Cilantro Lime Chicken

It's Secret Recipe Club time again and for my third month participating Amanda assigned to me another very interesting and recipe filled blog.  This month my assigned blog was Once a Month Mom.  Like a man with a new toy who doesn’t bother to stop and read the directions, I jumped right into the blog looking at recipes but found I was a bit confused as to who was Once a Month Mom as I was seeing different contributors.  I finally pulled myself away from reading recipes and read the “About” page and learned that while Tricia started the blog there are other women who specialize and contribute various menus to meet the dietary needs of their readers.  I had fun searching through all the different menus and checking out recipes by ingredients. 

Like my first month and second month participating I was once again in a quandary as to which of the many wonderful recipes to make but what finally led to my decision was a major grocery shopping faux pas on my part.  The market had limes @13 for $1 so I stocked up as it’s summer and I use lime juice all the time.  I make a lot of Thai food and depending on what I have in the house I’ll often use lime juice in place of lemon juice in my Watermelon Frosty, Cantaloupe Agua Fresca or Melon Agua Fresca so I go through them.  My faux pas wasn’t in buying 13 limes it was when I forgot that I had almost a dozen limes at home and purchased a second baker’s dozen.  I was in lime overload so when I saw a recipe for Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken and realized that not only did it use limes but that I had all the other ingredients in the house, well it was a no-brainer!

Also working in the recipes favor was that it was EASY!  I did make a few changes to the original in adding the zest from the limes along with some additional spices but even with my additions it was super easy.  The recipe was a huge and I mean HUGE hit.  Eammon raved about the chicken and told me that the recipe was a keeper and asked when I would make it again.  Considering that the ingredients are ones that I almost always have in the house, I will definitely be making this chicken again.

So how easy was this recipe?

I zested my limes right into a zipper bag.

I added the lime juice, garlic, cilantro and the other marinade ingredients.

I then added the chicken and my beautiful little Maisie Miao Miao smooshed everything around so that the chicken was completely covered with the marinade.  We let the chicken marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator then baked it and dinner was served.

Cilantro Lime Chicken served with a variety of tomatoes fresh from our garden over arugula with Balsamic Dressing.

Cilantro Lime Chicken (Adapted from here)

3 chicken breast halves with bone and skin
2 TBS olive oil
2 medium limes, zest and juice
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. honey
salt & pepper to taste

In a zipper bag add the olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, cumin, honey, salt & pepper and smoosh to mix.  Add the chicken breasts and mix to coat.  Refrigerate for a few hours to marinate. 

Pre-heat oven to 450F.  Line a baking sheet with foil (because it makes clean-up so much easier) and then spray with cooking spray.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and place it skin side up on the baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until the juices run clear.

Easy peasy!

Enjoy!

Also for directions on how to have this as a make ahead meal where you prepare, freeze and then cook the chicken later check out Once A Month Mom.

script –>

Pesto Pita Pizza

The other night for dinner I was in the mood for pizza but as it was late I didn’t have time to make dough and I couldn’t be bothered to run out to get some so pita bread became our crust.  It worked out great, we all decided what we wanted on our pizza and within a short time we were enjoying our meal.

My pizza was pesto topped with a variety of fresh from our garden tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  So very fresh tasting and delicious.

Eammon’s first pizza was similar to mine with pesto, fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella but it also had mini pepperoni slices. 

Okay so they didn’t all have pesto.  This was Eammon’s second pita pizza topped with tomato sauce, fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, mini pepperoni slices and bacon bits.

Then of course there’s Maisie’s pita pizza with tomato sauce and her favorite Fiesta Blend Cheese. 

Pita pizzas are oh-so easy to make, you can use ingredients that you have in the house and you can add as much or as little as you’d like and tailor each pizza to the diner’s taste. 

Top your pita with sauce of your choice, add as many or as few toppings along with some cheese if you choose and then on a baking sheet, place into a pre-heated 400F oven.  Bake until the pita is crispy around the edge and the toppings are bubbly hot. 

The only prepare ahead thing to note is that if you use meats they need to be precooked and if you want your veggies to be quite soft, they too need to be cooked ahead.

Make, create and enjoy!

Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies

So the other day I made Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon and before Maisie gobbled down the entire pound of bacon I decided that we needed to use some of it in a kicked up version of the Piggy-Out Cookies that we made a few weeks ago.

