About four days ago, I stopped at a local fruit stand that's set up in Fernbridge, California. The apricots looked stunning, so I got a basket of them. However, even eating two and three at a time, the two of us didn't get through them fast enough and they were getting pretty ripe. So I made a bread out of their puree today. It came out pretty great! I was stoked! Firm, but moist. (Heheh...no time for that now!) It smelled a lot like pumpkin bread when it baked. I actually doubled the poppy seeds that I listed in the recipe and we both liked twice as many... but I sort of figured for the general public, halving them would be better. Tasty bread! It'd be yummy with a whipped apricot and cinnamon cream cheese! Didn't have any cream cheese though.
Man, this is some newer Anti-Flag and I'm not real familiar with their later stuff. I listened to a lot of their earlier music. But this song... it just keeps getting stuck in my head. It's catchy... despite or because of the hi-hat? I can't decide. Anti-Flag's "If You Wanna Steal". -jen
2 pounds fresh apricots, peeled, pitted and pureed until smooth
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped dried apricot
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the apricot puree, eggs, butter, vanilla, almond and mix well. Add the dry mixture and mix just until combined. Fold in poppy seeds, pecans and apricot.
Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. Test by sticking a knife or tooth pick in the middle to make sure it comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 10 minutes.
A few weeks ago, the idea for this meal came to mind... I don't even remember why. But it's one of those delicious southern comfort foods. I originally was going to put it over white rice... but the fact is, we really prefer barley over rice. I think I've mentioned that before. And it went real well with this chicken in gravy. It was actually quite fast to make tonight because we'd baked 8 chicken thighs the night before. So I just used the leftover chicken for this. It'd actually double just fine for a potpie filling, too! Or over biscuits if you wanted to get real southern!
Man, I put this song on a comp a few weeks ago for our work commutes... and the song just won't get out of my head! I was a fan of the original... but this version is so, so much better. Down By Law covering "500 Miles". -jen aka zigzag, heheh
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add barley and stir to coat. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring until the barley smells toasty. Add water, soy sauce, sage, thyme, coriander and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 35 minutes. (Do not lift lid or stir!) Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. You can make the chicken gravy in about the same amount of time it takes the barley to cook.
CHICKEN IN GRAVY Time: 25 minutes Difficulty: Easy-Medium Servings: 4-6
3 tablespoons chicken fat (if your chicken didn't render this much, use butter for remainder)
3 tablespoons butter
3 medium carrots, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 a medium onion, diced
6 tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken broth (or 3 cups of water with chicken bouillon cubes or chicken base)
2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon fresh or dried chives
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt to taste (some chicken broths are saltier than others)
meat of 4 baked chicken thighs, shredded (see below for baking instructions)
In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat chicken fat and butter. Add carrots, celery and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Carrots should be fork-tender, meaning a fork slides easily into them. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and stir until absorbed, cook for 2-3 minutes. Whisk (using an actual whisk!) in chicken broth, sage, thyme, chives, the three peppers and salt, if needed. Continue whisking until gravy has thickened to desired consistency, turn heat to low, add the shredded chicken and cook for a few minutes until chicken is warmed. Serve over herbed barley. (Or use for the inside of a potpie!)
choice of seasoning (salt & pepper if nothing else)
olive oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees, F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (simply for ease of clean-up) and drizzle foil lightly with olive oil.
Season the bottoms of the chicken thighs, the place face-up on pan. Lift skin from meat and season both under the skin and over the skin. Bake at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes. Chicken should be at 165 degrees, and juices should run clear. If cooking the gravy recipe above, then reserve the chicken fat!
I've done a couple different variations of this recipe at home now and still haven't gotten it perfected but it's still awesome and a really quick and easy way to get some Caribbean flavors in your belly. This version isn't too hot even though it has two habaneros because de-seeding them takes out most of the heat. So if you like a hotter meal, only de-seed one of the peppers or if you like nuclear heat, don't de-seed at all.
I served this with a simple fresh salad and some fried plantain chips on the side to try and stick to the Caribbean theme but when I went to make my mango salad I discovered that my mango was no good and so I substituted an apple and a fresh tomato that I had making it decidedly less Caribbean but still pretty tasty.
To go with this recipe I went for some Lagwagon, Falling Apart, since they are one of our favorites in this house and we have yet to feature them in a post. Shocking! Not sure how they slipped under our radar but no longer will they escape this blog!
Now, the marinade part is simple. Throw all of the above in a blender or food processor and let her rip till at all blends into a smooth homogenous mixture, a couple of minutes ought to do. When everything is all chopped, blended, liquified, and incorporated, simply toss your chicken in a container with the mix and let it marinade for at least overnight, but the longer you let it go, the better it gets. I usually let it sit for 24 hours. Anything over 48 hrs is not going to do much for you.
Note: If you are only making enough to serve 2-3 people, halve the marinade recipe as this easily makes enough to cover 8+ pieces of chicken.
