Bruschetta Chicken

To keep with this weekend’s around the world theme (Japan on Friday, Mexico & Germany on Saturday), it was time to visit Italy!   But I was under a small time crunch, since I had to head up to my undergrad sorority house to advise their business meeting.  So we needed to visit Italy in about 30 minutes!   The full dinner consisted of bruschetta chicken, grilled veggies with rosemary, and garlic bread – each recipe can be found on here.

Ingredients:

Italian Chicken Marinade

• (1) Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• (1) Tbsp Italian White Wine Vinegar
• (1) Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• (1) Tsp Minced Garlic
• (1) Tsp Lemon Juice
• (1) Tsp Italian Seasoning
• (4) Chicken Breasts

Bruschetta

• (2) Tomatoes – Diced
• (1/4) Red Onion – Diced
• (2) Tbsp Basil – Chopped
• (1) Tbsp Garlic – Minced
• (1) Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• (1) Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• (1/4) Cup Small Mozzarella Balls

Directions

1) Mix all of the bruschetta ingredients together and set aside in the fridge

2) Mix all of the chicken ingredients either in a bag or bowl and marinade chicken.  We only marinaded it for about 30 minutes and it was pretty juicy; I can only imagine how much better it would be if we marinaded for at least an hour.

3) Grill up the chicken for about 15 minutes – 7 minutes on each side.  To keep the chicken extra moist, add a little bit of marinade.

4) Top the grilled chicken with the bruschetta mix!

Summer Corn Chowder

Corn chowder, specifically from Panera, is one of my favorite soups.  Actually, corn is one of my favorite foods, as it is for my husband.  After grilling up corn on the cob, and boiling it, we were looking for a little variation of summer corn.  Enter, Corn Chowder, home made.  Also, since exams are over, I have a little more time on my hands to cook without taking too many shortcuts in the kitchen.   Plus, it was Sunday.  Sunday dinners deserve to be made from scratch with love.  I got the idea for the recipe from Fine Cooking.

Ingredients

• 3 Slices of Bacon
• 4 Cobs of Corn
• 3 Medium – Large Red Potatoes, Chopped in 1″ cubes
• 3-3.5 Cups of Chicken Broth
• Bundle of Scallions, chopped
• 1 Pepper, Jalapeno or Hungarian Wax, or anything else, also chopped
• 1.5 tsp Thyme
• 2 Tbsp to 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper

Directions

1) Cook the bacon in a small pan.  Once the bacon is cooked, place on paper towel to drain of excess grease.  Keep the grease in the pan, you’re going to use that again in a little bit.

2) Cut off the kernels from the corn and save 2 of the cobs

3) Add the kernals, 2 cobs, potatoes, and thyme into a pot along with the Chicken Broth and turn up to medium-high heat and bring to a boil for 15-20 minutes

4) About 10 minutes after the goods in the pot have been boiling, warm up the pan of bacon grease.  Add in the scallions, chopped pepper, salt, and black pepper.   Cook for about 5 minutes.

5) As the potatoes become tender, puree 1-2 cups of the soup with the broth, and add in the Heavy Cream then put back in to pot

6) Finally add in the scallions and crumbled up bacon, saving a little bit for garnish if desired

Huevos Rancheros

After a night on the town, first with a group of gals from my 1L year and then meeting up with my husband and his friend, we both woke up feeling a little “off.”  Thus, breakfast needed to help us out of our hangovers so we could have a productive Saturday.  Enter, Huevos Rancheros.  I was both inspired by the traditional Mexico dish that my mum and abuelita make which is my dad’s favorite recipe, and I was inspired by the dish at Hudson Cafe.  Which, if you’re in the Detroit area, you have to go there for breakfast at least once!  They’re food is delicious!  Here’s their website: http://www.hudson-cafe.com/

Ingredients – this is for 2 people, 1 egg each (working with what was in the fridge)

