Taco Bar

Well I am making Rachael's spicy chicken tacos tonight. My little nephew is staying with me tonight, he just turned six and wanted nothing to do with chicken tacos, so he got fast food..............

anyway, let's go over the ingredients.......

1 tablespoon evoo(got it)

1 and 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast cut into small cubes.(I got a pound of this left over from the other night, but since my little nephew is stabbing me in the back and refusing to even try this, one pound will be enough)

1 small onion chopped(got it)

1 clove garlic, minced(got it0

1 cup tomato puree(had to buy these, but I got to use my hand chopper and it turned out fine puree, although, i hit the high speed too soon and striped my kitchen wall with tomato in a hurry)

2 teaspoons chili powder(got it)

1 teaspoon ground cumin(bought it and then found a damn bottle of the stuff later, so now I have way to much cumin in the kitchen for my taste)

A hand full of coarsely chopped Spanish olives(had to buy these)

A handful of golden raisins(had to buy these and had no idea they even made golden raisins, but they do and they are pretty tasty)

Coarse salt to taste(got it)

8 jumbo hard or soft taco shells(I bought this and went for the soft shells)

toppings(had to buy all of the following)
shredded cheese
diced avocado
diced tomatos
chopped scallion
shredded lettuce

Heat a big skillet(first time rachael used the word skillet, instead of griddle, which as you know is good, cause I do not own a griddle)over medium heat, add evoo and brown chicken. Add onion and garlic and cook another couple of mins to soften onion. Dump in tomato puree, chili powder, cumin,olives, raisins, and salt. Bring to a bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve. Warm taco shells in oven. Scoop filling into shells and pu on toppings. Serve with a green salad or chunk ed vegetables.

I have noticed that "serve with a green salad" seems to be the fall back side dish for most recipes. Green salad seems to go with anything i guess.

The verdict:

These are extremely tasty and seem a lot more fancier then the 30 mins it takes to make them. This would be the perfect meal to serve at a dinner party that would have your guests talking about it later.

Ok I forced my little nephew to try a bite and after he acted like he was going to die, he admitted they were ok, although my threat to not let him have any ice cream may have influenced his words, but hey, i will take what i can get.

until tomorrow

A Better Burger

Well tonight it was Blue Moon Burgers.........my attempt at being a vegetarian is quickly going south........but the blog must go on.

Ok, as for the ingredients, I actually had just about everything.

1 pound lean ground beef(ok, well i did not have this, so I did jump the shark a bit on the statement above......also I bought two pounds, cause I got people coming over. On a side note, the phrase "jump the shark", where in the hell did that phrase come from? anyone know? then drop me a comment)

4 shakes Worcesteshire sauce(I had a bottle of this, growing up, my dad used this stuff on meat like regular people use ketchup, so it is common to have this on hand)

Kosher salt and ground pepper for taste(got plenty of this)

1/4 pound blue cheese, cut into four pieces(Ok, I had some of this already, and if you can, I always get Bleu d'Auvergne it is creamier than Roquefort,since it is made from cow's milk rather than sheep's.)

1/4 cup dry red wine(I got wine all over the place)

4 crusty rolls or sourdough bread(had to buy this and I went for the sourdough, I have never been a fan of bread for a sandwich that is described as "crusty")

sliced red onion(got this left over from yesterdays meal, although I still do not know if it is a spanish onion)

Romaine Lettuce(still got this from yesterday too)

Season beef with Worcestershire and black pepper. Take a quarter of the beef in your hand, nest sme blue cheese in the meet and form a patty around the filling. Repeat with the rest of the meat and cheese, keeping the burgers no more then 3/4 inch think.

