Chicken, sausage and black bean soup - DAMN

I wanted to do a simple dinner tonight that could cook up during the debates. This was amazingly yummy for a throw together thing. Yeeeeeah.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken, Foreman'd with the usual spice
2 14.5 can black beans
1 large link andouille sausage (about 2/5 lb)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 big roasted red pepper, from a jar, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock

This was a soup that I threw together that ended up amaaaaaazing! The red pepper really set it off. Here's how:

Take the andouille sausage and crumble it and fry it up. Once it's almost done, throw in the garlic. Once that's going, throw in the red pepper. That will steam a bit, keep stirring.

In the background, cook the chicken. Season with the usual: equal parts salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika. Forman it or pan fry for a few minutes a side. Shred or chop it and save the juice for the next part.

Once the sausage / red pepper is going, add in the cumin, paprika, white pepper, thyme and red pepper. Add in the chicken, the stock and the beans. Cook at least ten minutes.

Grub, yum.

Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and naan

I wanted to try something completely different, so here's my experiment for today. It's based on a recipe I found on the blog Can't Live Without. I'm trying to make it in two parts. Many nights I don't have much time to cook but can usually find a half an hour or so during the day to at least prep stuff. But I refuse to include ketchup, so here goes.

Chicken marinade:
1 cup yogurt
1 tbs cumin
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 inch ginger, smashed
Couple shakes of salt
Couple shakes of crushed red pepper
1 lb chicken, cubed or tenders

For the sauce:
1/2 onion, chopped
3 roasted red peppers from a jar
Small handful cashews
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cardamon powder
1 tsp cinnamon
5 cloves
2 tsp qasuri methi (check an Indian grocery for this one)
2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 cup cream

Saute the onions in 1 tbs olive oil and butter. Once they start getting brown, throw in the red peppers and cashews. Cook a few more minutes, then throw them in the food processor and puree. Add another tbs olive oil to the pan and throw in the spices. Cool a minute or two, then add the puree. Cook another two minutes, then add the tomato paste and qasuri methi. Let this chill out until your'e ready to eat.

Once you're ready to finish up, grill the chicken on skewers or Foreman it like I did. Heat the sauce, add the cream and the chicken and let it all mesh together for a few minutes.

Here's the rice I made with it:

1 cup basmati rice
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 inch ginger, peeled and chopped 1 tsp cardamon powder
1 tsp cinnamon
5 cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 small jalapeno
2 tbs slivered almonds

Saute the onions in 1 tbs olive oil. Once they start to brown, add the ginger and spices. Cook a few more minutes and add the jalapeno. Let it hang out until you're ready to go. When you are, heat up and add the rice, sauteing for a few minutes. Add 1 3/4 cup of water, bring to a boil, lower to simmer, cross your fucking fingers and cook for 15 minutes. (I suck at rice, always have)

Serve the chicken and rice with naan. YUM!

Gumbo gumbo gumbo!!

Apparently, today is national gumbo day. (I made this on the 12th) And therefore I have an excuse to make a big vat o' gumbo. Not that I need one, but what the hell. I've been working on this recipe for years, trying to get it just right. I think it's pretty awesome at this point, but I'm sure it will change again.

Screw the ingredient list, since I'm writing this as I go along. I can never remember exactly what goes in when until I cook it.

This seems like a really tough dish to make, but it's not. The roux is the only tough part, and that just takes patience. It just has a lot of steps, but it is SO worth it.

1: The chicken and broth part: Take one whole cut up fryer chicken. The one from today is about 4 pounds. Throw that in a big soup pot with about 1 tbs thyme and a few bay leaves. Cover it with water (I'm guessing about a gallon and a half went in - there is no measuring in my gumbo, with one exception) and bring it to a boil. Add in a very large pinch of salt and let this simmer for at least an hour. Once it's gone on long enough, dump the bay leaves, pull out the chicken and take the broth off the heat. UPDATE: Don't skip this very important step!! When the chicken starts simmering, some nasty white gunk will rise up as it cooks. Skim it off, you do NOT want to eat that.

2. The sausage part: I have used everything from kielbasa to hot links in this. Today I'm using two andouille sausages and one linguica. These are HUGE sausages, that's why only three are going in. I got them fresh and raw, so I threw them in the oven for about 45 minutes to cook before I messed with them. Once I cooked them and cooled slightly, I sliced them in half lengthwise then into small pieces. Fry those up and put them to the side.

