Chicken Fajitas and Mexican Corn (Esquites)

So this is kind of a late post. I made these chicken fajitas to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (and to also get rid of the frozen chicken thighs that I desperately needed to get rid of before I graduate). They were so delicious. I've either mastered Mexican or its just super easy and I over flatter myself. Either way, these are totally worth making and don't require a lot of attention. 

I also think graduation has finally hit me. I have 7 days left. Just 7 days until I'm no longer a college student. I don't want to think about it; it's so terrifying. I'm about to be a real person... Well not really a REAL person because i'll still be going to culinary school and will technically still be a student for at least the next 6-9 months.... I also need to start experimenting with more than just Mexican food, but I have plenty of time for that in school when I have a bunch of fancy ingredients at my disposal....

Also, I know these pictures kinda suck. It was too dark outside and by the time I pulled them up on my computer it was too late and we had already devoured all of our leftovers. Maybe I can updated them when I make them again soon....

Chicken Fajitas 

Ingredients 

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

Half an Onion, sliced 

2 Bell Peppers (I used red and yellow)

dash of chili powder (about a teaspoon) 

about 1 teaspoon onion powder 

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 

juice of half a lime 

other half, sliced 

salt and pepper 

In a rectangular baking pan, combine all of the ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate for at least an hour or overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Mexican Corn (Esquites) 

Ingredients 
4 ears of corn boiled corn (2 white and 2 yellow)
about a tablespoon of chopped cilantro or parsley 
Juice of half a lime 
2 tablespoons low fat mayo 
1 cup sour cream 
1/2 teaspoon onion powder 
Salt and pepper to taste 

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and stir. Done and done. can be served warm or cold - both are dang good

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich

I think I'm either in a rut, or have an addiction. I can't stop making breakfast and Mexican foods (and ice cream...the cookie phase has passed for the most part - I ODed during that semester long project when I brought cookies to class almost every week). Is it college? Is it my boyfriend with the huge appetite? I've always been a morning person, so that I can understand. And once you get good at something it's kinda hard to stop. 

I have a system when I make breakfast on the weekends. It has become a peaceful way of getting up after a night of partying, believe it or not. 

My foolproof system:

Wake up and preheat the oven to 350° for the bacon. Brush my teeth, watch some tube until the boyfriend wakes up etc. Line the cookie sheet with tin foil (with raised edges so the grease doesn't drip) for the bacon (preferably center cut that has been cut in half so you can fit more - honestly so brilliant I wish I thought of it first). Pop that in when the man has risen and set the timer to 15 minutes. Prepare the scrambled eggs in a bowl with the splash of milk and dashes of Tabasco. Take out the cheeses from the fridge and place the everything bagel in the toaster, but don't toast it until necessary. (In this post's case I used biscuits - but I digress). After 15 minutes of baking, check the bacon and flip using tongs (not entirely necessary but I usually do) and bake for 5 more minutes. When the bacon is almost done, start heating the pan on medium low heat. When the bacon is ready, dry on a paper towel and pour the grease into the pan for the eggs. Pour in the egg mixture, frequently stirring with a rubber spatula. Turn the toaster on and top off the almost finished eggs with sharp chedder, salt and pepper. On the toasted bagel, butter the top and line the bottom with good quality american cheese. Place eggs and bacon and place the top back on. Cut in half and serve. BOOM. Perfect breakfast sandwich. I have been told by several that this is the best breakfast sandwich they have ever had...just saying....

I personally think that the sandwich photographed above is the best sandwich I have ever had. I am allll about biscuits. And the avocado was a last minute decision that seriously nailed it. My mouth is watering just thinking about the sandwich - I just can't. Drizzled with a little good quality maple syrup....oh man 

Buttermilk Biscuits 

Ingredients 

(recipe can be doubled – yields about 10 biscuits)

2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk

*2 tablespoons of butter, melted

*The dough can be made with a food processor, but mine isn’t big enough so I just use my hands.

