Slow Cooker Carne Asada Tacos

Another week, another challenge for the 52 weeks of cooking. This week the challenge was tacos, which is right up my alley. Fajitas are one of my favorites things to make (and eat!) and tacos aren't very different as far as technique goes.

A couple weeks ago I made chicken fajitas in my slow cooker, so I thought I'd try to make the taco meat for this weeks challenge in the slow cooker as well. In the past year, I haven't used my slow cooker much, but I'm beginning to see the appeal. A little prep in the morning, let it cook all day and voila!, you have a tasty meal to come home to after a long day at work.

Enough mooning over my slow cooker, let's get to the recipe!

Slow Cooker Carne Asada Beef Tacos
adapted from the following recipes: Tyler Florence Tacos Carne Asada and Crock-pot Carne Asada Tacos

Ingredients

For the mojo:

4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
1 orange, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

For the tacos:

3 lb flank steak

flour or corn tortillas

salsa

shredded lettuce

Directions

To make the mojo:

In a mortar and pestle or bowl, mash together  food processor, pulse the garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper to make a paste. Put the paste in a glass jar or plastic container. (I used a mason jar and it worked really well. Bonus: you could make a bigger batch and store half for later use.)Add the lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, and oil. Shake it up really well to combine.

Taco Meat:

Set your slow cooker to low for 8 hours. Place the meat flat on the bottom and pour the mojo over. Poke holes in the meat with a fork so the sauce can penetrate it while cooking. After 8 hours, remove the meat and shred. Return to the crock-pot and keep on warm until ready to serve.

Heating tortillas:

Set oven to 350. Wrap up to five tortillas in aluminum foil and place in oven for about 15 minutes. Keep wrapped until ready to serve.

Rating
Overall, I'd say this recipe was a win. The meat was very tender from cooking all day and the mojo was just right. I'm not a huge fan of cilantro so I was worried when the sauce called for so much, but it ended up being perfect. If you're looking for a complete meal, serve with black beans and rice. 

Sunday Brunch Menu

Last Sunday I hosted a brunch for 13 of our closest friends. I've always loved breakfast food, and hate that I can never serve it when we have a party because we always have them at night. So this Sunday, I got my chance to cook up a fabulous brunch for some even more fabulous people.

Now, before I get to the menu, I need to apologize for not having any pictures. Even though I prepared almost everything the night before, the morning was a little hectic and I didn't have time to snap any before it was all devoured. At least there were no leftovers - that's a good thing, right?

Sunday Brunch Menu

Food

Cherry Poppy Seed Muffins from Tyler Florence - These muffins were to die for. We actually had a few left over and I was so happy to be able to eat them for the next few days as a quick breakfast on the way to work.

Blueberry Muffins from Alton Brown - I thought these were a little greasy and they didn't really rise. I think the next time I want to make blueberry muffins I'll use the base recipe from the muffins above and substitute in blueberries.

Scrambled Eggs - always a favorite of mine. I'll sneak in a picture from a few months ago when I posted about a small scrambled egg breakfast.


Overnight French Toast - Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, Bridal Edition - this was the closest recipe I could find online to match the one from the book.

Yogurt - no one really ate the yogurt but I had to include something healthy. If I had to do it again, I'd mix in some almonds and blueberries to make it look more appetizing.

Fresh Fruit

Bacon - I only made one pack of bacon, and it was barely enough. I was the last one to make up my plate and there was only one lonely piece left when I got to it.

Apple Harvest Oatmeal - this was really delicious too. I don't normally like Oatmeal, but with all the different spices in it, this tastes lovely. It wasn't that hard to make, either.

Beverages
Coffee
Tea
Orange Juice - with fresh sliced oranges - I only bought 1 gallon of juice and it went quickly. I think next year I am going to try making mimosas.

The Ultimate Beef Stew

Last week it was rainy and gross out. I thought this would be the perfect week to make a stew. I've always felt that stews warm you're whole body up and make you feel cozy - the ultimate comfort food. As I looked through my backlog of recipes, I came across Tyler Florence's recipe for beef stew. Once again, he did not fail to impress me with his combination of ingredients.

