Pan Seared Raspberry Chipotle Burger

So Mandi and I wanted to do something a bit different with a burger here is what we came up with.

Ingredients:
90/10 lean ground chuck
Sweet onion
Cilantro
4 minced garlic cloves
Sea salt
Crumbling cheese
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Raspberries
Orange blossom honey
Premium buns
Jalapeño Pepper
Cream cheese
Romaine lettuce
Red wine vinegar

Step 1: The sauce
Take a hand full of raspberries, 2 chipotle peppers minus an extra adobo sauce. 3 Tbsp honey, 4 minced garlic cloves, 3 tsp red wine vinegar. Put all into a blender and blend well. Add honey to desired sweetness but not too sweet.

Step 2:
Make sure your ground chuck is not frozen and not too cold but not room temp. Add the raspberry sauce with two hand fulls of chopped sweet onion, 1 hand full of crumbling cheese, and 1 small hand full of fresh cilantro. A pinch of sea salt and mix well. Let marinate for about 30 minutes.

Step 3:
Cut up 2 jalapeño peppers and mix them well with the cream cheese, add cilantro to taste.

Step 4:
In a very hot pan sear the meat on both sides, then cook till slightly pink in the middle. Flip often to make sure the sugars to do not burn and reduce heat to medium high.

Step 5:
Plate up on a good bun, spread your jalapeño cream cheese on the top, add some lettuce, and give yourself some cream cheese and raspberry chipotle sauce on the plate for dipping, cilantro and jalapeño if you want more for the burger!

Bon appetit

Massaman chicken curry

This is one of my favorite dishes of all time and it is up on here but I wanted to put it up again as this is slightly different.

Ingredients:
Massaman curry paste
Chicken breast
4 minced garlic cloves
Fish sauce
Yukon gold potatoes
Red bell peppers
Coconut milk not coconut water
Sweet onion
Canola oil

Step 1:
Cut chicken breast into thin strips and place in a very hot wok. Stir fry and make sure you sear the meat, add a bit of fish sauce (not too much maybe 3 tsp) and your minced garlic. Do not burn the garlic! Do not cook the chicken all the way through.

Step 2:
Cut up your potatoes, onions, and into smaller chunks. Boil potatoes until they are almost done but still a bit hard, drain and set to the side. Place your onions and bell pepper in a very hot wok and stir fry for a 25 seconds and set to the side.

Step 3:
Mix coconut milk and massaman curry paste (cream on the top of the can first)thin it out with the remaining water under the cream. Add curry paste to desired taste and spice level. Water can be added to reduce the heat intensity but not too much as to make it runny. Add the onions, potatoes, bell pepper, and chicken. Let the dish simmer covered on medium low heat for 15-18 minutes or until potatoes and other veggies are done. Make sure that the onions and bell pepper are not mushy and still have a bit of crunch to them.

Enjoy!

Carne Asada with Stir Fry Peppers, Rice, and Beans

So I have made a lot of latin food recently due to the fact that when we went grocery shopping last we got many ingredients for this type of food so I can not let things go to waste so I made of awesome marinated carne asada! However I did not have some of things necessary for authentic carne asada so I improvised.

Ingredients:
Flank steak cut to about 1/2 thickness
Soy Sauce
Red wine vinegar
4 cloves minced garlic
Black pepper
White pepper
Lime juice
Dried oregano
Spanish paprika
Red bell pepper
Poblano pepper
Tomato
Sweet onion
Cilantro
Sea salt
Flour tortillas
Refried beans (I cheated and used canned instead of home made) Home made beans taste the best to me and do not have a ton of ingredients or preservatives.
Jasmine Rice
Orange blossom honey
Canola Oil
Crumbling cheese


Step 1: The marinade for the steak
About a 1 cup soy sauce, 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp Lime juice, 4 minced garlic cloves, 2-3 Tbsp honey, 1/2 Tbsp black pepper, 1/2 Tbsp white pepper mixed well. place your sliced steak in this marinade and let sit for about 4 hours.

Step 2:
Cook your rice and have it ready. Slice your peppers and stir fry in a smoking hot pan. Place in a covered dish to keep warm.

Step 3:
Make sure the pan is very very hot, add a tad bit of canola oil and put small hand full of meat into the pan, sear on all sides. Make sure to squeeze extra marinade from the meat before putting it in the pan. Keep doing this until all the meat has been cooked. You want the meat to still be slightly pink and not overcooked. Cut into smaller pieces. Put your beans on to cook and add whatever you want, I add a bit of crumbling cheese. Slice up your tomato, onion, and cilantro. Put all of this into a bowl and mix with a tad bit of lime juice, sea salt, and black pepper. Warm your tortillas and serve up with some crumbling cheese sprinkled all over.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Chipotle Seared Pork Chop With Stuffed Roasted Pepper

I am all about trying new flavors and here is something I created the other day from an inspiration I had.

