Phisch's blog

Grilled Key Lime Chicken

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:05:28 -0500

1 c. fresh key lime juice
2 tbs. honey
3/4 c. water
1 tbs. lemon pepper seasoning
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. freshly grated ginger
1 tbs. minced cilantro
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts or 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper storage bag and shake to coat chicken. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

2. Prepare grill and cook for 15-20 minutes until juices run clear (probably best to test doneness with a meat thermometer).

Makes 4-6 servings.

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Mediterranean Linguine With Shrimp and Olives

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:01:54 -0500

1 lb. medium to large shrimp, deveined and peeled, tails removed
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. linguine, cooked and drained according to package directions
Red pepper flakes, to taste (that is to say, none for me!)
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs. lemon zest
2 sprigs oregano, finely chopped
handful pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 c. white wine (should be able to substitute chicken broth)
1/2 c. italian parsley, chopped
1 c. feta cheese crumbles

1. Saute shrimp in olive oil on medium high in an electric skillet. Add remaining ingredients (except parsley and cheese) and saute to warm through.

2. Pour into a large platter and garnish with parsley and cheese.

Makes 4-6 servings.

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Italian Sausage Pita Pizzas

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:56:08 -0500

I tried a sample of these at the grocery and I wanted to make sure I saved the recipe because they were really good. I am guessing that how good depends very much on the tomatoes and sausage.

4 links Italian sausage
4 c. fresh spinach
4 whole wheat pitas
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 roma tomatoes, sliced and seeded
2 c. crumbled feta cheese

1. Remove sausages from casings and pan fry until well-browned and crumbled. Add spinach and wilt with coked sausage.

2. Lay four pitas on a non-stick baking sheet adn brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Spoon sausage and spinach over pitas. Lay slices of tomato on top and sprinkle with feta crumbles.

4. Bake until cheese is soft and pita is crispy and hot.

Makes 4 individual pizzas.

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Sinigang

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:47:37 -0500

This is a dish that I love, love, love. It's very traditional Filipino food and since it is, it's one of those dishes that has a lot of variation. It's basically a dish that has an equal amount of meat and vegetables in a "bath" of sour broth. Lots and lots of sour broth. That's the best part!

I was craving it the other day and managed to find a recipe that doesn't have tamarind (sampaloc in Filipino) in it. I wasn't sure I could find it at the local grocery store. I substituted lemon juice and distilled vinegar instead and ended up with a perfectly acceptable, American-grocery friendly version that my hubby really loved. This is how I made it:

2 lbs. pork stew meat (they were ribs I think)
6 cups of water, more if you like it soupier, broth if you like it richer
1 large japanese eggplant, cut in chunks
1 daikon radish, cut in chunks
1 bok choy or similar green veggie
1 medium onion, cut into strips
Half a bunch of string beans, also called long beans (not green beans) cut into 3 inch lengths
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 c. distilled white vinegar or coconut vinegar if you can get it
salt

Boil the pork in the water until the meat is tender. Add the daikon and onions which, next to the egg plant, is the best veggie in this stew. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the beans* and eggplant. Cook for about 5 minutes then add the bok choy. Cook until the bok choy turns bright green. The daikon should be easy to pierce with a knife and will have soaked up a lot of the sour taste of the broth. YUM. Serve over hot rice. Make the rice swim in the broth!

Traditionally, this dish has patis (or called nam pla in other south Asian countries) which is a fermented fish sauce. It imparts a strong pungent taste. Since we can't have that on our diet (Feingold.org), I eliminated it. All I wanted was the sour and I got just as much as I wanted :) You can also use other veggies with this, of course, even okra (I like okra, but I am an odd one out I think). My grandma made it very simply and that's how I like this humble dish.

* I have no idea how long it takes to cook the beans. I couldn't find any at the store but my grandma always made it with string beans for me. I was sad that I didn't have any this time around but that's ok.

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Yummy Lemon Bread

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:48:30 -0500

My version of a recipe that's found here. I'll note my changes as I go.

6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Zest of two lemons
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Juice of two lemons
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Generously grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine melted butter or margarine and sugar. Add eggs, and mix until light and fluffy. Add milk, lemon rind, and chopped nuts if using. Mix well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and gradually add to mixture; mix to just combine.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
While bread is baking, combine lemon juice and confectioners' sugar in small dish. Stir well before using. Immediately upon removing bread from oven, place pan on a cooling rack. Using a large fork, poke holes all over the bread. Pour lemon juice mixture over the top of the bread. Cool for 15 minutes, and then remove from pan.

My changes: I doubled the amount of zest and lemon juice to give it a much stronger lemon taste. I put the baking powder in with the other dry ingredients and I added salt. This recipe is for a single batch, but so far I've made double batches with no nuts and they taste fine. In fact, the kids took this to church and NM said the kids liked it better than the other snacks that were brought to his class. The second time I brought this, J's teacher took the leftovers home. Hehe.

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Gooeyooeysticky!

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:20:29 -0500

IMG_5669-
Originally uploaded by Phisch

I used Chantal's New York Cheesecake recipe and topped it with home-made lemon curd. The crust is made of crushed ginger crisps (about 1 1/2 c.), some sugar (a bit less than 1/4 c.) and butter (4 tbs. melted).