3. The magical roux: This is the exception to the measuring part. If this goes bad, you're fucked and have to start over. 3/4 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of vegetable oil. This is still iffy. The consistency reminds me of slightly runny frosting, so add more of one if it doesn't seem right. Cook this over medium heat, whisking constantly. I've had bad burnt roux experiences, so I cook mine really slowly and probably not quite long enough. It usually takes about half an hour. It is supposed to be a dark brown, but NOT burnt. If it burns, start over.

4. The trinity: This is the basis of most cajun dishes. Equal parts small diced onions, bell pepper and celery. I used 1 yellow onion, 1 medium bell peppers and 3 big stalks of celery. Once the roux gets dark enough, throw this in and keep stirring for about five minutes.

5. The combination: Add the roux and veggies to the broth. I take the broth off the heat because putting hot roux in hot broth is a terrifying experience. It snarls up and can boil over. Once well mixed, let these guys cook together for about half an hour.

6. The rest: Add in the chopped up sausages, a good amount of white and red pepper. Pull the decent chicken off the bone - ie. legs, breasts, thighs - and add that to the pot. Let this get happy for a bit.

7. The finale: Throw in 1/2 lb of shrimp and cook for a few more minutes. Right when you're ready to serve and pull the pot off the heat, stir in some file powder.

8. The grub: This is traditionally served over rice, but I eat mine like a stew. Throw in a good amount of Louisiana style hot sauce and you've got gumbo nirvana.

Chicken Piccata

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes. It's actually gotten my man to enjoy capers. Quite a feat.

2 chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise
3 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup white wine
1 lemon
2 tbs capers
2 tbs chopped parsley
1/2 lb spaghetti, cooked
Grated parmesan

Season the chicken with kosher salt and pepper. Dredge it in the flour and shake off the excess. Heat olive oil in a deep skillet and brown the chicken well on both sides. Set aside.

Saute the garlic for a minute in the pan. Add 1 cup of white wine and boil down until slightly reduced. Add in the juice of one lemon, capers, butter and the chicken. Cook for a few minutes to heat the chicken and make sure it's done enough. Add the parsley.

Throw in the pasta, cook for one minute. Serve, add parm, grub.

Garlic, lemon and butter salmon with orzo and asparagus

I had a wild craving for salmon today. This is a simple and super yummy way to put it all together in about twenty minutes.

2 salmon fillets
3 tbs butter
Juice of two lemons
Garlic clove, smashed
1/2 cup orzo
Sprig of rosemary
Bunch of asparagus

Melt the butter in a pan with the garlic clove. Bring water to a boil and add salt, orzo, rosemary and a spoonful of the melted garlic butter. Cook according to package directions. Drain and toss with olive oil.

Add lemon to the remaining garlic butter. Brush this on the salmon, reserving at least a tbs. Season the salmon with kosher salt and pepper and grill it for 5 minutes a side. I used my handy dandy Foreman grill.

Break the rough ends off the asparagus. Steam for a few minutes. I threw mine in a strainer and set it on top of the orzo while it was cooking. After the color brightens, throw it in the pot with the remaining butter mixture and cook a minute or two.

Tada. Being a garlic fiend, I grabbed the clove and ate that on top of the salmon. Super fast, super simple and damn, it's yummy.

Pork & Veggie Stir Fry with noodles

I used to make this all the time with soba noodles and their yummy little spice packet. Then I read what was in the spice packet, so I'm doing it all natural now. I need to find a better option for noodles that doesn't have so much extra crap in it, but I'll use yakisoba for now. Let's see how this turns out. This should include scallions, but I was out. Oh well.

Marinade:

1 large pork sirloin chop, sliced thin
3 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs dry sherry
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 small piece ginger, smashed

Put this all together in a bowl and throw it in the fridge to marinate for a few hours.

