Cooking Chemist

I recently had a bought of a nasty stomach virus which kept me away from the blog and also gave me a sketchy stomach for several days.  When I’m feeling sick I always seem to crave comfort food – macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, fried chicken.  You know, things that taste good but are not particularly figure friendly.  And given these spring like temperatures we are experiencing in Chicago I am reminded that swimsuit weather is quickly approaching so I need to start preparing healthier meals.

I’ve been wanting to roast a chicken for quite some time now and I figured a juicy, moist roast chicken served with some sweet potato fries would provide a healthy alternative to curb my craving for some comfort food.  And, the bonus with a roasting a chicken is that I get to make a delicious salad with the leftover chicken.  I have to say, the chicken was wonderful and the sweet potato fries were even better than I expected.  Even if you don’t like sweet potatoes I guarantee you will like these fries!  I want to acknowledge Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network for the chicken recipe – as you may be beginning to tell she is one of my faves!  Hope you enjoy these recipes – I know I will be making them again in my household.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Citrus

Ingredients

• 1 (5 to 6-pound) whole roasting chicken
• Salt and pepper
• 1 orange, quartered
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• Chicken broth ( approximately 28oz.)
• 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tsps. dried oregano (use more if you are using fresh oregano)
• Kitchen string

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F and place rack in center of oven.

Remove neck & giblets from chicken (discard), pat dry the chicken and season with salt and pepper (inside and outside).  Stuff the cavity with the quartered lemon, quartered orange and garlic head.  You may have some difficulty getting everything inside the chicken which is okay, just place any remaining items in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Place chicken (breast side up) on rack of roasting pan.  Pour a small amount of chicken broth on the bottom of the roasting pan to keep pan juices from burning.  Tie legs of chicken together with kitchen string to help hold its shape.  Place chicken in oven and roast for 1 hour.  Baste occasionally and continue to add chicken broth to pan as needed to keep pan juices from burning.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped garlic and oregano.  After the chicken has cooked for an hour, brush this mixture over the chicken.  Return to the oven and cook for an additional 45-60 mins, until a meat thermometer reads 170F.  Continue to baste the chicken during this time,  adding chicken broth to the bottom of the pan and brushing with the orange juice mixture.

Once the chicken has cooked, transfer to a platter and tent with foil.  Do NOT discard the juice from the bottom of your roasting pan.  Place the roasting pan directly on your stove over medium low heat.  Whisk in any remaining broth ( I added about 1.5 cups) and any additional orange juice mixture you may have leftover.  Cook this until it has reduced to approximately one cup of liquid (stirring often).  Once reduced, strain liquid into a bowl to remove any solids.  Spoon fat from top of sauce and serve pan sauce with chicken.

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

• Sweet potatoes (approximately 1 per person)
• Olive oil
• Brown Sugar
• Kosher salt
• Chili powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cut sweet potatoes into wedges.  Approximately 8-12 wedges per potato.  Just be sure to cut all the wedges the same size so the potatoes cook evenly.

Toss the wedges with enough olive oil to coat.  Sprinkle with salt, brown sugar and chili powder.  The amount will really depend on how many potatoes you are making.  I made two potatoes using approximately two tsps. of brown sugar,  two tsps. salt and 1/4 tsp chili powder.  Certainly adjust these measurements depending on how sweet or spicy you like it!  If you like things extra spicy, a pinch of cayenne pepper would do the trick.

Spread evenly on a baking sheet and cook for approximately 30 minutes, turning once during cooking.

Tags: chicken, citrus, garlic, sweet potato

There isn’t a whole lot to look forward to in Chicago during the month of February.  Unless of course you are a fan of gray skies, slushy sidewalks and cold temps.  One bright spot in this otherwise dreary month is restaurant week.  For those of you not familiar with the concept, several restaurants (many upscale) provide a three course dinner menu for $32.  Considering that you will pay $30 or more for just an entree at many of the participating restaurants makes this quite an enticing deal.  It offers a great opportunity to try some restaurants that may offer food you might not normally eat or normally would be too cost prohibitive.

