Tex Mex Drumsticks and Rice

Tonight I made a Tex Mex dish that I found from All Recipes, but I made some Mods.  Before I get to that, I must preface that these drumsticks were delish!!!
Ok, so I first took five drumsticks (skin on) and rinsed and dried them, put them in a bowl and poured 2 tbsp of unsalted melted butter over them and massaged the butter into the flesh.  My grill has five burners, so I heated the outer 2 on med high and the inner 3 on low.  The gauge read 400 when I placed the drumsticks on the grill.  I grilled them to perfection for about 30 minutes.  They had a golden brown outside and of course the temp was 166.  While my chicken was grillin, I started the sauce, which I modified for my liking.  I used 1.5 C skim milk, 1 C low fat sour cream,  3 chipotles in adobo sauce and 1 tbsp of the chicken bouillon granules.  I put it all in a large mixing bowl and used my immersion blender to blend it all together.  In the mean time I took a large skillet and heated on med low 1tbsp of unsalted butter.  Once the butter was  melted I added the chipotle sauce to the skillet and simmered it while my chicken grilled.  I also made some rice cooked in chicken stock and added 1 tsp turmeric, 1tbsp cumin, 1 tsp kosher salt 1 can black beans rinsed and drained, 1 C frozen white corn and just just let that cook.
When the chicken had reached temp, I removed it from the grill and  placed it in the skillet with the chipotle sauce and let it simmer in the sauce for about 10 minutes.  I served the drumsticks with a drizzle of the chipotle sauce over top and the rice.  I garnished it with cilantro, chopped onion, dollop of low fat sour cream and chopped jalapenos.  This was really yummy.  The drumsticks were so moist and most awesome.  Give the recipe a try and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!!

Grilled Curried Chicken Thighs w/ Curried Couscous

Hey Folks! Wow my last food post was awhile ago. Been very busy w/ my family. My dad was placed in hospice care, which has been very stressful, yet it has also been a blessing. Hospice is a wonderful thing and they are taking great care of my dad. This experience has really brought the family together and it's just been really good all around.  I've cooked a few unusual dishes for my dad and I think he's been pleasantly surprised.  I made low sodium dishes for him and found that the dishes still were really tasty minus the salt.  Mrs Dash has become a good friend lately.  I'm working on a low sodium pizza, he's really been craving it.  Anyone out there have a yummy low sodium pizza recipe that you would like to share?  Did you know that the average slice of pizza with Mozzarella cheese has about 4000 mg of sodium?  OMG!!!  I also read that we should only consume about 1500 mg of sodium per day.  Read the labels on your prepackage food, loaded with salt!!!

Anyway, back to the food- tonight I took 4 bone in, skin on, chicken thighs, rinsed and dried them. I set those aside and I heated the grill, 1 side on high and one side on low. I prepared a rub of 1.5 tbsp hot curry powder, 1 tsp hot paprika, 1 tsp cumin, a dash of cinnamon and 2 tsp of Mrs Dash (we are cutting back on our Sodium). I placed the spice mix in a large bowl and laid the thighs in the bowl and just rubbed the spices all over the meat.  I then took 2 tbsp unsalted melted butter and poured that over thighs and massaged the mixture onto the thighs.  Once the grill was preheated I placed the thighs skin side down on the high heated side of grill. I let those brown and let the skin crisp up, then I turned them and let the other side brown as well. After about 3 minutes I moved them to the low side and continued to grill for 12-15 minutes turning occasionally until they reached a temp of 166.

While my chicken was grilling I prepared my couscous. I placed 1 c of low sodium chicken broth, 2 tsp hot curry, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp hot paprika and 1/2 c frozen peas in a med pot, brought it to a boil and then added 3/4 c of couscous. I stirred in the couscous and covered the pot, removed the pot from heat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards I fluffed the couscous with a fork and I served it with the thighs with a garnish of cilantro and cucumbers. I love this combination of flavors and textures: spicy, cool, crunch and chewy. Try it and let me know your thoughts. Good Eats!

Jus' Happy That We Still Have Our Fathers!

Shout Out To All You Fathers. God Bless, We Love You!

Bacon Burgers and Fries

We do burgers fairly regularly, today inspired by Chef Symon. There are some out there that I would love to make, but my honey is a little picky, so I try not push the burger creativity over the top.  Tonight we had bacon burgers and fries.  The first thing I did when I got home was to take 2 large russet potatoes that had been scrubbed and cut them in half lengthwise and cut the halves in to 5 wedges each.  I placed them in a bowl of water and let them sit for about an hour, because I didn't want them browning on me while  me and my honey took little ride thru the country on the bike, since we haven't really been able to get it out with all of this rain, BTW which will back tomorrow evening. When I got home I preheated my Breville oven to 450, drained the water, dried the potatoes and coated them with EVOO and S&P and placed them on baking sheet and popped them into the oven for 35 minutes.  While those were baking I took 1 part 80/20 organic ground beef, 1 part organic ground pork and 1/4 part organic chorizo, mixed them all together, formed into burgers and sprinkled both sides with S&P and put aside.  I took the bacon outside to cook  on the side burner of the grill.  Don't get me wrong I love the smell of bacon, but it permeates the house, and sometimes its just a little much.  Anyway, when there was 15 minutes remaining on the tators I heated my grill- 1 side on med  and 1 side on high.  Once heated I placed the burgers on the med heat side of the grill and let them cook thru, flipping only one time.  I placed the bacon slices and slices of red onion and monterey jack cheese over top, closed the grill and let the cheese melt.  While the burgers were grilling I also took my burger buns and lightly seared them on the grill.  That was it.  No mess, little clean up, easy and yummy.  We served our burgers with a little mayo, and some pickles next to those perfect fries.  Mmm! Mmm!

