Recipes 3/1/10

Well I guess it is my turn to choose again!
Chili-Lime Marinated Skirt Steak pg193
*For best flavor let the steak marinate for atleast 15 minutes or up to 24 hrs.  The marinade is also perfect for chicken and shrimp.
3 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh serrano chile pepper, seeded and minced
1 tsp. ground coriander

1 1/4lb skirt or flank steak
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
cooking spray

1. In a blender or small food processor, combine the marinade ingredients and process until smooth. Transfer to a shallow dish or plastic bag.  Season the steak all over with salt and pepper and add to the marinade.  Turn to coat both sides.  Let marinate for at least 15 minutes (or up to 24 hrs).
2. Coat a stovetop grill pan or griddle with cooking spray and preheat over med-high heat until hot, 3to 4 minutes.  Add the steak to the hot pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side for med doneness.  Remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. 

Zucchini Risotto with Gorgonzola pg.78
2 tsp. olive oil
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 cup Arborio (short grain) rice
2 1/2 -3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, or more if needed
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgozonla or other blue cheese
salt and pepper
2 Tbs.  chopped fresh chives

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the zucchini, onion, and garlic and cook, stirring until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the oregano and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the rice and cook, stirring until translucent and coated with the oil, about 1 minute.  Add 1 cup of the broth and cook until the liquid is almost entirely absorbed. Continue adding broth in 1/2 cup measurments, waiting until the liquid is almost entriely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup, until rice is tender (about 20 min from start to finish).
2. Stir in the gorgonzola and cook until the cheese melts.  Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the risott into warm bowls, top with the chives, and serve immediately.

Garlic-Roasted Asparagus with Almonds
cooking spray
2 bunches asparagus (about 2 lbs), ends trimmed
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Arrange the asparagus on the prepared sheet in a single layer and coat with cooking spray.  Season with the garlic powder and salt and pepper.  Roast for 10 minutes, then sprinkle the almonds over them and continue to roast until the asparagus spears are tender and th almonds are golden brown, about 5 minutes. 
**You can also sprinkle the top with grated Parmesan cheese for an added zing.
**This recipe also works great with broccoli and cauliflower florets, or brussels sprounts. 

Leslee's Stuffed Peppers

I have been eyeing this recipe for awhile so I was glad to give it a try.  Sean has been wanting me to make stuffed peppers for like a year too so it worked out nicely to make this recipe! I used ground chicken instead of ground beef (because that it was we had), used pre-cooked regular rice that we had leftover and I omitted the beans because we have had a lot lately.  I used two red peppers and a yellow pepper because they are so much more tasty then green peppers plus they were on sale.  I stuffed them and then spread the rest of the rice mixture around them in the pan and sprinkled the cheese on top.  I probably didn't cook them the full 30 minutes because I was quite hungry and couldn't wait that long.

Here is my plate:

Sean wasn't quite sure how to eat them...

We both thought they were very tasty.  I was a little surprised that they didn't have any sort of tomatoes in them since the kind my mom used to make did but I really liked them.  I almost mixed a little salsa into the mixture but we didn't have any but we decided next time that would be a good addition.  Overall good and I will make them again.  I need to get some fruit to make the dessert, so hopefully I can report on that soon too!

Jacki and Nika’s Review of Tacos and Rice

We all loved these two dishes and would definitely make them again.  The testers here were Sterling, Nika, Isabelle, Max and me.  I did make a few changes.  For the tacos I used chicken instead of pork since we had plenty of chicken (Nika stocked the freezer when they were in season :)).  I ended up adding a little water as the chicken cooked to keep it moist.   We also used corn tortillas instead of flour since that is what was in the freezer.  You could easily adjust the “heat” by adding a little less of the chipotle chilles but we didn’t think it was too terribly spicy.  The chipotle chiles in adobo sauce did give the meat a nice smoky flavor.  For the Beans and Rice I used a can of black beans and a can of pinto beans.   We didn’t have any instant brown rice so I used 1 cup of regular white rice and added more liquid.  I also omitted the dried Thyme since Nika didn’t have any (I am visiting at Nika’s).  Again, the “heat” of this dish could be adjusted by adding less of the cayenne.  I didn’t feel it was too spicy though.  We served the two dishes with a moist cornbread type side dish from a packet I bought at the store (it is like that corn mix stuff they serve at Chevy’s) lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese and sour cream.  The whole meal made for excellent leftovers.  I liked Leslee’s idea of cooking the meat in the crockpot but I didn’t get it started soon enough to do it that way. I hope the rest of you get a chance to try these two recipes.

Heidi's Stuffed Peppers and Fruit Tart

Tonight I fixed the stuffed peppers and fruit tart. I fixed the stuffed peppers pretty much according to recipe except that I left out a few things. I didn't add any cumin because I didn't have any and then I didn't add any beans because I forgot to buy them. I also didn't put any cilantro in the mix because it is a pretty strong flavor that I didn't think my family would like. Kenton, Ashley and I really liked it. We mainly just at the "stuffed part" although I did eat about 1/4 of my pepper. It had a really good flavor. Connor thought that it was too hot... but he was exceptionally whiny tonight and he almost feel asleep while eating so I am going to exclude his opinion. :)
The fruit tart was very good. I used frozen peaches because I was too lazy to buy fresh fruit and slice it up :) It was good; but it would have been really good with the fresh fruit.

2.21.2010 Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers and Mixed Fruit Tart with Vanilla Cream

This week I picked the stuffed peppers and a fruit tart. I am anxious to try the stuffed peppers since it seems to be a meal in one! Hope that you all get a chance to try them out.