To make:

2 tbs peanut oil
Marinated pork
1 12 oz package stir fry veggies (or chop up one carrot, 1 broccoli head, handful of snow peas)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1" piece ginger, peeled and minced
3 tbs dry sherry
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch, whisked into soy sauce
One 2 serving package stir fry noodles

Heat 2 tbs peanut oil in a large skillet. When hot, throw in the pork and saute for a minute until slightly brown. Pull it out into a big bowl. Add in veggies, garlic and ginger, stir fry for about five minutes until they soften slightly. Pull that out to the pork bowl. Add a splash of sherry and cook down for a minute. Add the soy sauce with cornstarch and sesame oil with about a 1/2 cup of water. Add the noodles and stir with a fork until they separate. Put on the lid to make it happen faster. Once this is hot, throw the pork and veggies in, then cook until warmed, about 1-2 minutes. Grub.

This needed twice the meat and noodles, but other than that, it was super yummy. Boom.

Arabic yogurt beef with herb potatoes and brussel sprouts

This is a marinade I use all the time with chicken, so I figured I would give it a shot with beef. This goes great with herbed potatoes and brussel sprouts. Yes, I absolutely love brussel sprouts.

Marinade:

1 cup greek yogurt
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs fresh sage, chopped
2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes

I marinated 1 1/2 lbs of london broil in this, then threw it in the oven at 325 for 40 minutes.

Herbed potatoes:
2 large yukon gold potatoes, chopped into inch sized cubes
Sprig each of rosemary, thyme, parsley and sage
Kosher salt
Olive oil

Put the herbs into a spice grinder, saving a tsp for the sprouts. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, herbs and kosher salt. Roast under the rack holding the roast for 40 minutes.

For the brussel sprouts, cut off the stems, chop in half and pull off any dead leaves. Toss in olive oil, herbs, a tsp of paprika and a bit of kosher salt and throw in the bottom of the roasting pan for the last 10-15 minutes.

This goes great with tzatziki.

Tzatziki:
3 persian cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 cup greek yogurt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves, smashed
5 grinds black pepper
Kosher salt

Chop the cucumbers into chunks. Put about 2 tsp kosher salt on them and put them in something to drain for at least half an hour. Dry them with paper towels and chop very small. Stir everything together, add salt to taste. Let this sit at least an hour to let the flavors blend.

Crockpot beer chicken

I keep hearing about recipes like this, so I figured I would give it a shot.

4 chicken breasts
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 large sprig rosemary
1 can beer

Put the chicken breasts in the crockpot. Mine started out frozen, I'm curious if that will turn out well. Pour the beer over the chicken, sprinkle with the spices and drop the rosemary in. Set it on high for two hours then low for four hours. You can set it on low for 8 hours if you're going to be gone all day.

This would be super good with a can of black beans with about 1/8 tsp of each spice. Yum.

I let the chicken go way too long tonight, as the football game turned into extended happy hour. It was a tiny bit dry, but damn that flavor is there.

Spaghetti with red sauce

I eat pasta all the time. This is my go to meal when I'm rushed. I always make a vat of this sauce and freeze a bunch so I always have some on hand.

Red sauce:
Olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 14.5 ounce can black olives
2 large springs basil
1/2 bunch italian parsley
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs black pepper
Kosher salt

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and cook until transluscent, a few minutes. Add the garlic, saute a minute or two. DO NOT let this burn, it will ruin this. Add in the wine and cook down for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Put the olives, basil and parsley in a food processor and pulse until the olives are small chunks and the herbs are shredded. Add this to the sauce. Add in the oregano and pepper. Simmer at least twenty minutes. Taste and add salt. Mine needed about 1 tsp, but this can vary widely. Go by taste, not measurement.

Cook 1/2 lb of spaghetti. Drain, saving a bit of water. Put some of the sauce in a pot, add in 1/2 lb of cooked hot italian sausage, the spaghetti and a small splash of pasta water. Cook for a minute, add parmesan, grub.

Fettuccine with white clam sauce

The first time I ever saw this dish, I was on one of those lame no carb diets back in the early 2000s. The smell of it drove me insane! I have only had it maybe a dozen times since then, but I love it. Except when it's crunchy and you know you got some sand in there, but still. Here's my version, borrowed heavily from others:

Scrub up 16 clams. Saute two smashed garlic cloves in olive oil. Once it starts to brown, add in the clams along with ¾ cup white wine and ½ cup water. Boil and steam for ten minutes. When I saw them open up, it felt like they were happy and saying hello!

Pull out the clams and set aside, discarding any clams that didn’t open. That’s important, the closed ones are dead and will make you sick. Once the clams cool slightly, pull out the meat. Discard the shells unless you want to use a couple for garnish. Save the liquid.

