My blog assignment this month for SRC was Shelby's blog The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch. While I had heard of GHB (as she calls it) before, Shelby's blog was still relatively new to me. I can honestly tell you that I loved it. She has a great list of recipes, and her stories in each post really can't be beat.
While I still really want to make this banana bread, the recipe I picked for SRC is her Sweet Chili Lime Chicken with Cilantro Couscous. The hubs and I love anything remotely "southwest" flavored, so I was confident it would be a hit. I did end up using the "puspus" as Shelby indicates Grumpy calls it. Rice would work great too, but you just can't beat the 5 minute cook time of couscous!
I followed her recipe pretty close, subbing only brown sugar for the white sugar and adding a little lime juice to the couscous as well. I also left my chicken breasts whole, mostly because I felt like it that day. If you leave them whole, be sure to pound them a bit with a meat tenderizer. Chicken just seems to cook so much more evenly that way! As for the dried pepper flakes, I added just 1/2 teaspoon, and there was a fair amount of heat in the dish. My only advice would be to add slowly. Once the spice is in, you won't get it out (I have learned this the hard way in the past...).
Enjoy the dish and be sure to stop by GHB to say hello!
(Printable Recipe)
Sweet Chili Lime Chicken with Cilantro Couscous
Adapted from The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, pounded even with meat tenderizer
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
6 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
3-4 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2-1 tsp. red pepper flakes
juice of 1 lime
zest of 1 lime
Cilantro Couscous:
1-1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup whole wheat couscous
3-4 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Warm the oil in the skillet. Pound the chicken breasts until even. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in the pre-heated skillet until cooked through. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, lime juice, and lime zest in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. When the chicken is finished cooking, pour into the hot skillet and bring to a boil. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the sauce is beginning to reduce. Return the chicken to the pan, cooking for 2-3 more minutes and turning the chicken breasts to coat.
For the couscous, bring the broth to a boil in medium saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the couscous, and place the lid on the pan. Let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice. Serve with the chicken.
Well, things have calmed down on the home front here a little bit. I am hoping to use the time to post a little more regularly around here. I have quite a few recipes lined up that I want to make, so it is time to get in the kitchen!
With that, it is once again time for Secret Recipe Club. My blog assignment this month was Melissa's A Fit and Spicy Life. Melissa describes herself as a Midwestern girl who is a food loving, wine drinking, weight lifting, traveling, yogi blogger. Hailing from the Midwest myself, it sounds a little familiar.
My husband helped me look through Melissa's recipes this time, and we finally settled on her recipe for Tortellini and Chicken Sausage Soup. We are not anywhere near her temperature of 40 degrees when she wrote the post, but we've both been starting to crave soup. I made her recipe largely as written, adding only a couple spices and changing the form of the sausage.
I can assure you that this soup definitely hit the spot for us! It was a hearty soup, with the meat and the tortellini, so if you like your soup thinner, you may want to add extra liquid. It was great for us the first time through, but we added a bit extra liquid to the leftovers when we warmed them up. My husband declared it a make again recipe, so thank you Melissa for the recipe!
(Printable Recipe)
Tortellini and Chicken Sausage Soup
From A Fit and Spicy Life
Ingredients:
3 cups dried tortellini with cheese
2 spicy Italian chicken sausages, casings removed
1 can (14.5oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
28 oz. low-sodium beef broth (or more if you like more liquid)
2 cups water (or more)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 (9oz) pkg. frozen spinach
Parmesan cheese, garnish
Heat a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Remove the sausage from the casing and cook, crumbling as it cooks, until cooked through.
Increase the heat to medium-high, and add the tomatoes, broth, water, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and frozen spinach. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the tortellini, cover and cook for 15-17 minutes. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.
September already? Certainly doesn't feel like it here. Nonetheless, there are several good things that September brings with it mainly football and my birthday. With the change of the month, that means another thing. It is time for the Secret Recipe Club!
My blog assignment this month was Kim's blog Everyday Mom. She describes herself as partial to sweets, but that she's also trying to build her skills in other culinary areas. (Sounds a little familiar to how I would describe myself).
Kim has a fun selection of recipes, and as indicated by her about me, I was immediately sucked in by her baking. This Hungarian Coffee Cake anyone? Sign me up. Nonetheless, as you can tell from my picture, I ended up choosing a savory recipe for the SRC reveal. In fact, these zucchini fries worked perfectly to use up a zucchini that had been living in the crisper drawer for awhile...
