A Mexican Favorite With An Italian Touch

John Trujillo taught me how to make fajitas over a bar counter. I never set foot in the kitchen of the restaurant he owned for 20+ years but I spent a lot of time sitting at the bar. His daughter was a good friend of mine in high school--still is--and so many afternoons were spent at "The Mish," as the family restaurant, Mission Trujillo, was known. Sadly, the restaurant closed its doors in December of 2006, while John and the family set out on new adventures.

The secret to the Mish's delicious (and naughtily named) Chi-Chi Chicken as well as their fajitas? Italian dressing. It might sound blasphemous coming from the proprietor of a Mexican restaurant, but chicken marinated in Italian dressing yields beautiful results!

For the past several months John has been valiantly fighting against cancer. I know his family thinks there is no such thing as too many prayers, so if you have time to send good ju-ju John's way, please do. Regardless, I think of him every time I make these fajitas, and I hope you will too.

Chicken Fajitas
--1-2 TBSP Italian salad dressing--2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thumb sized pieces
--1 TBSP olive oil
--garlic, minced
--1 medium white onion, sliced vertically into 1" pieces
--1 small red onion, sliced vertically into 1" pieces
--1 red bell pepper, top and seeds removed, then sliced vertically into 1" pieces
--1 green bell pepper, top and seeds removed, then sliced vertically into 1" pieces
--fresh cracked pepper (and lots of it!)

**Note: The best fajitas are made in a cast-iron skillet. Mine was "lost" in the move. But I highly recommend cooking fajitas (and all the delicious accoutrement) in a cast-iron skillet. That skillet will deliver beautiful blackened chicken and wonderfully caramelized vegetables, far superior to what any other pan can do.

You can marinate the chicken as early as the night before, though I usually only do mine for about an hour. I believe the Mish marinated theirs for at least several hours before cooking, so the choice is yours.

Heat a medium-sized skillet on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil to the pan, followed by the veggies. Crack fresh black pepper over the veggies (I layer it on thick). Cook until tender, using tongs to flip a few times during the process. My favorite trick is to layer the veggies in the pan and leave them alone for several minutes until they begin to brown, then I flip them and repeat on the other side until its time to simply toss to continue an even cooking and browning pattern. When the veggies are softened to your liking, set aside.

Add the chicken to the same pan and coat with more fresh cracked pepper. Tossing the chicken regularly will help the chicken from sticking to the pan. You can add a little more oil if necessary (1 TSP is enough to do the trick) and then try the let-brown-on-one-side-before-turning method described above if you like. Cook until the chicken is salmonella-free, then add the pepper/onion mix back to the pan to re-heat and mix. Serve!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 25 minutes active cooking time + minimum 1 hour marinating time
Serves: 251 per serving
Calories: 4

Quitting A Chicken Marsala Habit

First, allow me to confess that I love chicken marsala. If I see it on a menu at a restaurant I feel compelled to order it, even if there are other and seemingly better options. Worse, it often occurs in the kinds of places where one should never order chicken marsala, like that airport where the dish definitely came from a vacuum packed NASA or Army-type ration meal... Second confession, I've never attempted to make chicken marsala at home. It would be too devastating if I failed miserably as my taste buds have long ago decided exactly what a chicken marsala should taste like.

Also, chicken marsala is a heavy dish, especially restaurant style, and is laden with butter, oil, flour, wine, and probably sherry. So this dish is like chicken marsala-light. It has the essence of the dish--mushrooms, chicken, wine--but is a lighter, different dish all on its own. It doesn't quite taste exactly like a chicken marsala, but it's close enough to fool me into thinking that I've quelled that craving for the time being.

Chicken with Mushroom Pasta
--1/2 cup dry bowtie or penne pasta
--2 cloves garlic, sliced into thin intact pieces
--1 cup sliced button mushrooms
--2 TBSP butter
--4 boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders
--3 TBSP cup flour, seasoned with garlic salt & fresh black pepper
--1 egg, beaten
--cooking spray
--1 shallot, diced fine or minced
--1 cup dry white wine, divided
--2 cups chicken broth, divided
--1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook the pasta omitting any oil.

In a medium skillet, sauté the mushrooms and garlic slices in the butter over medium heat until soft and tender.

While the mushrooms and pasta cook, dredge the chicken alternately in the egg and flour until evenly coated. In a cooking spray-coated medium skillet on medium to medium-high heat, cook the chicken tenders for 4-5 minutes on each side. Add 1/2 cup of the wine and 1 cup of the chicken broth and allow the sauce to boil and reduce. Set the chicken aside and pour any remaining sauce over the top of the chicken.

