Enchilada Filling by Yours Truly

This is how I create recipes… I don’t measure anything (I AM my grandmother!)

I usually just buy a roasted chicken when I want to use chicken in something, unless there are boneless/skinless breasts on sale somewhere. That way, it is already cooked and ready to go, all I have to do is take the skin off and take it off the bone.

I’d say about 1/2 a chicken provides enough meat to make nearly 12 of these depending on how big you make them.

Fajita seasoning is good to use to season the chicken, but I was disappointed in the new brand I tried when I made this so I ended up throwing in some extra chili powder and cinnamon. The cinnamon in it rocked. I also add red pepper to my chicken, I prefer roasted red peppers b/c they are sweet yet slightly smokey and so good.

The chicken I used in mine was actually part of fajitas the night before.

To finish my filling… I saute some garlic in a pan just until it is slightly brown and then add a can of black beans that have been rinsed and a can of chick peas that have been drained.

I let them cook with the garlic and start to get warm and then start adding seasoning…salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin…seasoned to taste. I then mash about half of the bean mixture with a fork, leaving the rest whole, just for some better texture, that way you won’t have all these chunky beans. Then I added my chicken mixture in and let it all get nice and warm.

To assemble I use corn and flour tortillas for variety. I used to hate corn tortillas but now I really like them, especially for dishes like this they lend such great flavor unlike flour tortillas which are basically food deliverers to my mouth, ha.

I just spooned some filling in, used a toothpick to hold it together, covered in red sauce, & cheese and popped in the oven until hot through out and my cheese was melted.

Curried Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

It looks prettier in person, trust me lol

This was fun to make b/c it was so unique (well for me).  I had no idea sweet potatoes could lend themselves so awesomely to a dish like this.  I used a vegetable peeler and cut mine into long thin strips.  They cooked faster, looked neat, and had a different texture cooked that way.

I found this dish to be almost too spicy.  My husband liked it just fine.  I would make it less hot next time, just b/c I didn’t enjoy my mouth burning for 15 minutes after I ate it.

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 fresh cayenne peppers, seeded and minced
• 1 tbsp minced ginger root
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb boneless chicken breasts, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 large sweet potato, diced
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, tomato, garlic, chili pepper, and ginger and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and salt and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, for 5 or 6 minutes more.
Add the carrots, sweet potato, and broth and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is fully cooked. Remove from the heat and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.
Ladle the curry into bowls and serve with basmati rice on the side

Lahmajoun

This is not what lahmajoun is supposed to look like.  However, I never made it before and it was kind of “out there” for me to make.  A challenge.  It was pretty time consuming for me too, but managed to be worth it.  I preferred it the next day as leftovers, since all the strong flavors got a change to mix and mingle.  I served it with a cucumber yogurt concoction which I didn’t really care for.  It was strongly flavored itself… and just didn’t mix well with the lahmajoun.

(Dough)

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

(Meat Topping)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground lamb or beef
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled seeded, chopped, and drained
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp finely chopped mint
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 1 tbsp Pomegranate Molasses (reduce unsweetened pomegranate juice to by two-thirds)
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp mixed spices (2 parts allspice, 1 part cinnamon, coriander, cloves, and cumin)
• salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

To make the dough pour 1/2 cup of the water into a small bowl and sprinkle it with the yeast and sugar. Let the mixture stand about 3 minutes, then stir to dissolve the yeast completely. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place for 5 minutes or until the mixture becomes foamy

In a large bowl combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center and add the remaining 1/2 cup water, the yeast mixture, and the oil. Blend the mixture until it forms a dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, sprinkling with just enough additional flour, if necessary, to keep it from sticking. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat with the oil. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let stand in a warm, draft-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, prepare the meat topping. In a medium heavy skillet heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft but not browned. Remove from the heat and set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine the lamb/beef, tomatoes, and tomato paste and mix well. Add the parsley, mint, and pine nuts, Pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, mixed spices, and salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Drain the onions of oil and add to the meat mixture. Knead the mixture until it is thoroughly blended. Divide into 16 equal portions and set aside.
Punch down the dough and divide into 16 equal pieces. Form each piece into a smooth ball and arrange the balls 2 inches apart on a lightly floured board. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface roll out each of the balls into a circle that is no more than 1/8″ thick. Arrange the circles slightly apart on large, lightly greased baking sheets. Top each circle with a portion of the meat mixture, spreading evenly to the edge. Bake the pies in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot.

Makes 16

Cucumber and Yogurt Salad

• 2 cups low-fat plain yogurt, drained to 1 1/2 cups
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp crushed dried spearmint
• 1/2 tsp crushed tarragon
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 2 small cucumbers, peeled and seeded
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Mix together all ingredients and refrigerate to cool and let flavors combine.