Ingredients:
Boneless pork loin chops, fat trimmed, tenderized and flattened
4 cloves minced garlic
Fresh cilantro
Sweet onions
Cubanelle peppers
Cream cheese
Chorizo
Olive oil
Raspberries
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce without MSG
Orange blossom honey
Red wine vinegar
Black pepper
Sea salt
Badia Sazon Tropical
Spanish paprika

Step 1: Raspberry chipotle sauce
Take about 2 cups raspberries and put in a blender with a bit of water (not to much) and 1/2 cup honey blend well. Remove 3 chipotle peppers from adobo sauce and let any extra sauce drip off but do not rinse the pepper. Dice the pepper up and add to the blender then add a very small amount of red wine vinegar about 2 Tbsp and blend well. Place in a container and add honey to desired sweetness (not too sweet though. Set in the frig, pull out 15 minutes before you use the sauce

Step 2:
Start the rice so it is done when the chops are!

Step 3: The caramelized onions
Cut your sweet onions however you like but I prefer larger pieces. Place in a pan on medium high heat and add either a tad bit of butter or butter spread and saute until lightly golden. You want them to be slightly crunchy still but with a light gold color. Most people over cook caramelized onions they should not be mushy! Set to the side in a covered dish to keep warm.

Step 4: The stuffed roasted pepper
Take you cubanelle peppers and slice the top off, cut the stem out of the top and dice up the flesh around the stem through into a bowl. Make sure you cream cheese is at room temp and then add your diced chorizo and 4 cloves minced garlic, mix well, and stuff each pepper as much as you can. Coat the pepper with olive oil and place on a flat cookie sheet in a 425 degree oven. Roast for about 15 minutes or until you start to see a slight golden color on the outsides. Flip peppers to make sure they cook evenly. You do not want to roast them all the way to the point they are mushy just enough where they are cooked and still crunchy. Cut the peppers down the side and into smaller pieces before serving.

Step 5: The seared pork chop
When searing any meat it is very important to get your pan smoking hot. If you are using cheap pans with any type of plastic in the handle you need to go out and get ones without plastic preferably cast iron or stainless steal without non-stick coatings. Make sure any pan without a non-stick coating has been seasoned before hand.

Now make sure your pork is at room temp. Trim any fat from the sides and using a meat hammer tenderize and flatten the pork loin chops. You want about 1/2 inch thick in order for the meat to cook quick and thoroughly. On one side rub Badia seasoning and on the other paprika. Place in a smoking hot pan ( I used a cast iron) with a very small amount of butter spread that is vegetable or canola oil based. Butter and olive oil will burn at this high heat and the meat will not cook like you want it to. Sear on one side then the other for a few seconds each. The meat will appear to be cooked on the outside when searing is done properly as you are only cooking the surface to lock in flavor. Make sure you have good ventilation as lots of smoke will be coming off the pan at this point. After each side is seared reduced heat to medium and cover with a lid until meat is cooked flipping periodically to cook evenly.

Putting it all together:
Place the pork chop on a bed of rice, smother the chop with the raspberry chipotle sauce, place caramelized onion on top, then sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro. Slice up your roasted pepper and enjoy!

Blackened Chicken Arakawa Style with my own few additions

Here is what Arakawa told me about this dish

Blackening
__________

Blackening meats, whether steak, fish or fowl, should
be done in a 'Cast Iron Skillet'. However, can be also
done in a stainless steel frying pan if one is not
available.

There are quite a few techniques used by Chefs over the
country but this is the most advisable:

Season your meat.

I find that any kind of 'Cajun Seasonings' can be used
for the Blackening process. However, if purchasing
blackening seasonings, always purchase (if available)
Zaterans Blackened Seasoning.

Creating your own Blackening Seasoning
______________________________________

Paprika ( Lots of this in proportion to the other spices)
Black Pepper
White Pepper ( Optional )
Salt (not too much of this as it will tend to make everything salty in taste)
Garlic Powder Touch of this )
Thyme ( Remember that Thyme is very pungent and should be used lightly )
Oregano

Some use Cheyenne pepper but I use very little of Cheyenne, if any )

I use for TASTE, not to add any kind of heat base to what i am Blackening.

HOW TO
______

Once you have your meat ( I mostly blacken fish or chicken ) you want the
meat to be just above room temperature and not cold. Smear both sides with
liquid butter then sprinkle medium to heavily both sides of your fish.

Now, the important part is to have your skillet very hot and make certain that
the hood or vent is running at that time. Your skillet should be dry heated
and then, place your meat in the hot skillet.

Now this is something you will have to experiment with.

My secret to very tasty Blackening is I coat the hot skillet with a very light coat
of Butter ( Light coat ) before placing the meat into the skillet.

Then, I place a lid over the skillet and turn down the heat level to a med. or med.High
level. After a couple of minutes, I take the lid off the skillet and turn the fish
to the other side and again, place the lid over the skillet.

Remember this, Blackening does not mean 'Burnt' like many do in the state of Florida !!!

You do not want it charcoaled ! It should look like the meat is rather moist and the
coated Blackened seasoning,is lightly red in color with hints of black (which is mainly,
the pepper in the seasoning).

Now a quick tip from Arakawa there is real butter and buttery spread like Country Crock or Smart Balance. Real butter will brown fast so use a buttery spread as it will not brown. If you use butter with high heat like we are it will burn easily.

Ingredients:
Those found above for either store bought or self prepared blackening seasoning.
3 lbs Chicken breast or a white fleshed fish
1/2 Pound bacon cooked and chopped up
1 Sweet onion sliced into thin strips
Red Bell and green bell pepper sliced into thin strips
Here is where I cheated tonight- 2 boxes Uncle Ben's mushroom wild rice
Asparagus
You will need seperate paprika and black pepper on hand
4 Garlic Cloves
2 Cups chopped baby bella mushrooms
Sea salt

Step 1:
Make sure your chicken or fish is at room temp. I used chicken and flattened it out a bit with a meat hammer so it would cook evenly and all the way through. Place in a bowl and make sure it is coated well with buttery spread add your spices. In this case I used my own homemade blackening seasoning followed above. I used 3 Tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp black pepper, 2 tsp white pepper, 2 tsp cayenne, a pinch of salt, a pinch of thyme and oregano, and 4 minced garlic cloves. Place your chicken in a very hot cast iron skillet. Sear the chicken on both sides while on high heat. Reduce heat to medium high and cook until chicken temps, flipping occasionally so that both sides cook evenly.

Step 2:
Place the rice in a rice cooker with your two cups chopped mushroom even though it already has freeze dried ones in the mix. I have a rice cooker with a steamer basket so I cooked the rice and asparagus at the same time. Cook your a asparagus for about 8 minutes lightly salted until tender but not mushy.

Step 3:
Cook up bacon and chop up into small pieces, serve up any way you want but we put the chicken over the asparagus-chicken-veggies-bacon so when you cut into the chicken you get the flavor of the asparagus coming up through the entire bite, then the chicken, then the veggies, then the bacon!

We plated it two different ways, heavy on the veggies and light!

Thanks to Arakawa Shifu for this awesome recipe!

Chicken and Asparagus wrapped with bacon, served with stir fry veggies and BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
Two chicken breasts
Thick cut bacon
Asparagus spears with bases cut off
Black pepper
Cooking twine
Garlic powder
Mixed Veggies
BBQ sauce
Sea salt

Step 1:
Take a meat hammer and flatten the breasts with the smooth side. Flatten as much as you can without tearing the breast meat too much. Sprinkle freshly crushed black pepper and garlic powder on both sides of the breast. Place asparagus spears in the middle of the breast and roll up. Wrap with bacon and tie with twine to hold together. I will use more asparagus next time because when it was all done it definitely could have used more. This is my first time cooking this so I did not know that I could put 6-7 smaller spears inside. I put 3 large ones and then they cooked down as well. All in all it turned out great. Bake on 375 F until the chicken temps to 160 F or above and the bacon is crisp but not crunchy.

Step 2:
In a very hot wok stir fry your mixed veggies with a dash of black pepper and sea salt. Make sure to dry out the veggies before putting in the wok or they will steam no stir fry. Pull out when a slight golden coloration appears.

Cut the twine from the chicken and discard.

Serve up with BBQ sauce off to the side for dipping

Thai Inspired Potsticker with Rice Noodle and Peanut Sauce + Egg Rolls

So I have not cooked Asian in awhile and I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. Here is what I came up with and it had an awesome flavor, great ingredients, and very hearty.

