10.12.2007

ReCiPe ReMiX

Yesterday I fixed a Chili's Southwest Eggroll and today with the filling, I flipped it and imho it was even better :o)

Nachos with a southwest chicken twist. I did add some pepper jack shredded cheese to top the nachos and MAN were they good! I layed some tortilla chips on a baking sheet and preheated my oven for 350 degrees and layered the meat mixture on top of the chips, evenly spreading it as I went along. I then layered some pepper jack cheese on top and baked it until the cheese was slightly melted and the filling warmed again. It didn't take long and the result was definitely worth repeating!

Here's a photo of this southwest remix :o) Since I couldn't decide on a salsa, I did a little of each, salsa verde and pico de gallo.

10.11.2007

CoPYCaT ReCiPe: SouTHWeST eGGRoLLS

Today for dinner it was a repeat performance of something my family loves. When I came across this recipe I hadn't tried them at the restaurant before. I had come across it online and decided to give it a try. All the ingredients were things I loved so I figured that they would be great mixed together :o) I also got to use my tortilla wrappers from Trader Joe's, spinach and chile flavored ones.

I found the recipe on one of my favorite online recipe sites, RecipeZaar. I like this site because you can usually find reviews on the recipes so you can adapt recipes or get great tips for variations.

Here is the recipe that I used compliments of Mysterygirl. I did quadruple the recipe and have a great deal of filling left over. Here's a photo of the filling inside the tortilla shells:



Chili's Southwest Eggrolls

Recipe #1831928


Eggroll
1 chicken breast fillet
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced red bell peppers
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1/3 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons diced, canned jalapeno peppers
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
5 7-inch flour tortillas


Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup smashed fresh avocados (about half of an avocado)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1 dash dried dill weed
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash pepper
Garnish
2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped onions

Preheat barbecue grill to high heat.
Rub the chicken breast with some vegetable oil then grill it on the barbecue for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done.
Lightly salt and pepper each side of the chicken while it cooks.
Set chicken aside until it cools down enough to handle.
Preheat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the red pepper and onion to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes until tender.
Dice the cooked chicken into small cubes and add it to the pan.
Add the corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper to the pan.
Cook for another 4 minutes.
Stir well so that the spinach separates and is incorporated into the mixture.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese.
Stir until the cheese is melted.
Wrap the tortillas in a moist cloth and microwave on high temperature for 1 1/2 minutes or until hot.
Spoon approximately one-fifth of the mixture into the center of a tortilla.
Fold in the ends and then roll the tortilla over the mixture.
Roll the tortilla very tight, then pierce with a toothpick to hold together.
Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have five eggrolls.

*** I don't like to freeze these, I made them fresh instead because I find that when they are frozen and you fry them, the filling can still be a little cold inside if you don't let them thaw a bit first. You can pan fry them without using a toothpick but if you deep fry, be sure to secure it with a toothpick to keep it from opening.***

(If you decide to freeze them, follow these directions but allow them to thaw a bit as I recommended. I have fried them in the past and then tossed them in the microwave for a minute afterwards to heat it through.

Arrange the eggrolls on a plate, cover the plate with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours.
Overnight is best. )

While the eggrolls freeze prepare the avocado-ranch dipping sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
Preheat 4-6 cups of oil to 375 degrees.
Deep fry the eggrolls in the hot oil for 12-15 minutes and remove to paper towels or a rack to drain for about 2 minutes.
Slice each eggroll diagonally lengthwise and arrange on a plate around a small bowl of the dipping sauce.
Garnish the dipping sauce with the chopped tomato and onion.


TIP: To help the tortillas roll up easier, I microwaved 5-6 at a time for about 45 seconds between paper towels to help soften them and make them more pliable.
I didn't make the sauce this time but I have made it and I think it's pretty good :o) It was a little more effort than I was willing to make today so I passed on it.

I did try Goya Arroz Amarillo (Yellow Rice) for the first time today on a recommendation of a friend and it was pretty good. I've made spanish rice from scratch before but not really crazy with the recipes I've tried thus far. This had great flavor and a certain non-rice eater had 4 helpings! Yay! We found ourselves a WINNER!


