#delishytown

delishytown:

Smokey Turkey y’all. Merry Christmas! #food

This is a delicious Turkey we smoked last Christmas. We first brined the turkey in a solution of ice cold salt water, mixed with garlic, brown sugar and honey, soak for at least 4 hours up to overnight, then rinsed it off and added lemon, garlic and herbs inside, and started smoking it early in the day. We smoked in an electric smoker for about 7 to 8 hours until the temp in the thickest part of the thighs read 160 or higher. Don’t go too much higher or it dries out. 

I will be doing smoked turkey pieces tomorrow, and finishing them on the grill with BBQ sauce. It’s my favorite way to make it, I also always make a traditional turkey in the oven, with butter and garlic and herbs.

I will post all my Thanksgiving food from past Delishytown posts, in case anyone needs ideas for sides and such tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving Tumblrs! I know this country is wonderful because I have so many wonderful friends and family here. Stay strong in this very difficult time where we now have Nazis being appointed positions in the White House. What the absolute hell? This is not normal. These past 2 weeks have been so hard, watching all of this nonsense. Hoping for a Christmas Miracle. 

Potato and Squash Terrine

Yum, this is so good and so easy. This is like a potato lasagna. I’ve made this and posted the recipe before, but was not happy with the pictures. So I remade it this week and took this photo. I might photograph it one more time with a different lighting situation. 

This is an easy vegetarian main dish or a yummy side dish to go with fish or chicken or whatever protein you are into. It would be so good with ham. Potatoes and ham always go great together. I like this casserole because it’s mostly healthy, and uses end of summer veggies and herbs. And cheese! It has cheese! Yum, but it doesn’t have to. This could easily be a vegan dish if you don’t eat cheese, or you could use almond or cashew chz. I love cheese.

Here’s how to make this easy and delicious dish. 

Heat oven to 400

Slice 2 -3 large portabella mushrooms, 1 golden squash, 1 eggplant, 3 or 4 tomatoes, 1 sweet onion, 2 shallots, and 4 or 5 red potatoes. Grill the eggplant and portabella mushrooms in a grill pan or just sear in a hot skillet. These are the only vegetables I pre-cook for this. I do it to sweeten the eggplant, and I sear the mushrooms because it takes a bit of the moisture from them, so the casserole doesn’t come out watery. It also gives them a nice texture. Wash basil. We have a ton of basil growing in our garden right now. It’s so good on so many things. I scrambled some into eggs the other day with a little parmesan and they were the best scrambled eggs ever.

Here’s how to make this potato veggie lasagna thingy:

Crush 4 garlic cloves. Whisk crushed garlic in a dish with a few tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper, and ½ cup white wine. 

Grate your favorite cheeses. I used parmesan, cheddar and a little mozzarella. 

Layer the veggies one vegetable at a time, adding cheese, basil leaves and a tablespoon of the white wine dressing between layers. Season with an extra pinch of salt and pepper between potato layers. I use about 2 to 3 layers of potatoes in between the other veggies. It’s good to have an extra tomato layer in the middle too.

I try to make the top layer tomato with little onion on top and then a bit of cheese, that way you get a really flavorful crust. Make sure to save a little of the dressing for the very top layer.

Cover with parchment for the first 25 minutes or so of cooking so the cheese on top doesn’t cook faster than all those veggies. Bake for about 45 minutes total, uncovered at the end. Dress with a drizzle of good quality balsamic dressing. Yum!

Easy Citrusy Garlic Sesame Grilled Chicken

Happy Labor Day Weekend hard working Tumblrs of the world. 

This is delicious and delectable! I love grilled meats! Yum. This is a quick marinade. You can put the chicken in the marinade in a ziplock, put it in a cooler bag with some ice, and then grill it fresh when you get to whatever BBQ you might be going to for Labor Day. I like to cook this recipe on the up high rack of the grill, over indirect heat, because the apricot jelly might make the chicken stick to a super hot part of the grill. That being said, more juice and olive oil than jelly and you shouldn’t have too much of a problem with sticking.

In a ziplock bag, 6 or 7 crushed garlic cloves, the juice of 2 whole lemons or 1 lemon and 1 sweet orange or tangerine, a big drizzle of olive oil, a tablespoon apricot jelly or jam, salt and fresh ground pepper, a teaspoon of soy sauce, teaspoon of sesame oil. Mix thoroughly and set aside a small cup of this for final basting on your chicken. You could add extra garlic to that final baste cup for extra flavor and health.

Add chicken pieces to the bag, mix it all together and let marinate in the fridge for about 20 minutes to 1 hour. Don’t go longer with small chicken pieces like the legs or the lemon juice will start to “cook” the chicken a bit, so it gets a weird texture.

Once it’s marinated, place chicken pieces over indirect heat on a hot grill, keep turning and cooking for 10 to 15 minutes, at the ned of cooking time, baste with the reserved marinade. Cook all the way through. I like to make rice with this and grill veggies and tomatoes to go with it.

Yum!

Lemon Garlic & Herb Chicken with Lemony Carrots and Potatoes

Hi Tumblrs! Happy Friday! I hope you are all having a fine summer and enjoying the start of Fall. Summer has been going by so fast! I’m shocked that the kids are back in school already. Is that just a California thing? The days are getting shorter, and nights are getting cooler. Yay, I love it. I’m still cooking, gardening and writing as much as I can. I have about 3 to 5 vegetable gardens I’m working on, in various stages of growth, harvest, demise, replanting, re-seeding, watering, weeding, fertilizing, pest and critter control etc. Anyway, all that work makes me hungry.   

This is an easy dish to make if you have a busy schedule but still want some amazing home cooking. My husband and I always say “home food is best”. It’s true, not just because of price, going out to eat is expensive, but it’s way more cozy and relaxing at home. And you’ll always buy or grow better quality ingredients for yourself than a restaurant will, like free range organic chicken, the most flavorful olive oil, and organic vegetables. 

Here is an easy dish perfect for chilly nights when you worked your ass off all day long and just want to throw everything in the oven and watch some smellovsision. This dish is lemony, garlicky, and deliciously savory. It’s addictive. You will find yourself eating the lemon slices from the top of the dish, they come out like tangy candy.

This is easy, the whole dish cooks in one pan. Here’s how: Wash and dry cut up chicken pieces, add to a large baking or roasting pan. Wash, clean and cut 2 to 4 potatoes into large 2 inch -ish cubes. Same with 3 or 4 carrots. Peel 1 onion and slice into large wedges. Crush and mince 5 to 8 garlic cloves. Chop fresh parsley, basil, cilantro, tarragon, dill, whatever you have, or all of them. Add all of these to a large baking dish, drizzle with about 4 tbsp olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar, optional. Cut a large lemon in half, squeeze the lemon juice on, straining out the seeds. Slice another small lemon into rounds, try to remove as many seeds as possible. Toss to coat everything. Arrange the pan with the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables, and lemon slices on top of the chicken. Add another grind of fresh ground pepper and another small pinch of kosher salt. Bake at 375 for about 45 min to 1 hour until cooked through and amazing. Yum! Home cooking is the best. 

Lobster Dog

I took this photo a couple months ago, working for a company called Bratworks as a food stylist and food photographer. It was a really fun job, but they had to cut back their ad budget, boo. Anyway, I still believe in Bratworks! If you live in southern California, they have several restaurants that you can visit. My ad man  boss who is also my friend, and I got to try a lot of the food while we were taking pics for them, and everything was delicious.

If you want to make your own version of this at home, here’s how: Get the best quality, nitrate free hot dogs you can afford, cook them in simmering water until hot, cook some lobster and chop it up. Make a simple tartar sauce dressing with ½ cup organic mayo, chopped sweet pickle, about 2 tbsp, a splash of white or red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, a tiny bit of celery salt, fresh ground pepper, you could also add some horseradish or cayenne if you like a bit of a kick. This would also be great with red cocktail sauce too. To assemble, start with a bun, which we toasted with butter, add some lettuce, then the hot dog, tartar sauce and then lobster, the more the merrier. Top it with chopped chives or scallions. Or just go to the Fashion Square Galleria food court in Sherman Oaks and order one there. Yum! 

Sun Gold from back garden, volunteer mystery tomato in the front garden, growing wild all over the Rose shrubs. Both of these are completely delicious! #ediblelandscaping #tomatoes #garden #summer #delishytown

Homemade Mexican Food 

 I love to make serious Mexican food from scratch. I live and work in Southern California, so there are Mexican restaurants all around. Most of them are awesome. The ones I don’t love as much are maybe not my favorite because their ingredients aren’t the best, like cheap corn products, or questionable meats. So sometimes I like to spend a couple hours making homemade Mexican everything from scratch. Home made Mexican food, using the best quality ingredients, is delicious and easy to do. It’s a little time consuming, but worth the flavor explosion. The Mexican grocery stores around here are cheaper than any other grocery stores, so that’s good too.

The top picture was the other dish I made to possibly submit to the cheesy Chopped competition, taquitos, stuffed with chicken and poblanos, with ancho chili cheese dipping sauce, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and fresh guacamole. It was delicious. My Hubby and I loved every bite. I didn’t use this photo because after I made it, I saw on their inspiration page they suggest taquitos, so I changed my dish to Fried Chicken & Waffles. Thanks to anybody who voted for me. They don’t announce the winner of round 2 until June 27th. Fingers are crossed and all good luck charms in my small jeans pocket. 

The second picture is a chicken and bean tostada I made the next day because I still had a lot of ingredients. This dish has home made restaurant style salsa, avocado crema, and beans and rice. This was also amazingly delicious. Here are some of the basic components I like to make for a Mexican feast. 

For easy Guacamole: mash avocado, mince shallot, squeeze of fresh lime or lemon, chopped cilantro, chopped tomato, s & p. 

ForAvocado Crema: Mix plain yogurt or Mexican crema with a few spoonfuls of the Guacamole.

For easy Salsa: Fresh tomatoes (or a can of tomatoes) in a blender, salt & pepper, 1 garlic clove, chopped cilantro, 1 seeded jalapeño or red chili flakes, lemon or lime juice. Blend until blended but still chunky. Add minced onion that you have rinsed in cold water, at the end. The rinsing is so the onion doesn’t take over.

Tomatillo Salsa: Roast hulled tomatillos in the oven, at 400, with a small onion, a jalapeño pepper, and 2 garlic cloves, for about 20 minutes. Blend the cooked ingredients with lemon or lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. 

For Easy Taquitos: Roll your favorite cooked ingredients (chicken, potatoes, charred peppers, cheese) in a softened corn tortilla, secure with toothpicks, fry in hot oil for 3 or 4 minutes.

EasyCheesy Ancho Sauce: 1 tbsp Butter, minced shallot, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp flour, cook until flour cooks, 1-2 min. Add 1 ½ cups chicken stock or Milk, whisk until it thickens. Turn off heat, add 1 cup shredded cheese and 1 tsp Ancho chili powder. yum.

EasyTostadas: Fry organic Non GMO corn tortillas in hot oil until crisp. Top with refried beans, cooked chicken seasoned with chili powder, cumin and coriander, lettuce,  tomatoes, guac or avocado cream, & salsa.

For easy Mexican Rice: Oil or butter in a pan, add chopped onions, chopped garlic, chopped jalapeño, and rice. Sauté all ingredients together until fragrant. Add chopped tomatoes, s & p, and enough liquid to cook your rice, I think it’s usually 2 c water to 1 c rice.

For easy Refried Beans: The easiest way is buy a can of low fat organic refried beans. You could doctor it up with Ancho chili powder, maybe a little garlic powder, maybe a little cumin, or just heat it up and let the rest of the stuff you made flavor the beans. The slightly harder, but still easy way, is to buy dry beans, wash them, cook in a big pot with several cups of water or chicken stock, cook for a couple or more hours, add salt and seasonings, mash. Add to a baking dish with some cooked rice, top with cheese, bake until the cheese melts. 

Garnishes for me always include shredded lettuce, chopped cilantro, chopped tomatoes, and a fresh squeeze of lemon or lime. Seriously Yum.

Organic Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup 

I love this soup, it’s hearty, savory, sweet and delicious. It’s seasoned with tangy, lemony sumac, one of my favorite spices. This is vegan, gluten free, and non GMO, if you use organic ingredients to make it. I bought the organic carrots, sweet onions, and celery at our farmer’s market. The split red lentils are from my favorite company, Edison Grainery. They have a delicious taste and a wonderful texture

This is easy to make and only takes about 45 minutes of chopping and simmering until all the flavors come together. 

Chop 1 large sweet onion, 1 large organic carrot, 2 stalks organic celery, saute in 2 tbsp organic olive oil or your favorite cooking oil. Add 2 big garlic cloves, crushed, a pinch of kosher salt, a grind of fresh black pepper, and 2 tbsp tomato paste. Continue to simmer until the garlic and tomato paste become fragrant. Add 1 bay leaf, 2 cups water, ½ to 1 whole tsp soup base depending on how salty you like it, 1 small can diced tomatoes, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, 1 to 3 teaspoons sumac depending on how tangy you like your soup, and ½ tsp coriander powder. 

Simmer and stir on low until all the ingredients tenderize and become sweeter. For more sweetness, you could add a drizzle of honey, about ½ tsp. For more brightness, add a squeeze of fresh lemon.

I love to garnish this with lots of sumac, so that it’s nice and tangy. My husband doesn’t love sour flavors as much as I do, so I add the extra sumac just in my own bowl and leave his more savory / sweet. Serve with toasted croutons and a big salad. Yum!

Toasted Quinoa Honey Crunch Bars

This is an amazingly crispy, delectable, healthy treat and successful cooking experiment. This is as easy as making rice crispy treats, but it’s made with ingredients that are more textured, nutrition packed and good for you. Even the sweet gooey part that brings it all together is made from organic, non gmo ingredients and no white sugar. This is also gluten free and vegan, but I’m not always. I can’t wait to try a similar one with dark chocolate chips. 

So, as far as the experiment part goes, this recipe is based on a recipe from another blogger, Erin at Well Plated. I didn’t have all the ingredients she used. She said you can use quinoa instead of millet, so I thought I could use Canahua too, since they’re similar. I happened to have both, thanks to my friend Lyndsy Kail who gives me ingredients from her organic import co., Edison Grainery to cook with. Lyndsy is the first person to mention this type of healthy, rice crispy treat to me. I’m glad I finally tried it. I’m going to make it all the time now, my husband loves it. 

 I think the most important experimental addition to this, as far as flavor and texture, was the coconut oil. It’s a good for you fat, helps all of your cells in some way or another, supposedly, especially your brains. Brains! We all need more brains. Please look it up. My Sister, Kris Cahill told me about it, and she’s very smart and all about health, so it’s true. When you whip the coconut oil, honey, peanut butter, cinnamon, & vanilla, it becomes this fluffy, delicious, best frosting you’ve ever had in your life. Oy my gosh, it’s so good. There are fat and calories involved, so maybe don’t eat a whole bowl in one sitting. The original recipe says to melt everything in a saucepan, but I just whipped it up. When the nuts and grains come out of the oven, they’re still hot, so the coconut oil / honey mixture melts into it easily. It was a warm day when I made this, and the coconut oil was soft, it solidifies at cooler temps. So if it’s cold where you live, you might need to put the jar of coconut oil near the back of the stove while the grains toast. By adding another fat, along with the peanut butter, it gives it a delectable taste. As for the grains and crunch, there’s definitely room for experimentation here. You can use any kind of oatmeal, grains, nuts & dried fruit you have. I used black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and almonds because thats what I had. I was a bit skeptical toasting the dry quinoa and canahua. I’ve only ever cooked quinoa in broth or water. I thought toasting would make it rock hard, like teeny pebbles, but it gives it a crispy texture and roasty flavor. 

Here’s how to make these;

Toasted Quinoa Honey Crunch Bars

Heat oven to 350. On a dry cookie sheet, toast 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal, ½ cup uncooked canahua, ¼ cup uncooked quinoa, ½ to ¾ cup nuts, I used ½ cup almonds, a tablespoon of organic black sesame seeds, and ½ cup sunflower seeds. Toast until golden and fragrant, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile mix ½ to ¾ cup honey, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, ½ cup peanut butter, 1 tsp organic vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a pinch of pink Himalayan salt, or any salt. (A little salt brings up the sweetness and flavor of all the ingredients.) Whisk until creamy. Add 3 tbsp dried cranberries, 5 or 6 chopped dried apricots. Once the grains and oatmeal come out of the oven, add to a bowl, and use a spatula to get the creamy peanut butter mixture in and combine everything. Press into a baking dish, lightly coated with coconut oil. Cover with parchment paper and press the bars down until they’re firm. Cover and refrigerate until it sets up, about 20 minutes to an hour. Yum!

This is an “after” shot of a front strip, raised bed vegetable garden my crew and I worked on this week. The people who own this home have 5 kids and they’re all excited about the new garden. We planted tomatoes, peppers, arugula, beans, cucumbers (I still need to come back with trellises, and supports), Rainbow Swiss chard, basil, cilantro, lavender, mint, Walla Walla onions, marigolds, raspberry (container shrubs), strawberries, and corn (not pictured, it’s on the driveway strip adjacent to this one.) 

I love the way this came out, I hope it gets huge. It was a somewhat sad dirt patch before, with just a few drought tolerant flowers around the tree. We added a bunch more flowers, pink ice plant, around the tree. I love my job.

Through the Garden Benedict

This is my new favorite; Poached eggs on avocado, goat cheese toast, with fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a fresh take on a Benedict, with no Hollandaise. The egg yolk and citrus juices act as a sort of deconstructed Hollandaise. It’s delicious! I didn’t make Hollandaise because I’m trying not to indulge in buttery dishes too often. That being said, I’ll make one of these with Meyer lemon Hollandaise soon, possibly this weekend, because we have many Meyer lemons on our tree. And because Hollandaise is so damn tasty. You can make this with any fresh vegetables, greens, pickled things, herbs and fruit you have on hand. It comes out delicious every time. You can use ham, bacon, sausage or make it vegetarian like this one. This particular combo was crunchy, savory, earthy and deliciously balanced. My hubby and I both loved the addition of thinly sliced celery, which seems like it wouldn’t be that great, but it was perfection.

This plate = Dave’s multi grain Killer Bread, thin sliced & toasted, goat cheese, sliced avocado, orange segments, apple slices, celery, sliced very thinly, celery leaf, tomato, kalamata olives, marinated artichoke, and fresh cilantro. The poached egg is placed on top of the cheese toast, then garnished with all the freshness, and an extra squeeze of orange juice on top. Try it, it’s so good. 

If you’ve never made a poached egg, it’s easy. Boil about 3 - 4 cups water in a sauce pan, add 1 tsp vinegar to the water. Once it boils, stir into a gentle whirlpool, crack an egg in the center and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. 

Hard Root Beer Braised Brisket

This was a delicious experiment. Traditionally, red wine is used when cooking brisket. I’ve used beer before, mostly IPA’s, when slow cooking meats, and it always comes out yummy. So, I recently bought a six pack of the “Best Root Beer Ever” hard root beer, to make fancy, alcoholy, root beer floats, (so good). We still had a bunch of cans leftover, so I decided to try the hard root beer in this recipe to see if the sarsaparilla spices would give it a mysterious savoriness. It worked great! This was pretty dang delicious.

This is easy, cooking time is about 4 hours, with 20 minutes of prep. You could easily crock pot this and have dinner ready when you get home from work or school. 

Sear salted and peppered meat in butter and a small amount of bacon grease, or vegetable oil. Let it cook until browned, browning on all sides. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, 2 tbsp olive oil, 3 big garlic cloves, chopped, 1 med chopped onion, 1 large chopped shallot, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 can hard root beer, 1 Meyer lemon, juiced, 2 tbsp ketchup, ¾ cup hot water, 1 tsp beef base, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and 1 or 2  bay leaves. Stir it around and let the sugar dissolve. Place the meat in a roasting pan, pour the aromatic mixture on top of it, and scoot some underneath. Cover tightly and bake at 325 for 3 to 4 hours. (For a crock pot version it would be about 8 hours, on low, I think.)

Slice against the grain, serve on a crusty roll and garnish with fresh slaw and jalapeño slices if you like it hot. For easy fresh slaw: Shred ¼ of a small cabbage and 2 carrots, dress with a mixture of 1 tbsp mayo, 2 tbsp plain yogurt, ½ cup milk, juice of ½ lemon, sprinkle of salt, pinch of sugar or honey, a fresh grind of pepper, 1 fresh chopped shallot, and a sprinkle of fresh or dried dill. Yum!

Sweet Peppers and Eggs

On chilly mornings I love turn the oven on to warm up the kitchen while we make coffee. I like making roasted peppers and eggs so I don’t waste valuable oven heat. This is delicious and very easy. I had a bunch of extra peppers left from a bag of multi colored peppers I bought for a Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño dish I made for a party, (recipe coming soon) So I made this. 

Rough chop a bunch of sweet peppers and any spicy peppers you have, along with a couple chopped tomatoesandshallots or small sweet onions. Add a crushed and chopped garlic clove, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning and maybe a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like it spicy. Toss it all together and add to small baking dishes. Bake at 350 until the peppers start to roast and the tomatoes become a bit bubbly, about 15 to 20 min. Take the dishes out of the oven and crack an egg into each one. Bake another 5 minutes or so until the egg is cooked the way you like. 

Serve with toast. Yum.

All Star Fruit Pancakes

Happy Saturday Tumblrs. It’s chilly here in California, and it’s finally raining! I love the rain. It makes everything so beautiful, the plants are green and happy and everything isn’t so parched anymore. With this cold ass cold weather, I wake up starving nearly every single day. I made these banana, blueberry, pomegranate, mandarin, golden raisin, blue cornmeal and buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, and they were so good. These are pretty healthy too, I used mostly organic ingredients, organic blue corn flour and organic AP flour. These can easily be made gluten free as well, by swapping in garbanzo flour for the AP.  The batter has one mashed banana and is full of blueberries. I topped them with sliced bananas, pomegranate seeds, mandarin oranges, golden raisins, chopped pecans, real maple syrup and a little bit of butter. Buttermilk acts as a leavening agent and makes these extra fluffy. Yogurt works the same way, but if you don’t have either one use whatever you have.

Here’s how to make this easy and delicious breakfast:

Mash 1 banana in a mixing bowl, add 1 egg, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup buttermilk (swap for any regular milk or almond milk if you don’t have buttermilk), 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp melted butter or oil, (I used olive oil to add a little savory in all of the sweet). Mix well with a fork.

Sift in ½ cup blue cornmeal, ½ cup all purpose flour, (Or for a Gluten Free option, swap with ½ cup Garbanzo Bean flour), 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt. Mix with a fork until just combined, do not over mix. Add ½ cup or more organic frozen blueberries. 

Heat the griddle to high, add a little butter, pour ½ to ¾ cup sized pancake batter using a measuring cup. Cook pancakes on first side until bubbles form, flip and continue cooking another few minutes. Top with all sorts of fruit and syrup. Strawberries would be great on this, Yum! 

Turkey Mole Enchiladas with Rice and Beans! Yum this came out delicious! It took about 4 hours but I didn’t rush it. I added a lot of extra sauce to this plate after I took this picture. #mexicanfood #food #turkeymole #delishytown #turkeyleftovers

Mole sauce is in the works for leftover turkey enchiladas. Toasted ingredients include Ancho chilis, New Mexico chilis, organic pepitas from Edison Grainery, peanuts, almonds, black peppercorns, 2 cloves, 1 star anise, bay leaf, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, celery salt, dry thyme. After toasting chilis soak them in hot water. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes and let them sizzle a minute. Then add all ingredients to the stewing pot along with the liquid from the peppers you soaked & some chicken stock. Cook down and blend. Thin with more stock if necessary. Add ½ to 1 wheel Sweet Mexican chocolate. Yum! #food #mole #delishytown #turkeymole #mexicanfood

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is delicious and so easy. I like to serve it with Nopales tortillas chips they sell on Saturdays at my farmers market. These green cactus paddle chips are yum! And the ladies who sell them always tell me how healthy they are. I love that they’ve convinced me to eat chips and salsa in order to get healthier.

I used leftover chicken on the bones to make this rich broth. I used 1 Breast and 1 leg and thigh piece. Place leftover roasted chicken in a soup pot, add water to cover along with chopped onions, carrots, celery, diced parsnips, red bell pepper, 4 peeled and smashed garlic cloves, chopped parsley, salt and pepper, 1 or 2 whole tomatoes, cored, a pinch of thyme or Italian seasoning, a small sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a big sprinkle of smoked paprika.

Simmer on low, you don’t want it to get foamy. Skim any fat that accumulates. After about 1 hour of simmering the broth is nice and rich. Remove the chicken and take the meat off the bones, chop or shred it, add the meat back to the pot. Remove the tomatoes, peel off the tomato skins, chop them up and add them back to the pot. Stir and taste for seasoning, Add salt and pepper if needed. Serve with organic corn tortilla chips (these add salt too, so season/ don’t over salt the broth, accordingly), a squeeze of fresh lemon, (our Meyer lemon tree is loaded with lemons, my favorite time of year!) chopped avocado, and grated cheese. Yum!

Goat Cheese, Roasted Red Pepper, & Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Sandwich

This sandwich is easy and so delicious! I used leftover herb roasted chicken from dinner the other night. Start with everything French bread (toasted) spread with plain Goat cheese on the bottom, chopped sun dried tomatoes on the top, (the kind packed in olive oil), the cooked chicken, lots of sliced roasted red peppers, (char under the broiler, cover and steam, then peel and chop), mesclun greens, a drizzle with Balsamic vinegar de Modena (this stuff is delicious!) and garnish with peperoncini, and my favorite Castelvetrano olives. Yum!

Baked Hatch Chili Rellenos 

This was my awesomely delicious lunch the other day. My friend gave me a bunch of Hatch Chilis when I saw her at the grocery store, she’d just bought a huge bag of them. Hatch chili season is at the end of the summer around August / September. Hatch chilies grow in Hatch valley of New Mexico. They’re like a cross between a Banana pepper and an Anaheim. These chilies are brought to grocery store parking lots on the backs of farm trucks, and the guys who bring them roast them right there in the parking lot in huge chili roasting drums. You can smell the chilies cooking for miles around. The already blistered and roasted chilies freeze well, so people buy huge bags of them to use all year. Or you can buy them fresh like my friend did. These chilies are so yummy! Not too spicy and just the right amount of sweet. 

So, I won 250.00 for making this recipe.  I was on instagram, and saw on the Bristol Farms page that they were having a contest. Win a 250 dollar gift card with your best Hatch chili recipe. So, I cooked this, and entered the contest and won 2nd place! Free groceries! Yay!!

This was delicious and only took about 20 minutes to make. This is the second time I’ve made this. Fresh chilies & sweet corn are a wonderful flavor combination. The fact that it’s baked instead of fried makes it a teeny bit healthier. Using less cheese would also help make it more heart healthy and lower in flavor. I mean fat. 

Here’s how to make this creamy, cheesy, smokey dish:

Blister the Hatch chilies by placing them directly on the burner of the stove or under the broiler, turning them a few times. Once they get nice and charred, set them in a covered bowl to steam. You can substitute with any sweet or mildly spicy pepper if there are no hatch chilies available.

Saute 1 chopped shallot, 2 or 3 garlic cloves in a little butter or oil. Add sweet corn cut off the cob, or you could use frozen or canned. 

Sauce your veggies until cooked, but the corn should still be crunchy. Season with celery salt, pepper, a sprinkle of smoked paprika, a pinch of coriander powder, and a bit of cumin. Set aside. 

Peel the chilies and carefully remove the seeds or keep them if you like spicy heat. I kept the stems for the picture, but you could remove those too if you like. Butter a baking dish. Stuff the chilies with the corn mixture, I just sorta lay them open in the baking dish, and spoon the stuff onto it. Add some cheese, I used sharp cheddar and jack. Scramble an egg or two with about ½ cup cream depending on how many of these you make. I used 1 egg and ½ cup cream for 3 smallish to med sized hatch chilies and the equivalent of 1 ear of corn off the cob. Pour the custard over the whole magilla and bake at 350 for about 15 to 20 minutes until bubbly and amazing. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve and enjoy with organic tortilla chips for scooping it all up. Yum!

Spinach and bacon mini stratas made in the muffin tin pan to reduce oven time. Sauté shallot in olive oil, add spinach and cook until wilted. Soak stale bread in a little milk and cream. Butter a muffin pan, add the spinach, crispy bacon, grated nutmeg, s&p, basil, cheese, and egg custard. Bake at 350 for 15 min until cooked and yummy. #delishytown #food #bacon