yummy

MOH – LAY!

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Mole sauce with grilled chicken, and rice.

Mole sauce with grilled chicken, and rice.

While I was talking to my dad the other day he told me that he was cooking – the man can throw down in the kitchen!  So when he said that he was making mole, of course my inner fat girl wanted some!  Mole is probably on my top ten list of favorite things to eat.  I was so happy that he knew how to make it, and started asking for his recipe.  Then he said those four words that I hate “it’s from a jar.” WOMP, WOMP.  If you have ever had mole from a jar, you know it has a weird sugary taste… so not authentic.  Like really, who buys that stuff???  My dad, poor guy.  Needless to say he hated it, and had to add ingredients to make it edible.  It’s so hard to find good mole these days.

Part of it is because mole gets a bad rap.  People tell all kinds of stories about how complicated, or how many hours it takes to make.  I was fooled into thinking that I could never master the secrets to mole, just like you probably are.  Fool no more!  Yes I’m sure the traditional way of roasting and grinding of all the ingredients does take hours upon hours to do, but I ain’t got time for all of that!  After researching mole recipes, I figured out a way to make mole in less than an hour.  It has the entire flavor you expect – creamy, with a smokey chile kick, and hint of nutty sweetness. Ugh, its damn near PERFECT! Or as my Husband would say “it taste like, a little more.”

Ingredients: 

  • 10 dried guajillo chiles
  • 7 dried mulato negro chiles
  • 7 dried pasilla chiles
  • 4 table spoons of olive oil
  • 2 oz. pumpkin seeds
  • 3 table spoons sesame seeds
  • 1 hand full whole almonds
  • 2 oz. raisins (small box)
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • 5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground cloves
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 2 teaspoons ground pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 chicken boullion cube
  • 2 table spoons peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cups of water or chicken broth

Directions:

1. Stem, seed, and de-vein chiles, reserving seeds.

2. Place chiles in a small pot with water, bring to a boil or until peppers are soft.

3. In a large sauté pan add 2 table spoons of olive oil, pepper seeds (I used about 3 table spoons, the more you use the hotter it will be) add in the whole garlic cloves, star anise, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, and sesame seeds, stir around until toasted.

4.  When chiles are soft place them into a blender with some of the water from pot.

5. Blend then add in all of the toasted ingredients, salt, ground pepper, cumin, cloves, cinnimon, chicken bouillon cube (or chicken stock) and blend adding more water if needed.  The consistency should be like a thick smoothie.

6. When that is well combined, pour into the pan used to toast ingredients with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil on low heat.

7. Stir in chocolate, and peanut butter it should just melt right in.

8. If the mole seems to be too thick you can add water or chicken broth as needed.

9. Serve over chicken, turkey, and steak -really any kind of meat you want and top with left over sesame seeds.  I served this over grilled chicken and rice. Yummy!

 

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

coldfishie 2 Comments
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 

In this house when something is good it doesn’t last too long.  And when I made these double chocolate chip cookies it was pretty hard not devouring them as soon as they come out! These are so decadent that you will definitely need a cold glass of milk near by.  After letting them cool for about 5 minutes they are just so deliciously gooey and it’s almost like your eating a mini brownie.  If you can possibly let them cool longer say overnight (this was almost impossible) they turn into a crispy cookie perfect for dunking in milk.  These will not turn rock hard – let me repeat that – these will not turn rock hard.  If you like chocolate, you will fall in love with these cookies, you will start talking like the Cookie Monster, “yum,yum,yum”  and your eyes will roll around just like his when you take your first bite!

Let first say that I really don’t like making cookies mostly because I have no patience, all that waiting for them to cool down is for the birds.  A couple of weeks ago I made some regular chocolate chip cookies – which were also very good, and now that I think about it… they were more than just regular!!  I would have posted the recipe but we ate them so fast I didn’t get a good picture of them, and all that means is that I have to make them again – everyone is this house will be happy!

