Tortilla Chips from Your Own Oven!

It was Friday afternoon, at about 4:30.  Dinner wasn't for a while but I had some good salsa in the fridge and wanted some chips.  A trip to the cabinet revealed that the chips had been finished (and not placed on the shopping list!).  Not wanting to fight the Friday evening traffic, things seemed hopeless.

But wait.

I had tortillas.  I had oil.  I had a couple spices.  I had an oven!  How hard could this be?

Ingredients

• 4 tortillas - for this attempt, I used flour because its what I had.  I'm sure corn would be terrific
• 1 tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• Taco Seasoning - see previous post for recipe for a low-sodium taco seasoning you can make at home!  Also in that same post is a recipe for some pico de gallo that would be great with these chips!

 Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Cut tortillas into chip-sized peaces and spread on lightly greased baking sheet
• Mix oil and lime juice into small bowl
• Brush oil mix lightly onto chips
• Sprinkle desired amount of taco seasoning onto chips
• Bake 10-11 minutes

Oven-ready!

Mouth-ready!

Verdict: More please!

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan with Risotto and Vegetables

This blog has two recipes that I enjoy cooking together. The main dish is Broiled Tilapia Parmesan and Risotto with Veggies.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 pound tilapia fillets

Directions

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Risotto with Vegetables

• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• ½ cup chopped onion (1 medium)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 3 cups chicken broth
• ¾ cup bite-sized asparagus or broccoli pieces
• ¾ cup seeded and diced tomato
• ¼ cup shredded carrot (1 small)
• ¼ cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
• 3 Tbsp. snipped fresh basil or parsley

1. In large saucepan cook mushrooms, onion, and garlic until tender; add rice. Cook and stir over medium heat about 5 minutes until rice is golden.
2. Meanwhile in another saucepan, bring broth to boil; reduce heat and simmer. Slowly add 1 cup of broth to rice mixture, stirring constantly. Continue to cook and stir over medium heat until liquid is absorbed. Add another ½ cup of broth and asparagus/broccoli pieces to rice mixture, stirring constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Add another 1 cup broth, ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly until the broth has been absorbed. (This should take about 15 minutes.)
3. Stir in remaining ½ cup broth, the tomato, and carrot. Cook and stir until rice is slig

htly creamy and tender. Stir in parmesan cheese and basil/parsley.

**I found that I needed to add more BOILING water to the rice then the 3 cups b/c it was not quite done**

BBQ Ribs

Who does not enjoy some good homemade BBQ Ribs. This recipe is fantastic!

You will need:

Sauce:
1 Large Onion
1 C Catsup
1/3 C Worcestershire sauce
1 t Chili Powder, 1 t Salt,  2 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 C Water

1 Rack Pork Baby Back ribs (Or however many would you like to cook)

Place ribs in the a baking dish, slice onions over the top of ribs, with half cup water. Cover with roaster lid or foil. Bake for two hours at 350.

I don't add the water the the sauce, however use the liquid from the bottom of the rib panand mix in with the the other ingredients (I add water if does not equal 2 cups) . Pour over the top of the ribs after two hours (Please note that that with the sauce that I double the sauce recipe for one rack of ribs.) Cover roaster again and bake for two more hours.

Remove foil and baste the ribs with the BBQ sauce in the bottom of roaster. Return to oven uncovered for the remaining hour.

They are so fantastic as they fall off the bone!

I love leftovers so I cooked two racks of ribs, and quadrupled the sauce recipe.

Grilled Cilantro Chicken

The following recipe combines 3 things I really love: cilantro, beer and grilling.  Need I say more?

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 (12 oz) beer - I prefer something light and/or citrusy
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 a bunch of cilantro, chopped
• Juice from 2 limes
• 2 tsp steak seasoning

Directions

• Mix all ingredients to make a marinade
• Place chicken in marinade for at least 4-6 hours.  The longer the better!
• Grill over medium-high heat until chicken is cooked though

Marinading

On the grill

Moments from my mouth

French Onion Soup

Riding on the coattails of the recipe, posted yesterday, for zucchini bread provided by friend of Good Eats, Andy, we bring you another borrowed but tasty dish.  All the way from Colorado, Seth, author of All That Is, has shared with us a good French Onion Soup recipe that his family uses.  After testing it, we have deemed it not only delicious but also blogworthy.

Ingredients

• 2 large yellow onions, sliced into rings
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 cups beef broth
• 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp dry sherry or dry white wine (optional)
• Several grinds from pepper mill
• 4 slices french bread, day old or toasted
• Shredded swiss cheese - I had sliced swiss for sandwiches so I went ahead and used that

Directions

• Melt the butter in a pan over medium-low heat
• Add the onion rings and sauté them in the butter until tender and golden.  Cover the pan if possible 

• Add the beef broth, worchestershire sauce, pepper and sherry (optional)
• Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally
• In 4 bowls, place 1 slice of french bread
• Pour soup over bread and sprinkle with cheese and serve

Thanks again, Seth!

Look forward to more soup recipes as the temperatures continue to drop and we get more and more into the Fall!

Zucchini Bread

Some folks lately have expressed surprise that I am the co-author of a food blog and that I like exploring new recipes.  Truth be told, I don't think ordinary cooking requires any special skill or experience.  The best asset to someone in the kitchen is the ability to read.  I believe that if you can read, you can cook just about anything.  It's all about having or finding recipes and going for it.

That being said, baking is a whole other story.  There is no forgiveness in baking.  When you cook something, you can switch things up here and there.  A little short on an ingredient?  You'll probably be just fine.  In baking however, those measurements mean the difference between a nice, fluffy cake, and a flour brick.

As a result, I rarely bake.  I try to avoid it in most instances.  This week, however, I had a craving for zucchini bread.  Not just any zucchini bread, mind you.  This recipe comes to us from the kind folks over at A Cage of Words.  The author there, Andy, has been making this recipe for years and I had to have it.  I used to think zucchini had no earthly business being in bread but man, was I wrong.  Andy kindly shared it with me recently and I didn't waste much time getting in the kitchen and trying it out.

Ingredients

• 1 cup finely shredded zucchini (1 large zucchini)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts - the original recipe calls for this, I prefer to substitute half the chopped walnuts with chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• In a bowl, beat together the shredded zucchini, sugar and egg
• Add oil and mix well
• In a separate bowl, mix together all remaining dry ingredients except the walnuts and chocolate chips
• Slowly stir the dry ingredient mixture into the zucchini mixture
• Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips
• Pour batter into greased loaf pan

Batter in the pan

• Bake 45 minutes or until done

Right out of the oven

First, warm slice is always the best!

Thanks again, Andy!

French Dip Sandwiches

This is the recipe that when company comes into town, or cooking for a large meeting my French Dip is what I always turn to. It's easy and tasty!

You will need:

A netted beef round roast

1 can beef broth

1/2 can of beer of choice

1 package of Au Jues pounder mixture (I find this with the gravy packets in my local grocery store)

1 package of good seasoning zesty italian mix

Half of an onion sliced thinly

For serving:

Hoagie buns

Provolone Cheese or Swiss depending on taste

In your crock pot on low mix together beef broth, beer, Au Jues and italian mix. Add roast and put onions on top. Let cook all day for about 8 hours.

Before serving take out and let sit about 30min. before cutting off the netting and shredding it. (I discard the onions.)

Serve on a hoagie bun with Provolone cheese on top. I cut the bun, place meat inside and put cheese on top. Broil on low till golden brown.

Enjoy!