March 24, 2005
A flavor of the Caribbean
Recipe: Pinapple Lime Chicken
Ingredients:
frozen chicken
1 can pineapple chunks in juice
lime juice
pepper, salt to taste
Directions:
- Combine pineapple juice and lime juice until the flavors are balanced.
- Marinate chicken in pineapple lime mixture for at least 3 hours. Alternatively, combine frozen chicken breasts, juice and pineapple chunks and bake for 45 minutes at 350F.
- Glaze a very hot frying pan with some of the juice. Add chicken breasts and fry until brown outside and cooked through, periodically adding more juice and cooking down.
- Serve over rice.
The key to this is to use up all the juice by cooking it down. It makes a nice glaze to the chicken, if you use enough juice.
Posted by kgutwin at 07:12 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 04, 2005
Tex-Mex something or other
Recipe: Tex-Mex Tasty
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
1/4 lb hamburger
2 tbsp Trader Joe's Santa Fe sauce
1 tbsp hot sauce (Cholula preferred)
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
3 tbsp black bean dip
blue corn tortilla chips
Directions:
- Brown hamburger in medium fry pan, add Santa Fe sauce and hot sauce. Cook down.
- Add onion and fry until onions are cooked.
- Add tomato and black bean dip. Cook on medium heat until tomatoes are cooked slightly.
- Serve over rice, top with coarsely crushed tortilla chips.
Yeah... so this doesn't really have a name. I was going to call it "Tex-Mex Surprise" but that probably wouldn't have gone over so well... Still, really good. I like it spicy, so there's a bit of hot sauce in there, but I suppose you can reduce the spice if you wish. Not that I would ever call you a wussy if you did so. No, not ever...
By the way, the exact same thing would be good with substituting canned black beans for black bean dip. I just didn't happen to have black beans tonight. Or you can replace the meat with more beans. Or you can put in a different sauce - use chili powder and whatever else you want. It's all good.
Posted by kgutwin at 07:42 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 20, 2005
Cool as a Cucumber
Recipe: Cucumber Couscous
Ingredients:
1 chicken sausage, cooked, teriyaki flavor
1/2 tomato, diced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup cucumber, diced
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, diced
1 cup dry couscous
1 1/2 tbsp dill
1/2 tbsp basil
salt, pepper
Directions:
- Brown chicken sausage in a little bit of olive oil in a 1 quart saucepan.
- Add tomato, vinegar and 1/2 tsp salt plus pepper to taste. Cook until vaguely sauce-like.
- Add 1 cup water and bring to boil.
- Remove from heat, add couscous and stir until evenly mixed. Cover completely.
- After 4-5 minutes, fluff couscous with a fork, add cucumber, cheese, dill and basil. Stir and let sit until cheese has melted slightly.
- Serve and enjoy.
Many people see couscous as a side dish; over here, I see it as a main course. This is actually one of the better incarnations of a similar formula that I use occasionally for a one-pot meal. Just cook your meat in a saucepan, add veggies and/or season appropriately, then at the proper moment add the water and boil for a little bit before adding the couscous. Frozen veggies added to the water and boiled briefly will add some nice flavor, but obviously fresh vegetables as above will be the best.
By the way, whoever invented the phrase "cool as a cucumber" was spot-on. Cucumbers really are the coolest vegetable. And I'm not just talking temperature :)
Posted by kgutwin at 06:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 14, 2005
By Popular Demand
Recipe: Bean Burritos
Serves 4 - Prep time: 15 minutes - Cook time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 16 oz can kidney beans, drained
1 10 oz can enchilada sauce, mild or hot
1 cup water
1 16 oz can whole tomatoes, diced, liquid reserved
1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 cup shredded carrot
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
10 to 12 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
sour cream
Directions:
- In a large, deep skillet with a lid, combine the beans, enchilada sauce, water, tomatoes and vegetables. Mix well and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Stir in the cooked rice. Cover and reduce heat.
- Simmer until the liquid is absorved, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Warm the tortillas in the microwave or conventional oven.
- Place 1/2 cup of the mixture in the middle of each tortilla and top with cheese.
- Fold over and serve with sour cream.