Ingredients:
Rice Noodle
Ground chicken breast
Fresh ginger
Ginger powder
4 minced garlic cloves
All natural peanut butter ( just crushed peanuts and a tad bit of salt)
Fresh Thai basil
Hoisin sauce
Rooster Sauce (Huy Fong Brand sriracha)
Egg roll wrappers
Potsticker wrappers
Greed onion
Napa cabbage
Carrots
Shitake Mushrooms
Canola oil
Lower sodium soy sauce
Coconut milk
Orange blossom or equivalent honey

Step 1:
Defrost 1lb of ground chicken breast and cut it up it into very small pieces. Mince your garlic and fresh ginger. Throw the ginger into a very hot wok and let the flavors permeate the oil. Move the ginger to the side and add the ground chicken to the wok. Add the garlic and two cups diced shitake mushrooms and stir fry until the chicken is almost done. Add about 1 Tbsp of soy sauce at the end and continue to stir fry until the chicken is done. Turn the wok off and set it to the side keep the chicken inside to keep it warm.

Step 2:
Defrost your egg roll and potsticker wrappers if they are frozen. Do not do this in the microwave it will fry them out. Defrost for a couple of hours at room temp. Take your green onion bunch and cut up one half for the potstickers and the other half for the egg rolls. In a medium bowl mix half a bunch of green onion, finely chopped napa cabbge, and fresh shaved carrots. Set this to the side. Take three hand fulls of chicken for use later. Layout your potsticker wrappers and put enough chicken and green onion to fill the middle, fold over and seal the sides with egg or water all the way around. Place in a steamer basket and steam until done. Take one hand full of chicken from when you set some aside and use this for your egg roll wrappers with the veggie mix you made earlier. Wrap up and put into hot oil until golden brown, drain any extra oil well.

Step 3:
In a bowl place 1 cup natural peanut butter, 1.5 Tbsp Hoisin sauce, 2 Tbsp honey, 3 tsp powder ginger, 3-4 Tbsp coconut milk or more depending on the thickness you desire the sauce to have, and 3 tsp rooster sauce. Mix well. Now boil some water for your rice noodles. Once the water is either almost to a boil or at a boil remove from heat and place rice noodles in the water for about 6-8 minutes or until ready to eat. Drain well and let dry a bit. Mix peanut sauce the two hand fulls of chicken you set to the side and Thai basil. Place noodles and peanut sauce on dish cover with potstickers and add more peanut sauce. Garnish with Thai basil.

Enjoy!

Thai Red Curry Slightly Twisted

Most people have this dish with some Jasmine rice, here is a different way to eat it and it is just as delicious.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast
Thai Red Curry Paste
Thick good quality coconut milk (if it is easy to shake around its not thick enough)
Korean Red Pepper Powder
Yellow Bell Pepper
Garlic
Fresh Thai Basil
Rice noodles
Shitake Mushrooms
Canola Oil
Sweet Onion

Step 1:
Cut up your chicken and place in a very hot wok with canola oil. You can also use a cast iron pan or stainless steel pan. If you do not have a wok get one and learn to use it, carbon steel is the best but you have to make sure you break it in. Stir fry the chicken with and add about 4 minced garlic cloves. Cook until half way done. Set to the side on a plate.

Step 2:
Cut up your bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms. Again place in a very hot pan stir fry for about 1 minute to get rid of any raw onion taste then add chicken back into the pan, add some more minced garlic about 2 cloves and stir fry on high heat for another minute. Reduce heat to medium wait until the pan is less hot and add your coconut milk cream first and then the coconut water from the bottom of the can to desired thickness, oh yeah forgot add the Korean pepper (just sprinkle it about the dish). Let cook on medium until chicken and veggies are cooked throughly. Your veggies should not be mushy but slightly crunchy. Turn off heat and let the food sit for about 2 minutes. Add a few leaves of Thai basil, mix well, and let cool.

Step 3:
Rice noodles are easy, do not boil them! Boil some water take it off the heat and add your rice noodle to the hot water. Let sit for about 6-8minutes or until the noodles are ready to eat. Some rice noodle packages will tell you how to prep them so look for that when you go buy them.

