Taquito! A new family favorite…

Posted by admin in Beef, Comfort Food, chicken, spur of the moment

Doesn’t that look yummy? It was super easy, just a little time consuming. Hubs and the kids loved them! I think next time I want to make a double batch and try freezing them!

So the first time I made these I made them with ground beef and steamed tortilla. The problem I was running into was the toothpicks didn’t hold in the steamed tortilla and the ground beef didn’t want to stay in the tortilla.

So how to make the tortillas a bit stronger? My first thought was “wet shirt bend bar” lol (Jackie Chan fans will get that!) SO I pre-fried my tortillas in a bit of melted shortening. (Don’t get uppity! Shortening is just solidified vegetable oil!)  So like this…

Then, ground beef is just a little too lose and rolls around a bit and whatnot… So quick and simple a bit of shredded chicken solved that problem. Then thinking about my gorgeous hunk of geek’s taste buds I thought to add shredded pepper jack cheese.

Toss it all together and load your tortillas with a thin strip of chicken and cheese. Roll up and pin shut with a toothpick. Fry in hot oil, turning to brown on all sides and drain on either a wire cooling rack or a paper towel.

Ta da! I’m thinking next time I’ll try with a shredded roast, pork or beef with either a verde or enchilada dipping sauce. Not bad for my first and second tries, huh?

Chicken Fajita and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

Posted by admin in Comfort Food, Cookbook recipe, Gluten Free, Jamie Oliver Recipe, chicken

So I am a HUGE fan (not just in size ~_^) of Jamie Oliver. He’s one of my favorite celebrity chefs. I remember watching Jamie’s Ministry of Food on the BBC channel. I was fascinated, he seemed so determined the change the how, where and what people eat. I remember thinking it would be so cool if they did it here in America. And now HE HAS! If you haven’t been watching you should catch up.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

Okay, so I’m beyond stoked about how much I love the show, but also because my wonderfully fabulous hubs bought me the cook book! Woohoo! Happy dance!

Dig it!!!

How rockin awesome is that?! (Yes, I am aware my picture taking skills are beyond non existant)

So in the book and on the site www.jamieoliver.com you can sign the petition. Its a pass it on deal, lol, I just love it! You learn the recipes and promise to teach them to 2 people you know and get them to promise to do the same. Its like a ripple effect.

So time to share the recipe!  I doubled it for our family.

Chicken Fajita (serves 2)

1 red bell pepper (I had an orange one and it worked just as well, infact my kids thought it was carrots and were more willing to try it.)

1 mediium red onion (I had a sweet white)

2 skinless, boneless chiecken breast fillets

1 tsp smoked paprika

a small pinch ground cumin

2 limes

olive oil

sea salt (I have one of those affordable sea salt grinders you buy at the grocery) and freshly ground black pepper

4 flour tortillas

1/2 cup sour cream or natural yogurt

1 cup guacamole (I just used avacado slices)

4 oz Cheddar Cheese

For the salsa:

1/2 of one fresh chile, to your taste

15 ripe fresh grape or cherry tomatoes

a small bunch of fresh cilantro (I had a jar of freeze dried I keep for my pantry)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lime

extra virgin olive oil

Put your grill pan on high heat. (I don’t have one… YET! lol, so I used my cast iron skillet) Seed and slice bell pepper into strips, then half your onion and slice it into strips. Next you’ll want to slice your chicken breast into strips too then toss it all in a bowl with the cumin, paprika juice of half a lime, salt, pepper and a “lug” of olive oil. My guess of a lug is somewhere between 1-2 tablespoons… toss and marinade while you make the salsa.

 

Now what you want to do here is chop your chile, tomatoes, cilantro (stalks and all) and throw into a decent sized bowl and season with salt, pepper, juice of one lime, and a lug of olive oil and stir and set aside.

It says to use a pair of tongs, and I found it to be very helpful, to move the chicken and veg into the preheated pan.You’ll want to keep things moving because the pan is so hot so as not to burn the veg and chicken. The pepper and onions are high in sugar and can burn easily I’ve found. Warm your tortillas in the microwave or a warm dry frying pan. (we used corn tortillas, my family seems to prefer them)

I squeezed more lime over the chicken, sliced the left over lime into wedges for the table. My kids and hubs loved it.

This recipe was WONDERFUL! We loved it as much as his spaghetti with tomatoes.

Left-over Chicken Make-over

Posted by admin in Leftover Makeover, chicken, pasta, spur of the moment

Don’t those pics look SUPER YUMMY?!

So I had some boneless skinless chicken leftover from the missionaries fried chicken dinner. (I’m late posting this) And so I decided to use it up. I heated a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and when it was all cooked through and starting to brown I pulled it form the pan, added a bit more olive oil and then some diced onion and green pepper and a large carrot shredded.I let those cook until soft and added the cans of tomatoes. Then adding about a tablespoon of minced garlic and about a teaspoon of dried oregano. (At this point your whole house smells great!) I re-added the chicken and let it all simmer while I boil the water for the pasta. I used macaroni but you can use what you like. I love macaroni, rotini and seashell pastas. I cook the pasta about 8-10 minutes. I don’t like them over-done. Before draining the pasta I a a couple cooking spoons of pasta water. (they always say on the cook shows that it helps the sauce stick to the pasta. I think it gives the sauce a pretty look, lol)