Plus, look at all that gorgeous sweet & spicy bacon fat just begging to be used in something special.  Also, see why I advocate the use of foil, it makes clean up *SO* much easier.

Liquid gold…the bacon fat that I poured off from the pan and the perfect amount for my cookies.

Maisie watched to make sure that all the ingredients mixed together properly.

Then it was time to mix in the chocolate chunks and Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon. 

Ready for the oven.

Maisie proudly showing off her Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies.  Oh and these cookies kicked some piggy tush…Awesome!

Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies (Adapted from here)

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon
pinch of chile powder
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
5 strips of Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon or cooked bacon, diced or crumbled (I used hickory smoked) ~ plus more for the cook and helper to snack on
2 tbsp reserved bacon fat drippings (see that container behind the butter, well I keep bacon dripping in my freezer and every time I make bacon I just add to my stash)
4 TBS butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with a Silpat or parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, chile powder and salt. With a stand mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter and reserved bacon fat drippings on medium-high until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the white and brown sugars and beat until creamy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating about 2 minutes.

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined and then by hand stir in the chocolate chunks and crispy bacon.  Using a medium scoop portion out the cookies onto prepared baking sheets. (I got 22 cookies)  Flatten the cookie balls slightly with your fingers and then bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Let the cookies cool for about 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. The cookies were wonderful when they were still a bit warm from the oven but I preferred them even more the next day.  I stored them in a zipper bag in the fridge over night and the next day were awesome, a bit crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle.  I’m telling you, make these cookies then pour yourself a giant glass of milk and prepare to pig-out on these seriously sinful cookies.

Enjoy!

Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon

I saw a recipe on Zestuous for Brown Sugar-Chili Bacon and I knew that I had to make it.  She warned that if you already have an addiction to bacon she can't be held responsible if this recipe feeds your addiction and leaves you craving it morning, noon and night and I am going to second her on that.  This recipe was off-the-charts crazy good and surprisingly the person who couldn’t keep their fingers off of it was Maisie. 

Thankfully I knew not to follow the original recipe and only use a half pound of bacon and went whole hog for the full pound and it’s good that I did because Maisie ate a good half pound worth on her own. 

The recipe was so very easy, only three ingredients.

• thick sliced bacon
• brown sugar
• dark chili powder

That’s it!

Mix brown sugar and chili powder in a bowl.

Add the bacon and toss to coat.

Lay the bacon out on a foil lined baking sheet.  (Use foil, it makes clean-up so much easier!)

After 25 minutes in a 400F oven it looked like one hot mess!

Working in batches, very quickly place the bacon on paper towel to remove some of the extra grease and then remove the bacon from the paper towel before it sticks.

This was bacon candy.  Crispy, smoky, sweet and just a tiny bit spicy.  Not one healthy redeeming quality but off the charts crazy delicious.

Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon (recipe from here)

1 pound thick sliced bacon, slices cut in half
1 cup brown sugar
2 TBS dark chili powder

Preheat oven to 400F.  Mix the brown sugar and chili powder together in a large bowl.  Add the bacon and toss to mix.  Lay the bacon on a foil lined baking sheet and then bake for about 25 minutes.  Once the bacon looks like all the fat has been rendered out and it’s one hot bubbly mess remove from the oven.  Working quickly and in batches, drain the excess fat from the bacon on paper towels.  Quickly remove the bacon from the paper towels before it starts to stick.  As the bacon cools completely it will become crispy hard like candy.

Other than just eating this like candy, what do you do with it?  On Zestous she suggests to use it on a BLT, a grilled bacon cheese sandwich or crumble it up and toss it on a salad.  What did I do with the bacon that Maisie didn’t inhale?  That is coming in a future post so you’ll just have to come back and visit again.

Enjoy!

Grilled Prawns

Eammon asked for grilled prawns so I happily obliged as we all adore shrimp and we really enjoyed these little beauties.  I marinated the prawns for a few hours in a mango chipotle sauce and quickly grilled them using my grill basket.  The only down side of grilling the shrimp this way is…well there are really two* down sides but the first is that you really have to work for your dinner peeling the shrimp.  That though isn’t a total downside as peeling and eating these with friends and family makes dinner last a lot longer so more fun times together and also, I at least get to the point where I’m just done peeling so no over-eating there.  Cook the shrimp quickly on a super hot grill taking care to remove them as soon as they turn pink so not to overcook.

Grilled Prawns

2 lbs. whole prawns
1 bottle Mango Chipotle Sauce

Wash and dry the prawns.  In a large bowl gently toss together the prawns and 2/3 to 3/4 of the Mango Chipotle Sauce and save the remainder to be used as extra dipping sauce.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.  Preheat grill and grill basket to high.  Spray the grill basket with cooking spray and working in batches quickly grill the prawns turning as necessary.  Cook just until the prawns turn pink being careful not to over cook.  Using cooking tongs remove the cooked shrimp from the basket to a serving platter.  Serve immediately with the leftover Mango Chipotle Sauce.

Enjoy!!

*  The second down side to making these prawns is the state of the grill basket which will be one baked on hot mess.  I didn’t think to take a picture of how bad the grill basket looked with baked on black antennas, pleopods & uropods crusted and stuck.  But I have an easy no-mess way to remove all that baked on mess and that’s to run the basket though the self cleaning cycle of my oven.  This is also the way that I clean my grill grates and since both my grill basket and grates are stainless steel, it works like a charm. 

Here’s the grill basket after it’s been run through the oven’s self-cleaning cycle.

And after a quick rinse and dry, clean of all debris.  I love my no scrub/no work method and to me it’s totally worth the three-hour cleaning cycle.  I do actually have another method for when my oven doesn’t need to be cleaned and it works almost as well.  Spray the grill basket with oven cleaner and place it in to a rubbish bag, seal it up tightly and leave it for about two days.  Remove the grill basket from the bag and run it through a cycle in the dishwasher.  Happy cleaning!

Enjoy!

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad

Just like last summer our garden is producing cucumbers at an amazing pace so I’m always interested in new ways to prepare them.  When I saw a recipe on Cooking with K for a Spicy Asian Cucumbers Salad I knew that it would be a good one for us.  Eammon and I both really enjoyed this preparation, so-much-so that the very first night we ate the entire recipe and I immediately made a second batch.  I used red Thai chili peppers and they gave the salad quite a kick which we both loved but if you’re not into spicy as much, cut down, cut out or use a pepper which isn’t quite as hot.

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad (adapted from here)

3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Whey Low Granular or sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 medium Vidalia onion, halved and then thinly sliced
2 fresh red Thai chili peppers, sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

In a large bowl stir together rice vinegar, water, sugar, soy sauce, salt & sesame oil. Add cucumbers, onions and Thai chili peppers tossing to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Add sesame seeds and toss. Chill to let the flavors blend.  Stays for a week in the fridge…if it remains uneaten that long.

Enjoy!

Dannon Activia Selects Review and Get Yours Free!

Dannon Activia is a delicious yogurt that contains the exclusive probiotic culture Bifidus Regularis. Activia, with Bifidus Regularis which helps naturally regulate your digestive system.  Activia is wonderful for the whole family whether you want to help naturally regulate your digestive system or if you simply want to enjoy a delicious yogurt.  In addition to Activia, Activia Lite, Activia Drinks, Activia Parfait, Activia Dessert & Activia Fiber there are now two new styles, Activia Selects French and Activia Selects Greek.

Activia Selects French style is available in Cherry, Mango, Pineapple and Blackberry.

Activia Selects Greek style is available in Vanilla, Blueberry, Strawberry and Pomegranate Berry.

Maisie and I taste tested the Activia Selects French Style in mango and it was silky smooth and delicious with little cubes of mango throughout.  We also tried the Activia Selects Greek Style in strawberry and it was very thick and rich with nice pieces of strawberry. 

Maisie and I gave both the French and the Greek style Activia Selects a thumbs up.  They were both delicious with just the right balance of sweet and that yogurt tart.  So for a healthy and delicious yogurt enjoy these wonderful new varieties everyday.

Click on the link below to get your coupon for a FREE yogurt but click quickly as supplies are limited and you don’t want to miss out!

Visit the Activia Selects Facebook page to get your FREE coupon now!

I was compensated for this post but the opinions expressed are my own.

This sponsorship is brought to you by Activia Selects who we have partnered with for this promotion. FREE coupon offer good 8/3 /11 - 8/15/11, up to 1 million coupons, on any Activia Selects Single Serve, up to $3.00. One coupon per household. Offer valid in the U.S only. VOID IN LA, NJ, CA. Coupon valid until 8/15/11. Residents of LA, NJ, CA will be given a '$1 off 3 Activia Selects' coupon.