Pour the wine ito a shallow dish. Turn each burger in wine and let rest while you heat a nonstick griddle to medium heat.(at this point, it seems that rachael likes using griddle's, but I do not own a griddle and will be using a skillet, like normal people do). Cook burgers on each side. Check the internal temperature with a thermometer if you have one. 160 degrees is medium.(I have a thermometer, but I like going by sight on burgers, cause I like my burgers pretty much medium raw) Salt the burgers to taste. Place burgers on bread and top with onion and lettuce serve with fancy chips, now rachael suggests Yukon old Onion and garlic chips..........I think that sounds rather nasty, so I served them with Andy Capp Bacon Chedder Cheese Fries........looked rather cool with the burgers.

The verdict:

These were the total bomb, they taste just fantastic and i can also give this one my "two paws up" approval, cause the cats dug this one too. Even still steaming hot, the cats would not stop eating this and I am guessing, burning the roofs of their little mouths.


until tomorrow.........

Spice It Up

Well tonight was Southwestern Chicken and Black Bean Burritos.........I was a bit perplexed with this one, because whenever possible, I try to do a vegetarian thing......not because I love animals, but more because I hate plants. Really it is because I have been trying to be more healthy in my life. Anyway I knew going into this blog that I would have to deal with eating some meat, so it is something i will just deal with. Anyway, as I have Belle and Sebastian playing in the background, let's get to the ingredients.

4 boneless chicken breasts(well, from the vegetarian info above, yep you guessed it, I had to buy these. I have not purchased meat in a while and the price of meat has gone up, boneless chicken breast is a costly cut, although chicken thighs are still cheap, I guess that is considered the "white trash" part of the bird, cause it is less then a buck a pound......but I went with the breast meat)

1 teaspoon ground cumin(have this on hand)

1 teaspoon chili powder(got it too)

two shakes of tobasco sauce(had to buy this, and to be honest, this is the first time I have ever bought this stuff)

1 tablespoon EVOO(got plenty)

1/2 medium spanish onion, chopped(ok, i had to buy this and I have no idea if it was a spanish onion or not......I spoke a little spanish to it, but got nothing back, but hey, an onion is an onion)

2 cloves garlic, minced(have this)

1 can, 15 ounces, black beans, drained and rinsed.(ok, I bought this and a small confession, I drained them, but I did not rinse them..........if you never see another post on here after tonight, you will know that I should have rinsed)

3 tables spoons of smoky bbq sauce(had to buy this, and I could not find one that said "smoky", so I grabbed a bottle that said 'hickory' and will hope for the best)

kosher salt and ground pepper to taste(got both of these, I have been a big supporter of kosher salt for any years..just ask alton brown)

1 heart of romain, shredded(had to buy it)

6 scallions, thinly sliced(had these from yesterdays meal)

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped(had to buy them, I chopped them, but was far to lazy to seed them, plus really, who the hell seeds a tomato anyway?)

4 large flour tortillas, flavored or plain(bought plain ones because I have never seen a flavored tortilla)


Rub chicken with cumin, chili powder and tobasco sauce(should say I managed to get chili powder in my eye, it made for a couple of real exciting moments in the kitchen). Heat a griddle pan(I used a skillet) to high. Cook chicken breast on each side 4 minutes and remove from heat.

While chicken is cooking, in a other skillet, add the EVOO and cook the onions and garlic until the onions are soft(about 4 mins). add beans and bbq sauce. Chop cooked chicken breast and drop into the bean mixture. Heat mixture through. Season with salt and pepper.

Place tortilla on plate, pile with chicken and beans in center. Top with lettuce, scallions and tomatoes. Wrap, roll and repeat with remaining tortillas and filling. serve with chips and salsa.

The verdict:

Ok, I ate one and it was pretty good, I think i would have liked it better with re fried beans and sour cream, maybe some cheese, but that is because I like to Americanize mexican food to the point that it is basically taco bell. The rest of the dish, I gave to my neighbors and they really liked them alot and praised my cooking skills...........if they only knew how easy it was, as it just took 30 mins.

Overall, a good dish.

until tomorrow..........

Open Sesame

Today's dinner with Rachael is Sesame Noodles, that I will be serving with a small side fruit salad.

Seems like a pretty straight forward meal, although I had to make a trip to the store of a few items.

Let's get right into it with the ingredients.....

1 pound cappellini(angel hair pasta.........ok, so i had some of this already, but it was stored in a pasta tin out of it's wrapper and I think it may have been there since Clinton was in the white house, so a fresh batch will have to be purchased)

1/4 cup soy sauce(this I have plenty of, I like to by authentic product from japan, so i shop from an online Asian grocer all the time. I cannot tell you the name of the brand of soy sauce, cause it is all written in Japanese, but the Japanese writing on the bottle looks like a elk with it's antlers all broken and lopsided. But for you the reader, any kind will probably do)

2 tablespoons tahini(had to look this up online to find out what in the hell this is......turns out it is sesame paste........and i will have to buy some)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil(i actually have a small bottle of this. I was kind of surprised since I cannot remember ever using it before.........perhaps it was an impulse buy late one night at the grocers?)

2 pinches cayenne pepper(got it)

2 gloves garlic, minced(got it)

1 inch ginger root, peeled and grated or 2 pinches ground ginger(well I looked around and I got ginger coming out my ears in my kitchen. I got this stuff, candied, powered, dried, in root form, you name it and ginger wise, I got it)

3 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle(had to buy this, as I do not keep much of this stuff on hand. On a side note i did not think about the "cutting on an angle" piece of this, so I just chopped them up, I doubt it will make a difference)

1 large carrot, grated(bought one)

toasted sesame seeds for garnish(found a small packet of this at the store, was a little surprised they had them, but hey live and learn)

crushed red pepper flakes for garnish(got this on hand)

at this point, I should step back to note that, as I blog I normally have a cd playing, but tonight I left the tv on for background noise. I have just noticed that it is on some 80's teen angst film, not sure which one but from what I can tell John Cusack has determined that he loves the girl and the only way to fix whatever is wrong, is to stand in the rain holding a boombox over his head as peter gabriel plays................ah love, if it were only so simple in real life.

anyway back to the meal.

Put a pot of water over high heat, add salt and cook the pasta according to the package until al dente. Ok, this was easy to do, pasta I am fairly good at cooking.

meanwhile, combine soy sauce, tahini(sesame paste), sesame oil, cayenne, garlic and ginger root in a bowl. Whisk until smooth.

Drain the noodles and run under cold water until cooled.

Dump noodles into a large bowl with the sauce and combine until sauce is evenly distributed. add the carrots and scallions, toss to combine, then garnish with sesame seeds and pepper flakes.

The verdict:

Well to be honest, it took me a little more then 30 mins to make, but that is due to my getting pulled into that above mentioned teen angst film, otherwise, this could be made in less then 30 mins. As for the taste, I really enjoyed this one a lot. A rather light meal that would be a perfect lunchtime repast on a summers day.

On a side note, when you go to the store, ask for sesame paste instead of tahini. Trust me when I say, it will go better if you do.

until tomorrow.......

Dinner 1 Puttanesca Pizza: Tomato, Olives, Capers, and Anchovy

Well first recipe from the book seemed pretty straight forward, had a few of the items listed already, but a trip to the store would be necessary for a few of the more uncommon items..........or at least items uncommon in my kitchen.

Here is the list of ingredients:

2 gloves of garlic, minced(I actually had these items, as I had recently purchased a garlic press......not sure why.......I guess it was a combination of that fact that, it was on sale and I am a shopaholic, but regardless, I bought it and some fresh garlic to press)

1/8 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes(had this too sitting in the spice cabinet)

2 tablespoons extra virgin Olive oil(from here on out, this will be referred to as EVOO......and yes I have like a gallon of this stuff in the kitchen)

2 anchovy fillets(ok, i had to purchases these little guys. I have never cooked with anchovy before, but I picked up a little tin of them from the store and tried one out of curiosity...........I can see why anchovy is an acquired taste.......thank the lord I had a glass of ice and coke on hand to wash the taste away.........o'h rachael, where are you taking me with this first recipe?)

1 can tomatoes, drained and diced(got a can from the store, already to go)

one 12 inch thin crust Boboli pizza shell(love this things, have used them before, plus I love the way the name......boboli rolls off the tongue......makes me feel all Italian when I say it)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley(had lots of this stuff in the kitchen already in various forms, dried, chopped, fresh, whole leaf, so I was good to go here)

2 tablespoons capers, drained(ok, i did not have these and had never cooked with them before. For some reason, every time I hear the word caper, I think it is some kind of little fish, like an anchovy, but really I know it is not. To offer some clarification, a caper is a bud from a plant that, to me taste like something that has been pickled...........either way, I had to buy a little jar from the store......on a side note, the girl working at the store seemed to think it was odd that I was asking for capers. I guess being a guy, she expected me to ask her where they kept the manly cuts of meat or maybe the guns and ammo.......)

1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, drained and chopped(I actually had some of these babies in the fridge already. I am a big fan of the olive and eat them raw all the time, but for those who have to buy these, seek out a store with an Olive bar if possible, so you can get the freshest olives available and not have to buy them from a jar or can)

1/2 cup grated blended italian cheeses(had this already too, it is a nice container of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano,Romano,Mozzarella and Provolone).

Ok, the time spent going to the store to get these items, was about an hour.....it would have been less, but I wondered around the store for a while, before I broke down and asked where the capers are at.

Back home I pre-heated the oven to 425 degrees

In a skillet(the book says to use a small skillet, but I break out this massive one I bought that is like a foot and a half across that I decided I needed after watching the movie "no reservations", I guess I thought I might one day date a sexy chef and she would be expecting a large skillet be available on those nights that we have a moment of playful cooking, that leads to a deeper understanding of each other and a better connection on an emotional level.............yea that's right, even guys sometimes think like this)over medium heat saute the garlic, crushed red pepper flakes in the evoo until the garlic sizzles. Then add the anchovies and use the back of a large spoon(book says to use a wooden spoon, but since this is not the 1800's, I do not own a wooden spoon, so I use a big plastic spoon),to help dissolve the anchovies into the evoo. Add the tomatoes and stir to coat evenly and then remove from heat.

Place the pizza crust on a pizza pan(I do not have a pizza pan, so I use a large baking pan......I am hoping this will not displease the pizza pan gods.) Sprinkle the tomato mixture evenly across the crust. the add the parsley, capers and olive. Then cover the crust with a light layer of the cheese blend, make sure the cheese goes right out to the crust edges. Do not add to much cheese or it will make the pizza soggy, you should still be able to see the colors of the other toppings peeking through.

Place pizza in the oven and cook 8 to 12 mins or until the cheese starts to brown and the crust edges should be crisp.

The Verdict:

Well, it took 9 mins to cook and over all far less then 30 mins from start to finish in the kitchen. The taste is fantastic. After having tried the anchovy fillet by itself, I figured that the pizza would be pretty nasty, but the flavor of the anchovy really mellowed when it was sauteed and adds an almost nutty flavor to the pizza. I will make this little item again.

As an added "paw of approval", my cats like this too, as they gobbled this right up when I put a little in their dish.

This dish would go great served with a green salad(which i would have had, if I had read the entire recipe, since Rachael suggests serving this with a salad at the very last).

My first dinner with Rachael has turned out to be a success. I wonder if I look as cute a she does, as I move around my kitchen creating her recipes........probably not........but if this first try is any indication, I am in for many good meals.

Until tomorrow..........

First dinner on May 26th

Well, I will start my first dinner experince tomorrow, as i am off a few days this week and will be going to the store tomorrow. I am not going to know what i will be making until each morning as I take on each receipe one at a time.

I have always enjoyed cooking and saw that another blogger ad done a years worth of julia child receipes over the course of a year, so I thought 'hey I could do that with rachaels cookbooks'.

I also maintain another blog that I write about music, and at times it can be hard to decide what group to discuss, at least with this blog, it pretty much will write itself..............I think this will be an interesting journey.

see you all later,

brad