My husband and I headed to David Burke’s Primehouse as our restaurant week selection.  David Burke’s is an upscale steak house known for their dry aged beef and big price tags (some steaks run $60!).  We went for an early dinner and the place was already pretty packed – it seems many folks are taking advantage of the special restaurant week promotion.  While I felt a bit rushed and slightly claustrophobic (tables were really close together)  overall we had a very enjoyable evening.  Warm popovers, lobster bisque, filet mignon and white chocolate cheesecake – I mean whats not to like!

There is something special about a good restaurant steak.  I feel like I am a good cook and can make restaurant caliber food but I have never been able to capture the utter goodness of a perfectly cooked restaurant steak.  This got to me thinking about why that might be so I did a little research and here is what I learned.

• USDA Beef Grades – The USDA grading system for beef was actually conceived by cattlemen in the 1920′s (not the government) and was based on the amount of visible fat marbling in the beef.   However, it was later found that heavy marbling does not guarantee either tender or flavorful beef.  Yet, the prestige of “prime” beef still persists.  Which leads to the next point….
• Beef Quality - Meat and flavor scientists have actually found that fat marbling accounts for no more than one third of the variation in beef quality.  Other important factors include breed, how the animal is cared for (feed and exercise), age of animal, slaughter conditions and storage conditions.  You may notice more stores (particularly places like Whole Foods) that will indicate how the animal was raised and fed because these are all factors in choosing high quality beef.  It is still difficult for most consumers to know the full extent of the quality of beef they are buying.   However, the more consumers ask questions about where our beef is coming from, the more likely stores will continue to provide us with the information we demand.
• Aging – Beef benefits from aging (similar to wine and cheese) – it allows the flavor and texture of the meat to improve over time.  Dry aging usually means that whole, unwrapped sides of beef are kept at a cool temperature (34 – 38F) at a relative humidity of 70 – 80%.  The cool temperature limits the growth of microbes, while the humidity causes the meat to slowly lose moisture, allowing the flavor to develop and become more concentrated.  Wet aging is when beef is vacuum sealed in plastic and allowed to sit under refrigeration for a certain period of time.  Wet aging allows the beef to become more tender but does not allow the flavor to develop since there is no moisture loss as is done in dry aging.  Wet aging is much more common these days because the beef does not shrink (no moisture loss) therefore there is less loss to the company producing the beef.  Dry aging is one of the key elements in getting really high quality beef and is often only served in very high quality steak houses (i.e. – David Burke’s) or sold at gourmet butcher shops.  If you really want a special cut of meat, you will need to do some investigating in your area to see where dry aged beef is sold.
• Cooking – It’s easy to overcook meat, beef in particular.  This is why I like to use the two-stage cooking method with most meat.  This simply means that you sear or brown your meat on a high temperature surface and then move to the oven where you complete your cooking at a lower, more even temperature.  The lower temperature means the meat cooks more slowly, giving you a larger window to avoid making a mistake.  It also keeps you from burning the outside of your meat, while ending up with a raw center.  It is very easy to overshoot medium rare when cooking a steak.  And to be honest, if you are eating a good steak I don’t know why you would bother cooking it beyond medium rare/medium.  Your best tools when cooking a steak are a good meat thermometer and your eyes.  A meat thermometer should read between 130-140F for a medium rare to medium steak.  The meat will still have some “give” to it and the juices will still be red.  FYI – red juices are not blood, it’s just the juice/moisture from the beef.  If you do want your beef more well done the temperature should read between 150-160F and there will be less free flowing juices that will be light pink to gray in color.  Yuck.

If you are lucky enough to get a lovely, dry-aged piece of beef, just remember that less is more.  Season with some salt and pepper and sear on a HOT pan just until the outside is browned.  Place a pat of butter on the beef if you want a little more flavor and stick in the oven for a few minutes paying close attention to your meat thermometer until you reach your desired level of doneness.  Enjoy!

Well, hope you learned a little something about beef ( I know I did!)  I also want to acknowledge the book  “On Food and Cooking – the science and lore of the kitchen” by Harold McGee as an excellent resource.  I will be reviewing this book in a later post but wanted to acknowledge a key resource to my more “scientific” questions.