It's so good but so crazy rich. This tiny sliver is almost too much (but hey, who am I to waste a bite?). I only wish the photo were better because it's not all that convincing.

The cheesecake is more tart than the recipes that call for heavy cream (I don't like the taste of dairy cream). The lemon curd is a bit sweet for me, but it's very tart and that is a good foil for the cheesecake.

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Penne and Broccolini

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:04:32 -0600

Adopted from this recipe because I don't like bacon (sorry!).

1 package penne, 16 oz.
1 c. ham, finely diced
1 bunch broccolini
12 cloves garlic, finely minced (who are we kidding? throw in more!)
2 tbs. olive oil plus more for pasta
1/3 c. grated parmesan
salt and pepper

Note: this recipe tastes like it would benefit from additional veggies like strips of bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes or olives.

Prepare the penne according to package directions. Two minutes before the penne should be removed, add the broccolini to the pot and blanche for 2 minutes...no more! Turn off the heat and add some cold water or ice to the pot to stop the cooking then drain (you want to keep it all warm). Drain.

While the penne is cooking, saute the garlic in 2 tbs. olive oil over medium heat. Don't let them burn! Add ham and toss until the ham is mixed nicely with the olive oil and warmed through.

Put everything back into the pot including the ham and garlic mixture. Add more olive oil, seasonings and cheese then toss. How much oil depends on you; I guesstimated and I think it was around 1/4 cup. Dish out the still-very-warm pasta and enjoy.

^_^

I got compliments from the hubby on this one, as well as from the oldest. NM asked me to chop the teeny little buds from the broccolini and tossed them with everything else. Sure, he left most on his plate but it was his idea (problem solving skills!) and he loudly proclaimed how much he enjoyed it. Yes, he did spend a lot of time stuffing the tiny bits of broccolini, ham and garlic into the penne while he gave us a play by play, Alton Brown-style. Dinner took longer than it should have, especially when J followed suit. But they ate it. They ate broccoli(ni) and liked it!!! (yes it deserves three ! and another parenthetical)

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KFC-Style Coleslaw Dressing

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:02:31 -0600

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup miracle whip
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 bag coleslaw salad mix

Mix all the ingredients except veggies together and make sure they're blended well. Add the coleslaw mix.

Note: before you add the veggies, you might want to check out Alton Brown's coleslaw episode to find out how he gets rid of the excess fluids that cabbage leaves have. I have a lot of fluid in the bowl after this is sitting in the fridge for a bit. Not yucky, but it would look nicer if it's not there.

Also, this is based on a copycat recipe you can find on the internets. I adjusted the amounts of the miracle whip, milk and buttermilk to our liking. The copycat recipe has a too-strong mayo taste.

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Chocolate Carrot Zucchini Bread

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:56:52 -0600

A little help for those who need to get veggies in kiddo diets.

2 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa
1/2 c. wheat germ
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 beaten eggs
3/4 c. each brown sugar (well-packed) and oil
1 c. each sugar, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (I didn't have any but you should put it in)

Grease two 8"x4"x2" loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift cocoa. Add flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift until mixed together.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil, sugars and vanilla and make sure they're well-blended.

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and add the grated veggies. Mix together gently until moistened which isn't easy to do as it's a very thick batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (no batter).

Notes: this is based on some recipe I found on the internet and I've since lost the source. I have several other carrot-zucchini bread recipes because I was trying to replicate the version sold at Trader Joe's in California. This version seems to have come the closest in terms of texture. Of course...I added the wheat germ and cocoa as well as eliminated the walnuts so it tastes a bit different from the TJ's version. There's no reason not to add the nuts, though. I would think that if you have kids with nut aversion that ground nuts would work.

The nice part about this is that my kids eat it like it's their last meal. That's after they helped me make it! The trick is that I made it once and brought it with us to church. They had it afterwards when they were good and hungry and not paying attention to the green and orange confetti in their food. We established it was good stuff first and only then did I let them help make it. Hehe.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the original recipe I had called for only 1/2 c. each of oil and brown sugar but it wasn't moist enough for me so I increased. Also, it works in a square pan (8x8), but needs to bake a little bit longer.

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White Lasagna

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:54:41 -0600

Beyond Macaroni and Cheese

4 chicken breast halves, cooked and chopped to bite-sized pieces
1 c. ham, chopped (original recipe called for 2 c.)
9 lasagna noodles
1 tbs. plus 1/3 c. butter
1 pkg. fresh mushrooms, sliced (I used brown)
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3 c. milk
6 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. whipping cream
4/3 tsp. dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. italian blend cheeses, grated

Heart attack on a plate? Yeah...but mmm mmm good! Adapted from a recipe in the book.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix chopped chicken and ham in a large bowl.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain (or not, if you're lazy like me).

Melt 1 tbs. butter and saute mushrooms in a large skillet over medium-high heat until they give off their juices. Mix them in with the chicken and ham.

Melt the rest of the butter in the skillet. Add flour and whisk together for a minute, stirring constantly. Keep stirring and slowly add your milk in a steady stream. Let it cook for about three minutes or until bubbly.

Stir in parmesan, basil, salt and pepper. Cook until the cheese is completely melted. Add it to the meat and mushrooms and stir well.

Spread some of the mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 pan just to coat it. Add a layer of three lasagna noodles followed by 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat with two more layers and top with Italian cheeses.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for ten minutes.

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