Monday, June 28, 2010

Persian Chicken Pita Sandwich

Hey everyone, so I haven't posted a whole late lately, because we've been putting in a patio in our backyard, so I haven't had much energy for cooking the last few weeks.  So last night I wanted to make something relatively healthy, quick and easy.  Cue a trip to the store and some delicious Persian chicken!  Now, I didn't marinate the chicken for 24 hours, so I couldn't quite make the regular Joojeh Chicken Kebobs, so I adapted it into a delicious sandwich.  Here's what you'll need for the hummus, marinade and sandwiches:

Saffron Hummus:

1 can Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)
1/2 C Lemon Juice
Olive Oil (About 1/2 C)
1/4 C Diced Red Onion
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1/2 Tsp Saffron Strands
4 Tbsp Warm Water
2 Tsp Course Ground Pepper
2 Tsp Kosher Salt

First, grind the Saffron with a mortar and pestle (or with a spoon in a bowl) and put with the warm water into a non-staining measuring cup.  Then, drain and rinse the Chickpeas in a colander and dump into your food processor.  Add in the Garlic, Lemon Juice, Salt and Pepper and run the food processor for a few seconds.  Stop the processor and spatula everything down together, then add in the saffron/water combo and the red onion.  Close it back up and run it and, then slowly pour in the Olive oil while it's running until it gets to a nice smooth consistency.  Set aside about 1/2 Cup for the sandwiches and serve the rest as an appetizer with some toasted Pita Bread wedges.  On to the Sandwich!

Chicken Marinade:

6-8 oz Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 C Diced Red Onion
1/2 C Lemon Juice
1/2 Tsp Saffron
4 Tbsp Warm Water
2 Tsp Black Pepper
2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 lb chicken cut into tenderloins or 1" chunks
2 Roma tomatoes

Grind and soak the saffron the same as for the hummus above.  Dice the red onion (or roughly chop and then throw in the food processor) and put in a non-staining mixing bowl (glass or stainless steel) and add in the yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and mix in the soaked saffron and stir.  Add-in the chicken and let marinade for at least 20 minutes.  Turn on the oven to broil and lay out a broiler pan with foil.  Take the chicken out of the marinade (leave a little marinade on it for cooking) and if it's tenderloins, lay them out on the foil, or in the case of chunks skewer on kebobs to broil.  Broil for 6 or 7 minutes and then flip and broil for 5 to 7 more on the other side.  When you flip the chicken, cut the roma tomatoes in half and put them in the center of the broiler pan to roast.  If you're cooking tenderloins, chop into chunks.

To assemble into sandwiches you'll need:
Crumbled Feta Cheese
Baby Spinach/Lettuce
Red Onion Sliced into rings
Thick Pita Bread (I get Kronos Authentic Pita Bread, not Pita Pockets)

Toast the pita bread so it warms up and will bend easier and not break.  Spread out some hummus on it and then top with a layer of spinach and then lay a row of chicken and add the rest of the toppings: feta cheese, chopped roasted tomatoes, red onion rings.  Fold into a taco and enjoy!!  Quick (with a little practice), easy, delicous and reasonably healthy!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Spicy Beef Stir-fry

Okay, so you're hungry, and you've got some veggies, but you're tired and you want to make a dinner that doesn't take a whole lot of work or time, AND you like Chinese food?  How about some Stir-fry with stuff in your refrigerator?  I had some round steak on hand and in 20 minutes start to finish, we had a delicious healthy dinner.

Caitlin and I wanted to go for a bike ride, so before we left, I put 1 cup of brown rice into the rice cooker to cook (our rice cooker will automatically turn to warm when it's done cooking to keep the rice warm until you need it) and set the Beef in some warm water to thaw.  After about 45 minutes we came back and the rice is done and the Beef is thawed and we're hungry.  So after a quick rinse in the shower for me, it's time to get going on dinner!

Recipe:
1lb Round/Flank/London Broil Beef Steak
1/2 Orange Pepper
1/2 medium sized Red Pepper
1 Bunch Green Onions
Ginger Root roughly equal the size of both of your thumbs
1/2 C Peanut Oil
Teriyaki Sauce
Sesame Seeds

Slice the steak into 1 1/2 inch long strips and then slice those pieces into 1 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch pieces (this is important, you want to get as much of your stir fry pieces to be the same size as possible, it helps with cooking) and place the pieces in a bowl and top with just enough Sauce to coat all the meat pieces.  If the sauce you have is runny, add in some cornmeal or flour little by little while stirring until the sauce thickens up and really coats the beef slices.

