Stir Fry Chicken Caston Style

Stir Fry with sriracha 

I love Asian flavors, so tonight I made a chicken stir fry Caston style.  This is easy and quick and this is how you do it:  For your sauce you will need:  4 cloves of minced garlic, 1.5 tbs fresh minced ginger, 3 scallions chopped, 1 tbs fish sauce, 3 tbs soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tbs chili garlic oil, 1tbs sugar, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, 1/2 - 3/4 C chicken no sodium chicken stock, 1 tbs corn starch.  Add all of the ingredients except the chicken stock and corn starch to a small sauce pan and bring to boil, stir the sauce, reduce the heat and add the chicken stock.  Let this simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the corn starch and continue to simmer, stirring it until it thickens to a consistency that you like.  For me, it was an additional 10 minutes, and then I removed it from the heat and set it aside.  My stir fry consisted of 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, seasoned with S&P and cut into bite size pieces, 1 red bell pepper small diced, 1 green bell pepper small diced, 1/2 yellow onion chopped, 1 carrot peeled &  thinly sliced, 1 8 oz pkg of shitake mushrooms thinly sliced, 1/2  8 oz pkg of white button mushrooms thinly sliced and 2 tbs of canola oil.  I heated the canola oil in my wok over med high heat and added the chicken and just tossed it in the oil and let it stir fry for about 3-5 minutes until all sides were no longer pink.  I removed the chicken from the wok and set it aside.  I added my veggies to the wok and stir fried them for about 4 minutes, I then added the chicken back to the wok and tossed it in with the veggies.  I then added the sauce to the wok and stirred it in.  I reduced the heat to medium and continued to stir fry for an additional 3-5 minutes until chicken was cooked thru.  I like for my veggies to have a little crunch to them, so I don't overcook them to sogginess.  I let this cool for about 5 minutes and served it over a short grain rice, and drizzled some sriracha sauce (a very yummy asian hot sauce- it should be in your pantry) over the top.  Really yummy!   I even have left overs for tomorrow.  Good Eats!!

Caston's Original in the Tummy is Yummy!

If you've read previous posts, you know that Chorizo and I have a love hate relationship.  If you don't know what Chorizo is, it's a sausage that is loaded with spices, and very heavy on the paprika.  It has a very strong flavor and can overpower some dishes.  I've worked with it a lot and tonight for whatever reason me and Chorizo got along very well.  What I used to make this very yummy dish:  3 Chorizo sausages in casing chopped into bite size pieces (these I had grilled over charcoal the nite before), 3 tbs EVOO, 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 4 cloves garlic minced, 1/2 green bell pepper small diced, 1/2 yellow onion small diced, 1 jalapeno chopped, 1 carrot peeled and grated, 2 tbs hot Hungarian paprika, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1/2 C chicken stock, 1/2 C heavy cream, 2 tbsp cream cheese, 1/4 C sour cream and S& P.  I started by heating the EVOO in a large skillet over med high heat. I seasoned both sides of my chicken with S&P and placed them in the skillet and browned both sides (2 minutes/side) removed from heat and set aside.  I then took my veggies and sauteed them in the same skillet over med heat until they softened.  While the veggies sauteed, I chopped the chicken thighs into bite size pieces. I added the spices and tossed them into the veggies, continuing to saute for about 3-4 minutes.  I then added the chicken stock, heavy cream, cream cheese and sour cream and stirred it in.  I let this simmer and thicken for about 10 minutes.  I added the Chorizo and chicken and continued to simmer for an additional 5-7minutes until the chicken was cooked thru. I served this over pasta with a few sprigs of cilantro.  Next time I will serve it in a bowl instead of a plate, that way I can spoon up all that yummy sauce.  I think that you could serve this dish with rice, or pasta or alone with a nice crusty bread to sop up the sauce.  Give this dish a try and Good Eats!

Pizza Fest

I decided that last night I was going to make some pizza's, it's been quite sometime since I've done that.  Not going into details,  but I made the dough from scratch and it turned out great.  I like my crusts to be thin and chewy and these were just that.  I made a sausage, mushroom pizza, a sausage, green pepper and jalapeno pizza and a white arugula pizza which is a recipe by the Barefoot Contessa.  They were all very good, but my favorite had to be the white pizza. If you make it, it doesn't take 4.5 hours to make, that must be a typo in the website.  Buen Appetito!

Surprise Visit

Miss Olivia having ice cream

I was so surprised the other day when my best girlfriend Sarah, her hubby Michael and their baby girl Olivia who I had not met yet showed up at my workplace.  I can't tell you how elated I felt.  I couldn't stop hugging them.  It was soooo emotional.  They had moved away to Arkansas and I hadn't seen them in 6+ years so you can imagine how shocked I was.  Anyway, after all the tears and hugging we took a trip down to the Village Ice Cream Parlor and shared a banana split.  It was so cute watching Olivia, this was her 2nd time ever that she had ice cream.  Needless to say she was liking the ice cream.  We headed back to my house after the dessert and just hung out, shared stories, ate food, drank coffee:o).  What is so great about our friendship is that it's like we just start where we left off and there's no awkwardness.  I love those guys and it was awesome to meet Miss Olivia, she's beautiful.  I hope it's not 6+ years until I see them again, but if it is I know that it will be just like it was on that day, a wonderful surprise.

