Caramelized Chili Basa Filet

Our local market advertised a sale on basa swai this week, a fish I had never heard of but was interested in trying. I did some research and found out that basa is a Vietnamese white fish, similar to catfish. The market was carrying farm raised filets so we picked up 2 of them yesterday.

Since I'm still new to fish, I like to add a lot of flavor to almost hide the fact that I'm eating fish. I found this recipe for Caramelized Chili Basa Filets and it sounded interesting, especially since we love garlic and all things spicy. I didn't have sweet chili sauce, so instead of using both garlic and sweet chili sauce, I used some spicy chili garlic sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 basa filets
• Salt
• Lemon juice
• 2 tsp chili garlic sauce (original recipe called for 2 tsp minced garlic and 3 tbsp sweet chili sauce)

Directions

• Line broiling pan or cookie sheet with foil.
• Sprinkle pan with lemon juice and salt
• Place fish on pan, and spread chili garlic sauce evenly over fish
• Place under broiler on low for about 6-7 minutes.

Our sauce didn't exactly caramelize, but if we left it in any longer the fish would have dried out.

This fish was so delicate and flaky -

Although the sauce was just a bit much (too heavy) for a light fish, the flavors in the sauce gave the fish a good punch! We started dinner with a spinach salad, and enjoyed the fish with some roasted broccoli - a healthy and delicious dinner.

Spinach Salad

Several weeks ago our friend Jeff made us this Grilled Ciabbata Bread Salad. It was absolutely delicious and I can't wait to make it again, but it was cold and windy last night so I didn't feel like grilling the bread! Also, we were having my friend Lary's mac n'cheese so I didn't think we'd need bread in our salad!

I took a few ideas from Jeff's salad (inspired by a Bobby Flay recipe, see original post) and whipped together this simple, healthy, and delicious salad.

Ingredients

• 1 sm red onion, sliced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 c good olive oil
• 2-3 c fresh spinach
• 1 c chopped tomatoes
• Balsamic vinegar, approximately 3 tbsp
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• Shaved Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Place sliced onions and cilantro in a bowl with the olive oil. Let sit in the fridge while you prepare the other ingredients, or for 30 minutes.
• When ready to eat, mix spinach and tomatoes with the onion mixture.
• Add balsamic vinegar, and add more oil if needed. Toss well.
• Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
• Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese.

As I said before when Jeff made his salad, I didn't expect cilantro to work in this type of salad, but it really does! It's adds a nice, fresh flavor. This salad was very light and refreshing, but full of flavor.

The Most Sinful Mac n'Cheese

Last night my friends, Lary and Stacey, came over so we could spend some time together before Stacey moves back to California. I'm so sad about that, but very happy for Stacey.

Lary is famous for making the best comfort food, so I was excited to try his mac-n-cheese. He did not disappoint!!

His recipe is adapted from Guy Fieri's recipe for Mac Daddy Mac n'Cheese.

Lary's Best Ever Mac n'Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 shallots - chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic - chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 pound bacon - diced, cooked and reserve 1 tablespoon bacon fat
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups heavy whipping cream
• ½ - 1 teaspoon thyme (dried or fresh)
• 8 ounces pepper jack cheese – shredded
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese - shredded
• 16 ounces of Velveeta cheese – cubed
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Hot sauce to taste
• 1 pound of elbow macaroni – cooked
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley (dried or fresh)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°
• In a stockpot add olive oil and chopped shallots, cook over low heat until clear
• Add garlic and stir for 1 minute until golden brown
• Add 1 tablespoon of reserved bacon fat and stir for an additional 1 minute
• Add 2 tablespoons of flour and stir for an additional 1 minute
• Whisk in heavy cream and thyme and reduce by 1 third
• Stir in cheeses until melted, creamy and thickened.
• Add salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste
• Add crumbled bacon for 1 minute
• Remove from heat and stir into pasta
• Let pasta sit and stir every few minutes until cheese becomes stiff and pasty
• Place in a 9”x12” casserole dish
• Mix together Panko, parsley and butter and crumble on top of Mac n'Cheese
• Bake covered until bubbling (approximately 45 minutes)
• Once Mac n'Cheese is bubbling, uncover and place under broiler until topping becomes browned and crisp

I don't even think I have the words to describe how good this was! Creamy, rich, smoky from the bacon, crunchy from the panko, just YUM! We each had 2 servings, and then enjoyed a little more the next morning.

Thanks, Lary!!

Chicken Tenders - Honey Mustard and Buffalo

I love having chicken tenders with mac n cheese. There's just something comforting about it. My favorite flavor is buffalo, like in these Buffalo Chicken Bites.

