Here is a simple and alternative version of the famous Italian dish vitello tonnato (veal with tuna sauce).  The original dish calls for a cooked veal roast to be chilled, sliced very thin and robed with a tuna sauce made with fresh eggs, oil, tuna, capers, lemon juice, mustard, anchovy and olive oil. It is absolutely delicious but quite a bit of trouble.  Read more…

At the market these days, the deli or prepared food counter will often have three or four versions of chicken salad.  You can buy it made with grapes, with pickles or pineapple, with poppy seeds, walnuts or apples—sweet and savory, Southwestern and Asian—to name just a few of the variations—and the collective “we” must be buying it like crazy, because the bowls seem to empty by the end of the day. Read more…

My first introduction to Satay was from a friend who spent many years living in Southeast Asia with her husband who was with the U.S. State Department.  I don’t know if the dish originated in Indonesia or Malaysia or Singapore or Thailand or Vietnam—but they lived in all of those places.  I do know that the first restaurant where I had Satay was an Indonesian restaurant in Amsterdam—where it was served as part of their wonderful rice table.
The chicken is good on its own, but really enhanced by the sauce.  The sauce I could eat with a tablespoon but is really great with the chicken.  You can use other meats—I’ve also tried beef, pork and shrimp, which are all good, but the chicken seems to appeal to everyone—even kids—and they like the peanut butter sauce, even though it is spicy (at least mine do…) And it is a good recipe in which to introduce turmeric to the family—it’s a delicious spice that is really good for you because of its anti-inflammatory properties.
This is a nice recipe to do the prep for in the afternoon, and then you can quickly finish it off and serve this as a featured item for hors d’oeurves or as a nice light meat course of a spring or summer dinner.

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Serves 4

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Inactive Preparation Time:  Up to 4 hours for marinating
Cook Time:  10 minutes

Ingredients for the Marinade:

½ cup light coconut milk
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into long, thin strips (about 1 inch wide)
Bamboo skewers

Ingredients for the Spicy Peanut Sauce

½ cup light coconut milk
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon red curry paste
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Preparation:

To marinate the chicken, combine all of the marinade ingredients into a glass bowl and add the chicken breast strips.  Refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.  Soak the bamboo skewers in water for at least an hour so they won’t burn up on the grill.

Meanwhile prepare the spicy peanut sauce by placing all of the ingredients in a blender and blending until smooth. (The sauce can be made up to a day ahead of time.)

Preheat the grill or a broiler.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread onto the bamboo skewers.  Cook on the grill or under the broiler for about 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through.  Serve on the skewers with the spicy peanut sauce for dipping.

Since my family is originally from Texas, I have always loved Tex Mex.  Every time I eat a dish with an extra kick to it, I think of my Dad—who loved it too—mopping his brow after a really spicy bite and saying, “it hurts so good!”  Tex Mex is a great choice for the budget, it is easy to prepare and everyone seems to like it.

In the grocery store’s ethnic food aisle, you can buy everything you need to make enchiladas using prepared products and that’s fine and quick.  But I really prefer to make things from scratch to avoid extra salt and preservatives with long scary names.  This recipe is easy.  You can make the sauce ahead and then whenever you want enchiladas, you can make just as many as you want—which is the way to do it because these taste really great fresh—good leftover—but really good freshly made.  For variety,  you can also change the filling, using ground beef or cheese instead of chicken, and you can also use your imagination with garnishes—black olives, avocado, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion would all be good to look at and good to eat.

Chicken Enchiladas

For the Sauce

Ingredients:

2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes in juice, drained
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup heavy whipping cream

Preparation:

In the food processor, place the tomatoes and the jalapeno peppers and puree.  In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil and then sauté the onion until it is golden brown.  Add the tomato puree to the onion and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture is thick (like applesauce).  Add the chicken broth and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes.  It will be a little soupier now, and that’s the way you want it.
Taste and add the salt (using less if necessary) and the heavy whipping cream.  Keep warm.

For the Enchiladas

3 cups shredded chicken (I use either leftover roasted chicken or a rotisserie chicken)
1 ½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated
12 corn tortillas
½ cup sour cream
½ cup green onion, sliced
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Cooking Spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  On a baking sheet, place 4 tortillas at a time and spray both sides lightly with the cooking spray (I use olive oil spray).  Place in the oven and warm for 3 minutes.  In a medium bowl stir about a cup of the enchilada sauce into the chicken and set nearby.  In the bottom of a 9 x 13 rectangular ceramic or glass baking dish, spoon about 1 cup of the enchilada sauce. Remove the tortillas from the oven, and working quickly, prepare the enchiladas by placing a portion of the chicken on the tortilla, rolling it up, and placing it seam side down into the sauce.  Continue heating the tortillas and rolling them until completed.  Spoon additional sauce over to cover, and sprinkle the Monterey Jack cheese evenly over all.  Heat in the oven for about 15 minutes, until hot and bubbly and the cheese is nicely melted.  Garnish with the green onion and fresh cilantro and serve, passing the sour cream separately.

