Chicken with Rice and Black Beans

One of my favorite "celebrity chefs" is Rick Bayless of Fontera and Top Chef Masters fame.  His cookbooks focus on creating flavorful authentic Mexican dishes.  The book that I have been cooking out of recently is "Mexican Everyday".  In this book Rick simplifies many of his more complex dishes making them quicker and easier to prepare thus the name Mexican Everyday.  You will not find Taco Bell or Chi Chi's style (not that there anything wrong with that) Mexican food in this book. You will get real deal authentic Mexican flavors.  Rick does a great job at suggesting substitutes for ingredients that may be hard to find.  He also includes several stories about his travels in Mexico that add a personal touch to the dishes.  The most recent dish that I made out of this book is Ricks "riff" on Arroz con Pollo.  It's a very simple, one dish meal that you can easily feed an army with.  I like to garnish this dish with a lime wedge and some cilantro.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt
2 1/2 tablespoons of ancho chile powder
1 medium white onion
1 1/2 cups of rice
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups of chicken stock
1 15 oz can of black beans (rinsed)
1/4 cup of chopped green onions

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium high heat.  Salt the chicken breasts on both sides then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the chile powder over both sides of the chicken breast.  When the oil is hot, place all 4 chicken breasts into the pot and sear them for about 2 or 3 minutes per side.  Remove the chicken from the pot and reserve for later use.  The chicken will not be cooked through at this point so don't worry if it comes out a little pink.  At this point we are just trying to get a nice sear on the chicken and add some flavor to the oil.  If the chicken absorbed a lot of the oil, add a little bit more to the pot.

Now add the rice and onion to the pot and stir constantly for about 3 minutes or until the rice starts to turn opaque.  Add the garlic, remaining chile powder and stir for about a minute.  Add the broth, a pinch of salt and stir well.  When the broth comes to a boil, cover, reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 10 minutes. 

While the rice is cooking, cut the reserved chicken into 1 inch cubes. After the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, add the beans,  the chicken and any reserved juices.  Stir the pot, cover, and cook for another 12 minutes.

Now, add the green onions, stir, and remove the pot from the heat.  Return the cover the pot and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. 

After it has sat for 10 minutes, stir the mixture, spoon into bowls, and garnish with some cilantro and a lime wedge.  Grab a cerveza, and enjoy!

3 of my favorite things!

Orange Beef Stir-Fry

Yesterday I was supposed to grill out.  We were going to have carne asada.  It was going to be great.  Mother Nature must have been craving something else because it was pouring down rain when I got home from work.  As much as I love grilling, I was not in the mood to stand in the rain and grill.  So, onto "Plan B".  The only problems is that I did not have a "Plan B".  Time for a Top Chef syle "Quick Fire Challenge".  You have a hungry family ready to eat.  Using only the ingredients in your pantry, come up with a complete meal.  Your time starts now!  If only Padma was standing in my kitchen!  I began to take inventory, we had a London Broil, onions, peppers, 1 orange....hmmm orange beef...I think I've had that somewhere before.  Ah yes, PF Chang's has a killer orange beef stir fry.  So out of this "Quick Fire Challenge" grew this recipe for Orange Beef Stir Fry!  The total cook time on this meal is under 30 minutes making it perfect for a week night! 

Ingredients:

1 Pound of Beef Steak (I used London Broil but Sirloin would also work well) sliced in 1/4 inch strips
1 onion (cut into 1 inch squares)
2 Bell Peppers (seeded and cut into 1 inch squares)
Zest of 1 orange
Vegetable Oil
1 Tbs Dark Sesame Oil
2 Tbs Corn Starch
Salt
Pepper

For the Stir Fry Sauce:
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Dry Sherry
1 Tbs Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbs Sugar (I used "Sugar in the Raw")
1 Tbs Chili paste (I used Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Paste)
Juice from half of an orange