Cook ½ lb linguini until just barely al dente. Add to the skillet the reserved liquid and clams, 1 tbs butter, 1 tbs chopped parsley and oregano, a little bit of lemon zest and juice. Once heated through, add in the pasta along with ¼ cup pasta water. Cook until it starts looking like the sauce is friends with the pasta.

Throw on some parm and grub!

This is the first dish I have ever made that the boyfriend didn't like. He said it tasted funny. To be fair, though, he told me earlier in the day he didn't like mussels and when asked if he liked clams, he said "in chowder." Which I also make awesomely. I thought it was pretty damn good, although I would probably add less water to the clams next time.

Biscuits and Gravy

Prepare to have an all day food coma from this one.

Biscuits:
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs butter
2 tbs shortening
1 cup buttermilk

Gravy:
1/2 lb pork breakfast sausage
3 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper

Side dish:
More sausage, of course

Combine two cups of flour with 4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Use a pastry cutter or two forks and cut in 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs shortening. Hurry up, you don't want them to melt. Stir in up to 1 cup of buttermilk, but avoid over mixing. Once it comes together, put it on a floured board and fold it together a few times.

Roll or pat it 3/4 inch think. Cut into 2 1/2 inch circles. You'll get about ten. Put these into a 9" cake tin. You want the edges to touch. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes.

The gravy is incredibly easy. Cook 1/2 lb crumbled pork breakfast sausage. Once done, add in three tbs flour. Keep cooking until the flour starts to brown. Add about 1 1/2 cups of milk. Keep cooking and stirring until it thickens. Season with salt and lots of pepper. Proceed to drown the biscuits in it.

Beef Stroganoff

This is one of those dishes that I hated when I was a kid and absolutely love now. Mushrooms used to completely gross me out, but the last four years I can't get enough of them as long as they're cooked. Especially in wine. Go figure. I tend to make this with ground beef, but it's easy enough to substitute a similar amount of beef cut into 1/2 inch pieces, you just need to cook it in more butter to make up for the fat content of the ground beef. Here's my version:

Ingredients:
4 tbs butter, maybe more
1 lb ground beef
3 chopped garlic cloves
3 chopped shallots
12 ounces mushrooms
2-4 tbs flour
1 cup white wine or vermouth
4 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups of milk
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 lb egg noodles

Heat 2 tbs of butter in a deep skillet. Brown 1 lb of ground beef. Here's an important tip: this can't run out of grease. If you cook it too long and it soaks back in, or if you use super lean beef, you have to keep adding in a couple tbs of butter here and there. It will not work if it's dry.

Once it's almost cooked, add 3 large chopped garlic cloves and two large chopped shallots. Fry for one minute, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Add in 12 ounces chopped mushrooms. I usually use crimini, but tonight I'm trying it with portabellos. Try to avoid using the boring white button ones. Yawn.

Once the mushrooms start to shrink, add 2-3 tbs flour, enough to soak up the grease from the butter and the beef. If it's a crazy amount of grease, scoop a bit out. Think the consistency of a roux. Cook until the flour starts to turn color, stirring constantly. If you haven't noticed yet, your arm might be a bit sore after this one.

Add 1 cup of white wine, one bay leaf and four sprigs of thyme. Use dry vermouth for a stronger flavor. Next time, I'll let the thyme and bay leaf sit in the wine when I start it. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pan. Cook for a bit to lose the stong alcohol flavor. It will be thick from the start, but let it go for at least a couple of minutes, then pull the bay leaf and thyme stems and add 1 1/2 cups of milk. Heat through, still stirring, it will get thick almost immediately. Taste it, add salt and lots of pepper. I used about 1/2 tsp of salt and about ten grinds of pepper. I love lots of pepper in this. Pull off the heat and stir in 1/2 cup sour cream when you're ready to serve.

While this is going on, cook 1/2 lb of egg noodles. Add salt and pepper, lots of butter, and serve the stroganoff over the noodles.

Carne Asada

This is one of my all time favorite dishes. So simple and tasty. Here's the marinade for two pounds of meat:

2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs thyme
1 tbs paprika
2 tsp salt
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs white pepper
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 small onion sliced
1 cup lemon juice

Mix this all together and then throw in the meat. Marinate at least an hour then grill it quickly over high heat. Tada!

