Chili Chicken and Potatoes

It has been quite a few months since I have blogged in any way about my food. Recently by the advice of some wise counselors, I was advised to not share recipes that were my own creation, but instead to save those in case I might like to publish them someday. Seeing as most of my cooking tends to be from my head or a derivation off of some recipe, this posed as a problem for my blog. 

Lately though, I have felt the itch to try new recipes and venture off in directions that are not “home base”. In doing so, I need to follow recipes since I am not yet comfortable with all of these spices or instinctively knowing which of these new flavor “colors” should go where. 

My husband and I have been frequenting more and more Indian restaurants as of late- and when these potatoes mentioned some fun spices- I got to thinking that this dish is “spicy” but more in the sense of an Indian “spicy” rather than a HOT spicy.

Chicken:

5-7 chicken drumsticks, bone in, skin removed

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)

Place racks in middle and lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place rack in roasting pan; spray with nonstick spray. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.

To make spice paste, stir together chili powder, paprika, oregano, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the garlic in a cup. Add enough water to form thick paste. Spread over the chicken.

Potatoes:

3 (10 ounce) baking potatoes, quartered lengthwise.

2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning

1 tsp of salt (or more to suit your taste)

Roast chicken on middle oven rack until instant-read thermometer inserted into drumsticks (not touching bone) registers 180 degrees F, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, put potatoes in prepared baking dish; lightly spray with nonstick spray and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and additional spices. After chicken has roasted 20 minutes, put potatoes on lower oven rack and roast, turning once or twice, until tender and lightly browned, about 40 minutes.

 

Jambalaya

Awhile back, my husband got enthralled with the show “Swamp People” awhile back. I would occasionally peer over to see what it was he was so interested in, but mostly I just let him tell me about it. Apparently, sometimes the “swamp people” would also cook things. One episode, they must have referred to “Jambalaya” or something, because Tom started asking about it. I explained how it’s a Cajun dish and it generally has shrimp and beef and chicken and rice in it with a nice smattering of vegetables. Ever since that day, it’s come up in conversation now and again with Tom always being curious how it tasted. On a whim, he requested to make jambalaya today. Well, I don’t usually keep frozen shrimp on hand or fresh for that matter, so I made a jambalaya without it. Let me tell you though, it turned out beautiful! Tom loved it so much, he had three bowl-fulls! 

 

• 2 c uncooked rice
• 4 c water
• 1/8 c turmeric
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 lbs boiled chicken
• 1 lb boiled sausage (mild or hot)
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• cayenne pepper
• 1/3 c flour
• 14 oz. diced tomatoes
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp thyme

In a medium pot, fill halfway with water, and bring to a boil. Add chicken, and let boil. In another medium pot, fill with water and bring sausage to a boil. In the meantime, dice onions and celery. When sausage is cooked thoroughly, remove from pot, and remove skin from sausage. Dice sausage. Set aside.

In a third pot, measure out four cups of water. Add 2 cups of white rice. Add turmeric. Bring to boil, and then reduce to a simmer.

Return to your boiling chicken, check for doneness and meat falling off the bone. Remove from boiling water, and debone chicken. Reserve chicken stock.

In a frying pan, brown the chicken and sausage in 1 tbs of olive oil. Add celery and onions, when onions become translucent, sprinkle with flour and cook two more minutes. Then, add diced tomatoes and juice, chicken stock, cumin, chili, cayenne, bay leaf and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil.

Ladle broth into a bowl and top with a scoop of rice. Enjoy!

 

Venison Pot Roast with Butternut Squash

Ever since I tried butternut squash, I am slightly obsessed with it. I can’t seem to try it in enough ways or seem to get quite enough to satisfy my appetite for it! Probably my new most favorite vegetable, I am constantly looking for new recipes to incorporate it into.

This recipe happened a bit on accident, which sometimes in the cooking world, can be your greatest success. Genius seems to strike at the oddest times, with the most unpredictable of circumstances, and with the most unsuspecting items.

