Month: March 2016

Chipolte Black Bean Soup

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BackBeanSoup
Chipolte Black Bean Soup

This is a quick, easy to make, Healthy meal. Everyone that has tried it likes it. It can be made to be vegetarian or vegan also.

Ingredients

  • 1 can black beans
  • 2 chipolte peppers chopped finely (from canned chipolte w/adobo sauce)
  • 1/2 onion finely chopped in food processor
  • 1 carrot finely chopped in food processor
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • sour cream (optional)

Directions

Add olive oil to sauce pan and over medium heat fry the garlic, onion, and carrot for about 5-7 minutes until soft. Add in chicken or vegetable stock and black beans and chipolte peppers  and simmer for about 30 minutes. Using a stick blender blend the mixture until smooth. Spoon into a serving bowl and put a small dollop of sour cream on top.

Vegetable Stock Secrets

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Rich Vegetable Broth
Rich Vegetable Broth

I have made my own vegetable broth numerous times and after my first few attempts at making it and doing some research, I found out one of the secrets to making the stock is that when you first fry the vegetables briefly you can then add the water and it extracts the goodness from the vegetables much better. This may be a simple thing and makes sense but I still see recipes that just call for simmering without first frying the veggies.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion sliced
  • 2 to 3 stalks celery sliced crosswise
  • 2 to 3 carrots sliced
  • 1 tomato sliced
  • 5 mushrooms sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic sliced
  • 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tap pepper fresh ground
  • 1.5 qt water

Directions

Fry vegetables and salt in olive oil for about 10 mins. Then add water and pepper and heat almost to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for about 30 mins to 1 hour. Stain Vegetables from broth and use or freeze.
Recipe From: gastronomy.ddns.net

Jalapeno Wing Sauce

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I like buffalo wing sauce, but I tried the jalapeno wing sauce at Native Grill and I like it as much or better. You can’t buy this in the store and I had a fairly good idea of what the ingredients were from the flavor so I set out to make it myself. Here is what I came up with.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup of finely minced onion
  • 2 tbsp pickled jalapeno slices finely minced
  • 2/3 stick of butter
  • 1 whole raw jalapeno, stem removed, finely minced.
  • 4 cloves of garlic finely minced
  • 5 tbsp of the liquid from the jalapeno slices jar

Directions

Put the onion, garlic, and jalapeno into a food processor and chop until finely minced. On medium heat melt the butter and gently fry the  jalapenos, the onoin, and the garlic cloves for 10 minutes in butter, then add jalapeno pickling water. Use this as a wing dipping sauce or toss wings in it. You can also use it as a dipping sauce for anything else you like also.

Silky Delicate Creme Brulee

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This is one of my favorite desserts. The crunchy caramelized sugar top with the silky creme custard under it is a great way to finish any meal. It is the right size and richness so you feel satisfied but you don’t feel like you shouldn’t have eaten it. I adjusted the sweetness of the creme custard so it shifts more toward the creamy side and not too sweet. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 6 large egg yokes
  • 2 1/2 cups of heavy cream
  • 3 1/2 tblsp of sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Extra sugar to create the crunchy caramel top (about 1 tsp ea).

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a mixing bowl mix, mix the egg y0lks, the 3 1/2 tblsp sugar, and the vanilla extract until the sugar is incorporated. Heat water in a pan to use with a double boiler later. In a sauce pan, heat the heavy cream up until it is frothy, almost boiling. You can heat on med high at first but when it starts to get warm lower the temp to med low and stir constantly. When the cream is hot and frothy, take a little bit and pour it in the bowl with the egg mixture while stirring with a whisk being careful not to add the cream too quickly (tempering the egg mixture) then continue to add a little bit at a time while stirring till it is all incorporated. Then add into a double boiler over the pan of boiling water stirring constantly until you can dip a spoon in the mixture and it fully coats the back of the spoon (I heated the cream to that point in only a minute and I also just used the glass mixing bowl over the pan the I mixed the egg mixture in to act as a double boiler). Then pour the mixture evenly into six ramekins. Take the boiling water used to in the pan for the double boiler and pour into a baking pan till it comes up almost 1 inch in the baking pan and then set the ramekins in the pan with the water to control the temperature and add humidity while baking. Put into the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 mins. Then take out of the oven and remove from the pan with the water and let cool on the counter for about 20 mins. Now cover and put int he refrigerator for a least 45 minutes to an hour till cool. You can keep in the fridge covered for several days if you’d like. Now when ready to serve heat up the oven broiler till red hot, then coat the top of the creme custard so it is just covered with sugar, no more than 1/8 inch and can be less. Then put under broiler till sugar turns slightly brown, watching carefully since it will go to black very quickly. You can also use a torch for this if you have one. Now put in the freezer for about 5 minutes to cool the sugar and ramekin before serving. Enjoy.

 

Efes Turkish Restuarant, Shanghai. Incredible Restaurant.

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efes

I used to eat in Efes Restaurant when it was in Tempe, AZ.  I loved the Donner Kebab and a number of other menu items, but unfortunately it closed. I missed it for some time, but then when in Shanghai, China, there it was. I found it again. It has the same great food I remember. The Donner kebab with it’s bits of toasted pita, sour cream and tomato sauce mixed with the rich seared lamb and beef. The perfectly cooked lamb kebab with the pleasant blend of spices. The humus appetizer starting it all off, everything was great, just like I remembered and it brought me back home again to meals with my loved ones. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although it was a little pricey, with the exchange rate of about 6 yuan to the dollar. The  bill for 2 people eating well was about $45, or more if you ordered alcohol depending on what you order. It was within walking distance from the Marriott Courtyard hotel (Marriot Courtyard Website) I stayed at in Pudong. It was about a 20-30 minute walk though which I used to walk off the large meal. Here is the google map link (Efes Google Maps) I look forward to my next trip to Shanghai.

