Chicken “Tacos Mexicanos” with Pico de Gallo

Perhaps one day I will live in that mythical part of the foodie world where I buy and consume only freshly butchered free range organic meat.  Seriously, I dream about that day.  For now, as the wife of a graduate student who has left gainful employment to chase my culinary dreams, I eat whatever meat is on sale and pray that I am not giving us both cancer.  That means that there are always spare chicken breasts chasing around my refrigerator because chicken is always sold in groups of three breasts.

I ask myself, who on earth needs three chicken breasts?  People usually cook for two, or four.  I’ve never seen a recipe written that “serves three.”  Despite our general habits of consumption, where I live one can only buy chicken in quantities of three or six.  Six is occasionally a reasonable number, and happens to be the number of people I can squeeze around my table in the wintertime.  However, most of the time that leaves me dealing with extra breasts.  (And not in the sense of my polka-star father’s favorite song “They’re Always in the Way.”)

I’ve come up with a lot of solutions for the extra breast dilemma.  Frequently, I split one breast horizontally so that I can do one meal of thinly pounded cutlets, and another of stir fry.  Or, I cut the breast in half and use part of it in a soup or stew and another in a stir fry.  Or, I roast all the breasts and we eat half of them and use the other half in a stir fry (just kidding, although I do make a lot of various thai and chinese inspired stirfrys, I use the other half of the roasted breasts for curried chicken salad.)

This week I used two of the three breasts in the black-bean chicken chili, so I only had one lonely breast left.  I decided to turn it into salsa-verde chicken, to use either as tacos or in enchilada casserole.  I make this mythical chicken with my  *gasp* (serious foodies should avert their eyes here, or perhaps just stop reading this post altogether, go read this post instead) crock-pot.  I usually combine about 1 pound of chicken (boned, boneless, white dark, doesn’t matter here) with one can of Herdez salsa verde, and let it work for about 2 hours on high, or 4 on low.  The problem this time is that when I added my one lonely chicken breast to the pot with half a can of salsa, it was clear that there was not enough volume in the pot for it to work its magic.

That left me scrambling for something to increase the volume in the pot.  After pondering the options available in the produce drawer, I discovered some stray red-skinned potatoes.  Remembering the tacos mexicanos at Anita’s in the D.C. area, I decided that they would do the trick.  Please note that potatoes don’t seem to be a necessary or necessarily authentic ingredient in tacos mexicanos, but really what do you expect from a restaurant that specializes in New Mexican (US) style food.  The result of adding potatoes to your tacos is surprisingly tasty, and it does give you something to do with your extra breasts.  (My husband has other suggestions, but we’re trying to keep this g rated.)

Chicken “Tacos Mexicanos”

serves 2 (easily doubled to serve 4)

Salsa Verde Chicken

In a small to medium crockpot combine:

1 chicken breast

1 small (7oz) can of salsa verde

5 small redskinned potatoes, quartered or 1 cup of diced russet potatoes.

Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through and tender.  Shred the chicken. (Remove the bones if you are using bone-in chicken.)

Fresh Pico de Gallo

1 cup of diced fresh tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes last night, but like vine-ripened better.)

1/2 fresh jalepeno pepper, finely diced

juice of 1/2 a lime

1 clove of garlic, mashed into a paste with about 1/2 tsp kosher salt

fresh cilantro to taste (we love it, so we use about 1/4 cup)

optional: 2 tbs olive oil (I’m an acid head, so I leave it out.)

pepper and additional salt, to taste.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.  It’s best if it gets to sit for a few hours to let the flavors make friends with eachother.

Smashed Avocados

(totally optional, unless you are my husband who has a fiendish attachment to avocados, you could garnish with sour cream instead for a similar jolt of cool creaminess)

1 ripe avocado

juice of 1/2 lime

pinch of salt

black pepper to taste

2 tbs chopped cilantro.

