Showing posts with label Delicious Mains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Delicious Mains. Show all posts
One thing I have a real love and taste for is anything to do with Tex Mex or Mexican flavors. They are not something which I really grew up with, but something I discovered as an adult.
The most Tex Mex my mother ever got was when she discovered a recipe for Chili on the back of a tin of Tomato soup! Suffice it to say, it was not the same thing at all, but my father loved it and it replaced our regular Saturday night wieners and beans!
My second husband and I used to love to go to a Mexican restaurant chain in London, Ontario many moons ago. I usually ordered either the Chicken Chimichangas or the Chicken Fajitas.
We also used to frequent a really authentic smaller Mexican restaurant in Fredericton NB, who made fabulous Fajitas! I think it is safe to say that I love Fajitas, be they chicken or be they beef! There is something about that spicy meat, peppers, and onions that makes my tastebuds sing!
A Fajita in Tex Mex cuisine is any type of meat, cut into strips and spiced, fried together with peppers and onions and served in a warm flour or corn tortilla.
The restaurant in Fredericton used to bring them hot to the table in a sizzling cast iron skillet. You needed to be careful not to burn yourself. They were incredibly delicious.
This recipe I am sharing today was inspired by one I found in the cookbook, Hope's Table by Hope Helmuth. I did not make the full recipe.
I also did not follow her recipe exactly and switched things out a bit according to the ingredients I had in my house. What follows is my inspired version of her recipe. It is delicious.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN FAJITAS
Everything is pretty simple really.
For the chicken:
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 TBS green tabasco sauce (this is found next to the red Tabasco in the grocery store)
- 1 TBS light olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (alternately you can use the equivalent in garlic powder, not salt)
- the juice of 1/2 lime
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper
You will also need:
- 1 small green pepper, cored, trimmed and sliced (or 1/2 large)
- 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced (or 1/2 large)
- 1/2 TBS butter
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup (60g) grated Tex Mex Blend Cheese (it is a mix of mild and spicy cheeses
To serve:
- 1 cup hot cooked rice (I like basmati)
- 1/2 TBS green tabasco sauce
- chopped fresh tomato
- chopped fresh avocado
- sour cream or ranch dressing (optional)
- 4 soft flour tortillas (I only had six inch, but 10 inch would be better)
Hope used fresh green jalapenos in her marinade. I did not have any, but I thought that the green tabasco sauce would be a great substitute. You get some of the heat of the jalapeno and the flavor of course.
She also made a special black bean rice to serve with hers. I did not have any black beans, so I just used a regular basmati rice that I stirred more of the tabasco sauce into to give it a bit of a spiciness. It was very nice.
I cut the quantities of everything down to feed just two people. I also added some cheese to melt over top at the end. Yummy. Yummy.
She served hers with guacamole and ranch dressing. I did not have guacamole, but I did have frozen chunk avocado. I felt this would work beautifully and it did.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN FAJITAS
These were really simple to make and incredibly delicious.
Begin by marinating the chicken. Slice the chicken into 1/2 inch strips. Place into a bowl and toss together with the olive oil, lime juice, green tabasco, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Set aside for 1/2 hour.
Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the peppers and onions. Season lightly and sauté just until tender. Scoop out and set aside.
Add the chicken to the pan, along with any marinade. Cover and cook over medium heat, just until done. Uncover and return the peppers and onions to the pan.
Turn up the heat and cook on high until any juices have evaporated. Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Sprinkle the cheese over top and allow to melt.
Warm your tortillas.
Stir the remaining tabasco into the hot cooked rice. Place 1/4 down the center of each warm tortilla. Top with some chopped fresh avocado.
Divide the chicken/pepper mixture between each and then top with chopped tomato and sour cream or ranch dressing if using. Fold together and serve immediately.
I was really pleased with how these turned out. The chicken was moist and tender and filled with amazing flavor. The peppers and onions cooked just the right amount/
I thought the cheese melted on top was just the right touch. I also loved the creamy contrast of the avocado and the sweetness of the chopped tomato.
I was going to have sour cream with them, but I forgot. It was delicious as is but sour cream would have added a nice rich touch. Whilst these were slightly different than the usual fajitas, I thought they were actually more delicious.
Do you remember back in the 1980's when everyone was making Chicken Kiev when entertaining. It was considered to be the height of sophistication! I remember making it a few times when we had guests over.