I also wanted to make a second flavor and used this recipe for Honey Mustard Chicken that I found in Joelen's blog.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into tenders
• 1/2 c Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
• 1/2 c Panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c regular breadcrumbs
• Spices: a few dashes each of cayenne, garlic powder, and chili powder
• Cooking spray

Mix the breadcrumbs and spices. Dip the chicken in the sauce and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake on 375 for 10-12 minutes, flipping once, and turning on the broiler at the end. Serve with blue cheese dipping sauce (I bought a jar of Marie's Light Blue Cheese Dressing).

Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders (inspired by Joelen, see link above for original recipe)

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp coarse ground Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 c Panko breadcrumbs mixed with 1/2 c regular breadcrumbs and a dash of garlic powder

Dip the chicken in the honey mustard mixture and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake on 375 for 10-12 minutes, flipping once, and turning on the broiler at the end.

Serve with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce.

The honey mustard chicken is on the left, buffalo on the right.

I love how the chicken really didn't even need a dipping sauce. All of the flavor was already in there. And can this get any easier? These would also make a great appetizer.

Pasta with Caramelized Onions and Spinach

I love caramelized onions, so when I saw this recipe for Pappardele with Caramelized Onions and Parmesan in the blog Cook Like a Champion, I had to bookmark it. The original recipe comes from Everyday Food.

I made this the other night with a few slight changes. I added spinach, and had to use fettucine since I couldn't find pappardele anywhere - weird, right?

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 package (8.8 ounces) pappardele pasta or 8 ounces fettuccine
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 ounces Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler
• Added: 1 bag fresh baby spinach
• Next time will add: 1/4 c dry white wine

Directions

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onions and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cover, and cook, without stirring, until onions have released their liquid, about 5 minutes. Uncover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. When bottom of skillet darkens, add a few tablespoons water, and scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon (you may need to do this 2 or 3 times).
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When onions have about 10 minutes left to cook, add pasta to water in pot, and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot. I didn't return the pasta to the pot...see below
• I didn't do this: Add onions and butter to pasta in pot; season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Instead, I added spinach to the onion pan, and then added the pasta and pasta water. There was some great flavor in the pan from caramelizing the onions, so I wanted to make use of that by mixing the dish in the onion pan. Next time I think I'd deglaze the pan with white wine before adding the spinach and pasta.
• Gradually add enough pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats pasta. Serve pasta topped with Parmesan.

My only mistake was that I pulled out my julienne slicer instead of my vegetable slicer, so I had thin strips of Parmesan. They tasted the same, but weren't as pretty as the slices of Parm in the original picture.

This was good. Very sweet, but good.

Southwestern Chicken Salad

Lately I have been making a lot of chicken salad. Because I only like to use onions, peppers, and celery in the mixture (no raisins or nuts in my chicken salad!), I add flavor by seasoning my chicken before cooking it.

It's obvious that I love Mexican and Southwestern flavors, so it's only appropriate that I make a Southwestern chicken salad.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed (or use other parts of the chicken if you like them)
• Spices: chili powder, cumin, coriander, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 sm onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• For serving: cilantro and tomatoes

Directions

• Coat chicken with spices - from most to least, I used chili powder, cumin, coriander, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, salt, and cayenne. I don't know the amounts, but the chicken was completely spice coated when I was done.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add chicken and cook until done, about 5 min per side. The color of the chicken after being cooked is so beautiful from the spices!
• Let cool, and then finely chop the chicken.
• Mix with peppers, onion, and mayonnaise. Chill.
• When ready to serve, top with some cilantro and tomatoes. I would have mixed the cilantro in with the salad, but I think it is too strong of a flavor to sit in the salad for 2-3 days. Also, it would probably wilt after being in the mayonnaise.

I served the salad on a roll my mom picked up when we were at Costco the other day. They are multi grain rolls and according to a fellow Costco shopper, only have 1 point each in the Weight Watchers System.

This was so delicious, and so much more exciting than plain old chicken salad!

Beef Barbacoa for Tacos

I have only been to Chipotle Mexican Grill twice, but both times ordered the Beef Barbacoa Tacos - once soft, once hard. I loved the flavor of the meat and was surprised to find something so good at a fast food restaurant.

The other night Jon cooked Beef Negimaki using flank steak, so we had some uncooked flank steak left over. I planned on making tacos tonight so decided that I had to try to make beef that tasted like Chipotle's Beef Barbacoa.