Cookout Jalapeno Citrus Chicken

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Campfire

I always cook this when we go camping, usually on the campfire but I have started cooking this at home too since it is such a big hit. Very simple, but really good. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or 4 thighs cut into about 1/2 inch cubes
  • 4 small to medium size potatoes cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • juice from 1 medium size lemon or 2 limes
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 2 large jalapenos sliced
  • 5 tblsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp course ground pepper
  • 1 tsp salt (Can add more later if needed)
  • 1 medium size onion chopped into 1/2 squares

Directions

Pour olive oil in 9×13 pan. Then add all ingredients and toss in oil to cover. Cover with aluminum foil and cook at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove foil cook for another 20-30 minutes till chicken is done and the top is browned. Serve and enjoy.

 

Green Chili Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada

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This is a very popular dish. I tend to make it a little spicy since I am from the Southwest, however you can tone it down by adding less of the green chilis. It does depend on the tub of chilis though, some are hotter than others.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken boiled for 2-3 hours meat removed/shreded
  • 2 cans cream of chicken soup
  • 1 tub of Frozen Baca green Chili. (If you want it hotter add 1 4 oz can of diced jalapenos additionally)
  • 2 cups of onion chopped
  • 1 cup of sour cream
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 16 oz of shredded chedar cheese
  • 50 corn totillas

Directions

Add cream of chicken soup, sour cream, thawed green Chili, chili powder, onion into a bowl and mix to make the sauce. Taste the sauce to see if you want to add the can of jalapenos. Take about 1/3 of this and add it to the meat. Spray each tortilla with a little bit of cooking oil and lightly fry till it just starts to brown. Coat the bottom of the baking pan with a little of the sauce mixture.  Take 1 large tablespoon of the meat and roll inside of the tortilla and add to the baking pan. Repeat until all the meat is gone and the pans are full. Then take the remaining sauce mixture and pour over the rolled tortillas. Top with cheese. You can make a layered enchilada to save time. Just take a little of the meat about 1/4 and spread on the bottom across all the pans. Spread some sauce over this. Sprinkle some of the cheese over it and add a layer of tortilla. Repeat this one or two times more. Then spread some sauce over the top and sprinkle some cheese. Bake at 350 degrees covered with foil for the first 15 minutes and then remove foil and finish baking till the cheese is melted in the center. If you want to garnish chop some green onions and sprinkle over the top.  Serve and enjoy.

 

East Hot Fluffy Dinner Rolls w/Cinnamon Butter

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Hot Fluffy Dinner Roll
Hot Fluffy Dinner Roll

I love the fluffy, soft dinner rolls they serve at Texas Roadhouse restaurant but didn’t want to spend a lot of time making them. I searched around for a recipe that was easy and tasted a lot like the ones at Texas Roadhouse. I tried this one which uses a bread maker for the dough which allows you to load up the bread maker and  come back in a couple of hours, remove the dough and bake it. When served with the cinnamon butter, they taste a lot like the ones they have at the restaurant. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Rolls

  • ¼ cup lukewarm water
  • 1 cup lukewarm milk (Vegan option, use plain soy milk)
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter, room temperature (Vegan option, use margarine)
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1 envelope (.25 oz) active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup melted butter for basting rolls

Cinnamon Butter

  • 4 tblsp of Butter (Vegan option, use margarine)
  • 1 tblsp Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Directions

Pour all liquid dinner roll ingredients into the bread maker. Add the dry ingredients (except the yeast) to a bowl and mix then add to the bread maker. Now add the yeast on top of the dry ingredients so it is not in the liquid. Start your bread maker on the dough setting (you can also put on delay setting if you are want it to be ready later). When the dough cycle is complete, remove and roll out on a floured cutting board into a sheet and using a pizza cutter cut into 16 even squares. Put these on a baking sheet. You can use parchment paper on it if you’d like. Then put the baking sheets into a oven with a bowl of hot steaming water to rise until doubled or tripled. Then bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes until slightly browned. To make sure the outside stays soft when putting them into the oven throw 1/4 cup of water in the bottom of the hot oven to add moisture. Coat with butter when removed from the oven and serve.

Melty Toasted Sandwiches

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MeltyLunchmeatSandwich

These are very easy and quick to make and taste great. The cheese is melted, the bun is slightly crunchy on the outside, the onion gives a punch, and the tomato gives freshness. I have made two types one with Ham and one with Roast Beef and both were great. You can experiment with adding a little mustard with the ham or other add ins. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

  • Ham or Roast Beef sliced lunch meat 1 to 4 slices per slices per sandwich depending on thickness.
  • Sliced Cheddar Cheese, I used sharp.
  • Thinly sliced onion
  • Sliced Tomato
  • Mayonnaise
  • Hamburger buns (1 per sandwich)

Directions

Spread a layer of mayonnaise on the inside of the top bun, then put the thinly sliced onion then the cheese, followed by the lunch meat and then the tomato and the bottom half of the bun. Now wrap the sandwich in foil and put into a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted in the middle of the sandwich. Serve wrapped in foil to be unwrapped hot and and enjoyed.