Fajitas Steak & Chicken

[When asked, "What's the best Mexican food in France?"]
-You know what? It's at my house... Otherwise, you can't find good Mexican food in France. No Mexican food and no donuts in Paris. Not that I'm a big donut fan. Anyway, there's other stuff there that's just as bad for you.
~Johnny Depp

A Johnny Depp food quote! I can't believe I've managed to find a way to put a picture of Johnny Depp on my recipe blog!

YUMMY!

*sigh* *swoon*

The Recipes

Steak & Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in strips
1 1/2# beef, cut in strips
Fajita marinade

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
  
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic
  
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Sliced green peppers
Sliced sweet onion
Flour tortillas
Preparation:
Mix the marinade. Let the steak and chicken marinate for a few hours at least. Place meat on cookie sheets and broil for 8-11 minutes on each side. Sauté the pepper and onions in butter until soft and slightly browned. Warm the tortillas in the oven and use to wrap the fajita meat with any combination of the following:

Guacamole (recipe follows)
Pico de Gallo (recipe here)
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese

Guacamole

Ingredients:
1 avocado, chopped in small pieces 1 roma tomato, seeded and cut in small pieces 1 tbsp red onion, finely chopped 2 tsp fresh lime juice 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Pinch white pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together

Also served with black beans (recipe here) and tortilla chips with con queso dip.

I have these really cool cast iron plates that I heat up in the oven while the meat is broiling, and use for serving. There are 2 plates, one for the chicken, one for the beef. They stay hot for quite awhile and keep the meat warm. The cast iron plates have wood platters that they sit on so they can be handled.

New Years Eve is Fondue Night!

Among the side dishes was a generous fondue, from which the prelate served himself without stint. But, oh surprise! Not recognizing its appearance and believing it to be a crème, he ate it with his spoon instead of using his fork, which from time immemorial had been the custom with this dish. All the guests, astonished by this peculiar behavior, looked sideways at one another, with imperceptible smiles.
~Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin


Fondue is our New Years Eve tradition. It's such good food, and so accessible that everyone can graze all evening.

We have a lot of fondue pots - I practically collect them. So, when I do fondue, it becomes a meal, not just an appetizer. In addition to the fondue dips detailed below, I have a Mongolian hot pot for hot oil so thin strips of beef can be fried and dipped.

Ingredients for dipping:
French bread cubes
Ham cubes
Fresh veggies (broccoli florets, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, celery)
Fresh fruits (bananas, apples, strawberries)
Black and green olives
Pretzel rods
Marshmallows
Pound cake cubes

The Fondue Recipes

Cheddar Cheese Fondue:
¾ cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoons ground dry mustard
1 tbsp flour
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
Heat milk, worcestershire sauce, mustard and flour in a saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling. Gradually stir in Cheddar cheese. Continue heating until all the cheese has melted. Rub the inside of a warm fondue pot with garlic clove and pour mixture in. (Save the garlic clove - you'll be rubbing more pots with it.)

Swiss cheese fondue:
8 oz shredded swiss cheese
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup dry white wine
Pinch white pepper
1 clove garlic

Heat wine in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cheese and cook until melted, stirring frequently. Add the corn starchand pepper. Continue to cook until thick and smooth, stirring frequently. Rub the inside of a warm fondue pot with garlic clove and pour mixture in.

Israeli Fondue:
1 avocado halved and stoned
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
8 ounces grated Edam cheese
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp sour cream

Mash the avocado with lemon juice. Heat wine in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cheese and cook until melted, stirring frequently. Add the corn starch, sour cream, and avocado mixture. Continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes until thick and smooth, stirring frequently. Rub the inside of a warm fondue pot with garlic clove and pour mixture in.

Chocolate Fondue:
1 cup heavy cream
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until hot, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chocolate and stir until it is just melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Transfer to a warm ceramic fondue pot - we put this in our Hershey Kiss fondue pot.

Boxing Day! More Ham & Cheesy Puff Pastries

Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St. Stephen (after the first Christian martyr), originated in England in the middle of the nineteenth century under Queen Victoria. It originated as a holiday for members of the merchant class to give boxes containing food and fruit, clothing, and/or money to trades people and servants.
~Fairly Well Established Historical Fact

"Few Americans have any inkling that there even is such a thing as Boxing Day, let alone what the reason might be for a holiday so named...even though Boxing Day is celebrated in Australia, Britain, New Zealand, and Canada, not all that many in those countries have much of a notion as to why they get the 26th of December off. Boxing Day might well be a statutory holiday in some of those lands, but it's not a well understood one."
More About Boxing Day

A few years ago my sister Carrie added Boxing Day to our family holiday season traditions. The first year she had the event, December 26 - the official date of Boxing Day, landed conveniently on a Saturday. Because the day after Christmas does not always accommodate us, we have modified Boxing Day to fit in with our American work schedules. The first Saturday after the 25th is Boxing Day.

Why Boxing Day? Mainly because we really like to get together over the holidays but we all have families with different Christmas traditions and everyone pretty much likes to be at home on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Boxing Day has become the perfect time to spend time together, have some fun, exchange gifts - and, of course, have some yummy chow!

