Tomato-ey Baked Chicken

It looks like a hunk and a glob of something the cat brought in, but deep within that pile of gooey stuff are a couple of the softest and moistest darned chicken thighs you’ve ever eaten in your life.

“Tomato-ey Chicken” was one of those dishes born when I was in college, scrounging around the freezer and cupboard, then throwing together whatever I found. I’ve since formalized the recipe into what it is today – yummy, cheesy, tomato-ey baked chicken.

Ingredients

·         CHICKEN THIGHS, 6

·         FLOUR, about ½ cup

·         OLIVE OIL, about ¼ cup

·         STEWED TOMATOES, 1 large can, drained

·         MAUI ONIONS, 2 medium, cut into wedges

·         MUSHROOMS, sliced, 1 small can, or 8 ounces fresh

·         GARLIC SALT, to taste

·         ITALIAN HERB MIX, commercial, 1 tablespoon

·         MOZZARELLA CHEESE, grated, 4 ounces

Directions

1.       Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.       Trim off excess fat and skin from the chicken pieces.

3.       Dredge the chicken in flour.

4.       Brown the chicken in hot olive oil, remove and arrange in a glass baking pan, skin side up.

5.       Arrange the stewed tomatoes on top of the chicken.

6.       Distribute the wedged onions on and around the chicken.

7.       Add the mushrooms.

8.       Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and the Italian herb mix.

9.       Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

10.   Remove the foil, sprinkle with the Mozzarella cheese, turn the oven to “broil,” and broil for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is toasty brown and bubbling.

Feel free to substitute ingredients.

Creamy Salsa Verde Dip

This is a quick and easy chip dip. You can also use it for raw veggies, or perhaps as a marinade or dressing as well. It has only three ingredients, all of which are readily available. I love it on scrambled eggs in the morning.

In fact, you probably already have sour cream and mayonnaise, and will just have to get some green salsa (salsa verde) to complete the ingredient list. I use Herdez Salsa Verde (reviewed earlier in this blog).

Ingredients

• HERDEZ SALSA VERDE, 1½ cups (or 3 measures)
• SOUR CREAM, 1 cup (or 2 measures)
• MAYONNAISE, ½ cup (or 1 measure)

A “measure” can be any amount; just add the ingredients in the right proportions (just remember 3-2-1), mix until nicely blended, and refrigerate. If you like salsa verde, you’ll love this dip.

NOTE: You can use Herdez salsa verde right out of the jar, but your dip may be too liquidy. What I usually do is strain half of the salsa, saving the liquid for use at another time (it’s like a mild green Tabasco sauce).

Pico de Gallo

Also known as “Salsa Fresca,” this uncooked form of salsa adds freshness to whatever it’s eaten with. If you’re familiar with Hawaiian “lomi salmon,” it’s pretty much like that, except without the salmon.

My pico de gallo is made with a minimum of ingredients. Many versions use cilantro, but I absolutely dislike the stuff (to me, it tastes like soap). You can add it if you want to.

Pico de gallo is great on scrambled eggs in the morning, as a dip for taco chips, as an accompaniment to chili con carne, or just to munch on if you want something refreshing in the afternoon.

Ingredients

• TOMATOES, 6 ripe, semi-seeded, chopped
• ONIONS, 1 medium, finely chopped
• JALAPENO PEPPER, 2 medium, finely chopped
• LIME, 2 juiced
• GARLIC SALT, to taste

Directions

1. Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally, squeeze out the seeds and some of the juice.
2. Chop the tomatoes into 1/8-inch dice.
3. Chop the onions finely and add to the tomatoes.
4. Devein and deseed the jalapenos and chop finely. (If you want more heat, leave the veins in; if you want even more heat, leave the seeds in as well.) Add to the tomatoes and onions.
5. Squeeze in the juice of two limes.
6. Flavor with garlic salt to taste.
7. Mix well.
8. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors blend. Serve cold.