**Also, try and bake these as late in the game as possible. They are 10x better when they are served warm and fresh out of the oven

Directions 

Preheat oven to 450°.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

Add the buttermilk and mix until just combined. It will be very sticky

Place the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until lightly covered in flour so it is no longer sticky – make sure not to overwork the dough so they can rise evenly

Gently pat out the dough until it is about 1 inch thick and cut biscuits out with a round biscuit or cookie cutter

Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes until lightly golden on top. – A minute before baking is finished, brush melted butter on top of each biscuits (about 2 tablespoons are needed)

THIS IS THE BEST BREAKFAST SANDWICH EVER. At least to date...nothing can beat this. And I'm usually a sausage egg and cheese kind of girl, too. This bad boy has good quality white american cheese from the deli section, sliced avocado, cheesy eggs, crispy bacon and a light drizzle of good quality maple syrup on a homemade buttery biscuit. I mean could you ask for more?

Sweet Tequila Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Lime Crema

My roommate, Courtney, and I got back early from Spring Break on Friday and were still left with the rest of the weekend to bum around and relax after a long 5 days of tanning and doing other recreational activities in Punta Cana. It was perfectly dreary and raining; exactly what I was hoping for believe it or not. The dismal weather gave us the perfect excuse to leave our luggage in the car for two days and not do anything whatsoever. My boyfriend came back in the early evening on Saturday, so after a long day of literally nothing, I thought it would be fun to cook something for us. (Because how often is nothing going on on a Saturday night, right?) I was stuck between the idea of making lasagna or shrimp tacos, but I already had shrimp from whole foods in the freezer, so that seemed like the more practical choice.

These tacos where so good we ended up buying more shrimp the next day so we could make more. I had made shrimp tacos over spring break last year for all of my friends that were staying with me at my dad's condo in Orange Beach, so I tried to remake what I did the first time. I really couldn't figure out exactly what I had done because I didn't write it down, but that just lead me to invent an even better recipe than before (this time taking full advantage of the top shelf tequila someone forgot in my apartment....)

Sweet Tequila Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Lime Crema 

Shrimp Marinade

Ingredients 

Makes about 4 tacos

½ lb shrimp

1 ½ tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

about a teaspoon of lime juice

1 shot of tequila

¼ teaspoon chili powder

 1 clove minced garlic

½ teaspoon salt

few dashes of pepper

**I also made this with about 1 ½ lbs of shrimp and doubled the ingredients. If you are going to marinade it for a longer period of time, decrease the amount of tequila because the flavor can become overpowering.

Chipotle Lime Crema

Ingredients 
½ cup sour cream
½ cup greek yogurt
2 tablespoons of mayo 
2 teaspoons of chilis in adobo sauce (I scooped around the chilis)
½ teaspoon of sugar 
juice of half a lime 
salt and pepper to taste 
*Splash of milk or heavy cream (not necessary but makes it easier to pour) 

The first time I did this I used 2 tablespoons of the adobo sauce instead of teaspoons and it was SO spicy. I had to double the other ingredients and add sugar. 

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients 
(measurements aren't really important here - just work with what you have leftover)
Diced Roma tomatos 
chopped white onion
chopped cilantro 
lime juice 
fresh corn
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Sushi!

Homemade Fresh Crab with Avocado and Asparagus rolls  

and Mascarpone Crawfish with sauteed squash rolls

I have been on the worst sushi kick lately. It's all I want to eat these days. So naturally, I wanted to try and make some myself. I figured it wouldn't work out just because I've been led to believe that it is too hard for any non-sushi chef to do at home. First of all, that is soooo false. It's a lot easier than it looks and it also tastes just as good, if not better, than the stuff at the restaurants. This is especially true because I was using real crab instead of that imitation stuff (which I will probably use when I go back to school and no longer have papa bears credit card at my grocery disposal - not to mention amazing fresh crab available whenever you need it). The rice is also incredible. I also don't want to make any other rice ever again. I did use "sushi rice" though and not the authentic stuff, which apparently is a faux-pas but whatever. I thought it was good.
 
I also just got a new camera for Paris, so this is the first post I've done testing it out. I think the pictures came out pretty orange-y yellow, which I really don't like, but I think I just need more practice. It's a new kind of camera that's basically a cross between a point and shoot and a DSLR. i'm afraid I might regret not getting the DSLR but this wasn't exactly cheap either so I'm going to jump of a bridge if I don't get the hang of it soon. I spent my entire spring semester saving up for this beast so it better be worth my while!


Sushi Rice

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked glutinous white rice (sushi rice)

3 cups water

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Mascarpone Crawfish with sauteed squash rolls

Ingredients

1/2 tablespoon mascarpone cheese

1/2 tablespoon sour cream

about a cup of partially cooked crawfish

1 teaspoon crab and shrimp boil (caution, this stuff is spicy...I learned the hard way...)

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Julianned and lightly sauteed green squash 

salt and pepper

*sushi rice

*seaweed wrap

Fresh Crab with Avocado and Asparagus rolls

Ingredients

about 1 cup fresh crab meat 

about 1 tablespoon mayonnaise (next time i'll use the light stuff, but this is what we had in the fridge)

Half of an avocado, slide in strips

1 or 2 asparagus 

*sushi rice

*seaweed wrap 

Set up your sushi station

Start by making sure you have a glass of ice or super cold water next to you. The rice is extremely sticky and it gets hard to work with when it starts sticking to your fingers rather than the seaweed. I also had to make my seaweed sheet smaller because it was a little to long for the size roll I wanted to make. If you seaweed is fresh, you should be able to fold it back and forth two or three times and then crack it. If not you can also just use scissors. 

Also make sure to put plastic wrap in between your seaweed and the bamboo rolling thing. This makes it much easier to unroll and the rice also doesn't stick to the bamboo.

Scoop the rice with your hands and press it down onto the seaweed with your fingers. Try not to overdo it thought because your rice will start to look like one mushy mass. I made sure to go a little bit over the long edges so when I rolled it and they came together they would stick better.

Flip the seaweed and rice over so the seaweed side is exposed but the plastic wrap is still underneath.
Also make sure the plastic wrap and bamboo is lined up close to the edge of the seaweed it comes together when it is time to roll it up.


For the avocado and crab roll, in a small separate bowl, gently mix together the mayo and crab. Then place 2 rows of thin avocado stripes, then your asparagus, then your crab mix. Then you can start to roll your sushi slowly, while moderately pressing down on the roll to tighten and secure the insides.

Carefully unwrap the roll, making sure the two sides have met and are sealed. If they don't quite come together, you can easily sprinkle a little more rice and re-roll it a bit so it stays closed.

Use a serrated knife (a regular chefs knife didn't work for me) and slowing cut your sushi. Make sure they aren't too thin, because then they will fall apart when you try and each them.

Mascarpone Crawfish with sauteed squash rolls 

Avocado Chicken Parm and Great Grandma's Broccoli and Cauliflower

I was in such a good mood the other day and I was just dying to whip something up homemade. It’s been so long since I’ve made anything (as you can see by my lack of recent posts) so it felt so good to get back in the kitchen again. This semester is so difficult and my classes are far too demanding, so when I actually get a chance to do something with my free time other than sleep or watch tv, I get almost too excited.

One of the main reasons I don’t do dinner posts, other than having the Elon meal plan and being lazy, is that the pictures always come out terrible. The lighting in my apartment is crap and I rely far too heavily on natural sunlight. Usually I will bake something at night and take pictures of it the next morning or during the day by my bright window, but that doesn’t really work for dinner or night time eating (like appz and dipz+chipz) And you also can’t take pictures of cold food either. Fresh food just looks better, as does cooked and warm. So warming up a dinner plate at 8 in the morning just to put in back in the fridge seems pretty ridiculous to me. Until I find a better solution, this is what I gotta work with though. My sisters both use light boxes, so maybe I should invest in one of those in the future (even though they just seem like a pain in the butt to me – especially for my roommate)

The chicken was literally incredible! It was so tender and perfectly cooked. I had also been craving this broccoli and cauliflower we make constantly at my house so I decided to whip that up as a nice side. At the Bruno Manor this dish rarely makes it to the plate... "Just one wont hurt" doesn't usually work out as planned. Honesty box, but I also haven’t cooked/baked chicken like this since middle school. I bake sweets too much and I’m always trying to be overly ambitious with my recipes, so I really thought the chicken was going to come out terribly dry and awful. I followed a foolproof recipe from a blog called Cuisine Paradise though that I found from foodgawker, and my mouth is honestly watering just thinking about it. I changed up some measurements and did the chicken a little differently but overall this is a grade A recipe that I can’t wait to make again (and again and again). 