Quinoa

Not so much a recipe…. just wanted to say how great this stuff is.  I don’t have it nearly enough.

The Incas referred to it as the mother of all grains.  It’s not really a grain but that’s a different story.  It has a very high protein content and has a complete set of balanced amino acids for humans.  And you can pretty much substitute it for rice… couscous things of that nature.

I like eating it for breakfast…. served warm with milk, fruit, and a little bit of sugar.  It can be eaten savory as well.  I really must try using it in different dishes.

Tastespotting has some awesome ideas

*crawls out of hole*

I have been missing from the interwebz!  Not completely… I have only been at one of my usual hang outs lately… and I am there more often than I usually am b/c I am mostly anonymous there and jabber on about completely random shit that has no real meaning in life except moment entertainment.  It keeps me out of my head.   My one guilty pleasure time sucking vortex of the internet lands.

And I’ve been sick.  About three solid weeks.  And today I gave bitch face to some chick hacking beside me in class.  If I get sick again I’m finding her and vomiting on her.  Because I’m mature.  When I get sick it is brutal.  Hence, I hate getting sick.  Thus, I am possibly turning into my grandma with the whole paranoia of people coughing.

Before I got sick I was absolutely thrilled that I was getting caught up and keeping up with all my school shit.  Guess what getting sick did to that?  Back to that familiar drowning sensation but I keep telling myself if I just make it through the rest of this semester (which is soon to be up, holy shit) that it won’t be that bad after this.  I don’t know if that is true, but I’m currently pretending it is.  At least it can’t really get any worse….

I found myself in the midst of yet another great depression while I was sick, which was fueling it no doubt.  Seems like I’ve had a lot of downs lately.  I did allow myself to cry and vent though… it helped… some.  Verbalizing what I was feeling helped me see that I could work with it.  Once I said what I needed/wanted… yes it felt like a hurdle still, but a hurdle that I could get past with some work.  Down to 15mg of Paxil was also a huge kick in the ass.  I have finally  just stabilized on it this week, 3 weeks after I made the drop.  That alone is a very emotional thing to go through.  Your brain…readjusting… lends for some interesting days that is for sure.

I keep moving forward… despite the days of feeling like I won’t.

 

The Massage… Almost Better than Sex

I’ve been going for massages for about a year now, maybe a little over year.  Basically when I gave up on chiropractors for my back (or rather, also didn’t feel like driving an hour a couple times a month to see the only chiropractor I trust in the entire world, who is also a family friend).  I’ve cycled through most of the girls at the place I go and they are all pretty fabulous.  Some people have the one that they really like to stick with.  Me…. I don’t really care.  They are all excellent for the most part.

At the beginning I did see the same person pretty regularly, J.  She was a good masssage therapist but she talked, A LOT.  Sometimes I didn’t mind it, especially if I was feeling chatty… I could get a massage and fulfill some randoms socialization needs.  But sometimes it got annoying… especially if I wanted to really relax.  She gave good massages, although sometimes painful but they were really deep.  It ended up that my schedule quit coinciding with hers and I saw her less and less.  To be honest now I don’t even know if she still works there, I haven’t seen her in quite sometime.

I saw massage therapist B quite a few times.  She was good, nice and relaxing but she was a bit too gentle.  I don’t know, she seemed a bit timid about really getting in there and working a muscles or something.

After those two I sort of cycled through some more of the girls there… a couple people no more than once.  Because of my latest schedule I have no regulary been seeing S or T. 

I became rather infatuated with S’s technique.  She was just damn good.  Very relaxing, slow movement, she could make a 40 minute massage feel like an hour massage. 

Today I saw T again for probably only the second time.  The first time she did a massage on me I was blown away.  Something about her technique combines both relaxation and nice deep muscle working.  I was slightly sad at first though that I wasn’t seeing S again today though, who I thought I would be seeing.  I sourta moped a bit at first but then wow… T is amazing.  It seriously feels like I have 2 people working on me instead of just one when she gives massages.  Her movements are fast but effective.  And her neck massages are out of this world.

Generally I just get upper body except for the rare cases (like today) when I go a full out and get full body.  My back (and neck) is the area I most enjoy having all the tension removed from (and where I have pain issues) and honestly, next time I am there I gotta tell them to spend a long time on my back and neck and forget arms and crap b/c I can never get enough back massages.  Rub it till it’s raw lol

But T’s neck massage…o…m…g.  I remembered why I loved her the first time I had her as my massage therapist.  She has some kind of voodoo technique and energy b/c she has been the only one that puts me into this meditative state.  It is amazing.  I’m getting a massage and an excellent meditation session with her all in one.  And being in that calm meditative state WHILE getting a massage… it is the most amazing feeling in the world.  Your mind is completely free and all you feel is this wowing body sensation of the tension being released. 