The gamey flavor of venison suits nicely with the extra celery and the unique flavor of butternut squash. I could see this recipe also doing nicely with the addition of parsnips, but I did not have them at the time.

• 2 lbs venison pot roast
• 6 carrots, cut into 3rds or 4ths
• 2 cups sliced celery, including leaves
• 1 large butternut squash, cut into chunks
• 4 onions, quartered
• 1 cup flour
• Italian seasoning
• Garlic salt
• Onion salt
• Black pepper
• Steak Seasoning

Coat roast with steak seasoning, and sear in a frying pan, making sure every part of the roast is seared. Toss chopped vegetables in bowl with the cup of flour, garlic salt, onion salt, and Italian seasoning. Place the roast, and vegetables in a Crockpot slow-cooker. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

 

Russet Potatoes and Winter Vegetables with Venison Steaks

Living in the Chicago area has awaked my interests to the world of food. Not just food I’m used to, but all foods from all nationalities and ethnicities. I love the diversity that is here! Now, I am interested in those “other” items in the store, whereas I probably hardly noticed them, and in many places they probably weren’t available. Before you assume I’ve gone and found some extremely *unheard of* vegetable, think again, you have heard of both of these, but I’ve never cooked with them until recently. Parsnips and Butternut Squash. I fell in love, head over heels, with Butternut squash in the last recipe I used it in. I eye it temptingly as I pass it by in the aisles.

Today when I was in the store, I passed by a whole aisle of root vegetables. The turnips looked great, so did the parsnips. I looked across the way and eyed some butternut squash that also looked very lovely. I will do something with the turnips another day, but I so enjoyed using the Parsnips and Butternut squash in this recipe.

I originally was going to use white onions in this dish, but lacked the right amount, and had enough purple onion, and realized how much more beautiful it would look with that instead. Tom loved this dish. He couldn’t quit raving about the quick little sauce I put together for it.

I was not expecting to like this dish as much as I did. I thought it would be good… but I wasn’t anticipating the explosion of flavors and the warm embrace of the butternut squash, potatoe, parsnip, and onion mixture. A beautiful combination I would recommend for the winter especially.

• 6 or 7 large Russet potatoes
• 4 large parsnips
• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 large purple onion
• 6 venison steaks (can be subsituted with beef steaks)
• parsley
• Olive Oil
• salt
• pepper
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Celery Stalk
• Cayenne Pepper

Preheat over to 450 degrees F. Wash and chop Russet potatoes, leaving skin on. Peel and chop the butternut squash, onion,  and parsnips, making sure to leave in large chunks. Toss with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Add more salt than seems necessary, as the vegetables and potatoes will all soak it up. Place into the oven for 20 minutes covered in foil, check for partial doneness. If at least half way cooked, uncover until cooked thoroughly. If not, recover and cook for 10 minutes more. Using a flat spatula, gently turn the mixture, letting each piece have a chance to brown and crisp slightly. When dish is cooked through, potatoes are soft, remove, add chopped parsley. Set aside.

Pat dry venison steaks or beef steaks. Pierce with a fork multiple times, and massage in your favorite spice for either meat. (I used “Chicago Steak” from Weber Grilling Options. I would recommend anything with a high pepper content to highlight the venison.) In a heated frying pan, sear venison steaks, watching carefully to not let meat overcook.

In food processor, add a handful of parsley, celery stalk, 1/3 cup of Olive Oil, 1/3 raw parsnip, sliced, Cayenne pepper and Italian seasoning. Blend, adding salt and pepper to taste. Use to accompany the meat. Enjoy!

