Asian Lettuce Wraps

These aren't too hard, just have your ingredients measured out before you start cooking in the wok.

Keep in mind that white rice cooks in about 20 minutes but brown rice takes about 40. I like to get my brown rice on the stove, then measure out my other ingredients. When the rice has about 15 minutes left, start heating up the wok and both pots will be ready about the same time.

• 4 c water
• 2 c uncooked rice
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 1 t garlic, chopped
• 14 oz firm or extra firm tofu, cubed
• 2 carrots, grated
• 3 T hoisin sauce (available in the Asian section of the grocery store)
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 t sesame oil
• 1/2 t chili paste (such as Sriracha)
• 1 head iceberg lettuce

1. in saucepan, combine water and rice-bring to a boil, reduce heat, and let simmer 20 minutes for white rice or 40 minutes for brown rice
2. heat oil in wok to medium high
3. cook pork, onions, and garlic for about 5 minutes
4. add tofu, carrots, and sauces, stirring frequently-cook about 5 minutes
5. remoce from heat and add sesame oil and chili paste
6. serve rice and stir fry mixture with individual lettuce leaves
   

Easy Baked Chicken

Me and mine have been sick this week...thank you Texas allergy season. This cut down on my cooking this week a lot...and when I did cook, it was easy peasy sandwiches or pasta with some pre-made sauce.

I did, however, cook two great meals. This chicken recipe is one of M's favorites, even though whenever I cook it he thinks it's the first time I've made it. I usually serve it with mashed potatoes and green beans. Make plenty so you have leftovers for lunch the next day!

It is equally good cooked with chicken breasts or chicken tenders.

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 t paprika
• 1/2 t rosemary
• 1/2 chervil
• 1/2 marjoram
• 1/4 t pepper
• 2/3 c butter, melted
  
• 3 pounds chicken breast or tenders

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees
   
2. combine all seasonings, then mix into flour
3. pour half of the butter into 9x13 baker
4. dip each piece of chicken into butter and then flour, then place in pan
5. pour any remaining flour over chicken and moisten with remaining butter
6. cover securely with foil and bake for 20 minutes
7. remove foil and cook for 15 minutes longer
   

My New Favorite Comfort Food

Well, every cook has to have a flop every now and then. Calling last night's arroz con pollo a flop is perhaps an exaggeration and my co-workers and I greatly enjoyed it for lunch today, but I suppose it just didn't live up to my recent string of repeatable recipes. So, I am not sharing the arroz con pollo recipe here.

I was in luck, though...almost in the same moment I realized my disappointment in my dish, M called to tell me that a friend had given him some wild game sausage and asked if I was willing to cook it. He picked up some rigattoni, and we enjoyed an impromptu dinner of grilled spicy sausage mixed with rigattoni, sauteed spinach, and Parmesan cheese.

So, since we had pasta last night and made last-minute plans to eat out with friend's tomorrow night, I decided to make Shepherd's Pie tonight and I'll make the planned Pasta con Broccoli on Sunday night since, as we all know, I do not cook on Friday or Saturday nights. ;)

While not possessing the same depth of flavors as some recent recipes, this Shepherd's Pie is spectacular. It takes the "meat and potatoes" theme and changes it up just enough to remain a stable comfort food while introducing some new textures and making a fairly easy one-dish meal (easy as long as you can manage three pots on the stove at once)

I briefly considered leaving the carrot layer out of this dish-don't make that mistake. The carrots added a slight sweetness and without them I think the potatoes would have needed a lot more butter, an ingredient I am trying to use minimally and that would change the texture of the potatoes in this case.

Shepherd's Pie

• 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 T butter
• 1 finely chopped onion, divided
  
• 1/2 (or more) grated cheddar cheese, divided
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 carrots, chopped
• 1 T oil
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 T flour
• 1 T ketchup or Worcestershire sauce (I prefer Worcestershire)
• 3/4 c beef broth

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees
   
2. bring two pots of salted water to a boil
3. to one pot add potatoes and to the other add carrots; let cook 15-20 minutes
4. meanwhile, heat oil in skillet; add onion then beef-drain if desired
5. to beef, stir in flour and cook for 1 minute, then add ketchup/Worcestershire and broth; let simmer 5 minutes
6. when potatoes are ready, mash with butter, 1 T onion, 1/4 c cheese, salt and pepper
7. separately, mash carrots
8. in 9x9 pan, layer beef, then carrots, then potatoes
9. top with remaining cheese
10. bake for 20 minutes
    

Fresh (and Easy) Strawberry Pie

Posted by request from WWL and ND. ;)

• 1 8-inch pie crust, baked
• 1 lb fresh strawberries, washed and trimmed, large berries halved
• 1 c sugar
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1 c water
• 1 3-oz package strawberry gelatin
• 1 t vanilla
• whipped cream (optional)
  

1. bring water to a boil in saucepan
2. whisk together cornstarch and sugar
3. add sugar mixture to boiling water and whisk constantly until thick, 3-4 minutes
4. remove from heat and add gelatin and vanilla; let mixture cool to room temperature
5. place strawberries evenly in cooled pie shell
6. pour cooled mixture over berries and refrigerate until set
7. serve with whipped cream if desired
   

The. Best. Fish. Tacos. EVER!

There's just no other way to describe these fish tacos. As I told my friend D who joined me for dinner last night, "Out of three starts, I give these 4." The recipe is a little more complicated than I normally do, but if you do what you can the night before, it's not as bad as it looks. And the outcome is MORE than worth it.