So how were they? Really good. The Panko makes them surprisingly crunchy (a word I thought I'd never use with zucchini?). As Kim indicates, they are great on their own, but my favorite was in a white bean and basil hummus. Yum! Definitely a recipe to keep in mind for zucchini season. Enjoy!
(Printable Recipe)
Zucchini Fries
Adapted from Everyday Mom
Ingredients:
1 lb. zucchini cut into medium-large strips
1/2 cup whole wheat Panko bread crumbs
1/2 Tbsp. (1-1/2 tsp) Italian seasoning
lemon zest to taste
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If needed, grease a baking sheet.
In a shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese. Mix well. Add flour and egg mixture to separate bowls (you will have 3 total).
Dredge each zucchini strip through the mixtures in this order - flour, egg, bread crumb mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bread crumbs start to look golden brown.
I bring you this break from the Olympics and (newly) studying for an additional board certification exam to bring you another SRC post! My blog this month was The Cookaholic Wife written by Nichole. Nichole has been inventing recipes since the first time she cooked, and I spent a lot of time reading through many of the posts on her blog. With a fun mix of meals and sweets, there are a lot of great recipes!
Truthfully, I was all set to make this Spicy Basil Chicken when Nicole posted these Pork Fajitas with Cherry Salsa late last week. Fajitas are my absolute favorite meal, and there was no way I was passing on this recipe.
Speaking of cherries, while they are one of the quintessential summer fruits, I usually am not that into them. It is not that I don't like the flavor (love them), I just can't handle eating them and then spitting out the seeds. Pitting cherries just to eat them seems a little drastic, so I usually just don't do it (that and we don't own a cherry pitter). A couple weeks ago, I ran across a tip to use a sturdy straw as a cherry pitter, so I tried it out with this recipe. I used a strong plastic straw from one of those reusable cups, and it worked pretty well, although I think using a sturdy (ex: thick) straw would be essential to this method.
Anyway, back to the fajitas. These definitely lived up to their expectations! I was not able to locate chipotle chili powder, so I just used traditional chili powder which worked fine here. My only other change was to swap out cheddar cheese for monterey jack. Thanks Nichole! I know these are going on my "make again" list!
(Printable Recipe)
Pork Fajitas with Cherry Salsa
Adapted from The Cookaholic Wife
Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. chili powder
zest of 1 lime
1 lb. pork tenderloin, visible fat trimmed, cut into thin strips
1/2-1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 green bell pepper, julienned
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
8 tortilla shells
Cherry Salsa:
1 cup cherries, pitted and chopped
1/8 cup cilantro, chopped
4 tsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chili powder
In a small bowl, use a spoon to mash the salt and garlic together until a paste forms. Stir in the lime juice, lime zest, and chili powder. Add the pork strips, and mix until combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients for the salsa and toss until combined. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Heat a large skillet and oil over medium heat. When hot, add the pork strips and cook for 5-7 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer the pork to a plate and keep warm. Add the red and green pepper and onion to the skillet. Cook until crisp-tender. Return the pork to the skillet and stir until heated through.
Place pork, peppers, and onion in each tortilla shell. Top with cherry salsa, monterey jack cheese, and cilantro.
Well... it's been awhile since I've been on here. I am happy to report that I finished up my residency at the end of June, certificate and all. Hoping that means that I'll be cooking a little more regularly (and I think I'm not the only one). I think the hubs is ready to hand the kitchen back over to me!
What better way to get back into the swing of things that with a SRC reveal day? My blogger for this month was Raina from Connor's Cooking. Raina has a fun variety of recipes from stir-fries to baked oatmeal, and I still want to try many of these! In the end, I ended up listing to my sweet tooth and chose to make her sugar cookie bars.
This recipe makes a sheet pan of cookies, and it turned out to be the perfect recipe because I have been receiving a few hints that I should bring some treats into work. Even in the sheet pan, the bars end up nice and thick, staying soft throughout. I needed to bake these for about 20-22 minutes, but I am just realizing now that I baked them at 350 rather than 375 degrees. Either way, it works well.
My only suggestion for the future would be to adjust the frosting recipe (possibly adding a little more powdered sugar) as mine tended to get a little bit too soft when kept at room temperature. Then again, it is July in Arizona and refrigerated cookie bars taste pretty good :)
Thanks for a great recipe Raina. I look forward to seeing your posts in the future!
(Printable Recipe)
Sugar Cookie Bars
Adapted from Connor's Cooking (Originally from www.loveandoliveoil.com)
Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4-5 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk (I used almond milk)
food coloring, if desired
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing one at a time until well combined. Mix in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture until just combined. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet (10x15-inch) with nonstick spray. Gently spread the dough over the sheet. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the edges of the bars are just beginning to brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.
While the bars are cooling, beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, alternating with a little milk. Mix until smooth and spreadable, but sturdy. Add a few drops of food coloring if desired. Spread over the cooled cookie bars (only after they are completely cool). Cut and enjoy!
Just in case you don't remember, there might be a special holiday coming up this Sunday. One that you might not want to forget. Sunday is Mother's Day. I am not a mother myself (unless you count 4-leggged children), so I'd like to say a big thanks to both of our mothers!
My blog assignment this month for the Secret Recipe Club was Carolyn from All Day I Dream About Food. Carolyn's site is a great reference for some delicious but healthy eats and many of her recipes are low-carbohydrate, gluten-free, or both. I have visited Carolyn's site prior to this assignment, and it actually did not take me too long to pick out a recipe because I have had this egg bake saved to make for almost a year. Guess this group was the push I needed to (finally) make it! Does anyone else have the experience where they wait forever to make a recipe and then after they finally do, wonder why they waited so long! That was exactly what happened here. We loved this meal!
While it is not labor intensive, this torta does take awhile to make as it needs to bake for approximately 90 minutes. I adapted it a little bit to our tastes, and by swapping in some lower-fat dairy products. It turned out well, so they seem to have worked okay. My advice would be to pop this torta in the oven when you've got something else to do around the house. Your house will smell amazing and it will be done before you know it! Better yet, get up a little early on Sunday and surprise Mom with this for breakfast/brunch. It would certainly be a great way to say, "I love you!"
(Printable Recipe)
Summer Vegetable Torta
Adapted from All Day I Dream About Food
Ingredients:
Non-stick spray
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 medium zucchini, sliced about 1/4-inch thick (could swap some summer squash in too)
1 (12oz) jar roasted red peppers (or 2 fresh peppers), cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 pkg (8oz) 1/3-less fat cream cheese, cubed
6 large eggs
1/4 cup skim milk
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp. fresh basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
8oz. Swiss cheese, shredded
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Spray with non-stick spray and saute zucchini and onions (and fresh peppers if using) until softened, about 10 minutes (my peppers are in this picture - that was an oops).
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and milk together with a whisk. Add the basil, garlic salt, pepper, and cubed cream cheese. Mix. The cream cheese will not completely incorporate. It will soften after you add the hot vegetables. Use a slotted spoon to drain off any extra fluid from the vegetable mixture and add to the eggs. Add roasted red peppers if necessary. Mix. Add shredded cheese. Mix well.
Pour into the prepared springform pan and bake for about 80-90 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the mixture no longer jiggles when you gently shake the pan. It make take more or less time in your oven (mine was in for 90 minutes and may have been just a little too long). Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes in the pan. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the egg bake, and gently remove the outer rim of the pan. Slice and serve.
I am almost ashamed to admit it, but I am new to the Nutella camp. Like only a couple weeks new. I swear I had tried it before. My impression then was indifferent. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything I would go crazy over. Let's fast-forward to the present - I bought a small jar a couple weeks ago for a baking group assignment. I am not sure what has changed, but man that stuff is addicting!
My new obsession played in perfectly to my blog assignment for this month's Secret Recipe Club. Erin, of Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts seems to have a similar obsession. She's even made homemade Nutella, and I can't say I blame her! Erin has a great blog and must be a woman after my own heart with her list of desserts. I think I could have made each of them, but there was no getting past these Nutella brownies.
Similar to Erin, my brownies ended up on the longer side of the bake time. Despite taking what seemed like a long time to bake, the brownies emerged soft and gooey in the middle with the perfect crispy edges. Erin describes them as super
fudgy with lots of Nutella flavor and I would have to say that I agree.
My husband would tell you that they made great ice cream sundaes, but I
can vouch for them being delectable on their own too. Enjoy!
(Printable Recipe)
Nutella Brownies
Adapted from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup Nutella
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
Cream together butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Add salt, cocoa powder, and Nutella and mix in slowly. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake 25-35 minutes (mine took the 35 minutes). The brownies will cut better once cool, but they make great ice cream sundaes while warm.
Well, the Secret Recipe Club is back! After taking the month of January off, I am excited to be back with the group to start our February reveals. This month, my blog assignment was Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Camilla has a fun blog with a ton of different recipes with influences from all over the world.
Since she has so many different recipes, I wanted to try something that was a little bit out of my typical comfort zone. I looked for awhile at this recipe for kadu bouranee, but as it is winter, I went with my cravings and chose this recipe for coconut chicken soup. In her post, Camilla mentions that this is a recipe that she just put together quickly from the things that she had in her kitchen. I certainly had to buy a couple things as this is actually the first time I have ever actually made anything with swiss chard.
The recipe here is really more of a guide as Camilla does not list ingredients. I used all the ingredients she suggests, but varied amounts based on what I had and to taste. I'll list my approximate measurements below but feel free to add or vary ingredients as you prefer. For the two of us, there was plenty of soup for dinner and several days of lunch, and as most soups do, this seemed to get better and better after storing it. A hit here, and I certainly have a great new (to me) blog to check out for ethnic dishes!
(Printable Recipe)
Coconut Chicken Soup
Adapted from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup fennel bulb, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3 whole carrots, peeled and sliced
1 pkg. swiss chard, leaves removed from stems and torn
3 cups baby spinach, torn
1 (14.5oz) can light coconut milk
2 cups water
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 - 1 tsp. cardamom
3 Tbsp. lemon juice (or juice from 1 lemon)
2 cups brown rice, cooked
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
Cook the brown rice according to package directions. Fluff and set aside. Boil water in a medium saucepan and add raw chicken. Boil until the chicken is cooked through. Shred with 2 forks or by mixing the hot chicken in the bowl of a stand mixer on low for about a minute.
Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add the fennel and garlic and saute until they begin to soften. Add the chicken, carrots, chard, spinach, cooked brown rice, coconut milk, water, and chicken broth. Season with spices, lemon juice, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the greens are wilted and the vegetables are cooked through. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
This time of year, pumpkin recipes are abound. The sweet recipes range from pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread, pumpkin ice cream, to even a pumpkin dump cake. It's even creeping into the savory side in recipes such as pumpkin chili and pumpkin macaroni and cheese. One thing that I can say I have never seen is pumpkin hummus, but I found it here on my Secret Recipe Club assignment for November on Noelle's blog, An Opera Singer in the Kitchen.
Noelle really is an opera singer (which I find amazing). Not only that, but she just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on November 2nd. Many of her recipes are vegan. While we are not vegans nor vegetarians ourselves, I had a lot of fun looking through her recipes. While I lingered over these enchiladas for awhile, I finally decided on this pizza. As mentioned above, I have never seen a pumpkin hummus, and we definitely love pizza.
The pizza came together really well. I mixed the crust ingredients together in my stand mixer using the dough hook, and it rose beautifully. As we are not vegan, I did add cheese on top of the pizza - a combination of Parmesan and part-skim Mozzarella. My only other change was to use less oil in both the hummus and to cook the onions/spinach than was originally called for in the recipe. Not surprisingly, we loved the combination of these ingredients on the final pizza. While there, the pumpkin flavor was not really prominent in the hummus, and it served mostly to make a really smooth hummus.
Would I make this again? Absolutely. In the future, I may add another onion and a little bit more spinach to up the topping ratio a little, but it is definitely a meal we enjoyed. Thanks Noelle and congratulations on your new little one!
(Printable Recipe)
Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Pumpkin Hummus Pizza on a Rosemary Crust
Adapted from An Opera Singer in the Kitchen and Oh She Glows
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup white bread flour + 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 cup rosemary, chopped finely
2 tsp. garlic powder
2-1/4 tsp. instant yeast
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2/3 cup warm water
Pumpkin Hummus:
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. Tahini paste
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Pizza:
1-2 onions, thinly sliced
3-6 cups fresh spinach, packed
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 to 1-1/2 cups part-skim Mozzarella cheese
For the crust, mix together the 1 cup of bread flour, salt, sugar, rosemary, garlic powder, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir well. Add 2/3 cup warm water and the oil. Stir well. The dough will be wet and sticky at this point. Place dough hook attachment on the mixer and turn onto speed number 1. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour gradually until the dough becomes cohesive and less sticky. You may add up to another 1/4 cup extra flour if needed. Let the mixer continue on speed number 1 for another 4-5 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth. Place into a bowl sprayed with non-stick spray, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 1-1/2 hours or until an indentation remains when you stick your finger into the dough. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees about thirty minutes before you plan to bake the pizza. If you are not using a pizza stone, you can preheat the oven immediately before baking.