• 1/2 Small onion – Chopped
• 1 clove garlic or 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 small pepper (jalapeno, hungarian wax) – chopped
• 1 small-medium tomato
• 1 tsp Chicken bouillon
• 4 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese – shredded
• 1/4 cup Queso Fresco – crumbled
• 1 Tbsp Cilantro – chopped

Directions

Salsa

• Onion, garlic, and pepper should be sauteed until tender
• While the veggies are heating up, the tomato will have to be peeled.  Easiest way to do this, put the tomato in a bowl of water, warm up for 1-2 minutes.  The skin should peel right off.
• Next, puree the tomato in a blender (I use the magic Bullet) with about a 1/2 tsp of chicken bouillon powder and 1 Tbsp or so of the warm water used for peeling.
• Add the liquid to the saucepan once the vegetables are tender.  Continue warming until salsa mixture thickens and then turn to low heat.

Corn Tortilla Base

• Over a griddle, heat up 4 tortillas.  Add cheese to 2 of the tortillas, and place the other tortillas on top.  Basically, making a quesadilla. Once the cheese is melted, place onto diner’s plates.

Eggs

• Make eggs over easy, or which ever way you prefer.

Assembly

• On top of the tortillas, place the eggs.  Then salsa.
• Add a little chopped cilantro for garnish and a little extra queso fresco.

Enjoy!  And feel that hangover get out of the way!

Tostadas with Ground Beef

Well, final exams from summer term are over!  Meaning I can spend time in the kitchen again.  But hours at work are a bit longer just due to some projects going on at work.  Some days from 6 am – 5 pm.  Needless to say, on those days, I’m looking to make a quick dinner that’s still yummy.  Thus, a Mexican tostada dinner is perfect!  Filling, not unhealthy, and certainly quick.  Plus the 2 of us worked on it together, so prep and cook time went by incredibly fast!

Ingredients

• 1 lbs Ground Sirloin
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• Taco Seasoning
• 1 can Refried Beans, Black or Brown
• 1 Avocado
• 2 Tomatoes
• 1 Onion
• A few sprigs of Cilantro
• 1 Hot Pepper, we used Hungarian Wax Peppers from our garden
• 1 Tsp Lemon or Lime Juice
• Queso Fresco
• Packet of Tostadas
• Shredded Lettuce
  

Directions

• Prep all of the vegetables:  chop up the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, & pepper.  Peel the avocado & slice.
• Make the Pico de Gallo.  In a small bowl – mix the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, & pepper.  Add in the lemon or lime juice & aside.
• Crumble the Queso Fresco, about half of the cheese might be needed.

• Cook the ground sirloin over the stove.  As it cooks, add in the salt, pepper, taco seasoning.  I also sometimes add in a little Montreal Steak seasoning to my taco meet.
• As the meat is browning, warm up the refried beans in a small pot/saucepan.
• Once the taco meat is ready and the beans are nice and warm….
• Spread the beans on the tostadas
• Ground beef on top
• Then sprinkle a good amount of cheese

• Add the lettuce on top
• Then the pico de gallo
• Finally, garnish with slices of avocado
• Pop the top on a Mexican beer or have a margarita ready…. & eat up.
• PS… it’s OK to make a mess!  I ended up w/ a green nose from the avocado 

Pita Burgers with Chorizo

As I promised, even some of my husband’s kitchen creations would make it up here!  Needless to say, final exam time came around for Civil Procedure B, so the kitchen was the last place I wanted to be.  If it doesn’t involve either a book and my outline or a pillow and a bed, I wasn’t interested.  I even took a few days off work to study.  Civil Procedure will probably be the death of me.  Since it was Sunday, my husband’s idea of a perfect summer dinner was certainly grilled burgers and beer, thus that was what he made.  But to my surprise, he kicked it up a notch!

