Is it Asian-Southwestern Fusion? Chipotle Chicken and Coconut Rice

This is a recipe that I would never have tried to make by just reading it. In fact, I passed it up until I caught Rachael Ray making it one night. So, I took a chance and made it. This recipe is one of my husband's very favorites. He smiles every time I make it for him, and it really is simple.

There are several different flavors that work together so well-- chipotle chili, cumin, honey, maple syrup, tamari sauce. I just love water chestnuts-- they really don't have much flavor, but they give a nice crunch to the recipe along with the cashews.
**A WARNING: Chipotles are very spicy-- we're talking heat! I now use about 1 teaspoon of chipotle for this recipe and I freeze the rest (it keeps well, and I toss it in to thaw from the heat of a dish). Seriously, the first time I made this recipe I went with Rachael Ray's measurement and it was way too hot for me to eat. Go easy! Trust me!

Rachael Ray's recipe includes a brown rice to serve this with. Since then, I've switched to making coconut rice. This meal reheats well, for taking to work-- and I do look forward to leftovers...if my family doesn't polish the whole thing off first!

Chipotle Cashew Chicken
Recipe & quote courtesy Rachael Ray:

I was in a Park City, Utah Albertson's grocery store and picked up a sack of nuts: chipotle coated raw cashews. They were gone before I made it to the check-out. I paid for the empty bag and immediately wrote this recipe based on the ingredients of those nuts. This may look like Chinese Take-Out but the maple, chipotle flavor makes for a North-Western American surprise! Leave the nuts raw - they taste buttery and extra sweet. Toasting will develop a deeper flavor, but the sweet butter nuts have a unique texture when eaten raw.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 pounds chicken meat: tenders, boneless, skinless breasts or boneless, skinless thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning blend by McCormick)
2 to 3 tablespoons tamari dark soy sauce, eyeball it
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
10 to 12 water chestnuts, whole
1 cup frozen green peas
3 tablespoons chipotle in adobo** (2 peppers and their sauce), available in cans on the international foods aisle or substitute 1 1/2 tablespoons ground chipotle powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin, a palm full
2 to 3 tablespoons honey, 2 healthy drizzles
1/4 to 1/3 cup real maple syrup, eyeball it
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley leaves, your preference
1 cup raw cashews Directions

Heat a large skillet over high heat.
Add vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan, then the chicken.
Season the chicken with grill seasoning.


Brown the chicken on both sides, season with soy sauce then move off to one side of the pan.
Add the remaining onions, garlic and peppers.
Cook 2 to 3 minutes then add water chest nuts and green peas and mix vegetables and meat together.
Add the chipotles and cumin. Toss to coat.
Glaze the mixture with honey and maple syrup and turn off the heat.
Add in the chopped cilantro or parsley and the cashew nuts.
Top rice with cashew chicken and serve.

Basic, Simple and delicious Valentine's Dinner-- Salmon, vegetables & delicious spuds

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day-- even if you're single, it's a share time to "share the love". Mine was very low-key because my husband was feeling tired, and a little under the weather. Since we live in a world famous tourist spot-- Monterey, California-- we have the AT&T Pebble Beach Golf Tournament happening this very weekend. That means that every restaurant in town is packed with golf enthusiasts, celebrity seeking tourists, vacationers on President's Day weekend and Lover's who are wanting to enjoy the beautiful area that I call home. That also means that there is no way you'll get me to even try dining at my favorite restaurants!

My Valentine was happy for me to cook something special for him. His stomach has been a little "iffy"-- to play it safe, I opted to make fresh salmon. I seriously wanted to make a pan sauce, for the salmon, with shallots, white wine, chicken stock and fresh lemon... but I decided to keep it simple. My method of searing and roasting salmon is foolproof-- it never turns out overcooked or dry...thank you Barefoot Contessa!

I also made a clever, but simple, vegetable side dish from Proud Italian Cook

...and I made Pioneer Woman's "Crash Potatoes" (and also posted on Stacy Snacks blog).

(These potatoes are unbaked... but after 20 minutes sat 425F, they were amazing!)


The dinner was on the table in 30 minutes! It was simple and delicious-- and romantic, because my son was at a friend's house. It was just the two of us, and that's exactly what I needed. (Plus, my husband did the dishes and that was his gift to me)

What was for dessert? Well, it was Valentine's Day-- and I can't post that recipe! Besides, we're still enjoying the chocolate cake that I made on Thursday!