For the hummus, combine the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. For the onions, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions, and cook 20-30 minutes until browned and caramelized, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. When the onions are finished, add the spinach and pepper and cook 1-2 minutes until the spinach is wilted.
Roll the dough out using hands or a rolling pin on a piece of parchment paper. Shape a crust around the edges with your hands. Top with hummus and the onion and spinach mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and the mozzarella. If using, take the hot stone out of the oven and slide the parchment paper and pizza onto the stone. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted. Slice and serve.
It actually cooled down here towards the end of the week last week. We are back up into the 80's and 90's for the rest of the week now, but for a couple of days last week, we had highs in the 70's. While I have been trying to get in the fall mood with decorations and these pumpkin muffins, the cooler weather did me in. Despite the increase in temperatures again, I've been looking at soup recipes for the last few days.
It's Secret Recipe Club time again, and I was excited to find quite a few soup recipes on my assigned blog: Itzy's Kitchen. Itzy's Kitchen is crafted by Erica. Erica's blog is new to me, but the focus of her recipes is right in line with how we try to eat most of the time. Healthy with a few treats thrown in. With my aforementioned focus on soup, I picked Erica's Black Bean Soup for my recipe this month.
I made the recipe exactly, with the small exception of using reduced sodium beans because one of the cans of beans is not rinsed. The soup turned out great. Mashing up one can of the beans keeps it on the thicker side, and the hot sauce gives it just a little kick. I served this with these pumpkin cheddar muffins, and it made a great meal! I know my husband really enjoyed it because he snatched the leftovers for lunch the next day before I even had a chance. There are only a couple things I wish I could change. One, I wish I could change is the color of my bowls to make a better picture (red, brown, and orangey soups are hard to photograph in red bowls). Two, I think having some sour cream or cheddar cheese on hand would make for great garnishes. Thanks Erica for a great recipe. I know it's one we'll make again and again!
(Printable Recipe)
Black Bean Soup
Adapted from Itzy's Kitchen
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 (15 oz) cans reduced-sodium black beans
1-1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 Tbsp. hot sauce
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
3/4 cup frozen corn
sour cream and/or cheddar cheese as garnish (optional)
Drain and rinse one can of black beans. Mash with a fork and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, red pepper, and onion and cook for 4-5 minutes (until fragrant). Add the remaining (undrained) can of black beans, the mashed beans that you have set aside, and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately.
Another month, another Secret Recipe Club post. I can't believe how fast this past month has gone! Summer - unofficially out the door, my birthday - yesterday, my residency - picking up steam like an unstoppable freight train, football - depending on the league you follow started either last week or this past weekend. I guess fall must really be knocking on the door because they are forecasting temperatures below the triple digit mark here next week. Not sure I am ready yet...
This month for SRC I was assigned Tami from Tami's Kitchen Table Talk. I am somewhat familiar with Tami's blog as she is the wonderful host of the Cookie Carnival in which I've been involved for quite awhile. While I've somewhat known about her blog through the carnival, I was excited to get a chance to look around! Much of the time I've spent over there has involved cookies in some form, so I wanted to find a non-sweet dinner recipe from her archives. As it turns out, this was harder than it sounds as Tami has some yummy sounding desserts over there! Nonetheless, I ended up combining two of her recipes - BBQ chicken sliders in the crockpot and homemade BBQ sauce to make a great, non-involved, easy dinner.
My only change to her recipes was omitting the whiskey from the barbecue sauce. In reality, this wasn't an intentional change. If you are worried about the alcohol, it will all cook off while the mixture is boiling. My issue was the lack of whiskey in our pantry. I swore we had some but when I went to look for it, none was to be found. As a result, my barbecue sauce ended up a little on the sweeter side. While it was still great, I think the whiskey in here serves the purpose of cutting the sweetness a little bit. I also blended it with my immersion blender at the end to incorporate the onion chunks.