As delicious as it was, it was a LOT of work! Pounding out the chicken, rolling it around garlic butter, breading it and then deep frying it. (We are not going to talk about calories, because this is party fare. 😁)
It is important to note that fresh herbs are best for this. They will look and taste the best. Be judicious with the salt if you are using salted butter. The amount of Tabasco sauce you use depends on how spicy you like your food.
It didn't take long for the food industry to catch on and now Chicken Kiev is pretty common place. You can buy frozen versions of it quite easily and you only need to bake them in the oven.
Most are quite unexciting and none quite come close to the divine taste of Chicken Kiev made from scratch. They are usually made from pre-formed chicken and whether they use real butter in them is questionable. The only plus with them is that they are convenient.
This recipe I am sharing with you today comes by way of Annie Bell, from her book entitled Gorgeous Suppers. Every recipe in the book is gorgeous.
Chicken breasts are cut into thin escalopes, seasoned and then dipped in olive oil and fresh bread crumbs before pan frying them until golden brown. They are served hot and fresh from the pan with slices of a moreish herb and garlic Kiev butter melting on top.
Not quite as satisfying as the original, where you cut into the chicken and that garlic butter gushes out, but still satisfying nonetheless.
Of course the chicken is delicious in its own right and would be fabulous served on its own with simple lemon wedges to squeeze over top. A tiny bit less indulgent, but with fresh clean flavors. Either way this is fabulous.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN ESCALOPES WITH KIEV BUTTER
Simple ingredients put together in a simple and yet delicious way.
For the chicken:
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (Make sure they are a nice size as you will be serving two people from each one.)
- fine sea salt and fine black pepper to taste
- 3 1/2 ounces (100g) fine fresh white bread crumbs (about 2 thick slices)
- extra virgin olive oil (for coating and for pan frying)
For the Kiev butter:
- 3 1/2 ounces (100g) butter, softened
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- the zest and juice of one lemon (A smallish one)
- dash of Tabasco sauce
- fine sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 3 TBS finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- 2 TBS finely chopped fresh chives
- 1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN ESCALOPES WITH KIEV BUTTER
You are probably wondering what an escalope is. It is merely something which has been cut into thinner slices. You see it with scalloped potatoes and meats/poultry.
Chicken cut in this way cooks very quickly and stays nice and moist. It is also a great way to make a few pieces of chicken go much further.
If you are making your own bread crumbs, make them first. Just tear your bread into pieces and blitz it in a food processor until you have fine bread crumbs. I used about 2 thick slices. I cut the crusts off and gave them to the birds.
Once you have them crumbed, pop the crumbs into a shallow bowl.
Once you have made your crumbs you can make the butter. That way it can be chilling in the refrigerator while you bread and cook the chicken.
Don't be tempted to chop the herbs in the food processor. You will get a much nicer finish by doing them by hand, which is what I do. You want them nice and fine. It is a mindless chore which I enjoy doing.
Place the butter, garlic, lemon zest, juice, tabasco and some seasoning in the bowl of a food processor and blitz at high speed until nice and creamy and everything is mixed well in. Add the chopped herbs and whiz again briefly to incorporate the herbs.
Place onto a strip of plastic wrap and shape into a rough cylinder, then wrap it up tightly, twisting both ends of the plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
Cut each chicken breast through the middle horizontally to form two thin escalopes. (I remove the tendon on the bottom side first.) Season them well on both sides with salt and pepper.
Place the bread crumbs into a shallow bowl. Place a couple TBS of olive oil into another bowl. Dip the chicken pieces first into the oil and then into the breadcrumbs, pressing them in to make them stick. Place onto a plate.
Repeat until your chicken has all been breaded. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Heat a couple TBS of olive oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat. Add your chicken pieces in batches, presentation side first, and fry until golden brown on both sides. This should only take a few minutes per side.
Slice the butter into thin pats and place a couple onto each chicken escallop, letting it melt. Serve immediately.
If your butter doesn't melt right away, you could pop it briefly under a hot grill just to speed up the process. It won't take long.
And that's it. It is simple really. The chicken is moist and tender, with a beautifully crisp coating. The butter is flavored beautifully with the herbs, garlic and lemon. There are probably more herbs in the butter than there is butter, so don't worry about it being overly rich, as it is not. Its just the right amount.
I served it with some steamed fresh broccoli and some chips that I warmed up, leftover from a takeaway the night before. (I know. I waste nothing.) This made for a delightfully simple supper that was most enjoyable.