Surprise Fried Rice

Fried rice is one of those dishes that can be a side dish, but when I make it, fried rice becomes a whole meal in itself. I’ve had it Chinese style and American style. Either way is good with me.

All you need is left-over rice, preferably rice that’s sat overnight in the refrigerator. There’s something about refrigerated rice that creates better fried rice.

If you’ve got some leftover meat or vegetables from the night before, that’s even better. In fact, the name Surprise Fried Rice comes from the wife’s “recipe,” as she throws in anything she can find that’s in little leftover bowls. I’m sure you’ve all had some of those in your fridge.

Feel free to substitute anything you have. This recipe calls for two cups of rice, but you can use as much or as little as you want, depending on how much leftover rice you have, or how many people you have to feed.

Ingredients

• MIXED VEGETABLES, frozen, or leftover, 1 cup
• RICE, 2 cups cold precooked
• OYSTER SAUCE, 2 tablespoons
• SOY SAUCE, 3 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon for the eggs
• SUGAR, 1 teaspoon
• GARLIC SALT, to taste
• BLACK PEPPER, freshly ground to taste
• BACON, 4 slices
• MEAT OR SAUSAGE (Spam, Chinese lup cheon, Portuguese sausage, linguica, chorizo, smoked sausage, leftover steak, whatever), 1 cup, chopped into a small dice
• ONION, 1 small or ½ large, chopped
• GREEN ONION, two spears, chopped
• EGGS, 2, beaten

Directions

1. Put frozen mixed vegetables in boiling water or the microwave oven until hot. Drain and set aside.
2. If you’re using leftover vegetables, chop them into a small dice.
3. Mix the oyster sauce and soy sauce, and pour over the rice in a bowl. Mix the rice with your hands and put aside.
4. Chop the bacon into lardons and sauté until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy or near-crispy. Set aside.
5. Sauté the chopped meat and set aside, leaving any oil remaining in the pan.
6. Sauté the onions until soft but not browned, and set aside.
7. Add a teaspoon of soy sauce and the sugar to the eggs. Scramble and cook, breaking it up into little pieces. Set aside.
8. Fry the marinated rice in the pan, seasoning with garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
9. Add in the all ingredients you set aside earlier and continue frying while mixing everything together. Make sure you stir continuously so the rice fries and browns but does not overcook and burn.
10. Stir in the chopped green onions, reserving some of the greener pieces to sprinkle on top for garnish.

Serve in a bowl or plate. If desired (for breakfast), fry an egg or two and slide them on top of the rice. To make fried rice with a Korean flavor, chop up some kim chee and add it to the rice in its final stages of heating.

Fiesta Breakfast

Here we go again, another breakfast created from the previous night’s leftovers. In this case, we had homemade tacos for dinner, thusly permitting a special breakfast the next morning.

I first had a “Mexican-style” breakfast in San Diego, at the hotel where I was staying for a few nights. Their version was a little different, but it included such things as tortillas, black beans, chorizo, eggs, guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

Feel free to substitute whatever taco fixing leftovers you have. Chopped green onions make a terrific and tasty garnish, and guacamole would be a nice addition as well.

Here’s the way I make it:

Ingredients

• TORTILLA, 1, 8-inch, flour or corn, your choice
• TOMATO, 1, skinned, seeded, and chopped
• ONION, 1 small, chopped
• REFRIED BEANS, canned
• GROUND BEEF, prepared with taco mix, leftover
• SHREDDED CHEESE, prepackages Mexican mix
• SOUR CREAM, 1 to 2 tablespoons, as desired
• EGGS, 2 or 3, over easy
• PICO DI GALLO or SALSA, as much as you want
• BUTTER for frying

Directions

1. Warm the tortilla in lightly buttered non-stick pan. Put on plate.
2. Warm the refried beans in the microwave.
3. Warm the leftover flavored ground beef in the microwave.
4. Spread the refried beans, then the ground beef, on the tortilla.
5. Sprinkle shredded cheese on the ground beef.
6. Top with chopped tomatoes and dot with sour cream.
7. Fry your eggs in a non-stick pan, using plenty of butter.
8. Slide the eggs over the open-face taco.
9. Spoon on pico di gallo or salsa.
10. You might want to warm up more tortillas on the side.

