A MI ME GUSTA TACOS CON POLLO

With all the tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onions in the farm box how could we not make our chicken tacos.  We changed them up a bit this time and added some ancho chili powder and some smoked paprika.  It was a great success (say with Borat accent). We've made this in the past but it was so much better this time with the local fresh produce.  Seriously!

The tomatoes might look ugly but they taste pretty. 

Ingredients:

Disclaimer:  I made up this recipe and I don't measure my spices so I have no clue how much you should use. Sorry!

Oil (I used Canola)

4-5 Tomatoes, diced

1 Onion, diced

2-3 Jalepenos, finely diced

3-4 Cloves of Garlic, minced

4 Chicken breasts (we buy bone-on and then remove the bone)

5 limes

Cumin

Smoked Paprika

Ancho Chili Powder (chili powder if you want, but your missing out)

Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Cilantro

Lettuce

Asiago Cheese (shredded, but do it yourself)

Manchengo Cheese (shredded, but do it yourself)

Okay, let's get started.  Heat up a couple of Tbls of oil in a dutch oven.  I used Big Blue!  She's a real beauty. 

Throw in the onions, garlic, jalepenos and tomatoes and let the tomatoes stew.  About. 6-8 minutes.  Stiring occasionally. 

Now that the tomatoes have released their juices we can start adding some flavor.  Now it's time to add the salt, pepper, cumin, ancho chili powder, and smoked paprika.  Give it a taste, if it tastes like tacos BRAVO!  If it doesn't then add some more cumin.  Be generous with your spices as this makes a lot of tacos.  Simmer for a couple of minutes. 

Bring on the citrus.  Squeeze the juices of 5 limes into the mixture.

 

Place the chicken in the pot.  Cover it and put it in the oven at 375 degrees for an hour and 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and shred the chicken in the pot using two forks. 

Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes and let the shredded chicken soak up the juices.  Remove from the oven , let cool for 10 minutes and assemble your tacos as you wish.

WAIT IT'S NOT OVER YET.  MAKE A TACO SALAD USING YOUR LEFTOVERS!  The only thing better than these chicken tacos is leftover chicken tacos. 

Muy Bien!

PICKED A PECK OF PURPLE PEPPERS....

We made stuffed peppers tonight with some amazing purple and green peppers, tomatoes all from the farm box, along with fresh herbs, onion, and my very first home ground chicken! 

We always buy chicken on the bone because it's cheaper by the pound and is so much better when roasted with the bone on skin on, but for tonight, I used my sharp MAC knife and boned, skinned, and yes..oh yes, I even ground it myself using a sweet meat grinding attachment that my very much appreciated in-laws gave to me for Christmas...thank you again!

 

 

Made a tomato puree by blanching four tomatoes then quickly getting them into an ice bath.  You blanch them to get the skins to release to make for easy peeling.  To start the process, score a cross into the bottom of the tomatoes before you throw them into the boiling water, after 35 seconds get them into the bath, let them cool, peel the skins, core, cut in half get the seeds out, and squish them in your hands into a bowl until they resemble a puree.

A teaspoon or so each of fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, and basil finely minced

I've never really seen a purple pepper, but there it is...right there and it seems to be a little thinner skinned than the green

Mix together one chopped onion (or in this case, three little farm box candy onions), three cloves of minced garlic, 1 cup of cooked rice and the fresh herbs that we chopped earlier.   Oh and salt and pepper of course!

Side bar:  I don't like minute rice...and neither does anyone else. 

The only reason anyone eats minute rice is because it's easy..

.well you know what, cooking great rice is easy too...

.2/1 ratio of water to rice, bring to a boil and simmer for

40 minutes with the lid on.  Do that first and finish everything else

 while the rice is cooking...it's worth it...

the taste and texture of good long grain brown rice

 cannot even be approached by minute rice...shame on you uncle ben!

I fill each pepper with the stuffing and top with some of the mashed up tomatoes that we blanched earlier. Top with the puree and into a pot.  I filled with water so that it comes about 1/4 of the way up the peppers, cover with foil and bake for about 30-40 minutes

Onto the plate...it's tough to get them to stand, but boy were they good!

EGGPLANT IS OUR FRIEND

Grilled Eggplant, Corn and Bread Salad with Tomato-Basil Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

2 large ripe tomatoes, about 1 lb. total

6 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh basil

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

8 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. sea salt, plus more, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

3 ears of corn, husks and silk removed

2 large eggplant, about 2 1/2 lb. total, cut crosswise into slices 1/2 inch thick

1 loaf (3/4 lb.) pane pugliese or other coarse country bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups) .  We used a whole wheat Italian loaf.  We sliced the bread, grilled it and then cut it into cubes.  

Directions:

Bring a saucepan two-thirds full with water to a boil over high heat. Fill a bowl two-thirds full with ice water. Using a paring knife, score an X on the bottom of each tomato. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water and heat until the skins loosen, 15 to 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to the ice water and let stand until cool. Remove the tomatoes from the ice water and pull off the skins. Core the tomatoes and halve them crosswise. Gently squeeze each half to ease out the seeds, then coarsely chop the tomato flesh. You should have about 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes.

Transfer the chopped tomatoes to a nonreactive bowl. Add 2 Tbs. of the basil, the vinegar, 1 Tbs. of the olive oil, the garlic, the 1/2 tsp. salt and several grinds of pepper. Using an immersion blender, process until a chunky vinaigrette forms. (Or, pulse the ingredients in a standing blender.) Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a grill.  We used the grill pan instead of firing up the big grill. 

Brush the ears of corn on all sides with 1 Tbs. of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Brush the eggplant slices on both sides with the remaining 6 Tbs. olive oil and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Grill the eggplant slices, turning once, until softened and grill-marked on both sides, about 12 minutes total. Transfer to a cutting board. Grill the corn, turning frequently, until charred in spots, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to the cutting board. Cut the eggplant slices into 3/4-inch pieces. Using a chef’s knife, cut the ears of corn in half crosswise. Stand each half, flat end down, on a cutting board and cut the kernels from the cob. Alternatively, remove the kernels using a kernel cutter.

 

In a large bowl, combine the eggplant, corn kernels, the remaining 4 Tbs. basil and the bread cubes. Pour in the tomato vinaigrette and stir well. Transfer to a platter or serving bowl and serve immediately. Serves 6 to 8.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma New Flavors for Salads, by Dina Cheney (Oxmoor House, 2009).

FEAST-ESTA FAJITAS

With the beautiful green peppers, onion, and Italian sweet peppers and tomatoes, we decided to have a Mexican fiesta.  Ashley made a great salsa that we ate with fresh chips from the Whole Foods Schaumburg.  We grilled the peppers and onions and made a very bold and spicy rub for the chicken and skirt stead out of cayenne, smoked paprika, some cumin and salt and pepper...que bueno!


The salsa was diced tomatoes, onion, Italian sweet peppers, the juice of two limes, 2 garlic cloves, a dash of cumin, salt, pepper and finished with finely chopped cilantro..very refreshing.

Toss the veg with oil and salt and pepper.  We grill the peppers and tomatoes until the skin gets blistery, once they are done, take them off and into a bowl covered with foil.

A wild rice blend with black beans and fresh grilled corn on the side. We used a blend of manchego and asiago cheeses.  We like to buy them in chunks and shred them ourselves. 

side bar:  the cheese stays nice and fresh if

after to shred some, you wrap in plastic wrap,

then into a sandwich bag.  By shredding your own

cheese, you avoid buying the pre-shred which

most often has at least one or two preservatives

and non-caking agents added...

One of the best meals of our lives started with this bottle of wine.  Chef Michael Carlson of Schwa introduced us to this blend out of Spain.  A great summer wine, chilled in the fridge.

OPA! CHICKEN GYROS

This is a philosophical issue...what is a gyro?  We believe that anything that is made with a pita, meat, and tzatziki topped with tomatoes and onions qualifies as a gyro.  We are definitely up for some debate on this one if you feel so inclined.

We roast our chicken, another tip from Ina...roast your chicken breasts bone in skin on, at 425 for 40 minutes with some olive oil and salt and pepper.  

Side bar:  When we roast anything in the oven,

we lay one sheet of parchment paper on the pan.

Food does not stick, and the pan stays in good condition...

better still, no scrubbing to clean

While the chicken is roasting we dice up our cucumbers, thinly slice the onion and halve the cherry tomatoes.  We used cherry tomatoes from Ashley's coworker's garden.  We have made this with regular tomatoes as well, diced

Once the chicken has rested, we cut it off the bone, remove the skin and thinly slice it against the grain.  We slather a little tzatziki sauce (greek cucumber sauce - cedars from whole foods is delicious) onto pitas that are warmed in the oven, after this we differ in our approach...Ashley likes it on top and I like it on the bottom...the chicken that is...

Ashley's chicken on top

Johnny's chicken on the bottom