The Boxing Day Theme this year is "finger foods."

I'm going with the Ham & Cheesy Puff Pastries, but this time with a ham mousse filling.

Filling:
Ingredients:
6 oz soft cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 oz ham chopped in cubes
2 tbsp chopped green onions
Preparation:
Blend ingredients in food processor until smooth

Cut the tops off the puff pastries and spoon the ham filling into the center
Replace tops

Christmas Dinner

Good bread and good drink, a good fire in the hall, Brawn, pudding, and souse, and good mustard withal. Beef, mutton, and pork, and good pies of the best, Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well drest, Cheese, apples and nuts, and good carols to hear, As then in the country is counted good cheer.
~Thomas Tusser

Christmas dinner! Ham, Au gratin potatoes, gougére, and fresh broccoli florets, with (of course) cookies for dessert! Everything was excellent, as evidenced by the fact that the only thing left over is a bit of ham - which I already have some recipes in mind for.

After dinner, we watched the totally awesome Transformers movie, which Santa had left under our tree. I hadn't really expected to enjoy this movie, but it was really fun!

The Recipes:

Ham: A 10# ham, cooked in the oven at 325 for about 3 1/2 hours. I poured some honey and orange juice over it, and basted it every 40 minutes or so. Once I took it out of the oven (let it rest for about 20-30 minutes before carving) I mixed some of the pan drippings with a little more orange juice, some orange marmalade, and brown sugar over medium heat. This is a nice glaze for the sliced ham - but should be applied as a condiment, not a gravy.

Au Gratin Potatoes
Ingredients:
5-6 large potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup heavy cream
Preparation:
Lightly grease an oven safe glass dish
Peel and thinly (about 1/4") slice the potatoes
Put a layer of potato in the dish, a little salt and pepper, very thin butter pats, and cover with cheese
Repeat layers until all the ingredients are in the dish
Pour in cream
Cover and cook right along side the ham in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours
When you take the ham out of the oven, uncover the potatoes and raise the oven temp to 400 - which, conveniently, is the temp to cook the gougére
Cook and additional 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown

Gougére

Broccoli: Fresh florets blanched (3 minutes in boiling water)

Served with a chilled Pinot Grigio.

Christmas Cookies!!!

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!
~Charles Dickens

Making cookies is one of our Christmas traditions. The boys and I spend practically all day baking. We have a lot of fun, and we end up with a lot of yummy cookies!



This year we made:
Rolled Sugar Cookies, which we then decorated (Same as every year, Pinky)
Chocolate cookies with cherry frosting, butterscotch frosting, and minty frosting
Peanut butter cookies with chocolate frosting*
Pecan pie cookies**

*These have traditionally been everyone's favorite, but the
**Pecan pie cookies, which Ryan made may push them out of first place.

Black Beans & Yellow Rice

Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear. ~Aesop

The Recipes

Black Beans

Ingredients:
1 lb black beans
1 ham steak
1/4 butter
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 small jalepeno pepper finely chopped
1 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
8-10 cilantro leaves
6-8 cups water
7 chicken bouillon cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Soak the beans overnight
Melt the butter in a large pot
Stir in onion, jalepeno pepper, and garlic
Chop the ham into bite size cubes and add to the pot
Let cook for about 3-5 minutes with frequent stirring
Add beans, water and bouillon cubes and bring to a boil
Add white and cayenne pepper. cilantro leaves
Cover and reduce to a simmer for aprx 1 1/2 hour, until beans are tender

Yellow Rice
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice
2 1/4 cups water
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tbsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic
1 bay leaf
Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl
Cook on high for 9 minutes
Cook on medium for 17 minutes
Let sit for 5 minutes
Remove bay leaf

Rob's Birthday Dinner (Sunday) - Beef Stroganoff

You're now alone in a room that looks like a vat of beef stroganoff exploded in it.
~The Gamemaster

I make my stroganoff for Rob on his birthday every year. It's his favorite.

This is an excellent recipe I am sharing. It's one of my specialties, and I am giving away the secrets here... ...at least I think I will... ...

The measurements listed are really approximate. I just kind of 'eyeball' the amount of any particular ingredient in this recipe. This served 4, with 2nd servings (always anticipate a desire for 2nd helpings of this dish).

The Recipe

Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients:
1-2 pounds good beef, (steak, roast, sirloin tips, whatever looks the best) chopped into very small bite-sized pieces (trim as much fat as possible)
4 tbsp butter
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic
1/2 cup red wine
1 can beef consommé
Salt to taste (be conservative - the consommé has salt)
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
16 oz sour cream (Get the sour cream out of the fridge when you start cooking)
Preparation:
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat
When the butter is bubbling, but not brown, add the onions and stir them for about 2 minutes
Stir in the garlic
Add the beef stir frequently until it is completely browned
Salt if/as needed
Pour in the wine and beef consommé, and the worchestershire sauce
Bring to a boil while stirring
Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes
Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream

Serve over white rice (yes, RICE, not noodles!!).
The finishing touch - top with a sprinkling of chow mien noodles. The chow mien noodles add a delightful crunch to the texture, and complement the flavor of the dish perfectly!