Chili Con Carne

I cheat when it comes to chili con carne.

Mine isn’t authentic or even from scratch. I use packaged chili flavoring, plus I throw in whatever meat I can find in the fridge – the loose hot dog, an extra slice or two of Spam, couple of left-over Vienna sausages … if it’s there, I’ll throw it in the pot.

But I’ll say this: It’s fast and it’s tasty. Here’s my basic recipe:

Ingredients

• CHILI MIX, Lawry’s, 2 packages
• BEER, Mexican (Dos Equis or Corona), 1 bottle
• TOMATOES, 2 cans (14.5 oz. each)
• GROUND BEEF, 1 to 1½ pounds
• PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE, 1 pound, chopped
• ONION, 1 large, chopped
• BELL PEPPER, 1, chopped
• OLIVES, 1 small can chopped and 1 small can sliced
• MUSHROOMS, 8 oz, chopped
• GARLIC, 2 cloves minced
• SALT AND PEPPER, to taste
• CHEESE, grated Mexican mix (at least cheddar and Monterey jack), 8 oz.

Directions

1. Brown the ground beef, season with salt and pepper, set aside.
2. Brown the Portuguese sausage, set aside.
3. Sauté the onions until soft, then add in the ground beef and the Portuguese sausage.
4. Add in the chili mix, beer, bell pepper, olives, mushrooms and garlic.
5. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, leave on back burner for a couple of hours.
6. Add the cheese and stir in before serving. 

Egg Foo Yong

Egg foo yong is of Chinese origin, but in reality, it’s just a veggie omelet. When I was a kid, my mom used to make this for dinner with her special tasty gravy that put the crowning touch on the dish.

I eventually found out (long after college) that the gravy was chicken broth thickened with a flour slurry and additionally flavored with some soy sauce.

This recipe uses shrimp, but you can substitute any other seafood or meat that you have available (Chinese char siu pork is excellent).

It’s not hard to make and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

Ingredients

*  EGGS, allow one egg per foo yong patty

*  SHRIMP, 1 pound, peeled and deveined, chopped into ¼-inch pieces

*  BEAN SPROUTS, a handful

*  CARROTS, one, finely shredded (I use a julienne peeler)

*  GREEN BEANS, diagonally cut into one-inch pieces

*  MUSHROOMS, Shiitake if available, otherwise, whatever’s available

*  ONIONS, ¼, finely sliced

*  CHICKEN STOCK, 1 can, or 1 cup

*  FLOUR, 1 tablespoon

*  SOY SAUCE, 2 tablespoons

Directions

1.    Make the gravy: Heat a can (or one cup) of chicken stock, add the soy sauce, and thicken with a flour slurry (1 tablespoon of flour in a couple of tablespoons of water).

2.    Prepare the veggies and shrimp and heat each separately in a pan.

3.    Allow the veggies and shrimp to cool separately in small bowls.

4.    Beat your eggs in a separate bowl.

5.    In a small bowl, combine a small amount each of bean sprouts, carrots, beans, mushrooms, onions and shrimp. Mix well.

6.    Add some of the eggs to the bowl and mix well.

7.    Add some vegetable oil into a nonstick pan over medium low heat, then slide the combined mixture into the pan.

8.    Repeat the process, but do not crowd the pan.

9.    When one side of the omelet is slightly browned, turn it over, press on it with the flat of your cooking spatula, cook until the second side is set, then remove to a platter.

10. Continue until all the omelets are done.

11. Serve with the gravy and steamed rice.