Tags: chicago, restaurant week, steak

You may have started to notice that I am a big fan of using citrus in cooking.  I’ve already mentioned how much I love using my microplane to zest citrus.  This leads me to my next “must have” kitchen gadget which are citrus juicers.  There are a few different types of tools that can help juice citrus but I really like the Enameled Lemon Squeezer which helps to catch the seeds from the lemons and keeps the pulp out too.  Of course, there are fancy electronic presses which are very nice but not really necessary unless you make a lot of your own fruit juices.  There are reamers too but I don’t think they do a good job of keeping the seeds and pulp out.  I have a lemon and lime squeezer and use them both frequently.   Of course, you can always just use your hands but I think juicers help you to get the most out of your citrus and with the price of groceries these days I know I want to get the most I can out of my food.  A few more tips for getting the most out of your citrus:

• Roll your citrus on a flat surface using the palm of your hand to start releasing the juices
• Stick in the microwave for 5 seconds to help the juices start flowing
• When purchasing lemons and limes try to buy fruit that feels heavy – a small, heavy lime will produce more juice than a big, light lime.

Today I’ll share one of my favorite ways to use freshly squeezed lime juice – in a mojito!  Mojitos remind me of spending warm summer days at our friends cottage in Michigan.  We make big pitchers of mojitos and sip of them all day long.  And on this cold, snowy Chicago day in February a little memory of summer is just what I need!

Mojitos

• Simple syrup (simple syrup is just 2 parts sugar to 1 part water which you heat in a pan and bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Once sugar is dissolved you can remove from heat and cool.  Don’t cook too long or you’ll have caramel!)
• Freshly squeezed lime juice
• Light rum
• Club soda
• Mint leaves

Directions

Muddle about 6-8 mint leaves in the bottom of a glass.  Muddling just means to smash or grind up herbs to release the flavor.  You can use a spoon or they make tools called muddlers.

Fill glass with ice and add one part simple syrup, one part lime juice and 2 parts rum and stir.  Top with a splash of club soda and garnish with a mint leaf or slice of lime.   So refreshing!

Tags: citrus, lemon, lime, mojito

First off, let me apologize for the lack of posts in the past week.  I’ve had some distractions arrive which prevented me from focusing on my blog.  I promise to get back on track!  I’m going to review my next “must have” kitchen gadget as well as provide one of my go to pork tenderloin recipes.  I think you’ll really like this one!

Kitchen tongs – where would I be without you?  I use my tongs all of the time – in many cases I prefer using them over a spatula.  They really allow you to get a better grip on your food than a traditional spatula and are much better for transferring food between pans, plates, etc.  You must get some if you don’t own them already!  I really like the Stainless-Steel Locking Tongs from OXO.

There are countless recipes that require the use of tongs so I’m going to share my tried and true pork tenderloin recipe that is easy enough for a quick evening dinner but yummy enough to serve to guests.  This recipe uses hoisin sauce which is used heavily in Chinese cooking.  It’s kind of what BBQ sauce is to American cooking.  Hoisin is a soybean based sauce that also contains some other spices, garlic and sometimes sugar.  The result is both a sweet and salty sauce.  You can pretty much find this at any grocery store now in the Asian or international foods section.  Oh, I forgot to take a picture of my pork tenderloin dinner last week so you’ll have to use your imagination with this one.  Enjoy!

Asian Inspired Pork Tenderloin (based on a Cooking Light recipe)

• 2 tblsps sliced green onions
• 2 tblsps hoisin sauce
• 2 tblsps low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tblsps honey (I like using wildflower honey)
• 1 tblsp hot water
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pork tenderloin, trimmed (I use one that is roughly 1 lb.)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Combine first six ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl.   Pour 2/3 of mixture into resealable plastic bag, reserving remaining marinade.  Using your tongs, add pork tenderloin to bag, seal and marinate in fridge for 30 minutes, turning bag occasionally.

Heat large ovenproof skillet covered with cooking spray over medium high heat.  Remove pork from bag (another opportunity to use your tongs!) and discard marinade.  Sprinkle pork with salt and add to skillet.  Brown on all sides – approximately 2 minutes.  Brush 1 tblsp of reserved marinade on pork and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Place skillet in oven and cook for 20 minutes (until pork registers 160 on meat thermometer).