Ingredients

• 4 oz Chorizo
• 1 lb Ground Beef, we usually use lean sirloin
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire
• 1 Avocado
• 1/3 cup Salsa or a can of Embasa Salsa
• 1 Tomato – Sliced
• Shredded Lettuce, Bag or from a head of lettuce
• 1 Onion (1/2 chopped & 1/2 sliced in rings)
• Pita Bread with pocket
• Hot Sauce – We use Valentino or Tobasco
• 1 Medium Onion
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/4 cup Bread Crumbs

Directions

1. First, cook the chorizo on the stove top.  Just take it out of the packaging and cook it until it’s in small crumbles of spicy meet.
2. Mix the Ground Beef, Worcestershire, Chopped Onion, Egg, Salt, Pepper, and Bread Crumbs by hand. Then add in the chorizo into the mixture.  Divide out into 4-6 patties.  We found smaller patties (making 6) works better with half pockets of pita bread.
3. To make the guacamole – take the flesh out of the avocado, mash it up.  Add in the Salsa.  Yes, this is the quick version of guacamole instead of adding in the individual ingredients!  Remember, after all, we do work and go to school.
4. Time to heat up the grill!
5. Next, cook up your burgers to your preference
6. Time to assemble!  In half a pita pocket, spread the guacamole to the inside.  Then add in the burger, lettuce, tomato, and onion.
7. Add hot sauce to you tastes.
8. Grab a cold beer.  We used Oberon as you can see.
9. Eat up!  And have seconds!

C

Tofu & Cashew Stirfy

When my husband and I first moved in together in our apartment, before getting married, we relied on Mediterranean and Asian inspired meals to ensure we ate healthy.  One of the websites we relied on was http://www.mediterrasian.com/.   They have incredibly delicious recipes that are quite nutritious and even include premade menus for a few weeks with the grocery list included.  A few years later, well more than a few, we no longer depend on the website, but some of the dishes have become staples in our diet.  One of them, tofu and cashew stirfry.

Ingredients

• 1 Block Firm or Extra Firm Tofu
• Dry Asian Noodles
• 1 Small Onion, Sliced
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper, Sliced
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper, Sliced
• 1 Carrot, Sliced or Julienned
• 1 Broccoli Floret
• 1 Garlic Clove or 1 tsp Minced Garlic
• 2 Tsp Minced Ginger
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce (light)
• 2 Tbsp Teriyaki Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 1/4 cup cashews

Directions

1) Cut Tofu into 1/2″ cubes.  Marinate in 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce and 1 Tbsp Teriyaki Sauce.  Once marinated, heat of wok or pan with oil, and cook tofu cubes for a couple of minutes.  Remove from heat and aside tofu into a side bowl.  At this time, start working on your dry Asian noodles.  Fill the pot with water, and bring to a boil.

2) Place onion and garlic into same pan.  Cook for about 1-2 minutes.  Add in green and red pepper.  Cook for about another minute.  Then follow up with carrots and broccoli.   Finally, add in the ginger.  Cook until vegetables are tender.  (Your water is probably boiling now, add in the dry noodles).

3) Once vegetables are tender, cooked to your liking, add in the tofu.  Stir vegetables and tofu.

6) In a small bowl or cup, mix remaining liquid ingredients: soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, oyster sauce, and hoisin sauce.  Add mixture to stirfry.  Continue to cook over low heat for about 3-5 minutes.

7) Serve up stirfry mixture with the noodles!  Yum num num!

Blueberry Pancakes with Brandied Strawberry Compote

Happy Independence Day!!!  Fitting for the 4th of July, a homemade breakfast with blue, red, and, white made its way on the menu.  And why not meet the color requirements with blueberry pancakes with a strawberry compote.  This was my first time not making pancakes from a premade mix, let me say – it takes about 1 extra minute and the flavor is well worth it!   They’re so simple to make, I can’t figure out why premade mixes are even necessary.  But, I feel the same way about cake…  Well, onwards to the recipe,

BLUEBERRY PANCAKES FROM SCRATCH

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries

Mix the flour, baking power, salt, and sugar together in a bowl.  Make a well in the center and add in the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.  Mix until bubbles are on the top of the surface.  Then  add in the blueberries.

