Orzo: Rice Pilaf and Seafood Medley

I am SO sorry I forgot to post this on my day. I'm just so out of the routine of blogging. Sorry again!!

Did I mention I live in a small town with no Target, a small WalMart and 2 grocery stores? Well, I do. And in these stores I found no orzo. Well, I didn't look in one grocery store because it's an expensive one. But I did find a rice pilaf mix. And I do love rice pilaf.

Ingredients:
Rice Pilaf mix

Seafood Medley and Cream Sauce:
Packaged seafood mix (crab, muscles, calamari, scallops)
1/2 Onion diced
1/2 bunch Spinach chopped
1 clove Garlic minced
1 c Milk
1/3 c Parmesan cheese grated
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Flour

Make the rice pilaf according to the directions. Let that cook and get to the yummy seafood! Heat a large, deep skillet to medium heat. Add olive oil. Let that heat up. Add diced onion. Once the onion starts to look slightly golden add the spinach and garlic. Stir this around and let cook for 1 min. Add milk, cheese and flour. Stir and heat. Don't boil it. This is the delicious sauce. Add the seafood. Reduce heat to low. Cover with lid and let simmer for 10-15 min stirring occasionally. Serve over rice pilaf.

**If your muscles are still in their shells, keep the lid on the pan and DO NOT REMOVE for 3-6 minutes or until the shells have opened. If the shells do not open, do not eat the muscle. Same goes for clams and other shellfish steamed in their shell.

Orzo: One Pan Chicken and Orzo Skillet

Mom chose orzo, which was a great choice to me since I never use it.

One Pan Chicken and Orzo Skillet Dinner. Ingredient: Orzo, chosen by Mom.

Probably my least favorite thing I made. The orzo ended up being mushy because I put too much water in--I didn't have the broccoli it called for which needed to be cooked in that water as well. The favor wasn't outstanding either.

I should have made rice pilaf, since I love it. 

Orzo: Mexican Orzo

So I bought my orzo early in the month, planning on doing a new variation of Pam Anderson's orzo recipe from How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart (again, I know). But then . . . suddenly it was May 31st and a Sunday and the last day a large amount of leftover Mexican-flavored chicken in our fridge would be edible.

So I went with Mexican orzo.

Pam Anderson's orzo recipe treats the short pasta like rice for making risotto, but without stirring. Orzotto. (I like that!) She uses more Italian ingredients, such as Parmesan cheese. But since I had a Mexican main course, I didn't feel like multiculturalism was the dish of the day. I substituted Cheddar (okay, fine, Cheddar is English not Mexican, sue me), parsley (because I had it on hand) and green onions (yay for my garden!) to make a creamy, Mexican themed "orzotto." I topped it with cilantro-lime chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes and parsley.

Yum.

Wonton Wrappers: Southwestern Eggrolls (Chili's Copy Cat)

Sorry I completely forgot to introduce my pick!! While we were watching the many cooking shows we do I saw one of the ingredients used was wonton wrappers. I thought we should give it a go! So here we are!!

Our family loves Chili's. And I especially love their appetizers. I wanted to try out their Southwestern Eggrolls so that was why I chose wonton wrappers! Ok, finding wonton wrappers was extremely difficult for me. I looked at 3 stores and finally found them in the first store when I went back. At my grocery store they were in the refrigerated section where the mushrooms and herbs are. Good luck finding them in your store!

Ingredients:
1 Package wonton wrappers (80 ct)
Vegetable oil

Filling:
1 Red bell pepper diced
1 medium Onion diced
1 bunch Spinach chopped
1/2 can Corn
1 can Black beans rinsed and drained
1 large Jalapeno diced
1/2 c Cheese of your liking
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Parsley (fresh or dried is fine)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

Chop, dice, grate, drain all the ingredients as needed.  I used half mozzarella and half cheddar for the recipe. Monterrey Jack is also a good one to use since it has some kick. And I took out most of the jalapeno's seeds. Again, I'm a spice wimp. Now's also a good time to heat up your oil in a large skillet or deep fryer. Put enough oil in to fill the bottom of the skillet completely. Turn on medium high heat.

Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl adding spices last. Mix with a large spoon.  Lay out a few wonton wrappers. Fill each wrapper with a spoonful of filling. Don't overfill! With water, use your finger to dampen the edges of the wonton wrapper. Seal by folding in half and pressing the edges firmly. Place into the oil carefully away from you to prevent splashing back onto you. DO NOT place into oil that hasn't been heated long enough. I turned on the heat then made 8 eggrolls before putting them into the oil. If the oil isn't heated this will make everything really soggy and gross since the wrapper will absorb too much oil. Fry until golden brown (about 1-3 min), flip and repeat. After both sides are golden brown, remove from oil and let cool slightly on a paper towel.