Place pork on platter and let rest for 5 minutes.  Cut pork in thin slices and drizzle with remaining marinade.  Serve with roasted potatoes and salad for a simple and delicious meal.

Tags: hoisin, pork tenderloin, tongs

As promised, I’m going to review each of my must have kitchen gadgets in a bit more detail.  I still remember the first time I learned about the microplane – I was taking a cooking class at The Chopping Block and all of the sudden the chef whips out a microplane and starts rapidly zesting lemons and limes and I was in awe.  I knew I had to have one and it has continued to be one of my favorite tools.  I love cooking with citrus and often use the zest of lemons to brighten up my flavor profile so this tool comes in handy.  I’ve also used it to finely grate ginger, garlic and spices.  There are several types of microplanes, some have a very fine grate and are really only appropriate for zesting, while some have a larger grate and can be used for cheese or chocolate.  Here is a link to my personal favorite – Microplane 35001 Home Series Coarse Grater, Black.  I’m also including a recipe that requires you to do some zesting with your microplane.  Just remember, when zesting citrus you only want the outer peel which contains all the flavor and the essential oils, not the white pith which can be bitter.

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup egg whites (@ 5 large eggs)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsps lemon zest

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
  
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tblsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.  Set aside.

Spoon cake flour into measuring cups and level.  Sift together flour and powdered sugar into a bowl.  Repeat procedure.  (Sifting multiple times helps to give you light and airy angel food cake).

Beat egg whites and salt at a high speed until the mixture becomes frothy.  Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.  Add granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.  Lightly sprinkle flour mixture over egg white mixture, about 1/3 cup at a time and gently fold in after each addition.  Gently stir in vanilla and lemon zest.

Divide mixture among muffin cups and bake for 18 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cool before frosting.

To prepare frosting, beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy.  Gradually and slowly add the powedered sugar with the mixer on low speed (or else you will have powedered sugar all over your kitchen).  Add vanilla and lemon juice and beat until fluffy.  Frost cupcakes and serve.

Tags: microplane, zest. lemon

If you are like me I’m sure you have a few “must have” tools in your kitchen.  I’m going to be doing a series highlighting my top ten favorites in the kitchen along with some product reviews so hopefully this will get you started and may even expose you to a new kitchen gadget.  Here are my top ten – I’d love to know any of your favorites as well!

• Microplane
• Tongs
• Citrus juicers
• Chefs Knife
• Garlic Press
• Salad Dressing Mixer
• Grater
• Kitchen scissors
• Kitchen scraper
• Spider skimmer

Okay – the Barefoot Contessa would probably frown upon some of the shortcuts I took when making her version of Italian Wedding Soup but I doubt any of your friends or family will notice the difference!

It’s a cold, snowy and blustery day here in Chicago and nothing hits the spot better than a warm bowl of soup.  Even better, a big pot of soup can last for several days and seems to taste better and better each time you eat it.  I came across a recipe from Ina Garten (better known as the Barefoot Contessa) for Italian Wedding soup and I thought “How good does this sound?” (if you watch Barefoot Contessa you’ll get the quote).  I have to say, this is a very good recipe that is both yummy and healthy.  Italian Wedding soup is traditionally a chicken broth based soup with small chicken meatballs and a short pasta.  My grocery store was out of ground chicken when I went shopping so I used ground turkey instead and I have to say the meatballs were fabulous.  I’m going to tweak this meatball recipe slightly for an upcoming spaghetti and turkey meatballs recipe that I will be posting once I hammer down the recipe completely.  Anyway, on to the soup recipe….

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• 1 1/4 pound ground turkey (ground chicken will work too)
• 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (panko are Japanese breadcrumbs found in the Asian food aisle)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 10 cups chicken stock (I’ll admit it, I used boxed stock but homemade stock would be preferred if you had it on hand)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup orzo
• 1/4 cup minced fresh dill
• 12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground turkey, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently.  Don’t overwork the mixture, just enough so all the ingredients are combined – if you overwork the mixture the meat can start to become tough. With a spoon, roll and drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (The parchment paper is key, the meatballs don’t stick at all.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. You should end up with about 35-40 meatballs, don’t worry if they are not perfectly round!

While the meatballs are cooking you can start on the soup.  Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the orzo to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted (it will seem like a lot of spinach at first but once it wilts it will be just the right amount).   Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with extra grated Parmesan.