The idea for this pairing came from our love loaded baked potatoes. Not the side-dish kind. The meal kind with chicken, onions, and cheese. It has been a long time since we have had them! Growing up, mom always made ours with canned or rotisserie chicken mixed with bottle barbecue sauce. By combining Tami's recipes for BBQ sauce and crockpot pulled chicken, I was able to make both from fresher ingredients in my own kitchen with only a little bit more effort. By making the barbecue sauce ahead of time one Sunday morning and cooking the chicken with it in the crockpot later that day, the only step left was cooking the potatoes and chopping a few ingredients right before serving. A perfect busy day recipe. Success if you ask me. My husband is already asking for them again!
(Printable Recipe)
Crockpot BBQ Chicken Loaded Baked Potato
Adapted from Tami's Kitchen Table Talk
Ingredients:
BBQ sauce:
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups ketchup
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 tsp. pepper
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tsp. mesquite flavor liquid smoke
1/2 tsp. tobasco sauce
2 Tbsp. whiskey (optional)
Loaded Baked Potatoes:
1-1/2 to 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-1/2 cups of BBQ sauce
5-6 russet potatoes
cheddar cheese, shredded
sour cream
red onion, diced
black olives, sliced
aluminum foil
For the barbecue sauce, warm a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Saute the onion and garlic with the whiskey until the onion begins to soften. Combine remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If a smoother sauce is desired, blend with an immersion blender or let cool and add to a regular blender. Blend until smooth. Use 1-1/2 cups in the following recipe. Save the remaining sauce in the refrigerator.
Layer the chicken breasts into the crockpot by alternating one piece of chicken with a little barbecue sauce. Add the remaining barbecue sauce over the top of the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. After 4 hours, check to see if the chicken is cooked through. It should begin to shred itself if it is finished cooking. If it is not quite done, continue to cook for another hour. Remove the chicken and place on a plate. Shred using two forks. Place the chicken in a resealable container and mix with any remaining barbecue sauce from the crockpot. Refrigerate until ready to use.
On the day you are planning to eat the potatoes, wash and wrap each in aluminum foil. Place the wrapped, raw potatoes in the clean crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. When ready to eat, warm the chicken on the stove or in the microwave. Add more barbecue sauce to the chicken if desired. Top the potatoes with your desired ingredients. Enjoy!
There have been some big changes to the Secret Recipe Club this month. In the 5 months of it's existence, the blog group has grown enough that we are now divided into 3 segments - one managed by Amanda of Amanda's Cooking, one by Tina of Mom's Crazy Cooking, and one by Angela of Big Bear's Wife. The group is really fun. Who doesn't love getting to check out a new blog, new recipes, and having some air time for their own blog :) Not only that, but Amanda has rolled out a great blog page for the group featuring recipes from each of the members. Sweet!
My blog assignment for this month was A Bountiful Kitchen. One of the things that I loved about her blog was the surplus of Mexican-themed recipes on her blog. We love Mexican and Southwest flavors here, so I had a really hard time choosing amongst her recipes. I kid you not, I have no less than 3 more enchilada recipes and a salsa recipe bookmarked to make at a future date. Of course, Mexican foods aren't all you'll find... I have frosted sugar cookie bars and a great lasagna bookmarked too :)
In the end, I choose these empanadas because they are something different from what we normally make. While they were new to me, I found the recipe quite easy. It is basically cooking the meat filling and folding it into purchased puff pastry (I suppose you could make your own, but I'm not quite that confident). I followed her recipe almost to a 'T' except that I added about a teaspoon of adobe sauce and a de-seeded chipotle pepper to the sour cream mixture to give it a little bit more kick.
So how were they? Pretty awesome! I wouldn't change a thing. We ate them for dinner, but I am sure they'd make a great addition to an appetizer spread for a party too. We also made the fresh, but I am thinking they would freeze pretty well to make a quick meal. Maybe freeze them just after assembly, but before baking? Then you could probably bake them right out of the freezer, just adding a couple of minutes. Either way, be sure to stop by A Bountiful Kitchen. I know I'll be making more recipes from there!