                                                      Directions:
Combine all of the Stir Fry Sauce ingredients together and set aside.  Now sprinkle the sliced steak with the corn starch and season with salt and pepper generously.    Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of dark sesame oil in a large wok or non-stick skillet over high heat.  Add half of the beef and stir fry until almost cooked through.  There should be a nice crust to the steak.  Remove the beef from the wok and reserve on paper towels.  Now add the rest of the beef to the wok and a little more oil if needed.  Remove the beef from the wok when it is almost cooked through.  Add the onion and peppers and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.  You want the peppers and onions to still have a crisp to them.  Once they are almost done, add the beef back to the wok along with the orange zest and the stir fry sauce you made earlier.  Stir well so that everything is coated well with the sauce, about 1 minute.  Utensils down,  your time is up!  Hopefully Chef Tom and Padma like your dish and you will have immunity from washing the dishes (if you don't watch Top Chef you have no clue what I am talking about).  Serve over Jasmine or brown rice.

Dinner and a Movie - Pad Thai Meets the Parents

"Jack can't talk Thai!  Oh no Dina, Jack can talk Thai.  Jack talk Thai very well!"  One of my favorite moments from "Meet the Parents" the only movie from that franchise really worth seeing.  I love the TBS series "Dinner and a Movie" so I am going to borrow that concept occasionally and use it in my blog.  Tonight, you will be cooking Pad Thai and watching Meet the Parents.  Mix up some Tom Collins' (Jack's libation of choice), make sure Jinksie cat is in the house and remember, if you want to stay in the "Burn's circle of trust", don't burn the Pad Thai! Makes Two Servings.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. "Sugar in the Raw" or Brown Sugar
3 tbsp. Concentrated Tamarind Juice (substitute half white vinegar and half fresh lime juice)
3 tbsp. Fish Sauce
2 tbsp. Oyster Sauce
2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1 Shallot minced
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 cup  Tofu (drained and squeezed of water)
1 tbsp. sweet radish (optional)
Half a package of Rice Noodles (two hand fulls)
10 Jumbo Shrimp (peeled and de-veined)
2 eggs
1 bunch of Chives (divided and chopped.  half will be used for garnish)
2 cups of Mung Bean Sprouts (divided, half will be cooked, half are for garnish)
1 Lime, cut into wedges (for garnish)
Asian Chili Paste (for garnish)
Crushed Peanuts (for garnish)
Chopped Chives (for garnish)








Directions:
Soak the noodles in warm water according to package directions (usually 30 minutes to an hour).  The drain and reserve the noodles.

In a non-stick pan, over medium / medium low heat, add the first 4 ingredients and bring to a low boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.  You want the sauce to thicken but not burn.  Sugar can burn quick so keep stirring.  Taste the sauce and make sure it's balanced.  It is supposed to be equally salty, sweet and sour.   Once the sauce has thickened, remove from heat and reserve.

The remaining steps will go quite fast so make sure you have everything on-hand and ready.  Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat.  Add the shrimp and cook for about 3 minutes per side or until just cooked through.  Remove the shrimp from the wok.  Add the garlic and shallot and stir fry until fragrant but not burnt (about 45 seconds to 1 minute).  Add the tofu and radish, stirring constantly for another 45 seconds to a minute.  Now add half of the bean sprouts, half of the chopped chives, the noodles and the sauce you made earlier and stir fry for about a minute or two, until the noodles are almost cooked through.  Now push the noodle mixture to one side of the wok and crack two eggs into the wok.  I like to add two drops oil just before I add the eggs so they don't stick to the pan.  Cook the egg until they are about half way cooked through, then integrate them into the noodles.  Add the shrimp and any juices to the wok and stir fry, mix well for about 30 seconds and then remove from the heat.  To serve, divide the noodle mixture into two large bowls and top with the garnishes.  I like to put the garnish ingredients into small bowls and let each person choose what they want on their Pad Thai.  Now, set up the TV trays, put on the movie and remember...You CAN cook Thai!  Oh you can cook Thai very well! 

Grandpa's Pancakes!

The mere mention of pancakes sends our kids into a frenzy.  Pancakes in our house are not just pancakes, they are Grandpa's pancakes.  It does not matter who makes them, they will always and forever be Grandpa's pancakes.  This a super simple pancake mix and once you see how easy (and cheap) it is, you will never go back to that yellow and blue box ever again!  My kids can not agree on what kind of pancakes they want so I usually add the extras as I'm cooking.  One, likes blueberries, one likes corn (don't ask), I like banana's and walnuts.  You can get as creative as you want with the extras.  I've actually tried bacon and that turned out pretty good (bacon on anything is good)!