I laid there for a few minutes after she was done and had left the room for me to get dressed and just did not want to leave the total calm state I was in.  It is like taking a high dose of benzos…x10 and a whole hell of a lot better…all naturally. 

If I ever have the money…. I swear I want to do this at least once a week instead of like 2x a month.

On Top of a Parking Garage, Disturbed People, and Churches

Tired.  It is only 2pm.

I expect that my shoot today will back out.  I already thought it happened once.  Then about 15 minutes after we were scheduled I get some information.  Maybe later today?  But I just get a feeling that I might not hear back.  My second shoot I was supposed to have backed out last night… but s/he were coming from like 2 hours away and just couldn’t end up doing it.  I get that one.  For every 10 people that you talk to via ye ole craigslist, only about 1 materializes.  It is the craigslist phenomenon.

It wasn’t all a waste that I woke up early on a Sunday morning and took my happy ass downtown at 11 am.  The original intent was to scout my shoot location.  I decided almost immediately.  And then… I roamed around with my camera and successfully fulfilled a 101 in 1001 goal I made a long ass time ago… go on a photo shoot downtown.  Now I am eager to add “go on a photo shoot downtown AT NIGHT” to my list.

I walked the downtown streets and let it start to feel familiar.  I’ve lived here so long now, but there are still parts of the city that feel so unfamiliar.  Oh sure, there’s some places I’ll never get to know.  Otherwise known as the ghetto ass parts of this town.  There’s really nothing going on over there unless you 1) Live there 2)Are looking to score some drugs 3)Interested in picking up some gay dudes.

It’s funny to me how actually small the downtown is here too considering the city itself is quite large and populated.  It’s just that it is spread out so far that it doesn’t feel that big.  And even though it may be the second largest city in this state… it has less than half the population of the largest city.

At any rate, I easily walked the main spread of the downtown area in about 2 hours.  Much faster if I would have not been taking pictures.

It was not until I climbed up to the top floor of the parking garage overlooking the new stadium that I felt…. just completely awesome.  It’s not *that* high up, but high enough for a sweet ass view of everything.  My legs were a little wobbly after just jetting up 8 flights of stairs combined with my rather new found fear of heights (seriously, wtf, it just developed in like the past 2-3 years) but it was that awesome kind of anxiety.  I was up there all by myself, with my the love of my life, my 40D just overlooking everything and it felt beautiful.

I trekked back, encountering a man that was somewhere between crackhead or just mentally disturbed.  He was pacing the sidewalk having a conversation quite loudly with himself, something about how “they weren’t gonna do it this time”, but as I crossed the street beside him he turned to me, got a huge grin on his face and proudly exclaimed “HI!”, I took the time to make eye contact with him, smile and say hello back.  His eyes lit up and he grinned again and exclaimed “Hello!” once again, before turning and taking off down the next street.  I just got the feeling that I may have been the first person today to even treat him like a human being.  As long as it is not a situation that could turn dangerous, I try not to feel fearful of these people that are just a bit… off and society has neglected.  I was right there in the middle of downtown with hundreds of cars driving by every minute, I wasn’t too concerned.  Did I feel a bit skittish of a dude with crazy eyes having a conversation with himself coming at me? Sure, LOL… it’s definitely the country small town girl in me… but just making eye contact with him and telling him hello I saw his eyes soften and it just made me feel good to be friendly to someone that I bet a lot of people would cross the street to avoid.  Especially here.  Just sayin’.

I stood in front of some of the beautiful churches downtown wishing that I could just go in.  I am sure they are freaking amazing inside.  I want nothing more than to photograph a wedding inside of one.  I don’t think they would take too kindly to me going in and taking pictures otherwise LOL  so I roamed around the outsides admiring the beautiful architecture.  There is just something very fascinating to me about the architecture, sculptures, carvings, reliefs and other artistic decoration of religious structures.  I *think* sometimes the city has random tours of various churches in the city since a lot of them are historical as well… next time I hear about one, you bet your ass I’m signing up to do it b/c I NEED to see the inside of some of these.  It is taunting me.

Eventually I made it back to my car thinking… well even if today’s shoot never materializes I’m so thankful that it was still put in some place in some way or otherwise this day would have not happened.

Recipe: Fishcakes with Tomatilla-Cilantro Salsa

I like fish.  I like potatoes.  I guess that is why I decided to give this one a go.

My first attempt of making this I used around 2 1/4 cups of mashed potatoes.  I figured, hey potatoes are good right?  The fishcakes were still yummy but lacked the consistency and texture I had anticipated.  They were definitely more creamy on the inside than meaty… and I wanted meaty.