Out of This World Loaded Tacos with Rice and Beans

So I made this with some awesome fresh ingredients and it turned out awesome.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts thawed and cut into thin strips
1 large mango skinned and flesh cut into small cubes
1 Hass Avocado
1 sweet onion
2 large tomatoes
1 jalapeno pepper cut into smaller pieces
2 cubanelle peppers cut into smaller pieces
Natural Balance butter spread
Cumin
Spanish Paprika
Badia Sazon Tropical
Cilantro
Lime Juice
4 garlic cloves minced
Home made or canned refried beans
Pepper jack cheese
Mexican crumbling cheese
Jasmine rice
Taco shells
1 can rotel tomato and green chile

Step 1:
Put rice on to cook, add can of rotel, 1 clove garlic, and when it is done at a bit of crumbling cheese, mix well

Step 2:
Cut chicken into thin strips add 1 Tbsp paprika, 1/2 Tbsp Cumin, 1/4 Tbsp Badia Sazon Tropical, chopped jalapeno pepper, 1 tbsp lime juice, a few shakes of black pepper, and about 1/2 tbsp butter spread, mix well, let sit for 15 minutes. Place chicken in a smoking hot pan for 5-10 seconds moving constantly, reduce heat to medium and finish cooking, save left over juices.

Step 3:
Mix together in a bowl cubanelle peppers, half of the onion, and a hand full of cilantro, add 1/2 Tbsp butter spread, mix well. Cook on high heat until slightly crispy and lightly browned. Add to chicken and mix well, cover and let sit.

Step 4:
Now for the mango pico de gallo:
Dice your tomatoes up, drain off any excess liquid, place in bowl with other 1/2 onion, avocado, about 5 Tbsp cilantro, fresh mango cubes, pinch of sea salt, a few shakes of black pepper, and a little bit of lime juice. Mix well taste and salt as needed. Prepare your taco shells per the box unless you had the time to fry up your own. Crumble cheese over the tacos and beans

Step 5:
Take a can of refired beans, add a bit of water, mix around, and had a few cubes of pepper jack cheese. Heat up and melt cheese.

Try it and let me know what ya think. All measurements are approximate, I do not really measure, I season to taste. So when starting out season lightly and you can also add more. Season to your taste. I do not use a ton of cheese when making the dish but thats up to you as well, just enough to accent it.

Lime Chicken Fajitas with Roasted Potatoes and Veggies

So thanks to Arakawa Shifu who is an accomplished chef and cooks some of the best food in the country I have learned some new things. First off cook your meat and veggies seperate then add them together at the end. You do not want the meat to take on the flavor of the veggies. You want it to stand out on its own complimented with the flavors of the veggies. Also cast iron or stainless steel is what you want to use always to make great tasting food. Aluminum pans do not heat evenly or maintain the heat you need to lock in flavors. Also the pan must be very very hot, it needs to smoke before you put anything into it. Also never over cook your veggies or meats. And lastly add less if you are not sure, taste, then add more seasoning if needed. People overuse salt way too much, use it to accent flavors, so very little. If you have fresh ingredients your food will make it happen without a ton of salt.

Ingredients:
3 Chicken breasts cut thin
Lime Juice
Fresh cilantro
Smart Balance butter spread
4 minced garlic cloves
Badia Sazon Tropical Seasoning
Cumin
Spanish Paprika
Black pepper
Sea Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
2 Red bell pepper sliced thin
1/2 sweet onion diced
1 diced jalapeno pepper
Medium sized flour tortillas
Mexican blend shredded cheese ( I buy target's they are very good and not alot of caking agents in them)
8-10 peeled yukon gold potatoes
Mixed veggies

Step 1:
Cut up your potatoes, place in a baking dish with about 1-2 Tbsp paprika spread all over, lightly drizzle olive oil all over, add pepper and salt to taste, mix well so that the paprika coats all the potatoes. Roast on 375 until they are done.

Step 2:
Cut up chicken into thin small strips add the following: Approximate measures 1/2 Tbsp Sazon Tropical, 1/2 Tbs cumin, 1/2 Tbsp Spanish paprika, 1/2 tbsp black pepper, 3 Tbsp lime juice, a pinch of sea salt, and just enough melted butter spread to coat the chicken lightly. (Season to taste) Let sit for about 15 minutes and while this is sitting chop up your veggies. Place chicken in a very hot stainless steel or cast iron pan. You will know when the pan is hot when it starts to smoke. Make sure you have your hood fan on high. Place chicken in the pan and let it sit for about 6 seconds then move it around. Place a lid over the chicken and cook on medium heat until chicken is done. Save the juices.

Step 3:
Get your pan very hot again. Take all your veggies: bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, and onions and put them into the hot pan with a tad bit of butter spread. Cook on medium high heat until all veggies are cooked but not mushy. Add to the chicken, mix around with the chicken and let over juices, set aside. Let all the flavors blend.

Step 4:
Take your mixed veggies and add to a very hot pan with some olive oil, black pepper, and salt to taste, cook until done. Steam your tortillas so they are warm for your guests.

Enjoy!