So, um (blushing a bit), on to sharing the recipes. I will post the potato recipe, because it's a side dish that I love as much as my roasted fingerling potatoes.

First, the salmon--
(I buy fresh salmon, locally caught if possible. I choose from the center of the fish, skin left on)

Seared and Roasted Salmon
adapted from watching Ina Garten make this on Food Network

Cake & Coffee-- Inside and Out as Chocolate Cake with Caramel Frosting

I love a good, fresh brewed cup of dark roast coffee. I have inherited the fine art of coffee making from my mother, who was as German as you can get. I admit, that I'm almost "OCD" about what kind of coffee I drink, and how it's prepared. My precious cup of coffee needs to be freshly ground and brewed, please! I also drink my coffee with half and half creme, and no other substitute works for me. I cannot stand the thought of using skim milk-- the site of "green coffee" isn't appealing to me at all. I'd rather go without drinking coffee if I have to use Coffeemate... especially if it' s powdered. I'm a bit of a coffee purist-- I'm not a fan of flavored coffees. I don't want the flavor of vanilla, or caramel, or raspberry to interfere with my dark roast coffee. Can you tell how much I appreciate a fine cup of coffee?

A few months ago, my husband and I took a vacation to Kauai. We stopped to visit the Kauai Coffee Company and to enjoy a picnic lunch on their property, overlooking acres of coffee trees and beautiful views of the ocean . I so enjoyed tasting their many coffees, and their friendly service-- so we returned to them the day before our vacation ended. I bought some coffee to bring home, and I also decided to join their coffee club--and I have not regretted it. There are a few luxuries-- even in this tough economy-- that I am unwilling to give up. My two bags of coffee-- a medium roast, pre-ground, for my husband (he's not as picky as I am) and a bag of dark roast, whole bean for me. It's so worth $29.00 a month!

This month's "pick" was their Kauai Blue Mountain Peaberry Coffee, and I absolutely love it!

So, when Lady JayPee, from the food Blog "Eating Etc." posted her recipe for OMG Chocolate Cupcakes with caramel frosting, she got my attention. I have learned that coffee really enhances the depth and flavor of chocolate. You can't really taste the coffee, but it is my favorite combination when I bake.

I love chocolate, but I eat it sparingly. Otherwise, I'd be in big trouble with my bathroom scale. I've been bombarded with Valentine's Day chocolate recipes, but I settled on making this recipe.
I made a little too much of my Blue Mountain coffee, and I did not want to toss it out-- so this was my perfect excuse to bake.

I grew up with Duncan Hines cake mixes and prepared frostings. Nowadays, I cannot fathom baking with either one of these "prefab" products. I admit that I have acquired a lot of baking gadgets, and I feel as though King Arthur Flour knows me by my first name (I so love their website).

Even if you are a beginning baker (I consider myself to be intermediate), this cake recipe is pretty darned fool proof. With experience, I've organized my baking pantry with all of the staples that I need. If I could share some beginner tips, I use the best quality ingredients as possible. I no longer buy cheap dutch baking cocoa, but I splurge and buy a quality Dutch baking cocoa (at either Trader Joe's or Whole Foods). I bring my ingredients to room temperature-- butter, eggs and I buy the best pure vanilla. Parchment paper, and my silpat baking mats are my best friends, as is my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer.

I was craving chocolate, and I was in a hurry! I decided that I did not want to spent any extra time into icing cupcakes. I had just purchased a brand new 9X13 non-stick baking pan, so I decided to make a sheet cake. So, I printed the recipe and got started-- I had the cake batter in the oven within 15 minutes, it was that easy a recipe to make.

Now, the caramel frosting took more work. Browning butter can be intimidating to a beginner cook/baker, because it will burn if you don't watch it closely. I've gotten pretty practiced at this because I enjoy using browned butter for pasta dishes and also in baking cookies-- I love the "nutty" taste of it.

Making caramel has been intimidating to me, and it has been a while since I've made caramel flan. So, making the caramel sauce requires that you use care-- if you are not keeping a watchful eye, you can burn the sugar and then you might have to resort to canned frosting (I would not wish that on anyone). I wondered why I had to add water to the amber sugar (I found that the sugar turned crystallized, and finally liquified). Now, I understand! I took Lady JayPee's warning to be extremely careful-- I used an oven glove and poured water into my skillet with care. It was so worth it! The caramel sauce turned out a beautiful amber syrup.

I ended up baking my sheet cake for about 29 minutes. It turned out to be a beautiful dark brown with a wonderful aroma!

