tasty!

These take quite a bit of work so I recommend that you break the job into two days. Make the filling on the first, then make the dough, assemble, and cook the empanadas on the second day. The secret in this empanada is to stew chicken thighs and drumsticks whole and then strip the meat off the bone. The filling is made in one pot (convenience!). I also took pictures of many steps: Click on the links throughout the recipe to see what the steps looked like.

Chicken Empanadas
Makes 12-18

Filling:

3 chicken quarters, thighs and drumsticks
1 tablespoon of oil
2 large onions, cut in half lengthwise then cut in strips
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup olives, chopped
1/2 cup water
4 hardboiled eggs
1/4 cup of raisins

Dough:
4 cups of All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 cup of butter, or two sticks, chopped. (You may substitute margarine, just divide into two portions to ease mixing)
3/4 cup of ice water

Eggwash: Not to be made until empanadas are sealed.
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp water

To make the filling:

Heat tablespoon of oil in large pot. Pat chicken dry, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, then brown in oil about 3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Add onions and garlic to pot and saute until translucent. Add salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, bay leaves, chopped olives, and water. Stir then bring to a boil. Add chicken back into pot and cover. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Turn chicken over. Simmer another 15 minutes or until tender.

Once tender, transfer chicken onto plate and let cool. Using hands or fork, discard skin and bones. Chop or shred the meat. Add back into pot. Add in chopped egg and raisins. Carefully stir. Discard bay leaves and season filling with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and let filling cool for about 30 minutes (or overnight if you are doing this in parts). The filling is done.

Dough:

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, begin to mix the butter in. You should have a coarse, crumbly mix with little pea-sized bumps of butter. Add in the water and begin to knead in bowl until it comes together. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for about three minutes. The dough should resemble pie crust dough.

Form dough into log and chill in plastic wrap, in the fridge, for about an hour. This give the dough time to cool and you time to clean up a little bit.

Assembling the empanadas:

Preheat oven to 400F. Make sure you have a rack set in the middle of the oven.

Lightly grease a baking sheet or cover with parchment.

Bring dough out from refrigerator and unwrap. Cut log into 18 equal pieces (12 if you want them to be a bit larger) and form into balls. After lightly flour your rolling pin, roll each ball into a circle about 1/8 of an inch thick. (It's okay if they're not perfect circles).

Place about two tablespoons of filling into center and fold dough over. Lightly flour a fork and press it down along the edge to seal the empanada.

Repeat above steps until you have finished your all filling and dough. You should have about 18 medium empanadas or 12 large ones. Place finished empanadas in baking pan.

Make an eggwash (one large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water) and lightly brush onto empanadas.

Place empanadas into oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until empanadas are golden. Let cool for five minutes.

Serve alone or with rice and beans.

Variation Station:


If you don't want to use such a complicated cooking method for the chicken, here's a tip: Any cut of chicken will work fine. Use boneless chicken breast instead of thighs and drumsticks; it'll be easier to shred.

If you want even more ease, buy already cooked chicken from your market's deli. Shred it, add it to the filling ingredients (minus the eggs and raisins), and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the eggs and raisins at the last minute. Continue with recipe as written.

You can easily omit the raisins, hard-boiled eggs, or olives.

If you have any filling leftover, add it to a dish of rice and beans. The filling is fully cooked before being added into the empanada!

If you have any dough left over, freeze it for your next empanada adventure. You can also bake or fry rounds of dough without any filling. It makes a tasty bread!

Until next time,
<3 Jess