I started this blog in late July of this year and now we are about halfway into September. You might be thinking that this is a prelude that will lead into a rambling account of all of the fun that I have had so far and how much I have enjoyed bonding with other fellow bloggers.
Well, all of that is true but, I only mention the time frame because of how it relates to photographing the food that I have made. Most of the food that I have documented on the blog has been made during late afternoons and evenings.
Our kitchen sits on the western side of our home and we have a window, over the sink, that faces west. My wife photographs most of what is posted and she has produced some beautiful shots. But, I know what lies ahead. Autumn and Winter. The sun is setting earlier with each passing day and pretty soon, I will be making dinner long after the sun has set.
That means I won’t have the dramatic lighting that the setting sun is providing now. We will be faced with the challenge of making food look good under the bland overhead lighting of our kitchen. I don’t relish the thought of setting up elaborate lighting schemes and I don’t want my kitchen to turn into a photo studio. Fortunately, my wife and I are creative and resourceful people. We will try to find ways to put up some interesting photos, despite the lack of natural sunlight.
So, if you find yourself yawning at my posts during the winter, I will understand. Come back next spring and catch a glimpse of the sun again.
In my never-ending attempt to rid my refrigerator of leftovers I found myself falling back on a familiar theme: Tex-Mex. Mexican cuisine can be made with all sorts of things and that’s what makes it so easy to rely on, when having to decide what to scrape together for dinner.
For this meal, corn tortillas tied everything together. I made three different types of tacos, two with beef and one with turkey. All of them shared some of the typical taco toppings like lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro and sour cream. Each one had at least one signature ingredient and each had a different kind of cheese.
Each taco had its own, unique quality. Everyone that ate them had their own
favorite.
This was fun to make but, I have to admit, it didn’t come together
as quickly as I wanted.
I had some tomatoes from the garden that needed to be used so I cooked them down to a sauce and added jalapeños, onion and garlic. I pureed the sauce after it cooked for about 40 minutes. Normally, I would use picante sauce from a jar but I just can’t resist fresh sauce, when I have the ingredients in my garden.
One more comment before we jump into the recipe. I sometimes use two corn tortillas per taco, instead of just one. These tacos are prepared like “street tacos”, which is to say they resemble authentic Mexican tacos. They are not the crispy corn tortillas that you might find at a grocery store, or ones that you might get at a fast food restaurant.
The tortillas are heated just to a point where they are still soft and pliable. Doubling up on the tortillas means that the tacos are more durable. I hate tacos that fall apart in my hands!
Ingredients:
½ cup beef barbacoa
½ cup cooked ground beef
½ cup cooked ground turkey
1 cup prepared spicy tomato sauce
1 Tbs chipotle in adobo sauce (diced)
¼ cup sautéed sliced mushrooms
½ cup borracho beans,
drained
¼ cup spicy mayo/sour cream sauce
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
½ cup cotija cheese
½ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
¼ cup diced tomatoes
½ cup shredded lettuce
¼ cup diced onion
½ cup cilantro
6 pitted black olives, chopped
¼ cup sour cream
18 corn tortillas
lime wedges
Directions for the
salsa:
If you don’t want to make fresh salsa, use a store bought salsa of your choice…otherwise, this is what I did to make the salsa for this dish.
Dice 6 to 8 small to medium sized tomatoes. Add to a large pot and simmer at low
heat. Dice ½ onion and smash 3 garlic cloves
and add those to the pot. Add 1 tsp dry
oregano and 1 Tbs cumin powder. Simmer
at low/medium heat for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the
sauce from burning on the bottom of the pot.
Puree the contents. Now you have
fresh sauce! Set this aside.
finished salsa
While the sauce is cooking, prepare the rest of the
ingredients for the tacos. You will be
chopping, peeling and slicing vegetables so keep a bowl handy for the refuse.
carrot, mushroom, lime and olives
onion, tomato and cilantro
sour cream, lettuce and spicy mayo sauce
chipotle in adobo sauce
Peel, chop and dice all of the vegetables. Set aside.
Grate the cheese and set aside.
Break apart and crumble the meat. Lay the meat in separate piles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and warm in the oven at 250° for about 15 minutes.