Back to the double chocolate… I wanted to make a chocolate cake, but decided on cookies because I got lazy all that cooling, making frosting, layering, and frosting just seemed like too much work to do on a Sunday afternoon.  Not to mention I ate like a pig and all I wanted to do is sit on the couch and watch HBO.  So the cookies won!  These were so easy to make, and not as much work as I thought so I will be making these again.  Not by choice, my Husband loved them so much he wants me to keep them in stock!

Ingredients

  • 2-1/2 sticks Butter, Softened
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 2 whole Eggs
  • 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cups Flour
  • 3/4 cups Cocoa Powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon corn starch
  • 1-1/2 cup Good Quality Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping the sides once.
  • Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
  • Sift together dry ingredients, then add in batches to the mixer, mixing until just combined after each addition.
  • Gently blend in chocolate chips.
  • Make 1 tablespoon portions to baking sheet.
  • Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are barely done but still soft and chewy.

 

 

Fancy Mac

coldfishie 1 Comment
mac n' cheese with goat cheese, bacon, and cranberries

mac n’ cheese with goat cheese, bacon, and cranberries

Sometimes I like to get a little fancy in the kitchen, and when I say fancy – I mean I make easy things look complicated.  Wait, let me take that back… now that I think about it mac n’cheese is complicated!  Everyone thinks its sooo easy but it’s not, unless your making it from a box.  Anyone can make it from a box, but not everyone can make it from scratch.

First of all I love any kind of cheese, but goat cheese is just plain delicious!  Most people don’t like goat cheese because of its tangy flavor, the best way I can describe it is tangy cream cheese.  When paired with something sweet like cranberries, it taste like a little piece of heaven… yummmm…. and throw bacon in the mix even better!!  The best way to describe this fancy pants mac n’cheese is Thanksgiving on a plate.

 

Ingredients

  • Kosher salt
  • 1 pound elbow macaroni or shells
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 8 ounces goat cheese
  • 8 ounces mozzarella, grated (2 cups)
  • 3 cups chopped bacon
  • 1/4 cup of dried cranberries chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
  • 1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling salted water add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the goat cheese, mozzarella, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and rosemary.  In a 3-quart baking dish combine the cooked pasta, bacon, and cranberries.  Pour cheese sauce over pasta.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Sticky Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings

coldfishie 1 Comment
Sticky Sweet &Spicy Wings

Sticky Sweet & Spicy Wings

 

Finally some sign that Spring is on its way – 50° weather!  Some of you may be thinking I’m crazy for thinking that 50° is great, but if you live here in Chicago your loving it! It’s so beautiful right now, the sun is out, birds are chirping, the color is coming back into our city! And you know what that means – Grilling Season has officially started!!!! WOOOOOOO-WOOOO!!!!!  I love cooking outside on the grill it’s so easy and for some reason I feel like I make less of a mess. One of regulars on the grill is chicken wings, they seriously grill up so fast lunch or dinner is ready in no time.

Everyone loves wings – if you don’t we must not get along.  I love getting together with my friends sharing some wings, and drinking beer.  We go to different places based on the special “wing night” you know what I’m talking about 50¢ boneless Mondays, or 40¢ Wednesdays.  My favorite to order is mango Habanero wings.  I love how spicy they are with just a hint of sweetness – soooo good.  But I’m kind of afraid of the Habanero pepper and all its hype as being one of the hottest peppers on earth!  Knowing me, I’ll chop it up, then directly touch my eye or lips and end up running around screaming!  So I’ll leave that recipe to the restaurants. I have made wings with all kinds of sauces; hot sauce, bbq sauce, sweet jam sauce, and dry rub seasonings.  This is probably the closest I can get in comparison to those spicy Habanero wings, that is until I face my fear of the  Habanero pepper.  One day.