Here we go. In order to make this as simple as possible, I've divided up the recipe into separate mini-recipes.

Fish Tacos with Honey Cumin Cilantro Slaw and Chipotle Mayo

Fish Preparation

• 1 lb tilapia, cut into chunks
  
• 1/2 c fresh lime juice

1. place tilapia in flat dish and pour lime juice over fish-cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours

*I marinated the fish for about 10 hours and it was fine.

Chipotle Mayo (this can be done ahead of time and I recommend doubling)

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 chipoltle chilis packed in adobo sauce
• 1 T reserved adobo sauce
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper

1. Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until smooth. Set aside until needed.
   

Cilantro Slaw (also can be made ahead of time and definitely should be doubled)

• 2 c tri-color coleslaw blend
• 1 c cilantro, minced
  

1. Mix slaw blend and cilantro
2. Add all but 1/4 of the chipotle mayo (if you doubled the chipotle mayo recipe, only add one half of what you made)

Honey Cumin Sauce (I do not recommend preparing this ahead)

• 1/3 c fresh lime juice
• 2 T honey
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 t cumin

1. whisk together all ingredients and set aside.

TO MAKE TACOS:

• 1/3 c flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 c panko bread crumbs
• salt and pepper
• 1 c vegetable oil
  
• flour tortillas, warmed

1. place flour, eggs, and panko in separate plates
2. season fish with salt and pepper
3. dip fish first in flour, then eggs, then panko
4. heat oil, then cook fish evenly until brown (about 2 minutes per side)
5. drain fish and brush immediately with honey cumin sauce
6. spread each tortilla with 1 T chipotle mayo, then fish, then slaw
7. ENJOY!!!
   

Upcoming Recipes: Week of April 4, 2010

Although the themes may change, I am attempting to have every day of the week have a "theme." Besides catering to my OCD, it helps me narrow down my recipes choices when setting the menu for the following week.

Here are my recipes for this week.

Sunday (easy night): burgers (homemade)
Monday (M's choice): Fish Tacos with Honey-Cumin Cilantro Slaw and Chipotle May
Tuesday (Mexican): Arroz con Pollo
Wednesday (pasta): Pasta con Broccoli
Thursday (homestyle): Shepherd's Pie

The only one I'm slightly worried about is the fish tacos...wish me luck! :)

My Simple and Delicious Easter Menu

This is my first holiday to host in our new home, and I am excited! It is so easy for me to go completely overboard with not just too many dishes, but too many complicated dishes. The more I cook, though, the more I learn the times that sometimes the easiest recipes can be the most delicious.

I was the only person in my family who enjoyed a holiday ham, so while Thanksgiving and Christmas are both turkey holidays in my family, Easter is strictly for roast beef. I discovered this Crock Pot pot roast recipe last year. I usually avoid using cream of anything soup in my cooking, but since I only cook roast beef on holidays and since it is the best roast I've ever had, I make an exception.

Hope you enjoy my Easter dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

• 2 (10.75) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (this amount can be approximate)
• 1 (1 oz) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 5-6 lb pot roast

1. in slow cooker, mix first three ingredients with wire whisk
2. place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture
3. cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 3-4 hours

Now on to the side dishes. Since this is my blog, I'm going to brag on myself a little here: I make the best mashed potatoes I've ever had, and now no one in my family even attempts to make them; them just have me bring them. Personal preferences for potatoes, of course, vary somewhere, so these amounts are starting points ready for personalized tweaking. I usually make a much smaller batch than this recipe, but this would make a holiday-sized bowl of mashed potatoes.

• 1 5-lb bag russet or Idaho potatoes
• water
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1/2 cup half-and-half, warmed slightly in microwave
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel potatoes and cut into halves or quarters. Place in large stockpot and cover with water. Add bay leaf and 1 teaspoon salt.
   
2. Bring to a boil for about twenty minutes or until very soft.
   
3. Drain, reserving about 1/4 cup of the water but discarding bay leaf
   
4. Add potatoes to mixing bowl with butter, half-and-half, baking powder, salt, and pepper
5. Beat with electric mixer until smooth, tasting frequently and adding salt and pepper as needed

And now, lastly, the favorite green vegetable in my house: green beans

• 1 lb fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 c water or chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in large skillet; add garlic. Saute until slightly brown.
2. Add green beans. Make sure all beans are coated in oil. Saute for about 5 minutes or until some beans are slightly charred.
3. Add salt and pepper
4. Pour in water or brother; bring to a boil.
   
5. Let simmer for about 5 minutes or to desired texture (we like our still a little crispy); remove from heat immediately.
   
6. Do not rinse as this will wash away the garlic flavor

Man Pleasin' Ribs

I'm not as much of a rib person as M is, but this has to be the easiest recipe known to mankind. I have to give credit where credit is due, though: M is actually who taught me how to make these!

• one rack of ribs (we like babyback)
• dry barbeque seasoning (we like Rudy's Rub, https://rudysbbq.com/store/c-3-spices.aspx)

1. prehead oven to 400 degrees
   
2. unwrap ribs and rinse; put in plastic oven bag
3. open seasoning and liberally sprinkle over both sides of ribs, rubbing in with hands (it takes more seasoning than you may think; I would estimate half a cup per side but I eyeball it)
4. tie bag and put on baking sheet; bake for about 50 minutes
5. let cool in bag for about ten minutes; pour onto baking sheet and let sit for another ten minutes
6. cut into individual ribs and serve