Heat a pan, or a comal, on the stove to low/medium heat. Add a little oil and cook the tortillas on each side. Add a little more oil after two or three tortillas are cooked. The tortillas should cook for about 20 seconds on each side. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
I kept forgetting what I was going to put on each taco so I
decided to write it down on a 3×5 index card.
Not a bad idea, especially for someone with the attention span of a
gnat, like me.
Even after writing this down, I still switched the cheese on two of the tacos…go figure!
Directions for
assembling the tacos:
I recently got some taco holders as a gift and, although I don’t use them often, they made it easy to assemble tacos and they made a nice presentation.
I worked on all three tacos simultaneously.
For the barbacoa
taco:
Start by adding some barbacoa. Add borracho beans, followed by salsa and
cheddar cheese.
For the ground beef
taco:
Start with ground beef. Add minced chipotle sauce, salsa and cotija cheese.
For the turkey taco:
Add ground turkey, followed by mushrooms, followed by the mayo/sour cream sauce, Monterey Jack cheese and black olives.
Top all three tacos with lettuce, tomato, onion, carrot, cilantro and finally, a small dollop of sour cream. Serve with lime wedges.
I made turkey burgers a few days ago and I had some burgers left over and I decided to make them again. I didn’t want to recreate the same burger because that would be boring. So, I decided to make Swiss mushroom burgers.
Take a look here if you want to see how to make the burger…
All I had to do was slice some cheese and sauté some mushrooms and onions. How easy!
I used different buns than the last time I made turkey burgers…again, I wanted the burgers to have a different look as well as a different taste.
I’m not going to list the measurements for the
ingredients. Add as much cheese,
mushroom and onion to the burger as you like.
Go ahead, pile on the cheese…nobody’s
looking!
Ingredients:
Precooked turkey burgers
Sliced Swiss cheese
Sliced fresh mushrooms
Sliced onions
Sourdough ciabatta buns
Greek seasoning – just a pinch
Spicy mayo/sour cream sauce (Two parts mayo, one part sour cream and a splash of sriracha sauce) *left over from the Yin and Yang Chicken Wraps*
Directions:
Warm the burgers in a 275° oven for about 10 minutes.
While the burgers heat, slice the mushrooms and cheese.
Sauté the onions and mushrooms in a pan with a little
butter. Don’t overcook the mushrooms. Sprinkle a little Greek seasoning on the
mushrooms. Set aside.
Pull the burgers from the oven and put them in the pan and add a splash of water to the pan. Lay the mushrooms on top of the burgers and pile the cheese on top of that. Cover and heat at low/medium for a couple of minutes, just long enough to melt the cheese.
Borracho translates to “drunk” in English, so these are “Drunk
Beans”. I suppose they are called this
because one of the ingredients is beer.
The alcohol cooks out and, honestly, I can’t detect the flavor of beer
in the final soup. I guess I include the
beer out of habit.
The soup is very flavorful and satisfying. It warms the heart, as any good soup or stew
should.
Ingredients:
1 lb dried pinto beans
½ lb of Bacon
1 onion, chopped
2 jalapeños or serrano chilis, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 or 5 tomatoes, chopped (or a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes)
1 bottle of beer (I used Shiner Bock)
4 cups Chicken Broth (32 oz carton)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cube of tomato bouillon
½ cup chopped cilantro
½ tsp salt
¼ cup fresh lime
juice (about 3 limes)
Directions:
Wash and sort the beans.
Remove any shriveled beans and stones.
Presoak the beans.
You can soak them in water overnight or, you can use a faster
method. I prefer the fast method.
Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rapid
boil. Add the dry beans and boil for two
or three minutes. Turn the heat off and
cover the pot. Allow the beans to soak
for an hour. Reserve 1 cup of the water
from the beans and drain the rest of the soaking water.
Put the beans in a 7 quart Dutch oven (or a large oven-proof
pot).
Cook the bacon in a pan.
Don’t overcook it. Remove the
cooked bacon and keep bacon fat in the pan.
Chop the cooked bacon into ½ inch pieces and set aside.
Chopped onion, jalapeño and yellow bell pepper
Add the onions, jalapeños and garlic to the pan and simmer on medium heat. Stir until the onions are softened…about 3 minutes.
Notice the slice of red habanero. I stirred it along with the other peppers and onions for about 30 seconds and then I removed it.