You can make these with a sweet/hot glaze or a hot/sweet glaze, really up to you and what you can handle.  I went with more a sweet/hot glaze adding more honey than Sriracha. Only because Ididn’t feel like having to pop some tums or rolaids later on this night.  But they were so good, nice and sticky just like you get at restaurants and you didn’t even need a dipping sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs of chicken – spilt at the joints, wing tips removed
  • 6 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons Sriracha
  • 2 limes juiced
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger – if you don’t have fresh ginger use ginger powder
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil melted – if you don’t have coconut oil, use oliveor vegetable oil, the coconut oil just helps with the sweetness

For the Sticky Glaze

  • 1/4 stick of unsalted butter
  • 2-4 tablespoons of honey – the more honey you use the sweeter the glaze
  • 2 tablespoons of brown sugar – this makes the glaze sticky
  • 4-8 tablespoons of Sriracha  – depending on how spicy you want

Directions:

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In a bowl or zip lock bag add the chicken wings, soy sauce, Sriracha, lime juice, ginger, and coconut oil. Let marinade for an hour in fridge or overnight.  When you take the wings out they will look like they have a thick creamy coating on them – do not worry it’s just the coconut oil.  Coconut oil can easily be solidified at low temperatures, which works great with the wings.  You’ll know that they are evenly coated plus they won’t stick to your grill or baking sheet.

After you let them marinade throw them on the grill for about 7-10 minutes on each side – these go fast on the grill.  If your baking them, they will take 25-35 minutes in the oven at 350.

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After the wings have been flipped and are almost done you will start coating the wings with the glaze using a cooking brush, or lightly spoon over each wing.  Each time you flip a wing over, glaze other side – the heat from the grill/oven will caramelize the glaze making it sticky. When your satisfied with the glaze coating take off of grill/oven.  If you have any extra glaze left, and you like your wings extra saucy feel free to pour over the wings and toss.

BLT with Kale Pesto

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BLT with Kale Pesto

BLT with Kale Pesto


If you were smart, you made extra pesto.  Guess who’s smart?? THIS GIRL!! There are so many different ways you can use pesto, this just happens to be one of my favorite.  I love to cook, but I do have those days when I just want to become one with the couch read magazines, and catch up on movies.  When this happens I want to make something not only easy fast, but good.  You know that saying ‘keep it simple, stupid’ that’s exactly what I do when I’m super lazy and know that no one is going to deliver food to my couch.  You can’t get any simpler than a BLT. Yes a BLT for lunch, dinner, late night snack, and if it were up to the Mr. we would have them for breakfast!

I think people don’t think of making a  BLT because it’s usually only ordered at a diner, but it’s actually one of the simplest things to make at home.  The hardest thing about making this sandwich is cooking the bacon, and the best part is putting as much bacon you want in your sandwich!  You know what I mean.  Like when you order something that says bacon, only to find that it has one slice!!! Under your breath you say “cheap as hell with the bacon.”  So make as much bacon as you want and load it up!

My version of the BLT using the pesto instead of the traditional mayo gives the sandwich so much more flavor.  The kale pesto gives the sandwich a creamy, nutty, salty, taste that you can’t get from mayo.  When you add the pesto BLT instantly becomes a gourmet Sandwich! LOL Well at least that’s what like to tell my Husband.

Ingredients:

  • Kale Pesto– check out the recipe from a previous post.
  • Bacon- I like using turkey bacon, but use whatever kind you like
  • Tomatoes- sliced thin
  • Romaine Lettuce, or Spinach
  • Bread- any kind will do get fancy, or keep it simple

Steak Sandwich with Chipotle Sauce

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Steak Sandwich with Chipotle Sauce and Sweet Potato Fries

Steak Sandwich with Chipotle Sauce and Sweet Potato Fries

 

THE GET OUT OF JAIL FREE MEAL! 

Spend too much money…MAKE THIS SANDWICH.  Pay a bill late…MAKE THIS SANDWICH.  Stay out too late with the guys…MAKE THIS SANDWICH. You forgot your anniversary…MAKE THIS SANDWICH.  Shrunk his favorite sweater…MAKE THIS SANDWICH. Trust me, make this sandwich for your significant other and they will forget all about what you did.

The first time we had this sandwich was with my friend Jenny, she was at working at an upscale restaurant and recommended it to my Husband.  He fell in love, and I became jealous of a sandwich.  Sad but true. The sandwich was so simple and good, not to mention good-looking.  Warm French bread, oozing cheese, steaming peppers, thin cut layers of Steak, and a pastel orange sauce that had the perfect amount of heat.  How could I not be jealous? I asked Jenny if she knew the secret to this sauce, she laughed and said it was only two ingredients!!!  I couldn’t believe it, here we were paying around $18 each for a sandwich and fries, and the main component that kept us coming back for more was only two ingredients!!!!!!  I could have saved my dollars and bought some shoes!  Needless to say the place closed, and I had to make my version of this steak sandwich.