After googling, I found this copycat recipe for Beef Barbacoa. I used the recipe for the marinade only, and cooked it on the stove instead of in the slow cooker. Also, I had about 1/3 lb meat, not the 1.5 lbs that the recipe called for so I adjusted the amounts accordingly, as noted below.

Ingredients

• 1/3 lb flank steak; the beef we had leftover was pounded thin
• 1 diced tomato
• 1 cup chicken broth
• Dash red wine
• Juice from 1/2 of a lime
• 1/3 tsp ground cumin
• 1/3 tsp ground oregano
• 1 seeded and sliced jalapeno (the recipe for 1.5 lbs meat also used 1 jalapeno..I could have actually used more!)
• 2 Tbs. cilantro
• 1/3 large onion,thickly sliced
• Dash each salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• For cooking: 8 oz beef broth and 2 tbsp crushed tomatoes

Directions (these are my own directions; for slow cooker directions, see the original post)

• Mix all marinade ingredients and marinate the beef overnight.
• When ready to cook, remove the beef from the marinade
• Heat olive oil in a deep saute pan or Dutch oven
• Add beef to pan and cook about 2 minutes on each side, until browned.
• Add marinade to pan and bring to a boil; let simmer, uncovered, about 30 minutes. Cooking time will be longer for more meat.
• Remove meat from pan and shred.
• Drain marinade, pressing on solids, and return liquid portion of the drained marinade to the pan with the beef broth and tomatoes. Discard the solids from the drained marinade.
• Return shredded beef to the pan and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

I can't believe how much this beef tasted like Chipotle's beef, but even better, and nowhere near as salty. I also think Chipotle uses a chipotle pepper in their marinade, but I didn't miss the flavor.

I served the meat in hard taco shells, but think soft corn tortillas would work well as they wouldn't get as soggy.

Sweet and Spicy: Chile-Glazed Chicken

I have been doing a lot of cooking lately, so felt like making something easy tonight.

I have had this recipe for New Mexico Chile-Glazed Chicken with Hominy Polenta in my Epicurious Recipe box for a while. However, I couldn't find hominy anywhere. And, after reading the recipe, the sauce wasn't used as a glaze so I decided to make the sauce and change the rest of the recipe.

For a side I heated a can of pinto beans in sauce. I know, that's not like me at all!! The only canned things I use are beans for chili or soups, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Jon walked into the kitchen and screamed in shock and horror that I was cooking something from a can! We are all allowed a break every now and then, right? Surprisingly, we loved the beans and finished off the entire can.

Chile-Glazed Chicken - Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, trimmed and pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
• 4 chiles: I used 3 Anaheims and 1 Serrano, seeded and roughly chopped. The original recipe calls for 4 New Mexico chiles, but after some research, found that Anaheims plus one hotter pepper make a good substitute
• 3/4 c low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder (my addition)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter (butter is optional)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Put chicken broth and chopped chiles in a pot. Bring to a boil and then cover and let simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a food processor or blender and add honey, balsamic vinegar, cumin, and chili powder. Puree. I then returned the sauce to the pot and kept it warm over low heat.
• Heat olive oil and butter in a pan over medium-high heat.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Cook for 4 minutes on each side.
• Spoon some of the sauce onto each breast and brush out evenly.
• Transfer the pan of chicken to the oven, and let cook for about 8 minutes.
• Serve with more sauce, if desired.

At first taste, the sauce was very sweet, but then the heat crept in at the end. We normally don't like sweet sauces or foods, but this sauce had just the right balance of sweetness and heat. We both loved it. Quick and easy, too.

Beef Negimaki - Cooked by Jon

We don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day other than exchanging cards...the goofiest and sappiest ones we can find. But since we normally stay in and cook on Saturday nights anyway, we decided to do something special. Correction, Jon decided to do something special - he was in the mood to cook and up for a challenge!

We were brainstorming when I remembered a dish that Jon loves to order in Japanese restaurants, Beef Negimaki, a beef and green onion dish that looks like sushi rolls. There aren't too many recipes out there, so I chose this one from the Epicurious web site for Japanese Beef and Scallion Rolls.

Ingredients

• 12 small scallions, trimmed to 6 inch lengths
• 1 lb piece of flank steak
• 1/4 c sake
• 1/4 c mirin
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• Equipment: meat pounder; kitchen string

Directions

Jon followed the recipe, but did make a few modifications for how the meat was to be cut/layered/rolled. His way worked perfectly, and we both think it was easier than the directions in the original recipe. Below is how he did it.

