Pseudo Arroz con Pollo (Cuban style)

I was going to buy chicken breasts and use the avocado I had I gotten at the store. However, I suffered from slight sticker shock at the grocery store and decided to go with boneless, skinless thighs instead. Upon returning home and finding a recipe, I discovered I could have gotten plain old, bone-in thighs.

This was a good recipe. I must admit that my ratios were all screwed up. I learned that 4 1/2 pounds of bone in thighs are equal to 2 pounds of boneless, skinless thighs. I halved the marinade when I should have made a full batch. Next time, I will follow the recipe and seasoning ratios more carefully. I liked the dish, but it definitely had room for improvement.

Overall, everyone like it. M liked the chicken better, J liked the rice better. Curtis and I thought it was all tasty.

Cuban-Spiced Chicken Thighs with Rice
adapted from Bon Appetit

Chicken and Marinade
1/4 c fresh lime juice
1/4 c fresh cilantro stems, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 T finely grated lime peel (or 1 T lime juice)
1 T fresh thyme, chopped
2 t jalapeno, seeded and chopped (optional)
2 t Hungarian sweet paprika
2 t ground black pepper
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
10 chicken thighs (2 pounds if boneless, skinless, 4 1/2 lbs with skin and bone)

Optional chorizo......
1 T olive oil
1/2 lb fully cooked Spanish chorizo, cut into 1/4" thick rounds

Rice
2 c onions, finely chopped
1/2 c red bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 c arborio rice (or short grain white rice)
2 1/2 c (or more) chicken broth
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 t Hungarian sweet paprika
1/4 t saffron threads

1 canned piquillo pepper or 1 whole canned pimiento, cut into thin strips

1/2 c fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
lime wedges

Whisk marinade ingredients (except chicken) in a bowl. Place chicken in large ziploc type bag and add marinade. Seal bag and turn several times to coat chicken. Refrigerate chicken at least 4 hours and up to 1 day, turning bag occasionally. Using tongs, transfer chicken from bag to plate, allowing excess marinade to drip back into bag. Reserve marinade.

Heat 1 T oil in large pot over medium heat. If using chorizo (I skipped this entire step), add and saute until beginning to brown and fat renders, about 3 minutes. Remove from pot. Increase heat to medium high. Brown chicken in pot, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Pour all but 3 T fat from pot (discard excess fat). Add onions, saute 4 minutes, scraping up any browned bits. Add bell pepper and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent, about 2 more minutes. Mix in rice, stirring to blend with vegetables. Add 2 2/1 c broth, tomatoes with any juice, paprika, and saffron. Add a little water to marinade bag and add leftover marinade. Bring to a boil, stirring to blend. Return chicken, chorizo, and any accumulated juices to pot, pressing chicken partially into rice. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Arrange piquillo pepper strips over chicken pieces. Cover and simmer until rice is tender and chicken is cooked, adding broth by 1/4 c if rice is dry, about 10 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, transfer rice and chicken to shallow bowl. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Roasted Potatoes with Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise

These were hands down the best roasted potatoes I've ever made. There texture and consistency were perfect. The taste was great. We all loved them.

The mayonnaise was unnecessary to enjoy the potatoes, but it didn't hurt the meal. I had a hard time getting the lime peel, so I ended up adding lime juice to taste instead. It tasted just fine.

Roasted Potato Wedges with Cilantro-Lime Mayonnaise
from Gourmet

For potatoes:
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t dried oregano
3 T olive oil
2 pounds potatoes, cut into wedges

For cilantro-lime mayonnaise
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sour cream
2 T finely chopped cilantro
2 t grated lime (or 1 t lime juice, to taste)

Stir cumin, oregano and 3/4 t salt into oil in a large bowl. Add potatoes and toss. Arrange potatoes, cut side down in 1 layer on a cookie sheet and roast in preheated 450 degrees oven, turning once until golden. Roasting time will take between 20 - 40 minutes depending on how thick you cut the wedges. Meanwhile, stir together all the mayonnaise ingredients.

Serve potatoes with the mayonnaise.

Skirt Steak with Poblano Rajas and Zucchini

I am always challenged by the amount of peppers we get every summer in our box. I was searching last week and found one that took 2 poblanos and decided I needed to make it. It wasn't difficult or time consuming to make. I used the grill to roast the poblanos and cook the steaks so I didn't need to heat up the house too much.

M and J just ate the steak for supper and passed on the vegetable cream sauce on top. Curtis and I liked the cream sauce just fine, but as leftovers, I couldn't bring myself to eat the cream sauce. We also had roasted potatoes with cilantro lime mayonnaise with this meal as well.

Skirt Steak with Poblano Rajas and Zucchini
from Bon Appetit

2 large poblanos
2 (12-oz) skirt steaks
3 T olive oil
2 t cumin
1 t chile powder (optional)

1 c zucchini, diced
3/4 c onions, chopped
1/2 c whipping cream

Roast poblanos either in the broiler or on a grill. To roast, char the chile on all sides, until blackened all over. Put in ziploc bag for 10 - 15 minutes to allow the chile to steam (which loosens the skin). Remove blackened skin with your fingers or the back of knife (if using your fingers, be careful. This is a chile and can burn, especially in small cuts). Seed and cut chiles lengthwise into 1/2" wide strips. Set aside. Brush steaks with 1 T oil. Mix 1 t cumin and chile powder, if using, and rub on both sides of steaks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 T oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add zucchini, poblanos, and onions. Saute until zucchini is tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 t cumin. Add cream, boil until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grill steaks, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let cool for 5 minutes. Thinly slice across the grain. Transfer steaks to platter. Top with poblanos and chopped cilantro.

