Ode To Grecian Food

Once again I found myself all alone with only my own hunger pains to satisfy.  Although I proudly serve beef at my dinner table, when the choice is truly all mine on what's for dinner I go to something a little lighter.  Not saying chicken is necessarily better, but when I think of chicken I think of salad not mashed potatoes and gravy.  So tonight my vote was for Greek!  I thought I was to tired to go to the store after work until I had made up my mind on dinner then realized I wasn't really that exhausted.       This meal has an appetizer of pita chips and my special recipe for tzatziki, a round of lentil soup.  Then a chicken pita for the big finale.  I originally tried my first taste of Greek food in Galveston, TX.  After the hurricane in 2005 the restaurant I worked at a wall collapsed and it was no longer in business.  It required me to find employment else where.  There I was introduced to the Olympia Grill.  Their food was amazing and my inspiration for my meal this evening.  Although that place will always hold a special place in my heart, my improvising knocks them out of the water!

First things first you want to get your lentil soup on the heat.  It takes the longest taking about 1 hour and 45 minutes of your day.  I promise it is all going to be worth it though.  Plus if you are going to do this for a dinner party make it the day before because the longer this soup sets the better it gets.    

I start off putting 28oz of diced tomatoes in my sauce pan.  There is actually a can that size so do not worry about dirtying a utensil with measuring it out.  Add 4 cups of cold water, a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic, 4 bay leaves (you can axe 2 of these if need be I am just a fan) S&P and if you like half a white onion.  Bring to a boil then add 1 cup of olive oil and 1/2 pound of lentils.  reduce heat to simmer and cook for 90 minutes.  Once the lentils are tender add red wine vinegar to taste.  By the time I am through adding vinegar to the pot I use about 1/2 cup and then more for my own bowl.  It is an ingredient that brings the entire soup together.      

After the soup is on go ahead and start of the tzatziki sauce.  I have been meaning to give this recipe out to a dear family friend (Elaine) so here it is! With this recipe again the longer this sits the better.    I start out by opening a 16 oz tub of plain greek yogurt.  You can use low fat, fat free anything you see fit.  Drain any excess liquid off and set the yogurt aside.  Get a small sauté pan hot and add 1/4 olive oil and 1 TB of minced garlic, S&P, along with a good dash of greek seasoning.  If you do not have this as a staple in your pantry you need to go out and get some.  You can thank me later. 

 Once the oil gets hot enough that it starts to fight with the garlic turn off the heat and move to a cold burner to cool.

 While you are waiting for the garlic oil to cool get your cucumber from the fridge, cut off both ends and slice down the middle.  Have you ever deseeded a cucumber?  Kinda confused?  Well don't be its as simple as pie.  Get a spoon and once the cucumber is halved then just run the spoon down the center of the cucumber scraping out the insides.  Pretty easy huh!  For my taztziki I like to leave on the cucumber skin but you are more than welcome to peel yours off.  It's the contrast I like in the sauce.  Also another tip is I like to grate my cucumber on a hand towel so once you are finished you can wring it out over the sink to get rid of the extra water its toting around.

Usually I have to mix my yogurt sauce in a separate bowl but this time I had previously used some of the yogurt in another recipe so I had enough room to do it all in the yogurt cup!  Even a kitchen can have a sense of humor.  Thanks for saving me the trouble of cleaning a extra dirty dish =)  Once all piled on top stir until your hearts content!!  Replace lid back on top and refrigerate until ready to serve.

After I got the soup on and the taztziki made I cubed some boneless chicken breast, put in a hot pan and browned.   Believe me no picture necessary.  I have the utmost confidence that you can complete this task with out a boring picture!!   

 Once the soup is almost done I start to assemble my chicken pitas.  I do have to let you in on something.... I am not a fan of the stale pita bread that the stores sell.  If you by chance see any naan grab it, grab 2 I do not care just make sure you get enough.  Although it is used traditionally in Indian food, in our local market its the closet taste to fresh pita, and its amazing.  It is a soft, tender flavor filled carb frenzy.  Topped with my chicken, spring mix, crunchy purple onion, fresh tomato and creamy tzatiki it is just so good.  You will also want to warm it to eat with your tzatziki, even though I opted out and had pita chips with mine.

 I couldn't for the life of me decide on what pictures to post in this blog.  They all came out so beautiful. When you are cooking good food though its easy to run into that problem!!

Tzatziki Sauce:

1 - 16 oz container plain greek yogurt with excess water poured off

1 cucumber deseeded and grated

Heat:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tb minced garlic

s&p

dash of greek seasoning

Once it starts talking remove from heat

Stir in after it cools with the yogurt and cucumber.

