Funky Fusion Fajitas

I don’t know about all of you, but I am hopelessly addicted to reality TV cooking competition shows. I’ve seen every episode of every season of my favorites, Top Chef(and all its iterations), Man vs. Food, and Hell’s Kitchen. I missed some of the first season of another great show, Throwdown! With Bobby Flay, currently airing on the Food Network, but I’ve caught up on almost all of them through marathons and reruns. If you haven’t seen the show, famous Iron Chef Bobby Flay travels around the country and challenges local chefs or regular people who have become famous for perfecting their “signature dish”. This show has provided me with numerous places to eat in the NYC area, and all of them have been fantastic – I cannot overstate how highly I recommend Taim for their falafel, Schnipper's for Sloppy Joes + Mac n’ Cheese, or A Salt and Battery for fish and chips. My best pal Molly knocked one out of the park when she gave me the Throwdown! cookbook for Christmas. It contains more than 100 recipes from the show, and I was super excited to find the falafel AND fish and chips recipes were included! I decided to try the recipe for steak fajitas first, since they looked delicious on the show and they seemed fairly easy to make. Bobby Flay lost this throwdown to Father Leo Patalinghug, a Catholic priest from Maryland who is famous for his funky fajitas, so I decided to make Father Leo’s version. Bobby’s version will no doubt be made very soon, since fajitas are a favorite in our household.

Father Leo’s Funky Fusion Fajitas from Bobby Flay’s Throwdown! Cookbook

What You’ll Need

• ¼ cup white wine
• ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp ketchup (Heinz.  There is no other option.)
• 1 cup firmly packed medium or dark brown sugar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (1 ¼ lb) flank steak
• ½ red onion sliced into thin (½”) crescents
• 1 green bell pepper cut into ¼” strips
• 1 yellow or red bell pepper cut into ¼” strips
• 4 green onions (both white and green parts) sliced into ¼” pieces
• 12 (8”) flour tortillas, warmed
• Guacamole
• Screamin’ Sour Cream

Screamin’ Sour Cream

• ½ cup fat free sour cream
• 2 tbsp hot sauce (Frank’s.  There is no other option.)
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder

What To Do:

In a large bowl, whisk together the wine, soy sauce, vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, ketchup, brown sugar, 2 of the garlic cloves, ginger, 2 tsp of kosher salt, 1 tsp of black pepper, red pepper flakes, and the garlic powder. Set aside about ½ cup in a small bowl to serve with the cooked fajitas.

The marinade will be a viscous, molasses-like consistency that smells fantabulous.

Remove the steak from its packaging. Poke it all over with a fork so that the marinade will be able to penetrate beyond the surface of the meat.

Flank steaks are fairly lean, so there shouldn’t be too much extra fat to trim off of the steak. They are also long and thin, which allows them to cook quickly without giving up any of their tenderness, making them ideal for this dish. If you can’t find flank steaks, you can try any similar cut of meat – just avoid the shorter, fatter cuts which tend to dry out.

Place the entire steak into a large Ziploc bag. Pour the rest of the marinade from the bowl into the bag, seal, and refrigerate for at least 2 or up to 4 hours.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to start grilling the steak, remove it from the refrigerator and hold it at room temperature. Heat your grill to medium high. Once it’s smoking hot, remove the steak from the marinade and liberally season both sides with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Grill for about 6 minutes on each side for medium rare, or more if you prefer it more well done. Let the meat rest for about 10 minutes, while you are cooking your vegetables.

While the meat is grilling, prepare the Screamin’ Sour Cream by whisking together all of the ingredients in a small bowl.

Cover with Saran Wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until you are ready to eat.

Next, slice, cut, or otherwise prepare all of your veggies.

Once the meat is resting, heat the final 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onion, bell peppers, green onions, garlic, about 1 tbsp of the reserved marinade, and salt & pepper to taste. Stir frequently, cooking for about 6-8 minutes or until the veggies are crisp yet still tender.

Slice the steak by cutting it across the grain into thin pieces.

Spread the bottom of your tortilla with about a tablespoon of guacamole (I got lazy and used Trader Joe’s guac, since it’s cheaper than making it on my own and just as yummy!). Fill the tortilla with 5 or 6 slices of meat, a scoopful of vegetables, some sour cream, and a drizzle of the reserved marinade.

Give thanks for this awesome meal, and enjoy the feast!

These are, bar none, the best fajitas I’ve ever eaten in my life. The marinade is really what makes the difference, since the rest of the ingredients are fairly standard. The sauce is tangy, slightly sweet, and has enough to kick to avoid being cloying. I couldn’t stop drizzling the leftover marinade onto mine, and next time I’m definitely setting aside more than the recommended amount. The sauce would also work great with chicken, but why mess with something so close to perfect? After my first bite of these, there was only one thing I could think of saying to Father Leo: BLESS.

Southwest Chicken Chili

Even though I posted a similar recipe not that long ago, I thought I’d throw this recipe up as a simpler and slightly less spicy option.  I clipped this recipe out of a Parade magazine because it seemed like it would be easy to make, and I liked all of the flavors in the dish.  I’ve made this several times since then and tweaked it here and there, and it’s always been a hit.

Easy Chicken Chili (adapted from this recipe)

What You’ll Need

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1” cubes [Note: Originally I used 1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs with the fat trimmed off]
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 can 98% Fat Free Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup [Note: I used 2 cans of soup because I like more liquid]
• 2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 ½ cups frozen corn
• ¾ cup water
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp kosher salt

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken, onion and pepper. 

Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the chicken is white throughout. Season with the various spices.

Once the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are soft, add the condensed soup, water, corn and beans. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for about 5 more minutes.

I served this with crusty Italian bread and some Mexican cheese sprinkled on top.  This is a quick alternative to the other chicken chili recipe I posted, and uses items that are basic staples of your pantry, making it a great option for those weeknights when you get home late and don’t feel like slaving over a stove for hours. I have made this with other vegetables thrown in (finishing off the random dribs and drabs in my freezer) and have added other spices (chipotle powder, cayenne pepper).  You can tailor this to your own taste, or enjoy it as is!

Black Bean Soup

For some reason I kept thinking that I had posted this awhile ago, because it was my favorite of the recipes from the soup class I took at Whole Foods.  When I was at the grocery store on Friday I was trying to remember the ingredients so I could get them to make the soup again this weekend.  When I tried looking the recipe up on my phone, I realized I had never posted it – the horror! This is simply too good to be missed.

Fast Black Bean Soup

What You’ll Need

• 2 15 oz cans of black beans, preferably low- or no-salt
• 15 oz  can of prepared black bean soup, preferably low- or no-salt (*or substitute additional can of black beans)
• 2 cups (½ bag) of frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 cups (½ bag) frozen corn
• 2 cups (½ bag) frozen broccoli florets
• 2 cups (16 fl oz bottle) carrot juice
• 1 cup fresh chopped tomatoes
• ⅛ tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients

• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ½ cup chopped green onions (scallions)
• 1 avocado, chopped
• ¼ cup pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds), lightly toasted
• 2 tsp hot sauce

Ready for the easiest soup recipe ever?

Here it is:

Combine the frozen mixed veggies, corn, broccoli, black beans, can of soup, carrot juice, water, hot sauce and spices in a soup pot.

Bring to a boil, them reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, then continue cooking until they are heated through.

Serve topped with avocado, green onions, and pumpkin seeds (or plain). Enjoy!

I chose to enjoy this with just some green onions on top, and they are a great addition to this.  Green onions are milder than regular white or yellow onions, so they don’t have an overwhelmingly oniony taste (like my awesome vocab there?). They do provide a nice coolness and bit of crunch to this soup and they balance the slight heat provided by the chili powder and hot sauce. This is definitely not a “spicy” soup, but feel free to use those two ingredients as little or as much as you’d prefer. I didn’t use the avocado or pumpkin seeds, but I’m sure they would both be tasty toppings. I looooove this soup. I love it so much that it makes me use multiple unnecessary consonants in my words.  For reals, though, this is the best black bean soup I’ve ever had, and trust me, I’ve eaten ALL of them.  Pretty much every prepared black bean soup on the market is chock full of sodium (which gives it “flavor”), but lacks the fresh vegetables and textures this soup has. The black bean soup at Panera is a great healthy option, but it’s essentially just mushy black beans (I still like it – black beans and I are tight). There is absolutely no reason to buy canned soups when you can make something this healthy and delicious in almost no time, for very little money, and with very little effort.  This made enough for Eric and I to eat it for dinner (it’s that filling) twice and for me to take it for lunch a couple times. I’m making this tomorrow as the appetizer for a recipe I have planned for an upcoming post – Asian-inspired Steak Fajitas from Bobby Flay’s Throwdown! Cookbook. I can’t wait to eat them both tomorrow night!

Roasted Poblano and Tomatillo Chicken Chili

As I’ve mentioned before, Eric got me a couple cooking classes at Whole Foods as part of my Christmas gift.  One of the classes, Chili for Chilly nights, was oh-so-conveniently scheduled for the day before the Super Bowl.  I think it’s safe to say that he had an ulterior motive in mind when signing me up for classes, doncha think?  Anyhoo, the class was great – we learned how to make 3 chilis that were featured in my Whole Foods’ annual chili cookoff – Clam & Bacon Chili (the winner – I will feature it here at some point in the future), Bob’s Game Day Chili (a traditional meat-based chili) and the Engine 2 Diet Chili (a vegan version featured in the same cookbook as this soup).  The fourth chili was one the chefs had concocted the night before from some leftovers they had in the prep kitchen, and, in my opinion, it was the best.  I’ve been calling it "Green Chicken Chili," but that makes it sound a wee bit unappetizing and as if the chicken is long past rotten.  So, I came up with the rather long and clunky title of this post, when really it would be sufficient to just call this "A Party In My Mouth."

Green Chicken Chili

What You’ll Need

• 4 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken (or, precook 2-3 large breasts and shred/cut into cubes)
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 3 poblano peppers, roasted and peeled (or 1 can of Hatch green chilies)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded, deribbed, and finely chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves, minced
• ¾ jar tomatillo/salsa verde (roughly 10 oz. total)
• 2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 small bag frozen corn
• 1 small bag OR 2 cans black-eyed peas/cannelini beans (roughly 2 cups total)
• ¼ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Before you chop your veggies, start out by roasting your poblano peppers.  This is an easy process that helps bring a sweetness and subtlety of flavor to the pepper, while also reducing its spiciness. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and lightly brush their entire surface with olive oil.

Move your oven rack to its highest position, then set your oven to broil. Cook the peppers directly under the broiler until the surface starts to blacken and the skin starts to bubble and pop.  Periodically rotate the peppers until all sides are evenly cooked.

I clearly do not know how to follow my own directions, as I a) used 2, not 3, peppers, and b) thought I was super-chef enough to not require a baking sheet at all. Funnily enough, when peppers start to cook, they create juices.  Which drip. And sizzle.  Use a baking sheet.

This is evidence of my amazing awesomeness at photography.  When I looked at this on the tiny screen of my point-and-shoot, it looked like a cool, arty photograph that would convey a sense of the heat from the oven.  Instead, it looks like my peppers are in the middle of a really bad acid trip.

While your peppers are roasting, prep your veggies by chopping the onions and garlic.  To prepare the jalapeno, cut off the stem portion, then cut the entire pepper in half.  Remove all seeds (they are what contain the heat) and remove the white ribbing.  Cut it into very small (⅛ inch) pieces.

It got to the point where I was impatient with how long the roasting seemed to be taking (in all actuality it was about 10 minutes), so I decided to take my peppers out whether they were fully roasted or not (hunger is a compelling force). A good pointer is to check the stems of the peppers – if they are blackening, then the peppers are close to done.  Immediately after taking the peppers out, place them in an airtight tupperware container or Ziploc bag for 10-15 minutes.  The steam and heat formed inside of the container will help lift the skin of of the peppers, at least in theory.

In keeping with my theme of being a half-assed excuse for a food blogger, I forgot to take pictures of the next part.  After the peppers had cooled for about the right amount of time, take them out of the container.  Pull on the stems so that the entire top, including the inner part with most of the seeds, comes right out.  Simple enough.  Then, you’re SUPPOSED to be able to squeeze the peppers like a tube of toothpaste and have the skin peel right off.  Easy? No.  Fail? Yes.

My pepper’s skin slide off in one piece so much as peel like a pasty white boy after a hot summer day. I pretty much gave up after I realized I was quickly destroying my pepper and figured the little bit of char left would add to the flavor.  In the end, I was right. I cut the peppers down the center, removed whatever seeds were remaining, and chopped the poblanos into small, mushy strips.

Heat a large soup pot or Dutch oven on medium heat until very hot. Add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil, then sauté the onions for 2-3 minutes until they are slightly translucent.  Add the peppers and garlic, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the onions are softened. Add the chicken broth, salsa, black-eyed peas, frozen corn, and chicken. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes, or until everything is heated through.

Minus the roasting of the peppers, this is an extremely quick recipe if you choose to use the precooked rotisserie chickens available in any supermarket.  Ideally, you could make this with the leftovers from the chicken that you ate for a previous meal.  As I mentioned in the ingredients list, you can make chicken specifically for this dish, but it will significantly add to the prep/cooking time.

I served this topped with a little bit of shredded Colby Jack cheese and some crusty bread.  This makes enough for 6 large meals, and like many soups/stews, I think it tastes better after the flavors have time to meld overnight or longer. No matter when you eat it, this is a wonderfully fresh and vibrant take on chili. I absolutely love tomatillo salsa, and poblano peppers are especially delicious when roasted.  Although this may sound like it’s very spicy, it’s only got a little bit of kick to it.  Taking the seeds out of the peppers helps keep it rather mild, and most of the zip comes from the canned salsa.  If you can’t find poblano peppers in your supermarket (I had to buy mine at Whole Foods), using a can of green chilies is an affordable substitution that will give you approximately the same flavor. Also, feel free to use some tofu and vegetable broth to make a delicious vegetarian/vegan version. I have another chicken chili recipe that I had been planning on posting here for some time, but it was quickly forgotten in the aftermath of how awesome this chili is.  I will post the other one at some point, but in the meantime I strongly recommend expanding your culinary minds and tastebuds and giving this a try!

Empanadas

Empanadas are one of my favorite comfort foods.  There are a million different ways to make them, and I have experimented quite a bit with different fillings, sauces, etc.  This version is the simplest, most yummy one yet, and has quickly become my default.

Taco Empanadas

What You’ll Need

• 1 1.3 lb package of ground turkey (93% Fat Free)
• 2 packages of Goya Discos (White or Orange)**
• 1 lb. 2% Velveeta cheese
• 2 packets Taco seasoning (appx. ¼ cup)
• ⅔ cup water
• Fat free sour cream
• Chunky salsa

**Note: Goya discos are sold in the freezer section of your grocery store.  I have seen them in various locations, but mine are always located somewhere between the frozen dinners and frozen vegetables.  If you can’t find them, ask your grocer – I’ve never been to a large grocery store that doesn’t sell these.  There is no difference between the orange or white versions; I buy the orange because I like the added color. Be sure to let these defrost overnight in your refrigerator before using them.

What To Do:

Brown the ground turkey in a skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes or until no pink remains.  Use a spatula to constantly break the turkey up into small crumbles.  Drain any fat or water from the pan and return to the heat.

Plain cooked ground turkey tends to look a little gray and unappetizing, but it’s healthier than ground beef and by the end of this recipe, you’ll never taste the difference!

Next, mix the taco seasoning with water in a small mixing bowl.  Since I usually buy a large bottle of Taco Seasoning mixture at Sam’s Club, I generally eyeball the amount I think I’ll need.  Stir with a fork until the mixture is smooth and there are no clumps in the bowl. Pour the seasoning mixture over the turkey; mix well and heat for one minute.

Remove the turkey from the heat and set aside.  Preheat your oven to 400F, then assemble your discos and the cheese.  Cut thin (1 cm) slices of the Velveeta, then cut those in half, until you have 20 total slices.

To start filling the empanadas, hold one disco in the palm of your non-dominant hand.

Spoon one large tablespoon of the ground meat mixture into the center of the shell. Add one slice of cheese.

Fold the two halves of the disco together and pinch the edges together to seal the empanada.

Pinch small amounts of the folded edge together to create a crimping pattern. Alternatively, you can use a fork to crimp these like you would a pie crust or ravioli.

Place the assembled empanada onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Once all 20 are finished, bake for 13-15 minutes.  Even though the meat is already cooked, this will allow the shell to get crispy and the cheese to get melty and gooey.

Serve the empanadas with the sour cream and salsa for dipping.

Although these are very simple, I can make a meal on them alone.  The bonus of making 20 at one time is that you have enough for two meals for two people, or one meal for a family of 4, for about $10. Empanadas are most often deep fried, giving them a moist and flaky crust, but I prefer to bake them to make them slightly healthier. Even though this might seem like a total junk food, it’s not completely terrible for you.  I once worked it out, and each empanada ends up having about 3 grams of fat.  If you use fat free sour cream, they are practically guilt-free! Like I mentioned earlier, I have experimented with these considerably.  You can make a more traditional empanada by including olives, or using a sauce based on tomato paste, cayenne pepper, and other spices.  Feel free to play around with these to your liking – try adding some green pepper chunks for some crunch, or jalapenos if you like spice and you’re feeling brave!

Southwestern Eggs for Two

Hi intra-web world. This is my first post as both an aspiring chef and blogger. As you'll see with my posts, I'm delightfully self-depricating and usually will call it as I see it. I want to be able to share with you my triumphs and epic defeats so we can all laugh, learn and enjoy. This post is definitely the latter, so enjoy my FAIL and learn!


Southwestern Eggs for Two

What You'll Need:

½ cup of corn
½ cup of black beans
¼ cup cut green bell pepper
Handful of pepper jack cheese (to top eggs)
Salsa (I prefer the spicier the better!)
1 Pocketless pita
4 Eggs


What To Do:

Okay, so I’m sure that most of the people reading this have A) made eggs a ton of times before and B) will probably do a much better job than I did. The purpose of this entry is to learn from my mistakes and sit back, enjoy and laugh with me at my bumbledness…if that even is a word. Probably a more correct title would be “What not to do”, but I digress...so without further ado:

What I like to do first is to grease the pan, put it on low heat and get the ingredients out and prepared.

While the pan gets hot, I open the cans of black beans and corn and drain them. I then combine them into 1 Tupperware (why not, black beans and corn go great together!) and then I chop the pepper, about ½ inches by a ¼ of an inch.

OKAY! Ingredients prepared - now let’s crack the eggs! SPLAT!

Now, you’ll see this later - if you’re making this recipe it’s best to either use 4 eggs with a far bigger pan than I did, or just individually make 2 omelets with 2 eggs each. Learn from my fail!

I added my ½ cup of black beans, my ½ cup of corn, and my ¼ cup of green peppers, combined them into the egg batter and poured that baby into the pan like so:

So my initial thought was "Wow, this looks like it’s going to be really good!" And why shouldn’t it be, when we have all these yummy things together in a pan with more yummy things to come......but suddenly I realized that as I’m scraping the edges down and allowing the batter to run under the cooked part of the omelet, I’d created the omelet version of Frankenstein and alas, I could not control it on the flame.But, I’m no quitter, so I did my best to flip this gargantuan beast of an omelet...and ultimately, I got this...

FAIL

It turned into some scrambled egg mess - and a not very appetizing mess I might add. But try as I might, I was going to ameliorate this situation … and I began thinking what could I do to fix this mess...thinking...thinking...thinking...thinking...thinking...

CHEESE!

Yes, cheese fixes everything...let’s try thatI laid the pepper jack cheese on top of the scrambled egg mess mocking me in the pan …

And already I started to feel a bit better. What else could be done with this?



I dumped some salsa on top of the eggs. Now it looked like I had planned this whole mess out. While the cheese was melting, I turned the oven on (I usually have it going at 350F) and heated up my pita. Nothing says home like a warm pillowy pita.

I thought it might all be okay at this point, but who wouldn’t feel that way in the sight of a heavenly, glowing warm piece of pita bread? Once the pita was warm, I removed it from the oven. I cut the "omelet" in half and placed it on the pita, which looked like so:

Now, after all that, this thing tasted awesome...it was even man-approved by my roommate who graciously ate the other half.

We can all learn from my fail though! In the future I’d say use no more than 2 eggs, ¼ cup total of beans and corn, and 1/8 cup of green pepper, then heat it slowly and pray to God that the omelet doesn’t break when you try to flip it.

If anyone else tries this recipe, which is both fairly quick and cheap to make, please let me know how it comes out!