My son stood, anxiously, hovering over me (he's 6'3) waiting for me to frost the cake. I couldn't photograph the frosting, because he was totally impatient (he loves cake). It was almost my bedtime, so I ate a small piece. It tasted good, but I wanted to wait until morning to fully enjoy it with a fresh cup of brewed coffee. (Who says you can't eat cake for breakfast?!)So, this morning, I unpacked a setting from my storage. I have several sets of dishes that I inherited from my mother. In honor of my mother's love of coffee, I chose a set of dishes that must be at least 50 years old.
I have to tell you-- this cake is rich and moist and absolutely my favorite chocolate cake recipe, so far! The frosting has more of a browned butter flavor, with a hint of caramel. (Note, I used 4 Tablespoon of the caramel syrup, but I'd still like more of a caramel flavor).

I think that the next time I bake this cake (and I know I will), I'd be tempted to make a 7-minute frosting. This cake is the star of the recipe. It's fantastic!

Please try this recipe-- you won't be sorry that you did.

More Fast Food - Empenadas, Ole! And a Salad, too!

Sunday, I had the "pleasure" of cleaning the fridge inside & out. I had leftover shredded pork, cotija cheese, a bell pepper that had to be cooked (or tossed). I keep a box of prepared pie crusts, from Trader Joe's, on hand as my "emergency quick fix" ingredient. So, I decided to make empenadas.

Empenadas are my Mexican version of quiches or fritatas. It's a great way to recycle leftovers in a tasty way.

I can't really give a specific recipe, with measurements. These empenadas are more of a technique:

With a little olive oil, I sliced onion and the yellow bell pepper (cut into strips) and cooked until tender. Set aside to cool slightly.

Place one prepared pie crust onto parchment paper (they come in pairs)-- or you can make your own. Cut each circle in half.

I piled shredded pork, cotija cheese, onion and bell pepper. I added fresh cilantro.


Then, I folded into half again, and fluted the edges with a fork-- this took minutes.

I cut a few slits for steam to escape. I did this on Sunday, covered the baking sheet with plastic wrap until today....when I came home tired and thankful I did not have to cook.

I preheated the over to 350F. I beat one egg and brushed the egg wash onto each empenada.
I baked the empenadas (I had four of them) .


Aren't they pretty?

These were delicious and the crust was tender and flakey. See?

Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner-- Cherry Filled Ableskiver

I first discovered the food blog "Sticky, Gooey, Cream, Chewy" because the name totally intrigued me. The food photography is beautiful...professional and the recipes definitely tickle my sweet taste buds. This recipe, in particular, is beautifully photographed!

A couple of months ago, I finally bought an Ableskiver pan that had been on my mental wish list -- it's that peculiar looking round cast-iron pan with the 7 holes in them. I've wanted to buy one for so long, but I could not justify the price tag at Williams-Sonoma. I found one at Bed, Bath & Beyond for about $15.00, with a coupon that I had kept in my purse.

When I saw the post on SGCC, just a few days ago, I made up my mind that this weekend I was going to take a maiden voyage with my unopened kitchen gadget. The recipe inside the box did not appeal to me at all-- Bisquick! No way! I GOOGLED to find various recipe, but I settled on SGCC's recipe, and bravely beat my egg whites and folded them into the batter (I'm always nervous that I'll blow this step). My prep time took about 5 minutes and the batter came together very easily. I was ready to start cooking my "Ables" in less then 15 minutes.

My pan has a non-stick finish, so I just brushed a little melted unsalted butter into the pan. I filed each well about half way. They puffed up pretty fast! The first batch was showered with cinnamon sugar. I remembered that I had saved some cherry pie filling for a parfait (which I keep meaning to post) I had made, last week. So, the next batch, I filled each well less than halfway (just under 1/2 Tablespoon. I filled a tsp of filling and added more batter to the top.
Perfect!
These were a hit with my family. I can already see a lemon curd filling, rasberry jam, nutella-- the sky's the limit on how you can enhance these tasty balls of "Danish Ball Pancakes". It's so worth buying the pan!

Danish Abelskiver's
adapted from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

4 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons sugar
Option from SGCC for filling:
1/2 cup Nutella
1 banana, sliced into quarters lengthwise and then into small chunks
Other options:
You can simply sprinkle cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar, or you can fill these with so many possibilities-- jam, lemon curd, pie filling... have fun with this!