Be sure to refrigerate!

Lentil Soup:

Out 28 oz of diced tomatoes in sauce pan add 4 cups of cold water

1 heaping TB of minced garlic

4 bay leaves

1/2 white onion (optional)

s&p to taste

bring to a boil and add

1 cup of olive oil 

1/2 pound of lentils

bring to a boil once agin then reduce heat to a simmer

Cook for 1 hour 45 minutes or until lentils are tender.

A great accompaniment to this soup is a dollop of your fresh made tzatziki =)

Go Green Burgers With Spiced Sweet Potato Fries and Brown Butter Sauce

So once again my Husband and I are doing our part in celebrating the Hatch chile pepper season. It only last until mid September up here so don't worry the over indulging on these spicy little devils will be coming to an end soon.  So on this busy day at work I should have been focusing on payroll, but honestly that was the farthest thing from my mind.  No I do not always think of food, and no you would not believe me if you saw my figure.  So anyways back to the peppers.  We have had cheese rellenos, tacos, paella and now green burgers.  The green burger is a hail to almost all things green.  Well kinda, chiles, avocados, green spring mix, jalapeño salsa, and wasabi mayo.  I know sometimes you think a burger I am not in the mood for a burger.  That is actually how I was this evening when John told me he didn't care what I made for dinner but he wanted something with the Hatch peppers.  Way to give me options babe.  So as I am walking in the store I was thinking green chiles green chiles green chiles.  Hmm green green green.  Then viola!  Green burgers.  I knew something would come to me.  I love green burgers, so I immediately head to the veggies section and grab all the produce I need.  Pick up the hamburger meat some buns and head home.



Go ahead and start getting your grill or pan hot.  I already had some roasted peppers from the local market that I chopped up and put with my pound of hamburger meat.  I seasoned my meat with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and a dash of cyan.  Yes I season my meat a lot.  There is nothing worse than having to dress up the burger so much just to make it have flavor.

Go ahead and get your hands dirty (after washing them of course) by mixing in the peppers and your seasonings of choice with your hamburger meat.  Once that is all mixed go ahead and pat out your patties.  I like to do my a bit bigger because the meat tends to shrink during the grill/pan time.  

Once patted go put them on the hot grill and cook for 6 minutes on each side, or burn it like rubber like my Moms side of the family would want it.  The peppers may stick to the grill a bit but it won't do enough damage for you to want to throw the spatula across the yard.  

This is Searcy.  You met her in a previous blog all about me =) She is a happy hound when its grilling time.  She loves posing for pictures, sits on command and even plays dead for just a small chance she will get something to eat.  

Once the burgers are cooked they will have a beautiful char and a very smokey fragrant.  You won't want to wait long to get the fixins on this and in your mouth.  But first....

.....Let's make a side.  Spiced sweet potatoes with a brown butter sauce.  

Get three sweet potatoes and slice.  You can put them on a standard baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  You do not want them to swim you want just enough to where you can mix them around to get them coated.  Then I have some cinnamon sugar from World Market I absolutely love and grind some on the potatoes.  All in all I would say about 2 TB of cinnamon sugar along with a sprinkle of salt.  Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425.  It is not necessary to flip these during baking.  

While those are baking I add 1 stick of salted butter and 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  I then add 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 TB of worchestire sauce stir and its ready to pour up.  This takes about 10 minutes.  You will want to start the potatoes before you begin your burgers so they will be ready at the same time.  

It's dinner time!!!!  To get the full effect of the green burger I start with a whole wheat bun and slather on a layer of wasabi mayo, green chile patty, extra sliced chiles, avocado, spring mix and jalapeno salsa.  I am a BBQ hamburger girl so I can't resist but to use some of my brown butter sauce on this burger as well.  The sweet with the spicy is just fireworks in your mouth.    

Snickerdoodles! You know you want one!

So me in my oldest sister once owned our very own bakery.  The end.  Although anyone who came into the bakery knows these cookies as The Sweet Escape this recipe has actually been in the family awhile.    When me and my three sisters were little, my mother had a new junior cookbook that had this cookie recipe in there along with some other secret recipes to be shared later =)  Getting to make these cookies with my mom as a kid you would think she was letting us flambé bananas or something.   I can remember the kitchen smelling of warm sweet cinnamon.  Still one of my most favorite memories and still one of my most favorite cookies.  