Absence Explained

Sorry about my 2 1/2 week absence, between being out of town, having my brother in town, and trying to get a better night's sleep, the blog has fallen to the wayside. I have been relying on a lot of old recipes the past couple of weeks, but have recently started trying some new ones. Here's what I've been cooking:

Grilled, herb marinated chicken breasts on pasta with black olives and feta
Ribeye and T-Bone steak and potatoes
Skirt steaks with poblano rajas and zucchini with cumin roasted potatoes
Cuban chicken thighs and rice (basically arroz con pollo)

Coming up: Leftovers/Sandwiches for lunch
Sunday: Caponata on Pasta
Monday: Mushroom pizza

I suspect this coming week's menu will have more meat---I haven't gotten around to renewing my CSA subscription yet (must do that next!). Left from my box are eggplants for the caponata, a large zucchini, a whole bunch of mild hot peppers, bell peppers, and potatoes. We'll see how that can help me last until we get our new box.

Hopefully baby will keep sleeping and I will get back to posting recipes!

My new favorite website

I discovered this website, Super Cook, through a newsletter I get from a mom-based blog. I think I am in love. Using it is simple: enter an ingredient that you want to use. I suspect in my case it will usually be a vegetable. I tried entering chard today because I was unsure of what I was going to do with my chard from the box. Up pops 20 recipe links. Before taking the time to view the recipe I could look at other ingredients in the recipe so I don't waste timing looking at recipes that have things I don't have.

A couple of chard recipes I found? Well, I am excited about Fusilli with Feta from the Whole Foods website and Chard with Bacon Dressing from recipezaar. Sweet. This website makes a CSA box full of eggplant, squash, potatoes, and chard so much easier!! Great, I gave away my secret and have rendered this blog obsolete! :)

In the CSA Box this Week

Summer loving! We got:

a cantaloupe
potatoes
chard
a bunch of mint
a bunch of parsley
a bunch of basil
5 lb bag of San Marzano tomatoes
3 zucchini/yellow squash
3 cucumbers
2 onions
2 bell peppers
a couple of eggplant
a massive amount of assorted hot peppers
a dozen eggs

On the menu:
Wednesday: Beef and Mushrooms over noodles (I know using nothing from the box, but I had left over uncooked meat from kebabs on Monday I needed to use).
Thursday: Oven Dried Tomato Tart
Friday: leftovers or something with chard
Saturday: Beef Fajitas with homemade salsa (and, of course, grilled peppers and onions)
Sunday: Lunch-leftovers, Supper-Ratatouille
Monday: leftovers or something with chard
Tuesday: Cooking break (plus no box next Wednesday--the blog will be rather quiet from Wednesday until Sunday more than likely)

For the things not included in the menu---the mint has already been made into tea. The potatoes are collecting in my pantry (I need to start using those!!). The cucumbers are sides for suppers or snacks for M. The cantaloupe will be dessert tonight. I have no idea what is happening with all those peppers. It would help if I knew what kinds they were. Some look like very ripe (red) poblanos. I left the bag of jalapeno looking peppers. I just won't use those. That pretty much takes care of everything!

Watermelon, Lemonade, Blueberry Popsicles

We are enjoying these popsicles greatly. They are a huge step up from the kool-ade popsicles from when I was a kid. They are rather time intensive for popsicles. Make sure you start them at least a day ahead of when you want to eat them. I think we will making lots of plain watermelon popsicles this summer and save these for special occasions. They would make great 4th of July popsicles with their red, white, and blue (or Bastille Day if you want to celebrate France's independence day later in July).

A warning---these are really messy for kids to eat. The lemon melts the slowest which means a lot of the blueberry ends up on the kid. Ideally, the lemon would be a the bottom. However, then you wouldn't have the nice color contrasts and sweet/sour contrasts. It would be a whole lot cleaner though.

I think next time I make this, I may add less sugar to the watermelon--it was really sweet. I also used lemonade instead of lemon juice to make the process a little easier.

Popsicles!
from Bon Appetit

Watermelon Ice
2 1/2 c (1/2" cubes) seeded watermelon
1/4 c sugar

Lemon ice
1/2 c water
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c fresh lemon juice
1/4 c orange juice
1/4 t vanilla extract
(or 1 1/4 fresh squeezed lemonade)

Blueberry ice
2 c fresh blueberries
1 c water
5 T sugar
1 t fresh lemon juice

Materials
8 (5-oz) disposable paper cups (small Dixie cups)
8 popsicle sticks or wooden coffee stirrers

Blend watermelon and sugar in a food processor until smooth. Strain puree into bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much fruit as possible. Place cups in shallow baking pan (I used a round cake pan). Spoon watermelon puree into cups, about 3 T in each. Freeze until mixture is almost frozen, about 2 hours. Cover cups with rounds of foil, sealing tightly at edges. Push popsicle stick through slit and securely into watermelon ice without hitting bottom of the cup. Freeze until watermelon ice is solid, about 1 hour longer.

Bring 1/2 c water and sugar to boil in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. remove from heat. Mix in lemon juice, orange juice, and vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Place frozen watermelon popsicles on work surface. Carefully remove foil. Spoon lemonade into cups, about 3 T into each cup. Reseal foil. Freeze until lemonade is solid, about 2 hours.

Stir blueberries, 1 c water, and sugar in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Boil until berries are very soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Strain mixture into small bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much fruit as possible. Mix in lemon juice. Cool to room temperature. Place pan with frozen pops on work surface. Carefully remove foil. Spoon blueberry mixture into cups, a little more than 3 T in each. Reseal foil. Freeze until frozen solid, about 8 hours.