Kickin' Chicken Kabobs

Quick, easy, and delicious, kabobs are one of my favorite grilled dishes. Everything cooks at once, which gets dinner to the table faster and lets the juices from the meat and veggies meld together to create complex and delicious flavors. Almost any meat works, but we went with chicken tonight for a healthy dinner.

Kabobs are super easy to put together.  Preheat the grill to high. If you're going to use wooden skewers, let them soak for at least 30 minutes to prevent scorching.  Cut your meat of choice up into 1 1/2-2 inch cubes and cover with oil, salt, and pepper. Cut vegetables into large slices and cover with oil, seasoned salt, and pepper.

To assemble, slide veggies and meat onto skewers. I start with a firm vegetable, like an onion, that won't easily slide off the skewer to hold everything in place. Aim for a ratio of 2-3 veggies per piece of meat. I put 3 cubes of chicken on each skewer and alternated off on the veggies.
Transfer to the grill (remember to oil the grates first) and grill, turning often, until chicken is cooked through.

Allow to set 3 minutes before serving. We used a basil pesto as a dipping sauce on the side, but these will taste great straight off the skewer or with your favorite bbq sauce.

 Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 white onion
• 1 red pepper
• 1 orange pepper
• 1 yellow squash
• seasoned salt 
• pepper
• EVOO
• 4-6 skewers
  

Quiche in the Middle East

A good quiche is a wonderful thing.  They're light, moist, fluffy, and pretty easy to make. And, like chili, you can dump just about anything in and it'll come out tasting decent.  Since I woke up this morning craving an egg dish not scrambled or fried, a good quiche was just what the doctor ordered. After a quick Kroger run to buy some supplies, I was ready to go.

Classic quiches are pretty straightforward - eggs, cream, and bacon make up a traditional quiche Lorraine. Adding extra ingredients may anger the French traditionalist in your neighborhood, but it's delicious and allows the cook to leave his/her own mark on the dish. I used lowfat yogurt instead of cream and added a few extras that really kicked my quiche up a notch (BAM!).

Start preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Cook the bacon and sautee any veggies (onions, garlic, etc) that you'd like to add. Set aside and grab a big bowl. Add 6-8 eggs, yogurt, salt, and flour and mix until combined. Grease and line the baking dish of your choice (I used a cast iron skillet) with bacon crumbles and cheese. Pour in the quiche mixture, place in the oven, and lower oven temp to 350.  Cook for 30-40 minutes until quiche is set up and is beggining to pull away from the sides of the baking vessel. Do NOT open the oven until your quiche is set up. Doing so will result in your work collapsing like the Berlin Wall. Once the quiche is set up, remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Remember, half the fun of making a quiche is adding your own touch. I went the semi-healthy route and used onions, garlic, spinach, nonfat yogurt, and lowfat cheese, but you could add ingredients like ham, mushrooms, broccoli,  or even seafood. Some folks use a puff pastry or other storebought crust on the bottom. Try anything you think would taste good with eggs, and chances are it will come out deliciously.

Ingredients, quiche Joe:

• 6-8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
  
• 4 oz. shredded cheese of choice
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup AP flour or instant pancake mix (trust me)
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup diced onions, sauteed
  
• 2 cloves garlic, sauteed
  
• 2 cups spinach, wilted

How the cookie crumbles

I look forward to Wednesdays. Why, you ask, would someone look forward to a day that is traditionally reviled as the toughest, most frustrating day of the week? Three words: Bill's small group. I've been meeting at Bill Oliver's house with a group of people from Pleasant Valley ever since I moved to Little Rock, and it's become one of my favorite things to do each week. We started with a group of 10-15 people and have grown to averaging a crowd of 35-40 each week. There are always good discussions, stimulating talk, prayer requests, and a gigantic buffet. For the purposes of this post, we'll focus on the food spread.

When we restarted Bill's group after a summer recess, I gave myself a personal challenge: bring a different homemade dish for the buffet each week. Last week's dish (which I'll repeat for this blog because it was awesome) was deer chili. It was warm, robust, and somewhat healthy. This week, I decided to bring a selection of cookies. Snickerdoodle and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, to be exact.

Cookie baking, as with all baking, is a pretty exact science. It took me a lot of batches and research to figure out the tricks to making soft, chewy-yet-still-crunchy cookies that melt in your mouth. I feel comfortable telling you that good cookies boil down to three crucial steps:

1. Measure flour correctly
2. Cream and mix correctly
   
3. Undercook

We'll take these one at a time.