Snickerdoodles

Preheat oven to 350

2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

3 cups / 330 g ap flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (not to be confused with tartar sauce...seriously)

1/4 cup sugar
1TB cinnamon

When I decided to make these cookies today I thought I was so smart because I was going to get my butter soft by sitting it outside instead of microwaving it.  Well my new cook books distracted me longer than I had planned.   Lets just say I could have microwaved the butter for three minutes and it would have been firmer than leaving it outside!  So I started with 2 very soft sticks of unsalted butter and I add 1 1/2 cup of sugar.  I use my hand mixer to beat it until light and fluffy.  Once you are at the right consistency add both eggs at the same time and once again beat until light and fluffy.  With this recipe you can not over beat in my opinion.  Not with the results that I am looking for anyways.  

Once you have that done go ahead and mix up your dry ingredients.  Weigh out your 330g of AP flour (in baking I ALWAYS weigh my flour so I do not add to much) and add your 1/2 teaspoons of salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  Give that a good whisk then add that to your "wet" ingredients.  As you will notice in my picture I am doing it the opposite way.  In another picture not posted is me trying to beat this mixture on a high enough speed so it will pick up the excess flour mixture off the bottom of the bowl that needs to be mixed in!  Once again though I was not afraid of over mixing.


In just a small bowl I add my 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 Tb of cinnamon.  I could actually add more cause I like my snickerdoodles with a little spice.  With a name like that it needs to have a little kick (just not too much to where it taste bitter.)  Mix well and get ready to either spoon out dough balls or scoop them out.  All depending on what kind of gadget you have in your kitchen.  

Once the dough has been rolled in the cinnamon sugar place 6 of them them evenly apart on the baking pan. My cookies spread and they are about 4'' wide, they need their growing room.  Once on the sheet smash them just a bit to where they are no longer round on the top.  This keeps the center from keeping that small pillow of dough that will never cook down.  I have nothing against raw cookie dough trust me, I just don't want my snickerdoodles to look like that.. Slight perfectionist here.  

  

After baking for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees you will see a beautifully risen cookie that looks and smells amazing.  You may want a picture now cause they fall!  The air escapes them shortly after leaving the heat of the oven and you are left with this amazing chewy cinnamon butter cookie that will just put a smile on your face.  Not sure if it has a special power or what.  Seeing people react as adult the same was as I did as a kid while eating this cookie was probably the most memorable experience at the bakery.  Still one thing that makes me =)

Hatch Chile Chicken Paella

It was just Searcy and I this morning in a clean house with John out on a job.  I was kinda excited because I had bought three new cookbooks yesterday I could not wait to look at!  As I sat reading through my new treasures I couldn't get chicken out of my head.  Sundays I always think deserve a special meal.  One that would take too long to even consider for a week night, and one you just can't find the time to squeeze in on a saturday.  Although it was my plan to be in my kitchen all day I whipped this paella out in 1 1/2 hours.  That is not including my store time.  I stayed in the poultry section for 30 minutes sulking that they didn't have split breast with ribs with the skin on it.  I thought OMG I am going to have to think of something else to cook but alas I got the heck over it and grabbed the skinless chicken and merrily went on my way.  This recipes was originally going to have piquillo peppers in it but that too I could not find at the store.  During the check out I did however noticed a $5.00 bag of roasted Hatch chile peppers.  So I improvised.  Boy will my hubby love me for that.  

I happen to have a pretty awesome mom by the way that bought me a set of Rachael Ray cooking pans for my birthday.  It came with a 5 qt sauté pan I have yet to use until today.  With as much room this pan has to occupy I knew it would be perfect to withstand the task of this one pot meal!

Put your oven on 350 degrees.  Go get your pan and put it on medium heat and add 1/4 cup of olive oil.  While that is getting hot, salt and pepper your chicken breast (or any chicken of your choice).  Remember do not not skimp on the seasoning.   The last thing you want to do is be in the kitchen all day to make something that doesn't have any flavor.   

Once your pan is hot place the chicken skin side down and cook 12 minutes on one side then flip for another 12 on the other.  I rotate my chicken every 4 minutes to ensure all my chicken is getting evenly browned.   Once the juices run clear place the chicken on a plate and set aside.   

To that same pan add 5 Hatch chiles, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 3 roma tomatoes and S&P.  Sauté until the skin is peeling from the tomatoes.  After about 10 minutes add 1/2 TB of saffron and 1 heaping TB of paprika.  Stir until tomatoes and peppers are completely coated.

Add 2 cups of long grain white rice.   Stir until rice is completely seasoned.  To that add 1/2 cup of white wine.  Let simmer for about 2 minutes then add a 4 cups of hot chicken broth, or stock.  Stir your rice then place a lid over this for 10 minutes.  You can stir it occasionally and it will not hurt the rice's feelings.  I promise.

Once your rice has absorbed most of the liquid but is not dry, place your chicken breast on top of it.  Place the lid on the pan once again and place in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.  This pan is awesome in the sense it can go from stove top to oven to table.  Do not just put just any pan in your oven be sure it is a multitasker!  If it is not I am sorry to say you do not qualify for a one pot meal so do not pass go and do not collect $100.  You will need to go ahead and get another pan out you can throw in the oven!

Once your timer has alerted you about your Paella being done pull it from the oven and lets plate.  You can cut up your chicken, or if you choose thighs, or legs go ahead and serve the chicken pieces whole.  It is whatever you want just as long as there is enough for everyone.  I add a few garnishes of italian parsley and lime wedges.  These are not just for show either.  Squeeze that lime all over your chicken and rice and take a bite and you will know exactly why I put it as a garnish =)  Enjoy!

2 Hour Roast You Gotta Try!

It is finally that time of the year when that heat in the breeze is finally letting up a bit and you can feel the approach of fall around the corner.  It was a slight overcast and 72 degrees when I left work this evening and as usual the first thing I think of while starting the car is what's for dinner?  I am one who is always ready for the next season before we are even half way through the one we are currently trying to get through.  You could say I jump the gun with my seasonal menu planning even my holiday decorations.    So while making the fifteen minute trip into town I immediately think roast.  My Husband is a meat and potatoes man so this is always something I know he wont say no to.  It also manipulates my want for cool evenings and fall foliage!

 So I bought a 2 lb. boneless top round roast.  I do not (and you shouldn't either)  trim the fat.  You are going to braise it in the pan and in doing so you are locking all the moisture in the roast for when its gets to cooking.  Also the fat rendered from the roast will just add flavor to the bouillon made in the pressure cooker.  If you notice in the picture I have a awesome salt box that I absolutely love.  Season the entire roast generously with black pepper and salt.  You do not have to get fancy and do ten spices.  Trust me simple is the best way to go with this.  Make sure you do have your pan on medium high heat getting hot.

Once the pan is hot put the roast fat side down and sear for 3-5 minutes.  Continue rotating the roast until all sides are browned.

While my meat is browning I add 1 qt of water to my pressure cooker along with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.  I even add a little beef bouillon just to ensure I am not left with just a thin semi flavored broth.  If i were making this for my family at this point I would even add a package of brown gravy mix and possibly a cream of mushroom, but my Husband likes what he calls a clean gravy.  Just plain jane beef broth.   So with my water and seasoning in the pan I cut up 2 russet potatoes.  You can use fingerling potatoes, new baby potatoes any potato you want really just get them cut and in the water.  I put the potatoes in first just to ensure that the heat from the bottom of the cooker does not cook my meat to fast with the direct heat.  I also like cooking the potatoes with the meat because the cook time on these is just long enough to make them tender enough to mash and eat with the gravy.  On those I lay my roast.  Put on the lid, and mine has certain suggestions such as stew that I select and I have it cook for one and one half hour.

I got my pressure cooker cooking away I start my prep for the rest of the vegetables John and I enjoy in our stew.  A head of cabbage, carrots and green beans.  I would love a big wedge of onion with mine but I got a onion hater as my better half.  I just quarter my head of cabbage, and once quartered I cut out the core.  It is a lot safer than assuming you could just use a paring knife and cut it out.. I must say it is really not that easy!  So even though you are loading a standard baking sheet with a head of cabbage, 1 cup of water, orange crunchy carrots and crisp green beans, you are not ready to put them in the oven. It is just prepping.  If you put them in the oven now and pulled them when the roast was done you would have a bunch of mush!   Honestly you can even wait to prep these right up until you need to put them in the oven.  Thats your call.  Just remember once you have the cabbage cut and in the pan that you salt and pepper them accordingly.  The same with the carrots and green beans. You need to season with layers.  Seasoning enough for one thing does not make its so for the others.  Although this recipe is simple you do not want to skip on something easy like a sprinkle of S&P then be left with a flavorless dinner.    Bake your veggies on 350 for about 30 minutes.  When the time is up they will be perfectly tender and be ready to be topped with the potatoes, roast and not so gravy gravy.

 This is a meal that is easy to make, and does not require all day in the kitchen.  I am talking 2 hours tops and you have a tender juicy roast with soft potatoes, sweet cabbage, crunchy carrots and crisp green beans.  This one is sure to please with out a doubt.

Nacho Average Nachos

My sister and brother in law were having a Hatch chili pepper roast at their house and I needed to bring something.  So I saw this idea on Pinterest. Yes I am guilty of being a crazy pinner and I love all the ideas and recipes that I get from that site!  They are bite size nachos that are made in a mini muffin pan and they are AWESOME!!  I pretty much already have the general idea of what I like nachos to taste like so a recipe was not necessary.  Go ahead and get your pan on the stove top, turn up the heat to medium and lets get to cooking.  