1 tablespoon melted butter for pan

• Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, and set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla and butter.
• In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
• Combine the yolk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until well blended. The batter will be a little lumpy.
• Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the egg whites in two additions.
• Heat an aebleskiver pan over medium heat and brush each well with melted butter.
• Pour about 1 tablespoon of the batter into each well.
• OPTIONAL:
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of Nutella and 1-2 chunks of banana to each well. Then top off each well with enough batter to fill.
  

• Cook about 3 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom and bubbly around the edges,
• Quickly turn each aebelskiver over, using a long wooden skewer or toothpick, trying not to puncture the balls.
• Continue cooking until golden on the bottom, about 2 minutes more.
  

• Transfer to a plate and repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Makes about 42

Click here for printable recipe

Rise & Shine - Baked eggs with spinach

I love eggs. I especially love them soft boiled, and served in an egg cup. That's a very German way of doing things, and that's how my mother...and her mother...and... well, it's just a very traditional breakfast. I love the beautiful yellow of egg yolk, cooked perfectly--not too runny, not too hard. I've perfected that, just like my "Mutti" taught me to.

I like to visit the food blog"Culinary Wannabe" for a few reasons. There's something remarkable about a 20-something newlywed who wants to learn how to cook that makes my heart feel so warm and fuzzy! I cannot believe how many young women that I've met, who don't want to cook, or just don't know how. Now, here's a young lady who is making recipes, and taking great photos...well, her posting for Baked Eggs got my attention. Canadian bacon...love it... fresh spinach... oh, yeah...love it... hold on... baked eggs with cheese and heavy cream. Sold!

I made a couple of minor tweaks, in my effort to trim down a few calories. I love heavy cream, and there are some recipes where nothing else will do. I won't use margarine-- ever. For me, it's butter, all or nothin'. But, I do buy a shredded Mexican Lite cheese from Trader Joe's that pretty decent. (I store it right next to my quality gruyere, feta and other varietals of cheese.) I love cheese! Where was I? Oh, calories. So, I grabbed some fresh spinach, the Lite shredded cheese and half and half. I also took one little shortcut-- I bought a jar of chopped garlic from Trader Joe's. The ingredients were harmless, so I thought I'd try it. It's a fast shortcut when I'm in a hurry. When it comes to breakfast, I'm in a hurry!

What I liked about this recipe was how fast it came together. While breakfast was baking, I tidied up the kitchen and enjoyed breakfast with a glass of Trader Joe's fresh squeezed OJ. I'm glad that I decided on two eggs per serving. It was just the right amount of breakfast.



So, here's the recipe, with a few changes that worked out great:

Penne with Prosciutto, Walnuts & Fried Sage Leaves

What's not to love about the name of the recipe? I have a sage bush that has been very good to me. Around Thanksgiving time, I harvest a lot of the beautiful leaves for stuffing, and I also dry them for cooking. My larger leaves are pretty picked clean, but I still managed to pick some fresh leaves-- noticing all the new growth that's getting ready to happen.

I've never had fried sage leaves, but Stacey's photos convinced me to try them. I'm a changed woman! The crunch of the sage leaves, and the wonderful aromatics in the melted butter made a simple but fantastic sauce! This dish is so easy to make-- another 30 minute fast food recipe that I would make again. My only teeny tiny tweak was to add some red pepper flakes, at the end. Perfect!

I might caution anyone that using unsalted butter is a smart move. Prosciutto can be salty, so go way easy on adding anymore salt. The walnuts, garlic and fried sage are absolutely perfect! The next time I make this recipe-- and I will definitely make it-- I think I'll go for pancetta, instead of prosciutto. I have a feeling that this would be delicious, too.

Adapted from the food blog "Stacey Snacks":

Penne with Prosciutto, Walnuts & Fried Sage Leaves
8 oz. of prosciutto, diced (or, try pancetta)
5 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped roughly
salt & pepper
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese

1 lb. penne pasta

1/2 stick of unsalted butter
25 sage leaves

Cook your pasta as per directions on the box.

In a heavy skillet heat your olive oil and cook your garlic, prosciutto and walnuts on medium heat until the prosciutto starts to brown (watch that your garlic doesn't burn). Once this is done, take your pan off the heat/burner.

Add your cooked, drained penne pasta to the skillet and mix with the prosciutto mixture. Add 1/2 cup of parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese and toss together.
Sprinkle with a bit of salt and cracked black pepper.

In a separate frying pan, cook 1/2 stick of butter and the 25 sage leaves on medium heat for about 2 minutes till the sage leaves are crisping up.
Pour this delicious sage butter on top of the pasta and serve.