The Ultimate Beef Stew
courtesy of Tyler Florence

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for frying, plus more to drizzle
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 to 3 pounds beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 2-inch pieces (this cut is also called chuck shoulder pot roast and chuck roast boneless)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bottle good quality dry red wine (recommended: Burgundy) - I used Merlot and it tasted fine, too
8 fresh thyme sprigs
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 orange, zest removed in 3 (1-inch) strips
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups beef stock
9 small new potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut in 1/2
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups frozen pearl onions, a large handful
1/2 of a red onion, sliced
1 pound white mushrooms, cut in 1/2
1/2 pound garden peas frozen or fresh
1/2 pound frozen corn
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish
Horseradish Sour Cream, recipe follows, for garnish
Toasted Peasant Bread, recipe follows, for serving

Directions
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil and butter.

While the pan is heating, arrange the flour on a large dish. Season the cubed beef with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and then toss in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour and add the beef chunks in a single layer to the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan, you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate and reserve.

Add the wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon being sure to loosen up all those tasty bits. Once the wine has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, smashed garlic, orange zest strip, ground cloves, freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the liquids start to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours.

After 2 hours add halved potatoes, sliced carrots, pearl onions and mushrooms, along with a pinch of sugar to balance out the acid from the red wine. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Add the frozen peas during the last minute of cooking. Season with salt and pepper and remove the thyme sprigs.

To serve, place the stew in a soup bowl, garnish with parsley, drizzle with olive oil and add a dollop of Horseradish Sour Cream. Right before serving add a slice of Toasted Peasant Bread, half way submerged in the stew.



Chef's Notes
I didn't make the horseradish sour cream, or the Peasant Bread. Instead, I served the dish over egg noodles. The dish was really good. My only complaint was that the gravy was not thick enough to cover the noodles. On night number two, when we had it as leftovers, I added a tablespoon of cornstarch to thicken it up a little, which worked out well. It covered the noodles and still tasted great.

Butternut Squash and Corn Soup

That crisp fall weather has finally hit us here in NJ and you know what that means: it's time for all those lovely comforting fall foods like squash, apples, roast turkey and of course, soups! Nothing warms a person through and through like a good bowl of soup. Today I was in the mood for just that, so I turned to my trusty friend Tyler Florence for a good soup featuring a favorite fall vegetable, butternut squash.

I just discovered how tasty butternut squash is last year, thanks to this blog. I was looking for a new "fall-ish" recipe and stumbled on a great and simple recipe for pan fried butternut squash. It was heavenly. Butternut squash - where have you been all my life??!!

A few weeks ago, we rekindled our relationship while out at dinner. A local restaurant was serving their version of butternut squash soup and I tried it. It was really good. So good that it's kind of been on my mind ever since. So today is the day I tried out a squash soup on my own - with the help of my favorite food network chef of course!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from Tyler Florence of Food Network

Ingredients
2 (2 pound) butternut squash, halved lengthwise, seeded
Vegetable oil
1/4 pound amaretti cookies I couldn't find these in my supermarket so I nixed them. I served it with those crostini breads that you buy for bruschetta
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 bunch fresh sage
1 onion, sliced thin
1 11oz can of white shoe-peg corn
1 clove garlic
splash of heavy cream
4 cups chicken stock, either homemade or store-bought -use vegetable stock to make this vegetarian
Pinch of grated nutmeg - I couldn't find nutmeg at the store either so I used cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish with vegetable oil. Place squash cut side up in prepared dish. Pierce each squash half several times with toothpick or skewer. Bake until squash is tender, about 45 minutes.

While the squash is cooking, use a handheld mixer with the chopping attachment to pulse the cookies until roughly chopped. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring the olive oil up to almost smoking. Quickly cook the sage leaves until crisp. Remove and reserve the sage, and saute the sliced onion and garlic. When the squash is done cooking, using a large spoon, scrape squash into the pot; discard peel. Add 3 1/2 cups chicken stock and nutmeg and puree until smooth, add additional stock to reach desired consistency. The video for the recipe shows Tyler adding a splash of cream to his soup at the end, so I did the same, even though the printed recipe doesn't call for it. After pureeing the squash and onions, I added the corn. Stir soup over medium heat until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with crushed amaretti; garnish with sage leaves.




Recipe Notes
As noted above, I added corn to this recipe to give it a little extra "something". I also added garlic when I sauteed the onions. Some of the reviews on food network's website said the soup was lacking a little, but I thought it tasted great! It probably would have tasted even better if I wasn't in such a rush to finish it up and remembered to add the cinnamon at the end!