Shrimp with orzo, asparagus and feta

Boil a pot of water and throw in 1/2 lb of chopped asparagus. Cook for two minutes and then put into ice water. Add 1 1/2 cup of orzo and cook for ten minutes. Save some cooking water and drain it.

Shell and devein 3/4 lb of shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Add 4 tbs of butter to a good sized pan. Once it's hot, add the shrimp with one chopped garlic clove and cook until the shrimp is pink, then pull out. Throw in the asparagus and saute a bit, then pull out.

Add in 1/2 cup of white wine with 1 tsp oregano and cook down, scraping the bottom. Add 1 cup of chicken stock, a bit of the reserved cooking water and the orzo. Cook on high for two minutes then add the shrimp and asparagus.

Stir in 2 tbs chopped fresh parsley. Serve and top with crumbled feta.

When I did this, I did the asparagus and orzo ahead of time and prepped the shrimp and just set to the side until I was ready to cook, which totally worked. I love a meal I can prep ahead cook in ten minutes.

It did need a bit of salt, as my stock is much less salty than the canned crap I'm used to. A bit of pepper made it pop. I loved this dish.

Lazy Garlic Pasta

This is a good one when I have no time and want something garlicky and simple. And I'm

always down for some pasta. Cook enough spaghetti for one. While it's cooking, smash one garlic clove into a bowl. Chop up about four basil leaves fine into said bowl. Add in a couple pats of butter. Once the spaghetti finishes up, scoop out about two tbs of pasta water. Drain the rest, add it to the bowl, then stir it all up with the reserved pasta water. Add parm. Enjoy.

Spinach Feta Pasta

This is one of my oldies but goodies. It's sooo easy and it's super yum. And it's about 3000 degrees outside, so it works perfectly.

I have a leftover chicken breast from chimi chicken that I chopped up to add in. I made 1/2 pound of rotini pasta. I tossed that in vinaigrette for a minute to keep it from drying out and to get some flavor.

Here's the sauce:
1 cup spinach 1/2 cup vinaigrette (I was lazy, usually I would make my own, today I used Trader Joe's red wine. Boring.) 1/4 cup good feta

Throw the spinach in the food processor until it's tiny. Add vinaigrette. If it's TJ's, add about 1/4 cup of oil to offset the water content. Add the feta and blend until just past chunky. Pour this over the cooked pasta, add the chopped chicken and a bit more feta.

Done. Love it.

Chimichurri and dinner

I knew this was coming. It always happens when I'm bored, I get hungry, I go shopping and all of a sudden I want to make fifteen different things. And that is today. I went with chimichurri - I did this recipe a while back, it's a recurring favorite whenever I see red peppers or parsley.

I like my chimichurri chunky and far from that bright green crap you see on tv. I use my food processor, but if you chop by hand, just make sure everything is a super small chop. At the same time, if you use a food processor, make sure it doesn't turn into a puree. Although this time I did it a little finer than usual and it turned out pretty rockin. Better marinade and easier to use as a dip. Yum.

Chop together 1 bunch parsley (save most of the stems for stock), 1 seeded tomato, 1/2 seeded red pepper, 1 smallish onion, 3-5 garlic cloves. Add 1 tbs oregano, paprika and coarse kosher salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Stir it well.

1/2 hour later add 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup water. Tonight, mine was super moist - maybe the parsley got rained on at the market right before I picked it up? So I left out the water. 1/2 hour later, add 1/2 cup olive oil. Golden.

Dinner tonight is super simple. Chimi chicken, a can of black beans heated with a tbs of chimi in it, and pseudo Spanish rice. I sauteed about a tbs of onions, added 1/2 a cup of rice to the saute, then added a cup of chicken stock and about 4 oz water. Cook that for 20-25 min and you're good to go.

On a related note, rice is one of my culinary nemeses. I can't cook it for shit most of the time. Tonight is no exception. I put the heat a little too low, and it's been going for 45 minutes in a crunchy, watery mess. Fuck rice.

Za'atar is my crack

Za'atar. It's a beautiful spice mixture. My best friend is Lebanese+ and she introduced me to this amazing spice. We call it dirt, since it does look like it. It's an amazing mix of thyme, sesame seed, sumac and other things.

This will probably be a post that is good for some regions, not so much for others. Living in Los Angeles, I have a ton of ethnic markets around me, so I have access to this.

