Saturday, October 31, 2015

Rice and Couscous Pilaf

Here's a tasty side dish that is kind of a take on rice pilaf. I used my rice cooker to make rice as usual, but added a quarter cup Israeli couscous. Once cooked I mixed in some sauteed yellow onion, garlic and finished with green onion and cherry tomato's. This is so good you could just eat this as the main course.

Ingredients:
Israeli Couscous
2 1/4 cups water
1 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 Israeli couscous
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 medium diced yellow onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1 bunch sliced green onions
1 cup sliced cherry tomato's
Chopped Italian parsley for garnish

Preparation:
Add 2-1/4 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup rice and 1/4 cup couscous to a medium sauce pan or rice cooker. If using a rice cooker, press start and the rice and couscous pilaf will be done in about 20 minutes. If using an saute pan, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer and cook until the water has been absorbed. Once the water has been absorbed, turn off the heat and let set 5 minutes.

Heat a 12" saute pan to medium. Add the olive oil and yellow onion and cook 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just 1 minute. Add the rice and couscous pilaf to the saute pan and well. Add the cherry tomato's and green onions and mix well. Check for proper seasoning and you're done.

To serve, place the couscous and rice pilaf on a serving plate and garnish with sliced green onions and chopped Italian parsley.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Braised Short Rib and Callezione Pasta

I wanted to do something a little different with a pack of short ribs I'd been saving in the freezer. Instead of braising and serving over mashed potato's or polenta, I decided to go with braised shredded short rib and callezione pasta. This turned out as I suspected, deliciously rich and beefy and goes really well a big red wine such as a Super Tuscan or Cabernet.

Ingredients:
1 pack 4 short ribs
1/2 pound Barilla Callezione pasta
12 ounces beef broth
1/2 yellow onion
1 carrot
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Take a 4 quart square sided saute pan and add the olive oil. Once heated add the short ribs and brown on all sides. Once browned add the beef broth, chopped yellow onion, chopped carrot and chopped garlic. Cover the saute pan and place into the oven for 2 hours turning the short ribs every half hour.

When the short ribs are done, remove from the saute pan to a plate and let cool. When cool, remove the meat from the bone and shred into small pieces. Strain the liquid from the saute pan and reserve.

Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt and bring to boil. Cook the callezione pasta according to directions, which is 12 - 14 minutes to al dente, which is firm to the bite. Drain the pasta.

Take a 12" saute pan and heat to medium high. Add the pasta and short rib and toss until heated. Add one cup reserved beef broth and toss. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter, toss and you're done.

To serve, place a portion of braised short rib and callezione pasta on a plate. Garnish with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and chopped Italian parsley.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Apple Wood Smoked Chicken



As we wind down the warm weather this year, I thought I'd cook one last smoked roasted chicken. Though I don't use a pellet smoker like a Tagger, you can still get a nice pink smoke ring on the chicken using your gas grill. I use apple wood chips that I soak in water and wrap in aluminum foil with a few knife slits and set just over the burner. This will smoke for an hour or so and sometimes I might go for a second pouch of chips if I'm going really low and slow.



Ingredients:
1 organic chicken
Seasoning of choice
Aluminum foil
Apple wood chips




Preparation:
Rinse the chicken in cold water and dry. Lay the chicken breast side down and using your poultry shearers cut out the back. Next, butterfly the chicken and season with salt & pepper and some BBQ rub if you like.

Prepare the wood chips by soaking in water for a few minutes and then wrap in a tin foil in a tube shape so it will lay across the burner.



Heat the grill to 300 degrees using the rear burner only, leaving the front two burners off. Place the wood chips over the back burner and place the chicken breast side up in the front of the grill. Cook the chicken over indirect heat for 90 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before carving and enjoy.      

Sunday, October 18, 2015

French Vinnaigrette Beans

Here's a really quick and easy green beans recipe that will amaze you. This is a new favorite and we'll be having this again soon I'm sure.

Ingredients:
1 pound French green beans
2 tablespoons Brianna's Vinaigrette salad dressing
Salt & pepper

Preparation:
Place the green beans in a steamer and cook 5 - 7 minutes until done. Place in a bowl and add the Briana's salad dressing, a grind of salt and pepper and toss.

To serve, place the green beans on a serving plate and garnish with chopped Italian parsley.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Patty Melt

What I like about this patty melt is the sliced sour dough bread rubbed with raw garlic and drizzled with olive oil. I think of this is kind of like an Italian hamburger. Secondly, I'm using organic grass fed ground beef from Fred Meyer. The organic grass fed ground beef is just $1.00 more per pound and it does have really great flavor and perhaps a little better for you too, but either way this burger rocks!

Ingredients:
Grass fed lean ground beef
Sliced Munster cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Red Onion
Olive oil or Mayo if preferred
1 Garlic clove

Preparation:
Prepare the ground beef into 1/3 pound rectangle patties roughly the same size as your bread. Heat your grill to medium high heat and cook the burgers about 3 minutes per side. In the last minute add the cheese.