The only thing I wished I had for this recipe was an emulsion blender. After combining the squash, onions, garlic and broth, I had to scoop it out into my regular blender to puree. That was a real pain, since the blender could not hold the entire contents of the stock pot. I ended up blending two batches and then combining them to reheat. Well, Christmas is coming soon, right? Maybe Santa will put an emulsion blender under the tree!!

Black Bean Soup - Tyler Florence Style

Another Tyler recipe. This time, I wasn't even trying to make a recipe created by him, honest! As I mentioned in another post, we wanted to take it easy this week with eating, so we opted for meat-free meal plan. Black beans are a perennial favorite of mine, so I googled black bean soup and this recipe came up. This was surprisingly easy to make. The most difficult part was pureeing the garlic, onions and peppers because I only have a mini-prep. I had to do two rounds of processing before I was able to get through the whole peppper and onion!

Black Bean Soup
courtesy Tyler Florence of Food Network

Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans - I used 2 15 oz cans of pre-cooked black beans
4 cloves garlic - only two cloves of garlic for me!
2 onions, roughly chopped - I only used one because I thought more than that would be a little onion heavy for my tastes
1 green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro - I substituted dried cilantro
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 sprigs fresh oregano - subbed dry again
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 smoked ham hock (since we were staying away from meat - although this sounds delicious!)
1 jalapeno, split
1 3/4 quarts low-sodium chicken stock (To make this completely veg, substitute this for vegetable stock)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Crema: I didn't make the crema, but I thought I would post it anyway in case someone wanted to attempt it
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons lime zest
Lime wedges, for garnish
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Directions
Pick through the beans and discard any debris - wash under cold running water.(skipped this step since I used canned beans) In a food processor, add garlic, onion, bell pepper, and cilantro.
Set a large pot over medium heat and add a 3-count of olive oil. Add the oregano and cumin. Add vegetable puree and saute until just fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Add beans, ham hock, jalapeno, and stock. Slightly cover and simmer for 2 hours until beans are tender. (Since my beans were already cooked and I didn't use the ham hock, I only simmered it for 20 minutes)

When cooked, take out ham hock. Cut ham meat off the bone, cut into pieces and set aside.

Using a blender or immersion blender, puree just enough of the beans and stock (about a third of the total pot) to thicken up the soup and bring everything together.(I don't own an immersion blender and since we're moving my real blender was packed away, so I just smashed some of the beans with the back of a large spoon. This thickened the soup, but not as much as blending them would have.) Season with salt and pepper and fold ham meat back into the soup.

Make the crema by combining sour cream and zest. Serve each soup with a spoonful of lime crema, a squeeze of lime and some fresh cilantro.


Pardon the ugly picture - It tastes much better than it looks!

Review
My husband was a little concerned the soup would taste too onion-y because that's all he could smell when I was cooking. However, the soup had the perfect balance of all the flavors. Instead of garnishing ours with the crema recipe above, we used part-skim mozzarella. The only thing I might do differently next time is add some chili powder or red pepper flakes to kick it up a notch. It wasn't quite as spicy as I like my black bean soups. Another A+ for Tyler!

Make sure you visit Tyler Florence Fridays for a round up of other awesome Tyler recipes!

Sesame Chicken Salad with Spinach, Cucumber and Cilantro

Thanks to a wonderful coupon from Borders this past weekend, I acquired another Tyler Florence cookbook. I was trying to decide between Eat This Book and Tyler's Ultimate and ended up going with the latter choice. On the way home, I was flipping through the book and thought this chicken recipe would be a really great summer meal. It was light, not too much prep work involved, and I had almost all of the ingredients in my cupboard. A real shocker, since I almost never have the ingredients Tyler cooks with. This is partly my fault, though. When I make up my own recipes I'm not very out of the box. Now that I have been cooking with Tyler Florence Fridays, I find it more and more exciting to venture into the kitchen.

Sesame Chicken Salad with Spinach, Cucumber and Cilantro
Tyler's Ultimate by Tyler Florence




Ingredients
Vinaigrette
1/4 c soy sauce
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh red pepper flakes

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups panko
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
A couple good handfuls of stemmed spinach leaves (4 cups)
1 cucumber, unpeeled, cut crosswise into thin slices
handful of fresh cilantro leaves
1 scallion, white and green part, sliced
cracked black pepper

Directions
In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, sugar and red pepper flakes for the dressing.

Toast 2 tablespoons of the sesame seeds in a small dry skillet until fragrant, a minute or two, then set aside.

Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Put a chicken breast on the cutting board and, holding a large knife parallel to the board, cut through the breast horizontally so that you get 2 fillets. Repeat with the 3 remaining breasts. Put the chicken on a platter, drizzle two tablespoons of the dressing, and toss to coat. Set the rest of the vinaigrette aside. Let the chicken marinate for about 10 minutes.

Combine the panko and the remaining sesame seeds in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix with your fingers so that the seasoning is incorporated and then taste it; the panko should be well seasoned. Dredge the chicken in the seasoned bread crumbs, patting the crumbs gently so that they adhere.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Line a platter with paper towels and set that to the side of the stove. Add about half of the chicken to the pan and cook about 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Remove the chicken to the towel-lined platter to drain while you cook the rest.

Put the spinach in a bowl with the cucumber, cilantro, scallion and a tablespoon of the toasted sesame seeds. To serve, arrange a mound of greens on a plate, set a piece of chicken on top, stack a few more greens on top, and finish with another piece of chicken. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Make 3 more plates this way and shower with the remaining tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds and cracked black pepper.

Servings: 4

The verdict is in on this one! As I guessed, it was very easy to prepare and a nice light meal for a Sunday dinner in the summer. The only thing we did differently was bread only one side of the chicken. We're trying to eat a little healthier, so this was our attempt to do that with this recipe. I also have a tip: If you make the vinaigrette ahead of time, make sure you whisk it really well right before serving. Otherwise, the spices will stick to the bottom and your dressing won't be as flavorful.

This is my submission to Tyler Florence Fridays this week. Please click below and check out all the other entries!

Moroccan Chicken

Now that I am getting to know my way around the kitchen a little better, I'm not so frightened of Tyler Florence's recipes anymore. Even though they typically take more time to prepare than my usual weeknight go-to's, the payoff is tenfold. I always end up with a meal that pleases both my and my husband's taste buds.

Of course, since I prepped this meal during the week, I didn't have time to roast a whole chicken. Instead, I used three chicken breasts and halved the recipe. Since there was no cavity to stuff the lemon in, I sliced it up and stuck two slices on top of each piece of chicken. The cilantro and garlic were then placed in the roasting pan so the chicken would soak up the flavor as it cooked.

Moroccan Chicken
adapted from the cookbook Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Ingredients
Moroccan Spice Mix:
1 cinnamon stick, chopped in pieces
8 whole cloves
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons cumin seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
11/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Chicken:
1 (3 1/2 pound) whole free range chicken 1.5 lb chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, halved sliced
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

To prepare the Moroccan Spice Mix for the Chicken: Combine the cinnamon stick, cloves, cayenne, cumin, fennel, coriander, and paprika in a dry skillet over low heat and toast for just a minute to release the fragrant oils; shake the pan so they don't scorch. In a spice mill or clean coffee grinder, grind the toasted spices together, with 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt and the brown sugar. (A word of advice: make sure you thoroughly wipe out your coffee grinder before you make coffee again - Moroccan spices taste great on chicken but horrible with coffee.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken with cool water, inside and out, then pat it dry with paper towels. Massage the chicken skin with the spice rub; make sure you don't miss a spot. Season the inside of the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Stuff the lemons halves, cilantro, and garlic in the cavity and place the chicken in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Fold the wing tips under the bird and tie the legs together with kitchen string. Drizzle the oil all over the chicken. If you have time, let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes to really get the flavors down deep into the meat. Roast the chicken for 1 hour; pop an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh; if it reads 160 degrees F, it's done. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes so the juices can settle back into the meat. Remove and discard the skin from the chicken. Pull the chicken from the bone and shred the meat, with your fingers or 2 forks. Put the shredded chicken in a large bowl and squeeze the lemon halves that have cooked inside the bird over the meat to moisten.




Not a big shocker, but I really enjoyed this recipe. However, the next time I make it, I think I might go a little lighter on the cloves. This was the first time I've ever had cloves, so I wasn't entirely sure what they'd taste like. To me, it was just a little too strong.

Soon we will be closing on a house, and we'll actually have a grill. I think the spice rub would be perfect for making some chicken kebobs and serving with a light Tzatziki sauce.

If you'd like to see more recipes by Tyler Florence, click here for the round up.