When you are ready to do up the chicken you have a couple of options. Tradition dictates that the chicken be cooked in a halved oil drum over hard wood charcoal but any grill would do as I know no one who grills in a halved oil drum outside of the Caribbean. However, we simply baked ours off in the oven, since it wasn't grilling weather and I wanted jerk chicken. 450 for 30 minutes will do if you are doing legs and thighs and if you want some of that charred grilled quality to it, toss under the broiler for a few minutes after baking.
Fresh Salad
1 fresh tomato
1 apple
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
salt & pepper to taste
The salad is everything listed above, just tossed together and served on the side. It's a light, refreshing accompaniment to the spicy, savory chicken and the starchy, salty plantain chips.
Plantain chips are also easy if you'd like to try those. Get a hold of a couple of plantains at the market and slice the skins off since they don't peel very easily. I follow the edges of the peel, they have 3, with the tip of a paring knife and then take off the ends. After that treatment they peel fairly easily. Slice them into 2 inch thick rounds and fry them in oil for about 2 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain them. Smash the rounds flat using the bottom of a coffee mug or something equally wide and hard. Fry them again in the oil for another 2 minutes, remove and drain. Salt liberally and serve.
So, I was inspired to try this dish after seeing some pictures of people forming bacon into crazy shapes after it had been cooked but before it had crisped up. I though it would be cool to make them into taco shells and stuff them full of lettuce and tomato to counter all the salty, greasy, bacon goodness, like a BLT minus the bread. Then Jen decided to mix up and awesome green aioli to put on top and all that was left was something to wash it all down. The obvious answer, of course, was a bloody mary. A super baconny BLT should have a super tomatoey drink as a companion.
Note: My first attempt at this bacon taco shell was successful but very time consuming and so I would not repeat it again, ever. It took almost 40 minutes for the bacon to crisp when I had woven it into a lattice and tried to bake it in a taco shell shape (pictured at right). Instead I will present a far simpler and less time consuming process (pictured below) that I saw here.
To accompany the dish, there was no group, or song, better than the Supersuckers covering Willie Nelson's "Bloody Mary Morning". Can't get much better than that! - justin
Place 4-5 strips of bacon on a paper towel on a microwave safe plate. Make sure the edges all overlap so that the bacon "fuses" when it's cooking. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, checking on it every minute or so to make sure it isn't burning. When it's done, pull it out and fold the bacon pancake in half with something inside to make it form into a shell. Some tinfoil should work. After a minute or two it should have set up and become crispy. Slice your tomato and lay some in your shell. Stuff the rest of the space with 3 of the large leaves of lettuce. Top with the aioli (recipe below) and you're good to go! Make as many more as you have guests or as you think yourself capable of consuming.
The aioli can actually be made ahead of time. It lasts for a long time in the fridge and goes well on everything; sandwiches, salad, wraps, slaw, etc.
Combine the mayo, sour cream , lemon juice, parsley, cilantro, green onions, and garlic and mix thoroughly. Voilà!
2 oz Demitri's Bloody Mary seasoning (this stuff is awesome but use what you like or can find)
1 qt V8 or tomato juice, whichever you prefer
4 shots vodka
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes Tabasco or hot sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
olives or celery or some other garnish
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large pitcher and place in the fridge for an hour. Serve in a large glass over ice. Garnish with olives, celery or whatever you stick in your Bloody Mary. I prefer whole green olives!
Here's the thing about this recipe - you can go all out and do the whole thing: marinated chicken, whiskey caramelized onions and mushrooms, whiskey cheese sauce, and it'll take a few hours, but be well worth it! Or... you can only go half ass and make it quick! You could just marinate the chicken and bake it, easy enough. You could make the onions and mushrooms to stuff in the chicken breast, and pass on the cheese sauce. Or throw the whiskey onions and mushrooms on a burger. You could just make the cheese sauce to go on some veggies, or nachos, or pasta or whatever you want to put cheese sauce on. I'm trying to say it's versatile! And only as complicated as you want to make it. But it was smokey and rich... delicious.
I could see this being good with a variety of whiskeys. I used Jameson, because that's what we like to drink. Jack would be good. Use whatever you like to drink... and I highly suggest shots while cooking.
So tunes to go with it... some SoCal punk we were just introduced to and really enjoying - The Sparring. Check out their Facebook page for tour dates, news and new music! But first... enjoy their video for "Straitjacket". -jen
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic, depending on taste (we love garlic)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
a few good cranks of fresh cracked black pepper
4-6 chicken breasts
2 cups Whiskey Caramelized Onions And Mushrooms (see recipe below)
2 cups shredded Smoked Gouda cheese
Whisk all ingredients together. Butterfly chicken breasts and place one at a time in a Ziploc bag and using a mallet or bottom of a sauce pan, pound the chicken out to 1/4" thick. Then place all the butterflied breasts into the Ziploc and add the marinade. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for quick clean up) and coat foil with non-stick cooking spray. Lay the butterflied chicken breasts open on the foil and on one half of the breast, sprinkle a layer of smoked Gouda. Top with a big mound (about 1/2 a cup) of the caramelized onions and mushrooms, then sprinkle another layer of Gouda on top. Fold the breast the other half over the stuffing like a taco. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken has reached 265 degrees. Cooking time is going to vary depending on size of chicken breasts. (We use a leave-in thermometer, they're awesome.)