Spicy Thai Noodles with Ginger Peanut Dressing

This dish is also from the Food Network, from the Next Food Network Star Show.  The chef is Dzintra Dzenis and although she didn't win the title of Next Food Network Star, she did have some good recipes, this one being one of them.  As usual I modified the recipe to fit what I had to work with.  I used 1 lb of chicken tenders that I marinated overnite, but I didn't have thai chiles, so wherever you see them in the recipe I substituted jalapenos. I also grilled the chicken tenders on med-low heat for about 8-10 minutes total, turning often.  I didn't skewer the cooked chicken with the orange either, but I bet that would have been a nice combination.

The dressing was a bit thick, so I added about 1/2 C of chicken stock to loosen it up.  It really was peanut-ee, so next time for my liking I will use less peanut butter or substitute Tahini (sesame paste).  I also added chopped roasted peanuts atop the noodles along with the cilantro, peppers and scallions. One ingredient that I LOVE in this recipe is the chili oil.   You need to get it, it tastes so good and has that burst of heat that I love.  I can see me adding the chili oil to just about everything.  It would be great mixed with garlic over pasta.  I have some leftover linguini from the dish tonight, so that could be my lunch tomorrow.

Anyway, this dish was yummy and I will make it again.  Try it and let me know what you think.  Good Eats!!

Steak Fajitas

Tonight we had steak fajitas, brown rice and refried beans. The night before I marinated a 1 lb skirt steak in the Goya Mojo marinade. When t got home I got my brown rice going and heated the grill, one side on high and one side on low. For my veggies I used 1/2 red pepper/ 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 red onion, 2 whole jalapeños, a few grape tomatoes and a few whole button mushrooms. I placed all in a bowl, added a little olive oil and S&P and coated them. I placed the vegetables on the grill on the low side, closed lid and let them roast for about 30 minutes, turning often. You are looking for nice char marks on the veggies. 10 minutes before rice was finished cooking, I placed the skirt steak on the high heated side of grill and seared it for about 3 minutes on each side. I removed the veg, placed back in the bowl and added some Mojo sauce and covered. I continued to grill the steak for an additional 3-4 minutes until medium rare. I removed the steak and let it rest for 10 minutes. While the meat rested, I opened a can of refried beans, put in a bowl and nuked for 1.5 minutes. I also grilled a few small flour tortillas for about 30 seconds per side and I removed them to a plate. I cut the roasted peppers and onions into thin slices, and left the toms and shrooms whole. I served the meat with the veggies, (shrooms and toms on the side) in the warm tortilla and avocado sprinkled fajitas, rice and beans with a little shredded cheddar cheese. That's all there is to it, easy and little clean up, that's what I love about grillin. Try it and let me know what you think. Bon Appetit.

Tex Mex Tuesday

I know i've done this before, but it's so yummy and easy you need to try it. I started out with 1.5 lbs of organic chicken tenders that I marinated in Goya Mojo marinade sauce for about 1 hour. This stuff is so good and so economical, so why bother making it myself? While my chix marinated I made my  bean & corn salsa. This salsa is so great because you can really add whatever you like or what you have in the frig or pantry- green pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes, your favorite beans.  My salsa is made with: 1 can of black beans rinsed and drained, 1 c of frozen corn, 1/2 red onion small diced, 1/2 red pepper small diced, 1 jalapeño chopped, 1 handful cilantro chopped, juice of 1 lime, 1 tbs cumin, 1 tsp hot hungarian paprika and kosher salt to taste. Just mix all this together in a med size bowl and let the flavors mesh together. At this point oil the grates of your grill and heat 1 side on low and the other side on high. After your grill is heated place your chicken tenders on the high side for about 2 minutes, turn and grill for an additional 2 minutes, always keeping grill top open. Then move the tenders to the low side and continue to grill with lid closed about 2 more minutes or until the temp reaches about 166 degrees F. Chicken tenders cook very quickly, so it's best not to leave them. Remove from heat and sprinkle chicken with quesadilla cheese found in your grocers packaged cheese section in the dairy aisle. Serve the chicken with brown rice, black bean & corn salsa with avocado, sour cream and tortilla chips. Try this, it's really yummy and easy. Doesn't it look tasty? Good Eats.