Whilst this would make for a great family meal, I would not hesitate to serve it to company. It is that delicious! Enjoy!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
I had a quantity of leftover roast pork that I wanted to use up the other day and so I was looking for ways to use it. I wanted to make something different that my usual hash or pot pie.
One thing which I have made in the past has been this fabulous Amish Savory Pork Pie. I had enough that day to send a casserole to a family in need as well as make a small one for myself. Pork, gravy, dumplings . . . never a bad thing!!
Another time I used the leftovers to make this wonderful Pork and Apple Pie. It was really delicious too.
Sliced roast pork and gravy, combined with apples, underneath a savory short crust lid. There is nothing about that which doesn't taste good! Pork and apples are such beautiful partners.
I have always wanted to try the Cuban Sandwich however. The Cuban Sandwich or Cubano Sandwich is a delicious pressed panini type of sandwich.
It is basically layers of cheese, roast pork, ham, pickles, garlic butter, and mustard, pressed between the softness of a sweet Cuban bread.
Any photos I have ever seen of them have sent my taste buds into tingling in overtime! I have never visited Cuba but I know plenty of people who have and they have all loved the food there.
Apparently this Cubano sandwich comes in quite a few varieties, all dependent on regional differences. Some places use ham in it, some salami. I am not sure if any of the versions I saw online were actually true Cubano's, but all looked very tasty.
I will say up front that I did not have any Cuban bread in my house. Nor have I ever seen Cuban bread in any of our shops.
Apparently it is a soft white bread with a sort of crisp crust like a French loaf, but it is supposed to be slightly sweet.
No, I did not have anything even remotely resembling Cuban Bread, but I did have Ciabatta flat rolls and I had some soft white dinner rolls that I had bought thinking to make sliders with them.
Necessity being the mother of invention I decided to make a version of the sandwich using both breads and then taste test them against each other to see which one worked the best.
The first up was the ciabatta flat roll. I layered up everything on it, schmearing the outside with a bit more butter and pressing it in my Cuisinart griddler.
I got the outside all toasty brown and crisp, making sure that the insides were well heated through and the cheese was melted.
The dinner rolls were fairly small and four of them grouped together were about the size of a Kaiser type of roll. I decided to use four of them and keep them attached.
I layered up everything on the inside as with the other roll, buttered the outside and then also pressed/toasted that in my Cuisinart Griddler, again until everything was toasty golden brown and the insides were heated through and the cheese melted.
Authentic or not, I was in it come hell or high water! I had nothing to lose!
As you can see I got a nice press from both kinds of bread. Both toasted well to a golden brown, creating sandwiches that were easily edible.
I hate it when a sandwich is so thick that I cannot get my mouth around it. I like to be able to eat them easily and without too much mess involved. That's why I am not overly fond of wrap sandwiches.
Its not easy to keep their fillings intact.
The one with the dinner rolls was nice. The bread not too hard to bite into or too chewy. Once pressed there was a perfect ratio of bread to filling. But having said that I also enjoyed the one in the ciabatta roll, although it was definitely chewy and a bit harder to bite into.
I had cut my roast pork as thin as possible for both sandwiches and I used sliced black forest ham. The only sour pickles I had were garlic dills and so I cut them very thinly as well.
I didn't have any regular American mustard and so I used Dijon. It was not as vinegary as American mustard. For my garlic butter I used a homemade version, simply mixing softened butter, garlic and some dried parsley.
The rebel in me had wanted to use some pickled hot peppers I had in the refrigerator, but I wasn't sure that would be totally authentic and I wanted to try to be as true to the original as possible.
I think I got pretty darned close.
Of the two, I have to say, I enjoyed the one done on the soft dinner rolls the most. It was the easiest to eat and not as difficult to chew. I think ciabatta bread is definitely too chew for this type of a sandwich.
So, what exactly do you need to make a Cubano Sandwich?
- a softish kind of French style bread/rolls (Cuban bread if you can find it.
- thinly sliced roast pork, or shredded roast pork
- thinly sliced roast ham, I used black forest
- thinly sliced sour pickles, I used dill
- American or Dijon mustard
- garlic butter, homemade or store bought
- sliced swiss cheese
- softened butter for spreading on the outside
Cut your rolls/bread in the middle horizontally. Schmear each cut side with garlic butter and then toast the cut sides on the panini grill until golden brown.
Layer as follows: Bottom of the loaf, mustard, sliced cheese, sliced pork, more cheese, pickles, ham, and more cheese, then the top of the loaf. Brush the outsides with some softened butter.