Spray the same skillet the chicken was cooked in with a little more cooking spray. Add the shallots and sauté until browned, stirring regularly. Add the remaining wine to the skillet. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits before adding the rest of the chicken broth. Allow the sauce to reduce a little so that it is less liquid but not so much that it is too thick.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Pour the mushrooms into the pot and add the tomatoes. Pour the sauce into the pot and stir to combine.  Plate the pasta and then add 2 chicken tenders to each plate. Drizzle any remaining sauce onto the chicken and serve. Garnish with fresh parsley and 1 oz. of grated Parmesan, if desired.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 607 per serving

Someone Else Makes Dinner For Me!

Even as someone who loves to cook, it is always a pleasant treat when a friend offers to make dinner for me (and smart thinking on the part of the friend as it means I will return the favor soon enough). When I've had a particularly stressful day, or a long week, or we just need an excuse to get together, I can always count on my friend, Pamalicious, to cook up something delicious. A fan of ethnic cuisines, Pamalicious has shown me the ways to making arroz con pollo (y mojo, delicioso!) and also carnitas and recently made this delightful Moroccan style dish for me from a recipe she found in Gourmet Magazine (also known to some as "Food Porn Magazine").

Awesomely, she made the dish from memory--a testament to not only how easy it is, but how delicious it is too! "I made some adaptations. I didn't use the almonds, and I also use more ginger and cinnamon, as I like mine more highly spiced. Adding a 1/2 tsp of cloves gives it a nice flavor, too," she explained to me when I asked for the recipe later. The recipe below is how it was prepared for me but you can click the link to see the original recipe.

Moroccan Style Chicken with Apricots Glaze
--2 TBSP honey
--1/2 cup dried apricots, halved
--cinnamon
--ground ginger
--black pepper
--salt
--2 TBSP olive oil
--2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, each pounded to consistent thickness
--1 TBSP butter
--medium yellow onion, diced
--garlic, minced
--1/2 bundle fresh parsley, chopped
--1/2 bundle fresh cilantro, chopped

In a sauce pan bring one cup of water, the honey, and the apricots to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid reduces to a thick syrup. If your apricots are particularly dry you might need to add more water.

Whisk ground cinnamon, ginger, pepper, a pinch of salt, and 1 TBSP olive oil in a large bowl. Dredge the chicken in the mixture, coating each piece thoroughly.

Heat butter and 1 TBSP olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the butter melts. Brown the chicken in the butter, cooking 4-ish minutes on each side (amount of time will depend on the thickness of the breasts).

Add onion, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt to the pan and sauté for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and the cilantro and parsley. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the apricot mixture and cook, uncovered for 10 or so more minutes. Serve with couscous. Eat!

Pamalicious is excited about the meal she just made for us.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 661 per serving

Pretzels: An Alternative to Bread Crumbs

I picked up some awesome mustard on my recent-ish Palisade adventure. It is made with wine ,so clearly, it's extra yummy. I knew as soon as I plucked the jar from the shelf that it would taste most excellent slathered on a chicken breast and holding on a pretzel crust. Using pretzels is a fun alternative to using breadcrumbs or panko, and depending upon the texture or flavor you want can add a nice little bit of extra oomph.

I was experimenting with size here, so I must admit that I should have ground the pretzels down a little more. The larger chunks managed to stay on the chicken okay, but got browner more quickly so I didn't have an even golden color all around. (More like some, ahem, umber or sepia colors...)

Mustard Chicken With Pretzel Crust
--4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
--1/4 cup of your favorite mustard (use a dijon, honey, beer, or brown mustard, not yellow mustard)
--2 TBSP milk or milk substitute
--1 cup of pretzel crumbs
--parchment paper

Remove any remaining skin or fat from the chicken breasts. Wash the chicken breasts and pat them dry. Place the pretzel crumbs in one bowl and the mustard in another. Whisk the little bit of milk/soy milk/rice milk/? milk into the mustard.

Use one hand to put the chicken into the mustard and coat it evenly. Using the same hand, place the chicken into the pretzel crumbs. Use the other hand (dry hand) to spread the pretzel crumbs evenly over the chicken, flipping it over if necessary to ensure the chicken piece is completely coated. Place the chicken on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Using the parchment paper will help to keep the chicken from sticking to the pan and make it easier to plate later on.

Bake in the oven until the juices run clear and the crust is browned (40-ish minutes). Remove from the parchment paper and plate it up!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 291 per serving

Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Tacos

Sometimes recipes are inspired by other dishes you've eaten or recipes read. Other times recipes are inspired by a craving for certain flavors or types of cuisine. Still others come about based upon ingredients that are handy. This is one such recipe. Oddly enough, I decided to make these wonderful tacos not out of a craving for Mexican food or a desire to replicate a fajita recipe. Nope. This recipe exists because I had a half a head of cabbage that I was trying to figure out what to do with.

