Recipes!

You may be still slogging through a turkey-hangover and totally grossed out by majority-poultry recipes... but then you can just keep these in mind for 2011. I segued straight from turkey (and red wine) hangover to sick-as-dog holed up in bed. It's awesome. And I've watched some great chick-flicks, like Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Proposal. And I'm not getting better? So weird.

1. Chicken Enchiladas. I've made approximately this recipe a bunch of times now with great success. I sometimes use roasted green chiles instead of tomatillos (depends on what we get from the CSA). I have done it with cooking my own boneless or bone-in chicken (instead of using the deli roasted chicken) and it does just add this other level of complication and time committment. I would also recommend making a whole big tray since even with the deli chicken, its a bit of an ordeal and more satisfying if you can either feed a bunch of people with them or eat them for many meals. They're delicious.

2. Chicken Tagine. This one is courtesy of the Plaitkens. But I also made it and can vouch for its ultimate deliciousness. I just somewhat cooked the chicken in a pot before adding it to the other ingredients. The microwaving situation skeeved me out, the comments seem to agree.

3. Parmesan & Thyme Crackers. I haven't actually made these, but I have eaten them. Check out the recipe and see why they're sooo good.

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
4 oz grated parmesan (about 1 cup)
1 tsp minced thyme
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Cream all ingredients together, roll into a ball and then a log and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 min. but up to 4 days. When ready, cut into 3/8 inch rounds and bake for 22 minutes on parchment paper at 350 degrees.

Kebabs

Here's another delicious meal to make. I had these kebabs at my mom's house when we were in Mpls a couple of weeks ago. I dreamed about them for a couple of days and now have just made them for the third time since the Minnesota trip. Actually, this third time they have not actually been prepared, they are marinating. The recipe suggest an hour or so-- if you do that they'll be great. But if you give them 24-48 hours. Wowie.

These are called "Chicken Brochettes in the Style of Fez" and the recipe is from the weekly Splendid Table email from NPR.

You will need: flat metal or bamboo skewers

Advance preparation: 30 minutes to 1 hour for marinating the kebabs

* 1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1 x 1 x 1/2 inch pieces
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, or more mint or cilantro (I use more mint/cilantro since parley is like a fake herb)
* 1-1/2 teaspoons coarse salt (kosher or sea)
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Rinse the chicken under cold running water, then blot it dry with paper towels. I usually forget this step, but will admit it is a best-practice. Place the chicken in a large nonreactive mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons each of the mint, cilantro, and parsley and the salt, cumin, turmeric, and pepper, and stir to mix. Stir in the oil. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for 30 minutes to 1 hour. (or 2 days if you're thinking ahead of time)

2. Thread the chicken through the thin side onto skewers so that the flat side of the chicken will be exposed to the fire.

3. Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat it to high.

4. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate (I don't do this, my chicken sticks). Arrange the chicken brochettes on the hot grate and grill them until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes per side.

I would suggest serving them with tzatziki, I like this recipe and Israeli couscous. Because I love Israeli couscous so much more than regular couscous.

The kebabs and tzatziki are also great things to make a lot of and eat over several days. You can even conserve some uncooked chicken to continue marinating and have delicious dinners for days

3 things

1. I'm 29 now. It's a lot like 28 except that....

2. I own a Ukulele (thanks, Chazmataz!) What songs should I learn?

3. Make this ASAP. It's the Yucatan Shrimp from last Sunday's NY Times Magazine. I know you're not going to believe me that shrimp, garlic, butter, lime juice and sriracha will be delicious together... but trust me. Tonight we enjoyed the shrimp on red quinoa. Rice or even pasta would be good, too. Maybe even salad if you made it of spinach or something that wouldn't be totally nasty if it got a little warm from the shrimps. I used twice as much sriracha because we didn't have jalapenos. It literally tastes like a vacation, a good one, too.

Roasted Chickpeas

I first had these when I was home for Thanksgiving, my mom had made them. I made them the other night and they are too good not to share. Take some canned chickpeas (they shrink when they're roasted, I wouldn't go through the hassle with fewer than 2 cans-worth.) Rinse them well and put in a pan with just enough olive oil to keep them from sticking.

Seasoning is up to you, I used garlic powder, sea salt, cumin and garam masala and was pretty pleased with the result-- a little zesty but not overwhelming.

Put the pan of seasoned chickpeas in a 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes, every ten minutes or so shaking the pan around to keep them from burning.

The chickpeas end up a little crunchy and almost like snack nuts or something. Delicious!

Make These!

From this recipe. Eat them with small corn tortillas, queso fresco and avocado. Add some tomato-less corn salsa from Trader Joe's. You will be very grateful as a salty/sweet and delicious jubilee occurs in your mouth.

Soup to Nuts

I am a sicky sick-poo. Just a cold, but it's really knocking me down. I spent my lunch break sleeping in the back seat of my car. For an hour. Draw your own conclusions. After work I picked up our first real CSA share, the last one was just kind of a between-seasons thing. Notable in the share were pistachios, roasted green chilies and canteloupe! Oh my goodness.
Anyway, here's what I did tonight, I recommend it:

Bake a butternut squash- this way works well.

Scoop out the insides and add to food processor with some melted chicken stock you had in the freezer and then defrosted. Add a head of roasted garlic you weirdly made two days ago when you roasted all of the garlic in the house and ate one head of it by itself. Things get weird when Charlie is gone. Puree. Add some Bayou Blast (recipe at the bottom here. Better yet, add this shit to everything you make, because it will make it better. Anything. I swear. Use Kosher Salt because that also makes everything better. Together, it's magic.)

Mix the puree in with the remaining chicken stock. Try not to use too much chicken stock and have to try to boil off the excess like me. Voila, roasted garlic butternut squash soup!

And then, if you like me, go to bed by 8:30 because you're still sicky sick sick.

Unrelated

To my last point, Ferris Bueller just started on AMC. Although we own two copies on DVD, I feel compelled to watch. At least glad they recognize it is an American Movie Classic.

Related to two posts ago, the homemade yogurt on its own is a little intense (I used whole milk as the website suggests for starting out) but then I let some sit in a colander with cheese cloth in the fridge for 24 hours. I added some salt and garlic powder-- and it's a delicious tangy and savory sour cream/cream cheese type topping something like crackers. THAT I cannot recommend highly enough. My next attempt will be with skim or 1% in an attempt to make such a delicious thing with some kind of health benefit over the original.