Toast the sliced sour dough bread to golden brown. Take the raw garlic and rub on the inside of the bottom and top pieces of bread. Brush some olive oil on the bread where you rubbed the garlic. On the bottom piece of bread, place some lettuce, sliced tomato and sliced red onion. Add the patty and finish by adding the top piece of sour dough bread. Cut in have and serve.     

Friday, October 9, 2015

Swiss Chard

Sometimes you come across something in your grocery store that looks so amazing you have to get it. That's what happened when I saw this beautiful Swiss Card. This was a huge bunch of organic red Swiss Chard from Safeway. Not only does this just look really good, but Swiss Card is one of the healthiest vegetables that ranks with the likes of beets, spinach and quinoa. I was curious why this is called Swiss Chard and it turns out that the vegetable is not from Switzerland at all, but was discovered by a Swiss botanist by the name of Karl Koch. I simply prepared the Swiss Chard in a sauté pan with some olive oil, crushed garlic and salt and pepper.
 
Ingredients:
1 bunch organic Swiss Chard
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
Salt and pepper
 
Preparation:
Rinse the Swiss Chard in cold water. Trim the ends of the stalks and cut into 1 inch ribbons.
Heat a 12" sauté pan to medium. Add the olive oil and chopped Swiss Chard. The Swiss Chard will start out as a big pile and cook down similar to spinach. Once the Swiss Chard has cooked down, remove to a strainer and let any excess moister run off.
 
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the sauté pan and heat to medium low. Add the garlic and cook one minute. You want to gently soften the garlic, so don't over cook or burn the garlic. Add the Swiss Chard back to the pan and toss with the garlic and you're ready to serve. 

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Roasted Mahi-Mahi

Here's another quality product from Costco. Kirkland Signature frozen Mahi-Mahi filets. They are produced by Trident foods. Mahi-Mahi is from South Pacific waters and has less than 100 calories and 1 gram of fat per serving. The filets are center cut, boneless, skinless and individually vacuum packed. Here I simply roasted the filets with a little paprika and lime chive butter.
 
Ingredients:
Kirkland Signature Mahi-Mahi filets
4 tablespoons butter
Juice from 1 lime
1 teaspoon dries chives
1 cup rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
 
Preparation:
Cook the rice according to instructions, which is 1 cup rice, 2 cups water and some salt.

 
Properly defrost the Mahi-Mahi by removing the filets from the packaging. Place a couple paper towels on a plate and then the filets and then another layer of paper towels. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit on the kitchen counter until defrosted, about 5 hours. You can also do this a day in advance and let the filets defrost in the refrigerator overnight.  
 
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Use a small glass bowl or other microwave proof bowl and add the butter. Soften the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds and add the juice from the lime and chives. Reserve some of the lime chive butter for plating. 
 
Take a baking pan and line with foil. place the filets on the baking pan and sprinkle on a little paprika. Next, spread on some lime chive butter and place into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.
 
To serve, place a portion of rice onto a serving plate. Add a Mahi-Mahi filet and top with some reserved lime chive butter. Garnish with a couple wedges of lime and chopped Italian parsley.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Baked Chicken Thighs in Mole Sauce

I don't know what I've been thinking, mole is one of my favorite sauces and I never even thought to make baked chicken thighs in mole sauce. This mole sauce from Dona Maria is one of  Mexico's favorite brand for over 65 years. It easily mixes with 4 cups of water has a nice mellow heat and you can really taste the Mexican chocolate. The key to this dish is to marinate the chicken thighs for an hour or as long as overnight. Bake the chicken thighs at 325 degrees for an hour and a half and they are delicious fall off the bone amazing.
 
Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs bone in
1 Dona Maria Mole
 
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 
 
Take a medium sauce pan and add 4 cups of water. Add the Dona Maria mole and bring up to simmer. As the water heats up the mole paste will break down into a nice creamy sauce.
 
Rinse the chicken thighs and cut off excess skin. Place the chicken thigh skin side up in a glass baking dish. Take the mole sauce and cover the chicken reserving one quarter of the sauce.
 
Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate for an hour or as much as overnight. Remove the plastic wrap and cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. After an hour, add the remaining mole sauce on top of the chicken thighs and cook another 30 minutes uncovered and you're done.

Friday, October 2, 2015

Arroz Verde, Green Rice

This recipe is very similar to my Mexican rice recipe. I simply add a 7oz can of green salsa to the rice cooker and out comes a wonderful side dish for any Mexican meal, like baked mole chicken thighs, look for this recipe soon.
 
Ingredients:
1 cup white rice
1 - 1/2 cups water
1 - 7oz can Herdez Verde salsa
Pinch of salt
 
 Preparation:
Add all the ingredients to he rice cooker and press go and 15 minute later you've got great Arroz Verde, green salsa rice.