Grilled Chèvre & Fig Panini

I mentioned yesterday in my Fig & Watermelon Salad post that this time of year I look for ways to incorporate fresh delicious figs into my meals.  The season is so short so I try to enjoy them as often as possible.  To take advantage of the figs mixed with some of my favorite ingredients I made a wonderful Panini.

Fresh figs, chèvre and balsamic glaze on lightly buttered and perfectly grilled thinly sliced sourdough bread…well I was one happy girl

Nothing too complicated, I spread both slices of sourdough with chèvre, added slices of fresh figs and drizzled on some balsamic glaze.  I closed up the sandwich and lightly buttered the top.

Putting the buttered top of the sandwich down onto a pre-heated very hot grill pan.  As I don’t have a Panini press I used my Aga grill pan and to add some “press” I topped my sandwich with my crêpe pan. 

Once the first side was perfectly grilled I lightly buttered the uncooked top bread and then flipped the sandwich over, added my crêpe pan weight and grilled the second side.

I mentioned in a previous post that the combination of figs, chèvre and balsamic glaze was a gastronomic delight, well this is all that with a buttery crunch.  The Panini was quite rich and while I totally enjoyed it I found that half was plenty as a meal so it ended up two times the delight.  I hope that you’ll give this sandwich a try and if you do, please let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Fig and Watermelon Salad

This time of year my neighbor’s tree is bursting with ripe, sweet, delicious figs so I’m always looking for ways to incorporate them into my meals.  Unfortunately neither Eammon nor Maisie care for the figs so “poor little me” is left to eat them all by myself.  What’s wonderful about not having to share the figs is that I don’t have to worry about what I combine them with and other people’s likes and dislikes.  In our house when comes to using figs it’s all about me and what I enjoy.

One of my favorite ways to enjoy figs is fresh from the tree topped with a bit of chèvre and drizzled with a balsamic syrup so when I saw a recipe for a Fig & Watermelon Salad on Lisa’s Authentic Suburban Gourmet I knew immediately that I would be making, eating and enjoying it…and ASAP.  Since I had already used up our first watermelon of the season from our garden making Watermelon Frosty drinks and Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho I patiently (yeah right as I checked the melons twice daily) waited for another melon to ripen.  Once it did I picked that 25 pound baby and while it was still warm from the sun, I sliced it open and made this salad.  I will say that I enjoyed the salad more when I made it the second day and the melon was chilled but I would eat it with warm melon again, any day, as this salad was off-the-charts wonderful.  

I changed the recipe very little from the original, not because I didn’t like anything but because I wanted to use what I had in the house.  So for this salad I used Vidalia instead of red onions and chèvre in lieu of Feta but I know that the salad would have been equally as good had I gone the other way.  Also just to up the fig factor instead of plain balsamic vinegar in the vinaigrette I used an orange & fig balsamic vinegar that I had picked up a ways back at World Market but had yet to use. 

I did question the addition of the mint but as I had it in the garden I went with it and it added great flavor to the salad.  With this salad I loved the contrast of the peppery arugula with the creaminess of the chèvre with the added sweetness of the melon & figs, just perfect.  The contrast in texture was wonderful too, the crisp watermelon & onion, the soft figs and cheese, well it’s just a wonderful salad all around.

Fig & Watermelon Salad (adapted from here)

6 cups arugula
12 figs, halved
2 cups one-inch watermelon cubes
1/2 medium Vidalia onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup chèvre, crumbled
6 mint leaves, chiffonade

Balsamic Dressing
2 TBS orange & fig balsamic vinegar, or my other favorite fig balsamic vinegar or regular balsamic vinegar
6 TBS olive oil
2 TBS Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Add all the dressing ingredients to a small glass jar with lid and shake well until combined.

To assemble the salad, add all of the salad ingredients to a platter and drizzle on the dressing for a beautiful presentation. 

Enjoy!!

24-Layer Crêpe Cake

Do you ever see a recipe or a gorgeous food picture and though you would love to try it you just click away thinking, "Seriously, I'm never going to actually make that."   Well that's exactly what happened with this recipe on Katherine Martinelli’s blog. Katherine had guest blogger Jayne Georgette from Chocolates & Figs share her 23-Layer Crêpe Cake and the cake looked gorgeous and the back story about the cake was interesting but the recipe at first glance seemed long and involved and because it was a dessert, which we really don’t eat that often, I clicked away.  Had it been what I call a “practical” recipe, something that I could make and put on the table for dinner I probably wouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss it.  The picture haunted me though and I kept thinking about the cake.  So I went back, actually read instead of just scanning the recipe and realized that though the cake looked oh-so-fancy it was really nothing more than I've done many times in the past and even if it was something new I wouldn’t have had a problem as Jayne’s directions and pictures took me step-by-step though the entire recipe.  I make crêpes all.the.time…shoot I even have a pan, so I left a comment saying that the cake looked wonderful and that *maybe* I would attempt to make it. 

