Find Deliciousness

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Chicken Stir Fry and Quinoa Pilaf



Tonight, I made some awesome chicken stir fry and quinoa pilaf. Nice!

Ingredients:
  • Stir Fry
    • chicken breast
    • onion
    • red pepper
    • celery
    • garlic
    • black pepper
    • red pepper
    • ground ginger
    • paprika
    • oregano
    • olive oil
    • worcestershire sauce
    • soy sauce
    • kosher salt
  • Pilaf
    • white quinoa
    • peas
    • carrots
    • garlic
    • kosher salt
    • black pepper
    • oregano
    • olive oil
For the pilaf, I just added some frozen peas and carrots and the seasonings to some quinoa and cooked it with a little more water than you usually would. Turned out great and went perfectly with the stir fry. I went a little easy on the peas and carrots, next time I should use a lot more.

For the stir fry, I just cut up all of the ingredients and cooked them in olive oil until the onions and peppers were carmalized, the chicken was cooked through, and the celery still had some snap. I added the worcestershire and soy sauce near the end.

I put stir fry on the pilaf and they were fantastic. The spices were just right - I think I'm becoming a bigger fan of paprika by the day. I've come to realize that paprika and celery are overlooked and under appreciated ingredients and flavors. They made this dish, particularly the flavor and texture that the celery added. The chicken was very moist and flavorful, which was surprising since it was freezer burned and old. This was quick and easy and turned out ridiculously tasty. I made enough for several dinners or lunches - this kind of thing scales easily, so it will take about the same amount of time to make enough for one dinner as it does for five. It is also very healthy, although you could go easier on the salt if want to be dick about it.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Turkey with Orange Pomegranate Sauce and Roasted Root Vegetables



Today, I roasted some root vegetables and made turkey with a sweet orange pomegranate sauce based on a recipe that Scott sent me (turkeyandrootvegrecipe.pdf). I pretty much just followed that with some minor changes - I used onion instead of shallots, and added celery and yellow pepper.

It turned out pretty good. The vegetables were really good, but could use a little more seasoning. The turkey and sauce were really nice, but a little sweet.

Spring Break Ribs

22-23 May 2008:  Second Annual Spring Break!  We made some ribs out of forrest fed pork.  Delicious: 



Ingredients:
  • 2 racks (4.3 lbs) of ribs from Buffalo Creek Farms (www.forestfed.com) - forest free range pork that I bought at the Old Town Alexandria Farmer's Market
  • Brine
    • Apple Cider
    • Some kind of Italian dressing-like marinade that Scott had
    • pepper
    • Sea salt
    • oregano
    • garlic salt
    • honey
    • brown sugar
  • Glaze
    • Apple Cider
    • pepper
    • honey
    • brown sugar
  • Dipping sauce
    • red peppers
    • pepper
    • leftover glaze
  • Baked Beans
    • Bush's Baked Beans
    • Bacon
    • Onion
    • Celery
  • Potato Salad
    • not sure, Scott's recipe

Equipment:
  • Stove
  • some pots and pans
  • oven
  • baking pan and rack
  • grill
  • blender

Procedure:
We started out by making the brine on Thursday evening. We simmered all the ingredients listed for about half an hour. The brine was heavy on salt and easy on the brown sugar. Once it was ready, we cooled it down, and put it in bags with the ribs to sit in the fridge overnight. We then went out on the town and experienced several of Wilmington's fine establishments which caters to those of the imbibing persuasion. Very nice night to kick off SPRING BREAK '08!!!

The next morning (afternoon), we had mimosas, put the ribs in the oven at 235, and went to the beach for some fun in the sun - a SPRING BREAK necessity. We took too long at the beach and called Scott's neighbor to turn the stove off after the ribs had been going about 4 hours. When we got back (about 5 hours after putting the ribs in the oven), Scott and I got started on the fixin's. I made the glaze pretty much the same way as the brine, but smaller quantity, no salt, no vinegar based marinade, and lots of honey and brown sugar. I cooked it until you could smell the apple sugars caramelizing and it got syrupy. Scott added bacon, caramelized onions, and celery to some baked beans. The day before, he had made some killer potato salad. We roasted three red peppers, then put the ribs on the grill for about 15 minutes per side with the glaze. I put the roasted peppers, the leftover glaze, some salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a blender to make an awesome smoky, sweet dipping sauce for the ribs.

Resulting Deliciousness:
When everything was ready, we all sat down for a fantastic meal. The seasoning on ribs was great and they were nice and moist and tender. The beans turned out delicious - what wouldn't with a bunch of bacon added? The dipping sauce was a nice addition to the ribs and didn't take anything away from the flavor of the meat the way most barbecue sauce does. It was all capped off by several hours of drinking and s'mores around the campfire in Scott's back yard. Not much could have made it a better second night of SPRING BREAK '08!!

The only think I might change would be to leave the vinegar based marinade out of the brine and add more black pepper to both the brine and the glaze. Roasting the peppers longer might have been good too, but they were decently done and the sauce turned out well.

The next day, we went deep sea fishing and got caught in some bad weather. Karma is real - the day after cooking awesome pork ribs, I chipped a rib while being slammed into the side of the boat. It will take about 6-8 weeks to heal, right now I feel like I'm about to die when I sneeze. Totally worth it.