I served our eggrolls with the Tomatillo Cilantro Ranch! So yummy!! Could even use a little more cheese if you're a cheesy fan.

**I halved the recipe (left the spices and beans at the same amount) and still made a ton! So caution in portion control!!

Wonton Wrappers: Homemade Recipe, Asian Wonton Salad Toppers and Dessert Wontons

Wonton Wrappers Recipe

Asian Wonton Salad Topper
Dessert Wonton

Special Ingredient: Wonton Wrappers, chosen by Jasmine

So, I actually was an overachiever with this one by a lot! First, I made my own wonton wrappers. This was NOT by choice. I simply could not find them in my grocery store. As I was making them the recipe stated they needed to be rolled out very thinly. I was not looking forward to this prospect, but Jasmine had the bright idea of using a pasta machine. Brilliant!

With my wonton dough I made two recipes. Since the salad topper recipe wouldn't use much of the dough, I decided to also make dessert wontons. Here they are side by side. I used the the linguine side of my pasta machine to cut the salad topper wontons perfectly. The dessert ones are a little wonky.  

Salad topper wontons. 

Dessert wontons finished! They were delicious. The biggest problem was they were SO hot and I wanted to eat them so badly, I may have burned myself several times. But it was worth it! 

And the salad toppers;

Great crunch and fun addition to a salad. In the future, I'll probably just buy them though. 

Wonton Wrappers: Giant Ravioli!

One of my favorite cooking tips from How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart comes from the weeknight Italian section. She suggests using wonton wrappers to make freeform lasagna and giant ravioli! While it's a little labor intensive, it's worth it!

My filling this time was spinach and ricotta, but I've done all cheese and wild mushroom as well. I kind of winged it (and it was kind of four months ago) (holy cow), so I don't really have a recipe, but once you make your filling, you plop about a tablespoon onto the middle of one wonton wrapper. Dip a finger into a bowl of water (my kids loved helping with this part!) and wet the sides of the wonton wrapper. Place another wonton wrapper on top, pushing out extra air and sealing the edges of the wonton wrappers together. Boil in a shallow pan of water for 3-5 minutes.

Pam Anderson suggests serving them topped with a little bit of the starchy pasta water, olive oil, Parmesan and pepper, which is a tasty sauce; my husband tends to prefer marinara. Both are good!

I have to add a suggestion: if you make a huge batch like I did, don't stack them into multiple layers. Even with oil between the layers, they'll get stuck. But hey, then it's basically lasagna, right?

Agave: refreshing fruit slush bowls

This recipe comes from my good friend Queen Emily. She served this to me once as a dessert while we were visiting her house, and I loved it!

1 pint of strawberries (I think?)
4 medium pink grapefruit
3 bananas
Agave to taste

Slice strawberries and banana into a bowl. Cut peel off grapefruit and section into supremes over the bowl, allowing the juice to collect in the bowl along with the sections. Squeeze the juice out of the leftover pulp into the bowl and discard the pulp. Add agave liberally to taste and toss. Divide into four Tupperware containers and freeze for 1-2 hours, or until mostly frozen. Enjoy!

Agave: BBQ Sauce

I had no idea what to do with agave nectar since you can do so much with it. Sounds backward but that was the predicament I was in. I looked on Dominosugar.com endlessly since they had a ton of agave recipes. And I found one that worked! Of course I had to tweek it to my liking though.

Ingredients:
1/4 c Agave nectar
2 c Ketchup
1 c Water
1 tbsp Hot sauce (my husband prefers Tabasco)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp White vinegar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Soy sauce
1/2 tsp Onion powder
1/4 tsp Pepper
2 tbsp Flour
1/4 c Butter (cubed)

Combine flour with 2 tbsp of water to create a sort of flour roux. I didn't try it but a butter and flour roux probably would've worked just as well, maybe even better. Set this aside.

In a saucepan (I used a pot, I thought it worked well for the quantity made) over low-medium heat combine everything EXCEPT the flour roux and butter. Stir and allow that to simmer for 10 minutes. Next, whisk flour mixture into the sauce. Allow to simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add the butter and whisk until incorporated. Simmer for 10 more minutes! Then it's ready to serve.

(I forgot to take a picture of the actual sauce so you'll just have to enjoy it on these ribs!)

