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Monday, March 28, 2011

Fajitas!

My son has been asking me to get out my new food processor.  He's only 6 but he loves to help me in the kitchen especially when it involves a cool appliance.  He loves our juicer too.  So when I decided yesterday to make fajitas, I figured it would be a great time to make some homemade salsa.  He put the processor together for me and locked everything into the right place, while I was still reading the directions.  I had to quarter the tomatoes quickly to keep up with his enthusiasm.  He tossed all the ingredients in, locked the top, and pushed the ON button.  Everything happened so fast....we almost had tomato soup.  I pushed stop and realized we should have used the "Pulse" feature instead of turning it on full.  Oh well I know that now.  Luckily I had a couple more tomatoes that I could throw in to give it a little more chunkiness.  He was happy with the results and then disappeared to go play a video game with his sisters.


Chicken Fajitas with salsa, guacamole, peppers and yogurt


Chicken Fajitas:


1 lb chicken breasts
1/2 cup cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
juice of 1 lime


1/2 onion- thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper- thinly sliced
1/2 green pepper- thinly sliced
salt, pepper, and olive oil
Flour tortillas, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream (I use plain Greek yogurt instead).


Put cilantro, garlic, broth, cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, lime juice and olive oil into small bowl of a food processor.  Whirl until smooth.  Rinse chicken, pat dry, and place in a bowl.  Pour cilantro sauce over chicken and let marinate for at least a half hour.   Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Saute peppers and onions in olive oil until soft and browned, about 12 minutes, adding more oil if necessary.  Remove from pan.  Place room temperature chicken in pan.  Cook until a nice golden brown crust forms and chicken is cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes depending on thickness of breasts.  Remove from pan and let rest.  Slice across grain into thin slices.  Warm tortillas wrapped in foil in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.  


Salsa:  



This made a huge amount of salsa.  You might want to cut the recipe in half.

  

Our soupy salsa, still yummy though :)
6 large tomatoes
1/2 onion
1 jalapeno seeded
1 tsp salt
Juice of one lime
1 cup cilantro
pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
Put all ingredients in a food processor and PULSE until chopped but still a chunky texture.


Kathy



     

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Burgers with a Kick!

After my husband's knee surgery, he went through a spell where no food sounded good.  It was strange because he has always been the most adventurous eater. (This is also the reason for my lack of posts recently.) Then he began craving tomato basil soup.  Finally, almost 4 weeks later he has moved onto a craving for hamburgers.  So as I was walking through the grocery store trying to figure out how to make a better burger, an idea came to me.  I created Spicy Gruyere Gourmet Burgers. They were a hit with everyone except my son.  He opted for raw sliced button mushrooms and only nibbled at his burger.

Spicy Gruyere Gourmet Burgers

1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1/4 cup steak seasoning rub
Hamburger buns
Fresh herb salad
Tomatoes
Onion
Pickles
Preheat grill.  Put the beef in a bowl.  Mix the cheese, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper into the beef with your hands. Form into patties.  Pour steak seasoning into a shallow bowl.  Roll the edge of the burger in the seasoning.  Place on hot grill.  Cook until medium rare or to your liking. I cooked them about 5 minutes on my panini grill which was just a touch too long for me. Add tomatoes, onion, a handful of herb salad and enjoy!

Kathy