For the vegetarians in the house, here you go. This is out of my cookbook that Dad got me for my birthday. This probably makes a lot, seeing as how it fills 10 to 12 tortillas... if you're a single cook you may choose to either reduce the recipe or make it all and save the extra for later. This one is great because it is a really balanced meal. I would suggest probably throwing in some more beans to get some more protein.
I think this one's a good all-around recipe, but sometimes it's hard to know what folks want... Here's an idea - suggest an ingredient, a single ingredient like spinach or tomatoes or beans, and I'll either find or make up a good recipe that includes that ingredient. It sounds like fun! Go ahead, make your suggestions :)
Posted by kgutwin at 09:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 11, 2005
Citrus Hash
Recipe: Citrus Hash
Ingredients:
1/3 lb lean hamburger
1 potato, peeled and diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/3 lb egg noodles, cooked
splash of wine (optional)
1 key lime
1 clementine
salt, pepper to taste
Directions:
- Brown hamburger, salt to taste. Drain if necessary.
- Add diced potato, salt slightly and brown.
- Add red onion and saute until cooked.
- Add juice of lime and clementine and wine if desired.
- Serve over egg noodles.
Whoever gave me a license to cook clearly did not understand the consequences of their actions - such as the potential for me to create something as bizarre as this. I have to admit that sometimes I have an excellent idea of what I will make, but other times I just start with a few ingredients that I think might work together and then grab whatever's hanging around to finish it off. This originally was going to be some kind of curry dish, but that went out the window as soon as I saw the bottle of wine in my room which had just a tiny bit remaining and begged to be cooked with. The wine turned out to be completely covered by the other flavors, however, mostly since I have no experience whatsoever with cooking with wine. Still, this was one blend of flavors I had never experienced before. The sweetness of the juices definitely contrasted with the saltiness of the potatoes.
Feel free to make suggestions for improvements!
Posted by kgutwin at 09:00 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 01, 2005
Soup City
Recipe: Bacon Soup
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock or boullion
2 potatoes, peeled, diced
2/3 lbs carrots, peeled, sliced
1/3 lb celery, sliced
1/2 red onion, diced
Bay leaves
3 slices bacon
salt, pepper to taste
Directions:
- Boil the chicken stock (or boullion if you must).
- Add potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion in this order, each as they are sliced. Turn heat to medium-high.
- Add bay leaves.
- Cook bacon (microwave is fine) until crispy; cut into pieces and add to soup. You may add some of the bacon grease if you wish.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- By the time all is through, the soup should have been on for a while and the veggies should be nearly cooked. Let simmer a few more minutes as desired to let the bacon flavor cook through.
- Serve and enjoy!
Soup is one of the easiest things to make. You almost never really need a recipe to make a really tasty soup. Chicken boullion makes a decent base but canned stock is better and fresh boiled chicken is best. A starch like potatoes, noodles or rice works well to flesh out the soup. (Beware of rice, though! It can really soak up the liquid!) Any veggies you got, throw them in there and it'll taste delicious. I happened to have carrots and celery around from when Becca made me chicken soup while I was sick last week (she's soooo sweet :-D) Finally, a meat in there adds a little bit of oil-based flavoring. If you use the right ingredients, you won't need to really spice it at all. Bay leaves, though, are really the ticket to a good flavor. That's it! Experiment and enjoy!
Posted by kgutwin at 07:38 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
January 25, 2005
Fresh!
Recipe: Black Beans with Rice
| Ingredients: | |
| Beans and Rice | Salsa |
1 can 15oz black beans 3 slices bacon, finely chopped 2 key limes, juiced 2 tsp pepper 2 cups rice (cooked) | 1 avocado (quarter inch diced) 1 tomato (quarter inch diced) 1/3 cup red onion, diced 2 tbsp cilantro 1 key lime, juiced 2 tsp pepper 1 tsp cayenne pepper dash of salt |
| Directions: | |
- Cook bacon until crispy, chop finely. - Add beans, cook until thickened slightly. (around 5 minutes) - Add pepper, serve over rice. | - Chop all ingredients. - Combine, chill. Serve with beans and rice. |
We tried this tonight... pretty tasty, but make sure you use 1/3 cup onion rather than the whole onion ;) We also didn't have cilantro - that would have made a big difference, although it's still tasty without it.