 Agave BBQ Sauce on Baby Back Ribs:

Place ribs in slow cooker around the bowl so they curve around slightly, bone side facing in. Slather that with BBQ sauce. I mean slather those puppies up! Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Using a large spoon, ladle the sauce back onto the ribs every couple of hours. Serve hot!

Agave: Creamy Avocado Citrus Salad Dressing

Creamy Avocado Citrus Salad dressing--Special Ingredient: Agave, chosen by Brooke

The original recipe calls for honey, but I substituted agave instead. It was a yummy, zippy and thick dressing. I probably wouldn't make it again just for myself (since my husband has a bit of an aversion to avocado after food poisoning) but I enjoyed it.

Tomatillo cucumber salad with agave sweetened dressing

I like getting lots of bang for my buck. I made one meal with 3 out of the 5 ingredients in it and another with the other 2.
For the salad portion of the meal, I made a salad Ben and I really liked! I removed the seeds from one peeled cucumber and diced it into small cubes. I diced 2-3 tomatillos to a similar size. I chopped some baby spinach leaves and tossed it together. I made a dressing out of red wine vinegar for the acidic taste, olive oil for the consistency, and agave for sweetness. It just took a little dressing, maybe a few tablespoons of each ingredient.

The salad tasted very fresh and crunchy. I would definitely make it again.

Tomatillo: Tomatillo Cilantro Ranch

If you've ever visited the Mountain West you may have seen Cafe Rio. If you were wise you stopped in for their amazing Mexican food. If not, I'm sorry. I've never done anything with tomatillos before so I decided to give Cafe Rio's ranch a try.

Ingredients:
2 Tomatillos
1/2 bunch Cilantro
1 medium Jalapeno (remove seeds for less heat)
1 Ranch packet
1 c Milk
1 clove Garlic minced
1 tsp Lime juice
1 c Mayonaisse
1/4 c Sour cream (optional)

Cut up tomatillos, cilantro, and jalapeno. Mince garlic. Since I'm a wimp in the spicy department (see my Butter Chicken post!), I removed all the seeds from the jalapeno. I used my handy dandy food processor (cut the cutting and mincing down significantly) and I'm sure a good blender would work as well. First combine all produce. Turn on food processor for 30-60 seconds. Repeat until everything is chopped nicely. Add milk and lime juice. Pulse a few times. Add mayo and ranch packet. Blend until smooth and mixed well. It will be thick!

The only picture I took of the dressing on its own. It doesn't look super appetizing in the picture but it was so good!

Substitutions: I didn't have a full cup of mayo so I just added in some sour cream and it worked well.

Tomatillos: "Cafe Rio" style sweet chicken/pork

This is the one ingredient from the challenge that I did get a chance to make! This was a big hit in our family. I got the recipe from my husband's side who eat this regularly, especially when the family is all together. It is really simple!

"Cafe Rio" style chicken/pork

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup salsa verde (that has tomatillos)

1 1/2-2 lbs chicken or pork

This recipe is so easy and it can be made a variety of ways. You can cook the sauce with the raw chicken/pork or pour it over the cooked meat and let it simmer for a bit. I usually shred the meat in my Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle attachment.

I serve it with shredded cheese, lettuce, cilantro rice (similar), and cilantro ranch (similar) on warm tortillas.  

Enjoy!

Tomatillos: Roasted Salsa Verde and Salsa Verde Chicken Quinoa (or rice)

Salsa Verde Chicken Quinoa
Roasted Salsa Verde
Special Ingredient: Tomatillos, chosen by Me!

I chose tomatillos for my special ingredient. I have made several things with tomatillos but wanted to stretch myself and branch out. I found a recipe for Salsa Verde Chicken with Quinoa. I don't love quinoa and so I just used rice. The recipe calls for homemade roasted salsa verde, which was pretty fun to make. Then you just bake it all together. The original recipe didn't call for cheese on top, but I thought it needed it.



I also served it with blue corn chips, fresh grape tomatoes and a sprinkle of cilantro. It was a good, easy dinner. However, I think I like my other tomatillo recipes better. (Our Best Bites' chili verde pork--only in their cookbook but AMAZING).

Tomatillos Food Challenge!

So when Jasmine gave the us the cooking challenge, I wanted to pick an item that was fresh and in season for summer, but not something we were all familiar with. Fresh summer produce makes me think of corn on the cob, tomatoes, and watermelon but those were so familiar! I finally settled on

Tomatillos! 