Chopped tomato and cilantro
Tomato boullion
Add everything to the pot and cook for 5 hours.
Add all of the ingredients to beans in the Dutch oven, except for the lime juice. Stir to combine. Cover the Dutch oven and cook on the stove top at low heat for 4 or 5 hours. Stir every hour, or so. When the beans have softened, the soup is ready to eat. Turn off the heat and add the lime juice.
Before we get down to business let me just say that barbacoa is a very special thing. Barbacoa is more than just slow cooked meat. Much more. Preparing barbacoa is a time-honored tradition in Mexico. The tradition spread to Texas years ago, along with the Mexican immigrants who introduced the cuisine. Anywhere you find a sizeable Mexican population you are bound to find barbacoa.
The origins of barbacoa are steeped in history and culture. Ancient cultures, and not-so-ancient cultures, adhere to the notion that the animals we eat should be respected and treated with reverence. When an animal is slaughtered it should be treated with dignity and it should be thanked for the sustenance that it provides to us. Using all parts of the animal pays respect to the animal. This ritual is a sacred rite and one that is increasingly disappearing in our modern culture.
Barbacoa is typically served on weekends. It is presented to family and friends as a celebration of life.
Cooking methods vary from place to place. Traditionally, barbacoa is made from young
goat (cabrito), lamb (borrega), beef (res) or pork (cochina). The entire animal is often used, including
entrails and stomach. If you want to
make barbacoa the traditional way you will need to dig a pit, line it with fire
resistant bricks, slaughter and butcher an animal, obtain some agave leaves (hojas
de maguey), prepare an intensely hot fire and layer all of the ingredients in
the pit, cover the pit with sheet metal and wait for several hours.
I don’t have an underground brick oven…but don’t think for a minute that I haven’t considered making one! I have had authentic barbacoa on a few occasions and words can’t sufficiently describe how rich and wonderful the experience was.
Since I don’t have an underground pit, I buy beef shoulder roasts (chuck roast) and braise the meat in a Dutch oven, or a covered casserole dish. Sounds simple, when you compare this to the effort involved with the traditional method, right?
The chuck roast is a tough, muscular cut of beef, which
means it contains a good amount of collagen.
When you cook it at a low temperature for a long period of time, the
collagen dissolves and becomes gelatinous, and that is what makes the meat
moist and succulent.
If you have the luxury of living in a place where you can get fresh beef from a butcher, ask the butcher for a “blade roast”. A blade roast is a shoulder roast that contains part of the shoulder blade. As the roast cooks, the bone imparts rich flavor and the meat that is next to the bone becomes very tender.
In Mexico, barbacoa is served with soft, warm corn tortillas. Here in the states, we tend to use warm flour tortillas. Both kinds of tortillas are equally good in my mind, when it comes to barbacoa tacos. If you want to make this meal even more special, find freshly made corn tortillas or homemade flour tortillas. See my recipe here forhomemade tortillas.
Okay, let’s make some barbacoa!
Ingredients:
Beef shoulder roast (chuck roast) 3 to 5 lbs.
2 Tbs cooking oil
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
3 or 4 dried guajillo chilis, stemmed and seeded
3 or 4 bay leaves
2 Tbs dried onion flakes
2 Tbs paprika
2 Tbs cumin powder
2 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs oregano (Mexican oregano is preferred)
Directions:
Heat an oven to 225°.
Apply salt and pepper to the raw meat.
Sear the meat in a hot skillet, with a little oil.
Add the stock, bay leaves and most of the spice mix to a Dutch oven or casserole dish.
Spread the rest of the spices on top of the meat and cover.
Braise in the oven for 5 hours.
Pull the meat from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Shred the meat with two forks and transfer to a serving bowl. (Make sure to remove any stray bay leaves and chilis before shredding.)
Serve with warm tortillas, guacamole, fresh tomatoes,
onions, cilantro and lime wedges.
To complete the meal, include side dishes like refried
beans, borracho beans, fried potatoes or Spanish rice.
Above all, as you sit down to eat, consider the ranchers and
farmers that made the meal possible.
Consider the sacrifices that we all make for each other as we try to make
each other happy, safe and healthy.
Sometimes I crave very spicy food. And by sometimes, I mean about once a week. I don’t always act on the impulse but when I
do, I go all out.
