Monterey Chicken

Joey and I are really getting into cooking now that we have all these great new things from our wedding gifts. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Ralph's with a handful of coupons we received for being new neighbors. Included in this was a coupon for a free 1lb package of Ralph's bacon. We used all the free coupons and then all we had to do was figure out some recipes to make it really worth it.

Joey landed on Monterey Chicken. He had had the recipe before and thought it was ok, so we decided to go ahead and make it. Monterey chicken is sort of an explosion of a lot of different flavors together. I can't say its my absolute favorite thing..but it wasn't bad. I think the part I found weird was the salsa topping with the bbq sauce. I don't usually eat bbq tacos...but its been done before.

We used a recipe from RecipeZaar with a few adjustments:

Ingredients:

• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2-3 tablespoons butter (we omitted this)
• 8 slices bacon, cooked (not too crisp) - we didn't need this many
  
• 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup bbq sauce

Salsa Topping (we just made a basic pico de gallo with cilantro, tomatoes, onion, lime juice and salt)

• 1 green bell pepper, diced small
• 1 onion, diced small (white or red)
• 1 tomato, diced small
• 3/4 cup white vinegar

1. At least one hour or even a day ahead of time, make the Salsa Topping.
2. Mix Salsa ingredients in a small bowl, chill.
3. In a 13x9" baking dish, place the chicken, (not touching) and dot with Butter (if you don't dot it with butter it just won't brown which isn't a problem since you're covering the top anyway).
4. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes, or until done.
5. While chicken is cooking fry bacon and shred the cheeses.
6. When chicken is fully cooked, remove from oven.
7. Turn oven up to 425°F (*Unless you prefer the broiler).
8. Spread the barbecue sauce on chicken, then the bacon and then add cheeses.
9. Place the baking dish, back into the hot oven* or under the broiler for a few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly, plate and top with the chilled Salsa Topping.

Arepa's

Recently 4 or 5 people, tv shows, and magazines mentioned Arepa's. This savory stuffed Latin American pancake was otherwise unknown to me--but after watching Bobby Flay compete for the best ones, I knew I had to make them.

I ended up settling on the first written recipe I found from Cookie magazine--a magazine geared towards parents that often contains recipes for simply, healthy foods that kids will eat. After looking at the picture in the magazine, and then looking at the ingredients to make sure they were husband-friendly, I decided to make them.

Unabe to find the main ingredient masarepa cornmeal in my regular grocery store, I commissioned Gavin to get it from the local Latin market near his house. He got the white masarepa cornmeal...it also comes in yellow which would probably look more like the original picture...but close enough.

Our final decision was that these were good enough to eat and not throw out, but they were a little bland (thank goodness for homemade pico de gallo!). There is so little filling compared to cake that you end up eating a ton of cake which is the part that isn't flavorful. I also have a suspiscion that my dough was too dry...because it was really hard to pack that filling. I'm going to get some tips from Joey's cousin who is the master Arepa cook.

Ingredients:
2 C precooked masarepa cornmeal
1 t salt
2 C hot chicken broth or water (I used 1 14 oz can of broth and 2 oz water)
1/2 C canned black or pinto beans, drained
1/2 C shredded jack cheese

Directions:
1. Combine cornmeal and salt in a bowl
2. Add hot broth and mix until a dough with no lumps form
3. Allow to cool slightly, then separate into 8 portions.
4. Dipping your hands in cold water, form dough into 8 balls
5. Poke a hole in each ball and fill with 1 t. beans and cheese (or more, whatever you can fit!), pinch the dough around the filling to close
6. Between your hands flatten the balls into 1 inch thick disks
7. Heat griddle or electric frying pan (I did the EFP to 375). Generously grease the pan with oil or butter
8. Cook until crispy on both sides (they say 3 minutes per side, I say more like 10-12 minutes total--just watch 'em)
9. Serve warm with pico de gallo

Onion-Roasted Potatoes

To go with our chicken, we rounded out the meal with steamed green vegetable mix and Onion Roasted Potatoes.

I could eat the potatoes like candy. I practically did. The best part is, these are incredibly easy to make and delicious all in one!

Ingredients:
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 lbs mini red potatoes, halved
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. On a rimmed baking sheet combine all ingredients.
2. Bake, stirring occasionally, 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown.
3. Serve HOT!

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Yesterday, my parents came over to paint a room and hang out at our construction-free new house. Joey and I attended the E3 Expo. My mom offered to make us dinner, so we searched through our recipe books and finally decided on Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic. I realize it sounds ridiculous, and so does Ina Garten--the recipe's author. However, the garlic doesn't taste strong and sharp, instead it is sweet and tender. In fact, in the end, the chicken didn't taste "garlicky" at all--instead it got its flavor from the wine and cognac in the recipe. It was pretty good though, so good that my dad wanted to add it to my mom's official repertoire!

Don't let the longish ingredient list turn you away! Also, my mom said this was sort of time consuming...so you may want to consider making it on the weekend--or at least pealing the garlic the day before.

Ingredients:
2-3 whole heads garlic (40 cloves)
2 3 1/2 pound chickens (my mom recommends getting all one style of chicken like a package of thighs and legs or a package of breasts because the cut up whole chickens had a lot of weight that was unused)
Salt
Black Pepper
1 T unsalted butter
2 T olive oil
3 T Cognac, divided (you can buy the mini bottles at liquor stores like BevMo)
1 1/2 Cs dry white wine (we found a picnic pack that comes in 4 small bottles so we don't wast it all)
1 T fresh thyme
2 T flour
2 T heavy cream (this recipe includes making a sauce...I might not excel at this recipe)

Directions:

Separate the cloves of garlic and drop them into a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Drain the garlic and peel. Set aside.

Dry the chicken with paper towels. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the butter and oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. In batches, saute the chicken in the fat, skin side down first, until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Turn with tongs or a spatula; you don't want to pierce the skin with a fork. If the fat is burning, turn the heat down to medium. When a batch is done, transfer it to a plate and continue to saute all the chicken in batches. Remove the last chicken to the plate and add all of the garlic to the pot. Lower the heat and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, turning often, until evenly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of the Cognac and the wine, return to a boil, and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pot with the juices and sprinkle with the thyme leaves. Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for about 30 minutes, until all the chicken is done.

Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sauce and the flour and then whisk it back into the sauce in the pot. Raise the heat, add the remaining tablespoon of Cognac and the cream, and boil for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste; it should be very flavorful because chicken tends to be bland. Pour the sauce and the garlic over the chicken and serve hot.

Anita's Ham Sandwiches

My parents came over on Tuesday so that my dad could paint one of the bedrooms. We offered to help, but he turned down our help so instead we decided to make sure he felt comfortable and at home. I worked all day so I was unable to really foster this comfort, however we tried.

For lunch, my mom made Anita's Ham Sandwiches. These sandwiches were a favorite of mine when we went to Michigan to visit our friends at their vacation cottage. Everything about that vacation cottage I loved, but these sandwiches stand out in my mind. They remind me of summer, and the beach, and coming in from a swim or a game of Old Maid just in time for lunch.

Anita's Ham Sandwiches
Ingredients
1 package plain boiled ham, thinly sliced (I used Farmer John's)
White Hamburger Buns (if you wanted mini sandwiches I think it would be excellent on those Hawaiian Sweet Buns)
1 package Swiss cheese
2 T finely chopped onions
2 t poppy seeds
1/4 C yellow mustard
1 T butter
Tin foil

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Melt the butter in the microwave. Combine with mustard, onions, and poppy seeds.
3. Spread mustard mixture on buns.
4. Top with ham and cheese and closing bun.
5. Wrap each sandwich in foil, place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
6. Serve immediately with carrot sticks

Chicken Pasta Milano

Tried this recipe for dinner tonight & it was good. I would make again, but, I felt like the pasta really absorbed the sauce, so I would most likely double the sauce. Jake gave it 2 thumbs up.

Got this recipe here off of recipezaar. Apparently, it is a copy cat recipe of a recipe they serve at Macaroni Grill.

Pudding Poke Brownies

On Thursday last week we had some of our friends over for a bowl of Albondigas soup. At the last minute I decided that dessert was a must have. I was lucky enough to find a brownie mix in my cabinet (and actually have eggs) but I wanted to make the brownies more delicious.

Also in my cupboard I found a box of chocolate pudding. To me the combination sounds delightful so I googled brownies and pudding and found this recipe on Kraft's website. I thought it sounded good.

I whipped up the brownies and baked them in an 8x8 pan. I put in a toothpick and they appeared to be cooked through. I then mixed up the pudding as they said but it wasn't "thin"as they described it. Instead the pudding was thick and clumpy. I attempted to get the pudding into the holes but it wasn't having any of it. As a result I just spread the thick pudding on the brownies.

The pudding sunk in a little but when we ate them that night they were still a little chunky with pudding. However, 2 days later, after they had time to sit, the brownies were great. There is a layer of cakey brownie, a layer of fudgy brownie and then a special treat of ooey gooey pudding on top!

I think in order to make the pudding thin you'd have to add more milk than the regular pudding recipe calls for maybe...or not...I can't be sure...