First, the flour. I used to think "measuring" flour involved dunking the measuring cup into the flour and just scooping the excess off. Not so coincidentally, I used to make awful cookies (as well as muffins, cakes and anything else that called for flour). There are two "correct" methods to measuring flour. If you have a kitchen scale, you can weigh it out. This is the most accurate method, but it's difficult to follow sometimes since most American recipes don't use the metric system. A standard cup of flour usually weighs 4.6-4.8 oz, but it varies based on the type of flour being used. A second, simpler way to measure is to "sift" the flour into the cup. I usually do this with a spoon. Give your flour a quick stir in the container to loosen it up, then hold your measuring cup over an empty bowl and sift the flour out of a spoon and into the measuring cup. If you don't believe this results in a different amount of flour than just scooping, try measuring with both methods and see which "cup" weighs more. I did this once and the scooped cup weighed 1.5oz more than the sifted cup. Using too much flour will result in breadlike cookies which are not, as someone once said, good eats. After the flour is measured, I toss in the rest of the dry ingredients (salt, baking powder/soda, etc.) and give the mix a few good stirs with a whisk to mix them together.

Step 2 to great cookie making is to cream and mix correctly. Creaming involves beating sugar and butter/shortening into a light batter. Don't underestimate this step, as it's very important. As you cream, the sugar cuts into the butter/shortening and creates gaps. These gaps will hold your cookies together and keep them from flattening as they cook. If you're using butter, make sure to set it out for about an hour before you get ready to use it so that it's at room temperature. Toss the sugar and butter/shortening in a bowl and cream on low for a few seconds, then bump up to medium-low. I usually cream for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture takes on a light yellow color. Once this happens, toss in the rest of the wet ingredients (eggs, vanilla, etc.) and mix till well combined.

Combining the wet and dry ingredients correctly is simple, as there's only one rule to it - don't overmix. Too much mixing will create long strands of protein called gluten, which is great for making chewy breads but not great when you want soft cookies. I like to fold the dry into the wet in four stages. I mix until my dry is just combined and then add more. Don't worry about small lumps of flour, as they'll cook out. The final mixing step is to mix in your oats, chocolate chips, fruit, or whatever other large flavorings you'd like. I give the batter 3 or 4 folds to get everything incorporated, then walk away.

Finally, undercook your cookies. I always err to the lower side of the recommended cook time, but this will vary depending on how large your portions are and how many batches you cook at once. Just keep two things in mind: your cookies will continue to cook on the sheet after being removed from the oven, and you can always put them back in if they're too mushy. There is, however, no saving an overcooked batch. Leaving your batch a little mushy in the middle will result in cookies that stay soft and chewy for several days (if they last that long).



I made a big batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and a smaller half-batch of snickerdoodles for small group and watched like an old lady at a church potluck as they were quickly devoured. I got lots of compliments and even had several requests for the recipes, so here they are. I'm still thinking about next week's dish...maybe it's time to go "old school."

Ingredients:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 min until light brown. Remove, allow to cool for one minute on cookie sheet, then cool completely on cooling rack.

Snickerdoodles

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 cup sugar (for coating)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (for coating)

Mix cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. After making the batter, portion into 1/4 in. balls and roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture until lightly coated. Bake in 400 degree oven 8-10 min until light brown. Remove, let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute and then cool completely on cooling rack.

Taco Night at the Apollo

I love tacos (doesn't everyone?). Unfortunately, most people consider a taco to be a congealed, greasy, red sauce-infested mess of meat, cheese, and vegetation purchased from a fast food joint. Well not me. And tonight's dinner proves it. Tonight we dine on spice-rubbed chicken tacos with grilled poblano and onion. Sides are black beans with cilantro and lime and homemade tortilla chips with Joe's almost famous salsa.



Mexican food is great because it consists of relatively simple ingredients that come together to form culinary magic. These tacos are no different. As the name suggests, the foundation is a spice-rubbed chicken breast. Now, I'd love to take credit for the recipe, but some guy named Flay beat me to it. Start by prepping your grill to high heat (you should be able to hold your hand over the heat for 3-5 seconds before yelling). Mix the salt, ancho chile powder, garlic powder, pepper, cumin, and brown sugar together in a medium bowl. Coat one side of each chicken breast with the rub and the other side with salt. Drizzle with canola oil on each side and set aside. Cut the onions into 1/4 in. slices and coat with oil, salt, and pepper. Coat the poblanos with canola oil, salt, and pepper as well. I started grilling with the poblanos, then the onions, and then finally the chicken.



Once the grill is good and hot, start with the poblanos. You'll want to cook them, turning every 2-3 min, until they are good and charred. Once they're done, remove and cover them in a bowl for 10 minutes, or until the skin comes off. Peel off the skin, remove the seeds, and cut into strips.