(Printable Recipe)
Beef Empanadas with Black Bean Dipping Sauce
From A Bountiful Kitchen (Originally adapted from Bon Appetit)
Ingredients:
Empanadas:
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (17.3 oz) pkg. frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
2 large egg yolks, beaten for glaze
Dipping Sauce:
1/2 can (15 oz can) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, seeded
1 tsp. adobo sauce
1 Roma tomato, seeded, chopped, divided
1 large green onion, sliced, divided
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, chopped onion, and garlic; cook, stirring often and breaking into pieces with a wooden spoon until beef is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Add tomato paste, cumin, and cayenne. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring often, to let flavors meld, about 4 minutes. Add cilantro; season to taste with salt and pepper. Let filling cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (optional - I have baking stones, so I skipped this step). Cut each pastry sheet into 4 equal squares for a total of 8 squares. Lightly brush the edges of each square with the yolk glaze. Spoon filling into the center of each, dividing equally. Fold edges over, forming triangles. Dip the tines of a fork into flour and crimp the edges of each triangle to seal. Divide triangles between baking sheets. Brush the tops with glaze. (Assembled empanadas can be prepared up to 6 hours prior. Cover and chill.) Bake until tops are puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, puree the beans, sour cream, pepper, and adobo sauce in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Mix in half the tomato and half the green onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle remaining tomato and green onion over the top. Serve with the baked empanadas.
Wow! I cannot believe that it is already time for the The Secret Recipe Club again! Time certainly flies!! This club, hosted by Amanda at Amanda's Cooking, has grown a ton already. The club is in it's 4th month, and this is my 3rd trip along. It has been loads of fun, and I have already met several bloggers whom I may not have otherwise run across.
This month my blogger was Anna from Sweet Anna's. She is definitely a woman of my own heart saying that she makes rice krispie treats often. Those little bars got me through college! Her blog is filled with fun recipes and adorable pictures/stories about her two boys, and I had a great time reading through her posts! Since I am still trying to get into my new work schedule, I decided on making Anna's Slow Cooker Steel-Cut Oatmeal. I love steel cut oats, but making them on a weekday morning might be a little out of the picture for me :) The idea of the recipe is to improve the process by cooking them in the slow cooker overnight, so that by the morning they are ready to eat. Sounds great!
The recipe turned out pretty good. I decreased the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup and the oatmeal was plenty sweet with less sugar. There was still quite a bit of water leftover after the 8 hours of cook time. Stirring it up helped quite a bit, but I would try to decrease the amount of liquid next time. One thing that I noticed was different from oats cooked on the stove was the texture. The ones from the slow cooker were a little more smooth where oats cooked on the stove seem to have a little bit more chew to them. While I do like the chew that you get from the stove method, you certainly can't beat the convenience of having breakfast ready when you get up!
Enjoy and be sure to stop by and check out Anna's blog!
(Printable Recipe)
Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal
Adapted from Sweet Anna's (originally from The Hill Country Cook)
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups steel-cut oats
6 cups water
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. butter
Stir everything together in the slow cooker. The cinnamon will float on top of the liquid. Turn on low and cook for 8 hours (while you sleep!). In the morning, there may still be liquid on top of the oats. Stir them and they will thicken a little as they sit. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for future mornings :)
Yield: 6 servings
This is my second month participating in The Secret Recipe Club held by Amanda from Amanda's Cooking. If you didn't see my post from last month, each month members are assigned a participating food blogger secret santa style. We choose a recipe from their blog to make (keeping it secret), and everyone reveals their recipe and blogger on the same date. It has been a great way to meet different bloggers, and I think it is fun to see what someone else will pick from my blog.
The blog that I had this month was Katie from Betcha Can't Eat Just One. She has a great list of recipes and even began adapting some of her recipes to make them healthier while she was pregnant earlier this year. I had a hard time choosing between a couple of her recipes, but in the end, I decided on her cinnabun cheesecake. I have been working hard over the past month to study for my board exams and finishing something like that calls for some celebration. This cheesecake was a great way to do it! I still want to try her black bean brownies, so be looking for those in the future.
Last month as I was looking through the blogs, I noticed a couple people posting recipes from a group called The Secret Recipe Club. As members, you are assigned a blog, and your only requirement is to make one recipe from that blog some time during the month. We keep our "assigned blogs" secret until the post day where everyone reveals their blog and their chosen recipe at the same time. Fun right? I was in.
My The Secret Recipe Club blog for May was Anne's Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy. I ended up spending the better part of an afternoon looking through her recipes, and I really like her philosophy - healthy and nutritious recipes do not need to be expensive or complicated! I actually had a really hard time settling on a recipe, but in the end I decided on her recipe for A Springy Casserole since it is a recipe that is different from what I would typically make. It is originally a recipe from about.com, but Anne definitely made it her own.
![]()