After actually reading the recipe I knew that there were a few changes that I wanted to make but for the most part I stayed true to the original recipe.  I used all three fillings as suggested, the almond, chocolate and the apricot but the original recipe had a bittersweet chocolate ganache which I changed.  I don’t particularly care for ganache and Eammon doesn’t enjoy bittersweet or dark chocolate so I instead made a milk chocolate glaze which worked wonderfully as it wasn’t too thick or overbearing and it set just enough to give the cake a shiny and polished finished look.

The flavors of the cake were wonderful, not very sweet but a beautiful mix of the almond, apricot and chocolate fillings with the vanilla bean and citrus coming through from the crêpe.  After making this cake once, I would definitely make it again as it really was simple to make all the components and layering and finishing took no time at all.  A very impressive, fancy looking and delicious cake, perfect for any occasion. 

Oh and why 24 layers?  Because that’s how many crêpes I ended up with (after Maisie and I taste-tested a couple topped with butter, lemon juice & powdered sugar) so I went with what I had.

24-Layer Crêpe Cake (Adapted from here)

Crêpes:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 extra large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 TBS sugar
4 TBS sweet butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
Zest from 2 whole lemons

For the Crêpes:
Place all the ingredients in a food processor or a blender and process until thoroughly blended. You can do it by hand using a whisk, or even a fork. Strain the batter.

Transfer the strained batter into a pitcher and cover with a plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the better.  Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Heat a 7-inch skillet over medium heat and lightly brush it with butter.  After the pan is hot, take the skillet off the heat and pour a scant 1/4 cup of the batter into the skillet.  Immediately start tilting and rotating the pan in order to coat the entire bottom. (If the batter sets before the entire skillet is coated, reduce the heat slightly for the next crêpe.

Return the skillet to the burner and cook the crêpe until just set, when little bubbles appear on the surface and it appears golden around the edges, about 30 seconds. With an offset spatula loosen the edge of crêpe and then flip it over carefully. Cook until the underside is set, about 15 seconds.

Transfer the crêpe to a plate. Brush the skillet with more butter and make another crêpe in the same manner and continue until you finish the batter.

I layered the cooled crêpes one on top of another, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight.  I allowed them to “warm up” for 30 minutes the next day before I started assembling the cake and the crêpes separate easily.  The original recipe states that you could also separate crêpes with sheets of parchment, wax paper, or foil. (Crêpes can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator in a sealed container, separated by sheets of parchment, wax paper, or foil for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or at least 1 month in the freezer.)

Gather together the three fillings: 

1. 3 tablespoons cocoa powder mixed with 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
2. 4 tablespoons almond four mixed with 4 tablespoons confectioners sugar
3. Jam – your preference. I used apricot, heated slightly in the microwave to make it easier to spread

Preheat the oven to 325F. (I layered my cake on a plate but next time I will do it directly on a baking sheet.)  Place the crêpes one by one on the baking sheet, alternating the fillings on top of each crêpe.  Brush a bit of butter on those crêpes that are topped with either the cocoa powder or the ground nuts (not on the ones brushed with a jam) to assure that the cake will not be dry.

Cover the crêpe cake with aluminum foil and place it in oven. Bake for 30 minutes. While the crêpe cake is baking prepare the chocolate glaze.

For the Glaze:
3 1/2 oz. milk chocolate (I used a Godiva bar because it’s what I had in the house)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup

In a microwave safe measuring cup heat the cream.  Add the chocolate and corn syrup and stir to mix until smooth. 

Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer the cake to your serving plate on which you have placed strips of parchment paper around the edge (so that the parchment can be removed later so to leave a clean plate and edge.)  Pour the warm glaze over the warm cake keeping the top smooth and trying to coat the sides of the cake.   Place the cake in the refrigerator to allow the glaze to set and harden. 

Once the glaze has set up and hardened, carefully slide the strips of parchment out from the cake. 

Slice, serve and impress!

Enjoy!