Tropical Rice

Perfect Pairing:  Tomorrow People – Ziggy Marley (click to listen)

I have a slight obsession with all things tropical in nature.  When I was 10 or 11 years old my mom and dad brought me a cassette tape from the Bahamas with some local music.  I was hooked, really hooked.   I wore that poor tape out.  I saw the Caribbean blue waters for the first time in person when I was in jr. high and the obsession just multiplied.  I dream about tropical vacations all the time, listen to reggae music more than is normal, and love to make tropical food to remind me of island life.

This Tropical Rice is full of beachy flavors and is the perfect accompaniment to fish or chicken.  I use brown rice and light coconut milk to keep it healthy.

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is the song Tomorrow People by Ziggy Marley.  Ziggy Marley is the son of the great Bob Marley and you can definitely tell when you listen to him.  His voice is eerily similar to his legendary father.  This song evokes sandy beaches, hot sunshine, fruity drinks and azure waters.  Ahhh…

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Skillet Potatoes

Perfect Pairing:  Whatever you have left in the refrigerator/pantry

The other night I bought groceries to make dinner for my boyfriend but once I got home I just didn’t have it in me to make what was on the menu.  It was going to have to wait until another night.  When I shop for groceries I am usually buying for a specific purpose or recipe so I don’t end up having much of substance just hanging around my place.  I say this, but yet my pantry and refrigerator always seems full of something, but it usually does not equal a meal.  Odd.  The goal on this particular night was to make a decent dinner with what I had on hand.  It came out pretty well.  We dined on grilled cheese with caramelized onions, apple butter and turkey and skillet potatoes.

I remember my mom making skillet potatoes often when I was growing up.  They are so yummy and versatile.  The potatoes are the base and you can add any seasonings or veggies you have on hand.  I am not providing an exact recipe, because I don’t have one.  It is really more of an idea or method. 

This time I used baby potatoes, poked them with a fork and started them in the microwave for a couple of minutes to speed up the process.  Once they had started to soften I cut them in thick slices.  I sautéed a few chopped shallots and garlic in olive oil.  I added the sliced potatoes and asparagus.  I cooked everything until the potatoes were browned and crispy and the asparagus was cooked but still a little crunchy.  I seasoned the pan with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and garlic salt.  Right before we ate I grated romano cheese on top.

The Perfect Pairing for skillet potatoes is basically whatever you have left hanging out in the refrigerator or pantry.  You can substitute baking potatoes for baby potatoes, onions for shallots, green beans or broccoli for asparagus, add a can of drained ro-tel tomatoes, top with any cheese you have on hand.  Throw in some fresh herbs like rosemary, chives, thyme or basil.  You can’t screw them up!

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Chicken Chili

Perfect Pairing:  Immersion Blender

I think everyone has their own version of chili.  I love my parent’s chili recipe.  It is really traditional but it is true comfort food.  My dad has tried to sneak in venison many times but my mom and I can always tell as soon as we walk in the door.  It goes something like this…..

Mom stirs the pot of chili and says, “Jerry…. You used venison!” 

Dad says, “Now, Linda, you don’t know that!  You have not even tried it!”

Mom says, “You can’t fool me honey.”

He really can’t fool us but he still tries.  He has also used elk meat in the past and we definitely prefer that over venison.  My brother makes a mean chili and always tops it with shredded cheddar and Chili Cheese Fritos.  It is crazy good.  Next time you make chili, throw in some Fritos. 

My version of chili is a chicken chili and contains no tomatoes.  I think this is often called white chicken chili.  It is a light soup but full of yummy spices.  When I make it I usually double the chili powder and red pepper flakes, but I like it spicy.  I like to serve this chicken chili with cornbread.  I will be posting a tasty jalapeno basil cornbread recipe soon.

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is an immersion blender.  I like my chili thick rather than brothy.  Not sure brothy is a word but I am going with it.  Usually when you thicken soup you use cream which is not a healthy choice.  This is a calorie free alternative!  Once the soup is done I whir it up for just a few seconds.  I don’t use this appliance very often but I would not be without it.  Mine is a cheap version from Bed Bath and Beyond but it does the trick.  Get whirring.

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Chicken Yakitori

Perfect Pairing:  Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

 

When I was planning on making the Asian inspired brussel sprout salad I wanted to find a protein that would go well with it,  preferably something that would go on the grill since the weather was still so beautiful.  I ran across a recipe for Chicken Yakitori on Café Sucré Farine.  Admittedly, I had no idea what this was but it sure looked good!  According to google dictionary, chicken yakitori is defined as grilled chicken kebabs: a dish of Japanese origin consisting of small pieces of grilled chicken that are basted on skewers with a sauce of soy, stock, sugar, and mirin.

My version of Chicken Yakitori is grilled skewers of chicken and green onion pieces basted in a teriyaki-like sauce.  It is easy to make and really tasty and light.  The original recipe calls for mirin which is a sweetened Japanese wine, similar to sake.  I had no luck finding this at the store and truthfully did not feel like spending $15 on traditional sake, so I just used some white wine I had leftover in the fridge.  I am sure it had little to nothing in common with sake, but it worked famously.  The skewers were savory with a slightly sweet undertone. 

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.  Lately I have been favoring red wine but I still love a cold, crisp white wine on occasion.  This sauvignon blanc is fantastic.  I have a LOT to learn about wine and tend to pretty much like everything.  I have no idea how to speak eloquently of wine.  I would love to be able to accurately decipher the berry notes and oaky undertones, but let’s face it… if I say that, I am totally guessing.  I will say that I can always pick out the lovely grapefruit flavor in this wine.  This sauvignon blanc is reasonably priced, I have seen it sold for $12-$17, and it is widely available.  Buy it, sip it, love it.

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Crunchy Stuffed French Toast

Perfect Pairing:  Double-sided grill pan

I love making a special breakfast on the weekends.  It is a pleasant departure from my Monday-Friday oatmeal at work routine.  This Crunchy Stuffed French Toast looks really fancy but is a cinch to make and is fairly healthy!

Years ago I travelled with my mom to a business event in Washington DC.  We stayed at a Marriott and I remember feeling very grown up having breakfast with her in the hotel restaurant.  We both had the crunchy French toast and it was scrumptious.  I am pretty sure we had it every day we were there.   I have seen it on Marriott’s menus through the years and always think of that trip with my mom where we first had the crunchy goodness.  This recipe was inspired by that trip, but I updated it to be “stuffed” with light cream cheese and preserves.  Using whole wheat toast, bran flakes and egg whites keep it light.  The cream cheese and preserves add lots of flavor, you almost don’t need syrup!

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is a dual-sided grill pan.  The dual-sided part is that one side is the standard grill pan with ridges and the other is flat like a griddle.   Mine is cast iron and lies over the burners.  I am inclined to grill meat on my regular grill outside, but the griddle side of the pan is great for pancakes, French toast and grilled cheese if you are making multiple sandwiches.  Of course, this recipe can be made in a skillet if you don’t have a grill pan, you may just need to do a couple batches.  I hope you enjoy this tasty breakfast!

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Homemade Barbeque Sauce

Perfect Pairing: Empty ketchup bottles

I am a little spoiled when it comes to a couple food items.  Growing up my mom always made homemade applesauce and homemade barbeque sauce, and the store-bought equivalents just do not compare!  My mom’s BBQ sauce is the perfect mixture of spicy, sweet and tang.  It is a great sauce for grilled chicken, pork or even as a dip for grilled cheese.  I have also used it on pizza crust instead of pizza sauce.  Top the pizza with shredded pork or chicken, green onions and cheddar cheese.  Tasty stuff.  We usually double the recipe since it takes no added effort and it keeps well in the refrigerator.

The Perfect Pairing for this sauce is the ketchup bottle you just emptied to make the sauce.  You don’t even have to rinse it out, just use a funnel and add your special sauce right into the bottle.  It is the perfect container for homemade sauce!  You can see we added a nice fancy label to eliminate any confusion when reaching into the fridge.

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Asian Inspired Brussel Sprout Salad

Perfect Pairing:  Outdoor burner

Don’t run away!  I realize brussel sprouts are not the most popular food item with a lot of people.  I was one of those people.  I am not a picky eater but I was not inclined to buy or order anything with brussel sprouts.  To me, they are like mini cabbages, and cooked cabbage was on my short list of foods I avoided.  My brother, who is an amazing cook, made brussel sprouts at Christmas that were really tasty.  He combined them with bacon and cheese, so why wouldn’t they be good?  I guess you could say that dish opened the sprout door for me.

Recently I went to dinner at Sunda with my good friend, Mary.  Sunda is a very hip, very loud, Asian inspired restaurant.  We mainly dined on sushi but asked the waitress if there was anything else on the menu that we needed to try.  She said her favorite thing was a brussel sprout salad.  She promised that we would not be disappointed, so we went for it.  We were both shocked at how delicious it was.  It was a combination of finely shredded brussel sprouts, napa cabbage and carrots tossed in a Nuoc Chom dressing.  It was topped with fried shallots and roasted shrimp.  Needless to say there were no leftovers and I had determined that I wanted to try to replicate it.  Considering I had never even purchased brussel sprouts before that was saying something.

I can’t say that my version of the salad is exactly like what we had at Sunda, but it was close!  My version is pretty light, aside from the fried shallots.  I think Sunda probably hid something fattening in their salad to make it extra delicious.  That is usually the case at restaurants.

I had to do a little research on the fried shallots.  To be honest, I had never deep fried anything.  I would like to say that is because I like to eat healthy food, and that is mainly true, but I just can’t stand the thought of having my house smell like fried food.  I live in a small one bedroom condo, so I have to think about these things.  Alas, the fried shallots really made the salad special so I was determined to have them on my version.

The Perfect Pairing for this salad is an outdoor burner to fry the shallots.  Problem solved!  I was able to fry them up without the unfortunate aromatic side effects.  I recently bought a new grill at Home Depot and one of the selling points was the side burner.  I was not sure why I needed that… but I needed it.  The grill was only $199!  Sold!  Until I found out the delivery fee of the unassembled grill was practically 30% of the total cost.  What is a girl to do?  Well, she sweet talks her boyfriend into dragging the assembled grill a half mile from the store on a busy Chicago street.  See below for proof.  You might ask why I am holding bolt cutters.  My old grill came with the condo and was locked up with a chain.  The previous owners had long forgotten the padlock code so I had to cut it off.

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