Avocado Chicken Parm

recipe adapted from Cuisine Paradise 

Ingredients 

2 ½ tablespoons of all-purpose flour

¼ cup bread crumbs

1 egg

1 tablespoon of milk

Olive Oil for rubbing and drizzling (use your best judgment)

Low-Fat Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

½ sliced avocado

About 3 tablespoons of store bought (yeah store bought, just call me Sandra Lee) tomato sauce. I prefer traditional Classico brand

Directions 

1. Preheat your oven to 400˚F

2. Put the chicken in a plastic Ziploc bag and hit it with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin until the chicken looks pretty much the same thickness throughout. 

3. In a cake pan, mix together the flour and breadcrumbs (you can use a bowl or plate but I thought this was easier and cleaner) In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg.

4. Dip the chicken into the egg/milk mixture. Then dip it in the breadcrumb mixture and make sure it is fully coated. Then dip the chicken back into the egg mixture, and then again in the bread and flour. Use your fingers to pat down the breadcrumbs so that it isn’t lumpy or bare in any spots. 

Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the breadcrumb dipping part....sometimes I just get so involved!

5. Place the breaded chicken on tin foil greased with olive oil. Lightly drizzle a small amount of olive oil on top of the chicken as well and pat to distribute it a bit.

6. Bake for 4 minutes and then flip it over and bake for 4 more minutes.  

7. After the 8 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and spread the tomato sauce on top.

8. Place the avocado slices on top and generously sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. 

9. Bake for about 6-7 minutes more or until the cheese has completely melted and the chicken appears brown and crispy on the sides. 

Great Grandma's Broccoli and Cauliflower  

a family recipe 

Ingredient's

1 bag of steam-fresh broccoli and cauliflower 

( > or you can buy a head of each. I'm just lazy and in college so the steam fresh worked perfectly for one - although it really only serves one or two)

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan 

3 tablespoons Italian breadcrumbs

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Directions

Saute the cooked/steamed broccoli and cauliflower mixed with all of the ingredients over medium heat until they are brown and crispy.  Serve. (or eat directly from the pan like us)

I don't know if you noticed, but steamfresh totally shorted me on the broccoli front. Let's just say I was not pleased (especially because I like the broccoli more!)

I don't know why I love this so much - I just do!!

So dark. so sad.

No I did not eat that entire piece of chicken - even though it was so delicious. I ate half and warmed it up for dinner the next night. Amazing. makes a great leftover

Easy Guacamole

I was supposed to make this guacamole yesterday (along with the other Mexican style delicacies) but the avocados where not ripe in time. I have learned much about this creature called the avocado. They are sensitive, temperamental and very moody - to ripe and its stringy and mushy; to un-ripe (young?) and its too hard. They have to be perfect. Soft, but not so much so that it feels smushy.You can also tell my the color. If its super green it's too ripe. If it's black it's too ripe. A nice dark green color means its right on target.

do you love avocados? This guy does! --> (so sad this pic isn't bigger. totally would have been my new default)


p.s. did you know avocados grow on trees? I didn't!

Ingredients

2 Avocados
2 teaspoons sour cream
juice from half a lime
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small tomato, diced

Pitting or de-seeding an avocado. Stab it with the knife and pull. The hard part is getting the seed off of the knife because the seed is actually really slippery. Try not to use your hands and definitely don't stab it so hard that you can't get it off. If this makes you nervous just scoop it out with a spoon.

Directions

Using a whisk or fork, gently mash up the avocados (making sure to leave so decent chunks. unless you aren't into that...) the squeeze in the juice. Add the sour cream and the cilantro (can also use milk. I learned this from Patrick Singly - the owner of Gautreau's, father of the chirren I'm babysitting tonight and superhero that fixed my flat tire which I got on my way to babysitting last week. he says it helps keep the guacamole from turning that gross brown color). Then add the salt and lastly the diced tomatoes.