2 Pouches of Uncle Ben’s* brown and wild rice
1 Cup halved cashews
3 Cups shredded or diced chicken
1 1/2 Cups fresh spinach
1/4 Cup chopped green onions
1 Red bell pepper diced
Dressing:
1 Tsp crushed garlic
1/2 Cup rice vinegar
1 Tsp Dijon
1/2 Cup veg oil
1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tsp crushed red pepper
*Dressing recipe makes more than enough dressing, so don’t use it all, you can save it for something else.
Remove skin and fat from bone-in chicken breast and place in a medium sauce pan; fill pan with water until breast is completely covered. Bring water to a boil and lower heat to medium temperature (maintain boil) – boil the chicken for about 20-25 minutes for a medium sized breast. Once chicken is done, remove from water and set on cutting board to cool. Once slightly cooled, use a fork to shred the chicken and set aside.
For rice, follow directions on the bag using a saucepan: cut slit in top of the bag and stand upright in boiling water for 90 seconds. Remove bag from water and set aside.
In a separate bowl add all ingredients and toss together.
*Near East Wild Rice or home made also work great.
We love using Hoisin sauce to flavor tofu in our stir-fry dishes, or as a dipping sauce for pot-stickers or won-tons. It is always a nice sweet alternative to the spicy Sriracha.
Courtesy of Wikipedia:
Mandarin-style Hoisin sauce ingredients include water, sugar, soybeans, white distilled vinegar, rice, salt, wheat flour, garlic, red chili peppers, and several preservatives and coloring agents. Traditionally, Hoisin sauce is made using sweet potato. Despite the literal meaning of “seafood,” Hoisin sauce does not contain fish.
This is a recipe we are extremely excited about because we discovered an easy DIY pizza recipe to replace Boboli and costs about $5 less as a result. If you don’t want get involved with rolling out dough, we completely relate and would still recommend using Boboli’s whole wheat crust.
1 (16 oz) whole wheat pizza dough (uncooked) from Trader Joe’s or a similar shop
1/2 Cup of flour
2 Cups of tomato sauce either store bought or home-made
2 Cloves of garlic peeled and minced
1 Cup of sliced artichoke crowns (or artichoke hearts if preferred)
1/4 Cup fresh basil minced
2 Links of Italian style (hot or sweet) chicken sausage – uncooked
1 Cup of part-skim mozzarella shredded
1/2 cup of fresh mini mozzarella balls
Remove dough from the refrigerator and let rest for several minutes (Note: If using a silicon rolling pin, place it in the freezer for a few minutes prior to use). Heat a skillet over medium-low flame and cook chicken sausage for about 8 minutes, rotating frequently. Remove from heat and let the meat rest. When cooled, slice sausages into 1/4 in slices or thinner if preferred.
Prepare a shallow roasting pan or cookie sheet by spraying or brushing a light layer of olive oil over the surface. Another option is to put down a thin layer of cornmeal to prevent sticking. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For this recipe, we cut the dough into two even portions and roll out 2 pizzas. Prepare to roll out the dough by sprinkling a pinch flour over the surface you will be rolling the dough on. Sprinkle flour on the first portion and set aside the second; slowly knead the dough and work into a rectangular shape. Place dough on the counter and use the rolling pin (sprinkled with flour) to roll out the dough into an evenly portioned rectangle. Place the dough on the baking sheet and use your fingers to keep the rectangle stretching so that it doesn’t shrink back to a smaller size. Repeat process for second portion of dough.
With dough now on the backing sheet, coat each rectangle with tomato sauce. Be sure to coat the rectangle evenly and leave a 1/4 inch border of plain dough around the sides. Now add minced garlic and basil, sprinkling each evenly on top of the sauce. Next comes the shredded mozzarella, sprinkle evenly around the pizza in a single layer. Add sliced chicken sausage and sliced artichoke crowns in even rows and add as much or as little as you desire.; each rectangular dough should hold the equivalent of roughly one sausage link. Finally, cut the mini mozzarella balls in half and add them to the pizza, roughly 8 halves to each rectangle.
Place baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool; handle with care when transferring to a cutting board to slice as the cheese may slide easily when fresh from the oven.
We tweak this salsa verde recipe constantly because we have not quite reached the goal, which is to duplicate the amazing flavor of the famous Santana’s salsa verde. Now this is a good problem to have since it means we have salsa verde on hand at all times for use on everything from tostadas, or pork tacos or heuvos rancheros.
Please let us know how yours turns out!
1 Lb (about 10) tomatillos
3/4 Cup of fresh cilantro
2 Cloves of garlic (peeled)
1/4 Tsp kosher salt
1 Jalapeno stemmed, seeded
1 Habanero stemmed, seeded
1/2 Large white onion
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Peel husk from tomatillos and wash thoroughly. Slice tomatillos in half and place flat-side down on cookie sheet or broiler pan. Place under the broiler for about 10-12 minutes or until the skin of the tomatillos is blackened. EVERY broiler is different, so keep an eye on the tomatillos after about 5 minutes just to make sure. Remove tomatillos from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.