Stir Fried Beef with Tangerines, Green Beans and Chiles

This recipe is sure to be another Tyler Florence favorite for our house. I received the cookbook Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen as a Christmas gift and it is quickly becoming my favorite gift of all time. So far, I have made Tyler's Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins from this book and it was a real hit. Most of the recipes in this book require ingredients I don't keep in my cupboard and more time than I have on weeknights. I usually make his recipes on Sunday when I have a lot of time. They're always winners. For other recipes I've made by Tyler, see my Tyler Florence tag.

Stir Fried Beef with Tangerines, Green Beans and Chiles
from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Ingredients

Marinade
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon sesame olive oil
1 teaspoon five spice powder - we didn't have five spice, so I used a substitute I found on recipezaar
1 tablespoon corn starch
sea salt and ground pepper

1 lb boneless beef top round, sliced paper thin
3 cups peanut olive oil - see note in review below
1 tangerine orange, unpeeled, sliced paper thin in circles
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
4 2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, minced
4 dried red chiles 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
3/4 lb green beans halved on the bias
1/4 cup low sodium chicken stock broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tablespoon black vinegar or balsamic
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg white, sesame oil, five spice powder and cornstarch; season with salt and pepper. Add the beef, toss to coat in the marinade, and stick it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, pour the peanut oil into a wok and place over high heat. Heat the oil to 350 F (about 15 min). Toss the tangerine slices with 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch. When the oil is smoking hot, quickly fry the tangerine for about 4 minutes. Frying the tangerine first removes the bitterness from the skin and the slices become crispy so you can eat them whole. Carefully remove the tangerine slices with a strainer to drain on a paper towel lined platter; their shape should remain in tact.

Bring the oil back up the smoking point and add half the beef. If you fry it all at once, the oil temp will drop and the beef with stew instead of crisp. Fry for 2 minutes and the remove to a paper towel to drain. Repeat with the rest of the beef. Very carefully drain all but 1/4 cup of the hot oil into a heat proof container. Stir fry the ginger, garlic, green onions and chiles in the remaining oil until they perfume. Add the green beans; season with salt and pepper. Mix the chicken stock with the rest of the cornstarch and add it to the wok. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Simmer until the sauce is thick and the beans are tender, about 10 minutes. Return the beef and tangerines to the pan and coat. Scatter the sesame seeds on top. Serve with steamed rice.



Serves: 6

Review

As far as the taste of this recipe goes, it was incredible. Before I made this, I searched some other blogs and found that Kristin of Sogkonnite Living had posted a review of this recipe. She mentioned that the sensitive stomachs in her house couldn't handle the deep frying. On her suggestion, I stir fried the oranges and the beef, instead of immersing it in oil. The recipe still turned out great. I also used a mix of black and white sesame seeds, though I'm not really sure this affected the taste at all. The only thing I was disappointed with was the oranges. Maybe I didn't cook them enough or something, but the skin definitely did not lose all of its bitterness. We ended up peeling the skin off. Next time I make this, I will peel them ahead of time.

Hungry for more Tyler recipes? Check out the roundup at:

Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins

I received a bunch of cookbooks for Christmas. Feeling overloaded on sweets, I decided this meal would be a great way to get back into eating better. As it says in the cookbook, the key to this recipe seems to be brining the pork chops before cooking them - it makes the meat very tender. When preparing the brining liquid, please remember to add the gallon of water last. Like an idiot, I filled the bag with water first, and it ended up all over the kitchen (and my new cookbook!). Luckily, there wasn't anything sticky in the solution yet, like the brown sugar, and it was pretty easy to clean up.

Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins
adapted from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Ingredients

Pork Chops:



1 gallon water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sea salt
1 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed (I used regular apple juice, since we had it on hand)
1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
2 fresh thyme sprigs (I used dried thyme)
4 double-cut bone-in loin pork chops, 1 pound each (the only meat I could find totaled to about 3 lbs, so mine were slightly smaller than suggested)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil

Spiced Apples and Raisins:



2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced in 1/2-inch-thick wedges
Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs (see above re: thyme)
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed (see above re: apple juice)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of cardamom
Pinch dry mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon (I used store bought lemon juice)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl combine the water, brown sugar, sea salt, apple juice concentrate, peppercorns, and thyme. Give it a good stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Transfer the mixture to an extra-large re-sealable plastic bag. Submerge the pork chops in the brine, seal up the bag, and put it in the refrigerator for 2 hours to tenderize the meat. Do not brine longer than that or the meat will break down too much and get mushy.