I have nearly half of the filling left over and it will be used tomorrow to make southwestern style nachos :o) Two meals in one days work :o) If you're going to go through the effort to make this recipe, you may as well make a larger amount of it. That's also sensible because what are you going to do with the rest of the bell pepper and you do have to open a whole can of black beans. Might as well adjust the recipe to use the whole can.

We love these SouTHWeST eGGRoLLS! I hope you give this recipe a try :o)

10.10.2007

SHRiMP eTouFFee

I love to look at the sale circulars to help decide what to make for dinner. Today 24-30 count shrimp was on sale for $4.99 per pound so that cinched the deal for me. It was a pretty nice day with the weather being in the mid 80's and a slight breeze so I didn't want anything too heavy on the menu. When I grocery shop and see specific items, pictures of finished foods flash through my mind. When I look at shrimp I think of Etouffee, Po' Boys, Low Country Boils and the list goes on and on...I made an executive decision and decided tonight would be etouffe. Emeril Lagasse has a recipe in his cookbook 'Real and Rustic' for crawfish etouffee that I substitute in peeled and deveined shrimp for the crawfish. If I do crawfish, I use 3 of those packages of crawfish tails in the seafood department. I love it either way, see what you think.

Here is the recipe from Emeril's website. The only differences I see from the one in the book are this one is doubled, the addition of garlic, which is never a bad idea *imho* :o) and the exemption of 2 bay leaves (4 for this recipe). Other than that, it's all the same.

I serve my etouffee with garlic bread and over jasmine rice.



SHRIMP ETOUFFEE

Ingredients needed:

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter
4 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped bell peppers
2 cups chopped celery
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups water
6 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, and celery and sauté until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp, salt, and cayenne and cook for about 4 minutes, or until the shrimp turn pink.

Dissolve the flour in the water and add to the shrimp mixture. Stir until the mixture thickens slightly. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the parsley and green onions. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes more.

Serve right away.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings


Enjoy!

'oNe MoRe THiNG...'

a well used expression between my friend and me. It's my friend that reminded me about this so here goes...

It must have been an oversight because I truly meant to blog about a trip I recently made with aforementioned friend to the Farmer's Market at the corner of Dam Neck Road and Princess Anne Road.

I've seen a lot of new construction going up across the street which is okay (could've been better with a Trader Joe's imho). Since there isn't scheduled to be a Trader Joe's, I'll be wishy washy on the whole new shopping center subject.



There's a cute little cafe 'THe PRiNCeSS aNNe CouNTY GRiLL'there that serves a nice little breakfast in the morning with blue plate specials (don't you just love that diner lingo?) for lunch and dinner. The servings are a good size and fitting in dessert is a challenge. I've had the biscuits and gravy there for breakfast and since that visit have had their house burger. The tea was sweet.(A REQUIREMENT in my book for a place to be 'deemed' good. Sorry, 'the sugar's on the table line doesn't work with me) :o) A cute little place and definitely popular among the locals with clearly some 'regulars' keeping the place hoppin'.



Just behind is a candy shop promising 'sweet addictions' THe CaNDY BaRN that just opened this year and I wanted to mention that because they have some delicious looking desserts in their cases. Buckeye's, chocolate covered Twinkies and pretzels along with a myriad of other sweet treats fill the bakery cases and boy do they all look good! Here are some photos I took with the point and shoot. I haven't been back to take more but you get the point :o) Doesn't this look like a place you would want to take your family?







There's also a butcher in the marketplace that sells a dry aged beef that is pretty good and various veggie stands. There's also a Yoder's Dairy with a full case of different ice creams and one called 'apple pie' ice cream! 'I scream you scream, we all scream FOR ICE CREAM!' No pictures of this, sorry. You'll just have to go there and buy a half gallon of it prepacked. YUMM! Think I'll head there myself! I feel another blog coming on...

Anyway...check out the Farmer's market there. When you step out of your car, I guarantee you'll feel like you've just slowed time down. Relax a while and take time to smell the flowers :o)

10.09.2007

PiZZa'S ReaDY!

Remember this?


This is the pizza dough that I purchased at Trader Joe's and froze until I was ready to use it. Today was 'PiZZa DaY!'. I made 3 different kinds of pizza with the various doughs and of course I included photos.