 

Pork Steak and Peppers with Creamy Parsley Sauce

Thursdays one of my favorite days of the week, is the one day in the week that Tom *usually* is not working. For this reason, I normally like to make Thursday dinners extra special. My husband had been asking a lot about having one of his favorite dishes that I make- a sausage, pepper, and onion dish- something that I’ll have to tell you all about another time. I went to the store, all intent on getting some sausage, unfortunately the price was astronomical! Bummed at how to make this still work, I started trying to think of alternatives. Peppers and chicken, peppers and steak, but I doubted on the steak, because that price too was rather steep. And then I saw the pork steaks…. BEAUTIFUL marbling, along with a rich bright red color was all I needed to let me know that that was what I was taking home with me.

You could accompany this dish with rice, pasta, or potatoes. Tom is a huge fan of pasta, so I thought I would make him one of my signature pastas to go alongside this. Originally, I didn’t have a sauce of any kind to go with this dish, but watching Food Network has really gotten to me…so I decided to invent! I think it came out very well! My very first sauce!!! 🙂

Peppers:

• 2 Red Bell Peppers
• 3 Orange Bell Peppers
• 2 Yellow Bell Peppers
• 5 medium small onions or 2 large onions
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Parsley chopped and for garnish
• Italian Seasoning
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Garlic Salt
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt
• Pepper

On a cutting board, slice and cut the red, orange, and yellow peppers into large chunks. Cut onions in half, and then each half in fourths. Add peppers and onions into a large pot. Lightly drizzle with olive oil. Season with Italian seasoning, Garlic Salt, Cayenne, and pepper. Slowly cook on medium heat, stirring frequently.

 

Pork Steak:

• 4 thin sliced pork steaks, bone in
• McCormick Garlic & Herb seasoning

Spear the pork steak with a fork or a sharp knife. Season with the Garlic and Herb Seasoning, massaging the herbs into the pierced openings of the pork. In a heated frying pan, sear one side until the blood starts to secreat through the bone and you have a nice tan color on one side. Flip and sear the other side. Lower heat if the meat is not finished to let it cook through.

 

Creamy Parsley Sauce:

• ½ cup of cooked pepper/onion mixture
• ½ cup coarsley chopped parsley
• 2 heaping tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Extra virgin Olive Oil
• Salt, Pepper
• Italian Seasoning
• Cayenne Pepper

In a food processor, blend pepper/onion mixture with parsley until very fine. Add olive oil and sour cream. Add seasonings to taste. Spoon onto plate in a desirable flourish.

 

Fettucine Aglio E Olio with Lemon Baked Chicken

I remember when I was young, trying to say “Aglio e Olio”. I think for years, I wasn’t even entirely sure what it meant. I just knew this dish was one of my absolute favorites. I remember cooking this up on days when life just wasn’t going well. Lemon slices in water are a must for this dish.

In this dish most especially, make sure you have high quality Extra Virgin Olive oil, such as Filippo Berio. Oil and garlic are the two stars in this dish, and you will not regret the extra money spent on quality olive oil. Also, whereas most dishes you could possibly subsitute the cheese, do not do so in this recipe. Only use a sharp sheep cheese, such as Romano Pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano. Again, this is worth the extra money, you will not get the same effect with a softer or milder cheese.

• 1 lb Fettucine pasta
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsley chopped
• Extra Virgin olive Oil
• ¼ c chopped parsley
• ¼ c grated Romano Pecorino

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, add fettucine and season with salt. In a small frying pan, lighty sauté the garlic. Set aside while pasta finishes cooking. Chop parsley. Toss cooked pasta with garlic infused olive oil and chopped parsley.

• 4 chicken thighs
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 3 large lemons
• Dried Oregano
• Dried Basil
• Salt
• Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Move the rack to the middle of the oven. Remove skins from thighs and drumsticks. Place in a 13×9″ pan. Spear each piece with a sharp knife or fork. Squeeze lemons over the speared chicken, and season with dried oregano. Cover with foil and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until juices come out clear.

