Chicken Paella

My sister bought me some saffron for my Christmas gift this year. It was quite a creative gift. I've been trying to decide what to make with it. Well, a few weeks back, I made chicken paella. One day, I may be brave enough to make a seafood paella but that will be in the future. The dish I made tonight was very tasty. As usual, I loosely followed a recipe that I found online.

The fun part is that I bought the bacon, chorizo and the chicken from a local butcher shop, Belmont Butcher. The even cooler part is that the bacon and chorizo were made and cured at the butcher shop. We had flourless peanut butter cookies for dessert.

Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 lb. boneless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 cups basmati rice
4 cups of chicken stock
½ teaspoon of saffron threads
½ teaspoon of chili powder
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup of corn kernels
½ cup of green peas
1 chorizo sausage

Preparation:
Steep the saffron in heated chicken broth. Fry the bacon until golden (add oil at the beginning as necessary). Remove from pan. Cook the chicken until done. Remove from pan. Add oil if necessary, saute onion until translucent. Add rice and garlic stirring until coated with oil. Add 2 cups of broth and simmer while covered. When liquid has cooked down, add another cup of liquid. Repeat with the remaining cup of liquid. Once rice is almost done, add the corn, green peas, chicken, bacon and the chorizo. Taste and season to taste. Then, serve.

Homemade Lasagna (About 1 hour)

We usually go out to eat on Saturday nights but this week, we went out on Friday night and then ate in on Saturday. On my blog, you can read about the dinner out here (link coming soon) and you can read MTH's review here (link coming soon).

Here's the quick lasagna that I made last night. Note that it feeds enough for an army so be prepared for leftovers if there's only two of you like me and and MTH.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
29 oz petite diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato paste
oregano, to taste
salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste
16 oz skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
Parmesan cheese (use how much you like)
mozzarella cheese (use how much you like - I tried not to make it too cheesy)
12 lasagna noodles, boiled

Preparation:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook the ground meats until almost no pink remains. Add the onion and green pepper. When they are translucent, add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Add the spices to your taste. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes. Taste again and add more spices if necessary. Mix the ricotta, egg and Parmesan cheese.
In a 9x13 pan, start with a small amount of sauce (2-3 spoonfuls). Place 4 noodles across the pan. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers ending with sauce ensuring that the sauce covers all the noodles. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Let set for about 10 minutes before serving.

Cuban Picillo Sandwiches (Less than 20 minutes)

Last night, we made these sandwiches for dinner. We thought they would be fun to eat while we watched The Simpson's Movie. I also made some baked sweet potato fries. The sandwiches are supposed to be made with ground pork but I couldn't find any at my grocery store. They had ground lamb and ground veal but no ground plain pork. They also had bulk Italian sausage and other types of bulk sausage which are of course, ground pork. But, they have other spices in them. Anyway, I substituted ground turkey for the ground pork. I'm sure that the ground pork would taste even better. Hopefully, the next time I make these sandwiches, I'll be able to find the ground pork. My plan is to use half ground turkey and half ground pork (they'll be slightly healthier!). Also, the original recipe called for raisins. Neither MTH nor myself like raisins so we left them out. If you like raisins, then you may want to try them. You add 1/2 cup golden raisins with the spices and the tomatoes.

Adapted from Cooking Light, October 2005

1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
8 (1 1/2-ounce) whole wheat hamburger buns

Cook onion, garlic, and pork in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain and return mixture to pan. Stir in next 5 ingredients (through tomatoes). Reduce heat, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in olives. Toast the needed buns. Spread about 2/3 cup picadillo mixture on bottom half of each bun; cover with top half of bun.

We had leftovers which I'm sure will taste even better on Monday.

Yankee Pot Roast (About 2 1/2 hours)

Last weekend, the grocery store had chuck roasts half off. So, I decided to buy one along with some parsnips, carrots and potatoes. I knew the basic idea of how to make a pot roast and what I would need to do it but I still had to look up a recipe for some added instructions. Here's what I did.

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, October 2007

1 teaspoon canola oil
2 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed
1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled parsnip (about 1 pound)
1 1/2 cups (1-inch-thick) slices carrot (about 8 ounces)
2 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled baking potato (about 1 pound)

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef to pan, browning on all sides (about 8 minutes). Remove from pan. Add a little more oil. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until beginning to brown. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat; add spices through bay leaves. Return roast to pan; bring to a simmer.