• 1 pound of hamburger meat (I used 96% lean)
• 1 TB minced garlic ( I used it from the jar but fresh cloves is definitely the way to go)
• Cyan Pepper for a little kick ( As much or as little as you want depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 TB Italian SeasoningSalt & Pepper to taste

I had an extremely good looking helper in the kitchen this afternoon =) My Hubby!

So once the meat is browned and cooked through add 

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 small can of diced green chilies (you can choose heat preference as well)
• 1 can of rotel
• 1/2 a can of refried beans

Once you get everything mixed in I continue to leave it on the heat stirring occasionally while I put the wonton wrappers in the mini muffin pan.  I lightly spray the pan with olive oil and once I get the wrappers placed I spray them as well. The mix of the heat from the baking and the oil give them that bubble look as if they had been fried!

You do not need a special gadget for this next step.  Grab the nearest spoon and start filling the wrappers.  You want to fill them with as much as they will hold.  They hold up very well during and after baking so don't be scared about over filling!  

You do not want to bake these at to high of a temperature because they brown very quickly so low and slow is the way to go to ensure a crunchy bottom.  Bake at 375 degrees for 17-20 minutes watching the edges to make sure you don't over cook.  If you notice a lot of browning on the points of the wrapper before you are ready to pull them use the old pie trick and cover it with a piece of foil.

Once they are out of the oven top with a mexican mix shredded cheese and serve immediately.  You can set up along side them a variety of toppings such as sour cream, pickled jalapeños, salsa, guacamole and queso fresco which is good on everything!  Don't take this recipe to serious.  Have fun with it and add everything but the kitchen sink to this.  It's a fun, easy, cheesy and delicious recipe that definitely will be the talk of the party =)

Honey-Glazed Apple Tart

Courtesy of Kelsey Nixon - Cooking Channel

My Husband and I are on a staycation this week!!  So being home we have got a lot of TV time in.   Yes if our TV is not on the food channel its on the cooking channel.  Actually this week is shark week so it has been kinda neglected due to the discovery channel.  John however was in the basement long enough to catch an episode of Kelsey's Essentials.  On her episode she made a Honey-Glazed Apple Pear Tart.  With fall just around the corner the idea of baking something with apples is always a good idea.  So we headed to the store and bought some Golden Delicious Apples and a box of puff pastry.  

Here is how is all went down.  I pulled the pre made puff pastry out of the box and placed it on a floured piece of parchment paper as instructed.  It comes frozen so I give it about 15 - 20 minutes to thaw before i unfold it.  

After it has had time to thaw I unfold it and begin to start docking the puff pastry.  She insist about a inch away from the edge.  This is so the edge can still puff up and give you this beautiful golden brown crust that holds all the juices and honey glaze in when it is baking.                                        

   

Once you have the puff prepared wash your golden delicious apples and core them (we did not use the pears in this recipe).  You can use a apple corer that cores and slices but in my opinion those slices will still need to be thinned out for this recipe.  

 Once your apples are cut I usually add 1 TB of lemon juice to keep the apples from browning.  I arrange them on the puff pastry one inch away from the edge.  You can arrange the apples anyway you see fit.  There is no wrong or right way.  Just try not to dump them on there though and throw in the oven cause then they will not cook evenly! 

In a small bowl melt 3 TB of unsalted butter and in another bowl mix your 3 Tb light brown sugar and  1/2 tsp cinnamon.  

Once your apples are arranged brush your melted butter on the apples and the edge of the pastry dough.    Lightly sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on top of the apples.  You can use a much or as little of this mixture as you want.  I personally like to use most of it because the brown sugar cinnamon and butter once baked makes this wonderful carmel sauce and its amazing.  

Have your oven preheated to 400 degrees.  Place in the oven for 15 minutes or until the crust begins to turn a golden brown.  Remove from the oven and drizzle 1/4 cup of honey on the apples.  Place back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes.  

John used our only choice of ice cream in the freezer, coffee.   A homemade vanilla would have been the perfect touch to accent this in my opinion.  Cinnamon apples and vanilla ice cream....How could there be anything wrong with that?! 

Honey-Glazed Apple Tart

1 Sheet ( 1/2 a 17.3 ounce package) all butter frozen puff pastry, thawed

3 Golden Delicious Apples Cored and Thinly Sliced

3 TB Melted Unsalted Butter

3 TB Light Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 Cup Warm Honey