15 August 2007 Comment

August 15, Chicken Pot Pie

New menu day!

Since tonight was bocce, we needed something easy.
Since I didn’t make the meal plan until later that night, I needed something prepared.
Since I have a freezer filled with goodies, I found a Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie.

Now this is a beloved recipe, one we’ve tweaked and turned, added and removed. My favorite way to make this is to make 6 at once — 4 individual crock sized ones and two medium baking dish pies. I bake one off and cover the rest liberally with foil before putting in the freezer where it joins its friends Chicken Enchiladas and 12 Pound Lasagna.

One hour before you’d like to eat, heat the oven to 400

13 August 2007 1 Comment

August 13, James Rice, Flank Steak Tacos

James was a little grumpy that I shared this recipe with you, but I love this stuff!

It’s easy, spicy and perfectly salty.
It pairs well with Taco Bar.
Brilliant side dish.

The added bonus?
Your friends, family and countrymen won’t know how easy it was to put together.

We tried adding cheese once, but it turned into a sodden, gloppy mess. I don’t recommend it.

James Rice

1 cup white rice
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup prepared enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce

Bring the rice and chicken stock to a boil, cover and steam for 15 minutes. Add enchilada and hot sauce, continue to steam for another 5 minutes, salt to taste.

See? It’s perfect.
James, no need to grump.

Flank Steak Tacos

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I like canola)
1 pound flank steak
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Add the oil to the pan. Heat a large cast iron pan to shimmery hot.
Sprinkle 1/2 the garlic salt and pepper over one half of the meat, and 1/2 over the other side of the meat.

Place the meat in the hot pan. Don’t move or touch the meat, except to make sure it’s flat, for about 4 minutes. Then flip it, and cook until the meat is cooked to gentle pink in the middle (not a harsh or hot pink, no. no.).

Pull the meat out of the pan, let rest on the cutting board for no less than 8 minutes and slice thinly on the diagonal.
When I say thin, I’m talking about 1/4 inch, yo.
A good serrated knife can help with this.

Fixins

6 flour or gently fried corn tortillas
3/4 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup small diced red onions
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 avocados, chopped and tossed with the juice of one lime, salt and pepper
1/2 cup light sour cream
Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Hot sauce like Tabasco or Tapatio

Add the fixins to the tortilla until it’s to your liking.
Don’t forget to offer everyone bites of your most perfect taco.

3 August 2007 2 Comments

August Experiment

Every week, I make a schedule of the food we’re going to eat. I post it on my refrigerator so James knows what’s ahead and I can maximize leftover usage. That way I only need to go to the store once and I’m not always tossing moldy casserole.

I’ve been sharing some of these menus on Flickr, see. And this August, I’m going to post the recipes and dinner from each night on the menu. As I’m writing this August 3, I’ll have posted the “first” one here and the “second” one here.

Or you could just scroll down… you know…

2 August 2007 1 Comment

August 2, Chicken Satay, Spicy Thai Pork Bundles

I started chopping vegetables and thawing chicken and tossing and saucing and all of a sudden, we had too much food.

So we invited Natalie for dinner! I love dinner parties inspired by bounty!

We had some big old Thai-inspired spread. The menu was based on some recipes my sister brought back from her recent world travels. I served it with the leftover steamed rice from Tuesday night.

Natalie, James and I spent the majority of dinner time planning out my “Choose Your Own Adventure” birthday party. Oh! If we pull it off, it will be much fun!
(I hope you can come!)

Chicken Satay

(pretty much entirely from the Shelia Lukins recipe in her mighty helpful “All Around the World” cookbook)

Marinade Ingredients:
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
(be careful! Turmeric will stain your beautiful white bowls and spatulas yellow.)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips three inches long and roughly one inch wide.
In a large bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients. Toss the chicken strips into the marinade for two hours.
Broil the chicken on high for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve with delicious peanut sauce.

31 July 2007 Comment

July 31, Crunchy-topped Salmon

As you may or may not have seen on the Friday post, this month of August, I’m sharing all the recipes from these weekly menus that I put on the fridge.

I’m a huge proponent of meal planning — it uses up leftovers, you only have to go grocery shopping once that week and your housemate always knows what’s for dinner.

I usually post the list on my grocery shopping day. Tuesday. And buy all the ingredients for the week.

I planned this dish early in the week after we’d returned from a trip to the Midwest. We needed some calming tummy food for the California transition. Since I knew we’d have salmon skin in the garbage, I like to enjoy fish or shellfish (1.) a soon from the store as possible and (2.) the night before the trash guy comes.

Crunchy-Topped Salmon

Ingredients:
1 large salmon fillet
1 cup breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 225