I have a secret when it comes to pizza and that is my handy dandy pizza peel, my Pampered Chef 15" Round Stone and preheated 500 degree oven. I put the 'seasoned' stone inside to preheat as well. I allowed the dough to defrost and come to close to room temperature. This is my first time working with this dough and it was a very smooth dough and was pretty strong as pizza doughs go. I generally make my own crust but this was a real treat for all of us :o)

For the veggie pizza's I visited the salad bar at the local grocery store and picked up some green bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions, black olives, sliced banana peppers, crumbled feta cheese, mushrooms and spinach. I love doing this for two reasons: the first being it is cheaper than buying entire packages of each item or whole units and the second is some of the preparation is done. I also tried the boboli pizza sauce for the first time today. I prefer white pizzas or cream sauces, but my family likes tomato sauce. I felt that it was a little thicker after cooked than what I'm used to since I usually make sauce from crushed tomatoes. Enough about my obsessions...

The first pizza was made with one of the garlic herb pizza doughs. I layered some mushrooms, olives, red onions, bell peppers and banana peppers with mozzarella and feta cheese. Here are before and after photos:









The next pizza was one after my own heart :o) This one I drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and spread minced garlic over a garlic herb crust. I topped it with fresh tomatoes, red onions, bell peppers, spinach leaves, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. Here's a photo of my low fat veggie pizza.


I always dust my peel with yellow cornmeal to keep it from sticking and slide the pizza off the peel and onto the stone. I use the peel to remove the pizza by sliding it swiftly underneath the pizza and lifting it off.

Last but not least, I made a couple of pepperoni pizzas with the plain dough. They came out great! My family really raved about these and they should know, they are pepperoni connoisseurs :o)


I loved this pizza dough. Both kinds were so smooth and very easy to stretch. I would buy these doughs again and often! Next time I'll make garlic knots with the garlic herb dough. YUMMMMMM! My favorite!

Give your local pizza joint a break and try a 'make your own' pizza night. Assemble a variety of toppings like precooked(not overcooked) Italian sausage, pepperoni, and an assortment of veggie's and let the kids get involved. See what kind of combinations they come up with.

Psst! (Leftovers make great lunches!)

10.08.2007

HaPPY CoLuMBuS DaY ...

and 'yay me!' getting to spend the day alone with my hubby :o)


We started out the day having coffee at the Bad Ass Coffee Company down by the oceanfront. I heard about this from a couple of friends and have been there a few times since, it's my favorite coffee shop in Virginia Beach. This time I tried their blended Pumpkin Spiced Mocha and hubby got the Kona coffee. We also got a lemon bar and a pecan bar, both delicious with lemon definitely coming in first. It had a delicious bottom crust that was crisp and the lemon filling was fresh with a generous sprinkle of confectioners sugar on top.



The big news is that we made a return trip to the RTe. 58 DeLi on Virginia Beach Blvd. I love the food here, a little pricey but oooohhhh soooooo worth it. It was ironic because I had just been thinking about this deli yesterday and today it was my hubby's suggestion to go there. I hadn't even mentioned that I had been thinking about it either. It must have been in the air because we ran into a former co-worker of hubby's while there and it was a small party!

Now for the good stuff...this deli gets a few of their menu items directly from the Carnegie Deli in NYC like corned beef, pastrami and knishes. Black and white cookies and rugulach grace the counters to satisfy your sweet tooth. Today we got a pastrami on rye with mustard, matzo ball soup and a potato knish. If you have only ever eaten deli pastrami from a grocery store, you must try this...it's a world of difference. This sandwhich has a whopping half pound of pastrami on it and the rye is delicious. I love rye bread! The matzo balls in the soup are enormous yet fluffy and the homemade broth is very flavorful and soooo DELICIOUS! The knish is described as a whipped potato filling with onion seasonings wrapped in a pastry dough and fried. All of these are incredible and well worth trying!







If you are ever cruising down the Boulevard and hungry for some great deli food, stop by the RouTe 58 DeLi near the corner of First Colonial and Virginia Beach Blvd. It's like taking a mini-holiday to NYC without the traffic and crowds :o) You won't be alone here because they do lots of business but after you try the food, you'll see why!