For all the ingredients I spent $23.75, and this meal feeds about five that’s about $4.oo a person a whole lot better than $18 each.  There are so many benefits to making this yourself:

1. its cheaper! I can’t say that enough.
2. You can have seconds, or thirds.
3. You won’t embarrass yourself in public when you’re licking the plate.
4. You can eat this in front of your television, in your pajamas.

Sandwich:

  • Thin sliced steak (skirt, sirloin, and tenderloin work great)
  • Red Pepper
  • Green Pepper
  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Mozzarella
  • Spinach
  • French Bread

Sauce:

  • 1 can of Chipotle Peppers (whole)
  • 4 tablespoons Mayonnaise  (sour cream, or Greek yogurt can be substituted)

Fries:

  • 3 Sweet Potatoes
  • 3 table spoons Olive oil
  • 1 table-spoon Rosemary
  • Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Pre heat oven at 400°

Fries:

Start this first!!! Takes the longest but so worth it! Trust me!

  • Cut into large matchstick wedges
  • Toss with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper
  • Place on baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes.

Sandwich:

  • Chop all veggies into thin strips
  • Sauté until soft (about 7-10 minutes)
  • Season Steaks with salt and pepper
  • Grill Steaks (I use a stove top grill, but if you can grill outside I recommend it!)
  • Flip steak and place a slice of Mozzarella on top of steak so it heats up and melts

Sauce:

  • Place Chipotle Peppers, and Mayonnaise in blender.
  • (Add more or less Mayonnaise depending on how much spiciness you like)

Assemble Sandwich.  Stuff your face, and rub your belly.

Kale Pesto Pasta

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Kale Pesto Pasta with Parmesan crusted Chicken

Kale Pesto Pasta with Parmesan crusted Chicken

In our home this probably is the “go to meal” when we have little time, or just don’t want to make a big production of dinner.  We make this almost once a week it’s that good and easy! The texture of this Pesto is so creamy, it will coat your pasta with bright green flecks, and sprinkles of cheese. YUM.  This is not one of those sauces that runs right off your pasta leaving you with a bowl of sauce you feel sorry for.  This pesto sticks to every nook and cranny, anything that is left in the bowl you will want to sop up with a piece of bread, or if your like, you’ll be using your fingers to wipe it clean! I like to pair this with some type of chicken, today happen to be a parmesan breaded chicken breasts. This is also a recipe where the ingredients can be easily changed; like instead of Kale you can use Spinach, or Basil whichever flavor you prefer.  We use Kale because it has several benefits; filled with powerful antioxidants; high in vitamin A, C, and K; high in Iron and Calcium; and is a great detox food.  You won’t feel guilty after this meal, you’ll only feel baffled wondering where this has been all your life.

Ingredients:

  1. Kale 1 bunch grated
  2. 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
  3. 3 cloves of garlic
  4. 1/4-cup olive oil
  5. 2 oz. of pine nuts
  6. 1/4-cup water
  7. Optional:
  8. 2 table spoons Ground Flax Seed
  9. 1 chicken bouillon cube

Directions:

  • 1.   Wash, and trim away stem from Kale leaves
  • 2.   Cut Garlic cloves in half
  • 3.   Sauté the garlic and kale in pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, about 5 minutes or until the kale turns bright green.  Be careful not to burn garlic, the goal is just to soften it so that it’s easier to blend.
  • 4.   Place kale, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil in the blender/ food processor.

At this point you can add:

  • Chicken bouillon cube, I only add this to enhance the flavor
  • Ground Flax Seed – I add this because not only does it add a nutty flavor, but it is also known as a Super Food.
  • 5.   Blend into a smooth consistency; the texture of the Pesto will not be totally smooth because, Kale is very fibrous.
  • 6.   Spoon as much as you want of this deliciousness over any pasta you like.

Side note: this is also very delicious when used as a sandwich spread instead of using mayo.