Tex-Mex Stuffed Peppers (page 168):

Cooking Spray
1 cup instant rice (white or brown)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teason dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
One 15-ounce can Santa Fe corn, Fiest Corn, or regular can corn, drained
One 15 ounce can pink beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 large red or green bell peppers, stems ends neatly cut out
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray.
2. Cook the rice according to the package directions.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add the chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the cooked rice, corn, beans and sour cream and cook for 1 minute to heat through. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
4. Stuff the beef mixture into the bell peppers and arrange them side by side in the prepared pan. Top with shredded cheese. Bake until the peppers are soft and the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Mixed Fruit Tart with Vanilla Cream (page 290):

One 9-inch refigerated piecrust
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups assorted seasonal fruit, such as pitted and sliced peaches, plums or nectarines; hulled and sliced strawberries; blueberries, blackberries or raspberries; and/or peeled and sliced kiwis.
1/2 cup apricot preserves

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Press the piecrust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 9 to 11 minutes.
3. Beat together the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. When the tart shell is cool, spread the cream cheese mixture over the bottom and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. To with fruit.
4. Place the preserves in a small bowl and microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds, until warm and thin, then brush over the fruit. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Heidi's Chicken with Orange-Ginger Sauce and Veggie Pot Stickers

We had this meal earlier this week. I did actually had Kenton grill the chicken instead of a stovetop grill pan since I don't have one. We thought that the chicken was good. The sauce was a little thick; but I don't think that I had quite a cup of orange juice so I should have cut down on the cornstarch. It did have good flavor though.
I also fixed the pot stickers. Ashley and I really enjoyed them. Connor took one bite and declared that he didn't like them and Kenton suffered through eating one of them. He doesn't like cabbage which was a main ingredient of them; but he ate it with a smile (plastered) on his face.
Pot Stickers getting ready to go in the pan.
After product.

Complete meal.

Leslee’s Tacos and Rice

Mmm this was one tasty meal! I made a few changes to both recipes to fit our likes and the available ingredients but they turned out great. 

For the pork I decided to use a pork roast and cook it in the crock pot.  The recipe looked very good but I am not a huge fan of chunked meat in tacos and prefer shredded so that is what I did.  Summer and I had gone to the store in the morning to get the supplies, including the chipotle chilies.  After I got home and started dumping things in the crock pot I noticed that the chilies had wheat flour in them so I couldn’t use them.  Because I didn’t want to go to the store again I added some brown sugar to make it sweeter along with the spices called for.   I also used a bigger can of tomatoes instead of the sauce since it was going to be cooking for a while.  Later Sean went to the store for me and found a different kind of chipotle chilies and we added some in after the pork was shredded up.  Sorry for the long story on that recipe!

I usually don’t cook with instant rice so I used regular white rice and cooked everything in the rice cooker.  For some reason I kept thinking I needed tomato paste instead of sauce (not sure why) so in the end I mixed some of the paste with a little water.  I used frozen corn and just one can of black beans.  I also added in some extra water.  It took a while for the rice to cook all the way and after the cooker thought it was done I added a bit more water and cooked it for longer. 

Sean ate his taco style with corn tortillas:

I ate mine like a salad with chips:

We both really liked it and would definitely make it again.  I often make sweet pork in the crock pot like this but I thought the chipotle chilies added a nice smoky and spicy flavor.  I will probably use these again next time which is good since I have plenty in the freezer to use up! The rice was very tasty…basically Mexican rice. 

Jacki's Choice

Chipotle Pork Soft Tacos (pg144)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
One 1 1/4 lb. pork tenderloin, trimmed of silverskin and cut into 1-inch cubes
One 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
eight 6-inch flour tortillas
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or shredded Monterey Jack cheese
ADDITIONAL TOPPINGS:
sourcream, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sliced avocado

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the pork and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.  Add the tomato sauce, chipotles, and oregano, bring to a simmer and let simmer until the pork is just cooked through (still slightly pink in the center) and the sauce has reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.
2. If desired, for warm tortillas, wrap them in a clean kitchen towel and warm them in the microwave for 30 seconds on HIGH.
3. Arrange the pork on the tortillas, top with the cheese and other toppings as desired, and serve. 

Black & Pink Beans with Rice (pg257)
2 cups instant brown rice
One 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup prepared salsa
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne
One 11 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
One 11 oz. can pink beans, rinsed and drained
One 11 oz. can corn, drained
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, combine all the ingridients except the salt and peper, and set the pan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover, and summer until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed, about 10 minutes.  Fluff with a fork, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Orange-Ginger Chicken

Tonight we had a lovely meal including the pan grilled chicken with orange-ginger sauce.  It was very delicious and easy to make.  I cooked the chicken in the my electric skillet which keeps it nice and juicy. For the sauce I used fresh squeezed orange juice because we didn't have any orange juice on hand.  This took a while but I am sure it made it extra tasty! I also used fresh ginger that I have been keeping in the freezer for these types of recipes. We ate it along side white rice and sauteed green beans.  Note to Ingrid: I got the big bag at Costco that you have been cooking for us and they were very good!
For this meal we had my mom here along with Chelsea and Brandon so we had plenty of reviewers.  Everyone really enjoyed it and gobbled it right up.  My mom liked it and felt that it was lighter and fresher than a typical terriyaki sauce.  I would maybe try the sauce with some veggies in it too sometime.  We didn't try the egg rolls tonight, so we will have to get to those!

Better (WAY) late than never!

We tried the 5 ingredient Salmon a couple of weeks ago and I just now downloaded the pictures from my camera. My family really liked it and I bet that we fix it again. I didn't fix the cabbage with it since I knew that would be a no go with my group.
Ashley enjoying her dinner. My plate before consumption.