Spooky Chili

It's getting to be that time of year when the temperature drops, football season begins and comfort food calls. Today was one of those days that screamed chili. If you've read my posts, you know that I'm not the best chili cook. I have to keep trying, because I'm sure one day it will be good. So today I went to my dear friend the Food Network, and a recipe by Pat Neely caught my eye. I thought I would give it a try, with just a few modifications, hence the name Spooky Chili. For my chili I used 2 lbs ground chuck + 1 lb ground pork (we like meaty chili), 6 cloves chopped garlic, 1 med onion chopped, 1 green bell pepper chopped, 1 red bell pepper chopped, 1/2 of a ghost chili finely from my garden minced (hence the name Spooky Chili), 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes (pureed), 1/4 c tomato paste instead of the 24 oz cans of diced toms & stewed toms, 1/2 c chicken stock (which I added with the tomatoes. Everything else I followed from Pat's Recipe. So, you are wondering how it turned out? Really good as a matter of fact, but the ghost chili really didn't seem to add the heat like I expected, so next time I will add the entire chili seeds and all. Give the recipe a try using my mods or strictly follow Pat's. Good eats!

Campanelle Pasta, Grilled Pork Chops & Grilled Asparagus

I know it seems like I do alot of the same things over and over, but when I find something I like I....So tonight we grilled some pork chops.  These guys were huge, probably 1.5" thick.  I created this rub, which consisted of lots of paprika, a little cumin, a little onion & garlic powder,  a little thyme, a little kosher salt, and a dash of cayenne.  I put all of these in a little container and shook the heck out of them until they were mixed in.  I generously sprinkled the rub on my my chops and let them sit at room temp for about 30 minutes.  Then they were grilled until they reached a temp of about 140 and then we let them rest.  You can tent them with foil, but I find that they will continue to cook when they are removed from the grill and in our case reach the perfect temp of 145. Yes, it all worked out fine,  but here is how it began.  While I was preparing the chops, Will got the charcoal going.  Folks let me remind you that when you ask you husband to get the grill going that is ALL he thinks he is expected of doing!!!  Long story short, 2 people CANNOT BBQ together unless you're the Neely's, so needless to say we got into several arguments because our expectations were different.  Have you read the book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus?  You should, it really helps explain the differences between the sexes and may or may not help you avoid bickering and arguing (it didn't help tonight, but I was reminded of the book).   Anyway, after all the bickering and cussing we ended up with some really beautiful chops and some delicious grilled asparagus.  We also had this Campanelle pasta, which I had never had.  It's like Farfalle (bow tie pasta) with a twist.  I like the way they looked so I thought I would give them a try.  The pasta dish is so easy, you will  need 6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped, 2 tbs butter, 2 tbs EVOO, and 2 tsp of red chili flakes, 1/4 C dry white wine, 1/4 C half & half, 1/4 C fresh basil chiffonade, S&P to taste and parmigiano reggiano.  Heat a small pan over med heat, add your butter & EVOO until butter is melted, add garlic and saute for about 2-3 minutes, add your pepper flakes, cream and wine and just continue to simmer for about 5-7 minutes, gently stirring.  When the pasta finishes cooking, reserve a C of pasta water and drain the pasta and place back in the pot, add the garlic and butter mixture and the fresh basil and gently toss the pasta, and add the pasta water just to keep it loose.  Serve the pasta with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and fresh ground pepper.    That's how we rolled tonight.  Despite the bickering and arguing, we had a delicious meal, funny conversation after the fact and a yummy meal for lunch.  Any suggestions or questions? Bon Appetito!!

Potatoes with Chili's

Potatoes with Chile sprinkled with Monterrey Jack Cheese

Have you ever had Abuelos Papas Con Chile?  They are the one of best mashed potatoes that I've ever had, so I tried to recreate them.  I googled several recipes and I only found one that were like the Abuelos version.  The other recipes were "authentic", but I wasn't in the mood for authentic Papas Con Chile, so I made the following recipe from Group Recipes.  I cut the recipe in half and used 1lb of Idaho Potatoes instead of the red skin, be sure to leave the skins on.  I used 1/4 red pepper finely diced instead of the pimento and I didn't add the diced green chiles, but I did use the pickled jalapenos.  These potatoes were soooo good, definitely going to be a staple in this household.  We served these with the infamous Tejas Tacos made with ground beef minus the rice.  Give these a try, I thought they really tasted like the potatoes from Abuelos.  Bon Appetit!!

Just Relaxing

Camp Kitchen

Recently returned from a long ATV trip in Hocking Hills, so much fun!!  Cooked one pot meals, drank wine, and relaxed by the fire.  Wish you could've been there too!