Next, chop the entire bunch of green onions into 1/4 inch pieces and place in a bowl.  Then slice the ginger into 1/8 inch slices and keep the center pieces (the ones that don't have skin on one side, only around the edges).  Trim off the skin around the edges of these pieces and then stack them back up and cut long ways into 1/8 inch slices.  Then turn 90 degrees and slice into 1/8 inch slices again (Carefully!).  This should end up being a pile of 1/8 inch ginger cubes.  Add these to the green onion bowl.

Put your Wok on the stove-top on medium high to heat up. Take your Onion and Pepper and cut them into roughly 1/2" pieces.  Add a little peanut oil to the wok and let that heat up for 30 seconds and then throw in the onion and pepper to stir fry.  Let them cook for 2-4 minutes until they start to get soft, stirring constantly (stirring in the stir-fry sense means using a spatula and flipping/stirring in a rotation around the wok so that each piece is in contact with the cooking surface equally and moving items from the center of the wok to the outside, it's sort of a constant flip of the wrist). Once the veggies are cooked and softened, remove them from the wok and place in a bowl. 

Now add in another 1/2 C of peanut oil and let it heat up for 30 seconds and then dump in the Green Onions and Ginger.  Stir fry them for about a minute and then add in the Beef and sauce.  Stir fry the beef for about 2-4 minutes until all the pieces appear to be browned on the outside and add back in the red onions and pepper.  Continue to stir-fry together for another minute and then remove the Wok from the stove and serve over a bed of the brown rice.  Mmmm, delicious! 

Stir-frying is great, if you can learn to do it quickly and effectively you can buy cheaper cuts of beef and have them end up tender and delicious and you can mix and match in an endless amount of combinations: 
  • Don't like rice, try rice or lo-mein noodles.  
  • Don't like beef, try chicken or shrimp!  
  • Don't like Teriyaki, well, use whatever sauce you do like, just make sure you thicken it up so it coats the meat/veggies (otherwise it can settle in the middle of the wok and boil/splash in your face).  
  • Don't like Chinese food but you like Thai food?  Well, swap out the green onion and ginger for Cilantro and/or Thai Basil and Chile pepper.  
Whatever you can think up, you can do, and more importantly, whatever you have in your fridge/freezer, you can probably find a stir-fry combo that will work and taste delicious!

Oven Baked Barbeque Spare Ribs

So we're down in Florida visiting the Brother and Sister in law, and we wanted something easy to make, delicious, and barbequed.  We had some ribs at Busch Gardens and they were well. . . underwhelming.  So we thought some ribs were in order.  Now, they don't have a grill, so I had to make do with my oven baked recipe, which is about 90% as good (and if you've never had the grill/smoked version, well, that 90% is still awesome).  Here's what you'll need:

Baby Back Pork Ribs
or
Beef or Pork Spare Ribs (with or without the bones)

Seasoning:
I'd recommend using my Spice Rub but if you don't have that, you can mix together 2 tbsp each of:

Crushed or Chopped Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Salt
Paprika
Chili Powder (if you want some heat on the ribs!)
and/or
Chipotle/Ancho Powder

Or just go to the store and buy some rub, I know McCormick's makes a couple different varieties as do many others.

So, to start out, if the ribs have bones still in them, make sure the membrane on the back side has been removed (butchers usually do this, but not always).  If you can see an opaque white membrane on the back side of the ribs, use a knife or a spatula to peel this off.  This will allow the meat to cook and absorb moisture from the back side more easily, which will result in much softer ribs.

First off, pre-heat the oven to 325°. While that's heating up, take out your baking sheet or broiler pan and cover it with foil.  This will help with the cleanup later.  Make sure the whole pan is covered by foil so that the drippings can't get below to the pan (this is where it's handy to buy the larger size foil roll at the store. . . ).  Lay the ribs out on the pan and gently rub on you seasoning mixture to both sides of all the ribs.

Once the oven reaches 325°, put the ribs in for about 90 minutes and then baste them with your favorite sauce (like Kraft or KC Masterpiece) and put them back in for another 20-30 minutes so the sauce can work its way in and thicken up.  Then, sprinkle any remaining rub/spice on top of the sauce and turn the oven to broil and let it broil for 5 or 6 minutes to help turn the spice and sauce into a nice crust.

You should end up with some delicious soft oven baked ribs with a little kick of flavor!  Serve with your favorite sides and a beer or two (and some wet naps!) and you're good to go, easy as pie.  If you really want to feed a ton of people, serve with my beer can chicken (though that may require 2 ovens. . .)