Yah, you know how I said I was going to learn to bake bread this week? Hasn't happened. What HAS happened is lots and lots of ice cream. (I blame Mr. Lebovitz.) Lest you think I've fallen into the arms of my boyfriend, Ice Cream, in my spouse's absence, I'd like to say that I meant to make Guinness ice cream for the Super Bowl, but it didn't happen... and since I already had my ice cream maker attachment in the freezer... I thought I'd take advantage of it. :)
I've made the executive decision to wait to photograph and share with you until my husband comes home. Otherwise, I might eat all the evidence. And it would be soooo worth it. (Should you feel the need for ice cream made at home, I can't suggest the Peanut Butter or Roasted Banana flavors enough.) To top them off, I'll make DL's Classic Hot Fudge later in the week. :)
Anyway, enough about ice cream - let's talk about Mexican-Style Chicken with Penne, shall we? This dish has made me a chicken thigh convert. I'd always shunned them, because thighs are dark and weird and usually hard to get to. I'm lazy, therefore, I like chicken breasts, right? Not anymore. The thigh meat was so tender and delicious, I considered reserving all the leftovers for my repeated weekday lunches. I didn't, though, I shared with Dave, cause thats the nice wife I am. (But I won't tell if you choose to hoard this.) This meal fed two adults, with seconds, and two lunches each.
The only changes I made were to add extra corn, an extra chipotle or two, and some extra spoonfuls of adobo. Those quantities are really up to you and your personal love/hate of smokey spiciness.
The whole thing came together really quickly and in a way that felt like cheating. Meaning, how is it that in almost no time at all, this amazing dinner ready for us to fall in love with? Science is crazy, sure, but this is magic. The cheese and cilantro are key, so even if you have to use a different cheese, don't leave it out.
*Edit: O yah! Pop over to Joey's site, 80 Breakfasts, for the HHDD #17: Pizza Roundup and your chance to vote!
Mexican-Style Chicken with Penne
c/o Food and Wine Magazine, February 2008
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/mexican-style-chicken-with-penne
Adding a small amount of canned chipotle chiles in adobo (available at most supermarkets) makes a basic tomato sauce smoky and complex. Finishing the dish with queso blanco and chopped cilantro leaves intensifies the Latin flavor.
3/4 pound penne rigate
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch dice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 large garlic clove, minced
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 large chipotle in adobo sauce, seeded and minced, plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 pound queso blanco or mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated (1 1/3 cups)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook until al dente. Drain the penne.
Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add it to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderate heat until the onion is softened and the chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, chipotle and adobo sauce and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add the corn, season with salt and pepper and cook until the corn is heated through, about 1 minute.
Add the penne and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the sauce and toss to coat. Add 1 cup of the queso blanco and toss. Transfer the pasta to bowls, sprinkle with the remaining queso blanco and the cilantro and serve.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Mexican-Style Chicken with Penne
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Pay de Lima (Lime Pie)
Pay de Lima (Lime Pie)
From Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking, by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky
Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve of crackers)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
4 eggs
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lime zest
¾ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 8 to 9 limes)
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, diced
To prepare crust, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl and mix until they come together. Using your fingers, press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. The crust should be about ¼ inch thick all the way around.
To prepare the filling, bring a pot of water to a boil. Combine the eggs, sugar, lime zest, and lime juice in a stainless steel bowl. Place the bowl over the boiling water and whisk constantly for 15 minutes, until the mixture doubles in size, turns frothy and opaque, and forms ribbon-like folds off the end of he whisk. Gradually add the butter and whisk until completely melted.
Pour the batter into the crust and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before slicing and serving. Any leftovers can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Serves 6.
Seis de Mayo
Because May 5th is Grandpa Day at my house, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo on the 6th instead. I asked Dave to pick something else out of the Dona Tomas book, and I even tried the other version of rice, and I made beans from the book. (Pie is coming later this evening).
Again, this is a somewhat time-consuming meal, but also well worth it. I'm coming to decide that this might be my favorite book of the moment (I do have an un-read stack of them, though). So, either go out and get it, or enter HHDD #12 for a chance to win your very own!
We'll have the leftovers tomorrow night for dinner, but I couldn't help but think that this would have been the perfect meal for company. I was able to get most of the prep done before noon (I've been having trouble sleeping past 7 AM; its made me exceedingly productive on weekends!), and because there were such fun toppings for the beans, it made for a really pretty table. Enjoy!
Note: The achiote paste was a really tricky thing for me to find. Don't do what I did and pop into your local chain grocery and expect to find it (unless your shop is cool like that). Skip right to the International Food Store, and go to their spices section. Took me two days to find it, and I was so excited to actually see it in real life, I bought three. :) Also worth noting, you could make it yourself, from allrecipes.com, but you'd still need strange ingredients.
