Greek Chicken Wraps

Well these were really great, even if they were a bit kludged together. And by that, I mean instead of the cucumber I wanted to use, but didn't have, I used zucchini. And the olive jar that was in the door of the fridge ended up being jam instead. The jars look similar I guess and I didn't look close enough. I forgot that the garlic was going to be used raw and I was visiting while prepping the dressing so I used three cloves instead of one. I added a touch of honey to balance out the heat of the garlic. All this is to say that, do try this recipe because it really is good! (Even my two toddlers ate it!) And that feel free to sub as necessary, it seems to be pretty forgiving! And if you don't have any tortillas, make it a big salad.
-Amanda

Greek Chicken Wraps

2 chicken breasts
1 cucumber (or um... zuchinni as the case may be!)
handful of olives
2-3 oz fresh feta cheese
1/4 red onion sliced very thin
chopped lettuce
tortilla wraps

Dressing:

1 tbsp anchovy paste
1 clove of garlic, minced/mashed
zest of one lemon
juice from half a lemon
1/4 cup really good olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
1 tsp of honey if needed
salt (careful, the anchovies are salty)
fresh cracked black pepper

Cut the chicken into scallopini. That is, when they are partially frozen (it is easier that way) take your knife and carefully cut down the thickness of the chicken to make thin big pieces. I did each breast twice this way resulting in 3 pieces of chicken from each breast. On a very hot grill pan, grill the chicken until cooked through and remove to a plate to cool.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a large bowl and whisk well. Taste and adjust as necessary. Slice chicken into thin strips and add to the dressing bowl. Add sliced onion and thinly sliced cucumber. Crumble up the feta cheese and add olives. Cover and set in fridge for 1hr all the way up to 24 hours. Just before serving chop up some lettuce and put it in your tortilla. Add cold chicken mixture on top, wrap and serve!

What's For Dinner at My House: Pork Ribs!

I'm visiting a favorite tonight. I just put these ribs in the oven!

What's For Dinner at My House: Nachos!

No recipe, but a quick and easy dinner idea. Homemade nachos really hit the spot for us tonight. I bought the corn chips, store bought tortilla chips are a treat for us lately, but when I do buy them I get the organic ones now because GMO corn is just scary. I topped them with some grass fed beef that I seasoned with a homemade taco seasoning blend of oregano, cilantro, chili powder and cumin with sauted onions and garlic too. Added in some of the roasted tomato salsa I just made and then whipped up a very quick "queso." The queso was basically a very thick bechamel sauce with lots of cheese! A dallop of sour cream on top and it was a yummy quick dinner. John added a bit of lettuce to his, but I went just ooey gooey tonight. The girls ate this UP.
-Amanda

Roasted Tomato Salsa

First off, I know this isn't the best photo. But I was so busy eating it, I didn't want to slow down to photograph it! I really want to write down this recipe so I can repeat it in the future but I didn't really count everything so it's just sort of a guess. I plan on adding whey to what we didn't eat tonight and fermenting the rest to make it last longer (ha!) and to add probiotics to it. That is if it can sit on my counter for 3 days without being gobbled up... we'll see.
-Amanda

Roasted Tomato Salsa

8-10 tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
3 pablano peppers (you can throw in a spicy pepper or two also, but I just wanted the flavor, not the heat this time.)
1 large onion
5-6 cloves of garlic (paper still on)
Olive oil
sea salt

Line a cookie sheet (that has edges!) with foil. Lay the peppers out. You can keep them whole or go ahead and cut them in half and seed them. I seeded my bell pepper but kept the pablanos whole. Toss the garlic cloves still in their husks on the tray. Quarter the onion, removing the outer skin and place it on the tray. Cut each tomato in half and with a melon scooper, scoop out all the seeds and juice. Place cut side down on the tray. Liberally drizzle olive oil on everything and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes or until everything starts to brown a bit.

Add vegetables to your blender, removing the skins from the tomatoes and peppers as much as possible. They should peel right off. Pulse a few times to keep things chunky but blended. Add salt as needed. Enjoy!

To ferment add 3-4 tbsp of whey, put in mason jars and let sit out on counter for 3-4 days until bubbles form. Refrigerate when done fermenting.

Sausage and Chard

I needed a quick and easy dinner last night and I needed to use up some of the fresh greens I had in the refridgerator. I thought that this simple dinner would be terrific. And it was pretty tasty. I actually liked the leftovers this morning with a farm fresh fried egg on top better though...
-Amanda

Sausage & Chard

1 lb of your favorite pork sausage (I used one from a local farm)
3 stalks of chard
4 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
8 oz button mushrooms, cut
1 small onion diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of maple syrup (Grade B is the best)

In a large skillet, cook diced onion and garlic in either a dab of lard or butter. Stir until they are translucent and soft. Add sausage, turn up the heat and brown. Add chopped mushrooms. When mushrooms are browned add chopped chard and cut up spinach. Drizzle in the apple cider vinegar and maple syrup. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Serves about 4, but leftovers with a fried egg on top are really, great!