A couple of years ago, my husband gave me an All Clad slow cooker for Christmas.  Now I’ll admit that at first, a few alarm bells went off in my head (“Slow cooker?  It’s a crock pot!” We’ve come to this?  A crock pot?! For Christmas?!”)  Of course, I told myself, it really doesn’t look like the crock pot of my memory (which was Harvest Gold and brown with leaves on it)—it’s sleek looking and has a cool brushed steel front, and the liner is black ceramic and it has digital numbers!  And, I continued to tell myself, it’s not like every present has to be jewelry or a spa visit or something personal—(rather than an appliance—for Pete’s sake!) and I vowed to keep an open mind and not be ungrateful.

I stand abashed.  This is one of the best things I own.  It would survive any declutter day I could every have.  I love my slow cooker (it is definitely not a crock pot).

The days that I use my slow cooker are the days that I feel the most in control.  My dinner is prepared, it rests on the counter cooking away—and I am free to pick up a kid from soccer or play practice—take a pre-dinner walk, have a drink, watch the news—whatever.  I know that when I’m ready, I will just whip the top off that puppy and dinner will be served, and it will be falling off the bone and deliciously sauced.

Here is one of my most requested (by my kids) slow cooker recipes.  This is good every time.  Serve it with a loaf of crusty bread (to soak up the sauce) and a green salad, smile and accept the compliments.

Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

Preparation Time:  15 minutes
Cook Time:  3 hours
Total Cook time:  3 ½ hours

Ingredients:

1 3-4 pound chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 heads garlic, unpeeled, separated into cloves
¼ cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a large skillet, over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook, until well browned on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Transfer the chicken to a slow cooker.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan.  Add the garlic cloves and sauté them over medium high heat until lightly browned (about 2 to 3 minutes).  Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to stir and scrape all the brown bits from the bottom.

Pour the garlic mixture over the chicken and sprinkle the thyme over all.  Cover and cook until the chicken is tender—for 3 hours on the low heat setting.

Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover it with aluminum foil to keep it warm.  Set a fine mesh sieve over a saucepan, pour all the sauce from the cooker through, and press with the wooden spoon to push as much of the liquid and the pulp through as possible.  Then bring the mixture to a simmer on the stove and season it to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve the chicken either topped with the sauce or with the sauce on the side.
Note:  If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can cook this in a Dutch oven or a casserole dish in the oven for 1 hour—all other directions remain the same.

My neighbor recently asked me for this recipe.  I had brought it one night for a “Mexican Night” party at her house and she liked it.  Her family is originally from India—and I have enjoyed some wonderful Indian dishes at her home.  We have talked about the fact that there are similarities between “southern” cooking around the world—love of spice, chilies, the slow cooking of certain legumes and vegetables—the seasonings vary, but many of the methods and types of ingredients are similar.

Just about every household in Texas has a recipe for some version of this casserole. It is a long-time favorite with my Texas friends and relatives.  It’s a pleasure to share it with my neighbor and with anyone else out there who enjoys a little heat.

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Serves 6 to 8

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  30 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour

Ingredients:

12 6-inch corn tortillas
Olive oil flavored cooking spray
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 jalapeno chilies, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 10-ounce cans Ro-Tel tomatoes (choose the level of heat you like, I use 1 mild, 1     medium)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups chicken broth (I use low-sodium)
1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed from the bones and cut up (about 3 cups)
4 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
2 cups tortilla chips, crushed

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place 6 tortillas on each of two baking sheets and spray lightly with cooking spray on both sides.  Place in the oven and bake until lightly browned and crisp, depending on the heat of your oven, for 5 to 10 minutes—keep an eye on them so they don’t get too brown.  Remove from the oven, cool until you can handle them, and break them into pieces.

Heat the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Cook the onions, chilies and cumin until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.  Add the cream and the broth; bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the chicken, the cilantro and the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Layer half of the tortilla pieces in a 13 x 9 rectangular or oval baking dish.  Spoon half of the filling evenly over the tortillas.  Repeat with the remaining tortilla pieces and filling. Sprinkle the crushed tortilla chips over the top and bake the casserole for about 20 to 30 minutes until the edges are bubbly.  Cool  for 10 minutes before serving.