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| Kibo's Kitty Cat |
So, a couple of weeks ago I was outside building Kibo's Kitty
Monday, November 14, 2011
Coconut Marshmallow Kit-Kat Confectionary Creation!
So, a couple of weeks ago I was outside building Kibo's Kitty
Jamaican Jonkanoo Pepper Sauce
Walkerswood 'seriously hot' Jamaican Jonkanoo Pepper Sauce!
Not for the faint of heart!
We bought this at an unexpected venture into an Afro-Caribbean grocery we happened upon. It is hot!
Scotch Bonnet Pepper hot!
Dena doesn't need to use Sudafed to clear her sinuses, hot!
Yummy stuff!! =D
Salmon & Texas Caviar
First of all, the salmon was my addition. I bought some and thought it would go well with this recipe, so I did so! The 'caviar' is supposed to be served with tortilla chips, salsa style.
I made two versions of the caviar- a Cherilyn safe version, and a Dena version. The Cherilyn version is as the recipe came, except I substituted powered garlic due to her allergy. My version had the addition of an habanero pepper and I used roasted minced garlic.
Salmon:
I use my Asian stir fry oil for fish, as I have learned the sesame/peanut/olive oil blend does better at the hotter temps used in pan frying or grilling than olive oil does. I've actually been told not to try to use EEOO for frying, as it breaks down too easily.
Thus my salmon fillet was pan friend with my stir fry oil and grated lemon peel, thyme, and a bit of rosemary. Once one side was browned, I flipped it and browned the other side. This allowed me to easily peal the skin off and serve it in a more diner friendly manner.
I flaked the salmon and served it alongside the caviar and chips.
Texas Caviar (according to the back of the Market Pantry bag of black eyed peas)
1/2lb black eyed peas, soaked, rinsed and drained
1/2 C Italian salad dressing (I used Fat Free Zesty Italian)
2 Tomatoes, diced
1/2 C bell pepper, diced (I used an orange one, great color)
1/2 C diced onion (I used white to try to minimize it for Cherilyn)
2-3 jalapeños, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
tortilla chips
Combine all ingredients except tortilla chips, refrigerate until chilled. Serve with tortilla chips.
Note to reduce negative side effects of bean consumption:
1) Do the full 6-8 hour soak and change the water mid-soak, rinsing the beans when you swap the water.
2) Add a small amount of vinegar tot he soak water.
3) Rinse the beans thoroughly after the final soak.
It may not prevent the problem all together, but it should prevent the malodorous aspect of it!
I made two versions of the caviar- a Cherilyn safe version, and a Dena version. The Cherilyn version is as the recipe came, except I substituted powered garlic due to her allergy. My version had the addition of an habanero pepper and I used roasted minced garlic.
Salmon:
I use my Asian stir fry oil for fish, as I have learned the sesame/peanut/olive oil blend does better at the hotter temps used in pan frying or grilling than olive oil does. I've actually been told not to try to use EEOO for frying, as it breaks down too easily.
Thus my salmon fillet was pan friend with my stir fry oil and grated lemon peel, thyme, and a bit of rosemary. Once one side was browned, I flipped it and browned the other side. This allowed me to easily peal the skin off and serve it in a more diner friendly manner.
I flaked the salmon and served it alongside the caviar and chips.
Texas Caviar (according to the back of the Market Pantry bag of black eyed peas)
1/2lb black eyed peas, soaked, rinsed and drained
1/2 C Italian salad dressing (I used Fat Free Zesty Italian)
2 Tomatoes, diced
1/2 C bell pepper, diced (I used an orange one, great color)
1/2 C diced onion (I used white to try to minimize it for Cherilyn)
2-3 jalapeños, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
tortilla chips
Combine all ingredients except tortilla chips, refrigerate until chilled. Serve with tortilla chips.
Note to reduce negative side effects of bean consumption:
1) Do the full 6-8 hour soak and change the water mid-soak, rinsing the beans when you swap the water.
2) Add a small amount of vinegar tot he soak water.
3) Rinse the beans thoroughly after the final soak.
It may not prevent the problem all together, but it should prevent the malodorous aspect of it!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Chicken Tropicale
Another from our crock-pot cookbook, which worked without major modification.
Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1 parsnip
1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts
1 cup golden raisins
1 20-oz can pineapple tidbits in juice, drained, with juice reserved
2 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (depending on size of breasts, size of cooker, number of people)
4 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
1/4 cup dried onion flakes
3 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp grated lime peel
1tsp cumin seed, crushed
wild rice
1. Cut your sweet potatoes into 1 to 2 inch cubes and put in slow cooker.
2. Peel your parsnip and cut into 1 inch cubes or rounds and put in slow cooker.
3. Drain the water chestnuts and add to slow cooker.
4. Add raisins and pineapple tidbits (without juice). Stir.
5. Sprinkle jerk seasoning on chicken. Lay chicken breasts on top of potato-parsnip-fruit mixture. Do not submerge.
6. In a bowl, combine pineapple juice, onion flakes, ginger, W sauce, lime peel, and cumin. Pour this mixture over the chicken. The liquid should filter down to the potatoes, while the ginger, onion flakes, lime peel, and crushed cumin should sit on top of the chicken breasts, to mix with the jerk seasoning.
7. Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours or high 3-4 hours, until everything's tender.
8. Serve with wild rice.
The result should be a nicely seasoned and tender potato-parsnip-water chestnut-pineapple stew, and chicken breasts that are basically roasted rather than simmered, with the ginger-lime peel- cumin mixture turning into almost a crust on top of them. Real, real good, especially with the wild rice. The water chestnuts, by the way, are the surprise ingredient that really makes the dish, to my mind.
Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1 parsnip
1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts
1 cup golden raisins
1 20-oz can pineapple tidbits in juice, drained, with juice reserved
2 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (depending on size of breasts, size of cooker, number of people)
4 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
1/4 cup dried onion flakes
3 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp grated lime peel
1tsp cumin seed, crushed
wild rice
1. Cut your sweet potatoes into 1 to 2 inch cubes and put in slow cooker.
2. Peel your parsnip and cut into 1 inch cubes or rounds and put in slow cooker.
3. Drain the water chestnuts and add to slow cooker.
4. Add raisins and pineapple tidbits (without juice). Stir.
5. Sprinkle jerk seasoning on chicken. Lay chicken breasts on top of potato-parsnip-fruit mixture. Do not submerge.
6. In a bowl, combine pineapple juice, onion flakes, ginger, W sauce, lime peel, and cumin. Pour this mixture over the chicken. The liquid should filter down to the potatoes, while the ginger, onion flakes, lime peel, and crushed cumin should sit on top of the chicken breasts, to mix with the jerk seasoning.
7. Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours or high 3-4 hours, until everything's tender.
8. Serve with wild rice.
The result should be a nicely seasoned and tender potato-parsnip-water chestnut-pineapple stew, and chicken breasts that are basically roasted rather than simmered, with the ginger-lime peel- cumin mixture turning into almost a crust on top of them. Real, real good, especially with the wild rice. The water chestnuts, by the way, are the surprise ingredient that really makes the dish, to my mind.
Monday, October 31, 2011
New Foods! Yay!
I've taken to shopping on Saturday, which is free sample day at both Target and Harmon's, so we've actually eaten some new foods lately. Good for us!
First, Mission artisan tortillas: they only come in little soft taco size, in our store at least, but that's okay. We tried Ancient Grains, which had a nice multigrain flavor, and Flaxseed and Blue Corn, which were pretty sweet for a tortilla and had a smoother texture than tortillas made of just corn.
Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles: I don't buy a lot of frozen waffles because I can get Eric to make them from scratch, but these were really good. They were tasty for breakfast, but I bet they'd be good for dessert, too, maybe with vanilla ice cream and some fruit.
We also tried Sea Cuisine frozen coconut crusted tilapia and hated it. One bit is awesome, with just a hint of sweetness. More than one bite and the sweetness takes over, and not in a good way. We also had the mediterranean crusted salmon and it was okay but we probably won't eat it again soon.
First, Mission artisan tortillas: they only come in little soft taco size, in our store at least, but that's okay. We tried Ancient Grains, which had a nice multigrain flavor, and Flaxseed and Blue Corn, which were pretty sweet for a tortilla and had a smoother texture than tortillas made of just corn.
Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles: I don't buy a lot of frozen waffles because I can get Eric to make them from scratch, but these were really good. They were tasty for breakfast, but I bet they'd be good for dessert, too, maybe with vanilla ice cream and some fruit.
We also tried Sea Cuisine frozen coconut crusted tilapia and hated it. One bit is awesome, with just a hint of sweetness. More than one bite and the sweetness takes over, and not in a good way. We also had the mediterranean crusted salmon and it was okay but we probably won't eat it again soon.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Salmon 2: Electric Boogaloo
I didn't ruin the salmon. Yay! I'm pretty sure this is the first fish I've ever cooked from a real fish counter instead of a box, and it went pretty well for a first try.
I used this grilled salmon marinade from allrecipes.com:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
garlic powder to taste
lemon pepper to taste
The recipe said this was the right amount for 1 1/2 pounds of fish and that's more or less what I had. I was supposed to marinate for 2 hours and then grill, but instead I marinated for about 1/2 an hour ('cause I found the recipe right before dinner--way to be prepared) and then wrapped the fish in foils with some marinade poured around them. One piece of salmon (I think it was a salmon steak? I don't know) per foil, baked at 425F for about 15 minutes.
And it tasted pretty good. The kids asked for more, so that's a bonus. I realized as I was eating that if I was cooking the fish in foil I probably didn't need that much oil in the marinade, but it still didn't feel greasy.
I used this grilled salmon marinade from allrecipes.com:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
garlic powder to taste
lemon pepper to taste
The recipe said this was the right amount for 1 1/2 pounds of fish and that's more or less what I had. I was supposed to marinate for 2 hours and then grill, but instead I marinated for about 1/2 an hour ('cause I found the recipe right before dinner--way to be prepared) and then wrapped the fish in foils with some marinade poured around them. One piece of salmon (I think it was a salmon steak? I don't know) per foil, baked at 425F for about 15 minutes.
And it tasted pretty good. The kids asked for more, so that's a bonus. I realized as I was eating that if I was cooking the fish in foil I probably didn't need that much oil in the marinade, but it still didn't feel greasy.
Salmon
Just to prove I haven't totally forgotten our awesome food blog even though I haven't cooked anything worth sharing in a while, we're cooking salmon tonight and I'm telling you about it. That's right, I'm learning to cook fish. I've been rethinking a lot of stuff lately and how there are some things that I do more because I've been doing them a long time than because I actually care about them deeply. And I decided to go flexitarian, I guess. I still like all the vegetarian food I make and it's a great way to be healthy, but it really is nice to order a regular hamburger at a restaurant or not be confined to side dishes at potlucks and such.
But that means I have to get my meat cookin' skills back, and today it's gonna be salmon. I haven't googled recipes or seasoning ideas yet, but I'll let y'all know how it goes and whether I ruin a nice piece of fish or not. :)
But that means I have to get my meat cookin' skills back, and today it's gonna be salmon. I haven't googled recipes or seasoning ideas yet, but I'll let y'all know how it goes and whether I ruin a nice piece of fish or not. :)
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