Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Tomato Lime Chicken for Fajitas

So I had abunch of leftover steak and had some chicken out so I decided we'd have chicken and steak fajitas. The steak was already cooked so I just ahd to warm it up but the chicken I wanted to marinade and make yummy. So I came up with this and it turned out SO GOOD!

4 chicken breast, sliced
1 T garlic Powder
1 T onion powder
2 tsp cumin
cayenne pepper to taste
4 T lime juice
2 T tomatoe paste

Combine all ingredients until evenly coated. Allow to marinade for at least 1/2 hour. Heat pan with a bit of oil and toss the chicken in. Cooked till done. Serve with rice, beans and fajita toppings and fresh salsa.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Sticky Chicken

This didn't turn out the way I wanted it to I think I still need to tweek it and change a few things, but Darwin and the boys LOVED it so that I guess means a success.

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 T honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger grated
1/4 tsp black pepper
3-4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast

Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl and wisk well till honey is evenly incorporated with other ingredients. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and add marinade. Toss to coat. Refridgerate and marinade for at least 4 hours. place chicken and marinade in a skillet on the stove top. Bring marinade and chicken to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes turning the chicken a few times. After 15 minutes remove chicken from marinade and return the mariniade to the heat to reduce further. In the mean time place chicken under the broiler to finish cooking and to get a slight crust on it from the broiler. Slice the chicken and serve on hot sticky rice with some of the marinade drizzled over it, top with some toasted sesame seeds and stir fried veggies.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Nothin like soup on a cold day!!

Sorry I've been slacking on the blog... it has been a crazy few weeks. So the last three or four days have been BEAUTIFUL!! But the nights are still pretty chilly. Darwin was out side digging a trench for the new bathroom we are putting in our shop and he was out there till late and it was getting cold. So I thought what is better on a cold day than homemade soup! I didn't want to go to the grocery store so, I made it from all things I had on hand and it was super yummy and we are still enjoying the left overs!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

6 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 T ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 red pepper roasted diced*
3 jalapenos, minced
2 T garlic, minced
1 can blk beans
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 onion, small diced
1/4 tsp chili powder
to taste cayenne pepper
2 qts chicken stock**
1/2 lb bacon, diced
salt and pepper to taste

combine the first six ingredients and place in a baking dish with a bit of oil, bake till cooked through. set aside to cool. When cool dice the chicken and again set aside. combine, garlic and onions and cook ina bit of bacon fat till clear. Add jalapenos, roasted red pepper, tomatoes and black beans. add the tomatoes paste and then add the chicken stock. return the chickena nd bacon to the pot and bring to a boil. Add the chili powder and the salt and pepper and cayenne to your liking.
*may buy canned roasted red peppers or roast your own. Coat pepper with oil and a bit of salt and pepper and roast in oven at 400` Roast till the pepper is brown and bubbly. Remove from oven and immediately place in bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Allow to cool. Once cool remove from bowl and the skin will pull away easy.
**you can buy canned or boxed stock or make your own, use chicken bones, carrots, onion and cerlery cover with water, and boil strain an skim off any fat.

Serve soup with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Potstickers

I learned how to make these from my roommate who was dating a return missionary who served in Korea. I sometimes make them completely from sratch dough and all but lately I've cheated and used wonton wrappers, to make my life at least alittle bit easier.

Potstickers:

Filling
1 lb ground pork
2 scallions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 T soy sauce
wonton wrappers*

Fill the wonton wrappers or dough with about a tablespoon of the filling and seal with a bit of water. Boil in water till floating and competely cooked about 5-6minutes. Or you can fry these in a bit of oil for a crispy potstickers. Serve with sauce.

Sauce:
1 cup soy sauce
1 T white vinegar

*If using wonton wrappers double them up. Or if you want to make your own dough from scratch mix flour a dash of salt and enough water to form a soft dough.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Lettuce Wraps

I've never been to a P.F. Changs but I have heard wonders about the lettuce wraps, I found a recipe on line but I changed it a bit to suit me and my family. They were super yummy and I just stir fried some rice noodles along side with some carrots and broccoli.

5 Chicken breast, boneless skinless, small diced*
1 pkg white mushrooms, small diced
1 can water chestnuts, small diced
1/2 onion, minced
2 T garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated**
2 dried chiles***
1 head of iceberg lettuce, seperated

Marinade
3 T cornstarch
3 T soy sauce
1 T oil

Sauce:
2 T cornstarch
3 T soy sauce
3 T Hoisin sauce
3 T Oyster sauce
2 T white vinegar


Combine chicken in the marinade and toss. Heat wok and cook chicken till completely cooked. Remove from heat, add the rest of the indredients and allow to cook. Meanwhile combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside. Return chicken to wok and add the sauce. Simmer till combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve in lettuce cups and enjoy!
* ground chicken can be subsitituted
**store in freezer and use a small grater to grate the ginger.
*** more chiles can be used depending on your preference of heat.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Birthday Dinner

So it was my big 26th Birthday and overall it was a good day. I started getting sick on Saturday and was not feeling my best but was still able to have a good day, unlike today where I'm miserable! Darwin took the morning off and got a sitter for the kids and we went out to a nice breakfast and visited some of the touristy shops. He wanted to take me out to dinner but being we live in Burns without very many options I opted to just cook myself. So while Darwin and the boys decorated a castle cake for me, complete with knight in shinning armor, I cooked dinner. Nothing to fancy since I wasn't feeling well but this is one of my FAVORITE marinades! (I'll post pictures of the cake as soon as I get them off my camera!

Balsamic marinated Flank Steak

1 Flank steak roughly 2 lbs
1 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 T garlic minced
1/2 onion, diced
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
3 T olivve oil
1 sprig fresh rosemary

Combine all ingredients in a bag and marninade for at least 2 hours, the longer the better. remove from bag and discard marinade. Grill on BBQ, grill pan or gridle, for about 9 minutes per side till cooked to a nice medium doneness.

Birthday Dinner

Lemon Garlic Shirmp

12 jumbo shrimp
2 T garlic, minced
1 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil
black pepper and salt to taste

Marinade the shrimp for at least an hour in the lemon juice and garlic and salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add shrimp. Cook about 3 minutes per side just till pink and curled.