Time is flying, and we’re still at home. Weather is getting nicer, and we’ve fired up the grill several times already this summer. While my creative juices are beginning to flow again, I find myself gravitating towards easier, more simpler dishes and recipes, given that my husband and I are still navigating parenthood with a 3.5-month-old.
We initially bought flour and corn tortillas to make crunchwrap supremes, then realizing the flour tortillas were too small opted for cheesy gordita crunches. Upon opening the flour tortillas, we noticed they went moldy *Sigh*. Ultimately, we decided to just make tacos, but I had already poured avocado oil in a pan to fry up the corn tortillas. I decided to stick with frying the corn tortillas up a bit and made them into traditional tacos, with a tostada twist.
These were so easy to make, and I used Siete Foods brand Taco seasoning, which was INSANELY delicious. How have I not had this before? You can find this seasoning online at Thrive Market (my go-to for a lot of products and groceries) or at Whole Foods.
Step 1: Pour oil of choice into a shallow frying pan just enough that it coats the bottom of the pan and then an extra 1/4″.
Step 2: Heat the pan on medium and add two tortillas at once. Let them fry for about a minute or two on each side, or until you see them start to bubble and lightly brown on the sides.
Step 3: Let sit on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. Assemble as you would tacos with all of your ingredients: tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, taco meat, hot sauce. Enjoy!
The texture of these tacos is a little crisp with a perfect bend in the tortilla, mixed with the mildly-spicy Siete Foods taco seasoning, I’m already anticipating making these again next week; NOMaste and stay safe!
The weather is officially changing. Lawns are getting mowed, people are power-washing their homes, and opening up their pools. Yep, it’s almost summertime. That means lots of BBQ meals and dinners outside, except we have to socially distance and wear a mask. Honestly, after a few weeks it’ll feel more “normal,” even though everyday there’s more sadness with lives lost and more confirmed cases. Nevertheless, we persevere and continue to stay at home and cook – so I decided to make burgers!
Something about making burgers puts a smile on my face. Handcrafting the patties, choosing my own seasonings, and throwing them on a grill or a hot skillet gets me in the best mood – and I think we could all use some mood boosting recipes amirite? This burger has four seasonings to it and is donned with some classic caramelized onions and provolone cheese, sandwiched between a hearty potato bun. I had the last of them this afternoon for my lunch because they were THAT good. Also, a side of homemade fries and roasted squash isn’t too bad either. (working to perfect the fries so that’ll come sometime soon!)
Here’s what you’ll need for these burgers:
2 lbs ground beef
2 large onions sliced
Package of potato rolls
Arrowroot or cornstarch (to thicken onions as they caramelize)
3 tbsp butter
Onion salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Adobo
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
Take your ground beef out approximately 20-30 minutes before handling, you want any meat to be relatively room temperature beforemanipulating. Add to a bowl and add in the seasonings, remember to be generous here as you want the burgers to be juicy and flavorful. Form patties by grabbing a fitsfull of meat and gently pressing into a circle, you don’t need a perfectly shaped patty and you want them to be loose (not super compact). Place on a plate and set aside.
Slice your onions and add to a pan with melted butter. Let them sweat and become aeromatic, stirring and letting the butter marinade into them. They will begin to soften and turn brown around 5 minutes, lower the flame and add arrowroot or cornstarch (arrowroot is a substitute from cornstarch and is less of an allergy than corn, plus it’s considered a healthier alternative and less processed). Continue to cook the onions on a low flame until they become super soft, holding their shape but are a golden brown. Turn off flame and set aside.
Use a non-stick skillet or even a cast iron (I was lazy and didn’t feel like taking mine out) and heat on medium high heat. Spray the pan with some cooking spray and add the burgers (I did three at a time). Cook for 3-4 minutes or your desired doneness. Flip and add the provolone to melt, another 3 minutes. Layer onto the buns and add some onions on top and voila, French Onion burger. Not so bad right? Get that grill going and crack open a White Claw – or a regular beer – and enjoy!
There’s nothing like simplicity in a time like this. Staple ingredients, basic recipes, and home cooking somehow taste so much better and flavorful than complicated and obscure meals sometimes. I can get a little too over-complicated sometimes when it comes to cook, and ESPECIALLY baking, so I am always working to reflect on what I’m doing: how many swaps did I implement this time? What was the measurement of this ingredient? How long should I bake or sear it for? How do I remedy too much salt? Too liquidy? These are some of the questions I am always asking myself when in the kitchen, but with classic recipes like chicken cutlets, the measurements and taste somehow always come out perfect.
I’m not diagnosed with celiac or gluten intolerance, but I just feel better when I don’t eat a whole ton of bread or gluten. Sure, I can take down a massive french toast, or a large hero sandwich from a deli, but 9 times out of 10 I feel like garbage afterwards, largely because of the bread. That’s not to say I don’t indulge, but I am mindful, and that’s why a lot of my cooking and baking is directed toward gluten-free. However, I will N E V E R say no or turn down a good chicken cutlet. Who doesn’t love a tender, juicy, crispy on the outside piece of delectable chicken?