Note: 5/7 - If you know you're going to have leftovers, try to reserve some aioli for the future meal. I reheated the shrimp in the oven, to try to maintain some crunchiness, and we ended up spooning the aioli onto each taco as we went. Also, the shrimp/lime/cilantro party is really great without the tortilla.
From Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking, by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky
Achiote Marinade:
Makes ¾ cup (enough for 3 batches of rice)
2 ounces achiote paste
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (or ¼ cup orange juice and ¼ cup lime juice)
2 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1 pinch allspice
1 clove garlic, chopped
Rice:
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ white onion, cut into ¼-inch dice
1 ½ cups medium- or long-grain white rice
2 ¾ cups water
2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt
To prepare the marinade, combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed. The marinade can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, just be certain to remix with a whisk before using.
Place a saucepan over high heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, decrease the heat to medium, and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the rice and continue to sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until the grains are well coated with oil and begin to slightly brown.
Add the water, salt and ¼ cup of the marinade and increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil, then decrease the heat to medium. Cover and gently simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is fork tender. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving.
Serves 4 to 6.
Frijoles Con Todo (Pinto Beans with Everything)
From Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking, by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky
2 cups pinto beans, picked over, rinsed and drained
About 3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 avocados, cut into ¾-inch dice
2 heirloom or vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch dice
½ red onion, cut into ¼-inch dice
¼ lb queso Oaxaca, shredded
2 serrano chiles, minced
½ bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped
Place the beans in a heavy-duty saucepan and cover with cold water so that the waterline is about 3 inches above the beans. (The traditional method would be to cook the beans in an olla or earthenware pot, but any ceramic or heavy-duty stainless steel saucepan, preferably with a copper-bottom will do.)
Bring the beans to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and add the salt. Simmer for 2 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally to ensure they aren’t sticking to the bottom, until the beans are tender. Add more hot water from time to time to keep the beans fully submerged.
Stop adding water after 2 to 3 hours, when the beans seem close to becoming tender all the way through. The liquid at this point should be somewhat milky and cloudy and will start to thicken with the starch from the beans. You’ll want the water to slowly reduce until its just covering the beans when they’re perfectly tender.
Adjust the seasoning with salt as necessary. Ladle the beans and broth into each bowl and top with healthy portions of the avocado, tomatoes, onion, cheese, chiles, and cilantro right before serving.
Serves 4.Tacos de Camarones Fritos (Batter-fried Shrimp Tacos with Chile de Arbol Aioli)
From Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking, by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky
Chile de Arbol Aioli:
1 dried chile de arbol
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno chile
2 ½ teaspoons cider vinegar
3 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons water
1 egg yolk
¾ cup canola oil
About 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Batter:
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 egg
3 cups canola oil
2 pounds shrimp (21/25 count), peeled, deveined, and split lengthwise
Kosher salt
16 (5 inch) fresh corn tortillas
¼ bunch cilantro sprigs
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
The aioli can be prepared well ahead of time. Place a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the chile and toast for about 1 minute, pressing it into the pan and turning occasionally with tongs to prevent burning, until lightly browned. While the chile is still hot, remove the stem and submerge in a bowl of hot water for 30 minutes to rehydrate. Drain the chile and transfer to a blender. Add the garlic, jalapeno, vinegar, sugar, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of water and puree for about 1 minute, until liquefied.
Add the yolk to the blender and turn the motor on low speed. Carefully remove the lid and add the oil in a slow, steady stream so it forms an emulsion with the yolk and the chile puree. If the mixture is too thick ad won’t blend well with the oil, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of water, then resume adding the oil. If you add the oil too quickly the sauce will not emulsify and you’ll have to start over.
The final aioli should have the consistency of thin mayonnaise with a speckled red color. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the 2 teaspoons salt, using more or less to taste. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
To prepare the batter, sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the water and egg and briskly whisk together until all the lumps have dissipated. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, then stir briefly before using.
Pour the oil into a skillet to a depth of ¾ inch, and place over high heat for about 5 to 10 minutes (depending on your skillet and stove), until it reaches 350°F. Test the oil by dropping in a drip of batter; it should begin frying as soon as it hits the oil. Working in 3 batches, dredge the shrimp in the batter, then carefully place in the oil. Fry for 1 ½ to 2 minutes, until golden brown and crispy (the crispy texture is imperative as you don’t want the shrimp to become soggy when tossed with the aioli). Transfer the shrimp to paper towels to drain.
Once all the shrimp are fried and drained, toss them with a few pinches of salt and about ¾ cup of the aioli to lightly coat. Adjust the consistency, heat, and flavor with more aioli if necessary.
Place a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Working in batches as necessary, warm both sides of the tortillas in the skillet. Place them in stacks of 2 on individual plates or a platter, so that each taco ends up with a double layer of tortilla. Evenly divide the shrimp among the 8 stacks. Top each taco with 4 to 5 cilantro sprigs and serve at once with the lime wedges.
Serves 4.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Easter Dinner
Most people, I guess, would have had ham and spring vegetables and deviled eggs... but not us! Dave picked another recipe (for me to make) from the Dona Tomas cookbook... so we had Mexican for Easter! Yay!
This is not a weeknight dinner - unless you're one of those people that gets in to work at 7 and out at 3 or something... I think I started getting dinner together at 3? Mind you, I made cupcakes in the middle, I put off cooking the chicken for a couple of hours... but the fact is, I got started early. But boy, was it worth it.
Ah, and for those of you that want to sub out brown rice for the white - don't. I tried that the first time I made it, and seriously, the rice took hours. HOURS! Just suck it up and have white rice.
Pollo Con Mole Agridulce (Chicken Breast with Guajillo Sauce, Spices, Orange and Lime)
From Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking, by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky
5 guajillo chiles
1 cup water
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
1 ½ white onions, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic
¼ fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cubed
¼ teaspoon ground canela (Mexican cinnamon)
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
About 2 tablespoons kosher salt
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 ½ cups chicken broth
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, for garnish
Place a dry skillet over medium heat. Add the chiles and toast for 2 to 3 minutes, pressing them into the pan and turning occasionally with tongs to prevent burning, until the skins are lightly brown and the chiles begin to puff up. While the chiles are still hot, remove the stems but don’t discard all the seeds since you’ll want some for the heat. Submerge in a bowl of hot water for 20 to 30 minutes to rehydrate. Drain the chiles and combine with the water in a blender. Puree on high speed to make a paste.
Place a large skillet or sauté pan over high heat and add the 2 cups oil; you want a good depth so that the vegetables and pineapple will be submerged during frying. When the oil is hot, add the onion and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until browned around the edges and toward the center. Add the garlic cloves when the onion is about half-cooked and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until browned. Remove the onion and garlic with a skimmer or a slotted spoon and transfer to a colander or China cap to drain. Add a little more oil if necessary and carefully add the pineapple. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown. A spatter screen can be quite helpful since the juicy pineapple tends to spatter. Remove from the oil with a skimmer and add to the colander to drain. Wipe most of the oil out of the pan.
Place the onion, garlic and pineapple in a blender and puree on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until a fine consistency is achieved. Return the puree to the pan and place over medium heat. Gently whisk in the chile puree, canela, allspice, and cloves, salt, orange juice, lime juice, and about ¾ cup of the broth. Decrease the heat to low and gently simmer for about 1 hour, until the flavors begin to marry. Adjust the seasoning with the spices and salt as necessary.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place a large sauté pan over high heat and add the 2 tablespoons oil and the butter. When hot, add the chicken and sauté for5 to 7 minutes, until the first side is browned. Place the pan of chicken into the oven for about 10 minutes, until tender and cooked through. (The second side of the chicken will brown in the oven.)
Remove the chicken from the pan and arrange on individual plates or a serving platter. Place the pan back over high heat and add the remaining ¾ cup of broth. Deglaze the pan, scraping up and browned bits with a wooden spoon, then simmer and reduce for 5 to 6 minutes. Add to the simmering sauce and ladle over the chicken. Serve and once, garnishing each plate with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Serve with:
Arroz Con Chile Poblano (Poblano Rice)
From Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking, by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky
Poblano Marinade
1 cup tomatillos (about 6 ounces)
1 poblano chile, toasted, peeled, stemmed, and seeded
¼ bunch cilantro
Kosher salt
Water
Rice
3 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup white onion, cut into ¼-inch dice (about ½ onion)
1 ½ cups medium- or long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Soak the tomatillos in cold water for a few minutes, then peel off and discard the husks. Place the tomatillos, chile, cilantro, and a pinch of salt in a blender and puree until smooth. Add enough cold water to bring to three cups of liquid and quickly blend together.
Place a saucepan over high heat and add the oil. Add the onion, decrease the heat to medium, and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until transparent. Add the rice and continue to sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until toasted to a light coffee color; this will enhance the flavor and keep the rice from clumping.
Add the marinade and salt and increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil then decrease the heat to medium. Cover and gently simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Fluff the rice with a fork and adjust the salt just before serving.
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