I’m not the kind of person that goes around bragging about
eating super-hot-spicy peppers and I’m not the kind of guy that likes to trick
people with wickedly spicy food. I just like
the stuff. Spicy food makes me happy. It brings me peace when I need it. I tend to crave very spicy food after a stressful
day at work. I feel as though I can burn
away a bad day with blistering hot food. Sometimes I just want something very spicy for
no reason at all. Like I said, I just
like the stuff.
I call this Yin and Yang Chicken Wraps because it exists in perfect balance. Admittedly, it contains things that are not so healthy yet, it contains things that are very healthy for you. Think of it as the dichotomy of Good and Evil.
Evil: fried chicken, flour tortillas and mayonnaise.
Without evil, could we appreciate good? Without good, could we perceive evil? Oh yes, this is going to be some very
philosophical food!
Another aspect of yin and yang provided by this recipe relates
to taste sensations. Spicy and
Soothing.
Spicy: all of the peppers and hot sauces
Soothing: mango, lettuce, sour cream and cilantro.
This recipe is relatively quick and easy to make. In fact, if you pare it down to the core, it’s
really just fried chicken strips with hot sauce and some vegetables, wrapped
into a large burrito. The ingredients may
change, based upon what I have at hand.
Since I am growing chili peppers in my garden, I have lots of ways to bring
spicy heat and bold flavors.
red habaneros
Habaneros are the key in this particular recipe. If you have never tried fresh habanero, you should try them. Be careful, though. Habaneros are VERY spicy. Slice a tiny sliver from a fresh habanero and pop it into your mouth. Bite once and spit it out. You will get a big dose of heat from the spice but not so much to knock you down. You will also get to experience a most unique chili flavor. There’s no other chili pepper like the habanero. The taste is vibrant and unlike any other chili I have tasted.
If you want to try cooking with habanero but are concerned
about being blown away by the excessive heat, try adding a slice or two to a
stir fry. Stir it with other items in
the wok and pull it out after 10 or 15 seconds.
You will get the flavor and some of the heat. If you like it, add a little more but beware,
you can always add more habanero to a dish but you can never take it away. Once it imparts its heat, you can’t undo it.
Notice that I also use ghost pepper powder. Ghost pepper (Bhut jolokia) makes the habanero seem sweet and innocent, by comparison. Ghost peppers provide extremeheat and very little flavor. Any flavor a ghost pepper might provide is hidden behind screaming fire. I grow ghost peppers and dehydrate them and grind them into a powder.
A word of warning: set your dehydrator outdoors or in a ventilated, open garage. The fumes are practically lethal. And, once in powder form, the ghost pepper is as strong as mace. I’m serious. You should use latex gloves and a mask and goggles when working with dried ghost pepper. I don’t, but I should.
The way I use ghost pepper in this recipe gives some spice
to the chicken but, after frying, the spiciness dissipates remarkably. You will get a bigger kick from the habanero
and jalapeño…believe me.
If you want to make a tame version of this, skip all of the peppers
and hot sauce and use everything else.
Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
2 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs paprika
2 cups flour
3 Tbs cornstarch
2 eggs
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 mango, peeled and chopped
3 habanero chilis, thinly sliced
3 jalapeños, sliced
1 tsp ghost pepper powder (optional)
¼ onion, thinly sliced
½ cup cilantro
½ cup carrots, sliced
1 cup lettuce, julienne sliced
1 Tbs Salt
4 burrito sized flour tortillas
Ingredients for the
sauce:
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
3 Tbs sriracha hot sauce
Mix the sauce (mayonnaise, sour cream and sriracha). Set aside
Lay the chicken breasts on a cutting board and slice them scallopini-style. Hold the chicken breast in place with the
palm of your hand. Slice the breast in
half horizontally, starting at the thickest end and work your way to the
thinner end. Dust the chicken with paprika
and ghost pepper powder.
Prepare the flour dredge by whisking the flour and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and let the chicken
rest in the bowl for 10 or 15 minutes.
The flour will mix with the moisture on the surface of the chicken and
the chicken will become tacky, to the touch.
While the chicken rests, add the cooking oil to a skillet
and set the heat to medium.
Mix the eggs in a shallow dish.
Dip the chicken in the egg and then dredge the chicken in
the flour mixture again. Shake off
excess flour and lay the chicken in the hot oil. Do not crowd in the pan. You will probably need to fry in two batches.
Since the chicken has been sliced in half, it will cook
quickly. Turn the chicken after a few
minutes and turn again. Keep turning the
chicken every few minutes until the chicken is crisps and becomes golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle a little salt on the chicken. Slice the chicken into ½“ strips.
Warm the burrito sized tortillas in a microwave oven until
they are soft and pliable.
Lay a tortilla on a clean work surface. As you prepare the wrap you will want to lay
everything down horizontally. Smear some
of the sauce in the center of tortilla.
Lay the vegetables, herbs and mango down on top of the sauce. Lay some chicken on top of the vegetables.
Add hot sauce, if desired.
Wrap the tortilla by folding the sides inward, toward the
middle and roll the tortilla.
Serve with your favorite drink. Milk, if you want some relief from the heat. Beer, if you’ve had a particularly rough day.
It seems to me that ground turkey gained popularity sometime
during the 1980’s. People were turning
away from red meat and they were looking for something that was healthier. I didn’t jump on the turkey wagon right
away.
But, as time passed, I kept trying new things and ground
turkey was something I finally got around to.
If you want reduce the amount of fat in your diet, get ground turkey
breast. Most ground turkey in
supermarkets combine the light and dark parts of the turkey, which might have as
much or more fat content than very lean beef.
Aw, who cares…
Control your portions, get some exercise and get a good night’s sleep and stop worrying so much.
One of the things I dislike about some recipes that call for
ground turkey is that they attempt to mimic the texture and flavor of
beef. That seems dishonest to me. I don’t want to be fooled by food. I want something straightforward and
honest.
I remember when my kids were little and they were going through their chicken nugget phase. Once, when I was picking up a bag of chicken nuggets at the store, I saw some chicken nuggets that were dinosaur shaped. Really…? Who were they trying to fool? Oh…kids, that’s right. Well kids, guess what? You’re not really eating miniature dinosaurs. You’re eating a glob of crunchy processed chicken.
Alright, enough of that!
Let’s make some honest turkey burgers.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 Tbs mayonnaise
1 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs chopped basil
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs ground black pepper
1 Tbs cooking oil
4 Hamburger buns (I used brioche buns)
(Burger toppings…lettuce, tomato, pickles, etc.)
Ingredients for
sauce:
2 Tbs mayonnaise
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
½ tsp hot sauce
Directions:
Mix the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
This is a double batch…I used 3 eggs.
In a large bowl, mix together turkey, egg, garlic,
Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise and basil, and season with
salt and pepper. Form the mixture into
four balls. Don’t be alarmed to find
that the mixture is a bit “wet”. This
isn’t beef. Don’t worry. Slightly moisten your hands under tap water
as you form the patties. This will keep
the patties from sticking to your hands.
Heat a skillet to medium heat and add the cooking oil. Add the patties to the pan. I actually added the round balls of meat to the pan and pressed them flat with my hand. That made it easier to form the patties. Cook for about 2 minutes and then flip the burgers. Sprinkle a little salt on the burgers and cook for another two minutes and turn one last time.
Let the burgers cook for another minute, or so, until they
are golden and cooked through. Remove to
a plate and keep warm.
Smear a thin amount of sauce on the top bun. Place a burger on the bottom bun and apply a
generous portion of the sauce to the burger.
Add your favorite burger fixings to the burger.
Recently, I was expecting dinner guests and I didn’t have a
plan for the meal. This happens every
now and then and, when it does, I usually resort to something I can practically
do in my sleep. Maybe tacos. Maybe spaghetti. No, let’s do pizza again.
I know what my family likes on their pizzas so I normally
just make them according to what I know to be their taste preferences. If I’m making two pizzas, I might make one
with half pepperoni and the other half pepperoni and Italian sausage. The other pizza might be an “everything pizza”,
meaning all of the veggies and assorted meats.
I might slip some anchovies in on the other half of the “everything
pizza”, but I have to make sure to put up warning cones around that half of the
pizza and announce, “this side has anchovy!”
It never fails, someone always inadvertently gets a slice with
some anchovy. Life is unfair sometimes.
