Salsa Chicken

I try new recipes frequently. I like to keep meal plans fresh and interesting. But we do have a few "favorite meals" that we will have multiple times a year. One of these favorites is "Salsa chicken." I actually got the recipe from a free recipe card in the spice aisle--one of those ones meant to get non-cooking people to cook--as a young engaged woman. It appealed to my desire to improve my cooking repertoire, and was four simple ingredients, easy to cook and very delicious.

Toss cut up chicken breast in taco seasoning. Cook in a hot saute pan with oil.
When the chicken has lightened on all sides, add diced tomatoes with juice.
Next add apricot jam. This is one of the only ones we can find in our grocery store without high fructose corn syrup.

When chicken is done and the sauce has cooked down a little remove from heat. Serve over rice.

Salsa Chicken serves 4 adults
Taco seasoning
2 chicken breasts sliced into bite-sized strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups (one can) diced tomatoes
1/2 cup apricot jam Brown rice

Begin cooking desired amount of rice according to package directions. Toss cut up chicken breast in 1-2 tablespoons taco seasoning to coat. Heat oil in a large saute pan. Add chicken and stir as it cooks until the chicken has lightened on all sides. Add diced tomatoes in their juice. Next add apricot jam, and stir. Simmer about 10 minutes until chicken is done and the sauce has cooked down a little. Remove from heat. Serve over rice.

Homemade California Rolls Sushi

"Wouldn't it be fun to try and make. . ." That's how conversations in our kitchen often begin.  And most of the time it is fun to try and make whatever thing we came up with.  Though I'll admit homemade sushi was Jeremy's idea and the number of times we've had it have been solely as a product of Jeremy's home industry--I have enjoyed the result.  I used to think I wasn't a big fish fan (I've now discovered I'm simply a fish snob--I only like quality fish) but I've always liked crab.  

One of the guests invited to Wyatt's party is our friend who is allergic to dairy and eggs.  So sushi is a great thing to serve for allergic or lactose-intolerant guests (especially since the other menu items--cake and ice cream--were definitely out!).

We use Alton Brown's recipe for sushi rice.We've used it a couple of times and think it turns out well.


Sushi Rice:

* 2 cups sushi, or short grain, rice
* 2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
* 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt

Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi.

Yield: 4 cups

We always reference the video of Alton demonstrating the assembly of the California rolls to remember the rolling technique.  Jeremy says the trick to working with the rice is to keep your hands damp so it doesn't stick to you.  We don't have a sushi mat--we just use our Silpat and it works great.

The other ingredients are:
Nori (seaweed)
sesame seeds
immitation crab (It's actually fish not crab, but works best for these purposes.)
avocado, sliced thinly
carrots, sliced into matchsticks
cucumber, sliced into matchsticks

Spread rice thinly on the nori.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Flip over so rice is on the bottom (For a true California roll, but sometimes we don't bother to do this).lay out a thin row of vegetables and roll up.  Slice into bite-size peices with a sharp knife dipped in warm water.

Serve with pickled ginger and wasabi paste. 

Red Beet Risotto (And Mushroom Variation)

Jeremy goes to school for 12 straight hours on Mondays, so that meant we definitely did not have some amazing Valentine's Day planned.  In fact a student asked Jeremy what his plans were and he told her he was in class until 7:30.  So she asked what his plans were for after that.  Jeremy said, "I dunno--maybe watch a movie?"

I told Jeremy that I'm sure he completely crushed that poor girl's dreams about life after marriage!  Because after you get married you're supposed to have romantic special Valentine's Days forever--right?!

Well since we had zero plans for actually doing anything special I thought the least I could to was make a celebratory dinner.

I saw some ideas online for using beets to make "pink" rice salads for Valentine's Day.  I loved the idea but wanted to be sure it would actually be enjoyable to eat not just look at so I really didn't want to experiment with a new recipe.   I thought about just making rice balls, but since Owen wasn't a huge fan of the beets last time I served them (just steamed with butter and salt) I thought I would need to flavor them a little more.  Then I realized the perfect recipe to use.
 

   Risotto.  My family loves risotto.  It's very basic, but the broth and cheese make it very flavorful--I knew it would be perfect to add beets to.  All I did to make it red was add the raw beets to simmer in the broth and they bled their color into the broth which I was using to cook the rice.  Thus we ended up with striking red rice.  And cute little heart-shaped beets as well. 