I also opted to bake instead of fry my fishcakes.  I’m just big on frying things.  Nothing was lost in baking instead of frying.  They were still just as crispy on the outside, thanks no doubt to the panko crumbs.  This was the first time I had used panko for breading and definitely wasn’t the last.  It does the whole crispy coating thing in a way that breadcrumbs or flours just can’t.

And finally this was my first experience with tomatillas.  Wow, I had been missing out!  I don’t know what I expected them to be like, but was very surprised they reminded me of the tart cherries from my grandmother’s cherry tree, only without the hint of that cherry sweetness.  The tartness of the tomatillas and the lime-ness of the cilantro complimented the fishcakes perfectly.

Fishcakes

• 1 to 2 1/4 cups cold mashed potatoes
• 14-15 ounces of canned salmon
• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted (if the mashed potato hasn’t got any butter in it)
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Grated zest of half a lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg

Coating and frying:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cups of matzo meal or panko
• 1/4 cups of unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

• In a large bowl, mix together all the fishcake ingredients–using your hands helps
• Cover a baking sheet with plastic wrap, form fat, palm-sized patties. Place these on the baking sheet and put in the refrigerator to firm up for about 20 minutes to an hour–or considerably longer, if that helps.
• Beat the eggs in a shallow soup bowl and sprinkle the matzo meal or panko onto a dinner plate. One by one, dip the fishcakes into the beaten egg and then into the matzo or Panko sprinkling and dredging over, as you help coat them.
• When you’re done, put the butter and oil in a large frying pan, heat till it begins to fizzle and then fry the fishcakes on each side, until the crusts are golden and speckled brown in parts, and the warmed through.
• If you decide to go the over route like I did, place them on a non stick pan and bake at about 450 until browned and crispy and warmed through.

Serve fishcakes with the Tomatilla-Cilantro sauce

Tomatilla-Cilantro Salsa

• 1 Tablespoon butter or oil
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped tomatillas
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1 large poblano pepper, seeded and chopped roughly (You can use canned poblanos or substitute a bell pepper. I used a bell pepper and it was fine.)
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 3/4 cup light sour cream
• lime juice
• salt and pepper

• Heat the butter or oil and add the flour, stirring and cooking over medium heat for a minute or two until it’s a smooth paste.
• Remove from heat and add flour paste, tomatillas, onions, cilantro, poblano, and stock to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
• Pour into a small saucepan and heat until boiling and very thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream and add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
• Can be made several days ahead and stored in the fridge.

Recipes: Naan

Sure this isn’t from the tandoori, but is still completely rocks.  When searching for a naan recipe I ran across a few variations, which I sort of combined to create my own.  The result was fabulous.  My name came out soft, slightly chewy with a wonderful sweet/salty type taste going on.  It got done before my main dish of that meal, and I was pretty much filled with naan before the main dish ever had a chance.

I also got the opportunity to create ghee for the first time when making this dish. I got mine a wee bit browner than it probably should have been, but it still had a lovely flavor, not burned at all.

• 4.5 cups of flour
• 2 tsp (1 packet) yeast
• 1 1/3 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup ghee

• Combine yeast and warm water and set aside for 10-15 minutes in a warm place.
• In a separate large bowl, combine flour and salt.
• In a small bowl, beat egg. Add sugar, milk, & plain yogurt and mix well.
• Add yeast mix to flour as well as the egg mixture. Combine well and begin kneading. At this point you’ll want to have your flour handy. You’ll have to add more as you knead to get the perfect texture. You want your dough not to be too sticky but not to be too firm either. Still very moist but not sticky is the key. After dough is well kneaded and combined, coat with oil and cover and sit in warm place. Allow to rise until doubled.
• You can buy ghee or make it. In my case I made it. It is basically a process of taking butter (I used 1 stick) and cooking it over medium heat. It will begin to boil. Allow it to boil while keeping an eye on it. It will bubble and hiss, and begin to smell sort of like popcorn. The solids will begin separating and sink to the bottom. Allow this to happen. The butter will become golden and clear. This process takes about 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on it as not to burn it. When it is done, strain out the solids with a cheese cloth. The liquid is your ghee.
• After dough has doubled, punch down and separate into balls, whatever size you prefer. You can then roll out disks, or do what I did, take a ball, coat it into flour and begin stretching it out into disks. Brush with ghee.
• Bake in 400 degree oven until bread is browned.

From Hell.

That is what UTIs are.  This is only the 2nd one I’ve had in my life.  I had the first one when I was like 7.  But I most certainly have one again 18 years later and oh.my.god.  I like how it just sneaks up on you too… you’re fine all day and then WAAAMOOOO.  The Azo stuff isn’t helping either.  I seriously thought about going to RediMed… but seriously 90 bucks for a f’ing UTI.