But, this time I didn’t know what all of the guests like on
their pizza…or even if they liked pizza at all, for that matter. So I thought, why not lay out all of the
toppings and allow the guests to dress their own pizza.
I prepared the vegetables and meats and cheese and I even
put out a container or marinara, so that they could add as much as they wanted.
It turned out that the dinner party fizzled out and it was
just my wife and I. We wound up making
nearly identical pizzas…go figure.
I still think this is a pretty neat idea for a party. It allows people to congregate in the kitchen, which seems to occur naturally, anyway. And, it gives everyone the illusion of being able to control their own destiny. I like that.
Sometimes I embrace the South with open arms and a willing
heart, and this is one of those times.
Of course my willing heart will probably resent the heavy dose of
cholesterol that the fried chicken will impart but the rest of me is fully
satisfied by this delicious, crunchy delight!
I like to think that this sort of indulgence is okay, every
now and then, as long as it is followed by rigorous exercise and several days
of green salads and fresh fruit. At
least that is what my brain tells my arteries and my heart every time I indulge
in this sort of foolish behavior.
What is it about recovering from a cold that makes me turn
to the most unhealthy foods? Maybe it’s
just my newly awakened taste buds that make me crave the decadent things in
life.
Buttermilk is key here. Crispy, fried chicken can be achieved by other means but the combination of the buttermilk and the flour/cornstarch dredge makes this chicken staycrispy.
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
4 Tbs cayenne powder
3 Tbs garlic powder
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
3 Tbs cornstarch
3 cups fresh green beans
¼ cup chicken stock
4 or 5 medium russet potatoes
4 Tbs butter
3 Tbs sour cream
¼ cup whole milk
2 tsp all-purpose Greek seasoning (Cavender’s)
Directions:
Cut the chicken breasts by separating the tender from the
rest of the breast. Place the chicken
pieces in a mixing bowl and dust with 2 tablespoons cayenne and 1 tablespoon
garlic powder. Allow the chicken to rest
for 10 minutes. Cover the chicken with
buttermilk and refrigerate for one hour.
Wash the green beans and snip off the stems. Set aside.
Peel the potatoes and cut into roughly 1” to 2” cubes. Add the potatoes to a 4 quart pot and cover
with water. Boil the potatoes until they
are soft. Strain the cooked potatoes and
return to the pot. Add the butter, sour
cream and Greek seasoning. You can substitute
the Greek seasoning with salt and pepper but if you have never added Greek
seasoning to mashed potatoes you are missing a real treat. There is something so very right about Cavender’s
Greek seasoning!
Add some splashes of milk and beat the potatoes with a fork
or spatula. Add more milk until you get
the creaminess that you desire. I
usually use about ¼ cup of milk. Cover
the potatoes and keep in a warm place.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a hot skillet and sauté the
green beans for a minute. Add the
chicken stock, turn the heat down to low and cover. Stir the beans occasionally until they are
tender. Keep warm until ready to serve.
And now, for the chicken!
Mix two cups of flour, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, 2
tablespoons of cayenne powder and 1 tablespoon of garlic powder to a large
mixing bowl. Whisk until thoroughly
blended. Dredge the chicken pieces in
the flour mixture and let the chicken rest in the bowl for 5 to 10 minutes.
Heat a skillet and add enough cooking oil to fill the
skillet about half way. The oil needs to
be good and hot before adding the chicken…350° is just right.
Dredge the chicken in the flour again and add the chicken pieces
to the hot oil. Don’t start messing with the chicken right away. Let it cook for a few minutes before turning
over with tongs. Keep turning the chicken
until it is golden brown all around.
Boneless chicken breasts cook quickly…maybe 10 minutes total. Once you think the chicken is done, take a
large piece out and cut it. If the
chicken is white and firm in the middle (not pink), the chicken is cooked. Remove to a paper towel lined platter and
keep warm. Sprinkle some salt on the
chicken…because anything fried deserves a little salt.
Serve hot.
Eat salads and fresh fruit for the next several days. Get plenty of exercise and get good sleep!
I know when I’m over a cold when I start thinking about food
again.
I have been working overtime at work, which means waking up at
4:00 am and getting home around 5:00 pm.
That doesn’t leave much time for dinner preparation and relaxing before going
to bed.