Dear cabbage,
Thanks for the memories,
xoxo, Me.

Now I can't take all the credit because the true moment of inspiration came from my boyfriend. As I was contemplating the many uses for cabbage his sheer genius broke through when he said, "Cabbage tastes good in tacos." That it does, my friend. That it does. So here we are: Fajita Tacos.

This will make classic fajitas or chicken to put on top of salad. I happen to like tacos. A lot. Say no to drugs, say yes to tacos.

The chicken was marinated starting the night before for maximum deliciousness.

Fajita Tacos
--2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
--garlic
--yellow or white onion
--anaheim pepper
--bell pepper
--tortillas
--shredded cabbage

Marinade:
--1 zipper bag, quart or gallon sized
--garlic
--lime juice
--tequila
--soy sauce
--Worcestershire sauce
--orange juice
--olive oil
--cumin
--pepper
--ancho or cayenne or red pepper flakes

The night before:

Place the chicken in a large plastic zipper bag. Use the "pour and pray" method to make the marinade, starting with equal parts of all liquid ingredients and adding more or less of desired flavors. Seal the bag and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Grill the chicken, onion and peppers. Baste with excess marinade as desired. Remove from grill when chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.

Shred the chicken and chop the vegetables.

Serve in tortillas, top with cabbage. EAT!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 24 hours with marinating; 20 minutes cook time
Serves: 4 folks, 2 tacos each; 8 tacos total
Calories: 332 per serving (2 tacos); 166 per taco

Goodbye Gut Contest: Our Winning Recipe!

Once upon a time, way back in June, we told you all about our Goodbye Gut Contest. Thanks to those of you who entered! It was a difficult process that took a bit longer than expected to cook our way through all your recipes--but a problem I'll gladly take!

Entries were scored on the following requirements, beyond taste of course:

• Total calorie count per serving
• Ease of preparation
• Accessibility of ingredients and tools to prepare the recipe

Entries were also given extra points if the recipe included bacon or a bacon-inspired product. This winning recipe didn't need those extra points--it was delicious, easy to make, and much more low-cal that you would expect from such a rich tasting recipe.

Our winner is Chandra M. and her Pesto & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts! Congratulations Chandra M., your prize is on its way!

The recipe is below--try it, you'll love it, I guarantee it!

Pesto & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

--4 cleaned boneless, skinless chicken breasts

--2 TBSP goat cheese

--2 TBSP cream cheese (I used this "better than cream cheese" vegan version because cow dairy products make me a sad girl)

--1 serving of your favorite pesto mix (You don't need a mix, use your own pesto)

--1 egg yolk

--1 tablespoon of olive oil

--flour

--plain bread crumbs ("I use Panko because they are crunchy," she wrote so that's what I did too and recommend!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

"Clean the chicken breasts and set aside," writes Chandra M.  I took this to mean wash and dry the chicken breast pieces and slice off any remaining fat or skin.

Prepare the pesto mix as directed (or use your own pesto for more homegrown deliciousness) and mix with both cheeses.

"Butterfly the chicken breasts and stuff with the cheese/pesto mix," she says are our next steps.

Butterflying is a simple slicing technique you can use on whole chickens or on chicken breasts or pork chops. It is a great method if you are stuffing the meat with anything (in our case, the pesto mix). Using a sharp short knife, you'll start on one edge of the chicken breast. Insert the knife into the middle of the thickest part of the chicken breast. Slice along the side until you reach 180 degrees (or the other end) of the length of the chicken breast.

Dip the chicken breast in flour, then in the egg yolk, and finally in the bread crumbs. "Use Leah's wet hand/dry hand technique," she writes and we love. Way to be an avid BaOBH reader!

Heat the olive oil in a pan on the stove top and sear one side of the stuffed chicken until the breadcrumbs are a light/medium brown and crunchy.

Place the chicken in a glass baking dish browned side up and set in the oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken's juices run clear.

And how should you eat this? Take Chandra's advice and "Enjoy with some fresh steamed veggies or a light salad. I like sauteed asparagus!"

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
Calories: 460 calories

Another Asian Delight, Please!

Apparently I'm a little obsessed with Asian food. I mean, it's not anything I didn't actually know before--given the option of where to go out to eat, I'm likely to list four Asian cuisines out of five cuisine choices. But I've noticed that I also like to cook Asian-inspired treats as well, as evidenced by the fact that I made the Pad Thai recipe below twice in the same week...