Smash the avocado (I use a potato masher for best results).  Add the lime juice (this is very important if you like your avocado green instead of grey), salt, pepper, and cilantro.  Give it a good stir

For Tacos

6 small soft corn tortillas

Salsa Verde Chicken with Potatoes

Pico de Gallo

1/4 cup of crumbled cojita cheese (Feel free to substitute cheddar, pepper jack, or even feta.  Cojita reminds me most of the domestic cows milk feta that is readily available in the U.S.)

Brush each tortilla with olive oil and toast in a dry skillet until they begin to brown and get crispy.  While hot, drape each tortilla over something to get the desired shell shape, and allow the tortilla to cool.  I used a dowel propped between two glasses.  Stuff each tortilla with the chicken, pico de gallo, and sprinkle with cheese.  Garnish with avocado or sour cream.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Mousse with Kaluah Ganach

As I’ve mentioned before, my husband may be the world’s worst chocoholic. I think one of the first things I ever really understood about my husband was his absolute adoration for all things chocolate.

When we were in college, my husband lived with my family for a summer while he worked in Washington D.C. In the middle of the summer, his office had a picnic. I made a chinese noodle salad with tofu, because there were a lot of vegans at his office. (The vegans almost all worked in the food-safety arm of the organization and would reassure you that you would be vegan too if you only knew what they know.)

After work, we were driving my little brother to his boy scout meeting. Before I tell you the rest of the story, it is important for you to know that my little brother was ten years old at the time, and the baby of the family. He is the only boy and has four older sisters.

“How was the salad?” I asked my husband, who was at that time just a lowly boyfriend.

“It was great, probably the best thing there.” Not being able to resist the urge to tease me, he added, “Well, except maybe for the chocolate cake.”

“C-!” came my little brother’s voice from the back seat, “You never tell a girl that hers is not the best.” Sounding thoroughly scandalized, he continued, “Hers is always the best. Even when it’s not. You tell her hers was the best. The other thing might have been good, but it was NOT the best.”

We erupted in laughter. My little brother is now seventeen, and has quite the magic touch with the ladies. So remember, whenever a girl asks you, hers is always the best.

Last night, when my husband was oohing and aaahing over this dessert, he said, “Amy, this may be the best dessert you made.” Forgive me for my skepticism, but he seems to label every chocolate dessert I make as *the best*. He may just be heeding my brother’s advice, but even I have to admit that this one is quite good. And, with only five ingredients, it makes a lovely indulgence for just about any occasion.

Peanut Butter Mousse with Kahlua Chocolate Ganache

serves 4

Peanut Butter Mousse

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter

2 tbs honey

Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks (I know this is an egg-white term, but I am at a loss for how else to describe this stage. You want the whip cream to be fairly firm, but don’t go too far or you will get butter.) In a medium bowl, mix together the honey and the peanut butter. Fold in the whipped cream in three additions. The mixture does not have to be fully incorporated. I like the way it looks and tastes when it is still slightly streaky. Spoon it into the glasses you would like to serve it from, and chill for at least 2 hours.
Kahlua Ganache

3 oz high quality bittersweet chocolate

2 tbs heavy cream

1 tbs kahlua

Chop the chocolate and melt it in the microwave (60 seconds on 60% power usually does the trick for me). Stir until smooth. Then stir in the heavy cream and the kahlua.

Top the mousse with the warm chocolate sauce and enjoy.

Black Bean Chicken Chili

Last night I was running late. Really late. It’s never a good thing to be leaving the grocery store fifteen minutes before your dinner guest is expected. Even if that guest is one of your best friends and the gathering is only a casual catch-up-drop-by-this-is-really-not- a-dinner-party-spontaneous sort of a thing.

As I was driving home from the grocery store, with no plan about what to make and the knowledge that I would have ten minutes to put it together, I was feeling a little panicky.

Bristling with impatience as I sat at a red light, I came up with and rapidly discarded several menu options.  Everything, even my quickest of quick meal classics took at least fifteen minutes of preparation time.  Then, with a sigh of relief, I remembered the easiest recipe ever.  It also happens to be the first recipe I ever created from scratch by myself. Not that I am really proud of it or anything…

This recipe was born my junior year of college at the University of Rochester in upstate New York. I was an unusual undergraduate; the only dorm resident that owned not only a full set of pots and pans, but also a dinner table that sat six that would fold up into an small console table. And yes, I had dinner parties in my dorm room.

Cooking in college was a necessity for me because I could not stomach dorm food day in and day out. Cooking in college was a challenge because I did not have a car, and so groceries could only be procured by a shuttle that ran on Saturdays or by taking a two-mile walk through bone-chilling cold. Adding to this difficulty was the limitation that all food had to be stored in a small dorm fridge or in my closet. Because of the limited shopping and limited storage options, I developed a solid ability to devise dishes almost entirely from pantry items.

It was on one chilly winter day that this chili came about as a use for some leftover boneless chicken breasts.

Black Bean Chicken Chili

serves 4, can be made in 10 minutes of active time with 10 minutes of simmering

1 to 2 boneless chicken breasts

1 medium onion

2 medium garlic cloves

1 14 oz can no-salt added diced tomatoes

1 14 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 small can of chopped green chilies

1 heaping tsp of cumin

1 tsp of mexican oregano (mediterranean oregano is fine)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbs olive oil

Start pre-heating a medium saucepan over medium- medium-high heat with 1 tbs of olive oil. Chop onion and add to pan. While onion begins softening, finely chop the garlic cloves. Add to pan. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to pan with garlic and onions. While chicken begins to cook through add the cumin, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Allow the spices to toast. When chicken is almost cooked through (about 5 minutes) add the beans, tomatoes, and green chilies. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes until flavors combine.

Serve with warm tortillas or rice and garnish with any combination of: avocado, sour cream, chopped cilantro, grated cheddar cheese, chopped green onion tops.

Last night I served it with quesadillas made with corn tortillas and cojita cheese and garnished with avocado tossed with lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Peanut Noodles with Tofu

I cook for the people that I care about. When they are sick, tired, stressed, or coping with great tragedy. When they are elated, successful, or celebrating. Occasionally, I even cook for them just because they are hungry.

When my two best friends were preparing for their PhD. exams, I brought them brain food to eat the night before: grilled wild salmon with brown rice pilaf and spinach. When another passed his exams it was a tropical carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I’m always the girl who brings the birthday cake or I host the whole birthday dinner. Events like these are fun to cook for, and I do it with great exuberance.

Less fun but more important for me is cooking for people who are facing tragedy. I believe that bringing something warm, comforting, and sustaining is one of the small ways that I can show support. Restaurants close, and their food is generally high in fat and sodium. My mom also cooks for people facing personal crisis, and we often consult with each other to come up with the right menu for a particular occasion.

Unfortunately, it was tragedy that had me in my kitchen early yesterday morning. One of my best friend’s experienced a death in her immediate family and I wanted to bring her some warm comforting foods when we met for our morning walk. She and her husband are vegetarians, so I settled on a peanut noodle salad with tofu and red lentil coconut curry with a tin of Christmas cookies for dessert.

The peanut noodles are a pantry favorite of mine, because I almost always have the ingredients on hand. You can substitute any meat for the tofu, chicken and shrimp are two favorites of mine. The peanut sauce also makes a great dip for satays and spring rolls.

Peanut Noodle Salad with Tofu

Peanut Dressing

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (feel free to use regular)

3 Tbs soy sauce

3 Tbs rice vinegar

1 Tbs honey

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp minced or grated ginger

1 garlic clove

optional 1 tsp chili-garlic paste (if you like it spicy)

water to thin to the desired consistency

In a mini-processor, food processor, or blender combine all ingredients until they form a smooth paste. Add water until dressing reaches its desire consistency. When I am using the dressing for noodles I add about 1/4 cup of water, making it a bit on the thin side, because the noodles soak up a fair amount of the dressing.

This makes enough dressing for 1 lb of noodles.

Peanut Noodle Salad with Seared Tofu

1 lb of whole-wheat thin spaghetti, or capellini

1 batch of peanut dressing

any combination of the following vegetables:

(if you are using more than 3 or 4 reduce the quantities accordingly)

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 english cucumber

3 large carrots

1 cup of bean sprouts

1 cup of snow peas

1 lb of tofu

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs rice vinegar

1/2 tsp each grated ginger and garlic

1 tsp sesame oil

Cut the tofu into bite-size pieces and marinate using soy sauce, rice vinegar, grated ginger, garlic, and sesame oil.

Cook the pasta in boiling water according to package directions. While noodles cook, cut vegetables into roughly equally sized pieces. (I cut them all into a fat julienne.) When the noodles are finished cooking, drain and rinse the pasta. Once the pasta is cool toss it together with the dressing and vegetables.

In a sautee pan over medium high heat, sear the tofu so that it is nicely browned. Let it cool and add it to the noodles. Since tofu tends to break up, I just “arrange” (dump) it on top rather than toss it through.

One of the nice things about this recipe is that it is very picnic friendly, because all of the ingredients are stable at room temperature.

Enjoy!

As I’ve mentioned before, I love ethnic markets. Any small storefront bodega or Asian market beckons to me. When I enter, I rarely look for something specific, but rather pick up any ingredients that strike my fancy. I am particularly drawn by colorful ingredients, unfamiliar produce, and new packaging or formulations of favorite ingredients.

I find that this shopping habit keeps my cooking fresh, and challenges me to learn new techniques and cooking methods. It also sparks my creativity, forcing me to really think about the way and ingredients tastes and looks and how it will work with food that I normally use.

Recent trips have netted me a number of interesting finds that come together in this dish.

The first is an unmarked bag of masoor dal, or pink lentils that captured my imagination with their delicate color and size. Internet research upon returning home revealed to me that these lentils cooked quickly and turn mushy and golden in color when cooked. I have to admit that forced me to rethink my initial inspiration, which involved a blushing lentil salad.

The second, found at a local Latin market, is a jug of tamarind pulp concentrate. In the past, I have bough blocks of tamarind paste from Asian markets, and so I had made chutneys and sauces using the paste before. This jug, envisioned for the creation of aqua fresca, excited me as a shortcut for tamarind chutney. The chutney, is a key component in one of my favorite snacks, Sharwood’s Puppodums cooked in the microwave and dunked in the tamarind goodness and raita. I also think it will make an interesting glaze and a potentially fun ingredient for salad dressings.

I suppose, given the fact that the Mexican tamarind concentrate was always destined for chutney, it is not surprising that it and the lentils ultimately made friends. However, it took a recipe from Quick Indian Cooking to bring them together. When I saw Mallika’s post on Khichdi, I had to make it. It is the kind of recipe that makes me love food blogs. Her post describes this dish as family cooking that is made when one is sick or just feeling generally dreary. The opportunity to learn about home cooking traditions is one of the great things that food blogs bring to all of us. You can find her original recipe by following the link above, below is my adaptation of her recipe.

mmm… leftovers the next day

Khichdi, Indian Lentils with Brown Rice

serves 4-6

1 cup brown basmati rice

1/2 cup red lentils (masoor)

1 onion, thinly sliced

2″ cinaamon

4 cloves

8 green cardamom pods

2 tsp whole cumin

1 dried bird chili

1 bay leaf

1 tsp turmeric powder

5 cups of water

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 carots, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 poblano pepper, diced

salt to taste

The directions are almost exactly as written in Mallika’s original recipe, which can be found here.

Wash the rice and lentils well and mix together. Heat the oil and when hot fry the cinammon, cloves, cardamom, chili pepper and bay leaf. When the leaf starts going brown, add the whole cumin and let it sizzle up.

Then add the onion and fry well until it starts going brown. Chuck in the turmeric and give the spices a good stir.

Add the rice and lentils, and fry for a minutes stirring the spices into the mixture evenly. Add some salt at this stage.

Lower the flame to a medium heat, add the water, cover and cook for about 20 minutes Add raw carrots, zucchini, and pepper and cook for 10 minutes more.

When the lentils lose their shape and the rice is cooked, your khichdi is ready. It should have a runny consistency.

Garnish with a drizzle of tamarind chutney, yoghurt, and chopped cilantro.

Even since I produced my first loaf of this bread, I have told everyone I know about it.

“I made the most beautiful wonderful bread,” I’ve said in a breathless voice.

The good news is that I’m very persuasive, and I’ve convinced a lot of people to try the bread.  But I’ve also gotten a long list of questions from those who are uncertain about the process, and if they have got it “right.”  Since I’ve made it my mission to convince everyone on the planet to try this bread, I’ve decided to make a photo-essay with step-by step instructions and photos.

So, keep reading for the pictures, and happy baking!

Enjoy!

I might not have mentioned this here before, but I am currently in the process of opening a crêperie (Parisian-style, not the béchamel-soaked-retro-American style) . A few months ago, while I began to contemplate leaving real estate for work that wouldn’t eat my soul from the inside out, I sat down with a friend who owned and operated my favorite coffee house.

I was hoping to get some advice about starting up a food venture, but I emerged from the conversation with a companion in an expansion venture. It turned out that he was adding square footage, and was struggling to come up with food offerings. Ever since I lived in Paris and bought my first crepe pans I’ve been unable to understand why these wonderful foodstuffs weren’t more broadly available in the U.S.. The crêperie concept also had the additional benefit of being operable out of the very limited kitchen space we would have available to us.

The build-out is taking a lot longer than we initially expected, but then again, I expect everything to happen immediately and with no delays, so it is possible that I had unrealistic expectations. In the meanwhile, we have this beautiful pastry case to fill. The owner has been ordering wholesale from a local bakery, but recently we’ve been exploring the possibility of doing our own baking. That means that I have begun developing and testing recipes, and boy is it fun. I’m also becoming wildly popular, because I am foisting off large quantities of baked goods on everyone in sight.

These are the scones that I baked this week. I think the fact that I will one day get to sell them to people for money made them especially good. If you aren’t going to start charging your family for them they might be significantly less delicious, but you’ll have to let me know.

The buttermilk scones are in good shape, but the gingerbread scones are still a bit dry and cakey for my taste. (Although only one other person who has eaten them agreed with me, and even he didn’t stop eating it. My husband likes the texture better, so it may be a personal taste issue.) These recipes were both have at their core recipes from Epicurious, but they have undergone substantial tweaking (perhaps they are all tweaked out?).

DRIED CHERRY-ALMOND BUTTERMILK SCONES

1/2 cup buttermilk plus some for brushing the scones
1 large egg
¼ cup loosely packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ tsp pure almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising)
1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup dried sour cherries
½ cup sliced toasted almonds, skin on
granulated sugar for sprinkling

In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup of the buttermilk, the egg, the brown sugar, and the vanilla until the mixture is combined well. In another bowl stir together the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt and blend in the butter using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the cherries and the buttermilk mixture with a fork until the mixture just forms a sticky but manageable dough. Knead the dough gently for 30 seconds on a lightly floured surface, pat it into a 3/4-inch-thick round, and cut it into 8 wedges. On an ungreased baking sheet brush the wedges with the remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk and sprinkle them with the granulated sugar. Bake the scones in the middle of a preheated 400°F. oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they are golden.

Makes 8 scones.

Adapted from Gourmet
March 1990

GINGERBREAD-RAISIN SCONES

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup butter milk
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
¼ cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease baking sheet. Blend first 6 ingredients in large mixing bowl. Add butter combine with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat milk, egg, molasses and vanilla to blend in a small bowl. Add to flour mixture and raisins; stir gently until dough forms. Gather dough into ball. On lightly floured surface, press dough into 1-inch-thick round. Cut round into 8 wedges. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 15-19 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 8.

adapted from Bon Appétit
January 1994
Heidi Dalzell: Bensalem, Pennsylvania