Ingredients:
2 cup of Milk (2% works well but you can use skim, buttermilk, whole, etc.)
2 Eggs
2 cups of All Purpose Flour
4 tsp. of Rumsford Baking Powder (according to Grandpa, it has to be Rumsford)
4 tbsp. of Sugar
1 tsp. of Salt
4 to 6 tbsp. of Melted Unsalted Butter

Directions:
Whisk the milk and egg in a bowl.  Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a separate large bowl.  Slowly pour the milk and egg mixture into the bowl that contains the other ingredients and whisk but do not over beat!  Pour the melted butter in with the rest of the ingredients and give it a quick stir.  If everyone in your party wants the same add-in, mix that into the batter now, otherwise you can add the add-in to each individual cake while it's cooking (before flipping, duh!).  Cook on a butter greased griddle or non-stick pan over medium, medium-low heat until bubbles begin to form on the perimeter of the pancake.  Flip quickly and continue cooking until the pancakes are cooked throughout.  You can keep the pancakes in a warmed oven until ready to serve.  Short stack, short stack coming up!

**This also makes a can't beat waffle mix, just use half the amount of sugar that you would for pancakes.

New Year's Eve Smoked Rib Roast

Are you hosting a New Year's Eve gathering?  Even if you're gathering is just you and your family, this rib roast is the perfect main course.  What's better than enjoying a savory cut of prime rib with your friends and family?  This recipe is extremely easy and it's very hard to mess up.  Rib roasts boast a generous amount of fat which makes it a perfect candidate for slow smoking, indirect grilling or roasting.  I prefer to smoke the roast, this will give the prime rib a slightly smokey flavor on the crust, it also frees up the oven for side dishes.  You'll be the most popular person at the party when you walk inside from the grill, with a delicious rib roast in hand!  I've included a recipe for a creamy horseradish sauce that you can serve with the prime rib. 

Rib Roast Ingredients
Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper (from a pepper mill)
Standing Rib Roast - the size of the rib roast depends on how many people you need to feed.  A 2 bone, roast should feed 4 to 5 people.  If you have a large party, go for a full 7 bone roast.  Generally, it is 1 to 1 1/4 pounds (uncooked) per serving.  If the roast is too big for your grill or smoker, you can cut it in half.
Oak Wood Chunks or Chips
Butchers String

Directions
Take the rib roast out of the refrigerator and let stand for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, set up the grill or smoker for indirect grilling.  You want to have the temperature hold steady at 350 for the duration of the cook. 
The roast will need to be tied to prevent the meat from separating from the bones.  To do this, place the roast bone side down and place butchers string parallel to each rib.  Then use your favorite knot to hold it in place.  And you thought you would never use those knots you learned in Scouts!  If you ask your butcher nicely, they should be able to tie the roast for you. 

Now season the roast on all sides generously with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  You want to have large pepper chunks so adjust your pepper mill accordingly.  If you have a remote probe thermometer, place it in the roast now.  It should be placed in the middle of the roast, between two of the ribs. 

When the grill is preheated, toss your wood chunks or chips in the smoker and then place the roast, bone side down on the cooking grate.  Cover the grill and cook until an instant read thermometer reads 130 degrees.  The general rule of thumb is 15 minutes per pound but you really need to use a thermometer.  Remove the roast from the smoker and tent with aluminum foil.  Allow the roast to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.  You might have to physically fight your gusts from getting to that roast but protect it with your life!  If it's carved too soon, the juices will spill all over and will be wasted.  Resting the roast, allows the juices to settle and it also allows the temperature of the meat to rise to a perfect 135 degrees (medium rare). 