Remove the pork chops from the brine and pat them dry with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides of the meat with salt and pepper. Put a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add a 3-count drizzle of olive oil and get it hot. Lay 2 pork chops in the pan (most likely only 2 of these massive pork chops will fit comfortably) and brown 4 minutes per side. Remove the pork chops to a large baking pan; brown the remaining 2 chops and add them to the others in the pan. Put the baking pan in the oven and roast the chops for 30 minutes. The pork is done when the center is still rosy and the internal temperature reads 140 to 145 degrees F when tested with an instant-read thermometer.

While the chops cook, melt the butter in a clean skillet over medium-low heat. Add the apples and thyme and coat in the butter; cook and stir for 8 minutes to give them some color. Toss in the raisins and add the apple juice, stirring to scrape up the brown bits. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and dry mustard; season with salt and pepper. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon to wake up the flavor and simmer for 10 minutes or until the apples break down and soften. Spoon the spiced apples over the pork chops.

Servings: 4

Review:
This recipe was really good. Although it says to bake the meat for 30 minutes, my pork chops were a little more done than I would like. I think it was because the meat I bought wasn't super thick like the picture in the book shows. I was planning on checking them at 20 minutes to see how they were cooking, but I got distracted making the spiced apples. The next time I can get my hands on some affordable spices, I'd like to try this recipe out using all the ingredients. I didn't have cardamom, cloves or dry mustard on hand, and each spice would have run me about $10 at the store. I thought that was a little much, so I opted not to use them - especially since I don't have many recipes that call for those spices.

I served this with Vanilla-Honey Glazed Carrots, but the book suggests to serve it with Tyler's corn pudding. (NOTE: this isn't the recipe in his book, but it's the closest I could find online.)

Mexican Tortilla Chicken Soup

Tyler Florence is one of my favorite Food Network chefs. Whenever I need a dinner idea, I usually find something of his to prepare. One of our friends and his girlfriend were coming over last Sunday and I needed something quick and relatively easy that I could walk away from while preparing, to socialize. I found this soup recipe and couldn't resist. The last time I tried one of his soups, it was an out of the park homerun with my husband, so I knew this was going to be good. Unfortunately for you blog readers, I don't have any pictures of the finished product. The four of us gobbled it up so quickly, I forgot to grab the camera! Hopefully you can all use your imagination.

Mexican Tortilla Chicken Soup
adapted from Food Network chef, Tyler Florence

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium white onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
3 ripe medium tomatoes, chopped
1 quart chicken stock, recipe follows
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil, for pan-frying
8 corn tortillas, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced I don't like avocados, so I omitted them)
1 cup shredded Jack cheese, optional we used mozzarella because it's what I had on hand
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
1 lime, cut in wedges, for serving

Directions:
Place a stockpot over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, jalapenos, and tomatoes; cook, stirring for 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked down and pulpy. Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes.



Meanwhile, heat 1-inch of canola oil in a skillet over medium-high flame. When the oil begins to smoke, add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until they are crisp on all sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and sprinkle with salt while they are still hot.

Ladle the hot soup into 4 soup bowls and put a pile of shredded chicken on top of each. Top with the diced avocado and fried tortilla strips (and cheese if using). Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Servings: about 6

Review:
I didn't fry the tortilla strips in a pan as the recipe suggests. Instead, I put them on a cookie sheet, and sprayed them with non-stick cooking spray. Then I sprinkled some cumin and cinnamon on the strips, and put them in the oven at 400 degrees until they were brown and crispy.

The recipe probably would have stood fine on it's own, but since this was our main course, I wanted something a little more hardy. I cooked up one cup of jasmine rice and added it to the soup so that it would be more filling. The addition turned out great.

I would also suggest that you not skip the lime garnish if you make this. We squeezed the lime into the broth before eating and it gave the soup an extra tang. It was really delicious.

The soup was relatively easy to make, even though it says it's "Intermediate" level on the FN website. The most time consuming part was chopping up all the vegetables to add to the chicken stock.

Lessons Learned

I've come to realize that in trying new things also come a couple lessons. The one I learned tonight while making these brownies almost turned on the sprinklers in our apartment!!

I prepared the whole recipe and thought to myself, "wow, this baking-from-scratch isn't really so hard". When the batter was ready, I poured it in the pan and popped it in the oven. A minutes or so later I smelled this weird burning (not like batter burning, like plastic). I open up the oven and smoke comes billowing out. I did not have parchment paper, so I used waxed paper instead. Hence, the lesson for tonight - waxed paper burns in the oven. 