Heat up a griddle.  Once a bead of water sizzles up, butter of the griddle, even if it’s nonstick.   I use a ladle to make each pancake, so they’re all about the same size.  As they fluff up, and bubble, they are ready to flip when the edges are cooked.

STRAWBERRY & BRANDY COMPOTE

• 16 oz Strawberries
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup Brandy
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon

Rinse and slice up the strawberries.  Place the strawberries in a small pot, add the brandy sugar, and cinnamon.  Let the mixture boil for about 8-10 minutes.  At this point, you can either use a food processor and puree or as I did, still serve in slices.

Serve up the compote on top of a stack of pancakes & enjoy!!!

Tequila Lime Chicken

The Crock-Pot, one of the kitchen’s best gadgets for any busy student, professional, mother, or just anyone who doesn’t feel like laboring over the stove top.  If my husband and I are good about getting the grocery shopping done sometime on Sunday before a hectic week starts, we usually get a couple different dinners and lunches out of the trusty crockpot.  Lately we had gotten out of the habit, as the flavors were starting to become repetitive (think pot roast or italian type flavors every other night).  In the spirit of summer, and the fact that I was going to be at work somewhere between 5 and 5:30 am and had class this evening until 7 pm, a crockpot dinner seemed like the logical choice (in other words, minimal effort and a happy tummy).

I was inspired by Margarita Lime Chicken recipes throughout the internet and was confident, as in I would have bet away cash on hand, that we had an open container of margarita mix.  Apparently… we did not.  Hmph, honestly I can’t remember how or when we used it up.  And I thought we had cheap, well cheap-er, tequila on the liquor shelf.  Wrong again.  We only had a bottle of 1800 Reposado.  Good stuff, but really – not necessary for cooking.  Although, another benefit of growing up in the Mexican culture, appreciation for good tequila.  (Side note: I highly recommend 3 Generaciones, but I’m getting off topic, aren’t I).  Thus when I found out we were missing the margarita mix, recipes went to the wayside and here’s my variation, which actually turned out refreshingly tasty with a good bite from the lime and some remnants of tequila on the pallet.  But I think I still have to tweak some ingredients here & there, and one day, when we have margarita mix again, try the margarita lime chicken.

Tequila Lime Chicken

• 3-4 chicken breasts, or really any part of the chicken would do
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup tequila
• 1/4 cup lime juice (either fresh or bottled will do)
• 1/2 Green Bell Pepper, sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper, sliced lengthwise
• 1 Garlic Clove or 1 tsp minced/crushed garlic
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 Tbsp Lite Soy Sauce
• Pinch of Montreal Chicken Seasoning

All ingredients can be mixed together and set on low for 8 hours.

We usually run our crockpot at night (for some reason we both fear not being home while it’s on).  I take the pot out and place it at room temperature around 5 am and my husband places the food in the fridge an hour or so later once it’s down to room temperature.   So we just heated it up for dinner along with a side of quinoa and cucumber dill salad.

Cucumber Dill Salad – Just for 2

• 1 Cucumber
• 2 Sprigs of Dill
• 1/4 cup White Vinegar
• 1 tsp Honey
• 1 tsp Minced Garlic

Slice the cucumber in round slices.  Chop up the dill.  Mix in the rest.  And there it is, quick, simple, and tangy.  Although, I’m finding out, my better half isn’t fond of dill.  Unless it’s dill dip with Ruffles potato chips.  Not vegetables or any other dipping food or just potato chips, but specifically Ruffles potato chips.

Now, while I do admit to spoiling our dog.  I will say, the behavior depicted below is never acceptable… unless she’s drinking the rest of my soy milk from my cereal bowl or ice cream leftovers.  But, in the spirit of the blog and this dinner dish… It’s So Good, Even My Dog Ate It.