Yay!

Unlike many trips to Walmart, today was such a good rewarding trip!!!!  Here are the things that they haven't had in stock for many weeks now, but today we found them all:

lemons (HUGE ones!)
monterrey jack cheese
garbanzo beans (I've never seen them at the walmart.  Usually they take an extra trip to another store)
sweet yellow onion (I've never seen them in Mexico in my 4 years living down here.  So excited!!!)
hummus

Too bad none of my planned menus for this week include lemons.  But next week will for sure be a super lemony week!

Marinades

This is one of the original recipes that I wanted to put on this blog when I first started it.  It makes a ton of leftovers (when cooking for two people) and is just as good the second and third days. 

Salmon Marinade

1-1.5 pound salmon filet
lemon pepper seasoning, to taste
salt, to taste
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1. Season salmon liberally with lemon pepper, salt, and minced garlic.  Rub into the fish gently.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, brown sugar, water and vegetable oil.  Stir until brown sugar dissolves.

3. Place salmon in large ziplock bag and pour marinade over it.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  (I usually do 3-4 hours)

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5. Wrap the fish in aluminom foil.  Cut a 2 inch slit in the foil in the center.  Place fish on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.

6. If you want to use the marinade, heat it with a little cornstach and serve over the fish.

Bon appetit!

Presto Pesto!

Who doesn't love a good pesto sauce?  This is an easy, quick recipe with ingredients that I usually have on hand at any moment.  We used this for our homemade gnocchi (recipe and pictures to come soon), but put this on any pasta and enjoy a simple, light meal!

Spinach and Basil Pesto

1 1/2 cups spinach
3/4 cup basil
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup EVOO

1.  Blend everything except the EVOO in a food processor.

2.  Slowly add EVOO while constantly processing. 

Stores in refrigerator for several days or can easily be frozen.

Bon appetit!

The Little Chicken that Could

There is an amusing story about this next recipe.  If not amusing, it is, at the very least, educational. 

Just before Christmas vacation, we decided to try this whole chicken roast.  The recipe clearly states the amount of time necessary to cook but somewhere, somehow inbetween converting kilograms into pounds (time based on weight of chicken), I completely screwed up.  I underestimated how long we needed to cook it by about 1 hour.  (I did it for 55 minutes).  We undercooked the bird and ended up cutting off all the meat and then continued cooking in a skillet, thinking that would be faster.  I ended up spending my Christmas vacation with a terrible parasite.... and this cooking fiasco might be to blame. 

SO.  I knew the recipe had great potential and I finally got the nerve to try it again.  This time, I cooked it for just under 2 hours and it was perfect.  Well worth all the time spent marinating, letting the chicken rest at room temperature, the rub and seasonings, and the long amount of cooking time. 

Lesson learned:  make sure you cook the chicken long enough!  I had never cooked an entire bird before, so I didn't have knowledge of what a "normal" cooking time should have been.  Use the thermometer!

Peruvian Syle Roast Chicken

Buttermilk Soak
3 cups buttermilk
2 crushed garlic cloves
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons salt

Peruvian Style Rub
1 full head of garlic
1 teaspoon EVOO
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

3-4 limes
3-4 springs fresh thyme, destemmed and chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock
3-3.5 pound whole chicken, rinsed and tidied up

1. Mix together all ingredients for the buttermilk soak.  Soak the chicken in the buttermilk brine for 3-4 hours.  I place the chicken in a large ziplock bag and then pour all the liquids over it.  Place in refrigerator and turn occasionally.

2. Roast the head of garlic. Slice off the top of the head, exposing all the cloves. Drizzle the oil in between all the cloves, and wrap the whole thing up in foil. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees.  (I use my toaster oven).

3. Squeeze all the tasty roasted garlic out into a small mixing bowl.  Add the butter and spices, and the juice of one of the limes, and make a paste.

4. Remove the chicken & brine from the refrigerator.  Rinse the chicken and pat it dry.  Rub the paste under the skin of the breast and thighs and then over the entire chicken. Tuck one or two quartered limes in the cavity and truss the chicken loosely.

5. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature, and the paste to season the chicken, for about 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 with the rack in the bottom third of the oven.

7. Slip in the chicken, back side down, onto a roasting pan and then place in the oven.  (In the states, I will probably use my Dutch Oven, but for down here, I bought an aluminom roasting pan and placed it on a baking sheet.)

8. The chicken needs to cook for a long time.  The only reliable test is a thermometer reading of 160 degrees.  I started checking mine at the one hour mark.  Mine cooked for 1 hour and 55 minutes.

9. Remove the chicken and juices from the roasting pan and put it on the stove in a large skillet with deep sides.  Over high heat, add thyme and 1/2 c chicken broth, then spoon the broth over the chicken. Allow the bird to rest for 10 minutes, then quarter and serve.

Bon appetit!

Buttermilk soak

Peruvian style rub

Letting the chicken rest at room temperature

Out of the oven

In the pan with thyme and chicken stock

Lots of meat!

Mushrooms

Shea and I don't often enjoy snack foods or appetizers before big meals, but the other night I decided to fix up some stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer.  Shea arrived at my house just as I was putting the mushrooms into the oven.  He took a sample of the filling and raved about it.  As soon as the mushrooms were done cooking, we gobbled them up.  These are an excellent appetizer! 

Stuffed Mushrooms

12 fresh button mushrooms, stems reserved
1 tablespoon EVOO
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion (maybe less???)
1/2 package of philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less, if you don't want as much of a kick)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray mini muffin tray with PAM cooking spray.  If you don't have one, a baking sheet can be used.

2.  Clean mushrooms with a damp towel.  Break off stems and discard tough end of stem.  Place stems, onion, and minced garlic into a food processor and process into a very fine mixture.

3.  Heat skillet over medium heat.  Add EVOO and sautee stems, onion, and garlic mixture until all moisture has been drawn out.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

4.  Mix together cream cheese, parmesan cheese, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.  Add in the sauteed mixture and stir until well blended.

5.  Place mixture into mushroom caps. 

6.  Bake 20 minutes, uncovered. 

Bon appetit!

Next time I make them (because Shea says there WILL be a next time), I am going to try adding breadcrumbs to the recipe.  I want a little crunch to go along with these.  I'm not sure whether I will mix the breadcrumbs into the filling or just sprinkle each filled mushroom before placing in the oven.  I will share my results when I make this next!