Cover and bake at 300° for 1 1/2 hours. Stir in parsnips and carrots. Bake, covered, 1 hour. Stir in potato; cover and bake 30 minutes or until roast and vegetables are very tender. Discard bay leaves.

Beef and Veggie Potpie (About 45 minutes)

I made this one a few weeks back. Again, I got the idea from the www.myrecipes.com daily emails. But, as per usual, I didn't follow the recipe word for word. Here's what I made:

olive oil
3/4 pound ground sirloin
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped carrot
dried thyme, to taste
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
7 oz fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain. Wipe drippings from pan with a paper towel. Heat more olive oil in pan. Add zucchini and next 5 ingredients (through garlic); sauté 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Return beef to pan. Stir in wine, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, and broth. Bring to a boil; cook 3 minutes. Combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl; stir with a fork to get rid of the lumps. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Bake a batch of homemade or canned biscuits while the beef mixture is cooking. Serve the beef mixture over one or two biscuits. It's an all in one meal with your meat and vegetable!

Christmas French Toast (About 20 minutes)

We had lots and lots of bread that had been sliced up for our Christmas Eve dinner. So, I decided to take a page from Alton Brown's book and leave it out overnight so that we could make perfect French toast. The batter was simple:

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix thoroughly.

Add a dot of butter to a preheated frying pan. Place the bread into the batter for a few seconds, flip and repeat. Place in the frying pan and brown on both sides.

I like a little sugar or jam. My Mom had brought some of her homemade strawberry and blueberry jams. Some people put syrup on it instead.

It was the best homemade French toast I've ever had. Using stale bread is the key! The day after Christmas we had some challah bread left over. It makes awesome French toast as well.

New Years Day Meal

I tried to be traditional with our meal on New Years. You know, black eyed peas for luck and collard greens for money. Well, collard greens were a bit much for just me and MTH. So, I made wilted spinach with garlic instead. But, we did make the black eyed peas straight from the dried beans. And, we broiled a flat iron steak using a Mexican rub from my friend MAT (the one that lives in SF, formerly MAK). We thoroughly enjoyed making the meal together and then eating it together.

Bean Soup (15 minutes prep with 30 minutes simmering)

This recipe is officially called "North Woods Bean Soup". It's adapted from a recipe in the January 2002 issue of Cooking Light. I've put my changes in italics. This soup took me only about 15 minutes of actual hands on preparation. The rest was just simmering. I was really impressed because I was able to go work out, come home and start the soup, take my shower and then presto - dinner was served!

Ingredients:
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
dried oregano, marjoram and thyme, to taste
black pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste
2 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
smooth kale

Preparation
Heat a large saucepan coated with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion, garlic, and kielbasa; sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5 minutes. Add the broth, dried spices, peppers, and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups of the soup in a food processor or blender, and process until smooth. Return the pureed mixture to pan. Simmer an additional 5 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Add the kale, stirring until kale wilts.

Almost Whole Wheat Pita Bread (About 9 1/2 hours with rising)

I found this recipe in the Washington Post on Sunday and decided I wanted to have homemade pita bread to go with store bought hummus (I'll make that from scratch when I get a food processor one day). The recipe said that it could be made with whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. I've found that breads made only with whole wheat are very heavy so I decided to try it out with half whole wheat and half bread flour. I thought the bread flour would make a better pita as well - more gluten. That's what makes your bread chewy. Also, I didn't feel like baking these on Sunday night when I made the dough so I set them to rise in the refrigerator and baked them the next morning. Here's my recipe adapted from "The Arab Table" by May S. Bsisu.

Ingredients
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
1 ¼ teaspoons sugar
2 3/4 cups bread flour,plus extra for kneading
2 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons olive oil

Method
Combine yeast, 1 cup of the warm water and sugar in a small bowl and stir to dissolve. Set aside until mixture is foamy and doubled in size, about 10 minutes.

Sift flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Using your stand mixer and the dough hook, mix ingredients until dough pulls away form sides of the bowl, forming a ball.

Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Sprinkling as little flour on the dough and your hands as possible, knead the dough -- push, fold and turn -- about five minutes, until dough is smooth, elastic and doesn't stick to your fingers.

Coat a large bowl with remaining olive oil and place dough inside, turning to coat with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and set in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, lightly dust a baking sheet and a kitchen towel with flour.

Punch dough and transfer to a floured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Divide dough into equal pieces (depends on the size pita you want), roll each one into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Working with 1 ball of dough at a time, flatten gently, using a rolling pin or your hands. Roll dough out until about ¼-inch thick. Lay loaves on floured towel, sprinkle flour on top, cover with a second towel, and let rest about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Preheat pizza stone* 10 minutes before ready to bake.
Arrange as many loaves as you can on pizza stone, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake until they puff up, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer loaves to a wire rack to cool; repeat.

Can be frozen in plastic zip bag and thawed in refrigerator. Reheat at 300 degrees for 10 minutes.

* If you don't have a pizza stone, a cookie sheet should be fine instead but I would definitely preheat it just like the pizza stone.

Folded Red Pepper Tortilla Pizza (About 15 minutes)

I was trying to find something to make for lunch today with ingredients we had on hand. These pizzas came out great.

Ingredients:
Flour tortilla
Red pepper pesto*
Mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni
Red pepper flakes
Dried oregano

Preparation:
Turn broiler on high. Place tortilla in pan. Spread a couple of teaspoons of red pepper pesto onto the tortilla as if on pizza dough. Add your toppings (mozzarella, pepperoni, red pepper flakes and dried oregano, in my case). Cook under the broiler until bubbly and starting to brown. Fold the tortilla over halfway (will look like a soft taco). Cook until browned. Turn over and repeat. Enjoy!

As usual, you can try out all different types of toppings. It's a great way to use up leftovers in an entirely new way.

* We used Bella Cucina Red Pepper pesto
Click here. It was part of my birthday gift from MTH's parents.

Green Chile Tortilla Roll-Ups (About an hour)

This recipe is another easy one. You could make up different flavors. You could also add ham instead of turkey. I'll definitely make these again for future get togethers.

Adapted from cooksrecipes.com

1 (4-ounce) can Diced Green Chiles
4 ounces neufchatel, softened
1 cup mixed shredded Mexican cheeses
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
sliced turkey
4 (6-inch) fajita-size flour tortillas

Combine green chiles, neufchatel, shredded cheeses and hot pepper sauce in medium bowl. Spread 1/2 cup cheese mixture over each tortilla. On some, add some slices of turkey. Roll up. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut each tortilla roll into ½-inch slices.

Mexican Wedding Cookies (AKA Russian Tea Cookies) (About an hour)

These are simple cookies. Also, if you know someone who is vegetarian (not vegan though), these cookies will be great for them as there are no eggs in them. I not only made them for the party but also for Christmas with the family.

From the Food Network 12 Days of Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks.

Homemade Marshmallows (About 30 minutes)

The great thing about this recipe is that it is extremely easy (although takes some time) but it wows just about everyone who sees them. Most people don't really understand how marshmallows are made. In the end, it's very similar to making meringue but using gelatin instead of egg whites.

3 packages unflavored gelatin
From the Food Network 12 Days of Cookies, 2005

1/2 cup cold water, plus 1/2 cup
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Deviled Eggs (About an hour)

Deviled Eggs
Adapted from Epicurious.

12 medium eggs
some mayonnaise
some Dijon horseradish mustard
some cayenne pepper

Used http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/BoiledEggs.htm for instructions on how to boil eggs perfectly.

Peel eggs and halve lengthwise. Carefully remove yolks and mash in a bowl with a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and cayenne and stir with fork until smooth, then season with salt and pepper. Taste. Add more of any of the ingredients as you see fit for your taste. Using two spoons, spoon the yellow mixture into the egg whites. If you're ambitious, use a pastry bag and pipe it into the egg whites.

Pictures from Baking for my Party

Ready to bake!


Playing around with the camera.


Sugar cookies.


Pecan Mandelbrot - before the first bake.


Pecan Mandelbrot - after the second bake.