I was on my way home, enjoying the rush hour traffic, when it
dawned on me that I had not gone to the grocery store recently and I didn’t
know what I would make for dinner. So, I
stopped off at the grocery store and started thinking about what was in my
refrigerator and what I might buy for dinner.
I knew I had some cooked white rice at home. White rice is like a blank canvas. Anything is possible when you have rice.
Since I didn’t have a clue about what I was going to buy at the store I decided to look for good deals on vegetables and meat and let that be my guide. The first low-priced vegetable I found were Brussel sprouts. I’m not a huge fan of Brussel sprouts but I stuck with my plan and picked them up. I found some whole button mushrooms at a really good price and I grabbed those. I still had fresh tomatoes from the garden and I had onions and garlic at home. So, the vegetables were a done deal.
I went to the meat case and found a good deal on center cut pork
chops. They looked good and the price
was very good. I spent less than $8.00 for
everything and it was enough food to make a meal for 4 to 6 people.
For the rest of my trip home I thought about what I would do with
all of this stuff. I started thinking
about pork schnitzel, which got me thinking about paprika. I love a good schnitzel but just thinking
about the work that goes into making schnitzel made me tired. I
wanted the paprika, without the fuss.
I thought about stewing the Brussel sprouts with tomatoes and
onion and mushroom and serving with the rice and I quickly kicked that idea out
of my head. Yuck! Brussel sprouts! What was I thinking?
And then, as I pulled into the driveway, it all came
together. Sauté the Brussel sprouts and put
a char on them to get a nutty flavor.
Add that to cooked pork chops, tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms and rice and cook
it all in one pan. Coming home after
working overtime means that I have about one hour to make dinner, one hour to
eat it, and one hour to relax and digest the food before heading off to
bed. Making dinner in one pan means quick
prep and quick clean up. I knew I was
over my cold now. I can’t make those
sort of mental leaps when I am sick.
I dumped all of the groceries on the counter and pulled the rice
out of the refrigerator. I put the cast
iron skillet on the stove and started warming it. My daughter came into the kitchen to welcome
me home and we had a wonderful time sharing stories about our day as I began
prepping the food. She asked me what I
was making and, as I often do when I’m not sure, I said, “I’m making something for dinner.” My daughter has watched me work in the
kitchen long enough to know when I am winging it.
Skillet Pork
Chops with Vegetable and Rice
Ingredients:
4 center cut pork chops
1 quart cooked white rice
2 cups Brussel sprouts, sliced in half
16 oz white button mushrooms
2 medium sized tomatoes
½ yellow onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup tomato sauce
Directions:
Heat an oven to 325°.
Tenderize the pork chops by piercing both sides with a fork. Flatten the pork chops with the broad side of
a meat cleaver or mallet.
Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the
pan. Lay the pork chops in the pan and
dust liberally with paprika. Allow the
chops to sear for about one or two minutes and then turn. Dust the other side of the chops with
paprika. Turn once more after a minute
and remove after another 30 seconds. Set
the chops aside.
De-glaze the skillet with a half cup of chicken stock. Add the whole mushrooms, onion and garlic to the skillet and stir. Allow the mushrooms to absorb the flavor from the pork and stock. Remove the mushrooms to a large mixing bowl.
Add the Brussels sprouts to the hot skillet, placing them cut side
down. Don’t mess with them. Let them char for about two minutes. Turn them with a spatula and brown the other
side for a little while. Remove the
Brussel sprouts to the large mixing bowl.
Add the tomatoes and cooked rice to the large mixing bowl.
Turn the heat down to low. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel to remove any charred bits. Melt the butter in the skillet and add the flour and whisk to make a roux. Once the flour has incorporated, add the chicken stock and tomato sauce. Stir to thicken into a sauce.
Mix the items in mixing bowl with a spatula. Add the prepared sauce and mix.
Arrange the seared pork chops on the bottom of skillet. Cover with rice, vegetable and sauce mixture. Cover the skillet and cook in a 325° oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
How do you like my “redneck” lid for the skillet? Hey, it works and it’s one less thing to clean!
To serve, pull a pork chop from the bottom of the skillet and lay on a serving dish. Ladle the rice mixture next to the chop.
Toothpick Tales 