Now I had to act quick and transfer the brownie batter to a pan that I could finish the brownies in. With the help of Mr. Tomato, we successfully transferred the batter without losing any. All was not lost! Now, without further adue - the brownie recipe. 

Amaretto Chocolate Brownies with Walnuts

adapted from Tyler's Ultimate, episode Ultimate Rainy Day

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for pan

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour

pinch of salt

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons amaretto

1 1/2 c walnuts

powdered sugar for garnishing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 9x9 square baking pan with parchment paper, making sure paper hangs over the edges. Grease the paper with butter so the brownies don't stick. Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler and stir gently until smooth and shiny. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside. Whisk together eggs, sugar and amaretto in a mixing bowl until combined.  Pour in chocolate mixture and continue to whisk until combined.  Gradually add flour mixture, then add walnuts and combine with a wooden spoon. Transfer batter to baking pan and bake for 40-45 min or until cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the pan. When done, invert onto a cutting board and remove paper. Cut into squares, garnish with powdered sugar and serve.

Servings: Makes 12 brownies

Modifications: 

1. I used smart balance instead of butter.

2. I don't own a double boiler so I melted the chocolate/butter in the microwave.

3. I couldn't find bittersweet chips at the store, so I used baking squares

4. after the waxed paper debacle, i just greased a pan with cooking spray and hoped for the best.

5. i don't really like walnuts, so I used almonds instead.

6. the first pan i used was a 9x11 and the second pan i used was 6x6, so i ended up with very thick brownies.

7. I cut the A/P flour in half and also used whole wheat flour.

8. I only used 1 1/4 c. almonds and it was still a lot!

Review:

 

So far, I seem to be 2 for 2 with these new recipes I am trying. Mr. Tomato loved the brownies but wished I went for the walnuts instead of the almonds. As far as the almonds, I thought they tasted great, but would definitely put less in next time - maybe just 1 cup. The brownies themselves came out almost perfect. They were a tiny bit burned on the edges (which I learned today was because I used a dark pan), but were just the right consistency when you bite into them - soft and gooey. I will definitely be trying this recipe out again. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

The husband and I were feeling under the weather this weekend, so I decided to make us some chicken soup. The soup I normally make never has much flavor to it, so I poked around online and found the following recipe from foodnetwork.com. It was originally featured on the show "Tyler's Ultimate".

Tyler's Ultimate Rainy Day Soup

Ingredients:

For the soup:

extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2 large carrots, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, sliced

1 bay leaf

4 fresh thyme sprigs

3 quarts low sodium chicken broth

5 parsley stems

4 black peppercorns

kosher salt

For the meatballs:

1 medium onion, diced

olive oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 handful fresh parsley leaves

1/4 c. grated parmigiano-reggiano

2 pounds frozen cheese tortellini, store bought

6 links organic chicken apple sausage meat

Directions:

Soup: Set a large stockpot over medium hear. Add olive oil, half the garlic, carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf and thyme, and gently saute until fragrant (5-7 min).  Pour in chicken broth, add parsley stems, black peppercorn, and salt, to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.

Meatballs: Carmelize the diced onion in a saute pan with a little olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, egg, onion, thyme, parsley and cheese to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they all come together. Season with salt and pepper.  Heat a skillet witha  few tablespoons of olive oil until smoking. Use a small ice cream scoop to drop meatballs onto skillet. Cook until golden brown.

Drop tortellini straight from freezer into soup. Cook until they float.  Once meatballs are browned, add to pot of chicken broth. Bring to simmer and cook 2-3 min longer.

Servings: 6 to 8

Here are the modifications I made to the recipe:

1. In the directions, it says to add only half the garlic to the soup mix, but never mentions what to do with the other half, so I ended up only using 1.5 cloves garlic. 

2. I didn't have enough fresh herbs to get through this recipe, so I subbed in dried parsley and thyme in the meatballs. 

3. The only sausage I could find came in a package of 4 links, so I used less sausage than the above called for, which yielded about 10 meatballs in total. 

4. Lastly, I used whole wheat tortellini that was refrigerated, not frozen.

Review: 

My husband said "oh, my god, this is the best chicken soup you ever made", so i guess that sort of sums it up. The broth was really flavorful and the meatballs came out delicious (despite my reservations about grinding up sausage to make meatballs). I would definitely make this again.