Pot Luck Meal

Nice Fire

Tejas Tacos Take 2

We had a long day today, working on the house, so we made the Tejas Tacos again tonight from leftovers from last nights Grillin & Chillin. We took the grilled chicken thighs, a roasted poblano pepper and a red onion and Will chopped them up and sauteed them for about 5 minutes.  He then added some Monterrey Jack cheese to it and let it melt into the mix.  Instead of making our own refried beans tonight, we just used a can of refried black beans and we added cheese to it as well and mixed it in, until it was melted. We assembled the tacos as we did in the last Tejas Tacos post. SOoooo good!! You have to try these, like I said the possibilities are endless, so have fun with this.

Grillin' & Chillin' Part II

Last night was all about grillin & chillin. We fired up the charcoal grill and grilled some chicken and vegetables. This how we did it: you will need a 4-5 lb whole roasting chicken, 1 12 oz can of beer, EVOO, spice rub which I borrowed from Pat Neely, from the food network " Down Home with the Neely's". The rub is really good, so make up a large batch for future use. We just followed Pat's directions for roasting the chicken. We also generously sprinkled the rub on some boneless, skinless chicken thighs and marinated them in the remaining beer for about 1 hour, while the other chicken roasted. We also took some asparagus, drizzled w/ EVOO, sprinkled w/ S&P and wrapped a slice of bacon around it to grill and finally, we took some poblano, jalapeños, and ghost chilis-covered those w/ EVOO and S&P. When the beer can chicken had been roasting for 1 hour I checked the temp and it was at 200' so I removed it from the grill. BTW, I never opened the grill while the chicken roasted. I then grilled the thighs, peppers and asparagus. The thighs only took about 8-10 minutes, but be sure to check temp until it reaches 166. The peppers & asparagus took about 20 minutes. The beer can chicken tasted SOoooo good and the asparagus had a smokey flavor and the perfect crunch. We didn't even plate this, we took the neanderthal approach and just dug in with our bare hands. This is definitely a chicken dish that we will do again. Stay tuned, we are going to use the peppers and chicken thighs for some more of those Tejas Tacos.

Tejas Tacos

OMG! This dish is off the hook. I confess it's the best thing I've ever eaten and it only took 10 years for my hubby to share it with me. My husband was born in Mississippi and spent his childhood in New Orleans and Texas.  When he lived in Texas, the Tejas Tacos were a staple.  Well, we just happened to be watching the food network when a commercial came on for taco shells  long story short I said, "I want soft and crunchy tacos together", and that's when Will said, "that's a Tejas Taco" and he explained what it was.  You take a 6" soft tortilla and spread a thin layer of refried beans over it, then rice over the beans, then you take a crunchy taco, fill it with the meat, place it in the middle of the soft tortilla, wrap it up, drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle with the cheese. YUMMY! So Good!! This is what we did: I took package of Toro Negros Carnitas (VERY VERY GOOD ACTUALLY), refried beans that I made by taking 2 cans of pinto beans rinsed and drained, placed them in a pot with 1 C of chicken broth, a slice of bacon, S&P to taste and just cooked them down until they had a creamy texture, rice that was cooked with 1 C fresh corn from the cob, 1 tbs cumin, 1 tbs hot paprika, and 1 tbs turmeric and 2 C chicken broth.  The sauce that I made was from a recipe by Susie Jimenez, she a finalist on the next food network star- spicy tomatillo avocado sauce, drizzled this over the tacos and sprinkled some monterey jack cheese over top. You have got to to try this!  Biting into it, you get this explosion of textures and flavors, SOoooo good! I'm so excited, there are so many possibilities.

Meat & Potatoes

Tonight nothing complicated.  We all grill, we all make baked potatoes and we can all do a salad out of a bag, Right?  If you don't know how, let's get started.  Preheat your oven to 425 for your baked potatoes.  Then take your 10oz russet potatoes that have been scrubbed clean and dried and coat them with EVOO and Kosher Salt, when your oven reaches temp., bake them for 40-45 minutes.  The salt and oil will give the skins a crispy coating.  After my potatoes finished I placed them in my warming drawer and then I preheated my grill to med high heat.  I also made the bruschettta, which is just a crunchy bread toasted and rubbed with a fresh garlic clove, drizzled with EVOO and sprinkled with S&P.  I usually do these in my panini press, but you could do them on the grill or in your toaster.  Your are looking for grill marks or a golden brown appearance.  I had 2 3/4" strip steaks seasoned with Kosher Salt and lotsa fresh ground pepper and a little EVOO to coat both sides of each steak.  Be sure to let them sit out on counter for 10 minutes or so, just to bring them up to room temp.  I then placed my steaks on the grill.  Grilling time is based on thickness of steak and how hot your your grill is.  For these steaks I grilled one side for 3 minutes over med/high heat, turned them over and grilled for an additional 2 minutes I also added a tsp of butter atop each one to finish them off, and I then removed them from grill and let them rest 5-10 minutes.  While those were resting I just opened a Caesar Salad Mix and of course added some more fresh grated parmigiana reggiano cheese, sliced red onions and fresh ground pepper.  Voila!  The steaks were cooked to a perfect medium rare and required no addition seasonings. the potatoes were crunchy outside and fluffy inside and enhanced with some unsalted butter and sour cream, the bruschetta was crunchy and well the salad was "a salad from a bag", but OK.  Tonight just the simple meat & potatoes, but still really good.