My local international market has "jordanian thyme." Which is basically thyme, sesame seed and some other stuff that if you add sumac to it, it's za'atar. I buy the shit out of this all the time. My favorite snack is a hot pita and some olive oil to dunk it in before the za'atar.

Tonight's snack supper is super simple. I just wanted some chicken. I put some sumac on the chicken, then some dirt. I cooked it up on my Foreman grill and grubbed. My man added sun dried tomatoes + oil, I added more sumac. Yum and super simple.

Shrimp Scampi with pilaf and asparagus

I love love love shrimp scampi. I'm trying a super easy version of it. I haven't made this in ages, but I remember it being super simple.

Season 1 lb medium shrimp with salt and pepper after ripping their legs off. Heat a few tablespoons butter in a pan until it's bubbly and close to brown. Cook the shrimp a couple minutes on the first side. Flip them (just shake the pan around then flip the individuals that don't want to turn - way easier than turning each one) and cook a minute. Add two cloves chopped garlic and saute for about a minute. Pull out the shrimp and as much of the garlic as you can with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Add in 1/4 cup whine wine and juice of one lemon. Cook until it reduces a bit and add in a tiny bit of zest and 2 tbs chopped fresh parsley. Pour it over the shrimp and poof: scampi.

I'm pairing this with a super easy pilaf. Saute 1/2 cup orzo in 2 tbs butter. Stir in 2/3 cup of rice and three cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce and cook for 25 minutes.

Throw in some asparagus and you're golden. Here was a thought - I threw the asparagus in boiling water for 2 minutes and then threw it in ice water - blanch. Once I pulled the shrimp that was sauteed, I threw in the asparagus for a minute and then pulled it out before I added the wine etc. Beautiful. Yum!

The only misstep. Add some bouillon or some salt to the pilaf. It's incredibly boring.

Lemon Paprika Chicken

This is one of my all time favorite one pot easy chicken dishes and I'm trying it a bit differently this time. I use the same marinade for the chicken as I do for the potatoes and the veggie. This works super well with brussel sprouts.

Start with the marinade. Combine the following:
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs oregano
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine or pressed
2 tsp white pepper
A few shakes of red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil

Then the rest of the prep. Chop three gold potatoes (I used russets tonight, I was out of gold) into inch or slightly smaller pieces. Put in a bowl. Take 8 large or 12 regular brussel sprouts and chop off the stem, then slice in half. Dump the leaves that fall off and put the halves in a bowl. Clean two chicken breast halves and put them in a bowl.

I put a bit of the marinade on the potatoes, enough to lightly coat. The brussel sprouts get a bit more. The chicken goes in the rest. I usually prep this an hour before and then cook, but you can always prep and marinate the chicken the night before then throw the rest together when you're ready to cook.

This is a one pot dish in three parts. Heat the oven to 375. Pull out the chicken and the brussel sprouts if they were in the fridge so they can rest and lose the chill.

Dump the potatoes with the minimal marinade in a roasting pan, spread out. Hit with another glug of olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Sprinkle with a bit more white pepper if you're into that. Cook the potatoes for twenty minutes. Pull the pan, stir around the potatoes and corral them in one half of the pan. Add the chicken to the other side after dripping off most of the marinade. Sprinkle with kosher salt, cook for 15 minutes. Pull the pan, flip the chicken, add the brussel sprouts with marinade in between and sprinkle the chicken and sprouts with kosher salt. Cook for 12 more minutes. Once you pull it out, let the chicken hang out for at least five minutes before you dig in.

I realized tonight what I was doing wrong with this. I used to put it together with lots of marinade in the pan and that was killing it. The potatoes won't get crisp with too much marinade and the chicken looks and feels super weird cooked in that much liquid. The sprouts add just enough to get a nice barely there sauce on it. But damn, the chicken was overcooked. Cut their time down by at least five minutes. Also, when you pull it out to let it rest, put another pad or something under the potato side to make sure any excess liquid drains to the other side. Soggy potatoes = no bueno.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken

I hope this turns out yummy. I'm running out of ideas for chicken that I haven't done a million times. This is super basic but it sounds good.

My rosemary plant is growing like crazy. It's the only one that survived from last season. I need to prune it and I prefer using it fresh, so I have a fuckton of rosemary to go through. This seemed like a good plan.