Cook in panini press until golden brown and heated through, the cheese melted nicely. cut into serving sized sandwiches and serve immediately.
Not a recipe per se, but very easy to follow and to do!! I really enjoyed this easy and yet hearty sandwich!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
How can it be that we are almost in the middle of January already? Time is just whooshing by once again. Don't blink or you will miss everything!
I don't know if time is speeding up or if I am slowing down. I rather suspect the latter which kind of scares me. If I slow down any more I will be standing still! haha
I confess that I have never really lived anywhere where there was street cart style of food for sale. Hot dog carts, etc. I just have never experienced it. But I have seen it on the telly.
On police television shows like Bluebloods, they are always stopping to buy something to eat from a street vendor and I have heard very good things about street cart foods.
I had always hoped to be able to experience it, but I guess that is not going to happen now. Not at this stage in my life.
I have made Street Cart Chicken and Rice before based on a recipe I found on Epicurious. You can find that full sized recipe here.
It was really delicious. I have a cookbook by Deb Perelman entitled Smitten Kitchen Everyday. There was a recipe in that for Chicken and Rice Street Cart style.
I really wanted to try it, although I did not want to make a full sized recipe. I decided to cut the recipe in half and, hands up, I did adapt it a bit to my own way of doing things.
It had a really lengthy list of ingredients but I can assure you that it goes together really quickly and easily, especially if you break it down into sections. There are basically four sections.
The chicken (and marinade). The rice. The sauce. The salad. None of them are hard to execute and if you begin with the part that takes the longest, working your way back. It all comes together very quickly and very easily.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN AND RICE, STREET CART STYLE
I will break it down into four sections here and tell you how to execute each one individually. That will make it simplest. Working from the one which takes the longest to the shortest.
FOR THE CHICKEN AND MARINADE
- the juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 TBS light olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/3 tsp ground coriander
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- pinch ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp powdered dried oregano
- 1 pound (about 3) boneless skinless chicken thighs
You will need to marinate your chicken for at least half an hour or overnight. Whisk all of the ingredients for the marinade together in a plastic container with a lid.
Open out your chicken thighs. Remove and discard any fat. Place into the marinade and smoosh it around to coat. Cover and set aside for half an hour at room temperature, or for longer in the refrigerator.
FOR THE RICE
- 1/2 TBS light olive oil
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/3 tsp ground cumin
- 1 cup (180g) basmati rice
- 1 3/4 cup (420ml) chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp salt
While your chicken is marinating you can cook your rice. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the turmeric and the cumin. Stir and allow to toast for about 30 seconds until quite fragrant.
Add the rice and stir to coat. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring and then add the chicken stock and the salt.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and leave to rest for about five minutes.
FOR THE SALAD
- 1/4 head of iceberg lettuce, washed, dried and chopped
- 12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1 large spring onion (scallion), washed trimmed and chopped
- fine sea salt and freshly ground back pepper to taste
- 1/2 TBS sriracha sauce
- 1/2 TBS harissa paste
- 1/2 TBS light olive oil
To make the salad toss the lettuce, onion, and tomatoes together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk together the harissa and sriracha sauce. Drizzle over the salad and toss together.
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1/2 cup (100g) plain yogurt
- 1 TBS mayonnaise
- 1/2 TBS white vinegar
- 1/4 tsp white sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
You will also need one of these Lebanese style pita breads. They are about 10 inches in diameter, and do not open up into a pocket bread. They make great pizza crusts as well as for this purpose. Don't worry you will get them used up, no problem.
Once you have all of your basic elements assembled and put together, you will need to cook the chicken. I used my Cuisinart Electric Griddler. You can use any type of electric grill or even a grill pan on top of the stove or even your gas BBQ.
Simply remove the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade, and grill it for 6 to 8 minutes per side until the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through. This smells amazing when it is cooking!
Once cooked, transfer it to a cutting board and chop it up ready to serve.
And that's it, all of the elements are done, just divide everything between two large heated bowls, drizzle on some of that delicious cooling yogurt sauce and enjoy!
This really is delicious. Its filled with lots of lovely flavors and textures. At first glance it might look like a lot of ingredients and a bit faffy, but trust me it is not.
Just read the recipe through and then prepare each element of it one at a time. Once you have all of them executed, it really does all go together like a breeze! You are going to love this, I guarantee!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons