nummy food

Blackened Spanish Chicken with Refried Black Beans

Blackened Spanish Chicken

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes until it is smoking hot.
2. Mix together the paprika, salt, cayenne, cumin, thyme, white pepper, and onion powder. Oil the chicken breasts with cooking spray on both sides, then coat the chicken breasts evenly with the spice mixture.
3. Place the chicken in the hot pan, and cook for 1 minute. Turn, and cook 1 minute on other side. Place the breasts on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 5 minutes.

Refried Black Beans

Ingredients

• 2 cups canned black beans, divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
• 3/4 cup diced onion

Directions

1. In a small bowl mash 2/3 cup of beans to a smooth paste.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining beans with the water. When heated through, stir in garlic, pepper, salt and liquid smoke.
3. Stir the bean paste into the whole beans and mix well. Stir in the onion and cook for 10 minutes, or until onions are slightly cooked.

Notes:

1. This was a “clean out the cabinet” venture. It’s quick, easy and nummy.

2. For the chicken: make blackened chicken. dump the salsa leftover from the weekend on top. Voila! If you’re going for fancy use a homemade salsa recipe or enchilada sauce. Melt some cheese over it if you’re into that.

3. The rice is regular ol’ spanish rice with some beer added into after about half the water has cooked out. Nothing special, but still tasty

4. The bean recipe was followed exactly for the most part, except that we added some bell pepper and spiced it up a little extra with our semi-central american spices…

5. Again, this isn’t a fancy recipe by any means, it’s a using what you have recipe. Hell, we’re only posting it because we look so cute when we cook. :-P

(chicken) Source

(beans) Source

Asian Chicken with Vegetable Lo Mein

aka Greasy American Chinese Food Night

^ ze trey with new (job appropriate) hair cut ^ 

Asian Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3 tb garlic chili sauce
• 2 tb soy sauce
• 2 tb fish sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tb brown sugar
• 2 tb vegetable oil 
• 1/4 chicken broth

Directions

• Cut chicken into one inch pieces, in a bowl mix together chili sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, cornstarch and sugar. Caution, this may be too spicy for some if so reduce the chili sauce by a tb spoon. If too salty (it shouldn’t be) a tb spoon or two of water and 1/2 tb spoon sugar. Place chicken in sauce, mix and let sit.
• Heat the oil in a skillet then add chicken and sauce
• Stir fry while until sauce thickens. Then add chicken broth and cook until reduced.
• Serve hot over white rice.

Vegi Lo Mein

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup sliced red bell peppers
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Heat oil in a large wok or saute pan. Stir fry mushrooms, carrots, peppers, onion and garlic until tender. Stir in bean sprouts and green onions; cook one minute. Mix cornstarch and chicken broth in a small bowl and add to stir fry. Stir in hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce, ginger, cayenne pepper and curry powder. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
3. Add cooked spaghetti, and toss. Serve immediately.

Notes:

1. My favorite part about this meal was how impromptu it was. We did not plan this meal out as we usually do and it turned out way better than we expected. The chicken was darn good, the lo mein was amazing, and it definitely needed the 1/2 cup white rice we placed the chicken on to help cut the spice. On a scale of one to ten it was really good.

2. We over did the chili sauce on the chicken, but it actually turned out great and reminded us slightly of maybe general tso’s chicken. Nice. It was delicious-os and claudia liked it alot.

3. We didn’t have the hoisin sauce so used the garlic chili sauce (this shit is amazing, go buy some) on the lo mein (about 3 tb spoons worth). It made it pretty spicy (but not too hot) and amazingly tasty. We also switched up the veggies and used broccoli (in place of mushrooms) and forwent the green onions. Those bitches are pricy.

4. This is the third time we’ve made this chicken and every time the recipe has been slightly different so it’s nice to have it written down. Again, if following the above recipes with alterations, we really recommend some white rice or something to help cut the spice.

5. Used actual lo mein noodles instead of spaghetti. Those bitches take about 3 or 4 minutes to be al. Al dente. No more. Don’t follow those lying directions they put on the package ;-)

Vegi Lo Mein Source

The Asian Chicken is a trey originale. be impressed.

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Marsala wine
• 1/4 cup cooking sherry

Directions

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Notes:

1. This was pretty good but because of expenses we went with a cheap cabernet instead of the fancier Marsala wine and cooking sherry. Result: not bad, but would like to try again. Claudia offers one thumb up.

2. Other than the vino no changes (i think) were made and we did the vegetable melody :-P to go along with it. As you can see it was good food to start a night of drinking off with…

Source

Shredded Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) cans Goya Tomato Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Goya White Distilled Vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Goya Minced Garlic
• 3 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
• 1 teaspoon Goya Ground Cumin
• 2 teaspoons Goya Oregano Leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons Goya Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• Goya Adobo with Pepper, to taste
• 1 (10 ounce) package Goya Corn Tortillas, warmed
•  
• For the Garnish:
• 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• Lettuce, tomatoes, avocados and/or onions (optional)
• Goya Hot Sauce

Directions

1. In medium bowl, mix together tomato sauce, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and sugar. Season with Adobo; set aside.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with Adobo. Cook chicken, turning once, until light golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Add reserved tomato sauce mixture to pan; bring to a boil (be careful, the tomato sauce can splatter). Lower heat to medium low. Simmer, covered, until cooked through (thermometer will register 170 degrees F when inserted into thickest part of breast), flipping once, about 20 minutes.
3. Transfer chicken to cutting board; reserve sauce in pan. Remove and discard bones and skin. Using two forks, shred chicken breast. Transfer chicken to skillet with sauce, mixing to combine; continue to cook until sauce reduces and blends into chicken, and mixture begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes more.
4. Transfer chicken mixture to serving bowl. Spoon into warmed corn tortillas. Garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, avocados and/or onions, if desired. Sprinkle with hot sauce, if desired.

Notes:

1. Tacos are tacos and chicken tacos are yummy. Trey really enjoyed how these turned out and Claudia gives them one and a half thumbs up.

2. We used Rotel instead of Goya tomato sauce and did not have the Adobo to spice with. We used boneless skinless breast instead (which trey was thankful for b/c they were super easy to shred). Also added a couple green peppers to the Rotel. I also highly recommend heating your corn tortilla shells in a skillet. yums.

3. We’ve made these twice now and the second time made some refried beans to go with (from scratch!), if you need more than just the chicken tacos I highly recommend doing this (and maybe some rice…).

Source

Pesto Pasta with Chicken, Asparagus, & Arugula

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. pasta of your choice (I used campanelle)
• 1 jar of sundried tomatoes, drained (reserve 2 Tbsp. oil)
• 1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup basil pesto, homemade or storebought
• 2-3 cups baby arugula
• freshly-grated or shaved Parmesan

Method:

Notes:

1. This was a pretty good dish. It was a little overwhelmed by the pesto, but that’s not a bad thing if you enjoy pesto pasta dishes. Claudia would give one thumbs up.

2. We used rigatoni (obviously), spinach (instead of arugula), added some fresh tomato at the end, and forgot the parmesan cheese (d’oh!). I also blackened the chicken while i cooked it (using thighs in lieu of breasts),  -just standard chili powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt, black pepper - though it would have been fine without.

3. Making it again we would probably use less pesto (slightly) and more sun dried tomatoes (we used half of one of those smallish bags of sundried tomatoes you can get at any grocery).

Source

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted
• 1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
• Pinch sugar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 11/2 pounds)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 (8-ounce) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained
• Freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 pound spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente

Directions

Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves; cook and stir for 5 minutes until fragrant and soft. Add the olives and some hand-torn basil. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like tomatoes), cook and stir until the liquid is cooked down and the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes; season with sugar, salt and pepper. Lower the heat, cover, and keep warm.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little assembly line. Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/2-inch thick. Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, season with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil. Bake the Chicken Parmesan for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti

Notes:

1. This meal was easy and tasty. The chicken was amazing. We used thighs instead of cutlets and skipped the tenderizing / beating with a hammer bit. The thighs tasted amazing and the cooking time was actually only about 10 minutes in the oven instead of 15. Also used mozzarella in addition to the parmesan.

2. We skipped their sauce steps and made our own, Claudia is very awesome-o at making sauce, though we hurried it with some canned sauce added to it. If you want the specifics you can message her.

3. Our sauces used onion, garlic, tomato, mushroom and basil, so no olives (though we could have and probably wouldn’t have been a bad idea - we forgot).

4. Used angel hair pasta because it’s slightly lighter (and the only spaghetti we had was wheat and we weren’t in the mood for it).

Source

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Thai rice noodles (or enough for 2 people), linguini-width, available at Asian/Chinese stores
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced
• Marinade for Chicken: 1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• optional: 1-2 fresh red chilies, minced
• 3 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 3 spring (green) onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander/cilantro
• 1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts (or other nuts, such as cashews)
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
• vegetable oil for stir-frying, and wedges of lime
• PAD THAI SAUCE:
• 3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water (look for tamarind at Asian/Chinese or Indian food stores)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce, + more to taste
• 1-3 tsp. chili sauce, or substitute 1/2 tsp. or more dried crushed chili or cayenne, to taste
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Preparation:For a step-by-step version of this recipe (with pictures), see: Perfect Chicken Pad Thai, step-by-step!

1. Bring a large pot of pot to a boil and remove from heat. Dunk in your rice noodles. Allow noodles to soak while you prepare the other ingredients. Note: you will be frying the noodles later, so you don’t want to over-soften them now. Noodles are ready to be drained when they are soft enough to be eaten, but are still firm and a little “crunchy”.Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. Make the Pad Thai Sauce by combining the sauce ingredients together in a cup. Stir well to dissolve the tamarind paste and brown sugar. Set aside. Note: this may seem like a lot of sugar, but you need it to balance out the sourness of the tamarind - this balance is what makes Pad Thai taste so amazing!
3. Place chicken slices in a small bowl. Pour the marinade (2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbsp. soy sauce) over the chicken. Stir well and set aside.
4. Warm up a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil plus garlic and minced chili, if using. Stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds).
5. Add chicken together with the marinade. Stir-fry 30 seconds to 1 minute. When wok/pan becomes dry, add a little chicken stock, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, to keep the chicken frying nicely. Continue stir-frying in this way until the chicken is cooked (5-8 minutes).
6. Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over. Using two spatulas, wooden spoons, or other utensils, immediately stir-fry the noodles. Use a gentle “lift and turn” method (like tossing a salad) to prevent noodles from breaking. Stir-fry in this way 1-2 minutes. If you find your wok/frying pan too dry, push noodles aside and add a little more oil to the bottom (but no more broth, or the noodles will become soggy).
7. Add the bean sprouts and sprinkle over the pepper. Continue “tossing” 1 more minute, or until noodles are cooked. Noodles are done to perfection when they are no longer “hard” or crunchy, but chewy-sticky wonderful!
8. Taste-test for seasoning, adding more fish sauce until desired flavor is reached (I usually add at least 1 more Tbsp. fish sauce). Toss well to incorporate.
9. Lift noodles onto a serving plate. Top with generous amounts of fresh coriander, spring onion, and crushed/chopped nuts. Add fresh lime wedges (lime is great squeezed overtop), and if desired, serve with Nam Prik Pao Chili Sauce (homemade recipe) on the side. ENJOY!

Notes:

1. For first time Pad Thai it turned out well. The biggest problem were the noodles, one their was too much noodle to other stuff ratio for us (all other ingredients were drowned in noodles - i get it man, it’s the point of the dish, but sheesh) and two we over soaked the noodles :-(

the recipe called for approximately 20 minutes of soaking, i think five to ten would have been plenty, however this is my (Trey’s) mistake for not checking the noodles more closely.

2. We added green peppers and mushrooms to the dish, which went over excellently (i especially loved the green pepper). The green pepper went in with the egg and the mushrooms went in shortly after (before the noodles). Probably could do with slightly more than we actually added (maybe two green pepper instead of one - the amount of mushrooms 8oz was fine).

3. Trey cut the chicken too small for the dish, was fine but should use long strips instead of cubes

4. Added white rice cooking wine to the sauce. Went with about 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of chili sauce, which would have been fine except for their should have been a better sauce to noodle ratio, luckily we added moar (different brand) chili sauce to the end result.

5. Used (dried) chives instead of spring onions. Didn’t have any nuts to use (no biggie).

6. Next time either: cook the egg separately as suggested or wait a little longer.

7. Over all the taste on this dish was AMAZING. i am not, nor do i pretend to be a pad thai connoisseur but i thought the flavors were amazing.

Source

Moroccan Chicken Stew

Ingredients

• 1  pound  skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon  ground coriander
• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1  teaspoon  ground paprika
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 2  medium  onions, cut into wedges
• 3  cloves  garlic, minced
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1  28-ounce can  crushed tomatoes
• 1  15-ounce can  garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-1/2  cups  water
• 1/2  cup  raisins
• 1/3  cup  small pitted ripe olives
• 3  cups  hot cooked couscous
• 1/4  cup  snipped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a bowl coat chicken pieces with a mixture of flour, coriander, cumin, paprika, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

2. In a 4-quart Dutch oven cook onion and garlic in hot oil about 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from Dutch oven, reserving oil in pan. Add chicken pieces, about half at a time, to pan. Cook quickly until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Return all chicken and the onion mixture to pan. Add crushed tomatoes, beans, water, raisins, and olives. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until chicken is tender, stirring occasionally. Spoon couscous into soup bowls. Ladle stew over the couscous and sprinkle with snipped cilantro. Makes 6 servings.

Notes

1. So i think this might be the most altered recipe we’ve done to date. Not because we are awesome, but because we are poor. :-(

- Less than a pound of chicken (the lb was for the whole week, sheesh)

- No chickpeas (thought we had some ready, did not… but meh)

- No raisins 

2. To remedy the lack of chicken we added in a good bit of tempeh. I especially enjoy the texture it added, but didn’t fully supplement the 1/2 lb of chicken we were missing.

3. In place of chickpeas we used lentils. Don’t think it added enough of the texture (or flavor) that would be had from the chickpeas (are making some to put into leftovers tomorrow, will update).

4. Used green olives in place of black olives (claudia doesn’t eat black olives, pssh). This actually added (we thought)  an interesting contrast to the flavor that we both enjoyed.

5. Also added some mushrooms toward the end of the cooking process for body. (Good move)

6. Overall the flavors are awesome (enough that trey is considering making some chicken with just the seasoning - minus the stew part - to go with something in the future…). Enjoyed the dish very much. A++ would eat again.

Source