Orange Sugar Cookies with Chocolate Fondue (About 1 1/2 hours)

One of the cookies that I've made for the past 3 Annual H Christmas Parties is the Orange Sugar Cookie. The recipe actually calls for lemon zest and lemon juice but I thought that the orange flavor would be awesome with the dark chocolate fondue that I serve at the party. I also made marshmallows and cut up fruit for dipping in the chocolate. Here are the sugar cookie and chocolate fondue recipes:

Orange Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart Christmas

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened
2 large eggs
Granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
2. Put sugars and orange zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the orange juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
3. Scoop dough using a scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with wet fingers. Sprinkle tops with granulated sugar
4. Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Chocolate Fondue
From Epicurious
1 cup premium cocoa powder (Valrohna or Scharffen Berger), sifted
1 1/4 cups spring water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup plus 5 tablespoons heavy cream
5 ounces (premium) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Sift the cocoa into mixing bowl and set aside. Place the water, sugar, and corn syrup into a pot and bring to boil. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until sugar solution has reduced by about 30%. Pour the cocoa powder into the solution and blend with a whisk until smooth. Return the chocolate mixture to the stove and continue cooking over medium heat. Add heavy cream, bring to boil and allow to simmer for five minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in chopped chocolate. Pour into fondue pot and keep warm.

Lots of Cookies

I cooked a lot over the month of December. I took a few pictures of the process (although not as many as I would have liked). I will be posting about some of those cookies. Yummy!

Beer, Beer and Turkey? (About 2 hours)

Tonight, I made beer and "beef" chili. I put the beef in quotes because I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef. I started with sauteing onions and garlic and then the ground turkey is added. At this point, you can decide which chili spices you like the most. We put in chili powder, ancho chili powder, cumin, oregano, basil and thyme. Also, beer, chicken broth, tomatoes and tomato paste were added at this point. The chili is left to simmer for as long as you like. Then add the beans.

Why did I mention two beers in the title? Because I also made beer batter bread. It's another very simple recipe. I got this one off the epicurious website and didn't make any changes - Beer Batter Bread Recipe.

Beers used: Amstel Light in the chili and Guinness in the bread.

Surf and Turf, MTH Style

MTH decided he wanted to eat in last night so he stopped at Whole Foods on his way home. At first, he wanted some grilled fish. Then, he remembered that we'd had sushi on Friday so he changed his mind. Then, he chose a ribeye and some shrimp. He also picked up some cheese, bread, potatoes, broccolini and green peppers. I had some dry rub that we'd made a while back for some other recipe. It had some cinnamon, chile pepper and other flavors I don't remember. We decided it would probably be good on steak. We also added some fresh cracked pepper and roasted red pepper flakes. While he was making the steak, I steamed the broccolini and then sauteed it in olive oil with garlic. The potatoes were from the freezer. They were flavored with rosemary, sea salt and olive oil. We only needed to pop them in the oven for a little while. MTH roasted the green pepper to go with the steak. So, finally our meal was grilled steak with grilled shrimp and blackened pepper, rosemary, sea salt and olive oil potatoes and garlic infused broccolini.

Sweet Potato Bread (About an hour)

Remember how I said I figured out something to do with those sweet potatoes that didn't quite become a souffle? On Sunday, I decided to see if I could turn it into sweet potato bread (kind of like banana bread). I found a recipe on www.foodnetwork.com for sweet potato bread that used mashed cooked sweet potatoes. I decided to use that as my basis. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 1/6 cups sugar
1/3 cups evaporated milk (it called for water but I happened to have some evaporated milk left over from the pumpkin pie)
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine sugar, water, oil, eggs, and sweet potatoes and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add pecans and mix well. Pour into a liberally greased loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. Cool in pan to room temperature.

* Adapted from:
Sweet Potato Bread with Pecans
Recipe courtesy Bill Kelly
Show: Sara's Secrets
Episode: Sara's Thanksgiving Secrets

MTH even liked it. He asked for me to cut a slice for him to take to work! Since TV was the reason we had these mashed sweet potatoes, I made another one tonight that I'm going to drop by her house in the morning.

If you want to try this recipe, I'm fairly certain you could try other types of vegetables like pumpkin or grated zucchini. It's a great way to clean out the refrigerator.