And it was as big a hit as I hoped for.  Owen ate the beets up (of course he did have to remind me before trying them that he didn't like beets last time), Jeremy got a special dinner, though it wasn't the candle-lit sit down dinner of anyone's dreams, and I was satisfied with a job well done--it's always nice when things turn out like you hope. 

For the sake of interest, beets aren't the only thing you can cut into hearts either.  I also put heart-shaped carrots in Owen's lunch Monday.

Red Heart Risotto

1 medium beet-washed and peeled
3 tablespoons butter-separated
1/2 cup onion-diced
1 cup rice (traditionally Arborio)
1/2 cup white wine (or substitute with more broth)
4 cups chicken broth
2oz fresh Parmesan cheese--grated (matchbook sized piece ungrated about 1/4 cup grated)

Put 2 tbsp butter in a large saute pan.  Add diced onions and cook until softened.  Meanwhile put broth in a pot over medium low heat an bring to a simmer.  Cut beets and add to simmering broth.

I cut the beet into 1/4 inch round slices.  Then cut each round like a pizza into 6 wedges.  Then shaped each wedge into a heart.  I tossed all the hearts and all the little trimmings into the broth.

When onions are softened, add the rice and stir for 1 minute to absorb any extra butter.  Add the wine and stir until rice has absorbed all the liquid.  Keeping the broth at a low simmer, adding it to the rice 1/2 cup at a time, waiting each time to add more until the liquid is mostly absorbed, stirring often.  The whole process should take about 30 minutes.  With the last 1/2 cup of broth transfer the beets into the rice pan as well.  When all the liquid is mostly absorbed turn off the heat, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and the cheese.  Add salt if needed and pepper.  Serve hot!

This is a good recipe without the beets as well, often I use mushrooms instead.  Put two tablespoons of butter in a different saute pan and 1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms.  I cook those down and add them when I add the cheese.  Delicious and creamy and we'll eat it for our main dish.

Horchata

Horchata- Mexican rice drink


1 1/2 cups rice
2 cinnamon sticks
1 can (14 oz) La Lechera (from Mexican section)
or sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 quart water

Put rice and 1 ½ cups water in a blender. Blend about 1 min to break up the rice. Poor into a bowl, add cinnamon sticks and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Let stand at room temperature for an hour.

Return rice and water to blender, add La Lechera and 2 more cups water and blend until smooth. Strain into a pitcher with a fine mesh strainer, or a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Discard rice. Add vanilla and 1 quart (4 cups) water to fill pitcher.

Serve immediately over ice, or refrigerate up to 2 days and stir before serving over ice.

Coconut Shrimp with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Coconut Shrimp with Peanut Dipping Sauce
Recipe: Alton Brown, Food Network

Ingredients

24 large (15 to 20 count) shrimp, peeled, deviened, and butterflied (We actually used a 1 lb 40-50 count bag)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 egg whites
2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, or 2 1/2 cups shredded fresh coconut
Canola or peanut oil, for frying

Directions

Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl combine cornstarch, salt, pepper, and cayenne. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. In another bowl, place the coconut. Coat the shrimp with the cornstarch and shake off any excess. Dip into the egg white and then press into the coconut to get full coverage. Try to keep 1 hand dry, this will keep things a little cleaner.

In a large pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees F and gently submerge the shrimp, 6 at a time. Fry for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove them to a rack to drain.

They were delicious! Owen Loved them. Jonas picked off all the coconut and ate it, and then ate the shrimp separately. I don't know what that's all about.

We served them with the peanut dipping sauce and brown rice.

Peanut Sauce:
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce or 2 to 3 anchovies, ground
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

In a food processor, puree the chicken stock, coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, hot sauce, chopped garlic, and ginger. Add the peanut butter and pulse to combine. Fold in the cilantro and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Bring sauce to room temperature and serve with coconut shrimp.

Mexican Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
4 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (or 2-4 whole tomatoes diced)

½ Cup Rice, uncooked
1 Can (1 2/3 Cups) Black Beans
1 Cup Corn
1 Cup Chicken
2 T. Salsa
1 T. Fresh Cilantro or Parsley
¼ t. Cumin
¼ t. Salt/Pepper

Directions:
Bring broth, tomatoes, and rice to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, uncovered for 10 more minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and warm tortillas.

Notes: This soup was alt least 3X better than I expected it to be the first time I tried it--it really is good. I'll be freezing portions of this for my freezer-meal swapping group this month. I think it's a great candidate for freezing.