This recipe is pieced together from many places: Various internet recipes, reading the ingredients on the ready-made stuff at the store, my own random additions. It has one solidifying piece though--everyone I make this for really likes it. It may seem complicated but it really is just that it's a multi-step process. Making pad thai yourself will require a trip to the Asian specialty grocer as many of the ingredients can be more easily (and cheaply) sourced there. One thing to note, if you can only find tamarind in a large package at the Asian grocer you can buy a jar of the pre-made "Pad Thai Sauce" on the same aisle and jazz it up by adding more chili paste.

I've included pictures from both of the weeks preparations. The first, a quiet dinner with family, the second, feeding many hungry mouths on girl's night.

Pad Thai
--1 package rice noodles (these will be marked "pad thai" or "banh pho")
--peanut oil (olive oil will work as a substitute)
--garlic, minced
--shallots, minced
--brick extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
--1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into smaller strips
--pad thai sauce (recipe for this below)
--1 egg
--20 medium or large uncooked de-veined shrimp, tails on
--green onions, sliced into 1/4" thick rounds
--bean sprouts, washed and drained
--1/4 cup unsalted dry-roast peanuts (found on the bulk foods aisle of most grocers)
--fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
--limes, quartered

Pad Thai Sauce:
--1/4 cup fish sauce
--1/4 cup tamarind sauce (instructions below)
--2 TBSP brown sugar
--chili paste, to taste (I use the chili and garlic sauce made by the Sriracha folks)

Prepping the Tamarind:
Tamarind comes in either paste or pulp form, either of which will need to be soaked in hot water first. If you're using tamarind paste, start with a spoonful mixed into 1/4 cup of hot water. If you are using pulp, for every one tablespoon of pulp use 1/3 cup boiling water.

Making the Sauce:
Mix all the ingredients together, stirring well until the sugar dissolves. If you need to add a little heat to do this you can make the sauce in a saucepan over low heat, stirring often. I recommend making the sauce while the noodles are soaking and the chicken is cooking and then setting the sauce aside for later. If you like you can make the sauce the day or morning before and stick it in the refrigerator until you're ready for it.

Making the Pad Thai:
Soak the noodles in tepid tap-water for 10 minutes. Don't let them get soggy! It's better to under-soak the noodles and add some water to the pan later than to have ooey-gooey noodles.

In a large skillet with deep sides, add enough oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan and heat on high. Cook the garlic and shallots for a few minutes (I also like to toast a few peanuts with them). Add the tofu chunks and sear on each side until golden. Add the chicken pieces and cook until cooked all the way through, stirring regularly so nothing scorches. If things seem to be cooking too fast or to hot, reduce the heat to medium-high.

Add the soaked noodles and toss into the mixture like a salad so you don't break them.  Add the sauce, pouring it evenly over the pan to minimize the need for stirring.  In the center of the pan, make room for the egg. Crack the egg into the pan and scramble it before mixing it up into the rest of the meal.

Add the shrimp and stir gently. (Shrimp will cook quickly from the heat of all the items in the pan so it need not make its way to the bottom of the pan). Add 1/2 of the bean sprouts, most of the peanuts (if you didn't roast most of 'em from the start), and sliced green onions and stir to combine.

Plate it up! Top with remaining sprouts, peanuts, cilantro, and limes.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 1 to 1-1/2 hours
Serves: 6
Calories: 471

Show Your Summer Head Cold No Mercy

photo courtesy of Kokoro Photography

I realize it's officially summer now, but unfortunately some of us are plagued by a typically winter infection, the most dreaded of all illnesses--the summer cold! The dastardly summer cold sneaks its way into the most active and unwilling of hosts, bringing the poor soul to his or her tanned knees.

Let's face it: colds always suck. But in the summer?  Colds suck MORE.

My best friend is a dynamic girl-on-the go, spending her summers chasing brides around with a camera. Recently, she fell victim to the terrible summer cold and so, like any good best friend, I whipped up a pot of soup because my Mama taught me that soup fixes almost anything, including a cold.  But in hot hot heat of June, classic chicken noodle soup is a bit too hellish to endure (though tasty, we know).  

Cue this recipe, which is lighter in flavor and consistency than it's noodle-y cousin and is chock full of veggies to soothe that runny nose and sore throat without over-heating the poor sicky. It's also heavy on the garlic; garlic has been used by many cultures for centuries to help kick colds and other bugs. I have a friend who (force?) feeds her children sauteed garlic cloves at the first sign of any cold or flu-like symptom.  Added bonus: Garlic tastes good, even when you're sick, as its strong flavor still comes through all the snot...