My sisters and mom told me this was a little more challenging for them. I'm pretty familiar with tomatillos but not everyone is, so here is a little about them:

(Image source: Popsugar)

Tomatillos look like a green tomato in a wrapper, that's called the husk. Husks should be removed before cooking or eating. The tomatillo's skin is sometimes a little sticky under the husk so I usually rinse them. Tomatillos can be eaten raw or cooked. Cooking, roasting, or blanching helps to enhance its flavor. Most salsas verde (green salsas) contain tomatillos. When selecting tomatillos at the grocery store, look for them to be about the same size, and green. A yellow hue means they are overripe. Can't wait to see how everyone used tomatillos!

The mama tries Indian food

I am not a fan of curry. To me Indian food = curry, so I wasn't anxious to try it out. I also was feeling less than adventurous, so I decided to just look in the small international food section of Food Lion and see what was there. I was definitely looking for something without curry. I thought I hit on it when I saw this:

I didn't see curry listed in the ingredients and it said "Just add meat or chicken."

I tried it, (with a side of orzo risotto, I might add!)

I would give it a 2 on a 1-10 scale. I just didn't like it. I tried it, but it wasn't to my taste. Ben didn't like it much either, but Kevan did! He ate the leftovers and took the rest of the sauce home, too.

Indian: Butter Chicken

Now, I know what you're thinking, "Uh, Jaime already did butter chicken!" Well, I did a much lazier edition of butter chicken! I didn't have half the spices the recipe called for and the bulk spice section in our small grocery store didn't help either. Luckily, the Asian aisle did!

Ingredients:
1 Chicken Breast
1 Packet Butter Chicken Paste
4 tbsp Butter

2 c Rice optional

 See? Lazy.

   So, really all I did was combine the paste with butter, let that cook for 15 minutes then added the chicken. It was pretty easy so I tried making Naan bread. Well, that didn't turn out very well so we'll just leave that wayward moment out of the post!

   I served the butter chicken on top of rice and served it with bread and salad. It was very spicy for me! Like so spicy I could barely finish. My husband served an LDS mission in Australia and was able to meet a lot of Indian immigrants. He was served a lot of spicy Indian dishes so he was used to both the strong flavor and spices and enjoyed it quite a bit! This is something I think I'd have to make from scratch next time to tone down the spicy level!

Indian: Naan Pizza

So I'm embarrassed to say that I barely participated in this challenge! I had huge plans and I guess the impending birth of my newest baby girl (Oh yeah! Guess what I had another baby girl and she is amazing!) and tons of other stresses, I just fell short! So here are some pins of what I wanted to make. 

My husband and I don't especially care for Indian food so I thought of a way that we could tweak a traditional Indian food to be something a little more our speed. The last time we went to an Indian food restaurant we had some delicious naan bread. I thought I could make naan into pizza and I wasn't the first one with this idea!

Here are some of the recipes I found that look delicious!

Pizza #1
Pizza #2 I love barbecue chicken pizza!
Pizza #3 The chunks of mozzerella look amazing on this one. It reminds me of the prosciutto pizza I posted a while back.

Indian Food: Best Butter Chicken

Best Butter Chicken  Special Type of Food: Indian, chosen by Jordan

My husband loves Indian food. I suspect that was a strong factor in his choosing to go to India on an MBA school trip a few years ago. He has made some amazing Indian food at home so it's a little intimidating for me. I found this recipe for Butter Chicken aka Tikka Masala. It turned out delicious. This was one of the best things I made and opened me up to making more Indian food.



When I told my husband I made the recipe for the challenge he said, "Oh. I thought you made it for me because you know I love Indian food," HA! Well since then I've made a lot more.

Indian cuisine challenge!

Jordan picked . . . .

Indian cuisine!

We recently tried a new Indian restaurant near our house, and it was fantastic! I wanted to try more Indian cuisine at home, so I knew right away what I wanted to do when Jasmine suggested this idea! So keep your eyes out for yummy Indian recipes this week!

Cooking Challenge Introduction

Hey, all! Jasmine here! I watch a lot of Netflix. Let me repeat, I watch A LOT of Netflix. But I run out of shows and search endlessly for new ones. A couple months ago I found "The Next Food Network Star" and LOVED it. On one of the episodes each contestant was given an uncommon ingredient and they had to make something with it. This gave me an idea. What if us (wayward) girls did something similar? I thought about this for a while before sharing the idea with my sisters and mom. I pitched them my idea and all were in.

Here's the challenge:

Each of us choose one ingredient or cuisine. We share this with each other. Everyone can choose to make something out of the challenge foods chosen within the given month. At the end of the month we all share with each other what we made!

This is a fun challenge to participate in. I don't know about everyone else, but for me I was getting tired of cooking the same old meals over and over. This, in theory, was a way to challenge our culinary skills, broaden our experiences, and try new things.