• Prepare scallions: Blanch scallions in a pot of boiling salted water for 45 seconds, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Transfer scallions to a paper towel to drain and pat dry.
• Prepare beef: Jon cut the flank steak into three thinner pieces, like this:

• Then he pounded each piece to 1/6 inch thick - pound the beef between pieces of oiled plastic wrap.

• Once pounded, he cut each piece across the grain into two pieces, so we now had a total of six 4-6 inch square pieces (we used 4 of them).
• Place 3 scallions on the end of one piece of beef, and roll with the grain. Secure with kitchen twine.

• Once all pieces of steak have been rolled, put them in the fridge while you make the marinade. The steak can be rolled up to 4 hours in advance.
• Make the marinade: Stir together sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar.
• Marinate the beef in the fridge for 15 minutes.

• Heat a heavy skillet over high heat until hot, 1-2 minutes. Add oil, swirling to coat the bottom.
• Lift rolls from the marinade, let excess drip off, and pat dry (Jon didn't pat them dry - he wanted the marinade left on the beef to caramelize), reserving the marinade.
• Add rolls to the pan and cook, turning with tongs, until all sides are browned, about 5-6 min for medium rare. He then transferred the pan to a 375 oven for another 6 min or so, but this isn't necessary if you like your beef medium rare. Remove pan from oven and transfer rolls to a cutting board.

• Place pan the beef cooked in over medium heat on the stove. Add marinade and bring to a boil until slightly syrupy, about 2 minutes.
• Cut off strings and slice rolls crosswise into sushi-sized rolls. Serve with the sauce.

OH. MY. GOD. I expected these beef rolls to be good and was excited to eat them. But I wasn't prepared for just HOW good they were!! I swear they were better than the beef negimaki Jon has ordered in restaurants. The rolls stayed together perfectly and took on the flavor of the scallions, and the sauce was perfectly sweet and syrupy. I don't know how many times during dinner I said "mmmm, good job Jon!!"

Jon said that he will make them again, but has a few notes:

- He will definitely follow his instructions for cutting, not the instructions in the original recipe.

- He would have tied the rolls in three spots each, instead of just near each end, to keep the middle together a bit better (but still, none of them fell apart with only 2 ties.

- He would have cooked them a bit longer in the pan to allow them to brown more and for the marinade left on the meat to caramelize a bit more.

- He also doesn't think he would blanch the scallions as they were a touch soggy for his taste - he prefers them to be firmer and thinks cooking inside the meat would have given them just the right amount of softness and mellowness.

Sides: white rice, roasted veggies (broccoli, red/green/orange pepper, yellow onion, tossed with olive oil and salt and roasted in a 375 degree oven for 12 minutes).

Even with the cutting and pounding, this recipe didn't take that much time. The hardest part was figuring out the best way to cut the meat, but now that he has done it successfully one time, it will be much easier next time (there will be a next time!).

I hope everyone had a delicious Valentine's Day - we certainly did!!

Chicken Stir Fry

Stir fry is not only a quick and easy meal, it's a great way to get a lot of veggies into one dish. It is s also very versatile and can be done with chicken, shrimp, beef, pork, tofu, a variety of other proteins, or it can be a vegetarian meal. This recipe is my own creation.

Marinate the Chicken

I marinated the chicken all day in the following mixture. Note, amounts are approximate.

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
• 1/3 c chicken broth
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire
• Splash of sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili-garlic paste
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Ingredients

• Marinated chicken, removed from marinade
• 2 tbsp oil; I used olive oil but peanut oil would work well if you like that flavor.
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• Chopped veggies - anything you like! I used red pepper, green pepper, orange pepper, broccoli, water chestnuts, and sprouts. Other ingredients I like to use include snow peas or sugar snap peas, mini corn, and bamboo shoots.
• Splash of cooking sherry
• 3/4 c chicken broth mixed with approximately 2 tbsp soy sauce

Directions

• Heat a large saute pan or wok. Add 1 tbsp oil.
• Add chicken - be careful, the pan is hot and since the chicken is wet from the marinade it is going to make a lot of noise and grease splatters!
• Cook chicken until done - approximately 5-6 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan.
• Add the remaining oil to the pan.
• Add onions and garlic, saute 2-3 minutes.
• Deglaze pan with a splash of cooking sherry - scrape up all of the brown bits.
• Add veggies, saute 3-4 minutes.
• Add chicken broth mixture, stir.
• Return chicken to the pan and let simmer for a few minutes.
• Serve over rice or noodles. I served our stir fry over some thick rice sticks that my dad picked up for us in Philadelphia's Chinatown.

This dish cooks up in 20-25 minutes. The chicken was so flavorful from marinating all day, and I loved the brightness the ginger brought to the marinade.