Hope you enjoy this recipe.  Make sure you don’t miss any upcoming great tasting recipes by subscribing to my RSS feed.

Tags: barefoot contessa, turkey

Happy World Nutella Day!  For those of you not familiar with Nutella, it’s a delicious chocolate hazelnut spread founded by an Italian company.  It used to be more challenging to find but now you can pick it up at most local grocery stores and trust me, it’s worth it!  Simply spread on a piece of toast or drizzle over vanilla ice cream and you will be hooked.   I know there are lots of great recipes out there using Nutella so if anybody would like to share one that would be great!

However, the recipe I’m sharing today is a take on chicken marsala courtesy of my absolute favorite Food Network chef, Giada De Laurentiis.  As always,  I did take some liberties with this recipe – one of the main things I changed was the fact that I did not add mushrooms.  Traditionally marsala dishes always include mushrooms but that is one thing that the Cooking Chemist just does not like so you won’t see too many fungi dishes on this blog.  However, if you are a mushroom lover this would be a perfect recipe to add some in.  I’ll point out the spot in the recipe on when best to add the mushrooms if you are so inclined.

Oh, just wanted to give a few hints on what to expect next week from the Cooking Chemist.  I’m making some Italian Wedding Soup tonight so I’ll share that experience with you.  Also, I’m making buffalo chicken dip and lemon cupcakes this weekend for a Superbowl party that I’m attending on Sunday.  I’ll also be running a contest to win a free cookbook and reviewing some of my favorite kitchen gadgets.  Sounds like the Cooking Chemist will be busy!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, each breast cut crosswise into 3 pieces (3 to 4 breasts)
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (4 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 12 ounces dried long pasta (linguine or fettucine work best)

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta  and cook according to directions (al dente).  Drain. Toss the pasta with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

While the pasts is cooking, sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.   Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cool slightly.

While the chicken cools, melt the butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. If you were using mushrooms you would add them at this point and cook until tender. Add the wine and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 4 minutes – make sure to lightly scrap the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits from the chicken which adds more flavor to your sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the mascarpone and mustard.  Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Swirl the pasta onto serving plates. Spoon the chicken mixture over top and serve.  I also sprinkle some extra parsley on top of the dish for extra color and flavor.  I served a mixed green salad with this meal as well.

Tags: chicken, marsala, mascarpone, mushrooms, nutella

I am a big fan of fish tacos – they are easy to make, healthy and muy delicioso! I’ve been noticing more and more restaurants adding tacos to their menus – and not just your standard chicken or beef options but really interesting combinations of ingredients and flavors. No doubt the following recipe is likely just one of many taco recipes that will eventually be posted on this site.  The recipe I’m sharing today is a mix of a some different fish taco recipes courtesy of a few of my favorite Food Network chefs.

On another note, I know part of the premise of this blog is to focus on the science of cooking which I haven’t really done yet. I promise that there will be some great upcoming posts which will be more focused on the science of cooking but at this point I’m still working on generating content and defining the personality of this blog. Please bear with me and keep checking back. Also, if you haven’t done so yet subscribe to my RSS feed so you’ll never miss a new Cooking Chemist post.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons tequila
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning (I used McCormick’s – Old Bay makes one too)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 (6 to 8-ounce) portions tilapia (or any flaky, white fish such as mahi mahi or halibut)

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons chipotle pepper, in adobo sauce
• Juice of one lime
• 8 (6-inch) flour or corn tortillas
• Shredded cabbage or lettuce
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
• Lime wedges for serving

Directions

In a resealable plastic bag, combine the tequila with the lime zest and juice, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, seafood seasoning, salt and chili powder.  Gentle toss the tilapia in the dressing and let stand for 15-20 minutes.  Remember, you don’t want to marinade fish for too long, particularly if there is citrus in your marinade.  The citrus will begin to “cook” the fish (think ceviche) and you may end up with an unpleasant texture to your fish.

For the chipotle sauce, combine the yogurt, mayo, adobo sauce (*) and lime juice in a small bowl and set aside.  * Note on the adobo sauce – you will find this ingredient in the Spanish food section of your local grocery store.  It will be a small can containing chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  For this recipe I just used the adobo sauce, not the actual peppers.  However, if you like things spicy finely mince one of the chipotle peppers and add it to your sauce for some extra heat and texture.

Remove the fish from the marinade and grill on a preheated grill or nonstick grill pan (coated with cooking spray) over a medium-high heat until cooked thorough, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Set the fish aside and gently flake with a fork into bite size pieces and squeeze with lime wedges if desired.

Heat the tortillas directly on the grill for about 30 seconds or if you have you have a gas range you can heat the tortillas directly over the flame until they begin to slightly blister (just be careful to use tongs and don’t burn the tortillas!)

Assemble your tacos with the fish, chipotle sauce, cabbage, cilantro and enjoy!  Especially delicious when served alongside a freshly made margarita.  Here is a quick recipe for my favorite way to drink margaritas – on the rocks!

Margarita recipe

• 2 ounces tequila
• 1 ounce Cointreau (or triple sec)
• 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• Coarse salt
• Lime wedge

Blend the first three ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker – shake vigorously for 20 seconds.  Pour into a chilled cocktail glass with a salted rim and garnish with a lime wedge.

Tags: chipotle, fish, margarita, tacos

I love fried chicken – I mean, who doesn’t?  However, it’s not exactly a figure friendly dish and I’m not really a fan of deep frying in my house.  I live in a condo which means I have a small kitchen and deep frying is messy and stinky so I prefer not to do it.  It doesn’t mean I still don’t crave the crunchy deliciousness of fried chicken so I’ve been searching for a recipe to help satisfy my craving without all the extra calories and mess.  Well, it appears I found a pretty good one.  Now don’t expect this recipe to taste exactly like fried chicken – it doesn’t.  But it does provide crunchy, moist chicken without the guilt of eating a bucket of chicken from your local KFC.

Coating the chicken with the Greek yogurt is really what helps to keep this chicken moist and of course is how the coating “sticks” to the chicken.  I’ve marinated chicken in yogurt before and have always found the results to be very good.  The yogurt not only keeps the chicken moist it also helps to tenderize the chicken.  Additionally, the “breading” used in this recipe is really creative, the rice cereal and bagel chips provide a great crunch that does not get soggy.  Overall, a good, solid recipe.  Next time I make this I might add some herbs and garlic to the breading to get even more flavor out of this recipe.

This recipe is courtesy of the Food Network Magazine with a few minor changes from the Cooking Chemist.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 1/3 cups crispy rice cereal
• 2 1/4 cups bagel chips
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt (2%)
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the original recipe called for 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs or halved bone-in breasts which I’m sure gives this recipe even more flavor but I had boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my fridge so I decided to use them and the results were still really good)
• 1 bunch asparagus
• Sriracha (or ketchup if you are serving to kids or people who don’t like it spicy)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Set a rack (I just used a cooling rack that I normally cool cookies with) on a foil-lined baking sheet and generously coat the rack with cooking spray.  This is an important step because you want the entire chicken to get crispy – if you place the chicken directly on the baking sheet it will be crispy on the top but soggy on the bottom.

Finely grind the cereal and bagel chips in a food processor and transfer to a large resealable plastic bag. Add 3 teaspoons olive oil, the paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste and toss.  I didn’t bother with the food processor – I just put the cereal and bagel chips in a resealable bag and used a small frying pan to crush them up.  This worked just fine and it’s an excellent way to relieve stress!

Whisk 1/2 cup yogurt and the mustard in a shallow bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat, then transfer to the bag; seal and shake to coat. Place the chicken on the rack and mist with cooking spray.

Bake until the chicken is crisp and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 degrees F, about 30 minutes. About half way through the cooking time, toss the asparagus with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt and pepper and place alongside the chicken (you can place the asparagus directly on the rack next to the chicken and it will cook up nicely).

Make the dipping sauce: Mix the remaining 1 cup yogurt and sriracha to taste in a bowl (I used about 2 tsps). Serve the chicken and asparagus with the sauce.

Hope everybody enjoys.  I know the picture isn’t great – I hope to be the owner of a new camera soon which will hopefully result in beautiful food photos!

Tags: asparagus, chicken, sriracha