The onions should cook 4-5 min per side or until both sides are golden brown. Remove and set aside to top the tacos.

Put the chicken on the hot part of the grill, rub side down. Cook for 3-4 min or until a crust has formed, then turn and move to a cooler part of the grill and cook until the inside hits 160 degrees. Cover the chicken with foil for 5 min to let the juices settle.



The black beans were super easy-just cook as directed and stir in the juice of one lime 5-10 min before serving. Serve topped with chopped cilantro and white cheese.

I made the chips out of some leftover corn tortillas. I fried them for 3 or 4 min at 375 degrees and drained on a cookie sheet covered with a paper towel. If you like, salt as soon as they come out of the oil so the salt will stick. The salsa is...not going to be revealed here. Maybe another post ;)



Taco prep is pretty straightforward. I tossed some flour tortillas on the grill for about 30 seconds on each side to heat them through, then served everything family style. My "taco sauce" is a mixture of mayo, yogurt, lime juice, and spices. Recipe is below. Just start with the chicken and build up from there!



To say this meal is worth the prep time is quite an understatement. Juli had dinner with me and loved it. It hit every southwestern craving I could muster up. I'm left with a full stomach, a cut finger (onions are my greatest enemy), and a mountain of dishes.



Ah, well. A'la cuisine!

Ingredients:

2 poblano peppers
2 White Onions
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Canola oil
chopped tomatoes, cilantro, & jalapeno peppers

Rub for chicken:
nocoupons

• 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black peppers

White taco sauce:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced capers
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Mike's Place

Well, we had dinner at Mike's Place in Conway last night. Mike's Place is renowned around these parts for their Cajun-inspired seafood and steaks as well as their appetizers. The meal started with a complimentary basket of bread and butter. The bread was made fresh and was very tasty. We then moved to an appetizer of shrimp and cheese fritters served with a homemade remoulade.



The fritters were great - nice and crisp on the outside, but full of creamy cheese and shrimp stuffing inside. The remoulade (basically a homemade tartar sauce) complimented the fritters very well.

The main course was an order of Mike's house special, the seafood crepes covered in a red pepper sauce. I was served a plate of crepes stuffed with grouper, shrimp, clam, veggies, and herbs and topped with a red bell pepper cream sauce. Some mussels and extra shrimp topped the crepes as well.



My crepes were a bit cold but still pretty good. The stuffing was creamy and complex, with lots of different flavors that still managed to work together. The mussels were cooked perfectly as well. I loved the creamy bell pepper sauce and I'll probably steal it to use at home. It tasted great with the crepes as well as a post-crepe bread dip (couldn't let all that sauce go to waste).



Tiff had a build-your-own platter with a crab cake (eh) and a delicious shrimp brantley (lots of rosemary...mmmm). No room left for dessert. Final tab (2 entrees, 2 waters) was around 50 bones after tip.

I enjoyed Mike's Place. The atmosphere was great, and the food was well-prepared and fairly priced for higher-end cuisine. If I lived in Conway, I'd probably be there pretty regularly.

I've got some chicken breasts in the fridge that need to be used. My first thought went to the grill, but now a pan-seared chicken breast is sounding enticing. It's being paired with frijoles negros with cilantro and lime, so I will have to keep the seasonings south of the border.

Mike's Place tonight

Tiff and I are eating dinner at Mike's Place in Conway tonight. Mike's serves mostly cajun-inspired cuisine. I'll post again after dinner with some pics and a description of the meal.

Roasted Garlic Hummus

So Tiff is on the South Beach diet and wanted a nice-n-healthy (that should be a brand name) dip. We came up with a roasted garlic hummus. Basically a simple hummus with delicious roasted garlic mixed in. So here goes....

First, I roasted the garlic at 375 degrees for about an hour (by the way, nothing makes a house smell better than the aroma of roasted garlic wafting through the air).




While the garlic was roasting, I rounded up all the other members of the party:




After blending everything together and dusting with a little paprika, I ended up with some delicious hummus and a garlic-smelling house. mmmm...




Ingredients:

• 2 cups canned or cooked chickpeas
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 large head of garlic
• 2 roasted red peppers
  
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Greetings!

Hi, and welcome to my blog! Since I spend half my day reading sites dedicated to everyone else's thoughts and opinions, I thought I'd start my own up. So here goes...I love food. Whether it's planning and preparing a meal on my own or enjoying someone else's work, there aren't many things that interest me more. So I thought I'd start this blog up to chronicle my adventures in cooking and eating. I'll post regular updates with pictures of meals and recipes when I cook, so check back often!