Combine the cilantro, garlic, habenero, jalapeno, onion, lime juice and tomatillos in food processor and blend. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the food processor to make sure everything blends evenly. Pour contents of the food processor into a bowl and let cool. Salsa is ready to use after it cools, however, we have found that flavor improves if the salsa is refrigerated over night.
Tomatillos in Husk
Tomatillos Cleaned and Halved; Ready for the Broiler
Cilantro, Jalapeno and Habanero
Tomatillos Cooling after Broiling
Add Tomatillos to Food Processor and Blend with other Ingredients
This recipe is adapted from this recipe in bon appetit. We really liked the flavor and texture; you can also play with the time to keep the carrots slightly crunchy for those who don’t like well-done cooked carrots.
10 Carrots, washed, peeled, and cut on an angle into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
2 Tsp coarse kosher salt
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray rimmed cookie sheet or shallow roasting pan with non-stick canola spray. Combine carrots, cumin seeds, salt in large bowl and add oil; toss to coat. Spread mixture on baking sheet and make sure there is separation between the carrots. Roast carrots until tender and lightly caramelized, turning carrots over once, 40 to 50 minutes.
Coating the Cut Carrots with Cumin, Salt and Olive Oil
These pea and potato samosas are open many interpretations of seasoning and spice. This recipe includes one jalapeno, for about 14-16 samosas and the spice is very reasonable. If you want to spice it up consider adding more jalapeno or a habanero pepper.
3-4 Potatoes (peeled, boiled & mashed)
1 Cup green peas (boiled)
1-2 Jalapenos (finely chopped)
1/2 Tsp ginger (crushed)
1/4 Tbsp coriander
1/4 Tsp cumin
1/4 Tsp paprika
1/2 Tsp garam masala
1/4 Tsp salt to taste
1/4 Tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Package of 2 sheets frozen puffed pastry
Mix peas, peppers, ginger, coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala, salt and chili powder into mashed potatoes. Be sure to mix thoroughly by folding seasoning into the potatoes from inside out.
Cut puffed pastry dough into rectangles roughly 3X4 and place one tablespoon of mixture in the middle of the rectangle; fold dough into a triangle by stretching the dough over the ball of filling. Press edges together firmly to seal and place on greased cookie sheet. Repeat this process trying to match filling volume to available dough. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. When finished you should have 12-15 samosas on the cookie sheet. Melt butter and brush each samosa lightly on top.
Place samosas on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
1 Cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt (or regular)
1/2 Cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp garam masala
1 Tsp coarse kosher salt
1 Large garlic clove, pressed
1/2 Cup roasted, unsalted cashews
1 Roasting chicken, or 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drum sticks (all bone-in)
1 Large onion, cut into 1/4 inch rings
For the yogurt option, you can use whatever your prefer. We used non-fat Greek, and you can learn more about the specifics here.
Combine yogurt, cilantro, olive oil, garam masala, salt and garlic in medium to large rectangular pan or glass dish. Remove skin from chicken and trim extra fat. Add chicken to marinade one piece at a time, take care to coat each piece thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 2 + hours.
Preheat oven to 400 and place onion rings on the bottom of a freshly oiled roasting pan and place individual pieces of chicken on top of the rings, spread evenly. Discard remaining marinade. Roast chicken for 50 minutes; serve chicken on top of onion rings from the pan.
Prepping Marinade
Adding Cashews to Marinade
Marinating Chicken
Spread Onions on Roasting Pan
Postition Chicken on Onions
Place Chicken in Serving Dish and Cover with Onions from Pan
Tapatio is a staple condiment for us here at TPF. It works well with eggs (any style), a great addition to pinto or re-fried beans and of course with carne asada, pollo asado or fish tacos. Tapatio also adds a nice kick for bloody marys and dirty martinis.
Tapatio is not the only hot sauce we use, but for salsa picante it is delicious!
Sriracha “Rooster” Sauce is a favorite with our crew. Sriracha tastes great with fries (regular or sweet potato), soup or broth, and as a dip for grilled meats. Use sparingly at first until you have an idea of the heat intensity that Sriracha has, but once you know, you will find a groove for the flavor and add a spot for Sriracha in your fridge.
Check out your local Vietnamese restaurant and you will usually find Sriracha on the table; one great use of Sriracha is adding it as a spice kick to the broth for Vietnamese Pho Tai.
Sriracha is a product of Huy Fong Foods in Rosemead, CA.
This week we’re adding a new category specific to condiments and sauces that we use frequently and classify as “favorites”. In celebration, we thought it was appropriate to share an article by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker Archives.
The article shares a number of examples in American history where market research and taste tests have yielded varying results; the analysis of the ingredients tested, however, sheds more light on the possibilities for these results, particularly the physiological reasons. Malcolm Gladwell has a wonderful ability to relate these stories and to turn data from market research into revealing conclusions about us – the American consumer.
The Ketchup Conundrum – Mustard now comes in dozens of varieties. Why has ketchup stayed the same?
Please check back with us this week as we reveal our favorite condiments and ‘go-to’ sauces, and please tell us about your favorites so we can include them and expand our options!