Summer Cold Chicken Soup
--TBSP olive oil

--4 whole carrots, scrubbed and sliced into thin rounds

--5 whole cloves garlic, sheared into thin slices

--1 shallot, sheared into thin slices--1 leek stalk, sliced into thin rounds

--3 cups chicken broth

--1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded

--1 cup water

--salt and pepper

--1 bunch of spinach, thoroughly washed and leaves separated

--garlic powder

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the carrots, garlic, and shallots for a few minutes, until the carrots begin to soften. Add the leeks and cook until the carrots are tender.

While the vegetables cook down, in a large stock pot or dutch oven heat the chicken broth over high heat. Bring it to a rolling boil before added the shredded chicken pieces and the water. Turn down to simmer and add the carrot/leek mixture and add salt and pepper to taste, stirring all together to combine.

Simmer the soup pot for 15 minutes before adding the spinach and some garlic powder. How much garlic powder you add will depend completely upon your personal preferences and how much you can taste through the yucky mucus.  Simmer another 5 minutes--just enough for the spinach to get wilted but not get too soggy--and eat it up.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 336

Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?

So there I am, standing in a strange kitchen staring at what I have. I have chicken. I have tomatoes. I have decided to roast them but haven't planned any farther.  Since I'm housesitting I open the spice cabinet to see what else might be at my disposal. And there they were, the four musical spices...

If you're planning to take a trip to Scarborough Fair any time soon (or you just happen to like Simon & Garfunkel) the mention of parsley or sage or rosemary or thyme always makes me hum the tune. And I've used each of these glorious spices (dried and fresh) to make many meals have that extra oomph. But how would all these herbal powerhouses taste together?

Really, really good as it turned out.

Roasted Chicken & Romas

--1 cup brown rice

--1/4 cup vegetable broth

--8 roma tomatoes

--4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (any additional visible fat removed)
--2 TBSP olive oil

--parsley

--sage

--rosemary

--thyme

--salt and pepper

Cook rice according to package directions, substituting 1/4 cup of the water with vegetable broth.

Core the tomatoes and cut a small X in the bottom of each tomato.  Place the tomatoes and the chicken in an oven-safe dish and coat with the olive oil. Season tomatoes and chicken breasts with the spices.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serve each piece of chicken over the brown rice with two roasted tomatoes. Remove the tomato skin if desired.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 55 minutes
Serves:4
Calories: 485

Sure It's A Salad, But It Has Bacon Too!

I have no air conditioning.  The house I live in is a tiny place that was made for nuns. (Yes, really). It's made of bricks and windows (thankfully). So in the summer, "cooking" takes on a whole new meaning for me--it means getting in and out of the kitchen without having to slave over a hot stove!

Enter the salad, whose tag-line should be, "Not just for rabbits anymore!".  You'll see a lot more salads on this site in the next few months, because salads are the soups of summer.  Seriously. You can throw just about anything together and call it a salad, no lettuce required.  Today's recipe is a pretty traditional salad recipe that is packed full of protein (and delicious, clearly) from the bacon, roasted chicken, and goat cheese. Bonus prize: it's fast and oh so easy to make!

Summer Pear Protein Salad With Warm Sesame Dressing

--2 slices of bacon, cut in half to make 4 pieces

--1 carrot, peeled and sliced into 1/8" rounds

--2 pears, cored and sliced

--1/4 cup roast chicken (or rotisserie)
--2 cups red leaf lettuce, washed and hand ripped or cut into bite-sized pieces
--2 TBSP (1 oz) of goat cheese, crumbled (about 1/4 of a 4oz. log)

Dressing (makes about 3 TBSP of dressing)
--1/4 tsp sesame seeds

--2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

--1 tsp vegetable oil

--1/4 tsp sesame oil

--black pepper

Salad:
In a small frying pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until desired crispness.  Remove the bacon from heat and drain on paper towels.  Pour the bacon grease into your handy grease jar but a small trace amount will remain in the frying pan to add a little flavor to the dressing.

While the bacon cooks, add the carrots, pears, chicken, and lettuce in a large bowl.  When the bacon is done and patted down with paper towels, rip or slice into bite-sized pieces and add to the salad bowl.  Mix the salad together and set aside.

Once the dressing is done, portion the salad and add the goat cheese to the top.  Drizzle with the dressing.

Dressing:
In the same frying pan you used for the bacon, add the sesame seeds.  Toast over medium heat for about a minute, stirring consistently.  Add the other dressing ingredients and stir with a fork or whisk to mix.  Heat for about 2 minutes before removing from heat.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Approximate Calories: 381 per serving (Salad: 223 per serving; Dressing: 158 per serving)