Posted by kgutwin at 11:25 PM | TrackBack
January 23, 2005
Coahn Chowdah
Recipe: Corn Chowder
Prep time: 20 min. 14 servings (?)
Ingredients:
2 lbs white potatoes, medium diced
1 bay leaf
3/4 lbs onions, finely diced
3 tablespoons butter
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 celery ribs, finely diced
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoons sage
1/2 teaspoons white pepper
2 cups milk
1 lb corn, frozen or kernels from 3 ears of corn
parsley, finely chopped
Directions:
- Boil potatoes until tender in 1 quart water with bay leaf.
- Saute onions, peppers, celery and cumin in butter until onions are transparent.
- Add sage, flour and pepper to the the onion mix. With some potato water, stir to make paste.
- Add potatoes and the rest of the potato water and heat.
- Add milk and corn. Heat thoroughly.
- Garnish with parsley.
Transcribed from a recipe off the back of a box of fresh dill. (note: there is no dill in the recipe above. Hmmmmmmm.......)
Posted by kgutwin at 10:51 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 19, 2005
Ramen Fiesta
Recipe: Gourmet Ramen
Ingredients:
1 package any flavor ramen
Frozen peas
1 Teriyaki flavor chicken sausage
Soy sauce
Directions:
- Cook the ramen according to directions but omit flavor packet.
- Dice chicken sausage.
- In the last minute of cooking, add frozen peas to boiling ramen.
- Drain ramen and peas. Add sausage and soy sauce quickly to prevent ramen sticking to the pot.
- Serve and enjoy.
Recipe: Indian Ramen
Ingredients:
1 package any flavor ramen
Chick peas if you got 'em, otherwise frozen peas
Chicken sausage
Butter
Curry powder
Paprika
Directions:
- Cook the ramen according to directions but omit flavor packet.
- Dice chicken sausage.
- If using frozen peas, then in the last minute of cooking, add frozen peas to boiling ramen.
- Drain ramen. Add sausage and butter quickly to prevent sticking.
- If using chick peas, add them now.
- Season with curry powder and paprika.
- Serve and enjoy.
Posted by kgutwin at 10:28 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Breakfast of Champions
Recipe: German Pancake
Ingredients:
6 tbsp Butter or Margarine
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
Powdered Sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425F. Melt butter in 13x9x2" pan.
- Mix eggs, milk, flour and salt just enough to blend. Batter will be lumpy, do not over mix.
- Pour batter into hot butter and bake 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Serve with jelly, marmalade or syrup.
Transcribed from a recipe from Barbara Collins
Posted by kgutwin at 10:13 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
January 18, 2005
Recipe of the Day
Pepperoni Tortellini Salad
Ingredients:
Dried tortellini
Pepperoni stick
Grape Tomatoes
Frozen corn
Olive oil
Miracle Whip
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Add 1 tbsp salt to 2 quarts water and bring to a boil.
- Cut grape tomatoes to make little rings. Dice pepperoni.
- Add tortellini and boil for around 8 minutes.
- In the last minute of tortellini cooking, add frozen corn and return to a boil.
- Drain pasta and add olive oil.
- Mix pasta and corn with tomatoes, pepperoni and Miracle Whip.
- Dust with salt and pepper. Add cayenne pepper to taste.
- Serve topped with parmesan cheese.
Posted by kgutwin at 07:10 PM | TrackBack
January 16, 2005
Today's Culinary Experiment
Recipe: Chicken Stuffed Potatoes
Ingredients:
1 large russet potato, unpeeled
2 small chicken breast tenderloins
Trader Joe's Santa Fe Sauce
salt
cheddar cheese
Directions:
- Slice the potato lengthwise to create two equal halves. Using a teaspoon, hollow out each half.
- Defrost the chicken, dice and mix with Santa Fe sauce.
- Spoon chicken mix into potato hollows. Mix leftover chicken with potato innards.
- Place potatoes in glass baking dish along with potato innard mix. Sprinkle with salt.
- Bake at 375F for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are soft and chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Enjoy.
Will it work? I'll know in 3... 2... 1...
Posted by kgutwin at 07:19 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack