This weeks Farm basket had curly kale in it. Hmmm... I know people eat curly kale but it was destined to turn yellow before I used it, so I made pesto! Not just pesto, but super great pesto! All measurements are estimates.
I bunch curly kale 1/2 cup fresh basil 1/3 cup unsalted mixed nuts (it's what I had) generous handful of parmesan (we used vegan parmesan so Reid could have it and it was just as good) juice of 1 lemon 4 cloves garlic olive oil Tear the kale into pieces and drop in the food processor. Tear the leaves off of the woody stems of the basil. The soft stems are ok. Throw in garlic, nuts, cheese and the lemon juice. Cover the food processor and start spinning. As the food starts to break up add olive oil a little at a time until it becomes a beautiful green paste. Adjust for taste. I used it the first night over roasted vegetable and the second night with a saute'ed fish. There's still more. Pesto and waffles? Nah, but it'll show up somewhere tomorrow!!!
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It's been a while since I posted, but this chicken was so good I needed to record it! It was a busy day so I needed something I could throw in the oven and forget. This was perfect!
1 red pepper (or any color sweet pepper) sliced 1/2 large onion sliced (enough to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan) 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to a uniform thickness thickness 2 tablespoons vinegar ( I used red wine vinegar) 1 can diced tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 tablespoons agave (we keep agave in the pantry but you could use honey or maple syrup, but the taste will be a bit stronger) 1 tablespoon mustard 1 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon tabasco or srirachaor whatever hot sauce you like 1/2 tablespoon oregano 1/2 tablespoon coriander These are just estimates. I measure with my hands, so add extra of the things you like and less of the ones you don't. Preheat the oven to 275. Sprinkle the onions and peppers in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Lay the chicken breasts over the onions and peppers. In a sauce pan, mix all the other ingredients and simmer stirring until blended. Pour over the chicken. Lay a sheet of parchment overt the chicken and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 3 hours. Remove from the oven and shred with 2 forks. We served ours over rice with white beans and avocado cream. Avocado, fresh cilantro, sour cream, pickled jalapenos and a bit of the syrup, lime juice all run through the blender. Enjoy!
This is not going to be traditional, but all of the flavors are there. It was a see what's in the fridge kind of recipe that ended up here.
2 whole chicken breasts cut in to bite sized chunks Large handful maybe 3/4 cup or more grape tomatoes 1/2 onion cut in quarter moons (onion cut in quarters and sliced) pinch of sugar 1 tablespoon candied or pickled jalapenos (or a fresh jalapeno diced) 4 cloves garlic minced 2-3 inch piece of ginger grated 1 tablespoon garam masala 1/4-1/2 cup pea milk or cream or yogurt 2 tablespoons nut butter (I used peanut butter because we have it) In a large bowl, mix garlic, ginger, garam masala and a dollop of milk or yogurt to make a paste. Add chicken to the bowl and massage the marinade into the chicken. Set aside. Put tomatoes, and jalapeno if you're using fresh, in a large dry skillet and cook tossing to move them around, on high heat until tomatoes are blackened a bit and blistered. Remove from pan. Add olive oil and onions and turn heat to medium low. Cook the onions slowly. As they start to become translucent add a pinch of sugar. Continue to cook until they turn brown and get good and carmelized. Remove onions. Add more oil to the pan and cook the chicken until cooked through. If you want to peel the tomaotes you can. I like the skins. Add the tomatoes to the chicken and schmoosh them with the back of your spoon. Add jalapenos, onions, and peanut butter, Stir to melt the butter. Add enough milk or yogurt to make a sauce and then add some hot water. Stir and simmer until all the flavors get to know each other. We served ours over rice with some naan on the side. So yummy!!! Yesterday was Mother's Day!! I was gifted a new Jamie Oliver cookbook and decided to give it a whirl. This turned out great, although I did tweak it a bit.
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs 3 cups chopped mushrooms 1 onion diced 3 red peppers- or a jar of roasted red peppers 1 tablesoon fresh rosemary leaves 3/4 cup red wine 1 big can (28 oz) plum tomatoes 3 cloves garlic minced water Whole Foods did not have jarred peppers yesterday so if you run into the same problem, you can just roast them on a gas burner or the grill. I turned the fire on my burner and set the peppers right in the flame. Let them char and blister. Once the skin turns black, toss them in a papaer bag and let them cool. Preheat the oven to 350 Using a large oven safe pan, turn the heat to medium high and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Salt and pepper the chicken and cook in the oil. About 10 minutes turning half way through. Set the chicken aside on a warm plate. Add onion and let it simmer. Pull the peppers out of the bag if you aren't using the jar. Rub the skins off with your hand or a towel. Rip them open and chop. Once the onions are a little translucent add the peppers. Incorporate those and add the mushrooms and garlic. Once the musrooms get comfortable in the pan and lose that raw look add the wine. Turn the tomatoes out into a big bowl and squish each one with your hand. It's actually pretty fun! Add tomatoes to the sauce as well as the rosemary. If the sauce is too thick add a litte water. Return the chicken to the sauce and shimmy it in so it's covered. Place in the hot oven for an hour. We served this 2 ways. Cover the bottom of a large bowl with creamy polenta (you could also use pasta, but polenta is better) add chickjen and spooon the sauce over. OR put the chicken in a large bowl, spoon the sauce over and serve with grated parmesan cheese and warm crusty bread! Bon Apetit! This wanted to be over grits, but we didn't have enough so it went over chips and became nachos. Not a bad compromise!
1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined save shells 1 onion diced save garbage parts 1 jalapeno diced - test for heat and use as much or as little as you like 1 small head broccoli - gotta work in as many veggies as you can, save the stuff you cut off 1 big handful (about half a package) spinach 1 can black beans 3 cloves garlic minced- save skins and any baby cloves that pop off 1 lime- zest and juice 2 teaspoons cumin seed 1 teaspoon coriander 1 teaspoon oregano Cilantro whole peppercorns olive oil Start by throwing the shrimp shells and garbage parts of all the veggies, along with the peppercorns and baby garlic cloves, in a pot. Cover with water and simmer on low heat while you do the rest. Put shrimp in a bowl Add the zest and juice of the lime, the cumin seed, coriander and oregano. Stir well and let marinate. In a large pot, heat oil and throw in onion broccoli and jalapeno. Sauté' until the onion is translucent and everything starts to turn golden around the edges. Add garlic and stir until it smells yummy. Add spinach. Once all of that is married and happy, pull everything out into a bowl. Add more olive oil and lay the shrimp in a single layer. Cook for about a minute. Flip the shrimp and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the vegetables back in. Add spinach and beans. Strain the solids out of the shrimp stock and add the liquid to the big pot. Stir on warm heat to reduce the stock and to let all of the ingredients get friendly. To serve, we lay tortilla chips down in a bowl (it's will be soupy so a plate would be bad) Spoon the yumminess over the ships. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and hot sauce if it's not hot enough. Enjoy! If you're anything like us, Covid took all of the wind out of your sails. Even as an eternal optimist I find that (pardon my French) my field of fucks to give has gone fallow. So Chris and I talked about trying to discover a passion for something and, of course, food came up. So last night was round 1 in the Hall Family Chopped Kitchen. Chris, the Geek, found a random ingredient generator on the interwebs and we each had to make a meal using those 4 things. Last night we got fish, leeks, chard, and mint. What would you have done? I went simple. We were recently gifted an airfryer so I breaded my fish and airfried it. I chopped the chard and sautéed it with cherry tomatoes. And I grilled the leeks. 1 good sized piece of fish, I had a nice piece of cod 1/4 cup rice flour (or AP) 1 teaspoon each garlic powder, coriander, cumin, and smoked paprika 1 teaspoon fresh mint chopped 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest Preheat airfryer to 400. Cut fish into portion size pieces. Add flour, spices, mint, and zest to a large ziploc bag. Lay the fish in the bag and toss to coat all sides. Lay the fish in the frying basket and cook for 5 minutes. Gently turn fish and cook another 5 minutes. Squeeze a little lemon juice before serving. For the leeks: 1 leek for 2 people (Reid is not eating grilled leeks!) 1 large teaspoon of each butter and olive oil Heat water on the stove top. Cut the tough bottom end and dark green part off of the leek. Slice the leek long ways down the center. Peel off the outer layer and then run the leek under water peeling back the layers to get all of the dirt out. Drop both leeks in the boiling water for about 2 minutes. Pull them out and lay on a towel to dry. Heat your grill pan and add oil and butter. Lay the leeks on the grill and cook until you get some nice grill marks and the leeks start to caramelize. Flip and cook second side. My chard was honestly chard sautéed with halved cherry tomatoes in olive oil. Onward! Chris made a swiss chard pasta with cod, a Caprese salad, and crusty bread with leek butter. 1 box Chickpea spaghetti (any pasta is fine, we just use gluten free rather than making 2 pots) 1 nice piece of fish 1 bunch swiss chard, leaves and stems chopped 2 cloves garlic black pepper olive oil Capers Heat pasta water to a boil. Heat olive oil in sauté pan and cook garlic until fragrant. Add chard. Sauté moving the greens around in the garlic oil, to cover all of the leaves. Turn the heat down, cover, and simmer 5 minutes until the chard cooks down. Add the fish and recover the pan. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and add to the fish and chard sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon juice. Caprese Salad 4 cherry tomatoes halved 8 mini mozerella balls Fresh chopped mint Pepper Olive oil 4 toothpicks Alternate tomato and cheese on the toothpicks. Sprinkle with olive oil, pepper, and mint! Chris" Crusty Leek Bread 2 thick slices of good crusty bread 1 tablespoon chopped leeks 2 tablespoons butter Melt butter in a pan. Toast the bread. Add leeks to the butter and simmer until leeks are soft. Pour over the toast. Giggle because it's so good! We each made half portions because we were essentially eating 2 meals, so adjust the portion size for the number of people you're feeding. So what would you do with those ingredients? And what should our next 4 be??? You say you don't like cauliflower, but this stuff is SO good!!!!
2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup Frank's Original hot sauce (you can try other's but you want Frank's) 2 teaspoons smoked paprika ground black pepper 1 teaspoon (who am I kidding, more like 2) garlic powder 2 heads cauliflower, florets cut off and separated into bite size nuggets 1 1/4 cups panko 1/2 cup parmesan cheese Preheat you oven to 425. In a bowl, mix olive oil, hot sauce, paprika, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir to incorporate. Put cauliflower in a large plastic baggie. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over and close the top to mush the sauce around and cover each floret. In a large bowl, mix panko and cheese. Pour the cauliflower into the bowl and coat with bread crumbs. Cover a sheet pan with parchment and spread cauliflower out. Bake for 20 minutes. Drizzle leftover sauce and serve! We ate early last night so I needed something fairly quick and easy. This was perfect and OH so delicious! 1 pound (18 count for us which was more than a pound) scallops 4 garlic cloves minced 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves crushed red pepper flakes to taste 4 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup dry white wine 2 cups grape tomatoes 1 1/2 large zucchini chopped green onion, the green part for garnish lemon zest for garnish Preheat oven to 400. Slice zucchini either with a spiral cutter using the ribbon attachment, or use a vegetable peeler to make thin flat noodles. Toss with olive oil and place in the oven. Roast about 20 minutes or until the edges start to char slightly. Meanwhile, heat your skillet. Dry the scallops with a towel and salt and pepper both sides. Yes I said salt. I used it this time. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and sear the scallops on each side about 1-2 minutes until they get a little brownish crust. Remove and set aside. IN the same pan, add a little more oil and saute' garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Add butter and stir until butter is melted and starts to turn golden. Add wine and then tomatoes. Saute' 4 or 5 minutes until tomatoes start to wrinkly. Using the back of a spoon or a potato masher gently burst each of the tomatoes. Stir you gravy well. Add scallops back in and incorporate. Serve in large bowls over zucchini ribbons. Garnish with chopped green onion and lemon zest!!! (you might also want some crusty bread to mop up the gravy) Day 3 is sweet and savory with normal ingredients that most people have around. We DO have a large rosemary bush in our yard, so if you don't you'll have to buy fresh, but besides that you should be good.
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs 2 carrots sliced thin (use a mandolin or you can even grate them) 2 oranges- 1 sliced thin, 1 for zest and juice 6 small sprigs of rosemary 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon coriander 1/2 onion sliced thin 3 cloves garlic minced Preheat oven to 400. Heat a large skillet and add olive oil. Brown the chicken pieces about 3 minutes per side. Set a side. Add onion and saute' until translucent. Add carrots and cook about 2 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant. Add orange juice, zest, rosemary and honey. Turn heat to low and simmer a minute or 2. Meanwhile, cover a sheet pan with foil leaving an overlap on all sides for folding. Place a spring of rosemary and an orange slice down for each piece of chicken. Lay the chicken on top of each. Pour the sauce over the top of everything. Lay a second piece of foil over the top and seal all of the edges. Bake for 20 minutes and serve! |
AuthorI'm not a chef. I have no training. I just really like food. I grew up eating processed food and over time, as a grown up, decided I wanted to cook the kinds of foods I got in restaurants. I have one problem. The doctor put me on a low sodium diet. You'll find there very little if any salt/sodium in this recipes. Just add to your own taste. I will probably do things wrong/differently on this website, but hopefully we'll all learn from each other! Archives
March 2024
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