Enchilada Suiza

 

I have a confession. Enchilada Suiza used to be one of my favorite tv dinners back when I bought those things. This is SO much better than any tv dinner. I wish I had tripled the recipe and froze it though. It'd be great for taking to a new mom. This was a project though. I did not end up making my own tortillas, but that would have just made it that much better. I did cook the chicken for 24 hours to make stock from it. Chicken pulled from the bone after being simmered for that long is so moist and it shreds so easily. Plus I got about 6 quarts of rich stock to use for another recipe. The roasted tomatillo salsa that went into the recipe was really great too! I used anaheim peppers for flavor and no heat, since I wanted my toddlers to eat this and they don't like spicy foods (yet!) I made the salsa the day before. It'd be a great one to make and lacto-ferment and serve with chips, but I didn't ferment this batch since I knew it'd be baked in the oven which would kill of any beneficial bacterias that I would have gained from fermenting it. Then I stirred together a quick white sauce to pour over the enchiladas with the green sauce and they went into the oven. Here is the method broken down a bit more:

-Amanda

Chicken Enchilada Suiza

Tomatillo Salsa

6-8 tomatillos, huskes removed

3-4 cloves of garlic with skins still on

4-5 anaheim peppers or a mixture of your favorite peppers. If you go with a hotter pepper you can either add it with the anaheims, bell peppers or just increase your amount of tomatillos so you get the same amount of salsa at the end

1 small white onion, peeled and quartered

cilantro (optional)

olive oil

salt

On a baking sheet, spread out the tomatillos, garlic with skin still on, onion and peppers. Liberally drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt. Put in a 425 oven for about 25-30 minutes until everything starts to turn a bit brown. 

In a blender, place the onions and tomatillos in the blender, add the garlic removing the skins at this time, they should just squish out. Cut the top of the peppers and squeeze out the seeds and add them to the blender. Blend on high for a minute or two until everything is well blended. The tomatillos should have enough liquid that you don't need to add water, but you can add a bit if needed. Add cilantro if using and blend one more time. Store up to a week in the fridge. Makes about 1 quart.

Cream Sauce

1 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup heavy cream

1./2 tsp cumin

salt

Mix together and set aside.

Enchiladas:

1 quart of tomatillo salsa

1 recipe of cream sauce

3 cups of shredded chicken meat

12 oz (ish) of shredded cheese, I used colby jack

10 tortillas

Spread about half of the tomatillo salsa on the bottom of a large baking dish. Roll up each tortilla with a bit of shredded chicken and shredded cheese and roll it up. Place with the seam down in the salsa. Finish all 10 tortillas squishing them together. Top with the rest of the salsa. Pour white sauce over the green salsa and top with leftover cheese. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until cheese gets all nice and bubbly.

A Seafood Chowder

Yesterday the temperature dipped into the 40s and it was pretty darn chilly for May in Texas. With the added rain, I was really craving some sort of warm chowder for dinner. But I didn't really have all the ingredients to make a chowder and I sure wasn't going to the grocery store in the downpour we were experiencing. This morning the girls and I made it to the store and I decided to make this chowder up for dinner, even though today the weather was already back in the high 60s and it was bright and sunny outside. A couple of weeks ago I bought a package of clams in their shells in the freezer section. I figured it'd be a good beginner way for me to learn to cook with clams, since I love them but have never cooked them. I also figured a soup would be a foolproof way to start. I'm not going to list a specific recipe here, since I just added a bit of this and that. I will list the ingredients in the order that I threw them in the pot and the method for an idea of what I did. Oh! And I also have to add, the green English peas? They came from my garden! (I'm so proud!)
-Amanda

Seafood Chowder

bacon
onion
celery
garlic
carrot
potato
curry powder
thyme
salt & pepper
butter & olive oil
flour
cream
milk
chicken stock
shrimp (frozen)
clams (frozen)
cod (fresh)
peas
parsley

I basically, cut up the bacon and fried it. Added minced vegetables and sauteed until soft. Threw in some curry and thyme. Then I added a bit of butter and olive oil and flour. Cooked that for a minute and then added my liquids. Tasted what I had to make sure the base was good. Then I added my seafood, peas and parsley. Served with another drizzle of olive oil and it was terrific!

I posted this on Kelley the Kitchen Kops Real Food Wednesday!