Served with plank roasted veggies and crab casserole

Before carving the roast, you will need to remove the bones.  To do this, roll the roast so that the ribs are pointing straight up in the air, then take a knife and cut downward, close to the bones until the ribs are separated.  They should come off very easily.  Do not throw away the bones!!  Those are treasures that contain some of the juiciest, tender, and smokey meat on the entire roast!  Save those for your favorite guests or for yourself, after all, you do deserve a treat after all that slaving away on the grill!  Now, carve the roast into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces and serve with the horseradish cream sauce.  If you have guests that do not like medium rare meat, give them the end pieces of the roast.  They will be a little more done then inside of the roast.  If that is still do rare for them, calmly collect yourself, don't kick them out of your house and finish their piece with a quick sear on non-stick skillet. 

Horseradish Cream Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup prepared horseradish (I usually get one small jar of hot and one small jar of mild and mix them)
1 teaspoon of salt
Fresh Pepper from a mill

Directions
Place the heavy cream in a large mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until thickened.  Fold in the horseradish, salt and a few grindings of fresh pepper.  Now refrigerate and serve with the prime rib.  It also make a great sandwich condiment for roast beef sandwiches or left over prime rib sandwiches.  Yum! 

Marinated Grilled Chicken with Roasted Red Peppers, Peas, and Pesto Tortellini

When I was visiting my old college roommate in Pittsburgh last month, he prepared a version of this dish for his community pre-marathon pasta party.  When the dish was placed on the table, it looked like the knife fight scene from West Side Story!  Needless to say, it was a huge hit!

When I got home from Pittsburgh, I decided that this would be a great family meal to try.  Our kids love, chicken, tortellini, and pesto so it seemed like a no brainer.  My friend used Orecchiette instead of tortellini so feel free to improvise.  If you're cooking this on a weeknight, you can use a good store bought pesto, just be sure to look at the ingredients.  You want to use a pesto that includes extra virgin olive oil as a main ingredient.  Most of the store bought incarnations of pesto use canola oil.  If it's summertime and you have fresh basil in your garden just begging to be used, I would highly recommend this homemade pesto sauce, it's easy and will make a huge difference.  Also, you can marinate the chicken in whatever kind of "Italian" marinade you would like if you're short on time.  I often use Newman's Own, "Family Recipe Italian Dressing" with great results, but I've included a recipe for a dressing that is perfect for marinating chicken (and on salads).

For the marinade:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbls honey
1 pinch salt
ground black pepper to taste

Wisk all of the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl.  Correct to your liking with salt, pepper, and honey if needed.  

Ingredients:
Pesto
3 Chicken breast halves
1 serving of marinade(listed above), or one bottle of "store bought"
3 Red Bell Peppers
1 Cup of Frozen Green Peas
5 cups of frozen or fresh tortellini
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan

Place the chicken in the marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.  Preheat the grill.  If you are using a gas grill remove half of the grill grates.If using a charcoal grill, do not place the grate over the coals yet.  

When the grill is preheated, place the red peppers directly over the coals or the gas burners.  Rotate the peppers until they skin is blackened on all sides.  Remove the peppers and place them in a large bowl and cover with aluminum foil.
Place the grill grates back on the grill.  Cook the tortellini according to the directions on the package.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the grill.  Cook for around 5 minutes per side or until cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest.  Microwave the peas according to the directions on the package.  Meanwhile, take a knife and scrape the blackened skin off of the red peppers.  Then chop the peppers into 1 inch cubes.  Toss the tortellini, pesto, roasted red pepper, and peas together.  Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan.  Slice the grilled chicken, place on top of the pasta and serve!  This dish should be served family style, preferably alfresco!

Pesto Time!!!

 Are you looking for something to do with all that basil in your garden?  Pesto is the perfect solution!  I use pesto for pizza sauce, pasta sauce, on chicken, you can pretty much put pesto on anything and it tastes great!  This pesto sauce also freezes well. 

Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 generous pinch of salt

3 tbls pine nuts
1/2 cup grated parmingiano-reggiano cheese
2 tbls grated romano cheese
3 tbls softened butter




Place the first 5 ingredients in a food processor or blender and process into a smooth paste.

Transfer the contents of the food processor to a bowl and stir in the cheese.  Once the cheese has been evenly distributed in the sauce, stir in the softened butter and mix well.  If you are using the pesto as a pasta sauce, add a tablespoon of the water that the pasta was cooked in to the pesto sauce when tossing the pasta with the sauce.  This will help the pesto coat the pasta.