I stripped three good sized rosemary sprigs and ran them through my no-coffee-allowed coffee grinder. I added that to the juice of one lemon, tsp of salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil. I marinated the chicken in that for a few hours.

I put it on my Foreman grill, but this would be a-mazing on the BBQ, baked or pan fried. I served it with a basic risotto and steamed broccoli. I was planning on a simple tomato salad with a red wine vinaigrette, but most produce has sucked around here lately and they tasted like crap.

The chicken was Aaamazing. It totally worked with the massive amount of rosemary. Not sure if it went with the risotto, that was a bit heavy.

Chimichurri chicken with veggie sides

This weekend I was lucky enough to be visiting my sister and the rest of her family. My brother in law convinced her they needed a big, bad ass grill, so I had to take advantage of that. I figured chimichurri chicken with a bunch of veggie sides would be perfect for such a nice, sunny day. Also, after the amount of beer and heavy food we had for lunch, the lighter the better.

Chimichurri is super easy, it just takes a lot of chopping if you don't have a food processor. This is pretty much the recipe I got from a website called Asado Argentina, all about traditional Argentinian BBQ. I thought they were defunct, but I'm so excited to see today that they have new posts coming.



For chimichurri, chop one bunch of parsley, 1/2 a red bell pepper, 1 seeded tomato, 1 yellow onion and a few garlic cloves. I like to pulse it in a food processor, but chopping it up fine will work too. Just don't go too fine - think pico de gallo instead of salsa. Throw this in a bowl and add 1 tbs each oregano and paprika, 1 tsp black pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix all of this well with 1 tbs kosher salt.

The trick is to mix it all up with the salt and let it sit 1/2 hour, then add 1/4 cup each red wine vinegar and water and let it sit 1/2 hour, then mix in 1/2 cup of olive oil. Yummy goodness.

This is one of my favorite recipes I've found lately. I make a double batch and put in on absolutely everything, and the longer it sits, the better it tastes. For this weekend, I used 1/2 of it to marinate some boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs.

The chicken went on the hot side of the grill after a few hours. I wrapped a few stalks of asparagus with proscuitto and put the bunches on the top level of the grill to hang out. For the corn on the cob, I unwrapped each stalk without stripping off the leaves, removed the stringy stuff, added olive oil and salt and wrapped it back up. That went on the medium side of the grill. I served all this with a tart coleslaw made from leftover cabbage and carrots and the rest of the chimichurri.

Ah-mazing. The fam loved it.

Chicken in red sauce with proscuitto and red peppers

This is one of my favorites. I started from a Giada recipe and have been tweaking it for months.

Dice three slices of prosciutto and half a red pepper and cook in olive oil for five minutes until everything is almost browned.

Cut two chicken breasts in half crosswise and season with kosher salt and black pepper. Scoot the prosciutto and red pepper to the outskirts of the pan. Brown the chicken well in the pan in two batches. Move them to a plate.

Press two garlic cloves into the pan, cook for one minute. Add a cup of wine and cook for a few minutes. Add in a sprig of rosemary, 1 tsp of dried oregano and basil and a can of diced tomatoes. Add the chicken back in.

After 15 minutes, this is ready to go. Serve over spaghetti.

Drunken Lemon Pepper Pork Roast

My first recipe post! Awesome!

This was dinner two nights ago.

My favorite two things to do with pork are a beer and garlic combo or a lemon pepper thing. So I decided to combine the two.

Here's the recipe.

Take a 2 2 ½ lb pork roast and soak it in two beers, four pressed garlic cloves and 2 tsp pepper. Let it soak at least all day, preferably overnight.
Pull the meat out of the fridge and drain off the marinade. Let it sit about an hour. Pat it dry and sprinkle with kosher salt, black pepper and lemon pepper.
Heat a roasting pan on the stove, setting the rack to the side. Add olive oil. Sear the pork roast on all sides, about four minutes a side. Pull it out of the pan onto the rack.
Into the pan add three white potatoes and five carrots, chopped into ¾ inch pieces and tossed with olive oil, garlic powder and black pepper. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Put the rack with the pork over it.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes a lb.
The meat needed a bit more seasoning, probably more of a rub than a sprinkle, and the cooking needed to be more even. I'll probably tie it up next time if the cut is so uneven. But it was still pretty yummy. The potatoes and carrots were fucking incredible.