 

Turmeric Rice with Venison and Beans

As I have said in the past, my husband is a hunter and so there is a lot of venison to be had in our household. Constantly on the hunt for new options and ways to use it, I often feel like I’m on the tv show “Chopped” as I am given this pound of ground venison meat and wonder to myself “how am I going to use it this time?”

I’ve looked online for various ideas, but it doesn’t seem like venison is too popular of a meat to cook with. This creation came about because of the fact that Tom was asking for rice, and I wanted to use some of the venison in the freezer. Compromise, one of the greatest aspects of marriage, so I’m learning!

• 4 cups of white rice
• 8 cups of water
• 2 lbs ground venison (or beef)
• Ground Tumeric
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper
• Parsley, coarsley chopped
• Frozen corn
• Frozen Beans

In a medium pot, put rice, water, salt, pepper, and enough tumeric that the water turns a vibrant orange yellow. Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Cook approx. 10 minutes, or until there is barely no water left in the bottom of the pot. Set aside.

In the mean time, using a spatula, break the two pounds of venison up in a frying pan on medium heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Be generous, as venison tends to soak up salt. When meat is almost cooked through, gently lay the frozen corn and beans on top, and let thaw- do not over cook.

Rice can be served separate from the meat and vegetables, or it may be combined in the large frying pan with the meat. Toss rice with a fork, adding parsley a little at a time. Sprinkle with Cayenne Pepper.

 

Rotini with Steamed Beans and Pork Chops

 

 

Growing up in an Italian household, pasta was a dish I constantly craved. This quick version of pasta sauce was inspired by my busy life, but insatiable appetite for the addictive blend of pasta and tomato. Quick and relatively simple, this is a dish you could throw together in approximately 30-40 minutes.
 

Rontini:

• 1 lb Rotini pasta
• 15 oz. diced tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves
• Italian seasoning
• Cayenne pepper
• Garlic Salt
• Onion Salt
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Parsley

Put a large pot of water on stove. Turn to high heat. In a separate small pot, coat the bottom with a thin layer of Olive oil- just enough to cover. Coarsely chop garlic. Add to the small pot, turning onto a low heat. Cook garlic only until you begin to smell its aroma. Quickly add diced tomatoes and stir. Raise to medium heat. Add Italian seasoning, Cayenne pepper, Garlic salt, and onion salt to taste. Once the sauce has reached a soft boil, reduce to a simmer. (If your sauce seems too “watery” add a tablespoon or so of tomato paste).

Once the large pot has come to a rolling boil, add pasta. Stir frequently to break up pasta. Wait till the water has returned to a steady rolling boil, only then reduce to lower heat. Add salt to water to taste. Once pasta is al dente, strain and let drain in sink. Pour tomato sauce back into pasta pot. Bring sauce to a light simmer, add strained pasta back. Stir and serve! (you can add chopped parsley to this dish as well as using it as a garnish)

Steamed Beans:

• 1 lb of fresh string beans
• sliced mini bella mushrooms
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Bowl of ice water

In a medium pot, fill 1/3 of the way with water. Cover and bring to a boil. Add trimmed beans and a dash of salt to taste. Keep the water at a steady simmer and cover with lid. Stir occasionally, tasting to check when they are cooked. In a small frying pan, lightly sauté bella mushrooms in a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Once beans are cooked, pour into bowl of ice water. Drain and serve with mushroom garnish and a light toss with olive oil.

Pork Chop:

• 4 pork chops with bone
• McCormick’s® Montreal Steak Seasoning
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Place a large frying pan on stove. Let preheat on a medium heat, until water will sizzle when touched to pan. Pierce pork chops with a knife or a sharp fork, opening up the meat to allow the seasoning to penetrate the center. Lightly dress the chops in olive oil and a generous sprinkling of McCormick’s® Montreal Steak Seasoning. Once pan is ready, add chops. Sear meat one to two minutes; turn over and sear flip side. Lower to medium heat. Check meat for pinkness, when there is no longer signs of pink, take out of pan and serve!