WHISKEY CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND MUSHROOMS Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yields: about 4 cups
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, julienned
16oz of sliced crimini mushrooms
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
3 shots of whiskey
Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add onions and mushrooms, Worcestershire, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Toss to coat, then let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. When onions start browning, turn heat to low and add garlic, ginger and whiskey. Let cook an additional 20 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated and onions have caramelized, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
(If you're going to make the cheese sauce below, you can remove the caramelized onions and mushrooms and just use the same skillet - no need to even rinse it out. That's flavour!)
WHISKEY AND SMOKED GOUDA CHEESE SAUCE
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Yields: about 2 cups
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 and 1/2 shots whiskey (divided)
1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream
1 cup chopped Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms (optional)
dash of cayenne pepper, depending on taste
1.5 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
salt and pepper
In a skillet or sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk for 3-5 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 a shot of whiskey and heavy cream. Add Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms (if you choose to) and cayenne. Continue stirring until sauce begins to thicken. Once thickened, turn off heat and stir in shredded cheese, one handful at a time, until melted. Stir in 1 shot of whiskey. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
For years now, when we've wanted an Asian dressing, we've just thrown some crap together. Some have been good, some have been not-so-good, but we never wrote down what we did. So a little while ago, I decided I was going to get myself a solid recipe that I could make that would be consistently awesome every time. Bam! Here it is! I love this dressing! We use it for all kinds of things: green leaf salads with some cucumber, shredded carrot, green onions and cashews; marinade for chicken or pork (but only marinate it for a few hours or the vinegar and lime juice will "cook" the meat and make it kind of mealy); sometimes we'll toss some veggies like broccoli, onions, bell peppers and zucchini with it and then roast them; made a Thai-style 4-bean salad with it. Very diverse. Very yummy.
I was in an Elvis mood the other day (because I love Elvis)... but then I remembered U.S. Bombs' "Rocks in Memphis" and had to listen to it again. You think Lisa Marie has even heard this song? -jen
ASIAN SALAD DRESSING AND MARINADE Time: all of like... 5 minutes, maybe, if you measure slowly Difficulty: Easy Makes: 1.5 cups
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons hoisen
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon hot mustard (or any mustard)
dash of sriracha (or more, if you want it spicy)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 cup canola (or vegetable) oil
Combine all ingredients together in a blender and blend for a few seconds! You can store this in your refrigerator for a few weeks at least. It should emulsify pretty well, so there shouldn't be much separation. Just give it a quick shake before use!
Awww yeah! I just made these bad boys a few minutes ago! They're like reverse chile rellenos - the eggs are on the inside instead of the outside. My fingers are still burning from the pasillas (which were spicier than expected, maybe I didn't de-vain them well enough!) - I never wear gloves when I handle chiles and then I regret it. Wear gloves!!! But really, these are only a little spicy, not really "hot".
I was thinking these stuffed chiles are pretty versatile. I used green onion and bacon. You could use jalapeños, cilantro (wish I'd had some!), sausage, chorizo, salsa. Someone gave a shout for more vegetarian recipes - well here's one you can make vegetarian any way you want. I love recipes like this where you can change it over and over and over again and just keep coming up with different combinations. And... low-carb, if you're watching that kind of thing.
What goes with breakfast? Well, naturally, I went straight to crack and dope... so Choking Victim was my only option, singing "500 Channels". Get your skank on. -jen
Wash and dry chiles. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray (I like to line the pan with foil for easy clean-up). Place chiles on baking sheet and broil on one side for 4-5 minutes until charred, then flip and broil on the other side 4-5 minutes until charred.
Immediately place charred chiles in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or place in a large plastic zip bag and seal. Let rest for 10-15 minutes so that the chiles sweat. Then remove and peel off the charred skins. Cut stem ends off chiles and slice down one side to open them up so that they lay flat. Remove all seeds and ribs from inside of chile. Re-spray the same baking sheet with more non-stick spray and lay chiles flayed open on baking sheet.
While chiles are roasting, you can dice up your bacon and cook in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp and crumbled, 10-15 minutes. Line a plate with paper towels and place the bacon onto the paper towel to absorb the grease. In the same skillet, saute the diced green onion for 1-2 minutes, just until tender. Mix in with the crumbled bacon on the paper towel plate.
When chiles are done roasting, turn oven down to 350 degrees F.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt and pepper, Tabasco, and dash of milk. (We always have some homemade "taco seasoning", and I used some of that to season my eggs, too!) Using the same skillet again (I left a little bit of the bacon grease in it, or you can drain the grease out and use non-stick spray) over medium heat, scramble the eggs. After 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the crumbled bacon and onion into the eggs and cook until just barely wet still. Turn off heat.
On the open-faced chiles, add a layer of shredded cheese, then 1/4 of the egg mixture, then another layer of cheddar cheese. Carefully fold the chile together and use a toothpick to secure it, leaving it seam-side up. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove toothpicks and serve immediately.