If you’re a novice cook in your kitchen, this is THE recipe for you. It’s incredibly simple, with standard ingredients, and once you’ve mastered the chicken cutlet, you can ramp it up with chicken parm, chicken cutlet wraps, chicken cutlet salads, and even chicken pasta bakes! Let’s get started…
Here’s what you’ll need:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and filleted
3 large eggs
2 cups breadcrumbs
4-5 tbsp olive oil, and probably more to coat the pan
Cast iron skillet or deep frying pan
3 dinner plates
one for the breadcrumbs
one for the breaded chicken
one for post fried chicken to sit on paper towel
Salt
Pepper
To start, get your “assembly line” together, meaning: arrange your plates and bowl for the egg-wash. You’ll have a plate (or I use a cutting board) of the filleted chicken breasts, bowl of egg wash (Just cracked and whisked eggs), plate of breadcrumbs, and extra plate to put the breaded chicken before you fry it.
First, rinse and pat dry your chicken breasts. Lay flat on a cutting board and fillet them: you’ll place a hand on the chicken breast, take a slicing knife, and cut the chicken breast horizontally in half from one side to the other, this will make one chicken breast into two thin sliced breasts. Repeat for all pieces (if you have four large breasts, you’ll end up with eight!). Then, season with salt and pepper.
Crack your eggs. Whisk them together and leave as is.
Take your cast iron skillet or your deep frying pan and place onto the stove. Pour enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and add another two tbsp. You want enough oil in the pan so that there’s minimal splatter, and so the oil crackles/fries the chicken enough without sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Begin to make the cutlets. Take a piece of chicken, dip into the egg, then into the breadcrumbs, coating both sides evenly. Place on plate and repeat until all chicken is breaded.
Heat your skillet/pan on medium heat. You may need to play around with the heat so that the cutlets do not burn. Layer two or three pieces of chicken into the pan and let them fry for 3-4 minutes per side. Overcooking the chicken will burn the breading and will also dry out the chicken – our goal here is a golden crust with a juicy bite!
Place the fried chicken cutlets on a plate with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat this step until all the chicken is cooked.
I swear by this method, and it is pretty standard from what I understand, but I wanted to add this recipe here for anyone who is venturing into the cooking world, for anyone who has attempted cutlets but forgot how much oil or how to fillet a chicken. This recipe will become your backbone of cooking and will virtually take you anywhere when it comes to being in the kitchen. Have fun, stay safe, and happy frying!
I guess there’s no better time than the present to start getting creative in the kitchen, and becoming way more comfortable with simple, easy recipes with ingredients found in the kitchen or pantry. It’s a struggle to find onions, chicken toilet paper (still) and obviously cleaning products, so I write this blog entry with gratitude that I have been lucky enough to snag delivery windows for groceries. I pray that this pandemic is over sooner than later, and that we don’t return to normal – because that wasn’t working. I hope we come back to a space of kindness, thoughtfulness, awareness of what we have taken for granted in the past, and eternal respect for our heroes in scrubs, in grocery stores, delivery uniforms, and classrooms. With that being said, I present to you one of the most delicious chicken skillet dinners I’ve ever made. Like, ever.
One of the beautiful things about using a cast iron skillet is that everytime you cook with it, it absorbs the seasoning from the previous use, and it adds a different dimension of flavor to the dish. I had the skillet out on the counter, drying from use for a bolognese (link to that recipe here) and decided to use it again for chicken. I may need to get a few more of these skillets because I am slowly becoming obsessed. Cast irons, when thrown in the oven, help with overall crispiness to the dish and helps with even cooking. It’s safe to say I was very pleased with how this recipe came out, especially with the fingerling potatoes and tomatoes.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 lb or package of bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
1.5 cups fingerling potatoes, rinsed and sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp Chili Lime seasoning from Trader Joes – (or chili powder, onion salt, garlic powder, paprika.)
Dried basil
Dried Rosemary
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 375*. Rinse and pat dry the chicken and put into a bowl. Pour your seasoning into the bowl with the chicken (chili lime, garlic powder, dried basil, salt) and toss to coat – be sure to massage the seasoning into the chicken. Pour one tbsp of oil into the bowl with the chicken and mix again, then place the chicken into the skillet. Rinse the fingerling potatoes and tomatoes and slice in half. Throw the vegetables in a separate bowl with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary. Pour the remaining olive oil into the bowl and toss to combine.
Pour the vegetables into gaps of the skillet, and assemble around the chicken as shown below. Bake in the middle rack for just over an hour (65-70m is perfect). Serve as is or add a side salad 🙂 A delectable meal, perfect for staying at home; stay safe and well friends!
Being that it’s Thanksgiving, I should probably experiment with turkey recipes, but neither my husband or I are super crazy about it, although I do have my eyes set on tying to make roasted turkey legs (i’d prefer dark than white meat from a turkey anyway). I remembered I had ground chicken in my freezer and decided to give this one a shot, because chicken meatballs can take one sharp sauces such as teriyaki and I figured why not, it’s Black Friday and I am absolutely not about to go shopping – may as well cook!
Here’s what you’ll need for the chicken meatballs:
1 lb or package of ground chicken
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup breadcrumbs as a binding agent
Chopped veggies such as carrots, celery, and onion (aka Mirepoix – you can buy store made already which I did this time around)
Paprika
Garlic powder
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, spices, oil, and mirepoix. It will be a rather sticky blend but it will bake just fine.
Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with your choice of spray oil. Portion on the meatballs with a tablespoon, roll into balls and place on the tray. The mix should make around 16 meatballs. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
For the teriyaki sauce, I used Primal Kitchen’s No Soy Teriyaki but added arrowroot to thicken it up and a bit more coconut aminos. The end result is a super delicious soy-free, paleo sauce to pour over the meatballs, and pair with a side of wild rice and veggies! Enjoy!
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